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magisteriaexe2024-11-17 04:12 pm
magisteriamods) wrote in magisteriaexe2024-11-17 04:12 pm
Event #003, Part I: The Symphony of Disruption
🌠The Symphony of Disruption đźŚ
Part I: The Darkness
OOC Notes: Here it is! The game's first "Intense Event"! Some special notes for this event --
* Death is possible, and PCs can also kill citizens or creatures in the distrct. This event will have special revive mechanics which will be explained later, and PCs will not have to go through the usual revival process for an in-game death. "Light Sentinels" can even kill fellow PCs as a means of saving them, and this will be briefly explained to them, though the means of revival and specifics around this won't be revealed until the event's second half.
* For the corruption element: your character does not necessarily have to be corrupted. If and how they are is up to player discretion, as is the extent and manifestation of the corruption. They can just get lucky or manage to resist through will power, however you want it. Characters can be brought back to themselves by the power of Light Sentinel allies, or by the alignment switch Blessing from the game's third TDM. If you wish to engage with the event both corrupted and un-corrupted via separate prompts/TLs, that is Fine.
Dark City
Locals familiar with the Supernatural Undercity will tell the Otherworlders that, during the autumn and winter seasons, it’s not unheard of for Magisteria to feel different. The spookier residents have a way of making their presence more known, and those with spooky potential have a way of going… more feral. The succubi and the demon women of the Entertainment District are known to come with a lot more bite, and only the biggest of daredevils would be advised to purchase their services during the apex of the season.
It’s different from year to year, but these seasonal changes are always mitigated by the Authorities of each district and their powers. The spooky season in Magisteria becomes a respectful celebration of the diversity of the undead, demons, succubi, and other creatures, and both locals and Otherworlders are encouraged to cede respectful distance to those who may be experiencing enhanced primal urges during these months.
This year, something is different. One night, a darkness falls which overtakes the Bios in the Entertainment District and the bright corners of High Rise Village.
The darkness is as heavy as a tangible thing. At night, the stars and moon disappear. When day comes, the sky is grey as slate.
A Grey Day
When dawn arrives, those living in High Rise Village will begin to hear notes of music. Dissonant, eerie, chaotic: disruptive. A symphony composed of a cacophony of sounds. Moreover, different people may hear different tunes. The only commonality is the lack of rhyme or reason, the lack of cohesion.
The songs play and weave through invisible algorithms, beckoning to the district’s citizens to unleash their inner turmoil, and other sides of themselves.
Holograms appear informing residents to take shelter and advising of the safest locations within the district. For weeks, most of the people and creatures of High Rise Village have been migrating to Evergreen Terrace, entrusting their protection to Arwyn. The apartments are brimming, full, and busy. The streets, by contrast, are ghostly, empty, and disorganized.
But not everyone can simply wait in the apartments and ride out the storm. After all, if this is an attack, someone(s) has to form a counter-strike. So Enforcers and other members of Magisteria’s various law enforcement agencies and vigilante groups are out and about, along with others who are not afraid of a conflict and who have sufficient training for battle.
No one demands that Otherworlders leave the safety of the apartments unless they have specifically expressed a will to do battle or unless they have a specific role to play in stopping – or ending – what’s coming, but should they enter High Rise Village, they will encounter the Chaos.
Chaos Comes to High Rise Village
Everything has the potential to become or manifest a twisted version of itself. The people, the animals, the buildings – even those in opposition, such as the fighters and those aligned with law enforcement. Even they can be Changed and altered by the chaos in the district.
Of course, those with powers are using them to resist in various ways, relying on their forces of will, but it’s like the whole district is in a trance, a hallucination, or perhaps a simulation.
But if that’s what this is, it feels all too real.
Throughout the district, spider-shaped lepidoperatives on thin, silver webs jump and move about. They’re fast and small and difficult to spot. Connected to the invisible mechanisms of Phantom Cipher’s Manifestation, these metallic insects can affect everything they touch by planting tokens on them: known as void imprints, wraith marks, and eclipse sigils, these tokens can induce a being to manifest or become a phantom version of themselves.
I. Alignment Shift(ed)
Otherworlders, natives, and creatures may become, or manifest (or both) different versions of themselves. In keeping with the spookier time of year, this other version could be a werewolf, a vampire, a ghostly manifestation, or a cryptid, or it could be One’s Self, Inversed: there is no apparent rhyme or reason to what you may become or what you may apparate. There may even be more than one “you” at a given time, depending on how far the effects of the corruption tokens reach.
