PHASE I [ 8 00 ] You’ve arrived. You’ve received your powerpoint presentation, and your head is filled to the brim with the knowledge that your world is destroyed, and that everyone you once knew and loved is dead. You are ready to handle whatever is thrown your way --
Or maybe not. You end up in a giant game of Pacman, and from the yellow spandex jumpsuit you’re now stuck in (glow-in-the-dark, even, how snazzy), you’re Pacman. Everything is a maze, all towering dark walls and corridors, and everything seems just a little...well, off. First off, the balls you’d normally collect in pacman? They’re floating there, yellow and distinct, the only source of light in the maze, but if you pick them up and touch them, you’ll experience a memory.
It’ll be something warm, gentle and sweet, a memory of your home or the people you love that is something you truly treasure, a memory of a time that is so very important to you. And then the globe is gone and the world returns to its cold, stark state, and you are reminded: everyone is dead. Better go pick up another one!
And, of course, there are the ghosts. They’re a little horrifying (though they come in all sorts of fun colors!) and if they grab you, all of those positive memories turn horrible. A nice memory of a picnic? It’s now a memory of losing everyone important on that day, cut down by masked figures.
Of course, that’s only for the newcomers to ViViD. For anyone who enters ViViD as a veteran, well...you can watch. If you try to enter the game, there are some unfortunate consequences -- you’ll end up as one of the ghosts chasing down those poor innocents, unable to do a thing about it.
Be sure to admire the scoreboard hanging over the game for everyone to see, though.
PHASE II [ 1030 ] Just when you’ve gotten a handle on Pacman, now you’re stuck playing...Tetris?
Everyone (newcomer and old veteran) has been dumped in the game now, and those falling blocks don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. You'll be in an unfortunate tag-team; the person you're tossed into the game with may be a total stranger to you, but you're stuck with them now. After a few moments of dodging giant, falling blocks, it should become clear how you win this game: the blocks follow you (or your partner) in an attempt to squash you, so with some careful wrangling, you can guide those blocks into place and erase row after row of deadly blocks. Of course, if you can't work together, you're more likely to end up squished at the top of the screen, but if you should somehow manage to clear the screen, the door at the other end will open and you'll be free to go.
Let's hope you're stuck with someone easy to work with.
PHASE III [ 1145 ] Stumbling out of Tetris will bring you onto a rickety platform, a hangman’s noose gently wrapped around one of your very most important people. You can’t approach them, you can’t touch them, and they can’t speak, but they look at you with pleading eyes even as the talking tree they are to be hanged from tells you the rules. Guess letters, guess the word, and your friend will be freed. Guess wrong, and, well… the noose will tighten bit by bit.
Time to work together to get your friends down from there. Admittedly you might see someone different up there from the person next to you, but it’s all the same in the end, isn’t it? You’ve got to save them either way.
If you fail, that person will be hanged -- only to reveal that they were just a straw doll all along. Phew, what a relief!
If they succeed at guessing the word, a trap door will open up underneath that person and the rope will be released, dropping them down to never be seen again. Bye!
PHASE IV [ 1300 ] And then you’re dumped right out of ViViD and back into Cerealia. The city is still a little water-logged, though it is looking better than it was before; either way, you may be dumped anywhere. On a roof, in the middle of the park, on top of the scrap heap… anything could happen.
And it seems that things are still a little glitchy, or maybe the glitchy ViViD experience has infected your code in some way, because for a short period of time after, there may be a few...side effects. Fingers and faces might glitch out for a moment, or your hand might phase through a wall. You may also have your In Game Title hovering over your head for all to see. That’s not weird at all.
It’ll all fade away in an hour or two anyway, without any side effects to speak of. Or so it would seem.
PENALTY [ xxxx ] You may have ended up here after getting eaten by a pacman (or ghost), or you may have ended up here after jumping down the trapdoor to save your friend in Hangman. Perhaps you were squashed by a tetris block. Perhaps you just fell down onto your sword (why would you do that). Either way, here you are.
