You've seen the flyer. Or maybe you haven't. Whatever your reasons may be, you've decided to log onto ViViD today at around 6 PM. At first, all seems normal as the game loads, and you prepare to start on what should be an average adventure. Maybe you'll do a little fighting, or some exploring, or even a little platforming. Either way, there shouldn't be anything unusual about this.
Right?
You couldn't have been more wrong. The moment you log in, something goes strange. The game glitches around you, whatever world that started to load seizing up and freezing with static, warping with strange colors. And then a different setting loads smoothly like nothing ever happened. The first thing you notice is that it's sprawling and beautiful, if not a little ostentatious. Should your curiosity draw you from the courtyard you've arrived in through the great double doors, you'll arrive in...
... a ballroom. Welcome to prom. |
PHASE I [ 6 00 ] There are tables scattered around the periphery of the room, and a DJ, somewhat out of place in this beautiful setting, is stationed at the back, spinning out tunes to help you get settled into the start of the night. On the scattered tables are... punch bowls? They look tantalizing, and they come in quite a rainbow of colors. Should you be brave enough to take a sip, you'll find interesting things will happen. Drink the red punch, and you'll end up in rococo fashion. Drink the pale champagne-colored punch, and you'll find yourself sporting elegant regency attire. How about that cool blue punch? You'll step right into the roaring 20's. What about that dayglo orange punch over there? How about some far out 80's, man? That futuristic purple punch will suit you up in Tron style. And then there's one last punch bowl on a lonely table in the corner. No one can quite identify that color. Is that ... brown? Brave this punch bowl and you'll be, uh ... richly rewarded with modern-day fashions. Will you step up and test these refreshments, for science? Or will you be the first onto the dance floor, or to make an insane request of the DJ?
Last but not least, certain Cerealians who glitch into the level may find they have a specific corsage attached that they cannot remove! If they stick around long enough, they'll find one other lucky soul with a matching corsage. This is your ViViD assigned date! No one is going to force you two to dance... but you might find that the longer you put off dancing, the tighter that corsage gets around your wrist, or the more it begins to prick your chest, depending on its location. Might want to rethink your position...
Dates: - Shijima Kurookano & Himeko Inaba
- Trucy Wright & Enomoto "Ene" Takane
- Adelina & Rock Lee
- Byakuya Togami & Lailah
- Archer & Touka Kirishima
- Sakuya Le Bel Shirogane & Maya Fey
- Leon Kuwata & Alisha Diphda
PHASE II [ 730 ] So you're here. Whether out of curiosity or you've resigned yourself to the strange festivities, you're in. Maybe you've been wallflowering it up for a while, even with the cool kickin music playing. Whatever the case may be, the DJ announces themselves (DJ Slim Shaydee, not to be confused with that knock off from Earth). You're welcomed in an enthusiastic manner. Also hey, if you're near a table, see those cute placards? Yeah the ones in the center pieces mixed in with the bowl of candy and flowers. You'll notice they have a neatly typed out list— DJ Slim Shaydee says whoever fulfills the criteria on the list will be crowned Prom Royalty. Who doesn't want that???
- Successfully complete a slow dance
- Do the cha cha slide OR do the electric slide without messing up the turn
- Make out in the rose garden out back
- Have a dramatic fight with a close friend and storm out (you may come back after)
- Comfort a crying friend in the bathroom
- If you're a minor, accidentally get drunk
- Successfully spike every punch bowl within a 20 minute time limit
- Confess romantic feelings to the object of your affections
To truly kick it off or maybe give those ambitious types a head start, DJ Slim is gonna play you (yes all of you) a group dance! Hope you know the moves to the Cha Cha Slide. If not, don't worry, the song will tell you every step.
Oh and one more thing — anyone who fulfills an item on the list will get a confetti surprise. What does this mean? It means a golden, multi-faceted little ball will spontaneously appear over your head out of nowhere soon after you fulfill a condition, hovering for a moment before it explodes into a shower of confetti. Enjoy!
PHASE III [ 900 ] Whew. All these fast paced songs sure have you tired out, right? Maybe take a sip from the many punch bowls around the room if you haven't tested them out yet. Or try your hand at fulfilling another portion of that list from earlier—by spiking the punch. Better work fast though, the bowls themselves refresh fairly quickly once they sense contamination. See how many you can get in one go! Or if you're not a dirty prankster, see how many people you can catch spiking those dang bowls.
While you're doing that, the DJ seems to want to wind down the energy in the room. That means, you guessed it: time for that coveted slow dance. As the first chords of the song play, the doors to the garden veranda and hedge maze open. How romantic.
