PHASE I [ ?? ?? ] It's impossible to tell time in this place, and everything looks the same, but it won't be long before you're probably sick of the tower. Time to get down -- unless you have magical powers or can fly or something, it'll probably be pretty tough, too. You could try to climb down, but the walls look pretty slick, and -- oh god, your arm just went through the wall, what the hell.
Whatever you do, don't fall.
If you fall, you'll be stuck falling forever. And ever. And ever. Looks like they didn't put a failsafe into ViViD for falling, so now you're stuck. You might see some other people stuck in the same glitch, falling forever a la Alice in Wonderland, but honestly? You're stuck that way until your game resets itself.
PHASE II [ ?? ?? ] Either way, you've made it to the ground (somehow). The ground looks like... a half-finished city, really. There are streets, and houses... but some of the houses are unfinished, just four walls and no roof, or only three walls, or nothing inside, and a lot of the NPCs are completely faceless, or only have one line they repeat over and over again.
It's honestly pretty unnerving, especially since there's no soundtrack at all. You can just traverse this creepy hellscape in complete and utter silence.
And then the cars start to fly away.
That's definitely normal (is there anything about this game that isn't faulty?).
PHASE III [ ?? ?? ] It's not safe.
You could be anywhere in this level, wandering, searching -- and then suddenly, it's there. As it appears, a battle theme starts, but it's distorted, eerie and off-pitch. There's something very wrong about this enemy, that's for sure. It can't be defeated, either. Attacks can harm it, and it can be tossed aside or fought, but it just gets right back up, bloodied and beaten, as if unstopped by anything it's feeling.
Over and over and over again.
Just don't let it touch you.
Because it will start to absorb you, code bit by code bit, until there's nothing left of you. It's a cannibalistic distorted monster, wonderful.
PHASE IV [ ?? ?? ] If it wasn't apparent already, physics is a little weird here. One second you're walking along, and the next there's basically no gravity; you could jump wherever you want, clearing buildings in a single bound like the superman you were always meant to be. One second you're your normal amount of strength, and the next you could life cars (if you so chose), for no apparent good reason.
Sometimes the world just tilts, making the ceiling the floor very suddenly, and sometimes the floor drops out from under you entirely.
Anything that could go wrong with the physics here does go wrong.
Just try not to get caught halfway through a now-solid floor. That sounds really, really uncomfortable.
BONUS [ ?? ?? ] Of course, it wouldn't be glitch central without something weird happening to you. And it could be anything -- one second you're fine, and the next your arm is twice as long as it should be, and totally noodly. Suddenly you have a mermaid tail or animal ears, or your head has rotated upside down (how is that even happening?). You're suddenly able to walk through walls, or drag objects to you by pointing at them.
If this was a video game (it is), it would be the faultiest game to ever exist, that's for sure.
(Still, teleporting from one side of the world to the other by jumping on a single spot on a flowerbed is kind of entertaining, if nothing else.)
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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It's fine, I know what I'm doing—!
[When does he ever really know what he's doing, though...?!
But miraculously, he doesn't face a grisly end as soon as he barrels through the exit sign! Granted, it doesn't actually lead to an exit either, but "still alive and in one piece" is as good a victory as any. It's just spat him out into another part of the glitchy city, leaving him baffled and staring around.]
Uh...
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Ichigo runs in after him. His worry for the other’s safety overriding his concern for his own safety.
If Ichigo gets killed, it's all your fault, Kashuu!!]Kashuu-dono! What do you think you are doing?? You could have got killed!
[And now you've activated his lecturing big brother mode! Fortunately for Kashuu, Ichigo notices the baffled look on his face and falls silent for a moment as he quickly scans their surroundings for danger. Then he realizes that the ‘exit’ door they've just gone thru can be closed, so he walks over to do just that and locks it for good measure!]
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But look, they're both alive and well! Even if Kashuu is immediately put on the defense by sudden Lecture Mode, just out of reflex.]
Look, I know how to handle things here, okay? So you don't have to worry about me.
[Unless he does die, in which case that'll probably be an issue. BUT THEY'RE FINE, this is fine!! He steps over toward the exit after Ichigo shuts it again, nose wrinkling.]
What a pain, though... It looks like it's gonna take a little work to get outta this level.
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Still, you should be more careful, Kashuu-dono!
[Because what if you add up needing to be reforged? He does not wish that on anyone!
Ichigo looks around. This place looks no different from the place they were in before, but at least the glitch boss no longer seems to be after them?]
Well, we should continue looking for the real exit then.
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...I'll be more careful next time, okay?
