2022-09-06: DecuFes: The Mystery of the Haunted House!

• Log: 2022-09-06 DecuFes: The Mystery of the Haunted House!
• Cast: Kaworu Nagisa, Yuta Hibiki, Relena Peacecraft, Heero Yuy, Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Alloy Kaas, Mari Makinami Illustrious, Kallen Kozuki, Asuka Shikinami Langley
• Where: A condemned apartment complex in Nouvelle Tokyo
• OOC - IC Date: September 6, 0096 (2022)
• Summary: The students of Jindai High School have been talking about the haunted apartment block for years. That something wicked and evil lives there. If you can prove you stayed the night and come out alive, that's proof of bravery and courage to Jindai and by extension, guts. They organize a GUTS-wide challenge opportunity, one that several schools, in particular Tokyo-3 Municipal, accept. But who, if anyone, will make it out at the end of the night... alive?!

---

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        When the Ashford Academy was collecting ideas for GUTS Deculture Festival events, one of the ideas that came out of Jindai Public School was a test of courage--to send several groups into a supposedly haunted building and seeing if they can make it out with their wits intact. The idea was approved... but it was left to the ones who came up with the idea to actually find a haunted location and set up proof that those who enter made it in far enough to prove their courage. So if the students gathered after dark in the parking lot of an abandoned apartment complex in one of the grimier parts of Nouvelle Tokyo maybe doesn't have full permission from the city to be doing this, particularly since all five buildings in said complex are condemned and not fit for human entry, well, mum's the word, right?
        
        "But that's not the important part!" one of the organizing students of Jindai High says brightly to the assembled GUTS students, her hands clapped flat on the table in front of her. "The important part is that we're all here to prove how brave we are! That's why we're breaking up into five groups--one for each building--and whoever makes it to the top floor and brings back a certain mystery item gets a gold star to prove their courage!" She helpfully holds up a sheet of gold star stickers in one hand and an off-brand plastic Pikachu toy with miscolored cheeks and an uncomfortably melty face. "So make sure to bring back your Bikachu or everyone will make fun of you for being a weenie for the rest of your school career. No pressure~!"
        
        Another organizing student leans in to the first, one hand raised over their mouth. "Hey, are you gonna tell them about the obstacles or--"
        
        The first elbows the second, her bright smile never dimming. "So form up your groups now. We got a lot of brave souls who showed up, so we'll just send you all at once. If you want to make it a race to see who can make it back first, that's up to you guys, though!"
        
        It doesn't take too long for people to form groups. Kids tend to gravitate towards their own schools, classmates, and friends--but some do end up rearranged to make sure the numbers are even. One such group includes Kaworu, Yuta, Shinji, Rei, Mari, Relena, Heero, and Kallen... but not Asuka, who's in one of the other groups. They'll be sent to building A. This group is being sent to...
        
        "Building C," Kaworu says, hands in his pockets. His gaze has been on said building for almost the entire time everyone has been gathered, in fact.
        
        "Oh? That's fine, but what makes you want that one?" the organizer wonders.
        
        Kaworu looks over at her with a smile. "Because it's the one that's actually haunted."
        
        She brightens. "Oho! That's the spirit! You've got a gold star in your future, I just know it!" She turns to everyone else, raising her hands under her chin and leering out at everyone. With a spooky voice, she intones, "That's right... This complex is said to be hhhhhaaaaaunnnteeeeeddd...!"
        
        She points at Building C. All five buildings are in significant disrepair--doors boarded up, windows broken, debris littered all over, something plain to see even with only flashlights, which is in fact all anyone has for illumination. However, C in particular is scorched from the top of its fourth floor (officially the third floor, out of ground-first-second-third) and burnt well down into its second.
        
        "Years ago, on a night just like tonight, a mysterious fire broke out here. It ravaged the building with astonishing speed! It consumed hungrily and greedily, as if it were a living creature! The fire fighters who showed up managed to beat it back... but not without losing any lives. You see... on that night... a little girl died.
        
        "Burned alive.
        
        "Her dad had left her all alone, you see. Abandoned her for the night while they went off to play in the city. When the fire spread, she couldn't escape on her own. Now she roams these buildings, seeking out the father who left her to die--for revenge. Better make sure she doesn't mistake one of you strapping young men for her papa. Look!!"
        
        With a dramatic hand flourish worthy of Ashford, the organizer points up at one of the balconies up on the fourth floor. Those who look quickly enough might spot a shadowdy figure just within the balcony door. However, it melts backwards into the darkness an instant later and is gone.
        
        "So be brave and be quick. But don't get caught, or her ghost will pull you into a burning hell with her!! Bwahahahaha!!" the organizer cackles. Then she brightens anew. "Now c'mon, get going! We don't have all night! We've set up a stool in the back of each building to help you climb in and get inside... but past that, you're all on your own! Don't die in there~!"
        
        "Hey, should you really be saying stuff like that?" the co-organizer hisses.
        
        She scoffs. "Why not? It's not like there's actually such things as ghosts."
        
        "You're gonna get us all cursed!!"
        
        "If we were gonna get cursed, we would've been cursed during all the prep work. It's fiiine," she whisper-lilts.
        
        "That was during the day!!"
        
        Kaworu listens to their would-be private exchange with his usual faint, crooked smile. Then, hands still tucked in his pants pockets, he turns around and strolls off to the back of Building C. A few feet away, he pauses long enough to look over his shoulder at the others.
        
        "Shall we be off?" he prompts, his expression kind and encouraging, as if they're about to take a stroll through a sunny meadow rather than the interior of a supposedly haunted, definitely hazardous abandoned building.
        
        True to the organizer's word, there's a stool at the back of Building C next to one of the balcony fences on the ground floor that will let everyone climb over with ease. The balcony door is open already, so it's no problem getting inside, though someone will need to shine a flashlight to make sure everyone can see where they're going. There aren't actually enough flashlights for everyone in the group, so they'll need to break off in pairs of two or three... which might just be the organizer's intent. And once they're inside...
        
        Well, once they're inside, it's a normal enough apartment, albeit riddled with dust and cobwebs, smelling of mold and mildew. Face masks are probably wise. Kaworu does not bother with one. He doesn't bother with a flashlight either, actually, even as he already strolls deeper inside to the apartment's (as it will turn out) unlocked front door. Despite the fact that there is real and actual danger here totally unrelated to any ghosts, he's as confident as ever. Is that recklessness, or...?

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

---HOURS IN THE PAST---

"We owe it to Yuta and his friends to make sure their activity tonight will be safe." Max intones, standing in the Junk Shop with his arms crossed over his chest. "We can't let something like the fiasco at NERV HQ happen again."

"Ugh, fine! But why do we all have to go?" Borr asks, slouching against the couch.

"There are multiple floors and buildings to check." Max answers, giving them a stern look. "Vit, Calibur, I'm expecting your help too."

"Whatever..." Vit never takes his eyes from his phone. "Calibur, it's not like you want to do this, right?"

Calibur seems to be staring blankly at the back of the bar, his entire body slouched forward over it. "I--I have no opinion."

---HOURS IN THE PAST (BUT NOT MANY)---

"The buildings are stable." Calibur appears at Max's side out of nowhere, his form blurred from the speed he moves in. "I ch--checked carefully. Unless the kids do something crazy, it sh--should hold their weight easily."

"Very well." Max nods. "Then let us ret--"

A young girl with a bright smile bounds up to Max, beaming. Her arms are full of various supplies -- including something sealed into a thick plastic bag. "You must be parents!" She says, looking at Max and Calibur. "It's so great to have you involved in your kids' activities!" In turn, she looks at Calibur, then Borr. "Here, we're almost done setting up. Take these up to building C." A box of supplies is shoved into Max's arms. "Any room is fine! Just set it up to look all spooky."

"I don't recognize you. What school are you from? Here, take these!" Vit's phone nearly goes clattering to the ground as the young girl hands him another box. This one looks significantly lighter than the one Max was given. "Just follow your dad and set up with him, yeah?"

The other Neon Genesis Junior High Students aren't spared the organizer's enthusiasm. "You look a little young, but I'm sure you'll do fine. Just don't burn yourself, okay?" Borr is handed the thick plastic bag.

"Uh, we d--don't --" Calibur tries, only to be lead to a wrapped parcel as tall as he is. Accepting his fate, the samurai hefts the package and enters the building behind his companions.

---PRESENT---

Initially, Yuta had hoped to go to the test of courage with his Tsutsujidai friends. Especially Rikka -- the internet said experiencing something scary together was a sure way to build a bond between you and your crush! But in the end, Utsumi and Rikka both were busy, so Yuta walks up to the apartment buildings by himself. Usually, the NGJHS would've escorted him, but they seem to have vanished...

Finding a place next to Kaworu, Yuta gives him and the others a smile. At least he had his other friends here! It was still going to be a lot of fun. His smile turns a little wobbly as he hears about the 'condemned' part. Was this really okay..? What would Gridman think of him breaking and entering? Yuta glances at Kaworu -- he always had the situation under control, and... it doesn't look like Kaworu minds. IT must be fine.

"Abandoned by her father..." Yuta's eyebrows draw together at the story of the dead girl. "That's awful. I wonder how he lives with himself, knowing she died."

But, Kaworu's on the move! No time to worry about the ethics of breaking into a place where a child died. Yuta hurries after him, glancing up at the ruined building. Something makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and Yuta shivers. "We just have to find the Bikachus. No big deal at all!" Yuta says, hoping to sound confident.

Climbing through the window easily, Yuta is the second one inside, after Kaworu. He coughs, fanning at the air. Thankfully, he's got a facemask ready -- and a few spares, which he offers to the rest of the group. It's much easier to breathe with a mask on, and Yuta takes a good look around. You can really tell the place burned down... soot makes odd shapes on the walls, and a few spiderwebs are coated with it, turning them black. It's a little scary looking!

"We have to split up?" Yuta asks, blinking. "I guess that's okay! It's a test of courage, after all."

Yuta takes one of the flashlights, and stands a little bit away from Kaworu. The intent is clear -- Yuta will be in one group, and Kaworu in another. If everyone does want to split up, they should choose to go along with one of them -- or form their own group, of course! There's no real rules, here out of sight of the organizers.

But who knows what awaits our brave heroes in the depths of this haunted building!

<Pose Tracker> Relena Peacecraft has posed.

Relena transfers schools a lot to chase after people who interest her. She is also technically the rightful ruler of the Sanc Kingdom. That is not particularly relevant today.

Relena is not terribly concerned about a test of courage. She believes in ghosts because pilots talk about their dead loved ones showing up as force ghosts periodically and sometimes they use a special attack against some major threat to the world but it stands to reason that there may be ghosts that just kinda fuck around and cause problems. To this end, Relena arrives with a large backpack that is filled with ghost hunting equipment and is carrying a flashlight in one hand and a cellphone with batterypack in the other. Relena is determined to not just pass this test of courage but also to catch the ghost and tell them whatfor.

