Cross Session Two[Closed]

[BurdenKing]

A smooth, featureless face faced the untempered and raw form of paradox space, the sound of resting and screeching horror terrors heard in the distance as they kept their distance from the lone palace that had entered their realm without warning. A massive figure stood at the edge of the white stone, watching three large screens that showed him scenes of failure, near victory, and tragedy.

“Tch, another failure. Another bunch of losers who, despite everything I gave them, couldn’t take it in the end.”

The figure held a small laptop, the device dwarfed by his massive hands. “I had such high hopes for them too.”

“Well Master, perhaps you should have let their team stay the same, instead of switching them out so much.” Said another voice, this time of a smaller feminine figure that stood beneath a carried parasol. A few brief sparks of red electricity were seen as she stood next to the giant.

“Aw come on Miss Sol, I’m trying to have a moment here. ‘Sides, it's not my fault i kept finding them better players. I was helping them honestly.” The Master said, the edge in his words gone and sounding much less formal.

“Of course, and I assume having that murderous Troll join their team was all for their benefit sir.” A cold voice spoke, bringing back the formal air as if it had never left. The voice belonged to a more masculine figure, mirroring the feminine one on the other side of their shared master. He held in his hand a walking cane that was tucked underneath his arm.

“Seriously, You to Mister Mani? I thought you my bro.” The large figure said, turning away from the writhing paradox, suddenly appearing in a throne several meters away in a simple blink. “Ugh, fine. So maybe I went overboard. So what, I’m allowed aren’t I?”

The two figures appeared once more at their master’s side, the feminine gently sitting down gracefully so she could rest under her parasol, and the male making a table and chair appear and elegantly sitting, crossing a leg as he picked up a news paper. “Not really, but then again you make the rules now it seems. Though speaking of which, that Lord English fellow seems to be finding his own way around the rules. Quite the clever little collection of bile and freudian mental instabilities.”

A giggle came out from the second, who had taken to sipping a warm tea cup of unknown liquid that seemed to rapidly change colors “I wouldn’t worry about him. While clever, he isn’t much of a threat with his little time loops. Just a raging monster with no elegance, unlike you Master.”


“Thanks Sol, though keep tabs on the shit anyways. A Lord of Time sounds like a threat, even if they’re incompetent.” The large figure waved their hands, and the three large screens rushed forward, floating before him as he waved his hand in lazy circles, channels on the screams rapidly changing to view different places and people “Now then, let’s begin setting up for the next game. I’m feeling confident with the next one.”

A tired sigh escaped the reading male “Well, at least someone is, I suppose Sir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five young children face destruction, the game they chose to play with those they care about has brought armageddon to their planet. It is up to them to save it all, by entering their game and winning it. They will fail. No matter what they do, who they are, or how hard they try, they will die, and all they care about will die.

That is, until an entity older than their universes found them, and took interest in them. As they enter their game, they are brought somewhere they were never meant to be, to be given a chance they were never meant to receive.

They stand in a pure white room, with a pure white table, pure white chairs they all sat in, and a being of pure white with a furred colored suit with accents of green.

The being had Only a single eye, no mouth, and hair covering the left side of their face. They were calmly reading a newspaper with one hand, until they seemed to notice your presence and nod. Placing their paper down, the let out a sigh and look towards you, their eye remaining closed at all time.

“Welcome to the game. Feel free to let out any screaming you haven’t had the chance to release yet. I’ll wait.”

[OOC : ALright guys, all five of you begin in this room. your guys were about to enter their game session, having done all that pregame stuff, only to wind up here instead of the game proper.]

[cocoaSmiles]

Azuria's eyes darted around the white room. But what appeared to everyone else as a room of pure white was simply a room with extra color. Outlining each entity in the area was a thin or large border of color. Not that many people would know that because it wasn't a common thing to see.

But that's what made Azuria so special.

Purple speckled eyes darted around the room, taking what very little there was. Trolls and... Things. Beings. Pink beings. Her ear fins fluttered furiously for a moment, cheeks puffing up as if she was preparing to scream, but she didn't. She let out a huff of air and skipped over to the table, taking a seat across from the man.

