destinystrings | Protect the civilians!

Entry tags:

Protect the civilians!

Who: Ludwig and YOU! Open!
Where: Libra district/ward, in front of the apartment buildings.
Summary: Ludwig has made it his sworn duty to protect the civilians and prevent the scorpions from reaching the apartment buildings (well, any more than they already have). He could really use some help...
Warnings: Fight scenes, maybe cussing? Not sure.

Ludwig was on the case when it came to defending the civilian population. These scorpion creatures were clearly out of control, not to mention a threat to anyone they encountered. Determined to do something, he made it his mission to do a little pest control.

Now might have been a bad time to test out a new Persona, but for the time being he had switched from Siegfried to Vulcan. Vulcan had a multi-target physical attack that was doing quite well against the beasts (but why oh why couldn't he have Maragi at a time like this?!).

Currently, Ludwig was standing outside of an apartment building in the Libra ward, a swarm of scorpions headed right for him. He had just finished escorting a terrified civilian to safety, but that wouldn't quite be enough. There were more out there that needed to be saved. As soon as he cleared out this swarm, he'd go looking again...

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WHAM!

A chunk of the scorpion hoard is cleared out by a young angel wielding a club.

"Take that, creepy crawlies!"

Ludwig nods a thanks to the angel who just got rid of the clump of scorpions heading in his direction. Wait, an angel... maybe he could get an aerial view of the place to help find more civilians? "You there! Help me find more civilians! There are bound to be more innocents trapped here. Watch out for the masked ones!"

"Where do you want me to look?"

It's better he say that than 'UR NOT THE BOSS OF ME'.

Assistance has come to Ludwig, in the form a woman in golden armor, carrying a pair of maces.

These creatures running about were all too similar to the frostbite spiders at home. ~~And in another life, very similar to radscorpions...~~ However, this place was much warmer than Skyrim had a tendency to be, so perhaps a bit of frost might slow these things down.

Moving in to flank the swarm of creatures from the side, Ginia draws a breath, then releases it with an echoing, thunderous cry - "FO KRAH DIIN!" Icy energy erupts from her, spreading out over a large chunk of the swarm to damage and slow them for a short time.

Ludwig nods another thanks to the warrior woman. "Help me clear out the scorpions! If we can intercept them here, they won't be able to reach the civilians!" With that, Ludwig targeted another swarm and summoned his new Persona. A warrior with a large hammer appeared and swung it around, using Rampage on the new swarm and scattering them. At the rate they were coming, there'd be a few more hordes to dispose of before the situations was satisfactorily clear.

"Can you get an aerial view? If you fly up, you should get a good view of the city." Well, he was an angel and he had wings, so he had to be able to fly... right? Way to make an assumption in the heat of the moment, Ludwig.

"I can't fly," he says flatly.

Go figure! The wings were just for show, then. "Fine," Ludwig says back in an equally flat tone. "Let's continue to wipe out the scorpions then. They can't reach people if they're dead. But do still keep a lookout for any fleeing civilians or oncoming Masks." Yes, he'd developed a simple codeword for the masked Scorpios already. Masks. Nothing fancy, but it'd do.

The wings aren't for show Mr. Country Nation Man! That he might be able to tell from the way Pit's wings move every now and then.

"Will do," he says, somewhat under his breath. One has the impression that his inability to fly is a ~sensitive subject for him.

Regardless, he resumes knocking out the scorpions with his club, burning them every now and then with his persona. Which appears to be a very pixelated angel.

Hmm.

"Son of Man..."

Ludwig was a veritable angel magnet, it seems. Something gleams briefly high above in the sky before a spear comes lancing through the air with incredible speed. It plunges into the ground in the midst of the scorpion horde and then for unknown reasons... explodes. The strike sends several of the scorpions flying as the wielder of the spear descends calmly from above.

"Be at ease. The LORD is with thee until the end of days..."

The angel's pupil-less eyes focus briefly on Ludwig, its face an expressionless mask.

"Thou art... Legion. Though thou art many, thy soul is one. He who is called Ludwig."

~~Well, he IS kind of a Law asshat, so of course he'd attract angels...~~

Ludwig just stared at the angel. Wait, "Though thou art many, thy soul is one?" How did this angel know Ludwig was a nation? Oh, wait, it was on the network for all to see and possibly not believe. But apparently this angel knew and believed or could tell somehow...?

All he did in response was nod a thanks and say, "Thank you for your assistance."

