Who: Vincent Valentine, Sandra (Shiva), Irvine Kinneas, Laguna Loire, Logan Youngblood, Raine Leonhart, Lucrecia Blankenship, Selphie Tilmitt, Terra Branford.
Where: In the bowels of the Garden, where no one really wants to go.
Why: Students and SeeD alike have been disappearing lately, so Vincent's going in with a team of SeeD (and a few Cadets) to find out what's going on and bring back as many as possible alive.
Date of Log: 8/14/00
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Special Thanks goes out to those who worked hard on this plot. Specifically Selphie, Raine, Lucrecia, Vincent and Terra's players.
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This is where the teams were to meet. Already, a squad of four were sent down to where the vent shafts, where the attacks came from, all led to, to try and see what to expect. They... didn't come up. Communications and tracking placed where they disappeared and... well, that's where the teams now, armed with heavier weapons, have to go. There's compressed oxygen supply (lightweight tanks and masks) under attendant SeeD, who issue them to those gathering and assigned to follow with the intent of official rescue. There are in fact, one, two, three teams of five each, which will be staggered as appropiate and each having at least one Flamethrower. Gotta love flamethrowers. Anyway. Vincent is present, quietly speaking with two of the teams in turn, to make certain they have their orders. The third team? Well, that's him... and those that still need to report.
The other thing that the vanished scouting squad reported in confirmation was that Moja wasn't the only 'slime coated' creature down there. Humans, creatures out of the training center, things from the MD level... alive and very dead. Several others... lending credence to the fact that there is /something/ that needs to be disposed of, and quickly. Medical units are on standby, both here, and in the infirmary...
Quietly standing to one side of Vincent, just within his peripheral vision, is a woman few here have probably seen before. Her hands are folded such that they are difficult to see for the expansive sleeves of her dress. She stands perfectly straight, though decidedly a little put out at something or other, with a slight frown touching her face at all times. Her hard eyes spend more time looking at the entrance and the SeeD members than they do looking at Vincent. She appears to be waiting.
Entering the Quad, Irvine apparently managed to sleep last night, probably since he knew something was going to actually be done about this, finally. The Valiant is with him, as per usual lately, shouldered with the butt cradled in his palm. He pauses, glancing around at the other teams, and the equipment. Looks like a heavy undertaking. Spotting Vincent, and Sandra he hesitates. He didn't know she was going along today. Well, no matter, so long as she appears... human. *ahem* Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have her along... right?
Standing a bit away from the crowd, Laguna paces in place. A worried look is pasted on his face and looking gloomier every second. A machine gun strapped to his shoulder and his hands are clasped behind his back. There's no way he's going to get injured on this run. Confidence is striking him inside, along with hope and faith. Although the positive thinking, he keeps to himself before the action starts.
Breaking away from the first two teams, Vincent looks up. And there's the last. Irvine. Vincent steps forward, glancing only a moment toward Sandra, but giving her out of place seeming presence no contest. He speaks up. "There will be three teams, which you have already been assigned to. Team one will penetrate and provide cover, and rescue if nescessary. Team Two will make certain our evacuation route stays clear. Team three." That's Laguna, Irvine, Vincent, and Sandra, "We will look for the source, and attempt to destroy it." Simple as that. He looks over to the silent woman, "If you will join us please." he says to her, before stepping out into the open. "Irvine. Laguna. Has everyone their orders and extra supplies." That's to note the oxygen masks, one of which he holds for himself.
With a barely perceptible nod, the woman steps forward and joins the rest of the group, offering nods of greeting to everyone in the group, though she doesn't introduce herself or offer her hand. She also conspicuously ignores the oxygen masks. With a slow turn of her body, she faces the entrance, and looks over her shoulder at Vincent. "I will be ready whenever your men are, Vincent Valentine." With that, she turns away, cupping her hands together over her mouth and murmuring quiet words to herself, a very faint glow of magic surrounding her nose and mouth. Soon, slight wisps of vapor can be seen as she breathes in and out.
Oh, how lovely, oxygen masks. Personally Irvine'd rather be in the team out to find and rescue Selphie, but hey, he said he'd help however possible, and if perhaps finding the 'source' frees her, so much the better. Getting an oxygen mask for himself, he decides not to look at Sandra as she is beckoned forward. This is gonna be uncomfortable, at least until they get down to business. Then he can blissfully lose himself to the void and do as ordered.
Laguna also nods to Vincent as he arrives to join the group. He doesn't greet anyone either just because the thought passes his mind. As with Irvine, he also grabs a mask and listens patiently for orders. Until then, his mind is engulfed in his world where Raine and Squall are safe from this situation, living happily. ...Yeah right.
Logan comes rushing down the stairway into the Quad, his duster trailing behind him. Coming to a sudden halt as he reaches the group of people, he catches his breath and then with an eager grin, he brings his feet together and salutes everyone, "Came as quickly as possible ...", he looks at the oxygen masks and blinks momentarily, "... what're those things for?", he asks curiously.
