You're probably woken up by the explosion first. A loud, deafening boom comes from behind the walls of the residential district. When you look outside your window towards the darker, more secretive area of the city, you might see the structure around it... crumbling, the land falling in on itself slowly but surely. That might be what wakes you up first. If it doesn't, you may be awoken instead by the sudden jerking feeling behind your navel pulling you from where you are to somewhere... else.
It's dark. The first thing you notice is that it's dark -- and then come the scrabbling sounds of creatures in the dark, like metal being dragged across metal, a chilling, sharp sound. The first thing that becomes clear, as your vision adjusts, is that you're on a rickety pathway, metal and rusting and frail, above what appears to be yawning blackness. Far, far below, there's the faint sound of rushing water, a ways away.
The second thing that becomes clear is that you are very much not alone. Something is out there with you, and from the screeching metallic noises that come ever closer, it seems to be stalking you.
Thankfully, you're not alone -- right?  ...
...........
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:)
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PHASE I [ ??? ] It’s drafty here. You’re below ground, that’s for certain from the echoes of the wind in the darkness. If you continue on forwards along the rickety, metal railing that serves as a walkway, the skittering noises of creatures in the dark follow -- but they don’t appear.
It seems everyone has been dumped along this pathway at random; you may be with friends, with enemies or with someone you’ve never met before, but either way, it soon becomes clear. There are only two ways to go along this path: up or down.
If you choose to take the path that follows a gradual slope down, the sounds of water lapping against a surface increase bit by bit, the air growing heavier and danker, until finally, the metallic platform gives way very suddenly (watch your step!) to a muddy bank. Down here, everything is darker, and not far away there’s the water. It’s cold and frigid and there are unfriendly creatures that await if you choose to delve into it. However, if you brave those creatures, and dive deeply enough, there is a mask. It rests half-buried by silt and rocks, but it’s there, and can be found by any intrepid explorers.
Somehow, it feels a little familiar.
And if you carry on in the cave system underground, eventually you will come across what appears to be an altar. There is blood on it -- not fresh, but not more than a month old -- and pieces of trinkets. Old bits of cloth, locks of hair, and some of them may even be familiar. Any dropped character who has a reasonably large amount of spiritual or magical power may have left scraps, such as pieces of clothing, trinkets, hair, or the sort behind at the altar.
Maybe that's why they weren't in the Nexus Code.
PHASE II [ ??? ] If you go up, you will eventually make your way above ground. It takes some time, and some luck -- you’ll have to avoid rusty railing and pathways, the path crumbling under you and that creeping sensation that something is following and watching you -- and then you’ll suddenly be in fresh air.
Well. It’s not so fresh, really.
The landscape is broken down and crumbled. It may have once been part of the city of Cerealia, but now it is in utter disrepair and decay. Buildings have crumbled, and debris is everywhere. There are signs of the same level of technology that Cerealia has -- but it is all broken down and utterly inaccessible.
And you’re not alone.
It seems the technology and metal and broken down destruction has gained sentience over its time sitting alone, waiting. And it is not happy to be disturbed. The creatures are made of pieces of everything around them, and when cut down, they’ll just slowly rebuild themselves from the debris.
It might be time to run.
They aren't happy about being disturbed, and you're in their way.
PHASE III [ ??? ] Above ground, there are a lot of broken down buildings.
Some can’t be accessed at all; some are too broken, too reduced to rubble. For those looking for shelter, they'll be able to find buildings where the doors can be forced open and they can camp out on the inside to various degrees of stability. Though the ceiling may cave in or the floor fall out from under you at a moment's notice, it's better than being out there. Be careful, because none of the architecture here can be trusted anymore.
And other buildings... are even less trustworthy than that.
There is a series of buildings in the midst of the wasteland, somehow still standing. They stand there silently, towering over the rest of the rubble in their two-story glory, and if the doors are forced open, it soon becomes clear that the building itself is full of mirrors.
