Destructed World Cacophony IC

As the pair set out on their own, things seemed more and more rough, collapsed, or collapsing buildings, those massive wires, rubble. But at least none of those creepy birds were around. The way it always layered and hung about, reminded her of ruins from the dark continent in those books her Grand Father had. the fact the birds were gone and these structures seemed to beckon in a manner it was worth investigating. Stopping Onyx with a tug on his sleeve, she points up at one of the more stable strutures that seemed to be a focal point for the wire like objects draped across the zone. Releasing him once she has his attention, she takes a couple steps back.

"Umm.."

Looking at Onyx, then the structure up above, Alice frowns. This terrain was fairly rough, and while her feet and legs were better suited to the rough ground, enough so she had no pains walking across it, this was another issue. Much like a chicken or the average person, sudden shifting ground, round objects or general finesse in movement would be a death sentence for her. Just like the last time she was here.. There was no point lying to the man, though she didn't know him all that well, it would be better than him thinking it all would be fine and sending her ahead.

"..my limbs aren't all that dexterous. The last time I went up ruins like these, I got to see my body from my eyes as they grew apart after a huge piece of rubble took my head as I couldn't dodge fast enough. Unless we find a Machine shop and you can improve this design, it would be best if you go up first.. I.. Don't like using you to test if it's safe enough for me..."

Holding her left arm at the side by her right, her frown remains in place as she motions with her head. "If we can get up there we can see all around, I'll be right behind you watching for safe places to grab, but if I go first, I only see it ending badly.. And while you would be fine for then, there is no telling what is here with us. So if we do this, please be careful.. I think it's worth going up there, if only so we can see the rest of this place, and maybe the others. Once we get up there we can see how stable the rest looks.."

Laying out her reasoning, the Machine Girl had no idea if he would agree to her request or not... In fact it was highly dangerous, but there was conventional wisdom in finding a higher vantage point.

@Jageroux
 
"Run? ...Alright." Yohan replied, keeping at a similar pace with the girl. Even if he wanted to explore a little further in that direction to see what could be uncovered, he'd go along with whatever made her the most comfortable. If she died another 'horrible death', it didn't seem she could just forget about it as easily as he did; maybe she'd start losing her mind for real. Plus, it was true there was a risk there, so there was some merit to playing it safe, though his own adrenaline certainly wasn't flowing yet.

The birds - whilst starting to swarm - hadn't made any aggressive movements yet, and just like real birds, they seemed to be hesitant to get close. They watched and waited from the wire; more and more seeming to be there each time he looked back. Whilst it was somewhat ominous, was it truly a 'threat' just yet? Only time would tell.

Even though the student had rarely seen crows in his lifetime, he knew that they usually weren't associated with good things.

"...They just don't stop multiplying, do they? And no matter how fast we go, they're always there. Trying to 'shake them off' appears futile..." Yohan bought up he slowly began to become exhausting from running barefoot, occasionally throwing in a short 'Translocate' to avoid obstacles that would otherwise injure his bare feet, "We've got to find out more about them sooner rather than later if they keep following us. ...I'm going to try and get close to them for a moment; I'll lure them away from you if they are aggressive. Keep running, Eva; I'll catch back up if everything's fine!"

Turning his head, Yohan focused in under the wire of the birds, before uttering the word bestowed upon him:

[glow=#ffcc00]" T r a n s l o c a t e ! "[/glow]

Appearing underneath the cluster of black, the student loudly clapped his hands underneath them to see what reaction it would provoke, ready to either rejoin Eva's side with his power or lure the things away depending on the outcome.
 
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"Hey."
Alina and Heidemarie had been walking pretty much in silence for a few minutes.
In truth, Alina felt a lot like getting out of earshot of the others before so much as attempting to hold a private conversation.
That said, once the opportunity arose, she quickly found herself stuck.
She had never been one to initiate conversation. A conversation was an exchange of information, beginning only when she had a question and ending once it was answered. Or at least, it had been before.
She found herself constantly wary of the girl besides her.

And if her hunch was right, and something was watching after all, Heidemarie was the worst thing here to be wary of.

So she was trying something that she hadn't before. To share information, but information that was essentially useless; to point out an individual trick of the tongue.
She pointed to the quasi-birds above, specifically to draw her companion's attention to a pair atop a ledge of these unsettling, sky-brushing buildings. To a sufficiently imaginative eye, the shadowy crows seemed to be waiting almost patiently for more to come, patience weathering in vain: the population was already scarce out here.
"Look at that. You know what that's called?" she asked.
She gave a smirk, not unlike her usual, but not even half as cunning. If anything, the mischief was near gone, leaving only the smile of a girl entertaining herself from within.
"Attempted murder."

The pair cracked smiles together.
It wasn't much, but it was enough.
She could focus on other things now.
Like whatever was on their tails.
She kept her hand ready and her ears open. She was certain that she wasn't alone in what she'd noticed.
 
