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Morgan Berselius Distress signals aren't exactly uncommon in the multiverse. With how things frequently go, recently integrated worlds quickly find themselves besieged by some kind of monstrous horror sooner rather than later. This one, however, is no military beacon, no interdimensional magical communique.

This one is a prayer, one which yet manages to crackle across communicators both magical and otherwise.

'Help,' Screaming out into the multiverse, 'Please, help us.' The voices repeat. A chorus of desperate souls. Men. 'Give us strength.' Women. 'Please, save our--' Children. 'I'm scared.' All pleading one simple wish into the heavens.

                          'We don't want to die.'                          

Following the prayers leads to an empty township. Twilight red, orange and violet paint the sky and the dry, dusty, cobblestone-covered earth. The buildings are ramshackle with a distinctly gothic architecture, casting long, thick shadows across the ground. Doors hang limply from hinges torn through by vicious, bestial claws. The air is stale, stagnant and nearly silent-- nearly, except for the muffled sounds of distant cries and the sound of creaking, splintering wood reverberating from down a detritus-strewn thoroughfare. The road is covered in the ruins of horsecarts and carriages. Bodies litter the ground, dark fluid that reeks of rot pooling beneath them.

There, up ahead, the spires of what can only be a church or temple pierce the sky. Whoever was the source of those prayers-- chances are good that they're over there.

Nearby, a door trembles on its hinges. On the other side of the street, hushed sobs tremble from beneath an overturned cart.
Klasi Stryde A prayer echoes through the Multiverse. People in need, calling for help. Sounds of adventure, rescuing those in need from chaos...it sounds like a ton of fun, and Klasi Stryde is both kind of bored and also not the type to ignore a cry for help that echoes into his radio.

And so, the brown-haired teenager lands his airship (it's metallic and bird-like) near the empty township, jumping out through the side-doors, locking up, and just waltzing into the town. Klasi's dressed in a nice suit vest, which has a few clumsy patches in the chest area where it seems to have been damaged. As the boy walks through the streets, he whistles, looking around at the chaos, and speaking aloud. "Huh. So this is what it's like on the ground out in the Manyverses. I expected more people based on what I was told!" Klasi feels a little lied to, what with this being his first real experience out in the Multiverse.

And then, the first thing he notices is the church. That looks important, and also like the place most likely to be interesting or have treasure. He doesn't hear the sobs underneath the cart, so he doesn't head there, instead sprinting along towards the spires. As he gets closer, Klasi suddenly slows down when he finally has a chance to notice a corpse. "Uh...what...what happened here?" Well, that's a little spooky, and he stops whistling, frowning.

Klasi moves to continue his pace towards the church, but this time, he shouts out. "Hey! Anyone here? Why is everyone dead?!"
Josuke Higashikata OK. Now THAT is weird. Josuke's radio crackles to life with strange, ghostly sounds. Which... actually creep him out quite a bit. He doesn't like ghosts, they freak him out like few things do. Like reptiles.

Still. That is very definitely a cry for help. From a LOT of people. So Josuke will try his damnedest to follow it, creepy and ghostly-sounding voices or not. And what does he find? Something out of a nightmare. Josuke shudders. Following ghostly cries for help to what looks like something out of those survival horror games? Count Josuke as freaked out.

But there are things here that need fixed, and presumably people here that need help. So, well... let's get started! He's going to try to fix things as he comes to them. He'll stop at the overturned cart and kneel down. "Hello? Is anyone there?" he calls quietly.

And hey, there's a people! And an airship, too! Josuke looks up at the airship, and then at Klasi as he notices him there finally. He waves over to him, mainly in greeting, but also to note that he's friendly.
Staren     Staren's been wondering if he's really one of the right people to help save Ghirapur. So when the distress call comes, he's eager to check it out... not because he expects it to be /fun/ like Klasi, but he could really use a chance to make a save-the-day positive difference right now.

    As he walks into town in blatantly anachronistic space military armor, he deploys some quadrotor drones to fly over the town and search for signs of people. As he starts walking down a street, looking at the buildings, he hears Klasi's words. "If everyone's dead, who sent the distress signals?" Then he holds a hand to his visor and sighs. "Although, I suppose this could be another one of those 'messed-up afterlife' deals and we gotta get things working again so tortured ghosts can pass on or be reborn or whatever..."

    Careful to avoid stepping in the pools of rot, he does take a moment to look at the bodies and try to judge how recently they died, and of what. Not that he's a doctor, but 'covered in diseased sores' or 'has obvious giant claw wounds' or the like would be good to know.

    He also tries to get his drones to triangulate the location of the muffled cries and finds himself drawn to the overturned cart. "Hey there. It's alright. We're here to help. What happened?" He asks.

    Not that he drops his guard just yet. It /could/ be some kind of monster that mimics the sound of a crying human to lure prey, after all, especially when it seems to be the only living thing surrounded by dead people.
Android 17     "You know, asking questions you know the answer to doesn't do anything to help the situation," Comes a voice from behind those checking the cart. It belongs to a black haired youth, in a pair of jeans and a green and white shirt with the letters MIR, and a orange loop around his arm. His eyes are already trailing the surroundings. The death, the pools of rot, the doors off of the hinges...the fact there are more cries coming from the church...but that's just the thing, there are MORE cries there. If it was a trap, it was by a beast more clever than half.