[He says VERY PETULANTLY, like he's still miffed he's being scolded at all... But at least Ichigo's got some agreement out of him, for what little good it's worth in the end. His call to danger is just Too Strong sometimes.]
Aaanyway, the real exit'll probably be some sort of portal-looking thing. Most of the time it's a door, but sometimes they put it in weird places.
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Yes, you're definitely acting like a younger brother. The petulance reminds him a bit of Yagen really. Anyway, some agreement is good enough for him. Have a soft brotherly smile and affectionate hair ruffling, Kashuu!]
Good.
[Then, he realizes what he's doing a moment later and, oops! This isn't one of his brothers! Sudden embarrassment! He quickly withdraws his hand and bows in apology.] Ah! I'm so sorry, Kashuu-dono! That- I shouldn't have done that! I'm sorry! For a moment I thought-
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That said, he's a little surprised by the sudden hair ruffle! But fortunately(???) he's also pretty much always game for being spoiled by anyone who'll spare the time to do so, even if it riles his tsuntsun streak a little sometimes.]
—It's fine, you don't need to apologize. [A LITTLE HUFF. He smooths his hair back out again so it's presentable (for approximately no one, since this place is a desolate wasteland of broken NPCs), but doesn't actually seem irritated. He appreciates the concern and kindness! Even if he doesn't say "thank you" directly, there's a softness to his expression in turn.]
I'm just used to this place, is all. I've been here for a while so I'm good at handling the stuff these guys throw at us.
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Anyway, Ichi-nii is still feeling quite embarrassed but he's relieved that Kashuu did not take offence to his sudden hair-ruffling.]
Well, let's look for that portal then.
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Just tell me if you see any doors that stand out. Like... ones with a weird glow around 'em or different colors or something.
[SO SPECIFIC.]
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Ichigo nods and starts leading the way, and finally time for small talk.] How long exactly have you been here, Kashuu-dono?
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He'll keep an eye out as they walk, but since he is so used to this song and dance, he can keep up a conversation just fine simultaneously.]
Mmm... I think it's been over a year by now. Kousetsu and Souza were here before me, but only Kousetsu's still around. A lot of the others came and went... [Ichigo included, though his stay was particularly brief. Kashuu hazards a sideways glance.] There are only ten of us here now.
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An year? How is that possible? I just saw you both yesterday... And 10 of you couldn't have gone missing unnoticed.
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But he makes a face in response to that, because even if they're used to Time Travel Shenanigans™, this is definitely another level entirely.]
I can't really explain that, but that's how it is. People come and go from this place all the time or show up from different time periods, too.
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I see... Do you know why we've been summoned here then?
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A pretty hefty pause follows that, though...]
I think so, yeah. It's taken us a while to figure things out and we still don't have a definite answer, but I'm pretty sure those guys weren't kidding when they talked about our worlds being destroyed.
[SURPRISE, welcome to Cerealia!!]
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Des... Des-Destroyed??
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Yeah. Like, by alien mercenaries.
[Weirder things have happened.]
We're doing what we can here to figure out the truth and how to reverse that.
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[He reaches out to place a hand against a nearby wall to steady himself. Then he looks back over sharply at what Kashuu says next, sounding a bit hopeful at first...]
Can it really be reversed? But...
[... before he realizes...]
... wouldn't that be changing history? Wouldn't that make us the same as our enemies back home...? We can't...
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But he shakes his head eventually, even if the determination behind his words is meant to reassure himself too.]
—It's different. These guys have wiped out hundreds of worlds, you know? Even alternate versions of the same world! It's way beyond the scope of the stuff we're dealing with back home.
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And Ichigo is surprised that none of the other swords have thought of this before!
He's also still not quite convinced.]
But perhaps it's meant to happen. Reversing it would still be changing history and it might result in something even worse...
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I think technically it's changing the future, since we're still from the past... [That's a semi-petulant mumble though, and less of a solid argument. His real solid argument is--]
Haruji thinks we need to fix things, too. If even the saniwa does, that means it's the right thing to do, isn't it?
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… Kashuu-dono, changing the past greatly affects both the present and future. That's why we have to prevent our enemies from changing the past. We safeguard the present and future by preserving the past.
[Kashuu uses “master’s orders”. It's super effective!
Ichigo falls silent, then he examines Kashuu closely for a moment, trying to determine if what he says is true. It's the look he gives his brothers if he suspects them of lying or hiding something from him and it usually breaks them.]
Master really thinks we should do this?
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Yep. Everyone here's working together to do that, you know? I don't know anyone who's not.
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If this is what Master wishes to do, we must trust in his judgement and do our best to help him attain his goal. That is our duty as swords.
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Actually helping out here is kinda hard, but... well, everyone's doing their best.
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