PHASE IV [ 1000 ] It's the end of the night, and maybe you've been trying your best to satisfy all those win conditions. Or maybe you haven't! Either way, it's clear from the mood in the air that the time is drawing near for the announcement of the Prom Royalty. The DJ brings the lights low, and spotlights hit his stand. He brings a mic to his mouth, and announces grimly that there will be no Prom Royalty. Apparently, no one satisfied enough of the win conditions! How can that be? Surely someone tried! Well, whatever happened, the DJ isn't happy, and the lights in the room will come back up. The DJ will mess with some of the equipment at his station, and all across the room, small panels will open up near the ceiling. Pouring out will come ... balloons? And not just any balloons - they're water balloons, and not only are they somehow floating, they're coming straight for you. How are they flying? We just don't know. If they come in contact with you, they'll frizz your perfect prom hair. Worse, if you apply even the mildest force to them, they'll immediately pop and drench you in freezing cold water, leaving you drenched.
The ballroom quickly fills with these angry little balloons, threatening to flood the room completely if too many of them pop. Will you flee and save yourself? Try to save your friends? Try to reason with the DJ and stop the balloon menace? No matter what you do, you'd better work fast. The floor is already getting dangerously wet...
BONUS [ hour ??? ] Remember that garden maze? From a certain point of the evening on, prom guests have been free to wander through as they please. They're beautiful, a rose maze by day that looks even more breathtaking at night with fairy lights glittering and winking in between all the flowers and leaves. Maybe you wandered out there to get away from the craziness in the party. Perhaps you want to be a true wallflower. But should you explore this maze with another at your side, you'll find it a pleasant enough trip, and if you manage to make it all the way to the center of the maze, you'll discover a secluded little gazebo that seems like it was placed there just for you.
Go in alone, though, and the maze seems like a completely different place. The fairy lights will be dimmer, less pleasant. You'll hear a rustling too loud to just be the wind. What was that sound? Turn around, and nothing is there. Too late you'll realize that the maze itself is alive, and has been watching you this entire time. It doesn't like lone wanderers. Better run fast or find a way to get out of the plant's clutches before you really become veggie.
However, if you get caught, you'll be trapped by the sentient vines that shoot out from the walls and bound to the side of the maze until another lone explorer finds you. At this point the vines will reach out and snap up that unlucky soul, too, wrapping you both up in a not-so-tender embrace. You'll both be stuck there until you can do whatever it is the maze wants that will convince it to set you free. What is that? Well, it does seem to be fond of lovers... and public displays of affection.
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estoria2016-01-04 07:52 pm
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though for a moment, he notices a familiar figure walking just a few feet from him- oh. that's his brother. ]
Hiro. [ here, doggy, doggy. tadashi's even waving his hand to grab the younger boy's attention. ]
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I'm surprised you're still here.
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Why are you still around?
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Danced with anybody yet? Baymax has got you beat.
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[ but as nice as that sounds, tadashi doesn't look particularly pleased by the situation. ]
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[ is he joking????? ]
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don't break this trust, bro.]It's been a weird night. I had to turn someone down again.
[ well, he's had people tell him that they liked him back in san fransokyo, but what is reciprocating their feelings. ]
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Still. He can see how that's weird for Tadashi and the "again" doesn't escape him. He'd taken what Tadashi told him into account and figured out that there were more people that liked his brother than he'd realized and Tadashi had turned down every one of them.
However, Tadashi may be surprised by his next response.]
Ami actually 'fessed up? Or is there somebody else? [Talk to him, bro. He's got your back on this.]
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Wait— you knew about this?
[ so yes. it's ami. ]
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Uh, yeah? She sorta made it pretty obvious...[A beat.] And Rei told me. [He's doing his best to remain casual about this but...it's clear there's a bit of weirdness in his own expression, too.]
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as a response, tadashi shakes his head and heaves out a sigh. ]
Well, I kind of got that, but I guess it's just even worse when she had to say it to me in person.
[ wait, no, that's not what he meant. ugh... why do words have to be so difficult right now? ]
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And anyway, it's not his place to get involved in his brother's love life. Even further still...it's not that he dislikes Ami. He likes Ami very much, actually, and while he'd initially sort of shrugged off her crush on Tadashi (which could, in theory, be read as acceptance), the longer he thought about it the weirder it made him feel. Tadashi was still his older brother and they were already kind of fumbling through getting back to normal. Adding another person to the mix in terms of Tadashi dating someone...it was a little harder to wrap his head around.