Once, the mirrors had perhaps covered the walls and ceiling. Once, this building might have been akin to something of a ballet studio, somewhere to express yourself creatively. But now the mirrors are shattered and broken into pieces and the building lacks the joy it might have once held. Shards of mirror cover the floor, some big, some not so big, but they still hang from the walls as well and everywhere you look, you can see yourself.
And then, the reflection changes. From one blink to the next, you see a memory playing in the mirrors. Your memory. You’ll see a glimpse of one of your most traumatic or life-changing moments, broken up but clear in the shards. Blink and look away, and it’s gone, only to show up again in the next mirror a few moments later. Surely it’s just a trick of the light, right?
Except if someone else is with you, they’ll see it too -- and you might end up seeing a bit of their own past as well. Hope you're fond of sharing.
PHASE IV [ ??? ] If you survive the monsters, the crumbling landscape and the untrustworthy buildings, you may eventually find a terminal. It is buried deep among the rubble. One turn around a corner, one stumble into a hole, and you will find it. It sits there, out in the middle of nowhere; the building in which it used to be housed is apparently long gone, reduced to nothing but rubble.
And if you turn it on, there is a brief message.
Transmission Broadcasting.
Transmission Connected.
And then, there is a face.
BONUS [ ??? ] For those who have been wearing their masks a little too much, they might also start to notice that there are some strange effects attached, which worsen the more they’ve been wearing said masks. How badly they worsen is up to your discretion.
➝ Broken Mask: An intense feeling of paranoia, focused on whoever your character is with. They might also begin to remember fabricated memories of being betrayed by those people.
➝ Barcode Mask: Everything will begin to have value to them. There will be whispers in the back of their mind of the worth of their friends, the worth of a monster, the worth of everything around them. An intense need to own and consume as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
➝ Dripping Blood Mask: An intense lack of self-worth, a hollow feeling and thoughts of being weak and empty. Feeling as disposable as possible and an intense listless along with it.
➝ :( Mask: A need to prove yourself, to show everyone how strong you are as quickly as possible. You can do things, you can be of worth to everyone around you. Why won't they see that? Why?
➝ Ivy Mask: A choking sort of terror from all things metal and technology based, and a need to lash out against it. An intense distrust for anything that they feel is against the laws of nature.
➝ Grey Mask: More personable than normal, more emotional, more empathetic. An intense feeling of kindness and gratitude to those around you and a renewed love of life.
➝ Feather Mask: A dulled, lack of emotion. A detached feeling to everything around you. A sort of bland curiosity towards things without any empathetic reaction.
➝ Bloody Fingerprints Mask: They'll feel absolutely fine. No change.
The effects of the broken mask can stack on top of the others, if they chose to break their mask after the other effects began to appear. No other effects can be stacked, as no other changes can be stacked.
PENALTY [ ??? ] For characters who die while in the dark parts of the city, things will get... a little strange. They will die as normal, but they will wake up almost immediately after their death -- in the Nexus Code. They will have a few surreal moments to be there, to see their friends who have left Cerealia hanging lifelessly from odd, glimmering strands (though there are some faces, of course, that are missing, anyone who was spiritual, or magical, seems strangely absent) and then --
They’re back to being dead.
When characters revive in Cerealia, anywhere from one IC day to three or four IC days later, they will find that things are… not quite right with their code. They’re glitching, for a lack of a better word. Sometimes, their fingers will phase right through an object, their own limbs registering as cold and lifeless. Sometimes, they will see a face watching them -- but when they turn around to try to see who it is, the face will be gone.
These effects will last an IC week, before slowly things go back to normal.
That was strange.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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Usually Edgeworth has himself together, even when confronted with chilling revelations and monsters running amok. But this time, they're underground, and...it has him on edge (I seriously mean this pun in the worst way possible), anxious and possibly too vigilant. He tries not to think about what would happen if an earthquake occurred right then and there, but the imagination can be a fickle beast.
He draws his saber and stares at his other hand. Though his vision has already adjusted to his dim surroundings, he doesn't want to take any chances. So, his free hand suddenly crackles with electric-blue energy, leaping from one fingertip to the next, illuminating a small area in front of him in bright, pulsing light. Slowly, holding out his glowing hand, he walks onward. While he would like to return above ground, his curiosity begs a look down - which may yield some clues.