She sat cross-legged on the char, presting her hands on her ankles, "••• No thank you, the unpleasant sound of screaming is far too much right now and I fear the vibrations will send the colors into a tizzy. So, no thank you I say, good sir.•••" She nodded, her ear fins twitching a few times be for she tilted her head. Giving him a kind smile.

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

While this happened, the young female who looked to be of Indian descent, backed away slightly. She.. Where was she? Was she dead? Was this death? Had her Mother's smoking finally caused a fire and now she was dead!? She tugged on one of her lose braids, trying to comprehend what was going on.

She..She really couldn't accept that. Her face falling pale as she made her way to the table, looking closely at the being who sat there.

"A-are you.. are you the one who decides our faith? Is this the inbetween? Shall I go to heaven? I have done nothing but good watching after my mother. I do think my case can be seen purely!" She felt like she couldn't breathe. she let out a sad chuckle and lowered her head. This was a dream. IT had to be... It just had to.

[hereticalTophat]

After successfully solving the strictly green coloured rubix cube (not much of a challenge), the last place Luke expected to be was standing in a white room. He noted that he wasn't alone, and there was already way too many people in one place for his liking. Shrinking slightly away from the main pack, Luke decided not to speak up. He felt like he was going to scream, such as the man suggested, but deciding that it would be rude and also quite embarrassing if no-one else did it too.

Luke was surprised that someone was speaking. He turned to the first girl talking about colours, and it was unlike anything he'd ever seen. He'd seen pictures of his friends, and they were normal enough. From what little human contact he'd had he knew that people didn't have grey skin and had yellow-orange growths spurting from their skulls; and cute little fangs.
Were they vampires? Wasn't it always the squeamish and terrified guy who dies in those movies? He couldn't remember, too many things were going on at once.

Another voice. From a human. Probably a human. Maybe they were an alien too. Were they all aliens to each other? Conspiracy theories he'd so far neglected from a pot head he knew at some point were brought back all too familiar. Everyone is an alien! Trust no-one. Not even the masculine voice which was actually quite pleasant to listen to, despite the instruction it gave him earlier.

Wait did that other person have fins?
Despite his earlier tactic, he decided to speak.

"What's going on? How is this even possible? How do you have fins and are also not suffocating? Are those growths healthy? Is this still Sburb?"
He should probably stop being so irrational. And that girl who spoke of fate and dying and heaven and stuff wasn't helping soothe his nerves. Luke began fumbling for his inhaler.

[benignTenacity]

Begin at the End:

A young man with medium length hair runs across a misty forest, obscuring his vision, however he was in a hurry. His friend was in trouble and he needed to save him, NOW. As he ran, a consort in the form of a fox accompanied him and followed him up a spiraling staircase which brought him to a portal. This portal led to a house in a land where mountains and grass ran rampant. Panting from running for a long while he takes a fast moment to jump onto his shield which flew him in the direction of another portal. As he flew, he reviewed his pesterchat to see if the situation was any better.

Group Memo:

With the thought of almost ten minutes having gone by he jumps through the portal and heads into what seems like a vast cave system in hot pursuit of Josh... however as he ran in shield in hand, an odd energy started sparking around him, making the foxlike creature panic. With a quick reaction he captchalogued his companion, and the place he was in started to warp and change.. until...
__________

Seth appeared in the room with the others rather silently, watching and listening to their exchanges thus far, but before he could speak up another figure appeared in the room screaming.

"GET AWAY GET AWAY GE-" in a blind run while yelling he rammed right into Azuria, after jumping back up to his feet in a panic he looked around the room. "W-where the HELL??? Where am I?!?! Who are you peop- SETH!!!" as he yelled the familiar friends name he ran over to speak more directly. "Dude where are we?? This is NOTHING like the cave I was in!!"

Seth just shrugged  and sighed, walking past him to lend Azuria a hand to stand, looking over at Mister Mani, waiting to see if he had an answer for that. After a moment, Josh followed his gaze and looked over as well.

