Arcade sighed, luckily the Grinch (and somehow his name was the weird one?) didn't seem to notice his reaction. He would rather not have to mend someone's feelings if he could avoid it.
He raised his eyebrow as the Grinch began his rant. He could understand anger at this situation, but he seemed unhinged enough that Arcade decided to keep an eye on him. He did not want to be trapped with a psychopath if he could help it.
He turned to the brothers and nodded when Lothric mentioned staying together. "I may look the part, but I am not very battle ready without any weapons, so I approve of working together."
He listened to Sans' description of the town and blinked in surprise.
"We can't die? To know this someone must have already. How dangerous is this place?" he asked, concerned. He thought a little before adding "well, it would still be a good idea to avoid that if possible. I may not have the necessary supplies, but I am a doctor so I'll try to help if I can. Primum non nocere and all that."
edited 11th Dec '16 1:05:49 PM by Skooter910
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
Dilapidated food stall
Garrett woke up abruptly from an uneasy dream. He'd been sleeping? Had he fallen asleep at the table?
And what was this place?
Was this still the city?
And... was it still night?
He groaned and got up from where he was sitting, taking a look at where he's woken up. The restaurant was gone and there seemed to be nobody around, not where Garrett could see, at least. Apparently he had been sleeping on the ground with his back against an old stall with a sign proudly promising "Snacks". Its wood was filthy, decaying and damp. The stall was probably painted in gaudy colors, once; and the shelves behind the counter were perhaps full of food; now they were empty, half of them broken or overgrown with moss.
All around, there were similar stalls proudly bearing rusty, soiled and barely-readable signs; some offered toys, some sold refreshing drinks or novelty hats. Some of them hosted family-friendly games where one could try one's luck and bring home (the dusty, moldy remains of) a teddy bear. Well, assuming that the hopeful player wouldn't impale himself on the jagged, rusty metal of the stall.
"What a delightful place," Garrett muttered. "Isn't it a bit too early for another cheerful break day?" He shivered, less out of cold and more because there was something oppressive in the air... a heavy atmosphere that reminded him of nothing so much as the sealed section of the Old Quarter, to which he'd once made a memorable excursion he preferred not to remember. Or the Shalebridge Cradle, which he had barely escaped with his life. Instinctively, he reached for his flash bombs to have them ready, just in case.
They were gone.
In fact—Garrett slowly realized as he patted his numerous concealed pockets with increasing fury—all of his equipment was missing. There remained only the loot he'd stolen, the cell phone, and the two bottles of oil in a side pocket. But his dagger, bow, potions, bombs—all gone.
Garrett swore profusely under his breath, gritting his teeth, both in anger and embarrassment. To let himself get robbed in such a pathetic way! Pockets emptied in his sleep! Now he was in the middle of unfamiliar territory, without his equipment, and he had no idea if he was still in that crazy city at all or if he was dumped into yet another world governed by unknown rules.
But at least these carnival grounds were clad in darkness, that longtime old friend of thieves. That should give him an edge.
Hold on... There was a way to figure out where he was. He reached for the cell phone, selected one of the numbers and made a call... Or at least tried to, because then the device got "stuck" somehow and stopped reacting, no matter how much Garrett shook it or banged it with an open palm. So much for this strange technology.
edited 12th Dec '16 1:30:52 AM by Korodzik
Happy Box Hater
Night of Day 12: He Didn't Know It Would Happen
Lucas mostly wandered around while doing some light reading for a while until he decided to go to sleep. Having not been moved anywhere on the only prior time he had experienced the day changing, Lucas didn't have any reason to think he would be somewhere else when he wakes up...
Day 13: Until It Happened
The first thing Lucas was aware of was the cold. It wasn't a pleasant sensation by any means and quickly brought him to a more aware state. He wasn't in the library anymore.
Getting to his feet, Lucas was struck by a sense of unease that couldn't be explained by the menacing surroundings alone. He felt... Lighter. After a few seconds of thought the truth became clear to him. He couldn't feel the familiar weight of his bat nor could he seem to access his PSI. But what scared Lucas the most was that his Franklin Badge, the one he hadn't parted with once since he got it, was missing from his person. And a few minutes of panicked searching later, it became clear that this wasn't as simple as losing his possessions. This was part of the day theme.
After the initial sense of panic started to fade, Lucas took stock of his surroundings. While his bat and PSI were gone, he could see an alternate method of defense lying around. After all, before he got the bat, Lucas used sticks to fight. He peered around for a particularly sturdy branch and, while watching out for a surprise exploding tree, took it. It was something at least.
Lucas started walking in a random direction, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference which way he went. After what must have been only 2 minutes, he stumbled across a particularly eye catching circus attraction. While it was just as worn-out as the stands around it, the sign by the entrance read "House of Mirrors" in faded red paint. As it was a full building, rather than a stand, it would be a usable shelter from the undoubtedly awful things that probably lurked around today. But, hoping that someone might come by, he decided to wait right outside the entrance for a short time.
edited 11th Dec '16 1:10:30 PM by pillowmantis
Why is a yam attacking me?
