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AWAKENING
Who: Everyone
When: Midnight, July 7th
Where: Green Valley School
What: It is time
Earlier that day, the Navigators' message echo in the minds of Awakened and soon-to-be-Awakened alike.They are being hunted and they need to come together if they are to survive. They must get to the school at all costs...
Perhaps some might think back to horror movies, but for those who chose not to follow the warnings, a feeling of dread will begin to overtake them as the sun goes down until finally they hear an echoing annoyed sigh inside their head.
Seriously, this is not the time to kid around! You want others around you to die? Get going!
If they still chose not to go, they'll quickly find that their muscles are forced to act on their own and they make their way to the school as well with only an hour to spare. The target, a corridor in a wing of the school, is one of many and mostly empty at this time of year. Only a few people move between groups, casting a few confused whispers but ignoring them for the most part.
The phone's countdown continues to tick until the next day. It appears that Luci is still working on getting the network free of whatever is causing this problem for them in the first place, so all they have is the ability to speak to each other telepathically with the help of the Navigators...but perhaps they won't realize that the Navigators can hear everything that they think...and sometimes some thoughts might just leak out...
Whatever's causing this, they'll quickly realize once night falls that we're here. You guys better be prepared...this is it, lambs. Live free or die hard."
It's going to be a long hour inside the corridor.
At exactly 24 hours left to spare on their phone's countdown, all of the lights in the school go out. Anyone who is not Awakened becomes stone statues, unmoving, while the area around them begins to shift and change. The windows shrink to sizes impossible for a human to pass through, cracking as dark mist fills the area around them.
If they walk into the mist, they'll quickly find that they reappear at the end of the corridor, essentially stuck in a loop in a particular area of the school.
They move fast. Looks like they've already trapped you in here...
There’s a terrifying sound of scuttling feet, of a thousand legs moving in the corridors, in the pipes, in the walls and in the ground, as the tiles part like water before they rise above it. In this state, the world doesn't seem to play by the rules, and without the application to give them data, it's impossible to see what's going on...at least until the Shadows reveal themselves.
They look like giant rats, nearly half the size of a full grown human, they are unlike anything they fought before.
As their eyes glow in the dark, mist pours from their bodies constantly, causing the area around them to shift and move . The wallpaper begins to move, the portraits on the walls become corpses, and the lockers begin to grow metal teeth, attempting to pull them inside. The ceiling rises until it's impossible to see. If they are pulled in, they will find themselves thrown out in another part of the corridor, from the ceiling to the ground, or out of a portrait into the other wall - anything to give them significant damage. The school is like a giant, living entity that wants them to die...
Awakened will find themselves in their changed clothes, their magical skills and Persona at their fingertips once more.
However, the Shadows’ targets seem to be the Navigators first...Awakened or not, it does not seem to matter. The Shadows will not ignore Combatants should they chose to fight them, but the rats move towards the Navigators and school's lockers will try to grab them to keep them inside. It seems whatever is after them wishes to destroy the only advantage the group has in battle.
When the Shadows speak, they echo together.
And the Combatants will soon learn how difficult it is to fight these pests.
[OOC: For this prompt, the Awakened will have access to their skills, and the Unawakened will need to be helped out. Additional notes can be found in the OOC part below]
Even the Awakened can't continue this fight alone. They've already had many of their numbers disappear lately...they need reinforcements. With the Shadows giving them so much trouble, help is needed.
And so, a voice echoes inside the Combatants. Their hearts begin to glow, and the rats hiss backwards from the light. A voice will echo inside of their head...
The Navigators, on the other hand...their inner voice is softer. There is knowledge, and they'll need to stay calm if they are to control this chaotic battlefield.
The shadow rats scream together in anger.
The beasts' forms become more chaotic - additional legs on some rats, larger heads and tails on others, gigantic teeth on some, and they begin to match the pattern of the corridor - there's no guessing at what they can do.
Good thing you've got a few of you who can help out with that…
You've only got one shot at this! If you get it angry enough, it will show us its true form instead of this vermin bullshit!
Luci doesn't sound happy.
When: Midnight, July 7th
Where: Green Valley School
What: It is time
THE CURTAIN FALLS
Earlier that day, the Navigators' message echo in the minds of Awakened and soon-to-be-Awakened alike.They are being hunted and they need to come together if they are to survive. They must get to the school at all costs...
Perhaps some might think back to horror movies, but for those who chose not to follow the warnings, a feeling of dread will begin to overtake them as the sun goes down until finally they hear an echoing annoyed sigh inside their head.
Seriously, this is not the time to kid around! You want others around you to die? Get going!
If they still chose not to go, they'll quickly find that their muscles are forced to act on their own and they make their way to the school as well with only an hour to spare. The target, a corridor in a wing of the school, is one of many and mostly empty at this time of year. Only a few people move between groups, casting a few confused whispers but ignoring them for the most part.
The phone's countdown continues to tick until the next day. It appears that Luci is still working on getting the network free of whatever is causing this problem for them in the first place, so all they have is the ability to speak to each other telepathically with the help of the Navigators...but perhaps they won't realize that the Navigators can hear everything that they think...and sometimes some thoughts might just leak out...
Whatever's causing this, they'll quickly realize once night falls that we're here. You guys better be prepared...this is it, lambs. Live free or die hard."
It's going to be a long hour inside the corridor.
THE SHADOWS RISE
At exactly 24 hours left to spare on their phone's countdown, all of the lights in the school go out. Anyone who is not Awakened becomes stone statues, unmoving, while the area around them begins to shift and change. The windows shrink to sizes impossible for a human to pass through, cracking as dark mist fills the area around them.
If they walk into the mist, they'll quickly find that they reappear at the end of the corridor, essentially stuck in a loop in a particular area of the school.
They move fast. Looks like they've already trapped you in here...
There’s a terrifying sound of scuttling feet, of a thousand legs moving in the corridors, in the pipes, in the walls and in the ground, as the tiles part like water before they rise above it. In this state, the world doesn't seem to play by the rules, and without the application to give them data, it's impossible to see what's going on...at least until the Shadows reveal themselves.
They look like giant rats, nearly half the size of a full grown human, they are unlike anything they fought before.
){kind=link}
I ̧s͢ee ͡you. ̡Í ͢see ̢y͞ơu̕ a̧l̛l̷...̢h̡eh ̵he͞h͠ H͘AHA҉H̨AHA̵HAHA!̨
As their eyes glow in the dark, mist pours from their bodies constantly, causing the area around them to shift and move . The wallpaper begins to move, the portraits on the walls become corpses, and the lockers begin to grow metal teeth, attempting to pull them inside. The ceiling rises until it's impossible to see. If they are pulled in, they will find themselves thrown out in another part of the corridor, from the ceiling to the ground, or out of a portrait into the other wall - anything to give them significant damage. The school is like a giant, living entity that wants them to die...
Awakened will find themselves in their changed clothes, their magical skills and Persona at their fingertips once more.
However, the Shadows’ targets seem to be the Navigators first...Awakened or not, it does not seem to matter. The Shadows will not ignore Combatants should they chose to fight them, but the rats move towards the Navigators and school's lockers will try to grab them to keep them inside. It seems whatever is after them wishes to destroy the only advantage the group has in battle.
When the Shadows speak, they echo together.
W͏h̸y fi̶gh̵t̸?̴ ͡I͢gno͟r̵ąnce͏ i͠s͢ b̷lis̨s.̷.͞.͝so͏o̶n ̶de̢at͝h w͘ill͝ e̶n͏ve͞l͏ope̕ ̶you͘.̸ Do̡ņ'̕t ͘str̵u̢ģg̨l҉e̡.
And the Combatants will soon learn how difficult it is to fight these pests.
[OOC: For this prompt, the Awakened will have access to their skills, and the Unawakened will need to be helped out. Additional notes can be found in the OOC part below]
AWAKENING
Even the Awakened can't continue this fight alone. They've already had many of their numbers disappear lately...they need reinforcements. With the Shadows giving them so much trouble, help is needed.
And so, a voice echoes inside the Combatants. Their hearts begin to glow, and the rats hiss backwards from the light. A voice will echo inside of their head...
The time is now. I am thou, thou art I! Your mind is trapped, but I can set your soul free! My other self, will you die, or fight back?
Accept me for who I am! Forge this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!
Accept me for who I am! Forge this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!
The Navigators, on the other hand...their inner voice is softer. There is knowledge, and they'll need to stay calm if they are to control this chaotic battlefield.
The time is now. I am thou, thou art I! Your mind is trapped, but I can set your soul free! My other self, your soul already knows part the truth.
My other self, shall we show them what it means to cross us? Let us finish forging this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!
My other self, shall we show them what it means to cross us? Let us finish forging this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!
The shadow rats scream together in anger.
No! NO NO NO NO ! You're not supposed to Awaken! Stay asleep! You aren't
supposed to awaken! STOP IT! STOP THEM! K̢I͏L͡L!͜ CR̨US̡H҉! ͘D͘ESTR̛OY͘!
supposed to awaken! STOP IT! STOP THEM! K̢I͏L͡L!͜ CR̨US̡H҉! ͘D͘ESTR̛OY͘!
The beasts' forms become more chaotic - additional legs on some rats, larger heads and tails on others, gigantic teeth on some, and they begin to match the pattern of the corridor - there's no guessing at what they can do.
Good thing you've got a few of you who can help out with that…
You've only got one shot at this! If you get it angry enough, it will show us its true form instead of this vermin bullshit!
Luci doesn't sound happy.
OOC
Everyone is able to speak to each together thanks to the Navigator's telepathic abilities (but always keep in mind that any Navigator can hear you even if you try to speak to just someone else).
For now, characters can only use single spells. The boss battle will unlock the teaming up skills.
