GRAVEYARD 2.0

[retellers]

GRAVEYARD Well, that sucked. But no matter what your death was like—whether it was something peaceful or traumatic, you'll find yourself waking in a completely white room on the floor. Small and empty, there isn't anything else there besides an open door to walk through. But before you do that, you'll probably notice that whatever injuries you may have had, including whatever may have been the death blow, are now gone. That's exciting. Stepping out of the room, it seems that you're in a large... house? with three different floors. Everything from floor, ceiling to furniture is completely white, except for the drawings that are plastered to the walls in each room. These are all colorful, drawn in colored pencils and crayon, and resemble a child's drawing. The other notable thing are the windows. While they're present all around the building, looking out of them only shows TV static. Besides that, everything is furnished with the absolute bare minimum of each room. The first floor is all typical common areas one would find in a house. There's a kitchen, living room area, laundry room, dining room, and a main hallway where the stairs are. There are also helpful drawings in these rooms that show the rooms much more lavishly decorated than they actually are. There's a door that appears to be the way to exit the building, it's locked. The second floor consists of nothing but twenty bedrooms. Each room has one queen sized bed, an empty dresser, and an attached bathroom with only a sink, toilet, and shower. Like the first floor, each bedroom has drawn pictures that show it looking much more lavish than it actually does. Thanks for nothing, artist! The third floor only has two rooms. One appears to be a home office with nothing but a desk and two chairs, one behind it and one in front of it. While there's blank pieces of paper and crayons on the desk, the note that was previously there is gone. The other room is much larger, and it's completely empty save for the many drawings lining its walls— in fact, the walls are covered in them, much more than in any other room. On closer inspection, though, it seems like these aren't actually drawings? The papers seem to be showing scenes from the living area. Everything from inside the hotel to the areas beyond the bridge are visible here. However, when curfew hits on Thursday nights, they revert to being normal drawings! Except for the fact that they're all drawings of stick figures being murdered in various ways. Well. At least there's plenty of things to draw with, if you get bored. Also, a handy link to the previous post.

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

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FIORA

[bisouled]

[ The OOC comment is here, but this is open for anyone to hop on or hop off, so feel free to join in at your leisure even if you didn't tap me there! ]

[bisouled]

[ similar to others, those who were with Fiora will find her suddenly absent once they pass through the portal - but that almost certainly won't be the first thing anyone notices. At once, they seem to be outdoors, in the main plaza of a town that's both rustic and futuristic all at the same time: buildings of patchwork brick and steel sit connected by bridges above a giant lake, the structures flanked by enormous turrets jutting up at the sky. All of it is washed in a purple-red haze - not just because of the setting sun, but because of the fires blazing out of control and eating through the streets. The little hamlet is under siege. Enormous, featureless machines, standing ten feet tall, march with iron purpose, chasing after screaming civilians, snapping them up with three-pronged claws. Some fight back with guns or blades, but it's obvious which side is winning.

They stand at a crossroads, in the center of a forked road. To their left is a long path heading towards what looks like a residential area; in front of them is another long path feeding into a military camp, and the way behind them is nearly barred with crawling mechanical creatures. All around is the sound of shouts, emergency sirens, creaking machine joints, and the earth-shaking firing of the giant turrets, shooting into the sky as more and more robots descend from dropships like a swarm of wasps. ]

[siblingless]

[Well.

This sure isn't great. Sumire opens her mouth to call out for Fiora — and then her brain catches up with her eyes and she recoils.]

What...?

[Oh, no. Oh, boy. Her hand immediately reaches for her rapier, and she turns in the direction of the residential area. People? People to save? Bad.]

[misstrust]

[ wow Dorothy is a normal person and what is this ]

... The residents first, then?

[ She says a little dryly, even if her gaze is alert. She saw you instantly whip that way, Sumire. ]

[bisouled]

[ They'd better run quick, because more machines are starting to make their way onto the bridge. Luckily, the path to the residential area seems mostly clear, with only a few smaller units scuttling their way along the railings - but they're on the same mission as their brethren, and will flash a bright red light if the girls continue towards the residential district and get close enough.

The chaos continues around them, slowly encroaching. They might notice a dark shadow pass over them at high speeds. There's something watching in the sky... ]

[suddenlybees]

[ No... They should save themselves?? What the fuck.