There's a few SeeDs handing out the masks of course, and, after a glance toward Vincent, one heads for Logan, carrying one to offer to the young man. Vincent focuses on Logan. A frown for a moment and a curt wave indicating that Logan should join his group as he speaks, "The smell from coated victims will be effectively suffocating the air. We will need an independant supply." With that, he turns back to the others, though speaking loudly enough for all to hear. "All right. Team three, head for your position and secure it. Team one, in five minutes follow." As for Team Three... "We will wait for confirmation. Our point of entry is from the elevator. For Logan - team one is the cover and possible rescue team. Two is covering the escape route for all teams and Team three, those remaining, are the ones who are going to find the source and dispose of it.
(Insert infiltration downwards here.)
There are three teams. The first comes down to secure an escape route to and from the elevator. The second that comes down is moving out, cautiously going forward in order to provide cover against the minions. See, an earlier scouting bit managed to conclude that much, before it too went under and joined the collective. Yeah, you slimed folks know what that means. And then, the third team. The guys, (and one woman!) who are to find the source and hopefully destroy it. Thus, they are on the right track, heading down one of the tunnels that leads to that very source. All teams have oxygen masks (with a one person exception). In this section of the level, there's murky trails of blackened slime, like a bizzare slug's trail. It's on the walls, the floors, and might even be rather slippery...
Sandra, not exactly in practical footwear to begin with, has a somewhat frustrated expression on her face as she attempts in some modicum of vain to try to keep her footing. She doesn't slip and fall, fortunately, but she's all but trying to touch the wall as she tries to keep her footing...and then pulling away when she realizes what kind of wall she was just about to touch. The dress she wears looks about due for a complete sludging, most likely, and it won't be long now. As the only person in the room without a mask, small white vapors surround her mouth and nose in a sort of magical equivalent...very minor, but quite useful in its own way. She carries no weapons, but looks irritated...not scared, of anything around her.
Having to leave the hat up above, Irvine glances around for what he can see within the confines of the oxygen mask. The Valiant is held at the ready, especially after watches those trails of slime. He's rather glad for the mask now, seeing as the stench down here has -got- to be overpowering. What do you expect when you walk right into the lair of the offending critter? Though he knows she's got to be equally covered as he saw Moja, the cowboy automatically searches for Selphie's yellow dress, or some hint that she's around here somewhere. It's instinctual, really. The floor's most definately slick, but he manages to keep his footing, even reaching out toward Sandra as he sees her occasionally falter. It's not needed, luckily, she manages to keep herself up on her own. Strange that he's not behaving irrationally toward her now, but the marksman has fully emerged himself into the self-taught void he's utilized lately to aid him in those rare moments of sniping clowns. Or other officials.
Laguna walks as fast as the person in front of him, also with his machine gun at the ready. Hopefully, this will all turn out for the better. This is a new group to work with for him. He knows two of the four, but never in a combat situation, nor a deep conversation for that matter. That's a thought for another time. Let's get this job done.
Logan follows the others, his boots doing a pretty good job of keeping him up, but for further support he uses his staff as a walking stick to lean against if he even thinks he's going to slip on the ground beneath his feet. His eyes seem to shift from side to side, looking around his surroundings to see the layout of the area. Staying quiet, Logan listens to every sound that's made, from the footsteps of the others in front of him, to anything else that could be echoing through the MD Level of Balamb Garden.
As they walk further, down the hall movement can be seen. A shadow looming on the wall before the body of a wolf, or at least what once was a wolf walks into view. A guard dog of sorts with patches of fur absence with blisters and callouses on it's bare skin, nose and face. It is also covered completely in some slime substance...which oozes and slides down it's legs...making a very unsettling sight. The wolf turns and looks down the path as another wolf, in the same condition of the first walks up along beside it. Both stop and look about, one spotting the intruders and growling...this triggering the other hound to look in the same direction with equal results before one barks and howls a warning. There goes sneaking in undetected.
And as it seems that the guard is put up, some of the wall.... twitches. Under all the slipping, the tromping of boots, as well as wolves' growling, it seems to have taken away the sounds of rasp breathing from some of the creatures that have taken residence in the darkness..... or maybe these are some of the poor souls that have been down here so long, that breathing isn't an option. Not all, of course, evident of mask or two upon the floor's slime-coated surface.... but enough that three or four of the creatures /are/ there. All in several stages of decay -- from those that appear with gaunt faces and bones held together by slime and paper-thin skin, to those that have more recently be dragged under, rasp and harsh breaths now revbrating within the tunnel. Three of the creatures break off, leaving the fourth near the wall, a tangle of dark hair resting within its eyes while the rest trails down its back and nearly to its knees. However, these creatures are slow, sent with one command only: to take and feed these like the others, starting with the masks that laid their first attempts to overpower with the slime laden stench to bare.
