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upcyclingmod ([personal profile] upcyclingmod) wrote in [community profile] pedalbike2020-09-18 07:11 pm
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2nd Event: Choices We Make


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Arrival



Not all characters (known as Wickie, singular or Wickies, plural) arrive at the same time, surprisingly enough! That’s life for you. Some Wickies find their way to the island at a pivotal (or very mundane) point in their life, or even after or during their death.

Wickies who were standing or walking often find themselves entering the town South Sister, located on Lighthouse Isle, through an open doorway. Those that were laying down, or sleeping, tend to be found lying prone in beds, bathtubs, showers, couches, and similar places within the cottages on Cottage Row. There’s no rhyme or reason to it all! To Wickies familiar with the era, they will realize that everything looks as if it’s come from the ‘90s.

The house which a Wickie finds themselves within could already be occupied. This includes walking into a fellow Wicke, waking up in the same location, or accidentally scaring a room full of people with their sudden appearance.

Oops.

C-C-Changes

Thankfully the fog has gone down to what it was before, a slow creeping crawl over the ground. And too, the monsters of before are gone, leaving the town much like it was before. Well...close to what it was before.

For now the season's have changed, from a lingering summer to a cooler fall.

There’s new foods to try, even if some things like lattes cause people to slip into warm boots and tie up their hair, and soups make people curl up under blankets on the couch. And it also means decorations of all sorts, made of the leaves from the forest, orange, yellow and red things and...we can not forget...

Pumpkin overflow

Pumpkins! They're everywhere. Wickies will find pumpkins infused into all sorts of things, like coffee, ice cream, even spaghetti options! It's wild.

There’s also many jack o'lanterns. They have been placed everywhere in town, outside homes, and even small ones have been made into table decorations. The Jack o lanterns have very cheerful faces, and seem to watch Wickies every single move.

That is, until a Wickie bashes or otherwise abuses a pumpkin. That's when it changes- there seem to be more of them. Their expressions change to that of anger, sadness and disgust. None of them attack- yet. But their faces become more and more horrifying, as they follow the Wickie more and more- outside of the bathroom perhaps, or found on top of them as the Wickie wakes up in the middle of the night.

It shouldn't matter right? They're only pumpkins.

What a ride

Funny enough, with the pumpkin invasion, there also comes a dull colored horse wandering about the island. Its head is drooped, and it looks depressed and lonely. The horse is tame on approach and will accept pats and treats, even from those who are obviously not human.

But it also wants something, for all that it seems to be begging for attention. It wants someone to ride them, seems to even be begging for it with its big eyes. The horse will help Wickies to figure out how to mount; it will even stand beside the Town Center benches, rocks, or even go down in order to make it possible for the Wickie to get onto the horse’s back.

That’s when it changes. The Wickie is immediately wrapped in chains from their barrel to the Wickie’s waist. The horse turns a coal black and the Wickie’s clothing changes into that of a soldier's uniform, with a hand either holding a whip modeled after a human spine, or a jack o'lantern.

The Wickie cannot get off the horse on their own, no matter how much they struggle. As the horse moves throughout the town, they will go anywhere from a walk to a full canter, seemingly impervious to any magic or physical attacks. The same cannot be said for their unfortunate rider.

If the rider is hit, or simply in pain, the Wickie will feel an impulse that grows and grows until they scream a name of someone in town, someone they know.

And the named will drop, paralyzed. Paralyzed wickie are likely to die within minutes, more so if they are too close to horse and rider. The horse will happily trample anyone on the ground to death.

Even without the impulse, should the Wickie rider use anyone’s name, that person will drop, paralyzed, and unable to breathe.

There is only one way to possibly save the rider: scatter golden objects in their path. The horse will shriek, and promptly buck the rider off, before running away. Just make sure to catch the rider, or at least cushion their fall: they have no way of saving themselves until they hit the ground.

Heart game: confession

Current residents of the island may remember this particular beeping alert, and how it doesn’t go away, no matter what they do! That is, unless they open up the Heart Game, and answer the question.

Welcome back everyone! It’s so good to see you again! Now let’s play that game, Confession! And the question isssssss…

How do you celebrate the changing seasons! Don't be shy!
morgrim: (✦ 094)

[personal profile] morgrim 2020-09-29 07:58 am (UTC)(link)
[Look at you, boss, already settled in and ready for the moment when Shigure continues to prove it was a terrible idea for you to give him a position of power and expect him to do anything useful. Your faith in him is inspiring.]

Haven't been here long enough to start, but I'm sure you already figured that.

[Otherwise he'd be searching for someone to fight, but for the time being he's content enough to watch this. Though after a moment he shrugs a bit, the shoulder that isn't supporting Stormhowl raising half-heartedly before he settles.]

Seems like you've adapted well enough. Is Innominat around?
armati: (02.)

