smash_logs | [Open] Sunday Strolls

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[Open] Sunday Strolls

Who: A Mountain, Campus and You.
What: Watch your heads, cause someone's not watching their steps. There's destruction afoot.
When: October 4th.
Where: All across campus.

As far as Sundays went, this one was pretty typical, despite the lingering blood moon that persisted well into the morning. If you disregarded that, you could certainly call it lovely. The air held the crisp kiss of autumn's chill, the breeze rustling the fire hued foliage of campus. Eventually the sun's golden rays chased away the moon, bringing with it the deep blue of the sky.

It was entirely possible to forget anything bizarre was happening on such a nice day. Monsters, earthquakes, pssht. Those didn't exist today.

At least not until the first rumble echoed off the edge of campus. And then the next. And the next. And the next. Each one closer, stronger, rattling everything that wasn't fixed in place. The more astute in their panic might have noticed that it was far too rhythmic in its shocks. It was like a heartbeat, or a particularly strong footstep down rickety stairs.

Or perhaps they just noticed that a huge foot had come crashing through the roof of whatever building they happened to be in. Probably a striking detail, that.

The mountains, it seemed, were out for a stroll.

The colossal beast was ambling without a care in the world. The school buildings it was walking over (and through) posed no issue for it. Clearly it was just enjoying the fine Sunday like anyone else would. The mountains it had apparently wandered down from must have looked too boring, or maybe that little wolf thing had been making too much of a racket.

Either way, it was here and it was peacefully walking directly through Smash Academy.

[Open log! You may want to react to the happenings, or help people evacuate! Maybe there's something to be done about the creature? Watch your step! Questions and plotting can be found here! ]

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Unfortunately, the green house did not have any hookups to the PA system. That was alright though, seeing as the threat was both easily felt and hard to miss through the glass walls of the structure. Which was also an important and unfortunate detail to remember, as glass was truly not as structurally sound as the rest of the buildings the colossus was going to treading through with ease.

Bulba's hose had clattered to the ground forgotten as the Venusaur clambered backwards, sprinting his way down the aisles. "Everybody out!" He called, just in case there was a visitor or two he hadn't noticed slip in that morning. It was easy to go in and out without anyone knowing.

He didn't have enough time or hands to move everything out of potential harm's way, and he knew it. Even if he hated to, priorities needed to happen. That was how Bulba slid to a stop at the end of a particular length of berry bushes, crouching down to scoop up as many of the pikmin he found there into his arms. He tried to shush their squeaks and squirms. "C'mon, c'mon, we've all got to go somewhere else," he told them as he got back up, chirping a whistle for the rest to follow him out. Thankfully, they were more than happy to oblige. It seemed that even they were figuring out that something bad might happen, as their hums were much more quiet and nervous than they normally were.

It wasn't until they had gotten out to the front and through the doors that Bulba realized his actual problem. The pikmin weren't the only sentient ones in there. The piranha plants. No.

"UuuuuUUUGHH," Bulba said, seconds before he could be seen sprinting directly back into the house of glass.

The flower princess was already there, and as she saw Bulba rushing in to the greenhouse, she forewent her original plan of getting away from the destruction to make sure he was okay.

"Bulba! What are you doing?!" she called out, rushing into the greenhouse after him.

The Venusaur came to a dead stop in his path, jerking around to look at Daisy with wild eyes. He quickly waved her off, turning to keep sprinting through the rows of plants. "Don't worry, get on out of here!" He called as he went.

From farth back in the building, his voice carried out front as he kept shouting. "I need to grab the piranha plants!"

"THAT'S What this is about?!" Daisy shouted, not bothering to turn back, but instead following him in. He had to get to safety!

Of course, along the way she decided to pocket a few Fire Flowers, Ice Flowers, and Boomerang Flowers--When did they start growing those?--just in case.

"This place is gonna come down around us any second!"

"And they won't have a single chance if I don't grab them!"

Which was easier said than done, admittedly. Crouched in front of the piranha patch, Bulba was scowling at the mess of vines and planters while he had one arm looped around one of the spotted plants. The others were writhing around with a distinct feeling of alarm, while the one under Bulba's arm nervously nipped at the hem of his sweater.

"Shh, shhh, it'll be ok," he was saying, gently tracing a spot in a soothing motion. "Just have to figure this out and you guys will be ok."

"You should probably be a bit more worried about them eating you," Daisy said, finally reaching him. "Careful there!"

She'd already dealt with seeing Cyrus more worried about preserving dusty old books than his own life, and now here was Bulba, trying to soothe a patch of pirahna plants. What was with people today?

"Nngh... What do you need? Let's make this quick and get out of here!"

Life or death kind of situation as it might have been turning into, Bulba couldn't help but bristle at Daisy's flippant approach to the bright and thriving lives that were right in front of her.

"They're not going to eat me," he shot at her, clearly not in the mood to deal with this kind of plant bigotry. "They're my friends and they understand every word you're saying."

So stop being super rude.

She was lending a hand though, so to speak, so Bulba's expression softened a bit as he stood up, biting his lip. "But I'll need... Probably about two dozen more hands. We're only going to be able to get two of them out on our own."

Think about this rationally, Bulba.

