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[reparator]

Who: ? ? ?
When: OOC: 11/03, IC: 11/18
Where: Cerealia
What: Well, that sure went wrong quickly.
Rating/Warning: PG-13 for dangerous/scary situations

---

//event???.EXE

The quiet of Cerealia is interrupted almost all too suddenly. Things were broken and not working before, sure, but that was before the sky opened up -- and the clouds part. And then, above the planet, hovering almost innocently...there’s a ship. The peace only hovers there for a moment. Because then...then the Flamines come. There’s a debt they have to settle. And the time has come to pay up. We're here. :)

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I [ ❓❓❓ ] And then the Flamines are there. They just appear, suddenly, as if from nowhere. They’re a race of mercenary aliens, and fighting is all they know -- they’re definitely not going to be easy to kill by any means. They seem to have a natural resistance to magic: aside from very specific types of magic (in particular, light magic and anything highly spiritual), they absorb it. Light magic and spiritual magic can harm them, but it will take a lot to take one down. They can be stabbed, if you can get that close. But good luck. Of course, they look like nondescript black shapes with masks until you knock the mask off...and then you can see the true shape of the Flamines. They’re here to kill you all. :) PHASE II [ ❓❓❓ ] As if that isn’t enough… it seems the Flamines’ arrival was the last straw for Cerealia and the Nexus Code. There’s a tear in the sky, and from it… the Nexus Code, where all of the lost friends from before, can be seen. It can be entered, even, though remaining there too long can be detrimental to your health. But people are there. Old friends, strung up and lifeless, can be seen there, unmoving. And… Then some of them move. They open their eyes. They remember how to breathe. And they’re able to return, able to stagger their way back into Cerealia and take their first breath of air in a long, long time. Welcome back to the chaos of Cerealia, friends. Unfortunately, you’ve got nothing but the clothes on your back while murderous aliens are rampaging, so hopefully you’re able to think fast. It’d be unfortunate to die so soon after coming back. As for spiritual and magical characters who were not in the Nexus Code...well, when they return, they’ll find that they’re covered in old, dried blood, and their clothing might have tears in it, as if from a knife. There are no scars, though, and they’re otherwise fine. Strange. PHASE III [ ❓❓❓ ] As if this chaos isn’t enough… there are also the masks. Regardless of whether or not characters were around to receive them the first time, regardless what they did with them before, the masks will suddenly reappear in your characters’ hands. They can be tossed aside, but they’ll reappear again eventually, unable to be truly shaken. Characters who received them before will receive the same mask they had before. Characters who didn’t receive them before will receive a mask according to the trait that’s more prominent for them. Either way...it’ll have a profound effect on the Flamines. They will go after any character with a broken mask in a bloodthirsty rage, intent on murdering them. Characters with a barcode mask or bloody mask will be the next likely to be chased down intently by the Flamines. Characters with a :( mask will be killed if they get in the Flamines’ way, though they will not go out of their way to chase them down. Characters with a vine mask or feather mask will be treated with wariness, though they may still be attacked if they get in a Flamines’ way. Characters with a grey mask will not be killed unless they are first the aggressor, as will characters with a bloody fingerprint mask. Naturally there will be exceptions to every rule, but the masks will change how the Flamines’ generally act towards characters! PHASE IV [ ❓❓❓ ] But something’s not quite right. Regardless of the battles against the Flamines, it seems Cerealia’s just been under too much pressure lately. Something had to give -- And it’s the code building up the characters that really suffers. Their code has been hanging on by a thread without CERES to maintain it, and now… it’s finally giving out. The glitches that afflicted characters before will be even more prominent now; they might glitch from place to place, or have their powers go totally awry in odd ways. There may be a lack of powers suddenly, or a sudden difficulty staying on the ground as gravity stops working on the character. They might suddenly be unable to breathe, or go cold, or very nearly die -- But it can be controlled, too, with effort. Characters can learn to control the glitches, gaining an ability to almost teleport, or ways to tweak their powers in exciting new ways. With a lot of effort, they could even possibly reverse a death -- but only their own, and only once. BONUS [ ❓❓❓ ] There are also… birds? Flamingos, to be exact. Who knows where they came from, but either way, there are plastic flamingos chilling all over the place. They’re just normal plastic; they don’t move, they can very easily be destroyed -- But if you touch one with your bare hands… it’ll have an interesting effect. Characters will suddenly find that they have the abilities or the last person they touched -- but without any of the practice or ability to control it, of course. Still, it might help with that pesky Flamines problem, right? [ 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. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to the beginning of Cerealia's endgame event! Please visit the OOC information here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. This event will begin 11/03, or IC 11/18. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. Thank you!

