PHASE I [ 9 00 ] The peace of the morning in the Residential District shatters just as the wall caves through. It’s a small segment of wall -- no more than five feet across at most. And yet the crash and groan of the metal being stretched is ominously accompanied by the distinct piercing screech of metal and another sound. A raucous noise, a combination of ungodly wailing and sharp, victorious laughter spills forth from the hole left in the wall as a myriad of ghosts and spirits erupt from the newly created exit. Characters with any type of spiritual sense will find themselves nearly overwhelmed by the amount of negative ghostly energy that suddenly floods Cerealia and characters with no sense of preservation will find any attempt to enter the hole blocked by the fiercest of ghosts, met with deadly force if they try to pass, as the ghosts won’t hesitate to do things such as reach straight into your body to try to stop your heart.
These ghosts are out for blood, and they don’t seem to stop no matter how you try to talk to them -- they just hiss out, over and over again, “Murderersmurderersmurderers.”
From there, the ghosts move on. Their true target, after all, is CERES… but to them, there’s no difference between the character players and CERES. They’ll go for whoever gets in their way, phasing through walls and becoming tangible long enough to reach for characters before fading away again. Characters with special abilities will find themselves in a similar state. Their abilities may increase and decrease in power sporadically, or be completely gone. They may attempt to cast a spell only to find that the wrong spell is cast instead, or an attempt at healing may end up a more dangerous spell. Be careful with your own magical skills!
Those with items or powers specifically intended to ward off spirits will still fulfill their intended purposes when used – unless malicious spiritual energy gets to them first.
PHASE II [ 1400 ] It seems the ghosts have more tricks up their sleeves. It seems that a not-so-friendly ghost has decided to play a game with you. It doesn't matter where you are, or what you're doing, because a moment later a voice calls out -- Hey. Can you see me? -- and once you turn your head, you’ll come face to face with a surprise.
Who is it in this world (or your world, or any world) that you have managed to disappoint the most? A family member? A friend? Yourself? They face you now, eyes full of sadness, and they say, “I need you to do something for me.” Without another word, they’ll turn away and begin to walk. Your vision grows foggy, focused solely on the need to do whatever this person wants – they need you, after all. Your legs move to follow them, unless you manage to somehow resist.
But you apparently don’t seem to notice that you’re the only one who can see this person – or that they’re leading you stray toward that monorail track with the sound of the train coming closer, or that busy intersection, or right off the sky bridge.
PHASE III [ 600 ] Other ghosts don’t feel like borrowing faces in order to inflict damage. No, they’ll inflict their damage on a far more personal level. They manifest suddenly and without warning – then all it takes is a simple touch. A ghostly hand reaches out to you and it feels like the cold wraps around your heart, and your vision skews, and then... they leave just as suddenly as they came.
Those who have been around for awhile may very well recognize the ghosts, at that.
But the damage has already been done. Depending on a character’s assigned sense, they will feel one of the following changes:
Sight: Hopefully you aren’t in the habit of bending the truth. Dead men tell no tales, they say. But what happens to a living person unable to tell lies? Any attempt at telling any lie or falsehood will cause the character to feel as though their throat has closed off, and they can do nothing more than choke.
Smell: The cold passes, but in some way that it never really leaves. And then everything seems perfectly normal. Nothing has changed, right? You're fine -- except that in a short period of time with how crazy things are, it becomes apparent that you're unable to feel pain. The damage to your body is the same as ever, but dangerously, you can't feel a thing.
Taste: It would appear as though the ghosts have a sense of humor. From those who rest in eternal slumber, try a few days of being unable to sleep. Everything seems fine at first... but slowly but surely, that lack of sleep will start to take its toll.
Hearing: Most others would feel relief once the ghosts left, finally a moment of peace. But you? You don’t feel anything – nothing kind, anyway. Rather, you have been left unable to feel joy. Everything seems either bleak or as though it simply has no emotional impact at all.
Touch: How many deaths have been caused in the name of heroics? Apparently in an attempt to keep future casualties down (or perhaps for their own laughter), the ghosts have left you unable to be brave. Suddenly, a situation you'd face fearlessly is one that has sent you running, panic sharp in your chest.
These effects will last throughout the event, if a character is caught by them.
