What their Eyes See: Finale

[voidtreckermods]

It’s been a weird mission. The Voidtreckers have been busy investigating, making headway in mapping and saving citizens from the video games and strange illusionary creatures. Those in the fourth tier have made contacts, followed leads and gotten close to the high and mighty of the criminal underworld.

Yet what exactly is happening here is still unknown. Their new found ally Anan is as stumped as the rest of them, but even so, the hackers and technological knowledgeable voidtreckers have been successful in isolating the virus to study and make an anti-virus. A netpoint network has been set up across the city, and enough access data stolen that they can start throwing everything into the systems and networks across the city.

While the illusions remain a mystery and how they got there, finally the world is purged of the strange virus as the anomalies begin to clear up by noon of day ten. Spectura victims wake up in hospital beds, dazed and confused, while no more sightings of the impossible plague those on the other tiers.


On the morning of day eleven, the once housebound and terrified citizens leave their shelters with the first tendrils of light reaching through the fog surrounding the enclosed city. An exodus of people, from fighters of tier four to elites of tier one, are making their way into the streets...and heading down into lifts and outside, out into the smog-filled wasteland.

“It’s so beautiful,” is heard, a rumbling through the crowd as people smile, laugh or wave into the fog.

”I won.” Fighters from tier four look around in wonderment. Other exclamations, about a blue sky, a greeting to a friend fill the air.

There is a pull. The voidtreckers will feel it too, though to them the world looks and feels no different. This pull is easy to resist, or they can follow and investigate it, attempt to lead citizens back inside the city. It’s not safe in the smog, no one has canisters, but none will heed the warnings.

Nor is there time for better efforts when a crackling sounds in the air, light and colours flashing in the smog, everywhere at once and too quick to get a hold on.

“STOP THWARTING ME!” booms out, and a great force pushes them back while pulling the citizens farther into the wasteland, sand and dirt kicked up in a frenzied storm. The voidtreckers can hear the civilians in the smog, but getting to them will prove harder than they may like.

Grabbing an air canister is highly recommended for those who prefer life.



CIRCLE ONE: THE MAZE
No matter where one leaves the city from, they will find themselves in a maze of walls, of metal sheets, each blending into each other. It feels surreal, as if nothing is quite real, nothing quite solid.

But it is solid. For those voidtreckers who cannot see illusions it will look like they are merely stood in the wasteland of the world. But when they begin to move they will learn those walls are tangible, and those that look close enough will see the same almost-light as the creatures that purple team have been fighting as the source.

For those who are not immune to illusions it is a strange place indeed. No smog to be seen, just high unyielding barriers. The pathways are different colours giving off hues of brightest pink, red, purple, neon green, glowing white, darkest black. Sometimes there are symbols on the walls, Capsule Corp, royal insignia, ravager flames, HYDRA, marks of royalty. They are emblazoned on the walls, the floor, sometimes even in the sky. And the deeper in they get...

➤ WINDING ROADS
It's noisy as they move around. As well as the distant noise of the citizens in the distance they can hear an acoustic guitar, erratic piano playing, the sound of bamboo on stone. Or perhaps an eagles cry, a lullaby or a song is heard as they move their way through the maze.

Objects stand in their way, blocking paths and needing to be moved or destroyed. Larger than life playing cards, red apples, flowers. Spears and daggers hang in the air as does the moon and the sun. Water often cascades through routes, making it difficult to move through or fire creeps up walls, nonthreatening but ever present. There are clouds of butterflies and ravens perched on walls, watching their every move, and the smell of sugar often hangs in the air.

But it’s better to navigate these turbulent passages with perseverance than violence. Daggers and apples will shatter and slice apart to attacks, creating a way through to begin with - but those that try the method of destruction to solve their problems will find these walls crowding them tighter, rising higher, becoming all the harder to destroy than they were before. They will become trapped, and will need assistance from the outside to untangle them from webs or jails made from crystal.
➤ STALKING THE STREETS
It isn’t just the Voidtreckers or locals who wander the maze. Wolves, dogs, zombie sheep and ghost animals mostly mind their own business, sometimes inclined to growl or bahh, but easy to pass. But other times, you may sense that you’re being followed, a presence hovering over you...while another companion will see as well the large shadow shrouding you before a decaying hand grabs at you from above, threatening to send its victim to some other part of the maze if not stopped.

Monsters also stalk these paths from various realities. The dead will be met in robes of white while others in armours from medieval times. All are fast, unrelenting in their attacks, unconcerned with pain or stopping without being properly slain. Ghouls of all shapes and sizes search for prey, and many more seek victims.

How they act and how to defeat them may be known to some, but not all. Is it worth the effort to stay and fight illusions, however? Sometimes those illusions don’t give a choice, but in other instances, a person from the city may be found on the ground unconscious, the smog air getting to them. They’ll need help, and fast.

CIRCLE TWO: IS THIS HOME?
Voidtreckers will realise they’ve left the maze when they find themselves in an open field. It spreads out far with vineyards in the distance, a campsite, all of this leading into a forest of childrens board games. While the campsite is not a true campsite as many will realise, it is the first moment everyone will have to come together, to perhaps plan ahead. Air canisters are essential in this environment, and locals have been found needing, unconscious. Backtracking through the maze is a death wish for many, but with the talents of the voidtreckers, setting up a checkpoint here may not be that impossible before going on ahead.

And then, when they finally do…

➤ FAMILIAR
It is almost dream-like as they walk, areas changing without them fully crossing the distance needed. One moment they are in a shopping malls food court, the next the interior of a spaceship; streets of palaces, temples, and mansions line up as a mish-mash of glamour, while others offer more humble abodes, taverns, family homes, bakeries. Medieval structures blend into tech bases, maintenance bays and dark rooms. Beautiful gardens, beaches and dusty souks all share space. But as they move through it, they will be tempted towards what is theirs.

And these can be anything. Ships, palaces, home, and even singular rooms: all of these are seen, doors providing access, doors that draw your character towards it, as if they know what’s on the other side. Spaces personal to the viewer, and with the constant pressure of these illusions, somehow draining to be around, they will find it harder to doubt what they see. Even if their bedroom leads towards a volcano, a blacksmith housing hospital beds right beside it, it will not seem so bizarre to find these natural.
➤ DEARLY BELOVEDS
But it’s not only structures that exist in this labyrinth of streets: there are people, animals - family, friends and pets. Beloved mentors, a smiling loved one. The night sky will wash over, the ocean within view; your favourite plush rabbit, a worn jumper. Your favourite song playing, losing you inside this new reality.

Even people from the Voidtrecker Express are around, whether or not they’re still passengers. Feanor, Zetta, Noctis, Cassie Cage, Jin Ling; Elfnein, Link, Mami, Gyousou, Duo; Senku, Jiang Yanli, Olivia, Bucky Barnes. They walk this plane, friends and lovers of the voidtreckers, coaxing them further into the illusions. Assuring them everything is alright, offering reasons to give in.

Over all this though, they can still hear the citizens in the distance; their voices sounding more confused, frightened even. To push on the voidtreckers must walk away, ignore these temptations and push on to the third ring.

CIRCLE THREE: TWISTED HEART
For those who manage to get through the second circle, pushing away the temptations of home, they will find themselves back in the smog filled wasteland. But through the smog they will see more, always more. Once again the scenery blurs into impossibilities, from testing labs with padded beds, to other imagery associated with asylums of old, to dark cramped spaces, to hallways raging on fire. They sense fear itself, and even the most stoic will find apprehension digging into them as they make their way forward. Is this their fear? Or is it your own?

It may be hard to discern in this twisted reality.

➤ MISERY LOVES COMPANY
This time, as the scenery shifts around them, so does their own sense of self try to match what these places mean. The despair of being lost in darkness, the belief that they can’t be seen by others, all sound fading from their ears. They are on the moon, trapped there for years; at the edge of the vast ocean, on the bank of a river of lava, despair in their hearts. In a wrecked city, their own city destroyed almost beyond recognition. By opposing forces, by weapons of mass destruction.

They have lost everything. There’s no fixing this.

A Pandora box of fears have been unleashed, with seemingly no hope. Your worst enemy has been granted a second chance, family stumbling towards you on the verge of death before your eyes; forces that you were meant to be dealing with back home have found you, surely leaving your own world in ruins, from titans to ayakashis.

Or they might stumble upon a graveyard, stretched out as far as they can see where every name is someone they care about.

There are even voidtreckers of now and old opposing you: Danny Fenton, Lan Xichen, Darth Vader, Vegeta, Xue Yang. Kerry stands pointing a gun straight at a fellow passenger while shadowy ravens and terrifying dragons swirl in the sky.

All this emotional turmoil will do a number on the voidtreckers, but there is strength in numbers. More civilians have fallen unconscious at this point, and those willing to aid them can take them back to the city. But no matter how the voidtreckers move, they must keep their nerve and hold onto hope as they cross the final hurdles.

Comments

ANSEM // Orange -- circle 1 & 2

[darknessinzero]

Circle One
After his previous encounters, Ansem is certain to have at least one fellow voidtrecker in sights at all times. Or at least- he tries. Before long he finds himself alone, and he clenches his jaw before beginning to retrace his steps.

It's not that he's afraid- not for himself, anyway. But there is a force at work, here, and it is best they stay together. The chaos only does so much to stop him; he looks for ways around rather than through, and may or may not be one of those coming across those finding themselves trapped from their own violence-

"Are you all right, friend?"

