THE THRILL OF THE HUNT

[missleading]

WHO: Characters listed here
WHAT: The Phantom Thieves (and others) infiltrate the palace of a pair of mages who have been murdering innocents in the British countryside
WHEN: October 13
WHERE: A small town in Great Britain
WARNINGS: Some gore, will update as necessary

"Vivianne and Roland Wolfe. Murderers. Amusement park."

The Outland seemed to pulse, as if the world beat like a living heart.

"Coordinates accepted. Beginning navigation."

The red-eyed icon on Ren’s cell phone began glowing brightly as the space around the team began warping as flashes of red and black seemed to rewrite the tenuous reality.

As the world once again came into focus, a scene of horror and carnage unfolded. The team was now in an amusement park, its walls and rides sheathed in garish gold plate that sparkled eerily under a blood-red moon. The whir and creak of highly suspect machinery echoed through the park as rollercoasters sped through the park. Those sounds, however, might well not exist for the extended, sustained screams of terror, shrieks of pain, and the weeping, pleading, and groaning of the dying.

Littering the ground were corpses - shadows, in this world, but bleeding and dismembered as any true human might be. In every case they were missing body parts, grisly trophies taken from them after they breathed their last… or at least, one would hope. Spotlights scanned the ground as those shadows that still lived fled in desperation. A spotlight affixing itself to a fleeing shadow would lock on as one of the mages, Roland in a white suit and tie splattered with blood and Vivianne in a blood-red cocktail dress would swoop down, chasing them with any number of means such as small cars, paragliders, or even glowing magical disks. In all cases, the result was typically the same. The shadow would run, screaming or sobbing, as they were chased down. In most cases the mages would toy with them, perhaps shooting out a kneecap, or speeding by and lopping an arm. This grisly "game" would continue until the mage grew bored, ending the shadow and claiming some kind of gruesome trophy.

Notably, both mages had glowing yellow eyes and somewhat sunken, distorted features - clear signs that these were not truly the people but their shadows, the lord and lady of this palace of horror. And they were thirsty for even more blood.

Comments

BOSS FIGHT

[missleading]

In the real world, the wealthy mages Roland and Vivianne Wolfe are celebrities within the magical world, glamorous and talented socialites who made their fortune in the magical arms trade, arming many Rune Guards around the world. Known trophy hunters, the two can often be found in the wilds hunting the rarest endangered species.

What is less commonly known, however, is that they have grown bored of animals and have turned their attention to more… intelligent prey. The space under their manor is a fiendish deathtrap of their own devising where they test their armaments on hapless non-magical humans they’ve kidnapped and set loose.

Here in their Palace, their shadows share that same predilection for exotic armaments and the hunting of innocents. The amusement park that forms the primary palace is lined with roller coaster rails that the two are constantly traversing, riding roller coaster carts at intense speeds with brutal spikes on front that will pulverize anyone who dares step onto the tracks. From these perches, they attack with a variety of wands, guns, and other exotic weaponry. What is universal about their tools is that they’re all rather precise - the spells they cast from their wands and guns are not likely to kill without intent, nor will they damage the equipment. After all, what fun is a hunt without a bit of maiming before the kill?

[shockingblue]

Gunvolt had come in expecting this mission to be... something. But he truthfully had never expected anything like this. After merely seeing what the Palace had looked like on the inside, any doubt he had about being here evaporated in an instant. If this is really how the Wolfes saw themselves subconsciously, they needed to brought down... and if Ren and Minako had a plan to do it non-lethally with a way to force them to answer for it? He was all for it.

He'd even suited up in costume like he had been suggested to... though his outfit was significantly less showy and garish as the Phantom Thieves. Clad in a black spec-ops suit and wearing a pair of night vision goggles, Gunvolt, or, for purposes of this mission, Wraith, unlatched the snap on the holster for his Dart Leader. Though it was a costume, all of his equipment was heavily runed for protection and stealth capability; nothing about him came in half-assed. ...In fact, between the outfit and the name, he might have been trying too hard.

"...Don't like this. They're going to be moving targets and they'll have an elevation advantage at all times. Fittingly, this area's a kill-zone. Gonna need to do something to turn the tables."