    The androids hearing is better than a human's by a lot, reaching into ranges that they could not hear, and more sensitive to little sounds than most. "If you're going to help them, do it fast. The only plan of action is extraction, or getting them to somewhere safe here. If we're staying here and trying to stop the beast, then either that building.." He points at the church, "Is either safe, or whatever is here hasn't attacked it for some reason." He looks towards the door ripped off it's hindges, "And something tells me that normally whatever is here wouldn't have a hard time of THAT." He points again.

    "Also, whatever it is, probably has heard us. Either these people are bait, or it ran after easier prey, and will be back sooner than later." Monsters and beasts he is familar with have several things in common, but he can only apply so much of his knowledge here...the rest is thinking like a monster.

    He moves to try and lift the cart up with one hand, "I'm Android 17 by the way."
Morgan Berselius If there's anyone to take notice of the distinctly ungothic machines descending on the ruined town, there is no obvious tell. Even still, if Klasi were observant on his approach, he might have noticed a storm wandering across the distant horizon, tendrils of whirling wind creeping across the landscape like the legs of some great, skittering insect. Even with a storm so nearby, though, the air seemed unnaturally still and calm. No crosswinds harass his approach, nor does anything prevent Staren's drones from investigating the town.

What they find is unsettling. The streets are bereft of life, it's as if something had simply wiped everything and everyone out, except... Wait. There's something there. Movement...?

                                    ---                                    

Meanwhile, an android tosses a wagon aside. There, hiding in the thick shadows of the broken cart, a... pair of children, a brother and sister, their clothes and bodies torn and filthy, look up with wide, terrified eyes. But the fear gives way quickly to relief and raw emotion as they seem to realize that their rescuers aren't... /aren't/ monsters and latch onto whatever of them they can grab.

They spend a moment there, if 17 and Josuke allow them, sobbing in tired relief before the older one-- the girl-- pulls back and sniffles, "Y-you're here to save us, aren't you? The dark man said-- said that someone would come. They took everyone, the temple-- wait, no!" She cries suddenly, noticing Staren approach one of the bodies. "Don't go near that!"

                                    ---                                    

Movement. Staren's drone sweeps down and around a corner to chase after it, only to find...

Something, surrounded by a tempest of visual static and red-black wind that /hurts/ to look at. The something lurches upright, limbs twisting unnaturally and distending into deadly talons as an all-too-human face screams--

The feed suddenly cuts.

                                    ---                                    

Staren leans down to investigate a corpse. A voice calls out, "Don't go near that!" Too late. The pool of rot ripples and pulses as rictus fingers wrap tight around his mechanical wrist. The body's eyes roll as it pulls itself upright amidst a gust of red-black wind and unleashes a bloodcurdling scream.

The other bodies seem to respond. Klasi sees the corpses surrounding him begin to stir and rise, moaning amidst a haze of foul wind. In the distance, closer to the church, he can hear a snap of thick lumber. The children scream and cling tightly to their rescuers, hearts thundering in their chests.

All around, corpses are rising, transforming. It seems like someone might have been on the right track when they'd considered this world to be one infested by the unquiet dead. But... The temple, there might be someone /there/ still alive. To get there, they'd need to... either out-fight or out-run these shambling, bestial corpses.
Android 17     To say that 17 isn't horrifed is a understatement, fortinately for the children that are probably now clinging to him, his ability to emote is somewhat muted. He holds the two children, Letting them be frightened scared things and get it out. He speaks, softly, "It's alright, I'm Android 17, you can call me 17 for short, alright?" he says, trying to establish some familarity...because he's going to have to get them to safety, "And yes, I heard your prayers. Odd, I am not the Kami of this world, but it works out all the same," he says, with a smile.

    "The temple..?" he says, looking towards the building. However, then something...or rather somethings get set off. The corpses start to move, and things start to break down fast. He stands up, looking at the Children.

    "I'm going to ask you to do me a favor, I need you to be brave, and run with me to the temple. Don't worry about the monsters, if you stay close to me.." he says, as a green glow starts forming around him, extended a bit to make sure the children are covered.

    "I can get us there without any fear...and these other brave people are going to make sure the bad things stay away." he says, and starts moving as soon as the Children are ready.

    Seventeen's eyes narrow...the scene with the children hits far too close to home...far too close.
Klasi Stryde Klasi would let the others deal with the kids, because he really wants to know what's up with the church...when zombies attack. Klasi's familiar with the concept of zombies, and seeing them freaks him the hell out. "Aiieeee, zombies! They're gonna eat our brains!" However, when 17 says to clear him a path...Klasi swallows his fear, surrounded by the monsters, and decides to shout at them, assuming they can understand him because why not.

"Okay, zombies! I'll show you the power of your fatal foe...the knight! Because everyone knows knights used to fight zombies! Knight Hands, go!"

Klasi's flesh begins to whirl, as his hands start to...change. His left one, stretched outwards, reshapes itself into a long steel sword with a crossguard, the type a medieval warrior would have used. The other, balled into a fist, suddenly grows a shield at the end, complete with insignia (it's a poorly-rendered version of Klasi's face). As 17 moves to push forward, Klasi moves to distract the zombies, using the very sharp sword to try and cleave through them, and the shield to resist damage, though being made out of his body mass means that he still feels some pain even when it's attacked.