The lockers that grab a character will throw them out as mentioned in the prompts and will additionally deal DARK damage and may confuse users, causing them to see other users as the enemy. They will need to be healed by any of the dispell spells to cure them.
The Rat Shadows only have 1 HP and attack with physical spells which can poison about 1/4 times (or more if you want to poison your character), HOWEVER they will be constantly going from Fire, Ice, Wind, Electrical, Nuclear, Psy, Dark, Light, Physical and Gun in that order, and switch constantly as to not be hit.
Only Navigators will know when the time to hit them is correct for your character, so make sure to aid them as much as possible! Navigators have also been given additional data regarding how the Shadow rats move and what spells can cause one hit-Kos or what spells can be used against them, so when it doubt, tag it out and see if it hits! There are over a thousand of them, and, as mentioned in the prompts, the school itself is also alive, so feel free to make this as terrifying for your characters as you wish.
An OOC PLANNING POST can be used to ask questions or to form teams.
For now, characters can only use single spells. The boss battle will unlock the teaming up skills.
The lockers that grab a character will throw them out as mentioned in the prompts and will additionally deal DARK damage and may confuse users, causing them to see other users as the enemy. They will need to be healed by any of the dispell spells to cure them.
The Rat Shadows only have 1 HP and attack with physical spells which can poison about 1/4 times (or more if you want to poison your character), HOWEVER they will be constantly going from Fire, Ice, Wind, Electrical, Nuclear, Psy, Dark, Light, Physical and Gun in that order, and switch constantly as to not be hit.
Only Navigators will know when the time to hit them is correct for your character, so make sure to aid them as much as possible! Navigators have also been given additional data regarding how the Shadow rats move and what spells can cause one hit-Kos or what spells can be used against them, so when it doubt, tag it out and see if it hits! There are over a thousand of them, and, as mentioned in the prompts, the school itself is also alive, so feel free to make this as terrifying for your characters as you wish.
An OOC PLANNING POST can be used to ask questions or to form teams.
no subject
He's trying to get to the school, trying to get there, but his brain is still full of... everything. None of this seems true. Everything still feels like it's made up. He can barely tell what's real anymore. He does his best, walking past stores and parked cars and trying to make sure that cameras don't catch him. The last thing he needs right now is a cop.
Still, he looks dazed as he's walking, like he's half awake. He keeps almost stumbling, but he has to keep moving. Has to get there, even if it feels like the ground should be way closer.
B [waiting]
Right. He's here at the school, surrounded by... people he doesn't know, mostly. Are they all here for the same reason? He tries to smile, but his face just isn't feeling it. He sits down on the floor, tugging his knees into his chest. He feels sick. He feels wrong. Nothing is right. Nothing makes sense. He lets out a strangled growl and puts his head in his hands.
After a bit, he gets up and pulls some things out of his bag. He's got some rope - don't ask why - so he strings it across the corridor and ties it to whatever he can find. Hopefully it'll slow someone down if they're coming.
C [fight]
Good thing he's brought his CT gun. He's only got so much ammo in the bag, so he's trying to conserve it - but these rats or... whatever they are... keep coming. And they keep coming for him, and he feels weak and small and he hates this, and one of them latched onto his pants before, and none of this makes sense and he wants to go home and he's so tired. He's not sure what to do, but they keep backing him into corners, and he just wants everything to stop.
D [awaken]
He hears the voice. He hears it ringing in his ears, in his bones, and he drops his CT gun, hands shaking. He presses them to his head and listens, tries to understand what it's saying.
"The time is now. I am thou, thou art I! Your soul already knows part the truth. My other self, shall we show them what it means to cross us? Let us finish forging this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!"
He knows. He has to. He has to. He reaches inside himself (impossible, this isn't real, this doesn't work) and pulls.
And then there's a roar in his ears, and he's not sure, and there's something in his hands and everything is getting bigger and suddenly the roaring stops, and he's on all fours, and he pushes himself up and he stares. He's back. He's back, even if something's wrong with his illusions and it's not working, but he's back in his foot and a half tall tanuki body... though he's wearing a suit. And there's something in front of him, a person who keeps flowing between forms - man, woman, child, elder...
But he can see things, and he can hear things, and he climbs up onto the creature's shoulder. It keeps shifting, but strangely it never seems to throw him off, and his mental voice rings out through the hallway.
Stick in groups! Don't let them get on your back! Anyone who's injured, get in the middle of a group until someone can help you!
A -- though we can move to other prompts if you want
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[In the middle of the chaos of the schoolyard, Guts suddenly snaps back into awareness. There's a distinct feeling of lost time, like one of his old surgeries and he bends over, groaning at a migraine. Where is he...where...the message...he'd been driving up into the woods. ]
Fuck. [And then, again.] Fuck. What am I doing here.
[Then, with dawning horror so loud even Combatants could hear. ] What the fuck happened to my fucking car.
B. Act 1
[Whatever Guts had been doing before, the moment Luci's voiced chimed and the hall changed, he acted, hand reaching to a giant sword that hadn't been there just a moment before. With a heft of his shoulders he swung the thing down, staring at the giant rat
apostlesbeasts that snarl and chatter from the other end of the hall.Its stupid, its dangerous, he didn't want to get wrapped up in this fight again, but its so stupidly nostalgic he feels a maniac grin tugging at his face.
He glances back at those around him, nodding a head at the vermin approaching.]
Hey! Form up! Don't let these bastards separate you from the group!
A - forgive if i'm rusty, i've been off the wagon for a while
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A-hi gabe
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Re: b
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B
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A because the two l'anges have to stick together
why are the angel arcanas both huge assholes
because even satan was an angel at one point idk
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B
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Chikusa Kakimoto - ota
[After a certain telepathic message...]
[For those characters who live at the school apartments, they'll find Chikusa striding swiftly through the apartments- shoulders hunched but long legs carrying him quickly through. His giveaway sheep charm is attached firmly to his pants belt loop, shiny Navigator symbol on its ribbon catching the light.]
B - Fetched, Pre-Shitshow, Newbies Only
[KNOCK KNOCK, GUESS WHO'S HERE]
[Or, well. Maybe, if any unAwakened characters are waiting helpfully outside of their houses or apartments or whatever, any knocking won't be necessary as Chikusa shuffles his way along. But he really doesn't have the patience for any nonsense. So help him if you're not going to be cooperative...]
C - Shitshow Start
[Chikusa doesn't even give a deadpan swear when the lights go out. Instead, in the enroaching darkness, there's only...]
[Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.]
How annoying...
[And then, almost flawlessly, his voice shifts from reality to telepathy as the scratching of tiny clawed feet fills the walls, the floors, the dark corners of the classrooms and hallways that have been left empty.]
It's probably trying to intimidate the ones of the second round.
[That's you, newbies.]
[The same newbies which, if they can tear their eyes away the horrific sights of creatures unnaturally squeezing themselves through the cracks in doors and glaring at them with brilliant glowing eyes, might be a bit surprised at what they see "Ciro Bonavida"- Chikusa Kakimoto- do next. Calmly, apathetically, he presses his fingers into his chest, deeper and deeper, until he suddenly wrenches them out, something pulsing in his grip- ]
[And his clothes shift from simple everyday wear to a long black-and-white patterned coat in harsh lines, done up to completely cover his throat. In the hand which was in his chest just a moment ago? The head of a trident, lacking the staff. In his other hand, a long white crossbow.]
[And from his shadow...]
[An enormous- monstrous- snake pulls out from it, taking Chikusa's shadow with it until he very clearly doesn't have one even in this dark place. It coils around him, head following where he looks as if they're one.]
Group together. Immediately.
D - Navigator Shitshow
[Hey, don't worry about the crossbow bolt suddenly whizzing dangerously close by your person, it's fine.]
[Seriously. It's fine. Because Chikusa is aiming at any locker that looks like it's close to dragging anyone in, crossbow peeking over the coils of Astaroth.]
....They're aiming for Navigators. Have you noticed?
[If you're a Navigator he just saved from locker hell, well, congratulations, this is relevant to you. If you're a Combatant, well... This probably seems pretty dismissive of what just happened to you, but it's fine.]
[Of course, this is a telepathic link. Anyone can respond to it.]
E - Wildcard
[Go wild, Chikusa is available for just about everything in this clusterfuck, and can find people anywhere. It's just almost 11 pm over here and I can only write so much before it gets overwhelming, lmao. If you have an idea that isn't a prompt, hit me up in a PM or over on plurk.]
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B but post-exploding-at-Gabe/Guts
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no subject
The fact it was a mere day away from another potential fight had already had Genda ill at ease. Medical supplies had been arranged and rearranged in the large and sturdy rucksack he had saved up for. Bandages, painkillers, compresses, materials for various splints, even medical grade thread he had gotten from his father who had taken the request as his son wanting to learn more in depth first aid and had taken a few hours before another shift at the hospital to teach him on a hastily created doll the best way to stitch various wounds. All of it packed to quickly be scanned and taken as needed along with those odd blankets used for shock and hypothermia paramedics used, a token from his mother who had seen the kit and thought it was being made for a hiking trip with friends.
However when Kidou was suddenly in his head, urging everyone to the school. A day earlier then what was supposed to be, had him cataloging every item of use and prioritizing what was and wasn't feasible to bring. Even as in after thought one of the small sheep he had been making in bulk since that day Luci had posted that audio clip onto the zipper of the bag. The dark green ribbon with the bright red combatant symbol openly displayed for openly instead of tucked away from possibly hostile eyes.
It was likely the only thing really odd to see as people moved about to finish what they needed to do before curfew hit. As Genda had came back in his uniform, the blue of it and the green tie marking him as a third year in the lower cycle and likely running to finish one project or another assigned as a summer assignment. Though he's walking with a purpose one may notice him looking around as if trying to find someone or someplace.
