maskormenacelogs | (no subject)

(no subject)

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: De Chima
WHEN: Feb. 16
WHAT: This month's swear-in!
WARNINGS: Possibly some violence

A spiraling new skyscraper has just completed construction in De Chima and, to celebrate, the owners and several of the businesses renting space in the modern wonder have elected to host this month’s swear-in on the top couple floors. These floors can be reached be elevator, slowly strolling up the winding ramp that circles from the bottom to the roof or, if you can, fly or leap or use whatever other superpowers you have to get to the top or to reach one of the many open balconies and gardens available along the sides of the tower.

Though it’s a few days late, the theme of the gathering is still an unsurprising one for this time of the year: love. And, really, after the past couple of months who doesn’t need that in their lives? There are several activities available to celebrate the many stages of romance, all available in different subsections on the top couple floors. On the second floor from the top is where you enter and houses the business end of the swear-in, what you typically find at these gatherings. A lovely ballroom decorated to the nines in red, white, blue (and pinks) with an open buffet of finger foods, drinks, and various information pamphlets about local businesses, the government, and job opportunities for new imPorts.

Branching off the main ballroom are gorgeous balconies looking over the city, as well as a few indoor/outdoor gardens. These gardens range in themes from tropic jungle, to evergreen paradise, to desert oasis. They are all only about 600 square feet each, but they are a nice break from the socializing and whatnot of the main gathering. There are also special drinks provided by the Color Me Cupid company making their way around, both in alcoholic and virgin varieties. They have no clever names, sadly, but rather are labeled after the bright, almost glowing colors each is. A few sips just leads to a fizzy feeling on the lips, but have at least half of the drink and you’ll feel a few effects for the next twenty minutes or so:

Pink Drink: Sentimentality. You’ll feel a fondness for people, places, events, or even a nice piece of furniture. Cozy on up with this soft puppy love or platonic general desire to be near that person/item of interest.

Blue Drink: Melancholy. Alas, love isn’t all butterflies and sunshine. But this isn’t just being in a bad mood, wanting to go home. No, this is artistic, bohemian angst. The kind of mellow drama the poetic soul feeds on. Drape yourself over a table and opine on your lost loves, or stare tragically at the stars, sighing loudly until someone finally asks you to reveal your dark, mysterious past. Follow your tortured heart in getting that attention you suddenly need, just make sure to make a show of your inner turmoil.

Red Drink: Passion. Whether its for a person, a sports team, or a favorite hobby, you suddenly feel the need to share your enthusiasm with the world. Talk for an hour about a baseball game, or shout your love from a roof top. Or challenge someone to a duel over the hand of your loved one- or a balcony you really wanted to stand on. How ever passion works for you.

Green Drink: Jealousy. It’s an ugly part of love, but hard to escape. Depending on the person, this could induce feelings of neediness for attention from people you care about, to paranoia that others are out to steal what is yours.

Scattered throughout the main floor, a couple of the balconies, and along the twin ramps spiraling up to the top floor are two person tables, set for enjoying those finger foods and drinks. Also on each table is a stack of brightly colored note cards. These are important because, you see, the Loose Lips communication service is showing off one of their newest innovations in dating technology: Speed Honesty. When two people sit at a table, a small force field is suddenly erected around them. It won’t suffocate you or anything easy like that, no. It will simply stay in place, keeping you two at the table, until you pick up a note card and, worst of all, each of you must answer the question on the card. The speaker hidden in the table will evaluate your tone of voice, as well. No sarcastic answers accepted and, unless you’re a skilled liar, dishonest ones won’t do the trick either. The table’s AI needs to believe both parties have sincerely answered the question picked, then the force field will lower. Then you can either run or, if you wait more than ten seconds without moving, the forcefield will reactivate and you have to do it all again. This will happen every time two people sit at any of the tables, and sometimes an unwitting third standing too close may be trapped and must answer as well. Good luck, guys.

[[Questions for the cards can be found here or here, or you can OOCLy make them up for fun.]]

The top floor of the building is owned by the With Your Best Shot company and, trying to keep with the theme of the night, they have opened the (bullet proof) glass enclosed training areas on the roof of the building for duels. Hand to hand, with (dulled) swords, (paint ball) pistols, it’s all open for use so long as you declare your grievance against the person you are about to duel and declare what the winner will gain. These can be anything from traditional romantic items- the hand of the maiden fair- to silly things, like who gets the last soda in the fridge back at the apartment after this. Seconds are encouraged, but not required. There are viewing spaces for people to enjoy both the fights and the amazing view of the city below.

Enjoy the evening, imPorts. This month's swear-in appears to be going well until, later in the evening, the shadows seem to grow darker. Attendees might assume there's been a change of lighting to facilitate a romantic mood until hundreds of Heartless emerge from the darkest corners, intent on attacking imPorts and capturing as many hearts as possible.

Quite a few of the unwelcome guests are of the Shadow variety, stronger in swarms than they are individually, but still dangerous. The more fearsome Neoshadows are also in attendance, as are more colorfulvarieties -- some of which may have been people imPorts knew, before their own hearts were claimed.

Whoever they were and wherever the Heartless came from, attendees have three options: fight, run or hide. Whatever they do, they'll want to guard their hearts closely, or they may find themselves becoming the enemy.

[[OOC: Please ask any questions here!