Klasi's technique isn't anything special, relying on the blade over his skill, which he lacks. He knows how to slice and stab, but no real fancy sword maneuvers. If the zombies get too close, he might however even bash them in the face with the shield, trying overall to thin their numbers. If the group /can/ thin their numbers enough, though, Klasi will try and push past them to join 17 at the church, probably much delayed.
Josuke Higashikata Of course, sneaking up on Josuke like that? Bad idea. not for the person sneaking up on him, no. But for Josuke. "GAH!" he yelps, jumping to his feet and wheeling around to find the source of the sound. "Geez, don't sneak up on people like that..." he complains, with a pout. Though he's not afraid to agree with 17, "Yeah. You got a point." A look at the door ripped off. "I noticed that. And it leaving that building alone... I wonder if it's somehow keeping whatever it is away..."

He trails off though, as he looks back and 17 is lifting the cart one-handed. By now Josuke's been in the Multiverse long enough that it doesn't completely dumbfound him, but it does surprise him. So at least now he knows he's dealing with someone that can probably take care of himself. "Ah, right. Name's Josuke," he offers in return. Little late, but there it is.

It's about then that the kids hiding under the cart make themselves known. He smiles, patting whichever of the kids grabbed hold of him. "Hey, it's OK. That's right, we're here to help." Well, he can assume. Not a good thing to do under most circumstances, but he's trying to make the kids feel better. Bad enough they probably saw whatever did this, but to end up alone as the only island of relative safety in it all? Yeah, give them some assurances.

And then suddenly... corpses start rising and transforming. "Crap!" Josuke mutters. Fortunately 17 has the kids. Josuke doesn't start off immediately towards the temple though... and he's not about to just leave it all to Klasi. Josuke takes a deep breath. Exhales deeply, and holds his lungs empty for a moment, before sucking in a very deep breath. Like the first breath of a drowning man.

He summons his Stand, but only part-way. The torso of the pink-and-blue poltergeist sticks out of his back, as if rising from his body. Probably fortunate the kids are unlikely to be able to see that; it probably would just make them more scared. He runs behind 17, since the temple sounds like it's starting to break. If he can get to it he should be able to fix it again!

However, on the way, Josuke uses Crazy Diamond to extend his reach, the Stand punching violently at any threat that gets too close to 17. It's not just the force, though. If these are actual undead, the Hamon is likely to make this even more effective, since Hamon is a natural bane to undead.
Staren     Some dude Staren hasn't seen before razzes him. "It's not about that. Showing concern is comforting. And also they might really be hurt, or reply in a strange manner because they're actually a monster--" Android 17 uncovers the kids, and now Josuke's here too. "We'll get you out of here, alright?"

    Staren checks on one of the bodies. "What happened here?" A feed goes down. Staren's glancing at it as the warning comes, distracting him from processing their words. So it is that he sees the picture-in-picture scream the same time as his hand is grabbed. "GAH!" He tries to jump back, startled, then starts attacking the zombie to try and destroy it. The beam cannons and saber are fairly readily available -- he doesn't think it's time to go for the explosives yet. He might regret that later.

    If he can get free, he sticks by the others, despite his words: "We need to get them out of here, not get surrounded by these things!" Sticking together is more important, though.
Morgan Berselius There is something perhaps reassuring at how Staren's (relatively) conventional weaponry renders the zombie into so much unliving ash. Lingering motes of red-black energy leech back into the ground as it dissolves-- and if Staren takes notice, he might see a similarly colored stain growing where the zombie had grabbed him. It tingles, just barely, beneath the blackening metal.

Klasi has similar fortunes. Sword and board is all many have had to defend themselves with, and though wielded without skill, the edge, honed sharp to the scale of nanometers, is more than enough to cleave through the corpses. They fall apart, bleeding only once they hit the ground, crippled and helpless-- and yet they keep coming, clawing forward as an insatiable mass of corrupted flesh even when chopped to pieces.

And then the Hamon Warrior strikes pale, withered flesh and unleashes the might of the living sun. A heartbeat pulse of radiant force blasts the red-black energies from their host, and for a moment he sees the zombie revert to something less monstrous... Before dissolving into so much ash, the light of the Hamon shattering the power animating them.

Still others try to pound against the bubble of green force protecting 17 and his precious cargo, but by outside intervention or simply by disintegrating against the wall, they are unable to adequately penetrate. Those who try and fail pound at the barrier until their limbs give way and leak that strange red-black fluid against it. The children cling ever more tightly to their protector.

And soon, soon the team fights its way to the center of the town, to the front of the temple.

Its doors, though apparently reinforced from within, have been torn to splinters. What look like wooden barricades and stake barriers surround the entrance, all looking as if they'd been thoroughly crushed under some massive weight. Statuary nearby has been toppled, depictions of some manner of divine protector lying shattered on the ground. Between the broken doors, the inside of the temple is... impossible to make out. The darkness there is impenetrably thick, almost like it were a liquid blackness more than mere shadow.

For a moment, the children are silent, and then...

"M-mister 17, the temple," the boy stammers, "Mommy said the gods would protect it. B-but the dark man... He said that she was wrong, t-that we would be safer in the dark place." Is that why they had to resort to wooden barricades to protect themselves with? Are they... too late...?

No. Voices still rise from the darkness, screaming for rescue. Wood cracks and splinters within. Something-- someone-- is still in there. Still fighting...!
Android 17     Android 17 did not want to go forward with the children in tow...not with what they have here. However...well, there isn't much choice, and the danger outside of this place might be worse than what is inside. Also something seems to be FIGHTING in there. There are voices, people crying out for help, holding on to hope. He clenches his fist...and takes a step forward.

    "Keep behind me." he says, towards the children, looking back towards the others.

