this is halloween, this is halloween

[exceptfebruary]

WHO: Calendar Man & Scarecrow & Demon Monsters & YOU
WHERE: the City, Upper West Side, other places
WHEN: October 31st to November 2nd
WARNINGS: Creepy monsters and terrifying stuff
SUMMARY: And Then There Were Monsters
FORMAT: Whichever you want!


Halloween.

That's when they first started appearing - first a few during the day, in small numbers. Then as night fell they started multiplying, slowly filling the streets.

Costumes, attacking and controlling whoever wears them. Demons dressed as people, stealing trick-or-treaters' candy, pushing small children, causing mayhem. Shadow creatures, playing on loved ones, friends, family - unbeatable and malicious.

And then Halloween was over -- and they didn't go away.

Technically it was still a holiday. All Saint's Day.

They weren't gone the next day either. All Soul's Day.

Someone broke the rules. Someone pierced the demon dimension. Someones.

And now the City had to deal with it.

(( Start your own threads, make them open or closed or whatever -- see the information post for deets on the monsters/demons. Have fun! ))

Comments

pre-dawn 11/2, closed to bradbury! OH BOY

[jailbrake]

[Of course. She came back just in time for the goddamn stampede.]

Shit--! Give up already, ya damned wastes of space!

[Michiko's hunched over the wheel of her motorbike (so what else is new) like a jockey, accelerating and swerving down the roads of Central Park with great intensity and extremely low regard for pedestrians; were her eyes visible, the expression in them might fall somewhere between "manic" and "oh jesus duck for cover." Naturally, she's not wearing a helmet! Woe betide anyone who gets in her way at this point, which totally won't happen within the next few tags or anything.

As to what she's burning rubber in escape of, or the waste of space she's apparently shouting at, they remain a mystery. For now.]

LET'S DO DIS SHIT

[waiting]

[ Who's gonna give up their morning jogging because of news reports of a few monsters? Not Bradbury! He's already feeling bad enough this week about slacking off so much, so he's been determined to make up for the missed days, pushing himself to get up to the same level of activity he's used to.

"--a natural law and she leaves me in awe, she deserves the applause--"

Motorbikes are typical enough around the City, but one in the middle of the park would be just weird, right? Besides, Bradbury's in no position to hear the oncoming disaster heading his way, because he's currently plugged into his MP3 player at full blast.

"--i surrender because she used to look good to me, but now I find her--"

Headlights fall on him, suddenly, and he turns, jaw dropping open at the sight of the bike driving right towards him, because HOLY SHIT--

"--simply irresistible!" ]

[jailbrake]

[To Michiko's credit, she does try and grab this pedestrian's attention (once she actually notices him) before bearing down on him like an avenging angel! Which basically means she shouts really loudly and obnoxiously at Bradbury.]

OI! HEY, YOU! GET OUT OF THE ROAD!

[Road is a pretty generous descriptor given the circumstances, but hey man whatever she's not a city planner.]

YA HEAR ME? [HE PRETTY CLEARLY DOES NOT. Gritting her teeth, she slams down on the brakes hard -- too late -- and attempts to swerve out of the way without completely totaling the bike and also killing herself.] Fuck! [Everything's suddenly a beautiful melange of screeching wheels and burning rubber as the gap between them rapidly shrinks to nothing, and she's already preparing for the worst.]

[waiting]

[ Fortunately, Bradbury has faster reflexes than he gave himself credit for, because he manages to dodge out of the way of the careening motorbike, although he ends up landing heavily on his palms and scraping them up. He turns his head to watch in flabbergasted astonishment as Michiko and the bike wheel past, all of this happening a bit too fast for him to process.

Reaching out to try and stop the bike wouldn't affect its momentum now, so all he can do is stare at this slo-mo disaster, heart hammering in his chest. Shit, he should probably try to help, shouldn't he? ]

icon combos in log tags DON'T MIND IF I DO

[jailbrake]

[Michiko puts any relief, which of course she totally doesn't have since she's such a hardened badass, on the backburner, focusing instead on stopping herself before the vehicle gets completely out of her control. A few seconds after Bradbury gets out of the way, she swerves into what is the most ridiculously dramatic stop ever, finally puttering to a dismal finish as the rear of the motorbike gently hits a park bench. It makes a tinny and slightly disappointing "ding" sound, and Michiko, apparently not much worse for wear despite the extreme shakeup, swings one leg around the body of the bike, uses her hands to bear most of her weight, and gradually lets her feet hit the ground. She also does a dramatic hairtoss to clear her face, because come on who do you think we're talking about here.

Slightly unsteady at first, Michiko takes one step and then another in the direction of her near-miss. She does this silently, her hair swinging from side to side with each movement, and the mildly dazed expression on her face makes it look almost as though she's sleepwalking. It also makes her intentions harder to predict -- is she going to apologize? Does she need help?]