Affected Otherworlders may find themselves attached to the silver webs, becoming like puppets. You may find that allies are now enemies, or enemies are allies. Nothing is as before, and everything is thrown into Chaos. Your actions may no longer be your own, and what you do or whom you fight may no longer be your choice.
II. Mecha Monstrosities
The district pulses with cyborgs and phantom creatures, and those who, like Phantom Cipher himself, seem to be a mixture of both. The Fractured have returned. Only now, they are walking about in the daylight, or what passes for daylight in the corrupted district.
Androids with barbs and spikes patrol the district, and many are not shy for conflict. Like Lysa’s “pet,” Grimm, these androids are powerful and can regenerate a certain number of times when attacked. Some will attack on sight, and others may try to “play” with the Otherworlders, or with citizens or creatures in the district, whether the latter are corrupted or not.
Of course, alignment-shifted PCs may also be able to ally destructively with such entities. Those on the path of destruction may find common ground in trying to take down the infrastructure of the district.
III. The Party of the Damned
All around, people, organic and inorganic, appear with skull-like features. There may even be faces you recognize, from work, from the clubs, from elsewhere in the district. But now, their features have changed.
These skull-faced citizens of Magisteria insist upon partying just as they do within the clubs in the evening. They dance and sing along with the music, encouraging Otherworlders to join them.
If anyone speaks to them or asks what is going on, the answer is the same:
Nothing. Nothing at all. This is who we are, who we’ve always been. Why do you look so strange, Otherworlders?
This is the paradise city… the city of all our dreams. Magisteria. Light and Darkness.
Bios and Umbra. This is what’s always been inside all of us, all along. Inside of you all... inside of Everyone...
Are you only just now seeing it? But this is what we’ve always been. The skin hangs over the bones, but the bones are inside, underneath…
They move and move, like puppets, but with a strange sense of freedom nonetheless. Beckoning. Whispering. Just let it out. Let out what has been inside of you, all along. It's inside of us all. The darkness that walks with the light. Bios and Umbra. Look at what we can become when not forced towards "Perfection." Inside of Magisteria, all along. And these party-goers do not slow or tire. Though their movements are haphazard, like zombies from films, still they keep moving, keep going, never growing exhausting, never ceasing...
IV. Elemental Nightmares
News comes that the source of the “hack” is Magisteria’s Elemental Control Center. This central zone is a bit like a giant brain that regulates elemental magic within the district. Now, the magic becomes chaotic. Giant tornadoes of raw elemental power sweep through the district. Alleys and buildings explode into gust-fed fires, and tides of water burst forth over the district. The ground trembles and all of the elements are out of control.
Those with magical powers are (if still in control of themselves) encouraged to work to stem these tides, to ebb the flow of the elemental disasters which are occurring throughout High Rise Village.
Adam Smasher
Chrome Hills Mall
This all read like a bad sci-fi flick or one of those shitty old isekai anime. Place doesn't even seem all that different from Night City. But it doesn't really matter. Switch out one paymaster for another, and they've given him lots of meat to play with. Never gotten the chance to kill real demons before. How could he refuse?
The mall is his playground for the time being. Phantom Cipher just wants him to cause a racket, make some noise, draw attention. He's good at that.
And it's only a matter of time before Otherworlders answer the challenge. The mall was locked down by Phantom Cipher after Smasher made his entrance, but Otherworlders will find that curiously, the lockdown lifts to let them in. The main power was cut, but the emergency lights are on inside Chrome Hills, bathing the place in a dim, eerie red glow. Distantly, there are shouts for help, proof that people are still alive in here.
But there's also a great deal of proof that Smasher has been busy. Many unfortunate civilians lie where the full borg left them.
He was not gentle.
But sooner, rather than later, a conflict between the Otherworlders and Phantom Cipher's contractor is inevitable. A stray shot from his Projectile Launcher announces his presence.
"Finally. Someone who might be worth my time." He growls through a heavily synthesized, mechanical voice, modulated to be as deep and menacing as possible.
"Wonder how fast you'll die, meat."
no subject
Hope he can choke down what this spicy little shit's got to offer.
"Shit, I was about to say the same thing, but the sight of your ugly mug made me throw up a little in my mouth. Someone try to take a can opener to your skull or were you just born that way?"
no subject
Then, Smasher charges towards him, closing the distance quickly with his augmented legs, with his fist descending to strike.
