middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Finale

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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

[[ ooc: Please chose if you want to thread with Agent 3 or Little Ghost in your reply. I'm combining what would be two very similar top levels into one. ]]

Both Nory... no Agent 3 and the nameless vessel since called Little Ghost are armed and protecting the VoidTreckers acting as anchors. As much as both of them would like to tackle the big bad, neither of them have their usual weapons handy. Agent 3 is armed with a mop and what looks to be an empty water cooler jug. She zips around splattering bright green ink everywhere to increase her agility and act as bait for the monsters to attack.

"Hey! I betcha can't splat me! C'mon and try!" she taunts, flinging ink into the eye of the nearest monster.

Little Ghost has found a butter knife, but even if they had found something sharper, they wouldn't have better odds with it. They are much smaller than they were under the illusion. (And it's a wonder they aren't actually the size of an insect.) However, Little Ghost has powers of soul and void to aid them. The spells are powerful blasts which knock around the monsters. They fight with silent determination and purpose.

Edited 2021-07-21 23:43 (UTC)

Eight is tired... exhausted, even. She had been serving as an anchor for two people and was looking more than a bit dishevled. But there was two goals to come here. The first was to provide support to the Voidtrekkers, the second...

The best thing of having another person from her world was she had someone to superjump to. In a moment the tell-tale circle indicating her arrival comes near. And there she stands, bucket and improvised ink container (a repurposed fire hydrant). She was preferred chargers, but what are yah gonna do?

"BOOYAH!" She shouts, sloshing the green-tinted ink next to the wave of foes Nory was rushing.

"BOOYAH!!" Agent 3 repeats. As strange as it might be for her to see an Octoling share the same colored ink as her, she's not worried about it. Cap'n Cuttlefish made her an agent, and that's good enough for Agent 3 to fight alongside. Besides, they've made friends by now!

She dives down to refill her ink and makes a line towards Agent 8. "Now, as much as I like the colors of these rainbows, these monsters are building waves towards our turf. You ready for a Turf War?"

Eight was glad. The last time she met Three they were fighting each other to get to the surface. They never really had a chance to get to know more about each other before she was taken away to the train. She was glad that Three was just as fresh as she hoped.

"Rainbow ink would be totally fresh, but I don't like the look of these guys." She smirked. "With just a slosher and an inkbrush? Hardly seems fair does it?" The glint in her eyes imply its not fair for the enemies, and not necessarily for them.

Rainbow ink would be amazing and possibly overpowered. It'd also be hard to tell who was winning in a Turf War. But it would be amazing still.

"Poor bad guys. They're just in the wrong ranked match." She laughs and returns that mischievous glint. "Normally, I don't like curbsloshing another team, but... I think I'll make an exception this time. Let's go!"

Agent 3 slams the makeshift inkbrush to the ground and cuts a straight line to an incoming monster. She hops out to ink out that extra bit of distance as she wildly flings her brush at them. Green ink blinds them, and knowing how things had been in Vista City, Agent 3 then slams the brush on top of the monster's head as hard as she can.

"Vee~" Eight smiled hearing terms she hadn't heard for the past eight months. It was really nice to have someone from her world to talk to and use terms that were familiar. "Well, if you want to make this a competition, we can see who gets the most at the end? Loser has to listen to Sheldon talk about his entire arsenal!"

--which Eight wouldn't mind, but she would definitely put on a show of annoyance for the sake of being annoyed.

Sloshers, of course, had less finesse but were always good for volume, and with a bit of a spin and twirl she could focus the coverage. She's aware enough slosh beyond Three as well, giving her space as two more heroes began to converge. Popping out from behind, she shoots for the eyes, planting both feet into the back of the monster Nory was fighting to trip him forward.

"As long as we don't forget the objective!" Agent 3 shouts back. Too many other teams lost because they concentrated on splatting other inklings instead of covering the turf in ink. And here, their objective is far more important than any friendly turf war.

With one monster down, Agent 3 dives down into the ink. A bulge in the ink keeps track of her movement as she angles herself to attack another from a different point. She flings ink up a wall to give her the high ground. Agent 3 uses this new height to give her more force upon the next monster she attacks with her Jinnjar Inkbrush.

"Mmm!" Eight nods at the direction. Man Three was so cool...

Eight follows up her attack in kind, ducking, diving, and dodging in the heat of the moment. But as the fight is going on she's getting sloppier. Serving as an anchor had taken its toll on her, and while her spirit was fighting fit, the rest of her feels like she just ran 10 rounds of Clam Blitz.

For now, she's ignoring it, following up a quick exit from the ink with a swift flying kick to the monster's chin.

Agent 3 doesn't let up. She uses speed and height to give her the advantage against their foes. For the most part, she trusts Agent 8 to keep up because she's a part of the Splatoon, and it wouldn't do any good to doubt or belittle her skills.

However, that's also her folly because she's late to notice how Agent 8 is slowing down, like she's trying to walk in ink that's the wrong color. "Whoa, hey! Fall back if you need to. Don't get so drained that the big bad gets you again." She means fall under Chaos's illusion, which she thinks is still a real threat. "I got this!"

Agent 8 huffs, straightening up at the call. This... was what she wanted. The opportunity to work with her senior, and yet... this wasn't the time. Already the next group of people are starting to head to the park to escape the collapsing world. They were going to need her.

"Okay!" She yelled taking one last moment to admire how awesome three was at clearing out these crazy anemones. "I'm going to fall back to anchor some more! Don't get cooked! Stay off the hook!!" A soft laugh passed through her lips as she doubled back to help get people out of here.

"And you stay fresh!" She yells back, going once more into the fray with pure determination on her face. Agent 8 will see more of her soon enough.

So Familiar a Gleam: Finale

Agent 3 & Little Ghost | Protect the VoidTreckers!

Agent 3

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