Akuma Shogun
I listened to the fuzzy creature talk on and on. Somehow, he talked like the narrator from a children's book. I could remember from that introduction was his name and the fact he wanted to beat up a writer for some reason. I think his name was The Grinch, I think?
From his grip, Lothric seemed pretty strong for an actor in my opinion. I think Hollywood was takin' itself too seriously if their actors were tryin' too hard to fit into a role, I think. I began to wonder what kind of film involves a pair of knight brothers, but I forgot the details of this imaginary film.
Sans told me the strangest thing I've heard all day. When you stay in this city, you come back from the dead, but you're sent off to another part of the city. It's still painful, though. “No one can die here, huh? Why was that, Sans?”
Arcade mentioned that he was a doctor and I all can think was the time the doctor gave me my “magic shoes” when I was a kid, so I asked him a simple question. “Do you know what 'magic shoes' are?”
Arcade took a few seconds to realize that Forrest was talking to him. It took him another few to process what was just asked.
"How... Wha- what?" He asked. Was this something people from his- World? Universe? Whatever- had invented or something?
edited 11th Dec '16 1:25:11 PM by Skooter910
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
someone
Eve|Library|The End of The Twelvth Day
Rex worked at Providence, apparently an agency for dealing with EVO's. And then he bragged. Of course. There were so many things she could say to that, but since he left afterwards, she said nothing. Deciding to read something else, Eve stood up, and realised that she was weary. She dragged herself over to the couch and lay down, before falling asleep, clutching one of the cushions like it was a teddy bear.
Dawn of the 13th day
Eve woke up. It was dark, so it was still late night/early morning, but she was no longer in the Library. Instead, she was in the middle of nowhere. It was cold. Not too cold, but there was a nip in the breeze that was not pleasant. The City had changed. It had gone from a bunch of planets to an abandoned carnival. The new day theme, she supposed.
Something was off. Something felt wrong. Not just the atmosphere (which was eerie) but inside her. Something was missing. Then Eve tried to glow, to activate her nano machines. And nothing happened. That was what was wrong. She couldn't feel her nanomachines. At all. They were gone.
Sje couldn't see anyone around. At all. So she called out.
"Hello? Anyone here?"
[TOP SECRET]
Lizard Metabolism
Lobros, Balcony
"I think we all aren't quite ready for what is to come." Lothric sighed. "Though it seemed that in his cruelty, the author saw fit to give my legs strength and my brother enough clarity of mind to stand up in favor of our weapons and powers. 'tis reassuring to hear you are a doctor however." He nodded slightly.
"Just yesterday, we had fought a demon that could not be beaten." Lothric explained, plain and simple. "It killed many of those who fought it, but as my understanding goes, they are still out there in the city. I imagine they would stay in the library."
How do lizards fly?
Tired of givin' up the ghost
Sans repeated himself about the amulet thing, adding that he had firsthand experience with the demon's horrible mind magic nonsense, and mentioned that he would've said as much except no air.
He then offered a handshake, hoping for no hard feelings between the two of them.
Staring down at the offered hand, Lewis began slowly reaching to take it (bending down awkwardly—3 feet of height difference was a bit on the uncomfortable side)...and withdrew it suddenly, facepalming and breaking into hysterical laughter.
"Ha! Ha ha! I—ha! Don't, don't take this the wrong way, heheh, it's just...! PFFT. It's been a—huhu—a really, awful day, and the worst of it...was from exactly you just described, ha! It's just...the irony of it all," (he snickered here) "it, it's, really hard to take...HA HA! HAH!"
At some point during that he collapsed onto the floor (facing up), and his hysterics escalated to the point of producing a steady stream of tears, tinged slightly pink.
There was no reaching him at that point.
The moment he found himself waking up, in freezing air that had not been there yesterday, he knew something was very different.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was. Lewis felt the change instantly, and anyone with passable vision would see an ordinary 21-year-old male human checking every inch of his body as if to confirm the undeniable change to himself.
Everything checked out so far. But he couldn't be sure until he checked for two things.
First, he checked his neck for a pulse. It was there, alright, pounding even.
Second, he looked for the locket, and, finding he'd been wearing it, held it firm in his hand, gazing at it. It had returned to a mundane grayish-blue, and he couldn't feel the subtle rhythmic pulsing that normally came from it. He held it up to his ear, wondering if he could hear it. Nothing.
There was no mistaking it. Whatever quirk of the city had struck now, it had brought him back to life. For real this time.
He spent the next minute or so clutching himself.note
But it wouldn't do any good to just sit around in a place like this, so he eventually got up and glanced around to get his bearings. It was dark and cloudy and certainly not the library, and he seemed to be in an abandoned amusement park of some sort. This certainly wasn't a stereotypical horror game setting. If he had to guess...
He was on a platform that looked like it may have once served as part of the waiting line for that swinging ride a few feet away. One end had fallen away, such that there was no progressing in that direction, and the other tapered into a rickety old staircase with a good chance of buckling under his weight. He looked again to make sure.