There's a place I have gone [B]
His bag was stashed in one of the rooms connected to the corridor they seemed to have been herded to. If this ended up being like last time it would hopefully still be there once everything was said and done. It was better odds then trying to keep track of and in one piece if things became hectic while carrying it.
Instead he's placed himself against a wall between a classroom door and a storage closet. Giving him a much better view of both ends of the hall as well as close to the 'middle' of the area in order to watch those moving by. Looking for anyone familiar, his phone is out and the countdown is easily visible to those that may look down at it. If they're not first distracted by the simple sword charm connected to it that looks oddly like the same sword used in the combatant symbol. There's a heavy frown on his face as he stares at the numbers ticking away.
"The timing is off."
There's a beast and I let it run [C]
The sudden lack of light only causes him to tense and listen intently for a moment before the skittering suddenly registers and he's moving. Hand already moving towards his chest even as part of him flinches at what is about to happen. It hurts just as much as it had before, but he had expected it this time so there's only clenched teeth and tense frame to show as his fingers are suddenly inside his chest and pulling something out before his outfit changes. Gone is the Green Valley uniform and in its place is a pitch black military like uniform with blood red piping and rust colored braiding and in that same rusty almost blood like color is a symbol stitched right over the place his hand had been in a moment before. In his hand is a beating heart for a few moments before it fades as metal gauntlets clad his hands.
It isn't long before he's weaving carefully through the hall. His persona gliding out of his shadow to claw at reaching lockers, or to spit fire at the many rats circling others. Mostly though the mish mash of big cat and reptile is flaring those wings out before as a healing spell or a purifying spell is cast on those that need it or as directed by a navigator that has clued in on his abilities by this point. Again he's taking more hits then likely necessary as he moves to intercept a lunge of a rat, or get in the way of grasping metal. Even using his armored hands and forearms more like shields then weapons as he blocks attacks more often then actually attacking back. Sometimes this causes him to be thrown from a locker to somewhere else harshly by stepping in front but not being able to stop a locker from pulling him in instead of the original target.
This behavior is likely what catches the attention of those with more experience in regards to battle, or perhaps you were someone he took a hit for.
Now it's running my way [D]
Once it became clear which two sets of people were being targeted, Genda is less focused on slotting into helping whoever is near him and is more intent on finding one of two people. Kidou is a navigator and while Sakuma is likely already there fighting right along side Kidou, that means Sakuma's attention is divided too much. Their backs are meant to be watched by him so that Sakuma and Kidou can focus on other aspects. There's also another he desperately searches for as he moves. Every flash of white having him focus on that person for a few moments to see if it's the one he's looking for. Fubuki was new, likely either not having awakened yet, or reeling from doing so. He was the higher priority in regards to finding. Even if he wants to just zero in on where Kidou is first, but that isn't what he needs to do. In this place Fubuki was now team and needed to be brought to the others if he wasn't there already. So they could help one another. It's a sudden and sharp focus, making it hard for anyone to get his attention unless it's really dire or they manage to get in his way long enough for him to finally acknowledge you.
Wildcard
((Hit me up if you have a prompt that doesn't fit any of these here. You can pm me or get me on discord [pinkparasol#4080] or plurk (pinkparasol) if you want to run an idea by real quick. I also have a plotting top level as well. Also prose or brackets are up to you. I'll follow what you want.))
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Augustine Sycamore | OTA
[Armand is completely conflicted at this. As he heard that mysterious voice inside his head, his first reaction is to ignore it as he doesn't want to be a part of what is happening. It's not only that he doesn't believe all of this, but he fears at whatever is trying to call him might lead him to trouble as it is still curfew hours. Right now, he is still back in his apartment trying to stay there for the whole night.
Well, he was trying to until thanks to a certain student dragging him out instead. But once he learns about his situation, he will slowly realize that if he and the other Apple.NET users are involved in this, then that means his nephew might be in trouble.
With that, he may finally find the reason to go as he finally recover his control of his legs as he quickly heads over to school.]
II. Escaping the Shadows
[Once he sees the whole school change right in front of him, Armand just stares at the changes and the emerging Shadow right in front of him. The rat monsters, the lockers, the whole hallway... He can't just believe all of this anymore.
Unfortunately, he realizes that this is no time to stare as he sees the rats seemingly notices him and quickly rushes in to attack him. Still horrified, Armand quickly runs the other way to escape the rats. Besides, he has no choice as his only 'weapon' he has right now is a taser (mostly for avoiding his would-be murderers) and using it might only stun them for a few seconds.]
No, no, no, nononono...
This can't be happening... This can't be happening!
[More importantly, he wonders where Morty is as he fears for his safety.]
III. (a) Awakening
[Eventually, he finds himself cornered by some rat Shadows. And with his taser completely useless after using it twice, he is completely helpless right now. And with his current situation right now, he is aware of his hopeless situation right now. At least, for Morty's sake, he might as well try to be the bait and get this over it.
But just as Armand gives up on his will to survive, his heart begins to glow as it beats to a fast pace. He tries to ignore it, yet he can't help but feel the growing pain around his body. And then, a voice rings out in his head, telling him to fight back or not only he won't see the truth but to never seen his loved ones ever again.
He did try to give up, but once he thinks about it, surrendering his life to these monsters means hurting his loved ones because of him. No, he can't give up now. Not now, not in this dark place like this!]
"The time is now. I am thou, thou art I! Your mind is trapped, but I can set your soul free! My other self, will you die, or fight back?
Accept me for who I am! Forge this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!"
[So all he has to do to survive is to tear it out? Well, he doesn't want to die now. Not here, not now! And without questioning this, he reaches out into himself and pulls his heart out as he screams in pain.
Just as he feels that his vitals has stopped, a bright light quickly envelops him as his clothes melt into the fire. And as his outfit changes, he slowly starts to remember everything. His real name, his real home, his Pokemon knowledge, and his real memories. Why didn't he forget them? No, how did he got here in the first place?
Unfortunately, he has no time to question all of this as he notices his new blue and black outfit has changed to something similar to his usual lab outfit, except it has blue waistcoat, black shoes, long black gloves with pale yellow tips located each of his fingers, and a bracer with a U-shaped symbol in front of them. But one thing that surprises him is the transformed shadow behind him. A looming masked figure floating behind him wielding a staff, which his appearance looks very similar to a certain Life Pokemon.]
III. Awakening (The Fight)
[Once he gets his bearings back together, he knows standing on the sidelines won't help him answer his questions. In fact, his first move is to try to use his newfound weapons to the test in order to aid the others from stopping the Shadows. Unfortunately, as he always commands his Pokemon to fight as a trainer, he is not exactly the type to learn how to use a sword and a bow and arrow overnight. Because of this, most of his melee and ranged attacks tend to miss. At times like this, he may need someone to help him or teach him how to fight.
However, being a trainer and supporter does have it's advantages as he may approach you while dodging the Shadow's attacks.]
Foras, help them out, will you?
[His Persona complied to his request as he tries to use any buffing spell to aid the Combatants on the battlefield.]
WILDCARD
[Professor Sycamore is mostly available during the whole night/battle. So in case you want to do a prompt that is not available above, hit it me up on Discord (RunnerAwaker#5940) or Plurk (
One more note, I'll try to follow any format (prose or brackets) if I can.]
II. Escaping the Shadows
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late to the party, but let's go with II
That's okay! In other news, YAY!
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Morty's first reaction to the telepathic broadcast was to check his phone. There's still time. They should still have time! His second reaction...is to hide under his bed. When he was younger he'd thought there were monsters there, but he prefers his made-up demons to the nameless, formless enemy that now looms over him.
He skips dinner, tells his parents he feels sick. It isn't actually a lie, either, panic and fear are making knots of his gut. He doesn't move. Not until yet another voice in his head suggests staying here might put his parents in danger. That...he can't let that happen, they're uninvolved in this mess. They shouldn't have to... He considers leaving a note, just...just in case he doesn't come back. He stares at a piece of paper and a pen for a good five, maybe ten minutes, and fails to come up with any words....so he just slips out and closes the door.
Morty hesitates, frozen on the doorstep. But he made up his mind... "Nn... Okay, I'm going..." He tries to walk normally through the dark, empty streets, but every sound, real or made up, makes him jump. Even his own footsteps. But he keeps his feet moving, because if he stops moving forward he'll turn tail and flee, and he won't do that. He won't.
[B - Take you, shake you, make you scream]
The lights flick out, and someone in the group whimpers. This is the last place Morty wants to be - he walked right into a horror movie, and he knows his uncle is probably here somewhere too (if he isn't, is he safe? don't think about that-). The skitter scritch scratch starts, and grows louder, and louder, and Morty backs away from where he thinks it sounds loudest. If he gets his back against something, he'll be safer, right? That's one direction blocked off. They can't get him from behind that way...whatever they are.
His back finds something flat. Metal, it feels like. A locker. Not as solid as he'd like, but it's something. He lets out a sigh of relief. It feels just a little safer.
Until the metal moves behind him, and something feels like teeth that open wide. Something grabs him from behind, the very thing he'd hoped to prevent, and the scream that tears from his mouth cuts off suddenly as he vanishes into the darkness of the locker.
...it picks up again elsewhere in the corridor, falling from the distant ceiling. Look out below!
[C - Should I let you awaken?]
It's too much. It's more than too much. Morty is going to die here.
It's all he can think about. Past the tears and fear is the stone-cold surety that he isn't getting out of here. It's absolute chaos, and there are people fighting too, but he's small and weak and can't even get away from bullies. What makes anyone think he could defend himself from rat monsters?