Or perhaps he's found one of the city's people, and is kneeling next to them before looking up. A light sparkle of magic disappates from his hand as he waves you over. "Here- we'll need to get them out of here."

Circle Two
It's here that Ansem falters.

It's not so much that his memory has been jogged; it's the fact that some of the sights, the sounds, the smells are familiar without context that has him stall. He finds himself kneeling by a collection of flowers, hand curling around some of the petals without plucking, simply staring in wide-eyed wonder.

Once again, he wonders; how can this place know so much when he himself knows so little? When he was mapping, he was often deceived, but here, now, the pull is so strong-

"This isn't real," he whispers. But it sounds more though he is trying to convince himself than stating a fact.

Circle One

[chalicejoker]

The armored guy who absolutely got violent with the environment and ended up tangled up in a web is really not too thrilled to have someone calling out to him. He is obviously not alright; he is paying the price for attacking first and asking questions later.

"...I'm fine."

He's not going anywhere, but he's fine.

Bucky/Soldat | OTA

[worthallthis]

I. Circle One

Soldat spends a lot of time here, disturbed by but not afraid of the HYDRA symbols on the walls or the agents (even those with familiar faces), only briefly stymied by the sound of humming electricity. They focus on grabbing the unconscious and hauling them to the least-smoggy spot they can find, loaded down with air canisters and leaving one with each group of people. They can't stay with them, not for long, but they do try to administer air to the most sensible-looking one, or the most easily cowed one, until they're awake again. Who they then tell in no uncertain terms, "Help the others. Fucking get them back to the city, or so help me, I'll come back here shoot you myself."

They prowl through the changing corridors, gun at the ready, knife at the ready, metal arm at the ready, to take out anything in their way. Or simply charge through and bowl them over to get to anyone in need of a rescue.


II. Circle Two

Eventually they have to move on, running out of victims to rescue or stumbling on the route to the next circle of illusions, or following someone they care about who needs backup. And the sight of the homey spaces, the goddamn tavern room in the Invincible back in Beacon-- the place they felt the most comfortable, the most at home, full of friendly voices and spirit song and the smell of food-- their steely resolve to get to the bottom of this turns into anger.

(How dare they. How fucking dare they. Target. I've been mad for days, about time you caught up!)

They smash the tavern up in defiance of the pull from the illusion, and move on. Focusing on the sounds of other people facing their own visions of home, to haul them out. By the scruff of the neck, if they have to.


III. Circle Three

This is the hard one. Soldat is still a creature ruled by fear, not by comfort. The medical rooms and tables with straps have them cringing back and trying to edge around instead of walking straight through. One room-- a bank vault with a horrible chair stops them in their tracks, staring and shivering and trying hard not to just disassociate right out of their own head out of terror. They can't lose their memories again. They won't. They won't.

"I am. Buying. Some damn. Grenades," they pant, mostly to themselves. Because they never want to see this place again without having the means to blow it to hell.

Whether with help from another Voidtrecker, or just because it got impatient, the Asset suddenly takes over, and the fear turns into fury, all uncertainty and appearance of softness draining away. It stalks across to the Chair... and yanks the halo right off with the metal arm. Pummels it with a metal fist, tears the cords out and rips the seat to pieces. Then it's ready to move on. "We will destroy the source of this," it promises flatly, whether to Soldat or its more solid companion, or to the source itself.

Even if, and when, any of the evil versions of passengers show their faces-- if and when the ghost of Alexander Pierce tries to read his too-confident head, the rabbity round face of Arnim Zola calls it "the new Fist of HYDRA", the echo of "Well done, Soldier" from Karpov-- the Asset just levels a gun at them. It has no mercy. Don't get in its way.

I. Circle One

[zombiemessiah]

"Are you serious? Who actually uses the word 'thwarted'?! I'm sure we'll 'rue the day' or something next. Jesus Christ."

Murphy's bitching aloud to himself as he makes his way out, looking for civilians. He's back in his leather jacket and cargo pants, having changed out of the tacky showman's suit.

The worst part about this part of the maze? He can see through it. So he sees Soldat coming with knife and gun ready. "Don't shoot! Don't stab!" he warns even before he comes around the corner, raising his hands. "...They're dying out here. I can feel it."

Danny Fenton

[schrodingersghost]

Circle One: Stalking the Streets:
This... wasn't too bad so far.

Danny had quickly shifted into his ghost form. Once again, not technically needing to breathe was coming in handy. After seeing all the people who'd gotten trapped here, he'd backtracked to grab a bunch of air canisters. He didn't need them, but the people who'd gotten trapped here did.

Of course the first attack comes while he's busy trying to help one of the unconscious citizens.

Circle Two: Familiar:
Danny was no stranger to weird surroundings. Before the void he'd known the ghost zone, where it wasn't unusual to find jungle islands mixed in with medieval castles and high schools straight from the 1950s.

The sheer number of different environments was starting to get weird, though. After getting a little distracted nerding out over a space station, he turns a corner.... and walks into a weirdly normal midwest neighborhood, with an all too familiar house at the corner. His heart lurches a little with homesickness at the sight of the brick house with the saucer shaped ops center on the roof. And to top it all off, the garish neon arrow that marked the house as "FentonWorks."

Circle Three: Misery Loves Company:
Danny stumbles a little as he wanders around the wreckage of what he knew to be Amity Park. He told himself that it wasn't real. That it was just an illusion like everything else he'd seen.

But...it looked and felt so real. Too much like that time.

And as he walked through the wreckage of the town he'd given so much to protect, another Danny steps out to meet him.

"Well hello there, me. Fancy meeting me here. Almost like its... inevitable"

Circle Two: Familiar

[sciencegirl]

Entrapta's muscled through this before. She's normally weak to the illusions, even now the sense of comfort is hard to resist. But she's struggling to focus, and so far with that focus hasn't encountered anything familiar. In fact she's already vowed that no matter how much it breaks her heart, if she saw something familiar, she'd walk the other way.

Someone else can deal with her things. Not her.

She sees someone she knows to be a VoidTrecker, even if she doesn't know them personally. "Wait," she warns. "This happened to me! Back on Erda. Be careful."

Kyoko Sakura (CRAU/Blue team)

[redmeguca]

Circle One

What the hell? What kind of Labyrinth bullshit is this? You know what? Just for this, I'm gonna thwart you even harder!

[As a magical girl that doesn't need to worry about magic overuse, Kyoko doesn't exactly need to breathe. And even if she did, some poison smog wouldn't be enough to kill her.

She goes through the maze in a way that's kind of cheating: she sends Rosso Fantasma clones ahead and goes in the ways that don't result in dead ends. She hardly seems bothered by the various monsters, fighting them off with the practiced ease of a veteran.]

Circle Two

[Kyoko's just completely deadpan as she walks through the shifting surroundings. A false Mami tries to convince her to give in and gets a spear in the head for her troubles. She stops to give lifesaving air to civilians now and then, as well as healing them as well as she's able.]

Goddamn Witch's Kiss bullshit...

Circle Three

[Kyoko's getting frustrated now, even if she does know that nothing here is real. She overwhelms a fake Sayaka with a swarm of clones, and pointedly ignores the burning corpses of her family.]

Hey! If the asshole doing this is listening, word of advice: You're trying too hard! You're trying to do everything at once and it just falls apart into a meaningless jumble!

circle two

[happyends]

[ It's not that Madoka doesn't get it. She understands what's happening here, what's been happening all the time in this world, even though it's been turned up to an absolute eleven at this point.

She knows it's all fake. She knows that the Mami she's seeing being killed by one of the Kyokos right now has to be fake too.

But still, to just see that happen, regardless of how much it's real or not..

It's a little bit too much. So of course Madoka can't help but call out. ]

N-No, don't..!

Yondu Udonta | Blue | Circle 2 & 3

[yondu]

DEARLY BELOVEDS

The maze should have prepared him. He just found it vaguely annoying. Punted a few orloni, little swarming bastards. Dug in his pockets for the cheap recycled map he'd gotten earlier in the mission to leave little wads of paper on the ground in order to keep from backtracking. He's been in situations like that before. Labyrinths are an old style of a deterrent for a lot of folks that just like to make shit complicated for no good reason. He's a mercenary and thief. It's something he's run into before.

But the worst part? Is when he gets to where things are nice. When everything feels right. When grated metal clangs under the thick souls of his boots. When there's a damn rustic pre-industrial inn right next door to a lush, flowering garden, there's the smell of salt sea air, the cries of distant birds. All of it gives him that genuine 'new' feeling that comes with places, combined with the little ticks of familiar sensory input that feel so much like home. It feels unbearably good.

Then the voice. Oh god, that voice. Tough guy drawl with something jovial and unconquerable in it, perfectly manufactured to sound like a badass. "Yondu!" it says, and just the sound of his name without hate in it is like he flew his arrow through his own heart.

"Stakar?"

He follows the sound to a man leaning against one of those tavern walls, as out of place as anything. An older guy, but broad as any heroic VoidTrekker, would be well fit with a purple uniform if he weren't in black Ravager gear, a good solid set of broad shoulders decorated with two glowing photonic sails, glowing orange. He pushes away from the wall and walks over to Yondu, reaching out to grab him by the arms.

