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

It really is a sequence of violence. Thankfully that's just about the one thing that can't seem to faze Alice, no matter what condition she's in. She has seen so many violence at this point in her life - often carried out by herself, but not always - that it's hardly surprising or terrifying to see this display of power from the man.

So she doesn't react to that. Instead she just stares at it, all the way until the man speaks up again. It's then that her gaze shifts to meet his, immediately saying, "It's fine-- I.. I'm fine."

(Very convincing.)

"It's just.. it keeps messing with our heads."

First the fake memories. Then that awful, awful sight being beamed directly into their heads. Alice is already particularly vulnerable to those things to begin with, an the sheer intensity of it for the past week or so hasn't made things easier.

"But I can't let that stop me from fighting."

"You are not." Sigma himself is a coping mechanism, and he is not about to mince words. Not now. An ally who requires protection is one thing; a weakened combatant is a different thing entirely, and tilts the equation in ways that are far more difficult to compensate for. "I did not tell you not to fight; I told you to gather yourself. Do so, or I will remove you from the battlefield." An unpredictable variable needs to be excised from the equation; he is not above evacuating her if need be.

Ironically enough, it's that sort of talk that inspires an entirely different kind of feeling in Alice. After all, she has spent so many years being told what to do by absolutely everyone in her life constantly, which means that obviously she's not going to talk well to it now either.

The fact that the powers this illusionary world gave her are still partially active doesn't help. Her skin starts taking on an odd red hue, while horns slowly start to grow from her head as she speaks.

"Don't patronize me." Her voice was weak a moment ago, but now it's much steadier, even if it's with an underline of fury. "I can make my own decisions."

...that's new.

Alice having powers - whatever these powers may be; likely granted by Diagad - adds another aspect to the equation, redefines her variable, and the equation shifts again, favorably this time. It may have required anger, but Alice does seem to have gathered herself - adequately enough to hold her own, at least.

Presumably. He will need to calculate around that if it is not the case.

He gestures to the street before them, where a pair of young women, both blatantly Chaos-infected, sprint towards them. "Then make them," he says, terribly calm for the situation at hand. "I will support you."

There's a real contrast going on here. Sigma over here, as calm as can be, despite the fact that he's literally hovering over the ground. And then Alice, who's looking more and more like a demon with every passing moment - and seeming like she's just five seconds away from totally losing it.

Which is why it's a good thing that he's here too. Because even though Alice does rush at the chaos-infused people, she doesn't seem to be showing any signs of holding back. She just summons her hammer-like hobby horse to her hands, swinging it at the people once they reach her in their attempt to attack her and Sigma, knocking them aside like it's nothing.

(Look, to be fair, it's their fault for attacking them first, okay! They drew aggro!)

That is certainly an choice in terms of weaponry, though he is not one to talk. He keeps an eye on her, ready to assist or defend her if need be.

The first attacker goes down under Alice's assault - it seems a blow to the head is a blow to the head, regardless of dimension. As Sigma takes hold of the first one and floats her out of danger, the second one leaps to her feet and howls in rage, transforming her arm into a sword and charging towards Alice, intent on trading blows.

Alice is so focused on the person storming at her that she doesn't even notice the fact that Sigma is pulling - or, well, floating - the other one out of reach. Which is probably for the best, considering Alice doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down, only barely more coherent than the absolutely feral chaos-infused civilian flinging itself at her.

The sword-arm meets Alice's hobby horse, caught in a deadlock for a moment until the weapons separate. That makes the oversized toy disappear from Alice's hands, instead replaced by a knife - though a large one, certainly not much smaller than the sword the other has.

The two blades start meeting each other back and forth, each of them trying to find an opening in the other's sword- and knifeplay. But of course that means that the person attacking Alice certainly isn't paying any attention to Sigma whatsoever, leaving ample opportunity for him to do something.

Sigma's attention is on floating the first unconscious girl towards him, laying her down nearby - close enough to protect from further damage, but far enough to allow a reaction should she awaken suddenly (though there seems to be low probability of that occurring). He keeps an eye on the battle as he releases his grip on the unconscious girl, and there is opportunity-

He calculates the angles and fires his hyperspheres, sending them to ricochet off the ground and implode against the girl's back. It should leave Alice an opening, though with the way she is acting, she may require a reminder. "Do not kill her!"

The good news is that Alice isn't gone enough to totally ignore what he's saying - or not even be listening in the first place.

Because her gaze turns towards Sigma when he speaks up, looking kind of confused. It makes her miss the opening, but thankfully the girl doesn't manage to actually hit Alice when she attacks. Alice is still on guard enough that she immediately catches the attack, and retaliates, managing to pin the girl to the ground under her, especially with the other still dealing with the aftereffects of having been hit by Sigma.

Holding the girl down like that, Alice glances back over at the man. As well as she can, anyway. It's hard when he's already tall, and now floating off the ground on top of it. Even with a distance still between them, that's a lot of looking up.

"She attacked first!" She says, as if that's any justification.

At least Alice is listening - arguing, but listening. "She is possessed! Knock her unconscious and she can be returned home!" Violent though the sword girl may be, she deserves a chance to live and return to her home dimension as much as the rest of them do. Her presence here and her possession are not her fault.

Everything within Alice screams for her to not listen. Why should she? Isn't she allowed to take her revenge when she is being wronged? It's the same instinct that always drove her when she used this power in the illusion too.

But this time there's her own mind mixed in. A mind that's at least a little more inclined to actually give some consideration towards what this man is telling her. And so after another moment of struggling, Alice does attack..

.. but only to knock the girl out.

When she stands up, the colour of her skin seems to return a bit more to normal, the horns fading. Alice dusts off her clothes.

"This whole thing is ridiculous."

So Familiar a Gleam: Finale

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