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

[yondu]

"Huh..." That was surprisingly noncommittal of Ansem. But he did just say his memory had taken a hit, so Yondu just nods rather than dig Vexen a hole. Considering his own recent situation, he doesn't want to cost Vexen a friend by saying something that'd go over wrong (though his dilemma isn't nearly as loaded).

But he'll at least say, "Glad he got ya around, anyway. He talked ya up a lot."

"It's two missions." He adds. "Them vines in digital space? Came from the mission before last. We're definitely chasin' somethin'. Anan said she had detected similar readin's from other places so I'm guessin' this ain't gonna be the end of it. But right now I guess we need to straighten these folks out... Not much we can do for this world beyond gettin' some folks back to the city."

[darknessinzero]

It's the comment of being talked up that does seem to catch Ansem's attention a bit more- there's a hint of curiosity on his face, but now is neither the time nor place. For now, he's taking a deep breath to steady himself, and...perhaps this will be enough, for now, at least.

But oh, does he still want to kneel down. Had he played in gardens like that, as a child?

"You are certain progress is being made?" His mind seems a bit less foggy, at least, and he's looking towards Yondu as a source of information. "I do not mean to doubt, simply to be certain."

[yondu]

"Yeah. We got a bunch of teleporters an' gods an' generally some just stubborn folks that don't like to lose. We could all be on a dozen differ'nt pages an' then suddenly here we are."

He frowns at their surroundings.

"You sure this is yours?"

It's then that a curly-haired little boy runs by laughing happily. He's wearing a leather outfit the same color as the former captain's. "Yondu!" he shouts. "Look what I got!" And he holds up Yondu's recently acquired plastic pigeon, cackles victoriously, before running off into Ansem's illusion.

"...That li'l shit." There's a softness to Yondu's expression that suggests that, yes, despite the fact he got pick-pocketed (and he is patting himself down to make sure that pigeon was actually taken) this is one of those fond thoughts, not at all out of place in this siren's hell.

[darknessinzero]

Yondu seems certain enough, so Ansem nods- and then makes a wry expression. "I do not know, but it feels familiar- here, at least," he adds, placing a hand over his heart. "And without anything else to stand upon..."

And- he looks at the boy curiously, then turns to watch them run, and- "Careful! It's not safe out there!"

He's already moving to follow, deeper in to the castle town.

[yondu]

"Peter Quill. ...That's his name. My boy, a good... god, two decades ago? Hell... Don't worry about 'im though, kid's practically made of rubber."

Yondu casually follows the kid, despite knowing it's a lure. "Look, I know this is a bad idea, but he took somethin' an' I gotta get it back." It's a trinket, but those are important to him at least. "Quill! The hell you think you're doin'?"

The kid parkours his way up small building to sit on the roof, still within the bounds of the maze's ceiling.

"I got you, Yondu! You gotta admit it! Admit I'm the best and I'll give it back." He grins broadly down at him, apparently completely used to bantering with Yondu like that, knowing exactly what he could get away with.

[darknessinzero]

"Your son?" Only skeptical in that he's confirming; Ansem understands how blood only means so much when it comes to the concept of 'family'. But- also that this is another illusion. He thinks?

Yondu seems certain, at least, and he's inclined to trust the man. He looks up at the boy on the roof, then back at the man, and then considers.

"...perhaps if we offered something sweet in return."

[yondu]

He's been strangely careful not to call him his son to people, just because calling him 'his boy' seems more... permissible... than assigning the title to it. But after a moment Yondu nods. "His mama died and his real father sent me to pick 'im up... He wanted to kill 'im. So I kept 'im.

"He didn't like me all that much. I didn't try to make 'im like me, it felt wrong. But... there were times...."

There were times like this. The good ones where they gently picked on each other and they had something and it was fun. Yondu shakes his head sadly and works his jaw. Then calls out a-

"Or this fella could get you some candy. You gonna take hostages like that I'm gonna negotiate." Unlike Vexen, Yondu has no trouble with Ansem's bribery.