"Ah, well, it probably won't mistake me for a guy." Relena says. "But we cannot allow the boys to fall victim to its misguided quest for vengeance."

She steps in after Yuta and Kaworu, drawing out an official ghost hunting net while sliding her phone into her bag.

"I packed some ointment for the burns," Relena tells Yuta. "We cannot allow this spirit to suffer in perpetuity. Luckily I am quite adept at capturing butterflies with a net and I suspect spirits ought to follow a similar pattern."

<Pose Tracker> Heero Yuy has posed.

        'Duo Maxwell' waaaaaaaaaas briefly taken off the school register after withdrawing due to 'personal' reasons, personal reasons that involve going to the Arctic to a very cold set of coordinates for possibly a very ill-advised duel that no doubt will have consequences.

        He expected to die there. He didn't, though, and he's now back, his school records mysteriously reinstated as if nothing has ever happened... if he'll go along with some Deculture Festival activities, a certain someone leaned hard on that part.

        He seems to be going by another name, though. Heero Yuy. What a weirdo.

        "A little girl died in a fire...?" Heero mumbles underneath his mask.

        ~*~

        SOME TEN YEARS AGO

        An adorably small Heero Yuy tumbles down a wide open field next to a military base, proud and content that he's just finished wiring explosives onto a stack of Leos visible in the near distance. Rolling to a stop, his arms spread to either side of him, he gazes up to the artificial colony sky--

        "Mister, are you all alone?"

        A young girl. A young girl and her dog...

        Heero curiously sits up, silent and taciturn. The girl smiles and laughs. "Let's be friends. Here, you can have this flower."

        A small yellow flower, of no particular rarity or consequence. The dumbfounded Heero stares at it...

        LATER THAT NIGHT

        The adorably small Heero Yuy presses the detonation button. Instantly, the military base is a roar of chaos and destruction, as the row of Leos explode internally and topple over, one by one.

        He turns around, satisfied and proud of his work...

        Another explosion. He turns instantly, not exploding that--

        A reactor failure from the chain explosion had caused the Leo to go flying -- and the large mobile suit collides against the apartment block nearby. Fires are ablaze. The screams of passerby and people from within. Heero rushes to the scene...

        The girl's dog, withering and succumbing to its injuries. Inbetween adults rushing back and forth, shouting for someone to come help, small Heero Yuy scoops the dog into his arms, holding a small yellow flower of no particular consequence.

        ~*~

        "... ... some people will have to bear the guilt of what they have done for the rest of their lives," Heero answers Yuta, seemingly out of nowhere. He glances to Relena, for a moment, then glances back towards Kaworu.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Upon arrival, Shinji isn't feeling particularly scared. For once. Mostly this whole affair sounds a little inconvenient. Probably dangerous. He's not sure at all what it proves, but he knows if he speaks up about it, he'll be teased and spoken over. Easier to go along with it... Although these are condemned buildings. They really shouldn't be doing this...

He arrives with the others, typically quiet and maybe typically sullen, up until Kaworu openly suggests a building. Not for the first time, Shinji stares at him, wondering if this is a joke, or if this is Kaworu genuinely believing there are ghosts here. Or, more distressingly, genuinely knowing there is a ghost at building C. But how would Kaworu know anything like that...?! Shinji blinks up at the building, then to the organizer.

... A frightening story that quickly becomes depressing. "He left her alone...?"

Yuta wonders how the man lives with himself. Probably just fine, Shinji manages not to say. "I don't think any of us look like dads," is what he does manage to say.

Shinji grows more withdrawn by the second. It wouldn't be difficult to mistake as fear. He follows along dutifully for their night of ill-conceived entertainment, and the actual fear begins to nip more at his heels as they enter the darkened building with the signs of disrepair enclosed around them. "Is this really worth --" His words cut off from a coughing fit from stray dust, and he fumbles to get a face mask on belatedly before fiddling with the flashlight.

Once he gets it on, he signs it on the space Kaworu used to be.

"Kaworu?" Shinji looks over. "Kaworu --!" It's a harsh whisper of warning, Shinji afraid raising his voice will send the whole building collapsing around them, and he rushes after him.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Rei Ayanami turns her gaze up towards Building C. (Rei is wearing a white blouse, untucked, over black leggings.) (Rei put this together from several other outfits she owns.) (Rei is still struggling with the unexpected and somewhat unwelcome feeling of having to think about what clothing she is wearing.) (It makes her look faintly Bohemian.)

Rei's eyes go over the first three stories. At the fourth, Rei actually sees a problem. "Understood," Rei answers the cackling organizer, before her hands fold behind her back. She considers the building.

"Would he?" Rei answers Yuta, at his own wondering regarding how a father lived with himself in the aftermath of such things. Rei then adjusts the strap of her handy dandy NERV bag (which is about 70% medication, 10% a couple of water bottles, and 0% any sort of light source - her phone is at 11% battery, and that, likely from inertia due to the ingrained habit of Charge Your Phone In Case There's An Angel.)

Rei glances towards Kaworu and Shinji in particular, her attention resting on Shinji for an enigmatic moment, before they move forwards and climb up over the stool. Rei moves with ease, and --

"Is that so?" Rei answers Relena when she speaks of the principles of ghost catching.

Rei follows after Relena, thereafter; and she does not say much, unless spoken to.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

For once, Mari Makinami Illustrious is actually here on time! To an event that she even made sure to sign up for! It's a miracle, truly.

Two small problems:

1) Mari Makinami Illustrious is not, technically, part of Tokyo-3 Municipal, not middle nor high, nor is she enrolled at any known school in the GUTS roster.

2) There's no earthly reason she should have had to know that this event was going to happen, for the aforementioned reasons, and also because she is - appropriately - like a ghost, or a quantum entity, except for those times she's actually around.

So why is she here?

Her reason, if asked, is simple:

"I -love- gold stars."

Which just raises further questions honestly.

All this doesn't really mean that she shows up sensibly, of course, which is why, as Shinji rushes after Kaworu, he'll find --

"WATCH OUT!"

Suddenly a Mari, appearing from the desolate, scorched entrance of the building, fingers a-wiggling!!

And this is where Mari makes her grand entrance, one hand on her hip, dressed for the grimness of the proceedings: a short, gothic corset dress of blacks and reds and frilly (slightly tattered (for style)) skirts complements dark make-up and black lipstick, fishnet stockings and the most aggressively, gothily platform boots there ever were, complete with straps! and buckles!

One might lament that she doesn't have a witch's hat to complete the look, but, worry not! It's there: twirling on her index finger.

Phew.

"... You might not look like one now," she continues her warning, her voice hushed and full of danger.

"... but beware -- puppies always grow into strapping dogs if they get the chance."

And with a wink and a "you're gonna do great~!" she plops her hat on her head, locks hands behind her back, and meanders off after Kaworu, whistling as she goes. She also foregoes a mask today. Some people must just have hardy constitutions.

<Pose Tracker> Alloy Kaas has posed.

        Alouette Kaas regards everything unfolding before her with the greater degree of puzzlement than usual it demands of her. It leaves so many questions. Not the least of which is the company of her party. First the male appearing individual, Heero.

        "... ... some people will have to bear the guilt of what they have done for the rest of their lives,"

        Alouette regards Heero, and looks to Mari Makinami Illustrious if she has something whimsical or chesire in retort. Alouette has none of those things.

        "Heero. Seems a name with a lot to live up to. Thank you for letting me be part of the team. Mari, I would appreciate your guidance here. I don't understand why I couldn't bring weapons to face a threat."

Alouette offers each a mask, that she was given to pass along. She tests a flashlight, and satisfied it works, offers it to either of the other two.

        "Let us find courage and face the death of little girls as required."

        It's not a very good rally speech, and her tone is flattened by her general confusion, but hey, godspeed.

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

For most people, a test of courage would be something looked at with raised eyebrows. For others, something to avoid at all costs. For yet still another type of person, an excuse to engage in something questionable regarding romance, given how many Ashford students Kallen had overheard talking about their plans to secure a significant other. Kallen falls into none of those categories. Truthfully she's quite secure in her bravery. However, she's hoping a location being, to her understanding, actually haunted, might afford her an opportunity to speak with Naoto's spirit... If he's still watching her after all this time. To that end, she's wearing a few mementos of him, hidden in the wrists of her shirt.

Besides all that, Milly suggested that some experience with people's reactions to being frightened might help her in the near future - While enigmatically smiling like a fox that got away with a hen. That bodes ominously for the future.

Kallen isn't quite as loaded up as Relena is. She only spirited in a few hidden items. An old Gohei from a shrine nobody visits any more, for example. And of course sensible clothes and boots for dealing with potentially questionable terrain. And a bottle of water and some light snacks in her bag, just in case they're stuck overnight.

There's definitely not a small knife hidden ANYWHERE on her person in case of emergencies. That would be ridiculous.

She's not terribly far behind Kaworu, as she has no reservations about this whole thing. Seeing so many of the NERV kids makes her a LITTLE anxious, but it's fine. There's nothing they'd be able to link her to, if they haven't already. "Abandoning their own child like that... one of the worst things a parent could do. And to do it for the sake of 'a night on the town', all the more disgraceful." There are worse, but... not many. And most would involve active malice. She looks deep in thought for a moment, remembering how she'd believed such horrible things about her mother for so long. And discovering... how far she'd been willing to go, what she'd endured, out of love for Kallen.

"Yes, I rather doubt I'll be mistaken in that regard either." When offered a spare mask, she slips it onto her face. Whatever might be fictional about her health conditions, she still has no desire to launch into dust-based coughing fits. As it stands, she finds herself gravitating near Shinji and Kaworu.

If there's something he finds just the slightest bit odd about this particular Lilim, it's not THAT big a deal, right? A small, perhaps familiar deviation, but not anything important in the grand scale of things. Just... maybe vaguely nostalgic.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        The moment everyone stepped into the building, the subtle scent of smoke was instantly present and pervasive. It wasn't overpowering, though, so it might have been easy to not notice. Such is no longer true as groups step further into the building. Even with masks on, the smoky scent will tickle at everyone's noses. Still not overpowering, but now undeniably there.
        
        That figures, though. This building was on fire at one point. Smoke has a way of getting everywhere, and of never going away.
        
        For his part, Kaworu walks at a leisurely pace, hands tucked into his pockets, as he traverses deeper into the apartment building. He doesn't slow, but he does smile over his shoulder at Shinji as he scrambles after him, and gives Kallen at his rear a friendly nod and a curious, lingering look. Though he has no lighting beyond whatever Shinji provides with his flashlight, his footing is sure, and he stops on and over random debris with no issue. His wounds have definitely healed by now.
        
        He also laughs quietly at Mari's typically bombastic entrance, as well as her hushed greeting towards Shinji. "It won't be a problem either way," he reassures them both. "There's no need to worry. Simply watch your step."
        
