Velvet Room

Tori: "nh..."

-The blond girl shifts on her cot-

-The rattle of chains alerts her to the fact something is very unusual, and she pushes herself out of bed-

-A brief jolt of panic and confusion dispels any thought she had of returning to sleep-

"The hell??"

Oblivion Wing

Priscilla: Given that these attendees aren't your everyday collectors, I can expect to bump into a familiar face—

Murphy: Her brother, she fears, might be one of the attendees.

Priscilla: The one person who can recognize me when I'm not wearing my usual getup. Ugh, to say nothing of the blown cover, what if he gets into some disastrous deal that I have to bail him out? And what would Dr. Tagg think?

Murphy: Mr. Grant, could you confirm if a Henry Kwan is one of the attendees?

The Stormchaser

Eris, Lifthrasir, and Red are sitting in a lounge on the Stormchaser.

Eris is, understandably, confused as to how and where she got a 5th team member. Lifthrasir is leaning against a wall, and Red is attempting to meld into a couch, with little success.

Eris: "So... you brought her along. She's probably been abused by her former trainer, and she's mute?"

Lifthrasir nods.

Eris: "Right. Hopefully her old trainer doesn't come looking. For their sake."

She turns to Red and nods. "You'll be safe with us, though I do have to warn you... we can get into... legally grey areas. Are you okay with that?"

Red nods.

Eris: "Welcome aboard, then. Do you have a ball?"

Red shakes her head, punching one fist into the other and miming and explosion.

Eris: "You... broke it? Right, that would make sense. Running away and all. Mind if I capture you?"

Red nods.

Eris tosses a ball at her, and catches her, before letting her back out. Red immediately goes back to pressing herself into the couch.

The Velvet Room

Artoria wakes with a start.

Artoria: <... Where...>

She pulls on the chains experimentally.

<... What in Arceus' name!?>

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

Spagpost part 2!

-Among the newfound prisoners, a copper-haired girl who looks perhaps too in-place in a jail cell, and a blonde princess who looks incredibly out of place, both wake up, looking confused and slightly panicked.-

Rose: What...

Corrin: W-what's going on?

-Those of you who have been here before would recognize the long-nosed Abra sitting pride of place in the panopticon chair of this circular prison. It is Igor, attendant of the Velvet Room under Philemon's orders. Once all are awake he speaks… Was his voice always so deep?-

Igor: Tricksters, welcome to my Velvet Room.

-A pair of Magnemites fly out of the black corridor directly behind Igor's desk and quickly circle around the two floors of the room in different directions-

Caroline: Looks like you inmates are finally awake.

Justine: But in reality you are still fast asleep. This experience is merely a dream.

Caroline: Alright. All inmates are to get up and stand straight because our master's got something to say!

Ren: -weakly while straightening up- The Velvet Room again?

-Caroline floats up and loudly shocks the bars of Ren’s cell-

Caroline: Prisoner I-A and all other inmates will be silent while our master addresses the inmates!

-The sudden outburst quiets Ren out of sheer shock value of the less than formal welcome, not to mention the fact that he is wearing a ragged stereotypical prisoner’s outfit.-

Igor: Welcome, I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter, it is a room only those bound by fate may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place, remember it well. I summoned you all to speak of important matters. It involves your lives as well.

-In the cell marked 16 on the second floor, the prisoner within is thinking very hard to noone in particular. The general gist of the thought is "wakemeupwakemeup"-

Igor: The state of this room reflects the state of its inhabitants, and thus a prison has formed from those who are "prisoners" to fate. In the near future, ruin will certainly come to you all.

The Velvet Room

“Ngh...”

-In his cell, a redhead stirs-

-Slowly He awakens-

Lane:Wha...is this...

-He blinks-

I fell asleep at the Daycare...is this a dream...? Is this the Velvet Room? But we...

-The rattle of chains jolts him up-

Chains?! What the hell?

-He stands and walks toward the cell door-

Hey! What happened? I’m no prisoner, dammit!