Edgeworth keeps walking down, sword out, looking this way and that, the blue glow moving along with him until that crucial point on the metallic path that gives way to the muddy bank - it happens so suddenly that he gives an almighty gasp and scrambles backward, tripping all over his feet so he falls, but remains on the metal side. Of course, he certainly makes a commotion and drops his weapon with a clang.]
G-Gah!
[His left hand is still glowing as he remarks:]
So...t-this is what's at the end. [He isn't looking forward to exploring it and is wondering if he should just go back up.]
[III: MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL, WHO'S THE MOST TRAUMATIZED ONE OF ALL?
Edgeworth doesn't like the look of this place. It looks like a good place for illusions, or confusion, in case a battle broke out. Gingerly he picks his way across the floor, the many Edgeworths reflected in the glass, following him and holding the saber in the exact same guard position. When he turned around, they would turn with him, some disappearing into the folds and borders of the other mirrors.
But after a while, they're no longer an army of Edgeworths. Instead, a new scene comes to life, no longer a reflection of the hall of mirrors but an elevator with three people. The man in the middle is panicking and tries to attack the other man, who bears a striking resemblance to the prosecutor. Off to one side is a boy - a very familiar boy with familiar gray hair who dresses more formally than most children his age. The boy picks up a pistol from the floor and throws it in an attempt to make the frantic man let go of the other, yelling, but no sound is heard.
It's enough to make Edgeworth scowl and abruptly twist away from the mirror where he saw that scene, but it returns in another shard...in another mirror...
He sets his jaw and bows his head to avert his eyes from the memory he kept seeing over and over, replayed like a video tape, but it was also in the shards on the floor. But instead of kicking those shards away or attacking the mirrors, he shuts his eyes and speaks to whoever is with him, his voice a surly growl. His knuckles on his saber hilt have become pale.]
What do you see in the mirrors?
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--or announcement. Rapunzel hears the tinny, metallic clattering sounds of Edgeworth's blade as the latter, having reached this bottom circle of hell not too long ago herself. This isn't her first journey down here, of course, and she's come prepared with water and a small, pitiful makeshift first aid kit she hopefully won't neat (healing hair, lol).
If it weren't for the concern of strangers and friends, though, she wouldn't have any of these things. Though she'd finally stopped toting around her mask and wearing it at Jaune's request, its hold on her hasn't slackened any. She feels as much like a robot wandering around an empty desert full of humans than ever.
Approaching Edgeworth, albeit slowly and cautiously for Pascal's sake, is no different than approaching a stop sign. Indeed, she's armed that way, even, and took down a similar stop sign some time ago.
There are worse things out here than Mr. Velvet. She's happy with asking him, rather flatly and rather out of nowhere: ]
Are you hurt?
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The stop sign is a good idea, he has to admit. Sheathing his sword and putting the mask into a front pocket of his jacket, where it can show itself off, he brushes himself off and checks his limbs, his joints...]
I'm fine. [Something didn't seem right about her and it wasn't the stop sign. He massages one hand; he had jarred it in the fall but otherwise it looked fine.]
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I hope you're telling the truth. [ Despite being barefoot as always, she's free from scratches of any and all kinds - unusual, given her torn clothes and the few traces of blood here and there. Her hair is in a ponytail that swings as she walks precariously into the blueish gloom, also wet with mysterious liquid in some places. ] Let me know if you change your mind. Why are you here?
[ No pause for a breath with this one now... ]
It's dangerous.
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III
[Her voice is hushed and low. Her fingers have likewise settled against the hilt of her sword, though far looser than Edgeworth's own may be. At first she had looked on at the mirrors in great wonder. She had never seen mirrors of their size and in such numbers so she was almost entranced by the sheer number of them.
Then the images had begun. Now she studiously looks away, focusing chiefly on her feet. It seems ill-advised in such a foreign environment to focus on one's feet but she doesn't want to look on a replay of scenes again.]
Some things I understood. Others I didn't.
