welcome to mayfield: day 2

[mayfield_mods]

[Day two of whatever this place is dawns bright and cheerful. Not much seems to have changed; the carnival is still standing, the town still empty of drones, the sky still bright blue and --

-- hang on, what was that? Did some sort of crack just appear in that patch of sky?

...oh, it's gone now. Must have just been your imagination. Anyway, there's no time to waste staring aimlessly at the sky, not when there's more friends showing up! Lucky there's more than enough food to go around, eh?]

OOC: If your character damages or affects the carnival or town in a noticeable and normally permanent way, please comment here.

OPEN! If your character was on the list of characters arriving on Day 1 or Day 2, they may comment here. All questions belong here.

Comments

Threadjack with permission

[a_gentle_boy]

[That is far too many limbs than there should ever be on one body. Even the Love Walker restricted it to four, c'mon.

Lucas's PSI is primarily defensive in nature, but there were some limits to his compassion. Ungodly abominations just about stampeded across the line and smashed it to smithereens.]

Hey, you!

[The blast of psychic energy surges towards the little girl from the side, aimed to slice those arms off right at the source.]

[mayfield_mods]

[She lets out a scream of frustration and hatred, ducking back and away from the axe. But moving out of range of that blow has cost her, and Lucas' attack severs two of her arms.

She doesn't hang around any longer, glaring malevolently around the three of them before sprinting off with inhuman speed.]

[noluckduck]

[Clover could barely see what just happened, hunched over and covering her bleeding wound. All she saw at the edge of her line of vision was the freaky little girl coming closer to the poor Once-ler, an axe - wielded by him and not the girl, she's pretty sure, and then a flash and more blood and then a blur as the thing ran away.

Her forehead scrapes against the ground, but she doesn't even care.]

What... Ugh, what the hell was that...?

[truffulacide]

[when the pressure around his throat finally lets up, he gives an abrupt wheeze, sputtering on the fresh intake of air that fills his lungs. he greedily sucks it all up, the back of his head thudding against the ground as the monster retreats. he feels the knife in his leg wiggle as tries to prop himself up. he moans when that fails, a low, strained, hoarse noise.

he can still see spots of light dancing in his immediate vision, courtesy of the big ball of energy Lucas sent surging towards the girl. he'll just focus on those for a while; they're quite pretty.]

[a_gentle_boy]

[On his part, Lucas is less interested in tracking down monstrosities than tending to the injured. He sprints towards the two victims, slightly panicked, giving the girl enough attention only to make sure that she won't swing back around for a sneak attack.]

What was that?! Are you two alright? Did she --

[The pools of blood quietly collecting on the ground was enough to answer his question. Lucas's face blanches for only a brief second before he's slid to his knees to examine the extent of the injuries.]

Hold still. Don't either of you try to move.

[Who's worse off? The man had had the strength to heft an axe; the girl has a knife buried in her abdomen. Lucas will turn his attention first to Clover.]

...The knife is probably staunching the blood flow. I'm only going to take it out when I'm sure you'll be OK. Just be very still.

[Lucas's whole body flares with light. Hopefully, this is pretty enough for the Once-ler. Beginning from his chest and rapidly tracing its way up and down his body, a series of geometric patterns begins to pulse softly with a soothing, blue-tinted glow. He holds his hands over Clover's wound, and the aura they radiate is almost blinding to the sight.

He had recently regained Lifeup Gamma. But that would be pointless while the knife was still stuck inside of her. He'll begin with a Beta, to slowly stem the flow of blood and alleviate the massive trauma the knife had inflicted on its way in.]

[noluckduck]

[Whatever is going on now, it doesn't feel quite as unpleasant as getting knifed in the spleen. Not that that's a particularly impressive achievement, but Clover appreciates it; she exhales, scared and relieved at the same time.

No, wait. Maybe this is what a near-death experience feels like. Flashy shit and relief? Sounds about right, from what everyone says -

Nah, that's not what dying is like. Dying is more painful, yes. And much, much more infuriating, like every inch of you is on fire and what does the shoulder even matter you are about to explode you just want to get out and rip her apart--

Wait, what the hell is she going on about now?

She blinks hard and that seems to help her think more clearly.

She sees the vaguely familiar face of a boy she met in the park one day and speaks still in a weak - afraid - mumble:]

... Can ya get that knife outta there now?