[playitagain]

Nana tries to hide the fact that she feels sickened to her core.

She grew up away from this world; away from a world where some mages could do such terrible things, away from easy sight of power corrupting so absolutely, away from finding this sort of depravity. She is dressed in a violet jacket, with a skirt and white shirt, and a fanciful mask. Nana walks with ease, a little past Gunvolt.

Maroboshi, she said her nickname is. "Phantom," or illusion.

She stops as she comes in behind Gunvolt -- eyes drift down to him -- and then she nods to him. "...All right," she says. "I shouldn't be surprised. Maybe... if we stop the roller coaster, somehow? Or maybe we need to find a way to get on it."

[highelves]

Disgusting. Unlike Nana, Ana does little to hide her disdain. Her distaste for these...monsters is blatant in the way her lips are pouting and her brow is furrowed. Her own outfit is befitting of a phantom thief, and the thief herself -- Wing -- looks at the roller coaster and nods.

"The latter sounds like a more feasible option. If we stop the coaster they'll still be on the higher ground; we need to make this an even playing field."

And probably use their stealth to their advantage.

[buddinghopes]

The mask she added to her outfit for the sake of this mission does very little to hide the fact that Lia--Snowdrop as she'd requested to be called--is sneering at the sights of the Palace. How completely and utterly revolting. She studies the roller coaster for a bit, letting out a soft 'hm' as she thinks.

"We'll have to be quick about it so we're not lingering on the tracks. I don't think I wanna know what'll happen if we end up on the wrong side of those spikes on the carts." She grimaces. "Anyone have any ideas for getting up there?"

Stock: Orpheus, Parvati, Samael, Quetzalcoatl, Saki Mitama

[missleading]

The scene here is abhorrent, and it's all that Minako—Lyre—can do to keep from rushing in and putting an end to this here and now. Her outfit isn't nearly as involved as the rest of the phantom thieves, the extra fabric of her turtleneck secured over her mouth and nose to act as a mask. She's thankful for that; it helps dampen the stomach-turning stench of death at bay.

Her eyes turning skyward, she pulls her Evoker from the black-colored holster at her hip, resting the grip in her other hand. "I wonder if we can overload the system somehow. Pump enough electricity into it that the cars stop running." She's more than equipped to help with that. "From there, we climb I guess."

[strings_theory]

What a disgusting mess, though honestly things like gore and the smell of death doesn't bother her much anymore. Such comes with the life she'd led even up to this point. She's quiet as she looks around the area, taking in little details and what she could use to her advantage if it came down to it. Hell, maybe the black catsuit that's actually zipped up and half face mask makes her blend in a little better if she could just find some shadow to work with.

Suitably, Stone Free is nowhere to be seen just yet, she didn't want to put all of her cards on the table just yet.

"Sounds like a plan to me, I can probably get up there the quickest once we get the freedom to do so. Bonuses of strings, I guess." Which is precisely why this dumb-ass decided on using Corda, literally just Italian for string.

[prisoneroffate]

As the party discusses their plan, they see a spotlight fix on a shadow who appears as a young blond woman of about twenty. She screams in terror and makes a break for it, attempting to cross the tracks to escape the light. As she moves, the team sees a visible burst of electricity run down the rails, causing her to scream in pain before collapsing on the tracks, convulsing from a paralytic shock. There's the eerie sound of a rollercoaster cart raising up, the telltale clacking as it reaches the apex before it is unleashed, hurtling toward the incapacitated shadow with spikes bared and a white-suited man cackling as he braces excitedly for impact.

[playitagain]

Nana's eyes widen and any mask of calm is broken, the moment she sees the young woman collapse. She tenses, fingers curling at her sides, and then turns to look at Jolyne. Her eyes look at the rest, too.

"This is going to take a lot of my stored up light," she says, and offers no explanation.

The light is the glittering light in the pommels of her two swords -- one the red one of the Student Council President, the other more normal. It dims -- and their feet lift as a wooden platform with a giant painted yellow star appears. It then lifts straight into the air under all of them, rising up fast, as a stage prop wooden tower begins to rise higher and higher -- towards the tracks. Nana looks up and swallows.