[BurdenKing]

The man watched as the children seemed committed to their chaos, not even bothering to unleash their confusion in the offered manner. Rubbing his temples with a tired sigh. He then tiredly pointed towards “Miss Daya, your questions first. In order: No, No, and if such a place exists, at this point you have a different destination. Your time with your mother is not for me to judge, and I don’t care.” He said matter of factly. He then turned his head towards “Master Luke, you are next. Once more in order: You have been brought here from your room, Possibility is relative, and skipping over the questions directed towards Miss Azuria, this is still Sburb...in a way.”

He then stood up and snapped his fingers, and in a flash of green light, everyone found themselves seated at the table. “Now, keeping with schedule, I will begin. Today you five decided to play a game with your friends. A game you heard was new and that no one had gotten to play yet. A game called Sburb to you humans and Sgrub to the trolls. Well, I only have two things to say.” He paused, folding up his paper and snapping his fingers again, a large screen appearing behind him which showed the five kids but in their sessions, playing the true game.

“By joining this game, you have called upon powers beyond your control, and have doomed the world you knew to destruction unless you claim victory and become gods of a new universe of your design.” The screen then began to depict death of players, destruction, and the slow decay of the game itself. “And second, you are all doomed to fail.”

The screen disappeared, and he was once more seated, having never made a motion to sit. Just suddenly being already seated. “Now this isn’t a prediction, it’s fact. In every timeline, possible and impossible, your session fails. It’s actually quite common, to the point that winning is a rarity. Countless world and races have been destroyed countless times due to the game, and your people, family, and friends are destined to join them.” He said, sounding bored as he spoke. He snapped his fingers and a cup of coffee on a small plate appeared before him “Would any of you care for a drink? These explanations tend to leave people needing a pick me up or some form of tonic.”

He began to drink his coffee calmly and politely, seeming to revel in the taste of it.

[cocoaSmiles]

A sudden tackle and Azuria's chair flipped totally backward, feet kicked up in the air she let out a slight grown. She was almost content enough to just lay there for a while, till a hand was offered by a stragner.. a pink stranger who had a strange color... Silver. Like a pretty silver purr beast, or, or.. uh. She couldn't think of anything at this moment other than that.

but as fast as it had happened her chair was back up and she was sitting ones more. And rather proper. She quickly folded her legs up on to the chair and gave the table a small pat watching a cup of tea appear in front of her. As if it knew.

Magic...:

She looked at the human who had questioned her, Fins fluttering and pushing back against the sides of her head as she wrinkled her nose at him, "•••I'm not some kind of guppy who has no idea how to breathe, thank you very much so! I also do not understand what you were asking in your previous question, what growths do you speak of?•••"

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

Daya found her self-sitting, confused but almost accepted it. She didn't mind sitting. Her head was light and the best thing at this moment was to sit. Didn't it help as the man explained what was going on.. that they were doomed? their friends? their homes? Their loved ones.. She shook her head covering her mouth as she pushed back from the table.

"I-I wish to go home!" She squeaked out looking around at the others at the table. She didn't like this. She had to be dreaming! Yes. A dream.

[hereticalTophat]

As Luke regained his proper breathing pattern, he glanced over to the two other humans who had joined. Okay, so they were mostly- if not all- human. Just... Four, regular humans and one cosplayer or something. Perhaps one player just really in-character, and they had played Sburb before. In any case, it was somewhat reassuring to see more regular humans than the grey-skinned one. It soothed his mind, and feel as if the conspiracy theories weren't quite as extreme as he first thought. With this in mind, he listened to what Mister Mani had to say. Usually Luke wasn't the kind of person to ask for something to eat or drink, but he did realize that he was pretty thirsty.

Right, priorities. World-ending, doomed timelines, yada yada.
"So that's it? Everyone we know is going to die and there's nothing we can do about it?" That was kind of a shame. Prior to this Luke had a friend over the internet he had yet to gather the courage to ask her out- and the dignity for when she said no. Also everyone dying wasn't the best thing in the world, but he had managed to gather his nerves since then.

As for the female inquiring about growths, Luke responded. "Sorry, I just hadn't realized that you were in cosplay... Probably. But I was referring to the things on your head- OH MY GOD DID THOSE FINS JUST MOVE?"

Although Luke would normally agree with the female human in the room, speaking of returning home, he was too busy flipping his shit about how someone managed to get their fins to move like that. That was not cosplay. That was crazy. Guppy? Like the cat from a game he used to play? That didn't fit the bill, Guppy was a cat. What was even going on?

