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

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.

Garrot barely waits for that paper ball to land before he bolts upright and snatches the container. Their first day on the island, he ran around chasing a monster in scorching sun while wearing a full suit and being, well, really fuzzy. His body was even more in need of water this time! As the container is brought to his lips he just starts tilting it a bit, with the limitless constitution of someone who spent his adulthood doing keg stands of grain alcohol. After a downright awkward amount of time guzzling, Garrot finally stops to take a breath.

And then he dumps some of the water on his head before finally dropping the container back onto the ground. The doctor turns his drenched form to face Xaljim, taking three... deep... breaths.

"You should've told me." Garrot's voice is still hoarse and exhausted and affected by his congested sinuses, but at least like this, about to stink of soggy bugbear, the little monkey can't see him crying. Xaljim's betrayal is almost as bad as the Protector's. Almost.

By the time Garrot's done drinking, Xaljim's idly tossing two paper balls in the air in a casual, lazy juggle. He knew the man was going to demolish the water, but it was still a sight to behold.

And then he says that and.

A paper ball plinks off of the center of Garrot's face. How did he throw it that fast? Did he teleport it closer? Did he throw-cheat?

"We both know you wouldn't have believed me." He begins with, pausing to hold his hands up and point at his ears before--

"And besides that, ███ ███████ ████ ████████ ██." He adds, his words being lost in an awful screeching garble which just proves the point of why he'd said it to begin with.

Garrot growls as the paper ball bounces off his face, but he can't be too mad because he at least got the heads-up about the screeching garble. That said, as soon as it's done, the Monkey Knight grabs one of the paper balls and wings it at Xaljim's face.

"You could've told me anything!" He throws his hands into the air and lets out a wheezing sigh of exasperation. "Like how the Protector has a stick up his ass, or how he treats questioning him as a death sentence." Garrot's tone gets dire, even a little frantic as he continues. "Because now I have to figure out how to survive the Protector without destroying the world or making my entire family disown me!" And then he pauses to take a few breaths before, uh...

"Any ideas?"

Xaljim slams both hands together around the paper ball that Garrot threw, catching it without an issue. He peers around the side and, without warning Garrot, declares:

"What? Like ████ ███?" His words, even the censored ones, drip with sarcasm as he gets lost in the screechy garble.

"That's the easy stuff!" He continues, tossing the paper ball up once... twice...

"Use your brain." He says like it's easy before chucking the paper ball back at Garrot.

Garrot just groans at the entire display. Since he's not too well off right now, that screech was pretty horrendous. In fact, it visibly rattles him enough that he's moving far too slow to catch the paper ball. Damn sedative. He does pick it up though, gripping it firmly in one hand as he just glares at his companion.

"What, you think I can actually outsmart the Protector?" The Monkey Knight himself doesn't sound convinced; the question could easily sound rhetorical. Granted, the Protector might have displayed the critical thinking skills of a mildewed bathrobe, but he's got an undeniable home-field advantage and forty years of experience on his side. That said...

"Find anything out after our little breakfast yesterday?" He raises an eyebrow. Garrot figured out some way around that magic censor in less than a single meal. If the Protector is as arrogant as he seems... if there's only a sliver of hope, is it foolish to want to play the odds?

Xaljim folds his arms and looks Garrot over. Is he really going to try to have this conversation now, while he's like this? He looks like he's about to pass out ten times over.

"Nothing I didn't already know. Nothing that I can tell you. Not without a certain someone intervening." He adds, shaking his head.

"Which I can only say because we're here."

"Got it." He sighs before taking a moment to drink from that ridiculously large jug of water again. Can never be too hydrated, especially if he has to do all the godsdamned work himself. "Write anything down if you-" And Garrot just pauses. Maybe Xaljim can help!

"Two questions." The Monkey Knight takes a moment to loose something between a cough and a sigh. He can't stop here, he can't take a break, this is- there's so much to learn here, to do. "First: are the Wizard and Sxicq trustworthy if I wanna learn the limits of this shitty game, or are they both shit? The Protector's obviously a no-go... for now." He'll make him see reason, maybe. But it's clear he's prioritizing using his brain over catching his breath.

"And... how do you feel about delivering messages? I want you to put your paper to good use."

Xaljim nods when Garrot asks if the Wizard and Sxicq are trustworthy, and then shakes his head when he follows 'if they're shit'. He knows better to say it out loud and deafen Garrot.

"What kind of messages." He asks, extremely suspiciously.

Garrot nods at the gestures; good to know. But that suspicion... it makes him chuckle. Smirk, even.

