WEEK 4

[linkupmods]

WEEK 4

READY, STEADY, GO-KARTS!

After a harrowing week of forced honesty and a surprise attack from the God of Conflict, it seems the Goddess’ “gift” has finally faded - and just in time! Today marks the date of the highly anticipated Go-Kart Race, featuring a whopping twelve teams from the Goddess’ picks and a number of teams comprised of locals. Fortunately the weather is holding up well for the event, with clear skies and a radiant sun beating down on all contestants as they wait to begin, the heat reflecting off the asphalt. Hopefully everyone thought to use sunscreen!

The local arcade has decked out the go-kart track in flags representing the different teams, and some local businesses have set up both a spectator stand area near the finish line, as well as kiosks selling snacks and drinks for the spectators and anyone who happens to wander by! There are also some midway fair game booths and portable game machines if you're not really here for the go-karts and just here for a fun afternoon out. The best part is that everyone who enters the event zone gets three free tokens courtesy of the arcade, so you've got nothing to lose~ Unless you do happen to lose, which means that you'll probably have to purchase more tokens from the distracted teenagers volunteering manning the admin booth.

ALL'S WELL THAT-- HUH?

Eventually, all the preamble is completed, and it’s time for the race! A light counts down from red to yellow to green, and the racers are off!

While the start of the race is a jumble, a few in particular begin to pull ahead of the pack: Spade of the Sea and Kururu and Schneider in particular! Tragically, Team Bloody Angels just can’t seem to get the speed they want and seem to get stalled by various traps, falling further and further behind…

In the middle of the bunch, Atem and Sunrise manage to maintain their speed, while THE CUTIE PATOOTIES, Fire’n Ice, and Aaron and Morgan all struggle to surpass each other - leaving Beautiful, Bright Knights of Lovely Radiance, and Exquisite Midnight Shimmering unfortunately trapped behind the three and unable to pass at all. Towards the back of the group, Badass Ladies compete directly with TEAM ROADKILL for their place, while Frieren and Arven have a leisurely drive by comparison.

The first and second laps go without incident. But on the third…

Something about the local teams changes. Instead of the regular frustration of losing, some of them seem to fall into, well, road rage.

Schneider and Kururu, nearly caught up to Hiiro and Jordi, find their hopes dashed as a woman in a blue bandana bumps them from behind - the impact enough to cut their engine for a moment too long, allowing Hiiro and Jordi to pass the finish line in first place without any trouble.

The middle of the pack gets the worst of it. Jesse and Mafuyu find themselves hounded by a woman in aviators who manages to ram into their Go-Kart hard enough to dent the guard, putting pressure on the wheel - while they cross at the same time as others, they are unable to steer the Go-Kart due to the damages, and find themselves ramming into guardrail. While Mafuyu is miraculously without injury, Jesse takes the brunt of the force and will be feeling that whiplash the next day.

Aaron and Morgan get a brick - a literal brick - chucked at them, and while they manage to avoid getting hit themselves, they have to do a violent swerve to do so. That’ll also be a bit of whiplash for them, too. Badass Ladies get sideswiped by one of the locals and their kart ends up grinding against one of the guardrails. Eek.

The real destruction, however, hits the back end of the group - a man in yellow sneakers manages to bash hard into Eli and Kirumi, pushing them off course. The impact causes them to bump into Aerith and Maika along the way, who lose control of the steering wheel and knock Fray and Argenti into the wall. Fray sustains injuries as he’s dragged against the wall for a moment until Argenti is able to right their path again, pulling them back into the middle of the course. Eli and Kirumi don’t get off so easily, either - the bump against Aerith and Maika isn’t enough to stop their momentum, and Eli cracks his right shoulder against a barrier as Kirumi hits the brakes to prevent further injury. Fray, Argenti, Eli, and Kirumi will be feeling whiplash the next day.

Braphine’s chosen aren’t the only victims, either - a woman with red combat boots and a man in a green jacket each crash into local competitors, and the result is a six-kart pileup.