        A reckoning, hmm... Heero's words--the words of a student who left and returned with a new name, of all things--are heard, but Kaworu doesn't pay him too much mind. He, too, has a complicated scholastic situation, after all. Kallen voices her disgust at the father abandoning his child, and Kaworu is certain Shinji shares those sentiments, even if he doesn't voice them aloud. He keeps his own thoughts on the matter to himself, though.
        
        He rounds a corner, ignoring a set of shut doors in order to head towards the stairwell at the end of the hall. Once they rise to the next floor, the flashlight's light will hit on something smoky--no; something misty, creeping out from underneath one of the apartment doors. It's white, and has a cleaner scent than smoke... Kaworu gives it a considering look, looks back at Shinji and Kallen--and perhaps Mari and Alouette, if they're still following after--and then opens the door.
        
        Light flashes within, even through that cold and billowing mist. Outside one of the windows, the pale face of a gibbous moon leers inside. Its reflection shines through the room, across several mirrors hooked up throughout the apartment: on one wall, a floor-length mirror; on one wall, several hand mirrors hanging from nails; on one wall, a framed display mirror... All of them are faintly warped, and the silvery mist rises and billows out around them, threatening to pull them in...
        
        Mari and Alouette won't be there. There's another room, further down the hall, that will catch their eye as they pass by. Lights are flashing underneath a different door, just before the stairwell leading up. The door in is unlocked, and will open once opened. Inside--it might be laughable, but inside, there's a strobelight of all things, lighting up the room in painful flashes. There's all manner of spooky decorations, like cotton 'spiderwebs' and plastic spiders and bats. It's hard to see them clearly with the strobelight, especially with that strange crackling noise.
        
        ...crackling noise?
        
        --for those with the spiritual or psychic sensitivity to it, it will come all of a sudden. With each flash of light, there's a vision. A little girl of maybe eight or nine in bed. A waft of smoke crosses her room. She is sitting up, confused. She opens her door. The walls on the far side or ablaze. She looks terrified. She runs for the front door. The fire is too close; the knob is too hot. She runs back to her room to open a window. The ground is too far away; it's the top floor, after all. She stares down at the distant ground in despair. She looks over her shoulder, stricken, as the flames lick ravenously closer.
        
        ...Then the flashes of light are only that. No further visions come. It might be dizzying, though--as is that sudden, particularly powerful scent of smoke that strikes the noses of everyone inside, regardless of sensitivity.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Yuta smiles at Relena and Rei. "I guess we're a team! I'll be counting on you!" He already knows Rei, but turning to Relena, Yuta offers a hand. "I'm Yuta Hibiki. It's nice to meet you."

There's a moment of hesitation when Relena shows off her ghost-catching, and ghost-mending, equipment. "Wow, I hadn't even thought of stuff like that." Yuta says, awe in his voice. "It'd be amazing if we could really help her out!" A nervous, embarrassed little laugh. "I don't know much about ghosts. I'm glad we have an expert in our group!"

"Well -- we're off! Good luck, everyone!" Yuta bows politely to the rest of the group before looking ahead. The hallway is... messy, to say the least. Yuta carefully picks around fallen debris and spiderwebs, offering a hand to the two girls with him over particularly large obstacles. The first few doors they pass are destroyed, and clearly haven't been touched in ages, but this next one... He can see the outline of where the door had swung open in the surrounding soot.

Yuta points it out. "Someone's been in here. Let's check for the Bikachus."

Once it seems like Rei and Relena are prepared, Yuta opens the door juuust a crack. It groans as it moves, the hinges straining to stay attached to the wall. Yuta peeks a single eye around the door. When nothing attacks him, he opens the door the rest of the way and steps inside.

The fire had clearly spread to this room. Parts of the ceiling have collapsed in, and the walls are covered in burn marks. Footprints in the soot lead to the center of the room. Yuta follows them, arms out, stepping carefully in each footprint. He's looking down, focused on not disturbing the other soot, when he bumps into something. The footprints continue on beyond this object, but -- let's look at it first!

It's a box! It appears to be a normal, brown, cardboard moving box. Strangely, it's free of any soot, except for where it touches the floor. From the force of Yuta bumping into it, it seems to... creep along the floor, back and forth, just a bit. Yuta immediately jumps away. "Wh -- is the ghost in the box? Why is it moving like that?!"

Yuta looks at Rei and Relena nervously. What should they do? It seems clear Yuta's open to suggestions...

<Pose Tracker> Relena Peacecraft has posed.

Relena gives Alloy a strange look as she refers to Heero as a name difficult to live up to. "Mm?" Relena says. "I don't think 'Duo Maxwell' is that difficult of a name to live up to myself." She glances to Rei who asks if it is so. "I have brought a lot of material to be on the safe side but one cannot be too careful. Ghosts are a touch uncommon."

She was actually just kinda messing with Heero for the Duo Maxwell switcheroo but she does smile at him, not unfondly, when he looks her way.

"Can I count on you to help with the ghost hunt, Heero?" Oh now it's Heero.

She looks to Yuta who offers a hand. She extends her own and shakes his hand. "Relena." She says to him. She looks into his eyes for a moment longer than the average girl like she is looking for something in there before smiling. "I am afraid I am not a ghost expert otherwise I would have packed more lightly. Do you enjoy teasing girls, Yuta?"

But despite that she follows along obediently for now, gripping her net as if she actually thinks it might help.

Relena cups her chin thoughtfully as she studies the room. "Hm... It seems like these might be her footprints." She sees a box untouched by soot.

"Hmm... Heero." She approaches the box. "You open the box I will swing the net." She readies the net above her head. "Ready...?"

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Rei nods once to the taller form of Alouette, and then regards Heero Yuy for a moment.

"..."

Good talk. When there is a sudden manifestation of a Mari, Rei startles visibly, but she is moving to embrace, support, protect, *comfort* perhaps, Shinji Ikari; and that is well enough. The tattered portion of Mari's skirt draws Rei's attention for a moment, perhaps in puzzlement.

Already damaged?

Kallen is given another thoughtful look, with a faint furrow of the eyebrows, but it is a passing thing. Rei is already moving.

Yuta receives a heartfelt nod of her head; she brings up the rear, picking around things. In the face of a piece of collapsed rubble, Rei seems stymied, as if trying to figure out how to climb over or around it with minimal contact-- but Yuta's proffered hand makes her look up, take it, and

through.

In the room, though; Rei stays near the foyer, letting her eyes track round the scorched material.

A salvaged place.
Why was it saved?
It's rotting already.

Her eyes track the footprints. Around them. Yuta is stepping inwards, cautiously avoiding expanding the scuff marks. Relena readies the net.

"Why do you want to open it?" Rei asks Relena, potentially at the worst possible moment in the operation.

<Pose Tracker> Heero Yuy has posed.

        Alouette mentions that Heero is a name with a lot to live up to. ... she's not wrong. A name like 'Heero Yuy' is not all that unlike choosing a name like 'Zeon Zum Daikun'.

        "It's the best one I have," Heero answers, not shifting or changing his tone any more than usual. He accepts the mask and flashlight from Alouette, then turns it on; there might be people who're more ready as if approaching this test of courage as if it were a mission, and under normal circumstances Heero might be one of them...

        But he knows when a school event is a school event, so he didn't come with any weapons. ... if anything came to happen, the unnatural strength he had would suffice, at any rate.

        ... being able to detach oneself and enjoy school life without letting the life he had as a Gundam pilot is a sign of maturity, is how he puts it.

        "... yeah," he answers Relena. There's a quiet glance to Rei.

        "..."

        Yes, good talk.

        Mari explodes out of the scene in a witch's costume. Was this a cosplay event...? No, no one else is dressed up. Good. He didn't screw up.

        He follows Yuta, Rei and Relena into the room where the fire looks to have spread. There's... a box in the room. A normal cardboard box, free of soot... added here later?

        Yuta asks why the box is moving. "Maybe a small animal was caught inside..."

        Relena suggests that he open the box while he swings the net. He quietly nods, with strange intensity as he kneels beside the box. His chin bobs as if to count, and then-- he lifts!

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"C group isn't back yet?"

Asuka says as she tosses her Bikachu at one of the organizers.

"Uh no, why would they be? They basically just left! You're the first to return. In fact, where's your partner? Did you leave her behind? Kind of messed up actually."

"She started freaking out right away and it was slowing me down, so I passed her off to another group."

"Somehow that makes it even worse." Asuka just stares at her, "You do realize how that makes it worse right?"

Clucking her tongue, Asuka moves off to the side.

Asuka waits. And waits, crossing her arms and glancing towards building C in annoyance.

It's not like anything is going to happen right? It's just a dumb test of courage. Shinji will be fine - he definitely hasn't tripped and impaled himself on rebar or something. The others are even more fine. Unless you know, one of the transfer students turns out to be a spy (LIKE MOST OF THEM HAVE) and knifes all of them one by one while cackling in one big sneak attack.

Eventually her impatience and worry gets the better of her, and she storms off in that direction without telling anyone. Not having heard the instructions for C, she simply vaults over the fence, and doesn't think to look for the balcony.

-=-=-

Inside Building C, there's a distant, violent thudding on the floor below. Rhythmic, hollow. Dust falls and settles every so often on each impact.

Then it ceases.

A half minute passes, whatever was there is go-

The soft almost musical tinkle of breaking glass dispels that notion.

A door slams.

Footsteps... footsteps below. A soft creaking. Then another violent noise, that sounds like something wooden, just detonated.

Some dread specter stalks from below...

-=-=-

Her hair and skin has become stark white from the layer of dust and ash she shook free from the destruction of the first apartment she entered, she's only made a token effort to clean it out of her eyes.

Glancing sideways, she suddenly elbows a container on the side of the hall, the glass shattering from the impact. Reaching inside, she extracts her prize.

Fire axe in hand, Asuka stalks forward to the stairwell. The way up is blocked by discarded furniture and debris.

Without missing a beat, Asuka just starts hacking at the barricade, the sound echoing above -

She's coming.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

MARI.

Shinji stumbles back several steps and losing balance on his heel. He would fall, except -- there is Rei. Shinji catches himself, possibly pressed against her a moment, glancing back and cut off from a cry he'd have made otherwise. Silence by paralysis, but calmed by the presence that is Rei Ayanami, he shines his flashlight appropriately to spotlight Mari in all her witchy frills and... even a hat?! (Shinji, the hat is hardly the issue here.) (Shinji has overloaded, give him a minute.)

"Wh... what does that even mean?!" Shinji whispers in the darkness of Mari's strange warning. He straightens himself, glancing back at Rei with a face too uncertain to smile, but there's a soft gratitude there -- an acknowledgment -- before he continues on.

And stumbles, almost (but only almost) tripping again just as Kaworu warns him to watch his step. Shinji breathes out until he can't anymore, steadies himself, and keeps walking. He hasn't given much thought to ghosts. He doesn't know if he believes in them, or if he believes they can hurt him even if they did exist. He knows this house can hurt them, though.

"Are you sure--" Kaworu's already opening the misty door. Ah -- all right... Shinji's muscles are tensed more than he realizes as the flashlight reflects off of too many mirrors. Shinji lowers the beam to keep it from bouncing back to blind him -- or anyone else.