"Guess we'll find out!
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"Cosmetics not in the DLC, looks like. You should get your money back."
But those thoughts have to wait, this fucker is fast - the same as, if not faster even than Iida - and it's on sheer experience in dealing with a speedster that Katsuki is able to strife to the side and avoid being, well...smashed. An apt name indeed. He can still feel the air, the force tousle his hair and counts himself very lucky for his hairpin reflexes, but he now has to think fast. This guy's a robot, a flashbang even at point blank won't do any good, so Stun Grenade and his Landmine techniques are out.
Nah, he has to go on full offensive until he can put some distance between them, even if it's just a tap to start off with. His own arm - the right of course - swings forward and glows white hot, sparks dancing in his palm before--
BOOM!!
It's not his strongest blast, but it'd still put once hell of a hole into a brick wall, and a sizeable dent into metal. Katsuki's honestly just hoping the shockwave scrambles his circuits a little, because a second later he's shooting up into the air, explosions from his feet propelling him as high as he can go in this damn building, and he starts to fire a volley of blasts from both palms. Come on, asshole, let's play keep-away.
"HOW'M I HOLDING UP, AA?! SO FAR I AIN'T SEEING ANYTHING SPECIAL FROM THE OTHER SIDE!!"
no subject
The explosion rocks Smasher backwards, burning his chest plate and cracking his faceplate around the right eye. Damage, but livable. And the kid's just proven he does have bite.
This will be fun after all.
By the time Smasher turns back, Bakugou is already rising skyward towards the ceiling...how the fuck is he doing that? Optics focus in, scanning...
The kid's sweating nitro. How the fuck about that.
"Impressive artillery for someone your size. Never heard of gene-modes that let you sweat nitroglycerin. You piss jet fuel too? I'll admit, that surprised me."
Now he's raining blasts down from above. Hard to react. Movement restricted.
Unless—
Activating Sandevistan
The implant locked onto what's left of Smasher's spine engages, pumping him up, sending his reaction time into overdrive, and slowing everyone down as a consequence.
Smasher could walk through the blasts gently floating down from above, but that would be a waste. Instead, he leaps again, launching himself upwards, next to where Bakugou is, from Smasher's perspective, motionless in the air, and raises his arm to strike. He disengages the Sandy as his fist is already in motion.
Sandevistan timer: -3s. 7s remain.
From Bakugou's perspective, Smasher seems to suddenly move so fast it creates a phantom trail. In the blink of an eye the cyborg is next to him in the air and already in mid-strike.
"Still only flesh."
no subject
"Nah, but I can shit dynamite. How about you come and kiss my ass and I'll give you a demonstration?"
Katsuki says that, to be a little shit, but the fact this guy knows how his quirk functions is...concerning. Most villains just focus in on the explosions, they don't think of how they're made, or from what, which gives Katsuki an edge - because he can detonate his sweat, it means his quirk is practically endless so long as he works hard...more now than ever, considering he can detonate from any part of his body, not just his hands. That might actually be what he has to do at some point - become a human bomb - and detonate himself like one. But not here. Definitely not here - he needs distance, height, he needs to be far, far away from anything and anyone he could destroy by going full nuke. He--
--...is in trouble. In a blink that's too fast to clock with just his eyes, the dickhead is gone and then suddenly way too close for comfort. How the hell?! He can't think, he can't react fast enough this time, and tightens up for the impact, which knocks him up higher and through the skylight of the mall, probably breaking a few ribs in the process. Fucking ow. Brings him back to when he and Deku went up against All Might in their practical exam, and he got hit in the gut that one time. Yeah, that...that fucking sucked. That fucking sucked a lot!! But, he didn't puke this time around, so that's...progress?? Maybe???? Though his stomach definitely is not happy, nor is the rest of his body. Katsuki's sure he's got a shard of glass lodged in...some part of him, but the adrenaline is culling most of the pain.
"Still better...than you."
His vision is shit - blurry and uncoordinated after that hit, but he's aiming one of his gauntlets - his new ones, at Smasher and focusing. This one doesn't have a pin to pull like the Grenadier Gauntlets do, it just...reacts. Like it's a part of him and knows what he wants it to do. A laser-like shot is fired from the barrel - pure, destructive heat - and Katsuki is hoping he hits his mark. Any mark. He needs just a few seconds to regain his composure and fly up.
no subject
Still better than you.
