The Midnight Stage
-Galvani resorts to the one thing that does work - her voice.-
Galvani: <HOW IS THIS GOOD?! This isn't what fusion is about! This grotesque amalgamation is only stable because you lobotomized them! You drug them and strip them of any ability to progress, to become better, just so you can cram them together like some twisted wad of bubblegum! This isn't peace! This is stagnation!>
Dune:
Well, crap... this isn't... good at all...
-Lisa suddenly feels somewhat colder and fluffs up her feathers in order to stay warm-
SleepyHead: <Ngh... Do we know any way we can get out of this?>
"life is just a series of increasingly canon-eluding ao3 tags" ~ everydunsparce "Keep your hellfruit away from me, tempter" ~ also Every
That's just how it is on this bitch of an earth
CU, Midnight Stage Yesterday
"..." Daydre looks on with a mix of frustration and exhaustion on her face.
... What are we supposed to do, then?...
off the shits
Snowy
Fight Area Poke Center Cafe, Previously
Marie: <If someone loses their Shadow or any part of their soul, they stop wanting to do anything. I thought that was obvious.>
CU - Midnight Stage, yesterday
-Joseph is clearly frustrated and upset at his inability to do anything-
Fight Area Center, Past
-Ren and Kitsune continue to stare incredulously at Marie.-Ren: Marie, in this world, the vast majority of the population don't actually know about the Collective Unconsciousness being real - and I assume there are people with a large amount of authority in this world whose job it is to keep it that way...
-Ren's mind races as he finishes mending Marie's hat.-
Ren: -holding the hat back to Marie- One question though. Can someone's soul be hurt or lost under due to chance, or can that only happen because an external force?
edited 4th Feb '17 3:47:10 PM by keys2tkingdom
Anyways Here's Darude Sandstorm
Des is still facedown, catatonic.
notsposedtobehere notsposedtobehere notsposedtobehere.
GIVE ME YOUR FACE
Snowy
Fight Area Poke Center Cafe, Previously
Marie: <Oh. really? that's dumb.>
Marie: -taking her hat back- <If this Apathy Syndrome thing is as common as it sounds it's probably an outside force causing it.>
Fwomph
CU - The Midnight Showing ain't got nothing on this
-And as quickly it had arrived and confused the frig out of Pent, the Persona is gone again. Which honestly is still confusing but less so. Also his keytar has vanished too because he has sorta used it as a weapon quite a lot so he's also fallen onto his face before he rolls onto his back and lets the situation dawn on him-
You've stolen the Slip from me... And my ax!
-He scrambles to his feet. Well tries to. Well... He puts up a reasonable effort-
I don't know how, can't see it like this but when one of us tears off this pacification you are going to hurt.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
The Midnight Stage
Mendel: -covering his ears and shaking- What do you want from us?Eerie Voice: Ah-hahahahaha, nothing, really. We're just asking you to accept us. Come on... Let's connect with these eternal bonds.
-Ribbons slither and fly out from the shadows, wrapping themselves around various parts of the Contractors' bodies.-
-Ribbons have tied themselves around Mendel's left shoulder and wrapped around Ren's right ankle.-
Eerie Voice: Connect with us and you'll have nothing to worry about. Abandon yourself and be what everyone wants you to be and gain the bonds and happiness you desire...
-Then the voices come. Unique to each one who hears them. They offer each Contractor their ultimate happiness. Futures without anguish and filled with eternal bliss, and offer arguments in the form of words said by those the victim knows. Some may be able to resist, but between the eerie song wearing on the Contractors’ minds and bodies and the temptation offered by the voices, that will not last.-
-Those that succumb to the spell are quickly pulled into line with the shadows as the ribbons binding them tighten and retract. The few that succumbed begin dancing in time with the the shadows with their eyes dull and a look of artificial bliss plastered on their faces.-
-Ren is promised a future where he's married to Kitsune. Where he's important to the J-Team. Where his family holds higm in high regard. A heaven where nothing threatens the happiness that he attained. And to gain all this happiness, he just has to pretend who everyone wants him to be. The him that everyone adores.-
Voice: Why be yourself and condemn yourself to a life of pain and suffering? It's so much easier to pretend the real you doesn't exist... And if you do that... Everyone will love you. Isn't that the picture of heaven?