[truffulacide]

[when the lights fade, so does his concentration. what a pity, they were the only thing keeping him grounded. now that he doesn't have anything to keep him occupied, his eyes wander down to his knee again. the tears make it hard to see, but he doesn't want to blink them back because that never works; it just brings on the waterworks even harder, and when that happens you're pretty much out of luck. this is a trick everyone knows from the day they've learned how to beg, borrow and steal candy. a slick little trick that works every time.

not now, though. he feels silly and weak, Clover has it so much worse than he does and you don't see her falling to pieces, but that's just the kind of person he is, he supposes. still, he won't blink; he still has his pride.

he cranes his head in her direction, looking for something new to focus on.]

Are you...okay? [it doesn't even sound like his voice. too raspy.]

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas pauses and shakes his head a little.]

Not yet. I have to stabilize you a little more.

[If he said 'yes', she would tense up. Despite having no medical experience whatsoever, in his two and a half years at Mayfield - not to mention all of his fights back home - Lucas has healed a large number of bizarre and inexplicable injuries. This is not the first time he's treating a knife wound to the stomach, and it probably won't be the last. He'll glance over towards the Once-ler with a worried smile.]

You're both going to be fine.

[He'll leave off on Clover for a moment and hold his hand towards the man. Refresh was, paradoxically, his most powerful healing PSI despite being the lowest in strength. That was because it worked gradually over time, continuing to heal automatically even if more wounds were incurred. The Once-ler should feel his pain alleviating slightly; this was just to tide him over until he was done with Clover.

The boy will lean over to whisper briefly in the Once-ler's ear.]

Please distract her.

[And his hands will shakily reach for the hilt of the knife.]

[noluckduck]

Yeah, sure I'm fine. Just got stabbed, no big fuckin' deal. [There's no malice or even a whole lot of energy behind her words. As long as she doesn't think about the pain, she'll be fine. And she would rather not think about dying anymore, either, because things were getting pretty weird back there.]

Y'know, I think I'm pretty fuckin' stable as it is. Ya don't hear me... screamin' in agony or anythin'. [Okay, she screamed when the knife went in. And made a lot of vague noises afterwards. But whatever, she's making a point here.

Not that she isn't afraid of getting the damn thing out, of course. Just touching it earlier hurt.]

[truffulacide]

[it goes a long way to helping him collect himself. it might even be the only reason why he's able to fully digest Lucas' words, looking up at him with curious apprehension. understanding follows, less hazy when Refresh starts taking hold.]

Tch. L-Lucky. [he tries to pull himself up, hissing and biting down on his lip to keep him from crying out when a bolt of pain shoots up his leg.] Didn't ya hear me? It was like I'd turned into a...a...a biffer-baum bird or something. All shrieky an' stuff.

[if he can keep talking, it means he's okay. and if he couldn't, then, well. it means it could've been a whole lot worse.]

[a_gentle_boy]

...If it's any help, I used to run crying to my mom back home whenever I so much as stubbed a toe. They could tell when it was bedtime by when I stopped screaming.

[Lucas's 'professional' diagnosis was that the Once-ler was far less likely to die than Clover. ...But that didn't mean 'OK', exactly. There was something he had treated once before, a certain stubborn little tissue called the anterior cruciate ligament.

But it was far from life-threatening, and the damage was done already, anyway.

Lucas grasps both hands around the knife hilt and pulls upward in as smooth of a motion as he can manage. He tosses it aside as quickly as possible and presses both hands against Clover's stomach.]

Lifeup. γ

[A wave of PSI surges forth from his body and into Clover. He can only hope it's enough.]

SORRY FOR THE DELAY AAAAA

[noluckduck]

[She manages half a scream before the sharp pain suddenly dulls down and the noise coming out of her mouth turns into more of a bewildered cry of disorientation.

She ends up hitting the back of her head against the ground in her breath of relief, but if that was supposed to hurt, she couldn't feel it at all.

It's just not the same as being stabbed, is what she's getting at.]

... Now focus on Mister... biffer-boom bird here, or whatever. Pretty sure he's gettin' delusional.

I'll just... stay down here if ya don't mind.

I'm pretty good down here.

[truffulacide]

[he manages one special scowl, just for you, Clover. feel privileged.] You've never heard of biffer-baum birds? Gee. What kind of - nnh - backwater world do you come from...?

[there's no malice there; just weak sarcasm, shaky as the smile on his face. his eyes are skittish and wide, and with the way they keep moving from her to Lucas to the nearby stands to the left of them, it's clear he's keeping an eye out for any other monsters. or suspicious little girls. can't rule those out anymore.]

...Did anybody see where she went? [because someone had to bring it up.]

