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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[Out of everything, that's what she asks. It's moving too fast for her to really see what's happening, but she knows the rest is important. That will come in due time.]
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[Lee seems to be doing better in the next flashes that appear, even if he does seem to be oddly red at the same time.]
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...Lee-san? What's happening to his face?
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At that point... I was gaining an advantage. I was ready to use my final move!
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[The scene in the mirror starts playing now in the normal screen, with a red-looking Lee slamming Gaara to the ground. And right afterwards, the Lee in the mirrors seems to experience a jolt of pain from how badly he had pushed himself.
The current Lee doesn't look very proud of what he sees. Rather, now he seems to be dreading what comes next.]
Rise-san... It should have been the last strike. But I did not count on... on him having more sand on hand to soften the impact. I had put... everything on the line for that move...
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What did he do to you? [Her tone's low, almost protective and threatening as she tries to understand what Gaara could have done to Lee. What Lee had experienced in his past. Is this why he's always so determined to be so strong?]
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He... he defeated me... decisively...! [Lee winces as it reaches its climax: Lee's left arm and leg, both painfully crushed by the sand. The Lee in the mirror cries out in pain and collapses on the ground.]
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That's...not fair! You can't deliver a final blow when you're already down, that's like cheating! [She's already eyeballing his leg and his arm like they might be hiding other secrets.]
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Ah... I am afraid not in this competition, Rise-san. Gaara-kun was not knocked out, and as long as you can still attack... the fight could go on.
...That was the true final decisive blow.
[The mirror freeze frames on the fallen Rock Lee, since that's where his own memories of the event end.
As for the actual Lee, all of his arms and legs seem to be working fine even if one half of his body looks very un-well in that younger reflection.]
I... I am sorry, Rise-san.
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What are you apologizing to me for?
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He frowns and glances up to meet her gaze as she looks at him.]
Ah... Be-because I have wanted to be strong for you, Rise-san, to help you out however I can! But... Now you have seen how far I can fall!
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[Man this is such a weird pep talk but she's rolling with it. Bad memories come in all forms and all.]
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Ah... Rise-san... You are correct!! [He balls up his fists as he thinks it over.] That defeat started one of my darkest hours... I was only able to fight again by taking a very risky surgery! But after that, I have become stronger! So much stronger than the me of yesterday!
Then... then I must thank you again, Rise-san!! For accepting this, and for showing me your own strength as well! It is inspirational!!
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It's what friends do, Lee-san. If you didn't accept me for who I am and I didn't accept you, that wouldn't be a very good friendship would it? You're much, much stronger than a ton of people I know! [Maaaaybe a tiny stretch of the truth just to help.] And we'll work on getting even stronger together!
[Oh, but.] Maybe we should work on getting out of this creepy house first.
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You are right, Rise-san! It was foolish of me to underestimate the strength of our youthful hot-blooded friendship. I will not do so again!
...But you are right. We should leave this place!
[There still is a creeping danger, though. He worries about what else could appear in those mirrors. Lee himself knows he has other memories that are even more painful to witness such as the deaths and near-deaths of loved ones... He would rather Rise not experience that. ...Could it be possible to try to avoid that?
After a pause, Lee retains his light smile while reaching forward to tap Rise's shoulder with his knuckles.]
Tag! You are now the one who is 'it'!
[He smirks and then runs right for the exit. Maybe focusing on a silly game will help them avert their eyes from further pain....!]
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Let's see if we can find--hey! [Lee tags her and disappears, leaving her to laugh more in surprise than anything. That's the spirit. They can just pretend this is a game and that they aren't running from terrible things in their pasts. There's nothing wrong with that. They'll be safe if they stick together.] No fair, you can't cheat like that! Wait up!
[And out of the room she goes to chase him down. They'll find the exit together this way, no problem.]
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He runs onward and laughs loudly, avoiding reflective surfaces while letting his voice's loudness help to guide Rise as he seeks the exit.]
I apologize, Rise-san! Just see this game as a fun exercise. Let's both do our best!
[And put the worst behind them for now...]