Ludwig continued his duty of mashing scorpions to bits with his Persona. However, he couldn't help but notice Pit's strange Persona as he went through the mass of stingers. "What on earth is that...?" he wondered aloud.

"What's what?" he asks, casually smashing scorpions with his club.

"Thy cause is noble. Power shalt be lent to thee until such time as the safety of this edifice is assured. Then, thy power shalt be required in turn..."

The Power, it seems, is less asking than it is calmly explaining what was going to happen. Translated into a less condescending manner, it appears that the angel is asking for Ludwig's help with something or another, but feels obligated to assist him first in exchange.

"Come. This servant of the LORD desires to be of use."

"My power will be required in turn? What for?" Aside from squishing more scorpions, he meant. It seemed that this angel had some sort of plan in mind. "...Let's see if we can chase off a sufficient amount of these monsters, first."

"Your Persona. I've never seen anything like that before... not in a three-dimensional space, anyway." He turned to Rampage another mob of Scorpions out of existence (well, they didn't fade, so it wasn't quite out of existence) before focusing his attention back on Pit.

"Oh, this persona? It's my new one! It's me as I was back in the 1980's!"

The angel nods in response, calmly hovering over to where it had thrown its spear to retrieve its weapon.

"My master has requested aid. As you are acquainted, you have been sought."

It begins to mechanically stab down at the scorpions that scuttled underneath its hovering feet.

"Wait, what?" Well, that left Ludwig thoroughly confused. "Is that an... artistic rendition of you? And how can you have a version of yourself as your Persona?" It sounded like something that was almost worth a try, except that he doubted that any of his past selves would be terribly useful.

"Your master?" What, was Ludwig going to become a crusader now? "Might I ask who your master is...?" He had a sneaking suspicion by now that it might have been Atsuro, since who else would an angel refer to as its master that he was well acquainted with? Ludwig shot at a few remaining scorpions with his pistol. "The flow seems to be slowing down. I'll be able to join your master soon, at this rate."

"I guess you could say that. They were pretty limited in what they could render in video games back then. As for why it's me? I dunno. That's just what I got when I visited that Velvet Room place."

"A friend of Abel, he who first pleased the LORD and who was commended as a righteous man."

The angel betrays some measure of emotion for the first time, a tone of reverence in its voice. It seems oblivious to the fact that this says nothing about who its master was, calmly continuing to skewer scorpions instead. It soon has enough for the most grotesque shish-kebab ever imagined in the history of mankind.

"By his father, he was given the name of Atsuro Kihara."

This is spoken as an afterthought. What was the use of a name to an angel?

"Due to a certain quality, he has been chosen as a special target for these abominations. His safety, however, is assured - Though he chose not the path of the LORD, He continues to guide nonetheless."

"You were in a video game? Did they base it off a historical event in your world, or something?" This Pit fellow just got increasingly confusing. First the strange Persona, now the fact that he was apparently in a video game? How very strange.

"No, man; I'm from a video game. You know Kid Icarus? That's me!"

Edited 2012-11-01 22:00 (UTC)

"Atsuro, hm?" Ludwig guessed right. "I will be more than happy to join him." Ludwig shot one more scorpion, then reloaded his pistol just to be sure. "Let's go to him now."

"Then, let us move with all haste. The position here remains vulnerable yet. The lost souls within this city are in great need..."

The angel lifts straight up into the air, rapidly ascending towards the heavens.

................It drops back down five seconds later.

"...I forget thy limitations. Come. The long route awaits."

Ludwig was about to step forward when the angel shot straight up, leaving him a bit bewildered as to where exactly to go. However, when the angel returned, he felt a little relief. "I'll be right behind you," he said, following the angel as it went.

"Kid Icarus? But that's a video game in my world... how did anyone have access to your world to record the story or get permission or anything like that?" Dimensions had a strange way of interacting, it seemed.

"What part of 'I'm from a video game' did you not understand?"

"Then come."

The angel glides off swiftly, keeping a steady pace such that Ludwig could keep up if he jogged. Despite what the angel says, they don't have long to go - about five minutes away from Ludwig's position. ...The sound of battle is audible from a distance.

"Hngh...! Keep it gentle! I don't want to kill 'em..."

It appears, upon rounding a corner, that Atsuro is performing some sort of mad dance. Upon closer observation, the carpet of black underneath his feet is moving... Nearby, two people wearing masks are recovering from a blow dealt by the ephemeral form of Enki.

"The hell is taking Power so long?!"