[jailbrake]

[yeah no]

You! [INSTANTLY SHE IS TOTALLY CONSCIOUS AND FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS] Oi, the hell were you thinking, huh?

[waiting]

[ He had been about to reach out and ask if she needed any help, but with her yelling and doing everything short of storming up to his face and jabbing her finger into his chest, he's caught off guard. The outburst even makes take a half a step back, hands raised as though he'd like to defend himself, even though he knows how stupid that is. ]

Hey, lady, I'm not the one driving a motorbike through a public park! [ He knows he's in the right on this, but somehow it seems like a paltry excuse in the face of simmering wrath. Is she like this all the time??? Hopefully not, because without the scowl and the murderous look in her eye she's actually kind of a looker.

Nnnnot that Bradbury's in a frame of mind to appreciate that right now. ]

[jailbrake]

I tried ta warn you, bastard-- [But suddenly her expression switches from "gearing up to yell obnoxiously for at least five more minutes" to "kind of concerned", and she actually reaches out to grab Bradbury's shirt. Gritting her teeth, she leans in.] Listen, that don't matter. You just get outta here before it's too late.

[waiting]

[ Bradbury's a pretty big guy, so getting his shirt grabbed doesn't faze him much, but he blinks a little in confusion when she leans in, clearly not grasping the gravity of the situation. ]

Before it's too late for what?

[jailbrake]

[CLEARLY SHE'S GOING IN FOR A SMOOCH no she's kind of got her hands on the collar and shaking him, because this is the most efficient way she can think of to get her point across.]

Didn't I say?! [She realizes shortly after barking this that she has not, in fact, said.] They'll be here any minute now. Them. The fuckin' calvary.

[This is not strictly the word she intended, but the sentiment is totally the same! Mostly because of the "fuck" part.]

[waiting]

[ Poor Bradbury, as apparently clueless as ever, just lets himself be shaken. If possible, he's even more confused by what she's babbling on about - did she hit her head too hard? - but she certainly seems pretty convinced that whatever she's afraid of is real. ]

What are you--?

[ And then he hears it. The sound of something - somethings - approaching, and he turns his head towards it, trying to figure out what the cause is. ]

[jailbrake]

[At first, there's nothing at all to be seen, only the sound of a hundred muffled hoofbeats footsteps pounding against cement, but there's so many of them -- and soon they're so close that it's clear to see exactly what's coming for them. There are about fifteen of them moving in tandem, all of them wearing different clothes but charging with the same soulless gait. All of them with the same dead, dead eyes.

And it looks a little bit like this.





Michiko follows his gaze, and when the first horse head rounds the corner she promptly lets go of Bradbury's shirt.]

Motherfucker.

CRYING AND SHAKING

[waiting]

[ At first, Rick's silent for a moment, watching the - what the fuck is it? A herd? A stampede? - of horse-headed creatures heading towards them. It isn't exactly a deer-in-the-headlights expression he's wearing, but rather the stricken, horrified grimace of something that's already been hit by a truck and become roadkill.

Michiko lets him go, but his hand shoots out to grab her arm in return, assuming she isn't already moving to do the same thing he is - that is, haul ass to her motorbike, preferably sooner rather than later. ]

Fucking move!

OH THE HORSEMANITY

[jailbrake]

[Michiko's still somewhat frozen in place, her eyes fixed on the oncoming stampede, but his hand on her arm snaps her out of it. She doesn't jerk away or hit him, which would be her usual response despite its current hypocrisy; instead she bolts forward, fully intending to drag Bradbury the fuck along with her if she ends up outstripping him on the way to her bike.]

Shit, I -- told ya -- didn't I? [Her speech is punctuated by her insistently gulping down breaths of air in between phrases. As they reach the motorbike, she attempts to shake herself loose from Bradbury.] Oi, you -- you don't wanna die, get on the back.

[waiting]

[ Dragging thankfully doesn't turn out to be necessary. Maybe jogging beforehand warmed him up, or maybe the stampede of horse-headed men is enough motivation to get him to pick up the pace. He matches her stride until they get on the bike, and lets his hand get shaken off without protest. He can ride a bike, but if they wanna out of here fast, he figures it's better to leave it to the expert.

Honestly, he was half-expecting to be ditched in the dust, so the order - offer? - took a split-second longer to process that it should have. ]

Got it. [ He's an adaptable man, though, Bradbury, and he rolls with it, already swinging a leg over the bike, both hands reaching back to grab the back of the seat to hold on. He figures it'll be a better way to stay on the bike than grabbing her. ]

[jailbrake]

[Michiko gets a leg up and over with as much fluidity as an Olympian straddling a pommel-horse, grabs the wheel, and hesitates just a moment to see whether or not Bradbury's sitting down and properly balanced -- then, without any further notice, she turns the key and floors it. Since the bike is currently diagonally intersecting most of the road and pointed towards rather than away from the group of horse-headed people, this doesn't initially seem like a great idea! Really, though -- when have Michiko's ever been?