PHASE IV [ 1000 ] While chaos erupts throughout the city, some of the more misguided ghosts (but still bloodthirsty, so very bloodthirsty) just happened to run into the wrong part of town and don’t know how to give a proper scaring. One ghost seems to think that it was a great idea to possess a masseusebot from the Spa. You’re grabbed suddenly! You fight for your life but can’t seem to get yourself out of its metal grip! With expert precision that only a robot can mange, it finds your pressure points – and releases all that tension from this Incredibly Bad Day. The ghost inside the robot is confused, distressed -- why is this human suddenly so relaxed? It only wants to murder. But the only illegal thing happening here is how good this massage makes you feel.
Maybe later you’ll walk down the street and get stopped by the ghost that possessed a balloon dispenser. Perhaps a ghost has possessed the friendly McCERES mascot, and is now handing out coupons with murderous intent. And of course, there are always the hug bots...
Look, they tried really hard, okay.
Of course... they might end up possessing technology a little closer to home as well, at which point it's not so funny.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Hopefully you have friends who have ghost-fighting skills. Or ghost-taming skills. Or ghost-bellydancing skills, who knows, we won't judge them if you don't. But what of those poor people who come from worlds where the supernatural is some weird television show?
Worry not, poor souls, for CERES is here to provide! Some time after the ruckus begins, characters will find what looks to be a hand-held vacuum cleaner situated innocuously in their rooms (only one per person, you greedy gus). The logo on the side will helpfully inform you that this is of CERES make, because the paper pamphlet beside your new device? Well, it's more like a picture book. Observe Stick-Man Sully as he uses his vacuum cleaner to capture ghosts! Learn from his stellar example! Do not stick the hose in your mouth or attempt to give the vacuum CPR, there's a big X over that picture. Also of the one where Stick-Man Sully sets his captive ghosts free once more, we don't want that, do we?
Your new ghost vacuum should prove effective against any ghastly ghoul that shoots your way, but beware! Should you capture a ghost and not turn in your vacuum to CERES for weekly ghost disposal, your ghost will serenade you in the wee hours of the morning with its song of choice. If you capture a whole horde of ghosts, well, congratulations. You have a boy band living in your vacuum.
[ 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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ii.
[Ruby has no idea what's going on here, really, but she doesn't have a lot of time to think about it, either. As soon as she sees him come closer to the edge of that sky bridge as if to step right off... well, it doesn't look right to her. Maybe he has a backup plan, but in that case, he can scold her, because she's not hesitating.
She activates her Semblance, moving from point a to point b in the blink of an eye and the flutter of rose petals, and then she tackles him to the bridge.
Seems legit.]
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What're you doing out of bed? [...yes. Of all the things to ask, that's his question for her. He's already looking to the side though, clearly worried about the Baymax only he can see.]
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[Yeah, she's not impressed, and she's also not budging from where she's basically sitting on top of him. Whatever, this is fine.]
Why were you going to walk off the skybridge?
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Walk off--what? Ruby that's how I always get on Baymax's back from up here. It's a lot easier when he's already in the air. [Duh.]
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[???
She's looking around, but... nope. Nowhere to be found.]
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[Cerealia, why do you continually throw hallucinations at him...] He was right there. I have to get back out there and find him.
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Then we'll find him. It's okay, Hiro, just... calm down for a sec, okay?
[Ruby's head is swimming, honestly, and she's still trying to catch up with what's happening here with how awful she feels, too... but she knows she can't let Hiro get himself into danger.]
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I am calm. [Mostly.] Look, I just need to go back out there and find him before he disappears again. I can't let what happened in the jungle happen here, too. Usually we're not separated in the colony and he's been with me for the last couple of days checking on everybody and working on my research and I don't remember if I sent him back to his charger last night and I--[...he stops talking.] I need to go. [Where, he's still not sure.]
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[She knows he can't possibly be happy about this situation, and she's worried about Baymax too, but--]
I'm not letting you go yet.
[Hiro's health is even more important, and she knows Baymax would agree with her on this. She looks down at him with wide, worried eyes.]
I know you're worried, and we'll find him, together, but... I can't let you up yet.
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[...In this state, she has no idea if he'll listen to her or not, but she has to try.]
But I'm not getting up until you calm down more, because you're acting really... not good!
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What does that even mean? [It's a genuine question.] I'm fine, I just have to find him and get back out there and figure out how to stop the ghosts from trying to kill everybody. And...and shouldn't you be resting anyway? You're going to make yourself worse.