The voice in his head thinks he can. And there's one core feeling that resonates with him: fight or die. Maybe he can't get out of here alive, but he'll definitely die if he just curls up and waits for the end. He doesn't want to die, and that, more than anything, drives his hands to his chest. And somehow they slip inside and it hurts and his ears fill with the sound of a cardiograph flatlining, and there's something pulsing and warm in his hand, and out it comes.
Oh.
His school uniform evaporates, and in its place blue-and-black leather and shining steel materialize. It's the epitome of edge, but somehow it feels comfortable and right, and dangerous....because he is.
This is a battlefield. It's not his area of expertise, he isn't a warrior, he can't last long in a battle. But there are a lot of fighters. Nagisa is an assassin. If he means to be effective....then it's got to be one at a time. One blow, move on, take them down. Kill, crush, destroy, was it? The corners of his mouth twitch up into a serene, saintly smile. Let them come.
There's a surge of powerful killing intent, and he walks through the hall. The knife fits in his hand perfectly, weight and balance ideal for him specifically, and the edge is honed to an incredible sharpness. The gun is a simple handgun, but comfortable. Both flick out to pick off enemies as he's able. He doesn't have a particular goal - he'll just walk through the hall and take out as many enemies as he can. He doesn't have the ability to hide in this war.
That's fine. He'll just weave and walk.
[Wildcard - It's only you and me and all of your fears]
((Got anything else you want to do? Hit me! Want to plot it out a little first? SilverStilletto on Plurk, or crossfortunes#5626 on Discord!))
C.
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Heiji Hattori | OTA
Much had happened in the month since the start of the count down. Many fleeting emotions were experienced in this unwanted ride the very day the application installed itself. Now that number finally reached zero, and reality started to slip through their fingers with each passing minute. The strange telepathy that was taking place was hard to ignore, and something was obviously going wrong. Harley couldn't quite place it, and as much as he wanted to remain courageous and stay put, that feeling slipped, too.
Harley's first instinct was to check on Conan. The teen hurried to his room, without bothering to knock Harley grasped the knob and pushed the door open. Because Conan was also a victim of the application, like Ran.
"Conan!"
There wasn't much they could do besides head to the school. At least that's what all signs indicated they do. Hopefully Ran was going to do the same.
{ The Shadows Rise }
Unfortunately it was difficult staying safe once the lights went out. In fact, it was damn near impossible to even remain calm. In the midst of the urgency and panic, Harley had some how separated from Conan when things got dicey. Maybe it was the intentions of the rats all along, or perhaps it just worked out that way. Either way the two weren't together any longer.
He had stumbled upon the gym sometime ago, and luckily was able to claim a baseball bat. It wasn't quite a good weapon of choice, but it was better than nothing. Given that it was wood, it would do far more damage than any of the metal ones as well. Although the gym was wide, and open, a group of rats had spilled in in their search.
"Dammit!"
More! Just when he managed to escape the group earlier. Or was this a different set? Either way they were overly persistent and the unawakened navigator had no way to handle them.
{ Awakening }
It seemed like hope had been chipped away bit by bit the more intense the situation grew. True he was more inclined to act since arriving at the school, but not like this.
The light drove the rats further back, and an awakening took place. For better or for worse (probably for worse), Heiji had come to his senses. Fully. A lot had happened, and he still wasn't entirely well…
"No! NO NO NO NO ! You're not supposed to Awaken! Stay asleep! You aren't
supposed to awaken! STOP IT! STOP THEM! K̢I͏L͡L!͜ CR̨US̡H҉! ͘D͘ESTR̛OY͘!"
On second thought…things still weren't well. He could ignore his concern regarding all of the memories that conflicted with the ones he knew to be true. Though Heiji had a hard time suppressing the fact that he was made to believe this thing could have been real.
What the hell was going on?
There was too much for the detective to process, even for him, and yet he was as stubborn as ever.
"This is a joke, right?"
{ Awakening }
Juane, you poor soul.
No worse than usual for him...
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shadow rising
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The Curtain Falls
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ota
[John sticks to a patch of wall, watching as other arrive or shifting nervously on his feet. He'd bumped into Kei on the way over, but he was still looking for other familiar faces and waiting was always the worst. After the message that was sent out by Kidou he couldn't help but worry about everyone, as he spotted them in the hall he mentally checked them off in his head, thinking to himself They're okay, they're fine..]
Why are schools always so creepy after hours?
[A fight in a school...yeah that wasn't going to bring back any bad memories. How was he more nervous than the first fight?]
B. Arise
[And just like that it's time. The school's halls shift around him and Jaune swears he's had nightmares like this. He thought standing near the walls would be safe--but he was wrong. Near the walls are a row of lockers and as he moves to get a better view of the field he notices the metal snapping and twisting into a mouth.]
You have got to be kidding me.
[Whoever he is standing next to, he shoves away as the locker snaps at them both. The other person should be fine...but Jaune's snapped up like a piece of popcorn. He shouts in pain--the DARK damage especially effective given his own LIGHT element--before promptly being expelled. He's a combatant and they don't want him.
Jaune pushes himself off the ground, he's injured but he still manages to shout.]
Stay away from the lockers!
C. Awaken
[It's time again. Jaune feels it and knows what he has to do this time. Still, there is a moment of hesitation because he remembers the pain of the last time...but also the rush. But as he'd just been caught off guard by the locker attack he needed more power, he needed to help his friends. There's no time for hesitation.
His hand slips inside and in the next moment his heart is in his hands. There's a rush as his clothes are replaced by white, gold, and red armor. A shield rests gently on his back concealing a rifle and in his hand is a broad sword. He swings it down at some of the rats--pushing them back.
It's time to fight. He calls out to the nearest Awakened Navigator.]
Where do you need me?
D. Any
[Have a different idea or interaction you want? Hit me up. I also have a plotting thread here if you want to poke me first--or find me on plurk or discord.]
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[Emergency medical supplies. A Swiss army knife. Flashlight. Matches. A few light snacks and a couple small bottles of water. One spade shovel.
Kouyuki thinks he's ready. Thinks that he's planned enough, thought far enough ahead, and knows the terrain well enough to secure some kind of an advantage. He thinks he's above fear because he has something — someone — to protect. But he's not.
Live free or die hard, Luci tells them. As if they've even got a choice.
Then the lights go out. The world around them comes alive in nightmarish ways, not shifting, but warping into something completely unrecognizable. The school is no longer a place of refuge, but the deadly maw of some larger beast closing up tightly all around and refusing to let them leave. And then they appear, the nonhuman enemy he was warned about. Screaming, scuttling, monstrous sized rats. Don't struggle, they say, as if death should be a comfort. But it's death that Kouyuki fears most — even more than monsters.
And so he swings his spade when they come, raising his voice above theirs in a shout that carries down the winding, unfamiliar corridor...]
Get... Get out of my way!
II - KIDOU: SLEEP UNTIL ⚔ YOU WAKEN
[It seems there is no end to them, the rats with glowing eyes and bodies that spill an undulating darkness into the hall. They keep coming, all razor sharp teeth and claws, their raw malevolence a force unto itself leaving some quaking where they stand, or worse, being backed into corners. But that's what they want. That's how they'll separate them and pick them off, one-by-one...
Kouyuki won't stand for it. He has fought so hard to find his way back to his brother's side in all of this. He still doesn't have all the answers he needs, but he knows what he must do, and for now...it's enough. Even while Michi and the other "Navigators" guide them, he knows he must protect Michi. He must protect him at all costs.
As if sensing that determination, or perhaps sensing something else, some threat to them, the rats shriek with rage. They come. More of them. Faster. Stronger. Stranger — more frightening. Their shapes warping. More heads. More eyes. Larger teeth and claws. Tails that thrash at the dark behind them or aim to sweep at their prey's legs. There is no mercy, only an unrepentant hostility: a desire not only to kill, but to completely annihilate what stands in their way.
A desire that resonates within Kouyuki as he and his brother find their only exit blocked, and something inside shatters, revealing a voice...]
My other self, will you die, or fight back?
Accept me for who I am! Forge this contract by letting go of your fears!
Revolt against this world, and
TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!
[Without thinking, Kouyuki obeys that voice, his hand relinquishing its hold upon the spade he's wielded all this time and reaching instead inside...
...and he snaps violently awake.
Like a sleeping person who has fallen into frigid waters, the breath is painfully sucked from his lungs, awareness forced upon him whether he's ready or not, and with it, all the memories of another life very different from the one he's led in Eddan. Of painful loss and loneliness, a heart and mind divided, and of all the joys of soccer. They're coming to our school... He remembers friendships forged by necessity and strengthened through sharing their burdens, and then, with a violent scream from the beasts still charging, one that rattles around in his skull like an angry wasp, he recalls what's most important of all. The present, and...
Michi!
Who is no longer standing where Fubuki remembers he'd been. Instead, in his place is the familiar figure of a friend and teammate, someone he hadn't known was here with him until now. Hadn't seen, despite living with him under the very same roof all this time, fighting alongside him here in this school all the while.]
Kidou?
[Questions. Confusion. They don't have time for this. The thing at his back, a pale and feral winged wolf with two heads that stands of a height with him, reminds him of their need for urgency with a forceful nudge — and his soul echoes back. Eyes glowing gold. Blood rushing through his veins, fueled by an adrenaline that won't know rest, not now, won't quit, doesn't know how...]
Let's be like the wind!
III - OTA: WHEN YOU WAKE 👁 YOU'LL SEE THE WORLD
[He's powerless to stop Kidou from being snatched away by one of those traitorous lockers, their separation by design of this thing overtaking their school. They're not as strong divided, they're more vulnerable. And it shakes Fubuki to his core to know that not only is this power of his still too new, it isn't enough and it's cost him...
Again, he's lost...a brother.
