[day 191] "It's very unfortunate I have to say this, But the world is going to end today" [closed]

[headphoneactor]

Who: Haruka, Takane, Colin, Ryu (4)
Open: Closed
When: Day 191
Where: Skyway -> Bastion
What:

It was an extremely average day,
Without a single obstacle in my path
Until I was bored, listening to the radio,
And I heard this voice that said:
"It's very unfortunate I have to say this,
But the world is going to end today"

Format: action
Warnings: STUPID SICK TEENAGERS

[ She stood there, frozen, eyes wide and breathing heavy.

Takane didn't know what had happened. One moment, she was turning around to make her way out of the school. The next ... she was here.

In a place she didn't recognize.

In a place that was ...

She didn't even know how to describe it.

Takane slowly turned around, eyes scanning the area she now found herself in. Did she fall asleep again? Was she dreaming?

No, she had to wake up. Haruka was at the hospital. She needed to go see him! She had to find him and tell him-- ]

AUGH! Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, WAKE UUUUUUP!

[ ... But clearly, that wasn't working. Takane frowned. Okay. She started walking, looking around. Maybe if she walked around long enough, she'd wake up.

Or figure out what was going on.

No way this wasn't a dream or something, though. She'd have to wake up sometime.

Takane walked for a while, keeping an eye out for anything that might clue her in as to what was going on. She didn't find one.

But she did find something else.

The moment she saw him, her eyes widened again and she could have sworn her heart stopped. She rushed over to the limp, unmoving form of her love friend, placing a hand on his arm and shaking him a little.

He couldn't be here. Not really. This was just a dream, right? Haruka was in the hospital.

Still, her emotions at seeing him like this were very real. ]

H-Hey ... Hey, Haruka ... Haruka, wake up ...

[ Tears welled up in her eyes again, and she roughly took him into her arms, shaking him a little more. ]

Haruka ... Haruka! Hey! Wake up, Haruka!

[ Those tears rolled down her cheeks. No, nonono. He wasn't waking up. This was a dream, and she still couldn't do anything. She was totally useless. ]

HELP!

[ She screamed out the word, looking around to see if maybe anyone was around to hear it. ]

HELP! WE NEED HELP! SOMEONE, ANYONE, PLEASE! P-Please ...

Comments

[bedheadstyle]

Ta... kane...

[The boy this frantic teenager was shaking, begging to wake up was, at least, sort of conscious. Not enough to wake up completely, certainly not enough to move or even tell her that he was alright (because really, he wasn't alright) but enough that he was alive.

All things considered, that was actually the best Takane could hope for right now.

He was still in his hospital gown, a blanket half left over him, but aside from that there was nothing else around him.

Well, except for that half of a hospital bed that was sticking out of the ground at an odd angle some feet away.]

[freedom_engineer]

[Some distance away, Colin is walking with a bag slung over his shoulder. Today's salvage hadn't been especially noteworthy, but it would be enough to build some more nifty little toys, as well as to set aside for some larger projects later on.]

[Of course, when he hears the cries for help in the distance, he frowns and cups his hand to his ear. He can make it out, just barely, and he glances at his traveling companion.]

I think someone's out there, calling for help. Can you hear that?

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu nods, hand on his sword. Going out alone has been more and more of a bad idea, given the amount of new places on the Skyway. There's just too many ways to get injured.]

I can head towards it, if you want to grab a few last things.

[freedom_engineer]

Not a chance, if someone's screaming for help, we are NOT splitting the party.

Let's go check it out together.

[headphoneactor]

[ The moment she heard his voice, her attention turned back toward him. He was alive ... he wasn't in the best shape at the moment, but he was alive. It was enough to bring a relieved smile to her face, but it dropped almost as soon as it appeared. Sure, he was alive now, but if she didn't find help, he might not stay that way.

She wasn't strong enough to carry him, though, so screaming for help was all she could do.

Oh, and cry a lot.

Yeah, that's totally what she'll do. Scream and cry for help. Surely it'll do something. ]

WE NEED HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP US!

[ She held him close, trembling as she did. ]

[bedheadstyle]

[Alive, breathing... but holding on by threads. He had been in medical care before this moment, and having that suddenly taken away when he still needed it was leaving him on a precarious ledge.

He doesn't speak again, but there's a groan at least. Some part of him is aware that Takane is there, holding him, keeping him warm when he feels so cold...]

[amnesiadragon]

Okay.

[Ryu walks towards the sound, ready to attack anything that seems to be in their way. It's nothing big so far, just a few peckers who are driven away pretty easily, but the sound is getting closer. He can see two people off in the distance.]

Colin, can you see what's going on over there?

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin's right there with Ryu, though he's moving a little faster than just a walk... And yes, he too sees the two kids over there, and he frowns.]

Two humans, one male, one female. They don't look like they're in good condition. Come on, let's get over there.

[If he was at a brisk pace before, he's outright running now.]

[headphoneactor]

[ They weren't, really. Even though Haruka was the worst case right now, Takane couldn't deny that it was getting harder to breathe between all of her crying and screaming.

She held onto Haruka as tightly as she could, though her current condition was making it more and more difficult to concentrate on much of anything. She breathed heavily, trying to force enough air into her lungs. She had to keep going. For Haruka. If she blacked out now, Haruka wouldn't be safe. ]

H-He ... lp ...

[ Her voice had gotten quieter at this point, though she tried to keep going. ]

[freedom_engineer]

Heavens, how long have you two been out here?!

[Colin rushes to them, his scans already convincing him that there isn't too much to worry about. Other than their health. That is going to be a problem if they can't get them back to the Bastion soon.]

What's happened to you two?

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu rushes alongside Colin, kneeling to try to help support them if he could.]

