The Only Way To Go Is Up! || RP Proper

[Captain Gensokyo]

Of all the things that could have happened, the irony of a monster being "spirited away" instead of some wayward vagabond had not been lost on a certain hermit.

It had been just another dim night in the Underworld. Satori Komeiji, the mistress of the Palace of the Earth Spirits, had been chewing her lip in thought over the next words that would surface on the page in front of her.

The quill hovered idly over the small jar of ink on her desk. Satori gazed down at the field of chrysanthemums that adorned the pathways of her sprawling garden, the soft hues of lavender setting her study aglow.

Satori reached back and stretched her arm to the ceiling. She wasn't anywhere close to touching it, but it was just one of those things she'd do when she experienced a nasty case of writer's block. She opened her eyes again and returned to hovering over the ink jar...


. . .


...Strange. A rainbow was shimmering off the glass of the jar now, and it was only growing brighter. Within seconds, the entire study was gleaming, and Satori's own vision succumbed to the colours soon after.



. . . . . . . . .



Noise.


So. Much. Noise.


Satori's eyebrows furrowed in reflex.



The moment thoughts first came to her head, they were washed away by a torrent of sounds, sights, and experiences.

"Come on, gimme your head! Chop, chop, chop!"

"Insolent brats..."

A hulking mechanical eye, its chassis a grid of flashing lights. Its golden iris pierced through a blanket of thick red fog.

"This shit's really pissing me off."

A girl's final moments as she lost her friends, her home, her everything.

"What the hell's going on here? This is bad...! I've got to stop them, full-on!"

"Does this guy really know where we are?"

Two images of the same black-haired girl in a red riding hood. She was beaming from ear-to-ear.

"Damn, no signal."



Satori's eyes opened. She had been lying on a red velvet couch, rather similar to some of the furniture in her home. She immediately craned her neck up and took in the situation around her, pushing through the mental chaos of others' thoughts coming and going from her mind.

The first thing she remembered...

Was disappearing.


...Where had everyone else gone?

Her sister, Koishi?

Her beloved pets? Okuu, Orin...where were they? Surely they hadn't...


No. She didn't want to dwell on that, but it was a perfectly logical thing to come to.

Satori's hair stood on end as a dry swallow went down her throat. She sat up from the couch, her eyes squinting in a sickening mix of anxiety and irritation. The noise was nothing compared to the worrying implications of her own disappearance.

"Koishi...!"​

Satori's thoughts grew anguished. She couldn't just sit around here, she had to do something! Standing up from the couch, she shuffled restlessly away from the center of the crowd of strangers, preferring to isolate herself as much as possible.

Satori took a seat between some of the bookshelves, where a girl grieving the loss of her home and loved ones (@ThePotatoGod), a shifty ex-cop with an even more checkered history (@thatguyinthestore), a blonde brawler in search of her little sister, a machine girl with no darkness hidden away in her heart (@marc122), and an unconscious white-haired maiden (@Lest) were nearby.

Satori, in an attempt to settle her own nerves and grasp the situation as best she could, began to scour the contents of the books in the shelves.

One title immediately caught her eye.


"Satori Komeiji: A Biography"


And right beside her own name was an illegible title. The other books, however, all had titles...why was this one different?

"Koishi..."

It was immensely difficult to simultaneously stay focused on an investigation, remain aware of potential dangers around her, filter out unnecessary mental noise, and keep a level head in the face of the possibility of all her loved ones vanishing in a flash of light. They had to be somewhere in this strange building, but where?

Satori continued to pick out books that seemed like they would be useful to her, piling them up on the floor below. Picking out a biography of "Tohru Adachi"—the man standing near the edge of the room—Satori then moved on to finding the biography of "Hirari Yumesaki", the crying girl next to her. She continued to steal glances at the rest of the room every now and then—if that fighting got anywhere close to this place, she would have to act quickly before the materials risked getting damaged.

"Koishi...please, be safe," she quietly pleaded.


Mentioned: @Ur Degaton @megar @Birb-With-Gun (Thought Montage)

 

[PolikShadowbliss]

@PolikShadowbliss
@dark

Bruce's ever present scowl becomes just a tad bit deeper after analyzing the map. Perhaps whatever was transmitting the signal simply locked off access to the other floors. That, or something more was at work here.