Yep. Called it.
Seeing as the other way led nowhere, he tried to descend the stairs. After about five steps it broke exactly as predicted, sending him tumbling to the floor below.
Instinctively, he tried to float up to avoid the upcoming impact, but was instead met with a rude reminder that he couldn't do that like this. He got up with a whine, miraculously not injured but certainly still in pain, and, noticing a bar from the iron frame had landed by his side, took it as he walked off.
This was gonna be a long day.
edited 11th Dec '16 3:14:41 PM by MsAmiClassified
moved to Oceanstuck because this handle was starting to bother me my tumblr
Akuma Shogun
Arcade was kinda confused on what "magic shoes" were. Poor man didn't even know what to say at all! I thought that was funny for a bit, but I didn't laugh. Maybe they didn't invent them from where he's from?
“These 'magic shoes' was like normal shoes, but they had these metal braces attached to them, I think? I had wore them when I was a kid. Would you like to hear a story 'bout those shoes?”
"Ah, I see," Arcade responded. He was starting to get the impression that Forrest was not all there. "I'm sure your story is very... interesting, but right now we might be in danger, maybe later," he answered as diplomatically as possible.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
feeling blue
Looks like stress finally got to the guy's head as he ended up falling into hysterics and talking about that exact thing having happened to him earlier. Considering Sans' experience with the demon's power, he had to wonder what Lewis had experienced.
Still, he couldn't really do anything except feel a little bad for him considering he even started to cry and all.
"uh... i've gone through some of that stuff myself so, if you need someone to talk to, just ask" he offered.
Not sure if Lewis was gonna accept it or not, Sans decided to go get some of his items that were still dropped on the floor and put them back in the dimensional box
"i've been gunned down once and beheaded yesterday, i can confirm that death is not permanent here. why? i guess whoever brought us here at least is trying to make sure we're all coming out of this alive." Sans shrugged.
Sounded like Sans had found a group to stay with rather than have to go through the creepy place all by himself, lucky him.
"by the way, we should stick close to each other, the layout of this city is constantly changing, so if we get too far away from each other we might end up in completely different places. if we're goin' through this together, make sure to not lag behind or go too far ahead of everyone." He added.
edited 11th Dec '16 3:29:20 PM by FullMoon
I think I'm a sofa
The Judge - Prison - Lights Out (Day 12)
As the militia member injected the serum into his body, the Judge felt the needle pierce his skin with great clarity, so much so he had to wince and prevent himself from pulling back. The troll asked him to count backwards from ten for some reason, and he did so mindlessly. However, he hesitated a bit, so he only got to 8 before falling unconscious once again.
Dream Production
Like nearly every dream he ever had, he was unaware of the fact that he was sleeping. The Judge looked around his dream world (without realizing he was in the dream world) and found that he was back in Zone 0. Except it wasn't really Zone 0; the colors had faded into a dull yellow and seemed to wildly alternate between monochrome and a vibrant gray (he wasn't even sure how gray could be bright). The Judge felt a soft tugging on his side, and he turned to see his brother Valerie there.
"Ah, my dear brother!" He exclaimed as Valerie sunk his claws deeper into his skin, drawing blood. The Judge wasn't sure what he said next, nor did he know the sharp pain coming from his leg; Valerie only shook his head at whatever sentences came from his mouth until a tall, white figure brandishing a large wooden bat came along and beat his skull in. The Judge did not notice this. When the newcomer was finished, he left as quickly as he came and dropped something in the bloody-but-not-bloody cat, and soon, a baby bird poked its head through his closed jaws. And as if time had stopped but bot actually stopped, he woke up—
Day 13 - To Be Continued...
—to the sound of howling. The Judge took a moment to fully be aware of his surroundings, and he noticed that everything wasn't as it was before. "What is that unbearable noise?" He asked, his voice lacking its usual charm.
(holds pool noodle threateningly) Do you want to know what we do to artists?
Akuma Shogun
Arcade was clearly interested in my story, but now's not the time. We was in danger right now, and story time might get us killed if I took too long. “Alright, Arcade. I'll tell you that story when we're safe.”
Sans said that he was shot in the chest and his head got cut off. Despite those gruesome deaths, Sans was mighty calm, I think. He also explained that whoever brought us here wanted us to be safe or something. Was it possible that God chose us to come to that city for a reason? Sans also told us to stick real close 'cuz the city changes all the time, I think.
“Okay, Sans. That sounds like a plan. What do you want me to do?”
Screw the Lion!
The Library no longer existed. What was once the single most noticeable landmark in the entire city, located directly in its very center, was missing. The sense of dread Plague Knight was previously was coming back in full force. There was also an intense sense of urgency he felt.
He needed to find his children.
"WANDER!!" the alchemist cried out. "WANDER, WHERE ARE YOU?! WANDER!!" He continued to call out the little alien's name in long spurts as he wandered the decaying streets, giving only the briefest of glances towards all the various rundown stalls that were husks of whatever former glory they once were and the rusting machines that seemed like the toys Tinker Knight crafted but made the size of his war armor.