Very little of said Yellow Dress has escaped said offending slime. However, yellow is hard to mute! Somewhere off to the far right, along with a handful of random slim`ed cadets that look not altogether unlike those previously mentioned, stands Selphie. Covered in this -gook-, her back is to the group, though surely the front is just as bad as the back. And seeing as how her legs and arms are totally bare in that dress of hers, they're thusly peppered with sores and the like -- as are the cadets that accompany her. All but Selphie glance up at the sudden howling, spotting the Intruders, as it were, at roughly the same time. Braaains... --Er. With almost synchronized grunts, said handful -- three, to be precise -- of the scary, smelly types, do not hold true to horror movie form: rush at the heroes, then stop and let each one be defeated before the next steps up. No! Acting quickly, the three trudge through the slime and sludge, heading for the group. Their goal, it seems, is to prevent any further entrance into the area by way of first taking the defensive. Make a wall! Don't let them through!
Selphie, meanwhile, finally looks up from some gloopy-type task, and slowly turns to stare at the group, silently asessing the situation. Eyes dull, mouth agape to allow constant breath, the girl looks pretty yucky. She -has- been here rather long, though. Yeah, let the other minion-types show her what -not- to do.
Terra is probably somewhat worse off than Selphie; while she's less goopy-looking, that's more a factor of not having been quite so immersed. She's half-in, half-out of one of the puddles of glop, gasping like a beached fish; apparently, she's on rest cycle, or is just getting nibbled on. Her eyes are glassy and unfocused, and her mouth is wide open, much like the dread Selphie's.
In the lead, Vincent draws to a halt. The hallyway, barely wide enough for two men to act abreast of one another, lends to the defensibility on the part of the creatures. The wolves are glanced at, before his attention shifts toward the walls themselves. Too late to stop the warning, mm. Is it luck that at least two of those whom they seek are visibly present? Or a curse, as it becomes all to evident to Vincent's mind why he /can't/ shoot. The wolves, maybe. Those that are nearly dead as well. Vincent draws up sharply, a pause and finally a choice. To stand forward and take part of the charging 'healthy' ones. "Irvine! Laguna!" his voice muffled, he nods at the ones that came from the wall - those that look dead enough to be unsaved... "Make certain of your targets!" And that's all the time he has before he seeks to grab the nearest of the healthy ones, in an effort to lever him (or her?) into a wall. He's touched nastier things before...
On her usually impassive face, Sandra acquires an unnerving alarmed look, most likely as she views Terra's condition. She doesn't cry out, however. Lips pressed into a firm, necessary line, Sandra allows most of the other members of Team Three to surge ahead of her and join the battle. She looks ready to pick her targets, and the first ones are, not the enemy SeeD in front, but the group of three just behind the vanguard--the ones not already within melee range of Sandra's allies. She holds both arms high in front of her, forearms in front of her face as her eyes close, her arms loosely crossed in a pose of invocation. Unlike the vast majority of magic, there are no words, no invocation. No procedure of any kind. She summons the power, and lo, it is there. Her hands glow white with energy, and after a moment's concentration to gather energy, she thrusts one arm towards the floor. The power streams from her hand into the floor in a visible wave, doing nothing, it seems at first. But then ice, from the ground, begins to creep up the legs of those three SeeDs, fastening around their legs, trying to freeze them solid to the ground. There isn't enough ice to cover them more than knee or maybe waist high, but that's more than enough to hold them still, if they can't escape.
Oh yah, this is like something out of a really really bad B rate horror flick they show on the late late late late shouldn't-you-be-in-bed-by-now show. Hmmm. Braying alarms, great. Not as if they were really able to come in silently anyway. This place is so normally quiet, right? Huh? What was that? The sharpshooter catches movement up ahead, though he has to do a double take when he realizes what it is... Gross! He fully understands where the rumors of 'zombies' came from now. However, he does actually manage to recognize what the slime covered creatures are, some of them people he knows. Now, this makes things a wee bit difficult. How does one fight against comrades? He's also still looking for anything resembling a little yellow dress, but hasn't spotted it yet.
Understanding Vincent's shouted orders, Irvine lifts the gun, tall enough to target the first unhealthy looking bastard and drawing off a shot without too much risk to Vincent or whoever else is in front of him in the narrow corridor as the battle begins. Though he doesn't relish the thought of killing them, he knows it's much more merciful then leaving them to their current state of digestive decay. Unlike the times with his sniper rifle, this discharge is loud, though surely it'll be drowned out in the rapid fire of Laguna's firearm.