He turned to his two compatriots and glanced at Kara.

"The last thing we need is an existential crisis. Who knows, maybe in his world we are the fictional characters."

He turned to look at the myriad of other individuals that were just waking up.

"I've got a bad feeling about this entire scenario, this is a sick game for an enigmatic force. If we hope to make it through this, we should make as many allies as possible. We've all got skills and abilities that put us above the average person, but that doesn't mean anything in a situation like this."

"Got it!" She gives a thumps up and looks around, trying to determine who could be a good ally. The Twins were definitely out. They were literally starting a fight for no apparent reason. Instead she looked at who was alone. There were many potential allies but many were either already in groups, or looked too untrustworthy or even downright demonic to approach. she eyed a particularly pale woman wearing red monk-like robes, and a hood, with some sort of --- was that a lightsaber!? She looked as if she were a Sith. And if she wasn't, she didn't seem approachable.

--------

skalus almost laughed out loud at the pointless fight and even snickered a bit at the young man's pointless attempt to end said fight.

"if they are, quite frankly, stupid enough to kill each other over what is undoubtably a dumb reason, then let them... kind of a waste if you ask, of all that freedom they were preaching about... but hey...."

she smirked, yes, she had listened.

she just didn't care.

@Ur Degaton @dark @ThePotatoGod @theTwins

 

[ThePotatoGod]

Interaction: @megar @Birb-With-Gun @PolikShadowbliss

"But--!" Kaito was about to ask why would he even accept fighting when all of a sudden, the floating red clad man flung himself towards the aggressors--a pair of children. "Ugh, come on, just listen to me! You guys don't have to fight!" Kaito groans, digging through his vest pockets and taking out what looks like a small, coin sized gear. Before Kaito could load it into his gun, Skalus came to him, telling him to stop worrying about them fighting since they're killing each other over something so stupid.

"But everyone had lost so much already...There's literally, DEFINITELY no good reason for me to just let them full-on kill each other!" Kaito groaned as he popped the lid on the stock of his gun open. "No one's getting hurt on my watch!" Closing the lid, he turned the crank of his gun, the gattling gun's barrel, the bird like flashing a blinking light as drums seemed to roll as he turned the crank.

28-BANG!
DEKARANGER!​

Kaito then aimed his gun at the twins, who seemed to hypocritically fired at the aggressor--however, the shot turned out to be multiple pairs of handcuffs which seemed to fly onto the both pairs' hands, bounding them together if the shot managed to land uninterrupted.

Despite his naïve nature, he's got good aim. Fixated on preventing a fight from fully breaking out.

Interaction: @PolikShadowbliss @dark @Ur Degaton

Leaving Volo alone to read his own biographies, Katrielle seems to be drawn towards a peculiar set of people who appeared familiar to the young detective. Well, two out of the three individuals.

"Well I'll say...It's Batman and Supergirl." Katrielle giggled as she approached the group. "I didn't expect to meet comic book heroes in this place." She said, observing Supergirl's suit which appeared noticeably different, but she can't put a finger on what. Maybe it's the fact that it's more live actiony than usual.

 

[dark]

John lifted a eyebrow and then nodded. "It's complicated to say the least but the black suited man was right. He looked to the side as another person came to the group. "So your name is Batman?" After the stranger said it.

@Ur Degaton
@PolikShadowbliss
@ThePotatoGod

 

[Ur Degaton]

@ThePotatoGod
@dark

Being referred to as a "comic book hero" sent a slight shiver up his spine. It would appear that his theory was correct. Who else saw his world through the lens of fiction? The implications were almost incomprehensible.

He looked down at the unassuming girl, his trademark poker face ever present.

"You seem fairly young, but considering the types of people that were brought to this place, I'm assuming you have skills that qualifies you for this scenario."

It was a sad truth, but Bruce knew superheroes and villains that were much younger than her. Kids let their power and skills go to their head too often, and they end up kicking the bucket too early to bear. Luckily he trained that notion out of his robins long before it took root. Regardless, he didn't like seeing kids nor teenagers in a place like this. Though none of them have encountered anything yet, he knew that something was bound to happen. Something always happens, and someone always ends up six feet under… And it's always the young ones that go first…

Bruce looked over at John Connor. "What gave it away?" He responded with dry sarcasm.

