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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no subject
He's badly hurt. And it's going to hit him pretty soon.
Gritting his teeth, knowing this will only accelerate what's about to hit him like a truck, Yu forces himself to his feet, swaying. And yes, there it is -- as soon as he twists his shoulders, his chest cavity explodes with pain. Gasping, he forces himself to stay conscious, not to throw up, to keep it together. He's had worse than this from Shadows. ]
P-- Persona!
[ Izanagi bursts into life. This building, this room, probably can't take this much strain, but what more can they do? God, he has no energy. He has next to nothing left for any skills or abilities. He can barely give Izanagi anything for this fight. Even if he wasn't horribly wounded, he doesn't have a sword, and he's barely eaten anything for days. This is a losing battle. ]
Dipper! We have to run, get off it!
[ Izanagi grabs the creature's hands, locking it in a struggle and at least keeping it from swinging its monstrous arms - for a moment. ]
no subject
They can't defeat it. They just have to lose it. Between Izanagi and Dipper's handiwork on the wires, maybe it'll move slow enough for them to get the hell out of dodge.
Dipper tugs on one final wire as Izanagi grapples with the creature, click-click-clicking as it whirs and grinds in frustration. It had easy prey, and this is a minor annoyance. ]
Can you run? [ Dipper quickly clambers his way off the beast, dropping onto the floor not-so-gracefully. There's only so much an adrenaline rush can do for a straining, weak body, and it takes him a moment to find his foot again as he grabs for Yu's arm and books it for the door. ]
no subject
Izanagi falters with him, though. His mental command is precarious, and the creature takes the advantage, throwing the Persona off. The boys make it to the door, but the creature makes it to the wall, and the almighty slam makes the whole building shake and shiver. ]
no subject
They don't have time. This whole structure is going down. They don't have time.
Click. Click. Click.
Dipper doesn't stop once they're through the doorway, fingers gripping Yu's arm like a steel trap. He dares to spare a look behind them as the walls of building start to crumble. And that's not all.
The ground is crumbling, too.
He can't see the beast anymore, but that's not their most immediate danger now. The abyss of the darkness below the crumbling city starts to swallow up the building, relentless and quick like nothing could deny its pull. Cracks race along the ground below their very feet, and they're tired and hurt and hungry and they don't have enough time.
So he makes his choice. ]
I'm sorry.
[ His words are faint, almost inaudible in the midst of the sound of the collapsing structures around them, but that's probably for the best.
Yu didn't need to hear how scared he is.
Then he moves quickly, using all the force of the momentum he's been building as he runs to throw his weight against Yu's side and launch him as far forward as possible. It's going to hurt like hell, with his injuries, and in spite of his size and fatigue, Dipper summons a substantial amount of force. It's his last ditch effort. His final resort. His chance to save his friend.
And he can only hope it works, because a moment later the ground under his own feat gives out and his fingers only just catch the edge of the crumbling ground. Below him, there's nothing but darkness.
Click. Click. Click. ]
no subject
He runs, he runs straight, Dipper's grip is on his arm and he runs straight even though he's half-blind and choking and stumbling and the pain is worse because Izanagi's getting hurt too and-- ]
What?
[ Did--
did
dipper just
apologize?
It happens quickly, and the stars that blind him this time are white and hot and sweep up his entire plane of vision. Dipper slams into him hard enough to actually send him sprawling out the door of the building, to the relative safety outside. And were it not for the pure adrenaline surging through his veins, he'd stay there, unable to move, because his bones are broken and he's weak and sick. But the fear that lances through him drives him to wrench himself to his feet, even when doing so tears a ragged cry of pain from his lips, and he's scrambling back inside.
What's left of "inside," anyway. Most of it's gone, caved in on itself. But there's a little tiny piece of floor left, and there-- ]
Dipper!
