Out with the old, in with the new as they say, and this ViViD level is no different. Ever progressive and ever mindful, CERES has decided in their war against the evil carbon footprint to give citizens both new and old a lesson in healthy living. To show this, they've created a level all about... recycling, or as close to recycling as a company like CERES can get. (Which isn't very close at all, honestly.)
This, of course, means that when you're dumped in to today's ViViD level, the first thing that will hit you is the stench. It's vile and rancid and the type of stench that makes a person want to give up smelling altogether, and when you finally open your eyes, you'll see why. There's trash everywhere. The buildings are decrepit and crumbling, the cars are broken down and rusted, and overall, it looks like the apocalypse rolled right on through. Which is weird because this is definitely not a post-apocalyptic game. Yet wandering around this pathetic excuse for a ViViD level will just reveal more of the same -- it's a total wasteland.
And if you look up, you will see a billboard.
RECYCLING AND YOU: HOW NOT TO BE A DIRTY WASTE OF SPACE
You'll only have a moment to be offended by the sign before, amongst the piles of trash and rubble, there's another, smaller pile of trash and rubble. The only difference is this one can talk.
 Welcome to The Dumpster Dive, my cool cats and sweet kittens. A brand new ViViD level, created and innovated to you by CERES's very creative and innovative technicians. We're all here to help you learn to Reuse, Reduce and Recycle, givin' you kids some tools to help you lessen your impact on the planet. After all, we're all here together on this great planet of Tellus. Wouldn't want to ruin it, right? Ha ha!
Happy Trash Day to Cerealians one and all!
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] So, you're here.
You're probably sitting in a pile of trash because, well, everywhere is a pile of trash. You're in a landscape of trashiness and there's no escape. Your only option is to give in to the sweet, sweet pull of the garbage. The buildings are crumbling, the sidewalks are a mess of bottles (but no bottle caps), rubble, and empty chip bags, and you're stuck in this... trash. This garbage. This hellhole.
Wasn't recycling supposed to be clean?
It probably takes a rat skittering over your foot to get you going but like any good game, the protagonist needs to move. If you're going to find out anything in this trash heap, you'll need to explore a bit. See if you can find someone else! Or something else. Maybe someone more experienced with ViViD can help you figure out how to log out. Even if logging out doesn't seem to be working right now. You should be careful too because one wrong step might cause the pile of trash you're standing on give way and send you into the sewers below.
Which means there are rats, there are bugs, the ground is unsteady and... yep. It's starting to rain.
Good luck.
PHASE II [ 800 ] And then come the... trash drones.
They zero in on any living thing in this ViViD level -- if you’re moving, if you’re breathing, if you have some sort of a pulse, they’ll be there. And they’ll grab you and take you away. No matter how many you shoot down, more and more and more will come, never stopping until you're swarmed completely by them. They have to get you! You're garbage, you're garbage, you're garbage! You're garbage!
And so, you're snatched up.
Don’t worry, though. After a short flight (wave hello to your fellow drone-napped neighbor!), you'll arrive at three huge trash chutes with three equally huge signs above them. GARBAGE, RECYCLING, and COMPOST hang above the chutes and the drones pause just momentarily before announcing one of these options in a robotic voice. You've been sorted and without any preamble, the drone will dump you in whichever one it decides.
Hopefully you don’t end up in the compost. Gross.
Of course, once you down there, there's plenty to poke around in (or not much if you're still not into the whole trash thing). It's piles and piles and piles of trash as far as the eye can see! Again! If you're especially clever, you may be able to use the trash to build a way out of the chute. The very, very long chute. Maybe there's someone around that can help you? And better do so quick, who knows what CERES has deemed to be "recycling" this time.
PHASE III [ 1125 ] CERES's standards continue to shine on again, because after some time, those chutes will finally start working. So if you've been separated from a friend through any of this ordeal, don't worry about it. You're all gonna end up in the same place anyway.
Which is the incinerator, of course! (Wait, that’s not how recycling works.)
The ground beneath you shifts, enough to knock over whatever flimsy excuse for an escape plan you have, and suddenly all of the trash, compost or recycling will be dumped down into an underground furnace -- along with everyone stuck there, of course. Bit by bit, everything moves ever closer towards that red hot furnace and it’s clear that everything's going to be dumped straight into the fire and burned. Say your farewells. Make nice with your neighbor. Finalize your will because --
Oh. It stopped.
Looks like it jammed.
It doesn't remain jammed for long because CERES is, if anything, highly efficient. So it starts up again. But then stops again. And then starts again. And then stops again. This may be a glitch in the level, actually.
