bravenewworld | I • Rampage of The Luggage

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I • Rampage of The Luggage

1. The Refuge Camp [Action]
[ Nestled deep in the refuge camp was a travel trunk. Like all travel trunks, it was both well-used and well-traveled. It was also asleep. A cacophony of sawing sounds rumbled through the tent flap, causing a passerby to sharply veer away. Rincewind stepped outside and stretched. He had a long day ahead of him. There were groceries to procure and clothes to reluctantly buy. He needed to get out of the camp and find an actual place to stay. The tent was all fine and dandy, but at the end of the day, it was on the breezy side and didn't offer leg room. He had to duck which meant his hat never stayed on his head when he had to stand. ]

[ No, he had to find a new residence. Somehow. But, food first. Rincewind picked a direction and strode. ]

[ The Luggage woke up. ]

2. The Residential District [Action]
[ Something was rocketing through the district. It was box-shaped. It was lost. The Luggage was looking for its master and its master wasn't here. At least, not anymore. It could tell that now, but the realization had dawned, passed through midday, and sunk back beneath the horizon of wooden indifference. The Luggage was doing something else. It knocked a trash can over. That, it decided, was fun! It knocked over another one and, because it could, trampled the spilled contents. An unsuspecting fungoos tried to flee the chaos, bounced, and found itself in a place that was square shaped, padded with folded clothes, and wooden. It would only be later that the unfortunate fungoos would realize it had been consumed by a box with teeth and ghostly legs. ]

[ The Luggage was here. ]

3. The Library [Action]
[ Libraries are quiet, this is a well-known fact spread throughout various cultures, times, and even dimensions. Libraries are always quiet...so why was this one... not? ]

[ The answer was trundling through the romance section like an elephant trying to tiptoe. Rows and rows of books fell like swooning women as The Luggage wade through countless aisles of squashy love stories. A few lucky specimens from the children's section had stolen a free ride atop the closed lid. Other, less fortunate fragments of literature presented themselves as loose pages plastered along The Luggage like tasteless bumper stickers. ]

4. Junes [Action]
[ It should be known that the natural pray of traveling cases are piles of neat, unsuspecting clothes, small dental kits shoved in baggies, and paperback books. It is the first item of this small list that has instigated the current display of utter chaos. Something evil had stomped its way through Junes. Evil, in this case, has a name: The Luggage. If a rude customer was a retail worker's worst nightmare, then The Luggage was a walking, box-shaped embodiment of retail hell: every phantom leg a potentiality of devastation. ]

[ Its current record consists of eight toppled shelves, scattered kitchenware (kettles, pots, spoons, and knives), a decimated door (it didn't stand a chance), and decapitating a mannequin. It was this very same mannequin that The Luggage now stood over, its head tumbling over the lip of the lid and cracking against the floor. The Luggage yawns, displaying several unmentionables caught between its teeth like colorful, breast-shaped broccoli. ]

5. A window of panic [Video]
[ The video flicks on to display an image of a man who's features might draw one's mind to recall the visage of a Rattata were it thirty-five years old, a flunked magus, and wore a hat that pronounced its inability to spell (in more ways than one). Rincewind looked harrowed. He gibbered, realized he was gibbering, and snapped his mouth shut. ]

[ He tried again ]

Er ... hallo. Has anyone seen my luggage? It ... er ... seems to have gone and wandered off.

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[ Not long after, he jogs up to the Habitat. All seemed well. The hair at the back of his neck wasn't prickling so it wasn't time to run yet. No one was screaming. For now, it looked like chaos had peeled a bloodshot eye open, decided it was too early, and went back to sleep. This was alright by Rincewind. ]

[ He kicks a pebble over and considers his options. ]

[Waver arrived not long later, armed with a bookbag that had been repurposed to function as a carry bag for extra salted crisps, assorted toffees, chocolate candies, and a particularly vicious looking drawing compass. A cloudy eyed look of uncertainty was on his face, and it didn't lighten a single shade when he caught sight of Rincewind and hurried over.]

Cassandra's already looking, [he said in lieu of greeting.] She's new, but she's better for this sort of thing than Atlas or Orpheus.

[For starters, she actually had four limbs and claws. Atlas and Orpheus, being a Palpitoad and a Foongus respectively, barely had enough limbs between them to fill a suit. Waver cast Rincewind a stern look of concern.]

You haven't heard anything, have you?

Not yet. I don't think it's been here. We'd know if it was. For one thing, there'd be lots of yelling. The kind you'd hear back home when something's gone terribly wrong.

[ Rincewind didn't look much better. He was bedraggled and dazed. This was his Luggage they were talking about. The idea of it roaming Union unbidden was a sobering. ]

I suspect it's looking for me. I think it might be lost.