"Got it!" Laguna rushes forward, keeping his footing the best he can. Noticing the movement up ahead, he also draws his gun and takes aim, but unfortunately can't pull the trigger right away. After hearing Irvine fire first, it gets a bit easier. The group will be able to notice a hesitation pause between the blasts. *RATATAT*
A yelp and howler of pain sound as the two hounds are the first to be hit. Both animals fall back as the cadets that are approaching to form a barrier to keep the team from advancing any further...if any of them are struck is yet to be noted. For now the wolves twitch slightly but don't seem more than dazed from the gun fire...probably because they are more or less already dead and just stir on the ground wounded but will probably be up to their feet within a few minutes. The gunfire does draw more attention from other people to be drawn out and assist in shooing the rescue team away.
Logan hmms, raising en eyebrow as all the figures come into view. Wincing in a mixtue of both disgust and empathy for the Cadets who are so close to death. Looking to Vincent as the orders are given and he makes the first reaction, he then looks to Sandra as she uses her magic, then to Irvine as he fires his gun, and then to Laguna as his goes off as well. Glancing down at the staff in his hand, Logan has reached a point of confusion, as everyone seems to have a projectile weapon except for him. Waiting until the gunfire has ceased, Logan shrugs slightly, then stalks up through the group to get to the front, walking straight up to one of the former humans, bringing his staff toward it in an upward swing right at it.
The ones that had been in the forfront find themselves full of bullets, caught with a crossfire of machine gun and shotgun fire -- it is easy to say that their inhuman cries are just that, far away from the sounds that anything truly alive would make. But the main objective /is/ gotten, as they are knocked back enough to slip upon their slime-eaten carcasses -- soon enough, they will be back up for more, even as slime begins to ooze from shot pockmarks to try and make disjointed limbs and bone-dry muscles move. The SeeD that has come down before them are frozen in place, howls of frustration and pain from the biting cold has effectively held them in place, but bit by bit, slime drips from other extremities. It takes time for it to work upon skin, though less so for ice -- perhaps, eventually, they will get loose, before the rescue team can let regroup for a second assault.
Or at least the one creature pushed back against the slime ridden wall hopes. This one had not expected such power, especially the tactic of the lone female in the group, but she will will not be daunted. Yes, she, even as one arm is pinned; the other slime covered digit continues to scrape and claw for the mask that rests upon Vincent's face..... the dress should seem familiar to him, perhaps, or the long hair that drapes a slightly gaunt face though her mouth is held preptually open. It seems Lucrecia's wait for the gunman's arrival is only a couple of days late, as drenched fingers continue to try and reach for the very thing that keeps her from attacking him.
Ice? Why, yes, the three are indeed frozen in place. But let us go into gory detail, shall we? One of them, the second in the middle, is totally frozen to the ground. The first may be in the same condition, but is stronger, and more persistant -- he may be out within minutes. Chink! Chink! Now, Number Three. Number three -is- dead, and decaying, and all those lovely descriptive words that bring to mind 'zombie.' And when -his- feet and some of his legs are encased in the ice, he does indeed tug and pull, in an attempt at freeing his limbs. However. During his efforts, perhaps a sickening ripping noise can be heard despite the gunfire. And then another, though it stops halfway, before starting again. -Gross-. Number Three now lands on the ground on his chest, phased, but not stopped by a long shot. He pulls himself towards the group still, with his hands and arms. -That's- unnerving. Meanwhile, 'backup' begins to trudge towards the group, from both sides. Ruh-Roh.
Still watching, Selphie lets a few 'people' and, actually, a few -creatures-, pass her. For now, she simply stares, breathing heavily. Hrm!
Terra seems... invigorated, for want of a better term, by the presence of this ice. Perhaps the cold soothed her; maybe it slowed the consuming fungus-toxin-symbiote's metabolism; maybe it just was familiar. Either way, she starts to push her way up, breathing harshly and wetly and fumbling in another, nearby puddle of oily crap for... A sword. A battered one, actually a semi-destroyed Galbadian issue gunblade, but it beats bare hands. And she staggers upright, wobbling slightly.
Vincent 's eyes are widened perceptibly as the definition this close is... "Lucrecia." Possibly his words can't be heard underneath the mask. That mask that the woman is no attempting to remove by force. A hesitation is almost critical. The slimed coated digits clench over the edge and begin to drag away the protection. All Vincent has time for is a quick breath, something to hold, before the mask falls limply around his neck. Only /then/ is his free arm rising, intending to pin Lucrecia against the wall, something close to a gross parody of an embrace with the upper portion of his body leaned ever so slightly backward, that the mask doesn't get coated with the foul stuff dripping from the woman.. He wastes not the air in his lungs on speaking again. He has gracious little of it for the moment. For his sake perhaps, there is a hope that whatever this slime does, it doesn't enhance strength. He needs to get her pinned, before he can even hope to put the mask back over his mouth.