So, you're still getting ever closer to fiery death, but... slowly. Very slowly. In fact, you could probably walk away from said fiery death faster than you're going towards it. It's like they can't even program a near death experience right!
PHASE IV [ 1125 ] Maybe you avoided the incinerator. Maybe you ended up in a different part of the level altogether. Maybe you just got lost. Either way, now you’re stuck with the age-old hobby of enthusiasts and the exceptionally desperate alike.
Dumpster diving.
And CERES wouldn't send you down there without an incentive, you know. If you look, it seems like there might be something valuable, something incredibly important and just for you. A shiny item that you’ve always wanted right from home and it’s right there in your grasp, something precious that you could never get in Cerealia. How it came to be there, nestled between an empty carton of eggs and a half-eaten cheeseburger, no one knows, but you'll be filled with the inescapable, all-consuming urge to go get it. Just jump right into that dumpster and get it.
The more you resist the urge, the more it'll hurt. (As in, physically hurt actually. The feeling will be comparable to your fingernails slowly being plucked out.)
This is ViViD though and the moment you hit the trash, the spell breaks. You'll see that your most precious thing, whatever it was, was never actually there. Instead, you seem to have actually grabbed something else and whatever it is, you can't let go of it. Be it an empty bottle of bacon soda or a bicycle tire with a giant hole in it, it's attached to your hand now and no matter what you do, you can't get it off.
Hopefully whatever you grabbed wasn't too big because it looks like you're not getting rid of it. Not till you beat the level.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] The odd thing about being stuck in a trash wasteland is that you can go for ages without seeing another person. Ages. Of course, CERES doesn't like that very much since ViViD games should be co-operative! Player with player! Player against player! Players who shouldn't be playing at all. That's the type of play CERES supports.
Which means the longer you go without seeing another person, the more you might feel an itch. It gets under your skin, making you feel dizzier and dizzier, and shorter and shorter of breath until -- you pass out. Vision going dark, breathing cutting out, and down you go into the trash and whatever this ViViD level has planned next.
It won't take long. You'll wake up feeling slightly confined and there will be a moving body next to you. It seems as if you've finally, finally found someone -- and they're really, really close. In fact, maybe a little too close? When you open your eyes, you'll see that the two of you may be bound together in a way that might be familiar to some.
But instead of a shirt, it's just a garbage bag. A really, really strong garbage bag that can't be broken out of no matter how strong you happen to be. No laser eyes, no super powers, nothing will separate you from this person other than, well, getting along.
There really is only one question you have to ask yourself now. Just one.
What the hell does this have to do with recycling?
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no subject
Maybe Naruto really should have expected this to happen considering that there were so many drones out there. Other people were probably being picked up and carried off too only to be dumped into these things.
When Yuri does get a good look at him, she'll be able to see that his feet are braced against one side of the chute and his back is against the opposite side. Typical for someone climbing such a space but Naruto doesn't even look like he's breaking a sweat to hold his position. Not even when the full weight of someone came down on him.]
Eh? I'm using chakra. I can stick to anything using it.
[Now that the initial irritation at being landed on is over, Naruto seems pretty cheerful.]
no subject
[Which kind of answers her questions about if he knows Lee or is from the same place-- Sure there's a chance that there's just another world that uses chakra or whatever, but she figures this is a safe enough bet. So, she has no qualms about coming right out to ask:] Are you from the same place as Lee-san?
[Wait, actually, better questions come up. Yuri looks instantly concerned and glances up where they came, then down over Naruto's side, and at his feet before settling on his face again] Are-- Are you alright? This can't be easy, we should-- Er, should I... do something? [Jump?? She has no idea her powers don't lie in chakra manipulation okay.]
no subject
He's absolutely positive that he's never seen this girl before but then she says a familiar name. Though Lee isn't exactly an uncommon name. So he points to his own face.] Big, thick eyebrows, wears a green jumpsuit, talks about the springtime of youth, challenges himself to do ridiculous feats of strength - Lee?
[The all encompassing summary that is Rock Lee. Basically everything a person needs to know about Bushybrows (though not all of it) and can be learned within a single conversation with him.
Naruto blinks at her concern, not entirely sure why she is so worried about their "precarious" position in the first place.]
I'm fine. [Really, doesn't even look like he's breaking a sweat even with the added weight of another person.] Do something?
[A glance below him reveals that they're still a good long way from the bottom. Looking up shows that trying to see the sky is difficult with garbage raining down around them.]