"I don't think Bikachu is in here," Shinji says feebly, despite that he is being drawn into it. "...Or any ghosts..."

Enough uncertainty is creeping into his voice to suggest it may be himself he's trying to convince. Then: footsteps. Footsteps. Something like detonating wood.

Every instinct Shinji has goes to high alert, body frozen with fear and the beam of his flashlight shaking with his grip.

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

Kaworu's over-long look doesn't go unseen... though Kallen has no intention of questioning him on it. Why would she? She's been stared at plenty of times, for all manner of reasons. Nothing about him sticks out as all that worrying, especially with how easygoing and friendly he's been any time she's seen him. And also... well, her paranoia just isn't quite that bad.

Her eyes trail away, following the light. The acrid smell of smoke is... a bit TOO familiar for her. Buildings collapsing and burning... It really SHOULDN'T BE, but this is the course her life has taken.

Inside the room... Light flashes, and while she feels... something. A touch of some emotion that makes her shudder and causes her eyes to mist up... She's presently spared the visions. For the oddities about her, a Newtype she very much is not. The intensity of the smoke however, causes her to raise an arm. To try and cover her mouth further, despite the mask. It's distracting enough, that it's hard for her to fully appreciate the mirrors and the way they're reflecting a beautiful yet sinister moon. She coughs once, then looks to both her groupmates. "Are you two okay...? Should we examine this room further, or...?" She's casting cursory glances around it. But aside from the moon. Many, many copies of the moon. She isn't striking on anything that might signify a hiding spot, or additional spiritual activity.

There is though, a slight creaking from something... on Kallen's person? Probably some supply she brought, shifting in her bags. But then there's a sound NOT from her, off in the distance of the building... and that makes Kallen startle. Her instincts making her draw up in a way that a normal high school girl from a moderately-wealthy family REALLY shouldn't be. Not terrified, but... cautious and defensive. A difference the untrained eye might be able to mistake... but not the people standing beside her here.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

'Mari, I would appreciate your guidance here. I don't understand why I couldn't bring weapons to face a threat.'

Mari looks back at Alouette with a little smile, more subdued than her usual, dazzling affairs.

"Because this isn't a threat that can be solved with force," is her simple, vague explanation. She refuses to elaborate further, save for one thing:

"It's one that requires spirit."

It's then that her sparkle reignites, as she spins around to face Alouette, an improbable bounce to her step as she navigates the moonlit hall backwards.

"But worry not. You're safe in my tender grasp, my timid tako~."

This is not, necessarily, a reassuring statement, depending on the context.

In this context, however, it means that Mari takes point for her group -- or at least, whoever chooses to join her in her whimsical wanderings that are ostensibly meant to search for the Bikachu. Said wanderings, whether by fate or quirk of curiosity, leads her to that shambles of a room -- lit by the pulse of a strobe. Green eyes blink. She looks up, towards the strobe light. She catches each point of spooooooky plastic decorations.

But it isn't what actually catches her interest.

Mari's eyes close. A second passes.

... And she sniffs that burning air, gently.

There are several more seconds of silence that pass from the tall, undesignated Evangelion pilot and theoretical student. Her hands, clasped behind her back, squeeze their fingers together a bit more firmly. By the time her eyes open, they are hooded, and she is instantly moving further inward, as if tracking the scent of that smoke as she investigates the room.

"It musta been frightening, huh..." she murmurs, half under her breath, before the sound of hacking just below catches her ear. Mari's brows lift. She looks downwards with the cattish curl to her lips.

"Hoh...?"

BBSYS: Post 231, 'New Board and Channel: Coordination' has been published to Announcements by Beam Coat.
BBSYS: Post 232, 'New Board and Channel: Coordination' has been published to Announcements by Beam Coat.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        The white mist wavers. The room is cold. If there truly is a ghost in this apartment complex building, surely this would be it...
        
        Except...
        
        A faint breeze billows a curtain. The mist shifts, just enough to reveal a block of dry ice sitting on a pan in the middle of the room. No ghost whatsoever, surely. Simply smoke and mirrors--literally.
        
        "No, it's all right," Kaworu reassures Kallen. "It's just..."
        
        A shadow in the mirrors--a dark crescent nestling against the bright moon. In one mirror, a haggard early thirty-something having dinner with a young girl, tired, but smiling at her. In another mirror, a door opened on an empty fridge as the man looks fretfully at a clock's late hands. In another mirror, he puts the little girl to bed with a nervous kiss on her forehead. In the last, he grabs his wallet and jacket as he hurries out the door.
        
        The breeze picks up, and the dry ice smoke billows. The shadows are gone. Kaworu watches them all with a faint frown.
        
        Then some LOUD, ANGRY stomping downstairs clatters, followed by the noise of trying to dissassemble the barricade over the other stairwell. Kaworu looks down that way, then shakes his head ruefully.
        
        "It seems the Second Child isn't content with exploring one building," he comments aloud to Shinji and Kallen. He absolutely notices the way Kallen draws up, ready to defend herself at a moment's notice; he does not remark upon it. Instead, he strolls over to Shinji and gives him a gentle, comforting smile. "She'll calm once she finds someone else to terrorize. Shall we move onwards?" he suggests.
        
        In this way, Kaworu leaves Mari and Alouette behind to Asuka's tender mercies. They both like her, so it's fine.
        
        Up they head to the third floor, Kaworu at the head and Shinji and Kallen presumably at his back. The smell of smoke is an outright stench now, and the walls, floors, and doors are almost all pitch black. The ceiling is outright not there, burnt away into stakes of wood and coils of dead wire and blackened insulation. It's astonishing that Kaworu is seemingly unaffected by it; it's enough to gag on, even with masks on. It's hard to imagine what it must be like without.
        
        Kaworu comes to a stop beneath the hole in the ceiling, gazing upwards into it. What remains of an apartment is identifiable only by the empty, threadbare metal frame that barely outlines a door frame.
        
        "Up there," he says with confidence. "It won't be easy to reach it... Not with all three of us, at least." He looks over at Kallen. "Do you have--ah."
        
        He pauses then, looking at something behind the redhead's back. Specifically, down towards her feet.
        
        An instant later, something grabs her ankle from behind.

<Pose Tracker> Alloy Kaas has posed.

        Alouette appreciates the simplicity of Heero's reply, and with a soft smile and nod, she faces Mari and places herself in said tender grasp. A look exchanged with Rei, is this new for her as well?

        Shuffles and clops and boot stomps and all manner of shoes clatter into the standing remains of the building. Alouette's own is part of the parade as the group disperses, and the atmosphere changes. Is it by design or by intent she wonders, glancing here, and testing footing where it looks suspect.

        Alouette pauses when Mari goes, Mari. Sniffing the air. Alouette should ask her sometime what she finds so fascinating about the olfactory experience, maybe she is missing out, considering she is restricted when it comes to one of her own other senses. Alouette realizes finally that Heero had gone elsewhere, was it just the two of them now? Mari seems to have caught something...

        ...And the sounds of destruction echo from elsewhere inside. The colored follicles at the back of her neck, shiver. What is that, unfamiliar feeling?

        "Miss Mari, Orders?"

        Alouette speaks softly, not a whisper, but hushed. She looks for non verbals from her partner, ready to act. Alouette could ALMOST feel music, like a heart beat, DUN DUN... DUN DUN...

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Yuta smiles to Relena as he shakes her hand. As she looks into his eyes, she might notice how intensely blue they are. Almost more of the concept of blue eyes, rather than the dimmed reality of a mixture of grey or green. Perhaps a bit overbright? Yuta blinks, blushing softly as Relena asks if he enjoys teasing girls. "Well -- no, of course not! I didn't mean anything but admiration, really!"

"And you're Heero?" Yuta asks, nodding to the other boy. "Thank you for coming along!"

Rei is given a soft smile as she takes Yuta's hand. "Careful, there."

When Relena instructs Heero to oepn the box, Yuta makes sure to get out of the way, disturbing the soot at last. "Be careful..!" Who knows what could be in there? Yuta is tense, ready to throw himself in front of the other children should a real threat emerge.

Rei's question goes unanswered, sadly, as Heero lifts the box! Relena's net comes down, soundly covering the entire thing. It doesn't seem to be moving much anymore -- maybe whatever's inthere accepted its fate..? Yuta creeps closer to check...

...Relena has caught a half-dozen water bottles, sliding back and forth from where Yuta accidentally bumped them. The young man is dumbfounded. "What is... is this a joke?"

As if on cue, footsteps can be heard approaching. "Hey, kids! Didn't think anyone'd pick my room." A lanky man approaches, wearing a... somewhat dirty suit, phone in one hand. Yuta recognizes him at once.

"Vit?!" Yuta cries, looking between the netted box and the tall man. "You did this? Why?"

"Weeelll..." Vit says, with a languid stretch. "I was supposed to hand out these water bottles to you kids, but you took so long to get inside, I just found a room for a little nap." Indeed, a portion of the floor seems to have been cleaned off, soot wiped away. He seems already bored with the conversation, scrolling away on his phone. "At least I'm not the ghost, right?"

Yuta covers his face, flushing in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, everyone, I'm not sure why he's even here. This is one of my, uh--" What were the Neon Genesis Junior High Students to him? "My... comrades."

Vit saunters out of the room, eyes on his phone the entire time. "Don't get eaten by a ghost, kids!" He laughs to himself, and is soon gone from sight.

"Well, um." Yuta turns back to his friends. "I guess let's... keep looking? If anyone wants a water bottle, though." Yuta glances down at the box once more.

Once everyone is prepare, Yuta leads the way out of the room. Coming up next seems to be a set of stairs -- much the worse for wear, from the fire. Every few steps, one will be missing, requiring the kids to jump over the gap. The higher they go, the stronger the smell of smoke. Particles of soot and ash gather on the masks of those wearing them, and alight on the skin of those not. Yuta coughs, fanning at the air again. "The smell is so strong..."

Kaowru's group can faintly be seen ahead -- but they continue on past the second floor, onto the third. Yuta leads the way onto the second floor. As before, most of the rooms are destroyed, or blocked by rubble. After a long trek through the thick, smokey air, they've found no accessible rooms. Yuta's led everyone in a gentle loop of the floor, until they're facing the stairs once again.

"I guess we can go u--"

Before Yuta can finish, the ceiling above them collapses! An enormous shape falls along with the rubble, vanishing beneath it. The floor groans, trembling under the weight of the massive figure and the debris. Yuta reaches out to steady Rei, his other hand clinging to the wall.

"Is everyone alright?" Yuta asks, once the building stops shaking.

A soft groan comes from the collapsed pile of debris. It's eerie, muffled beyond what the rubble would do, with a metallic edge to the sound. The whole pile heaves up, then collapses back down with another spooky metallic sound.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

All at once, the sound of chopping ceases.

Thud
        Thud
                Thud

Pause. There's no sound for a while from that direction. Just complete and utter silence. That is until the ceiling crashes.