Fight Area Center, Past
-Ren grunts at Marie's assessment.-Ren: And I have a real good guess as to where this external force would be located...
-Ren holds out his hand to offer to mend Marie's bag.-
The Midnight Stage
-Galvani hears whispers - whispers of humanity, boarded upon starships, reaches beyond the bounds of gravity and finding peace and prosperity among the stars. Of her sitting in her space station, her husband next to her, her children tinkering in the corner, watching as solar flares dance in the distant star. Of the commerce, the careful control, the roar of scientific progress as the bounds of the speed of light become more of a suggestion than a law.-
Neutron: <I believe that is enough of this charade.>
Positron: <Yeah, she already has people who understand her implicitly - US!>
-The two linked souls take turns to push back against the spell - one using cold, deductive logic and the other using furious rhetoric to hold back the spell and song.-
-Dune, however, is having a slightly worse time.-
-A knife made of cruelty drops from the sky, piercing his jacket and pinning him to the stage, even as the song tries to drag him off.-
edited 4th Feb '17 4:30:17 PM by DuneTheWanderer
Snowy
Fight Area Pokemon Center, previously
Marie: -hands Ren her bag- <Where?>
Anyways Here's Darude Sandstorm
Des had found himself overlooking green pastures. A herd of Mareep flock by as he realizes he's leaning on a fence. He turns around as sees a humble homestead and accompanying barn.
The family ranch.
Home.
"Honey!"
He turns to see a red-headed woman run down a beat dirt towards him, leaping into his arms and burying her face in his chest. At first he's shocked, but then he relaxes and hugs the woman tightly.
"How was the hunt?"
...
"Did you get what you were after?"
...
"...No? Aw well, there's always next time."
...
"I'm just glad to see you home. I missed you so much."
Unaware of his own actions, Des keeps screaming "I'm not him!" and "I'm not 'sposed to be here" and "Damn you all for ropin' me into this!".
edited 4th Feb '17 4:35:51 PM by PhilosopherStones
GIVE ME YOUR FACE
-SleepyHead, fairly tired already, wastes no time in getting roped into the dancing-
-Lisa, however, seems to be struggling a bit more-
???: <Come now, you're a Le Bel. Return home and all will be forgiven.>
???: <Yes, certainly the more... salacious aspects of your life are something, but you can be happy with us.>
???: <You don't even need to break off your engagement with that Honchkrow. He's... certainly going to need some work put in him, but I'm certain he'll fit in with the Le Bel Clan in no time.>
Lisa: <No... I don't want to go through this again... But what if I should...>
"life is just a series of increasingly canon-eluding ao3 tags" ~ everydunsparce "Keep your hellfruit away from me, tempter" ~ also Every
CU - Midnight Stage, Yesterday
-Joseph is tempted with visions of bliss: a lovely little cottage with a flower garden, a life of love and friendship and sweetness and light. A life that lasts forever-
Joseph: ...
-well, let it never be said that Joseph wasn't prey to his own emotions. He's roped in-
Fwomph
CU - Minutes to Midnight Stage
-Yellow ribbons wrap the arm for swords and keytar keys. Visions fill the head-
He's sitting at the edge of a red star, a fine snifter of br-not me
He's sitting at the console, reading the info from his agen-never me
He runs the shadows on the weekends, a customized Ares -wrong stories
The Sun and Luna had a complicated love but it was divine an-told poorly
The court assassin puts his mask on again. Another cycle of death and gloom as the tealred's plaything.even the ones I deserve
-He resists, the glimpses of the locked Slip in the fantasies just feeds into anger and hatred. Naught writes for him but himself-
edited 4th Feb '17 4:57:06 PM by Pentigan
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Bona-Fide Mastah
Midnight Stage
-B-bump...-
-A woman, cowering before him-
Please...I leave you alone from now on, just please...have mercy!
-A ceremony, all for his own-
We'll...finally be one big ol' happy family, huh...I'm so happy!
-A young girl, with the brightest, happiest golden eyes...-
Papa! Papa, look! I got my tenth ribbon! It's pretty isn't it?!
-Himself, facing down the best of the best-
You're the best battle I've had in a long time...but I can't win! You're truly the strongest one here!
-All of it...it could be his...-
-B-thump-
-B-thump-
-...-
-A...door. A locked door-
-...-
You...want to give me all this...