"You can barely stand, in your little costume, trying not to puke out your intestines, and you're better than ME?! DON'T MAKE ME LA—"
The laser strikes him square in the face. Smasher's head rocks back, and metal goes flying, skittering across the roof of the mall. When he looks back down, half his face is gone, blasted off by Bakugou's shot. A ruined red cyber-eye falls to the ground near Smasher's feet.
"Rngh." The voice is glitchy now, skipping. Vocoder wasn't destroyed, but took some damage. Smasher holds up his arms and accesses his internal cyberware through his damaged HUD.
Running gun.exe.
Hell of a piece of programming, this. Arasaka could digitize souls, or so they liked to claim with Soulkiller, but they'd never thought to try digitizing equipment. Not like these Phantom Cipher guys. The autocannon appears in his hands like it's being erased, just in reverse, his fingers closing around the grip as it finishes materializing.
A light machinegun, made specifically to Smasher's specifications. There's nothing "light" about it. The barrels swing towards Bakugou, and begins to spin up.
"FUCKIN' BLEED, MEAT."
no subject
"Aa, a really funny one," Katsuki huffs out, his chest on fire. Definitely two broken ribs, and the rest probably bruised at the very least. Hell knows there's internal bleeding, and more damage he can't see. From one hit, too...that's not good. "Cuz it's true."
His vision is clearing up, but barely. It's just enough for him to focus in on the barrel of that fucking machinegun and mentally curses. Welp, that's going to make getting the big guy to chase him a lot more difficult, if he's got decent range. He wonders, idly, how much a Howitzer would damage the frame of this mall - a fucking lot, but if he aims it down, at the hole already pierced into the skylight, dig that son of a bitch into a grave through the floor....the shockwave shouldn't be that bad, or at least be absorbed by the earth...in theory. It's so, so risky, and he doesn't know if people have even left where they're holding out, but it's the best he's got other than running the gauntlet of going head-to-head with the walking iPad. Wait--...a blind spot, quite literally.
He's got a chance.
"Why do you think people upgrade their tech so often, aa? Because it dates itself in the time that it takes to fucking make it. People are always changing, innovating, growing, evolving...but our tech stays the same." As the gun barrel starts to spin, Katsuki climbs higher, just a little bit, and swerves around in the air to get in Smasher's blindspot. "You're limited by the people who built you. Relying on them and their upgrades to that shitty metal body that I'm carving through like a damn turkey."
He fires another shot, hoping to strike a joint - shoulder, knee, elbow...gotta slow this guy down...
"Maybe it won't be me, I couldn't give a shit if it was or wasn't, but someone is going to take you down. Someone better than you...because you're incapable of doing any of the things I said about a person. You can never go beyond your limits..." Plus Ultra isn't just a saying, a battle cry and motto to slap onto cheap merchandise - it's something he's seen others do. He's done it, Deku's done it, Todoroki and Uraraka, and everyone else in his class have as well. They've broken the barrier that kept them from reaching the top, smashed right through it, and it was incredible to see each and every time. Katsuki has felt honored to get the privelege to see it. "You won't even understand what I'm talking about....tch. Pity."
And that is why this piece of 'meat' will always be better.
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"I don't HAVE limits, brat!" Smasher roars over the barrage and explosions. "Not since I discarded my useless flesh. You got any idea how long I've been killing? Entire battlefields of jumped up punks like you, who think being scrappy makes you special! I tore them all to pieces with my bare hands and I'll take special joy in crushing your skull between my hands and letting your brain squeeze between my fingers. That body of yours is already breaking down, but I keep getting stronger!"
To accentuate his point, Smasher targets the area around Bakugou rather than trying to lock into the Hero himself, and proceeds to launch four of his missiles into the air. See the brat keep dancing around those and keep out of the way of his autocannon.
Missiles 1/5
no subject
"Nah...you're falling apart right now," physically, sure, but also emotionally and mentally. Katsuki's winning the mind game at least, and his face splits into that big, shit eating grin as he sees a barrage of missiles coming his way. Hahaha...cool. "Pathetic."
He lets himself fall, headed down to meet those four missiles as beads of his sweat fall off him. Katsuki starts to arc, then he begins to spin, his palms glowing, then his entire body, sparks dancing off his skin like tiny fireworks. This is going to be big. And he can't fucking wait. He's just about close enough, those missiles coming in hot, and he just....lets go. One arm whips out as he touches the missile, a spray of more caustic beads and--
"Howitzer...Cluster."
