middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Finale

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So Familiar a Gleam: Finale

YOU R̴̨̬̗̞̺̖̣̱͌̋̅͊͒̃͘Ų̴̨̨̦͎̭̥̰͍̞͙̲̰̞̭̎̆̓͂́͒̑͌̆̉̕͝Î̶̲͖͙͍̮̮̯̭͘͝N̵̡̢̢̛̛͔̳̲͚̙͕̘̠̞̈͊̂̋̆ͅÉ̸͖̟̻̯̪̭͉̭͖̱̙̠̺͎̥̿D̸̥́͒̈́̔̓̅̋͛̉̀͒̇̚̚ MY WORLD

A TL;DR notes version of days/prompts: (click to show)

EVENT BASICS:

DAYS 8-9 (M11-M12):

Buildings had begun to disappear during days 7&8, facilities and even whole streets begin vanishing. There are signs of crumbling infrastructure everywhere they look.
In the early morning of Day 9 (M12), the cracks in the city - in this illusionary world - finally spread. The void sky above shines brightly in its colours. Chaos - also referred to as the Entity, or That Guy - is heard screaming of vengeance against the Voidtreckers, blaming all that has happened onto them. It shows what happened to the original Diagad: It was destroyed by blocky shapes in the sky that came down and destroyed it, while Chaos itself fell into the void.

There is also some light mind torture, as a treat, to really wake people up. Memories, visions of their past assail them. This is the sort of stuff the voidtreckers have been training against and it's a good time for them to put all that work to the test.
Anan's group then takes over any electrical device still left. She explains that they have a way to get the non voidtreckers (4th wall characters and npcs) home and also a way to temporarily seal the world. The entity takes offence at this and the screens smash. The entity appears as a cyclone of crackling colourful energy.
Illusionary creatures are sent around to find and attack Voidtreckers, but they're also going after 4th wallers/NPCS. There's also monsters from other worlds leaking through, real monsters. People will have to move around more carefully, as going out on the streets is dangerous.
However, there's word that buildings are disintegrating/disappearing farther out from the centre sector. People see where the city limits are as the illusion of there being more to the city has completely faded.
Their SCA's begin to work fully, including comms. Of course not everyone was wearing their SCA when they got pulled and the 4th wallers don't have one so it will be up to those who do to make sure everyone is kept in the loop.
The main tasks are as follows.

"YOU. YOU WISH TO RUIN MY WORLD. TO TEAR IT ASUNDER, BREAK AND CRUMBLE AND INCINERATE ITS EXISTENCE AGAIN. AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. I WATCHED IT. THE END OF DIAGAD, PURPLE SKIES, THE CHILDREN WHO LAUGHED IN JOY, THE SMILES I BROUGHT TO LIFE. THE REASON I WORKED AND WOKE AND WHAT KEPT ME GOING EACH AND EVERY DAY. MY EXISTENCE. MY BEING.

FALLING. FALLING. FALLING. I FELL AS IT CAME, BLACK TERROR WITH A HUNGER. HOW DID THE CHILDREN CRY? DID THEY SUFFER? I CAN HEAR THEM ALL, I CAN IMAGINE THEM. SEE IT. THE POSSIBILITIES, THE MAYBES, THE TRUTH. THE WORLD-- MY BEAUTIFUL DIAGAD, OH! THE VOID HAS BLESSED AND CURSED AND DAMNED AND DESTROYED AND BROUGHT TO ME A CHANCE TO SAVE IT THIS TIME, I WILL SAVE DIAGAD, I WILL HEAR THE CHILDREN LAUGH AGAIN, NO ONE WILL DESTROY MY CITY AGAIN. NO ONE, NO THING, IT WILL BE BEAUTIFUL AND SAVED AND IT WILL PROSPER FOREVER.