He rages against the monster that snatched away the only person who could help him make any sense of any of this, his weapon, an enormous steel-bladed snow shovel, slamming again and again into anything that dares come too near. The hungry hole in the wall, the demonic shadows and twisted forms of rats, all the while yelling incomprehensibly and desperate, his persona in just as feral a state. Hackles raised, ears on both heads laid flat, tails lashing, and fangs bared...
It's a wonder that, by the time he does hear Kidou's voice in his head again, he's able to back away from that edge at all. A testament to just how deep their strange and unexpected brotherly bond runs.
There's an unmistakable ruthlessness to the way he lends aid then to any he comes across, or to any Navigator orders he carries out. It's unclear if behind those golden eyes is the gentle defender known as Shirou, or the bear-killer himself. He never touches the long scarf that wraps around his neck or hangs down his front, after all.
But one thing is for certain. This isn't a fight he can go alone. Not on days without proper sleep, or with a body that won't know when to quit or retreat until it simply can't fight anymore and gives out instead. He tells himself he's fine. He's got this. But he doesn't know the patterns of those attacks, and some of them seem to strike harder than before, even bringing him to his knees despite his rage...
What is he doing wrong?!]
IV - WILDCARD: IF I'M ☠ NOT MISTAKEN
[OOC: Got something you'd like to play out that's not covered here? You can HMU in a PP, on plurk, or on Discord at JOJO#1374 and we can hash out ideas!]
NO 3 stop killing urself
thisisfine.jpg
SLAPS MUG AWAY. U R NOT FINE CHILD.
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For as long as he could remember, Conan Hartwell had thought himself to be a perfectly normal, if rather smart kid. Between one moment and another that all changes.
He'd frozen in shock as the memories poured into his head. Memories of hundreds of crime scenes. Locked room murders, dying messages, alibi tricks. Kidnappings, hijackings, bank robberies. Phantom thieves and criminals, detectives and police officers and the FBI and CIA. The Black Organization.
He remembered his name. His true name. And above all else, he remembered Ran.
And as he fully remembers, he sinks into a nearby chair in horror. His childhood friend, Ran. Ran, who he'd confessed to in London all these weeks ago.
Ran, who he currently knew as his brother's girlfriend.
Did she remember yet? What about Hattori?
B At the School, The Curtain Falls
Conan had allowed himself to be dragged along to the school. He didn't have enough data yet to understand what was really going on here, and in that case it was better to play along.
That was the thing about looking like a kid. It was easy for people to underestimated you. Even in such a small space as this hallway, he could move from group to group, eavesdropping on conversations, and very few people even bothered to look down. And if they did? It was easy to play the part of a bored and restless kid.
C The Shadows Rise
This was bad.
When the lights had gone out and all the commotion had started, Conan had lost track of Heiji and Ran. He got swept away by the crowd, pushed down the hallway.
And then the rats came. His gaze flicked around the room in the dim light given out by their eyes (his mind automatically starts going through all the different ways he knew of to create that effect. He takes in the changes to the hallway. The corpses in the portraits? Unconvincing. The moving lockers and ceilings? Mirrors and projectors.
But nothing he thought of could explain the sheer size of the rats. As several begin to close in, he starts to run. As he moves he keeps one eye on the lockers. He couldn't keep up this speed for long, not with his short legs.
But fighting had never been his only option.
D Awakening
Conan was trapped, cornered by several of the rats up against the lockers. Like this he only had a child's strength, and with no access to the gadgets he'd always used to level the field, even his mind couldn't think of a way out.
And that was when his heart started glowing. He stares at it, wondering if he really had started to hallucinate. Perhaps something in the fog?
But then he hears the voice.
"The time is now. I am thou, thou art I! Your mind is trapped, but I can set your soul free! My other self, your soul already knows part of the truth.
My other self, shall we show them what it means to cross us? Let us finish forging this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!"
Something about that voice pushes him past his customary skepticism. Almost without thinking, his hand reaches toward his heart and pulls. And then there was nothing but pain, his heart failing and his body twisting and stretching in an unsettlingly familiar way.
It was bad, worse than the pain from when he had changed before. And then, his heart stopped. And lays there, blinking behind his mask. A scramble to his feet, and he realizes that his proportions were all off. Or more correctly, that his proportions were right, for the first time in a long time. He wasn't a child right now. He hastily shoves his cape out of his way (and there was no time right now to wonder how he had appeared wearing the all too familiar knight's costume)
He spares a moment long enough to notice the enormous glowing hound just behind him and the soccerball waiting by his foot.
"How am I going to explain this?"
But there wasn't time for that now. Kicking up the soccerball (at last something familiar), he kicks it directly at the rat in front of him, aiming it to rebound off the far wall of the hallway and hit the second rat.
He starts running.
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Yuuto Kidou | OTA
The trip to the school was a short one, made faster by 'Michi' and Kouyuki both being on the track team. And once there, there's so little time left to prepare. Checking his phone, he pulls away from his brother, promising that he'll be back as soon as possible, and starts making a quick tour around the nearby area. He knows where cover is, but he has to check anyway. Kidou might breeze past your character, standing tall and walking quickly, from one end of the corridor to the next, looking above them, to the sides, checking around lockers...
B: Here we go again
..but all that preparation is for nothing. Kidou freezes in his urgent pacing not far from his brother's side as the lights go out. His mind is racing through variables and questions - how long is this area, what do they have available, are they really prepared for this - that he has no time to ask. All he can do now is wait as the horrible sound of things skitter and clatter all around them. Where is it? Above them? To the side? Below? It sounds almost as if it's coming from everywhere. Even without being able to see a thing through the darkness, Kidou's turning around, trying against all odds to pinpoint where the threat is going to come.
Stay together! Don't get separated!
And for a moment after that, Kidou pauses. His chest rises, as if taking a deep breath. Then in one sharp motion he's got his hand sunk deep into his chest, feeling the familiar rush replace the agony as his fingers find his heart. The change is almost instant- a cape unfurls and swirls around him, and as Kidou grabs the leading edge and tosses it aside, everything he's wearing has been replaced by a uniform The sunglasses he has are now goggles. His shadow stretches away from him and stretches, forming into two darkened figures carrying a winged litter, a penguin-headed empty cape drifting atop it like a ghost.
His sniper rifle is kept unused at his back as Kidou instead snaps his foot forward, kicking his soccer ball out at the nearest rat. They're at too close quarters for this fight for any other weapon.
C: Sniper rifles aren't meant for close quarters
There's no warning. There's just suddenly Kidou being thrown out of the ceiling, practically on top of a pair of rats. He reacts quickly enough, trying to roll to his feet, but they're not that much smaller than he is, and fast enough that there simply isn't time. In the gloom, Kidou can see light gleam off of the front teeth of a rat lunging straight for him, and he swings his sniper rifle like a club to knock the rat off-target, wincing internally at the idea of potentially damaging his rifle as the rat's teeth snick audibly shut just by his ear. Another rat is just far enough away that Kidou can wedge his sniper rifle against it, pulling the trigger at point blank range. The force from the blast drives the rifle painfully straight back into his chest, leaving him painfully gasping for breath.
Unfortunately for Kidou, there's still the closer rat that's not damaged by that decision, and already has its teeth right next to him, exactly prepared for a strike-
D: Navigating through this
Maybe you notice that rat leaping right for you, maybe not; but it's hard to miss the bullet that whizzes right past you, embedding into its head and fanning you in rapidly dispersing wisps of black smoke. Kidou doesn't take the time to aim again, though; he's instead running right towards you, at one point using his sniper rifle as a makeshift staff to try to block another rat's charge towards him. He'll stop once he's at your side, not bothering to look over as he surveys the surrounding area one more time. Pay no attention to the blood on his uniform there, it's fine. There's seemingly no end to this rush...
It's useless to strike out blindly! Defend until my signal!
Wildcard
[Got anything else? Throw it here, or hit me up at
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Wildcard!
lmk if this works
You're good, love.
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She's tried to tell herself it's nothing. As she told herself with Ciro, everyone had days, and neither one of them attested to anything wrong when asked. She's oversensitive lately; her mother came home far too late (and far too tipsy) a couple of nights ago, setting off an argument in the wee hours of the morning that speared through the floor. That's got her riled up. Probably it's her. Probably she's the one who's off. She does her best to ignore it, pushing it away and trying to go about her tasks. She's watering the flowers in the shop when the voice sounds in her head.
Everyone! We are being hunted, and if we're to survive we need to band together. Get to the school!
She nearly yelps with surprise at the clarity of it; she's alone in the shop. Blue eyes whisk towards the window, trying to see if there's anyone outside.
(Though she already knows it didn't come from there.)
The dread begins immediately: Something's wrong. Really wrong. It chews away inside her stomach, acidic and impossible to ignore.
Her fingers slip to her phone in her apron pocket, tightening around it. She wants to call Harley, wants to hear his voice. But desperately she's trying to talk herself out of it.
Go to the school. The words are an imprint on her brain, the anxiety still gnawing through her gut. She doesn't want to go.
B. The Shadows Rise (Part 1) - They move fast. Looks like they've already trapped you in here...
Being trapped in the corridor for so long was unnerving enough. The lights going out was worse.
And then the scratching, scurrying . . . it tingles at the edges of Ran's nerves, sends a sharp twist through her chest. It's all around them, everywhere -- in the hallway, in the pipes, in the walls . . . Her hands dart towards her ears, the panic yanking up through her throat -- though her palms don't clamp down, just as afraid of not hearing as she is of hearing.
And then the room twists.
Reality twists. The tiles part.
And there they are. Rats. Thousands of rats, too impossibly many to count. Ran's eyes are enormous, pale. No muscle in her body seems to work. She can't move. Later, she won't even be able to remember if she screamed.
C. The Shadows Rise (Part 2) - It's the people around her that jolt her into action. The shouts and the cries and struggles of those around her jolt her into movement even before her brain has quite caught up with it. She doesn't think, she can't think; she dives in without considering. Hands and feet lash out, strike into anything she can manage, do whatever can be done to keep rats from tearing into others.