    "No point staying inside, lets keep going." he says, and then to the Children again. "If things go really bad, and this barrier goes away, you need to hide. Together, and I will come back for you, alright?"

    Android 17 pushes in again, His superior hearing guiding them to towards the sounds.
Klasi Stryde As Klasi fights forward, he ends up getting clawed when the monsters keep going even when they're crippled. He didn't expect that. "Ack, ow!" He bleeds when they scrape through him, injured...but the wounds start to heal themselves back rapidly, flesh knitting itself together. He's still in pain, though, and while his body will probably stop any infection the weird rot might cause, he's still uncomfortable. "Ugh, I hate these things! Zombies, they're the /worst/!"

Klasi then dashes forward to Android 17, to the front of the temple, hands reverting to normal. He stops to make sure the kids are okay, before moving to push into the door with 17 once he realizes someone is in there. "Whoever you are, we're here to help! Klasi Stryde, Paradise Hunter, is at your side!"

And also probably attracting whatever monster is in there, woops.
Josuke Higashikata Seeing the corpse revert to a less-monstrous state is actually incredibly reassuring. Josuke hadn't been able to test out his Hamon on actual undead before now. He'd asked his ancestor to teach him so that he could try to help Asellus with her problem... but the Mystics weren't undead, just cheaty magical bastards that got all the powers of a vampire without any of their weaknesses. Or did they? He didn't know if that was the case, or whether he just was doing it wrong. Seeing here that it works so much better against actual undead... well, that's a relief. It also confirms that the Mystics ARE just cheaty magical bastards. And it's a boost to Josuke's confidence, too.

It's also good to have Klasi and Staren here -- Staren he knows is an experienced fighter; Klasi he didn't, until the guy basically turned into a blender out there. Which... yeah, it's a little weird, but it looked effective, and that's the important bit! And he sees that barrier of 17's, it's keeping him and the kids safe, so that's one less problem they have to worry about. They just have to keep anything off of 17 and he should be able to take care of himself and protect the kids too.

He heads for the temple with the others and finds... it's a wreck. "Dammit -- are we too late?" Obvious question. 17's senses are better, so he'll probably hear the screaming before Josuke does. But once Josuke hears it, he's going to follow 17 further in. He's still got his Stand half-sticking out of his back, ready to Hamon-punch anything that looks like it's a threat.

Well... Klasi might be attracting the monster... but hey, if he does, it means whatever it is, might be attacking them instead of attacking any survivors in the temple. Which is better as far as Josuke's concerned.
Morgan Berselius "W-we will," the girl says, mustering a brave face, even as her hand squeezes maybe too-tight around her brother's. "T-thank you, mister 17. We'll try to be strong...!"

And then, something splits the darkness. A person is hurled bodily from within the temple right over Klasi, 17 and Josuke's heads. He smashes into what's left of a statue, bounces off the ground, and... flips back onto his feet. He's wearing tattered, worn rags and a black, feathered cowl. A chain is wrapped around his arm, terminating in an hooded, iron lantern that contains a strange, ghostly flame. He groans, rising back onto his feet in spite of the grievous injuries covering his body-- no. Threads of inky blackness weave together over his wounds, knitting them shut within moments.

He seems to take notice about the others' presence, then, flashing a smirk in spite of his previous injuries. "Talk about timing. That was almost bad-- it almost got past me before something got its attention. Hah, I was beginning to think I'd have to do this all by myself." 'Do this?' The man scowls at temple as the darkness begins to broil over, "It's coming. Get ready-- and keep those kids safe."

The ground trembles. A scythe-like claw cleaves through the veil of darkness, scattering it in a spray of liquid shadow. A withered limb tugs the thing within back into the light. It's... A creature of bloated, twisted flesh. Like someone had taken a graveyard and transformed it into a singular, fleshy husk. The thing groans as it crawls forward on a centipede-like lower body. Its back is covered in ossified spines that jutt from gaping wounds which weep red-black pus. The thing turns its head to regard the assembled heroes. And then... faces. Faces push out of the rotted hulk, each one crying, pleading--

'Help,' 'Please, help us.' 'Give us strength.' 'Please, save our--' 'I'm scared.'

                          'We don't want to die.'                          

The faces distend, resolving into entire bodies-- the same, twisted forms that the party fought earlier-- which ooze onto the ground... And rise, enmasse, as the goliath begins to charge, swinging its great scythe-arm in wide, powerful swipes.

Worse, the light begins to bleed away as...

Wait. No, there's something... reassuring about the shadow that begins to swirl throughout the square. Waves of night begin reverberating from weapons and limbs. "Fight. Fight with everything you've got. For the ones who still live. Don't worry, the Raven God is with you...!"
Staren     Well, that's one zombie down. Staren runs with the others towards the temple, listening to this talk of a 'dark place' and hearing fighting. He's about to go check that out when he notices the stain. And the tingle.

    Aww man, he's gonna have to cut his OWN arm off this time, isn't he?

    That thought is postponed by the arrival of someone VERY tough, who is evidently fighting monsters. Like that one right there!

    Staren just shoots it with beams as it comes into view, BEFORE realizing that it's what's pleading for help. And then he hesitates, awkwardly, caught off-guard as it charges! He's at least able to get his forcefield up before the scythe arm can CUT him, but he's still sent rolling across the room in a most undignified way inside his forcefield (cracked and partly shattered where the scythe hit it,) like a hamster inside a ball that just rolled down the stairs.
Josuke Higashikata "Whoa!" Josuke yelps as someone gets thrown over them. He runs over as the guys in the feather cloak stands up. "Hey, are you all right?" If the guy seems like he's hurt, Josuke will use Crazy Diamond to try to heal the guy. From the looks of things, he was fighting whatever it is that did this, so he needs to stay healthy too.