Either Eve or Lewis would be able to hear the knight crying out.
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
Silanea was too tired to deal with Rex's insult so she limited herself to explaining that the alien that had shot Eve was called Rega 'Sattinee and he was a fanatic at war with the humans.
"Well, there's your guy, Eve" he said, walking back to one of his "Now, I'm just gonna lay down here and..."
Rex woke up and he wasn't in the library anymore but at least the city was back to normal—for a given definition of normal. That wasn't so surprising. Maybe he had sleepwalked and the city was back to normal because the conditions were different today. Either way, the first thing he needed to do was looking for the others and/or the library. Speaking of, was that little blonde girl walking alone, Viola? He couldn't let her walk around without protection.
"Hey, you shouldn't walk around here alone, y—" The girl turned her head. It wasn't Viola "You!"
Rex didn't lose a moment to form one of his smack hands and trap the little girl.
"You are not escaping this time, Mary!"
Unfortunately, her body dissolved into a goop of multicolored paint. Reds, greens, and blues stained both his clothes and the ground.
"Uh... that's different"
Mary showed up this time from behind him. She still looked like a normal girl but something wasn't fine with her eyes. They looked off and strangely appropriate given her attitude.
"What's the matter? It's almost like you have seen a ghost"
"You're just a painting, Mary. There is not much you can do except smell like, well, paint"
Rex quickly aimed to grab Mary again but she too dissolved the second he touched her.
Two more versions of Mary showed up and Rex was already about to lose his cool.
"And you are just a weapon" said one "You know it's true, Rex" continued the other
"You can't deny it. Remember the sub?" said a third one who showed up from behind Rex. Several other copies of the little blonde girl kept coming and silently sorrounded Rex.
"You want a weapon?" The teenager started running with his sword, slashing and slicing every copy of Mary he could find. He continued to repeatedly punch the last one left against the floor long after it had stopped moving—it was already a puddle of paint—and forming a small crater in the process.
"And stay there!"
Before Rex could process what had happened, the paint on the ground moved on its own, forming a massive inhuman creature made of acrylics. And it seemed to have one objective on its mind: Crushing Rex.
"No way"
"GOODBYE!"
year twelve days
"Ah!" Rex woke up from his dream, looking around and confirming that none of what had happened was real "This is the last time I go to sleep without having dinner"
"Wait a minute, where am I?"
The comfortable chair he was sleeping on was gone and the floor of the library was replaced with grass. There was a tall grey tree without leaves and... were those eyes?
"Blinky! I'm so glad to see you again. How is it hanging, buddy?"
The tree simply looked back at Rex, squinting. The teen petted the tree's face to calm it down. Blinky was a nice guy but he had a short temper and tended to hit anyone that came close to him.
"Yeah, me too. I gotta go now, I've got places to be, people to meet"
The teen made his way to the lab near the zoo. Everything looked just as he remembered it. Holiday was there checking her clipboard when she spotted him.
"Rex? H-how? Where were you?"
"Doc! The short version is that someone really doesn't know how writing a book is supposed to work"
The scientist dropped her clipboard and embraced the teen in a hug. Rex was speechless. "We really thought you were gone, you know?" Guess he hadn't thought how much people were missing him back home.
"Man, they really should kidnap me more often"
"Was it Breach?"
"Doubt it, unless she has a librarian on the payroll"
"What do you mean?"
"There was this woman, Miss Tairee. She's the assitant of the guy that kidnapped us. And let me tell you, I really hope she doesn't plan on having children anytime soon"
After informing Providence of his reappearance, a quick checkup, and giving an explanation involving, demons, shapeshifters, aliens, robots, paintings, magic, and other various things that were not common (or even real) in his world, Rex sat on a chair finally able to enjoy being back home. Not everyone could wrap their head around his story, though. Six especially had trouble picturing said city.
"You are saying this skeleton could talk and he wasn't an EVO?" he said, raising an eyebrow
"And don't forget the part where I met someone with my powers"
"I'm still positive you made that up" his chimpanzee friend said
"I did not!"
"Any chance you could have hallucinated it?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but that's what happened. I swear"
The results were in, nothing was out of the ordinary. Well, for a guy that regularly got beaten to a pulp and could build machines out of thin air, anyway.
"There are no signs of trauma of any kind and your nanite count is between the accepted parameters. In fact, it's a bit lower than I would have expected"
"So, in short, I'm back in business"
Although it was time to celebrate being back home with his loved ones and not having to deal with any more stupid challenges, Rex couldn't help but feel bad about everyone else still trapped in the city.
"It's a shame the others are still trapped there. I mean, Tairee said they would be back to their worlds in another couple of weeks but I don't trust her at all"
This looked like a job for his laidback chimp friend.
"Here is how I see it. If you can't do anything to fix it, why worry about it?"
"Yeah, well, that's not how I see it"
"And that's the problem, chief. You need to relax"
That line sounded familiar.