He began backing up, resisting the urge to hyperventilate and staring incredulously at his surroundings. This was not okay, she had to be an alien. Everyone was an alien, even Mister No-Longer-As-Seductive-Manly-Voice-Man. "Can you just explain faster before I get a burst lung, Mr. Guy?" He looked pleadingly towards Mr Mani.

[benignTenacity]

Josh almost jumped back out of his seat after being warped for the second time, he hated that and he was starting to hate Mister Mani for doing it, and Seth sort of just sat there, quietly taking in the answer that was given. At hearing of their sessions fated demise Josh seemed to get widened eyes, and a bit of anger showed in them, and while Seths also showed acknowledgement, he seemed very.. neutral to this.

After Daya stated she wanted to go home, Seth wanted to say something but again Josh seemed to act first, standing up and putting his hands on the table as he spoke. "Same here! Look man, your tricks are fun and all but I think you're just bullshitting us here. You Kidnap us, and show us a screen where we all die? Expecting us to believe that we're all fated to die? I'm not exactly versed in the powers people get in this game but the whole "knowing peoples fates" thing seems rather random and broken don't you think?? And if we ARE fated to die, why the hell bring only some of us here???"

Seth wasn't even gonna bother trying to calm Josh down at this point, he merely shrugged and looked over at the other person freaking out. "Hey, relax, I'm sure hes getting to it. Want one?" he said as he took out a 6 pack of Koala Kola and took one out for himself, returning his shield to his strifedeck afterwards. He motioned for Luke to take one if he wanted to.

[BurdenKing]

Finishing his coffee and releasing a content sigh, despite having no mouth to do so in either case, he turned his closed eye towards Daya “I’m afraid that’s impossible. Your world is gone. Rendered a blasted hellscape due to the game you’ve activated.”

He then stood and pushed in his chair before standing straight. “However, to maybe calm some nerves, my master has taken an interested in games such as yours. So, in all his…’wisdom’ and….’benevolence’ he has decided to give you a….’chance’.”

He snapped his fingers, and a door appeared behind him, and five doors appeared behinds the kids, one for each of them. “You will play the game, but one where you won;’t be dragged down by your friends or the fates preordained for you all. Each of you gave your session the greatest chance possible for victory. In any other session, you might just have victory. If you step through the door behind me, you will work together to beat the game, and save all of your worlds and all of those you love. You’ll change your fates. That is, if you win….”

He turned away from the children, facing the door “You are not the first group my master has given this chance to, and you will not be the last. He doesn’t do this out of pity, or kindness. It is boredom that grants you this, and to this day, not a single group has succeeded. Failure and death met their path, despite the chance of victory being there.”

He then pointed to the doors behind the children “if you step through those doors, you’ll return to your session. To your friends, and be doomed to fail with no chance of victory. However, you’ll spend the last of your days with those you care for, fighting and dying at their sides.” he than suddenly appeared back in his chair, sitting and drinking a new cup of coffee. “Personally, I would go through those doors. I’ve seen players die gruesome deaths for the false hope my Master provides.”

[hereticalTophat]

He took one look at the offered drink, and then looked back up at Seth. 'Koala Kola'- ah, so it seemed that even in this universe we were at risk of getting copyrighted.

"Uhm, thanks." He took the soda, worked his way around the can-opening part and cracked it open; sipping the carbonated water that had a colour and taste similar to another drink he knew. A store brand one, that his Uncle used to keep in the fridge. He listened to Mister Mani explain his situation, the cool drink calming his nerves back to their regular position.

Luke decided to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, he more or less likely correct anyway. And besides, since this was technically part of sburb, perhaps this was simply meant to happen and he was the lucky one chosen out of his friends to be this 'special role'. Or, potentially a special role. Apparently he could just go back by entering the doors behind him, or buy into this little thing the game set up for a chance of winning.

