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
There's no point anyway. [ Maybe it was safer below ground... ] What comrades are you talking about? Comrades who have gone?
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What's that mean? That there's no point.
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Nope. No time. ]
Something is coming to attack us. We should go out there and meet it before it gets closer. [ And just like that, she's turning, heading towards the shaky buildings. ] I'll be right back. I promise. [ Oh, weren't they supposed to spit? Hah. Who cares.
Now what can she use as a weapon this time... Her shotgun has proven too loud for these things; it's sound only draws more monsters! ]
no subject
[Just a little sound of surprise, barely-there, and-- then Rapunzel is heading off?? But she didn't spit, so Kashuu follows.]
What do you mean? What is it? How many - how big?
[He's already withdrawing the blade at his side, ready to fight again.]
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I apologise, Kashuu. [ Meeting his gaze is like meeting the gaze of a trusted advisor or general. She's never been to war, but this feels a little like it. ] I lied to you. I might need your help, after all. I think this fight thing might kill me.
[ And without explanation of that - she's off! Running like a bullet loosed from its chamber and speeding towards the first of three rising tech monsters cobbled together from the distant hills and valleys of rubble. ]
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[INTERNAL SCREAMING, EXTERNAL YELLING-- But he's quick to shoot after her, at least. It's almost like that time in the swamp, but Rapunzel is acting crazy now and he's also pretty sure he can't cut these rubble things down.]
If you can't fight, don't just rush in!!
no subject
[ But the first of the assembly trio has just discovered a stop sign of its own to hurl in their direction like a deadly frisbee. Rapunzel dives and (BARREL!!) rolls to the side, stumbles to her feet, and keeps running. ]
Haven't we done this before? [ Damn, she should've chosen the shotgun. Short-range weapons on things this big? Stupid. ] Kashuu - [ so calm! ] - if we attack this normally it's just going to put itself back together!
no subject
[Two times can be a coincidence but once they start hitting three or more, they're basically doomed...
He dodges the flying piece of metal though, running parallel to Rapunzel and making sure to keep both her and the creatures in sight.]
What do we do, then?! Set some kinda trap—? [He's not good at planning!? But the landscape gives them a little bit to work with, at least, considering buildings are toppling around them with barely any warning.]
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Maybe not. ]
Something is controlling it. We should bury its core. Maybe --
[ WHOO was that the backdoor of an ice cream truck!? Duck!! ]
Maybe that face-looking part? [ OK TOO CALM NOW!! ] A landslide might work...
no subject
Kashuu is very nearly taken out by that surprise door, but it wings into a nearby building instead, bouncing off the cement wall and causing part of the roof to slide off from all the tremors. Ah, the sweet smell of a city falling apart in the morning...]
Shouldn't you be a little more worried?! [Way too calm-- But Rapunzel has a point, at least, and he's looking up toward the nearest lumbering creature. A landslide, though?? Wrong Disney movie?!]
—I can try getting at the face!
no subject
Why not run on it?!
She crouches low with a fist clenched around her "spear" and, steadying herself, sprints after Kashuu, hoping her ponytail holds. ]
If that's your plan then I can trap it! Hold it still? [ Something like that!! ]
no subject
[Because sure, Rapunzel can fight, and yes she has a spear and magic hair and enough stamina to last a small army of tantou, but she's still damn reckless.
Still, he'll follow suit - albeit still on the ground, since he's quickest there. He dodges bits of metal and robot parts and spare appliances as they're flung out, nearing his target pretty quickly since if nothing else, they're pretty slow-moving.]
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[ Which is directly in contrast with the last thing they said to one another before this chaos, isn't it?!
Rapunzel does as she's told, allowing Kashuu to get the jump on their enemy. She can feel the skin on her feet breaking and a cut opening up on her forehead. She narrowly misses a jump from one half of a balcony to another when the building she's on begins to crumble.
Pain registers as a dull yellow throbbing in her lower right leg, forcing her to skid and slow. In the middle of this spot check, the empty air before her explodes with heat, dust, and metal, and Rapunzel watches in surprise as the second of the Rubble Robots comes crashing through some kind of office right in front of her and turns its face to where she's standing. ]
...That's right. There was more than one, wasn't there?
no subject
That said, the first one is easy enough to handle in its distraction. Slicing into it isn't easy because metal against metal is always a harder game than metal to flesh, but since he has a goal this time, he sticks with it, jamming his blade beneath the face - or one of them, anyway - and cutting and prying away at the wires attaching it to the rest of the frame. When it starts to collapse, he can't tell if it's the usual shriek of metal grinding against itself or if this creepy thing is actually screaming--
And then there's Rapunzel over there, being a magnet for trouble again, ah.]
Get out of the way!
[Because he may be fast, but he's not quite fast enough to beat out something like this. He's already running, bolts and scraps falling at his feet.]
no subject
...Then again...
Why not assist the monster in its rampage? At the last moment, Rapunzel tosses out a rope of her hair (bye, bye ponytail) and uses it to bring down the tower directly opposite from her. Kashuu's attack on the first creature is sending "body" parts everywhere - including into this structurally unsound old tower, which is leaning precariously and just about ready to collapse. Finally, it tips and falls right towards Rapunzel and the second creature, drowning the surrounding area in smoke and dust. ]
Kashuu!
[ O U C H
Thank god for fucking shields. Even her stop sign shield is made from sturdy enough metal that none of her injuries will turn out to be very critical. She's sort of crushed between support beams and... stuff now, but that'll be fine eventually.
Pascal, for the record, is shaking violently around Rapunzel's neck, wondering why they couldn't have stayed in the tower back home after all. ]
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[It's almost shouted in tandem but OOPS, THERE GOES A WHOLE DAMN BUILDING and that's enough to drown out a lot of things. He has to raise his hands to keep the debris from stinging his eyes, and the black of his jacket - already a dusty color - is covered in grit and dirt and the fine powder of broken cement.
But he's running, jumping over beams and blocks of concrete, running all the way over to where she's pinned.]
Hold still! I'll get you out—
[Isn't there some really important health lesson about not moving people who might have spinal injuries or something? Kashuu's pretty sure there is, but he's also pretty sure humans die if they're left under columns and heavy building material for too long, so he starts to scrabble at the pieces, lifting and throwing as many things away as he can grab hold of.]
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It's a very tiny part though. Most of her is just in pain, though the agony of movement doesn't keep her from trying to blindly scoot back and forth in the sooty darkness. Eventually she manages to wiggle her hair free from a dilapidated wall of concrete that crashed down beside her, which is a start. ]
I'm fine. [ Loud but not urgent. Her collarbone is broken and she can feel it, but she probably shouldn't tell him that before the worst of the damage has healed. ] Are you hurt?
[ ... ]
What happened to the [ cough ] third one?
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