[a_gentle_boy]

[Phew. That went a lot better than he could have predicted. Lucas won't waste any words on further concern, given Clover's obvious recovery, scootching over a few feet to the side towards the Once-ler. This was more along the lines of what he was used to with his PSI, but he had come to learn over the course of his stay in Mayfield that his healing powers worked differently on different people. ONe had taken a third of a year to heal from a broken leg; another had revived instantly from the verge of death.

Lucas will quickly examine the Once-ler's knee injury. ...Given how alert the man was, there really wasn't any chance of taking him in a relaxed position. Refresh ought to have done its job well enough at this point that he thought he could work directly.]

Ah, um.

[His gaze will flicker briefly towards the two severed arms still on the ground.]

Part of her is over there.

...Mister, will you be alright if I...

[His hands will hesitate over the knife.]

[noluckduck]

[Still hesitant to move too much, Clover props herself up with her elbows - the former wound aches a little, but it seems downright minor now - and squints at the severed arms.]

Well, shit. What if she comes back for 'em?

Maybe I should... keep a look out, huh? [The "huh" comes out almost like a huff; she lets herself lie down again to ease her left shoulder. Little bastard's actin' up again, and she doesn't even recall it hitting the ground that forcefully.] Y'know. While you're... busy.

[truffulacide]

If she does, you should pick one up and slap her with it. Give her a taste of her own medicine.

[he grumbles and tries to scootch back against the front of the food stand, stretching both legs out with a hiss. the way he sees it, he's in good hands, Clover had it a bazillion times worse than he did and look at her now; if she has enough energy to complain, she'll pull through. it's the same with him.

his eyes meet Lucas' in an instant, and although the fear is still very much there, his words are tinged with shaky resolve.]

Just get it over with.

[a_gentle_boy]

[With that, the boy reaches down and pulls. ...Blades don't slip out from bone as easily as they do through soft tissue. He doesn't think it catches on anything as it slides out, but he can't help grimacing nonetheless as he sees the bloody mess that is exposed shortly after.

Regrowing everything that makes a joint operate correctly is a bit tricky. Though the success of his healing doesn't depend on the extent of his medical knowledge, it certainly doesn't hurt to have a basic idea. Lucas will knit the wound shut first to prevent infection or further blood loss before encouraging his power to penetrate more deeply, suffusing the severed tendons and muscle fibers.]

How does it feel so far?

[noluckduck]

[She'll have to stand up, won't she?

With another huff, Clover heaves herself up and steps closer to the arms, hunching over just noticeably and her hand over the dull pain below her chest.

At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if the severed limbs regenerated into another all-new murderous little girl... Wow, that's a stupid idea. Mayfield's fault for reducing her to that, she supposes.

Then she looks at Once-ler's injuries and can't help but wince. There's still blood on her hand, but actually getting a good look at the state her buddy is in is somehow worse.

Wait, buddy?

Eh, they got stabbed together. And he tried to save her, didn't he? Buddy's a good enough word.]

[truffulacide]

[it goes about as well as you'd expect it to, but to Once-ler's credit he bites down on his wrist to keep from screaming too loud, reducing his howl to moderately loud shriek. his leg spasms and fresh blood oozes out, soaking his leg even more. it kind of feels like he's knee-deep in fire.

he watches as Lucas seals it shut, skin stitching over tissue and bone, his eyes drooping slightly as a cool sensation starts rushing over him. it's different from the kind he got when Rapunzel healed him. while that felt like being soaked in sunlight, this is more like being submerged in lukewarm, refreshing water. he tries his very best to look away as his leg is repaired, fairly certain that Lucas wouldn't appreciate it if he puked all over his hard work.]

I think I felt my toes wiggle. Is that a good thing?

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas smiles at that.]

I can't think why it would be a bad thing. Mm... Try to bend your knee in a few moments. Maybe about a minute from now.

[Another pulse of PSI as Lucas keeps his hands steadily in place. His brand of healing, he believed, was less spontaneous magic than it was a rapidly acceleration of the body's own regeneration processes. Someday, he would have to learn something about biology and reconcile it with his abilities. But there were certain limitations he had already been made aware of in the past - primarily, that the nervous system never really healed as thoroughly or as quickly as he would like it to.

Hopefully, no nerves had been severed this time around. Wiggling toes were probably a good sign. Exhaling deeply, the boy cuts off the healing after he deems it sufficient, sitting back heavily. PSI power stemmed from his mental strength, but somehow, heavy bouts of healing always felt more like he'd finished up a race.]

I think that should be good. Ah, miss...

[He'll glance up at Clover.]

Maybe you should take it easy for a little while longer.