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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[And space is terrifying. Or right now, it is. On a normal day, it's like driving across the country: a long trip to get from one end to the other, but just a normal Thing That People Do. ]
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[ His attention is suddenly riveted on Hiro, and though his expression is blank, his voice betrays the surprise at hearing that the kid knows the Heavyarms pilot. The rest will go unmentioned for now, because he wants to know how trustworthy the kid is first. ]
...What else did he tell you?
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Um...about him, or about the gundams? We're friends, we've kinda talked a lot. [It's all surface-level stuff but he knows a little to be able to put the pieces together.]
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[ If Trowa is trusting him enough to talk about the gundams, then that's good enough for him. He's not so crazy that he'd think the guy would give out information like that otherwise. ]
Flying, whether in Earth's atmosphere or outside it, was pretty much the same. The biggest difference is that being that outside on Earth would have meant you'd suffocate from a lack of oxygen due to the speed, whereas in space, there just isn't any air.
[ And while they're on the subject of flying... ]
Trowa's is land-based, and he may as well have driven a tank. Quatre's is the same, but without the firepower. The flight model is mine. [ And it used to transform, which was kind of cool, though it could be a pain to repair... but now it has wings, which makes it even better, even if it doesn't transform any more. ]
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Trowa told me he'd show me his gundam sometime in ViViD when things slowed down. That means yours is here too? [He's interested in the flight model for obvious reasons.] How'd you get yours to fly? Aren't the gundams supposed to be really huge?
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But this is something he can actually explain and keep his mind off of everything around him, so he'll gladly lose himself in technical speak. If there's anything he knows inside and out, it's his own mobile suits. Hope Hiro likes general schematics overviews...]
The original Wing was built for flight and capable of transforming for combat. The wings would collapse behind it and fold out of the way of the arms and propulsion system so as to not interfere with movement. Transformation capabilities aside, it was a fairly standard mobile suit, similar to the others in overall design and handling. Even the parts were compatible with the other gundams, so technicians were able to reconstruct it when it was detonated using spare parts. It was never really built for space, though, so it had to be encapsulated in a protective shell for atmospheric entry and would have required modifications for space combat.
[ A pause as he takes a moment to scan the area around them for unwanted company. ]
Zero is... a much more destructive version of Wing built for both space and land combat. The overall style is the same, but it's a little larger and heavier, about 16.7 meters and 8 tons overall. Not exactly enormous, but large enough. It used to have twin verniers and additional thrusters on the back that unfolded and became the wings for when it would transform, but they were removed during repairs and the transformation aspect was taken away in favor of giving it four thruster-lined wings to increase speed, assist the AMBAC system, and act as shields during combat and atmospheric re-entry.
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I would've fought for a way to keep the transformation aspect if I were you, but that's just because it sounds cool. Baymax's wings are actually collapsible too into his armor for when we're fighting on land, so I guess I can see it. Not that his parts are compatible with the rest of my team's gear so any damage his armor takes I have to repair myself. [He shrugs slightly.] I guess a gundam the size of Zero is a little impressive. [More like a lot impressive. He can't even hide it.] So what're the chances of this one exploding?
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[ Team? So there were more kids with flying nurse...bots? He'll let this conversation run its course before asking, because while it's an interesting thought, the question Hiro posed is one he feels like he should probably answer. And should he really be considering Hiro a kid when he's only 16 himself? ]
The only reason I know the parts are interchangeable is because I stole them from one of the other suits to fix my own. He said it couldn't be done in one night's time, I needed it repaired as quickly as possible, and the parts were there and unguarded. Also, the chances of Zero exploding are probably pretty slim. The only reason it happened to Wing was because I hit the self-detonation switch.
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[Ask him about his team sometime, Heero, he'd be more than happy to ramble about the Big Hero 6. But for now he's more than comfortable learning everything he can, even temporarily forgetting he's supposed to be on the lookout for ghosts.]
See, if people didn't want their stuff stolen or broken into they would've gone to better lengths to keep it locked up. [This is also coming from a child who sees no problem with casually breaking and entertain himself. It's even more impressive that the new upgrades to Zero were done in a short amount of time, but there's just one thing that's sticking out to him now.] Um. And why did you hit self-detonate when you were still in the machine?
