bravenewworld | Descent into Darkness

Descent into Darkness

As the characters arrive, they will find what appears to be a rather deep cavern. Upon entering, the caverns are quite narrow, with twists and turns everywhere and different tunnels that all seem to be interconnected. As characters travel deeper within the caverns, reality around them will start to warp, they will start to see and hear things that aren’t necessarily there - images of old enemies, past failures, voices of condemnation, visions that strike at the soul and core of the characters. Once this begins, it will only increase in power and volume, demanding it be confronted, lest they be trapped within these caves forever.

[OOC: This event will run for a week. All characters who enter the caves will be subject to some of their deepest fears, darkest demons, and most abject failures. To overcome them, characters must help each other out, finding their purpose through strength of character and resolve to move forward. In general, these visions should require characters to come to grips with themselves. Illusory images and voices can and will appear and can take any number of forms, depending on what is most appropriate to a character. Additionally, characters may thread with each other and are encouraged to help each other out to overcome these personal demons. For those who wish to take part, they are able and encouraged to narrate their own personal demons, which will be on display for everyone who enters their thread. IC threads may be made in this post.]

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[ Noise comes and goes in waves. A cacophony of screams and the sounds of fighting all around. The pleas of the dying and the wounded. Thorin has to stop, sometimes, one hand to the wall of the tunnel, just to be sure where he is.

Swallows thickly, and continues walking. Stubbornness is the one thing that carries him now.

As time goes on, the noise subsides until all that's left is an eerie silence. At that point, he can often be found kneeling at the side of the tunnel, near what appears to be a body, or someone badly wounded. Most are human, but some are pokémon. Any words that pass between them are too quiet to hear without coming closer. ]

[ Jack startles a little, remembers he isn't alone - when he hears that man's voice it's like the whole world narrows down to this tiny thread that goes straight from himself to the Moon Man. but there are other people here, people that would— would help him if the Mage tried anything. people that he has to be careful not to hurt. Baby and Duskull are here, too, and he had even forgotten them. he needs to be more aware of his surroundings, or all of his efforts at self-control will be for naught.

pulling himself together under a veneer of bravado, Jack scoffs. ]

Yeah, and someone that's meant to have those answers. If he was the real deal, anyway. [ he raises his voice to the tunnels: ] If I'm so stupid, why don't you just tell me, huh? Enlighten me!

[ a man steps out of the shadows off to the side, and Jack whirls around, scrambling back so quickly that he nearly trips over his own feet. ]

Enlighten you? That seems a poor choice of words.

[ there is something wrong about the man as soon as he is given more than a cursory glance; he lacks... detail. he is dressed in white, draping material with a hood that obscures his face - but it shouldn't be that obscured. everything unique that a person would be able to use to identify the man with is absent. it's hard to pin down anything about him, a visual effect similar to trying to catch smoke with your bare hands; whatever observations the eye tries to make simply slip away before they can register with the mind. even his clothes are bizarrely plain, nondescript. it is a reconstruction torn from the most vague of pain-addled memories, after all.

this doesn't seem to matter at all to Jack, who takes a breath of air so harsh it seems like the gasp of someone who has narrowly escaped drowning. ]

It's not him, [ Jack insists, frantic and croaky. he backs up until he hits the cave wall, staff clutched like a lifeline. ] It's not, there's no way. So what the hell is happening here?!

[ Totsuka likewise startles as the stranger takes shape, but he's got no reason to be as frantic as Jack. Kotori flaps her wings and screeches at the figure, which might translate as You better stay away from them!, but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Totsuka looks from Jack to the man in white, and steps toward the stranger, tilts his head to see a little further under the hood. ]

It's not. I'm not even sure he's got a... a real face under there. [ And any seriousness evaporates for a moment. ] You know, you actually look a little ridiculous dressed like that.

Hm?

[ Haruka has been focused on trying to find a way through the caves she has a hunch are still here beyond the ruined cityscape. But when her partner stops, placing Haruka a few steps ahead, she glances back over her shoulder. ] Michiru?

[ Her Pokémon pause too, World Shaking rumbling as his own head turns. Looking behind himself still gives him such a thrill. Rhyhorn can't do that. ]

"That sort of thinking is no different than the Magi," Waver murmured under his breath, hand flying for his Warp Band while he assessed this woman further. Those were genuine pokeballs she carried at her side, but the team-- besides the Hitmonchan-- was very different from the one Yuuna was using.

"And that's an unlikely fate anyway," he added, finally looking 'Yuuna' square in the eyes with his own blustering certainty. "Gigas seems to have some respect for Union right now. There's no reason for them to invade you. You're too far-- it's a stupid strategy!"