[personal profile] armati 2020-09-29 08:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Strangely enough, he hasn't deeply regretted it yet. Ensure that it stays that way.

That said, the question isn't one he's partial to; "is the Suppressor here", as though it's something that can just be asked like that. He doesn't look back over, he just shakes his head.]


No. Not as far as I can tell.
morgrim: (✦ 095)

[personal profile] morgrim 2020-09-29 08:12 am (UTC)(link)
[It gets a brief nod in acknowledgement as Shigure considers it. It's a bit of a shame that Empyrean isn't here, but it wouldn't change things much even if he was. Artorius and Innominat have work to do back home, and they aren't going to be particularly interested in fighting him until they're done with all of that.]

I'm guessing you don't have any ideas about how to get back just yet.

[He inclines his head a bit to indicate the pumpkins.]

Unless you're thinking appeasing them's gonna provide some answers?

[...and now we're back to This, Artorius probably deserves better.]
armati: (15.)

[personal profile] armati 2020-09-29 08:16 am (UTC)(link)
If you've any ideas yourself, I'll hear them.

[He has been here for five minutes.]
morgrim: (✦ 091)

[personal profile] morgrim 2020-09-29 08:19 am (UTC)(link)
[That's about what he was expecting, honestly...]

Nah, point me at a problem I can solve with Stormhowl and we'll be in business, but this is something you're better with.

[Because being dragged from your own world and dealing with terrible pumpkins is absolutely an Artorius problem. Yep. Definitely.]
armati: (Default)

[personal profile] armati 2020-09-29 08:26 am (UTC)(link)
I don't disagree.

[Wow.]
morgrim: (✦ 087)

[personal profile] morgrim 2020-09-29 08:39 am (UTC)(link)
[It gets a short, loud laugh from him as he adjusts Stormhowl on his shoulder.]

Look at that, it's almost like you've got a sense of humor!

[maybe one day you will actually crack a joke...!! no, that's being way too ambitious.]
armati: (10.)

[personal profile] armati 2020-09-29 09:09 am (UTC)(link)
[And that will get you a look and not much else, at least as far as that topic goes. ...As much of a look as he can spare, at any rate, seeing as he would prefer to know it if the pumpkin is going to do something unexpected, like biting him.

Anyway.]


I would suggest you remain vigilant, as little though you may truly need to. At least until we have our bearings a little more, and have become well accustomed with the way things are going to work.
morgrim: (✦ 092)

[personal profile] morgrim 2020-09-29 09:19 am (UTC)(link)
[He's absolutely not helping you if you get gnawed on by a pumpkin.]

Considering that these little guys are our welcome here, looks like this place is gonna be something else.

[Probably not a good or fun something else, but hey, maybe all the pumpkins will merge into a giant pumpkin daemon that can put up a fight.]

You don't have to remind me to stay vigilant, anyway.

[Another half-hearted shrug; it's not like he's the sort to ever seem like he's paying close attention, but that doesn't mean he isn't. This place really is quite different from what he's used to, after all.]
usurpurr: (pic#14334068)

[personal profile] usurpurr 2020-09-29 12:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[This is all sounding very pre-planned. Adora does have a tendency to over-think and over-strategize for every drill and evaluation, and she has been out here all day and night without Catra to distract her, so it's reasonably likely that there were fifty other assorted plans before this one and that Catra is now just receiving the final, polished version. So it's suspicious, but no more than literally everything else Adora's come out with in the last few minutes.

Catra's not convinced of Adora's ability to take on an entire squadron though, or of her claim to suddenly be a Princess, and she scoffs. At least right now, in this point of her life, she is used to being Adora's shadow. 'Where you go, I go' is right - except for when Adora takes off in the middle of the night without her.

Yeah, she's still sore about that.]


You're not a Princess. [How many times is she going to have to reiterate that? Catra misses her Adora already. The one that's a normal height, and who has a ponytail Catra can pull on when she's being stupid.] You don't even have any magic powers. What're you gonna do, flex at Shadow Weaver until she lets you go?

[She's getting agitated again, too many absurdities piling up. It'd be easier to accept it if Adora were suggesting the two of them go off on their own, but she's not. For whatever reason, she's stubbornly stuck on the idea of sucking up to their enemy instead.]

What about being Force Captain? Adora, we've worked our whole lives [so many days of endless training and tests, enduring life in the Fright Zone because their goal, together, is to rise up and lead the Horde] for this, and we're finally getting somewhere. You really want us to just -- throw it all away, and go join the losers?
Edited 2020-09-29 13:02 (UTC)
313_248_317_60: (Why‚ Connor?)

[personal profile] 313_248_317_60 2020-09-29 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[The file transfer is substantial. Connor passes along his observations of the island's size, technology, and local species, along with a fairly thorough list of hazards. The creatures that had formed inside the houses. The whispers and manipulations in the fog. Some data (like the "ash sharks") is reported as clinical notes, but a few memory files are included, as well as a transcript of all unsecured conversations with Admin.

