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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[When it came time to choose a path, Rock Lee decided to let his decision reflect the intended trajectory of his spirit: to keep soaring up, higher and higher!
So, Rock Lee went ever upwards, followed by his mask with its bloody fingerprints, and soon ended up in the wrecked city.
And, it was not long before he ended up trying to fight the metal monsters. You may find him out of breath, already sporting some cuts and other minor injuries as he prepares to charge the enemy all over again.]
This is... a formidable opponent...! [But Lee seems to have no intentions of stopping anytime soon, or perhaps anytime at all.]
[Phase IV]
[Eventually, by some means, Rock Lee ends up inside of the house of mirrors instead of endlessly fighting mechanical monsters. Perhaps your character is working with him to try to assess if the building can work as a shelter for others, or perhaps they run into each other by coincidence. Either way, Lee is marveling at the mirrors at first...]
Ah... This is a very interesting place! Is it not?
[Except that, even though Lee's image seems to be in the mirrors, it seems to be a younger one. But one still worn by an arduous battle...]
[Wildcard!]
[Run into him wherever in the underground area! He will be quick to try to rescue anyone who finds themselves in dangerous situations, and he is also very easy to convince to undergo tasks!]
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Curious.
( She stated aloud, albeit softly. )
Tell me, what do you see?
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I... I see myself. But... when I was younger. Back then... [But he blinks, and the image disappears for the moment.]
phase ii;
[where did roxas come from? it's probably a mystery, since he pops up behind lee seemingly out of nowhere—he used a corridor of darkness, but by the time lee could turn around, the portal will have disappeared.
there's a bit of tension in his voice, and it's almost immediate the way he summons a keyblade in each hand from the light and darkness, respectively. lee may not be ready to stop, but roxas is ready to join in the fray and at least give him a hand with... whatever this metal monster actually may be.]
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Lee takes a look at Roxas, impressed by his dual weapons, and he nods, keeping up the confident smirk.]
I am alright, Roxas-kun! This enemy happens to be quite formidable... [Even now it's advancing, looking in much better condition than Lee currently does.]
But I would be honored to team up!
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Right. If we attack together... maybe we can stop it.
[but there's something else roxas thinks he needs to do first, and he can do it pretty seamlessly without skipping a beat. so he holds up oathkeeper and makes out a call.]
Heal! [he uses his cure magic to give lee a bit of a boost, healing any surface wounds and hopefully replenishing enough energy so that he can fight at his best.]
Are you ready?
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Rock Lee's eyes widen in surprise as he feels the healing magic wash over him! It's not wholly unfamiliar for him, but he's almost never received the magic version of it.
As many of those wounds disappear, he feels invigorated for battle once more, and his smile returns, this time a grateful one.]
Roxas-kun, thank you so much! [He settles back into a fighting pose.] I am fully prepared now. Let us... begin!!
[Lee dashes forward, charging the monster head on. But he will dive to the side to avoid the inevitable attack. He can keep this up for a bit and see what happens first: him finding an opening, or Roxas launching an attack while its attention is focused on Lee.]
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if they attack from both sides, they may be able to get far, but he's keeping enough awareness to try and attack at the right opening, or to distract it from hitting lee. his first hits are easy ones—a blast of light and darkness in outward slashes from his keyblades, followed by a high someraulting leap into the air, spinning rapidly to hit it.
...which... doesn't do much damage on a monster like this, but it sure looks cool.]
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II
But in what is probably Lee's greatest dreams of friendship never accomplished, he actually gets some support from Archer. Mostly from those explosive arrows he's fond of shooting from a distance with, aimed at critical joints.]
Will you stop trying to beat it and just leave?
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Archer-san... I apologize, but I cannot! If I leave it be, others could be hurt! And, on top of that, I appreciate a unique challenge!
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[They can both dialogue and fight, yes. Though who knows with Lee's yelling and stuff.]
Better for you to find people and escort them away.
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Ah... That does sound like an effective strategy! Is that really alright?!
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[Yes, there's a lot of sarcasm there. And not a lot of helpfulness. Lee please.]
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ii!
first thing first: the injuries. flynn notices those immediately upon rushing over. the healing spell comes before even announcing his presence. he mutters the incantation for cure under his breath and a golden glow envelops lee shortly. any minor to moderate wounds ought to get taken care of by that!]
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He quickly locates the source and smiles at him with a thumbs up.]
Flynn-kun?! Thank you so much!!
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My pleasure.
[that smile becomes a more serious expression as his gaze turns toward the creatures. what an unfriendly, stubborn bunch. polite monsters should stay down after being defeated.]
There doesn't seem to be an effective way to defeat them.
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But, that does not mean that there is no way! Flynn-kun, I think that this is the destined hour of our hot-blooded team-up! Let us try to hit them with everything that we have!
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All right. If a team up leads to a defeat of even a single enemy then it is worth the attempt.
[and if it fails then it fails. that said, if failure is unavoidable, flynn plans on making sure both of them escape with their lives. true teaming up means having a person's back completely and that includes making sure no dying happens.]
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iii? (the second prompt)
Still, he's had a few close shaves himself, so he's scuffed up and bleeding in a few places. That said, he voices the first thought he has when he wanders into the mirror building and spots the guy;]
Holy shit, you're still alive?
[He might not be immediately recognizable without his armor, even though his voice is the same it's now un-distorted by radio filters.]
ffff wow, I ONLY NOW REALIZE I MISNUMBERD IT
Ah... hello! [He makes some experimental jabs at he air.] Yes, I am alive and well! There is nothing to worry about here!
YEAH I figured, it was clear which one you meant in any case!
So then I gotta ask, did you figure out a way to make those creepy bastards stay down or did you finally wise up and book it? Please tell me there's some sort of critical weakness I can exploit.
Okay cool!
I... I am so sorry!! [He drops down to his knees.] I tried my hardest, but I could not defeat them! I did not figure out their weak point!! Ah... I had no choice but to retreat! I failed!!
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Hey, hey, I was just wondering, alright? I mean, I fought giant armored space lizards for years and I'd still take them over these fuckers. The... important thing here is that... you got out without getting maimed, or anything. [Right? That sounds right.] No need to get all bent out of shape.
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Do you...see anything, Lee-san?
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