Suddenly something comes through the darkness, and Josuke's eyes go wide with shock and revulsion. "Holy shit, what is THAT?!" He backs up a few paces as the thing approaches. And then he sees the faces. "...wait, those voices. They sound like the ones I heard. Then it... absorbed those people?! Was this thing using their voices to lure people here from outside?!"

It seems reasonable. These people aren't aware of what they're doing anymore. He sends a look at the kids 17 is protecting. They don't need to see this. They don't need to see what's going to happen. But they're not safe anywhere but near the Elites...

Unfortunately his deliberation takes a little too long, and the 'grave golem' swings at him. His eyes widen, and he only just manages to summon Crazy Diamond before him to take the hit. Not that he doesn't still take some damage and get thrown back, with a yelp of pain, blood starting to soak the inside of his shirt where the scythe-like claws hit his Stand. He rolls to his feet, trying to think of how best to do this... when he notices the shadow surrounding him.

Suddenly something occurs to him. This is darkness, right? What would Hamon do with it? It's light, isn't it? Would it react explosively? If so, it could definitely cause some major damage to this thing if he can manage a hit on it. So he pauses long enough to take a few breaths, until he feels his body start to warm again, a sign of Hamon flow. Then he summons Crazy Diamond once again; the Stand grips the front of his jacket and THROWS him hard. He's trying to aim OVER the heads of the zombies, aiming for the monstrosity itself.

Just before he'd hit the monstrosity, he remanifests Crazy Diamond, but only half-sticking out of his back again. And then, with the darkness still swirling around him, he generates as much Hamon as he can manage through his Stand, putting together the Darkness and the Hamon, in a single powerful strike.
Klasi Stryde As they enter inside, Klasi sees...a cool guy. He's fighting hard, using weird darkness powers, but he's clearly an ally. "I'm ready! I was born ready-"

Is what Klasi says right as the monster comes forward. When it speaks up, not wanting to die...Klasi hesitates, slightly. Maybe it's not so bad? And then the scythe strikes him straight in the chest. It cuts a nasty gash in him, ripping the boy's vest apart, and sending him flying back into a wall. Is...is he dead already?

Rising from his crumpled position, Klasi seethes. That was his favorite suit, and he doesn't have many of them, all salvaged. His chest is exposed, bleeding horribly, making it hard for him to move and walk, but it's also a wound that should kill someone. Not Klasi. He screams at the monster. "How dare you, you humongous jerk! You'll pay for that...Cowboy Blasters!"

As Klasi's chest wound already starts to knit itself back together, his hands begin to change. Revolver barrels form in the middle of his hands, while his index and middle fingers become massive gun barrels on each hand. His thumbs turn into the hammers, as the barrels begin to...heat up? These aren't normal revolvers.

They're laser revolvers, because Klasi has it on recent authority that cowboys use energy weapons.

The revolvers begin firing rapidly, lasers moving to sear into the faces of the monster. The fact that they were once people doesn't matter to Klasi, he's pissed, and he wants revenge. The fact they're also threatening an ally doesn't even really trigger into Klasi's brain. It's all about the suit.
Android 17     Seventeen watches as the man flies out, smashing into the nearby scenery. So that wasn't as expected...what is less expected is the mass of whatever the FUCK THAT WAS. However, Android 17 does not emote his feelings, instead turning to stand infront of the children.

    "Behind me." he says, looking towards the man talking about the Raven god's blessing. "Care to inform us about what this is...and if there is any thing we can do for the people...you know, besides the obvious."

    However, as the thing comes forward, Seventeen's hands come up, dismissing the barrier for a brief moment, and firing a ki blast right for one of the many faces of the creature, each successive blast aiming to try and hit the creature as it was trying to recover from the last one, aiming to try and give the people trying to engage it in melee time to get their hits off of it, and try to prevent it from getting clean hits in return.

    "Stay behind me." he informs the kids again. Preparing to raise the barrier over them again, should it decide he was the greater threat...or it liked the taste of innocent children more than saving itself.
Morgan Berselius Unfortunately, Staren opened fire /before/ the Dark Man began imbuing the party's weaponry with that strange shadow-magic. Beams carve trenches of cauterized meat into the corrupt giant, filling the air with a rancid stench. The creature screeches as it bats the power-armor clad scientist halfway across the square.

It's perhaps not the most dignified experience.

"This is what happens when enough stray essence gathers in one place," The Dark Man explains, glancing toward 17, "Without anything to keep the hatred and malice from accumulating, it ended up soaking into the land."

"As for the people inside it," he says, a little more grimly, "They're dead. Been dead for a while now. Their spirits are being used as nothing more than puppets. Best thing we can do for them is to put them out of their misery."

The children scream as the corpse giant turns and seems suddenly interested in the readily available supply of extra-fresh meat-- before bolts of light and ki smash into its body. The creature screams, its flesh sizzling and boiling as Klasi's laser revolvers blast holes into its carapace. Shadow twines around the bolts of focused light, seeping into the beast's body on impact.

The beast roars and turns, raising its sickle to strike the injured gunslinger. The withered sinew anchoring its limb to its body stretches and extends as it attacks-- only for a bolt of spiritual energy to smash into one of its myriad faces, sending it briefly off-balance and unable to prevent...

Josuke.