Frieren and Arven and Team Bloody Angels witness all of this from the back of the race, though neither team can do much except to continue on to the finish line.

What should have been a celebration at the end instead turns into panic as medics are called onto the scene and emergency personnel are summoned to the track. While many of the people in the stands seem roiling with discontent and beginning to argue and fight over the cause of all these injuries, a few of the locals hurry down to the course to help. Schneider, Aaron, Argenti, Aerith, Eli, and Kirumi will find themselves aided by familiar faces - the boutique staff recognized them and are here to lend them and their partners a hand in getting treated for their injuries.

As the racetrack descends into chaos, it soon becomes difficult to keep track of everyone. However, Hiiro, Schneider, Sally, Morgan, Argenti, Aerith, Frieren, and Celeste all notice a figure in a strangely ancient hood standing among the stands, a fierce grin on their face - before the figure turns and disappears into the crowd.

Mina - having come to spectate and cheer on everyone from the stands - gets a rather panicked look on her face as she watches it all unfold. She quickly takes out her phone and begins typing frantically at it, before hitting “send.”

All at once, all of Braphine’s chosen will hear their phones begin to beep.

CALL FOR HELP.

I've added emergency commissions to the app - please take them on if you are able to/need to!

We can get through this if we all work together. So, please... look out for each other out there, okay?

COMMISSIONS

HELPING HAND

Please help the injured! Even if it's as small as first-aid or comforting a scared child who's gotten lost in the aftermath of the go-kart crash, any little bit of help would be appreciated by the overwhelmed medical staff at the scene! Unless you’re already injured, in which case, please allow yourself to be tended to!

(OOC note: For clarity, this commission reward applies both to characters who are helping the injured and those who are injured in the thread!)

HOLY HEALING

The hospital is going to need more supplies. For those who are strong enough, please seek out Archangel Shadows in the Nekyia. They should drop blessed feathers - these feathers then can be taken to Braphine’s Temple, and the priest or priestess there should be able to turn them into medicine for the injured.

RACETRACK REPAIRS

In the aftermath of the go-kart pileup and everything associated with it, it's time for people who are good with their hands to roll up their sleeves and help the locals with repairs - clear the debris off the track and make sure the way is clear for the emergency vehicles and construction crews who need to access the site!

OOC

READ ME!!!!

• Welcome to your Week 4 event log! While this log covers the go-kart race and its immediate aftermath, please feel free to use this log to thread out anything else happening during the week after and we will see you next week for the Week 5 event!
  
• Note to all go-kart participants that there has been some shuffling in the team compositions due to player drops as well as Everything That Happened on Friday. Regardless, you can claim event participation gacha rewards if you signed up and have one thread of at least 10 comments with a go-kart related prompt on this post.
  
• Archangel stats and information have been added to the bestiary!
  
• AC is due end of the month! Make sure you get that in~
  

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Comments

[supherb]

1 - training

[Arven's presence at the training grounds is becoming a familiar sight at this point. Only as time goes by, his efforts seem to be a lot more focused. He can be found working hard on his swings with that giant frying pan of his. It might be an impractical weapon, but at least he's starting to get better at wielding it.

When he's not working with his weapon but still wants to get some training in, he goes on jogging sessions around Golden Parks with Mabosstiff at his side. He's never really lacked stamina, but it's a good idea to keep it maintained.

Training buddies are welcome in either scenario!]

2 - archangel hunting

[Arven had wanted to be more helpful at the crash site, but basic first aid was all he could really offer outside of Nekyia. Maybe if he's able to take down some Archangels, the injured will be healed up much quicker.

There's just two little problems, though: his Persona is better suited for utility and the Archangel resists Hestia's element. Actually, make that three, because the damn thing keeps flying away whenever he tries to get in close with his frying pan.]

You winged jerk! Get back here!

[This is a 100% a losing battle. Rip.]

3 - picnic

[After the meeting, some may notice that Arven's been a bit scarce around the dorms. His cooking isn't wafting out from the kitchen as often as it usually is. Where could he be?

