001 [voice | CALL | un: ghostprince]

[shootaro]

[CALL]

[The call begins with the sound of something flapping incessantly, as if blown by very rough winds. It soon settles into eerie howling. Pleasant!

It's not entirely a creepy silent call, though, and soon enough, a cool and quiet, young-sounding voice that's a bit hard to place, filters in:]

—one hear me? Sorry, the wind picked up.

I'm going to check out the temple.

Will anyone else be coming? I won't be needing your help [—rude.] I'm asking for your safety. I don't advise sneaking up on my partner and I, unless you don't consider your soul valuable.

[End call. Not so much as an introduction! He thinks he owns the place, doesn't he?]

Comments

[such hope, such faith

[shootaro]

Honestly... [What an aggravatingly childish woman.] Do you promise not to touch any will-o'-wisps, hitodama, onibi, or whatever else you might call blue ghostly flames?

If you don't, I'll have to restrain you. [Do not push him to that, he has a giant snake and ghost jellyfish that curses anything it touches and secretes a poison that can numb you senseless.]

[new_toys]

[Well, this all sounds a little exhausting. Unfortunately for the both of them, Holtz really wants to see what ghosts here are like.]

I promise not to touch them.

[She absolutely does not promise that she has not transported back to her lab in New York and picked up some of her favorite lasers and proton traps to play with. But that's the laser touching the ghost, not her.]

[switch to action with the next one? xD;]

[shootaro]

Fine, you can come too.

[Very sulkily, full of misgivings.

Please, don't make him regret this decision...]

[new_toys]

[There is not actually a chance in hell that his lack of permission would stop her, but he's welcome to believe that there is. She's not terribly concerned by the idea; she's entirely sure that if she cared what people thought about her one way or the other, her life path would have been very different and much, much less fun.

So, fine. He's letting her come. Whatever. Either way, she's rolling up not all that long afterwards in her coveralls and goggles, proton pack strapped to her back, a laser trap under one arm. She looks less like a scientist and more like an exterminator with some very shiny homemade gear, which is... not wholly inaccurate.]

[shootaro]

... huh.

[As for said ghost prince, he was a sullen, skinny, little ten year old wearing far too many layers (who needs a shirt, a hoodie, and a jacket all at once? New York street fashion's an odd thing), all neutral colours except for the jacket and shirt which was Halloween colours for some unfathomable reason.

Speaking of phantoms— beside him, flies a creature that resembles an old-fashioned glass lamp, but the ghostly blue-purple fire within burns without wick or oil. Luminous yellow eyes peer from behind the glass, but there's no more suggestion of a face.]

... is that a vacuum cleaner? It looks broken.

[new_toys]

[She blinks down at him. Well, this is... cute? Cute-ish. He reminds him a little of herself at that age, up to and including the oddly layered clothes.

Actually, that part reminds her of herself now, when she's not in uniform.

But she is, and she hefts her proton pack with pride, jerking her chin towards the little phantom.]

More like a lasso. Friend of yours?

[shootaro]

[A blush creeps onto his face at the word "friend," but despite the stubborn frown, he nods. It... seems to imply something else (not that he's aware), but he's really just unused fo the concept of friendship and acknowledging them verbally (he is supposed fo a mature man of reason who does nof need Such Useless Things...).

(A.K.A. he's pretty firmly settled into tsundere territory to save his rep.)]

Lampent is drawn to recently departed spirits. If need be, we can draw it out by pulling it into Lampent's fire and you can catch it, but I hope that wo—

[A high-pitched shriek interrupts their conversation (talking about her like she's not there? Rude..]

[new_toys]

[Well, that's. Shrill. Holtz doesn't react too strongly, but her expression goes rather wooden for a second.]

She objects to this plan, I take it?

[shootaro]

Yeah, she's, uh, kind of hysterical.

[He untucks hoodie and undershirt to lift them up with a jacket, to expose an angry red bruise on his right side with long, sharp scratches not too far from it about the right number and arrangement for a human hand, dragging nails like claws.]