Kano has no weapon, he's no hero, but he's used to hiding and sneaking around and watching, so he keeps to the sides of the buildings, hugging the wall. What is in the sky... ]

You think you can win against those things? You run into that town and it's a losing battle- you're better off manning those turrets for a fighting chance.

[ But, like, you guys. Not him. ]

[siblingless]

[Oh, she doesn't like this. Dorothy gets a nod because, well, sometimes you are a yeet.]

Someone's using the turrets. Won't they be heavily guarded as well?

[It's a genuine question. She will absolutely steal some turrets if it wouldn't end in them getting immediately killed, but — uh. Machines sure are encroaching on them, and that sure is something passing over them.]

... I think we need to go now.

[Unless Dorothy and Kano refuse to move, it is absolutely time to run. Yikes.]

[misstrust]

Let's work out a plan when we're not in the immediate line of fire, perhaps?

[ Come along, kiddos. Time to book it. ]

[bisouled]

[ the turrets look more like automated cannons than something anyone can go sit in and fire! they're also going to be hard to get to, since they're situated in the lake rather than on town property, meaning they'd have to jump off the bridge to get there.

The spidery robots are beeping and flashing red!! Some of them, oddly, run off in the opposite direction rather than keep pressing the attack - but a handful decide that these humans running towards them and not away from them will be easy prey. Since Kano's staying out of the way, they don't immediately notice him - but the closest of them do jump at Dorothy and Sumire, their long, pointy legs extended like swords.

It's a good time to say that your powers are working now... although they may or may not know that themselves. ]

[suddenlybees]

[ What good are Kano's powers??? No good at all, unless--

He has no idea what these robot things use to sense people, whether that's vision or motion or heat or something different, but when he sees the robots going for Dorothy and Sumire, he absolutely does not plan to stick with the two of them, thanks.

He does throw a rock as hard as he can at the closest robot. Standing in his place, hidden as best he can in the shadows, is a little black cat that darts forward and keeps moving to avoid maybe being noticed. Cats don't have hands, they can't throw, it wasn't him. ]

[siblingless]

[Kano is so valid.

And with the spidery robots throwing themselves at both of the girls, Sumire hardly has any time to notice that Kano is just mcfucking gone. She brandishes her rapier, leaping out of the way when the robots come a little too close for comfort in an attempt to get them to impale themselves on the ground. But then she realizes something.]

Ella...?

[She is not alone.

In a blaze of blue flames, a woman dressed in white materializes behind her. Don't ask me how this works unless Sumire's metaverse mask is also poofing into existence here. A dozen swords appear in the air around one of the spidery robots, and — well. The robot is going to want to move quickly in order to dodge, because every single one of those swords will spin in the air for a brief moment before trying to stab into it.]

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy is a normal human being from steampunk early 20th century England and does not have magical powers, so she's probably fairly useless here. Maybe there's a gun nearby she can snag??

But rocks got thrown and there's a mysterious figure floating behind Sumire and suddenly swords are flying and Dorothy-- well, just kind of stands there because what the hell.

Though she'll dodge anything that gets too close, at least. ]

[bisouled]

[ The mechon are obviously unprepared for this giant god-woman to appear. While Dorothy dodges the attack, the other robot is handily skewered in place by the ethereal swords. It's not actually dead, judging by how its legs are still twitching a little, but it's not going anywhere. The one still remaining either doesn't notice its fallen brother or doesn't care, and continues to focus its attacks on Dorothy, staying in place to fire a laser cannon at her now. More mechon are slowly making their way down the bridge from behind.

As for Kano... His power is actually very useful! While the robots seem to be hunting down humans indiscriminately, he's completely ignored as a cat; it's as if they don't even see him. It'll be easy for him to make it to the other end of the bridge, especially with Dorothy and Sumi providing a distraction. When he gets to the other side, he'll find himself in a small town square, with what look like houses and a tiny little park with benches for sitting. People are still running around in terror - some looking vaguely familiar, some entirely formless - and the mechon are still chasing them. There's some sort of vehicle wedged into the wall that apparently crashed. Also of note are the handful of spiderbots that ran away from before, present in the area: they're gathered together, still flashing red, almost as if they're sending a signal. ]

[suddenlybees]

[ Meow, meow, he doesn't know what to do!! There's occasional worried glances over his shoulder as he ditches Sumi and Dorothy, but there's some giant god-woman back there who can probably take care of things? It'll be fine, maybe.