Threaded | Flat

[ 1 - making a buffet table look handsome ]

Expression filled with unbridled wonder at how shiny and new this building is, Bob's eyes are catching on almost everything and everyone within his range of sight. Every other second there seems to be something to look at, something to hum at or touch. He's impressed and it's a long way out of his league as far as venues go. In fact, Bob doesn't think he's ever been anywhere so nice.

He stakes his claim to a spot near one of the heavily laden buffet tables, piling up a plate with all manner of things that his metabolism will take care of. Distracted, and eating mindlessly, his eyes search for any familiar faces to grin at, to have a little chat with at this swanky do.

[ 2 - sitting at one of the Speed Honesty tables ]

Deciding that his third plateful of food probably deserves a sit down, Bob's attention snags on some small tables set up on the top floor. Still visually absorbing every face around him, all signage goes unnoticed as he plops himself into a chair at one of the small tables and forces himself to get a grip on his wandering attention to concentrate on eating his food. The colourful cards stacked in the middle are vying for that attention, but in a rare show of self-control, he firmly focuses on his plate and demolishing everything on it.

[Arrival]

He had thought about getting there the traditional ways, taking a cab, the elevator, but then it occurred to him there was absolutely no reason to do so. Why should he do that? He was a cultivator! He can fly! Why have a flying sword if you never use it?

Ha! No one can stop him now! ‘Oh it will disrupt the small people!’ No it won’t!

So without hesitance he elegantly soared into the upper levels on his sword landing gracefully with a step off and his fan open at his chest. Xiu Ya Sword sheathed itself, and he carried it carefully in his other hand.

[Honesty]

Though he did not particularly have a need to eat (outside specific circumstances) he still had the craving to do so. He had been very unhappy with the food he had been getting so far, and had given up on putting effort into it. But, the delightful and extravagant offerings were worth checking out, and he took a little bit of each to try them.

Carting back his spoils to a small table he started to carefully try out the finger foods, how would they compare to what he was used to? He didn’t pay much mind to the cards situated on the tablet yet, instead living in his own little bubble and discovering the food was quite amazing.

“Ah! this is actually good.”

[Practice]

When Shen Qingqiu heard there was an area for duals he rushed there immediately. Not because he wanted to fight, no, because he wanted to watch them! He loved well done battles, and in a world with super heroes and others with different skills and abilities, it would be a treat to watch. He did not think that perhaps being there someone might want to test him out as well.

[Drinks]

He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but he found himself feeling rather dejected. He was practically draped across a table, fan in hand covering his face as he seemed to cry.

“I failed him,” he sounded extremely forlorn. “I ruined him! The most beautiful man in the world, With the protagonists halo destined to have six hundred and thirteen wives, and I ruined him!”

He sighed deeply but it didn’t seem like he was done yet.

“There’s only one thing left to do, but I’m scared, I’m not ready, it’s wrong,” he sniffed taking a pause. “He should be here, he’s always behind me, but he’s not behind me now. How am I suppose to keep momentum? How dare he give me time to change my mind!” He sighed again and draped himself even more over the table somehow.

[Heartless]

It was quite disturbing to watch the shadows literally come alive, and the numbers were overwhelming. He couldn’t simply deal with it by using his fan, his sword was required as well. However where normally he would be glad for a chance to show off a little, he did not feel confident.

With one hand wielding his fan to keep heartless back, his other hand formed a seal to control Xiu Ya Sword and send it flying to attack those further away from him. However, despite this it looked like he might get overwhelmed at any point.

[ feel free to reply with paragraphs if you rather and i'll respond in kind \o\ ]

(I: entrance/buffet)

[ so, this is the big shindig they talked about. reno makes it a point to show up, and to show up looking sharp when he does. he always looks professional, uh, sort of, given that he's always in his uniform, but he switches out the shinra official attire for something else he'd picked up. it's still a suit, and he still wears it casually unbuttoned halfway down his chest, but it's navy rather than black and anyone who knows a thing about suits will tell you it's a completely different cut and blah blah blah. it's important to approach a job looking businesslike, after all. of course, once he's there, he spends the first handful of minutes keeping to himself. acknowledging anyone whose eye he happens to catch with a smile that seems just a little too nice to suit his face, but not engaging unless someone comes to him, first. he's just watching and observing. if there are any particularly interesting conversations going on, it's fair game to say he's probably standing not too far nearby, quite convincingly occupied with something else, but listening nonetheless. this has got to be the best possible time and place to gather lots of intel, after all.

after that, though, he's perfectly happy to mingle for something a little more in depth. he heads over to the buffet and, in spite of how amazingly skinny he looks, piles quite a high plate of food. is... is he actually gonna eat all that? really? is that even possible? ]

(II: red drink)

[ if there's one thing reno never turns his nose up at, it's alcohol. you can't keep him away from the stuff. and once he's gathered that enough people have also sampled the drinks and haven't fallen over dead, he's more than happy to oblige when the tray comes around and take one, too. he selects red, because of course he does—just look at his hair! it's fire engine! they match! and that puppy is gone in seconds. it's pretty tasty, actually. he doesn't mind sweet drinks so much. he doesn't pretend to be tough with his alcohol choices.

that said, about five minutes later he heads straight for the first person he sees and starts talking a mile a minute, tapping their shoulder to get their attention. what's he got in his hand? ah, why, it's... the mechanism from a nearby lamp. the wires have been cut, but the bulb and socket and everything else are just, yep, all there. wow. he holds it up demonstratively. ]

Hey, you look like the discerning type. You wanna learn a cool trick? Come on, I've been wanting to show someone this for ages. Look, see, the bulb's still hot, right? So you just take the wires here, and—