She threw me out when I tried talking to her, I do—

[Uprooting bricks from the walls now and flinging them your way, doc! They haven't even stepped foot inside...

Lampent stops the ones that stray near its trainer, cloaking them in faint blue psychic energy and redirecting them, but doesn't extend its help.]

[new_toys]

[Holtzmann startles back, batting the first few away with the body of her proton gun, wincing almost as much at the clangclang of the bricks against the metal as she is at the prospect of getting whacked by one of them herself. This is her baby, and it was not meant to be hit laterally. The rest of the first wave, she ducks away from entirely.

Side note:]

Never call a woman hysterical.

[Said seriously, but not angrily. He's young. This is a life lesson he should know. But she doesn't intend to dwell on it, so she flips a switch on the side of the gun, and it hums into life with an engine-revving whine. She calls out to the temple:]

I just wanna have a little chat, mmkay?

[that makes for a pretty dramatic line, given the situation!]

[shootaro]

[He quietly nods, commiting to memory. He's got a lot to learn and a lot to unlearn too, so he doesn't resist it.

[The spirit calms again, the howling dying down. A few more items thrown about in there, then, she emerges, a sour-looking woman in an appropriately long abd tattered nightgown (isn't it always) with long, unkempt hair.]

At least someone understands! [A very, very moody response, possibly alluding to that aside to Trip earlier?] Men, honestly!

[She shoots Trip a dirty look, then settles down in front of Holtzmann as if side-sitting on the edge of a bench, smiling sweetly.] I'll talk with you. I'd fix you a cup of tea, love, but. Non-corporal.

[new_toys]

[Holtzmann has encountered many a ghost before now. One had spoken; most of them hadn't. All had been deeply malevolent, and it's honestly completely new for one of them to engage in polite conversation with her.

Well, technically Rowan had, but only before trying to kill her and all her friends. Twice. Which is why she does not yet lower the gun, although she does let the trigger go so that the hum of whirring nuclear machinery fades again. She lets out a slightly nervous chuckle, suddenly looking rather less self-assured, if also incredibly fascinated.]

I'm more of a coffee girl.

[Uh.]

What's................. what's goin' on?

[anticlimactic, huh?]

[shootaro]

[Yeah, okay, Trip's just as confused because as far as he's concerned she was just a shrieking, malevolent spirit like two second ago??? Whatever, he's going to just... watch for now while Holtzmann talks to her because she seems to like her more.]

Someone brought my dreadful husband's ashes into the temple and I refuse to share it with him! I had to spend my life with him, they wouldn't recognize divorce, you know, I refuse to spend my afterlife with him too!

[Aaaand she's back to raging, howling winds, things getting knocked off shelves inside, a branch or two breaking and falling, the works. Lampent telekinetically moves away any straying debris from unintentionally hitting them.

Then, she sighs.] But I can't touch it.

[So, just... move the urn out, problem solved? Absurdly simple.]

[new_toys]

[The same idea occurs to Dr. Holtzmann, who blinks, brow furrowing.]

What if Junior here went in and got it out?

sorry for the delay!

[shootaro]

[She clearly doesn't like the idea one bit, but gives in after some very dubious staring his way. He sighs and walks in, unaccompanied by Lampent, and this time, no interferance happening from her end, except to hover by the door and make needling comments "not like that" and "you can't even manage this much?" but soon he's thrown backwards back out of the temple, tumbling and skidding the rest of fhe way on the ground, scraping up his knees and hands something awful. He left quite a trail!]

You do realize the place is cursed, right? You can't just touch whatever you want. There are certain precautions, not that I know what they are.

... a-... any other ideas? [He has some, but mostly, he wants to rub in the fact that this one failed, right now.]

[new_toys]

[If Holtz is bothered by said rubbing-it-in, it doesn't show on her face. Seemingly unfazed, if still mildly puzzled, she moves towards the door herself, her hand drifting back down to the trigger on her gun. She pushes her glasses up on her forehead and peers inside the temple, then lowers them again.]

Hm.