"Ok, maybe you do have a point. But still"
Thinking about the situation back in the city made Rex uncomfortable and as, Bobo had said, he couldn't do anything to help the people still stuck there. But he could help Providence now that he was back in his world.
"How have things been going without me?"
Holiday accessed one of the many computers in the lab and showed the video feed of several sections of the HQ. They were filled to the brim with encaged EVOs and they obviously didn't look very happy. The ones that really got the short end of the stick, though, were the guys trying to feed them. Poor dumb fucks.
"To be honest, Rex, not that well. Without you here, we've had to cage the EVOs that you would have normally cured. Plus, Van Kleiss stole what was supposed to be our energy source for this base. It's enough to power a place like Abysus for a decade"
"Figures he would take this opportunity to attack you while I couldn't kick his butt but at least I can go cure all those people. I'll go ...right after I get something from the cafeteria. I haven't eaten in a while and today is taco Tuesday, right?"
But the universe had other plans. An incredibly pale man showed up on the main screen of the room "I'm sorry to interrupt the touchy reunion but we have a class 2 EVO rampaging through lower Manhattan" It was his boss, White Knight. After being away from home for almost two weeks, Rex sort of missed him. Sure, he was sometimes a jerk, a hardass, and usually forgot that Rex was a teenager instead of a weapon but at least he knew what to expect from him.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's nice seeing you again, White"
"That's really touching. Now, if you wouldn't mind, that EVO isn't going to cure itself"
"There's always going to be something, isn't there?" he said as he built his bike and got ready to leave "Just save me some tacos for when I get back, ok Bobo?"
"I'm not promising anything"
"I wasn't expecting otherwise" he raced off but not before saying "See you later!"
The first thing Curly became aware of as she woke was that it was cold, and a bit breezy. The reasons for that were quickly obvious as she opened her eyes to discover she was no longer in the library but laying on the ground under some probably colorful tent riddled with tears. And it was dark... Could she possibly have slept through the whole day out here? As she pushed herself off the ground and brushed the dust off her she realized she was missing something important-
"Where'd my weapons go?!"
A quick search nearby and a patdown of her pockets confirmed they were nowhere to be seen, and she had nothing but the clothes on her back. Had she been banned from the library and had her things confiscated for participating in the battle with the demon? If so, the least Miss Tairee could have done was to leave a note or something... Grumbling slightly under her breath Curly wanders out of the dilapidated tent and into an unfamiliar landscape of ruined structures she'd never seen before
Grinch - Balcony
The skeleton said words that made the Grinch scratch his head,was he truly telling the truth about coming back from the dead?
Part of the Grinch's mind wanted to go look and see,
While part of him felt necromancy must be Who-Heresy.
"Well my new friends," the Grinch then said with a smile.
"I'll be your companions for every inch, foot, and mile."
Decrepit Structure - Dawn of Day 3 - Off to a bad start
As Caro suddenly woke up, she quickly realized that things felt very different than from when she had gone off to sleep. For one, she was a cold wind that shouldn't have been there if she still were inside the library. For another, the surface she was laying felt very rough and hard. After getting herself upright, she noticed that she was seated in some sort of vehicle. The seat seemed to be made of hard plastic and didn't seem to be in very good condition. It was also painted in a horribly faded green color. Above her was some sort of contraption, made of plastic, some sort of cushion and metal, the last of which was rusted, some of which seemed to have fallen down on her. Beside her was a similar seat, with its contraption pulled down. Looking around, it seemed that both in front and behind her there were identical seats.
Next to her there was a partly opened door. As she pushed it, it easily broke and tumbled down with a clatter, seemingly onto something metallic.
Looking over in that direction, there seemed to be a gap between the vehicle and the nearby platform, with a rusted track in between, where the door had fallen down. Getting up and dusted herself off a bit, she leaped over the gap onto the platform.
Looking back, it seemed that the vehicle was some sort of strange train, with each of the two seated carts connected to each other. Peering a bit ahead, it seemed that the track formed some sort of twisted, currently rusted and broken, metallic structure.
Ahead of her was a gate, which was also rusted. Grabbing it here it was so decayed, she pushed, revealing that it was quite unhinged, though it did not fall off. Above her was sort of roof, though part of it was caved in, allowing her to peer into the sky. It seemed to be very dark out, more so that it should have been at dawn, which should, considering that such a drastic change in location indicated a day change. Yet she could still see somewhat clearly.
All of this contributed to a intense foreboding sensation. The fact that she had been taken out of the library and placed here certainly did not bode well. Was it even there today, considering how scary things were making up to be?
Fried didn't seem to be immediately closeby either. With all that, it was best to get ready for probably fast approaching trouble.
She called out, "Set up!", as usual, but ... Nothing happened. There wasn't the usual "Get Set" response or really any, from Kerykeion. She tried one more time but still nothing. Something was definitely off and it probably had to do with the day conditions. It was then that she noticed the lack of a very familiar weight and pulling her sleeve to check it, she found that her Device indeed was missing. But was it just that or ...
