October Event Log (Space Horror Edition)

[kaisoumods]

OCTOBER EVENT: HEAVY

TRIGGER WARNING: This event features heavy use of hallucinations, reliving past traumas, mental corruption and PVP death. Please proceed with caution.

Day One

♪- Singularity

Wherever you drift off to sleep certainly isn't where you wake up the following day. Or... you assume it's day, as there is no natural light to truly clue you in. You wake on a bunk in a metallic room along with three other app users, also tucked into their comfy little bunks. A quick survey of your surroundings, and you will find you are on a sizeable spaceship. Outside the window, a blue planet slowly turns- those who have a knowledge of space might be able to recognize this as Neptune- you are far, far from Earth. Stepping out of the bunk room, you will find other doors opening to other bunk rooms, with similarly confused app users inside. No one has any idea how you got here. You will find your communications devices do not work- after all, you're a long way away from any cell towers. You'll be glad to see your abilities work just fine. Telepathy outside of the ship is impossible- perhaps distance matters here, too.

Exploration of the ship will show a worrying absence of any crew. You can see dried blood on several metallic surfaces as you move around. Canteens are stocked with freeze-dried astronaut meals, all perfectly edible, but there is no sign anyone has been eating anything in here for some time. You can see another ship docked outside the one you're in- the name on the side claiming it as The Lewis and Clark. There doesn't seem to be any way to get to it currently, though. The door leading to the docking station is locked tight. You eventually come across the bridge, with blood-crusted computer systems still running. Those tech-savvy amongst you might be able to get some informational screens up, which tell you that you are aboard The Event Horizon. This is a scientific vessel which was researching a means of faster space travel. They intended to do this with something called "The Gravity Core" - a device which would create an artificial black hole, which would in theory allow the user to bend space-time and cut a journey of thousands of years into a single day. So it turns out you're sitting in a spaceship with the means to create the most destructive force in the galaxy right next to you. Super! A few of the video files are corrupted, which will need some work getting to play. Ominously, every now and again the screens of the computer flash up a single, desperate message: Libera te tutemet ex inferis.

If you so decide to check out that Gravity Core, you will find a tunnel with sharp, moving sides. It moves like a meat grinder. Luckily there is a narrow walkway- wide enough for you to walk single file through it without getting hurt on the spikes. Worrying, some more of that dried blood can be seen on the spikes as they rotate. It's probably fine. The tunnel opens up into a big, circular, spiked room. There's a pool of water at the bottom of the room, and in the centre is a strange contraption, a ball with three spiked rings, about 10 meters in diameter. For now, they're just turning around one another slowly, never stopping. Congratulations, you found the Gravity Core! Anyone with demonic or holy ties will be deeply unsettled by this device. They can't put their finger on what it is, but they know it's deeply unsafe, and feel intense discomfort being anywhere near it. For now, there doesn't seem much to do other than get used to their surroundings. They can check the lock that could take them to the Lewis and Clark- their only way off this ship, but the lock is a complex series of rusted cogs. There seems to be no way to undo these locks no matter what you try- not even abilities will work on it. It's like some outside (or inside) force is preventing you from an early escape. For now, it seems you're stuck here.

Day Two

♪- Ducts

At the start of day two, the whole ship shakes- anyone near the Gravity Core will witness the rings suddenly all line up, stopping their slow spiral. Everything is still for a moment, and then the center of the Core suddenly glows in a blinding flash of light, then... it settles- the lights around the center pulsing on and off like a heartbeat. The entire surface of the ball at the center of the core turns into a shimmering, water-like substance. Anyone nearby will feel an overwhelming urge to touch it. Should you give into the intrusive thought, you will find your hand sinks into the center as if it is made of water. With no warning, something on the other side GRIPS you, and pulls you in with a sharp tug. No one around can grab you in time before you vanish into the sludge.

For a moment, everything is still- then as quickly as they were pulled in, the poor souls dragged into the Core are unceremoniously spat out. The Core returns to normal, the rings spinning slowly around one another again. Those spat out will lay on the ground, catatonic, eyes open wide, staring in terror at... something - nothing seems to wake them. You may be left worried about what to do with your friends, but there's something else too. Something prickling at the edge of your consciousness. Perhaps it's a distant noise that almost sounds like a voice, a shifting shadow you swear was a person. Today, these things linger just on the periphery of your senses- there to unnerve you, but you cannot put your finger on what they are.

About an hour after they were spat out by the Core, the poor souls dragged into it suddenly bolt awake, that "the darkness is coming". It takes a hot minute for them to settle down again, and realise where they are. If you were one of those unlucky people, you cannot remember what you saw while you were inside the Core- all you remember is that it was terrible- and yet, you want to go to it again. You are convinced the absolute right thing to do is to open the Gravity Core again and for you all to step inside it. It's where you all belong. For now, you can be convinced to not do the blatantly stupid and dangerous thing and restart the Core, but as one day moves into the next, those urges only grow.

Day Three

♪- Turbulence

Those who were dragged into the Core are much, much worse off the next day. Your feelings about needing to restart the Core are even stronger - and those who weren't pulled in will need to guard the controls to prevent it from being forcibly started up. Those who fell in start calling themselves "corrupted" and you will do everything in your power to convince everyone that you need to open the Core. Perhaps you want to embrace what's on the other side of that Core- the horrors you saw. Or perhaps your spirit was so broken by the terrifying mixed-up memories you can only partly put together that you feel it's inevitable- that you may as well submit to the Core because there's no escape from it. The way you all speak about it makes it sound like hell, quite literally, and nothing will sway you from your desire to go back into it and drag everyone on the ship with you. You will be willing to fight and attack your fellow prisoners on the ship, to lie to and cajole them - anything that gets you to those controls.

Things aren't so hot for those not corrupted by the Core, either. The flickering visions you had yesterday turn into full-blown hallucinations today. These hallucinations are steeped heavily in your mental traumas and regrets. Perhaps you feel responsible for the death of a loved one- that person will appear and speak to you. Or perhaps you were attacked by someone in your past- now that attacker will stalk you through the ship. Perhaps your actions inadvertently caused a great disaster- victims of that disaster will appear to you, fingers pointing in blame. No matter what weakness of your mind is preyed upon, these hallucinations will chip away at your grasp of reality fairly quickly. They will do everything in their power to convince you to attack the others on the ship- be it through cajoling you or through simple trickery such as appearing before someone nearby, making you lash out at them, unaware you have struck the wrong target until it is too late. Worse still, everyone can see everyone else's hallucinations- there is no hiding from them or pretending they are not real. They are here and they are ready to push everyone into attacking one another. Those fully corrupted by the ship may see hallucinations of their own, too- but nothing overrides their desire to get the Core restarted.

Either through the efforts of those with tech-savvy skills, or from following old, tattered manuals you find stuffed behind a console, you are finally able to uncorrupt the ship's video files. The first shows the original Event Horizon crew, they are smiling and happy. The captain states they are about to open the Gravity Drive for the first time and hopes that soon they will be light years away from here, with minimal effort. Confidently, he smiles at the camera, stating "Ave, atque, vale. Hail and farewell." The screen suddenly goes fuzzy, and screams can be heard in the thick static. The screen goes dead. What follows are small video clips, tiny glimpses into madness. Once smiling happy crew go through a living nightmare as their world crashes down around them. You might see one sobbing about seeing her dead best friend she couldn't save, or perhaps another screaming at an invisible foe- you will even see the crew turn on each other, the camera catching the glint of a knife or a thrown punch. No matter what, it's clear that the previous crew went through exactly what you are going through now- and they destroyed one another over it.

There is one final video to play. This is of the captain, his face is bleeding from a deep gash in his cheek, and one arm hangs limp and useless at his side. In the background, screaming can be heard:
"I stashed the explosives around the Horizon. It's the only way to get the damned doors open. She won't let them free. She'll take them to hell. They won't even fight it. They're not interested."
Static fills the screen for a moment, and the screaming is louder, followed by banging. The captain gives a frustrated groan and smacks the camera with his good arm, clearing it up.
"If any of you are still alive, you've got to blow the doors apart. The ship's hull is designed to take it, just get into the umbilical and get the fuck out- it's oxygenated. Don't let her win. Don't let her drag you into hell with the rest of them. Don't-"
A loud CRASH occurs off-screen. The captain turns, to be tackled to the ground by someone else, covered in blood and barely recognizable as human. The figure drops to the ground on top of the captain, out of view of the camera. But his screams are heard. Terrified, bloodcurdling screams. When they stop. The figure stands. It's one of his crew, the woman who had been talking about her dead friend. She raises her hand, stained with blood, looking at it curiously for a moment, before turning to the camera.
"Liberate tutame ex inferis."
The video cuts out and there are no more.