-B-Thump-
Sorry...but I'll earn this all...myself...
-Lane is resisting!-
-It's a massive toll on his mind...but he's resisting!-
Lane:Not here...not now! I...I still have people...that need me!
The Midnight Stage, Yesterday
Voice: Why be yourself and condemn yourself to a life of pain and suffering? It's so much easier to pretend the real you doesn't exist... And if you do that... Everyone will love you. Isn't that the picture of heaven?Ren: No... This... This isn't heaven. It's a hell. These aren't true bonds... -to the voice- What ARE you?
Eerie Voice: What a pitiful child you are... Filled with such poison. Of course these bonds are real. Who else but me could offer them? I am the one who yearns. The manifestation of the eternal bonds all creatures desire... But why do you resist? Just connect with us. You'll never feel pain or suffering again... And I can make it happen... After all... I understand your desires...
Ren: SHUT UP! YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING!
-In his struggles, Ren trips over the ribbon around his ankle and rolls a few feet, and suddenly music can be heard from Ren's coat - the something had pressed against Ren's Holo-cane in one of his pockets.-
-As the upbeat music plays, the effects of the Eerie song are suppressed - although not entirely negated - giving all those who haven't succumbed to the spell a slightly better chance to resist the spell. But what catches Ren's attention is not his friends gaining an advantage... It's that all those who have been "connected" that are in earshot of the music have begun to move to the beat of the song coming from the Holo-cane. With a the clarity offered by the music, Ren takes out his holo-cane and shakes Mendel with his free hand.-
Ren: Come on, Mendel... I have an idea... But I need you for it to work...
-With the words "I need you", Mendel's eyes come back into focus.-
Mendel: Mr. Clavis? What ha—?
Ren: No time, Mendel. I think I know how to free the others, but we'll need more than what this speaker can provide. I need you to play this song as loud as you can... I'll handle the rest.
-Mendel nods at Ren as the researcher gets to his feet and takes Ren's Holo-cane.-
Mendel: Persona!
-Pythagoras forms around Mendel, but the with stone figurehead holding Ren's holo-cane pointed upwards, like an antenna.-
Mendel: What are going to do Mr. Clavis?
Ren: Improvise.
Mendel: Huh?
Ren: The music Mendel!
Mendel: Oh! Right! Cueing it up now!
-Ren steps forward to an bit of stage where he had room to work.-
Ren: Time to step it up...
-And so, Starting with a finger pointed straight up, Ren began to dance.-
-And then it happened. The Shadows finally started moving fully to the song. And as a pleasant surprise to Ren, the stage seemed to respond as well, causing the tiles on the stage to start flashing in time with the music and creating laser and strobe effects.-
-But in order to maintain the pace he was performing at, Ren opted to repeat his previous steps, this seemed lose him the Support of the stage.-
Ren: -in thought- Can't let it stop me...
-And with the second chorus, Ren's energy picked up again, causing some shadows to actually try and move and emulate his dancing and even trying to make sounds as if they were try to sing along with the music... And as if impressed by this, the stage offered Ren its support again, creating another light show.-
-As the final verse approaches, Ren began contemplating the lyrics of the song and his current actions, a revelation hits him.-
Ren: -in thought- Dancing at is core is all about expressing emotion. I've know the emotions I'm feeling and now I can conveying that to everyone: I am Renard Valenum Clavis. I am a veteran pokemon coordinator. I am a performer. I love making humans and pokemon happy with my understanding of entertainment. If I wear a mask, denying who and what I am, I do a disservice to all.
-Ren slings his arm out and down as he steps forward.-
Come, look at me! I've lived half my life hiding myself behind various masks! And in doing so I have hurt others as well as myself! So here I am! The real me! Doing the only thing I can in the only way I truly know to do! Feel this dance filled will true emotion! I found true bonds after enduring pain... And the life they those bonds have given are wonderful beyond all words! So see me now and feel what I've learned! SEE AND FEEL THE HAPPINESS OF TRUE BONDS!