[ please stop him. this can't be safe. ]

(III: speed honesty)

[ like any normal person, reno takes that inordinately large plate of food to the table to eat it. seeing as most tables already have at least one occupant, he's not shy about sitting down across from the first one he comes to with a grin and a, this seat taken? (and then sitting down before he actually gets an answer, of course). make smalltalk with him or don't, he'll be happy to leave you in peace while you eat if that's what you'd rather. he can respect that.

right around the time he curiously picks up one of the note cards is about the moment he feels the whuff of air at his back that signals they're trapped. boy, does he look uncomfortable all of a sudden. ]

(IV: heartless/sorry, still not axel)

[ tragically, he's not the character from the story that would know exactly what to do, in spite of looking and sounding exactly like him. but that doesn't mean he can't take care of himself. and you, too, if you think he looks capable enough! he's already feeling out of sorts by the change in atmosphere as it begins to darken, but even his sharp senses can't predict what ends up happening. the moment they're beset upon, though, he whips his electro-mag rod from where it'd been retracted inside his sleeve and sets to laying the electric beatdown on any and all heartless that come his way. he's so quick, they're hard-pressed to hit him, particularly since his MOM-granted powers enable him to blink from one position to another, too fast to see.

he hops up on top of one of the dining tables after he's cleared himself a path and, pointing his baton in front of him, shouts: ]

Get the hell out of the way!

[ and fires an explosive bolt of what seems to be fire, although it gives off no heat in passing. only when it explodes into a cluster of heartless and sends them scattering and dissolving. curiously, it leaves no flame behind and damages only what it touches. ]

Edited 2020-02-17 00:31 (UTC)

dranks;

[It's been a tense week or so for Roxas—it's not that he can't handle fighting some Heartless, that actually feels pretty good, but knowing one of the Xehanorts is around keeps him on edge. The swear-in is a good chance to take a break, though, and this pink drink is particularly tasty. He finds himself in a surprisingly good mood, smiling fondly at whoever happens to be nearby, whether he knows them or not. But especially for the ones he knows.]

Good party, huh? You know, I'm not sure we appreciate these enough.

force field;

[Okay that was...interesting. A little while later, he's feeling more clearheaded, and a little baffled about why he was in such a good mood. He picks a spot at one of the tables to give his feet a break, not paying attention to who else might be there, when some thing pops up around them.]

Uh—what just happened?

Heartless faito;

[The instant Roxas recognizes the swarm of Heartless, his Keyblades are summoned to his hands, and he takes an aggressive stance.]

Watch out! They can be destroyed, but don't let them get their claws in you! They only want your hearts!

[Wounds can be healed. But a heart isn't so easily regained.]

wild card;

[Throw something at him.]

I. Swear-In / Buffet

Nox himself may have already been registered, but he was still making it a point to attend the swear-in proper. Mostly because he had a feeling any of the newly arrived or newly registered would have questions, and the authorities were more or less useless at answering them even when there were answers to be had. Of course, he was also there to provide more practical advice, like how it's usually best not to trust the food and drink laid out at these sorts of functions. At least not until one was certain they weren't doing anything strange.

That probably explains why he's not eating, at least. Even though the food seems mostly safe this time around, those colored drinks are definitely suspect. He's also been giving the tables a wide berth for some reason- feel free to ask him why!

II. Heartless | Murder and Mayhem Await

He had been enjoying watching some of the duels on the roof when things decided to go horribly wrong (as they so often do). The sudden swarming of Heartless did cause a bit of a panic, but he was quick to grab hold of the first person not obviously an imPort to pass him by and immediately start delegating a proper response.

"Get everyone you can into those rooms! Grab as many people as you can to help- do not ask them, tell them! Get moving!"

It was the only instruction he bothered with before he'd stepped onto the guardrail of the observation area overlooking the dueling chambers and just jumped. Although considering he'd made sure the leap was Force-assisted, it was less like a leap and more like he'd been shot out the barrel of a gun- lightning already gathering at his fingertips as he flew through the air. The reason for which was made apparent as he 'landed'- pivoting mid-air to bring his fist down into the rooftop and flattening an area some eight meters in diameter. The smaller heartless within the area were knocked into the air, while the larger heartless suddenly experienced a great deal of difficulty moving as the gathered lightning surged through them. And none of them were going to be a problem for more than another second at the most, as Nox ignited his saberstaff and sent it spinning through his immediate vicinity to cleave the creatures in half.

From there, it was...honestly the most fun he'd had in weeks. He had the presence of mind to avoid conjuring his helm- the last thing he needed was some imPort attacking him due to mistaken identification- but it did mean that it was plain to all and sundry just how much he was enjoying the violence. And especially being in the thick of it. A smaller heartless with aspirations that had been outside the immediate impact area took the opportunity to leap after him before he was fully upright- a fatal miscalculation, as it was suddenly yanked by an unseen force straight into the Sith's outstretched hand. There was a brief moment of panicked clawing at his arm before lightning surged directly from his hand to the creature's head, and his grip did not waver despite the creature's panicked struggles as the current began tearing it apart. Only once its struggling had ceased did Nox toss the beast aside, and turned his attention to the rest of the assembled horde.

And then promptly disappears.