You're, er, Cassandra, was it? You don't think she can hold her own if she finds the Luggage, do you?

Edited 2015-07-13 22:39 (UTC)

[Waver shuddered at the thought; even his night time excursions had allowed him to bear witness to a few of those screams, and they always served to chill him to the bone.]

She's an Absol. Word is that they have a strange insight into disasters-- if we're lucky, she might find the Luggage before it can do too much damage.

....She's also a Dark type. That might give her an advantage.

[As far as he could tell, the Luggage had a partial Ghost typing-- and Electric, mysteriously. If his math was correct, Cassandra should have no problem at all.]

That's good, then. I wouldn't want her to be mistaken as a mobile crisp.

[ Squaring his shoulders, Rincewind takes a deep breath and lets his mind do a brief jog along the internal wall of his mind. ]

Of all the places here, where is it easiest to get lost?

[ That sounded like a good question to start with. People found themselves all the time in open plazas or courtyards. It's the tight, cramped places with meandering walls and endless walkways that people often had problems with. He suspected the Luggage might have the same problem. ]

Or do you think we should just wait for Cassandra to, kind of, phone in ... or something?

[ That would be the coward's option. He liked them best. ]

Edited (always botching up my code. maaaan) 2015-07-14 21:01 (UTC)

She wouldn't 'phone in' as much as take care of the business herself.

[A beat. Waver was glad to have found an ally like the Absol, but her sense of independence could be infuriating at times. Especially since team coordination was key here.

He glanced around the city corridors around them, a weary look in his eyes as he scanned the towers above them for an idea.]

The other problem is, this entire city is easy for someone to get lost in. You don't know how many times I've gotten turned around looking for something because I happened to be on the wrong level.

[ His gaze follows Waver's. The towers, alone, were massive. It could literally be anywhere. ]

I knew you'd say something like that.

[ Rincewind sighs. This was so typical of his life. It had to happen while he was settling down too. Just when things were getting quiet again, the Luggage gets it in its trunk that wandering around lost would do itself a whole lot of good. ]

May as well start walking. The sooner we get lost, the sooner we can find my Luggage.

[ Rincewind starts to walk. He picks the brightest, cheeriest corridor figuring that just because he's looking to get lost, it didn't mean the experience had to be wholly unpleasant. ]

[Waver followed along, eyes focused on the dirt and scattered leaves on the street as he thought further into the matter. There was no denying that the Luggage had a special fondness for Rincewind; whatever their connection was, there had to be a way to exploit it--]

Forgive me, this is going to sound, [he said suddenly,] but you might have better luck if you went and looked for trouble.

Your Luggage will find you in that case, won't it?

[ He stops. He stares at Waver as if the other, smaller magus had miraculously sprouted a tiny house, complete with miniature people and a functioning garden, on his face. ]

[ He swallowed. ]

Could you run that by me again? I could've sworn I heard you say that I ought to go looking for trouble.

--Nevermind. I knew you wouldn't like it.

[It was a solid theory, but it would never work if all parties involved weren't willing to give it their all.]

[ That's the sweet thing about bait. The bait doesn't have to know it's bait. ]

[ The flicker of fear passes without incident. He resumes the task of making them lost. It'll take time though. He's not in any rush. In Rincewind's mind, the Luggage was like an endearing, homicidal bill. You didn't want it around, but it would find you no matter how often you burned it, shredded it, or fed it to the local duck pond. ]

Can't imagine what gave you that idea.

.....It's a family relic, isn't it? The Luggage.

[Frowning, Waver continued to follow Rincewind and focused on the dirt on the street instead of any tell-tale signs. If he didn't focus on where they were going, they had a higher chance of getting lost.]

Eh? Yeah. Family heirloom, really. Been in it for generations. And now it's mine. The family thought I'd need it or somethin'.

[ He side-eyes some shifty looking doors and dark offshoots of the current alley they were walking along. Did Union even have thieves? ]

Would've been wretched of me to just let it go. Can't see it living out among all that nature. It wouldn't have been right.

[ As if Rincewind stands for what's right and wrong. It's more like he couldn't stand the abandoned look it menaced him with, so he just kept damned thing. ]

Edited 2015-07-15 22:04 (UTC)

[Consiering how Waver received a stern warning about being mindful about what level he was on in his travels on his first day in the city, it isn't too far out of the way to assume that there is something resembling a criminal population lurking in the shadows.

Or, it could be a particularly ornery Spearow. Apparently those thing attacked humans at whim.

Waver drew a step closer to Rincewind, instinctively knowing that they were more likely to stay safe if they stayed together. The darkness always unnerved him-- a typing thing, he assumed.]