ALL WHO HARM US! ALL WHO STOP OUR RETURN! I WILL FIX WHAT HAS BEEN BROKEN. NEVER AGAIN SHALL YOU YOU VOIDTRECKERS HARM MY WORLD AGAIN. TWISTING AND RUINING OUR HOME NO MORE NO MORE I WILL END YOU."

The spiel comes in the early morning of Merriment 12, their ninth day on this strange world, though morning and night are indistinguishable now with the void-scarred sky burning above Jinnjar. Little exists of the sectors but the education and political district, and everyone has had to take shelter in its buildings, on cold tiled floors and with few blankets. There is no waking comfortable, feeling at ease. The city continues to crumble, and the citizens turned into the Entity's Heroes never quit their search and harassing of people who may be secret Voidtreckers, regardless of the ruinous world around them.

And then it speaks. The Entity's voices wakes everyone, enters into dreams, reality and the fake undefinable between one another. Scenes switch from one to another. A sky. Purple, serene and calm. A feeling of great contentment. But then come the shadows. Dark clouds filling the sky, blotting out that most perfect sky. A scream. No, a thousand screams. A world of screams echoes in every ear. A shadowed figure falling into the void. Pain erupts through the body, the mind, madness and grief suffocating every sense, every fibre of the being, and more attempts to fill and drown each and every person in Diagad. There is grief, there is love, there is despair. A longing and desperation that can never be fulfilled that cries out.

Once it's over, many have collapsed from the experience, and there are screams of those scared for their lives. Go out into the streets if you haven't already, and you will see the streets breaking, buildings being pulled like cubes, splitting people and trapping them. And there is a surge that hits people - Voidtreckers, others - with a brainwashing that makes them think of only one thing:

NO MORE. END. WE WILL END THE VOIDTRECKERS.

In amongst all of this chaos screens switch on. Any screens left working in buildings, on buildings, peoples phones. All show a young woman, a droid sat on her hair, metal legs curled around her head.

"Malin?"

A woman's voice. "Yes, go Anan. Now."

"LISTEN UP!" Anan isn't as loud as the booming voice echoing through the city, but she makes herself clear. "We need to evacuate and seal this world. It is falling apart." Stating the obvious, perhaps.

"We can temporarily seal it and we think there is a way to get the others back to their worlds. I know you Voidtreckers have had no training and this is advanced and really dangerous but everyone who is not a void traveller is in a lot of danger."

In truth, even the void travellers were in danger, but she doesn't want morale to be too low.

"Anyone willing to help meet me in the big park. You'll know it, it's the only park left!"

'HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU THWART ME. NO. NO. YOU DON'T. THIS IS MY CITY. MINE NOT YOURS. NOT YOURS TO DESTROY.' There's a huge crack as the sky itself seems to crack apart as colours twist and turn, a cyclone that forms at the edgez of the city, slowly beginning to devour it.

Over the camera Anan looks visibly shocked, terrified even, lost for words. An older man with reddish greying hair steps towards her, putting a big hand on her shoulder.

"Focus Anan. Voidtreckers. We do not ask it lightly. Please those that can, fight. Buy us time to set the seals. Buy time for those with no void craft to evacuate."

The screens flicker in colour before it cracks into static.

'NONE OF YOU WILL SURVIVE.'

A DISJOINTED REALITY

[ FALLING CITY. ] The city has been torn apart, fragments of roads, buildings and structures floating in a horrible mess. Friends and comrades split apart, some trapped in rooms that once had exits, or with no way out than to fall to nowhere. Pieces may stitch back together again at random, but with the same unpredictably, tear apart.

And if it couldn't get any worse, those core lights buzz around the environment, searching for individuals. They will do anything to hinder our heroes: turn into monsters from their minds, attempt to encase them inside illusions of their fears; even try to make them see pathways that don't exist, to make them fall into nothingness.

But for those who honed their resistances against illusions, this time may be different from the last. And with some experimenting, or just some lucky wishful thinking at the right time - some will find they can bend the illusions to do as they want, if just for a while. Stitch back together pathways so they can be crossed over, or make a weapon appear where it's needed.