You can lean on me, it's okay.

[headphoneactor]

[ Their health is pretty bad, yeah. Their health was pretty bad to begin with. ]

Ha- ... H-Haruka ... n-needs ... a hospital ...

[ And so did she, from the sounds of it. It was getting that much harder to breathe. Her vision was starting to fade, too. She was beginning to slump over the form of her friend, a little, but she was determined to get what information these two needed to them, so they could help Haruka. ]

[freedom_engineer]

And I was just talking to Rosethorn about this too. Is this about the foam, universe?

[Colin reaches out to put his hand on Takane's shoulder to stead her, and another hand on her forehead.]

Easy there, you... whoa, what the hell?

Ryu, check the boy for injuries. This girl's burning up.

[Weak medical scanner, go!]

[freedom_engineer]

[And so it was that the team assembled a stretcher to get the wounded back to the Bastion. Sadly, the best time cut card had already been used in the thread, so the humorous passing of time has been wasted.]

[Takane and Haruka are in the hospital now, sharing a room. Colin knows that they seemed to recognize each other, so separating them will be a bad idea. When they wake up, they're undoubtedly going to want to see each other.]

[Colin, meanwhile, is just going to wait in the room with them for a while. No sense in leaving them alone when he can get work done in his head while he waits.]

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu has reverted to his normal form, and is currently sitting nearby on the floor. Chairs are okay but he's too tired for politeness. He's just glad they've gotten them back safely.]

They're going to be okay, right?

[bedheadstyle]

[Well it's Haruka who decides, for some reason, that he's had enough of this unconscious crap.

Only it's more like he's finally rousing from what would have been about his normal rest from the surgery had all of this not happened.

He groans softly, calling for Takane in his half-awake state, eyes starting to open very slowly.]

[doctor_dragoon]

[Between the two patients in their beds and the two visitors lingering nearby, the room feels a little crowded, but Yukio's not complaining. He (like pretty much everyone else who arrives in the Bastion) knows what it's like to wake up alone and in a strange place with no idea what's happening. Better that there are people around to help explain what's happening when they actually come around.

Speaking of which...

Yukio moves to the boy's bedside after he starts to stir, checking vitals and speaking calm reassurances.]

It's alright...

[freedom_engineer]

They're...

[Haruka's awakening silences him, and he rises from his seat. He glances at Ryu, and gives him a wavering hand gesture, the universal "Maybe, maybe not." He moves to the other side of Haruka's bed then.]

Takane is here, in the bed right next to you. She's still asleep.

[amnesiadragon]

[He drops his head, but moves a little closer, not wanting to crowd them but wanting to be comforting.]

You're in a safe place. Just rest.

[bedheadstyle]

[Some part of Haruka hears those voices, telling him that he's fine, that Takane is fine. But they're practically background noise to something playing through his more conscious mind.

A hospital bed in a blank, empty room. The body of his online avatar of all things hovering next to him, eyes closed. A woman's voice speaking to him from nowhere and everywhere all at once after he had lamented aloud that he just wanted to be like other teenagers...

"This is the body you wished for."

"No! I didn't mean it like that! All I wanted was to be able to hang out and have fun like everyone else! I just wanted to be normal! I don't... I don't want a body like this!"

And then, suddenly, darkness. Darkness and red, and the woman speaking again. He was fading away. No. Breaking apart.

"If you don't want it, that's fine. You'll simply become a living husk that has lost all memories of you. Send him off."

There were... snakes? Yes. Snakes in that darkness, wrapping that other body up and taking it away. All while Haruka's body continued to break apart in to nothing.

He was panicking in that... dream? Memory? What was it, really? His chest felt so heavy, so tight it hurt to breathe. In his mind he was screaming. Out loud, it was more like whimpering.

"No. Give it back. Give me my body back!"]

Give me... my body back...

[With that pained plea, his eyes shot open the rest of the way, leading in to a surprised gasp. His chest still hurt, enough that he reached a shaking, pale hand up to touch where his stitches were. The ceiling above him was not the one he had woken to in the hospital briefly, nor was it that blank space he had been disintegrating in.

Had that all be a terrible dream... ?

Or had he wished hard enough to stop that terrible thing from happening... ?

He probably shouldn't have been moving at all, but everything hurt even lying down, and he forced himself up in to a somewhat sitting position to look around in tired, groggy confusion at the unfamiliar faces around him.

One blink.

Two.

Three.

Head tilt.]

Uhm... ?

[doctor_dragoon]

[Yukio frowned and reached out to lay a careful hand on one of the boy's shoulders, gently trying to guide him back down out of that semi-sitting position.]

Try not to move. Your stitches are still fresh.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin smiles, and steps back so as not to crowd Haruka.]

Sorry for the confusion. This is Dr. Okumura, I'm Colin, and this is Ryu.

We can answer any questions you may have, we know you're probably confused as to who the heck all of us are.

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu waves a little, smiling.]

You're safe here. Take all the time you need.

[But he'll step back too, and let the others do more of the talking. He's not very good at the talking thing.]

[bedheadstyle]

Ahh...

[It takes him a few seconds to process all this, groggy as he is from everything, but eventually he lifts a hand and... sort of repeats what Colin just said.]

Okumura-sensei... Colin-san... Ryu-san... ?

[Yup, this kid was obviously Japanese.

His hand went back to his chest, wincing once more at the sore, tender stitches.]

Where am I? Is... is Takane okay... ?

[doctor_dragoon]

[Ah, Haruka. From Japan and polite. Yukio approves of of you already.

He nods and smiles a bit, taking a step to one side so that Haruka can see Takane in the other bed.]

Your friend is here too. She's just sleeping.