Thinking analytically, who was he supposed to believe? Because his friends were back there, or at least the people he talked to a lot, but apparently that way was confirmed death and a game over? But if he went forwards, he would be without his friends, but would have the chance to save the world? It was a highly moral decision, so, he naturally had no clue what to choose. He'd probably just choose whatever the majority went for because he was an indecisive fuckw--

He turned to the (now!) screeching Josh, and considered his words a little more carefully. "It's probably just part of the game, uh... Try calming down and consider this decision? I don't really know you but I assume this might be multiplayer. It might just be a scripted event, actually? It might be happening to your other friends too as we speak." He offered. This was all just brainstorming for him, and a pretty interesting concept at that!

[cocoaSmiles]

Daya Shook her head, a hand over her mouth. Wide eyes and small pupils showed her fear. Horror. She didn't want to accept anything. This. It wasn't fair. It was a lie. They were doing just fine on their own! She shook her head. refusing to say anything. Not that she had any idea of what she could say.

Her body shook, was she angry? was she scared? Both? She could barely read her own thoughts. She got up out of her chair and walked around the table a few times, trying to find calm. To find her center again. She had to calm down.

----------

Azura sipped her tea, looking at everyone and taking notes mentally.

Screaming kid: Light green.. like a lime.

Calm kid with soda: Silver Purrbeast

The girl across the table holding her mouth shut: ... Light blue like.. water.

Kid panicking and wanting to also go home: Gold like royalty.

She took another long sip as she took in the information. On one hand, she could lose everything and everyone, or she could start a new world and save her home.. her hand shook slightly at the thought. Did she really want to save home.

"•••I do not believe returning home to be at the mercy of her high blood, wouldn't be a good choice for me. I do not wish to feel the pain that would be the snapping of bones or the life being drained out of me as I struggle for air.•••" Her fins twiched with discomfort of the thought. She closed her eyes tight as she spoak, she didn't want to have it happen. She didn't wish to return to the anger that layed beyond that door behind her.

[benignTenacity]

Seth opened up a can of his own and drank some as Mister Mani continued on. Waiting for him to finish, he promptly responded. "So according to the rules, beat the game as a group of 5, and save all our worlds as a result? Hm.. yeah, I think we can manage it, even if nobody has done it before. That being said, what changes should we expect in this game, versus the original we were already going to play? I highly doubt your master would go through this much trouble to simply see a different group of kids play the same vanilla game as always." he said, seeming not being bothered much.

Josh on the other hand, looked slightly defeated, this whole situation was really stressing him out, and he didn't know what to say or do. Was he really expected to believe this man, someone who claims they are all fated to die unless they follow along with this new gameplan? ... As the thoughts swirled in his head he saw Daya walk past him multiple times as she went around the table, at the third pass he waves over at her. "Yo uh.. you doing alright? I mean, this whole situation is retarded as hell but.. you look like its really bothering you. he said, hiding his own stress as he spoke.

[BurdenKing]

He turned to the (now!) screeching Josh, and considered his words a little more carefully. "It's probably just part of the game, uh... Try calming down and consider this decision? I don't really know you but I assume this might be multiplayer. It might just be a scripted event, actually? It might be happening to your other friends too as we speak." He offered. This was all just brainstorming for him, and a pretty interesting concept at that!

Mister Mani stared at Luke, listening him try and talk down the panicking boy to his side “At the end of the day, you can believe whatever you want, because no matter what Master Luke, the decision remains.”

"•••I do not believe returning home to be at the mercy of her high blood, wouldn't be a good choice for me. I do not wish to feel the pain that would be the snapping of bones or the life being drained out of me as I struggle for air.•••" Her fins twiched with discomfort of the thought. She closed her eyes tight as she spoak, she didn't want to have it happen. She didn't wish to return to the anger that layed beyond that door behind her.

Turning his attention next to the young troll woman, Mister Mani snapped his fingers and had Azuria appear before the door that lead to his Master’s Session “ Then commit to your choice Miss Azuria. It may help the others decide quicker. I am on a schedule, one I’d rather stay ahead of.”

A cup of warm tea that smelled of honey appeared before Daya, with a hard but thick cookie next to it. Mister Mani impassively placed his sights on Seth.

Seth opened up a can of his own and drank some as Mister Mani continued on. Waiting for him to finish, he promptly responded. "So according to the rules, beat the game as a group of 5, and save all our worlds as a result? Hm.. yeah, I think we can manage it, even if nobody has done it before. That being said, what changes should we expect in this game, versus the original we were already going to play? I highly doubt your master would go through this much trouble to simply see a different group of kids play the same vanilla game as always." he said, seeming not being bothered much.