"Maybe not because you're a plant, but these things take a bite out of whatever they can sink their teeth into," she said. "They're from my homeland, after all. But we can save this conversation for when we're NOT in immediate danger."

"I don't exactly have more than two hands, but there's a trolley in the shed we could use," she suggested.

Bulba's ears gave an agitated flick. It was definitely a conversation that wasn't going to get swept under the rug. He had pegged Daisy as a more understanding person than she was currently exhibiting, so really it was just a very disappointing time all around.

And also not a time to be wasting, well, time. "That could at least make things a bit easier," he agreed, already starting back towards the door to get to the shed outside. But they'd have to make trips, his thoughts reminded him, and he wasn't even sure where a safe spot to go would be. "Let's give it a try."

She knew she was being harsh, especially in front of someone who cared about plants as much as Bulba did. And he was her friend, she knew that. But her priority in this situation was absolutely him instead of the pirahna plants he was determined to rescue. She'd make it up to him later. For now, get the job done and get to safety.

"I'll start getting them ready. Get the cart in here and we'll start loading them," she said, approaching the patch of pots. They didn't have eyes, but she could swear they were eyeing her...

They were most certainly watching her.

"You might want to be careful, they might eat you," Bulba sassed over his shoulder as he hurried off, which apparently helped ease some of the tension the plants felt. Some of them started to bob in the universal motion of snickering, and a few more's mouths stretched out into pointy toothed grins.

"Be nice!" Bulba's voice carried from the front, and it was honestly unclear which of them he was talking to.

"That's not funny," she called back, hesitant before trying to reach for the pots. She pulled back her hands when she thought one of them made a move for her hand, and stumbled back. She took a deep breath to try and steady herself. Bulba talked them down. They weren't gonna hurt her. It's okay...

She tried to reach for the pots again, and...

"M-maybe I'll wait until Bulba has the trolley..."

It was almost as if she was afraid to get too close to them.

Oops. They had been moving, yes, but they were mostly trying to make it easier for her to reach them. Teasing as they might have been, they recognized their ticket out of a glass death when it was left with them. Guess they'd all. Have to wait.

MEANWHILE.

Someone had borrowed the trolley. Bulba stared deep into the abyss of the shed, his eye twitching slightly. Who had taken the trolley. What had they done with it. They needed that. Five minutes ago. Who. Who could have done this. Who did not put it back there was a note on it that specifically said to put it back when you were done.

"Nnnnnoooo no no," were his tiny laments as he tried to find something else. There was always the wheelbarrows too... Huffing, Bulba made to grab one, carefully skirting around the pikmin that had started to mill around his feet once they had seen him come outside. "We're going to grab your friends," he told them, and they squeaked, and--

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Bulba's re-appearance in the greenhouse was with a bang and several whistles as he came tearing back in with his wheelbarrow and a wave of tiny creatures. "FIGURED IT OUT."

Bulba really WAS the plant whisperer.

"You are a GENIUS," she told him happily, finally able to put a bit of distance between herself and the carnivorous plants to let the pikmin do their work. "We can get out of here in no time at this rate!"

Bulba beamed as the piranha plants weaved down to snuffle at the pikmin swarming their pots. Some of the tinier plants paused to lightly boop them with hands and leaves before skittering off to start hoisting. It would have all been incredibly adorable if the backdrop hadn't been the shifting, steadily approaching mountain in the distance.

"Didn't think of it sooner since they're usually only helping us with little things," he explained as he dove in to pick up one of the smaller chomps and lift it into the wheelbarrow. It chomped its thanks, and Bulba went to grab another one. One by one, the patch was getting smaller and smaller.

"Can you wheel these two out?"

"Uh... S-sure," Daisy replied. Safety, at the moment, seemed out of reach again. She approached the cart, eyes on the plants as she edged her hands towards the handles...

One of the plants whipped towards her. Whether its intent was to bite her or not, she didn't care. She jumped back, stumbling and falling on her butt. She punched the ground in frustration.

Well if it hadn't been obvious that there was something deep seeded about Daisy's attitude towards the plants before, it was certainly apparent in the way her fist met the ground. A frown tugged at Bulba's mouth and he quickly hoisted the third piranha plant amongst the smaller ones. A tight fit, but he'd make it work.

Then he was crouched at Daisy's side, a firm but gentle hand at her back. "It's ok," he told her, his voice as soft and patient as his expression. Fear could be beaten with time and greater understanding, but when they were fresh out of time, Bulba needed to be the one that was more understanding. "We can worry about that later. Go on ahead, I've got them."

He offered her a hand up, smiling slightly. "The pikmin are going to need someone with free hands to tell them which way we should go."

She hated feeling like she was weak or needed pity. But pride went before the footfall of a giant hairy monster. She took Bulba's hand, nodding in thanks. "I've got it," she told him. "I'll guide them to the evacuation site," she said. "Are you sure you'll be okay...?"

His smile became a flashing grin and he squeezed her hand. "Hey now, don't underestimate me. We'll be right behind you."

She nodded, a smile finally returning to her face. "I'll hold you to that," she replied, letting go to go lead the group of pikmin.

But she stopped before she left. She turned back to Bulba, and said, "Hey, Bulba? Look, um... I'm sorry for how I acted."

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[Open] Sunday Strolls

OH NO STATIONARY CREATURES

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