But she's not Awakened; she has no abilities of her own, and her karate remains buried in the recesses of her mind. Rat teeth and claws slice into her flesh; rat bodies collide into her, knock her to the floor. She's Unawakened, and she needs help.
D. Awakening - She's battered and bleeding. They're still coming, unyielding, unending. The corridor is a nightmare of corpses grinning from portraits, from the yawning, black maws of the lockers, from a sea of glowing rat eyes. It's not going to stop. Her mind undulates in a silent, unreleased scream.
Accept me for who I am! Forge this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!
Her heart is glowing in her chest. It feels like fire, hot and searing. Her hand moves towards it; without thought, it plunges in.
Her shriek rips free of her throat. It hurts worse than anything she's ever felt -- like she's tearing herself free of her own body with the movement, muscle fibers and skin and veins snapping and popping in the wake. She's not sure she'll ever stop screaming; the sound consumes her mind and her being in one single, wild note that ripples through her frame.
And then, suddenly, the world goes dark. Silent. She feels her body slump. Feels herself strike the tile. But the world is suddenly far, far away, and she's not a part of it.
Is she dead?
Yes?
No.
The memories trickle, then surge. Murders. Blood. A boy with a mischievous smile, pulling a cold soda away from her cheek. The feel of her muscles, practiced and confident, the strike of a foot snapping through the blade of a knife. Her mother's face, its honed intelligence plain. Her father grasping her shoulders, impossibly breaking down into a sob to find her unharmed. A small girl in her arms, gunshots biting into the pavement around their bodies.
Blue, blue eyes staring into hers, fingers tight around her arm, trying to make her see something, trying to make her understand.
Her heart thuds.
She gasps once like a drowning woman coming up for air, and glows. Her clothing melts away, shifting towards armor, towards long ribbons, towards a dark visor that arches over her eyes. Energy surges through her; for a moment nothing aches or hurts. She could do anything. Conquer anything.
There's a woman standing before her, impossibly tall, in a long, deep red gown and breastplate, her shoulders down to her hands webbed in red threads and white wings jutting from her back. She's blindfolded, and her hands fold calmly over the handle of a long sword whose length reaches all the way down to her feet. A jeweled eye watches impassively from the blade. She waits as though she has all the time in the world.
Her name is already known.
"Zepar . . ." Ran pushes herself slowly back to her feet. Her eyes flicker back towards the rats just outside her circle of light, and she presses her lips together, feet bracing. She can do this. She can move.
"Okay. Let's go."
She has people she has to find, and she's not completely aware of her abilities, but she'll do anything she can for anyone she runs across. She'll have to work it out as she goes.
E. Wildcard - Interested in something else? Message me or give me a poke on
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beep beep your ride is here ran
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Alucard | OTA
[It's only marginally better that Alucard knows what's coming. There is no time to hesitate, even in the onslaught of pain. Of that terrible flatline feeling as he reaches to his chest and pulls out his very heart...!
But Alucard is now dressed as he is most accustomed from his own world -- layers of clothes, vests, an overcoat and a cloak, all from a long ago age. He has his broadsword and throwing daggers. His eyes are now their natural golden color and then even glow a bit. Like a wolf's might in low light.]
Marchosias! Let us be off to battle.
B.
[There are rats everywhere He doesn't have time to deal with all of them in the face of the greater threat. They're attacking the newly awakened or those still in need to tear out their hearts. Alucard yells out.]
Is there anyone who needs help? Or is there a Navigator that can show me where to help the most?
C. Wildcard? PM or let me know via plurk on
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[true darkness has yet to descend upon them, and Emily is already tired. she's been at the school far longer than any of the combatants, carried there by psychic urging and the memory of those dark hands around her throat alike. the feeling of death had never been something she'd contemplated, but now - she knows that she's tasted it.
mind and body alike are sore from the experience, but in some ways it's been a blessing; preparing for what's to come had given her something concrete to focus on, tasks and steps that she could take in order to ensure that no one else would ever have to experience that bleak terror. she's stumbled more times than she can count, caught up by the bits and pieces of memories her head has no room for, but no one can deny her determination.
that had been several hours ago, however. with nothing to do now but wait Emily's thoughts are beginning to catch up to her, and she can't say that it's a welcome occurrence. the telepathic link she shares now with the rest of those swept up in this mess can only provide so much soothing white noise; the rest, unfortunately, are her own troubles.
in an attempt to fill her attention with something, anything else, her gaze drops down to the cloth tote she'd brought along with her when she'd first arrived. the Sugimoto house was hardly full of useful items for fighting off unseen supernatural enemies, horror movies aside, so Emily had made her contribution in the form of snacks and water. they were going to be here for a while, after all.
she drops down into a soft crouch, rifling through the bag for something that should still be here - and there it was. strawberry cheesecake pocky, extra thick. she had no particular attachment to the sweet, but the girl she'd been in another life had loved it, and so into the bag it had gone. now Emily stared it down with unnecessary solemnity, wondering if she dared to draw a little more from the past.
she does. with a soft inhale she slides a stick free from the box, holding it carefully between her fingers before neatly breaking it in half. her understanding of this sort of thing is hazy and secondhand, but even she can see what these broken ridges foretell: bad luck.
You're pretty self-centered, aren't you? Plus, you have a personality that pisses people off. That's why you'll get dumped.
he'd beaten that fortune, hadn't he? even Little Rohan had overcome himself. Emily's face twists into a petulant frown as she shoves the remainder of the pocky into her mouth. if that man from her past could shatter fate, then so could they.
at that moment, as if called by her newly formed resolution, the shadows descend. Emily leaps to her feet in an instant as the world shifts and warps around her, transforming into something horrifying...but not entirely unfamiliar.
she's afraid. to say otherwise would be a lie too enormous even for her own private thoughts to bear. there were no real weapons in her home, and so now she clutches the hammer her father used to make repairs at the daycare center in her hands as if her life depended on it. perhaps it did.
surprisingly, it's witnessing several people loop through the fog that helps center Emily's mind. she wasn't Reimi, but she had been once - in another world, another life, another endless corridor. she could borrow that other girl's courage, just for tonight.]
This is the place you can't turn around! Whatever happens, don't look back!
[it's something whose core no one else here will understand. Emily knows that. but the sentiment...that was something they could all use.
her stance may be firm, but as a Navigator she's a big target - and in the end Emily is still unawakened. the rats swarm her unexpectedly and she lets out a sharp cry of surprise, bringing the hammer down on several as they leap at her. the weapon is quickly lost in a sea of whiskers and teeth, however, and she's reduced to kicking desperately at the shadows. she doesn't realize it now, but every inch of ground she's forced to give up brings her one step closer to within the reach of a locker.
this is no fight that can be won alone.]
two;
[it's all too much.
from the moment that death woke her the night before, Emily has known deep in her heart that there was only one way this story could end. the darkness that she'd always feared would come from this app was now inevitable and no amount of struggling could change that. she knows, even before the quiet voice begins to whisper in her mind.
and yet...she still hesitates. even with the knowledge she's been given, she can sense that there's something unknown and even more horrifying awaiting her at the end of this. if she succumbed to the call there would be no turning back. could she survive that?
the answer doesn't matter in the end. the pressure builds up in her body until it's unbearable; she has to do something, not just to relieve this panic but to render herself useful to the others. if this was what it took to keep people safe, she was willing to march straight into the abyss.
Emily's hand is trembling as it inches towards her chest. the shadows press in, sensing her fear, but somehow their monstrous shapes only serve to steel her nerves. no way she was going to let these things leave this hallway.
tear out your heart.]
Ah-!
[she's screaming, but there's no awareness in her mind to halt it. the only noise she can hear now is the shrill flatlining of her own existence as time itself seems to stop. in a few moments the world resumes, shadows and all -
but not her heart.
only now, too late, did she understand. Reimi wasn't a girl from another life, she was the only thing that had ever been real. those memories, the frightful nightmares, they had all been from the world she treasured more than anything. to imagine that it had been robbed from her, even for a time, was intolerable.
but even those precious memories were cruel things in this warped landscape. while she'd recovered a great deal of them the night before, one important detail had failed to come to light until now, and that was Reimi was already dead.
all at once, the recollection of her demise slams into her alongside the physical reenactment. she'd thought the taste of the end from last night had been nearly unbearable, but even that paled against the real thing. all she can feel is the seizing of her organs, all she can hear is that awful, awful voice rising up over even the telepathic cries of her companions.
Miss, your hand is so silky smooth and cute. Heh, heh...I've already taken care of your parents.
her knees buckle as her back arcs, body unable to handle the injuries blooming across it on top of the previous stress. in the future they'd calm into something sedate and horrifying, but tonight the marks of her first death are new once more and bleed straight through her shirt, dripping with a terrible rhythm onto the floor. her keening wails make it clear that no healing spell could ever right this.
Reimi's mind is teetering dangerously close to the edge, so much so that it takes her several minutes to realize through the tears that despite the surrender of her legs she's failed to hit the floor. another pair of arms are wrapped beneath her own - arms as black as the shadows surrounding them.
the figure standing behind Reimi now is, perhaps, even more frightening than any of the foes. it's ostensibly a woman, if her bare chest is to be trusted. amazingly her state of indecency is the least alarming thing about her; a garland of human heads dangles from her neck, and she possesses at least ten pairs of arms from which all manner of ominous implements swing. her countenance is dire, tongue clenched between her teeth in a grimace that can only be described as bloodlust.
and yet, as Reimi stares up at her, she can't find it within herself to feel any fear.]
A stand..?