“Your Mistrust of my Master’s generosity and goodwill wise Master Seth. You may just have a chance here. No, you will not be playing a normal game. There is infact 5 others who will also be given this chance. However, their chance will stand against yours, for my master has declared that only one team may claim the grand prize that lies at the end of the game. He said it makes things ‘more dramatic’. Whatever you wish to call it, these people will stand in your way of saving your world and people as they attempt to save their own.”

Behind mister Mani, and infront of Azuria who had been teleported there by the entity, the door clicked and opened inwards, a rush of cool air rushing into the room as a great world with a terrain like a chess board was revealed. A faint ticking noise could be heard in the distance, and fires seemed to be erupting across the chess board planet.

Mister many turned to loook out into the void of space that lied inbetween the door way and the world below, and tapped his cane to the floor "Now children, are you willing to fight for your chance? To fight for the lives you love and care for? For your people and right to exist by cutting down the chance for another? Can you do this? If you can, step into the void with me, if you cannot, return to those you care for and spend what time you have left with them. Cherish them, so that your final moments are positive ones." Mister Mani took a step into the void, floating in space as he turned and waited for anyone to join him through the door.

[cocoaSmiles]

Daya accepted the tea, sipping carefully at it before giving Josh a half-hearted smile.

"I..I am just surprised. It's not a dream. It should be a dream because this is ridiculous. We shouldn't be here we should be with our team and yet, we are told our games shall fail, and our friends and loved ones WILL die. I just wish I was home with my garden.. Wish I never started the game. But now it's up to us to save them. And I don't want to let them down." she nibbled at the cookie, finding calm slowly.

Daya looked at Mister Many as the door swung open. Well then.. There it was. The end of the beginning.

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

Azuria's fins twitched at the feeling of the chilled air rushing past her. She didn't save her session and now was her chances to do so. She didn't know if she really was the only hope because she failed her pears at keeping the princesses calm, happy...

She looked back to the group, "•••I do not know about you fish swimming in your bowls idly in circles that appear endless. But This fish is getting her gills on, and going to make a mark.. Save a life and change a story. Good day! •••"

With Nothing to gain-- (and nothing to lose), She stepped forwards into the void.

[hereticalTophat]

He considered Mister Mani's words. Whatever he chose to believe would be false until proven otherwise. In which case, he went with the most logical solution which was his aforementioned theory. Given that the most logical answer was true... Then the only thing left to do was to act.

He wished he had more time to contemplate, to think, to ask questions. But perhaps it was better if he went in blind. Plus he was almost certain that Mister Mani was a busy guy, and had other things to be doing. Luke also didn't really want to spoil this, if his theory was correct that is. Maybe it was incorrect to assume his theory was correct? His Uncle always told him that he assumed too much, and when you assume you make an ass out of 'u' and me. In any case, it seemed like the cosplaying human with the rather dramatic backstory had already decided, as had the other girl.

It was time he followed suit.

"Not much else to do now but go through... I don't know what's going to happen once I do, but..." Giving himself time to hesitate would be an unwise decision, he thought. So he took a few uncertain steps forwards before steeling himself- and followed Azuria in to the unknown.

[benignTenacity]

Seth was pretty quick to join in after Mister Mani, seeming to just accept this new game a little easier than most people would've wanted to.. Josh on the other hand just.. stood there, unable to bring himself to move forward.

"Yeah I.. think I get what you mean.. uh.. person?" he didn't know Daya's name but he saw what she meant.. but one thing remained on his mind as everyone saw the door open.... why me..? I mean.. if he wanted someone like Seth I get it but... me of all people? he thought to himself, looking at his hands as if searching for an answer. Before long, he was bumped by Seth's floating shield, it looks as if it came over as Josh was lost in thought. Snapping out of his thoughts he looked up and noticed everyone else was already through the door besides the two of them. Grabbing the shield in one hand and Daya's hand in the other, he ran towards the rest of the group and through the door "H-hey, wait for us!"