Glancing at the Yuuna he was familiar with, he shook his head. "Don't listen to her. I don't think she's even friends with her team."

[A cave was not Xiu's first choice to go exploring in, but her curiosity got the better of her. As she descended, she began to regret that choice. Traveling alongside her was her oddly coloured Meganium, who seemed to stop every five seconds as if examining every last crevice of the tunnels.

This was one of the few times that Xiu looked like something was haunting her, and she wasn't playing her music. She was...a bit distracted. She could hear screams, crying, the sound of an enormous wave closing in. She actually jumped a bit when the voice of a woman rang out.]

Run!

[ This kid's got a saying for everything. Haruka does smirk, closing her eyes. It's annoying that he noticed, but he's right. She's not going to get them out of here if she isn't able to let this all just waft over her. If she can't become the wind, blowing through everything, unchanged. Unchained.

When she opens them, she thinks she has a hunch. ] This way.

[ You can stay, kid. For now. As long as you're not opposed to take a "street" headed down, deeper into the broken landscape... ]

I don't think it's responsive.

[ Not to what they're saying, anyway. The next whisper sounds like the speaker is very close to Yuuna's head - or is it Haruka's? ]

{{ Everything you've done will be for nothing. }}

[ Rushing Wind gives an indignant squeak at that, pulling herself up and joining the outward-facing circle of humans and Pokémon. Excuse you, mystery voice! Whoever you're speaking to, their Trainers have taken them in! She likes herself now thanks to Trainer! So that voice can just go bother someone else!!

If it's possible to stew in a huff and flap in place at the same time, well, she'll do her best. But that also means she misses the cold wind beginning to waft along everyone's ankles... ]

That doesn’t mean I can’t talk back to it.

[Yuuna’s voice is low, almost scratchy, and full of anger. She cannot abide statements like that. A fatalistic attitude? Emotional battering ram? No, thank you. Drawing herself up straight, she focuses on Haruka now, one hand dropping onto her shoulder solidly.]

It’s just trying to scare you, Haruka. Whatever it is, it’s not real, and none of what it’s saying is true.

[Failure is not an option. And as much as she feels Haruka probably should focus on the threats of the world…this was probably divine, and therefore a manifestation of her fears. Something Yuuna doesn’t think is likely, that the gods really want another war.]

[ He really does have a saying for everything. He's also completely right a maddening amount too. You can blame his mysterious and wise grandmother for it.

He's perfectly fine following in silence, because for all his many sayings, Tendou's also a man of action. He does wonder where exactly she's taking them, if it's a specific place in what used to be Union City or just going in deeper for the sake of going deeper, but he doesn't ask.

He'll find out when they get there. ]

[ Haruka's staring hard at everything they pass, trying to see through it - is this an illusion? The future layered over the present? She doesn't know, and more importantly, she doesn't know how to make it stop. Assuming she needs to make it stop to get to...whatever's worth discovering in these caves. Maybe if she just keeps walking...

It seems to have no shortage of Union to show her, silent and barren. She passes what used to be the Rhyhorn racing arena and is now little more than a dry circle of stones before she takes a breath and speaks to her companion again. ] Why did you ask if this might be yours?

[ Insofar as ignoring this trick is concerned, it doesn't matter. But if other people are plagued with visions like this even outside of the caves, that's something Haruka needs to know. ]

“Sinbad,” Yuuna says flatly, squeezing the young man’s shoulder and stepping up to stand beside him “Don’t listen to these things. They’re just phantoms. They’re trying to rattle you, that’s all.”

Her jaw sets belligerently, and she shouts back to the voices.

“Leave him alone, whoever you are. I’ve seen this kid at work, and he goes out of his way to help pokemon. He’s not that way, not at all! If trying to heal things and make things better for everyone is wrong? Then I don’t think I want to know your definition of right.”

A cold laugh echoes through the corridor as Yuuna finishes speaking, steel laced with malice, a cruel twist to the sound. It’s not a merry laugh, not even close, and it’s enough to set the Ranger on edge herself.

“Pretty words, from someone as selfish as you!”

“Yeah,” the real Yuuna quips, taking a step back towards Hayato and away from the aggressive looking version of herself. Tiredly, she looks the photographer up and down and grumbles to herself, “I should learn my lessons better too.”

“But” the shade adds casually, plucking a Pokeball from her waist and rolling it in her fingertips, “You never will, not unless you set aside your moral quibbling. You can’t change anything as you are now. ”

The woman freezes, slowly looking back.

“What’re you talking about?”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet? Look around you. Where do you think we are? Union? Hah, that place is a relic of the past. I left when Gigas came through, I knew better than to challenge them. They were strong, and I, no…you, were weak. They did eventually catch me, and that’s when it happened.”

The shadow holds up a fist, surrounded by a blue-white glow. Electricity buzzes and snaps, crackling along her bracers and up her arms like some sort of weird Ekans.

“I reached out, and I took what was mine by right. And I used it to carve out a place for me. ISN’T THAT RIGHT, BOYS?!” Her voice rises into a thunderous shout, and the audience explodes into cheers and applause. They chant her name, Yuuna, Yuuna, Yuuna and some add in titles. Backbreaker, Goddess of Victory, Hammer of Gigas, Thunderfist, and other even less flattering names with some lewder connotations.

[ Haruka nods, her own voice little more than a whisper. She'd be lying if she claimed these weren't the sorts of things she refuses to even think about, but that's not just a defense mechanism. Nothing will be gained by standing in place. That's how she lives. Being (potentially) peeled open like this is more annoying just because it's happening than for the content. ] I know.

[ The images shift. A shadow rises up over what's left of Union - a wall of water and a glimmering behemoth riding it, controlling it. The waves threaten to sweep everything away, so nothing is left of Union. Nothing marks anything once lived here.

The voice insists: ] {{You don't matter.}}

[ World Shaking shrinks against Haruka. Water. He thinks. Is that. Water. He doesn't like water. But blatantly borrowing her memories was all Haruka needed to confirm that whatever's pulling the strings is targeting her specifically, so she laughs. Once. Seeing the first fall of humanity really did affect her that much, didn't it? It really had shaken her confidence. Maybe even Yuuna'd sensed it - she's a good judge of character.

But Haruka's appreciative of others' support more than she knows, and she's a pain in the ass when people she doesn't like doubt her. "Nothing stops her" from talking back, huh? ] I'll be the judge of that.

[ Too bad there's still a wall of phantom water headed right for them. ]

[ Tendou threw his head back in thought, wondering how much exactly he wanted to tell. ]

I used to live between Caldera and Gigas. It was a small tribe, not even really a village. There's nothing there now, it got completely wiped out. [ He wasn't sure by whom. It came flying in from the sky, probably a Pokemon, possibly just artillery. He suspects Gigas, but there's no way to know. ]

I have a new home now, and I fully intend to protect it. [ Which is why a failure to do so would be amongst his worst nightmares. ]

[ Modern reasons, then. Haruka...can't exactly be glad for him since everything he knew had still been wiped out, but at least he hasn't also been having dreams of the last apocalypse on top of that.

She nods, easily able to imagine how anybody in Gigas's way could fear something like this happening, no gods necessary. Humanity makes it very hard for her to defend sometimes. ] That's admirable.

[ He has a goal. He has resolve. She has....no idea where they're going, as the path branches off here and levels off. One path is strewn with more rubble than the other - it'll be harder to travail, but that also means something bigger passed through it.

Haruka slows to see which path the guy looks inclined to take. If they're stuck together, she might as well get an idea of what he's like. ]

“He’s right. We are too far away,” Yuuna says with a shake in her voice. Her body is tense, words strained as she reels at the possibilities of this. Gigas invaded? The Warp Bands are gone? Pokeballs are the only way? Kamui growls, the Gabite stepping forward to form a barrier. “And I’d never…use those things.”

“Wouldn’t you?” her twin hisses, “You did in Sanctuary. Ryuuko made these too, just for me, only…well, it’s not like it matters. They’re power, a means to an end. Just like this so called respect Gigas has for home. They’re just biding their time, amassing forces. Or did you forget that waiting is a sound strategy?”

The malignant shade grins nastily, squeezing the tough, leathery hide of the older Hitmonchan and the duo laughs.

“Weaklings can’t make a difference, and you’ll always be weak unless you do something to change that.” Her hand rises, covered in electricity still, but her eyes are heated, almost challenging.

“I…what?!”

[Oh…holy heck. What is this thing?! Yuuna’s eyes go wide at the sight of the primordial titan. It’s a massive thing, that beast, and it’s coming for them. Is this what Haruka’s afraid of? Is this what the fearless one is really scared of? It seems like it, the way she’s acting. It’s not easy to read Haruka Tenoh, but it isn’t impossible. Yuuna’s good at that, she knows, and she’s spent a lot of time with the blonde racer. It helps that she’d seen her upset before, when she’d been caught out on the Divine Defense Force.]

It’s just some trumped up Wailord, Haruka. Aren’t you some sort of guardian against the gods? This isn’t going to happen, not we have anything to say about it.

[Yes, we. As much as she’s afraid of Gigas and that looming conflict, Yuuna’s pretty certain that if the gods came a calling she’d fight back too. She snorts and gives Kyo an appreciative look before tapping her warp band. Sorry buddy, you’re the wrong choice here and you’ll get hurt. World-Shaking knows the score. The Tyranitar nods in understanding and with a flick of a button the kaiju vanishes, replaced by Susume. The Dragonite doesn’t even hesitate. She steps in front of her trainer, flanked by the two young dragons.

Both of whom begin to glow.

Yuuna’d known that Kamui was close to evolving, but Kuina? The little Shelgon was definitely a pupal form of something, like a Pupitar. But it was a new species, so she had no real idea about when it’d evolve. Just that if it did, it would evolve slowly, like all dragons. Her eyes go wide for a moment as she takes in the sight, though that’s a short lived instant as the Garchomp and Salamence join the Dragonite in a defensive wall for the humans. Mouths open, blasts of energy tear across the space to combat whatever that god phantom was trying.]

May as well go down fighting! Because we do matter. We can make a difference!

[With a leap, she’s on top of Salamence’s back, sword out and hurling lightning bolts from the tip. Because heck, what else could she do?]

It's only natural. This is my world, so I'll protect it. [ He means it in a slightly different way from most people. As far as Tendou's concerned, the world belongs to him. Not because he has plans for world domination, that's boring, but because as his grandmother said: Force the world to revolve around you, life's more fun that way.

Now then, there's a fork in the road, and it looks like the lady wants him to choose. ]

This too, is only natural. If you're going to adventure, make it a big one. [ And with a hop, he's going over the rubble. He might be relatively new to this whole Enlightened business, but he's still more than capable of walking a rough road. ]

[she doesn't seem to have heard. Instead, she's looking around, left, right, and even behind her into her bewildered Gardevoir's eyes. Neither of them seem to be able to see Haruka or World Shaking.]

Haruka! [and Michiru is pushing forward, walking right past you.

It finally looks like she's tensing up.]

Waver grit his teeth, infuriated to hear that kind of logic coming from someone who had the face of a woman that he had complete respect for.

"That sort of linear, closed minded thinking is what causes all these problems in the first place!" He bit out the words, eyes flashing in a frustration that only someone at the very bottom of the chain would understand. "There's always more than one answer to any problem, and the people like you who don't see that are the ones who prevent progress from being made!"

Lifting a hand, he pointed an accusatory finger at 'Yuuna'.

"Powerful or not, people like you stomp all over people to get what you think you need. I may not have spent much time in the city yet, but that is the complete opposite of what Union's philosophy seems to be.

"...the Yuuna who helped me when I first arrived in Union is smarter than that. It's a pity that you're too blind to see it."

"Union's dead, Waver. Union died because of soft-hearted people like her." came the immediate answer, a finger pointed directly at the real Yuuna. She flinched back, surprised to be living through this yet again. It was like the dream world, only the stakes were different.

"People like her with their philosophy and their kindness. It's because of that that they were such easy targets."

The crowd began to shout, chanting and calling out various names. Intimidating ones, titles this woman had obviously earned. Thunderfist, Goddess of Victory, Hero of the Arena. And other ones too. Lewd ones, laced with meanings that Yuuna doesn't even want to process.

"I...holy hell. Are you what I'm supposed to become?"

The double offered a scathing look and mouthed Obviously before drawing that battered old sword.

"People like this brat are the problem. They'll just chain you down. Sometimes you have to step on a few people to get ahead. Waver, Rincewind, Haruka, Ami, all the rest? Hell, even Merrill. They're holding you back. So let me help you out. It's kinda like helping me out..."

She charged now, sword drawn, going right for Waver.

"Maybe not physically..."

But there are other ways you can be hurt. Morgiana watched Sinbad's obvious agitation with vague concern.

"You say that like there's something wrong with it...," Rise mutters before turning to Yukiko.

"Uh...I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm here. Whatever that is, it sounds like she wants to talk?"

Waver yelped, eyes wide in terror as he saw the glint of steel and the violence in the shadow's eyes as she lunged for him-- and promptly disappeared a mere heartbeat before the blade could strike him.

He landed on the opposite side of Yuuna, crouched in the dirt on his hands and knees and his hair in a disarray. His breathing was ragged as he stared at the two women, fighting through his own fear to recall the spell he had prepared for such a situation. A few muttered words and a flick of his hands later, a simple Reflect was cast-- it wouldn't be much, but it was something.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He finally shouted when he found the words to speak. Another second's delay and he would have been--

No, he wasn't going to finish that thought. Not here. Not now.

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