Wrenching the wheel as hard and as fast as she can, she turns the bike and accelerates, directly toward the horse horde.]

Better hold on, [she says, very matter-of-fact, as though she hasn't just slapped him in the face with her own death wish. It's in these moments where Michiko really shines; in her element, with the bluster stripped away, she's calm and utterly focused.] It's gonna get bumpy.

/BOOMERANGS WITH THE FURY OF A THOUSAND HORSELORDS

[waiting]

[ Is she seriously -- ]

What the fuck?!

[ In turn Bradbury's yelp (wail, really) of dismay gets drowned out by the rev of the bike's engine. It's the last, dying words of someone realizing too late that he's just gotten on the motorbike of a certified psychopath. Normally, now would be the point where his life flashes past his eyes, but the looming horse horde is hard to get out of his thoughts, so it's mostly flashbacks to a very boring life where everyone inexplicably has horse masks on.

His body has its own ideas about self-preservation, though, and the grip of his hands and his knees tighten on the bike, survival instincts kicking in. ]

SCREAMS

[jailbrake]

[Somehow, Bradbury's exclamation doesn't seem to affect Michiko in the slightest. The pace of her vehicle doesn't slow any as she closes in on the cluster of equine abominations; if anything, she only accelerates more as the gap between them closes.

If she weren't reasonably sure this would work, she would be terrified -- so it's a good thing she's sure it'll work. Under her breath, she hisses;]

Come and get it, you...!

[She's about nose-to-muzzle with the foremost of them when she makes a hard, hairpin turn to the left. The bike lurches, most likely inspiring the same reaction from the contents of both of their stomachs, and for a moment it seems like it's going to overturn and they'll both be left to the cold mercy of horsemasks and, more importantly, gravity. The Polyimpsters don't have much regard for their borrowed skins, but they do possess enough of a sense of self-preservation to move away from a large and obvious projectile with a viciously roaring engine. They leap back, scattering rather like bowling pins in her path and presumably anticipating the inevitable and fiery spillover.

But instead of overbalancing itself, the bike is suddenly hurtling in the opposite direction it was moments ago, and outside of Bradbury's line of vision Michiko's grinning hard and feral. When she finally speaks again, she sounds equally calm but much more smug.]

It won't last long.

[waiting]

[ All Bradbury can really do is hang on for the ride, managing, astonishingly, to keep his eyes open and not let his churning stomach get the better of him. Amazingly, they get through it intact, and he's not sure how much of that can be attributed to sheer luck or the crazy woman's insane motorbike-handling skill. It would be pretty impressive, actually, if he wasn't out of breath and his heart didn't feel like it's about to pound out of his chest.

After a beat, he finds his voice: ]

Then we'd better fucking make tracks.

[jailbrake]

Guess so.

[Michiko's still going fast, but since she's no longer steering like a drunk lunatic the ride is slightly smoother. Still, the clopping behind them hasn't fully faded out, and if either of them actually happens to pay attention to it they'll realize that the pace of the footfalls is a little fast for a group of normal human beings who just happen to be wearing horse masks.

I say they, but I mean Bradbury, because Michiko doesn't give a shit! And is now focusing on circumnavigating benches and water fountains.]

Bastards don't let up, [she tacks on later, by way of explanation.] 's gotta be one of those goddamned... tch. Supervillains.

THREE WEEKS LATER

[waiting]

[ Bradbury risks wrenching his neck out of alignment by taking a look backwards, hoping Michiko doesn't suddenly wrench the wheel over or something that could give him whiplash like that. Shit, for a bunch of weird-looking horse dudes, they're fast, and his heart sinks a little when her words hit. ]

Well how the fuck are we gonna stop 'em?

[ He'd suggest trying to run the horse-things into exhaustion, but it sounds like she's been on the run for a while. Are they robots, or something? They definitely can't be alive. ]

ONE WEEK LATER!!!

[jailbrake]

We? Oi...

[It's half rude Michiko bravado, half actual confusion, which is why her voice trails off; she'd expected him to get off the bike and run the fuck away once they got at least slightly out of range, or hail a taxi, or something. That she's the one they're focused on is something she takes as a point of fact. There's always some damn thing chasing after her, one way or another.]

Probably not much we can do. [She pauses, swerving away from the rim of a fountain, before tacking on a grim:] Unless ya want to take the fight to them.

[waiting]

I'm not leaving you alone with those freaks! [ His brows knit in confusion and incredulousness in turn, like he thinks the very idea offends him. Seriously, what kind of tool does she take him for? At the same time, it's not like he has any better solutions to offer beyond what they're already doing, and he's unarmed. ]

Think they'll survive taking a swim? [ He jerks his head to the side. ] There's a pond in the park. Should be deep enough to keep em stuck for long enough that we can get clear.