[it didn't make any sense. she was on the same wavelength as stand users, yes, but it shouldn't be possible for her to possesses one herself as she was currently.
it made no sense, and yet there was no mistaking it. this woman was undoubtedly a part of herself. without a word passing between them, she could sense what was trying to be conveyed here: Reimi could cry as much as she wanted, but she had to fight.
this city wasn't her beloved Morioh, but it was a town that someone with her face had once held dear. for that, and to protect this world from the darkness that Kira had once represented, she would indeed fight.
her stance is wobbly and her body is trembling violently, but Reimi stands all the same. this was why she was here, after all. to stand up.]
...alright, let's go.
[the words are barely above a whisper, but her stand hears them regardless. the hands which had once propped her up shift now, covering its user's eyes with a cool pressure. rather than blackness, however, Reimi can see - can see much more than she ever has.
this was what she could do, then. and she'd be damned if a pack of rats kept her from using it to its full extent.]
three;
[wildcard! if you'd like to do something other than these prompts, shoot me a PM and I'd be more than happy to work something out.
also in the second prompt, feel free to come across Reimi at any time during it - either while she's suffering immediately post-awakening or after she's regained a little bit of her footing and is able to aid people as a full Navigator.]
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["Get to the school!" "You guys better be prepared..." Kidou's voice. Luci's. Sakuma doesn't have to be told twice.
He packs minimally -- his weapons both take both of his hands, and while he's used to having to work with only his feet in soccer, in a fight it's a little different -- so what he ends up bringing is all things that can fit in his pockets and in a tiny backpack fitted in such a way it won't move when he's fighting. Anyone who knows what his phone looks like will note that he's swapped the case out -- this one clips into the lanyard he carries his apartment key on, strung around his neck. Next to the key and his phone is one of those sheep, its crossed swords stark against its wool -- but his is a little weird, sporting an eyepatch that matches his own, and wool that's a little more silver than plain white. Besides that, he brings almost nothing. Two bottles of water. A knife from the kitchen, wrapped in a cloth and taped shut (it's his experience that whenever you need a cutting tool, there isn't one handy, and his trident won't do). The tiny, pocket-sized notebook he'd been carrying at the solstice festival, and a pen to go with it. Anything less vital stays home.
He leaves without saying anything to his brother -- just leaves a quickly scrawled note that he's going to a friend's overnight. It's easier than trying to sneak out -- this way, he won't be looked for. He's sure he can ask Asher or Kidou to back him up, if there were any questions. Sakuma's apartment is within walking distance of Green Valley, so anyone who happens to be also on foot might see him hurrying along -- he's not running, but his stride is one of a boy who knows where he's going.]
2 - battle
[The school changes.
As soon as the lights cut, Sakuma's trident is in his hands. The area around them starts to warp, and he can't help but watch the windows change, the fog pour in from somewhere he can't identify. And then the rats arrive. For him, the creatures are a little more than half his height, and he engages a few at a time -- some of them turn to face him, but most of them head straight past him. He doesn't realize why, and he won't until he sees them actually go after a Navigator, but the ones he attacks pay enough attention to him that he has to stop wondering about it until he can find a lull in the fighting.
Sakuma does his best, but he's only one teenager, and a moment of attention spread too thin finds him cornered by too many rat-things, forced to back up and directly into the waiting mouth of a locker. It pulls him through, and there's pain -- and then he's thrown out of a portrait's frame and hits the opposite wall. There's no lockers here, but he connects with the wall and drops into a heap on his side, stunned for a moment before he forces himself back to his feet, his weight on the handle of the trident for balance. How is he supposed to stay out of those, he wonders desperately, when they're lining practically eighty percent of the walls of this corridor?
As he's getting up, a rat takes the opportunity to bite down on his leg, around his calf. Pain in this leg isn't unfamiliar, but it's enough to give him pause. The trident is taller than he is -- it takes him a moment to get it swung around in the direction he needs it to destroy the monster, which just gives it more time to deal more damage.]
3 - battle but different
[There are people he needs to find. His pantleg where the rat bit him is a torn in the places its teeth made contact, and there's blood soaked into it, drying fairly quickly. He's healed himself once, just enough to keep the wounds from bleeding more, but his gait is a little slower than it might be. It's a detriment -- he keeps having to stop and fight. Monsters like this -- they're fragile, and they can be hurt and killed without too much damage, but there are simply so many of them that it's more difficult than it might seem. Sakuma keeps moving, though from the way he keeps having to stop, it looks like he could probably use some assistance.]
4 - anything else
[ooc: i've got a planning post comment here and you can hit me up on discord at tsukasa#7489 if you want to talk more in depth!! i'll match format, so tag me however you like.]
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Zack Fair | OTA
[He felt like throwing up.]
[This pain was so much to bear, but for some reason he had no reason to doubt the voice in his head. Everything was a lie. Why? He didn't know. But something seemed off, and with each passing second, with each sweat drop that dribbling down his profile, with each step he took forward, he became more and more confident of what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to collect himself, only to fall to his knees as the rats surrounded him.]
I don't know if I can let go of my fears, but I sure as Hell not gonna go down like a coward!
[Clutching his chest harder with each breath, he felt a surge of energy as he closed his eyes and opened them once again, shining a mako blue.]
[Screaming, his black hair slicked back, and an otherworldly entity hovering over him.]
Sorry it took so long.
[smirk]
My legacy doesn't need to be carried by someone else quite yet. Not here.
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Yui screams when she does.
She's been lucky, somewhat. She's known she's dead--that she died as a child. But there was another death, later--disintegrating on the day before her twentieth birthday.
The memories hurt, even more as she felt like she was dying from pulling out her heart.
"No, no, please! I don't want this--I don't want to fight! I don't want anyone to!"
But she's not really getting much choice in the matter, as the rats keep coming for her.
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Mukuro Rokudo
[All the talk about arming oneself seemed pretty useless to Faustino, who had only gotten into a few fist fights in all of his years, and while he couldn't say he had lost, he hadn't exactly won either. As a teen who used his brain more than his brawn, he was more interested in setting up traps along the school.
Currently, he was lining an empty locker with nails and needles, hoping it wouldn't be too suspicious for someone in drama. Using double sided tape, he lined it like a makeshift iron maiden, hoping to do so in key locations around the school. With a few nails in his mouth, he looked up when he noticed someone rounding the corner.]
Could you hand me a few more nails, please?
[As if it was a completely normal thing to have a bucket of nails next to his feet, preparing a locker to casually shove something into to hurt it.]
[Pre-Awakening Fight]
[It was times like these he was grateful that his brother was a jock, since it meant their house was full of old sports equipment. That being said, perhaps he should have invested in a metal bat since after managing to dispatch of a few rats, it broke loudly across the face of one of the rats, splinters flying everywhere. And instead of slowing it down, it only seemed to make the rat angrier.]
Shit.
[Look even the most eloquent person could be at a loss of words sometimes.]
[C - Awakening ]
[He was going to die, his heart screaming painfully in his chest. He was vaguely aware of his gagging breaths, of crying out despite his best efforts to bite his tongue. Crumpling to the floor, he tried to fight against the voice that seemed to reverberate through his skull, through every bone in his body.
The time is now. I am thou, thou art I! Your mind is trapped, but I can set your soul free! My other self, your soul already knows part the truth.
My other self, shall we show them what it means to cross us? Let us finish forging this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!
He refused to die here, but if he was going to, he would do so on his own terms. Gritting his teeth, he gripped at his chest, for once in his life following as he was instructed. It was difficult to tell what was worse, dying or having his memories slam into him like a hammer to the back of his eyes, but he'd lived through worse. He heard the fluttering of the wings of his persona, as comforting as the trident in his hand. Tipping his head up with a feral smirk, he stood calmly, forcing the pain from his mind with a practiced ease.]
Let's start in earnest, shall we?
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cw: Me Not Knowing How To Truncate My Writing, minor eyegore for anything involving prompt b
Time had been getting weird for a while now, but this most recent one is the worst. Halfway off to god-knows-where after his brother forced him to go gallivanting into the woods and. Now he's back at that school he hasn't been allowed in since smashing a computer monitor. In the completely opposite direction from where they were headed. How does that make sense? Fuck, he can't even use his phone to distract himself. That thing went right into the ocean the second there was some weird snake thing on it spewing smoke 24/7. Last thing he needs is his family thinking he's hallucinating on top of the paranoia. Brother's already half to believing it.
Any Navigators will start heading a distinct litany of panic from somewhere, getting about five times as loud when that voice starts going off about being prepared because he's not supposed to be prepared for anything, how is that supposed to make any sense, maybe gabe wasn't kidding about needing to get out of the city, he owes an apology now, which is literally the worst thing, no, second-worst, second only to being teleported to a school in front of strangers and freaking himself into palpitations over voices in his hea
Wait.
Was that a Die Hard reference?
"Okay, I'm done."
And just like that, the waves of panic ricocheting off each Navigator does a damn near 180 into the opposite direction: a calm chain of placid swearing about falling behind in studies all the way to the science wing. May as well get something done while reality spirals into madness.
[ B - A Debt Collection (Closed) ]
Kris bolted.
It wasn't even the rats that did it. It was the lockers turning to fangs. Not even the thought of being eaten by them, watching them drag statuesque classmates and living people inside, or how they kept aiming for him as if alive, it was just the thought of being devoured took hold as the single thought of Get Away From Him. It's an it, not Him Capital H, but it worked just as well. The hall seems to repeat endlessly, like staring into fun house mirrors, but there's a section of pillars before the hallway curves - no broken shards jutting out to try and devour what's left of him (whatever that means) - and he's too freaked out to do anything but sit on the floor and watch the mayhem further away.