There's only a brief moment of confusion among the Heartless before the primitive creatures just decide that he must no longer be around, and turn their attention back toward the guests still trapped on the rooftop. But before the attack can resume again, one of the neoshadows in the front suddenly finds itself impaled by a bright orange blade as Nox's cloak abruptly fades. An upward slice and shadow's cut from the chest through the top of its head and dissolving as it falls, while Nox continues to carve through its fellows in what could almost be considered a savage, bloody dance. He lacks the brute strength of some of his fellow Sith, forcing him to rely more on agility and a more focused use of all the tools at his disposal. Whether it's lightning, telekinesis, his cloaking ability, or his saber- or, as was usually the case, some combination of the four. Telekinesis was deployed to keep foes off-balance, lightning that arced from foe to foe kept him from being overwhelmed, and there were even times where he was building and discharging it from the blades of his saberstaff itself.

Still, despite his talent for and clear enjoyment of the wanton slaughter, there were quite a few Heartless to deal with. And despite his efforts, there was absolutely no chance he'd be enough to hold the attention of all of those present, which meant some cooperation was going to be necessary if the goal was to keep the guests among the living. Or at least safe enough that they wouldn't wind up contributing to the ranks of the monsters...

Edited 2020-02-17 09:08 (UTC)

These Drinks Color Me Unimpressed

Frankly, he didn't feel that attending these arrangements was truly useful to him. Luxord had no more intention to 'Register' than he had to paint his nails. Neither truly moved him, and he didn't intend to waste his time in a frivolous and truly foolish endeavor. But things that afforded him free food and drink and people to watch were as close to amusement as he could reach so he welcomed it. So here he is, arrived through one of his dark corridors to save him some walking. And once he saw a collection of free drinks in the nice flower garden he'd arrived in, he scooped one up. Lurid green. An interesting choice. But he puts it to his lips and takes a drink. And shrugs at the less than impressive taste.

"To think, they have this rather than something tasteful like a proper wine."

Speed Honesty? Not Likely

After seeing a few people behaving oddly after the colorful drinks he had come to find an area away from it to enjoy himself. The reminder of the volatility of hearts was useful, though. It spared him from momentary longing after one. Or the echo of longing. So instead he had moved on to another area to study other people. And what he'd seen was strange behavior at tables. People sitting and looking scared or frustrated or fearful. But in the end they always seemed to escape. Which of course was what led to him reaching out to stop one person fleeing from a table experience.

"Excuse me, what happened over there?"

Later, after learning what had happened, he moved to a table and sat down. It might be interesting to see if he could foil the desire for honesty. After all, he had many years of practice at believable deceit. This could be fun.

Shadows Aren't A Bother

He notices the rooms starting to grow darker in the night, and Luxord frowns. There was always a chance of power fluctuations. But with Ansem around... Well, he's tense. And then, darkness starts moving and Luxord sighs. If nothing else, he's definitely not panicked. Heartless, after all, only cared about those with heart. As a Nobody he was safe from their attentions. But Ansem... Well, Luxord wasn't a fan of his plans. So, as much as he'd rather not deal with all of this, he sighs.

Protecting people was not in his nature. But after all Xehanort's different forms had put him through, Xehanort's heartless included, well... Luxord flicks a wrist and his cards shoot from his sleeves, some in his hands to use as weapons, others rising as massive card barriers to defend his back. Even a Nobody could be Heartless bait if they attacked the Shadows. And he saw no reason not to.

"As much as I hate to do the work of a keyblade wielder," he muses as he fans his cards out in his hands, "I fear I must intervene in this one instance."

With that he throws the cards at a heartless lunging at a nearby person. And the Neoshadow is shredded by the cards, he sighs at the person he may have assisted. "It would be best to flee now."

Drinks - Colorful History

The gardens were truly the most beautiful part of this. Sure, there were a lot of things to be said about all of this. He'd been roaming the garden patios for the last twenty minutes, moving through them and holding a pink drink without taking a sip from it. He'd been through a desert, a jungle and a pond so far. But now he had found one that just made him stop and pause and smile.

After all, it was a Japanese style Garden that reminded him of the one in his neighborhood back home.

David sits down on a bench and smiles as he watches the wind blow through the plants and starts sipping at his drink.

"I admit, I could probably live here. If it had a kitchen."

Honesty - Just Wanted to Rest

All he wanted to do was sit down. All he'd wanted was to rest. All he had WANTED was to catch his breath after that little bit of stupidity with the drinks. And instead now he was here, looking at a card and hoping that answering the question will get him free.

Would you rather be the smartest moron or the dumbest genius.

David sighs and flashes the card to his partner.

"Your take on this?"

Shadow Fights

Seriously? This is a mess. The shadows start moving and David hadn't even noticed at first because he was so busy with other things he was doing in the night. But now? Well, he notices in time to pull one of his knives and cut down a Shadow that was leaping at him.

"I swear to god, Swear-ins need fucking banned because they are definitely cursed or something! Anyone got combat applicable powers? Or defensive ones to put the less ready people in a safer position?"

Post Fight? Doctor's Here

With the shadows dispersed, for now, David sighs and pulls the satchel bag from over his shoulder that he'd had at all night. What a mess. But he'd been to enough of these things at this point to know that the best option was always to bring a medical kit. Which means he grabs a table, drags it to an open area, and puts his pack on it, pulling out supplies.

"Anyone scratched up or otherwise injured? I'm a doctor."

Which is mostly true. Mostly. Enough that it doesn't matter.

(Speed honesty)
[Mingling with everyone isn't Gladion's idea of "fun", in fact it's far from it and he did not really want to even be here. He wanted to be back home and away from people, but that's not really ideal when you need to make contacts with others besides the ones from your world now is it? Especially when one of them in particular happens to be your boss for the time being, at least keeping up the act that he's still your boss and not getting yet another beatdown before arriving here.