-It was then Ren felt the resonance, the blue light shining in his inner breast pocket mingling with the lights of the stage. And with the feeling he finally saw himself doing what he truly wished to do, Ren's performance changed. No longer was it a looping series of actions. Ren's true self shone through. And the stage gave Ren it's full support, maintaining the impressive light show.-
-As Ren's euphoria is emitted from his actions, Ren heard a familiar masculine voice, full of confidence, strength, and compassion echoing proudly in his mind.-
???: Such impressive growth in so short a time. Thou hath grasped the very core of thy essence in the face of they who would abuse bonds for abhorrent ends. The befouled being thou and thine struggle against wouldst sunder the threads that binds us. And yet, if that would come to pass, thou hast proven the bond I share with thee would still yet linger...
Izanagi: Contractor! Thou hath proven thyself worthy in mine eyes! Call mine name! I shall grant thee aide in thy plight!
-Ren smiled brightly as he danced to the last few lines and notes, ending his dance with the pose that [Travolta] struck in the classic film before pivoting his body and clenching his fist in the air as he called out.-
Ren: Izanagi!
-And he came. Appearing in a column of blue light, the demon Ren had contracted with phased into existence, now appearing as he truly was and his power not constrained by the contract... The, slender humanoid-Aron looked down at his friend below him as the demon's coat flared down to his sides. Ren eyes smiled at Izanagi, despite his otherwise serious expression. It was then silver light shone and lengthened over Izanagi and formed an amazing Electric bass guitar with a lightning themed pattern. Ren blinked as Izanagi, who in one fluid movement, reached up, grabbed the bass, and slung it over his knee and began to play an amazing - although sadly short - solo. A that solo became like an alchemical agent - multiplying the effects the notes of the bass, the dance, and the song as they resonated with all those who had been "connected" who heard and saw the performance.-
-Then, in a beautiful sight, the ribbons binding a few hundred shadows and the connected contractors burst into twinkling golden lights as the freed shadows began to float gracefully upwards exuding a feeling of happiness, new-found hope, and gratitude. Ren chuckled as he saw a Minotaur Shadow try to emulate the pose Ren made at the end of his dance before floating out of sight. Ren then turned to Izanagi, who simply bowed to Ren before disappearing to somewhere else.-
edited 4th Feb '17 6:18:12 PM by keys2tkingdom
That's just how it is on this bitch of an earth
Midnight Stage
A ribbon wraps itself around Daydre's arm, dragging her towards the Shadows...
Images of her, being accepted by the J-team fill her head.
No, she didn't deserve that, right? It's not like she ever put effort into her relationships or helped out in any meaningful way..
But all she had to do was fit in.. Yeah, that would work. Give in to the ribbons.. If she didn't cause any problems, the others would just tolerate her being around..
Wait, that's not what kind of relationship she wanted.. What was it worth if it was all superficial?
More images come. Back then, almost ten years ago.. Maybe if she just played the part of a confident trainer again, then-
She knew she shouldn't give into the voices but... What harm would it do if she did it, just this once?....
A burst of light.
Daydre jolts back into awareness, a feeling of hope flooding through her. No, what the voice said earlier wasn't right! How could she think those things! Daydre raises her head, watching the shadows float off.
"..."
edited 4th Feb '17 6:00:23 PM by Daydre
off the shits
-Lisa is freed from the ribbons' influence-
Lisa: <Hm. glad I'm free from that.>
-SleepyHead is likewise released and just collapses on the floor-
"life is just a series of increasingly canon-eluding ao3 tags" ~ everydunsparce "Keep your hellfruit away from me, tempter" ~ also Every
Bona-Fide Mastah
Midnight Stage
-Lane is freed and goes to his knees-
Lane:Hah...hah...serves ya right...fer tryin' that...
Midnight Stage
-Joseph is freed-
Joseph: GUH! Ugh...
Midnight Stage
-Dune is released by the ribbons as he sighs in relief. The dagger continues to stick him to the ground, though.-
Dune: Oi! C'mon!
Neutron: <Thank goodness.>
Positron: <We're even now, Electron!>
Fwomph
CU - Saturday Midnight Thevater? Pah, doesn't scan well.
-Pent just sorta watches the dancing while doing his resisting and then the ribbons leave and he's free to try and pick himself up-
Right... Dance battle. I think that's something that happened in the..? Feeling a little more sour about losing the keytar now...
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Fight Area Center, Past
-Ren and Kitsune heads turn with a snap as the stare at Marie.-Ren and Kitsune: What.>