Whew! Oh boy! The little black cat jumps onto the vehicle and tries to see if still works at all. Kano has never driven a car in his life but he's sat in a car and that's almost the same thing. Theoretically, if this thing isn't completely busted, he should be able to get it into reverse and either immediately ram into a spiderbot and take both of them out, or go back over the bridge and kidnap Sumi and Dorothy so they can skedaddle. ]

[siblingless]

[Sometimes... when you get angry enough... your soul manifests into a giant god-woman. It's fine. Emboldened by having her persona with her, more swords will appear as Ella twirls in the air, every single one moving to impale the remaining machine. As this happens, Sumire will pull out a wild west style riffle, sparing a glance in her companion's direction and hoping they don't get double killed by lasers.]

Dorothy-san!

[Either she goes to Dorothy or Dorothy can come to her, or Katno kidnaps them both on his sweet ride. Regardless, please take this weapon.]

[misstrust]

[ Look, Dorothy is doing her best to stay alive (now) and she is fairly good at surviving (after dying) and as she moves to dodge another laser beam (so as not to die again), she sprints towards Sumire.

She has no idea where Kano is, but hopefully he's in one piece and if they need a driver, that's her specialty--

Not that she knows that at the moment, she's too busy reaching out to snag that rifle from her and immediately whipping off a shot at the robot. ]

Much better, thank you!!

[bisouled]

[ Dorothy's ability to survive has increased now that she has all her legs back. The shot from the gun seems to have no effect on the construct - in fact, the bullet bounces straight off of its casing, ricocheting back in Dorothy's direction. Hopefully, she's not in the way of it. Luckily, the Persona's swords once again handle it well, piercing the armor and jerking its body around enough to send the laser beam shooting harmlessly off to the side before the lights on its body flicker and dim. However, reinforcements are arriving - and they're not the small fry anymore. A veritable army of tall, bipedal robots with the three-pronged claws are marching down the bridge now, red eyelights flashing as they spot their prey.

Meanwhile, Kano will find that the front hatch on the vehicle is shut, and definitely not openable with cat paws. Rather, it looks like it's been warped from the impact. It might take some strength to get open! And that's not the only problem.

All three of them will hear a loud whirring noise as the overhead shadow returns - and does more than just pass by. With a thud, a new mechon appears, lighting down on the earth as its body shifts into a shape more suited for fighting than flying. It's enormous, towering over the small buildings, its body streaked with red, glowing lights, and its arms tipped with long claw-like blades so sharp they seem to cut the very air. And, most noticeably of all, it has a face. ]

Now what do we have here? You lot don't look like you belong. Get lost on your way to the circus, did you?

[ a harsh, growling voice emanates from the face plate, masculine and gleefully mocking. ]

Well, good news! You've got me laughing anyway!

[suddenlybees]

[ Kano paws sadly at the dashboard of the vehicle ):

He definitely doesn't have the strength to straighten it all out, and even if he did, he has to wonder if it'd be able to outpace that giant monstrosity in the sky that he hopes with all his heart will overlook him as just an innocent little cat.

Really, he hates this! He has no business being here; none of them do. It's not their memory, not their warped experience.

He makes his way back to the other two, keeping his illusion of a cat form but hissing at them- ]

We need to find whose nova this is! They have to have survived it once, and they can tell us how to do it this time!

[ Sumi should not be surprised at a talking cat, it's whatever. ]

[siblingless]

[Why these things.

Sumire is absolutely not surprised by this talking cat. But, then again, it took her several minutes to notice she was holding a conversation with a talking cat. Maybe it'll sink in later.]

... We won't find them if we're defeated here.

[And completely unamusing villain dialogue aside, she is not at all jazzed about this new enemy? Ella hovers behind her, ready to unleash a holy attack if this new machine even twitches a muscle towards them, while Sumire glances at Dorothy. Are they making a run for it...?]

[misstrust]

This really makes me miss my car...

[ Dorothy mutters this (having indeed dodged a bullet), even as her mind continues to work. Kano's right-- this is clearly someone's memory. The robots, the machinery, it all speaks to a more technologically-advanced environment than Dorothy is used to.

But when she thinks about it, there's really only one person who comes to mind. ]

... [ She stares at the talking robot, but even as she does, she flicks her fingers in a clear order to the other two (one human, one... cat).

Ella can cover them, hopefully, but it's about time to run. ]

Let's try to find Fiora.

