You're probably woken up by the explosion first. A loud, deafening boom comes from behind the walls of the residential district. When you look outside your window towards the darker, more secretive area of the city, you might see the structure around it... crumbling, the land falling in on itself slowly but surely. That might be what wakes you up first. If it doesn't, you may be awoken instead by the sudden jerking feeling behind your navel pulling you from where you are to somewhere... else.
It's dark. The first thing you notice is that it's dark -- and then come the scrabbling sounds of creatures in the dark, like metal being dragged across metal, a chilling, sharp sound. The first thing that becomes clear, as your vision adjusts, is that you're on a rickety pathway, metal and rusting and frail, above what appears to be yawning blackness. Far, far below, there's the faint sound of rushing water, a ways away.
The second thing that becomes clear is that you are very much not alone. Something is out there with you, and from the screeching metallic noises that come ever closer, it seems to be stalking you.
Thankfully, you're not alone -- right?  ...
...........
................
:)
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PHASE I [ ??? ] It’s drafty here. You’re below ground, that’s for certain from the echoes of the wind in the darkness. If you continue on forwards along the rickety, metal railing that serves as a walkway, the skittering noises of creatures in the dark follow -- but they don’t appear.
It seems everyone has been dumped along this pathway at random; you may be with friends, with enemies or with someone you’ve never met before, but either way, it soon becomes clear. There are only two ways to go along this path: up or down.
If you choose to take the path that follows a gradual slope down, the sounds of water lapping against a surface increase bit by bit, the air growing heavier and danker, until finally, the metallic platform gives way very suddenly (watch your step!) to a muddy bank. Down here, everything is darker, and not far away there’s the water. It’s cold and frigid and there are unfriendly creatures that await if you choose to delve into it. However, if you brave those creatures, and dive deeply enough, there is a mask. It rests half-buried by silt and rocks, but it’s there, and can be found by any intrepid explorers.
Somehow, it feels a little familiar.
And if you carry on in the cave system underground, eventually you will come across what appears to be an altar. There is blood on it -- not fresh, but not more than a month old -- and pieces of trinkets. Old bits of cloth, locks of hair, and some of them may even be familiar. Any dropped character who has a reasonably large amount of spiritual or magical power may have left scraps, such as pieces of clothing, trinkets, hair, or the sort behind at the altar.
Maybe that's why they weren't in the Nexus Code.
PHASE II [ ??? ] If you go up, you will eventually make your way above ground. It takes some time, and some luck -- you’ll have to avoid rusty railing and pathways, the path crumbling under you and that creeping sensation that something is following and watching you -- and then you’ll suddenly be in fresh air.
Well. It’s not so fresh, really.
The landscape is broken down and crumbled. It may have once been part of the city of Cerealia, but now it is in utter disrepair and decay. Buildings have crumbled, and debris is everywhere. There are signs of the same level of technology that Cerealia has -- but it is all broken down and utterly inaccessible.
And you’re not alone.
It seems the technology and metal and broken down destruction has gained sentience over its time sitting alone, waiting. And it is not happy to be disturbed. The creatures are made of pieces of everything around them, and when cut down, they’ll just slowly rebuild themselves from the debris.
It might be time to run.
They aren't happy about being disturbed, and you're in their way.
PHASE III [ ??? ] Above ground, there are a lot of broken down buildings.
Some can’t be accessed at all; some are too broken, too reduced to rubble. For those looking for shelter, they'll be able to find buildings where the doors can be forced open and they can camp out on the inside to various degrees of stability. Though the ceiling may cave in or the floor fall out from under you at a moment's notice, it's better than being out there. Be careful, because none of the architecture here can be trusted anymore.
And other buildings... are even less trustworthy than that.
There is a series of buildings in the midst of the wasteland, somehow still standing. They stand there silently, towering over the rest of the rubble in their two-story glory, and if the doors are forced open, it soon becomes clear that the building itself is full of mirrors.
Once, the mirrors had perhaps covered the walls and ceiling. Once, this building might have been akin to something of a ballet studio, somewhere to express yourself creatively. But now the mirrors are shattered and broken into pieces and the building lacks the joy it might have once held. Shards of mirror cover the floor, some big, some not so big, but they still hang from the walls as well and everywhere you look, you can see yourself.