The message is clear- the only way off the Event Horizon is to blow up the doors and get to the Lewis and Clark - preferably before the Gravity Core is activated again and you are all dragged, quite literally, into Hell.

Day Four

♪- Gravity Drive

So now you know what you need to do. You need to find the explosives stashed around the Event Horizon and blow those doors to kingdom come. Not a simple task, with your corrupted friends and your own hallucinations trying to stop you from doing just that. You will likely have to fight your friends plenty in the search for the explosives- as the corrupted folks absolutely do not want you to escape. There are fives explosives to find, hidden in The control room, the engineering room, the med bay, the kitchen and finally, unhelpfully, near the controls of the Gravity Core. You will need to gather all of them and get them attached to the doors. They are, thankfully, simple to use and soon blow the doors clear off. They open to a yellow tube that leads into the waiting Lewis and Clark. There's no gravity in the tube, even if it is oxygenated, so you will have to float your way there. But...

The Event Horizon SHUDDERS in what you could only describe as anger when the doors are blown off. The captain's warning was right. The ship certainly doesn't want you to get away from this. The corrupted finally managed to get the Core started again, gleeful at pulling you all into hell. There is no switching it off, all you can do is fight your own hallucinations to get to the Lewis and Clark. Perhaps you have enough of your senses to try and pull the corrupted folks aboard with you- but they will fight you every step of the way. The only way you'll get them aboard the Lewis and Clark is by incapacitating them and dragging them to escape.

The Lewis and Clark is, blissfully, pre-programmed to return to Earth- though it may take a real long time to get there. Ship instructions bleep at you to put yourself into stasis for the long journey, but luckily, you do not need to worry about that. The Lewis and Clark pulls away from the Event Horizon- blasting quickly away. All you can see of it is a bright blue light as the Even Horizon swallows in on itself- taking whoever so remained on board with it. The hallucinations abruptly stop, and you are left only with the stark reality of all that has happened as the ship zooms forward.

Aftermath

After only about fifteen minutes on the Lewis and Clark, you feel yourself enveloped in a white light- then suddenly you'll find yourselves in a pile at the entrance to Blue Fish Park- as if you were spat out by any other spirit gate. Those who died on the Horizon will find themselves amongst you, none the worse for wear. Physically, at least. The corrupted will find their minds clear of the Core's influence, their memories of what they did aboard the ship can either either fuzzy or crystal clear. Regardless, you are now all back in Kaisou and safe- though the mental trauma of what happened may linger for a while.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is Earth! Anyone with an affinity to the wind element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Water will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. There will be a midmonth Zodiac post on the 15th. If you wish to have your character in this event, you MUST SIGN UP by October 6th.

Characters NOT involved in this plot ARE allowed to comment as hallucinations that the characters on the ship are seeing. However, these hallucinations are hallucinations ONLY. They cannot relay any information the hallucinating character doesn't already know, and the real version of the hallucinated character will have know memory of being a hallucination.

Comments

Husk | Hazbin Hotel - OTA

[wiseoldbartender]

Days one and two

[Husk, like most things, is deeply unimpressed with being in space. He doesn't stare with wonder at the everything around them, not at the inky blackness outside, not at Neptune, not at the technological marvels around them. Instead, he heads to the cafeteria, where he starts rifling through the astronaut food and drink there and make a distressing discovery. ]

What the fuck? Where's the BOOZE?

[He's soon drawn to the Core. He can feel it thrumming through his body, calling him. For the first day he keeps wandering into the spiked room to stare at it, ears pinned back, tail flicking in an unsteady tempo. And then suddenly the Core OPENS. He's blinded by the light when it first appears, but then when it fades to the goopy substance, he stares, as if in a trance. He shifts slowly towards it, if you're with him? Too bad, he's not listening to you if you try to stop him.]

...Angel?

[His hand brushes up against the surface of the Core and... immediately gets sucked in. Everything is still for a while- then just as quickly, he's thrown back out, catatonic, staring into nothing. It's... probably fine.]

Day 3

[Husk was doing real bad from the second he woke up from being in the Core. He remembers Hell from his past afterlife - he remembers it vividly. He's not sure if this is the same thing, but if he were a gambling man (and he very much IS) he'd put damn good money on it being one and the same. Hell is a place of genuine happiness and horrific nightmares for him, existing in perfect, terrible harmony. Honestly, most people just end up there, but it's not that which makes him want to open the gate back. He's pretty certain someone else came with him. And as the hallucinations kick in, he's ever the more certain of that.

Anyone coming across Husk will find him looking far more haunted than he usually does. Gone is his pissy air of apathy. Instead, he looks genuinely terrified. A neon green collar can be seen around his neck, attached to a similar neon green chain, vanishing off into the darkness. At first, all you hear is radio static, perhaps a laugh on the radio waves, but soon you start to see a deer-like man in a fancy red coat. The green chain wraps around the radio mic he carries with him. He smiles a sharp-toothed smile always. He talks in a irritating upbeat tone - like you'd expect from someone on the earliest days of radio in the 1920s. ]

Come now, Husker, there's no need to be such a sourpuss about it. You knew I'd always come back and collect you eventually [He gives the chain a tug, making Husk stumble forward. Husk hisses like a cornered animal, trying to back away and get distance from him again.] I'd never let my pet stay lost for long, after all! What would the neighbours say?

Fuck off you fuckin' piece of shit. I ain't your fuckin' pet.

[Husk really isn't in the mood to be dealing with anything else right now, so if you come over to him while the Radio Demon is just laughing at him, he'll spin around, anger bruning in his expression- rgerdless of if you spoke to him or not- he's not in any mind now, right or otherwise.]

Fuck off. No one fuckin' asked your opinion.

Day 4

[Husk's mental state only decreases after that. He gets killed plenty and each time he comes back that fuckin' CHAIN appears around his neck again and Alastor tugs him around the ship, happily telling him of what he should be doing to other people. Sometimes, there's an edge of command to his tone that Husk cannot ignore- a demand to attack or kill someone that he has to obey. In that case, he will lash out with either his knife-sharp playing cards or with a blast of ice aimed at your head- snarling like a wild animal.

Or perhaps you'll find him in a quieter, but no more lucid moment, sitting in the canteen of the ship. He has some freeze-dried chocolate pudding, which he is swirling like it's a glass of whiskey. The chain is still around his neck, but this time a teenage boy stands across from him arms folded, staring down at the old demon.]

You let them kill me. You could have stopped it, but you didn't. You failed me, and then you went and replaced me. How do you know you won't fuck it up with her too, eventually? I mean, you've got a record for it now, Old Man.

[Husk takes a "swig" of the pudding. It sure as shit ain't whiskey, but right now he feels if he pretends hard enough he can manage to convince himself otherwise. ]

Ain't like that, Kid. You know that. I know that. Hey- hey, Marlon? Can you score me some whiskey? Or...shit, I'd take fuckin' Everclear at this point. Hand sanitiser? Literally fuckin' anything. I'm going outta my nut here.

[ Alastor chimes in, helpfully, from where he is sitting on a stool next to them, leg crossed casually over the other. ]

Don't be silly Husker, they don't have alcohol on scientific vessels! You know where there IS booze? HELL! Copious amounts to fill your bootstraps with! All you have to do is-

I know, I KNOW- open the fuckin' gate. You don't gotta stop chirping on about it, Asshat.

[It's- it's probably fine to come and bother him, right? This seems like a perfectly safe time to go bother him. (Spoilers: it's not) ]

Wildcard/multiple kill shots?

[Let's DO it! ]

day three

[consonanter]

[This ship is hell. It is absolute hell, and Noah is beginning to wonder if he was sent here for his past life's actions as Sunday. There's no other reason as to why he'd be here otherwise.

Three days since their arrival, and everything is a wreck. His sister is dead. He's hardly gotten any sleep. He's been chastised and ridiculed by hallucinations all day, each one trying his patience and him trying to ignore them as best he can. Avoiding them has been a futile effort in general, so Noah has been trying to at least keep himself occupied by walking around, hoping to find a familiar face.

Husk isn't exactly a familiar face, but the hostility thrown out at him sure is. Noah exhales, mouth going into a thin line as he sees Alastor holding the leash. He wasn't going to comment on anything, but it seems like Husk already is set to snap at anyone close.

Said with bewilderment and also irritation-] I hadn't said anything.

[And yet from behind the Halovian comes an unusually dual-toned voice that emanates from an odd looking raven, who decides to perch on his shoulder. Noah glares at the bird, one hand rudely shoving the creature off as it lets out an indignant noise.]