Yondu flinches like he expected to be handled violently despite the comfortable warmth this place puts in his stomach. But he doesn't back away from it even having expected that, he doesn't shy, and the moment those hands are friendly his own blue ones jerk up and grip Stakar's coat lapels.

"This ain't you, is it?" he rasps out the tragedy of the situation. "I'm gonna be honest I ain't sure I give a damn. I got so much I messed up an' I need to get right..."

MISERY LOVES COMPANY | CW: Torture and abuse

The same grated metal gives him a new feeling. A corridor in the Eclector, sickeningly familiar leading to an airlock and a chair with a pair of restraints sitting on the floor by it as if dropped carelessly there. Waiting.

The last time he was in this room he was surrounded by his crew, screaming for the blood of their brethren. But now it's filled with the frozen bodies of those former Ravagers. Just floating like miserable nightmarish decorations, waiting, lingering uselessly and drifting in this enclosed area like they would be in space.

In one hand Yondu has a small ceramic frog and in the other a little trinket windmill. Poor weapons but he's been holding onto the both of them trying to remind himself that he has other friends he's gotta get to by the end of this. He gets out, he helps them, he helps his new crewmates get out of this shit, right? But he sure as shit was helpless to do anything for this crew. What did he do, make the culprits pay afterwards? He refused to let them continue their lives as Ravagers after disrespecting their kin so violently.

But it didn't bring them back. They're still out there in the black somewhere.

And now he can see them. They weren't exactly friends, but they were loyal. They were steady men, good men, that found joy in life. They were real Ravagers through and through and they depended on him, and he'd been forced to watch them all meet their ends with fearful eyes. Not to a fight, but to having the air and warmth seep out of them.

You're the one what killed those men. That's what he'd been told. By leading them down the wrong path.

"I was ready to be with ya. I was okay with it." Yondu, as a rule, doesn't cry. He got that beaten out of him long ago. But he more than makes up for it in the sheer anguish in his expression, the look of a man holding a bloody stump and reliving the shock of a lost limb. Only he's whole. He's alive. And that's unfair.

"It shouldn't be me, here. I don't deserve it. It shoulda been one of y'all." The objects in his hands have warmed under his nervousness to the point he's nearly forgotten they're there.

Misery loves company (I'll avoid spoiling later things as best I can since you're watchin the drama)

[obliviouspatriarch]

Getting through that maze has been hell on himself as well. Seeing things and people he's long since thought were dead. It felt just like the Farm Spirit's trickery all over again and he does not enjoy that.

Though the sight he sees now is foreign to him, yet all too familiar. Too painful. Yondu's words pull at his heart as well, yet another feeling he can relate to all too well. Survivor's guilt and blaming himself for the deaths of his sect and adoptive family, as well as many many others. It should have been him, he should have died in their place. Why did the Jiangs take him in, he wouldn't have caused all that trouble if he'd been left on the streets! Things he'd heard himself from others who cursed him behind his back.

Slowly, gently, Wei Wuxian places a hand on the man's arm. The anguish pulls at him even harder, this is all an illusion, but the pain is very real.

"None... none of this is real, they're tricking us." There's a pause, unhelpful as those words were. "You can't change the past, if it was possible, I would have done that already to avoid letting people down myself."

And that was putting it nicely, he would have changed it so he didn't get those people killed.

Della Duck | OTA

[sos_pilot]

Winding Roads

[ Della, who has gone through most of her life finding that hitting things = problem solve is having a difficult time. Because the more she fights back at the objects she sees, the worse her problems get. So she's definitely going to need a hand from a jail or two - but at least this time, she knows it. ]

Hey! Can anybody hear me?! I need a hand! ... or two... or three...

Familiar

[ It's the pull of a mansion that gets her - McDuck Manor, to be more specific. It's tall, impressive, beautiful, and oh so tempting. But Della's genre-savvy enough to know an illusion when she sees one... but that only makes things slightly easier on her. Very slightly. And even then, she'll glance over to whoever is nearest, and ask - ]

Could you do me a quick favor? Could you... slap me across the face? ... Maybe twice over ought to do it.

Misery Loves Company

[ Circle one wasn't easy, but with the help of her friends, she got through it. Circle two was harder, but she also managed to pull through. But Circle Three?

They are on the moon, trapped there for years;

She's in her own personal hell. The ultimate fear that she NEVER left the moon - that everything has been one mass hallucination, her brain snapping after years of isolation.

She's not handling it well.]

NO! NO! NOOO! I GOT OFF! I KNOW I GOT OFF! I'M NOT ON THE MOON ANYMORE! IT WAS REAL! IT WAS HAS TO BE REAL! NOOOOOO!

[ The typically fearless, happy-go-lucky mama duck? Is now on her knees, crying hysterically as she screams, rocking back and forth.]

Wildcard
[ Make your own prompt! ]

Misery

[redmeguca]

Well, uh, was I there? Because if not, I'd say that's some pretty good evidence for this being an illusion.

Ayumi Yoshida | Red Team

[hanabibloomingatthegates]

Circle One (Feathers)
[It was a long way through the labyrinth. A long, long way, during which Ayumi frequently had to stop and tussle with enemies that would normally be way above her weight class, which meant using her Mystic Eyes to even the odds, which also meant constantly bumping into the walls because she couldn't quite see them while she pierced through the illusion, which also meant that she constantly felt incredibly drained after each fight-

The long and short of it is that Ayumi badly needs a break. So in a relatively peaceful corner of the labyrinth, Ayumi sighs, at first leaning against the illusory wall, then sliding down it as her throbbing head takes all the strength from her legs. Just... five minutes. That's all she needs.

Thankfully, before she can close her eyes in a fit of drowsiness, something headbutts her in the side. Ayumi turns her head, tense and prepared for another fight, only to find a very affectionate griffin nuzzling her shoulder.

Ayumi, smiling weakly, begins scritching the ancient mythical beast behind the earholes, which elicits a gentle purr from the mythical beast. Look at that face. How can she resist giving it the attention it so clearly craves? In a few minutes, the griffin is curled up next to Ayumi, napping as she idly pets it with one hand and scratches a fluffy kuriboh that's taken up residence in her lap with another.]

Just give me a few more minutes, okay? [she says, somewhat guiltily, when she realizes someone is watching her.]

Circle One (Mortal Stampede)
[Whatever winding pathway you were walking down or illusory obstacle you were clambering through, your path is immediately interrupted by a grim-looking Ayumi flying back out of a wider corridor, guns(? wait since when did she have two rifles) in both of her hands while her Chibi Nobus, frantically chattering, affix air canisters to and drag civilians away from-

Lasers, apparently. Lots of lasers. Ayumi tumbles out of the way of one as she rapidly fires the strongest curses she can muster into the hallway, wincing when one of the sickly purple beams grazes her shoulder. She'd have to get someone on that later, walking around a wasteland with an open wound like that was practically begging for an infection, but for now...]

Make sure the civilians are safe! We can't move forward until I beat this thing! [she yells, not even bothering to look over her shoulder. Sweat dribbles down her face, and lines tracing up and down her forearms glow blue as she continues to pour curse after curse down the hallway. A massive pillar of pulsating purple flesh reaching into the sky and red eyes spewing lasers every which way is planted in the large chamber beyond, roaring as several of her shots strike home and put out a scant few of its eyes, but... Ayumi is clearly flagging, judging by her ragged breathing and the worried looks the Chibi Nobus are giving her. She's going to need some help.]

Circle Two (Thanks for being born.)
[Despite how massive and sterile-looking the cafeteria Ayumi trods through is, it feels like it's alive somehow. A tanned man with white hair argues with a feral-looking Irishman with blue locks at a counter over the price of his food. Hundreds of people, larger than life and somehow more vibrant than any human being has the right to be, line the tables, eating food, laughing, arguing, talking sweetly and softly, and a thousand other tiny permutations of everyday life.

Ayumi, fists clenched, walks on. It's not real, she tells herself. Her Mystic Eyes flicker on, stripping away the illusion... but the voices remain, digging their way into her ribcage.

She walks past a table where pirates and ancient heroes raise mugs of beer, boisterously yelling at her to join them. Ayumi falters for a few steps, but keeps walking. It's not real. They're not real.

Steps slower now, Ayumi pauses at a table full of Japanese heroes, historical and mythical, arguing over the quality of Oda Nobunaga's latest mixtape. Their laughter burrows into Ayumi's heart. Nobu herself waves Ayumi over, voice squeaking as she cracks another joke about Nagao Kagetora. Ayumi raises a hand in greeting, pauses, shakes her head, and picks up the pace. She has to get out of here, before...

Mitsuhiko. Genta. Ai-chan. Conan. Koji.

...Ki-chan.

All her age, idly talking about the latest Kamen Yaiba season. Ayumi grits her teeth and sprints away, refusing to let their words reach her. They were waiting for her back home, she had- she had to keep going, she had to get back to them-]

"Hey, little miss, what are you running around like that for? C'mon, me and Gran have plenty of meat to go around! Gerda actually cooked it too, like how ya furless weirdos like it."

[Ayumi stops. Her heart cracks.]

"Hehe, your tastes really are weird, Mister Patxi! The Valkyries taught us we'd get sick if we ate raw meat. Trust me, Miss Ayumi, the stew I made really is good!"

[A young Indian girl slurps down some of Gerda's stew without a word, too engrossed in the meal to say a thing.

