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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flynn doesn't follow immediately, but it's only a short delay to ensure naoki is very much the one ahead. taking any potential damage will fall on him, thanks. that said, if dying can be avoided then it very much will be, which is why he starts moving after a few seconds. no shoving along necessary! this time, anyway.]
Right behind you.
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Well, at least those things are slow.
[That's what you get for building yourself out of junk.]
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We should be able to escape their sight and hide somewhere easily enough thanks to it.
[playing hide and seek with slow and ugly monsters: exactly what he planned on doing today. ah well, if nothing else this is a game he plans on winning. his eyes start surveying the area nearby for the perfect hiding spot or any hiding spot, really.]
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[Naoki gives him a sideways smile, somehow conspiratorial. It seems like he has something in mind, as he speeds his pace slightly. There's too much open space here in-between the buildings.] Though we should wait until we get there.
[He indicates with a hand, pointing at the space between two somewhat-intact buildings.]
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All right.
[and off he starts toward that space. he trusts you, stranger! or at least enough to hope that whatever this extra help ends up being won't end badly. then again, things can't really get all that much worse, can they?]
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When they get to the space, Naoki stops and he turns to face where those creatures are lumbering slowly after them. He takes in a deep breath-- and keeps breathing in and in... After what seems like too long, he lets it out.
Of course, not as regular breath, but as fog. Thick fog that at once will obscure their own vision, everything hazy and white around them.] 'Kay, let's slip into one of these buildings. [Is what he says after he's done. What? Explanations are for squares!!!]
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after a short moment of awe, flynn snaps back to action and nods. the closest building is thankfully only a few feet away. they have cover but will the door open? trying to open it results in... loud creaking that could wake the dead, but it comes with the door opening easily enough. good luck like this is well worth the ear pain.]
In here.
[as any gentleman would, flynn holds it open rather than barging on in first. after you, naoki.]
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Naoki ducks inside and glances around--making sure there's no smaller garbage creatures lurking about--before heading toward some creaky-looking stairs.]
Let's go up a floor and keep an eye on those things from there, yeah?
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I'd been thinking the same.
[gentleman of the year goes first if only to serve as a shield should creepy at the top of the stairs actually be a thing. better safe than sorry, righ? right. ...even if he technically isn't safe at all but details details.]
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We clear up there?
[He pauses a few steps below The Gentleman.]
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It looks like.
[opening the door and peeking outside leads to... a rotting balcony-like area, but one that's monster free. score! lady luck cut them some slack.]
None of those creatures appear to be up here.
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[Pause.]
Or doorways. [But, it's about as nice in here as it looked outside. Haha... Naoki tests his weight on the floor before he walks, as though expecting it to give at any moment under his weight.]
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And perhaps they lacked reason to go up here, too.
[no point in trying to fit through a small and cramped space when no need for it exists. flynn takes a few cautious steps forward in case the floor gives way. nope, no holes in it yet. with any luck, it’ll stay that way for as long as they’re up here. it'd put a giant hole in their plans otherwise.]
As long as we keep quiet then that shouldn’t change.
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He keeps his voice low, even so:]
I can do quiet. Though, those things make so much noise it's surprising they hear anything at all.
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Which works well to our advantage.
[flynn will happily take loud monsters who can't hear them over quiet ones who'd catch onto whispering. ah, since talking can now happen, even if softly, why not ask the million dollar question, namely about that amazing smokescreen that saved their butts.]
Might I inquire what you'd done back there?
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[Naoki settles himself a little more comfortably, under the assumption they might be waiting things out for a little bit.]
That was fog breath, one of my... abilities, I guess. It's pretty good for covering your tracks, or keep something from hitting you in a fight if it tries.
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A useful ability to have.
[speaking of useful abilities, does flynn need to put his own to use? his eyes start to scan naoki for any major or minor injuries that could use some patching up. healing any scratches on his feet can wait a few moments longer. ever the gentleman even when it comes to healing.]
Are you injured anywhere?
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Weird.]
Me? Hmm, nope. I'm good.
[He shakes his head. Demon body = demon healing. Quite useful.]
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then again, flynn has some special healing powers, too, so they're both special snowflakes. blastias are handy lil things to have. a nod comes at the satisfactory answer and lookover.]
I'm glad to hear it.
[thus he starts healing up his feet. as unnecessary as wasting energy to heal himself is, running around with scratched up feet gets annoying. a hand hovers over one and a light glow engulfs it shortly thereafter. once it vanishes, presto! all the scratches are gone.]
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Oh, is that why you were asking?
[Naoki nods to Flynn's hand, his arms folding over his chest comfortably.] You were gonna heal me, if I was hurt? [Which is nice, honestly. Naoki's 100x more used to being the one healing, though.]
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That was my intent, yes. I can't allow another to suffer with injuries while possessing the ability to alleviate them, after all.
[it makes strategic sense, too. should another fight happen, having no injures to deal with makes things easier.]
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Thanks, for the thought. [After a moment:] I feel the same way. Buuuut, my girlfriend gives me a hard time for wanting to heal each and every one of her bruises after every time we spar.
[He punctuates this with a laugh, just thinking about it.]
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My best friend is the same way. He always chastises me for taking care of his injuries prior to my own after a fight.
[always a 'take care of yourself for once'. always. ...which is something flynn doesn't always do, but still, yuri's wounds will come first no matter what.]
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Yep. Like, scolding you for prioritising him above yourself, right? I can't remember if I've gotten that one yet, but maybe eventually.
[Naoki's remarkably difficult to injure, though, so maybe also not. Happens when you're tank-like. If not in appearance, in sheer ability to withstand attacks.]
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[never underestimate the power of concerned nagging people who love you. they can still find a way to scold a guy for not taking care of themselves properly. as unnecessary as their worrying can be, it's also nice to have someone around who cares enough to nag, though.]
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