[darknessinzero]

To kill him? Ansem's horror is clear on his face. And that Yondu spared him from such a fate...

Is now the time, though? Perhaps- never. Right now, though, he searches through his pockets. Candy, or perhaps some...

"...ice cream?"

Why yes. That's a blue treat he's pulled out of seemingly nowhere.

[yondu]

What the fuck, wizard folk?! Just pullin' ice cream out of their pockets! Honestly he shouldn't be surprised at this point. But he is! That's how this train goes.

"Holy crap! How did you do that? That was so cool!" Peter actually somehow not using the word 'shit' at that point, Yondu notes. But it does make the boy come down, bouncing off a barrel and barely managing not to land on his face. He gives Yondu back his weird little gangster pigeon. And he muses an, "It's been two years since I've had ice cream!" as he reaches for it.

"Not a lotta ice cream in the places I ran in..." Yondu idly observes, feeling that weird urge just to stay and just... enjoy it. Enjoy when he actually got being a dad right, when he was entertained by Peter's antics far more than he was troubled or annoyed by them. Without the fear of his crew breathing down his neck.

He knows he shouldn't, but, you know... maybe for a little bit? Is that so bad?

[darknessinzero]

"Well then, young Peter, I'm quite happy to share." And there goes the ice cream being handed off without hesitation, though it does look quite delicious. "But only this once, mind- steal again and you'll be the one owing it to me!"

There's plenty of humor, and zero threat in his voice. Really, this is...nostalgic, in its own way. As though Peter was one of his people, and he's sharing something with them - him - as though it's a matter of course. Though, to Yondu;

"I may have a bit more, if you'd like to try some." Perhaps they could find a bench...

[yondu]

Peter takes it and points to Yondu. "He taught me how!"

And Yondu just grin-winces. "We're Ravagers. It's kinda what we do. We're sort of a fleet that's makes do between a coupla big Empires. Sure some of us really ain't no good but some of us were homeless or got used an' needed to take back what was cut out of us." Then to Peter. "But we're not supposed to steal from your people! We got a code. An' part of that code is Ravagers don't steal from-"

Ravagers don't deal in kids.

The smile fades from the old captain's face as he remembers. The sharp disappointment on Stakar's face, the way Martinex's gaze had bored a hole right into him. And he'd been so damn stupid. Prideful. Didn't apologize the right way and didn't know how to ask for help. It's enough to cut through the good feeling a little, even as Peter says, a happy 'yeah!' and then jokes that his tongue is going to be as blue as Yondu's.

"Hey Ansem, he's probably had enough. Let's wander over this way."

circle 2 because i keep forgetting

[darknessinzero]

"A band of noble thieves?" Ansem doesn't seem affronted- and his amusement is almost fond. As though he's found something worthwhile in what many would dismiss. But the way Yondu's smile fades...it's impossible to miss that.

Unthinkingly, he reaches out to touch Yondu's shoulder- lightly, able to be shaken off, but a wordless support should he feel the need for it.

"Mm. I believe I saw a path there- towards the castle." He points up towards its clockwork and gears.

[yondu]

Stakar's were noble. All of them fair warriors, proud of the fight. Aletta's were noble. Wayward women and victims of gender discrimination, allowed to make their stand behind a fierce and vicious queen. Charlie-27's were all as jovial and rough as him.

And then there was Yondu's. But at least a crew of 300 men and a ship with a powerful drill meant that Ego didn't tempt fate. Not even by bribing his men. Yondu developed a reputation for being real mean and it protected Peter.

But it also meant he couldn't defend him.

"Yeah, let's head that way." He goes that direction. "You remember anythin' about this place? At all? I'd ask ya where your instincts let ya but our heads are bein' run through the wringer."

[darknessinzero]

Ansem walks beside Yondu, perhaps a step ahead, but- quite close. Neither outright leading nor trailing behind, eyes ahead.