Then the footsteps stalk closer at an intensely rapid gait. A door shrieks open on rusty hinges.

Tomblike silence reigns again from that direction.

That is...

... until the blade of an axe - namely a weapon of the type that Mari told Alouette would be unnecessary - suddenly cleaves through the fire-damaged wall of the apartment. Then again... as the hole just, widens.

And a ghostly visage with spectral blue eyes just peers through from behind the gap at Allouette and Mari, axe still lodged in the wall.

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

Shadows in the corners of her eyes... Those catch Kallen's attention, even like this. The mirrors, showing something... odd. What she saw for an instant, she doesn't know. The haze from the ice obscured it too quickly. That brings a slight frown to her face.

And then there's mention of a Second Child. Kallen doesn't exactly know their designations. Even if she could guess the meaning, she still has to ask. "Second Child...? Is that... another student from Tokyo-3?" Of course, if it IS, there's really only one person she knows of it could be. Her 'Rival in Red', though neither of them has vocalized such. And they've only met on the field the once, so... does that REALLY count?

They're moving along already. Leaving behind the thrashing and destruction to their backs. The smoke has her coughing again. It's like breathing in the exhaust of an OLD arena Wanzer. She feels for a moment, like throwing up. But chokes that urge down. Then glances up, as Kaworu is pointing out the door. "Do I have... What exac-?"

Her own questioning is cut off, as something she didn't notice coming grips her ankle, around the laced up boot she'd worn for that exact kind of treacherous footing. The urge to fight back and the urge to scream collide at max speed. So she does both. Shrieking at a volume that could wake the long-dead, as her un-grabbed foot rises to kick... whatever just grabbed her. Which really may just send her tumbling to the ground at this rate.

And here she thought she was braver than that.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Shinji curls on himself, trying to make himself smaller as his flashlight turns to the door, his breath short and fast. Loneliness is in this room, but fear is under it. As Kallen gets ready to defend herself, Shinji fails to notice -- possibly, he would not have thought it odd even with her supposed constitution. He doesn't know enough about self-defense to know she's doing it correctly, for one.

Kaworu makes an even more terrifying observation.

"Asuka," Shinji whispers. He slaps his hand over his masked mouth, as if uttering the name will invite her presence upon them, especially in this hall of mirrors. Thankfully, he only said it once, not thrice. (Nor thrice plus once.)

A dreadful guilt claws at his chest as he follows after Kaworu, glancing back over his shoulder. Alouette deserves to sleep at night, too...! ... ... Mari is probably impervious to Asuka insomuch as she's evidently impervious to everything.

The further they go, the more Shinji coughs, snorting and trying to get the smell out. Even through his own mask...! He looks to Kaworu, wincing and wondering why Kaworu's as unfazed as always. A hole above them. That's hardly safe, but the sooner they get a Bikachu and get out, maybe the sooner this all ends...

He's about to ask how Kallen's handling the air when she s c r e a m s. Shinji reflexively screams with her, and as Kallen goes tumbling, he reflexively tries to catch her...

...dropping the flashlight by necessity, and sending it rolling to shine light wherever it may at ground level.

<Pose Tracker> Heero Yuy has posed.

        Underneath the box is... water bottles. But footsteps can be heard, right after -- and Vit's appearance makes Heero tense for a moment, because the Gundam pilot doesn't register him as part of the event. A suit...

        Yuta immediately recognising him makes him relax, though. "... I see," Heero quietly remarks as the boy explains that they're his comrades. Bodyguards of a sort, perhaps?

        A distant, violet thudding. What is that? It doesn't sound like it's particularly part of the 'show', so to speak, Heero thinks. There's a noise like something sharp... glass impacting...

        ... maybe it's Yuta's other comrades. Or someone else's come to kill Relena, which must be becoming very pedestrian by now.

        Heero's instincts kick in a split second before the ceiling collapses, though, and he immediately hurries to rush people out of the way of falling debris.

        Yuta asks if everyone's all right; there's a quiet noise of acknowledgement from the young Gundam pilot. "... I doubt this was intended. There might be injured student or staff," Heero advises.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

Chop. Chop. Chop.

... s i l e n c e .

'Miss Mari, Orders?'

Mari, positioned in a half-crouch, half-kneel now as she listens to the ominous sounds, shuts her eyes. She sniffs once more, solemnly.

The upward twitch of her right brow is a subtle one, before she rises to her feet with a sudden air of gravity to her presence, as if, all of a sudden, she carried all the weight of the world in the sharpness of her gaze alone.

"Ms. Tako," she replies, and somehow, her voice is no less serious as she approaches.

Thud.
                Thud.
                                Thud.

Her footsteps ring in time to the ominous sounds from the Other Side, until she is circling around Alouette. She leans in - close, but not too close - to whisper something into her ear, as if not to let whatever is approaching hear her portentous words.

"I sense something beautifully terrifying just beyond that wall," is said whisper. Blue eyes narrow as they focus on said wall.

"My orders are to prepare your spirit, Alouette Kaas. Steel yourself, for the inevitable approaches...!"

Footsteps. the scorched grounds creak and groan.

Deathlike silence.

And then --

CRACK!

is the sound of an axe splintering through the wall to reveal an unholy visage with spectral eyes!!

"OH NO!" screams Mari, who is absolutely not overreacting to elicit specific reactions from her <strikethrough>prey</strikethrough> comrade.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "Yes," Kaworu tells Kallen. "Her proper name is Asuka Shikinami Langley. She is designated the Second Child due to having been the second child chosen to pilot the Evangelion." He says this conversationally, as if it's no big deal for him to share. And, honestly, it isn't; it's public knowledge at Tokyo-3 Municipal who the Evangelion pilots are, and therefore anyone in the GUTS collective would be able to find out with enough effort.
        
        It is a little unusual for Kaworu to offer that kind of information unprompted, though.
        
        "She's something of a hellion," he continues as they head upstairs, "so it's best to leave her to those who enjoy her antics." He pauses, though his feet keep moving; then he gives Shinji a concerned, sidelong glance. He's hardly ignorant of Shinji's fear and anxiety, but this is the sort of place where such feelings are expected. Better to remain calm for him. Still, he needs to ask: "...Ah. Did you actually want to go see her, Shinji...?"
        
        However, it's soon too late for them to head back. Below, crashing abounds as though someone had fallen through the rickety floors. There's distinct CHOP CHOP CHOP sounds. Kaworu ignores all of it. He's a man on a mission, apparently. He gives Shinji and Kallen both looks of concern as they express their breathing problems, but the path forward is also an issue--as is whatever grabbed Kallen's ankle.
        
        She and Shinji scream, shrill and terrified, mixing in with screams throughout the rest of the building. Shinji drops the flashlight as Kallen kicks backwards at whatever grabbed her. And...
        
        There's nothing.
        
        There should be something. It was distinctly a human hand that grabbed Kallen. But there's nothing there at all. No resistance meets her shoe; nothing appears in the rolling beam of light.
        
        Nothing but a long, sprawling cord of metal wire, draping down from the broken ceiling.
        
        "Hm," Kaworu utters from behind them, as if his companions hadn't just gotten done screaming their heads off. He steps forward past them, kneels down to pick up the wire, and tugs at it testingly. It, and the portion of the ceiling it's attached to, holds. He looks up; he looks down.
        
        "Now I see," he remarks, smiling his usual faint and crooked smile. "It seems we've been given an invitation." He looks over at Shinji and Kallen. "You two go on ahead. I'll hold the wire to keep it steady for you."
        
        He will keep it steady, too. Stronger than he looks, perhaps? ...Either way, once the two of them have climbed up--however long that might take; Kallen probably wants to go up first so she can help Shinji up after her--Kaworu ascends at the rear as promised. He looks forward into the skeleton of the torched apartment.
        
        Slumped face-down on what precious little remains of the floor is the dark figure of a small girl with two small, blonde pigtails. One of her hands twitches; then the other. Then her whole body as she begins to push herself upright, vocalizing dry and desolate noises as she reaches out a trembling hand towards the trio.
        
        "Unggghhhh... aaaaagghhh... aaaahhhhhh--"

<Pose Tracker> Alloy Kaas has posed.

        Alouette Kaas. Britannian Lt Col. Veteran of the Middle East Campaigns. Possessor of Geass. Pilot of the Kraken Evangelion Unit Null-Sigma. Agent of SEELE...

        It's an escalation that the fourteen year old girl can neither escape nor is immune to. None of her titles or experience do anything right now. She has been perfectly primed. The attack against the room. Mari's idiosyncratic routine. The cat circling, but not hunting, she is stirring the pot. Alouette is about ready for serving, and Mari adds the last bit of salt when she screams.

        The Axe breaks the wall.

        Then wider it smashes and the blade glints in the flicker of light from the small illumination of the torch flashlight. The white pale terror with blue eyes staring through at Alouette and Mari, as Mari screams..."AAIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

        Alouette screams, in terror, a scream she cannot remember having made before.

        Not frozen in place Alouette charges grabbing the first thing she can... Mari's hat!"Mari get back!"

        Alouette rushes the damaged wall trying to break through it with her weight and inertia, and trying to capture the ghastly face with... Mari's hat. But the thick layers of dust and ash dont make for sure footing, and Alouette scared stupid or brave or both, falls into the attempt.

<Pose Tracker> Relena Peacecraft has posed.

Relena laughs a little and says, "I'm just teasing. I know, I know. You have honest eyes." Is that how she reads 'eyes that are bluer than blue? "I can tell." She pats him on the shoulder once. "Do not sweat it so much, mm?"

AND THEN--she brings the net down.

"Impressive... Ghost substitution." Relena says softly.

She looks to Rei. "Ah, well, perhaps the ghost was there? That is what I thought. It also felt...maybe a bit of a waste to NOT open it?"

She moves along and--

--A COLLAPSING CEILING??

"Ah--!" Relena stumbles back, in shock!

Towards Heero.

There's a groan from the debris. "Er...?"

She moves back to the pile and tries to pull debris free.

"Are you okay?" She winces. "This is a bit much for a haunted house isn't it...?"

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

"If you had left it closed," Rei answers Relena, "then the waveform would remain uncollapsed."

Bikachu, Rei thinks.

What does one even look like?

Something is banging. Smashing. Below them. Rei's head cranes for a moment and she wonders.

... Could it be?

The thought makes Rei turns her lips down.

Ghosts.
Unidentified aerial phenomena.
Eccentricity. Faces in clouds.
Music in the events of life.

But then it is revealed to be-- the work of Section Two!! No. Rei blinks at the appearance of Vit, and Rei echoes his statement: "You aren't the ghost."

"I would," Rei says, as a water bottle is made available. She opens it and drinks much of it, and then spills a little into the palm of her hand, running it through her hair to rinse away particles of smoke, at least temporarily. Moving upwards, the lingering particulate level is enough that Rei coughs into the back of her hand, several times; a vaguely pathetic sort of cough.