You'll simply allow someone to speak to you with that tone, Sunday? Especially considering your position, and all you have worked towards for the Charmony Festival? We thought we had raised you better.

[Sharply, and Noah practically growls back at the bird.] I told you- I'm not Sunday. Leave me alone.

[What happens when two demons come across a man who gives off the vibes of an angel, without him actually being one? Time to find out.]

day 3

[centralfiction]

No one really here fucking said anything, old man.

[Because what Ragna needed was someone lashing out at him right now, someone who didn't have any right to like Kni and Vash did. A real quick fucking way to piss him off while he was already on edge and paranoid and quite frankly.

Scared. Scared while a revolving door of ghosts from his past and "Bloodedge"'s past constantly fucking taunted him about that fear.

A maniacally cackling man with spiked green hair and a black suit with unbuttoned shirt having as much of the time of his life towards Ragna as the Radio Demon image was with Husk.]

You fuck off, asshole.

Day 4

[end_singer]

[It's absolutely not a safe time, which is why Nito keeps himself invisible and his movements silent when approaching.]

...You'll not find peace behind that gate. I think you know that, somewhere deep down.

kill shot kill shot | cw stabbing, violence, character death

[jackdawvision]

[The hardest thing about this fucking ship is there are no good places to pull off an air assassination from. Frustrating, really. Still, Edward's adaptable, so he lies in wait in an alcove, waiting for one of the Templars roaming around the halls to show themselves. Wonders, idly, which one this will be: Hornigold, or du Casse, or Torres, or—well, he's killed so many of them over the years that it blurs, really.

He hears footsteps down the hall. Hears a whisper in his head that sounds like James Kidd, urging him to wait and see. He crouches down.

The hidden blade flicks out.]

James Rogers | Next Avengers | OTA

[mstitel]

Awakening
[This isn’t the first time James has woken up on a weird spaceship with no warning. There’s a moment, when he opens his eyes to the familiar distant rumble of engines and that strangely disorienting feeling of false gravity where panic grips at his chest and rises high in his throat, leaving him peeling back his uniform’s glove to look at the 25 burned into his skin to make sure it hadn’t gone up again.

To make sure he wasn’t back on the Tranquility.

He’s not— he’s not. He’s made it off that ship, away from the sensation of waking up to a breathing tube being pulled out of his throat every month. He watched those numbers tick over, had seen the sun set and rise again twice over, now. He knows the cycle of the Tranquility don’t exist here, so why—]

Stop. [He whispers it to himself, clapping his cheeks and shaking his head, getting his head on straight, working his way out of panic and uncertainty and trying to remind himself of who he is. What he stands for. What, in times of crisis, he’s vowed to do.

So, with a deep breath, he makes his way out of the room he woke up in, into hallways and corridors filled with similarly confused and bleary-eyed people, calling out with as much calm strength as he can muster: ] Is anyone hurt?

[From there, during the first few days, James can be found trying to hunt down as much food as possible, mapping out the ship as he explores, checking in with anyone and everyone he can find.

He’s not James Roger’s right now. He’s not a paranoid, sassy teenager. He’s Captain America. He’s an Avenger. And he’s going to help anyone and everyone he can.]

The Goopening
[Or, well, he’s trying to be Captain America. Only… there’s something about this ship, something that stirs something deep at the core of him. That has his hair standing on end but has him so, so morbidly curious. And all of it starts and ends with that strange engine they found.

An engine that James, much like many others on the ship, had been in the room with when it activated. He, much like many others, was sucked into that black void, had been spat out and remained shocked and catatonic until… he wasn’t. Until, near the end of that second day, the beginning of the third, James woke with a start, unable to breathe and covered in a cold sweat. His world spun and laughter echoed in his ears, deep and cold and robotic— laughter he hadn’t heard in years. Laughter he would never forget.

He’s small, he’s agile, and more than anything, when James thinks he’s in danger, he runs. So it’s not hard to escape wherever he’s been brought to recover. It’s not hard to disappear into the depths of the ship, haunted by his own thoughts and that horrible cold pull like metal hooks in his chest, wrenching him back towards that horrible, terrible heart of it all.

Over the next few days, until they all manage to either make it out of there or die trying, James can be found either wandering in a daze, lashing out at anyone and everyone he comes across, or dealing with some ghosts of his past.]

i. cw: death of the teen-sicle variety
[It’s cold. It’s cold, but it’s… not at the same time. James can see his own breath, can see and feel his body shivering, is brushing ice off his gloves, his sleeves, can see frost on the metal around him, and yet… the temperature hasn’t changed. It’s cold, it’s freezing, but it’s… not, at the same time.

He doesn’t realize the implications of this until it’s too late.

Until, as he stands there, staring out one of the many windows towards that big, blue planet below, he hears the sound of footsteps behind him, hears a meek voice calling out through chattering teeth; ] J-James?

[He turns, and it’s like time stops. He turns, and it’s like it’s that day all over again. It hasn’t been almost a year, it was just yesterday. She’s— she’s just like he remembers, blonde hair in a messy ponytail, white wings tucked in to her body, bruise on her cheek and her clothes a little ratty. She’d picked a fight, he remembers, but he can’t remember who with— none of that matters, nothing matters, because—].

…… Libby…?

[He’s never felt so small, so scared, so hopeful and so sad all at the same time. He feels like a child, he feels—]

Why didn’t you help me? Why did you leave?

[The words cut like knives through his skin, they forced he air out of his lungs, and he stands there, looking as small and young as he’s ever felt.]

I— I didn’t, Lib. The ship— I wanted to stay, I didn’t make the choice— you know what it does, when the month ends. I didn’t have a choice—

[She’s pale, she’s too pale. Her hands and feet are blue, her lips chapped and cheeks frosted over. She’s exactly how he remembers. She’s exactly how he last saw her, shivering in the dark of a spaceship that’s lost power.

And all James can do is stand there and whisper hoarsely, again and again and again.]

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

ii. cw: dead parents mention, vaguely alluded infertility, bad parenting, wall punching until injury
[There’s conversation happening around the corner, James and woman’s voice, older and… awkward.

He’s never felt more small, more like a kid— he still was, when this happened last. He was sixteen and desperate. Desperate to know, desperate to connect, desperate for things he eventually found out he didn’t need, would never need, not really.

He’s standing in one of the research room, head lowered, fists clenched tight enough his arms are trembling. A woman stands in front of him, hair the same shade of red as James’ but cut short, just at her chin. She’s awkward, but standing firm, staring down at James with a cold pain that he will never understand.]

You can’t expect me to just be her, you know that, right?

Yes, ma’am.

[His voice is meek, tired, shaking. His shoulders raise, his breath hitches. It’s nothing new, he’s heard this before, he’s over it, and yet-]

You can’t just insert yourself into someone else’s life. You’re not mine, James. And you never will be.

I know that, I didn’t want to be—

James. [Her voice is joined by another’s as a man steps out of the shadows, arms crossed as he looks down his nose at the boy in front of him.] We will never be who you want us to be. And you will never be anyone to us.

[James screws his eyes shut, his breath coming faster— he can’t catch it, he can’t-]

I know, Tony. I’m sorry. You’re not— you’re not my Tony. And Natasha isn’t my mother. They’re dead. They’re dead.

[And, after another moment of ragged breathing, James lets out a pained, angry shout, turning and punching the wall as hard as he can, his fist denting the metal again and again and again until he feels the glove rip and the flesh underneath begin to tear.

Until the pain can center him enough that he can pretend he has some semblance of sanity left.]

iii. cw: evil robot hunting teenagers for his trophy case
[It’s later, almost near the end of their time trapped on this hell ship. People are going insane left and right, people are dying, people are lashing out, people are crazy and James— ohhh James isn’t much better than the rest.

His uniform is torn and bloody, be it with his blood or someone else’s, and his right arm hangs limp and useless at his side. He’s ginger with it, it hurts, but he’s not letting that stop him. He has his shield projector on his left hand, that’s all he needs to stay alive, even if he can’t fight. It’s all he needs to protect himself from it.

He ducks under a table, wedges himself up under some piping, making himself as small as possible, forcing himself into the space with a pained whine as his arm is jostled, but he doesn’t care, because anything, anything is better than facing what is coming.

A robot. Tall and sleek, humanoid. Its body is sleek silver, the metal frame of him moving with frightening ease. Its eyes are glowing red, its mouth a gaping, flickering red maw. It chuckles, deep and slow and says one single thing as it passes James’ hiding place, the redhead holding his breath and screwing his eyes shut, praying praying praying that it will move past him.]