Comments

[metalist]

[ By contrast, Pyrrha doesn't have a scratch on her. It goes without saying that she's more skilled at avoiding the messiness of combat than Jaune is as a general rule, although exceptions have proved damning in the past.

And yes, she's still unarmed. Perhaps a bit too stubbornly, she's refused any weapons that aren't hers—but now, looking over even before she hears her name, such dedication feels remarkably stupid.

The dumpster screeches against the pavement as it slides, friction drawing sparks from air. ]

Jaune!

[ She's at his side in a second. ]

Where have you been?

[beaconed]

[ Does he give her the long answer or the short answer? Recalling everything that happened until now just makes his voice tremble again. ]

P-Pyrrha, we... n-nothing is working... we lose too many just to get one one of them! So many lost... The Flamines are here and we weren't ready! [ Could they ever have been? ]

[metalist]

[ Hearing his voice, even as a tremble bleeds through, fills her with relief. Even as he's talking about those lost, she's guilty and grateful all at once: gratitude, for him being reasonably unscathed, solid and in front of her; and guilt, for having that and feeling such as the city falls apart.

Impulsively, she steps forward and pulls him into a clear hug. Her hands leave soothing imprints on his back, or so she hopes.

It's not safe to stay like this for more than a moment, but... ]

... I know.

[beaconed]

[ It may not me appropriate, but it's definitely something he needed. He couldn't inspire the more stubborn locals to follow him, and those few who did ended up dying just the same. His thoughts of being a failure are quickly quelled when the one who most believes in him despite everything pulls him into a hug. ]

...Pyrrha. [ After a moment, he pulls back, hands on her shoulders to make sure she's the one who's okay now. ] We gotta get you some kinda weapon, please. The good news is that they can be stabbed, so anything sharp and preferably metallic... [ Flinging swords and spears might prove more useful than dumpsters, if she catches his drift. ]

[metalist]

[ She looks about as exhausted as she did right after her resurrection, but his appraisal won't find anything more than that.

Loosening her grip, Pyrrha defaults to his leadership and his command. As she hadn't done, and should have, so many months ago. ]

Ruby's shop.

[beaconed]

Ruby-- oh, right, she's got... lots of sharp things I bet. Good idea!

[ Okay, they can mope about their losses later assuming something catastrophic doesn't happen between them (lmao). For now, they're still in this until the bitter end, and Jaune wastes no time heading to the shop's direction. ]

Think we'll find Ruby there, too? [ Probably not, he knows, but it would be nice knowing how her team is faring right now. ]

[metalist]

It's possible, but I think she's probably somewhere in the middle of all this.

[ Walking, with purpose - like a West Wing character! or something - toward their destination, something catches Pyrrha's eye.

Nudging Jaune, she redirects his attention toward an abandoned car up on the curb, its front seat doors wide open. ]

[beaconed]

[ He responds to the nudge by looking at the car, and immediately understands what she's trying to get at.

Last time he drove, though, he nearly killed Yang.

... ]

Ah... sure you don't wanna just-- [ Augh, there's no time to walk! ] A-Actually, yeah, get inside.

[metalist]

[ Because Pyrrha is a good, law abiding ex-citizen, one who doesn't have a driver's license, she clambers into the passenger seat.

It's a good thing she doesn't know about the Yang thing! ]

Jaune, don't forget your seatbelt.

[beaconed]

On it! What else--

[ It's true, even though they're technically stealing a car, it's still important to follow the rest of the law and road safety. Jaune goes through the whole routine, as if he had already done it before (he has!). First the seatbelt, the side mirrors and finally the... rear view mirror?

Jaune freezes up when goes to adjust the mirror, catching a blood-stained reflection of himself. There's a moment of silence as he lets reality sink in. ]

[metalist]

[ Pyrrha sees the way he seems to lock up. Brow knitting, she peers over her shoulder into the backseat, assuming that he's seen something in there - or, just as plausibly, behind the car - but, seeing nothing, she turns to look back at him.

The worry is clearly written on her face. The key is still lingering in the ignition, thankfully, but Pyrrha doesn't reach over and turn it quite yet. ]

... What is it?

[beaconed]

[ The blood on his face, his hair, it belonged to some people he only met today. That thought alone, compounded with all the other horrors so far, overcomes Jaune with paralyzing fear... but he only allows that darkness in for five seconds. Five seconds is all he allows himself to feel it before he takes a deep breath and turns on the ignition. ]

They've been doing this to so many worlds, all for money.