To check, set about trying to cast a spell by herself. It was less efficient, but still doable, but she doubted it would work. She tried forming a barrier around herself and again, nothing. No circle, no flow of mana, nothing. It was like a essential part of her was missing. Perhaps literally. Her Linker Core likely had been away along with the magic it allowed for. For today, she was completely powerless it seemed and that , along with how things were shaping up to, was simply terrifying.
It was at that point that Fried finally approached. Clearly affected by current conditions as well, he rushed over to her.
"Fried! It is so good to see you again. Can you try something for me? See if you can still breathe fire," She said, while caressing him a bit and flashing him a smile.
The little dragon nodded and after turned away from her. He opened his mouth and inhaled as usual, but as he exhaled, the only thing that come out was hot air. He tried again, to no avail, which only added to his stress.
That just about confirmed it. It seemed that for today, everyone would be made powerless. Deciding to see what else this would affected, she checked her pockets. As well as feeling the absence of the amulet from where it always being hunging, not that would be much needed, if the demon was indeed truly gone, it seemed that the shield generator from yesterday was gone. So it seemed that anything that might offer any sort of protection was gone. The only things that were left on her were her phone, her headset and the bracelet Sans had given. Having another sneaking suspicion, she checked her phone and confirmed that it was indeed not working, appearing even to be glitching. That was just great ...
With all that, more than ever, it was best to find the others as quickly as possible. In a situation were nearly everyone was powerless, strenght of numbers would be extremely important. They had likely all been completely scattered, so it would probably hard to gather everyone. But find even just one another person would be a relief. She thought about Sans, Ben, Cole ... Even Zelda, who she had not seen in a while. She hoped they were all safe for now.
With these thoughts in mind, she began to carefully run off, with Fried quickly trailing behind her. She traverssed through a dilapidated path marked by rusted and broken metallic rails. Soon she came to a stair, a section of being pretty broken. She carefully descended through the other side.
Once she reached the bottom and came out at a stony path, surrounded by rundown structure and vegetation, she began to move around carefully, trying to keep to where she could still see in relative darkness and yet not be easily spotted. She pulled up her hood, hoping it would help to hide her. She keep a careful eye out, for both friend and foe.
Eventually, she saw a figure approaching in the distant. Carefully so she was a bit closer, she soon saw, much to her pleasant surprise, that it was a rather familiar blond, older girl.
Carefully coming out of her hiding, she tried to approach the other girl quietly, yet trying not to accidently spook her. It was hard to contain her excitement and not animatedly call to her, but it was best to not draw attention to themselves.
Once she was closer, she would wave at her and quietly, yet clearly happily, say , "Oh, Zelda ... It is so good to see you again ... "
Mami felt so light on her feet. She knew better than to literally fight a witch guns ablazing but, dammit, she wasn't going to be alone anymore! She could spare the strategy for the sake of being flashy. There were two new magical girls ready to fight by her side. And this time... This time things were going to be different. She wasn't going to make mistakes. She was going to be the best magical girl teacher she could possibly be.
"Tiro Finale!" she shouted enthusiastically, as she shot her magic cannon at the deceivingly cute plushie. It was a supposed to be a finishing move. It would trap the witch and kill her, forcing her labyrinth to collapse. But things took a turn for the worse.
The witch revealed her second form, a grotesquely cheerful black worm with gigantic jaws. It quickly escaped from Mami's magic and it was coming straight for her head.
Time stopped as if to let Mami think of a way to escape but she was frozen in place. She stood there, staring at the witch that was about to kill her, not fully understanding what had just happened. Its face was just mocking her for her failure. She should have realized this particular witch had a trick up her sleeve. It couldn't be so easy to defeat her, it was never easy to defeat her kind. She was ready to accept her fate.
And then everything faded to black.
Mami found herself in what looked like an abandoned carnival. The air was chilly and the scene didn't look like the bright cake party from a few seconds ago. "What? What is this place?" This was probably another part of the labyrinth but how the witch had managed to teleport her away remained a mystery. Apart from that, the not-so-magical-anymore Mami reflected on the events that had just transpired, trying to imagine what the witch could gain from not killing her right then and there.
Kyubey would surely call her if him, Madoka and Sayaka were in danger so she calmed down somewhat. But she still had to finish off the witch as fast as she could. Walking around the place, Mami could hear some noises in the distance. This witch's familiar were howling and hissing, trying to scare her off to no avail.
Eventually, she spotted a young pink-haired man walking with a metal bar on his hand. He looked like an actual human but what was he doing so far into a witch's labyrinth? Well, however this poor soul had gotten trapped by the creature, it was his lucky day because the blonde girl was there to save him from the witch's influence.
"Er, hello? Do you feel unwell, sir?"
Somewhere ~ A Happy Reunion, Sort Of
The more Zelda walked through these ruins, for that was what they were as far as she was concerned, the more and more unnerved she got. First and foremost, for a place that was normally a city, it was awfully quiet. Just the occasional creak from one of the broken machines or rustle of the leaves, or even more worrying the cry of some creature off in the distance. Furthermore, the lack of anything that even remotely resembled the library confirmed its absence for the day. Never mind asking Miss Tairee anything; there was no way of knowing what the storyteller god had planned for today, and thus no way of knowing what to expect.
