tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; Wednesday, November 26, after the fourth wall curse
Rating; Pg-13 for now (may increase later due to violence)
Characters; the current D.Gray-man crew
Summary; After weeks of playing games to draw the Exorcists out, the Noah have gone too far and kidnapped one of them. And now the Exorcists have to try and get her back before it's too late...
Log;

No more need to lie in wait, no more playing around, drawing them out with songs and rumours of nightmares too terrible to be mentioned. They had them where they wanted them. With their pretty little friend in the Noah's hands, the Exorcists would be coming to look for them soon.

And the Noah were waiting to draw them into a living nightmare made just for them.

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It was not a matter of being anymore sober than he would have, had the day before not occurred. This would have been a serious occasion, even if he had not been forced to take from Eliade, Eliade, her blood. With it, he felt he could look at them, at Rabi and Miranda as they confirmed their gear and eyed the great doors. He could look at them, because at least he could become the monster that would protect them.

It had already been too long. Eliade would not forgive him, perhaps, but that had always been a given- and it would be another thing for which he could not forgive himself.

Crowley put on a smile, because he wanted to be brave for them, to believe for them who had dared to believe in him. Still hesitant about giving commands, he asked it, gesturing too timidly at the doors.

"Shall we go?"

Rabi smiled. It had a hint of steel to it, but it was a smile nevertheless-- because he knew. He knew that even though this would be a hopeless battle, he knew that with Crowley as the only offense and Miranda being only defense, and he was left with only his physical skills, the other man would need all the support he could get. He knew that what most people needed was a smile and an air of nonchalance-- this is no big deal, they'd be fine.

He pulled the buckles on his uniform tight, fingered the empty holster out of habit and mentally cringed, and rechecked a pouch that rested at his waist for a few knives and smaller weapons. The redhead had been schooled in a few martial arts and the panda tried to teach him how to throw weapons, but he wasn't terribly good at it. But that was okay, because this fight was no big deal.

They only had to get Lenalee back and book it. No excess fighting, just complete the mission and high-tail it outta there.

He grabbed a long metal pipe that leaned against the wall and rested it over his shoulder. Better than nothin', right?

"Ready when you are~"

Miranda fingered her innocence, the Time Record, feeling more nervous than ever before. It wasn't that she hadn't fought before, not because she thought they couldn't do it - she had help, after all, two strong comrades fighting beside her to save another, someone dear to them all - but because... she wasn't even sure. Maybe she didn't trust her own abilities enough. Or maybe she was just being nervous for the sake of being nervous? That would be the worst.

Or was it just because this was the City? She hadn't felt like this even during the Noah's invasion in the Headquarters, but then there were Generals... but also many defenseless people to be saved. At that time, she had just felt oddly useless, although she was told she was not. And she would've wanted to believe that, really would have. Idly she wondered what dying would feel like. She had tried, more than once, but had never succeeded... but here, they would be brought back if they died, right? What would that feel like, coming back and remembering everything and finding that your heart isn't even beating anymore? That... you could never go back home?

What bothered her the most was that the Time Record couldn't be used as an offensive weapon. Whereas she didn't necessarily want to hurt anyone or anything, not even akuma, it would still have been... nice. There's nothing wrong with defensive abilities, but...

The woman let out a small sigh, nodding slightly to her two comrades.

"I... I'm ready."

The doors seemed impossibly large at that moment. Once they had confirmed it, agreed, adorned their best faces, squared shoulders and chins and looked ahead, there was no going back. It was not fear that stirred in his gut, though he did fear, not the strength of the threat or the possibility of their failure, but that he might not be strong enough to protect them.

Leather creaked as he clenched his fists. There was no time to be anything but resolute, to maintain a cautious confidence. Lenalee was waiting. Glancing back to Miranda, who could not strike, and to Rabi, who gripped the pipe as if it could substitute for his innocence, Aleister nodded.