Josuke, who unleashes the power of the sun. The light of the sun and the tapestry of night mingle, mix, and at the very crest of his leap-- bursts. An explosion of pure, azure energy erupts into the world, with Josuke right at its heart. The Dark Man grunts and shields his eyes from the sudden flood of power, "What--" There's a boom of thunder, and the corpse golem barely has a chance to scream before its upper body is overwhelmed by the nova of celestial force.

When the light clears, the zombies are just outright gone. The thing is... Not quite obliterated, but diminished significantly. Its entire upper body has been rendered to ash, and its lower half slumps on its many legs...

Before tendrils of black-red energy erupt from the stump that used to be a humanoid torso. The tentacles extend, sweep and flail, trying to smash the heroes into the flagstones of the temple square-- but its movements are sluggish, as if stunned or otherwise somehow diminished.

It's on its last legs...!
Josuke Higashikata "HA!" A triumphant cry from Josuke as the two energies mix in ways that he'd hoped they would. Day and night working together in concert, both joining together to tell this abomination of the highest order to SOD RIGHT THE HELL OFF! How perfect is that?

There's just one problem. Josuke doesn't have the gift of propelled flight. Just being thrown by his Stand. And between the amount of Hamon he'd had to use there, and the expectation that the thing would die -- well, maybe re-die -- he is completely taken off-guard by the appearance of the energy tendrils.

And he's standing right beside the thing...

Speaking of not very dignified? Well, Josuke had been expecting the monster to be dead after he landed with the powerful Darkness/Hamon punch combo. It is not quite, however... and so he's completely unprepared for the flailing tendrils of black-red energy. And so he's caught right in the torso -- notably, where he'd taken the damage from his Stand getting hit -- by a flailing tendril.

"GAH!" he yelps, finding himself swept off his feet and slammed into the ground, the wind knocked out of him in an audible, "Oof!" Well, there went his Hamon charge -- no breath, no Hamon! Not only that, but he's vulnerable to another attack on the ground, so close to this thing. And he also looks dazed, and doesn't get up immediately.
Android 17     Seventeen braces himself, extending the shield around himself and the children again. The tentacles flail down, he can FEEL the force of this monster reverberate throught he shield. It shouldn't be able to hit that hard, but it /does/. Android 17 frowns, he's annoyed at this, he's really getting tired of this. However, being told that these people are already dead...that the only way to actually save them was to get rid of them and allow them to pass on...

    The shield fades, after the last strike. "Stay there." he says, looking towards the man, "Look after the kids for a moment.." he says, and then seems to almost instantly disappear, aiming to be right into the face of the creature, aiming to envolpe him into the barrier, and then with a force of the Android's feet attempts to kick the monster straight into the air, and put it off center.

    The barrier falls immediately, as he looks towards the others, "Smokem if you gottem!" he shouts back, trying to dance back towards the children, he can set the monster up, but it's up to everyone else to finish it!
Klasi Stryde Klasi's still pissed about his suit, but when the monster is cleared by the mixture of sunlight and pure night, he makes a sigh of relief. The battle is over, and...

oh, no, tendrils. They sweep and flail into him, pushing Klasi back, but he doesn't let himself get sent flying again - them being sluggish allows him to start pushing back, since he's somewhat superhuman. A 'brilliant' plan suddenly comes to mind for him, but how to enact it...

17 moves to envelop the monster in a barrier and throw it in the air. While he's doing that, Klasi jumps on a tendril, and starts running up it once the barrier falls. In mid-air, the boy's going to charge, leap, and move to slam fists-first into the monster's stump and split it apart.

But not before turning his hands into a giant chainsaw.

Placing the revolver-palms together, the hands start to morph again, forming into one single weapon together, a massive rotating chainsaw blade. Despite being a shapeshifter, his weapons can apparently have moving parts, as the chainsaw moves to gore into the monster as Klasi falls down towards the earth with it. "Giant Chainsaw of Doom!"

Klasi's probably going to have a really hefty laundry bill if he survives this, what with how gory it's likely to be.
Staren     Once he's rolled nearly to a stop, Staren drops the field. This isn't the FIRST time that's happened, so he's ready for getting back into the fight quickly: wings of energy suddenly appear on his back, and with brief flurries of movement like an insect's wings, they have him rightside up and levitating into position for a followup attack.

    Unfortunately, this doesn't seem like a good time to use missiles. Exploding in a narrow line isn't going to hit some critical component of an undead, and exploding in a big blast will catch his allies. So he's left with energy weapons, firing particle beams and lasers to burn away chunks of flesh. Hopefully combined with the others it will add up to enough!

    "I don't suppose you can do that again?!" Staren shouts to Josuke.
Morgan Berselius It seems for a moment that Josuke is at the creature's mercy. Its tendrils pause and sharpen, twisting about like coiled serpents to run the Stand Warrior through...!

And then they smash right into a bubble of pure, solidified force.

Its confusion is very nearly palpable, but only in the most superficial of ways-- all emotion is subordinate to its malice. And besides that, it has only a moment to consider its situation before being abruptly kicked straight into the air.

It hangs at the zenith of its flight for a brief, pregnant instant, and then it begins to fall.

Bolts of energy hammer the centipede-like lower body as it tumbles through the air. A motor screams as a great, chittering blade swings up and into the thing's middle line. The chainsaw's teeth bite in and chew, sending deadly vibrations through the monster's lower half, even as blood and viscera spray down and out of its ruined body. Finally, Klasi cleaves through-- and Staren evaporates the rain of gore before it can reach the ground below. What is left is gnawed away by motes of ravenous shadow, until finally, the last of the beast is finally banished back to the realm of memory and nightmare.