At this point, her goal was to reach the edge of the city, where the balconies were. That's where new people arrived, wasn't it? If today was like any other day in that regard, there'd at least be new potential companions around there. The trick was getting there without running into something horrible first. With every step she took, her eyes and ears were trained on her surroundings. If something was going to attack her, she was going to try her best to not get completely caught off guard. Not that she'd be able to actually do anything other than run and hide, but that was still surviving, wasn't it?
As such, she almost jumped when she heard the sounds of footsteps that weren't her own. She stopped and listened closely, and determined that whatever it was was doing its best to remain quiet. She tried pinpointing where it was coming from, readying herself to make a run for it when she finally saw it. Then it finally arrived...!
...And proved to be a certain pink-haired summoner and her pet dragon. That was much better than what she was expecting.
"Caro! Thank goodness," she said, also quietly. Then she took yet another look around to ensure nothing was going to sneak up on them. "I hope you're doing well?...or at least, as good as the circumstances allow?"
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
For the Horde!
Ben shuddered and woke up, curled up uncomfortably inside the car of a broken down Ferris wheel. He winced, getting the cricks out of his back, and standing up to stretch, suddenly shuddering when the wind blew past him. He pulled his arms up to his body to warm them. "What's going on here? Where's the library? Oh well," he muttered. "It's too cold out here. Before I explore, gotta heat things up!" he exclaimed. He reached down for his left wrist... and felt his wrist. He blinked.
He looked down at his wrist. The Omnitrix was gone. It was gone.
"Where's the watch?!" Ben exclaimed, in a mixture of anger, confusion and shock. "Okay, this isn't funny anymore, Writer guy!" He huffed, crawling out of the car (thankful it was right next to the ground, and looking around. The place sure looked spooky. And without the watch to protect him, he would have to find some way to defend himself. He dug through his bag. All of the weapons he had in there were gone as well. The only thing that was still remaining was the doll that Alice had crafted. He frowned a little, then put it back. He picked up a stick and began to look around, seeing if there was any movement. "Hello?" he asked, still scrounging around for materials, including a bunch of rocks in case someone came close to him.
Ghostfreak awoke to a glorious feeling. The shadows enveloped him, and began to nurture him. After the hellish existence that was his fate on Day 12, he was finally free. "Yes, yes!" he hissed. "The darkness grants me its strength, it nourishes me! Now I am free to rule this City as I see fit. And the first thing to do is to get my ultimate vengeance on the Tennyson boy!" Ghostfreak snarled. He tried to fly away, but he tripped, stumbling into the ground.
"What is this sorcery?!" he snarled again, looking down at his newly-created feet. He glared, looking around but not able to sense anyone's presence. "I will find the Tennyson boy and I will make him suffer for this insolence!" he exclaimed, skulking out of the woods, searching for Ben as best he could.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Yoshika was looking back at her, but her skin wasn't nearly as pallid as before, and most importantly, something vital was missing. The talisman that had been on her face before was gone, without any trace.
From Yoshika's perspective, two things changed and she immediately noticed them. One, it was like a fog had been lifted from her mind. Before, her thoughts came to her with difficulty, like there was a barrier in processing them, and coming up with an idea that wasn't given to her was a hit-or-miss thing, but now she could recognize the second problem, that it was affecting her, how it was affecting her, and put proper words to describe it.
That second change was that these bolt-cutters were suddenly very heavy. It was like there was something dragging it down, because before it was as light as a feather to her. What had just changed?
Seiga appeared at her side, grasping her shoulders and smiling...but for the first time in ages, Yoshika could pick up on something else. It was obvious now that something had startled Seiga, this wasn't her usual happiness at all, it was one hastily put on to mask something else. She had noticed it many times before, but this was the first time she really registered it as being different.
"Oh, Yoshika. Is there something wrong?" Seiga asked, patting her on the back.
Another thing became clear: something had changed with Seiga. Her voice was still pleasing to the ear, and her face was still far better than some faces she could remember...but it had changed. Before, her speech was like the music of heavenly courts, and appearance like the visage of a goddess, but it had been diminished in some way she couldn't put words to.
She looked at her in the eye for a few seconds, and slowly nodded. "Yeah...something's changed, hasn't it?"
Seiga said "Don't worry about it too much. It's something that will go away with time, I'm sure-" but Yoshika interrupted her, looking worried. "Do you know what it is? Tell me, please!"
It was strange in retrospect, but looking back on it this was one of the more frightening things she had seen in her stay in this vile City. Yoshika had looked her straight in the eye, and ignored a command.
But had anything else changed? She could feel a pulse now, so she must've somehow become human once again. What else had happened in those few seconds? It would take time to find out, wouldn't it...
She obliged her request. "I think it's part of the changing day, and how things always are different. What our kidnapper did to us," very careful choice of wording there, not did to you, "I have no idea. We'll...let's go to the library, alright?"
