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]

"You still coulda waited. You still coulda seen if some change happened. But you didn't. Sometimes I get a lotta quit in me- you seen it back there. Where I just wanna give in an' give up. You don't wanna... I think maybe you give a li'l too much sometimes, but I ain't ever seen you in a position where you'd wanna stop."

He sets his jaw, trying to ignore the nightmare going on around them.

"I know we got a little bit in common where sometimes we don't feel like we're all that much. It probably don't seem like it. You're a little pink bouncy thing. I'm all scarred up. It shows up in differ'nt ways. But I think we got that between us both.

"So I know you're makin' me keep goin'. Well, I'm gonna make ya quit on this. We're gonna go deal with the small idiot potatoes who live in their shit city that they ruined all by themselves, no witch or nothin'. 'Cause they're the ones that need you right now."

It's long winded rambling, mostly to keep her occupied and away from this messy situation and horrible sky. Sure, smog awaits them, more horrible sky. But it'll be their reality.

[happyends]

"But.. these people need me too. Right now." Which sounds like she's too caught up in the illusion, but Yondu's words are at least keeping her from falling into that, pulling her out of it, which is why she adds: "Back home."

Because this is all still going on back home. If time is moving while they're on the train, then her world has been like this for months now, with so many people suffering.

All because she isn't there. It's a lot of guilt for a young child to carry with them.

"I should have gone home to them already now. I.. I don't think that's giving too much. It's just making sure these people don't get hurt more than they've already been.."

[yondu]

"No they don't. These ain't real."

And now he knows that the likelihood is that none of them are at home. That she is right.

"It's you seein' that as your biggest use. Like that's the best you gonna contribute an' all you amount to. You do a whole lot. You try to keep people taken care of an' fed. Ya try to be there for your buddies. You been tryin' to better yourself with usin' your bow.

"But you're good for just sittin' around an' talkin' about things you was curious about an' drawin' pictures an' daydreamin' too." He has noticed those moments. She certainly looks happier during them. "You're more than what you can do for folks. I know you got a big responsibility. I wish I could show you it wasn't the only thing to ya."

[happyends]

Madoka glances up at him, seeming to think about the words.

Then her gaze travels up at the sky, at all the various colours the witch projects up in it, right alongside her twirling form.

"I mean.. I like those moments too."

The ones where she just talks with people. Where she gets to meet people here who she never would've met otherwise. She likes just drawing, or creating other things, and just laughing and have fun..

.. there are a lot of things just from her ordinary back home she misses too.

"But it doesn't feel right to make those more important than this. Shouldn't the thing that saves the most people always be the most important thing..?"

[yondu]

"It's ever' bit as important."

He stops, glad they're further from the moaning, hoping they're nearly out of the illusion, but he stops to crouch in front of her so he's looking up at her again. He withdraws all of his little trinkets from his pockets. A pigeon mascot from the shooting game some people had been playing. The wooden chicken the vendor gave him on Erda. The windmill from Siebren and the frog from Kyoko.

"I wasn't allowed to own things like this back when I was your age. But I can now. Just li'l' things. All mine. When I was a kid I was just a thing meant for hurtin' people. Bein' a thing just for helpin' people might seem like it's better, but it's just bein' a thing."

He puts away his little items.

"The li'l girl I know is a full person who needs to see she's more than what she can give. I know you ain't got a choice in givin' it but you ain't somethin' to be spent for the 'right reasons'."

He gets back up to take her hand again.

[happyends]

Her hand is taken.

They start walking once more, just forward through this wasteland of a broken down city. Silent for a moment, aside from the odd cackling of the witch tumbling over overheard - but thankfully it doesn't seem like she's trying to hurt them more.

It gives Madoka a few moments to think about what Yondu just said. Because.. it's a lot to process. A lot to try and understand. She thoughtfully chews her upper lip, thinking about those trinkets Yondu showed her.

"I don't.. feel like a thing," she slowly says.

Maybe that's the part she's trying to wrap her head around.

"How do you know when you're just a thing, mister Yondu..?" The question is asked a bit hesitantly, since it means having to recall his - most likely awful - memories from before, from way ago, that time he spoke about when he was a child.