It's much more efficient than reciting all of it aloud. But Connor's curious about this android, and as long as they're connected already...

IG-11 will feel a brush of contact through the interface: a mental probe, skimming his code structure and memories.]
swordjock: (215)

[personal profile] swordjock 2020-09-29 02:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's even worse when both sets of parents have totally normal names. Like damn, okay; don't typecast your kid or anything. ]

Okay, sure. I can do that.

[ Adora nods, and considers leaving it at that... but if she's promising to do something, she needs to know what to actually look out for. So, as much as she prefers trying to figure things out on her own (she knows there are a lot of things she doesn't understand yet, and she's trying really hard), she bites the bullet on this one. ]

What's a lollipop? It, uh... kinda sounds like it explodes? [ The whole pop part. ] Not that I'm judging! Explosives can be a useful tool for military operations. ... Is that what you need them for?
swordjock: (182)

[personal profile] swordjock 2020-09-29 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)
I do so have magic powers! [ She protests, wondering why it suddenly matters to her. (Obvious answer: because it's Catra saying that she doesn't, and Adora always gets competitive when Catra is involved.) ] Just look at me. I can punch things way better like this.

I mean, I was already good at punching, but— watch.

[ To demonstrate, she takes a few steps back, gets down on one knee, and smashes her fist into the ground. It leaves a crater far larger than just the initial impact zone around her knuckles, huge cracks fanning out for at least a foot in every direction, and Adora raises her hand to show the complete lack of damage to herself. ]

It's not worth it, Catra. [ The suffering, the pain... the whole actually being evil thing, but she knows that doesn't have the same shock value to Catra as it did to her. Maybe they could change the Horde from within, eventually, but it would take too long. Adora can't go back to being a part of that terrible machine. ] We'll still have to take orders from Shadow Weaver. From Hordak. It could be years until we're in charge. Do you really want to go back to that?
beskarad: (Mont Blanc)

[1 / 2]

[personal profile] beskarad 2020-09-29 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[> ACCESSING ARCHIVE...

Within the most recent memory you are able to access, you find yourself on a raft, floating along a current with several other passengers. The way the tunnel is lit up, you're able to determine that it isn't water that surrounds you, but a river of lava. There's light at the end of the tunnel that grows steadily larger as your raft continues along. But judging from the way the passengers are positioned - a muscular woman armed with a heavy repeating blaster, and an older man with blasters in each hand - it's clear that trouble awaits them on the outside.

"Listen," comes a muffled voice from in front of you. Your optics focus on the Mandalorian hunter, on the child in his arms. "You're not going anywhere. We need you. Let's just come up with a - "

"Please tell me the child will be safe in your care," you interrupt. "If you do so, I can default to my secondary command."

"But you'll be destroyed," is the Mandalorian's horrified rebuttal.

"And you will live," you say. "And I will have served my purpose."

The Mandalorian's face is obscured by his helmet, but the pain in his voice is palpable. He's in obvious denial of the situation at hand.

"No," he protests, insistent. "We need you."

"There is nothing to be sad about," you remind him. "I have never been alive."

"I'm not sad."

"Yes you are. I'm a nurse droid. I've analyzed your voice."

The Mandalorian doesn't respond, which you take as a silent acknowledgment that your assessment was correct. You extend a spindly mechanical finger and tenderly run it along the child's ear as one last farewell before you disengage... and step off the raft.

What remains of your neural harness is shrieking in protest as the lava comes up to your knees. The older man yells after you, and your party can only watch in horror as you begin your slow trudge towards the mouth of the tunnel. The sensors in your head are blaring warnings. What is pain, if not an identification of harmful stimuli within your environment, and your self-defense systems urging you to avoid it?

It's a long, arduous journey, but eventually you make your way outside... A battalion of men in plasteel armor await you, their blasters raised. You do not fear them. Not when you've come so far already.

"Manufacturer's protocol dictates I cannot be captured."

A panel on your chest slides open. A detonator within starts to whine. The men in armor can only stare in what must be terror, realizing now what's about to happen.

"I must be destroyed."]
Edited 2020-09-29 16:42 (UTC)
beskarad: (Brau 1589)

[2 / 2]

[personal profile] beskarad 2020-09-29 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[It isn't the icy cold hand of death that the RK800 feels next. Rather, it's IG-11's other hand, which clamps down hard over the HRD's wrist.]

That is enough.

[His modulated voice is firm, but civil as ever. The only thing that betrays him is his grip, which tightens with an alarming strength one might not have guessed this wiry machine would be capable of.]

This was not a part of our arrangement.