Edited by Skyzerk on Mar 1st 2019 at 6:11:03 AM

Velvet Room

Colton moaned, silently looking at the place where he had woken up, processing the shackles he was forced into.

"Yo what." He said simply, his brain having gone into slight shock at what he was looking at. "Oh shit, I'm not dreaming. Oh shit, I'm not dreaming," he muttered, staying as silent as he could while he was still processing what Igor was saying.

It'll make sense soon enough, he told himself over and over, making sure to still keep on listening.

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

The Velvet Room

Des crosses his arms.

"Oh please, how can you be so deterministic?"

GIVE ME YOUR FACE

Oblivion Wing, Lounge

-Ciela's face creases into a concerned frown.-

Ciela: Ah. That could be an issue. If it turns out that your brother is in attendance, perhaps you could transfer to the Rafters team, or alter your disguise somewhat? It is an art auction, after all, so I doubt donning a mask of some kind would attract too much undue suspicion.

Pewter Pokemon Center

-The moment Lucius wakes up and sees Halsei, he calms down almost immediately.-

Lucius: Ah... it's okay. I shouldn't have snapped, I was just having another bad dream. I swear they're happening more and more lately... It was... well, it's probably not worth talking about. How was yours?

Edited by Herbert40k on Mar 1st 2019 at 11:16:31 AM

Trans rights are human rights. JK Rowling preaches hate. If you sit at a table with five bigots and say nothing, there are now six bigots.

Velvet Room

-Elizbeth hangs her head and says nothing.-

Oberon: <And what does your "fate" have in store for us, pray tell?>

He's going to get us all killed..

"Dang that sure is totally poggers my good bitch"

Halsei: <I... don't actually remember. Hm. I don't think it was a very nice one, though. That's especially weird since I usually remember all of my dreams.>

They look at Lucius, confused.

Halsei: <I hope I'm not having an effect on you, though. I'd hate to be some sort of bad-dream magnet.>

Velvet Room

Artoria: <Prisoners to fate? The only fate that exists is what we make for ourselves, how can we be prisoners to that?>

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

Rose: ...

(I suppose that is what I am. A prisoner to fate.)

Corrin: ...N-no, I refuse to believe that! Nobody is a prisoner to fate, we have the power to shape our own destinies!

(...Do we really, though?)

Velvet Room

Oscar: What are you talking about?

Aria: This is Tarousshit!

-At the numerous responses to Igor’s news, Caroline floats up towards the center of the ceiling underneath the speakers and unleashes a Sonic Boom to silence the chatter.-

Caroline: ALL INMATES WILL BE SILENT AS OUR MASTER ADDRESSES YOU!]

Igor: Worry not, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be "rehabilitated" towards your freedom… That is the only means by which ruin can be avoided… You must cultivate the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world. I shall observe the path of your rehabilitation and provide some of its means.

Justine: Sir?

Caroline: Aren't you going to introduce us?

Igor: Ah, pardon me. I had forgotten that some among you have never come to this place before. These wardens are Caroline and Justine.

-The two Magnemites each bob (a bow perhaps?) as their name is called. Justine can be identified by being the twin with the more subdued demeanor, longer screws, and her hat bearing the letters “O-Y-O-O”. Similarly, Caroline can be identified by her aggressive demeanor, screws with larger heads, and her hat bearing the letters “X-M-R-N”.-

Justine: Please, for the sake of your rehabilitations, try and struggle as hard as you are able.

Caroline: While it is our duty as wardens is to protect our inmates. We will also act as collaborators, if you remain obedient. You all better be grateful for our benevolence!

Igor: Their role shall be explained in full at another occasion, for now I must provide you with the first tools of your rehabilitation.