A campsite appears in the forested area around the temple. It's well-constructed, with a cute little picnic assembled in the center of it. This is where Arven and Mabosstiff can be found, enjoying the peaceful scenery and delicious sandwiches Arven's whipped up. Seems like they wanted to get away from the dorms for a bit. Or at least Arven did.

It can be assumed that he invited any characters that he's on decent terms with to come by if they want, but absolutely anyone is welcome to crash his picnic. It's not like he can stop them!]

2

[cirquedesang]

[Conversely... Celeste had not been very helpful at the crash site himself. Between the hooligans' initial presence making him wary of going near them when there were large groups around and the fact that things were at least somewhat liable to catch fire...

No, he decided he'd be much more useful in the nekiya hunting down archangels, thank you very much.

(Rude of them to not be weak to Curse, though. Really, what kind of theming was that???)

Today, it would seem he's not alone in this little corner of the nekiya, though, as Arven's shouting gets his attention all too easily.]

Look sharp-!

[Oh? Oh you wanted to whack the thing with your frying pan, my guy? Well, just as it beats its wings to go higher, there's a -crack- of a whip and as suddenly as it was flying away, it's suddenly speeding back towards Arven, flailing unceremoniously from the uncontrolled descent via being yoinked by its ankle.]

[supherb]

Huh--? Whoa!!

[Arven wasn't expecting this change of events, but his reflexes are apparently in really good shape today. He's able to get into a good striking stance and whack the archangel right in the side of the head with a satisfying clang of metal on metal (20). It stuns the hell out of the thing, sending it crumpling to the ground for a moment.]

Yes! [Arven pumps his fist.] Not so high mighty now, are ya?!

[But he's not going to spend too long gloating. He turns to his unexpected helper.]

Oh, it's you! [There's a surprisingly positive tone to it. Who's to say how he'd be reacting to Celeste's presence if not for their shared life experience?] Thanks for the assist! Wanna help me finish the job?

3

[cleansewithfire]

[ Sunrise is one of those accidental picnic crashers since she was just exploring the area around the temple. When she sees the picnic, then Arven and Mabosstiff, she bows politely in greeting. ]

Mr. Arven, Mr. Mabosstiff.

[ (Yes, Mabosstiff gets a title too.) ]

[supherb]

[Sunrise might be a picnic crasher, but she's a welcome one. Arven doesn't mind when she approaches...though the title throws him off.]

Oh, hey. Just Arven's fine.

[He won't speak on Mabosstiff's behalf though. "Mr. Mabosstiff" sounds kinda cute anyway.

Said big dog raises his head to regard Sunrise as Arven sets his sandwich down.]

I never caught your name before.

[cleansewithfire]

[ Arven, now the dog gets to be called Mr. but not you??? ]

Oh.

[ ...Somehow Arven is the first person here to tell her to drop the title for him. ]

I am Still Sunrise, but you may call me Sunrise. [ She's noticed that a name like hers doesn't seem common for most people here. ] Are you having your meal out here?

[supherb]

[It's a bit unusual, but there a lot of those in the Pokemon world.]

Nice to properly meet you, Sunrise. And yeah, me and Mabosstiff were long overdue for a proper picnic, so here we are.

D'you want anything? I've got plenty of extra sandwich materials- I can whip up something for you.

[And here he so loudly proclaimed that he wouldn't cook for anyone on his profile... Oh, how easily worn down his social barriers are.]

[cleansewithfire]

[ Sunrise looks up at the sky for a moment like it'll give her an idea what time it is right now, and...oh, she guesses now would be lunchtime or so. She takes a seat down on the picnic blanket, smoothing out her skirt. ]

If you can, I would like something crunchy.

[ ...Kind of an odd request for a sandwich, huh. ]

[supherb]

Ahh, so you're big on texture, huh? [Arven wouldn't call it odd. He totally understands food preferences.] One crunchy sandwich, coming right up!

[He quickly gets to work, sorting through his spread of ingredients with ease.]

Oh yeah, are you okay with meat?