"This was my home, Radiant Garden. I was...its king, for many years." That, at least, he is certain of. He remembers walking these streets, this path. And beyond that? Indistinct smiling and laughing faces, happy faces- ones he isn't sure are illusions about them, or the memory-ghosts of his own imagination. "My people were happy," he adds, softer. "And I was happy for them. But something happened."

[yondu]

"These are the gardens that Dilan looked after... Vexen told me about it. Said his name used to be Even, an' ya had another apprentice named Braig. But shit went bad with this fella named Xehanort."

He remembers a lot of what Vexen talked about.

"Y'all took care of a kid together there." That's almost a warning, considering what he just went through. "It ain't fair for a stranger to have so much when ya got so little. Figure I'd say what I knew, just in case."

[darknessinzero]

"Ienzo." A slow release of breath. "Yes. Thank you. I remember the names, and some of it, but- not enough, not yet. Perhaps given a bit more time, but..."

He pauses, then, as if hearing a voice, half-turning.

"...as it stands, the memory I have most clearly is...how we parted." His gaze briefly moves to Yondu- has Vexen told him that, as well?

[yondu]

"I ain't real sure when you're from. To be honest. They sometimes grab people from differ'nt points in time but the same world. I dunno, maybe it all ain't the same timeline, though. Anyways... I know he fell in with Xehanort. Lost his heart. Did some real bad shit to you an' a whole lotta people when he didn't have no moral drive. Got burnt alive an' that still fucks with him. Spent a long time tryin' to put the ball back in your court. An' still beats the hell out of 'imself tryin' to figure out how to do right by ya. He's said a buncha times how glad he is you gave 'im a second chance."

Yondu trails off, summoning up something helpful to say.

He's frequently not great at it.

"I fucked up real bad once. Ravagers got a council, an' the head of that council was a man named Stakar Ogord. They called 'im the Starhawk. An' he was the reason for my freedom, my cause for fightin', my greatest influence. But I messed up an' I never apologized right an' I lost 'im. Sob story aside-" an extra painful one, considering what this hellhole had done to him, "-I know with ever' cell in this body that Vexen wouldn't willingly do anything to even hurt ya again. He'd have to be outa his mind. About the kindest thing you can do, if you got the slightest little bit of feelin' left in ya for 'im, is to give 'im the chance to get it right."

[darknessinzero]

By the sharp inhale at being burnt alive, Ansem hadn't known that. But having seen Vexen's burns, up-close- it makes a horrific sense as to how he still has them. The entirety of the words, though, pull his attention away from the illusion, to there here and now- or, well, as close to one can get when one is hearing a personal story from a near-stranger.

Nonetheless, he does not feel like a stranger. Not anymore. Ansem reaches up and touches Yondu's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"If he wanted to hurt me, he has had the chance- I believe he is sincere in his regret and his desire for atonement. I trust him, here. And besides, he...is not the only one who has committed misdeeds, though mine were towards...other parties." A beat, and then he pulls his hand back, offering a wan smile. "I don't recall Even having many friends, outside of his fellow Apprentices. But I am glad that he has at least one in this place, who would speak on his behalf with such belief."

[yondu]

It strikes Yondu just then, another reminder that he does have friends. There aren't many adults on the train he isn't a little afraid of in some way. He's a sensitive prick sometimes, easily riled, and even if he looks calloused and scarred over those wounds are still open and raw emotionally.

But he's not really worried about Vexen trying to come for his throat, not in his right mind anyway. He's sure he'll fuck that up somehow, thanks to this place putting the worm in his mind.

"Yeah. I reckon. We had to work together when we first showed because the ship went weird. His little girl fell into a coma after that. Xion. I helped 'im out 'cause I knew what that feelin' was like."

He returns the physical gesture with a heavy pat on Ansem's back. "Y'know, maybe we should get outa here. Before this place convinces ya that it's in the right. Whatever this is tried to make me kill my teammates durin' a fight."