Oh little America… I have a display case ready for you. I’ll put you right between your parents. One niiiiice happy family…

[Even after that robot lumbers past him and out of the room, James remains still and quiet, breathing harshly and huddling back in his little safety hole.

Honestly, he might as well stay here until the ship returns to where it needs to be. With Ultron between him and the engine, there’s not much he can do. Not when he’s injured like this.]



ooc; feel free to wildcard me as wanted! :3c otherwise I’ll be throwing tiny america out into the fray, as well. its so long im sorry

The Goopening

[droptheious]

[Varian absolutely did not touch the goop. Much as his habits towards scientific discovery tend towards just fucking touching stuff, he's learned better this time. Given how people have been after being sucked into that mess, he realises he made a good call.

He'd been keeping an eye on James as he slept, and just about jumps out of his skin as the guy wakes up abruptly.]

James? Jeez- I was worried you weren't gonna wake up at all. Are you- [obviously, he's not okay] what was that?

ii

[mediocrites]

[Ratio missed a lot of the conversation, but he hears speaking and then shouting as he approaches, rounding the corner to a miserable scene: an anguished young man being regarded with disdain by what looks like it might be his parents, lashing out in frustration and pain.

It's probably the sleep deprivation that causes him to miss the dents James' fist is leaving in the wall. It's probably his own anguish and uncertainty, his failure to help or save others, that leads him to act quickly rather than observe the situation clearly. Whatever the cause, foolishly he reaches out in an attempt to catch James' arm, trying to stop him from doing any more damage to his hands.]

Stop that! We have enough injuries to treat as it is.

noctis lucis caelum | final fantasy xv

[illucesco]

ota prompts

[illucesco]

[one: wake up, it's time]

[This is the second time in two months that Noctis has gotten kidnapped, and the first thing he thinks is, well, at least my Pokémon aren't here. He's starting to wonder if he's just getting used to it, really, as he pushes himself up to his feet and takes stock of his surroundings.

Shit, and here he'd left almost all his weapons back in a closet at home, because he'd been headed on a fishing trip out of town for the weekend. The only viable weapon he has in the Armiger at the moment that doesn't belong to someone else is Hong Jing, and he summons that into his hand in a shower of blue sparks with a grumbled huff. Points it downward, and he must look odd, carrying a sword like that while wearing a jacket with dozens of lures and a bucket hat.]

Okay. Let's try to stick together—I'll watch your back if you watch mine. [He has been through enough dungeon crawls in D&D to be very suspicious of dark spaces, not to mention the memories of Zegnautus Keep clawing their way to the surface.] Maybe we can find a way out on the first day.

[Judging from the sardonic edge to his voice, he does not expect this at all.]

[two: spot the rpg healer]

[Throughout the days, Noctis has one thing going for him, and that's the medical kit he has stashed in the Armiger chock-full of healing potions. After the first day, once the hallucinations start kicking in and the bodies start dropping, Hong Jing disappears into the Armiger in favor of his medical kit instead. Best not to seem like a threat to a ship full of homicidal, hallucinating people with superpowers, after all.]

Hey!

[He calls this out to someone who looks injured (oh god he hopes they're just injured and not fucking dead) and rushes over quickly, opening the kit once he gets there.]

Hey, you all right there? [A wince.] Okay, wrong question to ask. Look, just take this Red Bull for now. It won't make everything better, but it'll keep you standing, at least.

[And for now, that's good enough for them.]

You seen anyone who isn't trying to kill everyone else?

[three: ready for the funeral | cw: parent death, grief, description of fatal chest and head injury, death of lover]

[There's an old man, leaning on a cane, following Noctis around. His hair shines silver in the spaceship lights, and every so often the artificial lights glint on an antler crown affixed to the side of his head. Or instead they glint off reading glasses. Sometimes the man wears regal clothes befitting that of a king, other times he's dressed more casually, as if he'd been enjoying retirement.

Sometimes he's bleeding from a gaping wound in the middle of his chest, blood pouring out, drip-drip-dripping onto the floor. Sometimes the back of his head has caved in, and you can see the skull fragments, the bits of brain.]

You could have been there.

[The worst part is: he sounds so sad.]

Perhaps if you had been there, instead of away, you could've done something. At the very least, I wouldn't have been left alone to die.

[Noctis grits his teeth, then digs his fingers into the edge of the console and tries to pull on it.]

They have to be around here somewhere.

What do you think you can do now? Live up to the King of Light that you were once before? You've turned your back on that legacy.

[Noctis slams a fist down onto the console, breathes in, out. In, out. Don't look. Don't look. Don't fucking look.]

You're not real. My father—[he chokes]—My father has been dead for almost a year. Take his face and get the hell out of my sight.

[Then a new voice murmurs, as the old king steps aside and seems to fade into the shadows:] What about me, Noctis?

[And Noctis gets very, very still even as he's rummaging around for the manuals he prays are stuffed behind this console.]

...Luna?

Dr. Ratio | Honkai: Star Rail | OTA

[mediocrites]

wanna go to space

[They're in space. Ratio's trying very hard to keep his enthusiasm for this tempered, because the blood on various surfaces is really very alarming and speaks to some kind of awful tragedy. But they're in space. They're around Neptune. Never mind that this is impossible, that they're horribly far from home and locked in - this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in space.

He'll be spending most of his time on the bridge or in engineering, figuring out how to get into the computers, picking his way through unfamiliar interfaces by trial and error until he can pull up technical readouts to pore over. The large brown wings on his back shift and flutter as he moves between consoles; familiar viewers may note that these are quite a recent addition.]

...It's powered by a black hole. That's...I need something to write on.

[This room is unfortunately devoid of whiteboards and markers.]

erudition's judgement

[By the third day, Ratio clearly hasn't slept much, and there's a tremor in his hands as he continues working on the bridge. His wings never quite seem to settle, often shifting to block the line of sight of anyone who happens to be in the room. This is probably at least in part because he's being watched by a huge mechanical eyeball that's hovering in the corner of the room. It doesn't seem to be doing anything; it just stares judgementally, unblinking and relentless, directly at Ratio.]

Ignore THEM. THEIR opinion doesn't matter.

[Seems very normal and stable.]

almost a genius

[He's also taking his turn with guarding the controls of the Core. Here, a beautiful woman with double-helix patterns in her outfit smiles placidly at him. In one hand she's holding a dessert plate with a tiny catcake quivering in the center of it.]

You could be the one to figure it all out, you know. Grow into the person you were meant to be, if you'll only stop rejecting your own potential. Just open up that door and see for yourself.

I can't imagine a world where I ever decide to take your advice on my potential.

to the last

[Ragged, miserable, and exhausted, everyone Ratio knew before they all arrived on this ship is dead and the haunting is taking its toll. As he helps to hunt down the explosives, he's prepared to fight anyone who approaches aggressively. One arm is bound up in a makeshift sling, clearly broken, but the other holds a shadowy dagger that he only puts away if he needs his hand for something else. Any non-aggressive survivors will get a haggard look as he very slowly lowers his weapon.]

You're...still alive?

wildcard!

[Start up a pre-planned encounter below, or come up with something to pull him into! Ask for a closed prompt! Haunt him with the images of his dead friends!]

wanna go to space

[droptheious]

[Of course, if anyone would get the JOYS of this extremely dangerous piece of engineering marvel, it's be Ratio. Varian appears beside him, grinning.]

Right? I mean- it's such a fascinating concept! Instead of making the shortest distance a straight line, making it 0! There's gotta be the math on these computers somewhere, right? I need to see the math.

[He needs to see the math SO BADLY. ]

Varian | Tangled | OTA

[droptheious]

I'm Your Moon (day one)

[Varian has always been fascinated with space- before he even started living in a time period where much was known about the heavens at all. He's always wanted to see it, and while he doesn't appreciate waking up with no idea how he got here (and appreciates even less that he can't contact his loved ones on Earth) he can't help but press up to the window, watching Neptune float in the darkness. He's grinning like a kid at Christmas.]

This is so cool. I am a tiny bit concerned about the time difference between here and Earth- a day here is much, much shorter, after all. Much as it's fascinating to be here, if we're away from home for too long, it's gonna worry people.

[Or perhaps you'll find him at the Core, watching it rotate around. He doesn't have anything to write one so he's just gonna be sitting cross-legged on the metal floor, doing math in this head.]

The mechanics are genius. Like- like horrifically dangerous and it'd probably kill us all if it turned on, but it's still fascinating! I'd LOVE to see all the schematics of it.

