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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It looks like this is happening to a ton of us but I'm not sure how. It's not everybody either, it's just a select number of people. [He shouldn't ask since it's not his business, but he's dying to figure out a pattern.] Who were you following anyway?
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[Who's surprised, nobody should be surprised by that answer. It comes so quickly, in fact, that it's almost suspicious... but admitting that it was Stahn is like admitting that he trusts Stahn to the point that his face can be used against him, which...
Well, it's true.
But it's still a tough pill for someone like Leon to swallow.
(You'll have to try harder than that, Hiro.)]
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It's kind of my business if we're going to find a pattern in all of this. What're you so worried about in admitting it?
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... Nothing. There is nothing worrying me.
[It's not like... he wants to admit that the lengths that he trusts Stahn is really frightening for someone like him, and having to admit it is like acknowledging it.
But Hiro does have a point about finding a pattern, so after a long moment--]
Tch... His name is Stahn. He is a blond bumpkin who is unable to keep his mouth shut at the best of times. [#good descriptions with Leon Magnus.] I thought he might have been getting himself into trouble.
[And was willing to follow him to the point that he'd get his own self into trouble.... yeah, naturally.]
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Wait Stahn like...Stahn who talks to his sword and doesn't think that's weird Stahn? That guy?
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[UGH......]
That idiot! He should know better than to--
[Talk to Dymlos in public like that........ (but yeah, that guy).]
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[Leon, don't be mean.]
People are going to think he is unstable in the head if he keeps this up.
[And... Leon doesn't want that. Stahn will want to make friends probably, knowing Stahn, and it'll be harder if everyone thinks he's crazy.]
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It's not like people don't do all kinds of weird stuff here anyway. It's kind of interesting. I didn't know you two were from the same world though.
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Ahem]
...We are, yes. [From his tone, it's pretty obvious Leon's waiting for the other shoe to drop. What do you want from that, Hiro........] What is your point?
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Some people who were following ghosts were seeing people that are either already here or they've been here before. I'm just wondering why the ghosts are emulating these certain people. I was following one that looked just like Baymax.
...who is Stahn to you?
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Leon pauses, startled. Somehow, he really wasn't expecting that question, and for a moment, he can only blink at Hiro, utterly flummoxed.
Who is... Stahn to him?
Stahn is someone utterly intolerable, obviously. He's someone who never gets a hint. He can't stop being so sunshine-y and friendly no matter what. He never learns. He's...
He's the closest thing Leon has ever had to a proper, human friend, isn't he? He'd called Leon that once, he'd said he was an important friend, and Leon even now doesn't know how to deal with that. But even after all of the terrible things that Leon did to him, to all of them, and even after he betrayed them, Stahn still extended a hand to him. He still called him a friend.
And Leon thinks that even if he doesn't understand friendship (because he doesn't) and even if he doesn't trust that people don't have ulterior motives (because they always do)... Stahn was truly his friend, and he truly cared entirely for him. If there was a definition of friendship that Leon could understand, it would have to be Stahn still extending a hand to him, even after he betrayed them all.
He's never really had the time to think about it--and he's frustrated that he's thinking about it now, and he's frustrated that he can feel his careful poise crumbling a little under the thoughts. He sucks in a shaky breath, and crosses his arms, turning his head away so his bangs can mostly hide his face.]
... I hate people like him the most. He is...the sort of person I can't stand.
[He's the sort of person who gave Leon a taste of what it's like to not be lonely before he ended up alone in the end anyway, and he can't even hate Stahn for that--not truly.]
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But you were still willing to follow him and were so focused you didn't realize where you were walking?
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Leon flinches a little at that despite himself, frowning. He looks at Hiro sharply, before glancing away again.]
... That is--
[... What is it, exactly? Why? He can't... answer that question.]
Stahn has an important part to play in our world. Allowing him to die like an idiot before that part is completed would be troublesome.
[Clearly.]
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So it's your duty instead. [He just sort of shakes his head.] I mean it's Baymax's job to make sure I don't die like an idiot and he's still my best friend even though he sometimes drives me crazy.
[Think about that, Leon.] What's so important about Stahn?
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We are not friends, so don't even try to imply it!
[Whoa there, Leon, kind of defensive.]
I...left him with a task. He has to complete it, and that is all that matters. He is not allowed to take the easy way out of it and die.
[Like... Leon did.]
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You think dying is an easy way out of anything? Or are you really just saying that to shut me up?
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[It's said more softly then, but still with the same amount of feeling to it. Leon feels strongly about this. Of course he does--he has personal experience.]
Avoiding all responsibility, ducking any consequences... it is the easy way out.
[It's pathetic.
He's pathetic. And he hates it. He remembers how Stahn was when he first saw him again. The things Stahn said. The suffering Stahn went through after, that Leon has no idea about, because Leon... didn't see any of it. Stahn was the strong one here, dealing with everything. Stahn wouldn't have taken that way out.]
It is the people left behind who have to deal with everything avoided.
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Leon what.] Oh. [A pause.] I can't really argue with that as much as I like arguing with you. [He has enough experience with being on the other end, too.] I still don't know if that's easy considering you're here.
["You're here and you're alive and you have to deal with all of that."]
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Yeah. Hiro's not wrong, but.]
This... has nothing to do with that situation. Whatever you are thinking, you're [right] wrong.
[You're not convincing, Leon.]
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Sure. We'll go with that. [He doesn't sound very convinced. Oh well.] What do you think I'm thinking?
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Instead, he huffs, crossing his arms.]
None of your business. I'll keep my own thoughts to myself--which is something you should do too, because I do not want them.
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Keeping my thoughts to myself won't help any of us since I'm one of the people trying to solve everything here. [So there.] You're just mad that I'm right.
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You can claim that you are trying to be helpful, but it is simply a guise for being nosy about things that do not concern you.
[So there. That's what he thinks of that.]
Suffice to say, I also saw someone from my world, just as you did. Draw your own conclusions from that, because I don't intend to say anything else.
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Maybe you should go find the real Stahn and make sure he's not chasing after ghost-you somewhere.
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