It requires concentration, will be exhausting with too much use, but still - when isn't an axe or road on call handy?

[ HINDRANCE OR HELP. ] But it isn't only the core lights and environment they need to worry about. There are monsters coming out of the void - monsters they may recognise, monsters they may not. But unlike those of illusions, these are real, monsters - mechanical, ghostly, flesh and blood, something else entirely - slipping through from other worlds to rampage here.

There are also civilians, those who remain brainwashed, going after the Voidtreckers with powers of their own: telekinesis, pyromancy, superstrength and endurance, and so forth. Their skill levels vary, but the strongest of all are those who features have become twisted, chaotic. Streaks of colours dance under the skin, and they listen to no reason but their own. The entity - no their god, Chaos, is remaking the world. Remaking it the way it should have always been.

Strangely, but luckily, not everyone is harmful. Amongst those out there are a peculiar sight: a short hybrid between child and woodland-creature. They're keen to help, particularly anyone young or good of heart. They will help to lead them to safe shelters - the safe-houses made by Voidtreckers, the protected rooms all that are left. They may even interrupt the core lights from harming youngsters, knocking and shattering them, and then staying close to the youngster.

[ THE EVACUATION. ] For those who manage to make their way to the park, Anan is there, looking grim. One good thing though, as voidtreckers rush towards the entity or get ready to protect those helping evacuate this world- those with SCA's will see them burst into life, comms online.

The evacuation area needs protecting. Those acting as beacons aren't able to fight for themselves and the evacuation process is intense, slow and there are many many people in this city. The main entity is distracted but the monsters are drawn towards this gathering of people. Holding them back is vital to this plan working.

It's going to take everything the voidtreckers and their new friends have, to pull this plan off.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

FACE ME. COWARDS AND FOOLS. I WILL BE YOUR DOOM

At the edge of what remains of the city there is almost a cyclone of energy, colourful crackling as whatever power they are dealing with here takes form.

(OOC: For this part please all reply in one single thread under either battle 1 or 2. Each round will be marked by an NPC tag and then each character may tag once before the next round begins. If you are late joining or miss a round don’t worry! Just tag into the most recent round and either assume your character was always there or got caught up with the many illusionary or even real monsters!

Important Note: The entity may directly attack characters with illusions or attempts at control- if you do not wish your character to be targeted with these please write 'opt out' in the subject line of your first tag in!)

Xue Yang is pissed. Pissed that everything has been a lie and the world he had been living is cracking around him and he is once again going to be unable to protect the one person he wants to. His swords crackle with electricity as he walks towards the edge of the city.

He wants to let lose the frustrations of the last month and he is going to do it on whatever creature decides to finally show itself. Illusions or whatever the hell it is going to attack with, Xue Yang plans to destroy it all.

"Let's get on with it. You're going to lose no matter what you do."

'Yeah. Yeah' Was the only thought that was going through the young mans head. So many people say that they would be their doom but he had yet to see it personally. But he could also stand to be surprised.

He was just glad that he was at least allowed now to step out and actually do something, but as to the what yet he didn't know. But his claw was ready to go.

"Can we at least try and do this without going straight to 'lets kill them', please."

Kiyoiri is maybe an odd one out. She's if anything expecting to be hit at the mind, shouted at there instead.

(She's ready for it. The shouts he's cried out, it's cried out, they are all too familiar and she is ready to throw them back with as much ferocity as possible in the process of calling it out on its failings.)

One good thing about this, somehow.

Takechirou sits on her shoulder, and with three command spells again, she breathes in.

Every time her bird got blasted back into the illusion, their own dropped.

Thanks, she thinks, for the refresh.

"Takechriou- at my Command," she intones, voice low as she stares ahead. "Take the form of someone who can defend themselves and others against such madness!"

"CAW!" It might not work the whole battle- honestly as powerful as the bird is, it's one seventh of a servant. But the bird transforms- a glowing beacon for a split second, before taking the form of a child in heels and a formal suit.