It’s an empty area, totally silent and void, aside from this one carnival game. Once you’re seated, you can’t stand up -- you have to win the game to leave, as the friendly game host will inform you without a single smile. You’ll be playing against the others who managed to end up here, but you’d better give it your best shot, or who knows how long you’ll end up staying here.
Time to play a carnival shooter game.
At least the targets are of a few familiar faces. Maybe that’ll make it more appealing?
And if you win you’ll be able to exit stage right, plus you’ll have a cute Mosley plushie as a prize. Hooray!
[ 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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[there's still a bit of snap to his tone, but it's not as if he's really looking for a fight. he's just agitated by things that mostly have nothing to do with herc. and knowing that it's not really herc's fault, but probably because of ViViD or CERES means that he can't really hold that much of a grudge.
he lets out a sigh, ruffling his hair to try and get some of the excess water out. when he speaks again, he sounds a little more resigned, at least.]
...Only around here would someone get dropped into water like that for no reason.
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Which makes him blink in complete surprise.]
By my father’s mighty beard! What is this?!
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[roxas isn't looking all that closely, so he doesn't really notice the way the water is not... behaving the way water should. for a kid who has done his fair share of reconnaissance missions, he's not exactly being the most observant right now.]
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Look at this. This is…unsettling.
[But as they look at it? It turns back into regular, full 3d water.]
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Whoa—! [roxas has definitely never seen water do that before. really, most of the glitches happening are pretty new to him, considering the title floating over his head is all he's experienced so far. his eyes only widen further when the water returns to normal.] What was that?
[roxas, that's what he just asked you...]
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[Hercules steps clear of the water with a hop of his feet, not wanting to be in the puddle any longer.]
This place...I smell no sorcery, but by Zeus, there is devilry afoot.
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[probably? he is definitely the worst person ask about these things.] I think it's just this place being weird again.
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[Foul magic. Ugggghhhh.]
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[he doesn't really know how to explain it. it's not like any other world he's been to, and honestly, he's only had about a month to really figure things out.]
When I first got here, they put me in some kind of hospital game... that my symptoms were "exhausted internet me-mes" and that I needed a new soundtrack. [roxas scrunches his nose—honestly, he still doesn't get most of that.] I don't think a lot of things make sense around here at all.
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[Herc waves a hand, dismissing it out of hand.]
If that is how this place works, then that's how this place works. Bah. I like it not, but I have not the ability to change it at the moment. So why worry?
[Refocusing, he sticks out a hand.]
I am Hercules. What should I call you?
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it takes him a moment to return the gesture of a handshake (mostly because that's new to him too, but he's seen it before so he gets it). but after a second, he realizes something Very Important.]
Wait—Hercules? [why yes, that name is familiar, but not for the reasons one might think.]
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The same, Roxas. Tis I, the Lion of Olympus and Son of Zeus. Heard of me have you?
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Is it a common name? I kind of know someone else with that name... [you'd think a kid who already knows about multiple worlds would have considered it, but herc seemed like such a big deal in olympus that it doesn't really occur to him that multiple worlds could have very similar properties.]
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But you're definitely not him, either. [he's going to wind up giving himself a headache at this rate.]
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[Because this is weird. His form is pretty memorable.]
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I know he's pretty strong... and that he's a hero, I guess. [super descriptive and helpful.]
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[A parallel Hercules? Those do exist. Unlimited Herc Works…]
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So like... the same, but also kind of different. [he's never experienced anything like that, but there are lot of things roxas doesn't know or get.] Maybe that's what it is, then. I didn't even think something like that could be possible, though... I guess a lot of things are possible here that shouldn't be.
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[Weird as that might sound, Herc seems oddly at ease with the place.]
In any event, you may have encountered my double. And I assure you I am Hercules of Olympus. My world's version, anyway.
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[they are distinctly different concepts to him, given the nature of how many worlds he already knew existed to begin with. in any case, roxas nods.]
I believe you. I was just... surprised, I guess. I didn't expect it.