...And all at once, with the rise of a great, black wind, the lingering malice is swept away and the fetid pallor hanging over the town seems to finally abate.

The Dark Man sags in relief, the darkness still lingering nearby beginning to bleed away. From within the shadows clinging to the inside of the ruined church, people-- actual people-- begin to emerge, wide-eyed with fear, joy and awe in equal measure. "Go on," the man says to the two children clutching at his sides. The pair look up, then lock eyes with a worried-looking woman in the crowd and immediately break to run to embrace her--

But not before the older girl pauses and bows to her rescuers, "Mister 17-- thank you. Thank you so much...!" She curtsies hastily and then rushes off, throwing her arms around the stunned woman-- apparently their mother.

"Finally," The Dark Man sighs, "That was... Worse than the usual. I'm glad the both of you are safe," he looks to the foreign heroes and inclines his head in recognition, "Thanks for the response. I was worried that my gambit hadn't paid off."
Staren     They did it! Staren is pleased at having helped purge a village of its horrible nightmare... and then he remembers the stain. He looks to see if it's still there. the tingling is too. He lands next to the Dark Man, and disconnects the gauntlet part of the armor to bare his arm and see what the skin looks like. "Thanks for your help, and I'd love to know more about what's going on here, but... am I going to have to cut off my arm?" He sounds slightly concerned, but not nearly as concerned as might be expected from someone discussing losing an arm.
Klasi Stryde As the monster is destroyed, Klasi lands on the ground on his feet, chainsaw still revving. He lifts it into the air to cheer, before realizing he needs to turn his hands back, and does so, reverting to his normal form. He moves up towards Morgan to thumbs up at him. "No problem! That bastard ruined my suit. It was really rare, too!" He'd found it in a ruin dive, and grew enamored with 'fancy' clothing like it. For now, Klasi starts to scrape the gore out of his hair and face, shaking his head to throw it to the ground, kind of like a dog.

And then, a turn to the group. "You were all awesome! Name's Klasi Stryde, paradise hunter." He pronounces it 'claw-zee'. "Let's do that again sometime!" He means without the threat to the children, of course. He just forgets to say that.
Josuke Higashikata It's Staren's shout that draws Josuke's attention back. And not a moment too soon, either. He dodges out of the way of a flailing tendril seconds before 17 sweeps in at the monster to set it up for Klasi. Between all of these, Josuke manages to escape the radius of the flailing tendrils without suffering further damage.

While Klasi pursues the monster, Josuke checks himself to ensure the Darkness is still there, before he finally answers Staren, "I think so!" Though instead of running into the radius of Klasi's gory descending sawblade-drill attack, he has another idea.

Reaching into his pockets, he extracts a few handfuls of wooden pellets. He pauses, to breathe again, to get the Hamon going inside him again, and then his Stand rises up halfway again. This time, he transfers both the charge and the wooden pellets to his Stand. He's hoping that Darkness will work together with the Hamon-charged wooden pellets -- either way, he peppers the descending monster with the Hamon-charged wooden pellets, Crazy Diamond flicking the small pellets with about the velocity of small arms fire.

Fortunately Klasi's descending drill attack seems to do the trick, and the monster finally dies. Er, re-dies. The Darkness seems to bleed off then, a signal that the danger has passed. And Josuke breathes a relieved, "Whew..." Then he grins. "<Great> teamwork," he says to the others who'd come to investigate. He pauses, looking up as he sees the actual people coming out. "Oh good, I was worried that there wasn't anybody left. Are any of you hurt?" he asks.

The dark man's words draw his attention, and Josuke looks to him. "So you were the one that sent the voices out?" he asks. "That's good. I was afraid that thing had been trying to draw more victims to it." He pauses as Staren mentions his arm, and frowns. Looking to the dark man, "Can it be fixed?" he asks. He'd volunteer immediately, but he's not sure if there's some specific thing that needs to be done, and he'd rather let someone experienced with this kind of corruption see if he can fix it. That's probably best.

And for Klasi? "I can fix your suit easily," he offers. He's experienced with objects and cloth. So if Klasi's OK with it and lets him, Josuke summons his Stand once more. Crazy Diamond begins to glow orange-gold, and then... the Stand seems to PUNCH AT Klasi?! It's a downward swipe aimed at the torn chest, but one that causes no pain. No, in its wake, the aura will try to pull the ripped cloth back together, trying to revert the suit back to a non-damaged state.
Morgan Berselius The Dark Man's eyes linger for a long moment on the strange bits of armor protruding from Staren's suit-- before shrugging it off. Foreigners are eccentric, it seems. "Probably not," the Dark Man answers, taking a closer look at Staren's bare arm. "Looks like it's just a surface taint. Would've gotten worse if you'd let it fester, but--"

A whorl of un-light spirals off from the Dark Man's lantern and flows across a patch of pallid flesh that had grown over some of Staren's skin. Once the shade passes and returns to the ghostly flame, the tingling sensation fades entirely. Morgan nods and then turns the same purifying power onto Staren's discarded gauntlet. "That should do it. Least I could do for helping out."

He glances over toward Klasi then, and... Laughs? It's a tired, weary kind of chortle, though. "You're a few years too late to find paradise around these parts, friend. The world's been in a bad state for centuries now. But everything's gotta change sometime, I guess. Name's Morgan Berselius, chosen of the Raven God. Thanks again for the help."