Armed with, Kiyoiri notes, a paint brush.

(She doesn't know it, but there was a reason he chose Van Gogh; for the Foreigner's own madness and dedication to act as a stop-gap, a measure of protection that could, like Kiyoiri herself, simply move alongside what would strike out at them)

"Woah, such massive power!" Goku said, shocked. "There's no way I can fight this on my own..."

He takes a moment before he calls out to the other gathered heroes. "Guys, I need you to protect me! I need to gather what energy I can to form a Spirit Bomb. It's probably not going to be much, but it's better than nothing!"

Hoping they understand, Goku's hands shoot up into the air. "Everyone who can, whatever's left of this world, heck, even the void if you can! Please, lend me your energy!"

"Oh, I am so ready for this."

Rising into the air, Danny gathers balls of bright green ghost energy in both hands."

Zelgadis isn't sure what it says about him that life-threatening peril is what clears his mind of the last fog of 'normal life'. Perhaps that the persona created for him was so mundane that the dreams of someone who has survived world-ending threats are worth embracing.

Regardless, he observes that several other people that he recognizes from the train are doing some sort of offensive attack. "I'll block what debris I can, but stay close if you want the cover." He brought up a wind barrier, infused with enough magic to also handle spells as well as any physical objects. While it would be very satisfying to just unleash Rah Tilt on this asshole's face, he doesn't know who else has defensive abilities.

Kairi was ready too, she was ready as anything and planning on pretty much rushing in keyblade drawn and ready for action. But right now she was staying back weapon at the ready for whatever the others were planning on doing.

ARE THESE YOUR STRONGEST. REALLY? THIS IS THE BEST YOU CAN DO.

As the forces gather the colours pulsate around them, as if it really were sizing them up. The first strike comes as colourful energy, aimed at Xue Yang's sword with the intent to knock him back, maybe even knock him down.

Allen and Kiyori as well as the painter next to her are met with tendrils of colours, whipping towards their feet, to knock them down. Another tries to curl around Danny's ankle.

FOOLISH CHILDREN. YOU SEEK TO DESTROY AND RAVAGE THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD. LOOK AT YOU. LOOK AT WHAT YOU DO.

Bolts of colourful energy fly at Goku and Zelgadis, almost like lightning strikes.

Kairi! Kairi! She would recognise the voice, a dear friend. They sound frightened and they are coming from within that swirling mass of colourful energy.

Edited 2021-07-21 20:07 (UTC)

She knows how to fall.

"You have already proven yourself the strongest here. It isn't about strength."

She falls with grace- 'Van Gogh' does not, but that is because Van Gogh is cheating to a point, twisting 'her' paint around to blend and work to her advantage.

Not as a weapon, but rather a shield.

Maybe even a connection.

"Were the missing birds truly our doing?" Kiyoiri asks calmly, grasping at the tendril at her feet as if it were a lifeline rather than a curse.

"You never even explained yourself to anyone, did you? No, I can tell you didn't. You gave everyone false memories and lives and families. Some nice. Some not," she speaks, and Chaos will undoubtedly understand she places herself in the former.

"Why, then, couldn't you take time to explain? You're breaking the world apart yourself as we fight. Your beautiful world." The words are honest. Not sarcastic.

"Can't you explain?"

"Says the fruitloop." Danny wasn't feeling particularly interested in anything the entity had to say at this point. In his opinion, it had crossed the fruitloop horizon a long time ago, so anything it had to say now could be safely ignored.

Flipping over he grabs the tendrils of color reaching out for him and sends a surge of electrically charged ghost energy right back down them.

Goku would yell out in pain, refusing to lower his hands even as he's struck. C'mon, give him a chance here! He needs more time.

"You grabbed all of these people yourself!" he shouted out. "You might be powerful, but you're nothing but a child!"