Ayumi falls to her knees.]

"C'mon, Ayumi. I know I'm not exactly a model, um, role model for this kind of thing, but everyone needs to take a break sometimes. You included. Sit down with us."

"As loathe as I am to admit it, Roman's right. Even a great genius such as myself, THE Da Vinci, needs to rest my brain! I-"

[She doesn't need to say a single word more. Everyone else might be waiting for her back home. But these five...

...this was the only time she'd ever get to see them again, wasn't it?

Ayumi starts crying. Ugly, heaving sobs that paralyze her, keeping her from taking a single step forward. Without help, anyways.]

Circle Three (Mirage Coordinator)
[Somehow Ayumi had made it through the cafeteria. Taken that last step she'd needed to escape.

But this?

Ayumi's eyes are glassy as she stares out over the dark ocean. The brilliant blue water of the gulf has been replaced by a vast, endless expanse of black mud, its acidic mass eroding the shore she's standing on.

And the earth shakes. A regular rhythm of quakes rocks the bay, cleaving great cracks in the earth as some half-woman, half-dragon thing slowly walks forward, wading through the mud, only a few steps away from the shore-

No. That's not quite it. It's not that the Beast is that close.

It's that it's so massive, so impossibly titanic, that even though it's miles away it seems as if a single step closer will bring the apocalypse onto land.

The sky is blood red, but most of it is blotted out by screaming, darting shapes joyously writhing around their unholy mother, and all Ayumi can do is stare, eyes blank- why even bother? Last time, no matter how she looked, there was no weakness. No escape. No way to win.

And there were no goddesses or great kings or divine to help them now.

This was it. This was the end.]

Circle One (Mortal Stampede)

[mtsilver_conquor]

"We," Eva corrects as she and her pokemon join the fray in bursts of light coming from her pokebelt. Princess and 'Nona are already racing forth, easily dodging lazers, or weathering any glances like it doesn't even hurt. Of course it doesn't, they're battle-trained and both are over lv 80. Dancer wheels up into the sky -little more than a red blurr that rails flames, while Lele hovers beside its mistress.

"Known weaknesses or we just hitting it with the most powerful things we can?"

Takato Matsuda

[dreamtamer]

Circle 2:
Takato was struggling a lot with the illusions. Time after time, he stopped, thinking that he'd heard one of his friends calling or saw places that he knew, only to be called back by Guilmon.

But this time... He was sure of it. This was Shinjuku. The sound of the streets, the smell of the bread from his family's bakery. He stumbles slightly as he walks toward it. Guilmon tries to tug him back, and Takato pauses a moment.

"Takato! Takato! This isn't real! It doesn't smell right!"

Takato shakes his head uncertainly. "But... it looks like home. And I can hear them. Can't you hear Mom and Dad? I think they're crying."

Circle 3:
When Takato finally finds his way through the illusions to the final circle, he stops and stares at the sky, instantly knowing what he was seeing. It is like the entire world changes around him as he recognizes the scarlet dragon.

Megidramon.

Megidramon, who had been created by his own anger and vengeance. Megidramon, who he had so nearly lost himself and lost Guilmon within. That he had tried to forget.

And now it was here again.

Takato clutches onto Guilmon as the memories of that day come back to him.

[blue_ice]

Kaiba is a little worn down, to be honest. He'd been through twisted reminders of his lost loved ones, been forced to turn away from his brother's voice once more...and here he was, looking up to see a dragon bearing down on them.

It's not His dragon. But someone he cares for is here. Takato and Guilmon are nearby, and with them potentially in danger he springs into action, running toward them.

"You recognize this?"

Masumi Sera | OTA | Circles One and Three

[tactlesstantei]

1. Stalking the Streets

[By now Masumi's gotten used to dealing with the illusionary creatures of Tier Two, whether that's staying with a group, running away, or in some cases fighting back. But here they're more than just the normal looking animals, there's strange creatures in the mix as well, things that she's not even sure how to deal with. Still, she pushes on, mostly trying to avoid getting hurt, but sometimes fighting back with her sword when there's no other choice in the matter.

The bigger problem though is the unconscious citizens, and Masumi is quick to prioritize trying to help them as best she can, even if that just means waving down someone who might be able to better help.]

2. Misery Loves Company

[Eventually she gets through to the third circle, but before she can catch her breath and prepare herself for what this place might do next, she sees them.

Her family, laid out on the ground, either dead or nearly dead.

Masumi knows that this is an illusion, just like everything before, that this is not real, but she can't help but freeze, staring helplessly at their bodies as she struggles to not let this get to her.

Judging by the way she's shaking, it's not quite working. The sight of Shuuichi in particular, who she knows is in fact dead, probably isn't helping matters either. The death was recent after all, and that coupled with the sight of her second brother and her mother is doing a number on her focus.]

1

[blitzcheer]

[ It's Tidus who happens to catch Sera as she's with an unconscious civilian, 'Another one!?' muffled through his air mask, but he's running over to join the pair. ]

Ugh, our teleporters are gonna be wiped in no time. [ Do they have a mask on? If not, Tidus will put his hand on his, asking before he takes it off- ] You seen anyone else?

[ -and share it with the individual. It's fine, he can hold his breath well- though, Sera likely doesn't know that... ]

Casper | OTA

[helborn]

[Circle One]

Casper isn't all that intimidated by the maze - he's just frustrated instead. He's activated his ability to see through illusions more clearly a few times now, but all it's doing is making the walls harder to see before he runs his face into it.

He's quiet as he hears something creeping up on him. His baseball bat is in his hand before he turns to look at it.

Friend? Foe? ... Both?


[Circle Two]

He pushes on. He has to keep going. He freezes when he spots two figures standing there - one on all fours and one on two legs. The lupine one walks up to Casper and sits, wordlessly begging him to stay. The more humanoid person smiles at Casper.

'Hey, it's all right. You're safe now. You're going to be okay.'

He closes his eyes and pulls at his hair. "You're not real. Both of you would want me to finish the mission. You're not... you're not here..." Casper sinks to the ground, his face in his hands. He misses them and the rest so much...


[Circle Three] (cw: discussion of abuse/neglect, family attacking each other)

He sees destruction. He sees the world shattered, strikes thorough mountain ranges, dark shadows permanently cast over cities that were once sunny and bright. He knows it's fake. He knows that it's not real.

And then a man steps forward, his shoes echoing on the ruined pavement. Casper freezes and turns to face him, taking a deep breath.

"... Hey, Dad."

The man's stoic face stretches into a thin smile. 'Now, son. You know you're not needed anymore, right?' Casper rolls his eyes, baseball bat in hand.

"I've heard this from you before. Now why don't you -" He stops as his father whips his hand through the air. Casper coughs, spitting up some faintly yellowish blood with silver marbling. He staggers, trying to breathe, as his father just continues to smirk.

circle three

[blue_ice]

Kaiba hears that word and instinctively braces himself for trouble. The only Father he could remember well was...not ideal, to say the least. For someone else's to be here in this darkness wasn't a good sign.

A few steps forward in the fog clarifies that it's Casper facing this man, and his cruelty.

Something within him snaps, seeing the cycle repeat. Kaiba charges forward, swinging his briefcase at the 'man' for all the good it will do.

"You're scum!"

mami tomoe | madoka magica | all in circle two

[magicurls]

up for air

Mami will focus on doing what she does best: save lives. She's carrying as many canisters as she can, but oddly she doesn't seem to use them herself. In this labyrinth she feels safe enough to transform, and so she's in her yellow dress with rifles flying.

She can be found at what seems to be a base camp, redistributing canisters for the lifesaving work.

"Here, you'll need more. And it's better to work in teams, right?"

tumbling down

But Mami worries so much about losing people in their efforts that she doesn't follow her own advice, and it will cost her. She sees shadows of old friends calling and waving in a technicolor whirlwind of light and happiness, and it's almost enough for her to waver.

The one that sinks its claws in is Mami's own shadow. A girl who looks exactly like her, but dressed for a party. All smiles, frills, speaking in a sing-song version of her voice.

There's no need to fight or fear anymore, you know. Everyone will abandon you someday, don't you know that? You've seen it happen again and again. But not me....no one can know you or love you better than yourself, hm? Why not settle down for tea?

Mami wavers. She still has a rifle in hand, but sets the butt on the ground. How can she attack the truth?

tumbling down

[wishalone]

Kyoko never actually saw the witch that Mami nearly turned into right before her eyes. She managed to put a stop to that before it happened.

This other Mami doesn't look anything like the Mermaid Witch that Sayaka turned into when Kyoko wasn't looking.

But Mami lowers her rifle, removes her hand from the trigger, and everything about the apparition is wrong, wrong, wrong, and Kyoko had promised to herself that she'd be better about watching Mami's back this time.

She grits her teeth. It looks like Mami, but she's never had a problem raising her spear against the real thing. So she twirls it in her hand, breaking it down into its long chain, and whips it at the doppelganger's legs, aiming to drag it off its feet.

"Mami!"

Hajime Aikawa | OTA

[chalicejoker]

[Circle One]

[Winding Roads]
Now is not the time to be needlessly strugging in human form, now is the time to become Kamen Rider Chalice and try to plow through these annoyances in full armor. The giant playing cards are particularly insulting, and so of course Hajime's going to try to smash his way through all of the obstacles...

...and that's how he ends up tangled up in some sticky, annoying web. Rude.