[cleansewithfire]

[ "Big on texture" is an understatement. She does note that Arven seems to brighten up just from making food. ]

I am fine with meat.

[ ...She turns to watch Mabosstiff... ]

3

[goei]

[Hello I'm here to crash the picnic. Izou was just wandering in the forest when he comes across what he sees as foolishness.]

Th' hell are you doing out here?

[supherb]

[Oh, it's this guy. Ugh. Arven can already feel his mood dampening and this is supposed to be his getaway.]

What does it look like? We're having a picnic.

[And also camping, but the picnic is the current activity.]

[goei]

Picnic?

[He does not know this word.]

You eat out here an' bugs are gonna get into it, y'know.

[supherb]

[He can hear the lack of recognition...]

Have you never had a picnic before? Bugs are just a hazard you gotta deal with sometimes, but it's worth it for the experience of eating outside on a nice day.

[goei]

[Does the pokemon world even have like... little ants or gnats that get into the food? Do you just have a foot long durant trying to steal your sandwiches....]

What's so great about it? Wouldn't it be easier ta just eat inside and then go out?

[supherb]

[It sure doesn't, so Arven is absolutely thinking of wild Durants and Tarountulas coming over for a nibble.]

It's about the vibes. I like getting to sit outdoors when the weather's nice, so why not eat out here too? It's especially nice to eat with others on a picnic and make a whole outing out of it. I do it with my Pokemon all the time.

[He folds his arms thoughtfully.]

Y'know what? It's easier to just try it out for yourself. Why don't you sit down and I'll make you a sandwich?

3

[bloodweapon]

[everyone is showing up to crash arven and mabosstiff's picnic... fray included.]

...What are you two doing out here?

[An equally good question would be "what is Fray doing out here" but also: he's Fray. He does what he wants. Upon seeing the laid-out picnic, Fray does the verbal equivalent of raising an eyebrow with a quiet huh.]

It would be better to remain closer to the dorms, but I trust you've had no trouble today?

[supherb]

[If Arven hadn't already met Fray prior to this, that visage amongst the trees would be a very ominous sight.]

We're having a picnic, and no, we haven't had any trouble. Mostly just a bunch of interlopers that I didn't invite...

[The moment the words leave his mouth with such annoyance behind them, he realizes what he just implied.]

You're fine, though.

[Totally reassuring.]

[bloodweapon]

[is he though..........]

I see. It's good you haven't had any trouble otherwise.

[Fray approaches and holds up a hand in greeting to Mabosstiff. No reason to be rude to the pup, after all.]

Were the others pestering you for any particular reason?

3 - Picnic

[silentfury]

[Yuri being around natural areas on the island is a common sight, but willingly approaching folks isn't. If he wants to get back home to the place he's sworn to protect however, forging strong bonds is necessary. So he swallows his fear and slowly approaches Arven and his pet, gently knocking on a nearby tree to more easily indicate that he's coming. He doesn't want to scare the boy half to death again like the first time they met.]

[supherb]

[The warning knock is appreciated, especially since Yuri's so quiet. The only other sign Arven had that someone was approaching was Mabosstiff's head rising in the direction Yuri came in from.]

Oh! Hey! [He gives a small wave. Yuri ended up being a pretty alright guy, so there's no fear this time.] Come to enjoy the forest too?

[silentfury]

[Enjoying is one way of putting it. If Yuri had to describe the feeling he gets from being in nature, it'd be 'therapeutic'. And with the blessing of the werebear, that healing connection is stronger than ever. That's a lot of info to dump on a random teenager though, so he simply nods at Arven's question as he approaches.]

2

[pointzeropercent]

They're a pain, aren't they?

[He says, while standing a little bit away and not participating in battle. He's a utility too, he's not going to jump right in without a plan.]

The best way to handle them would be to use a couple people to trap it.

[supherb]

[At least one of them is smart.]

Trap it? How? Do we have anything around to trap it in?

[pointzeropercent]

Oh, not that kind of trapping. I mean we use several people to come at it from all directions so it can't run away.