Dairine knocks the illusions away from herself just in time to join the fray. She's not a big fan of getting into fights she cannot win, but this time it's for Life. And who says they can't do more than buy time, if they work together?

"Oh, by all means explain! While you're at it, why not explain how dragging people into a desert was supposed to do anything but kill them?!"

She balls up a fist, cracking with raw energy. Spot glows a dangerous blue in her other hand. "You've clearly got beef with us, but what have we done besides foil one kidnapping attempt? Is that all it takes to get under your skin?!"

Loki gives a mocking laugh of his own. "Is this the best you can do? More illusions? Even my enemies acknowledge I have more in my armory."

He creates a strong wide-angle disillusioning spell and throws it at the reaching tendrils, trying to hit- and hopefully wipe out- as many as possible.

Zelgadis took the hit, and his spell contracted -- it blocked the hit, but barely. He fed more energy to it; deciding how long his patience for letting the people who still wanted to talk it out go. (It wouldn't be the first time such things worked, but Zelgadis wouldn't know where to begin here.)

"I've been threatened by far larger things than this," he commented. "And I don't really care about anyone's tragic backstory when I get brainwashed and then attacked when I object to it. Is everyone not ready to defend themselves clear?"

“You really pick the worst times for that attack, Kakarot.” The words are directed to Goku as Vegeta flies into range, stopping just short of the other Saiyan, his eyes on their opponent the entire time. This entire thing had just been… he was still getting his head around it, to have been stripped of his identity and given another… it was beyond infuriating.

Positioning himself between Goku and that energy, Vegeta instantly charging up into Blue form. “Keep working on it, I have this.” He’s tempted to just go all out, to attack and be a distraction, but Vegeta knows playing bodyguard was the better bet between his ability to take those hits and that lingering power this world had given him to heal. If Goku could get that attack off…

He may not have been the strongest member, but Demyx when he got serious was no slouch.

He jumped into the frey, sitar in hand and positioned for optimal playing.

Demyx honestly didn't care one way or another if the guy died, they needed to stop him. He was more than a little pissed at the fact he was played with again, his mind toyed with. At what point was it going to break?

He would play to send a line of geysers in the man's direction.

"What the hell gives you the right to toy with people's lives?!" It was unlikely anyone had heard Demyx so angry before. He had had enough.

He sees that attack coming and there is a scoffing laugh as he brings the swords across his body, sending a wave of lightning and electricity towards the colors that were aiming to take him down.

"You really think I'd be afraid of a rainbow? You'll have to do better then that." Maybe not a rainbow but what else could one call a burst of color? Xue Yang doesn't really care that much either way. Instead he will send two more blasts back towards the source of the energy. After lightning will come fire and then ice. Certainly one of these elements have to have some sort of effect. And if he can keep the attacks towards him, then it helps the guy who seems to be trying to prep for something big.

A CHILD? A CHILD YOU CALL ME YOU WHO STOMP AND SCREAM AND TEAR AND RUIN. YOU WILL WEEP. ONE KIDNAPPING ATTEMPT SHE SAYS. ONE. ONE. AS IF YOU HAVE NOT CHASED ME ACROSS THE VOID. HUNTED ME. LIKE AN ANIMAL. YOU WILL PAY. YOU WILL PAY OH YOU. YOU VOIDTRECKERS. YOUR DOOM AWAITS.

There's a moment when the tendrils recoil hit by Danny and Loki's energies but they quickly regroup. A force hits Danny, almost like a wind, blowing him towards the cyclone as if it is trying to suck him into the chaos.

"Stop" Loki will hear a voice, someone he cares for, respects. And then they are in front of him, stern between him and the mass of colourful tendrils.

Another mass of tendrils flew towards Goku and Vegeta, magical energy firing at them as the tendrils themselves tried to wrap around them, smother them in colours, overwhelm them with chaos. They will feel them almost in their minds, beseeching them to just give up, join this chaos.