We should get outta here, don't you think? [Points up to where they both fell in.] We're gonna go up so you should hold on and try not to get hit with anything hard.
no subject
He says he's fine, but... She eyes him again and reluctantly has to admit he's probably right. He certainly seems like her weight means nothing, and Yuri's not sure if this means she's very underweight (which she probably is anyhow), or if he's as strong as Lee (also probably true), who had carried her across the city and up a building at top speed without breaking a sweat. Maybe she can just chalk it up to "weird ninja stuff" and leave it at that. Not that seeing Lee do these sorts of things makes this any less impressive.
Yuri winces as garbage tumbles over them, mumbling a quiet "ow" as a stray plastic bottle hits her head before it rolls away.] Alright. Sorry, I can't do much like this. [Silently steeling her powers from doing anything weird, she wraps her arms around his neck and holds on.]
Oh-- I'm Kozukata Yuri. I'm a friend of Lee-San. [A pause and she turns red] Um, I suppose, anyway.... [What does that even MEAN Yuri. What is friendship can you eat it.]
no subject
[They've been training since they were kids so it's really no surprise that they can carry around an entire other person. Lee, though, Lee was so different from the rest of them. He had to rely on his physical capabilities because he couldn't mold chakra to save his life - literally. If it were the older teen rather than Naruto here - he'd be holding them both up with sheer strength alone.]
Don't worry about it, you might be able to help in other ways.
[Everyone had different capabilities. Maybe once they got out of this predicament, she could answer his questions and help find a way out of this place entirely. Surely this can't be all there is to this world.
With her hanging on, Naruto doesn't feel too worried about her falling yet his arms encircle her. Yuri might not be able to see what he's doing but he's clearly not holding on to her. Instead there's a "poof" sound along with a hint of smoke. Then suddenly there's an exact duplicate of Naruto above them also pressed into the chute.
If Yuri was to get any memory from his life, it would be one of Lee considering they've been talking about the guy and as such - he's on Naruto's mind. Lee attempting to give a piggyback ride to a long-haired male while another, older man who looks almost exactly like him, carries a full grown adult on his back. The long haired teen flat-out declines with gusto.]
Let's go. [He tells the clone and the clone starts moving. Naruto shifts his back away from the walk and crouches. It may be awkward walking up the chute in such a crouched position but it's impossible to stand up straight.]
I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Any friend of his is a friend of mine. [Just like that, they're friends. But even though it's dim in here and she might not see it, Naruto gives her a huge grin.]
no subject
There's... There's two of you. [Is what she ends up blurting out, dumbfounded, before quickly shaking her head. Ugh!! It's weird how normal these guys end up making her feel. Weird and probably good for her mental health but still.] That...That's because of chakra too, right? You did...something... [Her attempt to rescue herself from her stupid remark didn't quite go as planned. She lets go of him only slightly to wave a hand in emphasis as if to say 'using handsigns' without actually saying it, because suddenly she can't remember if that's what they were called and didn't want to mess up and embarrass herself further.
When she replaces her hand is when she catches a glimpse of those memories and she stiffens in surprise. It's funny, yes, and it makes the corner of her mouth twitch (she's been on the receiving end of the 'please climb on my back!!' stuff like three times now and had reluctantly given in every time-- it's a little refreshing to see someone just straight up decide NOPE), but she nervously glances to Naruto again.
Sometimes ViViD and CERES mess with her powers-- usually when she uses it on someone living, the person is aware of the brief invasion, often seeing what it is Yuri saw as well. And sometimes they don't become aware. It was frustrating in a way, because typically Yuri only worked with dead people, so she didn't really have to worry about this problem before. Double ugh.]
I... Er, I'm sorry. [She apologizes anyway, just in case, resigning herself to explanations if (when, try to be positive, Yuri) they reach the top.
How many times can Yuri apologize in one thread: The true question]
no subject
Yeah, there's two of me. [That comes from the one above her who only glances back at them. This is hardly the weirdest thing he can do but maybe he shouldn't break out the Kyuubi's chakra and accidentally frighten her.] That's right. I can manipulate my chakra to create a clone of myself. It's pretty easy to do. [Now. It's easy to do now when he wasn't even capable of making even one just a couple of years ago.] I can do a lot by using chakra.
[Making a clone is an old trick at this point but she's clearly never seen anything like it. If Naruto notices anything about the exchange, he doesn't give it away. Honestly he simply thinks that he's remembering it so strongly. Unlike the blond ninja there is someone who notices... or something anyway.
However Kurama does not point it out to his host and simply decides to keep an eye on this stranger. It would not do to have her see certain memories involving the nine-tailed fox. He will simply vow to discover her power while ensuring that she doesn't intend to harm Naruto.]
For what? [He looks over at her while still continuing the trek upwards. Naruto is unsure why she's apologizing or what she's even apologizing for.]
no subject
[Yuri is, thankfully, unaware of the other presence in Naruto's head--not that there's anything she could do if she was. She's not sure her powers of exorcism and all cover giant demon fox things.