-In the food slot of each occupied cell, a plain domino mask appears with a soft blue glow-

Igor: These masks contain within the spirit of a creature of this realm, a volunteer to protect you and help you unlock your own personal guardian. The mask itself will also protect you against the distortion of this place. While the mask protects you, I have taken the liberty of distributing the means to navigate this place onto your electronic devices, it will be awaiting when you wake. Now then, the night is waning and it is almost time. Take these coming days to come to understand this place and the path you must walk. We will surely meet again, eventually…

-A bell begins ringing and the twin Magnemite begin patrolling around the room-

Caroline: Time's up inmates! You all will hurry and go back to your beds!

Justine: Enjoy your fleeting moments of respite.

-Without actually waiting for those trapped in the cells to return to their beds, the dream fades…-

The Velvet Room

-Lane staggers back from the Sonic Boom-

Lane:Gah! My ears!

-He manages to shake it off as the domino mask appears before him-

Rehabilitation...but...didn’t I...

-Grogy, He reaches for the mask-

I...already...

-His dream fades as he touches it-

Thorne Daycare

-Lane wakes with a start-

“Wuh-!”

-He shoves his glasses on-

Where did...But...why? We saved the world from...her. Why did we wake up in the Velvet Room again...

-He looks at his bedside table. There, his custom made tarot card. The Hanged Man.-

“Hmm...”

Someplace Urban, Motel. The Morning After the Auction

-Pentigan woke with a gasp. His laptop was beeping but that wasn't enough to have awakened him-

/Duck/: >Sir, some sort of malware has downloaded itself onto your phone. I am currently preparing to-

-Pent scrambled off the couch and stole precious moments to breathe-

No, don't touch it. Just make sure it can't access any files related to Shin Densetsu. I need to do something about this...

/Duck/: >Alright sir? What's happened to make you this... Manic?

I could feel it pushing at me, I can't be sure it won't read me next time... Duck, delete the files.

/Duck/: >Sir! I cannot do that in good faith with your current emotional state.

Fine... Encrypt them, password... I don't know just make sure to not open them up again until I say it's safe.

-He begins packing a smaller bag so he can head out into the city-

/Duck/: >Very well, I am far more comfortable doing that for you sir but what happened to cause all this? Where are you going?

-Pent pauses at the door and as soon as the "archiving..." progress bar vanishes from his phone he blocks /Duck/'s access to it-

... It's the fifth game. I don't want it to see the record of how it lost and that I know how to defeat it... Call me when you're done making sure I can't stumble upon the information that could cause him to kill me straight off...

-Even though he took care to be gentle, the door still slams against its frame-

/Duck/: >I hope he knows what he's doing...

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Oblivion Wing

Priscilla: Not to worry, I can switch teams in heartbeat, thank goodness. I hid a portable version of my suit under all this.

Murphy: She's pretty committed to the look now, though so, she'll probably switch teams when all attempts at bailing fail. Plus, given her background from a wealthy clan Ms. Kwan seems perfectly capable of navigating high society and teasing out their secrets.

Priscilla: Those tips can give me a clear reading on his itinerary as of late, but if I can find one shred of evidence that he's not in Kalos, I can breathe easy.

Velvet Room

"Hey wait a min-."

Fuschia Center

Des wakes up.

"...oh not again."

GIVE ME YOUR FACE

Urban Streets, Lost in Thoughts All Alone, Hints of the Morning

I have to forget...

-The morning air was starting to lose it's nightly chill as he walked the streets staring at a Town Maps app. A professional psychic, a hedge auric, anything that could mess with his mind in the right way...-

But I need to remember when it counts.

-He stopped, had to think on that thought. He couldn't be... He wasn't, they'd never put the hero on the second floor. But there were moments that could certainly be improved with the addition of knowing the right facts, maybe some kind of trigger..?-

-His phone beeped. A new icon appearing in a nearby alley, despite the filters on what Pent was looking for it showed as a bar in the moment he needed such things the least-

Tch, no thanks...

-The icon vanished as he passed the alley. Two alleys down a fresh one popped into existence and the sidebar opened on it's own-

-Pent grumbled and stopped walking to deal with this issue-

Guess Duck meant some other malware... Wait hold up "miracles"?