He would keep them safe. Only he could. And with that holding his head high, with Eliade's blood in his uniform, Crowley stepped forward, pushed open the doors, and into the light. The plan, as absurd as it was, was easy enough - simply move until they came.

It was difficult to tell exactly what was going through the other two's heads, which was a hefty thing for Rabi to recognize-- he usually prided himself on how deeply he could usually read people. But he was certain that this fight wouldn't be an easy one, by any means, and also that he was ready to give it his all to protect the other two.

Almost like a split personality, the bookman side of his heart was against this sort of thinking-- but even if it meant a lifetime of kicks to the head and squat old men yelling at him, it was something that he realized was important. Having people dear to you, protecting them, trusting in them. In fact, it was even difficult to recognize that he was trusting in someone that wasn't himself in the first place. But such is life, tale è vita. People were forever growing and changing.

Just like Crowley had, since Rabi last saw him. His back seemed sturdier, straighter. He was someone that the redhead had no problems following, and someone that he didn't mind putting his trust in. He also believed that Miranda had his back, despite any reservations she may be having.

They were his comrades. But more importantly, they were his friends. That was something he'd keep in mind as he followed them out of the Firehouse, and with that, the protective barrier that kept them safe as well.

Still fingering the disc attached to her arm, Miranda stepped out with the two others. She had done this before, so many times before, but now... she was so nervous. And it was making her a tad bit frustrated. True, this might be just a losing battle, but she couldn't lose faith in her friends! Lenalee was waiting. They had to go.

But still, stepping out, not to buy some groceries or to take a walk in Xanadu, but to fight... knowing that made it so different. The threat was always there, Miranda knew it, and she shouldn't forget it, but going to face it head on just... made it much more real.

She would fight though, right? Rabi and Crowley were expecting her to. Lenalee was expecting her to. And it was true: although she had felt down, like she didn't want to even exist anymore, she had never given up fighting, trying to go on... never given up hope.

She clenched her hands into fists, swallowing hard. Now, if ever, was the time to not give up hope. Now was the time to fight, side by side with her comrades.

There.

Outside of the wards.

All of them. She could sense them coming.

They wouldn't even realize it at first, but from their first step outside, they'd be stepping into one of Road's worlds. It may look like the City, it did look like the City, but as they moved onwards it would start to change, ever so subtly at first. Mist would hide their surroundings, and whatever direction they walked in, it would bring them to where the Noah were waiting, Lenalee held unconscious in mid-air, barely recognizable.

Road hummed to herself as she waited, kicking her feet, a cruel smile splitting her features. It felt just right, this game, it made her feel like herself. She'd be able to taste their despair in their blood as their hope faded away into nothingness.

Wandering further into Road's world, the Exorcists would find the air thickening with wings. Black and white and eerie blue, the Tease crowded the air above Tyki and Road, quiet and peaceful as any butterfly swarm... so far. But their shadows laid a darkening promise over the scene. It was, Tyki felt, rather appropriate, considering.

As they approached and came into view, Tyki's hands angled out at his sides, and his mouth quirked into a knife-wide grin.

Exorcists.

Young, and unskilled -- and so, so foolish if they thought that this was something they could escape.

"Clockwork girl," he counted them off, "the gentleman, and-- Weren't you planning to stay in the Firehouse forever, eyepatch boy?"

It could not come as a proper surprise, how quickly it came. Aleister knew that the air had been clear, cold but dry, and as the mist began to obscure the textures and definitions of brick and wood, of the concrete underfoot, he wondered if it had begun. His voice stuck in his throat, a half-choked warble to remark on the weather.

At the wings, his hand disappeared into his jacket. The phial was uncorked, and the blood that he swallowed left behind a sweet aftertaste. Eliade, he thought, but despair was infringed upon by the contortion of his features, the sudden flare in his eyes, the sharpening of his senses.

His eyes fixed on the enemy, and his features distorted further to hear those words.

"Cut the bullshit," Aleister growled, utterly changed by the fluid. "We're not here to talk."