From Sandra comes a whispered, venomous curse in a language long forgotten. Her fist closes around nothingness, knuckles whitened from strain as she watches the battle collapse into disarray almost as soon as it begins. She wastes no more time on pleasantries, though, as she sees a certain green-haired girl way in the back, gasping like a fish and trying to reach her slimy friends. Her already stonily impassive face darkens a notch, but she turns her attention towards Selphie, who is plainly directing at least some of the undead SeeD in the fight. She strikes a pose, leaning forward with most of her weight on her forward leg, one hand resting on her knee and propping her up while the other is held out to one side. Whispering winds of the north begin to gather in that hand, as her face screws into a mask of both concentration and pain. After a moment, she thrusts the sidelong hand forward and a stream of pure cold wind rushes towards Selphie...cold wind that crystalizes into ice as it touches her. If she manages to be completely frozen, well, it's not lethal. Right away. Ice over the nose and mouth tends to asphyxiate. But Selphie may well dodge. In any case, the air becomes noticeably colder, though not uncomfortable.
Irvine continues to fire repeatedly, lowering the gun occasionally with a quick *cla-clack* to send spent shell casings to the floor. Though normally they chime, this time they merely *splut* into a pile of goo, caught within the ooze to sink to the actual floor surface. The Valiant is raised seconds after, round after round being fired at the ensuing, decaying creatures. However, the gunman has begun to aim lower, having seen the one 'zombie' literally break its legs free from the icy incasement. Shoot the legs off... they move slower at least. It's gross, but whatever works, man.
So far he has not spotted the little yellow dress, which is a relief to him in partiality, however, he's got to wonder where in the blazes Selphie is. She's been gone five days now, would she look like one of these things now? Don't think about it, gunman. Indeed, he delves deeper into the void, his face nearly devoid of any emotional expression as he continues following orders. Good thing he can't quite see what Sandra's doing in Selphie's direction or that void would slip as easily as anyone would in this slime infested environment.
After the burst of fire, Laguna gathers his strength to fire again. This time in longer bursts and in a spread fashion. This is hard and almost scary to know he may be shooting his son and wife. Put that on your mind for awhile and see how tough things get. Watching out for his fellow members, he kneels down for better aim in the spread and unleashes the ear-deafening gunfire. Makes for better rolling, though that will get messy real fast.
After knocking down one of the half-dead Cadets, Logan then brings one end of his staff down toward another's legs in a quick motion to take it off it's feet. Glancing over in time to see Vincent's dilemma, Logan rushes over to his side as soon as there is a pause in the gunfire around him long enough for him to do so. And however rude it may be to intervene in someone else's fight, he thrusts his staff behind Lucrecia's legs, pulling upward with it to try and trip her up enough to allow Vincent to do as he intends and pin her down long enough for him to get his mask back on. Besides, it allows him to get the hell out of the way of both of the gunman so there's an even less risk of getting hit by a stray bullet.
It's one of those shooting galleries. You think you've hit all the targets just to be surprised when more pop up. A few zombie-like minions, or ooze covered people pull out of the main sludge and wobble for a few moments before they, look far worse than anyone thus far, so it's safe to guess that they are far beyond help. They still seem able enough to shuffle toward the threat. The watch dogs from before climb to their feet as well and one lets out a horrid howl before it begins lunging forward, toward the group, even if it's straight into a spray of bullets. The other follows up behind...a decoy plan perhaps. The first distracts while the other follows in to attack who ever took out the first? Seems like that's what's being attempted.
Lucrecia is indeed that figure that is slowly wasting away within layers of slime; while, perhaps, at one point she might have been stronger than most due to other enhancements, the feeding of the creature further back from the battle has taken its toll. No more than normal strength... save the fact that she is covered in that slime, is all that remains, though an idea comes to perhaps bring this one to his knees. There is no recognition of the name that the gunman barely breathes out, no sign of the woman he once knew within that shell. It certainly explains the slime covered hand that suddenly strikes out, her fingers trying now to trap his own mouth under slime and stench -- he can't hold his breath forever, and the awkward embrace he keeps her in makes the attack all too simple. Save for the sudden placement of a staff by Logan, it would've gone perfectly. The measure would send her sprawling, as the slime covered floor holds no sort of purchace. However, there's a small hint of self preservationas the hand that threatened to smother Vincent falls to his shoulder -- she isn't so far gone, it seems, to have lost all her intelligence.
Spellcasting. Selphie knows what it looks like, even if the pose changes from person to person. However, since there are creatures -around- her and in front of her, she decides that perhaps it's not aimed at -her-. Either way, however, she opts to move out of the area, post haste. In doing so, she bumps into a fellow slimey-type beside her, keeping her from -totally- escaping the spell... Though she grabs it's arm as soon as she feels a cold bite in her arm, yanking the thing in front of her. Needless to say, he's more or less a popsicle now, while her left arm is only... mostly useless, thanks to the ice. Okay, well, fine. She decides that it's time to get her hands dirtier, and so reaches down, gathering two handfuls of as much sludge as she possibly can. Masks, huh? Well, if they're coated with this stuff, surely -somehow- the smell would get it. Or at least gunk the things up. So! She starts towards the closest to her, whoever it may very well be. Grr.