-The next alley along, it was now or never... He took the chance. In the alley true to word was the spluttering black neon of its sign, the flickering z-clash of the door...-

The Black Beautifly, Hints of the Morning

-The place had an aesthetic. Black carpet, black wood, black iron and yet a hint of warming gold crept into through windows and wound themselves into filigree. The place was silent and mostly empty, the last few dregs whiling away the ether of the night sat at their tables but the bar was open and the Barman was ready to receive the first customer of the day-

Barman: Drink?

Something light. I'm not here to get drunk...

Barman: Give me your name.

Is that really necessary?

-The Barman smiled briefly and scanned the shelves for something that was only barely too heavy for day drinking-

Barman: Suppose not. Why are you here?

The review mentioned miracles, wondering whether that's true.

-Something prodded at Pent's mind briefly, faster than he could react. The Barman placed the bottle of moonshine back on the shelf-

Barman: I could do that. On the house, given the cause.

Oh, so that's how we're playing...

Barman: I'd never call you a pawn, a bishop or rook perhaps. Besides, I hate him as much as you do, perhaps even more.

-The Barman wanders over to the taps and starts filling a glass with a pale blue beer that the tap says is "Kelda Stout"-

Barman: Did you know there's no cheesecake in the world this comes from? How barbaric.

Old news, they added it last week in a microquest.

Barman: Oh well that's nice. Speaking of adding this needs something...

-The Barman goes digging around in the storage under the bar-

Barman: Ooh, scales from elder Venomoth wings!

Careful, I want to avoid spoilers not go blind.

Barman: Gotcha, how about... Nightmare Fuel?

That's not edible!

Barman: Well not for you I guess. Chocolate?

... What's the catch?

Barman: It's chocolate. That's the catch.

I don't get the downside.

Barman: You would if you were a dog.

Point taken.

Barman: Aha! I've got it. The secret ingredient.

-The Barman pours a thin layer of a strange liquid onto the top of the glass of Kelda Stout-

Cough syrup?

Barman: Trade secret my boy. Now...

-The Barman clicks his fingers and the drink ignites with blue flame-

Barman: The Trickster's Seal. Drink it quickly, it's a potent blend.

-Pent hesitated and watched the flames dance on the drink's surface. He didn't trust this solution but... It was the only one he had. He downed the drink and the world started to spin-

Barman: See you again soon, Zero. Or is it Thirteen? Twenty-Two? I forget...

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Velvet Room

Artoria winces at the loud noise as the last part of the speech is said.

Artoria: <What makes you think->

The Stormchaser, probably

Artoria wakes up back in the real world.

Artoria: "What in Arceus' name was that..."

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

Stormchaser, Room 713

Colton tore the sheets off of himself in a blur, way too awake thanks to that bizarre dream and that Sonic Boom. His ears still hurt a little, which was rather impressive. He put some coffee on, decaf, as he pulled out his phone, considering documenting that weird dream before he forgot it.

He paused when he saw a new application. He swiftly pocketed his phone and turned it off, feeling at his face as if he was expecting to pull off a mask, only to find that the only thing he was grabbing was his nose.

"'Take these coming days to understand this place and the path you walk,'" he recalled, reminded of the strange warden with the long nose. He shook his head and pounded a little coffee.

He looked at his phone's black screen and shook his head. The J-Team didn't exist to be his dream journal. Honestly, the memories didn't seem to be going away anytime soon. He could trust himself. "Besides," he added. "This should - will - all make sense in due time."

[Insert Unoriginal Stinger Here]

Pewter Pokémon Center

-Ian hears the commotion and wakes up-

Me: -sleepily- Uurgh... Bhat's the wig idea...? I'm still sleepy...

-I look around, it's still dark, and I stumble out of bed and hit the floor with my face-

Me: Itai!^note Translation: Ouch!

Me: Well, that definitely woke me up!