"You expect me to take that at face value? Fine. If it makes it easier for you, I will accept that you're from a video game and not another world. Somehow."

"Atsuro!" Ludwig called out to his fighting companion as soon as he was visible. "We've arrived! What you you want me to do first- handle the scorpions or watch out for Masks?"

"T-The scorpions would be nice...!"

Atsuro is panicked enough that he barely glances in the direction of his savior, continuing to stomp as hard as he could in the middle of the mass of things. The Power calmly observes, its duty done.

"I shall attend to the humans. My spear shall be as of a piercing lance of conviction into their hearts."

"Understood! Watch where you're standing!" Ludwig summoned Vulcan and used rampage, sending a chunk of scorpions flying. "My Persona has a multi-target attack- it'll help clear out the horde a bit faster!"

Atsuro is enjoying his time playing hopscotch quite a lot, but he's slightly relieved when they begin to scatter.

"Phew. ...Thanks, Ludwig. 'Buried alive by scorpions' isn't exactly what I want on my obituary."

He crunches a few on the head as he gingerly tries to step away.

"What're we gonna do about these guys?"

Ginia nods to the man, and turns to face the swarm she'd just slowed, and stills herself. This magic granted to her by this world is...strange, but helpful. She again speaks in the strange tongue, but this time, it does not carry the weight it did before. "Komeyt Strundu'ul suleyk!" Her own persona, a caped, chainmail-clad man carrying a sword appears, and strikes out three times against one of the larger scorpions, while she strikes at another with maces.

"The scorpions? Aside from kill them till they don't get in our way, I can't say I know." Ludwig Rampage-d a few more clusters of scorpions out of Atsuro's way so he could get through. "There doesn't seem to be any real end to them. We're going to be fighting for a while, to say the least."

"Er." Atsuro glances up from playing Whack-a-Scorp. "These guys are just monsters, but I was talking more about..."

His sentence isn't finished as an unidentifiable Persona rushes out from one of the masked civilians and releases a Maragi on the both of them.

"Oh, the Masks? You should have specified-"

The Maragi hits Ludwig like a truck, and he hits the ground hard. "Dammit... my weakness...!" He struggles to get up, holding his side as he does. "Atsuro! Do you have any incapacitating skills?" Because Ludwig sure didn't.

Ludwig couldn't help but be curious about the language the woman was speaking. "What language is that?" he asks before Rampaging another clump of scorpions away. Perhaps he'd handle the small scorpions while she handled the bigger ones.

"I was thinking if I hit them on the head enough times, they'd be incapacitated...!"

This is probably not what Ludwig means at all. Atsuro rolls away from the scorpions towards his ally while the angel engages the other masked civilian in combat, leaving them to deal with only the one.

"I don't want to hurt them, but we can't just sit here and take a beating, either..."

"Not the head! We don't want to give them brain damage!" Finally, Ludwig managed to get back to his feet after nearly being fried by that Maragi. He then realized his oversight- he had allowed Vulcan to become inactive for just that one moment. Had he kept Vulcan active, he would have blocked that attack completely. "Use the lightest attacks you have. Enough of those should tire them out." Using Vulcan, he launched an Agi at the oncoming Mask, hoping that it would have minimal effect.

"It's not like hitting them lightly a hundred times isn't going to give them damage, either..."

Atsuro sighs slightly as the fireball strikes the masked man with limited effect. It appeared that his element of choice was fire...

"...What about the mask? You think we can get it off?"

"Minimal damage is what we should focus on," Ludwig said, flinging another Agi. "He doesn't seem to be absorbing fire, so maybe enough light fire hits will disable him. As for the mask... I don't know, but we can try."

"Alright..."

In the background, the Power seems to be thrusting his spear without much concern for the enemies' overall safety, the will of God apparently involving vivisections.

"A little less enthusiastic over there!" Atsuro steps forward now to bring his own Persona to bear again. "Enki! See if you can't be a little more persuasive...!"

With the familiar crackling sound, the Persona sails forward and... flicks the man sharply in the forehead.

"Uh."

"That of dragons," she answers a bit hoarsely, grunting as a scorpion's claw glances off her armor with a clanging noise, and is answered with a heavy strike from her. "If all we've been called to this world to do is deal with over-sized bugs, I'll be more than a bit annoyed..."

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Protect the civilians!

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Whoops, Ludwig should have blocked that attack since Vulcan was active... drumming up an explanation

Aha, don't worry about it!

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