Random grunts, groans, howls, screeches, and various other noises of pain wage war with the sound of gunfire and melee, as some of the assembled Goopy drop. Many keep going, though select few are still alive, and are -very- much hindered...
Terra wobbles weakly, and holds her sword up in front of her, both hands resting upon the hilt of it, the tip of the blade wobbling as much if not more than she herself is. Her breathing stays gasping as she stares at the attackers blearily, her entire body aching and the annoyance not going away. Maybe if they're stopped, it'll vanish? Or at least end... She's not at her most cogent at the moment. So, she just makes ineffectual slashing motions towards the group for now, from her rearwards position.
And, as if Vincent weren't already levering Lucrecia against the wall. That, and the purchase of the floor, causes Vincent to lean into the motion farther than he'd intended. So that, as Lucrecia's hand comes down to his shoulder, he tips forward, again to keep his own balance. Desperately, he attempts to twist around automatically wishing to save Lucrecia a fate of hard impact against the wall because of /his/ error, an obvious attempt to save 'the enemy'. Yet, he may be just a little too late for such....
As the blast of freezing wing subsides, icing over one hapless zombie and hindering Selphie, Sandra grips that fist closed again, saying nothing but clearly grumbling under her breath at the outcome of her attack. She stands straighter, edging upwards and trying to get a better view of the situation through the now thick melee in front of her, when all of a sudden one of her feet slips right out from under her, a particularly slippery patch of ooze sliding out of the way just in time to be replaced by Sandra's body. A loud-ish splop and a not quite so loud curse comes from the team's rear ranks as Sandra finds herself lying on the ground, her entire back, from head to heel, covered in that gook.
An endless supply of targets. How lovely. Irvine continues on them, though unlike Laguna, he has to pause to reload occasionally, and this is such an instance. The last shell casing hits the ground and he crouches low to fit in new rounds of ammunition as fast and furiously as his dextrous fingers will allow. Hearing Sandra's sudden slip and *splat* he glances over his shoulder, rising to his feet to lean over and reach down to her and help her to her feet. There's no concern in his expression, well, if you could say he even had one besides an impassive void.
Laguna continues to fire at the oncoming, as well. A quick head glance at the woman falling and Selphie's hands comes acrossed him unsuspectingly in a grappling motion. He drops the gun on the caked floor of ooze to grab her hands away, not noticing who the person actually is since it's all in a blur. It also makes it hard since he kneeled and it was for purpose of maneuverability. A lot that helped.
Logan looks down as his tactic is somewhat effective, though only offers a nod to Vincent as though to tell him that he should be worrying about getting that mask back onto his face. But then his attention goes back to the slime-covered figures. Glancing at Selphie as she attacks Laguna with the slime, he turns toward her with his staff brought up to attack her ... but then hesitates, as he realizes exactly who it is that's attacking Laguna. Clenching his teeth together, it looks as though he's about to send his staff toward her, but then instead attempts to simply come up from behind her, holding both ends of his staff with each hand, attempting to simply bring it over Selphie's head and restrain her by pulling her back away from Laguna, using the staff to try and pull her back out of harms way and restrict her from using her arms at the same time.
The first wolf was shot and falling aside, it's partner moves around it before leaping toward Irvine while Laguna is being distracted by Selphie. As that goes on, one of the mentioned people, shuffling out of the sludge approaches the fallen Sandra.
So much for a simple attack. Everything had been put into place, and now it seems to be falling apart on the front end. But there are more in the back, to be sure. As for Lucrecia, it seems Vincent's err will probably save him, even if he doesn't see it that way. At least, her head doesn't hit the wall more than once. Though, from the dull thud, undaunted by slime and hair, denotes.... it seems that her skull hitting metal once was all that was needed. The slime covered body crumples, becoming a lifeless goo-dipped form in the man's arm -- that's gonna leave a mark, later.
Selphie merely collected gunk with the other hand, not having thought about not being able to use the -arm- that's attached to said hand. Oops. But one hand is better than none, and it is with this logic that she does indeed make a move towards Laguna. Poor Sir Laguna! Left arm obviously trying to rise but failing, her right arm is thusly on it's own -- and her hand is easily batted/grabbed away, though she still seems to try! Though her face reads nothing other than 'yucky,' she's angry at the situation, though can't understand why. And just as she begins to form another idea -- Logan is upon her, staff indeed pulling her away from the president, and good arm mostly useless. Though she does wiggle, and squirm, and generally try to -not- be in this position.
A single other trudges Logan's way, since he's occupied, and moves to wrap both hands around his face, from behind. Though it's clumsy -- one of the dead ones.