"An apology to the Protector with a little information." He shrugs, unconcerned. "Nothing he couldn't figure out if he decided to look at someone instead of down on them. It'll inflate his ego." The others were very transparent with their hopes and motivations. Garrot's, of course, changed on a dime, and that's his little secret for now. "But if he's a bad idea, ask the Princess to deliver it instead." The wheels keep turning, and another sigh slumps his shoulders a bit.

"Can we trust the other companions to deliver letters to their Knights?" He brings a hand to his beard, gently scratching at his jawline with his claws. Garrot is very casual about all this; is it the sedative? "Or are you gonna pull a Protector and say you're the only one I can trust?"

If anything, Xaljim gets even more suspicious of Garrot's intentions in this moment. He keeps looking him over, listening to the proposal all the way to the end--

"Some of the companions, yes, others, no." He begins to explain, already manifesting additional pieces of crumpled paper.

"I'm not writing these letters for you." He adds, not mentioning that his handwriting is literally illegible. Can he even write? He doesn't know. But he isn't going to try.

"I'll write them, but which companions don't we trust?" The only reason he's asking for this much is because he saw how fast Xaljim could fly on the first day. Garrot's arms cross and he sighs, looking down at the ground. He doesn't care about the paper balls at all. "The world's at stake, I'd monitor free Knight phones if I were on the outside. We need an alternative." The Protector's willing to kill with the tiniest sliver of motivation, he doesn't need to put himself or anyone else at risk. But there's a spark of something as he thinks back to his time in that cube, and his eyes go wide as he stares at Xaljim.

"Unless... whoever got us away from the Protector used a weird Unknown Number. Can they help?"

"You know I can't tell you that." He starts with, folding his arms. "Unless you want me to deafen you again."

But he keeps listening to Garrot's thoughts and plans, and he knows the answer to Garrot's question based on the murmurings the others had already had.

"That was a monster. Fen said so. If you trust them, get their help." He adds, narrowing his eyes as he watches how Garrot will respond to this revelation. Unless he already knew.

Garrot rolls his eyes at another roadblock from the Protector. What a piece of shit! So he starts to unravel the paper ball he's been holding onto for the past few minutes. At the same time, he listens. He wasn't paying the most attention to Fen (or anyone, really) when he showed up, but of course it's a monster. Hands pat around at Garrot's pockets for a moment before he sighs and just... tightly balls his hands up into fists. The puncture wounds on his palms start to bleed again, and after a moment he's using his own blood as an inkwell.

Haha, what the fuck, Garrot?

A minute of gruesome scribbling later, he holds the piece of paper up to Xaljim, a stern look on his face. The paper contains the animals for each of the Knights he knows to be alive.

Dragon
Pig
Dog
Ox
Rabbit

"Show me who I can trust." Every fiber in his being refuses to let the Protector win. If he thought the Wizard was bad...

Xaljim narrows his eyes at the list, knowing something that Garrot didn't about one of them but not wanting to reveal it just yet.

So he moves his hand forward and--

"Trust to what?" He asks, for clarification. What was his measure of trust here?

"Trust with your lunch money?"

The hesitation from Xaljim means that something's weird here. The fact that he has to ask about degrees of trust when a monster got a simple yes/no is... more than a little troubling. So Garrot scoffs, rolling his eyes. Why can't this just be easy?

"Who can we trust to keep the Protector in the dark?" There's a half-moment of pause, but then he continues, his conviction rock-solid. "I can't make him suffer if he's got someone on the inside."

At Garrot's specific narrowing of the question, Xaljim nods in understanding and--

Folds his arms.

"That's your answer." He states, absolutely calmly. Despite that this revelation is... pretty unsettling.

Garrot absolutely facepalms, smearing blood across his forehead and brow. The sedatives have him a bit on the physically and emotionally numb side of things, so he... doesn't notice and wouldn't care. Yikes. But he sighs before peering through his fingers at Xaljim.

"Nothing's easy, is it?" The sarcasm is strong enough to kill the first three monsters on impact alone. "Fly a lap around this place and figure out who's here and where. I'll see if we can catch a ride." A hand fishes a phone out of Garrot's pocket before he repositions himself onto his knees. Looks like someone's ready to get moving despite heavy sedatives.

"Go." But it's clear he's not interested in wasting time on further questions. At the same time, he begins typing out a message to the monster behind that Unknown Number.

"Any chance you can teleport me around this garden place? Trying to avoid being on my feet right now. Doctor's orders."

The Weather

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