Sticking It To Myself (day three)

[This is not the first time Varian has dealt with hallucinations like this. He remembers in Corona, when Cass set the red rocks on them all. He remembers having to learn quick how to defend his mind from itself- to battle through the images flicking into existence so he could get to the source of the mess and end it before everyone was lost to them. It was the action that finally, finally proved to the people of Corona that he was on their side again. That he wasn't some unhinged sociopath waiting to hurt them again.

Back in Corona, he'd watched his father get swallowed by the Amber again. He'd watched the people of Corona turn on him for the traitor he was. Here? Here it's just himself. What follows Varian around is a younger version of the young man trying to ignore it. A bitter, angry fourteen-year-old compared to the eighteen-year-old focusing on the doorway leading to the Lewis and Clark.]

You know you're just kidding yourself, right? You can "improve" yourself all you like, but it'll take one mistake and they'll show their true colours. And then you'll be left alone, again. You should get them before they get you, you kno-

[The real Varian raises his voice in a sing-song tone, deliberately trying to talk over... himself.]

I can't hear yoooou. Too busy trying to get the doors open! [He doesn't have his tools with him, but he's still poking at it anyway.] There's gotta be a way to compromise the structural integrity of this to get it open.

Someone Is Crazy (day three)

[Once it becomes clear that some of the folks on board are desperate to start the Core again, Varian makes his way to the Core room. He moves to stand guard by the controls, his ARCUS and a vial of Flynnolium to hand. If anyone comes into the room or near the controls, he raises the latter warningly.]

Look. I don't wanna hurt you, but setting this off is like, the worst idea ever. I think we've already firmly established that. So how about you just... back away from this and not open the black hole to hell again? And then I won't have to throw an explosive in a space ship. Sound good?

Wildcard!

[Want something else? Wanna main the lad? Lemmie know!]

moon

[consonanter]

[Varian and Noah have two very different reactions when it comes to the Core.

Since the very moment he tried to move through the winding and endless mess of the swirling hall, Noah's head has begun to ache. There's something in his bones, something that feels like it's crawling up his back, makes him want to leave immediately and never step foot in here again. He'd left quickly the first time, and almost didn't step back in here now- but he couldn't help being curious. Varian's nonchalance at the entire room itself is something interesting in and of itself.

So being spoken to startles him a little, Noah blanking for a moment before he regains composure. He wasn't expecting to be addressed, even as he stands in the entrance to the room- instead turning to face the core and then to the very eccentric young man.]

You want to figure out how it works?

[There's a very confused and uncertain sound to his tone, but he isn't rude in his question. Noah is trying to understand what Varian wants to do, while he himself can only feel unease and incredibly unsettled. Concordia, for the first time in a long while, has been restless in his head, speaking warily every now and then about this thing, whatever it is.

(It is wrong, they say, and Noah listens. We do not understand it ourselves, but it is wrong. Do not linger for too long in its gaze, child.)

He frowns a little, but isn't sure what else to add. Instead, he winces, the ache in his head still there, as annoying as everything else in this entire situation is.]

wei wuxian | mdzs | two ota, one closed

[conseqweinces]

day one

[conseqweinces]

i. say goodnight

[Usually when Wei Wuxian wakes up in a place he didn’t remember, it was more fun looking than this.

He was awake pretty quickly, immediately checking his surroundings to find the window that showed they were in deep fucking space of all places. It really is a sea of stars just like that one guy said, huh. But how’d they get so far out? And in a day’s time no less. Suspicious.

If you happen upon him stumbling out of the bunkers, he’ll give you a cheerful look that’s masking his confusion considerably.]

I guess I’m not the only one! [...] Nothing happened last night, right? [Wuxian for fuck’s sake.]

ii. with each bite does your sanity die

[Event Horizon, huh? They really should have picked a less foreboding ship name. Especially if they planned on creating a Black Hole within a small vessel. And Wei Wuxian thought his past-past self was too ambitious, just look at these guys.

Still, he had no direct connection to the divine or the damned, but he just had a bad feeling. Usually he’s more welcoming of his intrusive thoughts to become reality but there’s a pull here that he did not like. And for those who knew him well, an uncharacteristically dire expression on his face.

Maybe if he talks to the others.]

Did you catch what those screens said on them?

Vash the Stampede -| Trigun Maximum|- OTA

[doubledollar]

Day One

[doubledollar]

..:// --Day 1 : First there was Fire // __: OTA

[ for some, waking up in a spaceship drifting among the stars would be a horrifying concept. And certainly, Vash the Stampede recognises the danger of the unknown reason to why this is where they were--after a moment to check to make sure he hadn't somehow ended up back on No Man's Land--but. Truth be Told? Landing in the middle of a space ship was one of the least scary things for this man.

Once he recognised the sensation of being in space, there's even a twinge of excitement that runs through him as he quickly makes his way through the ship alongside those who'd been spirited away alongside him. Be them new friend or old, he's got a smile on his face and for now, he's entirely unconcerned. ]

If we can find the control room, maybe I can figure out how to fly this thing. I'm not unused to space travel. Touching down on a planet that's suitable for human life would be the best bet--the crew might be in stasis somewhere.

I grew up on a ship like this.
During long travels, the humans would all be in cryostasis while we tried to find a suitable planet to inhabit. The fact that the ship is empty save for us... we just have to find them.

Robin | Honkai: Star Rail

[welcometomyworld]

Day 1 - Awakening (I Dig 'Til My Shovel Tells a Secret)

[welcometomyworld]

[Robin remembers.]

[The memories of her past life have only started returning, but she remembers her home. She remembers a mother that used to sing her to sleep every night, a mother that sung to her and her brother to comfort them as the world collapsed around them.]

[When she wakes up on the ship, the memories of her past life--of her home planet, destroyed by a stellaron--are the first thing in her mind.]

[It does not put her at ease.]

[She immediately goes after the first person she can find, approaching them with a sad smile.]

This place could be dangerous. We should stick together.

thera | original | ota

[medicines]

Day 1: She's been to a place you couldn't possibly imagine.

[ Space, huh.

It's incredible, of course, seeing the blue planet just floating there outside the window with stars shining bright. It's certainly something Thera never expected to see for herself like this. But there's an undercurrent of anxiety too - they're so far from home, why are they here, how can they get back? And Tisiphone is strangely silent in her head, with no commentary or snarky comments or... anything.

Here, all the way out here, with her mind completely silent feels so... lonely. But she's not one to let herself be bogged down.

As others get the systems up and running - she's not tech savvy enough for this - Thera opts to scout out the place. Though that meat grinder corridor is given a wide berth what in the osha violations-

And between that and the blood stains....

Anyone she stumbles across is given a soft smile and wave, hands shoved into her coat pockets lest she fidget. ]

This... sure is a design for a ship, huh? Really had to go full gothic horror for this.

Day 2: It is time to go back.

[ By the second day, Thera has more or less set up shop in the med bay - it's functional and stocked, though as abandoned as everywhere else, and it seems like it will be sorely needed. Seriously what the hell was that?

At least those who got pulled in are up and about again, though they will be getting checked on still whether they like it or not. Her nerves aren't helped by the fact that she can see... something out the corner of her eye. A familiar face that vanishes when she tries to look at them directly. Something drenched in blood, that makes her chest tighten.

It's fine. It's nothing. She's just stressed. It's fine.

That still doesn't stop her from jumping out of her skin when she hears footsteps, fists clenched tight as she whirls on anyone has walked in. ]

I - Sorry, sorry. [ God what kind of professional is she, jumping at shadows like this? Breathe, Thera. ] Just a bit on edge.

How're you feeling? After... whatever happened with that Core, we can't be too careful.

Day 3: Hell is only a word. | CW: Parent death, description of chest and head injuries, grief

[ Figures stalk Thera now, as the situation escalates more and more.

An older man and woman, who resemble her greatly - blood dripping from gaping wounds in their chest and heads, the sound of it a constant and steady rhythm. Their appearances seem to switch - between two simple doctors, and those who worked in more... combat situations, with the man having the pink hair to match Thera.

Throughout these switches, their voices seem to overlap. Always sounding so sad and resigned. ]

Why are you never able to save us?

[ Thera keeps her eyes on the tattered manual in her hands, desperately trying to flick to the right page. This isn't real, it's all in her head - ]

All you ever do is stand there and watch. Why can you never do anything?

[ It's all in her head, it's not real, it's not real. ]

You can never save us -

[ Please please please please stop. ]

- And you couldn't save them.

Shut up!

[ The scream wrenched from her throat is a wrecked, primal thing - full of grief as she turns and launches that manual at the phantoms mocking her. It does nothing, of course - it simply soars right through them and bounces off the wall from the force of the throw.

She couldn't save her parents.