The first explosion is himself - it's big, it's blazing, and it's LOUD - then more come. The first missile, one of his beads of sweat, then another, it detonates another missile...it's like a daisy chain of various swirling explosions, a deadly firerworks display that shakes the grounds itself and probably carves the whole roof off the mall. It's...more property damage that he should be allowed to do, but sometimes them's just the breaks. Katsuki's heart is racing, his chest hurts, and his vision goes white. He barely even notices he's...somewhere else. Where? No goddamn clue, but definitely not in the mall. He just knows it's...not there. In reality, he blew himself in the opposite direction, through a couple windows, maybe a few walls of neighboring buildings. His whole body hurts, his heart is going way too fast, and his vision shifts from white to black. He's passing out. Katsuki's reached his own limit, and his entire being is telling him so. Stubbornly, he does try to move, to attempt to asses...anything. At all. But it's no use, he's run out of stamina, even his usual pigheadedness can't win this one.
He's got no idea how much damage he dealt, how many people managed to escape, but he kept the fucker busy enough for a few to get out of there, and there's not a chance he didn't cause the big guy some fatal damage. Whoever's up next...
You're welcome. Don't blow it.
no subject
Her steps faltered when she spotted him—a towering mechanical figure looming at the end of the corridor. Unlike the other mechas she'd seen wreaking havoc in the city, this one moved with purpose, its hulking frame radiating menace. It wasn’t like the training bots from school or any mindless drone; this one felt alive, driven by a violent, ruthless intent.
Ochako swallowed hard, pushing back the wave of fear creeping up her spine. She couldn’t afford to panic. There were still people alive in this mall, and she had to find a way to get them out safely.
Bracing herself, she glared at the villain, determination hardening her features. "My name is Uravity," she announced, her voice steady despite the chaos surrounding her. She pointed firmly in his direction, her eyes narrowing. "And don’t even think about giving me a nickname. We’re not friends."
With that, she shifted into a defensive stance, ready to face the monster before her. There was no room for hesitation. Lives depended on her resolve.
no subject
...It's kind of amusing, actually. Can't remember anyone ever coming at him like this before. His cyber-eyes focus on her, scanning...no cyberware of any kind that he can read. And acquiring a target.
"Die."
It's the only thing he says right before he launches a missile at her from the launcher built into his shoulder. With a blast, it streaks down the corridor towards Ochako.
[Missiles 4/5]
no subject
Keep moving.
Her heart raced as she detached and hit the ground running, zigzagging through the chaos. Each step felt heavier than the last, her mind calculating her approach as the towering figure loomed closer. She couldn’t afford to stop—not now. His sheer presence—all of it screamed danger, but she pressed forward.
If I can just touch him...
Her fingers flexed, anticipation tingling at her fingertips. She darted left, then right, her breaths coming quick as her boots scraped against broken tiles. The distance between them shrank with each heartbeat, and she bit back the fear clawing at the edges of her thoughts.
no subject
He passes bodies. At first, he crouches thinking that maybe they're not beyond saving, but he quickly realises that this isn't the case. Grimly, William presses on until he finds the culprit. Glaive in one hand, shield in the other, and a Bursterfly hovering by his side, he faces down the cyborg.
He must look extremely underwhelming as an opponent. He's not dressed in any sort of modern armour.
"Were you the one who killed them all?"
no subject
Phantom Cipher's got control of the mall's systems, which is why they're able to keep things so efficiently locked down, and keep Smasher's victims trapped with him. So if they let someone in, it must be someone like him. Someone from another world. Someone who might offer a challenge. So he acknowledges the message, and goes to make a friend.
"Lambs to the slaughter all." He replies to the question. "And so are you, boy."
If the kid's equipped for close combat, well, Smasher will oblige. With a thought, his Sandevistan kicks in, allowing Smasher to cross the distance in the blink of an eye.
Sandevistan timer -2secs
In a moment the cyborg is standing in front of William, and Smasher is already winding up for a punch.
so sorry about the delay!!
All that said, he is still only human. Human...with a primordial dragon's blood lying dormant in him.
William's eyes widen. Smasher is too close for him to dodge even if he were to accelerate himself. But though the gap closer has taken him by surprise, he can see the punch winding up. He raises his shield and plants his feet just in time for it to catch and deflect the blow to one side.
For the briefest moment, to Smasher, it may look as though a dragon's pupils are glowing beneath that fiery red fringe. But it's gone the next time either of them blinks.