It was all he could do not to launch into an immediate assault, the new, furious energy in his limbs stayed by the view of those tease, though incited by Lenalee. What had their delay cost her?

The redhead smiled and raised a hand in greeting, doing what a Bookman does best-- mask his emotions. He adjusted his grip on the pipe as his eye took in every detail surrounding them-- the count of the Tease, the speed at which the fog moved in, the warping of the edges of their reality. Rabi knew this feeling well, and was certain they'd just walked into a trap that would be incredibly difficult to escape.

The hand he'd raised waved Tyki's words off dismissively. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Crow-chan."

All good humor, feigned or not, was curbed quickly at the sight of Lenalee-- another friend, hanging in the air, seemingly lifeless. His smile fell, but his expression remained fairly blank. That's just what they wanted-- to see them get worked up.

Rabi didn't like those sorts of games, really.

Clockwork girl. Yet another stupid nickname to mock her. How many were there anyway? Miranda had stopped counting a long, long ago. And what did it matter right now? That's right. It didn't. What really did matter was... Lenalee.

The woman swallowed, eyes fixed at her friend. Was she even alive anymore? No, of course she was, what silly things was she thinking - It was Lenalee, after all. Lenalee is strong. Lenalee can't just die on them. Lenalee would survive, she had survived so much. After all that, she would be able to withstand anything. Or so the German at least hoped.

She remained silent, concentrating on gathering every little bit of courage in her, searching every corner of her mind to be sure she had it all. Because right now... if she didn't have it all... she knew she wouldn't be able to make it.

"Not here to talk~, vampire?" Road mocked him, knowing how he hated the name. "I didn't think you were in such a hurry to die ♥" She made a point of looking sweet and understanding as she said it, even though she couldn't quite keep a cruel smile from tugging at her lips.

"Then who's to play with us first?" she asked, her eyes growing darker, knowing Tyki wouldn't hold himself back for long from attacking. The surroundings faded to black, even the vague outlines of buildings giving way to darkness. The only illumination came from the multitude of floating candles which had come into view, the light of their flames reflecting off their sharp points in a way which would soon be lost as the tips became coated with blood. They slowly floated closer together, hovering over the Exorcists, ready to be sent to tear what little flesh the Tease might leave untouched.

However, something was nagging at her, the part of herself which she kept more or less rooted to the real world. Something which hadn't been there before, a bright bright light which she wanted to claw at and rend to pieces and just hold in her hands to look at forever and ever before dropping to the ground and breaking. She knew that feeling. The only person it ever came from.

Her face was a picture of both childish glee and delighted cruelty as she realized what it meant.

Allen. He was back.

Allen was back.

And what perfect timing he had. As she sent tendrils of her dream world out to wrap themselves around him and draw him in, she could already see the look on his face as he'd take in the lovely scenario they had prepared for him. The tip of her tongue darted out to lick her lips as she raised an arm to send her candles hurtling towards the Bookman and the clockwork girl.

Let's see if you can be quick enough to save them this time, Allen.

It is a disorienting feeling, to be pulled two different places almost simultaneously. One minute, Allen had been shouting at his Master (not a Noah, never a Noah, regardless of the 14th’s memories), the next he was deposited on his rear-end beside a gaudy fountain, Tim battering his wings against his head. Before Allen even had a chance to get his bearings, to comprehend that he wasn’t in his world anymore, his surroundings altered yet again, faded, as though he were being pulled into a dream.

And he was, he was.

Road...what are you-

A fleeting thought, lost in the candlelight that reflected the assembled Exorcists- Rabi (carrying a metal pipe…where was his hammer?), Crowley (Invocated- his eyes glowed eerily, his teeth bared), Miranda (nervous…she looked nervous). That reflected the multitude of Tease, a dark cloud above the heads of the two Noah. Briefly, Allen’s eyes met Road’s, but they were drawn soon after to the body suspended in the air, the body that resembled a bloody, mutilated rag doll.