And then, the reflection changes. From one blink to the next, you see a memory playing in the mirrors. Your memory. You’ll see a glimpse of one of your most traumatic or life-changing moments, broken up but clear in the shards. Blink and look away, and it’s gone, only to show up again in the next mirror a few moments later. Surely it’s just a trick of the light, right?
Except if someone else is with you, they’ll see it too -- and you might end up seeing a bit of their own past as well. Hope you're fond of sharing.
PHASE IV [ ??? ] If you survive the monsters, the crumbling landscape and the untrustworthy buildings, you may eventually find a terminal. It is buried deep among the rubble. One turn around a corner, one stumble into a hole, and you will find it. It sits there, out in the middle of nowhere; the building in which it used to be housed is apparently long gone, reduced to nothing but rubble.
And if you turn it on, there is a brief message.
Transmission Broadcasting.
Transmission Connected.
And then, there is a face.
BONUS [ ??? ] For those who have been wearing their masks a little too much, they might also start to notice that there are some strange effects attached, which worsen the more they’ve been wearing said masks. How badly they worsen is up to your discretion.
➝ Broken Mask: An intense feeling of paranoia, focused on whoever your character is with. They might also begin to remember fabricated memories of being betrayed by those people.
➝ Barcode Mask: Everything will begin to have value to them. There will be whispers in the back of their mind of the worth of their friends, the worth of a monster, the worth of everything around them. An intense need to own and consume as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
➝ Dripping Blood Mask: An intense lack of self-worth, a hollow feeling and thoughts of being weak and empty. Feeling as disposable as possible and an intense listless along with it.
➝ :( Mask: A need to prove yourself, to show everyone how strong you are as quickly as possible. You can do things, you can be of worth to everyone around you. Why won't they see that? Why?
➝ Ivy Mask: A choking sort of terror from all things metal and technology based, and a need to lash out against it. An intense distrust for anything that they feel is against the laws of nature.
➝ Grey Mask: More personable than normal, more emotional, more empathetic. An intense feeling of kindness and gratitude to those around you and a renewed love of life.
➝ Feather Mask: A dulled, lack of emotion. A detached feeling to everything around you. A sort of bland curiosity towards things without any empathetic reaction.
➝ Bloody Fingerprints Mask: They'll feel absolutely fine. No change.
The effects of the broken mask can stack on top of the others, if they chose to break their mask after the other effects began to appear. No other effects can be stacked, as no other changes can be stacked.
PENALTY [ ??? ] For characters who die while in the dark parts of the city, things will get... a little strange. They will die as normal, but they will wake up almost immediately after their death -- in the Nexus Code. They will have a few surreal moments to be there, to see their friends who have left Cerealia hanging lifelessly from odd, glimmering strands (though there are some faces, of course, that are missing, anyone who was spiritual, or magical, seems strangely absent) and then --
They’re back to being dead.
When characters revive in Cerealia, anywhere from one IC day to three or four IC days later, they will find that things are… not quite right with their code. They’re glitching, for a lack of a better word. Sometimes, their fingers will phase right through an object, their own limbs registering as cold and lifeless. Sometimes, they will see a face watching them -- but when they turn around to try to see who it is, the face will be gone.
These effects will last an IC week, before slowly things go back to normal.
That was strange.
[ 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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Open!
[Oh, hell no. This is not going go like it did at the carnival with that damn caterpillar. She has too much to prove! She can't be worthless again! There's a reason her bag contained emergency chemical mixtures to defend herself. Nothing big, nothing crazy, but definitely something. When one of the giant machine-men steps closer, she shouts out!]
Don't come another step!
[Another step.]
You asked for it!
[Another step.]
Okay!!!
[And then she lobs something at it. A glass vial shatters against it's skin and there's a flash of heat and light as something combusts, throwing off smoke and melting plastic and wires...]
Yeah! Take that!
[...Another step...]
...great...
Wildcard
[Want Ema elsewhere? PM me and we can hash out something!]
II
Zoro comes in from the side and, surprisingly, manages to aim his Oni Giri at the spot Ema had just melted, sending bits of junk and wires and debris exploding outward in all directions as the creature crumbles to its component bits. He lands and then backs up to where this girl is standing]
Get out of here. These things don't stay down, it'll be back.