[Those scenes had been muddled. She casts her glance upward briefly, toward a particularly large shard on the wall nearest her. And instead of seeing what she suspects, she sees the brief flicker of three people. It surprises her enough to where she murmurs:]
I hadn't seen this before though. It's such a small space...
[She understands roughly what elevators are by now. It doesn't mean she likes them much though.]
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And he knows that Yukina isn't referring to this room of mirrors.]
What did you see...before this, if I may?
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[That had been one of the things she saw. If she so much as happens to glance at a mirror shard it may play out again though so she does her best to not focus on it too deeply. Whether that helps or not she isn't sure but for the moment things are silence.]
The others ought to be memories as well I would think. I'm not sure how accurate they are however. They're... distant. Blurry in a way.
[A memory from a long time ago when she was still little, of that much she's certain. The Elder who raised her are gathered and their words are somber and in a way full of fear. And she feels she can almost grasp what they seem so fearful of if she simply tries to remember.
She's as equally certain as she is frightened of remembering.]
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Phase I
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[He reaches out for his saber with a wry smile, and his other hand stops glowing with weird CRAU-given power. Edgeworth stands back up easily.]
We didn't even get the chance to deploy others into ViViD.
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Being down here's just as good an excuse as any to explore and get more ideas. Up for a little adventure?
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III
Does it matter? Why, what do you see?
[He can guess that it's probably worse to Edgeworth than it looks to him. Zoro has quite frankly seen worse.]
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His eyes widen and he freezes, transfixed at the horror in the nearest mirror.]
...I see you, Zoro. This time.
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[he glances to see that yep, those trees, that halo of blood-spatter on the ground around his feet, that's Thriller Bark again. Ugh. But it shifts to the child with the gun as he watches.]
Do you know who the kid is?
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i.
He quickly comes upon Edgeworth at the bank, and seeing him down there helps Dipper avoid the same mistake which he certainly would have fallen into otherwise. ]
There's got to be more to it than this. [ Then he glances at Edgeworth - right, they're...kind of in a dangerous place right now. ] Are you okay?
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I'm all right, Dipper. This is, at least, the end of the metal path. [He glances over his shoulder at the direction they came from.]
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iii.
he sighs, trying, trying to avert his eyes from the shards. unfortunately, that's impossible. ]
Times where I was powerless. Times where I was forced to rely on others, putting them in danger that they shouldn't have needed to face.
[ between edgeworth's memories, his own float between the glass shards. ]
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I see. Is that...is that what these mirrors want us to see, I wonder?
[His voice is calmer this time, but not by much. He's still bothered by his own memory, although Steven's was pretty chilling too. That dragon thing...looked very dangerous indeed.
In a way, he was powerless then, too. Powerless to save his father. Perhaps it was a small mercy that he was unconscious when the real killing shot was fired.]
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phase i
You okay there?
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Yes, I am. [He lets out a breath.] There seems to be water up ahead. [And he squints in the distance, aided somewhat by the energy lighting up his hand.]
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III
Right, the person he mistook for Heshikiri Hasebe that one time.]
I see my past, Edgeworth-san.
[It's not something Sayo would hide about himself..]
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[Edgeworth sees the dagger and the bloodied Sayo from the corner of his eye as he looks away from it.]
I...I apologize. [Even if Sayo didn't seem troubled about Edgeworth having access to that memory.]
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I...I'd rather not say. Please.
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III (I'm incredibly late, I'm so sorry orz)
Since he's with Edgeworth, he can't help but see the memory that appears in the mirrors. It feels really weird to actually see that fateful moment, having only heard it described so many times before. He eventually looks away, because it also feels wrong to see it in a way. He knows full well that that moment, and that entire trial, was extremely rough for his friend.
Naturally as he does that, he's met with his own vision in the shards he looked toward. While he looks pained by what he sees, it's a numb pain. He's practically blankly looking into the mirror, and that's weird, because he's normally so emotional.]
Ah, it's...when I got charged with Cindy's murder.
[He remembers of course, that she got murdered with the gift that he made for her. And then he got framed for it. And then he found out she was seeing other men. It wasn't fun.]
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