Lenalee.

His eyes returned to Road’s as he slowly got to his feet. He did not know why he was here, did not know the circumstances that led to this moment. But that hardly mattered. His friends needed him, Lenalee needed him (it left a bitter taste in his mouth, to think that he was too late to keep her from harm). He would do whatever he had to do to ensure they all made it out alive.

Questions would come later.

“You’ve gone too far,” he said, as his Innocence began to change his uniform, and the fingers of his left hand elongated into sharp claws. The anger was there, cold and unyielding; he despised the person these Noah brought out in him, even more so now, with his Master’s words still fresh and raw in his head.

Clenching the fist of his right hand, Allen walked forward to stand beside his friends, close enough to shield them from an attack.

“We’re taking her back.”

Tyki only snorted. "As you like." He spared each of them a quick glance. From the way the woman was holding herself, she'd be less than worthless in the coming battle. With Innocence, the Bookman might have been interesting, but stripped down to human resources as he was, he'd only provide fodder for the Tease.

That left the gentleman. The vampire, wasn't it? That could prove interesting.

But he'd never been much for strategizing. And really, wasn't it more fun that way?

He darted forward. Power flared up over his arm and he struck out in a lash towards Crowley - strong enough to do some damage and blow him backwards if the latter wasn't careful. In the same instant, a surge of butterflies overturned the stillness, silence splintered by black-white-bloody wings beating out a storm as the Tease descended. Most of them settled over Crowley, though a smaller swarm swooped purposefully towards the other two Exorcists. The Noah were hosting, after all; it wouldn't do to leave a guest to wait.

And then he felt the texture of the air change as another's Innocence pierced the dream.

The old, familiar loathing for Innocence thickened in his veins, settling in to boil every thought down to bloodlust. Tyki ignored it. His hooked smile widened, though he didn't turn his eyes away from Crowley. This was rather unexpected. Obviously the boy's affinity for cheating covered more than just cards. Still, there would be opportunities enough to take care of him later. He could spare some time. No doubt Road would want a moment for their reunion.

Like that, quicker than a breath or a beat of his heart, it had begun. There was not enough time to think, yet invocated through the blood of the Akuma, this was precisely the speed he relished. First, to dodge the attack and also skirt the Tease, which he knew well to avoid; his muscles tensed, screaming for the go, for action--

suspended. Allen stood, abruptly, beside them. Aleister looked his way, more with his eyes than his face or body, confusion making the harshness of his feature somehow gentler. But his opponent continued to move, and even the fierce joy steadily, instinctively overcoming his bewilderment could not distract him from that.

"Allen!" Aleister exclaimed, all gravel in his voice. How the boy gave him such hope, and yet- the plan had been to retrieve Lenalee. He looked up; there was not a moment, not a second to consider, after all this, with Tyki still on the move, there was time for only one course. Dodge or --

He took hold of Allen, hands fisting into his uniform and arms swinging back, a grunt clenching in his throat as he built the strength in his arms.

"Don't miss," Aleister advised, and with a broad, feral grin, "catch her gently" even as he threw Allen into the air, toward the levitated girl with such force that it would be quite difficult to manage. But if anyone could.

Within the beat that he released the boy, Aleister began to move, well-aware that it was too late to avoid all the damage.

The shock of Allen appearing out of nowhere was internalized to all but a smirk as the redhead stepped back and to the side, covering Miranda. He swung the pipe at any Tease that got too close, but he knew if they didn't end the fight soon, he wouldn't be able to last very long against them. Traveling through any material wasn't a very fair power, but Noah were all about not being fair.

He managed to hit away a good half of the Tease, but some passed right through the pipe. Rabi didn't even warrant the Noah's full attention without his Innocence, but he'd try to find a way to work that in his favor. He'd read plenty of books on strategies, surely something would come to mind for the situation they were stuck in.

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Log; Ongoing

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appearing ten days later OTL this fail is massive please shoot me for my incompetence