She doesn't put on a face mask, though. A glimpse of figures in the distance -- and then

CRASH

Rei cries out in sheer astonished shock at the creaking collapse. She throws an arm over her face, eyes wide at the sight of the fallen and muffled figure; she reaches with her other hand towards Yuta's side, grasping onto him, his arm, his shirt, SOMETHING with remarkable strength.

A few more coughs, a rustling breath, and then -- silence, with labored breath.

A waveform, indeed, that has most definitively collapsed.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

The twin shrieks of Mari's totally definitely real shriek. And Alouette's definitely real shriek drown out any immediate response, as the spectral face seems to recoil as it hisses. "What are you..."

A hat comes straight for the hole in the wall, and Asuka's eyes go wide from the out of control charge, right as she JERKS the axe out of the wall because the last thing she wants to see is the result of Alouette hitting the edge of the axe full sprint.

Alouette hits the wall, and the half shattered wall disintegrates, as Asuka is charged right into and topples, a hat grabbing the terrifying visage, and forcing her aground through a small ashen end table throwing up a cloud of ash. The ghost(???) just lays there for a moment, face encased in the hat.

A second passes, two seconds pass as the dust in the room settle again

Did Alouette - ACTUALLY - catch a ghost?

"GET THE HELL OFF ME!"

That's a big negatory. Asuka roars as she tries to roll off to the side and wiggle out of her grip.

"What are you two, stupid!? I thought you'd be done with this challenge by now! Don't tell me you're scared-"

Pause as she stares at Mari, the second figure, double taking, "-Wait, is your school even part of this event? You know what nevermind." She mutters, "Shouldn't surprise me you're here." She glowers at the pair, "If you're done wasting time, then let's make sure the others haven't fallen into a hole somewhere."

-=-=-

And it's not long before the footsteps of the other group catch up to the fourth floor. Asuka's mostly wiped her face off now...

... but she's kept the axe. Because of course she did.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Right." Yuta says to Relena, with a bit of a wobbly smile. "Thanks, Relena."

Rei gets a curious look. "A waveform..? What's that, Rei?" Yuta nods as she takes a water bottle. His concern grows when Rei begins to cough, and Yuta takes off his own face mask. "Here, I think this would help." He offers it to her, stifling a little cough of his own. The smell of smoke was so much more powerful with the mask off..!

Heero manages to get Yuta and Rei both out of the way of the collapsing ceiling. Yuta clings to Rei, blinking in surprise at her strength, even in the midst of the danger. "I've got you!" He says, supporting Rei for as long as she holds on. Yuta had no idea Rei could react so loudly to anything! It's a little shocking -- making him feel more afraid, for seeing how frightened she is. He's in no rush to take away his support at this point.

"Y--yeah." Yuta nods to Heero. "We should try and help! Can you help me lift some of this?"

Once Rei seems safe, Yuta moves forward to help the others clear the rubble. Their efforts are quickly rewarded. Working together, the kids are able to unconver yet another man in a suit. He groans again, shaking his head once he's free. "Thank you." He says, looking up at the kids. The lower half of his face is covered with a metal mask, making his voice echo oddly. "I was making sure the building was free of any dangerous elements, and I fear I became one myself."

"Max!" Yuta hurries forward, looking the enormous man over. He seems to be uninjured, thankfully, though his suit has certainly seen better days. "Are you okay? Are Calibur and Borr in here too?"

Max nods. "You have my deepest apologies for nearly harming you all. The others should be somewhere in the building." Max looks back at the now-destroyed path to the stairway. "I seem to have ruined the game." There's a hint of embarrassment, beneath the dull tone of his voice. "Allow me to assist you all to the final floor."

Before anyone can say otherwise, Max gathers all four children in his arms. Yuta and Heero are thrown over Max's broad shoulders, and Rei and Relene each are tucked under an arm. With a "Hup!", Max is leaping through the hole in the ceiling. He moves with surprising grace, for such a large man. Once they've landed on the third floor, Max bounds up the final staircase, only then depositing the children carefully to the ground. "There we are. Your friends should be arriving shortly."

Yuta stumbles, falling to the ground on his rear when Max puts him down. "H--hey, we didn't need --"

Max pats Yuta on the shoulder. "Nonsense. Now you're on even footing with the others. Best of luck!"

And with that, the large man is gone, leaving behind a blur of movement. Yuta looks at his friends apologetically. "Another one of my comrades. Um. Sorry. I really don't know why they're here..."

Looking around at the new, third floor (really, the fourth), Yuta covers his mouth and nose. The smell of smoke is overpowering, and his bright red hair is beginning to look grey with how much soot has landed on it. "I guess this must be where we're supposed to go. Let's find those Bikachus."

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

Kaworu is kind enough to explain. Of course, yes, that all makes perfect sense really. It's also not really unprompted, given she did ask what he meant about the title. So it's helpful, being able to put all the pieces properly together. He explains more of her personality as well, and it all adds up to four, as it should.

...The void of contact, and the sudden lacking of anything touching her after a duo performance of screaming, really ought to make it worse, but when the both of them regain their sense, Kallen is happy to help Shinji back to his feet. "That was... That was really strange? I guess the wire cord caught on my foot." She feels in the depths of her soul, that's not true. But it's good for calming down somebody panicking. And Kaworu's totally calm, so that's reassuring.

They're given a way to cross, thankfully, given she did NOT pack rope. She'll take the lead, ascending quickly and with a pace that seems practiced. As if scaling lines of rope were natural to her. And once she's across, she turns to offer her support to Shinji. Both physical and moral. "That's it... a little more. You're doing great, just a bit further and I can grab you." She'll of course, happily do the same for Kaworu, not that he'll need the help. She'll still offer it though.

And then, inside the room. Her eyes narrow, as she stares at a person on the ground. Kallen knows this isn't the remains of the corpse, for one VERY specific reason. The hair would have burned off in a fire. Nevermind the other reason that no fire and rescue team worth their names would have EVER left a child's burned body lying here when they were putting out the fire and clearing things out. She approaches the twitching body, though she's pulled out... an ornately decorated stick? Well... yes, technically. It's actually a Shinto Gohei, for purification ceremonies, though not like one Shinji's likely to have seen. The colors are a bit... wrong. On the OFFCHANCE this is a vengeful spirit, she should protect her companions, making herself the obvious first target. "Wha... Who are you!?" She does sound... a little scared though. Unsure of what happens if this IS a spirit, AND her idea is a failure. She really hopes it's just a student waiting to scare people in an ill-advised spot.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

And lo did Mari Makinami Illustrious gaze upon her great works.

"Ufu."

And it was good.

Mari, defenseless maiden that she is, stands back as Alouette bravely charges forward for her sake. She watches with wide, curious eyes as Alouette literally just -charges- through the burnt, axe-murdered shambles of that wall towards the specter? ghoul? oni? grudge-style curse? behind it for her sake and the sake of their continued safety.

'GET THE HELL OFF ME!'

"Oh me oh my! You defended me so gallantly, I feel like I'm blushing."

She is not. Instead, as Asuka stares at Mari, she'll find her there, fingers laced delicately behind her back, rocking on her heels, eyes shut with the most cherubic of smiles dazzlingly gracing her dark lips.

"Who wouldn't want a gold star for helping a spirit in need? With stakes like that, how could I not be drawn here?"

is the answer that Asuka didn't want, with as little as it actually answers her original question to begin with.

And, with an "all done, your highness~!" in the face of Asuka's glowering, she'll wait for Asuka and Alouette to recover themselves before wandering over through the debris with a skip in her step. She crouches down to scoop up her hat, and offers Alouette a tiny smile.

"Your courage was very admirable, timid tako."

And gingerly, she places her witch's hat on top of Alouette's head. Like a gift.

"You've already earned a gold star in my book."

Before hopping along after Asuka.

                ~<3~

Soon enough, Mari is there on the fourth floor. She's whistling cheerfully, despite the circumstances.

Someone seems in high spirits! Who can say why, really.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

There are times when Shinji is prompted on his feelings for Asuka and he throws himself into vehement denial, clearly trying to chase away the smoke of a fire that burns in confusion and uncertainty. But the look Shinji gives Kaworu -- slow, haunted, and pale, all to the background ambiance of the distant, terrified screams of the comrades they abandoned -- is not one such moment. He is not able to shake his head, but the desire not to encounter Asuka on a warpath is writ upon his incredulous stare.

This look is one that says without words: Kaworu, of all the strange things you have said, this is by far the strangest.

That was before his own screaming started.

Shinji's cry cuts off, choked into a squeak as the light reveals... nothing. No one. Only a metal wire. Once he and Kallen are both back on their feet, he practically leaps away and turns his back fiercely, muttering an apology under his breath. Just a cord though... that makes way more sense than what he thought he saw for a second. And not having felt it, he has the luxury to believe it.

Kaworu prompts they climb, so climb Shinji does, now very eager to get this over with. It takes some effort on his part, but Kallen's moral encouragement seems to be helping a weird amount, turning a fumbling task into one executed competently. "Thanks," he says, referring to the physical bit, as if that's the part that really mattered.

But the world goes very cold as they enter the apartment. His eyes, and flashlight, go straight down and freeze. At first, he thinks dully with the static of bleakness in the background, that's not what a burned body would look like.

Then he thinks he sees it move.

Then he definitely sees it move.

He snatches out to grab Kaworu's hand -- harder than he means to -- and takes a half step back. Only a half step, because Kaworu's not going to bolt with him, and Kallen is presumably attempting an exorcism. "K... K...--!"

Whether he's trying to appeal to Kaworu or Kozuki in this scenario never manages to escape his petrified throat.

<Pose Tracker> Heero Yuy has posed.

        "I have a spare mask, Rei... try to not breathe in too deep," Heero offers Rei the mask Alouette gave him, but pauses as Yuta gives his -- and starts coughing. "Yuta, take mine instead."

        Heero has a quiet nod as he helps Yuta lift the debris, doing so with surprising ease due to his physical conditioning, and what comes out is... another man in a suit. The mask certainly makes him suspicious, but... once again, Yuta confirms a name -- another comrade?

        "These facemasks aren't rated for the smoke and odour present in this building," Heero remarks with a quiet frown, agreeing with Relena. ... since when did he become the health and safety inspector for this school event? "Maybe it is best to cut the game short."

        Surprisingly, though, Max offers his aid and -- HUP! -- he's on his shoulder, bounding towards the staircase and leading them to the final floor.

        Yuta starts to apologise, but Heero remarks, "They seem to have your well being in mind." ... it's nice to have people to look after oneself, isn't it?

<Pose Tracker> Alloy Kaas has posed.

        Dazed. Room spinning ears ringing until Alouette hears a familiar...

        'GET THE HELL OFF ME!'

        Her catch is pushing her off, even as the recognition dawns on her and she pushes to her own feet. Looking at Mari and then Asuka, and the inevitable word lashing from the Second. Alouette doesn't mind, but she can't help but go flush with the words, and gift from Mari. Thankfully the ash conceals it, or so she believes.