 

[dark]

I don't know, in my world you are a comic book charecter I read as a kid. John looked back at Batman. "I've been at war with Skynet for at least 30 years now."

@Ur Degaton
@ThePotatoGod
@PolikShadowbliss
@dark

 

[Ur Degaton]

@dark

"You've seen death more than most. It's one thing to be killed by someone, it's another to be killed by something that has no concept of empathy or reason."

 

[megar]

​

Fun, fun, fun!

Ayaha sees the scythe coming, and -- for lack of a better option already being airborne -- simply slams the sharp end of her fan against it, using it to boost herself higher into the air. Otoha for her part simply holds a hand downward for Ayaha to grab it, and with that Ayaha forces them both back down to the ground before Specter Knight can make a move.

Not that he did, in the end, and as the twins turn around it's only then that they process the interference. More players means a better game, doesn't it? "Oh, you wanna join the fun?" "There's room for everyone!" They beam, once again stepping forward ready to try again, and-

They freeze without warning, their faces twisting into confused grimaces just as quickly as they'd smiled. However brief that was, they could sense it. Something was in their head. They both decide they need to shift priorities in an instant, immediately ignoring everything but trying to find what caused it. Getting in the way of their bond is the most unforgivable sin of them all, so whoever's responsible for that needs to be gone.

But then they find themselves bound together physically, their brief moment of thought having been enough to take them off guard. "Hey-" "No fair cheating! We- we were distracted!" "Yeah, you puppets aren't even important now!"

Interacting: @Birb-With-Gun (Specter Knight) @ThePotatoGod (Kaito) @PolikShadowbliss (Skalus)
Mentioned: @Captain Gensokyo (Satori ~ loose acknowledgement)​

 

[ThePotatoGod]

Interaction: @Ur Degaton @PolikShadowbliss @dark

"You assumed correctly, good sir. I'm Katrielle Tanaka, 17 years old. Though I do have some experience under my metaphorical belt, my skills are more suited for support more than anything." Katrielle nodded at Batman's assessment. While she herself had recently won a war between 6 other Wildcards herself, she has very little to no close combat experience. In fact, she pretty much lucked out that her Persona Ability focused on navigation and analyzing combat data instead and exploiting her enemies' flaws.

It also helped that she picked up her father's ingenuity in coming up with solutions to her problems.

If she manages to befriend Batman and team up with him for a while, perhaps she could learn a thing or two on combat. Glancing over what seems to be a generic looking soldier character, who mentioned that Batman was also a character in his world. Her brow raised at the notion of Skynet, however.

Just then it clicked in Katrielle's head. Were everyone who survived have a book like Volo? She glanced at nearby shelf, casually walking towards it and returning to the group with a book labeled 'Kara Zor-El // Kara Danvers, The Supergirl'.

"Say, do you remember what you saw before you found yourselves here?" Katrielle asked, flipping through Kara's life book.

Interaction: @Birb-With-Gun @megar @PolikShadowbliss

"De-escalation's a Full On Success! Now no one gets hurt!" Kaito celebrated as his plan of using the Dekaranger gear worked in his favor, preventing the two from swinging that axe of theirs. "You two really shouldn't play with sharp axes like that! It's Full On dangerous, you know!" He said, putting his gun back in his vest. "Apologize to Mr. Red Hood over there, and I might give you the keys to those handcuffs~!"

 

[dark]

He sighed at least one person didn't know who he was at least out of nowhere. "Katrielle, it's .. nice to meet you.."

Connor raised a eyebrow. Every solider who fought under him fought for freedom against Skynet or died trying. There were no other alternatives.

He frowned. He was silently judged by many others over the years. If this woman thought this man couldn't survive combat just as well as the others, she had silently misjudged him before she had met him.

His mind flashed back to the days he was misjudged by the 5 Resistance Generals of his earth at the time. Either they refused to listen to what he had to say or flat out yell at him in general.