[yondu]

"Part of its in how you get treated. That Kyubey saw y'all as resources, right? Set ya up to feel like a real important resource. But still just somethin' he wanted, messes with how you see yourself. Part of it's..."

The nightmare scenario around them is a good setting for this kind of talk. It's about how it feels in his head during those bad moments. Even if the conversation isn't one he's ever had to speak, or think out, or anything along those lines.

"When they had me tied up, I felt it then. Or when I lost all my friends. This big, helpless thing. Couldn't do nothin' for myself. Nothin' I wanted mattered. I'd tell myself that ever' time I got in trouble for bein' too much me when I was young. Just sit there real quiet waitin' for it to be over.

"I know you want stuff, Angel, an' you ain't near as bad as some folks about it." Including him. "You wouldn't have gotten ya a girl if you didn't want stuff. It don't mean you don't wanna help people... but to do what they want ya to do, it seems like you had to convince yourself nothin' you want matters much. An' that ain't fair 'cause that's a hell of a sacrifice you makin'. What makes you is worth the whole world. An' I say that knowin' sometimes you fight with all your heart."

He thinks back to Peter again, despite himself. "My boy's daddy treated him that way, too. Like he was somethin' to use. When I told 'im to fight, I told 'im to use his heart."

[happyends]

It must've been so hard for Yondu, Madoka thinks as she listens to him. Especially since he was so much younger back then, and yet it really sounds like he was seen as nothing more than a thing, even though he was just a kid.

And in a way she can see the similarity. Because she's right. From her talk with Kyubey, Madoka knows very well that the alien only viewed them as cattle, as an energy source - but not as human. Not as people, with hopes and dreams and feelings.

But..

"When I use my heart though.. I still feel like I want to do it. I don't feel like a thing then," she says. It's a little soft, but considering there's no longer any cars or people around these streets, it's audible to Yondu. "The thought of giving up everything for the sake of the world.. It doesn't feel heavy, or sad. Instead my heart starts to feel all warm when I think of how happy everyone would be in a world without all of this suffering."

She looks up at him, sideways.

"Then it's not a bad thing, right..? Then I'm.. not just a thing. I'm a person deciding to make that choice."

[yondu]

"That's still not great, but it's more that you're havin' to make that choice. Not that you don't realize your value. I just want you to know you're worth somethin'. More than just savin' that world."

He turns, looking at the foggy 'normal' sky then, tasting the smog on his breath.

And yet here they are, snatched by the train, savin' a world that's pretty much beyond saving.

"You havin' to spend your whole life fixin' a problem another thing made. That witch happened 'cause of his deals, anyway. Then the only way to fix it is to pin ya into another deal, even if you're real smart about it. It's... still shit. But I guess I cain't fault ya if ya fight with your heart. I always fight with mine."

She's not seen how terrible his fights can be. He hopes that she never does. But he's always thinking of what he needs to survive for. Or, in his last fight... he needed to succeed to save one single person. "I can see why that bastard wanted to use ya, you got one of the biggest hearts I ever seen."

[happyends]

Madoka ducks her head, quiet for a moment while they walk.

She almost seems a little flustered when she speaks up again, though it's not necessarily in a bad way.

".. Thank you, mister Yondu." For giving her so many compliments. Madoka thinks that all she's doing is just being nice to people, really, that it's nothing more than what other people do, but.. she's trying to be good about not dismissing compliments when people give her, though it's hard to just accept them.

"I'm.. sorry. That I'm not really good at seeing what I'm worth.. Really often I feel kind of useless, no matter what I do. B-But I'm trying my best anyway."

[yondu]

Yondu's generally shit at explaining things. If he were a carpenter, every nail in the conversation would be crooked and maybe even bent to the side. Hearing her say that feels a little better, at least, in that she seems to at least realize, for a glimmer of an instant, how important she might be to people just as she is.

"Well, I figure givin' hope to hopeless people is more heavy liftin' than people let on."

Which is the long and short of what she does. Every society in the cosmos with any concept of hope or the lack of it doesn't give enough credit to a being that can manifest it in others. Especially a tiny pink one still made of flesh and blood and not forgotten wishes.