Then she shouts: "Go!"

[shockingblue]

Gunvolt looks between Nana and Jolyne... his instinct was to jump into action to try to save the woman who was shocked. But if Jolyne could get to her faster, he'd trust her to do that. After all, Minako had another plan, and disabling the shocking rails would also be top priority... and he was best suited to that job.

"All right. Leave overloading the rails to me. I can dump enough volts into the ride to fry it. Just keep clear of the tracks when I do. I'll wait for your signal."

GV drew his Dart Leader, and started shooting darts at the base of the rail tracks, each shot lodging in pretty deeply. Azure lightning crackled between his fingertips, ready to unleash the moment the word was given.

[buddinghopes]

Similar to Gunvolt, Lia's first instinct would've been jumping in herself, but she refrains. She can't teleport anyone else with her, so saving the woman was probably a bit of a long shot.

"If you need me to be a distraction, I can do that. Teleporting means I can make sure I don't get hit. Just tell me where you need me to be."

She's ready to go.

[highelves]

This is bad. Ana looks at the cart rushing towards the woman, and then at the man. She's tempted to use her water to silence him, but that would ruin their element of surprise, wouldn't it? Though when Lia brings up being a distraction...

"If we need a diversion, I can help with that as well. Otherwise, I think I'm better off hanging back until we can secure a route on the tracks!"

[missleading]

As far as Minako is concerned, they are far past the point of worrying about keeping a low profile. While the rest of the group deliberates, Minako silently raises her Evoker, her eyes focused on the writhing shadow.

"Quetzalcoatl!"

The coiling serpent lifts her from the rising platform into the air, flying up toward the roller coaster like a silvery streak through the dark sky. She only has a few seconds to pluck the shadow from the tracks before the car mows it down—hopefully with Nana's extra boost she can make it in time.

[prisoneroffate]

The combined might of stagecraft and Persona whisk the shadow away from harm as the bladed cart comes careening by. That said, it does mean that the attention of the cart's rider is now locked on the team.

"What have we here? Interlopers?"

The cart's rider, Vivianne, raises her arm. Several of the corpses littering the ground explode in a burst of gore, their blood and organs congealing into blades that then launch themselves at the team.

[shockingblue]

Gore lances. That's not something Gunvolt thought he'd be dealing with today, but given everything so far in this horror show, he was less surprised than he thought he'd be.

Frankly, he was glad he had practiced control of his powers by now. Even with the targets marked nearby, he threw up his Flashfield and kept the lightning in check from jumping out of it towards the rails yet. In a zone around him, GV created a bubble of lightning; harmless to his companions, but fully capable of deflecting or destroying the lances being launched at him.

But it does take some intense concentration to keep the Flashfield under control. He doesn't bother retorting to Vivianne, figuring someone else would be better suited for that... and he couldn't be distracted, especially if the call came to trip the rails.

[playitagain]

"Gh--" Nana hisses as one of the bloody blades strikes a near-miss on her. There is a little cut on her left flank, and some of the blood staining the purple and white outfit is Nana's, not the corpse's. Her breath catches, before she calls out: "They're sharp!"

She turns towards Vivianne, and her green eyes are hard. She lunges forward, rushing over the battlefield with both blades held out to each side. She leaps as she gets close, slashing with both swords simultaneously.

"Why are you doing this?" she shouts.

[highelves]

Ana reacts just in time to surround herself with a water shield, which also covers Lia since she's the closest one in the vicinity. It blocks most of the blades, though some of them do get through, which Ana manages to avoid narrowly.

She's quick to act and uses her water to get herself onto the battlefield as well. She makes note of Nana's injuries but doesn't comment on it. There's no time for that. They have to stop Vivianne, and Ana isn't letting her get away with the mess she's made. She'll let Nana do the talking. She's mostly here for backup.

[buddinghopes]

Lia gives a grateful nod to Ana at the shield, ducking one that managed to get through. Once she stands fully upright again, she holds one hand out, a rapier appearing with a flash of white.

She gets a running start before leaping into the battle--she'll settle for just getting closer for now, rather than attacking.

... But she is ready to teleport at a moment's notice.