@ThePotatoGod
@dark
@Ur Degaton
@PolikShadowbliss

 

[Ur Degaton]

@ThePotatoGod

While Katrielle spoke with Kara, Bruce strode over to the bookshelf and grabbed the book with his name on it. He was perturbed by the existence of the book itself, but even more disturbed by the contents it held. His entire life story, summarized in leather and ink, it was demeaning, and it only brought up bad memories. Memories of his failures, his moments of weakness, his every flaw meticulously laid out like a sixth grade character study. The book screamed magic, a field of esoteric study he absolutely loathed and refused to acknowledge as science; despite Dr fate and John Constantine's countless attempts to convince him otherwise.

With a barely audible sigh, he put the book back in its musty slot on the shelf. He glanced over at the twins, who were struggling with handcuffs. The man who fired them may have been annoying in his need to announce everything like a canary, but he knew how to aim, especially at a pair of supernatural thrill seekers.

 

[thatguyinthestore]

Looks like Adachi wouldn't be getting his peace and quiet any time soon.

He actively had to hold back from letting out a sigh as that girl approached him. His expression didn't change in the slightest as she spoke to him. The hell was this girl's damage? There were so many other people here... people who looked far weirder than he did, mind you. The kinds of people who looked like they handled weird shit like this on a day to day basis. What the hell made him so interesting that he got singled out by this girl? Did he remind her of an absent father, maybe? That was all he could think of to justify this weirdo behavior.

Still, he might as well humor her. Especially since she came all the way over here.

"Out of everyone you could've directed that question towards in this entire cast of weirdos, you decided to single out the most average looking guy here.." Adachi couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he spoke. The smile was mostly just a front - he didn't wanna be too antagonizing just yet. The girl was only asking for help, after all. And as far as he could tell... she didn't seem to have any ulterior motives. The chuckle was genuine, though. "Guess the world ending didn't do much for common sense, huh? Haha..."

"Though to answer your question, no. I have no idea where the hell we are - nor do I know what's going on..." Adachi chuckled again. "I mean, if I did, do you really think I'd be standing over here like this? What kinda guy do you take me for?"

Another laugh. That one was forced.

And at her expense.

@marc122​

 

[edy03829]

"A man's subconscious self is not the ideal companion. It lurks for the greater part of his life in some dark den of its own, hidden away, and emerges only to taunt and deride and increase the misery of a miserable hour."
- P.G. Wodehouse
___________________
(Satori's POV)

HELLOoOooo~
A voice calls— whispering at a moment's notice. It was.. sudden. It came out of nowhere, basically. Not above, not below, nor in front; nowhere,
but behind.

CAN YOU HEAR ME??
What felt like a mere breeze had suddenly formed into a manifestation of a disembodied voice to Satori. But how? With her state of conscious mind-reading, surely she could have seen this coming. Maybe, she was just lost within her thoughts. Surely the others could have heard it—

CAN YOU SEE ME??
But they didn't.

It was only Satori who could hear it. Only she, and she alone, could hear it's whisper.

Just then, she would hear the same voice behind your back. Only this time, it felt.. closer. As if.. it was whispering right at her ear. Then afterwards, she would a feel a palm grasp upon her shoulder. If she were to turn around, what she—she alone would hear and see—

was..





@Captain Gensokyo (Satori)

​

 

[thatguyinthestore]

So, the world had gone and ended, right under her nose.

Just like that. Everything had gone to complete shit.

No fanfare, no nothing.

Just... boom. Done.

And somehow, Neo was one of the lucky few survivors. Or were they chosen ones? Neo didn't really know. But she didn't particularly care, either. She was in the corner of the room, umbrella clutched firmly in her hand as she studied everyone. Conversation wasn't exactly something she could make... and on top of that, there were a few people here she happened to recognize. Because of course, even when the world ended, these... nuisances had to be here.

There wasn't any sight of Little Red, though. That was good. Just her bimbo of a sister... that annoying robot... and the whiny heiress. The latter of which was knocked out. The morons hadn't even noticed her yet - which was pretty funny to her. One would think that one of their word adversaries would be at the top of their shitlist... but instead, they were too focused on helping the ice princess and interrogating old men.

Gods, these people really made it too easy, didn't they?

Well, since their attention wasn't anywhere near her, Neo decided that she could have some fun with the blonde one. So... a wave of her hand later, and her semblance was activated. Before everyone in the room (albeit away from the people this actually mattered to), Neo transformed. Like clockwork, she was shrouded by an illusion. An illusion that made her look like none other than the girl she hated the most...