Yuri makes a small 'uh?' noise and looks at Naruto semi-skeptically, before looking away again.] ...Nothing. I can explain when we get out of here. [She thinks it's a little selfish of her to wait until then, but a part of her is paranoid that if she tells him he'll drop her right then and there. Despite how rather unconditionally accepting people seemed to be in this place, Yuri couldn't let go of her fears so easily.
She'd been called crazy or laughed at for it before here; and even here she'd had at least one perso threaten to kill her over it (that was fun), so... No better to wait until she was in a safer spot to explain. Yuri never felt right hiding these sorts of things once she's accidentally used them on someone.
QUICK, CHANGE THE SUBJECT.] What else can you do with chakra? It really is amazing... Where I'm from, there isn't really anything like this.
no subject
[Or some version of them anyway. Of course no one can make them in the numbers that Naruto can but that's thanks to the immense amount of chakra he possesses due to the fox inside of him. Which, by the way, doesn't need to be exorcised. He's friends with that beast now.
An eyebrow raises at her reluctance to explain.... whatever it was she was apologizing for.] You don't have to, if you don't want. [Naruto accepts it just as easily as he accepted someone falling on him or basically anything else in his life that's happened. He knows people who could extraordinary feats so learning about Yuri wouldn't really be such a shock. More than anything, he'd want to know more about it. The thought that she might see his pretty terrible childhood wouldn't even occur to him.
A lot of others from his world might be wary of her ability but they weren't as open with their tragic story as Naruto was. Some would rather be secretive and not let others know about the lives they've lived as a shinobi.]
All kinds of stuff! Sakura-chan can use her chakra to heal injuries, Gaara can manipulate sand or used to summon all kinds of creatures or a bunch of other jutsus. Pretty much there's no limit to what chakra can do.
no subject
[Yuri shakes her head lightly] I don't... Mind, exactly. [Hisoka had freely advertised her abilities and offered her services with it-- Yuri had apprenticed herself, more or less, so...] I have to get used to talking about it anyhow. [Granted that was more in line with the shadow reading abilities rather than the mind reading part of it BUT STILL. She shrugs a little.] It's just not something most people like. You might get upset. [It's said in a matter-of-fact way; she doesn't know Naruto well enough to say if he would or not. Also like that's not ominous to say or anything.
But she listens with rapt attention, a small smile in place.] See? Magic. I'm a little jealous, but I'm sure that'll come in handy in the city.
no subject
[He's thoughtful. About her words, about himself. Naruto hadn't advertised his 'deep, dark secret' that would upset other people but then again, most of the village had already known. Some had known before he did and he remembers the animosity that had been directed towards him. That feeling had trickled down to the younger generation and left him a lonely child.] You can tell me anything and I won't get upset.
[Yuri will find that Naruto is extremely accepting of others, his forgiveness runs deep and his loyalty even deeper. He knows what it's like to be discarded, unwanted and feared to the point of hated. While he may not accept everyone, she doesn't seem like a bad person who's only out to hurt others to get what she wants.]
I guess it is pretty cool. [Naruto's always wanted to be able to do the stuff he saw the shinobi do when he was a child. It was sometimes so amazing to watch whenever he had the opportunity. When it came to boasting his own abilities or talking about someone else - he had no hesitation. But hearing it from someone he just met was something else entirely.] Not everyone can mold chakra though. We go to school and spend years trying to perfect techniques sometimes.
[Well, not him all of the time but still.]
no subject
But as technology moved on, it grew to the point nearly anyone could pick up a weapon without training and kill efficiently with it. Specialized fighters weren't needed as much, and eventually fell out of use all together. [Yuri trails off, looking a little embarrassed for talking as much as she did.] ...At least, that's what I'd think. Something like that, maybe...
[Sorry Naruto, but Yuri looks rather skeptical at that, pursing her lips before looking away to watch their climbing progress.] People always say that. [AKA "so that doesn't mean anything to hear."] I guess we'll find out when we reach the top.
[Yuri listens again, finding it all so fascinating. It's an exciting-sounding world, in a different way than her's is (because she has no doubt some people would find 'suicide mountains and ghost hauntings' rather exciting too), so he holds her attention utterly.] Ah, like-- [Yuri cuts herself off, hesitating again. 'Like Lee-san,' she almost says, but she's not sure exactly how well-known that information is. Probably enough, she imagines it'd be hard to hide that information in a world where being a ninja relies on it, but still. If it IS a secret, she's not about to go blabbing about it even if he and Naruto are friends.
Instead she amends slowly:] I've heard of that, too...