So all of this is going through his head even as he's staring at Tadashi blankly before he nods slowly.] Definitely makes it more real...and a lot harder to answer when you're put on the spot like that. What do you even really say to that? [Of course his only comparison is Ruby but...he'll get to that in a little bit.] And then when you turn people down there's the risk that they'll start crying and being dramatic and then tell their friends and oh my god the Senshi are going to kill you.
[RIP bro. Again.] ...what'd you tell her anyway?
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tadashi clears his throat before answering, not exactly sure how to word things yet. this is hiro he's talking to, after all. while he trusts his brother a lot and would tell him anything (hamada brothers have no secrets! or so tadashi thinks, anyway), hiro is actually talking to a tadashi who's died before, not somebody who's actually still there with him. ]
I told her that she deserves better. [ because he's dead. tadashi's never been in a relationship before, and while he's toyed with the idea here and then, they weren't exactly the puppy love kind where he'd just date people for the sake of dating. and as somebody who had to grow up really quickly, his mindset when it comes to going out with people he likes is entirely different. he'd want his partner to be happy, with the least bit of worry in them. not to mention, he wants to have a good future ahead—for the both of them. and this is only after hiro tells tadashi that he can stand on his own two feet.
so returning ami's feelings just isn't feasible. ]
I mean, she's nice and all, and I could tell her just about anything... but— [ and he trails off, waving a hand dismissively because the next part is something he isn't sure he wants to say out loud yet. ]
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Probably the worst thing about all of this is that he's patiently waiting, 100% trust in Tadashi at the moment and wanting nothing more than to understand and maybe fix this. This is clearly bothering Tadashi and it's enough for Hiro to push aside most of his feelings on the matter. Thing is, they're both very aware that Tadashi's dead back home. They just have different views on what that means. Since Tadashi's death, Hiro's found he also had to grow up a little more quickly and it's left him a little more capable to handle things like this. But it's still a little hard to ignore the sour feeling in the pit of his stomach when he thinks about it too long, especially if he allows himself to toy with the idea that part of this is his fault for being too reliant on Tadashi.]
...I don't know about that. Pretty sure she'd disagree. I mean you're like...["Selfless."] You're not exactly a huge jerk who plays football and shoves people into lockers. [It's weird to say "you're a good person" but at the same time he knows he doesn't have to say it because Tadashi will get what he means.] But what? [Say it.]
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he gets up from his seat and pockets his hands. he looks at the people partying and having fun on the dance floor first, before looking at hiro. this isn't the best place to talk about depressing things. ]
You wanna log out with me first?
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[If they're logging out? He has a feeling they aren't coming back. Give him a moment as he disappears, keeping one eye on Tadashi and the other on Baymax to make sure neither of them move. It's not long before the robot's carrying his armor (instead of wearing it, for whatever reason) and Hiro's suited up in his flight suit again with the helmet tucked under his arm.]
We're ready when you are. [He's also wondering if it's best to send Baymax home. He's not sure how his brother will take to talking if the all-seeing robot's hanging around.]
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and he'll probably be avoiding going out much, either. this night has just reminded him even more of his own issues, which kind of sucks. he hasn't been running away from them, in fact, it bothers him more than it should. but the thing about it is that there's no way of resolving anything. it's not like he can go back in time and undo everything.
tadashi nods when hiro says they're ready and promptly logs out. he does wait for hiro in the white room before leaving the gaming center. and hey! an alert that 500 credits has been transferred to their account. what luck!
he doesn't say much as he walks, but once they reach the residential district, he begins to remove his bandages. they've covered most of tadashi's scars and burn marks, but now they're being illuminated by the street lights that they pass, as well as the moon. it's something tadashi's always been wanting to hide, but maybe tonight's one of those nights when he should try and get comfortable even while they're unconcealed.
with small talk aside, he continues from where he left off; ]
There's a reason why getting attached to people while in this place isn't much good. At least, for me, anyway.
[ his tone is completely sombre, and he isn't even looking at hiro as he walks. and as much as he wants to keep this from hiro of all people, it's about time they actually had a serious talk about things. he doesn't mean to ruin hiro's night—far from it—but he's at his limit where he can't keep his thoughts to himself anymore.
he isn't used to situations like these, either. but that's mostly because aunt cass was always there to comfort him when he needed it. and growing up, it was him who did the comforting. nobody's there to comfort the dead. when people go to funerals, it's not to visit the dead, but to visit the living whom the dead left behind. ]
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He doesn't say anything when Tadashi begins removing his bandages but he's most certainly watching. He knew they were there. They never talked about it though. There were a lot of things that they both knew were there that they never talked about and while it still hurts to see the physical signs he's not letting on what he's thinking. This is important.