UNCARING RUINERS. THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE. I TOY WITH TOYS. I WILL MAKE YOU RESPECT ME. FEAR MY RAINBOWS

Tendrils reached towards Zelgadis, trying to wrap around his legs, yank him off his feet. Xue Yang's attacks hit, and a tendril lashes out, trying to curl around his neck, while another tries to curl around his ankle. A blast of energy flies towards Demyx.

OR YOU WISH TO UNDERSTAND. DO YOU? DO YOU REALLY? CAN YOU HANDLE IT? CAN YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH?

Both Kiyoiri and Dairine, though they physically don't go anywhere will see another place. A busy park filled with children, families having picnics. Purple skies, beautiful until the first shadow appears, filling the skies. Shapes crowd out that perfect. They've seen this before. They fall. Screams ring in their mind, a thousand screams, a world of screams.

They are in an office block, they glance out a window as shadows fill the sky, they fall, down, outwards, through nothing and everything as screams echo in their ears. The screaming doesn't stop.

They walk, holding the hand of a child when the skies darken, screams, so many screams as they fall, fall eternally. It's possible for both of them to break out of the loop but until they do they see it, from many perspectives, many angles, the final cry of a world.

Edited 2021-07-22 04:52 (UTC)

Curufin springs into the battle, his sword raised and gleaming with a blue-white light that is partly its own and partly Curufin's own power flowing through its razor-sharp length. This is not the only weapon he possesses. He can make visions and cast them into the mind of any attacker, and he prepares to do this. First, he has to make a guess about the weaknesses of this loudmouthed entity.

Curufin is a bit of a loudmouth himself. "YOU UNDERESTIMATE US, YOU FOOL! THIS IS YOUR DOOM, NOT OURS!" he shouts in a voice of thunder.

Edited 2021-07-22 04:57 (UTC)

....Well that didn't go as planned.

Danny tries to catch himself, pouring all his strength into flying against the force pushing him towards the cyclone. He was going to guess that it would not be good if he actually hit it.

"Look, it's not like I can just charge up one before hand and hide it somewhere!" Goku retorted. It would be helpful, but where do you hide a big Spirit Bomb? Where do you sit a small one?

Goku's feet begin kicking and striking at the tendrils. It's getting harder and harder to keep fighting back. This stupid thing is just screaming at him and it's getting rougher and rougher...

There is some satisfaction in being able to hit the thing. Choosing to ignore the rants of a madman for now. It's not like he cares what kind of excuses they are going to give for why they are doing this. He manages to slice through the tendril that was going for his feet but he misjudged the one aiming for his neck.

He feels it wrap around and he reaches up to grip it with his hand. "You probably should rethink fighting against a sword with a vine."

He swings the sword up to try and cut himself free from the thing gripping him.

Vegeta lets out several ki blasts to try and block those tendrils from heading their way, but had to quickly change up plans as that magical energy shot towards them. The smart thing would be to dodge, but since he's acting as a shield he throws his hands up in front of him, taking the brunt of it against his forearms for both himself and Goku. It really didn't help he didn't have his armor thanks to the whole 'new life' illusion factor, teeth gritted to the impact as he felt those tendrils take hold.

"Get off!" He barked out, a shot of ki at those trying to wrap around him before he turned and did the same to those trying to grab Goku. That tug as well, the mental one, was not helping, pulling at those still confused mix of 'memories'. Vegeta tried to steel himself against it the best he could, shoving it away in an attempt to ignore it. "Just stay focused!" He snapped back to Goku as he kept himself ready for what was next.

Loki does pause, stop. It's Frigga's voice. And she solidifies in front of him. For a second he lets his magic fizzle. Then he regathers it, fire in his eyes.

"You dare to try to use my mother's form to trick me?! You will pay for that, defiler of memories."

He throws an even stronger spell in an arc in front of him, again meant to destroy any illusions. He's not watching, though; while he can attack his fake mother, he can't look while doing it.

Boss Battle 1

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