[ How nice that none of them feel like talking to this mechon. ]

[bisouled]

[ honestly, it's what he deserves.

Kano continues to go entirely unnoticed as a cat - the faced mechon doesn't seem like he can hear what Kano says, his attention remaining entirely on the two girls. The mechon coming up the bridge have stopped, forming a physical blockade with their bodies to box Sumire and Dorothy in with the giant talking one.

Meanwhile, the two spider-shaped small ones they took out fall to pieces as Ella's enchanted blades vanish, leaving them in a pile of severed steel limbs now that the weapons that destroyed them are no longer holding them together like kebabs. ]

What's that? Fiora? [ a rumbling laugh; the giant mechon flexes his claws. ] I can introduce you! We know each other real well, we do! Always acted so tough! But I'll tell you what - she screamed like a newborn brat when she died. Ha ha ha!

[ he takes a step forward, then swings one hand done in a huge arc, aiming for Sumire and her Persona.

Kano might notice that the hatch does move, even if it won't open properly. It's not locked, just stuck!

On the other hand, Dorothy will be having an entirely different experience. For a moment, her vision will go entirely white; then, suddenly, it will look as if things are moving in slow motion around her, slightly fuzzy, like a dream. She'll witness the giant mechon apparently notice the cat, making some dry comment; lifting one of its needle-sharp hands to swat at it, sending Kano bonelessly flying over the town walls and into the lake below; then plunging his claws deep into the damaged vehicle, lifting it up effortlessly with one hand while he rips the front of it open with the other to reveal the lifeless body of Fiora, speared bloodily on his bladed fingers.

Then, just like that, the vision disappears, remaining only in Dorothy's memory. The mechon is still in the midst of attacking Sumire, and Kano is still fine running over towards them. None of that actually happened... not yet, at least. ]

[suddenlybees]

[ Oh. Kano stops dead in his tracks. There goes his plan on finding Fiora! If she's dead then they're fucked.

He's just going to, uh. Take advantage of not being Seen and retreat back to that car, grabbing a small piece of one of those severed steel limbs and carry it back over to the car like it's totally normal for a cat to haul junk mail around. Something strong enough to use as a lever to unstick the latch so he can wedge himself inside and wait this doomsday scenario out. ]

[siblingless]

[Sir, please stop boasting about death. They have a pack of furries to reunite with.

Ella dissipates as Sumire (literally) cartwheels out of the way, and then calls her persona forth again.]

—Let's dance!

[And then she will try to smash a good, ol' fashioned Vorpal Blade into the faced mechon and as many of its companions as she can.]

[misstrust]

[ I'm glad Dorothy gets to temporarily become psychic, even if Dorothy herself doesn't get to enjoy that really dizzying feeling of seeing only white and then her vision going fuzzy around the edges and replaced by...

Yikes.

She staggers a little as the vision ends, face gone bloodless until she snaps herself out of it with a quick shake of her head. Right, not the time to panic. ]

That vehicle...

[ Fiora's still alive. Or so she hopes, and Dorothy can also only pray that Sumire's fierce attacking can help to clear a path so she can follow the cat and hopefully find said vehicle. She's at least pivoting on her heel to try.

Look, she's got a temporary rifle, she can... not shoot robots, but it's fine. ]

Give me just a moment!

[bisouled]

[ the vorpal blade hits its mark - it's easy to say that Sumire anad her Persona are both quite a bit faster than the mechon, at least when he's not in flight mode. He staggers backwards with a cry, holding a hand to his face, but he's still standing. ]

What the hell kind of blade is that? That's no Monado...!

[ Meanwhile! Kano is a very strong cat and carries the leggy all the way over to the downed military vehicle. However, it's going to be basically impossible to use it as leverage to open the hatch while he's in cat form, even if he jumps on it with all his furry weight. Good thing Dorothy is on her way over.

Less good - after staggering backwards, the faced mechon is pissed. Ella's strike has left a big split in his face - one that, oddly enough, is currently bleeding. And while he has no expression, it's obvious from his voice alone that he's mad about it. ]

You want to play dirty, then? That's just fine with me! You and your stupid cat can all die!

[ he squares his feet, raising a hand in preparation for a swipe at the vehicle in a pose that Dorothy will find very familiar. At the same time, the huge cannon on on his back suddenly drops down and begins to hum loudly, its barrel pulsing blue as it prepares to fire some kind of shot at the bridge itself. ]