[Stalking the Streets]
Smashing through the scenery might not be ending well--and the experience gets Hajime to cool down a little--but look, there are monsters, and there are people who need to be saved. Hajime's tearing through enemies as fast as he's able, carrying his longbow as he does so. He's not really using it as a ranged weapon. At this point, he's just trying to bludgeon whatever might be unfortunate enough to cross his path. He'll worry about strategy later, once he's traded a few blows with whatever might be attacking. He's particularly aggressive when coming in to rescue civilians, but he'll still make an effort to rescue others from the train as well. He's less likely to intervene if others from the train look like they can handle themselves, but sometimes, he just can't help himself against a particularly strong-looking opponent.

[Circle Two]

[Familiar]
He hadn't been expecting to find his darkroom here, of all places. It's perhaps the first change of scenery that's given the armored figure that was so aggressive at dealing with everything else pause. Could he walk through that door and go home? Turn out the lights and get to developing film again? Even trying to develop film and getting interrupted by another Undead showing up nearby would be comforting enough; that would be normal and expected.

He'll just stare at it for a long time, but, eventually, if he's not found, he'll manage to pull himself away.

[Circle Three]

[Misery Loves Company]
The darkroom wasn't enough? Now there's...a ruined city. A familiar-looking city. Hajime stops dead in his tracks, his armor making his expressions impossible to read. "No...I didn't. I couldn't." He hadn't won the Battle Fight, couldn't have won the Battle Fight, he'd been pulled away before it could conclude, they'd be safe without him, he couldn't destroy everything...

Walk away. He's just got to walk away, and then everything will be fine. It's not real, is it?

stalking the streets

[happyends]

Hajime could definitely come across someone who looks like they could use some help.

Because Madoka is a pretty tiny girl, and even though she's doing her best, and she has her bow with her - it's in her hand and all! - there's only so much she can do with the archery she's taught herself. Especially with how overwhelming the monsters here can be, sometimes attacking in huge crowds.

And that's exactly what's happening right now. It seems the girl has found herself in a crowd of odd beings, about the same size as her, as they're all crowding her and shoving her about between them.

And if the sea of those odd creatures isn't enough to draw his attention, Hajime may hear a voice calling out: "H.. Help!"

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Circle One
Winding Roads
Okay--a maze she could do. She had extra air-canisters, and had quickly learned that teleporting back to the city was fine. It was trying to get back where she was that was the problem. Some of the logos made her raise an eyebrow, and she recognized one or two.

Except her way kept getting blocked by objects. Including some very strange ones. Why was a giant Apple in her way? Sighing, Raven moved to lift it out of the way with her dark-energy.

Stalking the Streets
Oh fun, not only did she have to navigate the maze, but there were creatures stalking them too. Just another day, on another mission, as Raven huffed to herself. The shadow that suddenly engulfed her from above had her automatically diving and rolling to her feet to face... A giant hand?

Wildcard
Got an idea for this section? Hit me up.

Circle Two
Familiar
Raven blinked, then her eyes narrow. "Well, they're tempting us like the lotus-eaters now." It was....hard. Moving through this area, as it felt safe. Which was nice compared to the maze, but also troubling.

Especially as she walked, and exited a tunnel and into...her bedroom?

Circle Three

Whatever this circle was, it was not comforting. That Raven kept seeing the sky turn dark with red-stars and distant red-outlined objects. It was both out of place and yet somehow fit perfectly in the wreckage and ruin. "It's all an illusion. Keep focused, Raven..." She told herself, speaking more to herself than to anyone with her.

Of course, she also ignored (or did her best) to ignore the tiny ravens with 4 red-eyes And wickedly sharp teeth, as they caw'd at her.

But it's a little further in, when it slithered out from under a wrecked car.

Raven growled. Throwing her hands up towards the sky in exasperation. "OH come ON!" Sounding frustrated and angry.

Circle Three

[outofyourshadow]

"Friend of yours?" Lena asked, already on edge by how creepy the rest of the area was. In fact, this whole place was just the worst.

kaiba | circle 1 and 3 (cw:death imagery for circle 3 prompt)

[blue_ice]

going home (circle two)

Kaiba's early travels are largely uneventful as he tries to rescue the struggling. He attacks the maze systematically as best he can, mentally mapping paths even as circumstances shift. The monsters are harder to avoid, for example:

There's a ghoul advancing on him, charging...Kaiba lifts a knife to throw it and hopefully stall the ghoul when a mass of brown fluff suddenly appears in front of him. A Kuriboh.

"...what?"

There's a squeaking noise and another ball of fluff. More Kuriboh. They seem to have crowded out the ghoul, but guess what? Now they're crowding him in. Can you find the Kaiba in the mass of brown fluff exploding in every direction? They're adorable, but try not to get distracted.

misery (cw: death)

Finally, he makes it through the smog. A few suffering townspeople are now safe. He just has to finish the job. He's holding his head high through the dark, when suddenly it's a cold and windy night, an overcast sky with just a haze of moonlight peeking through. He's standing in the middle of a graveyard, like none he's ever seen before. There are no graves with names, merely symbols...and rather than the corpses being down below, the clear caskets sit aboveground, each filled with a perfectly preserved body.

Some of them are even familiar. Passengers...his acquaintances, friends, family. Loved ones. All cold and lifeless. It isn't real, it shouldn't be real...but his hands tremble anyway as he yells for help, checking the roster status as he does so.

"Anyone there?"

misery

[bakegarasu]

Otoha is faintly aware of Kaiba, but he's never really talked to him. Now, though? With all of these clear caskets? He walks towards the younger man, his sword in hand.

He moves at Kaiba's words, slashing through the nearest casket - not the body, but at least shattering the top of the thing off. "Illusion. Keep your head in the game."

Ken Amada (AU) | OTA + closed thread

[miseris_socios]

[Circle One]

Ken is totally lost in the maze, making the wrong turn all the time despite being sure he's following the left-hand wall all the time. That's how you're supposed to solve a maze, right? But he keeps having to dodge monsters, and right now is staring down a Sky Balance.

He looks more annoyed than anything, really.

"Why'd it have to be the stuff that's not weak against Zio spells?"

[Wildcard]

[Want him to stumble on your character? Feel free to use this prompt.]


[Circle Three] (closed thread) (cw: self harm, suicidal imagery because Persona 3)

He's stumbled through the first circle (a pain) and the second circle (easy enough for someone with nowhere he really considers home). He'd run into a phantom Koromaru, but he awsn't real. He didn't feel the same.

But this?

He stands in a graveyard, clear remnants of a battle. on the ground. There's blood and wisps of dark smoke, a stench of death and darkness all around him.

But it's the names on the grave markers, freshly carved, that make him sink to his knees in despair.

Minato Arisato. Jin Shirato. Chidori Yoshino. Koromaru.

There's more, though. Seto Kaiba. Della Duck. Vexen. Axel. Xion. Names of people he cares about, people he's met on the train... it's too much. It's too much, and he falls to his knees in despair as the ever present sound of Nemesis grows closer and closer to the front of his mind.

His lips curl up in a faint, slightly crazed smile. If someone took them away from him... then he'd take that person away from others. He lifts his Evoker to his head, the need for vengeance, the cry for justice screaming in his head.

"Per... so... na..."

If people thought he'd gone berserk on Erda, it's nothing compared to this. Lightning strikes the ground again and again, Nemesis refusing to fade away. Orbs of paper seals appear and disappear in puffs of light. She lashes out and attacks the air, attacks nothing, leaving Ken gasping for breath.

Ken himself is mostly silent, watching his Persona rampage without a real reaction. His expression is blank, occasionally firing the Evoker to keep Nemesis present. All of his rage is with her, right now. He's just watching, waiting for the person who did this to return to the scene of the crime. He'll kill them then.

[worthallthis]

Soldat hasn't come across their own horror yet, so it's still them who reels back from the lightning strikes, at the edge of the little graveyard. They almost bolt, except that sure is Ken in there. Ken, who they promised to stop if he got out of control.

This kinda looks like being out of control. So they brace themselves, swallow hard, and yell over the sound of all that electricity, "Ken!"

Circle two: campsite/checkpoint open prompt

[subcircuits]

He does it automatically, without consciously deciding to: when Devero finds that campsite, and Voidtreckers start to congregate there, he organizes. It starts with his hologram pulling its cart full of air-- "Do you have any extras you can throw into the supply? Do you want to take some with you, if you're going back out there?"

But he's thorough, and there's more to their work than just providing air. He finds the over-packers, the quartermasters and the supply carriers: "What do you have? Food? Water? Anything you can spare. If we're going to be funneling citizens through here, they'll need anything we can spare."

After a couple of rounds, he has it established. There's the cart, with its canisters of Breathe and off-brand air, accessories heaped alongside. Trunks brought here in ARMS bands from the train stand open, loaded up with food and bottles of water. Potions sit neatly in anything that will contain them, sorted by color and bottle shape. "Does anyone know what this one does?" he booms out at one point, waving a vial over his head. "I don't recognize it," he admits sheepishly to whoever is kind enough to answer.

Maybe someone's started a fire. Maybe a couple of the healers are hanging around to treat monster-inflicted wounds. Maybe someone has produced some blankets or dragged over some seating for the weary.

