voidtreckermods: (train)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2021-05-19 08:54 pm

What their Eyes See: Finale

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.
darknessinzero: (bare | in your name I will deny)

ANSEM // Orange -- circle 1 & 2

[personal profile] darknessinzero 2021-05-19 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
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.
Edited 2021-05-19 20:51 (UTC)
worthallthis: (mask)

Bucky/Soldat | OTA

[personal profile] worthallthis 2021-05-19 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
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.
schrodingersghost: (pic#10323497)

Danny Fenton

[personal profile] schrodingersghost 2021-05-19 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
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"
redmeguca: (The hell?)

Kyoko Sakura (CRAU/Blue team)

[personal profile] redmeguca 2021-05-19 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
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!
yondu: (1 3 5)

Yondu Udonta | Blue | Circle 2 & 3

[personal profile] yondu 2021-05-19 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
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.
sos_pilot: by <user name=cupcake_graphics> (to the front of the line)

Della Duck | OTA

[personal profile] sos_pilot 2021-05-19 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
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! ]
redmeguca: (Default)

Misery

[personal profile] redmeguca 2021-05-19 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, uh, was I there? Because if not, I'd say that's some pretty good evidence for this being an illusion.
zombiemessiah: (m82)

I. Circle One

[personal profile] zombiemessiah 2021-05-19 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"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."
sciencegirl: (052)

Circle Two: Familiar

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-05-19 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
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."
sciencegirl: (1 4 9)

Winding Roads

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-05-19 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[Entrapta can't fight, but she has a little friend that can!]

[Claudette comes charging around the corner, honking a battle charge and her face glowing a bright purple. Once she's up beside of Della she swings her tail to break some of the items away.]

[Entrapta comes along afterwards, reaching into the 'prison' with her hair to help Della get out.]

The structure is defending itself. [Again, if anyone needed to know the obvious? Entrapta is here to give it! Super helpfully.] Are you okay?
hanabibloomingatthegates: (Special Eyes)

Ayumi Yoshida | Red Team

[personal profile] hanabibloomingatthegates 2021-05-20 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
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.]
dreamtamer: (pic#14420705)

Takato Matsuda

[personal profile] dreamtamer 2021-05-20 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
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.
namethattune: (Lost in my train of thoughts)

Misery | Circle 3

[personal profile] namethattune 2021-05-20 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
[It is certainly odd, finding himself on the moon again after so many years, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. Siebren has fond memories here, after all.]

[Della, who is on her knees and screaming, obviously does not.]

[He takes a knee next to her and places a hand firmly on her shoulder, trying to steady her.]


You are not on the moon anymore, and you have not been for some time. This may feel real, but I promise you it is an illusion.
tactlesstantei: (fear)

Masumi Sera | OTA | Circles One and Three

[personal profile] tactlesstantei 2021-05-20 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
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.]
helborn: (the dark is scary)

Casper | OTA

[personal profile] helborn 2021-05-20 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
[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.
blue_ice: (alarm)

[personal profile] blue_ice 2021-05-20 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
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?"
azrthmtrnznthos: (sweatdrop)

Circle Two

[personal profile] azrthmtrnznthos 2021-05-20 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
Raven had found Soldat, which brought some comfort for her at least, instead of the strange draining-comfort that this whole level brought. It made Raven uneasy, as she noticed an area that looked like the top area of Titans Tower. Where they trained, or played volleyball. Where Raven sometimes meditated while her friends played.

Because she is uneasy, Soldat suddenly exploding into violence as he tears up a....tavern room? Makes her jump. Causing some of the illusions to flicker as bursts of dark-energy strike them briefly. "Soldat?" Honestly they're lucky her powers hadn't reacted in a way that harmed the air-canisters...
Edited 2021-05-20 01:33 (UTC)
dreamtamer: (pic#14277064)

[personal profile] dreamtamer 2021-05-20 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
"Megidramon," Takato says quietly as he stares up at the dragon. His manner was subdued and sad. Above them the dragon snarls, but the boy makes no move to run. "I don't know how he can be here, but it must be because of me."
magicurls: (quarter face)

mami tomoe | madoka magica | all in circle two

[personal profile] magicurls 2021-05-20 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
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?
azrthmtrnznthos: (Ready to fight 2)

Circle Three

[personal profile] azrthmtrnznthos 2021-05-20 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
It had been interesting, seeing the hints of Danny's home. Raven was sad she had to remind him they were illusions though. Help him resist the pull, as he helped her resist her own pulls. At one point, she had stumbled on on her bedroom; Danny had been the one helping remind her it's an illusion then.

This circle though...

It was clear something had gone wrong here. Then Danny was stepping out, but there was something to his voice. It had to be an illusion, and Raven suspected what it was. It might be like her, facing her Anger in her mind's realm.
blue_ice: (desperation)

misery

[personal profile] blue_ice 2021-05-20 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Even in this darkness, the strength of their bond leads Seto here. He trudges over to Della's side, reaching for her hand and a slightly different approach. He knows how the loneliness hurt her, he'd felt part of it.

And so he does his best to project his love and concern for her into the bond. ]


This is real. You and I. Best brain buddies, remember?
chalicejoker: (Chalice - Red)

Hajime Aikawa | OTA

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2021-05-20 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
[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?
wishalone: (022 ≬ anime)

tumbling down

[personal profile] wishalone 2021-05-20 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
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!"
chalicejoker: (Chalice - Suit)

III. Circle Three

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2021-05-20 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
Hajime recognizes that guy from the train, doesn't think he will be recognized in turn. He's Chalice, why would he be? The guy looks like they're having some sort of issues in regards to a very sketchy-looking chair, and that's...a total shift in posture and attitude once the chair is destroyed.

Odd. "...are you alright?" He's holding a weapon, albeit at his side. Not being actively threatening.
blue_ice: (asking questions)

circle three

[personal profile] blue_ice 2021-05-20 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
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!"
Edited 2021-05-20 02:05 (UTC)