He sighs, putting the morbid thought of another beatdown out of his head, and instead makes his way through the tables trying not to get caught into getting too close to activate the forcefield with another person sitting at the table. He's not too keen on having to answer questions, and even less so with forced honesty.

A shame this is what he'll be forced to do as a person pushes their chair directly into Gladion, bumping him into the table right next to him. And to make matters worse, the field goes up. Just his luck.]

Well. I suppose that we should get this over with?

[He lets out an annoyed huff before turning to face whoever was sitting at the table with him as he himself sits down.]

(wildcard)
[your choice! Reminder that he is 15!]

Ballroom;
The last thing Alexander wants to do is attend this 'swear-in,' but he does it anyway, because it seems to be required to some extent (or at least strongly recommended) and he's basically a law-abiding person at heart (even if this isn't his country or government, but apparently he's a citizen now? Joy) and he really should find out more about what's actually happening here—not that he has much enthusiasm in that respect.

He spends some time in the ballroom, looking through the various pamphlets as he nibbles on the finger foods, but he really doesn't have much of an appetite, finding himself wishing in vain for a bowl of Kep-mok bloodticks instead (ugh, more of his current Mak'Tar physiology taking hold), wondering if it were possible to crave something and be totally disgusted by it both at the same time. Wait, is that a beetle crawling across the floor? Perhaps I can catch it, he thinks, as he surreptitiously edges towards it.

Drinkin';
At some point in the evening, he allows himself to be tempted by the special drinks provided by the Color Me Cupid company, being careful to choose a virgin variety after his disastrous encounter with alcohol a short while back, in which he'd completely forgotten about that damned Mak'Tar physiology and their allergy to all mind-altering substances. Fortunately the hospital had a small amount of experience with reptilians. After having sampled both a pink drink and a blue one, it's not long before he's draped over a sofa, caressing it lovingly and declaring his devotion via Shakespearean sonnet; "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate; rough winds do shake the darling buds of May." Thankfully, he hasn't broken out in a rash? Must be magic.

Evening;
Feeling lulled by the tranquillizing dimming of the lights, Alexander's as shocked as anyone when the hundreds of Heartless emerge from the dark corners in search of fresh hearts to feast upon. Will he remember he now has Mak'Tar superpowers? And if so, will he actually dare to use them or run away and hide? Time Will Tell!

[Prefer brackets? Go for it!]

A Spar
The long-discovered fact is that Jingyi must be very careful in attempting alcohol at public events where his seniors might be present. The various colored drinks, however, do not seem to require alcohol to be made, and so he enthusiastically attempts the Red Drink with no regrets. Now that it is mostly gone, he feels not the buzz of liquor but an energy that suffuses him and makes his eye bright.
It is in this state that he finds himself near the very top of the venue with his gaze locked upon the duelling arena. From there it is a quick thing: a cupcake from the dessert table and a challenge!

"Best me and win!" he declares, holding the cupcake aloft. Perhaps he would not be so eager if he were not in the grip of the Red Drink, but this sounds fun.

A Shadow
This is the first that Jingyi's seen these spooky little shadow creatures in person, though he would have to be dead not to have heard of them by now. They are not corpses (which is good), but they do bear a great resemblance to other types of resentful ghosts and he does not know how they work. Because of this, he refuses to encounter them alone. He could, perhaps, but if one observes while the other attacks or is attacked, more can be learned. That and he would feel much better with someone to fight beside him.
Through the moderate chaos and sounds of combat, he fixes upon a nearby combatant and draws his sword. "Do you know of these creatures?" he asks loud enough to be heard. "Have you fought them before this?"

Wildcard~[ooc: hmu on the CR meme for other nonsense or a variation on one of my prompts. I'll match prose or brackets. :)]

A. Second Floor; Entrance

It's been a while since Will had made himself known at one of these events. If he's honest, he's not sure he should even really come to them, unregistered as he is. Not to mention there was always some kind of trouble at these things--or maybe that's why he's here, to help in case there was trouble.

Whatever the case may be, this Swear-In is in his town, and Will's in attendance. If you find him early enough in the evening, he's still exploring the second floor, taking in (and partaking of) the various food offerings or checking out some of the business displays.

B. Drink it up

Go to enough of these things and you learn not to take strange free drinks. Which is exactly why Will is staring down at the pink concoction that had been thrust into his hands. How long has he had this thing? Minutes? Maybe closer to an hour? Either way, he's dubious about actually drinking it.

"What do you think? Safe or not?"

C. Honesty Hour

Sometimes you just want to sit after being on your feet for hours. You think: sure, take a breather, people watch. It'll be fine. But nothing is ever really and truly "fine" here. If you took the chance to join Will at his table, congratulations! You won the prize of being trapped in a bubble with him.

"Great. Guess we play their game?"

Because that's never gone wrong before.

D. Wild Card

Want to run into Will after the Heartless show up? Maybe you want to bump into him once your character has already had their share of the fun drinks. Whatever it is, feel free to drop it here--or alternatively poke me at likeredgold to plot something out.

A. Down the Rabbit Hole (Arrival)

Futaba loved the idea of Swear-Ins. She just wasn't sure if she really liked them, even after a couple of years. As much as she had grown accustomed to crowds, and as much as she had made strides in putting herself out there to meet people, there was still a small element of fear that bubbled up with each event.