[ Yu's hand shoots out, snatching for his friend, grasping with all the strength he can muster. ]
Just -- just hang on!
no subject
Blood forks like a river down his arms, and they're trembling from exhaustion, pain, adrenaline, and everything in between. But he can't let go. ]
Yu! [ Whether or not he'd been trying to disguise his fear before, it reveals itself now in that single, desperate call of Yu's name. For once, he sounds his age. A frightened child, seeking the safety of a protective adult that would make everything okay again. He's desperate. So desperate.
He can just see Yu's hand over the lip of the cracked ground, an olive branch, and Dipper musters all the strength that remains in him to reach up, palm cracked and bleeding. Yu catches his hand, and its like an anchor. It's safety. It's reassurance, because Yu has saved him before. ]
I got -
[ Click. Click. Click.
He doesn't know where it came from. How it could have possibly avoided the collapse of the room they had been in. In that moment when he should have maybe screamed, he's too preoccupied trying to logic out how this was happening. It's a puzzle to solve. One more mystery. How had it come to this? For as serious as he was about pushing Yu to safety, the certainty, the inevitability of what comes next is somehow unexpected.
However it managed it, the beast is lunging for him as it plummets into the hole. One of its gnarled, metal claws sinks into his ankle, and that's all it takes. His precarious grip on Yu's hand slips, and all he can do is look at his friend with dire, apologetic fear as his hand slips out of his and he starts to fall, because he knows what comes next. They both know what comes next.
Click. Click.
He doesn't scream. He's too tired to. Instead, his mind fills with all the things he would say, if he could.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry
Click.
And then he's gone, swallowed up soundlessly by the darkness. ]
no subject
[ Dipper's hand in his feels like a prayer. To all the gods he's ever known and fought, all the gods he's ever been and held within him, for strength. Even just holding onto Dipper's hand makes his every nerve sear white-hot with agony, and as his mind races a mile a minute, he can hardly imagine what it will feel like to haul his friend to safety. All he knows is that he'll do it, once he has his friend's hand in his. He will. There is no other choice, no other way, because the alternative is too horrible to even imagine--
click
click
click
His hand is holding air.
(It happens so quickly.)
Dipper's looking up at him, completely, perfectly terrified, framed by darkness.
(Click click click.)
The creature tumbles with him, clinging to his ankle.
(Someone's screaming.)
As he lays sprawled out there on what remains of the floor, gasping and staring wide-eyed into the gaping darkness with an empty hand and the building continuing to tremble around him, Yu realizes one thing.
The one who just screamed was him. A horrible, broken cry of No, no!
All that gets him to move is the distant realization that if he doesn't, he'll die here too. He'd give anything to call Izanagi back to him and plunge into that darkness after Dipper in a mad last gambit to try and find his friend, but the very foundations of this building are about to dissolve. If he remains here he'll be consumed and crushed to death, and he'll die. He'll die in vain after Dipper willingly, knowingly, sacrificed his own life. Just like Minato before him. And he can't let that happen. Again and again others keep sacrificing their lives for him (why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why) and with the last reserves of strength left to him in his broken body he'll honor that wish.
When he speaks, he surprises himself. It's only then that he realizes he's started crying, because his voice is so thick with tears the word that comes out is nearly unintelligible. ]
I-- Izanagi!
[ His Persona reappears by his side, and Yu clutches onto him, using the embodiment of his own self as a crutch to limp and stumble back out the door. Just in time, too. Mere moments after he makes it out onto solid ground, the building collapses in on itself, imploding in a muted roar of crumbling stone and mortar. A huge plume of dust shoots up into the air, and Yu slowly turns to watch. It all happens in the space of mere seconds.
Soon, there's silence. Soon, the dust begins to clear. Debris scatters and trips about. Just one more ruined, broken pile of what was once a building in a landscape that was full of them. Only Yu knows the truth. This place isn't just a ruin.
It's a tomb.
Yu's tears cut tracks through the dust on his now otherwise impassive face.
He's failed. Again. He's failed.
What kind of leader is he that he keeps letting his teammates die?
Slowly, agonizingly, Yu turns. He banishes Izanagi. He doesn't have even the strength to maintain his Persona. And then, impossibly, he starts to walk.
He'll get where he's going soon enough. ]