He nods to Josuke, who already seems to be somewhat inundated with a small crisis of injured townspeople, "Yeah, that was me. The monster was luring locals in with that nonsense, so I figured it could work on people from the outside, too. Sorry; I had to do a bit of manipulating to make this work out, but I'm glad it did."
Klasi Stryde As Josuke offers to fix Klasi's suit, and suddenly moves to punch him with his Stand, Klasi's eyes widen - but it doesn't hurt. He blinks, looks down, and notices his suit is repaired. His eyes basically shine when he sees this. The vest is weaved back together, now only stained instead of torn to shreds. "Oh, man...you're the best, mister!" Normally you'd pay someone for fixing your clothing, but Josuke didn't ask, so Klasi's not offering.

And then, to Morgan, Klasi laughs himself. "I'll find it somewhere, someday!" When everyone moves to eventually leave, Klasi will wave to everyone, returning to his airship to fly back off home. The Multiverse is really great, Klasi will definitely need to explore it further.
Josuke Higashikata Josuke grins when he notices his handiwork with Klasi's suit. "No problem!" he returns. Nah, he's not asking for money. Looking to the dark man -- Morgan, now he knows -- he offers a nod. "I'm glad you did. This would have been even worse if you hadn't." As for introductions? "My name is Josuke Higashikata," he offers, bowing at least semi-formally. The chosen of a god is someone that deserves respect, right? Besides, he did help them too.

And for the injured townspeople? Yeah, he's not going to ask payment from them either. These people need help, and he can help them, so where's the problem? He's going to try to help people in order of severity of injury.

And during a lull, he asks Morgan, "Do you mind if I stick around a little while? I can probably help get things back to... well, not 'normal', but... I can fix a lot of stuff that's going to be a pain to fix later." He might even be able to reconstitute some of the bodies of the slain. It won't bring them back to life, but it'll give their loved ones something to bury.
Staren     Staren nods after the purifying. "Thanks." He picks up his gauntlet and slides it on, reconnecting it. "I'm Staren. I... look for solutions to problems, but usually that just means shooting them. ...You could've just told us you needed help with a monster, but... I guess this world doesn't have so many helpful people." Staren glances at Josuke, then back at the Dark Man. "What he asked before... /can/ it be fixed?"
Morgan Berselius "Lot of new and unusual names in the outside, huh?" Morgan chuckles and leans back against what used to be the granite base of some statue or other. "Not that they're bad or anything. I'm sure this place'll have a whole generation full of those names soon enough." Such things happen with heroes, after all. "Feel free to stick around as long as you like, Josuke Higashikata. I'm sure the people here would be glad to get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible."

He looks to Staren then, and... Shrugs. "You mean the world? That's something else. I'm not sure, exactly. I've been trying for years, but--" He points, finger extended toward the sun. Something that should be a heroic gesture instead seems... Resigned, almost. "You see that? As an example of what I'm up against, that there is the doing of what used to be the Sun God. Now, the sun hangs in the same spot in the sky all day, every day, trapped over the place it decided belonged to it."

Morgan shrugs, letting his hand fall back to his side, "And that's just one. Dozens of deities like it, and that's not counting the invaders or the missing or the dead. So. I don't know, is the answer I guess."
Josuke Higashikata Josuke listens to Morgan, and when Morgan points towards the sun Josuke looks up. He frowns -- that's right, despite having been here for a while, that sun hasn't moved. "Another world where magic is responsible for the daily workings of the world?" he muses quietly. This is not a disparaging comment. It's one that shows he's got some insight into similar worlds. Anyway, he looks back to Morgan and notes, "...So all the gods are corrupted?"

A pause, and Josuke tilts his head up, to look at the sky again. A world with this many corrupted deities? Or just... this much gone wrong, anyway. He nods once, as if he's made a decision. Then he looks back at Morgan. "I want to see if I can help, even if it's just... like this." He indicates a healed townsperson. "I'll give you a way to contact me. Please let me know if something else like this happens, or if there's a way to fix the underlying cause."
Staren     Staren looks up at the sun. His visor darkens. He makes sort of a sighing, "pfffooooh." sound after Morgan explains the sun is broken. "It wouldn't be the first time that's happened. But... it's certainly not /common/, and last time we had to kill the guy doing it. And it was not trivial. I wonder what's going on though? The REST of the Multiverse is fine... just what IS that? Is it really a star, or is it something else? I suppose we'll have to go look." Staren rubs the chin of his helmet, then makes a face. "Eugh, I'm covered in... have any bodies of water around here, or are they all evil and tainted? I mean, this isn't the first time I've ended up covered in gore, for sure. One of the perks of having to wear an environmentally-sealed suit everywhere, I guess."
Morgan Berselius "The water's actually fine," Morgan says to Staren with a shrug. "Regardless of how crazy it gets in heaven, the gods still need people around. The water gods tried the 'poison the water and everyone will have to pray to us for purification' thing once, but that fell out of favor pretty quick. I'd prefer it if you just... wiped yourself down, though."

No need to get the local water supply all zombie-gooped up.

"Not all the gods went mad," he explains to Josuke. "Many of them didn't, but... Well, when madness comes with incredible power, and trying to fight against that kind of thing doesn't always go so smoothly." He nods, then. "I'd appreciate it. That kind of power-- healing, I mean. It doesn't come easily around here anymore. I can... do some, here and there, but Bendigeid is the God of Night, not of healing."