...We have to stop them, Pyrrha. Permanently.

[metalist]

[ It's galling, the horror of his words offending her deep seated sense of justice. And yet, she believes him without question. He doesn't let himself be ground down for more than a moment. He's so sure, not even hesitating to get behind the wheel of a car amid all this chaos.

She never should have let herself get separated from him. Maybe if she had been a little more conscientious, a better partner, he wouldn't be so blood-splattered right now. ]

We will. I...

[ Promise. Except her promises are worth so little these days, she can't bring herself to make any more and changes tracks. Pulling out her CereVice, she opens up the colony map app. ]

Left, up here.

[beaconed]

[ Jaune slows down the car. Really slow. Then holds his hands up, palms out. ]


Make the "L" with your--


[ Okay, he remembers which way is left again thanks to the shape of his finger and thumb in front of him.

TURNS NOW at regular speed again. ]

By the way, did you... find yourself with a weird mask, by any chance?

[metalist]

[ Without missing a beat: ] It's in the back seat.

[ Pyrrha hadn't put it there. In fact, she had tossed it into the dumpster before hurling the whole thing at a Flamine. But it's there now. Somehow. She had seen it when she had looked back. ]

[beaconed]

The masks were how we used to be able to talk to them, back when we thought we could negotiate with them. Work out some kinda deal, y'know? Contracts and all.

[ He makes another sharp turn, avoiding a huge fireball that leaves a crater behind them. ]

I don't know what "permanent" will have to mean, but we can't make deals to save ourselves. They'll just move on to the next world and destroy more... [ And it angers Jaune that he didn't realize this sooner. There was never a peaceful way to deal with these mercenaries. Even convincing Mosley to hand Bellona over was a mistake, because they carried out a death sentence either way. ]

[metalist]

[ Debris of the destruction happening all around them rains down. When an exoskeletal piece of rebar from a compromised building skirts loose and nearly ends up embedded in their windshield (and, by extension, Jaune's skull), it doesn't take too much effort from Pyrrha to send it flying in the opposite direction. She's careful about where she leaves it, though; it ends up safely lying on a pile of other refuse.

Masks, though. By now, she's gotten pretty used to him explaining the mechanics and intricacies of this world to her. Despite her presumed distraction, Pyrrha is listening. ]

Did they always bleed?

[ Hers is fairly blood soaked right now, red rivulets running through the cracks made in the thin rubber. Oddly, that same blood never seems to stain the upholstery. ]

[beaconed]

Who? What? T-The masks?!

[ Jaune looks back at it, forgetting the road for a moment. ] Whoa...

[metalist]

—Jaune!

[ Reaching over, she grabs the steering wheel, only just keeping them from crashing. ]

[beaconed]

Waaaugh! [ It's not clear what he's screaming at, the fact that he was driving dangerously or that there's a bleeding mask behind them. Probably both. ]

Okay-okay, let's just-- deal with one thing at a time then! Are we close to the shop?

[metalist]

[ Only once Pyrrha's sure Jaune's focusing on the road again does she let go of the wheel and turn her attention back to the CereVice in her lap. ]

It's up ahead, [ she confirms, once the app locks into their location again, ] turn right-- [ wait ] turn just past that building.

[ She points to demonstrate. ]

[beaconed]

[ Thanks love! Jaune turns in the correct direction with ease this time and-- ]

I see it! Hang on!

[ --drives the car through the shop!! Talk about a dramatic entrance. ]

[metalist]

[ Bits and pieces of glass splatter around them as the car crashes through the door and part of the wall. Pyrrha can't say she was prepared for that, not only because Ruby will probably be out of a job now, but she wisely doesn't comment.

The car doors open, seemingly of their own volition, and she steps out.

... Well.

Moving further into the store, she lets her eyes skim the walls and shelves of weapons without going near one. Her heart feels lodged in her throat. ]

[beaconed]

[ Unaware of Pyrrha's inner turmoil, Jaune steps away for a minute to deal with his own trauma. When he returns to her, he throws a used rag aside as his face looks a lot less blood-soaked now. ]

Well? Anything we can use here?

[metalist]

[ A bit numbly: ] I can fight with anything.

[ Pyrrha wraps her arms around herself for a brief second, and then forces them loose again. This is just... it's nothing. A bad time to get upset over such a material detail, a bad time to let this skewed petulance sink into her bones.

She looks over at him. It helps, somewhat, that he's wiped his face. ]

You should pick for me.