[BurdenKing]

With the children having joined him in the void, Mister Mani snapped his fingers, and with a thunder crack, the door slammed shut and the children began to fall towards the planet. Mister Mani fell with them, but seem somehow capable of retaining his firm and refined posture as they all hurtled towards the checkered world and the ground, the being leaving a trail of green light behind him.

As they descended, they saw a streak of red some distance away, a group of four figures flailing and falling while the origin of the light seemed perfectly still, a white umbrella being seen. One of the flailing figures stopped their panicked movements, turning to face the children falling with Mister Mani. In a flash of movement, they grabbed something, and a crack was heard, something whizzing by Azuria’s ear and singing her hair. Mister Mani sighed, and snapped his fingers, making the descent even faster.

“When we land, you will find your inventory, however it’s organized, to be filled with the most common weapons and equipment your doomed temporal counterparts constructed early on in the game. Should save you time, and allow you to be ready for what’s coming.”

With that, the ground began to rapidly grow closer, until you could discern features of the terrain, then until you could see individual trees and rocks, then until you could see the individual blades of grass.

Suddenly, with a pop, you stopped falling, and found yourselves lying on the ground, the wind lighting howling as the faint smell of smoke and copper filled the air. Mister Mani was gone, and had been replaced with a small key placed on the ground, with a note attached to it.

“To the Children,

To start you off, and to teach those ruffians on the other team a Lesson, I suggest you head north, to the source of that smokey smell you’re picking up. There, you’ll find some direction.

Forcefully yours,
Sir Mister Mani”

As the children gathered their wits, the heard a thundering crack of what must have been gun fire, coming from the north where smoke and ashe was rising towards the sky. Overhead, a flying battleship that was snow white flew over, rocketing towards whatever was going on in the north.

⇒ GAME START!

[benignTenacity]

The First Land:

Seth quickly rose after the pop, as did pop. Josh yelled "Oh for the love of, STOP DOING THAT!!" obvious annoyed by the random warping of his position. As Josh outbursted Seth walked over to the key and picked it up, reading the note out loud, the crack of thunder followed the end of the message, and he looked over towards the source of the smoke and ash.

"So... we heading north?" he said while looking over at the source, and turning back to the group after questioning to see what everyone's stance was. The shield seemed to float over back to Seths side, making it apparent that it was some odd floating object accompanying him.

[cocoaSmiles]

Daya screeched as they fell, pushing down her viscose slub skirt. Her cheeks flush. With the sound of a gunshot, her head quickly turned towards the direction of the sound, spotting the group of others also falling. This had to be the other team. Landing she got up quickly dusting off and making her way towards Seth, feeling uneasy about the place.

The second gunshot making her jump, "Yes, let us head North...I wish to get away from here.she spoke, pulling up the edges of her skirt and turning around a few times, "Uh.. Ehem... Where to?"

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

Fins flat to her head she patted her head softly feeling around for the singed hair. and yet she just couldn't find it. maybe she wasn't looking hard enough but the close call didn't make her feel good about anything.

And Yet Azuria acted like she was fine and dandy with it. Her ear fins fluttered to shack off the sound, but as she turned to the others she couldn't help but yell, •••Aye! Guppies! Why are you all whispering as quiet as little mice hiding from a big old hungry purr-beast!? I would really enjoy it if you could include me in your conversations and keep me up to date on what the planes you are making maybe??•••

She tapped her foot, hands on her hips as she looked at each one of them for a moment.

[hereticalTophat]

After walking through the door and ending up falling- he screamed in abject terror as he made the descent. Flailing and screeching, he barely heard a word of what Mister Mani was saying as they fell. A loud sound went off- and he was no longer falling.

Oh god, he was alive.
Thank god, he was alive. This was a good thing. Something to cling to, to... He forgot where he was going in this but he had a feeling that being alive would be important. But now, to the matter at hand.

Finished hyperventilating, Luke read over the note left behind and then towards the smoke originating assumedly north from their position. He listened to his supposed team-mates and thought about it himself before coming up with an answer.

