You know what everyone needs after rampant robotic attacks and another iteration of clone wars? A vacation! That’s right everyone, you deserve this. CERES understands what you need. CERES is here for you all the time, so never doubt that this is a pleasure colony, and they are here to look after all of your needs. Kick your feet up, relax, and let CERES Recreation and Activity Necessity Keepers (Team RANK, that is) set you up with your ideal getaway.
It’s as if you can sense the incoming relaxation and luxury before you even completely finish loading. There’s the warmth encompassing your entire body as your code gets transferred into this particular ViViD Level. A cool, refreshing breeze hits you. The sounds of waves gently lapping against the coast fill you with relaxation. The sun, the sand, the surfs, it’s all there – welcome to the beach, baby!
An echoing greeting message from the ocean comes next, if you can translate it.
 OOOOOOOOOOOOHMAHH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHD.
YOOOOOOOOOOOORRRALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.
KYOOOOOOOOOOOT EEEENAAAAUUUUUUUF TOOOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.
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PHASE I [ 08 00 ] That said, isn’t that breeze a little… too strong? It feels like it’s brushing up against all of you, if you know what I mean. When you open your eyes and look down, it becomes rather clear why. It seems that you’ve found yourself in some pretty interesting attire. Everyone. No exceptions. You appear to have two options – be overcome and scream like the Victorian maiden your heart says you are, or strut like a model in this stuff. Turn some heads! Work that up do!
But don’t worry, we’re also conscious about safety here at CERES! Therefore everyone’s also been provided a pair of super high-tech safety-tested appendage protection floatation devices (STAPFD for short.)
At least everyone around you is caught in the same sort of attire – and everyone around you also appears to be stuck inside a giant sand castle. It’s entirely malleable to what you want it to be! Want to see a fancy sand bidet? Feel like adding a sand statue in your honor? Think that wall should now be a door? Well, with enough perseverance, you can make it happen!
Just uh, be careful about getting sand in your… everywhere.
PHASE II [ 1000 ] Someone broke it. Not pointing any fingers, even though you sure do seem like a prime suspect, but someone broke it.
It almost starts like an earthquake with how the castle starts to rumble, the sand shaking right beneath your feet. And then the walls right next to you start to cave in followed promptly by the ceiling right… above your head. Oh dear. The sand starts to run and fall, losing its structure and shape. The hallway behind you starts to cave in, ceiling first and then the walls follow suit. Now the sand really is getting everywhere – but not just uncomfortable places. It’s in your hair, your eyes, your nose…. this sure doesn’t seem like a pleasant way to go!
Best to start running – there’s a trusty drawbridge to get over the moat (because what’s a sandcastle without a moat?) but who knows how long until that, too, is going to give way? Best to cross over it before it starts to shake and disappear too. Or if you don’t make it, hopefully you can land some pretty impressive airtime to make it to the other side!
If not, well...there'll be the sensation of sand crushing down upon you, filling your mouth and eyes, and you won't be able to breathe at all – and then you're alive again on the beach (but possibly in yet another new, uncomfortable, skimpy swimsuit). Honestly, be more careful, would you?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] However, once you do make it to the other side, it’s all smooth sailing from there! Or is it? Hah, as they say, life sure can be a beach.
Which is what this is.
Welcome to your Beach Episode, folks. Now that you’ve made it out of the collapsing sand castle, you’ve made it to the luxurious, picturesque golden coastline. Sure, you’re coughing up fine, luxurious, sand dust right now and you’ve definitely gotten sand in all of your crevices thanks to your swimsuit, but that’s okay! Go take a soak in the ocean or something or cool off with a smoothie. There’s a smoothie shack off into the distance, complete with a long chalkboard with… well, probably a few familiar names? And some unfamiliar ingredients. Sounds appetizing right?
That said, once you do ingest some of the smoothie with the name of a newcomer, you might suddenly find yourself feeling a bit… different. You’ll be taking on some of their traits, one of the most intense parts of their personality – or you might need to take a second to sit down because you’re suddenly seeing one of their memories. Whoa. What do they actually put in this stuff?
PHASE IV [ 1500 ] For the brave souls that venture out into the water, you have even more adventures waiting for you. Anyone who’s swimming around, wading in the water—hell, even looking at the water is getting scooped up and deposited in one of these giant orbs. But don’t take up too much room, because someone else is getting shoved right in there with you. Time to get cozy with your new friend, because it's only going to get worse as the waves begin to carry you out into this big, blue, virtual ocean. Hopefully the choppy waves don’t bounce you around too much or – well, you could always get really friendly with a stranger! Why not?