He won't claim he understands what's going through Tadashi's head, but he knows that he's been silent for a really long time. And while he understands what Tadashi's saying, he can't help but speak his next thought.]
…is it really good for any of us? There's nothing guaranteeing that we're going to see these people or remember them whenever we get off of the planet and fix everything. [Not "go back home" because that implies leaving Tadashi behind. "Fix everything." He's basically on autopilot to walk back to their apartment which is good since his brain's chosen that moment to go fairly blank. His night's far from ruined, but he's definitely worried about screwing this up. It's…big, knowing that Tadashi's at least trying to trust him with this. It's stupid; they trust each other a lot but even as childish as Hiro can be in regards to the elder Hamada, he knows there are definitely secrets between them whether they mean them or not.]
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hiro does have a point, though, and it's something tadashi had already considered. the only thing different is that hiro still has a life ahead of him, and there's a place for him after all of this. tadashi on the other hand has nothing left. all he really wants is for people around him to be happy, and he'll do whatever it takes for it to happen, even it means breaking his own heart. ]
Even if you remember it or not, the bond will still remain. [ /disney
no, really. tadashi isn't aware that ruby likes hiro back, or if anything else happened after that pancake incident, but what he does know is that after all of this, hiro wouldn't be the same. he might forget about ruby or cerealia, but his heart will have changed.
but it's different with him. once everything is over and people get to go back home, tadashi would probably just return to ash, never to revive again. the bond gets severed. and it's not just something that applies romantically, but it also applies to the friendships he's made in the colony.
it's been nice when people tell him that how they view him won't change despite the fact that he's dead, and he knows he's found true friends in them after hearing it. he knows it won't last, though. that's why he can't let anybody care for him as much as he does for them. it's fine if he keeps on giving, but to receive anything in return is just something that would be wasted. he's dead; things won't last; niceties directed at him will just end up in the grave.
tadashi stays quiet for a few moments as he tries to think of what to say next. his thoughts are all jumbled from thinking too much now, and he doesn't want to directly say that he doesn't deserve anything because he's dead. to ami, fine, she's someone he can open up to easily, for some reason. but to hiro, it's different. he always had to be strong for the younger hamada, and to not have answers to their issues is not an experience he's accustomed to.
he laughs, and puts his palm to his face to cover it. this is embarrassing, even if he is talking to his brother about it. ]
And while we're talking about bonds— [ a beat. and it's when the voice in his head speaks to him about his own death. he's been too focused on himself that he forgot about hiro. he should have said this to him the first day they were reunited. ] I'm sorry for not listening to you.
[ at this point, he's fully prepared for hiro to lash out on him for not listening. today's just been A Day, and it's not like it could get any worse than this. they may have been talking about ami earlier, but let's face it. tadashi's sullen mood revolved around the idea of passing, in the first place. ]
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Why wouldn't it be the same for you then? Your brain and your heart still work here, Tadashi. Everything here isn't going to magically go away just because…["They stop working back home."
He's starting to realize there's definitely a disconnect here in how Tadashi views his second chance at life. Maybe he doesn't view it as a second chance. Tadashi's always been the caretaker and the provider and to receive it in return…he kinda gets it, why he's pushing things away. Even if the idea pisses him off. He doesn't get the chance to say anything else though before Tadashi drops that bomb and it's enough that Hiro stops walking. He's stunned, truthfully, not because Tadashi's saying he's sorry but because of what it means. The blank expression shifts a little and he's suddenly not sure how to proceed. Is he still upset for Tadashi leaving him? Of course. It hurts. It hurts still back home and even here it hurts, it hurts to think about what it means if he fails to bring Tadashi back, it hurts to wake up from the constant nightmares, it hurts to think that he doesn't know what Tadashi's thinking anymore, but…this is just another scenario of Tadashi trying to be the support Hiro needs and while he's grateful he feels weirdly selfish about it right at this moment.]
I really…really wish you did. It wasn't fair. [His voice cracks slightly, but he clears his throat not long after. It's also clear that he doesn't mean it wasn't fair to Hiro. He's strictly meaning that it wasn't fair to Tadashi, and it might come as a surprise to the older Hamada but he's adamant about that.] This still isn't fair.
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it might be the effects of the bad night talking, or if it's just him trying to be truthful, but he says— ]
I'm sorry... I wish I could make it up to you.
[ it might be a stupid thing to say, but he'd do anything to make things better. ]
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