[He trusts Ruby's judgment which is why he's not insisting she go home and get some more rest, but he does wonder about that.]
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It means you almost walked off of this skybridge without Baymax around at all and you would've been-- [Dead.] You're acting weird and you're not really listening to me, it's like you're getting one out of every three words or something, and you're doing that thing where you act like you're fine when you really aren't but it's worse now and I'm really worried and Hiro I don't want anything to happen to you!
[Forget her need to be resting. Forget the ghosts. This is more important, and until she gets it through his head, she's not moving.]
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'You're doing that thing where you act like you're fine when you really aren't.'
But...]
That's what I have to do right now. [The words are quiet and not exactly something he'd planned on telling her, but nevertheless they're true. Still, it snaps him out of it and he blinks heavily, vision clearing and he's staring at her like he's just now realizing she's really there.] Ruby? ...I really almost made a huge mistake, didn't I?
[He's still itching to run and fix everything, but at least he's starting to calm down and really come back to being logical.] Sorry, I didn't...[A beat.] We really do end up sitting on the ground alone together when we're having really serious discussions. [It's not meant to be answered, just a repeat of exactly what he said to her in the jungle and maybe, just maybe, there's a bit of a tighter grip on her waist once he realizes just how serious this actually was. He shakes his head then.] I really wish they'd stop finding ways to mess with our heads.
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The thought is terrifying. She doesn't want to lose him--she can't lose him, and when he apologizes, when he makes it clear he understands, she breathes out a shaky, relieved breath, reacting automatically.
It doesn't seem strange to her, or too intimate; all she can do is drop her head from relief until her forehead is pressed to his. It's a comforting gesture if nothing else. He's still here, he's breathing, and he's not doing anything crazy.]
... I know. It's okay. [She knows they were messing with his head.] Are you...gonna be okay? For real. Honestly.
[If he really sincerely is, then she'll get off of him and they can go find Baymax. But she's not moving until she's sure.]
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It's something to really think about, and something he'll really analyze later. Right now he's just focused on breathing and listening to what Ruby's saying and keeping part of his attention up for any wayward ghouls roaming around.]
Pretty loaded question, dude. [He's not sure. He's not sure what else is going to happen, but at the same time he can't let that stop him.
That's for phase III.] I'll be fine. Aren't I always?no subject
[Whether that's good enough is really up in the air--and Ruby's almost thinking that it's not. But as worried as she is, she can't stop him. She knows that--Hiro can make his own decisions, and she doesn't have the right.
Slowly, she shifts to get off of him, sitting next to him instead.]
Let me come with you. Okay? ...Please?
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So he rewards her with a half-smile instead.] I think you might be right. [She moves to sit next to him and he sits up, staring ahead of him for a moment without speaking before he nods more to himself than to her.] He can't be too far...he wouldn't go outside of the walls without me if he could help it. And if we're both looking maybe it'll help to find him faster. [It's a silent "yes."] Stupid channel's blocked. I can't get in touch with him at all.
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Some things have to be done. This is one of those things--she just knows it, inherently.]
Okay. Then... we'll look for him.
[She stands, and offers Hiro her hand.]
We can probably manage a pretty good sweep of the city, and he'll have to be around here somewhere. It'll be fine.
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All to analyze later. He tries not to grip her hand too tightly because of his gloves but he's pretty determined not to let go either.]
And if we don't find him? Then what? [He doesn't believe they won't find him eventually but he'd like to be prepared for the worst case scenario. He's been learning how to do that more often now.]
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[That answer is simple, and Ruby delivers it simply. She doesn't bother to pull away her hand; if anything, having their fingers intertwined helps, and she tightens her grip for the both of them.
They have to stick together now. She can't let Hiro go off on his own.
And she's certain, when she speaks, eyes on him levelly.]
And we'll find him.
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You're probably the only person I'd actually believe about that. [And Tadashi, of course, but that goes unsaid.] We should start with the outskirts of the colony and work our way in. It'll be easier to spot him if he's still on the move. What do you think?
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That sounds good to me. [It's because she'd never lie to him, but that doesn't have to be said either. Ruby would work herself to the ground to find Baymax, regardless of any other factors.]
Let's start with the Residential District since we're already here and there are more ghosts here anyway I think.
[Start with the most dangerous, work their way out.]
Let's do it.
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This way then. [And off they go to find Baymax...and by find I mean they're probably going to search everywhere and still not find him, but A for effort.]