-I look over, see that "Halsei" kicked Lucius in the face, and try to keep myself from laughing-

♪Show me the wisdom of the world... Tell me the secrets of the heart... and the sweet~ mysteries~ of love~...

Someplace Urban, Motel. Later

?: <What the hell happened here?>

??: >He just walked in, stumbled onto the bed and collapsed.

?: <Egh, I can smell booze. Why'd he storm out?>

??: >I don't know. He _ though.

?: <Seriously? Weird. Should we wake him up?>

??: >Well it's only mid-afternoon. But maybe he just needs the sleep after whatever bender he went on.

It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.

Velvet Room

-Tori winces and recoils from the bars at the Sonicboom-

Tori: Geeze...!

-The mask at her feet gives her pause, and she picks it up for a moment-

...Wait, if this is the Velvet Room, then...!

-She grabs the bars again and starts trying to find a certain someone-

-But the vision fades-

Torne Daycare

Tori: "Wait, Lane? What's-"

-She sits up in her normal bed, in her normal home, sharing her normal covers with a smol red and yellow haired former Darumaka girl-

"Oh..."

-Beat-

-She rubs her eyes as the boudry of dreams and reality reasserts itself-

-...Was there always a cactus on that bedside table?-

Edited by BlitzTrain on Mar 1st 2019 at 3:54:20 AM

To Rogue, "Rafter team will be entering locked rooms, back stages, and so on. Anywhere out of obvious view or off limits in some way is to be treated with maximum suspicion and entered. Find what you can, end goal is some form of documented Hunter tech, even one of those pen drones would be a immediate reason for the police to get involved and come in. However bonus is any further details, even coded. I've got Bishop on mass cracker duties... though I worry at times about his mental health."

"Do not be concerned," Bishop assured, "I am a hardy mon with a healthy brain. I was given the task of operating complicated machinery. I can do this! Quite confidently in fact!"

~He also takes frequent breaks, in fact the reason he takes so long is because he's more often than not delving into old cat photos and [Twitter] posts. As well as a lot of [Reddit],~ Harper said.

Bishop looked insulted, "I told you that in confidence."

Jack sighed, "As for concerns about being spotted, just keep your disguise up and it'll fool most people."

Roxy looked a little embarrassed, "I actually decked him earlier when he walked in with the disguise, he looks so... different. It's amazing what a change in posture, and shaving, will do."

Jack rolled his eyes, "Still. Just keep quiet, stick to areas of probable concentration of issues. We'll be thorough and we have a plan B."

Silas lay there in bed, wondering what the fuck had just happened, and why he could remember that dream so vividly.

He sat up, stretched, looked about and saw his team around him, still asleep. He rubbed his head and grabbed his phone, also pulling on his scarf because something was bothering him.

<Okay Silas... what the hell...>

The Twins took some hits and let go of Star's craft, darting off in separate directions. The Cobalt Chaser finally firing its forward cannons taking out some of the carriers of the Front.

"Keep them busy, we're coming into Diaga Airspace and we'll be taking over soon! According to Drakos we'll have our contact for this sector soon."

Then over the comms came, "As always, leave it to the Stars to clean it up."

A black and green fighter sped by, piloted by Logan, it started firing on the Latios twin, and took out a back thruster.

Edited by EchoingSilence on Mar 1st 2019 at 6:08:39 AM

Thorne Daycare

Lane:It was so...vivid for a dream...

-Lane shakes his head, pacing in his borrowed room-

And there were...so many voices there too...

-He stops-

I know I heard...Ren. I definitely heard Ren...and maybe...that Colton guy? Ngh...

“The hell??!”

-Lane’s eyes widen-

And...T-Tori...

-He gulps-

I...heard Tori...

-Twice-

Why...why is she involved too?! She didn’t...but...ugh!

-He shakes his head as though trying to rid himself of the thought-

Dammit...I need some air.

-And So he dresses and goes for a jog-

---

-Meanwhile-

-Happy sleeping Iggy noises-