It's not a permanent bivouac by any means. But as a place for Voidtreckers to stop and rest, to reconnect with their teammates, their mission, their reality? To fortify themselves and the people they're helping against the next leg of this trek, in whichever direction that leg happens to be?

It'll do.

[This is an open prompt so no need to thread specifically with Devero/me. Tag around, mingle, post sub-prompts, whatever! I just thought I'd put it up so the checkpoint has some structure. Feel free to play it fast and loose with what's actually available and who provided it and have fun. Cheers!]

[securityconsultant]

And there's Murderbot - sorry, 'Rin' - taking a break from combing the circles. That is, which is to say it's simply on patrol duty. Now that it has the drones, though, it doesn't physically need to secure the perimeter - it does anyway, more-or-less to make sure anyone who needs help inside can get it sooner than later.

Even if everything has more or less just been illusion, though...perhaps the sight of someone on visible guard duty will soothe them. Perhaps it knows this, subconsciously, and just refuses to acknowledge that it's doing this as much for their peace of mind as its own.

Perhaps it's just stalling before going back out there.

Ryo | Circle Two

[fivemilesdeep]

1. It's a legitimate strategy

There is something resembling a base camp at the entrance to the second circle, and that's where Ryo sets up. There have been enough city residents who have collapsed that he certainly has his work cut out for him, pulling spare air canisters from his borrowed arms band and maneuvering them on people's faces, healing injuries on resident and voidtrecker alike, and generally doing his best to help.

He's also asking for help where he needs it. "Do you have any extra canisters? I'm running low."

Or, if he's talking to someone with known teleport capabilities: "Do you think you can take any of them back to the city? The canisters won't last all day, and they need to be somewhere safe."

2. Found Family (Closed to close/extant CR)

Venturing further abroad has led him to a town square - small, low technology, almost quaint, and more importantly than anything else, achingly familiar.

And the people-

Maybe you find him in a small group hug, holding tightly to two young adults who look only a few years older than he is. Maybe you see him clinging to someone who looks like he could be Ryo's double. Either way, he is crying, and he is overjoyed to see them again.

It's too bad they aren't really here, and it's your job to make sure he knows that.

3. Wildcard

[Got another idea? Want to plan something else? Go for it!]

Found Fam!

[runicfeathers]

Willow has found herself, again, in an unfamiliar place with somewhat of a familiar air to it. Almost like home, but she knows this isn't her world or her people, but another's. All the more evident when she sees... Ryo? With others, and he's crying. At first, Willow gets defensive seeing the boy cry, but relaxes as she approaches seeing him cry happily.

She also knows that this isn't real, that these people are tricks and illusions meant to distract the voidtreckers from their mission. Taking a deep breath, she goes to Ryo and squeezes a shoulder firmly.

"Ryo, come on, we need to go. This... This isn't... it's not real. Something is playing tricks on us. We can't stay here."

Goku | OTA (CW: Death Imagery)

[4starlowclasshero]

Circle One:

Goku is busy wandering the strange maze before him. Cards, odd symbols, plants...

"Is that Capsule Corp.?" he asks to himself, spotting the familiar logo before him. This is odd. Whoever is doing this is messing with them. "I wonder if they must be trying to confuse us..." Oh, well, easy thing to do, then...

Blast down a wall before him with a ki blast.

Circle Three:

Traversing the third circle, Goku stopped as he saw something that took him off-guard. The sight of bodies littered in front of him. The citizens, sure, but there were others. The other Voidtrekkers, even his family and friends.

"H-How...?! How did they...?!" Goku stammered. A split second later, he sensed something above him and gasped as he spotted a familiar figure. One he was sure was gone. "Z...Zamasu?!"

What's wrong, mortal? This is your folly! Your thirst for training and desire for battle has lead you to this! Everyone you knew and never knew are dead and I'll keep going until everyone is gone!

Goku snarled as anger burned in his eyes. Everything feels wrong, but that form is unmistakable. If those were his friends...

"I'll... I'll make you pay for that!" he shouted, suddenly transforming into Super Saiyan Blue. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"

Circle One

[renegadeprince]

How did he get stuck with Goku during this... HOW?! Out of everyone! Vegeta supposes there could be worse company, but there could be far better too. It's almost a little nostalgic in a way too, of when they were trying to make their way through Buu's system. Though that's not necessarily a good thing. Vegeta's trying to look around to spot anything that may help them when he hears Goku's comment, turning to spot what he did, before agreeing. "Why else would it be here?" Agreeing in his own way at least. "It's not like any of us place that here, and only a few of us even know what it is."

He barely moves as Goku blasts through the wall, since both of them had been quick to find flying was useless here, Vegeta turning his head just enough to avoid any of the dust and debris of the wall flying at his face. He also doesn't wait for Goku to head through first, shouldering his way through the remains of the wall and looking at their options, which just resulted in more choices and no clear path. "Which way?"

Devero (OC) | OTA | Mind the CWs

[subcircuits]

[CIRCLE ONE: SUPPORT ON THE GROUND]
Devero may have spent most of his time in the city so far on the first Tier, where the filtered air is breathable, but he's not ignorant to the conditions without. Nor is he ignorant to the fact that the entire population of the city just departed into the wasteland en masse-- without respirators or breathable air. Ryo's timely suggestion has him ransacking abandoned shops on his way out of the city.

When he enters the maze, he's trailed by-- a translucent purple copy of himself? A translucent purple copy of himself pulling a cart laden with canisters, respirators, and masks. Someone's putting that holoprojecting drone of his to good use.

"Here, I've got you!" he calls to the Voidtrecker looking green around the gills, handing off canned air, or "Take this; no, I mean drink it!", producing potions from his rucksack for the wounded and the spent.

Let those more suited to it fight; he'll follow behind in support. And with his attention turned to helping others, he hasn't even noticed the danger he's in-- the hand descending, the beast creeping up behind, the ghoul with weapon raised to strike...

[CIRCLE TWO: SELF, REUNITED]
Devero's able to distract himself from the tugging feeling in the pit of his stomach for a while, keeping himself focused on the task of organizing supplies and getting a checkpoint set up. But that work can't last forever, and there are people out here that need to be secured. He knows it.

That knowledge draws him forward, a conviction settling into his heart that there are citizens out here, just ahead; only he can help them; they need him. This way is almost a whisper in his ear and he gives in and follows it. Guard intuition, right? That's all this is.

Except that alluring whisper, that promise of purpose fulfilled draws him inevitably to a familiar maintenance bay, divorced from its hangar and set haphazardly between a room of rough hewn stone and a doorway that opens out on a breezy beach. The incongruence registers, but seems unimportant. Through his Interface's eye he sees an inexplicable, ghostly refutation of what's in front of him; something must be wrong with the damn thing, but that's unimportant too.

The only thing that's important is the machine hanging in the cradle in front of him: his exo, his hardware self, his Babysitter. There are tears in his eyes as he approaches, lifting a hand to caress a familiar curve of gleaming metal.

[CIRCLE THREE: AN INEVITABILITY (CW for extreme intimate partner abuse)]
Ultimately, he moves on. His cameras are useless to pierce the illusions now, showing only static or images distorted and disorientating. His training with Koumyou is a thin bulwark against his mind being totally overwhelmed, and his hold on it is only tenuous. Devero may be a man of tremendous willpower, but these illusions are an enemy he hasn't had to fight until recently. Even as his sense of duty drives him outward, searching for citizens to succor, the despair and fear eat at his heart.

Why is he out here? What does he think he's doing? Saving people? What a joke you are, Devero. What a pathetic thing?

He couldn't say when her voice in his heart becomes her voice in his ear. "Do you really think you're helping? You?"

He turns towards her as if compelled, his heart jumping into his throat and lodging there. She is a stately older woman, elegantly and precisely dressed with steel gray hair elegantly and precisely pinned into place. She's significantly shorter than he is but he retreats from her anyway-- until she barks at him to stop that and stand still, anyway.

"You haven't been a Guard for years. You failed them, my boy, remember? You were turned out. And who took you in?"

His lips move, forming the words 'You did' without speaking them.

"Mm, that's right. I did. And this is how you repay me? Running off to pursue some ridiculous fantasy, to play hero?" She shakes her head, her lips quirking in a smile. Her eyes glint as she looks up at him; her smile is a knife. "And giving yourself to someone else as soon as you were away from me. Really, are you that desperate for a firm hand, boy?"

He shakes his head, but she's in his personal space now and deigns not to see it. In her hands is a thick leather collar with chrome fittings.

His collar.

"Well, I'm here now," Valdana murmurs, lifting it up towards him. "You don't have to play with that poor imitation any more. In fact, I don't want you seeing him again. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Madame," he whispers, miserable and helpless, as he bends his neck to her.

Circle Three

[worthallthis]

A gunshot goes off behind Devero.

It doesn't shoot Valdana. But it sure does come close. It's the only warning shot she is going to get.

"Step away from him or the next one goes through your face," the Asset says flatly. There is fury in cold blue eyes, and Devero may or may not recognize the tone of the Asset, but he's certainly never seen Soldat angry before. "Devero. Stand up."

MURDERBOT // Purple // Outside & 1&2, Circle 3

[securityconsultant]

Outside [and within] the Circles

Right. This is officially a clusterfuck. Murderbot's doing its damned best to grab those unable to resist the pull, but there's simply too many. And while it has nothing against just throwing them over its shoulder and carrying them like a sack of potatoes, there's always another one who needs help.