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So we melt it completely so it can't hurt anyone else!
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You got enough of that to melt this entire junkyard? I just said, it'll come back. I've seen it. They rebuild themselves from the ground.
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...Really? Well...that's...fine.
[Her face kind of falls, completely unsure of her self now. She just wanted to do something useful, stop being a burden. Apparently? She's failed that too.
And then the mumbling starts, Ema turning away]
Must be nice, being some sort of super-samurai.]
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I'm not a samurai. [a bit bluntly] Look, do you got more tricks like that up your sleeve? Otherwise you'll wanna run. Get behind a wall or inside a building, they don't follow you there.
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Phase III
Ema! [Then he freezes in absolute shock as he witnesses her explosive attack in motion! ...Then he runs towards her as it continues to move.]
Nice try, but let's get out of here!
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But...we can't just run! It'll hurt someone else!
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But... What can we do against something like this, Ema? [He looks on, wary of the creature's approach and ready to run at any moment.] I know it might sound cowardly, but we don't stand a chance. We should find someone who can!
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[She has to prove herself, okay? But she is still wary, ready to move, feet bouncing from nervous energy.]
I'm tired of relying on other people!
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...All I know for sure is that I'm not leaving you here alone.
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II
[Never fear, requisite sarcastic commentary is here. There doesn't seem to be any physical presence associated with the voice that speaks into Ema's mind now, though.]
Try poking it with a stick. Maybe it will fall over and it won't be able to get back up.
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Thanks.
[Her words come out dry, clipped, and a little angry, but hey, the bomb makes the thing wobble a bit as junk melts off.]
Are you just going to make fun of me too?
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[...Anyway.]
It's not going to work, by the way. Not a knock on you, but give it about ten seconds, and it will regenerate. Unless you can destroy every single piece of junk in this city, you're wasting your resources.
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[Not we, since she remembers that you're pretty capricious. But maybe you'll share a nugget of wisdom?]
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wildcard option! (+ one old man ;) )
It's a mix of everything, but isn't that how the world works.
He's quiet as he moves to sit down next to Ema, glancing over at where Edgeworth is resting at the moment. It's been rather quiet for a while now, but he's managed to scavenge enough stuff to make a small fire if it gets too cold later. ]
How are you holding up?
[ His hand reaches out to move her arm, fingers pressing against her wrist to check her pulse. He isn't as good at this stuff as Gaius is... but he doesn't want her to get sick from all of this. He'll make rounds with anyone else who might want help later. ]
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Smiling at Merlin, Ema lowers her eyes and looks at their hands. He's warm, it's nice, and this is just awfully sweet. Indicative of Merlin at this point.]
I'm alright. Tired, but you know. That's expected. You?
Auste can come in when she's ready!!
Still normal. [ He lets go after a few long seconds, but it's just to press the back of his hand against her forehead. ] No fever, either.
[ Considering they've been pushed above and beyond while here. He finally shifts to sit next to her properly then. ]
I've been better, but it could be worse.
[ They could be in a tunnel of Wilddeoren which are basically like giant, blind rats that eat people. No one wants that. ] Hungry? Thirsty?
I'M READY I'M READY
He looks up from his notes at Ema and Merlin, watching furtively. So far, the two of them were doing fine, and he saw no reason to butt in, until Merlin mentioned hunger and thirst. At that, Edgeworth pockets his organizer and pen, and reaches for his saber.]
I can help search for food and water.
[Whoa there, tiger. Despite feeling tired, he still wanted to contribute.]
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[ while she certainly has her chemical mixtures, the effect that they have pales in comparison to the blast of pure energy that hits the creature from behind ema. it'e enough to punch a hole through its body and push it back, but it's clear that once it's down, it's already begun to rebuild.
should she turn around, she'll see that it's steven and metagross that are responsible for the attack. they'll head straight for ema, his expression hardened and serious. ]
It isn't safe here. Let's go.
I'm sorry wow...
Steven?!
[Holy...hell! What?!]
told you he would make it up to her B)
We'll talk later. Come!
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What is this thing?!
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II
[Iris let out a gasp when she caught sight of the younger girl throwing that vial. Similar to those they'd used to set those houses on fire in the games. Except, as far as Iris knew, this wasn't a game...]
Quickly! We must run, now!
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