Terra continues to make her swiping gestures. It's.. really, rather pitiful. She's trying to do something, but failing; at least, she's failing thus far. Slime-covered arm brings sword back... and then, like a pendulum, whub. Forward. Flicking some goop around, but not a lot at this point. Perhaps some button is being pressed, internally, and the effect just isn't going off the way the controlling intelligence would like. Or she just hasn't gotten it JUST right yet.
Woman in his arms. Lucrecia in Vincent's arms. For a minute, he is paralyzed, before action is called for. Fingers raised to press against Lucrecia's throat to check for a pulse - faint, but there nonetheless. Only then does he tend to other very pressing matters, such as the need for air. Mask is carefully raised, a tricky situation given slime covered fingers, but nevetheless successful. And as for the woman? Vincent slowly lowers her to the floor, before raising again. Of all this, Logan was ignored utterly. Perhaps Vincent knew he couldn't trust himself to speak at that time to the man. Objectively, the mission is more important than Lucrecia.... How he wished it were otherwise. He steps away from Lucrecia now, eyes quickly shifting from person to person and finally focuses on Terra. Stepping forward, his eyes nearly as blank of emotion as what can be seen of his slime flecked features, the gunman's calculated attempt is to grab for Terra's wrist on the upswing of the sword, provided such movement continues in monotonous action. Still, he hasn't drawn his pistol, but then, he's seeking to subdue the more healthy ones - the ones that might be saved.
As Sandra rises to a sitting position, she looks up and, without really thinking, accepts Irvine's hand to stand up. Touching her hand is like sticking a hand in a vat of dry ice! It's not dangerous, really, but definitely distracting, if only for a moment. In any case, Sandra stands up, decidedly the worse for wear clothes-wise but still quite active. As a zombie shuffles its way towards her, she arches to one side, eyes widening just a bit at how close the creature has come...and as it reaches out to grab her, Sandra firmly thrusts out a hand and tries to grab -it- instead. Another suffusive glow emanates from that hand, and this time, she seems to have a somewhat easier time with her choice of spells...probably due to the range involved. It probably wouldn't be good for that zombie if she can grab him.
Shivering, Irvine suddenly loses his tenuous grip on the void. It's a trick he's only learned recently, and something that will take time to perfect. Blue eyes wide, he stares at Sandra, recalling her true nature suddenly. But, this is -no- time to panic.
Since the sharpshooter barely had time to register the attack with his attention behind him, the slime-wolf barrells Irvine straight into the sludge with a muffled *oof* and a wet *splat*. Seems he's not going to get away from this encounter without being similiarly coated with the gunk somewhere. Struggling to hold the thing at bay with one arm (thusly hoping the thick leather and down padding of the duster will keep the thing from tearing teeth into his flesh), he grunts, trying to turn his body enough to be at least on his back rather then his side. Pulling the Valiant up to shoot point blank at the creature's head, he fires, hopefully stilling it for good this time. Sandra is forgotten for the moment, and Selphie/Laguna/Logan are so far unnoticed.
As he is released, Laguna shuffles away from the figure pulled from him and takes a moment for his heart beat to catch up. Sitting there, he notices his attacker and is shocked. "Irvine! Selphie's here!" And everyone and their dog would know their relationship together. Even if it was through the gossip line. He struggles for his fun on the floor and shoots a nearby zombie also too close for grappling. It's about time they did some advancing, and Laguna does just that. A little at a time.
While he's trying to subdue Selphie, Logan's back is indeed to the slime-covered figure that comes up from behind him. And he doesn't see it, but when it's slime-covered hands slide across his face and cover his cheeks with the goop, his eyes go wide and he immediately drops to the ground, attempting to also bring Selphie down to the ground with him. However, he extends a glove-covered hand underneath the two of them to try and soften the impact against the ground. And as soon as his hand hits, he glances back at the figure that just spread slime across the sides of his face. Suddenly, Logan sends his leg back in a thrust kick toward the figures chin with a thrust kick, putting as much power behind it as possible from his position.
The wolf snapped at Irvine as it was held back by one arm at it's throat. Though it doesn't have much time to notice the barrel of the shotgun against it's head before *Boom*. The creature doesn't even have the sense to make any noise as the top of it's head is just...gone. The wolf falls limp and even if it's just a zombie more or less because of the ooze...it will probably take a while to recover from this, if at all. The one that Sandra lunged for doesn't do much in the way of dodging. Not because it had no survival instinct ..but that it thinks that by this it would have a better chance of attacking once it gets the chance to of course.
Even if her name is, indeed, shouted, Selphie takes no note of it. It may be due to the fact that Logan rather drags her down to the ground with him. Kicking and squirming all the while, the girl doesn't even thank Logan for softening her fall. Tch, rude. And though Selphie may be under some sort of influence, she's still Selphie, and weak to boot. Moreso because of the recent days lifestyle, and thankfully so. She attempts to squirm her way out from this position, though it's more persistance than strength.
