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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no subject
Hey, you don't have to look! Don't make this weirder than it already is!
[ He's not checking Kazuya out, after all. Let's keep the line on the acceptably unquestionable side of male interaction. ]
No way I am free-ballin' around this place! And I don't see you strutting around in the nude, either.
no subject
[Really, he'd been in weirder situations that were more uncomfortable or pride-destroying than this one. He glanced down at himself, at his bright pink mankini, considering. But, maybe he should strip off...? He was already imagining everyone naked anyway, and to be honest, the outfit was kinda riding up a little. He was pretty sure there was chafing going on and he swore it was a sand magnet or whatever. Seriously, it was just plain uncomfortable to wear]
Tell ya what, how about this? [he looked back up at sand-man, a glitter of mischief in his eyes] I'll strip naked, then you strip naked, and because both of us will be naked, it won't be weird. It might make everyone else strip off too! See, that'll be better, right?
no subject
[ But please, don't strip. Stripping would definitely make this way worse. Deal with the awkward chafing, with the thong wedgie. Please keep what little you have no, on. No fashion without beauty, and no modesty with at least something covering your junk. It's for the good of the people, man. Why else do you think Yosuke is keeping his ass to the sand wall?
Of course, no one would really-- ]
...wh--
[ WHAT!? ]
--are you kidding me!? No way is that gonna be better! That's worse! That'll be totally weird!
[ He might be okay with seeing some of the girls, but, let's be real, he wouldn't know what to do about a real naked girl in front of him... ]
no subject
[Despite the attempted seriousness in Kaz's reply, he couldn't quite keep a straight face. He broke out into an amused grin, waving a dismissive hand in the sand-guy's direction]
Oh, don't worry, I'm just messing with you. 'Sides, there're girls around. It'd be kinda rude to flash them.
[It was a shame, really, Kaz really did want to take this mankini off. Looks like he'll have to wait until he came across something better, like a grass skirt, or large amounts of seaweed. Hell, he'd take his chances skinny dipping in the ocean if it came to it, even with the prospect of salt burning his chafe marks. Ouch.]
But if you really are embarrassed about your mankini thing, why don't you wear it differently? Like, the shoulder straps, why don't you wrap them around your waist instead, and make a bow at the back? If you do it tight enough it'll stay in place, and it'll kinda cover up the butt window. Maybe.
no subject
HAHA. Yosuke's not laughing. ]
What kind of joke is that!?
[ He's not sure if it's better or worse that he was kidding. ]
Dude, there's barely enough fabric to cover my crotch right now. No way am I gonna tourniquet my own dick in the process. No amount of dignity is worth that.
[ NOPE. Shakes his head. ]
If you actually want to help, do you know the way out of this castle?
no subject
Hm, the way out? [Kaz stirred out of his pouting to think on the question] Well, I haven't seen any obvious exits outta here, if that's what you mean.
[Truthfully, the thought of escape hadn't yet crossed his mind, so he hadn't seriously been checking. He glanced at the nearby wall Sand-Guy had been merging with earlier, studying its surface for a moment. It looked like ordinary sand, so...]
But, I guess if you're one of those people with weird powers of some sort, you could brute force your way out. Like, punch a hole through it, or blow the roof off, or something...
[Beat]
...although, that might impact the structural integrity of the castle and make it collapse, which would, y'know, kill us all. That'd kinda suck. I don't wanna die in a mankini.
no subject
With weird powers? [ He raises a brow. ] Dude, even then it doesn't work outside of--
[ ... ]
...the TV World?
[ Actually, does this place count? It's...technically a video game or something, right? That's kind of like being inside a TV. Of course there was a lot more reasons for that to exist in the first place, but. Hmmm... Yosuke strokes his chin. ]
Well, if we're up high, then it shouldn't collapse the whole thi--...nah that's a bad idea. There could be people below and I don't wanna be responsible for that.
no subject
Yeah, whatever you do you're gonna cause collateral damage - and tunnelling's definitely out, 'cuz there's no way you're gonna make a stable exit in sand this soft.
[To emphasise his point, he lightly kicked at the sand. It was incredibly fine. Though, he supposed if you dug deep enough, you might hit more packed earth, but even then it would be so much effort for possibly no reward, depending on the consistency of the earth below. Or, hey, Cerealia might've put some kind of carnivorous sandworm down there to combat any tunnelling efforts. Anything might happen]
But, maybe using a specific type of magic might work? Like, I guess I can give my belfire a go, since I can be pretty damn precise with it. Melt the sand while cutting a hole through it, I might be able to make a stable hole without sand flying everywhere from an explosion or something. Er, supposing the sand won't move when parts of it become glass, that is...
[And if it did move, then, that meant there's be sand and glass falling around everywhere, which was even more dangerous. Hmm, he'll put that in the "maybe" pile]
no subject
[ Guess he doesn't have anything specifically useful to this. Better go about it the old fashioned way and just try and walk out, right? Though he does take pause when this guy goes on and describes his own abilities. "Belfire"? So...Agi skills? Hmmm... ]
...I guess that depends on how hot you're talking? Doesn't it become, like, molten sand before it solidifies?
[ Because... ]
Because I think a toppling sand castle could only get worse if it's part lava.
no subject
[Kaz looked genuinely puzzled - he was obviously under the impression that melting sand just magically created glass instantaneously]
But, when lightning strikes, it turns to glass immediately. Wouldn't it do the same thing? Like, if I make it super hot, then - super cold! Then it'd skip the molten part and just turn into glass, right?
[...]
Or maybe it only does that with lightning. So... no belfire, just one concentrated Ziodyne! [No, wait-] Ah, but that might kill someone if it goes wrong. Lightning and molten sand flying everywhere...
no subject
[ Nope, no. He's putting a stop to this right where it starts. Yosuke's heard a lot of bad ideas and he can smell it when one is starting to form--
Gah! Now he's starting to sound like Teddie. ]
Just scratch the idea from the beginning! It sounds like the best way to get out of here is go to down.
no subject
[Kaz looked somewhat unenthusiastic about the idea of tunnelling their way out, despite it being the most reasonable plan. He didn't really like small, cramped places where the threat of being trapped and/or suffocated was high, so the thought of digging a shallow grave into the sand... ugh, it made him shudder in mild horror. No, thank you!]
Seems like a lot of work without any tools - unless you're hiding a bucket and shovel in that mankini of yours. [Beat] Or we find a giant dog to do it for us.
no subject
[ Wait, what? Give Yosuke a few seconds to catch up with the logic that's being used, here. His eyes narrow and for a moment, the stares at the other boy like he's grown a second head.
And then it hits him. ]
...Dude, no, that's not what I meant. [ SIGH. ] I mean like literally go down through the castle. This isn't the only floor, right? I've already gone down a couple, so...
no subject
Oh. Yeah, um, I totally knew that. I was just, um, joking. Hehe... eh...
[AHEM!]
But yeah! Uh, yeah, that could work. There might be a door on the lower levels. Not really gonna hold my breath or anything but... always a slim chance.
no subject