She'd get over it. Eventually.

Regardless of her reservations, she had once again made the attempt to go, to be present. And as such, she was currently looking at the displays with a mild interest as she made her way through the entrance hall. This is the perfect chance to catch her before she gets lost in the crowd and the events.

B. Drink Me

Where some might be wary of the offerings given up at these events, Futaba has no qualms with readily taking up a drink or two. Is it dangerous to mix these? Who knows. They aren't alcoholic, at the very least, so the idea doesn't really come to mind in her case.

It is a bit of a problem though, having both a pink and blue drink in hand. Which to try first--or maybe she can give one away?

C. And Back Again (Honesty Bubble)

For most of the evening, Futaba had actually been enjoying herself. She hadn't run into too much trouble (drinks aside), and the crowd was less overwhelming than she had feared. But this--this was another matter entirely.

As she takes her seat, filling in a table of two, she's immediately aware of the new, claustrophobic conditions she and her tablemate find themselves in. That isn't what bothers her though. She can deal with getting stuck somewhere, what bothered her was the possibility of what might be done or said to get them out.

"This isn't all that fun..."

A. Party Rock (A grand entrance)

Let it be known that one Galo Thymos actually put in a effort for tonight. For one: He's wearing a shirt. Let's ignore the fact that it's a black tee paired with his uproariously loud red pants and just applaud the fact he's fully dressed for once. (And please, feel free to take bets on just how long that with last.)

He does not, however, make any effort to reign himself in. His entry is complemented by a long, low whistle as he takes in the set up. He skipped out on the last effort to welcome imPorts like him and now he's kind of regretting it.

"They really do go all out for these things, huh?"

B. Tonight we’re drinking straight from the bottle

Whoever allowed Galo to take in even one drop of the red drink is likely looking at getting fired sometime in the course of the night. Because Galo is already a passionate person. He has no reservations about yelling out his dedication to anyone, anywhere, or at any volume. Getting him hopped up on something like this is akin to dialing all of that up to eleven--and then continuing to see how much further it can go.

Currently, that leaves Galo dangling halfway up a pillar he had somehow managed to climb, grinning from ear to ear.

"YOU KNOW WHAT THIS PARTY CALLS FOR? SOME MATOI! THAT'S THE WAY TO REALLY GET FIRED UP!"

Someone, come get him.

C. We all got nightmares in our dreams (Heartless Nobodies)

Somewhere between sobering up from the colored drinks and the rest of the evening, chaos made itself known. It's like the shadows were alive, writhing with ill intent and malice.

It's the first scream for help that sets things in motion, sets Galo up for failure and devastation. It's a scream that rings in all hell breaking loose.

"Outta the way! Clear 'em out!" And Galo is, of course, playing the hero--doing his job as a rescue member to get those that can't defend themselves out of harm's way.

[Note: Galo will be split into heartless and nobody as a result of the events here. If you want a key part in that...hit me up at likeredgold for plotting.]

Edited 2020-02-19 00:42 (UTC)

Drinks
This place is going to have to outdo the spa from last time, because Anders really liked all that relaxation and papering he got. He even still has some of the blue sparkly nail polish from last month coating his nails.

Anders snags a colorful drink, making sure it's alcohol-free and takes a small sip. He then eyes the other drinks and wonders if he should sample those too.

Speed Honesty
This might be interesting. Anders takes a seat and waits for another person to come along, his eyes widening slightly as the force-field goes up.

Taking a card, Anders reads it aloud, "If you could choose to have any useless super power, what would you pick?"

Fighting Shadows
The moment the monsters come out, Anders is whipping out his staff and going into action. Like always, he's on the lookout for anyone in trouble or who needs healing.

A group of the small ones surround them, making Anders zap them with Chain Lightning, which stuns them long enough for him to take them out with a Cone of Cold.

"Anybody need healing?"

Drinks
Finn eyes the colorful drinks before him, suddenly reminded of the more colorful potions back in his world. Though, blue, green and red here probably won't restore one's mana, health, or stamina.

"Hm, blue or red, I'm wondering."

Fighting
Figures that things go tits-up, after that last swear-in was nice and peaceful. Finn's not sure what these things are, but he's not about to stand by while they hurt people.

He starts off with some fire, setting the nearest monsters ablaze, before going off to look for anyone who might be in trouble.

Heart Stolen
Even the Dragonborn has his moments of failure. In this case, Finn is busy fighting one of the bigger Heartless. "You want a piece of me?"

Then another heartless rushes at him and trips him, giving the bigger heartless an opportunity as Finn lies there, dazed. He only recovers in time to feel very cold all of a sudden, watching as a glowing heart leaves his body. Finn's body vanishes, and the heart transforms into a colorful, mean-looking dragon-like creature that will attack anyone who comes nearby.

Elsewhere, what appears to be an intact Finn stares out the window, away from the chaos. Seems that Finn was strong enough that a Nobody was made. He has a rather neural expression, so different from his usual smiling or determination. "I think I'm alive, but I'm not sure how."

Drinks
Of course he's going to take this opportunity to try new drinks. Kurt tends to like rather colorful drinks, be they fruit punch or fruity cocktails. He examines the blue stuff, but the pink stuff also looks good.

"Decisions, Decisions,"

Speed Honesty
Kurt just sat down here out of curiosity, and it isn't until the force-field goes up that he realizes what he got himself into.

Drawing a card, he reads it aloud: "What is something that you've never done but would like to try?"