Yeah, she was gonna have some fun with this one.

With her goal in mind, not-Ruby walked on over to Yang, making a concentrated effort to not walk with her usual strut as she did so. She had to play the part if she wanted to sell the role, after all. She walked right up behind the taller blonde and tugged at her sleeve as she was distracted. When Yang turned around, she'd find her little sister standing there, waving at her with a soft smile on her face.

Totally not Neo in disguise though. Nope.

@marc122​

 

[TofuScarlet]

Witch of Scarlet ✰ Dreams
———✦———
Gensokyo, gone..
Right before her eyes.

What is this.. sense of familiarity?

Marisa felt an unpleasant churn in her stomach wail as she too sat in the corner of the room alongside the parasol lady; both proceeding to witness the scenery unfold into utter chaos. She wasn't in a very good mood to say the least, not after witnessing everything vanish in front of her eyes. But burst into tears she did not, though the temptation was certainly there.

"..Sheesh, give me a break, ze..", she sighed as she placed her hat on her lap. Though, having settled herself down, she noticed.. something familiar.

..Wait, w-was that.. the underground youkai she just saw? What was she doing here? Marisa wasn't expecting Satori, of all else, to be one of the surviving chosen. She would have expected someone with more outside-knowledge to appear— think like Yukari or.. R-..Reimu. Why the mind-reading youkai of all else? Come to think of it, was there some specific reason why each survivor was chosen? Or was this all just a big coincidence?

Knowing the odds, it really could be anything.



Mentions: @thatguyinthestore (Neo), @Captain Gensokyo (Satori), everyone else in the room
@megar >:)​

 

[PolikShadowbliss]

"Oh me, the sky opening up and a big bright light, I was just about to suit up when I found myself here!" She said, unnerved by the book just like Batman was unnerved by his.

-------------------------

skalus frowned and simply said.

"good job..... though watching them kill each other would have been profoundly more entertaining ... I admire your resolve..."

he reminded her of her brother, he didn't like escalating conflict or violence either - though he was extremely good at it. now that the twins were neutralized for the moment, skalus went back to just ignoring them.

@ThePotatoGod @dark @Ur Degaton

 

[ThePotatoGod]

Interaction: @PolikShadowbliss @Birb-With-Gun @megar @Ur Degaton

"I can see how that would be fun, but I really don't think they should do that--especially with a lot of innocents around." Kaito said, looking around the gang of misfits all around them. "Besides, I'm a hero in my World, so it's kinda my job to make sure no one gets that hurt." He soon took note of a man dressed in a Bat costume observing him nearby. As courtesy, Kaito gave a cheerful wave, acknowledging the Dark Knight's presence.

Interaction: @PolikShadowbliss @Ur Degaton @dark

"So the same thing I saw..." Katrielle says, rubbing her chin, as she finally reached the latest page, it seemed to describe the moment Supergirl world ended--a bright light with a myriad of colors, tearing through realities. It's even worded as the end of the world. "I wonder..." Katrielle closed Kara's book and gazed onto her left hand.

She could feel Holmes' power just welling up in there, waiting to be used. While she has sensed all sorts of stuff, like potentially 1, 2, maybe 3 Persona Users( @udon @Izanagi243 @thatguyinthestore ), Katrielle couldn't be sure until she summons it.

But looking around, Katrielle couldn't find any doorway.

"It's worth a shot..." Katrielle breathed in a sigh of focus, and in a burst of flames, she materialized what seems to be a monocle on her left hand--a sign that Persona Abilities can be used.

Let me explain. In Katrielle's world, Persona Abilities manifest as physical objects. Bats, Bikes, Books, even Monocles. Focusing one's spritual energy to summon one causes that physical item to break as a catalyst for summoming one's Persona.

Lifting the Monocle up to.Kat's eye, she began peering into Holme's analytical ability, scanning Kara in front of her.

"So good news. I can use my powers." Katrielle says, looking around the room through the monocle. "Still no exit though. And I don't feel anything beyond these walls either." She said, rubbing the mossy green bricked wall.

 

[megar]

At last, awakening.