[She hums thoughtfully.]

Howwwww would you feel about blowing it up?

[shootaro]

Th-that's a temple! You can't disrespect something like that, you'll be cursed! [Trip clearly thinks this is an AWFUL IDEA. The worst!]

[The ghost seems perfectly unperturbed.]

The whole temple or just the urn? If it's the urn, I don't care.

[So cold...]

[new_toys]

[It's a good question. She frowns and nods, steepling her fingers thoughtfully, not paying all that much attention to Trip's protests right now. After a moment, she cocks her head and glances over at Lampent.]

Any thoughts to contribute?

[shootaro]

Y-y-you can't consult a Ghost Type about this, they— [Lampent glanced her way and without mising a beated.] Lamp-pent la. ["Blow it up." Clear, undeniable approval! It even burns its fire hotter, brighter for a moment to emphasize its point!]

They're immoral! [Ghost Types are made of mischief and malice. It was born in his world's equivalent of Hell with all the condemned malicious and wicked, she couldn't possibly...!]

Then, taking the votes of just us adults— children don't get a say, sorry— I dare say it's unanimous!

Hey! I am not a child!

[Duly ignored, as he throws a miniature fit, hands balled up into fists and gritting his teeth!]

sorry! I've been sick but I wanted to pick this back up

[new_toys]

[Holtzmann still does not seem to be taking this terribly seriously, but she arches a brow at Trip's latest line of protests, glancing from him to Lampent and back again.]

She's your friend.

[Just, like... pointing that out, here.]

it's okay, I was very slow and bad with keeping up too, plus got work to do! ;3;/ I love backtags!

[shootaro]

I know that, Lampent's my partner, I accept that ghosts don't work by human ethics or moral codes! [He snapped, then looked bewildered.] —and I know I'm not good either. Adults usually tell us to stop, not... encourage destruction?

[Then again, Holtzmann feels very different from any other adult of a reasonable position of power he's met thus far.]

I thought you'd put the brakes, give us a lecture about morality or whatever.

If you wanna blow this place up, I'm fine with it, I've done worse— well, not destroy a temple bad, but we kind of. Led a large-scale attack [—incompehensible mumbling—] with soul-scorching fire.

[After that tangent that went exactly nowhere, he shrugged.]

Just be careful not to release some ancient evil, Lampent says the place is cursed by a strong, vengeful spirit, a lot worse than this lady, so taking anything more out of this place is gonna be hard.

not as recovered as i thought but thank you for the pm /o\

[new_toys]

[Holtz's smirk widens slightly. Adults usually tell them to stop, he says?]

I'm not that kind of adult.

And it is a haunted temple -- haunted being an important key word there.

[She clicks her tongue thoughtfully, eyeing the temple.]

We could try the urn first.

it's okay, take your time! - it doesn't happen all at once

[shootaro]

Right!

[Justified destruction and killing is (regrettably) something he's very familiar with, so he just might like her yet.

On a less morbid note, he certainly appreciated that she wasn't condescending or coddling in any way, because he hated that sort.]

Let's give it a shot.

[So, with renewed confidence, he decided to walk into the temple, Lampent floating close by as his trainer produced another, small red-white ball, pressing the button to expand it to fill his palm.]

If you need a shield, my Frillish can do it.

[More ghosts? More ghosts!]

[new_toys]

[His what? What the hell are these names? She gives him a quizzical look.]

Gesundheit.

[She turns a dial on the side of her proton gun, setting it humming back into life.]

Fair warning: this can get a little... [She considers her phrasing.] ...loud.

[shootaro]

I did not sneeze. [Rude, Holtzmann!] Frillish is another of my partners! Come on out, Frillish!

[And in a flash of white light (please don't fire the gun just yet, that's not the ghost we're after!), a tall, very large jellyfish-like monster emerged. With frilled tentacles and an ostentatiously wide, frilled collar and even a little crown, it looked rather like a fairy tale prince crossed with a giant jellyfish with blue eyes and red sclera.

It also appeared to float... swim(?) in the air?]