Heartless
Kurt's taken by surprise by the arrival of the monsters. Grabbing a nearby chair, he manages to fend them off on his own quite well, hitting any that come by, or just outright kicking them and sending them flying thanks to Reptilian strength.

"Why does this shit keep happening?"

[ooc: Note that he will get his heart stolen at some point]

Edited 2020-02-18 02:51 (UTC)

Chilling

Kon arrives and does not, in fact, go to the truth seats or the special drinks. For once, he just wanders, enjoying the day, and finding himself smiling a lot. He is avoiding anything like thinking about recent events, or stress, or love or... anything.

He can be spotted most anywhere except the above mentioned avoided places, and can be found smiling, and willing to meet new people and old alike.

He might be avoiding a person, but otherwise, he is happy to talk to you all.

***

Here we Go Again

And then it is ruined by shadows attacking. Anyone who sees him at the start will see his hand clench and the mug he is drinking from is crushed to a very small mass and tossed aside. Thre is gritting of teeth, then a shake of the head.

"Well, shit." And a moment later, he leaps into battle, heat vision leading the way against shadows. He can be found fighting monsters and lifting civilians and other heroes alike out of danger with his telekinesis.

A. Melancholy.

Lacey take one of the pretty blue drinks and sips it quickly at first. Within seconds, she finds her thoughts drifting back to her hometown and all the friends she's left behind. For the first time, she loses the belief that she'll see them again. She drops herself down into the nearest empty chair and sighs, wondering why she came to a party at all. She's alone. She left Steven, lost her chance with Brent and hasn't even gained a suitor in this new world. She must be losing her charm. She'll always be alone. She doesn't even look over when someone sits down next to her. What would be the point?

B. Speed Honesty.

When the effects of the drink wears off, Lacey picks herself up and returns to her cheerful self. She decides to give speed honesty a try. Once the force field is up, she picks up the note card and reads the question out loud. "Would you eat food that fell on the floor?" And then she answers it. "No, of course not. Is that it?" She flips the note card over, looking to see if there is more written. Then looks at the other person seated at the table. "It doesn't say anything else. Do you think they mean if we were starving?"

C. Heartless.

Lacey quickly realizes she doesn't want these things near her. She shoots bolts of electricity from her fingers at the approaching shadow monsters. It's not enough to kill them, but she is able to stun them, as if she were tazing them. "Oh! Oh! What the heck?" She exclaims as she fights them. "Does anyone need help? Or want to help me? She calls out. She plans to get away, but doesn't want to leave anyone behind either. If it comes to it, she may put an electrical force field around herself and anyone near by.

A. Passion.

Abigail looks over all the drinks and selects the red one. It seems to stand out the most. After a few sips, she realizes why. Red's the color of passion. While this place gave her a talent with knives, it's guns that excite her. She's heard of this place has paint ball pistols. What better chance for her to show off her marksman skills, gained from years of hunting? Maybe she'll meet another firearm fan to talk with. She makes her way to the dueling areas and looks around. "Who's up for a paintball pistol duel? C'mon, it'll be fun."

B. Speed Honesty.

Abigail watches as the force field goes up, wondering why she'd agreed to this. Perhaps it could be a challenge. She is a skilled liar, or used to be. Maybe she can fool the game. Or maybe she'll get a question like if she ever killed someone and be stuck in the force field forever, rather than answer it. This may have been a mistake.

She picks up the note card and reads it out loud. "As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?" Not as bad as she feared. She actually thinks of an answer and decides to wait and hear what the other person has to say. She looks at them curiously as she waits for an answer for them.

C. Heartless.

Abigail hides in one of the gardens, wishing she'd worn her camouflage. She should have known by now that swear-ins an get very dangerous. She uses her throwing knives, taking out as many of the strange creatures as she can whenever they get to near to her hiding spot. She's not sure what they are and she's not going to try to find out. Survival is her only thought. When she spots another import nearby, she whispers. "Have you got any weapons? Or know the quickest way out of here?"

A. Jealousy.

Eddie only came to this swear-in because he thought it might give him an answer to where Richie had gone. He cautiously takes a green drink. It looks like medicine. Maybe he can use it like a placebo and make himself feel better. After a few sips, he realizes why Richie disappeared. He doesn't want to be his friend anymore. He's found better friends in this world, ones that aren't sick and scared all the time. He's making a new loser's club and leaving Eddie behind. Eddie takes a few more sips and suddenly everyone seems like they could be one of the people stealing Richie away from him. He goes from socially nervous to glaring at everyone he sees.

B. Speed Honesty.

Eddie hears the word honesty and sits down at a table to try a game. If it can get him answers about Richie, then he'll try anything. The force field does surprise him. "What the fuck?" He asks, then notices the note card. He holds it in his hand and reads off the question. "What are some things you shouldn't say at work?" He blinks and looks at the other person at the table. "I fucked the boss's mom and a customer's sister." He says, as if it's the most obvious answer to give and waits for the other person to add to it.

C. Heartless.

Eddie's first instinct is to run. With his power, he could find his way out or the best hiding spot. He knows he could; he can already see directions in his mind, like a map to guide him to safety. There's another concern in his mind though, his worry about Richie trumps his fear of the monsters. These things might be connected to his friend vanishing. He grabs a glass and smashes it, making a weapon. If these creatures have answers, he wants to get them any way he can.

He is a kid, with only the broken glass to keep the monsters back. He needs help.

