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.
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no subject
All she says though, her eyes bright, is:]
I see.
[She perks up at the mention of a friend, wondering if that would be something she could ask him about. Until she sees his finger nail start spinning and Veronica is completely speechless and when she does speak, her tone is careful as she tries not to upset him by worrying too much.]
So it is like a top. How...is that done? It does not hurt? [Because it looks like it should hurt. She leans in closer to look as if that would somehow help her understand this whole situation.]
no subject
Oh uh- careful, I wouldn't touch it, it can cut ya pretty easily.
[He shakes his head at her question though, the idea of talking too much about his stand and what it can do makes him a little uneasy, even if he did bring it up as an option to get them moving. Besides, who was going to believe him if he said, "well, you see, I took on a piece of the body of Christ, his right arm in fact, and some parts of his spine, and it sorta left me with this weird ability?"]
Nah, doesn't hurt. It's um, I guess it was half-learned and half-given, so I couldn't really tell you a lotta how it works.
[As it was winding down, he lowered his hand to the interior wall of the bubble, transferring the energy of the spin to it rather than his nail. It began to rotate, though the weight of the two of them inside seemed to keep it from going too far.]
no subject
....nothing really seems to be happening? She wonders if it has to build up momentum and decides to let him deal with it for a while first before she starts questioning him about it.]
It can cut? Why?
[Maybe it was a bit like those spinning bandsaws that she has read about before.]
Is it because it functions similarly to bandsaws? It can cut because of the speed at which it spins? [She reaches out just so that she's near to touching his other non-nail-spinning hand.]
May I?
[She wants to see if his nails are sharp even if he isn't spinning them.]
no subject
Sorry Veronica, Jojo-science doesn't make sense even if they do explain it.Johnny has to applaud her curiosity, though he wished he was better at explaining things like Gyro was. He wasn't cut out to be a teacher.]Yeah. I think it's got to do with the spin. I mean, anything can cut if it's moving the right way. Even paper.
[Bandsaws weren't exactly his area of expertise, but he knew what they were and nodded. It was a pretty close approximation.
When she reaches to grab his hand though, it's a little surprising. No one takes an interest in him back home anymore, least of all girls like Veronica. He nods and holds his hand out. If she looked closely, she could see the little stars that dotted the skin of his hands when the ability was active start to fade away. Johnny glanced aside and startled a little when he swore he saw movement, something like a shadow beneath them. Was he just jumpy? They were safe in a bubble like this anyway, right?]
no subject
Yet she still continues to ask Jojos to explain things to her. At least she's tenacious??She reaches out to touch his hand with both of hers, carefully running the tip of her finger along the edge of his nail while her eyes drift to the tiny stars all along his skin which faded even as she watched. How interesting...
The nail didn't feel sharp at all, so she rubs her fingers over the back of his hand where the stars have already faded and was half-way to wondering how that worked when she feels him flinch and looks up. Had she hurt him?
But no...he wasn't looking at her, he was looking around. With a pause, she turns as well but doesn't see anything as of yet but cool, dark water.]
...Is something wrong?
[She doesn't notice the movement because it's right behind her and heading for them.]
no subject
I thought-
[His voice is breathy and tight, but he breaks in mid-sentence when the shadow returns, right behind Veronica and growing by the second. Johnny's eyes widen. Whatever it is, it's coming after them and closing fast.]
What the hell is that?! Shit, hang on!
[He pulls Veronica closer with one arm, in an attempt to place himself between her and whatever it is, and quickly recalls his Stand ability, Tusk. Usually his bullets would tear through the thin material of their bubble like so much paper, but this time he aims the bullet at his own temple and fires without hesitation.
For a moment, it seemed as if he'd really blown a hole through his own skull, but the small dark hole traveled down his wrist, sucking most of his free arm into it before traveling along the inner wall of their bubble and opening a hole on the other side. His missing hand reappeared there and fired several nail bullets out at the approaching creature. Whatever it was, he would throw anything he could in its path before he let it get to them.]
[ooc: this is really strange ability of his, but when he fires the nail bullet into his own head, he can create a portal that his body, or parts of him can pass through. In this case, his arm, so that he can sit safely in his bubble and his detached arm somehow fire on things that are outside. Sorry again crazy Jojo logic and powers.]
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