Day 7: Evening

Aftern-Evening: 3pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: January 22 - January 29, 2020. ]

After all of Seven's fights, ending in Luka taking Ten's hand as the other heroes arrive. The knights will be treated to the sight of something entirely unexplainable: Seven is wounded, laying on the asphalt with a bright white crossbow bolt sticking out of their body. They're still pouring black goop off of their body, but they appear to be wrapped in some kind of cloth tarp. Five is kneeling over them, dressed in a skin-covering assassin outfit that only reveals her five eyes peering out. In her hand is a phone, and that's really all that can be seen before she and Seven disappear into a portal in the ground.

Luka, meanwhile, is standing with Ten's hand in his and his crossbow laid on the ground and not in his hand. No matter what the arriving heroes cry out in order to get his attention, it's too late to stop him. Abruptly, the portal opens and both the Princess and Ten disappear into the ground.

Naturally, the hashtag #princessnapped is forged.

That doesn't prove to be the only hashtag to get some heavy use this evening. The #wizardfound and #robotwizard hashtags find a sudden, new reason to actively discuss what's going on.

The remaining heroes: Garrot, Gyre, Haizea, Matilda, Olivia, (and... where's Terrence?) will find that the events from earlier in the day have caught up to them. There's a crack like thunder as both the Wizard and the Protector flicker into existence and both land in the superhero pose in the center of the intersection that Luka just disappeared from.

The Protector, if possible, is looking even worse than before. He's sporting a black eye and numerous cuts on his forehead, cheeks, and arms. It looks like he's been lit on fire at least once, but even so he's holding his rapier out in anticipation of the next strike.

The Wizard, meanwhile, is finally openly visible to everyone after her absence. She looks rough. It's as if the areas where she'd been harmed have been replaced or repaired with robotics. The left side of her face is no longer bandaged, instead revealing that she now has a robotic eye with a glowing yellow ring. The cables that were visible in the video before are very clearly plugged in just behind her ear, trailing down over her shoulder and down her back beneath the robes.

And of course she's still wearing pajamas. But they look like they've seen better days, charred and ripped and shredded at every edge. In her hand, though, is a massive axe. One side of its head is a giant half-circle axe head while the other side is a heavy weight like a hammer. The entire weapon is jet black, but it has a glossy shine.

What's the worst that could happen?

The Weather
Cloudy, breezy.
48°F / 9°C
Brrr.

Prompts:

3:00pm The Garden, Unknown Location: When Luka falls through the portal with Ten, he'll become immediately aware that the monster has slipped himself closer and snuck his feet beneath Luka's to stabilize him. Despite the falling, he seems surprisingly stable in the air.

And then there's the soft crunch of grass beneath his feet and he shifts slightly, waiting for Luka to step back on his own. Wherever they are, the air is filled with the scents of wildflowers and scents that are both beautiful and entrancing in their complexity. It's clear that there are dozens, if not hundreds of flowers and plants in the immediate vicinity. There's the gentle warmth of sunlight on Luka's skin, clearly advertising that they're outside (or in a very clever indoor garden). But most calming is the gentle sounds of moving water. If Luka focuses, he'll be able to pick out that there's a small waterfall, several waterways, and multiple water features with water tumbling down over rocks. And, of course, a pool or a pond with fish gently swimming about beneath the surface.

But he'll be interrupted twice before he can lose himself. The first is Ten.

"We're here." He says, but if Luka's not shaken enough he'll realize that he doesn't hear Seven and his Seven sense isn't going wild. But the second distraction happens as Luka's phone bloops from an unknown sender with a text:

"Welcome to the Garden, Princess." The text reads... with no explanation of who or how they sent him the text. That's totally normal!

3:00pm Street Intersection, Bamborough: With the arrival of the Wizard and the Protector, it's very clear that shit is about to go down. But that absolutely isn't what the Wizard has in mind for this situation. She's the one running this game, and she isn't about to get five heroes wrapped up in her duel with the Protector. Before anyone can take an opportunity to make any attacks, and especially not the Protector, she snaps the fingers of her free hand five times.