At least until it’s made very clear that fresh air does not make it back into these balls. That seems like a bit of a design flaw. Now what? Fight the other person who’s inhaling all your air? Suffer through it for swimsuit-clad fun? Or if you break it…. well, you sure are stranded out in the ocean. Or are you?
After enough flailing, you’ll be met by a giant, dumb-looking creature who will then eat you whole.
Everything goes dark. This is surely the end --
And then you're in Cerealia proper; it seems that was the exit to the level (but why there?) and you'll find yourself either in one of the fountains or the pond in the park. Either way, you'll be very, very well. And this time, that's not virtual. But hey, at least you'll have all of your stuff with you.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Do you hear that?
Anyone idle on the beach will hear a distant melody coming from further out into the ocean. It’s a beautiful, elegant song that automatically makes the listener stop what they’re doing and immediately wander toward the noise. It takes you a moment to recall – it takes a moment to think about anything now, really – but you remember hearing the smoothie shack owner say something about mermaids populating the beach. Could this be their song calling out to you? Whether you would normally abide by this kind of call or not, you find your feet walking further and further out into the water, the shallows lapping up to your ankles and up and up as you are drawn in by the song.
A rather classic song, though the usual instances of French are also replaced with the very enticing, enchanting nonsense promise of omelette du fromage........and then they try to drown you.
[ 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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The getting further away froms hore part is definitely bad. ]
Isn't that how these things work?! Like...you walk in one direction and the ball rolls that way--or...I guess against the current...
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[ At the very least, Yosuke's taking on the embarrassment for the two of them, since she doesn't seem to be faltering in the slightest bit. ]
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But wouldn't we be falling through it?
[ Bubbles aren't strong enough to actually hold anything but air...right? ]
What's it made of?
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[ Inaba says that as bluntly as she possibly can, sighing as she creases her brow, rubbing at the bridge of her brow. ]
And why are you asking me? I don't know.
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[ So he's not a complete idiot. Too bad he doesn't actually have his kunai on him, but let's be real, these swimsuits don't have much in the way of pockets.
He elbows the side, which does give under the pressure buuuut...doesn't break. ]
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[ She really hopes not, at least, that would suck. But she does eye him when he does attempt to elbow the side, humming inquisitively. ]
You want me to try kicking it?
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[ And Yosuke's pretty good at accepting some of the ridiculous doom in scenarios he's involved in, but even he thinks they need to give a shot. If anything, he's strangely determined to keep fighting even though his luck usually indicates he shouldn't. ]
If you could. Here, let me...
[ Kind of scoot out of the way so she doesn't, you know, kick him in the face. ]
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[ Karate might not be her strong suit, but thankfully she learned from the best. Taking a breath, she waits for him to move to the side and kicks as hard as she can. Hopefully this won't blow (get it?) up in her face. ]
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Yosuke sighs as the bubble resumes it's shape and hangs his head. ]
Okay, so...force doesn't cut it...do we have anything sharp...?
[ Yeah on their almost naked bodies. Where are you hiding your butterfly knives, Inaba? ]
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[ If only she had any. Which she doesn't. Of course, her yelling is not helping the oxygen problem they're having here. ]
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[ He sighs, aggravated and ruffles his hair in frustration. He is starting to feel a little light-headed, but he figures it's just the fact that this really a brain twister. ]
We just gotta stay calm! We can't be the only ones out here...right?
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[ She's seriously giving him a ridiculously flat expression right now as she lets out an exasperated sigh, taking a glance around as she leans against the bubble to peer out before shaking her head. ]
Can't seem to see any other people, unfortunately. [ ... ] Just, you know. A lot of sea life. Like that whale, for instance.
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Yeah, 'cause we're--
[ Wait. What?
Yosuke pauses, not seeing one in front of him, so he slowly turns around-- ]
Gah! Where did that come from??
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[ She gives him a "where the hell do you think it came from" look of exasperation before realizing that she's getting short of breath. Shit. ]
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[ Wait, give him a sec. He inhales a little sharply. It's getting kind of stuffy, isn't it? ]
...H-hey, is it me, or is it getting kind of...?
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[ She doesn't notice it at first, but then when she tries to breathe again, that's when she realizes the problem. ]
S-Shit... [ And that is probably her cue to clamp her mouth shut, trying to hold her breath. ]
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[ Wait, don't freak out either, Yosuke. He takes a couple small, but calming breaths. ]
We just...we've gotta keep calm. The more freaked out we get, the quicker we'll--
[ And that's when they hear it. Some deep, strange whale song that causes waves to splash against the bubble and start to turn it around. ]
Gah!
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Well, that sure just happened, didn't it? ]
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They're probably going to die there. Yep. ]
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That's a thing. ]
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