How long has it been? How long had the world of dreams persisted, all the while drawing closer to its inevitable end? As the purest sky falls and the purest sea fades, did the world know it was time to say goodbye?

It doesn't matter, now. It's all over. Finally, she could wake up, and put an end to the horrible tragedy that was doomed to befall them all. They would all be gone in an instant, lost to the depths of one's subconscious in the last moments of their life. If only for a few moments, if she could just remember that which she's lost, would that be enough? Would those memories persist into the beyond -- memories of a better time, a better place?

She isn't sure why, but she can hear cries of confusion, faint as they are. Were they not expecting her to wake up? It makes sense. It has been far too long, she thinks.

Even still, she doesn't care. She has no attachment to this world. Only her memories of her dream matter, and all she cares about now is seeing if she will have the honour of being the one to carry them forward.

The only way to find out is to close her eyes once more, a light filling them anew.

The Final Dream​

Once more, awakening.

There is no fanfare to this awakening. No flash of light, no world crumbling to dust; just a girl sitting up after a long night's sleep.

This isn't the other side, yet nor is it that dream. Or perhaps it is, the remnants of her fractured mind drawing something up once more. The end of a dream only means the beginning of a new one, after all.

The girl rises from her bedding and observes the new dream. She'll settle in before long, and forget it was ever a dream at all until the time for it too to end draws near, but she at least needs to know where she is. She wonders if it is worth tragedy after tragedy just for her own brief respite from the miserable life she leads on the other side: even if she could answer it, it wouldn't matter, for that answer would fade as well. She would live in blissful ignorance, alongside the friends she herself created. All she can do is accept that fate.

As her gaze catches familiar faces, her worries are washed away. It'll all be fine after all, won't it? They can't remember what happened, but they don't need to. They can carry on like they always had: it was never the world of dreams itself that made it worth living in, it was the people in it. So even if the environment has changed, as long as they're all here, it's fine, isn't it?

The girl clad in white waves to her friend, a heartfelt smile crossing her face. "Hey, Marisa! Over here!"

Yes, Reimu thinks, everything will be fine after all.

@TofuScarlet (Marisa)​

 

[megar]

​

"Tch! Fine. We'll let it go for now!" "We've got bigger fish to fry than you losers anyway!"

These kinds of idiots really make them mad -- all of this hero nonsense, it's sickening to hear -- but the idea of letting someone try to get into their connection is way worse. They'll come back for these puppets sooner or later, but they've got a real enemy to think about for now.

And the first step to that...

A fire begins to form on their wrists, right below the cuffs... and it intensifies more and more in seconds, before the handcuffs start to melt against the pressure of the heat. Most people would rather not have molten metal on their wrists, but neither twin seems even remotely fazed by it. This kind of heat localised so closely might sting a little, even for them, but-

It won't burn as much as the bookshelves. As soon as the flame has an opening from the ruined cuffs, it shoots outwards from the twins' wrists, effectively localised fireballs blasting against them, more than happy to burn away at them and whatever is within them.

"Oh, that poor literature! Kya ha ha..." "Eh heh heh... ooooops."

They don't seem to care very much. It's up for debate if they actually intentionally did it, but they're certainly not about to say.

@Birb-With-Gun (Specter Knight) @ThePotatoGod (Kaito, GM)​

 

[PolikShadowbliss]

The funny thing about the end of the world, or even the universe, is that Hazel has seen and lived through it multiple times. That was the natural consequence of being the pawn of an intergalatic, multiversial level warlord. When the sky had ripped and the light came flooding in, Lord Rima had not actually been scared, nor did he react. He had simply said, "finally, it ends" and allowed the light to consume him and his world. And that was supposed to be the end of it. Only it wasn't.

Because she was still alive, which meant someplace, somewhere, Lord Rima was still alive.

She had mostly kept to herself, away from the nauseous groups and definitely from the fight that had transpired. From her spy glasses, she identified several of the people here. From John Connor, to even Batman and Supergirl. It appeared that characters from all across the universes have. converged, and from what she gathered, they all were fictional in some way, shape of form.

And she was willing to guess, none of them were normal people.

She was starting to think this may be a game, in more ways than one.

@ThePotatoGod

OPEN!