So.

It focuses on doing just that, more or less; going in, using its drones to help identify what is real and what isn't (though the maze makes no sense, what the fuck), targeting those who seem lost or trapped or- well. In need of help. It'll either take them fully outside the circles or to the campsite within Circle 2, where it can also be seen patrolling the outskirts.

Circle 3;
CW; PTSD, self-harm potential

Important note about constructs; for all that they're, well, constructed? Many have organic parts that were added to help them think, to reason, to perform their function; Murderbot is no different. While its cloned material is mostly in flesh and whatnot, its mind possess just enough for it to more-or-less have been aware of the illusions to an uncomfortable degree.

(To be fair, being aware of them at all is somewhat uncomfortable. Somewhat is an understatement.)

Here, though- here it's different. Here it feels like the organic parts of it are trying to twist in on themselves, which isn't...new, honestly. But it's the prickling, the crawling, the unease that has it reaching for the dataport at the back of its neck as though to confirm it's still there, but also, that it's empty, ART deactivated it, ART couldn't mess it up-

-someone could have reactivated it, they could remote in, they could-it could
hurt

It shudders despite itself, fingers curling as its arm weapons deploy- no, there's nothing real here, it's-

it's being

it has to stop itself before it

it

ʇ,uɐɔ ʇᴉ

Both arm-cannons turn towards its own chest.

Circle 3;

[sciencegirl]

Entrapta has made a whole point of turning away from any illusion that reminds her of herself. She's out. No thanks. Good? Bad? Whatever? Noooo, she's leaving. She doesn't even stay to address it.

It's walking away from a quick reminder of home that leads her right into- Wait, Rin? What's Rin doing?!

"Wait!" she shouts, watching those arm canons turn. She doesn't even think about it, she flails with arms and hair as she comes closer. "Stop! Don't do it! Please be real and don't be an illusion out to kill me..."

Chasing after her comes Claudette, but detecting the tension in the air (and the precarious placement of weaponry) the dinosaur robot crouches submissively, tail swishing and giving off a plaintive beep of concern of its own. Why is the peoplebot threatening itself?

Eva | Circles 2 and 3

[mtsilver_conquor]

Circle two (Illusion Senku may be NPC'd by Senku Mun!)
As familiar as all of this is, as much as she knows these are illusions... Eva still falls prey to them and zeros in with alarming ease on what is hers. Likely because she's homesick and she saw that flash of a rattata as it darted around the corner. Picked up the woolen green jumper with its knit vines and hugged it tight. Zero's in on the familiar street from Pallet town that leads to her house. Two stories tall, it's like she remembers, down to the cartoony spearow weather vein on the roof and the swingset in the front yard. She can smell her dad's cooking, too. Grilled fish; fresh-caught most likely.

-and she halts as she spots an achingly familiar woman, a familiar boy and - Senku? (Something about that last one doesn't make sense but she pushes it aside. Her mum and boyfriend are there and she's missed them so much-) on the veranda and Skeeta is there, the tangela little more than a happy vine-creature under the summer suns.

"Yo, Leaf!" Satoru calls, grin cocky as he fires off a two-fingered salute.

"Mum? Satoru?" She pauses -not minding the nickname at all right now-, then. "Senku? What are-"

"I wanted to meet them."

She can't say anything to that. She's probably talked his ear off about her family, about Satoru by now. It makes sense.

"Come join us?" Her mum says - and Eva heads that way, actual mission forgotten in the face of her mum and boyfriend.


Circle Three, CW: Child endangerment, panic attacks, and PTSD.
"No-" She's just left Pallet -left home and her family, friends, boyfriend -illusions she'd had to be pried away from- and then this. The ruins of Viridian. Twisted, shattered with great furrows gouged into the land while the smell of death lingers and she swears she can hear the cries of the dying. She can't see them, of course, but... it's obvious. There's buildings burned (some still on fire), toppled over and spilling onto streets that once bustled with life.

The Gym itself, somehow, still stands. Yet it's a mess: cracked, blackened steps scorched by flame and fury that came from within. Doors ripped off, broken and scattered like toothpicks, and the lead into the stadium itself gone. Little more than twisted remains that stand a testament and witness to the power of monsters, and she's sure if she looked closer, she'd see the inside and how that too is twisted metal. Or... or is it the Seikei town and the remains of the League Stadium?

They're so similar that it's hard to tell, yet her eyes don't linger. She doesn't want to know, doesn't want to see the answer. Not when she spots a familiar shape as it -the blood-splattered mewtwo (no no no-- (and the ruins take on a more cave-like bent, just a touch)- emerge from the shadows as it - she, that's Fluffy- hovers behind an equal familiar man with a painfully familiar masterball in his hand.

Her right arm throbs with remembered pain. She can still feel how it broke - There's a painfully familiar cat at his side, the persian's eyes dark. Cold. Murderously so and the red gem glints blood red. But that's not the only person to emerge. No. A woman with red hair and cold eyes comes out, dragging with her a child (gun pressed to Hisa's temple, the bitch, and Eva is going to kill her--), a monstrous, purple snake of an 11'5 cobra joining them soon enough and she doesn't have to see a face to know the thing's dragging Satoru (is he breathing? she doesn't know, but he's bloody and-)

A man with teal hair and rumpled suit steps forward, dragging another, slightly older child by the scruff. His hold is deceptively light, but it doesn't need to be tight when there's also a gun at Atsu's head, and a hellfire hound next to him.

Eva not only freezes, eyes wider than they have any right to be, but she blanches white at the threat to her baby sister, but the fact the Rockets have Fluffy (who's cold, uncaring. Slaved to the hazel-eyed man's will), hands going for a pokebelt that's no longer there - it's over there and she can't move, can barely breathe-

"Hello, Champion. So kind of you to return my tool." Giovanni smiles, cold and cruel and Eva can't breathe-

Circle 3, birb do a protecc if she can

[runicfeathers]

Again, Willow has found herself in one of her friend's illusions, only this time this one is much less heartwarming and a lot more terrifying. Enough that Willow's protective instincts kick up into overdrive as she bolts to Eva without even needing to think about it. There's panic racing as she rushes, grabbing Eva by the arm and whipping her around to face her as she glares into that illusion... that hellish sight unfolding.

"EVA! None of this is real, snap out of it!" Her grip tightens, worry increasing for her friend. Tharsi help her, she does not want to make anything physical to snap her out of that.

Nozomi | OTA

[cureofmanyworlds]

Circle One

"Get back!" Nozomi shouted, using her Cure Dream powers to kick a group of HYDRA soldiers through a wall. Whoever was doing this was making sure they didn't get too far. However, Nozomi had let her guard down a bit too long as a sudden stream of water rushed through her corridor.

"Woah! What in the world?!" she yelped, shocked by the sudden rush of water. She was also unaware of the Water Dragon hidden within the water building up in the path.

Circle Two

Nozomi gasped as she looked around her settings. "It... it can't be... B-Betterplace?!" she gasped, shocked by the town filled with buildings in various states of construction completion.

"Nozomi! There you are!" a voice called out. She gasped as she turned around, seeing a young girl with blue hair before her. "Dinner's ready!"

"You know she'd be off somewhere daydreaming!" another voice said, a red-headed girl about Nozomi's old age walking up to the younger girl.

"S-Sasami...? R-Rin...?!" Nozomi stammered. Did she end up home? "Wh-where's Hayate?! Where's Captain Marvelous?!"

"They're at home, Nozomi! Like I said, everyone's waiting!" Sasami said.

"This... this was too good to be true..." Nozomi uttered

"What's too good?" another voice said. Nozomi tensed as she turned, finding an older girl with her brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and wearing a labcoat.

"M-Mako... h-how...? This..." Nozomi stammered, confused.

Circle Three

Being pulled from her home was a terrible feeling. Her homesickness hit her hard. But what she saw terrified her badly: It was herself. Standing confidently, a cruel grin on her face.

What's wrong, Nozomi? Like you saw a ghost. the figure said.

"Y-You're... you're me..." she stammered.

Oh, I am much more than just you. I'm what you could be if you'd stop worrying what others think. the figure said. She pulled back her jacket to reveal her already as Cure Dream but with a strange belt around her waist. You wanted power. You wanted so much to protect everyone...

"Th-that was then...!" Nozomi said, the figure shaking her head before slotting in a card holder into the belt.

Henshin. she uttered, her form being replaced with an armored figure in white, gold and pink. Is this not enough? she asked, pulling out her own version of the iMog Slate, hitting a button before rushing Nozomi with a rapier, pinning her to a wall. Oh, so slow... you'll never protect anyone like this, Nozomi...

circle one

[sos_pilot]

There is a LOT happening at once, but Della - used to adventuring - is not exactly surprised. Once she gets over her shock, she gets to the water's edge and tries to pull Nozomi out. "Hang on!"

Persephone | Circles 2 & 3 (Mind the CWs)

[springforth]

Circle Two


It's strange, the way nothing seems real as much as it feels incredibly real. If she weren't worried about those who might be further trapped inside this maze she would have shied away from even more trials, even more creatures to harm or attack.

Except none seem to come. It's a strange patchwork of worlds and she moves through it with--not ease, but smoothness. Things fade away to something entirely different in a way that she wants to find strange but has a hard time placing why. Through quiet gardens and dim taverns, the rattle of metal grates beneath her feet give way to sand as she pushes through a door. It goes on like this for a while.