She couldn't save her patients, her friends.

What good is she? Why can't she ever save anyone? ]

Just... shut up. Please... [ Go, pick up the manual, read how these things work.

Do something useful for once. ]

Day 4: The reality is much, much worse.

[ End of the line, then.

Thera is, to put it nicely, a mess - days of hallucination and guilt has eaten away at her. She's exhausted and sore, but there's one more thing to be done.

She's gathered the explosive from the med bay, and is on the prowl for the rest - determined to get off of this cursed ship. Anyone she comes across is regarded with wariness, though she's not outright aggressive. She knows that people are being pushed to their limits, but there's also those who are determined to open that Core.

And she can barely trust herself at the moment, let alone anyone else. ]

... If you want to stop me, I'm going to need you to move. Please.

[ She is so tired of hurting. But holding back now isn't an option. ]

Day ∞: I have such wonderful, wonderful things to show you.

[ Wildcard option! Feel free to haunt her! Or for any pre-planned encounters!! Or just anything in general aboard the spooky ship! ]

[welcometomyworld]

[Thera is important to Robin.]

[Thera is important to Robin in a way that Robin struggles to convey.]

[On the second day, there are two people she worries about the most. There are those who insist that Robin should probably be worried about herself, first and foremost, but she sees little point.]

[If something happens to her, it happens. But if something were to happen to Thera and she didn’t stop it when she could have, Robin doesn’t know if she would be able to forgive herself.]

[So she heads to the med bay, and when Thera jumps, Robin’s heart sinks. Not because she’s scared of Robin, but because she’s this worried at all].

I’m perfectly fine.

[Robin tries to put on the most comforting and warm smile she can.]

I came because I was worried about you.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood | Trigun: Stampede

[asipofbride]

DAY 1 + 2;

gotta run, gotta run 'til I fall [OTA]

This is so goddamn weird.

[ once again, Nicholas D. Wolfwood is complaining about something. somebody call for the papers and arrange for the press; surely something this unprecedented is worthy of note and notice.

... though to be fair to Wolfwood, it really is goddamn weird. all his life, spaceships were just like whale bones jutting from the proverbial ocean floor. he has seen spaceships of course, lived in the hollows of their corpses and repurposed things from their stolen structures--his society was a tattered, woven together thing that cracked open every old bone for every piece of technology it could find like a starving jackal would bite open a rib in hopes of finding just a little more marrow to make the agony in its stomach ease. seeing a ship alive and flourishing? seeing it alight with its own energy, no Plants anywhere in attendance? if Wolfwood hadn't done his level best to smother his sense of wonder in his youth, he might've found it all to be terribly wonderful.

as it is, something itches oddly at the back of his mind that makes his feet restless and his hands itch to go for a cigarette, no matter how many times Spikey and Sprout both had snapped at him for trying to light up in an 'oxygen enriched environment', whatever that had to do with the price of turnips. part of him wonders if he should really be allowed in a place like this, given what happened to his ancestors the last time they figured spaceflight was good for a lark. the rest of him is, as ever, ill at ease at not being in his own familiar territory. the two pieces come together to make one jumpy Wolfwood, though whether he could be accused of being jumpier than usual is anyone's guest and would probably have to be run past the guest referee.

either way, if Wolfwood isn't wandering the halls of the spaceship and looking at it with a sort of hesitant, uneasy curiosity, he is probably bitching about being scolded out of smoking yet again. the man has two settings. it's not a crime to be predictable. some of you should try to figure out what consistency is and give it a spin sometime. ]

If one more person bitches at me about not smokin' up here, I'm gonna light somebody on fire. Why the hell would you build a boat you can't smoke on? Steamers sucked, but at least they had a deck you could sit on for a couple of hours.

Oxygen rich my ass. What does that even mean?

DAY 2;

gonna keep on digging my grave [closed to ragna, furina, vash, knives]

Fuckin' knew there was something weird about this. People shouldn't be goin' into goddamn space. It ends badly--but no, Wolfwood's just an eighty year old man, Wolfwood's always bitching about everything, Wolfwood's not from a planet where a series of goddamn spaceship crashes ruined a whole bunch of shit or anything, he's just a boomer.

Boom my dick, you stupid sons of--

[ it's probably not a good sign that Wolfwood is talking to himself. there's an unease that's firmly taken root in his spine and isn't paying a lick of rent and he's, quite frankly, kinda mad about it, with apologies to the Plants in residence on the ship, as he's definitely turned his back on them more times than is proper and polite to do with people you claim to love. in the future, he'll apologize for acting like a complete asshole, but in the moment he just... can't. there's a weight on his shoulders and it feels like being hunted and it's got his teeth on edge. he reaches out for that weird space in his brain that the 'closet' sits in, but nothing comes up no matter how much he tries to pull it into fruition. the Cross Punisher is, for everyone else, safely tucked away in the place between places, for better or worse, and it's got Wolfwood a little off balance. he's so used to the heavy weight of his literal cross that not having it when he feels so uneasy just makes him worse. he's snappish, irritable.

a ticking timebomb waiting to blow.

he claims he needs air when he breaks off from Vash and Kni, cursing under his breath because Vash gave him the big, wet eyes until he'd surrendered his cigarettes and lighter so here he is, raw-dogging the worst sense of danger he's ever felt, and it's doing wonders for his general disposition.

and then there's a creepy fucking giggle behind him. he turns quick on his heel, fists clenched as he prepares to rip a stripe off of somebody, but there's nothing there and that's amazing, that's stellar, that's wonderful, love every goddamn thing about it--

'Punisher...'

The voice is high and sweet, a croon that digs its claws into his ears and rips downward as Wolfwood twists and again and hisses out a breath. ]

Stop fuckin' with me. I ain't in the mood for games. If you've got something to say or wanna pull some shit, you do it to my face.

[ the giggle wafts past him again and he twists--only this time there's something there, out of the corner of his eyes. a familiar blond head leans around the corridor, peeking at him with mismatched eyes and all of her sharp little teeth on display, her red-painted nails a little blip of color in the otherwise metallic-toned hallway.

bile wells in the back of Wolfwood's throat. ]

Elendira...?

'How's it fair that a failure like you gets to strut around like he owns the place? You'll get what's coming to you someday, Punisher. You and the Judas you knelt down for--'

Shut the fuck up, you little freak! What are you doing here?

[ but she just laughs at him, shrill and sharp, leering at him before she takes a step back and takes off with a patter of bare feet, cackling her glee as she retreats into the belly of the ship, and

she shouldn't be here she can't be here Wolfwood knows better than this, and he's been feeling so strange and he's not falling for

Wolfwood takes off after her in a whirlwind of cursing fury, taking the corner hard as he follows the mocking laughter and the sound of her footsteps into one of the rooms. she stands in the middle of the space, smirking up at him with her hands on her hips, still leering as he grabs her by the arm and yanks her to her tiptoes, his other hand balled into a fist as he gets his face right up in hers. ] What the fuck are you doing here?! What do you think you're gonna do?!

DAY 3 + 4;

it's okay if I'm a bit unstable [OTA, cw; gore - this is the evil hallucination Wolfwood option]

[ so. Wolfwood is dead. not proverbially, not metaphorically, not emotionally; Wolfwood is actually, physically dead. if you want to pay your respects or prod at his corpse, you can certainly try--he's just a lump of meat swaddled in a bed-sheet, given all the due and care he'd earned in life, body apparently wont to slowly slump forward in a tired slouch even though all the fight's gone out of it.

fight. blood. same thing. either way, Wolfwood is dead and quiet for once in his life, and if you wanted something to do with his actual body, you're going to have to go through a rather... odd Vash the Stampede. it could probably be said that Vash isn't taking it well. it could also probably be said that the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 was sticky.