And reality fractures. The way that the cracks in midair begin to fold and reflect the area and people around them, it's like the world is folding up into a trick mirror house. It's... actually exactly that. Reality twists and folds, forming reflections and containers out of the air itself until every single hero is enclosed in one. The hero in the middle of their own box, reflected on two opposite walls. But on the opposite two walls, the Wizard is visible beyond in one of them and the Protector is visible beyond in the other room. Uh. This conversation might get awkward. Worse is that they can't get distracted by their Seven senses, because no one can feel them anymore.

3:15pm To Everyone: In the middle of the earlier events, every hero in Bamborough receives a text from an unknown sender. The only one who's spared this text is Luka, because he got a text earlier. The text reads: "I can give you one teleport to anywhere today. Tell me when and to where. Don't be unreasonable!"

8:00pm Onward, Everywhere: The day is done, the events are finished. How does your character get home? Do they go home alone? Do they seek the company of their fellow heroes? Do they stay alone, or do they get a room together? Either way, it's a rough night for everyone.

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Activity Check: January 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: January 1st - January 31st, 2020 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In the middle of the earlier events, every hero in Bamborough receives a text from an unknown sender. The only one who's spared this text is Luka, because he got a text earlier. The text reads:

"I can give you one teleport to anywhere today. Tell me when and to where. Don't be unreasonable!"

Really, there was only one option here, after everything this day had been throwing at him.

Can you take me to the Princess?

The reply comes immediately:

"Yeah. When?"

That's plenty informative!

So he's safe?
How long do you need?

"Yeah. Eight seconds. Now?"

NOW

"Eight seconds."

In the moments after that message, of course, the Monkey Knight was taken to Twelve's Garden. It was, well, the start of an even worse time for him. Luckily, it was just a bit of a temporary detour before he found his way to a quiet, secluded corner of the garden.

And boy did he need it!

Within about a second of touching the ground, Garrot scrambles towards the bucket and just immediately begins throwing up. Once for realizing that he's misdirected his anger about his father's killer. Once for realizing the Protector absolutely wants to kill him. Once for realizing that if this situation leaks to the people, which it likely will, then his children, his entire family may very well refuse to speak to him ever again. First the Protector took his father, now he'll either take everyone Garrot loves or the Monkey Knight's life, and he's just not sure which is worse.

It's at this point that the military-strength sedative begins to take deeper hold of his body. That's for the best, because it means his body is limited to curling in on itself and tipping over as the poor guy just bawls. We're talking a good ten minutes of despairing wails, enough snot to drown a kindergarten, and a lot of hyperventilating. That sedative might be keeping him from having a full-blown panic attack, but he's still being put through a traumatic grief ringer.

But eventually, his breathing begins to calm, the snot runs dry, and the tears fade. Mostly because he's dehydrated and his body cannot keep pace anymore. Garrot's body unfurls as he lay flat on his back, if only to feel less claustrophobic as he tries to focus on his breathing. His hands wander aimlessly until finding his phone, and he blearily types out a "watr ples" to Eight. It stands to reason that the same person is teleporting him everywhere, right? But that's not all he does, see...

"Xaljim. You there?" The words are hoarse and deep; Garrot doesn't have the energy or resolve to sound as commanding or confident as before. He just sounds... like he was still an angry, scared kid who'd just lost his father all over again.

There are two surprises that occur when Garrot finally reaches out for help. The first is that a monkey hand reaches down to place a massive multi-gallon container of water in front of Garrot's face. Did Eight send him?

The other is that a balled-up piece of paper lands right beside it, right in Garrot's view. It wasn't aimed at him, it was just dropped right in front of him.

"I know that look." He starts, waiting for Garrot to drink for now.

The Weather

Prompts:

Procedure:

3:15pm To Everyone

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject