Descent into Darkness

[bravenewmods]

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.]

Comments

[incousinswithyou]

[that...nets you a palpable sigh. It's not exactly loud, but at least it's something.]

No? Neither have I.

[she turns to summon her Rapidash, and then lithely swings herself into the saddle. Her Gardevoir suppresses an eyeroll and daintily teleports herself to perch behind her Trainer. Meanwhile, Rapidash snorts at the big fire dog, ears pricked forward in interest.]

She was right next to me. [this is probably revealing more of herself than she'd ever want]

[faithfulflame]

[A sign, at least. Rei nudges Casius again, and they start trotting forward, heading who knows where.]

Well, she'll turn up, you know. She wouldn't leave you. It's just this cave.

[There's something off about all of this, especially Michiru's despondent attitude.]

[incousinswithyou]

[well, she isn't about to disagree with that. Rapidash settles into a trot, side-by-side with Casius. Michiru isn't too sure where the destination actually is, but going forward seems better than just standing around.

A bit dryly:] Someday, we'll explore a cave that's only a cave and nothing more.

[the part that's gnawing at her is that she doesn't actually know what happened. Is it another illusion? Is Haruka hurt? What happened? At the end of days, will she be alone?]

[faithfulflame]

[See? Was that so bad?]

Someday, we'll all own a house made of candy as well. I'm done with caves after this. I am so sick of this.

[The cloying feeling from Michiru isn't lost on the empath, though, and as they head down the ruined street, she feels the urge to say something.]

Quite frankly, I'm surprised she hasn't clawed through the illusion to get to you. Haruka-san is relentless. And you just saw her, right?

[incousinswithyou]

[that's a quiet laugh from Michiru. Gardevoir gives her Trainer a sidelong glance, but otherwise keeps her face neutral.]

She's fine, I'm sure. She's the better fighter, after all. [at least when it comes to pure strength.

The street and the buildings only seem to degrade more the further they go, throwing out sharp shadows thanks to some unseen light source.]

[faithfulflame]

She is.

[If you need a wrecking ball.

The light source draws Rei and Casius up short, and with a tug on his fur she pulls him to one side.]

I don't like the look of this.

[incousinswithyou]

[she...wouldn't disagree with that term either. But hey! That's her wrecking ball.

Michiru and Rapidash follow suit, even as the light flickers and a roiling blast of dry heat hits them.]

That better not be what I think it is.

[if she's not going to talk about it, why not remind her of that other time Haruka got hurt?]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei freezes in place at the sight of the approaching god. She'd seen the pictures, but it'd appeared less than two weeks after she'd started training...she hadn't engaged.

But she had studied it.]

...I really, really, really detest caves.

[Already tapping her Warp Band though. This was a known quantity, and she actually had a team now. Deimos appears, already building up a Reflect wall, and Ariel isn't far behind, the little Pikachu prepping himself for a fight by slapping his cheeks to psych himself up. And then there was Argyre. The Marrowak watches passively, twirling his Bonemerang...]

[incousinswithyou]

[steel and fire. Michiru's Gardevoir is already bristling, though she adds onto Deimos's Reflect with a Light Screen. Rapidash shakes her mane, snorting and pawing at the ground.]

We really should just stay above ground at all times.

[and she's summoning a Corsola and a Vaporeon. As it makes its way down the street, the slow moving god inspires that same sense of awe - almost. The panic it's inducing seems muted, almost diluted. Her Gardevoir seems surprised, though a glance at her steely eyed Trainer seems to confirm her suspicions.]

Carol, Earth Power. Martelé, Hydro Pump.

[faithfulflame]

Right.

[Rei gestures casually, letting her link to her Pokemon do the talking for her.

Ariel raises his hands and does a little dance, and an instant later a Surf is pounding towards the monster, joined not long after by a spinning bone!

Rei adds to this, since it's not particularly resistant to fire, ironically. A Flamethrower!]

[incousinswithyou]

[Heatran roars, steam rising from its body from the Water attacks. The Flamethrower, unfortunately, only seems to make it stronger.

It turns towards them, and sends out a Lava Plume! Gardevoir immediately grabs the slow moving Corsola and Teleports out of the way, even as both Corsola and Vaporeon use Aqua Ring. Rapidash simply absorbs the fire attack, mane and tail burning even brighter.

The rest of the illusion seems to have disappeared. Nothing but blackness all around and nothing but these few blocks of burning cityscape.]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei scowls and reaches out with her pyrokinesis, redirecting the Lava Plume to crash against their shields. Heat still hits them, but it’s not bad, not enough to even make her ruffle.]

Hit him again.

[Ariel’s dance continues, a pounding tide of water spilling forth, and a barrage of Psychic attacks and several more bones go flying at the creature. At least it’s 4x effective…]

[incousinswithyou]

[Heatran doesn't seem to feel the Psychic attacks, but at least the Surf and the Bonemerang seem to have an effect. It flinches and roars again, but this time, the roar turns into Metal Sound. Rapidash whinnies, ears flat against her skull in an attempt to block out the sound. Michiru's other Pokemon aren't doing much better, though her Vaporeon seems incensed enough by the noise to retaliate with another Hydro Pump.

Michiru grits her teeth and finally sends forth a Brine attack to follow up on that Surf. It's weaker than it was in real life.]

[faithfulflame]

It's the illusion. Go all out!

[Rei practically snarls as she puts more weight into her Psychic attack, reaching out to join hands with Deimos in one massive strike. Casius joins in now, Outraged and bellowing with anger at the sound. PUPPY SMASSHHHH!

More bones and more Surf, too. Play on those weaknesses!]

puppy smash sounds adorable, tbh

[incousinswithyou]

[Heatran takes another step forward. The heat roiling off of it is suffocating, while the steam all around makes everything hazy.

Another step, and then it finally buckles under all that pressure, sending it heavily towards the ground. The hate in its eyes is almost palpable, as it raises another leg and drives it into the ground. The fissures radiate out under their feet, but the ruddy red glow within them can't be good.]

One last time. [probably because magma is potentially fatal.

Michiru's eyes glow as she powers up Brine and coordinates Vaporeon and Corsola's Surf attacks. She spares a glance for the plucky Pikachu too. One, two...]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei nods, and immediately begins siphoning the heat out of the cracks, her own pyrokinetic abilities shunting it away. It may not help entirely, but it's got to do something...

And Ariel and all the rest? FIRE AWAYYYYY!]

[incousinswithyou]

[Heatran groans under the pressure of all the attacks. It just sits there, steaming a bit, and then the vision flickers, almost glitching out. Another moment, and then it disappears entirely, leaving behind nothing but some steam that's already starting to dissipate.

Michiru exhales, while her more excitable Pokemon cheer.]

Were you there when that happened?

[why isn't the rest of her vision going away?]

[faithfulflame]

When that god attacked Citadel?

[Rei shakes her head.]

I was not. I had been training less than two weeks. I didn't think it was a terribly wise idea.

[incousinswithyou]

Mm. That was a good choice.

[Rapidash shifts beneath her, feeling her uneasiness while Michiru sneaks a glance at the horizon again.]

It seemed invulnerable, unlike in here.

[faithfulflame]

Well, we are stronger than we were back then.

[It'd been a year, almost to the day.]

[incousinswithyou]

Are we? [voicing doubts is not a thing she does] It feels like we've done little but react, and badly at that.

[like that place with all the zombies and blood magic.]

[faithfulflame]

We've done what we can with what we know. We've definitely grown stronger, too. After all, we've started working together rather than separate, you know?

[Sanctuary was scary, it's okay to be scared...]

[incousinswithyou]

[heh. That's a small smile, and then she's mentally nudging her Rapidash to start walking. The other Pokemon start following, even as Vaporeon and Corsola start commenting on how ugly Heatran was.]

It is nice to have friends who can be relied on.

[going forward together, huh?]

[faithfulflame]

It is, isn't it?

[Because before you guys? She only had ghosts, birds, and the Kurain...]

[incousinswithyou]

[that's an exhale, and a bit of the tension seems to leave her. The scene reacts accordingly. The buildings no longer seem to loom quite that threateningly.]

I forget that, sometimes.

[imagine that. Caring about people (and Pokemon) outside of Haruka. There's a mental nudge from her Gardevoir. Michiru looks over at her faithful Pokemon and smiles.]