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Though, I think a lot of people don't seem to realize that what they consider safe or foolproof really isn't. I don't remember how many schools' financial databases I hacked to avoid paying tuition, and stealing missiles from a military base should not have been that easy.
[ But the question Hiro asks is what really gets him, because the more time that passes since that moment, the more even he has a hard time believing he actually did it, if not for the scars from having to be put back together afterward. ] I wasn't inside. I opened the hatch, stepped outside, and hit the switch. As for why, they threatened to attack the colonies if we didn't surrender. They got their surrender, but the gundams weren't to be part of it, so I blew it up.
I was supposed to die, but I guess I've never been very good at following through...
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[You know. Like CERES. But he listens to Heero's story and his eyes progressively grow wider as he tries to process that.] That's...kinda intense. What about the other gundams and the other pilots? What happened to them while that was going on?
[Heero what.]
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We didn't start out knowing one another, so I can't say that any of us considered one another to be friends enough to converse at the time. We knew one another existed, and this one had maybe run into that one at some point, but that was probably the extent of it. [ Except Quatre. If he'd run into the others at some point prior, he probably deemed them his friends right away -it's just how he is. ] The only thing I remember after hitting the switch is that dying hurts like hell, and before that, I wasn't paying attention to the others.
[ But he can speculate... ]
From what I heard a month later, everyone went their separate ways and there weren't any missions given after that.
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Sounds pretty sketchy if you ask me. You're telling me that everything really went back to being calm?
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[ It was strange to them too, if only because none of them had known about the others until they'd reached Earth, and after that, they'd kept going their own ways before need forced them to come together into some sort of cohesive unit. As soon as it was over, though, they'd all gone right back to their own lives. ]
Only so far that it was the calm before the storm. Life continued on, just like it always had. The missions never really came back, though, so we created our own, following the same general pattern that had been given before. Eventually, it turned into a full-scale war in space, complete with mobile suits, mobile dolls, and battleships.
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[It makes no sense and he's strongly wondering if Heero's actually human. But that's not the entire main part here. Instead, he's just trying to imagine what life must be like for the gundam pilots and it's not pretty at all.] It's better than sitting around waiting...but who won the war? [Please don't tell him it's still going...]
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As for who won...]
There were several factions involved that, over the course of the war, assimilated one another, changed stances, became something else, and broke off to create new groups. By the end, it was everyone against the White Fang, and they didn't win. About a year later, another group decided to launch an attack, and we're still in the middle of that one. The last thing I remember is sitting in Wing Zero at the bottom of the ocean. [ There is one thing he wants to add though, that is fairly important to him. ] Just... don't tell that to the others. I can't say for certain what Quatre knows, but Heavyarms hasn't been upgraded yet which means Trowa hasn't gotten there. I don't need him to be worrying about things that haven't happened for him.
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He's taking that in, categorizing everything into a neat little timeline for the gundam pilots and nodding along. He's about to ask how the gundams really work under the ocean but Heero brings in that key factor that makes Hiro shut up.] ...I'm not going to tell him. Trust me. You're not the only one who's further ahead of the people you know and don't want to worry them. You gonna tell him eventually though?
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[ But he's just going to change the subject, because what is talking about awkward things. ]
Perhaps someday, if I ever get through ViViD enough to do it, I'll consider letting you take a look at Zero. The general mechanics are probably much different from what you're used to, but that just means it's something new to play with, and maybe you'll find something to help solve your magnet problem.
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[He gets it probably way more than Heero probably imagines. But he welcomes the subject change and goes right along with it. Gundams are easier to talk about than life-altering things like timelines and wars, after all.]
That'd be pretty sweet. I bet I could amp up Baymax's armor, too. [A beat.] If I find him again. ViViD's not so bad though when the new code's not being pushed through. Check it out sometime. As long as the ghosts haven't gotten to it, too.
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Alright... as long as we don't end up in a simulation that involves hugging Minotaurs, fishing, or dresses. [ He really doesn't want to add more things to the list of Things We Will Never Speak of Again. ]
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