Dancing with the divine. Or commiserating with it.

[kungfubomber]

[It's a busy night at this popular nightclub in downtown Diamond City, and Bomberman's stuck in a corner, watching Kuro living it up on the dance floor while Megumi throws back a couple of drinks at the bar. He actually really hates places like this, but life's been shitty lately and his best buds convinced him that he might just need a change of pace.

And it is sort of...interesting, at least. The music's so damn loud that he can't hear himself think all the terrible thoughts in his head, which is nice. But it is starting to give him a headache.

Still, Kuro and Megumi have threatened to break out the embarrassing childhood stories and pictures to the rest of their task force if Bomberman doesn't at least try to talk to a girl tonight, so after surveying the crowd as best as he can in the low lighting, he wanders over to Grune, who looks like she's enjoying this sort of thing as much as he is -- which is to say, not very much. He tries his best to talk over the music without making it seem like he's yelling at her.]

So, uh...hey. Big crowd tonight, huh?

[Yep. This one's a smooth operator.

Grune will probably recognize him because he's, well, Bomberman, and everyone knows him in the city. But she might also pick up a streak of divine power within him, or evidence that he's had experiences with the cosmic in this universe before.]

Comments

[kungfubomber]

Base scientists are saying it's smoke of an unknown chemical composition, with acidic and hallucinogenic properties. They haven't yet been able to pin down where it's coming from, though, which is making people antsy. [He glances sidelong at Grune, then, waiting to see her reaction to this theory.]

[lostinmyway]

[That reaction is a brief smile, containing neither humour nor happiness.]

If they are looking for a material source, they will be disappointed.

[kungfubomber]

Really. [It's halfway to being a question, but honestly Bomberman already suspected as such.] Well, that's certainly going to make dealing with this a pain in the ass. More than it is already, anyway. But if it's not a material source, then where is it coming from...?

[lostinmyway]

[He has already more than halfway guessed her identity. There is little to be gained and much to be lost in being secretive.]

That mist is the manifestation of the darker emotions that overwhelm people--grief, rage, and despair. Trapped within it, it becomes difficult for a victim to reason and easy to believe it is better to simply give up and die.

[kungfubomber]

[Bomberman frowns up at Grune, but it's more because he's a bit dismayed that his suspicions -- strong as they were already -- were proven correct. Grune's description correlates with his own experience of being anywhere near the mist, as well as other eyewitness/bystander accounts.]

How does the mist manifest in the first place, though? And why?

[lostinmyway]

When these emotions become overwhelming, that is when the mist appears.

[Her gaze slips to the side, then returns.] It also appears in the presence of a woman named Schwartz. She is the reason it is now present in the world.

[kungfubomber]

[A name. Good. That's progress. Though he's never heard that name before.]

There haven't been reports of a woman in the vicinity of these incidents...what's she look like?

[lostinmyway]

[Now that is a question she would prefer not to answer. However, refusing to do so would cast suspicion on her.]

She is tall and will be dressed in dark colours. She will wear a half mask and will almost certainly be shrouded in the mist.

[kungfubomber]

[Bomberman nods, committing the description to memory. He'll definitely run it by the knights so they can keep an eye out, though he's not sure how to bring it up with his task force. For that, he'd need more information on both Schwartz and Grune.]

Why is this Schwartz lady around here, anyway? Who is she?

[lostinmyway]

Schwartz came to this world to grant a wish. Someone in this world wished for an end to suffering.

[She says no more. He should be able to immediately see the twist if he is half as intelligent as she believes him to be.]

1/2

[kungfubomber]

Making people wanting to kill others or themselves doesn't sound like --

[kungfubomber]

[He blinks as the twist occurs to him.]

...oh. I get it now. [He might've missed it completely, but the whole thing reminds him of how Mihaele decided to handle the Sthertoth mess. He furrows his brow.] She's a hell of a fairy godmother, in that case. Any idea who the wisher was?

[lostinmyway]

[She shakes her head slightly.]

It is difficult to know. It could have been ne person of great power, strength, or determination or the combined wishes of a people. As long as the desire was strong enough, it would have been enough to call her.

[kungfubomber]

So I suppose we can't just find the person and tell them to send her back to wherever she came from. [Of course not, because that would be the simplest solution and things can never be simple.] How are we supposed to deal with her, then?

[lostinmyway]

Schwartz is strengthened by the negative emotions that people feel, such as anger, grief, and fear. It is vital that the people of this world do not give in to these emotions and allow themselves to be overwhelmed. To do otherwise is to condemn the world to having never existed.

[kungfubomber]

[He raises an eyebrow at her again.]

Does that mean Bomber Base needs to be putting together task force teams of therapists or clowns or something?

[If there's an edge in his voice, it's not directed at Grune. Bomberman had figured that things might be worse than he expected, but he hadn't thought they'd be this dire.]

[lostinmyway]

[She lifts her eyebrows.]

Perhaps, if you believe it would help.

[Stranger ideas have worked, after all.]

[kungfubomber]

[Bel's hells, Bomberman hadn't expected Grune to take his suggestion seriously.]

Wow. Um. That...would seriously work against Schwartz? Just making sure people are happy and stuff?

[Sheesh, that's not a tall order or anything.]

[lostinmyway]

For a time. But the fundamental reason she was called to this world would remain.

[kungfubomber]

So what's the permanent solution?

[lostinmyway]

To resolve what has caused enough despair to draw her to the world--or to take enough steps towards doing so to give the people of the world hope.

[kungfubomber]

I don't suppose there's a way to confront Schwartz directly and take her down that way, is there? [Normally Bomberman would be all about trying to talk things out and taking a nonviolent route, but with the way things have been described to him, he's not sure that that's the most productive route to take in this particular situation.]

[lostinmyway]

No. [Her response is sharp and immediate.] It is far too dangerous.

[kungfubomber]

[Of course it's dangerous -- that's a given. What Bomberman is interested in is how dangerous. Because after surviving fights against seven elemental gods, his goddess-possessed half-demon friend, a demon-possessed part-demon space pirate, the said demon in his true form, the angel who created the entirety of this universe and multitudes more, his simulated dark self, and a chaos-crazed being born of shadow and ruthless justice...his sense of what's "dangerous" to him personally is more than a little skewed at this point.

But he doesn't get a chance to press Grune more on this matter, because his cellphone vibrates in his pocket.]

Ah, hold on a sec --

[Bomberman slips it out to check. It's Kuro asking if he's gonna be coming home with him and Megumi (via the oh-so-subtle question of inquiring about whether Bomberman is currently involved in...certain activities with Grune). He frowns a bit as he thinks this over. He doesn't technically need to get a ride with Kuro, but it'd be a lot more convenient at this time of night. Plus, he's getting kind of tired and he still has to report in for the task force in the morning.

With a wry smile fully aware of what he's asking, he glances back up at Grune.]

So, uh, I don't suppose it's too early in things to ask for your number, is it?

[lostinmyway]

[She smiles back just as wryly.]

Perhaps, but I will give it to you all the same.

[She waits for him to be ready to note it down.]