        Equipped with hat, Alouette moves with the two into the fourth floor, where everyone seems to be gathering back together. Again Bikachu is mentioned, and with a look at Rei, Alouette sees she isn't alone in her ignorance. A small comfort at least.

        Still the search is on, with the group all in one area with the structure even more destablized than when they entered. The task is still ahead, and the tease of finding a ghost, even though Alouette got her gold star... remains.

<Pose Tracker> Relena Peacecraft has posed.

Relena's life is pretty unusual but it's safe to say that she doesn't get carried like a football often by a giant with a metal jaw. "Ah...!" She exclaims as she's hefted up before she can dodge. It is a terrible blow to her dignity. Or it would be if she didn't--

Press her lips into a firm line, folding her arms across her chest like this was all in the plan. Relena can be pretty ridiculous as far as maintaining dignity can be, even in situations inherently without dignity.

Once she's set back down, she nods once to Max.

"Thank you very much for your assistance, sir. It seems we haven't found the ghost just yet."

She looks to Yuta. "You don't?"

Pause. "They're clearly helping us find the ghosts." She smiles. "They're very good friends, to come after you into this dangerous place."

"Heero," Relena adds after. "Mm..."

She cups her chin thoughtfully and takes a long drink of a water bottle. She then reaches into her backpack, drawing out a battery powered fan.

She turns it on. BRRrRRRrrRrRrR.

But just to be safe, Relena offers Heero a hankerchief. It's no mask, but it might help a little bit. "Will this help?"

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

BEFORE:

Rei is asked a good question. Rei takes the face mask, after a moment - and she looks at it - and she even puts it on, before answering Yuta, her voice increasing slightly in force but not in intonation, to push through the fabric.

"A waveform is the shape of probability," Rei says. "There are myriad aspects of every possibility. Tiny, tiny beyond estimation. If you detect one, you can only learn so much. But if there are many such things, then you can see that some go here, and others, there. A wave."

"Throw a coin," Rei says. "It lands beyond your sight. You don't know which side is up, or if it landed on its side. When you see the coin, you have collapsed the waveform. The enigma is gone."

He wore this mask?

"I... ...the enigma," Rei says, although she said it quietly, and the muffling of the cloth consumed part of the sentence, before

                                MAX!

AFTER:

Rei keeps hold of Yuta, breathing heavily and recovering gradually. She doesn't make any more noises. Her eyes focus on Max, but when he is revealed, and is not injured -- indeed, is known to Yuta -- Rei relaxes. This does not happen instantly, the way she has at times become animated and then snapped back to lassitude. She steps closer, gingerly--

In time to be drawn up underneath the majestic armpit of the enormous masked man. Rei turns her head to look at Relena across the deltoid muscles of this Neon Genesis Junior Highschooler.

Soon enough they land. "... I don't want to leave the game," she tells Heero.

"What do 'Bikachus' look like?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        When Shinji affixes that pale look of absolute terror on him, Kaworu's usually unflappable smile turns a touch nervous. "...Perhaps not, then," he concludes.
        
        He doesn't know how to feel about that unspoken refusal, really. Either way, he moves a step closer to Shinji in an attempt to reassure him with his presence before he looks at Kallen. She guesses that she got herself caught on the wire. He doesn't countermand her. "Let's move on, then," he says instead.
        
        He smiles up at Kallen as she offers Shinji her support and he accepts it. He accepts her help as well, and it will never be known if he needed it or not. Something else is more important right now, after all. The climax of the night has come.
        
        As Kallen, Shinji, and Kaworu climb up to the fourth floor, Max bounds up to bring Yuta, Rei, Relena, and Heero up on one end of the building, while Asuka, Mari, and Alouette ascend to the top of the stairs on the other side. The three groups merge as the figure on the floor within the burnt apartment groans. The newcomers will all see that dark form on the floor, stirring and groaning... and perhaps that will keep their attention.
        
        For Shinji grabs Kaworu's hand--at first his wrist, on which his hand catches the band of a metal wristwatch, but Kaworu's hand slips out of his pocket and curls in Shinji's grasp as he looks over at his terrified friend, lashes parting just a little wider than usual. 'Shinji,' his lips form, but the word doesn't leave his throat. He simply gazes at him as if he were the entire world, not even reacting to Yuta's greeting... then slowly curls his hand tight around Shinji's.
        
        Perhaps ignorant of this drama at her back, Kallen approaches the fallen figure with purification tools raised, demanding to know who she is. The stench of smoke is stronger and more acrid than ever. Overwhelming, like knives up one's nostrils. It wafts on the wind... swirls in towards the form of the girl... and--
        
        "Aaaahhhhhh--ACHOO!"
        
        ...Looks like Kallen's dearest hopes have come true.
        
        The seeming young girl pushes herself up to let loose a mighty sneeze, her entire face, while young and fresh and not ghosty at all save for all the dark smudges of soot, twisted up with disgust, anger, and allergies. It turns out her dark form is due to her wearing a black suit, of all things, though to some extent that's good because it doesn't show how dirty it is at all. Sounding quite stuffed up, she growls, "Ugggghhh! How did we let ourselves get wrapped up in this mess?! What do you kids even want with this garbage?!" The seeming little girl hurls something at everyone's feet. It is a small plastic Pikachu-esque toy with miscolored cheeks and an eerily melty face. "IT DOESN'T EVEN LOOK LIKE A PIKACHU!! WHY DID I HAVE TO LIE HERE ALL FRIGGING NIGHT FOR YOU CHUMPS TO SHOW UP FOR THIS TRASH!!!"
        
        She's about to continue on with her rant when her face screws up even more, and she bursts into another mighty sneeze.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"The shape of probability?" Yuta listens carefully. It's clear he doesn't understand, but he's doing his best! "I'm not sure I get it, but it sounds kind of amazing. Like fortune-telling, kind of? Do you think you could use it to predict how the coin lands, even if you can't see it?"

Yuta would normally refuse the mask, but he can barely breathe, and Heero seems to be doing alright... Besides, Relena is prepared. "Thanks, Heero." Yuta accepts the facemask gratefully, breathing just a little easier with it on.

Relena and Heero remark on the NGJHS, and Yuta tilts his head thoughtfully. A little pile of soot falls from his hair from the action. "You know, I hadn't thought about it that way. I'm lucky to have them." He smiles to himself, rubbing the wristband on his left arm. Yuta may have no idea how his companions got here, but... it was nice to be cared for so much.

While everyone is gathering, Yuta offers his hand to Rei again. She still looks a little wobbly, and kind of distressed. "Are you feeling alright? It seems like the smoke is really getting to you. If you need to go, I'll get Max back here to take you outside." But, Rei says she doesn't want to go out. In that case, Yuta stays close to her, ready to support her again, should she need it.

"I have no idea what a Bikachu is." Yuta says, rubbing a line of soot off one of his cheeks. "I think it's yellow? Some kind of plastic thing."

Yuta and Rei are both soon to find out, as they make their way to Kaworu. "Hey, good to see you guys again! We've had a really strange time."

Before he can go on, Yuta notices the girl crawling along the floor. He lets out a frightened squeak, putting an arm in front of Rei instinctively. But, the ghost... sneezes? And begins to yell, making Yuta blink widely. "Borr?! What happened to you?"

They throw a yellow object at the group, and Yuta picks it up. "Huh. I guess this is Bikachu." He offers it to Rei, then turns back to Borr. "Max and Vit are outside. You should join them and get some fresh air?" Yuta doesn't comment on the state of her suit. "Thank you for coming to watch over me." Yuta smiles beneath the mask. "I'm sorry things went so weird."

Borr huffs. Wiping at his face, he gives Yuta a thumbs-up. "Yeah yeah. Congrats, kids, you win. I'm out of here." And with that, they're gone in a blur of motion.

Yuta really is lucky. Surrounded by friends, protected by his companions... And no sign of anything REALLY scary! All they have to do now is get out of the building and they'll all have earned their stars.

Tap, tap, clank. Tap, tap, clank.

Footsteps, once again. But this time, Yuta seems to recognize them immediately. He turns, eyes lighting up. "Calibur! I knew we'd find you eventually."

"Y--yeah." Calibur approaches Yuta, but passes him by. "Danger is he--here. You kids need to st--stay back."

Once he's reached Kaworu, Calibur pushes the young man behind him, drawing one of the many swords hanging at his back.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        However... as Calibur draws his sword, a gentle hand rests on his shoulder to stop him. Kaworu smiles kindly at the Neon Genesis Junior High Student. "It's all right," he reassures him, voice low. "It's not dangerous at all. Could you please escort the others out, though? I'll finish up here."

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Kaworu gets a long, appraising look. Moments pass, with Yuta glancing between the two of them.

"Al--alright." Calibur sheathes his blade. "I expect to see you dow--downstairs soon enough."

"Kaworu, what's going on?" Yuta asks, but Calibur shakes his head.

"Come on, ev--everyone. Time to get your prizes." And with that, Calibur herds the children down the one remaining reliable staircase. If any protest too strongly, they'll simply be scooped up and carried, much like Max did with Yuta's group.
BBSYS: Post 233, 'Scene 159: Pageant Signups Close Thursday' has been updated.

<Pose Tracker> Heero Yuy has posed.

        "... thank you," Heero nods quietly and accepts Relena's handkerchief.

        AND TEARS IT TO SHREDS

        No, he actually doesn't do that. He does lift the handkerchief up to his mouth as a makeshift guard against the smoke, however; where did Relena even bring a battery powered fan? It might come in useful for something, though...

        Rei speaks of waveforms, and Heero... has no idea what she's talking about.

        "..."

        Perhaps his silence is as much an acknowledgement of the idea of collapsing waveforms as he ever will come to, however. But Rei says she doesn't want to leave the game. "Very well. ... it looks like a strange yellow mouse plushie, I believe."

        Yuta comments on how he hadn't thought about the NGJHS that way, and maybe that'll be his good deed for the day... reminding people of who they do have.

        That's a small way for him to live up to the spirit of the letter Relena gave him.

        But then-- Borr!!

        Another suit. Another comrade of Yuta's-- ah, yes. Is that... the end of the game? But another suit appears before long, one Yuta addresses as Calibur--

        And unlike the others, he draws a sword, which puts Heero on guard as well. This has been a night for high unpredictability. But Kaworu reassures that it's not dangerous at all -- and to escort the others out. A quiet sigh from Heero.

        If there's something still here, it seems to be a situation the organisers don't want them knowing about. He's not part of the organisers, so...

        "... we can call it a night," Heero advises, putting his hands to his jacket pocket and heading off.

<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.

To say she was ignorant of the drama and people behind her was... not quite accurate. Rather, hearing the rest of the group gather, had made her desire to protect them grow all the larger. Smoke swirls around, and then... a sneeze. And ranting from the small person in front of her. Who apparently has a particularly... volatile mouth.

Not that Kallen of all people, has ANY room to talk.