... unfortunately, even though Wolfwood's down, he's not. out. he should be out. he should be still and quiet and hunched forward as he's left at the altar yet again, but sometimes he's in the corner of your eye, lazily sauntering down a hallway, turning a corner with his hands in his pockets, or leaning on the guardrails of a walkway to peer down at you with a considering cant to his head--like a wolf that's taken up staring at a rat in a hole as he thinks about how hungry he is. he's still wearing his Sunday best--black jacket, white collared shirt, and his own blood staining the collar and chest, throat split open and chest still oozing scarlet from the ruin that Ragna the Bloodedge had made of it.

they say the dead don't die, but maybe it would've been nice if, in this case, they had. he's got plenty to say if you stand still for too long, or if you come just a little too close. ]

day 2

[majeste]

[ it's all wrong, everything is wrong. ever since the ship shook everything just felt wrong. like a weight had fallen upon all of them like a blanket made of sand. she felt like she was suffocating, her anxiety coiling tightly around her throat with each passing second. she tries, time and time again, to reach through the pact that binds her to Rose and Wriothesley for some semblance of their presence. for some fraction of comfort to help her ever growing anxiety. but in the place she'd normally find them there is nothing.

only an empty void where their warmth would normally be. it left Furina feeling lost, hollow, hopeless, and utterly alone.

so to say she is utterly unprepared to deal with the man suddenly approaching her, face contorted in rage, would be putting things lightly. she barely has a moment to breathe, let alone think, before he grabs her roughly by the arm and yanks her to her tiptoes. the God of Justice lets out a cry of pain and instinctively tries to break free of the man's grip, but he's stronger than her. ]

I─ What? I don't know! Stop, please, you're hurting me! [ again she tries to reach through her pact with Wriothesley, tries to cry out for his help only to be met again by that empty void. ] Let go!

Hermes | Stray Gods | ota

[doublethumbsup]

DAY 1
In what is possibly mood-whiplash, Hermes starts out tentatively excited. They've never been to space. Now they're on a real spaceship! Apologies to anyone in the bunk room with them, because they're looking out a window and cheering. "Dude! Look! Look, we're in space! How sweet is that!"

This lasts ... not long. Not long at all. Because no sooner do they start exploring than they run into the Bridge. Anyone standing there nearby can see the interest, and the color, drain from their face as soon as they're confronted with the blood on the walls. It's now painfully clear this isn't a fun trip. Not even remotely. And they wish, for a moment, fervently, for the knife Persephone offered. They just sort of stand there, stunned, at what they're seeing.

Eventually, they find... a flashlight. It doesn't have batteries, the bulb is broken, but it's something! They can maybe throw it? And run?

Which, if you run into them in a hallway is exactly what happens. Hermes will yelp, and chuck the useless flashlight in the direction of anyone who startles them. Good going, buddy.

DAY 2 - EARLY
Did anyone really think they weren't going to touch the goop? Seriously. Hermes and "don't press the button", never mix. They will touch the button. In this case, they will touch the goop. They give into those urges easily enough.

And of course, it backfires. It backfires spectacularly.

Shortly after they jerk awake, yelling about darkness, their voice cracking in a way it rarely ever has before, they hole up. They rabbit. At first, anyway. With their hoodie pulled all the way up over their head, wedged into the smallest corner possible. Their broken flashlight is back. And the slightest approaching footstep earns the flashlight chucked at someone's head.

But that's it. That's all they have. They're reasonably safe to approach, after that.


DAY 2 - LATE
The Furies are following them.

There's only so many places they can run, too. Like they promised they would. They promised they would run as fast as they could, and that's what they're doing. Bolting around the ship like a frightened animal, seeing those cold, impassive faces right behind. The Furies don't run. Don't move with any sort of hurried step. The three figures simply keep walking - persistence predators, and Hermes is the prey.

They don't stop to talk to anyone. They're visible only as a blur of yellow sprinting past.

Should they actually be cornered, or stopped, they are completely out of breath. And looking to whomever stopped them with wild, confused eyes. It's not anyone in Kaisou they see. It's Athena.

"I'm sorry!" they blurt out. "I'm sorry! I don't know - I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry! I - I'll do better!"

Yeah buddy that's not your old boss.

day 1

[doubledollar]

[ of all the things that could have come flying at him as he explores the spaceship, he absolutely did NOT expect a FLASHLIGHT to be one of them.

If it were anyone else, the flashlight might hit them with a loud, audible whap. it'd probably be comical. and silly. But.
He's told Hermes once already he can dodge bullets. What's a flashlight in comparison. He moves his head to the side just enough for the thing to go whizzling past him--clattering down onto the floor of the spaceship some feet away.

Vash then slllloooowlly turns his head to stare at his new best buddy with a look like

yo what the hell was that lol ]

...Nerves getting to you? I know you said that you don't like weapons, but that could have been a deadly weapon if it'd hit me at the right angle! [ as if it could have hit him. ]

I know this situation sucks. But we have to figure it out. Don't lose it on the first day, okay? Come on, sit down with me. I have some fruit if it'll help. Sugar always calms me down.

March 7th | Honkai Star Rail

[trailblazingspirit]

day one | ota

[trailblazingspirit]

[one: waking up to ash and dust]

[While everyone else is freaking out over waking up in space, the first thing March does when she wakes up is—to check her phone, her first phone, the one she'd come into Kaisou with all those months ago. She opens up the old group chat and sends off a quick message, hoping that Himeko and Mr. Yang will respond, only for the now-familiar error message to return: Sorry, you are outside the service area.]

Aw, no, this again? I really thought I could call them again! [She sighs gustily, and puts her phone back into her pocket as she looks around the place, turning on her heels to take in the rest of her surroundings.] Huh. Well, at least there's no creepy trees. It's nice to be out here again! I missed it a lot.

[Then she turns and claps her hands.]

Hey! You're here too. What do you think's going on?

[two: late to the tragedy]

[March's camera snaps again. At some point in time, though, it's shifted from taking Instagram aesthetic photos to taking the kinds of photos that wouldn't be out of place in a crime show. She's already assembled a small folder full of Polaroid photos that show pictures, and now she looks...more than a little disturbed as she sorts through them.]

Here, take a look at this. [She shows the folder to the nearest person.] I've been going around taking pictures of anything that could be evidence, but I don't know what it's evidence for. It's just—something really bad happened here, there's so much blood, but it's...it's weird, right?

Where's everyone else?

Gravelord Nito | Dark Souls

[end_singer]

Day One - Repose

[end_singer]

[For much of the first day, Nito spends his time staring out the windows. At the stars. At the planet turning below. He wonders if the others, who only seem to hear with their ears, can perceive her song.

He wonders if they would take comfort in it if they could, in this tomb (execution chamber his mind whispers, for what purpose would that hall of blades have in a space truly intended to keep the people within alive?) of steel and glass and wire?

Placing a hand on the window, he sings softly, though whether in return to the blue planet below or simply to ward off his memories of the previous year is unclear even to himself.]

Kni | Trigun Stampede

[ornamentals]

Day One

[ornamentals]

[kni is apprehensive.

that alone isn't anything particularly new, not when kni holds a very healthy skepticism and distrust of almost everything that crosses his path, but this was a new level. the seemingly random and out of pocket adventures everyone around him were subjected to helped build a thick skin to handle whatever this universe felt like throwing at him and this really took the proverbial cake.

kni wanders from most of the others, wanting to take stock of their new surroundings as quickly as possible as his thoughts race. the view of deep space beyond the ship windows only adds to his unease, fingers picking at a loose seam on the hem of his soft white hoodie. they needed to find the controls, and bar that, the escape pods. crew members here be damned.

when he looks away from the stunning view of what he could deduce might be neptune, something on the floor near the wall catches his eye. kni walks over, bending a knee to brush an index finger over the small dark stain and pulls his hand back to see his fingerpad dusted dark red. his brows furrow as he clicks his tongue.]

Blood.

[it isn't much, just a few drops, but...]

Noah (Sunday) || Honkai Star Rail

[consonanter]

day 1

[consonanter]

[don't wake the dead (when life's so beautiful)

Noah does not remember falling asleep, let alone waking up in something so futuristic compared to home. Space, as he'd imagined it long before he'd started getting his memories as Sunday, was bright and vivid, full of life and wonder. Here, everything feels dead, and incredibly lonely. Even the skies of Penacony, open and colorful and full of constellations in his memories, seem so much more welcoming than this.

Is he sure he even is awake right now?

Pinching himself only proves that he is awake, much to his dismay and his own growing concern. How did he get here, and where is here, exactly? Seeing others in the same position doesn't exactly make him feel any more comfortable about this whole thing, either. The hallways feel empty and cold, the walls too detached, and Noah finds himself staring towards the bridge, unsure of where else to look.

And that's when the first of many memories hits.

The eternal dream he longed for vanished in an instant. As he plummeted towards the earth, he felt no sadness; only a desire to close his eyes. The old path treaded upon has now crumbled, yet the journey ahead remains shrouded in mist.

"After the awakening, the world continues its cycle of suffering, with no escape, the same as always..." He carries the past, turns his back on his homeland, and continues towards a paradise that does not yet exist.

So, why do people slumber? And why do they wake? — As planets streak past outside the window, this answer now demands a new meaning to be given.

"Maybe... just maybe I still can..."

He finds himself standing in one of the halls, coming back to his sense just in time to notice someone beside him.]

I... that was a memory. [A beat.] I know I was missing plenty, but here being a place to trigger them...