Logan's foot does -not- connect with the creature's chin. Nope. It does, however, connect squarely with it's throat, being that it was in mid-motion, though is still knocked flat onto it's back, regardless. With a collapsed lung, no less. The one that Sandra reaches for is, indeed, grabbed. Say byebye to this one.
Terra seems to be cogitating the fact that she's not having much success with the technique she's trying. Cyan, she is not, and she has yet to be able to turn that neat hissatsu-waza into a reliable special technique. So, with a - ulp. Vincent grabs her arm. He gets looked at, blinked at several times, and then the moment of indecision ends when Terra's free hand comes up to grab at the face mask of Vincent, trying not so much to yank it off as just to try and mangle it somehow. It can stay on; he just shouldn't be getting filtering out of it. She doesn't want to do this, but figures that if it's this or stabbing him, she'll do this.
What is it with these people trying to get his mask off? /Vincent's/ free hand is quick this time - this is /NOT/ Lucrecia, but another. That, and the reasons behind the cold expression speed his reactions notably in this encounter. His free hand works to grab Terra's wrist, seeking to apply some pressure to the former in order to get her to drop the sword and lock away motion. Gunman by gift, by specialization, but needless to say that the Turks never thought that one technique would handle all situations. Close combat fighting is not foreign to Vincent, as seen by the utilization of that technique.
With an absolutely vicious smirk, Sandra's hand closes around the poor ex-SeeD's wrist, and as she pulls him in, the other hand closes around its throat. Disgusting, viscous slime or not, Sandra seems more than happy to let it try to reach her mouth...because before it can do more than reach halfway for her face, it literally freezes in its tracks. Literally, for ice crackles from her glowing hand and crawls up his arm, across his shoulders, down its torso to the legs, and over the head. Completely encased in a shell of crystal clear ice, there can be heard a faint but definite crash and tinkle from -within- the SeeD's body. Sandra lets go, standing back in her more usual straight-backed holier-than-thou stance, as the statue slowly topples like a felled tree. With the resouinding shatter sound of crushed ice, the statue breaks into a hundred tiny pieces, to be swallowed by the ooze on the ground. Sandra looks satisfied for once today, and looks up and around, her eyes locking on Terra.
Unfortunately, Laguna's call toward Irvine is blotted out as the shotgun is fired, the blast ringing in his ears at the seriously close proximity. As the wolf slumps to the side, he leaps up to his feet again, glancing once to check on Sandra... ok she's most definately fine. He rushes forward as everyone else seems to have done so already and -then- he spots Selphie caught in Logan's grip, struggling against him. No chance in hell he'll be able to fall into the safety of the void again tonight, not after a brief pause to see the black gunk on her, the open sores. An idea hits him suddenly and he grips the shotgun in one hand, removing the duster from the opposite arm, and then switches, completely removing the protection that it provides. Crossing over to Logan and Selphie, he nearly slips twice in the sludge, trying to avoid getting tagged or engaged by another 'zombie'. He's got a one track mind at the moment and nothing short of hell is gonna keep him away from his lady.
Reaching the two, the sharpshooter turned panicked boyfriend looks at Logan, holding the coat open for one Selphie Tilmitt to be wrapped up in. "Give her to me, Logan, I'll take her from here."
Continueing on, the ex-soldier forces himself forward and hoping to make a cutting edge through the wall of zombies. This should get them closer and others should see this moment of opprotunity. Before Laguna can begin firing, a gunblade is tossed in his direction and he deflects it with his gun upraised. The impact causes a shiver of pain to his soul, but he then levels his gun and fires to the left side, hopefully being covered on the right.
Looking up as the gunman reaches him, he nods his head and brings Selphie up to her feet, guiding her to her boyfriend that has been waiting so long to see her again, "Been waitin' fer you t'show up, jus' been tryin' t'keep her safe fer ya.", he says with a slight smile, giving off a salute with the end of his staff after Irvine takes her. Then, he seems to realize that his face is still covered with that gunk and he begisn wiping at his cheeks with his sleeves, frantically trying to get it all wiped clean.
If Selphie were in her right mind, no doubt she'd say 'heey!' Not at being 'reunited' with Irvine, but with being passed around like a... a... an object! Not that in this form she's much else, really. And you can -bet- that she puts up a fight in the transfer from Logan's grip to Irvine's coat, though unfortunately never really made it fully to her feet. Slipping slightly with each protesting movement, the girl actually falls -into- the duster at one point, not being able to keep her balance very well, thanks to her left arm. Grunts, cries, and other such things escape the small girl as she's handed over. Grrr!
Meanwhile, the numbers of 'Zombies' are dwindling, surely... The oncoming groups thinning.
(Conclusion of Log.)