As the sneezing fit continues, Kallen pulls out a bottle of water, offering it at... ah, Yuta's explaining that this is Borr, probably a friend. Though whether they take it before bolting off... who knows.

She turns, and the group is much larger than how it began. Particularly with the addition of a Calibur to the collection. Mention is made of danger... Kaworu seems to disagree with that sentiment. But also wants to stay behind himself? Mm... Kallen isn't a fan of that. But she's clearly not going to be given a choice. So instead of protesting, she's just going to offer a small, wooden box to Kaworu. "Just in case. Some... traditional supplies for protecting against angry spirits. Be safe on your way down." Or for calling on spirits one believes might be kindly, but she doesn't speak to that part. She's definitely not seeing Naoto tonight, so there's no reason to hoard what MIGHT help another student in a pinch.

And that's it, she's going along with everyone else after that. No fight needed. No need to pick her up. She'll just follow along in the group, to collect their badge of... honor?

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

In terror, Shinji's grip is unrelenting even for its miss. He lacks full awareness of the way Kaworu curls his hand tight, and how Shinji, blind of anyone else entering the room, grips back and pulls in close like his life, or Kaworu's life, or anyone's life depended on it. There may be a part of Shinji's panicked mind that earnestly believes that.

That part becomes quite embarrassed when the zombie sneezes, but not before Shinji flinches at the sound.

Shinji's eyes are wide for a very different reason now, watching the girl talk quite unlike a girl. He blinks, eyes following raised hands, and then the Bikachu that leaves them, still staring at it as he winces with the young(??) girl(????)'s shouting.

"Um."

That's about all Shinji can think to say on the matter. He still hasn't untangled from Kaworu, not the least because there are swords present. But Kaworu says he has business and Shinji falters. "Kaworu...?" This is technically a protest, however feeble. So is the small resistance he gives to being shooed off, and however unintentionally, Shinji manages to run out the timer on getting to leave on his own two feet.

"Wait! P-Put me down...!"

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

Behold -- a spooky scary specter!

Or--

ACHOO!

-- a Neon Genesis Junior High Schooler.

Mari, intrigued by this mystery presence, is already crouching in front of him by the time he disgruntledly casts the off-brand Pikachu to the cursed earth. Her eyes are wide and wondering. "Huhhhh," she exhales. Her nostrils flare.

Of course she has to smell. This is a once in a lifetime moment.

"Hoh. Not bad."

Just what, exactly, she decides 'isn't bad' and what that might entail is a mystery to the moment, lost within Borr's fading, sneezing rant. She glances at Calibur from the corner of her gaze, the corner of her lip tugging up. "What an interesting lot," coos the Evangelion pilot, before slapping her palms to her knees and rising smoothly up once more.

"That's a Bikachu," she echoes Yuta's explanation. "Which I guess means we won! Ohhh, I can't wait~." She's deeply excited for this gold starportunity, clearly. Her hands clap together, and she wheels about, offering Asuka and Alouette a cheery smile. "Thank you for your hard work~."

And so, Mari has wandered to the fringes of the gathering as Calibur passes them by. She only pauses there, glancing over her shoulder as the older, many-sworded man speaks to Yuta.

Mari, however, doesn't say a word. She just quietly hums something beneath her breath, something like a pleasant lullaby as Kaworu speaks up and redirects the others out of the room.

Mari doesn't make any particular fuss. When Shinji is shuffled off and away from Kaworu, she offers him a cheery smile and a wiggle of her fingers. To Rei, she mouths 'congratulations.'

To Kallen, Relena, Heero, Yuta -- to the others she tragically doesn't know well, she offers a warm, heartfelt, "Good haunted hunt! Let's get to know each other much better soon~." Complete with a heavily implied <3, that becomes less implied when she forms one up with her hands.

When the last person has vacated, she leaves too. After all, it is Calibur Enforced. She offers a passing look to Kaworu, and slips from the room.

                ~<3~

At some point in their exit, Mari Makinami Illustrious has slipped away from the group. It's hard to say when. She's just like that, as many of the Evangelion pilots can likely attest.

So where is she now?

Quietly leaning against the exit where Kaworu has been presumably left alone, Mari waits, quite calmly, her arms folded under her chest, that quiet, soothing lullaby continuing to be hummed.

No one should be alone if they don't have to be, after all. Should they?

Relena Peacecraft has connected.

<Pose Tracker> Relena Peacecraft has posed.

Relena gasps...! "But...why...?"

Oh wait no that is not what she does because Heero didnt rip up the kerchief. But she does smile. Every time she sees a little new side of Heero, or maybe a side of Heero that has always been there but is new to her, she can't help but reflect fondly on it. You really cannot trust first impressions and sometimes even the ghosts and skeletons haunting you are actually friends.

Never give up. Skeleton

Relena got her fan from her backpack. It is the kind of bag you might expect to see on a safari adventure. Why she had one? well maybe it can dispel poltergeists.

But it cannot dispel Paltergeists.

Relena doesnt seem troubled by the sword either. "The spirit of a noble samurai dwells here too..." she muses aloud. "Truly, life is strange and beautiful."

She glances after Heero as he leaves.

"Heeero!" she shouts after him.

"It was fun." A dazzling smile and Relena eases off.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Before:

Rei answers Yuta: "No. But, you would know which side is more likely. ... It's an important thing."

"It's alright," she says, about the coughing.

Closer. Moving closer. Closer to the hidden things of the world. Rei can see others there - Ikari, and paler near him, the Administrator. The others - the shrine girl (because here's a fun fact, Kallen: Rei Ayanami has decided that Kallen Kozuki is a shrine maiden, and will likely not change her mind on this) - Mari, distinctive, Alouette, tall, the noisy presence of the Second. Rei blinks several times.

    There is a fallen figure.

Rei looks at that mute shape.

Ghost?
Body?
Remains?
Victim?
--

And then it sneezes, and the truth is manifested. Something far more horrible. The truth that is BORR. Rei's eyes widen.

It, too, is avoidance of what could have been. The mutated form of Bikachu, in its similarity to a certain electric mouse, is revealed. Rei accepts the proffered Bikachu with both hands and a bow of her head, before turning it up to look at it and then turning towards Relena and Heero. Rei bows her head and holds out the Bikachu towards Relena, who, perhaps, deserves a trophy to reward such preparation.

But then

Clank
Drag.

Someone else joins them. Someone approaches. Nearer, nearer. The man with the swords reminds Rei of-- --who? she can't put her tongue on the name-- but Rei watches him. He approaches Kaworu and Rei finds, after Calibur shoves Kaworu aside, that she was holding her breath.

Danger is here...

... but -

Rei's eyes flicker for a moment. Was something...?

Rei lingers for a moment. A moment longer. She turns her head to look over at Mari, in her distinctive and tattered environment. Rei opens her mouth to say 'Mari,' but it does not quite come out, between tension and fatigue and the fabric of the face mask.

She looks back at that nameless point. Something...

But before she can form it any more firmly, Rei is promptly picked up by Gridman Max, tucked comfortably beneath an arm, and toted off. She turns her head, looking at Shinji across the barrel-like chest of the mighty man.

-=-=-=-=-

Rei coughs a little more, even as she takes the face mask off, once she is clear. She takes a deep breath of air without smoke in it, and then breathes out.

To Yuta, she says: "Here," and hands it back.

"... at least, there are no civets."

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"A /gold star/?" Asuka grumbles, "You crashed this event for something primary school kids crave?" There's a shake of her head, as she leads them along, not even /commenting/ on the idea that Alouette protected Mari there.

The fourth-floor crew finds Asuka peering into the dusty, cold apartment. She hasn't even finished cleaning the dust off of herself, so while she can relate to Borr's suffering, she also doesn't comment on it either.

It looks like everyone was safe, and Shinji didn't impale himself on anything by accident. They were just /scared/ or /taking their time/. How boring. As Mari proclaims how they've won, Asuka raises an eyebrow.

"I already won ten minutes ago."

Danger is here...? Asuka looks at the weirdo that is Calibur, canting her head to the side. The fire axe in hand, ready but not unthreatening.

What's Kaworu up to? Asuka gives him a suspicious look but ultimately...

"Alright, let's get everyone downstairs."

Asuka does /not/ have to be forcibly carried off. Instead she just side-eyes Relena on it being fun. "More like it was annoying," she grumps, before... seeing both Rei and Shinji being carried by the giant man on the way out.

"You two look ridiculous," she notes, not noticing Mari slipping away in all the ruckus.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Borr probably won't refuse Kallen's offered water bottle! They'll probably grumble a lot over it, though. More importantly, Kaworu stands to one side, releasing Shinji's hand with wistfulness to his smile. "It's all right," he reassures him, as though saying it enough times will make him believe it. "I'll be with you and the others very soon, Shinji. Wait just a little longer for me--all right?"
        
        Kallen approaches then, offering him a small wooden box. Kaworu looks over at her, then down at it, then back at her... and his puzzled look slides back into a smile. "Thank you," he replies, reaching up a hand to accept it. "You're quite astute. Don't worry; I'll be down safely soon." His gaze goes over to Rei where she stands to one side, holding her breath; to her, too, he offers a kind smile, and lets that speak for him.
        
        He watches as the others either walk or are carried off downstairs, save for... a certain someone. He doesn't pay her any mind. Instead, he carefully sets down the wooden box Kallen gave him and faces the patch of burnt flooring.
        
        The figure of a young girl, skin burnt and crackling, weeps there with empty sockets and gaping bottomless mouth.
        
        " p a p a . . . h e l p . . . m e . . . i t h h h h u r t s s s . . . "
        
        Kaworu's smile fades as he regards the agonized spirit as she reaches out a blackened hand to him--not to grab, but to beseech. Then he slowly, carefully steps forward--kneels before her--and accepts her hand in both of his.
        
        "It's all right," he repeats himself, gentle and compassionate. "You've suffered alone for some time now, haven't you? But your suffering is at an end. It's all right to move on now."
        
        The spirit stills, 'looking' up at him. The blackened skin flakes, and the little girl's original form begins to shine translucently through. " i s i t . . . o k a y . . . ? p a p a t o o . . . ? "
        
        "It's okay," Kaworu reassures her. "Go on. Your rest will be interrupted no more."
        
        The ghost stares at him for a moment longer. Then she breaks into a wide, tearful smile and dissolves, leaving behind a marble-sized scarlet orb--the quietly burning remains of her soul.
        
        Cradling it between his hands, Kaworu rises to his feet, then offers the soul to the sky. It glitters in gratitude; then it rises up and is gone.
        
        Kaworu watches it go. Once the light has fully, finally dissolved, he retrieves Kallen's box, tucks his free hand back into his pocket, and half-turns with a smile. "Shall we head back down, then?" he calls softly to Mari. "They'll be waiting for us."
        
        It's thus together that Kaworu and Mari will return to ground level with a smile in exchange for their gold stars. Any questions about any ghosts will be met by Kaworu with a soft laugh and a simple, "It's all fine now."
        
        High above, a star that may or may not have been there before sparkles bright.