The rats will find him soon. He feels them if he thinks too hard, or he feels everyone else, but both options are freaky on about fifty different levels, and when a hand rests on his own chest to try and keep his heart from shorting out permanently, the hand disappearing into flesh is written off. For a second. The freakout pauses, frozen in a moment as a voice blocks out the world. Even most of it slips away in the wave of Nope that locks him to the floor.
My other self
It sounds familiar, like the anger over waking up at nine on a Saturday, like putting someone in a headlock until they stop breathing, like ripping out a tumor with your bare hands and slamming it to the pavement, like coming home.
Have we forgotten what it means to cross us
Forcing away the one you trusted most, because they betrayed you. Ripping out vocal chords with your bare hands. Making Mary look you dead in the eyes as you killed her - over and over and over and ov
Let us finish forging this Contract
You hate contracts. You didn't want this. You were finally left alone for once.
You are a coward and a murderer and a con artist. You have decided to be complacent to your own demise. You have no friends or confidants except for a brother you do nothing but lie to. In a city of countless others, your own purpose is nearly meaningless. Less than meaningless. Even still, it was yours, not this douchebag alt-you, and it's still a life better than the alternative.
You don't remember what the alternative is.
- Wait, what?
Haha, it went off script. It's enough to jar everything enough to open eyes back to reality, to stare down at the Thing that now lays on the tile under skeletal-thin fingers - not thing. Heart. It's a heart. What? For once, there's no voice echoing a more-assholish edition of your thoughts, no sensation of a monster waiting over one shoulder, no fear of becoming a different person, because you've always been the wrong person, and when your hand lays on top of it, feeling beats flow through and returning memories you forgot you didn't have, it's
"Don't!"
A hand grabs hold in a vice - frozen as death, just as thin, pianist's fingers but they don't know any instruments, and eyes follow up to lock on a face you haven't seen in days/weeks/centuries/aeons/Worlds, the only person on your storyline that has navy hair and that's only so everyone knows they're not human. Gods forbid you say it to their face though, the bitching would go on for years. The concern burning out of those ice eyes is just as irritating as it was the first time, but more that that, it's as familiar as each breath in your lungs, as each heartbeat that rings pain across your nerves, because they've been with you even longer than both.
Pai.
"Don't touch it. You don't have to face it."
"The hell are you saying 'don't' for, asshole, you're-"
"I'm not yours."
"There's multiple Paimons now? One of you is enough of a nightmare."
"That's hardly fair when multiples of you keep ruining everything."
"I missed you, too."
"Shut up and put the organ down. Look at me, not- nowhere else. You are flipping your shit. This is not real. Repeat it."
It's not real. None of it's real. This is all just a brain running sideways as reality grinds to a halt, screaming rats giving way to the sound of a winter's wind, jagged walls giving way to a deep, abyssal, black, tendrils of smoke roll in from your peripherals, from behind to the distance - passing out? Yeah, definitely passing out. Two hands rest, one on either shoulder, waiting patiently and supporting, keeping the world upright, but Pai just looks nauseous. Panicked. Apologetic. The fuck.
"It's real."
"Stop being difficult. I'm trying to help you here-"
"By making me go back to being that idiot who's scared of everything?! He's an embarrassment!"
"He doesn't have a debt! Why are you always like this?! I swear," the rant continues.
And there's Pai's downside, always going off the instant they get too uppity about things - this one says they're not Yours, but it doesn't matter. Paimon/ia has a bad habit for swooning over the Loyal To A Fault types in the most fretting parent way possible, so you're still confused as to why they keep babysitting your dumb ass. More importantly, they get emotional and say shit they shouldn't. Debt? What debt. Outside of Pai themselves, you never touched contracts. Too messy, too much sacrifice for too little reward. There was only that deal with Foresight you made after yo
Oh.
Pai's not there, or they might be but they're not for all it matters to you. Same with that Something you had in your hand, the sensation is gone now; it got lost to the feeling of those hands on either shoulder digging in painfully, fingernails changing to claws and if you think too hard there's a few fingers too many - it can't be valid, you forgot about the book, His Aspect, too busy dying like an idiot to remember the words, too focused on screaming at a God than recognizing the knowing smiles or caring about how easily He agreed to your demands- stop forgetting to breathe. It's hard when there's no air, it's absolute zero and the tremors are just the temperature and you ground yourself on the sound of wind chimes in the distance - mirror shards dancing in a nonexistent breeze, eyes humming to a peaceful song, knives sharpening against one another.
A Man Who Is Definitely Pierce Brosnan And No One Else speaks and the wind chimes turns to scraping. You still don't know who Pierce Brosnan is. He came to collect He can do that from anywhere right He doesn't need to be here in person that's just a waste of effort and energy and He can't be here, you would've known if he was EVERYONE WOULD HAVE KNOWN and the panic is so visceral and sudden and yours that you make the mistake of looking behind you to see if it's Him
and Fate catches up to you
For once, there's no voice echoing though thoughts, no sensation of a monster waiting over one shoulder, no fear of becoming a different person, because all any Navigator can hear is the exact moment a static burst overrides everything: nails running down a chalkboard, a nonverbal sensation of heart-stopping terror before something shatters and it stops entirely.
Probably because the screaming starts.
It's agonized, wrenching in the worst way, and very quickly takes on an inhuman two-toned quality - one voice swearing in constant chain, cutting off sporadically in maddened sobs, aborted promises, hysterical apologies to a God that does not forgive. The other voice never stopped screaming, and it keeps it up - far beyond any need for air, pain and horror and regret and misery all in one long note.
The entire scene is guarded by the abomination that rises. A hulking monster made of floating shards of a material you can't name, glass mirrors crystal but you can't look for too long because they all stare back, in a form that if you squint (tilt your head, take five shots of tequila, let madness rearrange how you see dimensions) it almost looks like a wolf. Glowing cyan running through wires hover around protectively, maybe, the needles that wait like poised snakes indicate the opposite. Despite the color of the liquid inside, when it hits air it turns to a viscous black ink, dripping from the tips and sluicing to the floor, almost matching the color of red that sticks to Aleks' hands as they rip away the view of the creature before him, rending the world to nothing but someone's screaming and darkness.
It's better like this. Leaving them in is anathema. Sacrilege, even. The debt needs to be paid. It wants eyes. It always wants eyes.
[ C - An Awakening That No One Wanted ]
It arrives after the rats start amalgamating into body horrors, when attacks stop working effectively or at random, when you're surrounded by monsters that don't have a weakness to exploit. A nightmare that looks like a bunch of broken mirrors shaped into a wolf (if the wolf's head was nothing but a fanged maw) and the peaceful sounds of chimes resounding over the chaos around you (barely covering a roar that crawls up every nerve and fear ever laid in your subconscious). It bites into thick flesh and rips away, the wound closing over in absolute ice and shattering to pieces, leaving a frostbitten crater in flesh.
The blood-drenched glass amalgamation turns in your direction. It is almost worse than the rats themselves. Almost. What is worse is the somewhat-feminine-mostly-douchebag voice that laughs in your head, chiming over the other Navigators. Must be nearby. Somewhere.
"Stick to the poodle, okay? I'm new to this and a biiiiit distracted ay-tee-em so work with me here. If I'm getting anyone killed on the first day of my watch, it'll be on purpose."
The wolf has no eyes, but it still feels like every bit of broken bits that make up its being is an eye staring at you. This is not horrifying. The fact the Nav felt the need to spell out chatspeak instead of just saying 'at the moment' is, though. There's another inhale, probably to laugh, but the rats start to move and the shards bristle like fur, chiming in time with an annoyed sound in your ears.
"Switching it up, huh... What tools y'got to play with, kid? Let's improvise."
[ D - Blah Blah Wildcard Slot ]
[ Message me on discord or send pms blah blah blah you know the way this works by now ]
jesus christ kat (b)
♥?
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C because this can't possibly go horribly horribly wrong
they can found the first AA group for recovering abominations
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no subject
[Delilah did not want to be here. She did not want to be involved with this bullshit app shadow magic horror nonsense. She had enough on her plate, fuck this whole scenario. That was Delilah's train of thought. And it was one that served her well while she could still wriggle out of this shit. But now that it was here, in the dorms and the schools, she was right proper fucked. Especially since Gabe kindly let her know that he tried to bail and failed.]
[That won't stop her however! With a backpack slung over her shoulder and a totally normal baseball bat slung into an easy-loose strap on its side, Delilah was barreling to get out! She might have even ended up knocking into your character going the other way! Which she probably did! Whoops!]
[C - Wake up & Take It Back]
[Chaos. Madddening maddening chaos. That's the only way for Delilah to detail the scene going on before her. The warping of the school, the rat (plague), the damnable thrumming of her heart in her chest. Her breathing is panicked, worried, maddened like how the world has become mad. She was going to die here! She was going to die and accomplish nothing! Nothing...she wasn't going to get it back...]
[Badumbump..]
[She wasn't going to get what she wanted in life! She wasn't going to be free! She wasn't going to escape and just be herself!]
[BADUMBUMP..!]
[She wasn't going....to save her father...!!]
[And with that realization came clarity. And that clarity became action. In a moment, Delilah ripped out her heart and for a moment, in the state between waking and dreaming, she could almost see him, that man in the vision with the pitch black eyes, nodding in approval]
[And with that Delilah was gone. And Emily Drexel Lela Kaldwin had returned. She took in a deep breath, her dark sailor's coat stinking of the salt of the seas as it washed against the docks of Dunwall. The smell of freedom and obligation. Her wrist twisted in such a familiar way as her father's sword unfolded in her hands as the shadowy figure of her Persona formed behind her. She smiled feral through the metal mask on her face as her thoughts and words became as one]
I'm going...to take it all back. Everything that was taken from me, everything you took from me!
[F - Wild Card]
[Whatever scenario, whatever time, Delilah/Emily's available for you to poke at her with a stick. Watch out! She bites!]