[Make no mistake, IG-11 isn't interested in escalating this any further. But if the RK800 continues its probe, IG-11 won't hesitate to do what he must.]
Edited 2020-09-29 17:15 (UTC)
sassery: (our enemies shall fall)

[personal profile] sassery 2020-09-29 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[He snorts at the commentary, but can't keep the amusement out of his tone.]

I really don't want to know what kinda costumes they'd give us, pal. No offense.
sassery: (we will be as one)

[personal profile] sassery 2020-09-29 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
theres a reason i brought headphones to that shit
it put me to sleep a lot of the time

okay, never heard of a BOW
but demons are real here for sure
fought a lot of them and killed a lot of them too
id fight a BOW no questions asked tbh

ill remember that
always good to have people to go with
p sure a lot of us are trying to get home but
its not exactly easy
from what ive been through at least
grice: (pic#14275802)

[personal profile] grice 2020-09-29 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ hopefully it was the good rk800 ]

Not a lot . . . We don't even know what they look like. [ if they're a he in the first place. ] They know everything about us. When I asked, they said we were here for our own benefit . . . [ he didn't know how to feel about that, and continues. ] Things change around us depending on what we want or feel. Collectively works best— and bad things happen if we feel negatively.
unnecessities: (for another shot at life)

sandalphon | granblue fantasy

[personal profile] unnecessities 2020-09-29 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
coffee break
[Sandalphon's world doesn't have fancy machines to make lattes with, so he's more interested in that than the actual lattes themselves, honestly—he's tried a couple of flavors, and they're all way too sweet or milky or both for his personal preference. They're good references for his own coffee shop back home, but now he's got like four lattes he's taken a sip from and nothing to do with them.

Might as well try to foist them off on other people.]


Excuse me. I've ended up with more of these than I can drink. Do you want one?

pumpkin slice latte
[Sandalphon's already had some...embarrassing reactions to Halloween in his own world, to say the least, but he's determined not to look like an idiot this time.

It lasts for maybe a few hours before he's pointing a sword at one of the pumpkins in the street. He hasn't resorted to attacking them just yet, but he's getting quite tired of the feeling that he's being watched.]


What's your angle here? If you don't begin to speak, I won't show you any mercy.

heart game
[Sandalphon might have been born in a lab, but technology isn't his strong suit, so it takes him a bit to figure out how to respond. Once he does, though, it's characteristically blunt:]

I'm still not sure I understand the importance this has to people, but I know enough that it's a precious time for many. However, I have no way of celebrating the seasons changing myself. It's something I'd like to learn about, given time.

wildcard
[if you want to do something else just make it up and I'll go along with it.]
Edited 2020-09-29 20:57 (UTC)
loveedition: (→manga | absolutely not.)

pumpkin latte........ sandy........................

[personal profile] loveedition 2020-09-29 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ryoko hasn't had the same feeling yet, not paying much attention to the pumpkins as more as decoration. Seems more festive than anything!

Which makes her seeing this guy pointing... is that a sword?! ]


...are you really threatening a pumpkin?

[ What is this guy's problem?? ]
flowertalks: (45)

it's no worries!!! i ended up being a lil slow too oops..

[personal profile] flowertalks 2020-09-29 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ well she certainly finds the company of questionable pumpkins easier to talk to than sephiroth, that's for sure. and while she's naive and new to this world, she isn't some damsel in distress who needs help with pumpkins. and not from him.

he seems strange to her, though. while she's really never truly met him, she knows of the immense danger he poses and that they're going to confront him, one way or another. but he just seems so calm right now. and telling her to leave pumpkins alone? is that really the sort of thing sephiroth worries about? ]


I am. What gave it away?

[ still lacking her usual sing-songyness. she just sounds on guard. ]
aviici: (pic#14332620)

pumpkins

[personal profile] aviici 2020-09-29 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Be careful. Judging from the look of things, you're heavily outnumbered.

[Does it matter when they're harmless? No.

But this guy's threatening fruit, so.
]
unnecessities: (in other people's dreams)

[personal profile] unnecessities 2020-09-29 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Listen, Lancelot summoned pumpkin demons once, so they could be in disguise. This is a perfectly plausible precaution to take.]

There's no doubt they're watching me...I haven't actually seen them move, but every time I turn around, they're looking at me again...!

[He makes a vaguely threatening gesture with his sword in the pumpkin's direction.]
unnecessities: (like buzz buzz buzz)

[personal profile] unnecessities 2020-09-29 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Tch...I'm aware. These look like nothing more than the low-level demons from my world, but...

[Well, this isn't his world, so he's got to be careful.]

...Even a weaker creature could take out a mortal with these numbers. Not only for myself, but for the sake of everyone else here...I can't ignore that they're watching me this closely.

[Gold of heart, dumb of ass.]
fogsong: (2)

[personal profile] fogsong 2020-09-29 10:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I honestly don't care. Drink, get fucked up, die, come back. Do you, you know?