Jonathan should know by now not to trust any of the special items provided by previously unheard of companies at Swear-ins, but...well...if he does, he certainly doesn't show it, as he takes on of the pink drinks and takes a sip. At first he doesn't feel anything, but later on after he's downed more of the glass, he'll be found at the snack table, cooing over memories of...well, eating junk food.

"Aw, I remember the first time I tried junk food on Earth. It was so amazing!"

It's not long before he obliviously heads over to one of the speed honesty tables with a bunch of snacks to chow down and reminisce.

Then, when the shadows grow darker, Jonathan decides to go find Finn. If they're doing something romantic, he wants Finn there to coo sweet nothings at. Not that he's especially good at that, but he still wants to give it a shot, when...the heartless start swarming out.

"Oh, crap."

It's a swear in. He really should know better by now. And now he's all the more desperate to find Finn, and fighting every heartless he comes across along the way, grabbing chairs, broken bits of debris, anything he can get his hands on to use as a weapon and fight these things until they seem to melt away.

Edited 2020-02-21 00:04 (UTC)

1. Exploring

To say he's not particularly in the mood for these ceremonies would be putting it mildly, but it's a good a distraction as any. It's been...well, it's been a few weeks since that whole alternate timeline deal happened, and he's had a good while to go over things again and again and again, enough time that it all feels more and more like a distant dream. But you don't get six years of surviving a fascist government threatening citizens like you and all the relationships and work and life you've experienced in that time, and just shove it all in a neat little drawer.

Here they are, another ceremony, more new Imports to celebrate. He wonders if they know about what happened. If some of them popped in during that time.

The place is interesting, at least. He takes some time to wander around the different floors with Dog and take in the decoration before he pauses to lean on the railing of one of the floors and looking down at the other imPorts walking around.

" They're a bit late for Valentine's." He says with a twist of his nose, not particularly fond of all this lovey dovey stuff. He's talking to his little furry companion, unaware of who might be listening.

2. Tables

It's like truth or dare, but just truth. He doesn't really get what it all has to do with anything, but, hey, he'll play it.

By the time he finds the tables, several people already know of their function. In fact, he's watched a couple of very embarrassed ones trying to escape the force fields, only to have to talk it out and them leave quickly. It made him curious.

Finding someone he knows, he approaches them.

"Want to give it a shot? Might be fun."

3. Duels

Okay, this is a lot more fun. He's not really into the hand to hand combat, and he figures using his own skills might not be really fair, but he'll take the swords and paintball guns, sure. You can't expect a little kid to not want to play around with fake weapons when you just have them lying around.

When he finds one of his friends, or just someone he might recognize, he jumps in the way, pointing one of the dulled swords at him.

"Halt! If you want to pass through here, you'll have to defeat me in combat."

Then he gives it up with a friendly smile. " If you want. They just have these around."

4. Shadows

By the end of the day, he's had his fair share of fun with whatever activities he found here, and it was a nice enough day, he supposes. Though the drinks were a bit rough on the people around. Figures something would have been a little weird.

He's going through the lobby, heading out for the exit, when Dog stops, staring out at a darker hallway. Something's clearly got the animal's attention, enough that after a few moments, he starts growling, lowering his head.

Adam stops, turning around when he notices he's lost his friend. "Dog?"

Dog doesn't react to his master approaching him, still growling at something unseen. Until they start coming out - the shadows.

"What's...?"

[Exploring]

He mostly came here because he lives in De Chima and was curious about the building that had been built. This is a good opportunity to check out the new businesses housed in it, and get some free food at the same time. He eventually ends up checking out the view from various of the balconies and then making his way through the gardens, lingering for a bit to enjoy the green space in the middle of the crowd. A couple of the garden spaces remind him of the woods behind his house in Poland, feeling which isn't helped by the blue drink he's got in his hand, making him think of the lost wife and daughter he'd shared that house with.

[Honesty]

He's here by himself, so he's not sharing a table with anyone at first. He just needed to sit down, and a table was there, so he sat. By this time, the drink he has in his hand is just a normal one, not one of the brightly-colored ones, but it looks like he's still got a lot on his mind.

There's an empty spot at his table. Won't you join him?

[Heartless]

He's just deciding that it's time to head home when it happens. It seems they're not alone at this party. Why did he ever decide to start coming to these events? He was safer at home. Or at least expected to do less fighting on someone else's behalf.

"You would think that if they were so happy to have the imPorts here, they would find some way to stop this kind of thing for happening. Or at least stop putting a large group of us in the same place once a month." He's Erik though; soon he'll be convinced that that was their plan.

Well. Looks like he'll just have to prepare to fight, and hope that there's some metal on them somewhere.

Edited 2020-02-24 02:38 (UTC)

Nathan is relaxing, not in the seats with forcefields, not near those shiny drinks. Nope. He is sitting and watching this place and just amused.

He has drunk some of those drinks, and he has played with the seats, and now he is just frankly tired of them. So he sits, watching the party, grinning, and dressed t the nines in a tuxedo of blue, with gold stitching. Call him a traditionalist, or whatever. Anyway. Pairing that with golden cufflinks that are tiny x's and he is snazzy in a weird way. Pay no attention to the holstered guns on both hips, and the fact that his jacket is the right fit to conceal a concealed weapon. Once you go paranoid, you never go back.

His scarred left eye is showing his amusement, and his glowing right one is... well, glowing.

Come say hi!.

Threaded | Flat

QUESTIONS?

Handsome Bob | OTA

Shen Qingqiu

reno | ota!

Roxas | Kingdom Hearts | OTA