Seiga willed the both of them into the air, and...didn't move a single inch off the ground. They stood there, Seiga looking up, and Yoshika staring at her confusedly, before she noticed that it simply wasn't working.
"Oh. Is that the game he's playing, then? How rude," Seiga said. "It seems he can't bother with changing the world, he has to change us."
He must've willed away all magic or something, because "removing all magic" seemed like an easy explanation for Yoshika's change. At least she was still willing to listen to her, so not much else has to have changed.
"...Yoshika, the plan is still to find the library, then Rick. Let's start walking." Yoshika nodded, but it was a hesitant nod. She could already start noticing a lot more than just those changes. The feeling of the cold air around her, the bristles of her clothes, the weight of her hat on her head, all of it was starting to affect Yoshika for the first time in many years.
She didn't know what to make of it, and she didn't really want to think about it, either. Especially, as she walked, she didn't want to think about how itchy her socks were.
THE SLORG!
Whenever Rex or someone else bothered checking his pockets, they'd find a little folded up note that definitely wasn't there before.
You are correct that I could fix those who were affected by the Lord of Change, but I do not think the extent of that is as deep as you seem to think it is. Besides, I see no reason I should simply follow your demands with nothing in return; and as it stands now there's nothing more you could offer.
- Sincerely, your former captor.
P.S., you will be seeing someone from the city again, someday.
In her search around for anything notable, Viola only found one thing: Inside one of the drawers was a piece of paper with some kind of crude crayon drawing on it. The drawing looked like it was supposed to be a human person, but the left arm (Viola's left) was much bigger than the other, and there wasn't really a neck as its head was just kind of there on its shoulders; in overall shape it was reminiscent of a certain zombie that had been fought on the ninth day. However the drawing was just black with three big red dots on the face that seemed to maybe be intended as the eyes and mouth?
"No idea, but we don't want to find out" one of the militia members said after the Judge asked what had made the noise. The militia members had quickly grabbed up what they could, including using some quick, coordinated effort to break the legs off one of the little end tables with well placed stomps. Thus, at least a few of them had crude weapons.
"Come on, we gotta go" Larry said to Viola, offering her a hand as the group of militia members prepared to leave. With the Judge's leg in a cast, one of the militia members picked him up and carried him along.
Leaving the room, they discovered something odd; some kind of hallway with a set of tracks going through the middle, and raised platforms on either side with various props and worn out puppet things on them. "What the heck? Hey wait a minute, I know what this is. This is one of those house of horror theme park rides" one of the militia members said, as the creaking squeak of a metal gate opening echoed through the hall from one direction.
"Our prison got turned into a theme park ride? And our weapons are gone for the day... Wait, maybe this is another one of those peaceful days" another one pointed out. One of the others glanced at him, and quickly whacked him in the arm with his crude club. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his arm.
"Just checking to see if you were right; which you're not" the other responded, then looked around, "so what made that noise before? Maybe it was just part of the attraction?"
Their attention was then caught by a loud thumping noise, and looked down the track to where something casting a red light was approaching, with heavy footsteps. The source of the red light rounded the corner, the monstrosity's glowing face
looked right towards the group, and it let out another breathy, inhuman growl as it started charging towards them.
"FUCK! RUN!" one of the milita members yelled, as they all wasted no time following that advice and running down the ride's track.
The chatting group of Sans, Arcade, Forrest, the Grinch, and the two royal brothers were thankfully being left alone for now. Heck, the only other things even in the clearing were a park bench, a couple trash bins, and that stone statue of an angel-like figure at the edge. Had it been there the whole time?
Off to his right, Lucas could just make out Ben scrounging for sticks and stones, and off to his left he could see Caro, Fried, and Zelda meeting up.
Behind him, he could hear the sound of a little girl humming to herself coming from inside the house of mirrors.
edited 11th Dec '16 8:03:30 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
Amidst dilapidated structures - Power of friendship
Caro let out a sigh, partly of relief, partly of frustation and then flashing the other girl a smile, she said, "Well, it is definitely better now that I found you and I guess that it could be worse, but ... Things are certainly off to a bad start. I seem to be without any powers for today or anything that would offer any protection, plus my phone is failing ... That certainly does not bode well, specially with how creepy everything is ... We need to find the others quickly. Strenght in numbers is pretty much the only advantage we are gonna be able to get today."
While she talked, she too keep a careful eye on her surroundings, trying to spot anyone she knew, otherwise potential allies or incoming threats.
Then off in the distance to her right, she spotted someone. It was a blond boy that she remembered seeing around a couple times in the past few days, but didn't think she had properly meet.
"Well, there is someone. The more, the merrier definitely works for today, so let's approach him," she said, gesturing towards the boy. She would begin tp carefully walk in that direction.
edited 11th Dec '16 8:20:13 PM by JamesShields
With conversations dying down due to people being tired, Curly went to the librarian's desk to take care of one last thing before she forgot. She took a sheet of paper and started writing a note for the suggestion box.
-Curly Brace