He supposed they had no other choice but to follow Mister Mani's advice, why would he even go through all the trouble to send them there only to kill them? Sounds illogical, ergo he spoke; "Yes, I do believe that we should north." As he spoke out his piece- the cosplaying lady spoke again. So he responded to her. "I didn't think we weren't including you in the conversation. A-any point you want to make is totally valid." He realized everyone didn't even know each other's names yet. Probably? "Uhh... M'names Luke by the way..." He added on the end, quickly and sort of quietly.

Luke was more distracted by his inventory, which appeared to have changed slightly. His hat had a torch strapped on to the top of it simply called 'HAT LAMP', and his wrench was now modified to be green and shiny with a little pink flower at the tip of it. 'BLOOM DOOM'.

[BurdenKing]

As they wenbt north, closing in on what may have been a battle, the team would have some time to interact with one another and get to know their fellow players. Of course, as they walked, Azuria's communications device, holding a rather odd version of Trollian she wouldn't remember ever installing, would get a little blip of a message.

You have been trolled by Analyticalroady:

[cocoaSmiles]

Azuria kept close, the blip of her Clam SHELL-phone caught her attention. She didn't remember adding this new app but she accepted it was meant to be and opened the messages to reply.

You have been trolled by Analyticalroady:

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

Daya eyed the.. Odd being with fins, she kept close to the humans of her group. She cleared her throat slightly before speaking.

"I am Daya. Daya Aurora. You all are??" She prompted a responce.

[benignTenacity]

Seth shrugged when Daya asked what we were going towards. "I don't know.. but there is a lot of smoke coming from over there.. maybe its a battlefield of some kind?" As he spoke he looked over at Josh who seems to have started sorting through his new inventory. As Luke spoke and mentioned introductions he smiled and responded after Daya did. "Seth, pleased to meet the both of you. My friend over there is named Josh, and.. well I suppose I should introduce her as well.." he said as he went into his Sylladex and retrieved.. a Creature of all things? The Fox-like creature seemed to be very spooked as it was retrieved and looked around frantically, hiding behind Seth after it noticed Daya and Luke. Petting her on the head, he finished by saying "Shes Karin, I believe shes a consort from my land."

After a few moments of rummaging through his new belongings, Josh looked over at Azuria, who was seemingly the only other one not a part of the group conversation. Well, at least not participating much. He walked to her and asked "Soooo.. real, huh?" he said, poking at her fins. "Thats pretty cool honestly." he said, trying to be as friendly as possible, probably invading some form of privacy by doing so.

[hereticalTophat]

Having the pleasure of knowing the names of the other humans at least somewhat soothed his fretful heart. Luke wasn't much of an animal person, although he slightly questioned the morality of putting a creature or 'consort' in someone's inventory (see Pokémon PC Boxes), but he thought foxes were kind of cool- so Luke was cool with Karin's existence.

"A pleasure to meet you both, I'll have to properly greet Josh and the cosplaying lady soon. But yes, it's quite interesting don't you think? All this. If anyone is an aspiring journalist I implore you to start writing." He spoke, absentmindedly letting loose a little nervous laughter to the end of his sentence to prove that he was not very good at small talk.

Also, what was that about other players, anyway? He had no clue what could possibly await them in the future. This game was going to be an interesting one for sure.

[cocoaSmiles]

"The pleasure is mine. Uh, Karin... Very interesting." She gave a small bow of her head and gave a soft, sweet smile. Though she felt off. Who wouldn't after all that had just happened.

"To be honest, I do not think we need to write anything...for the last thing, we should think about that when no one will ever read it if we mess up. No offense to anyone who wants to try." Daya rubbed the back of her neck, lowering her eyes. She just didn't think it was important at this moment.  

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

Eyes locked on her Clam SHELL-phone, that was the only reason she didn't see the poke coming, she was prepared to answer as the finger made contact with her fin and let out a squeak. she snapped her Shell-phone shut and let out a breathy gasp.

She turned quickly to Josh her cheeks dark purple, phone close to her chest. Her fins Flared wide as they came forward on each side of her head to appear bigger, scarier maybe. Lips pouting, she puffed up her cheeks, "•••How rude! Ask a lady to dinner before you go touching her without permission why don't you. How could a stranger do such a thing! A-and not even assigned to a quadrant even yet.  you forget yourself! Getting far too ahead of yoursel!•••"

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