[He didn't think it was possible.]

Jonathan Joestar | JJBA: Phantom Blood/Daybreak | OTA

[standless]

DAY 1

[standless]

Space. How delightful!

When Jonathan awakens- be it in another's bed or in his own massive one, being the size of one's palm typically- he gathers his bearings slowly. This is a foreign place. It's not where he fell asleep. There is a planet out the window, and-

....There's a planet out the window.

The bat will easily be found by roommates and others staring out at that sight, for the first hour or so of their unexpected excursion. Space. Space!

"It's marvelous..."

All Good Things to an End, unfortunately. The cabins were relatively clean, but it takes only a moment to go outside and find signs of old, dried blood. He's no mechanic, no computer technician, but nothing about the bridge bodes well in the slightest.

Least of all that message. Hailing from Victorian England wouldn't likely be enough for most to recognize Latin, but thanks to his former studies in archaeology he has a good enough grasp to know what that is.

And with a swallow, he passes it on. "...There are technically multiple ways to translate these words," Jonathan explains, currently in the guise of a human as he stares at the screens. "The word 'Libera' means 'Free', whilst 'Tutemet' is 'Protect'. 'Inferis' is more complex- it comes forth from the word 'Inferus', as a plural term. ...but I fear that in this matter, there is good reason for this."

Another swallow. "Roughly speaking, to translate 'Inferis' you would receive 'Those which are below'. And as for what 'those below' would entail..."

Well.

"In combination then with the rest of these words, the clearest meaning I can find is 'Protect yourself from Hell'."

An Apt Message, when they make their way forward to investigate the Gravity Core.

Jonathan's 'Hamon' isn't much for proper sensing. He's not been able to truly track those of the living or undead using it here in Kaisou, and he hasn't expected to either.

But the minute he enters this room, he feels ill. It takes everything he can not to become physically sick, and he even transforms himself into a bat to keep himself off the ground- hovering in place with the Holy light of the Hamon for power.

"...This only further confirms for us the worst of what this place must have found," he manages to say, not even wanting to look at the device in the center of the room. "Though I know not what it is that stands before us, I say to you now it is nothing we are meant to bear witness to, I know this deep within my very soul..! We must leave this place, immediately..!"

Ace D. Portgas | One Piece

[goldace]

OTA | Days 1-3

[goldace]

Day One
[You know, it's not every day that you wake up on a spaceship after going to sleep wrapped up in your fluffiest, coziest blanket, clutching your favorite cowboy hat to your chest with a calmness that can only come from having itemized the best, most satisfying collection of important things in the whole damn world.

Which is why, when Ace blinks and sits up groggily in an unfamiliar bed, surrounded by cold metal and the sight of a planet in the distance through the porthole-like window in the room, he's just going to look so, so slowly around for about thirty seconds before just going--]

... nah. Pass.

[And laying right back down, turning his back on the room and doing his best to go right back to sleep.

Care to try your hand on actually getting Ace up and out of bed?]

Days 2 & 3
[The second day comes, and with it-- the hallucinations begin. He wasn't near the engine when the first goop explosion happened, but that doesn't mean that he isn't affected by the call of the ship. Something deep in his chest has been stirring uncomfortably since news of that first wave of people going down reached him, and he swears, he swears he can see figures following him out of the corner of his eye.

By the time day moves into night, the carefree, excited exploration that Ace had been doing since being convinced to get his butt out of bed the first day has faded back, twisted and sobered into something the people of Kaisou haven't ever seen of him. Something Ace hasn't been here. In this life. He's serious, careful, his body tense and his eyes sharp as his paranoia and anxiety begin to ratchet up into absolutely insane levels.

After all, it's almost like he's being haunted by something. Or-- well, three somethings.

He can hear something, the entire second day. A laughter that echoes around the corner, always in front of him, always just out of sight. A loud and insane sounding ZEEHAHAHAHA that fills Ace with a rage he can't quantify, that has him running forward, desperate, teeth grit and eyes wild as he rounds the corner only to find... nothing. No one. He doesn't know the laugh, doesn't know why he's reacting like this, but the more he hears it the more he thinks he might actually go insane if he can't catch up to it. If he can't end it.

But maybe even worse than the laughter is what starts following Ace near the end of the day. The sound of bubbling liquid, the light of fire and the sight of lava flowing across the ground. It's always behind him, always there. Always right there. He doesn't understand it, doesn't know where it comes from, doesn't know what it means, but if he spends too much time in any room it comes for him, seeping around the corner, accompanied by heavy footsteps. Almost as if the lava is coming from someone, as strange as that sounds.

cw: burns, harm to children
Finally, though, as the third night starts to move towards the fourth day, the laughter fades and the lava disappears, leaving Ace sitting in one of the storage rooms, tired and out of it, staring into the middle distance as a younger version of himself sits in a nearby chair, humming and kicking his feet idly, smiling into the distance despite the... state of him. The fire forever burning on most of his body, the skin underneath blistered and burned away. The weirdest thing is, though, that sometimes, if Ace starts to look away, it's like that boy shifts, like he moves from tanned and freckled skin to pasty white, from nearly black hair to sheared back blond-- but as soon as Ace focuses his gaze again, he's back to being... him. Eight years old and burned alive, but not seeming to care about it at all.

The rest of the third day passes much like the second, with Ace's sanity slipping bit by bit as those hallucinations come more frequently, more frantically until-- well, until all of it comes to a very sudden, very violent end.]

Furina de Fontaine | Genshin Impact

[majeste]

day 1 - 2

[majeste]

DAY ONE; it rattles the bone of our fathers

[ it's cold when Furina stirs from her slumber, cold and notably missing the source of warmth she has grown used to waking up beside. those facts are enough to unsettle her from the get go, stripping away any chance of find any wonder or excitement from the fact they are currently... in space?

no, anxiety settles quickly in her bones as every part of her screams that something is not right.

which, as it so happens, is the exact reason she does her best to keep to the others that awoke here with her. hoping, praying, that someone might be able to figure out what is going on or how to get back to Kaisou. besides, there is safety in numbers right? better to keep to the others than wandering this terribly cold place all on her own.

even so she is still incredibly jumpy, practically leaping out of her own skin every time someone approaches or speaks to her. ]

DAY 2, LATE; running with my roots pulled up

[ the second day began just as miserably as the first until it got worse. she had fled at the end of that all, face and hair painted with Wolfwood's blood, running as far as she could as fast as she could until her knees gave out and she crumbled to the cold metal floors all over again.

it hurts. her shoulders hurt. her knees hurt. her chest hurts. all she can smell is Wolfwood's blood, all she can hear is those terrible gurgling sounds every time he tried to speak─ but it's the whispers hidden behind all those terrible sounds that makes her blood run cold.

'some god you are. you could have done something, you could have tried to heal him. you could have stopped Ragna from killing him. but no, you stood and watched as he torn that man's throat out. pathetic.

so she does the only thing she can do; she pulls her knees to her chest and tries to make herself as small as possible. ]

D-Don't come any closer... please just leave me alone.

[ please, please don't hurt her. ]

Edward Kenway | Assassin's Creed

[jackdawvision]

day one | ota

[jackdawvision]

[one: awake my soul]

My god, [breathes Edward, staring out a window at the stars outside,] I knew we'd made it past the heavens but this—this is so far beyond even my wildest, most wine-sodden dreams.

[Edward's a born sailor, tried and tested. He's long become familiar with the sea and her tempestuous ways, can usually roll with whatever she throws at him with aplomb. Space, though—space is different, and his eyes are bright with the wonder of a man who's spent years gazing up at the stars, navigating by sight of Polaris. He pushes reluctantly away from the window, grins at whoever else is with him.]

This is a fine ship we're on, hm? [More serious now:] Let's see what's happened to its crew.

[He is more than familiar with the phenomenon of ghost ships. It's a little unsettling they've seemed to find themselves on one, and he means to solve it and get home.]

[two: gravity (stay the hell away from me)]

[Edward walks around the gravity core, arms crossed over his chest, staring at the slowly spinning spikes with a considering look on his face.]

...d'you think I could climb this thing?

[A beat. He chuckles.]

Only joking, mate. But seriously: something's off about this thing. [He'd looked at it through his second sight, and had almost choked on his own bile. It flashed gold, briefly, then red red red, red like blood, then gold then red then gold then red again, and he'd had to look away and blink and let the colors back into the world before he could look at it again.] It's—

[He stops. Scratches the back of his neck. Lets out a breath.]

I think it might be alive enough to be hostile? Which—aye, I'm aware that don't make sense, but that's what I'm getting off of it.