But that's not all is it? There's people in these places, people she knows. Faces from the train? She stops for one, Zetta, trying to peice together why his words make no sense. Persephone grits her teeth.

"Wait wait, didn't you tell me to not give in the illusions during the storm? I--I have to keep going." And it burns to walk past him when it would be so easy to stay. If he's real, she'll figure this out later. Back on the train.

Where she stops, really stops, still in the grass, is Sicily. Not all of it, just a portion. Her mother's temple behind her, the wild fields of grain and tall sculpted trees, a pond nearby with the reeds swaying in the breeze.

And behind her, a voice, warm. Persephone turns to see her mother, resplendent in a gown the color of golden grain and crowned with wheat, coming down the steps with a few nymphs behind her, green and pink.

"Kore-cob, come on, we have dinner ready."


Circle Three

A. Threshing (CW: Blood) (Close CR only pls)

The last head falls and she comes back to herself. There is blood on her face, her hands, her dress. Her scythe. She reaches up to touch her cheek and then trembles as her fingertips pull away red. Oh gods, it's happened again.

The scythe falls from her hands as she steps back once, then again, pressing into the grain behind her. She lost control again. She killed. She's a murderer all over again and she--

Persephone crumples to her knees, trying desperately to wipe her face clean, but there always seems to be more blood. There's always more and she can't help the panic rising up in her, the leaves sprouting her shoulders and the petals forming in her hair. Her tears form paths in the blood as she tries to calm and cannot find it. Is this her, is this who she really is?

Is she really the bringer of death that they called her?


B. Return (CW: Abuse) (Even Closer CR whoops)

And when she thinks this might soon be over, when she passes the graves of friends and the lava, the remains of cities that all remind her of her own, she finds herself here. In a room she recognizes. In a space she recognizes. Not because it shifts and she shifts with it. But because it is her room. It is her room and it is the moment she left. The moment she had dreaded returning to for months, that fear and shame and anger.

Apollo has her shoulder gripped in his hands, his eyes golden and shining as he looks at her, the golden ichor dripping down his neck from where she scratched him. He is exactly as she remembers him, in this moment. He is frightening, looming over her and pulling her in close to hear what he has to say, to impose his will on her once more. And then he utters those words she remembers.

"Remember, Hera doesn't like Zeus that much, and I'm happy to settle for the same arrangement. I don't need you to like me to be my wife."

When she tries to pull away, he grabs her other shoulder, holds her firm. She will stay and she will listen. The fear and anger rush back, her eyes blood red, but she's crying.

"Pulling a little disappearing act won't change anything. You're my girl and it's time you acted like it." She thrashes in his grasp, desperate to be free, desperate to pull away.

"Let me go!" But he's stronger and he's always been so.

Circle 3: A

[fivemilesdeep]

Ryo has been following his Sense, doing his best to find his friends and any other voidtreckers he recognizes, because illusions are easier to fight off together. No one else from his world is here, so nothing looks familiar, which means it's that much easier to see through. He's found Persephone - if he's going to be honest with himself, he can Sense Persephone (and Thanatos, and Willow) a mile off at this point - and he turns a corner to see-

Bodies, slumped on the floor, missing their heads. A scythe, discarded on the floor, blade covered in blood. Persephone-

Persephone, on her knees, drenched in blood, crying-

I've killed people-

The cruelty of this place - of the person creating these illusions - knows no bounds, evidently.

He makes his way to Persephone, ignoring bodies and stepping through pools of blood, and knees in front of her. He pulls a spare towel from his arms band, pours a bit of water on it, and gently starts wiping the blood off her face.

"Look at me, Persephone." He's stopped in front of her for a reason: to block her view of the carnage.

Xue Yang | OTA

[xue_yang]

Circle One
At first it was easy to deal with the maze. Just destroy anything that got in his way. It was all just bursting apart with a simple strike from Jiangzai. But then he got bored of what felt like walking circles. So he started to try other things to see what would happen. A strike at the wall only made it start moving. It was pretty easy to understand that destroying the actual maze was not the route he needed to take. He was a quick learner and decided to continue following the maze, attempting to mark the path he has already taken in an effort to not keep going the same way.

But then he notices that the maze is starting to fill with monsters and creatures. Most of which he doesn't recognize and seem to pass right by him without doing anything. Some he does recognize and his fingers twitch and grip Jiangzai a little tighter in excitement. Even if these things aren't real he desperately wants to play with them.

But the fact that he knows this place is messing with his head also gives him pause. Will fake monsters really compare to real ones? Probably not and that will just lead to disappointment...

"This place seems to know a lot about us if it can bring those here."

He points his blade towards one of the fierce corpses stumbling towards them.

Circle Two
It is a place he never expected to walk into ever again. The coffin house at Yi City, just like it had been that day when everything changed. It's not like it is the best of homes to have ever lived in but it was perhaps the first time that he had a place he really felt content to come back to.

He walks inside and glances around at it. It is hard to tell himself that none of this is probably real when it feels that way. And a part of him really wants to return to it even though he knows that he never can.

He walks back out and sits down on the step. "Why do these world keeps messing with our heads?"

Circle Three
Now this...is just amusing. He stands face to face with...himself. He doesn't quite understand why the world would do that but apparently it has a unique sense of humor. And Xue Yang is not afraid to fight with himself. Each of them has Jiangzai in their hands, circling each other as if ready to pounce on their prey.

And like mirror images of one another they lunge forward and the swords clash. Strike upon strike perfectly matched against each other. There may never be an actual winner to this battle but he can't help but try and see if he can best himself. The smirk on his lips knows that he can. Because if this is just a version of himself from back home, then he has a few new tricks up his sleeve. And if this illusion is based on the him of now...well then this battle could take awhile.

[stardustofdawn]

As if the mission can get anymore confusing enough with all the technology, the virtual system video game problem, and just a sensory overload, the city becomes crowded as the citizens rushed out and disappear into the smog-filled areas without their oxygen cannisters and ignored the warnings to go further.

It got worst when he becomes lost in the maze and the deeper he gets, it's seems real, but he knows it's isn't. He's becoming familiar with the illusions of his former home in Yi City, but there's nothing remarkable about the empty house from his first life as he realized he doesn't live here anymore, and his life on the train changed him.

As he moves deeper, he hears sounds of the techno music, the sound of stones hitting bamboos as he goes to search for the others and a way out without a violent encounter from the monsters. With shuanghua on hand, he fights and kills if he must if he wanted a way out.

After much searching, he finds his way to an area where from a distance, he can hear Xue Yang's voice. Upon closer look and approaching him, he becomes confused when he sees not one, but two Xue Yang on the field.

"Xue Yang...?" He watches Xue Yang and the imposter fighting each other in a duel, and stands by, not sure what he sees, and suspects it's another illusion. As he watch, he's determined to figure out which one is the real Xue Yang and the other is an imposter.

Thanatos | Circles 1-3

[controlsthedie]

Circle 1

The metal walls form a labyrinth unlike anything Thanatos has seen, and given that he doesn't need to breathe, he readily volunteers to go for the civilians. The canister of air could be saved for anyone else he came across or for the occasional breath if for some reason he needed it.

"It's almost as if the shade of Daedalus created all this... isn't it, Mort?" But they are above ground and not in Minos. Thanatos presses a hand to the surface. He almost wishes for the Yarn of Ariadne to help guide them.

Still, he knows a trick. Keeping his left hand on the wall while his right carries his scythe, Thanatos walks deeper and deeper into the maze.

Circle 2

Thanatos only stops briefly at the camp to gather a few more canisters of air for others to use. Then he pushes further forward. He's still determined to travel through this shifting scenery. And yet he slows when he finds himself at the end of the West Hall in the House of Hades. Thanatos walks over and leans upon the railing overlooking the River Styx. That's the river he watched and studied, deep red, ancient, powerful.

He looks over his shoulder. The spot beyond where Zagreus's mentor should be keeping vigil blurs to something unfamiliar, but it doesn't register as strange to him. None of this does. Thanatos moves to sit on the purple recliner and rests against the wall. He never sat on it before. However, he feels drained, tired. Maybe... maybe just a brief moment before he gets back to work. That's all he ever gets, a brief... moment....

Circle 3

The scenery in the next area puts him on edge unlike the others. Through random glimpses of the outside, snow falls. The hallways are narrow and dark in ways that do not remind him of his mother's domain. Before him, the marble columns seems to stretch and grow... or... is he getting smaller? This place is rich. This place has seen blood spilled, xenia violated.

His hands feel heavy, and when he looks down, he's carrying shackles marked with the sign of Hades. These are the chains Lord Hades gave a young Thanatos when he assigned him to bring...

Thanatos tosses the shackles as hard as he can, hears them clatter against the smooth stone floor off in the distance. No! No, he won't touch those things again! He looks around, eyes wide. How did he get in here? How did he end up in the Palace of Ephyra?

Out. He needs to be out of here now!

Wildcard:

What to do something else? Come at him.

circle 2

[sos_pilot]

"A-da-da-da-NOOOOO you don't!"

Della's been around the block in her own world enough times to recognize a good ol' fashion Lotus Eater trope in effect. So she's not going to let her friends fall for it and get themselves trapped!

So as Thanatos sits, she comes up behind him, and tries (lightly) slapping his cheeks. "Up and at 'em!"