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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[A building is even better, they definitely can't miss that. So even as they start to make their casual way over towards that building, she shrugs.]
Yeah, me and Crescent Rose. They're pretty slow, so they're not dangerous, but... they don't stay down.
[So she can't fight them forever. She'll get tired. In the end, even though they can't catch her, the monsters would win, and it bothers her a little, even if the only sign of that is a small frown.
Anyway, they're just about at the building as it is, so it's a problem for another moment.]
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[roxas still has his cerevice in hand, in case either of them texts back—it's hard to tell if any threads or other problems may crop up.
though from where he's standing, it's more likely mary will spot them first, but that's neither here nor there. roxas just hopes that they can meet up quickly; it feels like their rest has already been skirting danger a little too long, and having more of their friends there if something threatening comes their way seems like they'll have better odds.]
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Hiroooo! Rubyyyy! Are you okay??
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Upon approaching the pair he's quick to assess them for damage or injuries, ignoring how they all probably just look like a bunch of hot messes.]
We're alive. That's gotta count for something, right? [Hiro no.]
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It's good... [it's really good and extremely relieving that they're alive. what roxas knows of death is just too awful to think about happening to his friends; he's had enough loss already in his incredibly short life.
so he offers a tired smile, casually ignoring what traumatizing things he and mary just escaped and looks over hiro and ruby too—only he'll actually ask:]
Are you guys hurt at all?
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Anyway, Hiro. Being alive. Yeah.]
We're better than being alive, really! [DON'T MAKE MARY FRET.]
We're great! We're not hurt at all! How are you, Mary, Roxas?
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We're okay. [ well, if Roxas isn't gonna talk trauma, then neither is she! ] Just tired. And there are these big monster things around, too...
[ They probably already know. ]
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He's eyeing that building, recognizing it from earlier. Let's...not go back in there, friends. Screw that.]
Ruby's been cutting some of them down but they're not staying down. I was watching a few of them a little bit ago. Does...anybody else think there's something weird with the way they look?
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it means they can focus on the other stuff too, which is why he nods to what hiro's saying. (and yeah, he agrees... screw that building.)]
Yeah... I tried to fight one before, but it wouldn't go down. I had to back off... [he frowns, pondering it for a minute.] I've seen big things like monsters before, but it's never been like that. Not with how they look... or how they act.
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Everything is a-okay.]
Yyyyeah. They just put themselves back together. If we could get rid of all of the junk around so they couldn't rebuild themselves, it'd be one thing but...
[She just kind of gestures around them.
Junk and debris as far as the eye can see, there's infinite things for them to rebuild themselves with.]
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We'll have to keep moving... and just make sure we can run faster than them? Otherwise, we won't be able to look for a way out.
[ Mary, your stamina sucks.
But speak of the devil, what is that rumbling noise-- ]
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You guys hear that? [And he's motioning for them to move around the corner of the building. Let's also not be right in eyesight of the monsters until we come up with a plan.]
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[it's kind of hard to miss—it catches his senses too keenly. roxas almost instinctively summons both oathkeeper and oblivion at once. of course, he's not running out into the line of fire yet.
he's following hiro's lead (and maybe making sure mary walks ahead of him) with his hands clasped tightly on the weapons, just in case they end up needing to leap directly into action. there never seems to be any telling with stuff like that around here.]
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It's gotta be close...
[Gotta come up with a plan--
Wait.]
Uh.
Roxas..... are those keys?
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[ So KEYS... but also SWORDS... whatever, they're cool, and Mary can't use a weapon at all, so it somehow works out. But she peers around the building-- and instantly shrinks back, because yep, that's a monster meandering along. ]
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Why didn't you tell me you could use two of them? [Or at all??? That's…really different. And kind of really cool? So really it's just something to ask about later. He's shifting more to help Roxas shield Mary even as he's glancing at Ruby from the corner of his eye. She has a giant scythe, but he's still cautious despite that.]
I think I've got an idea. Roxas, how far can you throw those things? They'll come back to you like boomerangs right? You can do the whole weird summoning thing, too? [He's peering around the corner to calculate how far the monster is.] This is gonna need all three of us. [And he's looking specifically at Mary. He knows that Roxas knows about her…but he's not sure she's ready to share with Ruby considering, uh, you know. Monster-hunter.]
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[the whole... two keyblades thing. or the keyblades thing at all, considering they never really talked about it. priorities first though, roxas.
he looks at hiro for a moment, a bit puzzled—"summoning thing?" he's not sure.]
It'll come back to me, yeah... [he'd question how hiro knows that, but it's not hard to assume he's met riku or terra, or even xion. it's a thing, it happens.] I dunno how far I can throw it, though... they're not meant to be thrown...
[what kind of plan are you thinking of, hiro? his brows knit a little before he looks over to mary and ruby... mostly for good measure. or maybe because they'll somehow understand something he doesn't. it is a mystery.]
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Whatcha got, Hiro?
[WHAT'S THE PLAN, BOYFRIEND.]
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She looks at Hiro then, nodding silently. This is for her friends, anyway. ]
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I'm gonna give you guys a crash course in video game mechanics. So whenever you've got a really tough enemy to beat, one of the dumbest and most frustrating things a game can do is put its weakness in the tiniest spot possible. This isn't a video game, but it's definitely not a real monster either. See those faces? They're right at their joints. If we can somehow freeze them or strike them we can render its movement and dismantle it from there. Now here's what I'm thinking. Roxas, if we get close enough you can throw the keyblades at its knees, right? My shooting's getting better, I can probably aim for the upper pieces. Ruby can use her semblance and Crescent Rose to start tearing the thing apart and she and Mary can start moving the pieces. [And of course he knows what Mary's capable of and trusts that she'll feel confident enough to help if she's up for it.]
Ruby can probably move way faster than you or me, Roxas. She can provide us with good cover. What do you guys think?
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I can give it a try, but I don't know if it's strong enough for that. [roxas just doesn't have the most strength in his physical hits, despite the fact that he moves quickly and hits a lot.
but he does have other options.]
There are other things I can do from far away though. [not that he knows how to explain his light magic, but roxas thinks maybe using his spot beams or his arranged beams could probably work better. drop some magic hour on this metallic monster may be a lot better than tossing his keyblades like boomerangs.]
Everything else sounds good to me though, if you guys think so.
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You know what you can do best--whatever you feel's best is probably gonna work best. I'll cover everyone, so we'll be safe!
[If she has anything to say about it, anyway...]
It's a good plan though, I'm ready!
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[ She's not sure if she can freeze the moment of things that aren't technically alive... but maybe it won't come to that. If nothing else, she can certainly move junk. ]
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Okay. Timing is everything, too, and we're running out of it. You guys ready? [He doesn't even wait for an answer.] Let's go!
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but with that done, he'll nod his head.]
Right! [he'll be able to show hiro what he can do soon enough—it's a lot easier than trying to explain how it works anyway. so with his keyblades gripped tightly, he'll follow hiro's lead once they start moving.]
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