Well, it's a stubborn wooden box. It would probably survive for a while pretty happily....except it wouldn't be with you.

Can't see why it's so keen on me. It's not like I do much for it.

[ but he tolerates it and that always counts for something. And sometimes, if he happened into a bar, he'd watch it menace other occupants for their crisps. Rincewind reflects and comes to the conclusion that it probably stuck around because it was single-minded and had tunnel vision. Loyalty, he figured, also factored in there somewhere. ]

[ As they round a corner, a winged shadow swoops overhead. ]

Familial loyalty, I be--

[He cut himself, looking upward with a panicked look in his eyes.]

--What was that?

[He asked. Maybe getting lost might not have been such a good idea....]

[ Worry plasters itself all over Rincewind's face. As he cranes his head up, so does a Spearow's dropping. ]

[ More shadows begin to swarm around them. The sound of feathers violently batting at the air floods their tiny corridor. Rincewind, displaying true cowardice, attempts to flee. All he manages is a proper, "AAaagh-" before he blindly smacks into a wall. ]

Aah-- what a time for this!

[Grumbling in frustration, Waver grabbed Rincewind's arm and dragging him off as they fled down the ally.]

They're flying types, [he added, now rambling without need for reply,] I don't have anything that works against flying types!

[ The shadows billowed around them, streaking after them like a hive of angry beedrills. Rincewind burbled. He wipes the bird droppings off his face with the sleeve of his robe as they fled down the corridor, and tries again. ]

Doesn't matter! Just keep RUNNING!

[ Somewhere not far away and many feet below, at ground level, the Luggage frees itself from some recently toppled garbage. It turns and faces the tower with its lid held open a fraction of an inch. ]

[He had a couple of attack spells on hand-- but, there were simply too many of the feathered fiends for Waver to have any hopes of taking down.]

Right!

[Picking up as much speed as he could with his short legs, his mind raced with possible escape routes. While teleporting was an option, he didn't know this area well enough to guarantee that they would be safe when they landed.]

[ Rincewind was starting to trail ahead... ]

Oh, damn.

[ ...Into a dead end. He attempts to scrabble up the wall to no avail. Rincewind pressed at random bricks in failing hopes that there was, by some crazy coincidence, a secret door. There wasn't, but he should be happy about that anyways because open air and a loving embrace from gravity were all that would be waiting to greet them. He, may or may not be trying to hide behind Waver. ]

[ Closer now, a few levels down, box on many legs hones in. ]

[Waver was panicking.

More precisely: he was cursing himself for not preparing any appropriate spells for situations such as this. Union was safe in his understanding, and there hadn't been one incident that would have resulted in legitimate danger at all in the few weeks since he arrived in the city.]

Wha-what are you doing? [he sputtered, looking at the man cowering behind him with wide, fearful eyes. Then, with a huff, he faced the horde with renewed agitation.] Hmph. Nevermind

[A few recited words and a motion of his hands later, he released an electrical blast resembling the thunderwave technique that was fairly common among electric type pokemon.

Please, oh please, let it work.]

[ A few of the spearow drop like lead weights, clouds of feathers billowing around them. The rest of the swarm, dives. Rincewind tightens his grip and screams.

[ The wall next to them explodes. Bits of plaster mushroom into the space. Debris and dust rush in to fill the clean air and continue to stir from the many flapping wings. Rincewind tentatively peeks out from behind Waver and points a shaking hand. ]

Is that what I think it is?

[ Standing among the pile of plaster, mortar, and bricks, was a box-shaped shadow. It stood on a few of the spearows Waver had shot down, like a conqueror come to claim a piece of land. The Luggage fixes its empty, emotionless stare at the air above where the spearow flocked. ]

[Waver, with his arms lifted to protect his face from the debris, stood frozen and stared at the menacing box that had literally exploded onto the scene. It's malevolent aura stilled the air around them, save for the rustling of feathers and flapping of wings from the violent horde of spearows. Catching his breath, Waver forced himself to focus-- after all, Rincewind was still behind him, and they would need an escape if things turned sour.

However...]

It is, [he replied in a hushed tone,] and it looks like my theory was right. The Luggage will come if you're in trouble.

Edited 2015-07-16 21:34 (UTC)

[ drearily ] That's reassuring.

[ The Luggage maneuvers in front of them, standing between them and the oncoming wave of fowl evil. It opens its lid and bares large, pearly white teeth. Electricity shimmers and dances along its mahogany surface. Static charges the air. Rincewind could feel his hair starting to cling to his hat. He falls into a lower crouch behind Waver. ]

I think we'd better duck.

[ The Luggage is about to use DISCHARGE. ]

2/2 Action;

Action;

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