The fact of the matter was that Onyx had still been insulting Marionette under his breath as he and Alice left off, having been assigned some random direction by Caelan. Onyx really didn't like going north, but he felt no legitimate reason to complain. The only thing that mattered, for him at least, was being far away from Marionette. Still, the concrete jungle their were entering also filled him with a sense of dread.

The birds were gone, or at least no longer visible. It was very clear, even before Alice spoke, that ascending the cables was their only real option. Onyx remained silent as Marionette spoke, listening to her explanation as to why she'd rather he go first. All of her points were quite fair, he couldn't deny it. And, as luck would have it, he had already been preparing himself to ascend first.

"Gotcha." He said rather plainly, giving her a thumbs up while nodding. "If I notice anything... Falling, or if you fall or something I'll just use Terminate. That should give us some sort of safety net, so long as I'm not caught off guard. It'd be pretty shitty if I was, though." Onyx laughed at the thought of both of them dying just because he didn't notice something amiss.

Yeah, no pressure at all.

"Just... Warn me if you see anything weird, yeah?" He said as he took hold of one of the cables, tugging on it as he checked its stability. "Man, I'm really glad I never skipped gym class..." The chuckle that escaped him almost lightened the mood as he began to ascend up the cable, keeping his eyes peeled for anything... Strange.

Which was saying a lot considering where he was.
 
@Jakers @Izurich
A distorting upon reality and then…

Yohan stood below the thickest section of the flock of shadows, his clap reverberating eerily across the otherwise silent place. For a moment, that motion brought about no change. Unlike before, the shadowed birds didn't even flinch. Instead, in unison, they turned their heads downwards, towards Yohan.

And in a flurry of silent wingbeats, they descended upon him, flying, diving, falling. His vision was obscured, the world reduced to one of black motion as more and more crows continued to bombard him. Yet, there was no pain, no weight at all upon his body. Before Eva's eyes, the murder of crows steadily decreased, shadows merging into Yohan's body, one by one by one, until they were all gone, into his body.

All that was left was a young blonde man, befuddled by the sudden turn of events.

@RedArmyShogun @Jageroux
Ascending proved tricky, but not particularly difficult. With cables as rope and rubble as footholds, Onyx climbed up at a steady pace, soon learning to trust the thick, rubbery wires and stone footholds. Nothing out of the ordinary struck him as he continued up, and soon, the Terminator found himself above the canopy. Behind him, he could see taller buildings jutting out and obscuring the horizon, while the cloudy night sky stood wide open. It was the same sort of beauty as the blue sky from the first world, that of a wide open skyspace unobscured by anything unnatural.

But such a sight only grabbed his attention for a moment, before something much more tremendous called for him.

It was clear, now, that their 'starting' point wasn't the center at all. Looking farr northwards, the taller buildings that were spotted southwards ringed around, almost as if it fenced off the wreckage, while it was clear that the area immediately before them only sloped down further and further. If they had continued onwards more, the records of ruin would have eventually become a wall, a new 'floor' for them to walk on. Something that continued to angle downwards until…

A sudden drop.

A sea of tangled cables, poles, and broken walls all lead down into a gaping abyss, perfectly circular, its dark depths fathomless from where he currently was.

That was the true 'center' of the world they found themselves in.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Was it just a delusion? Or was that black maw growing incrementally larger with the passing of each second?

@Random
"Didn't think you were the type to kill with bad jokes," Heidemarie remarked, eyes dancing from the windows in those buildings to the area around them once more. At those words, the two crows took off, flying westwards. "So bad the birds don't want to listen."

The smile dissolved into a coldly neutral expression once more though, her eyes continuing to go back and forth, looking for anything that may have been a threat. The duo both felt the presence of someone stalking them, and while humor alleviated some of the tension, the situation was still irregular. Letting down their guard would lead to a quick death. Her blue and yellow eyes remained focused, the eyes of a sharpshooter during a competition.

And what was caught in that gaze was a black veil, drifting through the sky gently, teased by a gentle breeze.

A mourning veil.

At the highest point of the building, Alina caught a familiar sight.

Back then, it had descended the same way, after all.

Falling from the sky. Landing on its feet despite how a human's legs would have shattered. Wielding both an impractically powerful weapon and an incomprehensible strength.

Fifty meters away, from the line of tall buildings they were approaching, the blackbird dove.
 
In hindsight, maybe Onyx should have perhaps chosen a better parting line than 'I'll be back' before he had begun to ascend even further up the cable. That thought didn't occur to him until after he was breaking through the canopy.

"Man... This would be a great view if everything wasn't so fucking shitty." Onyx quipped to himself as he looked behind him, taking note of the taller buildings. His eyes drifted up the sky and he felt... Strange. For as terrible as the worlds they had been brought to had been, there was always something calming about the sky. It was almost... Comforting.

At least until he allowed his gaze to drop.

He kept looking, relying on his mental map to assist him in keeping track of what was where. But, the oddest thing he noted was the fact they hadn't been dropped in the center. Where was the center, then?

"Oh. Alright." He felt his face pale slightly when he realized that if they had continued onward they would have just slowly descended even further until they just came across a sink. A dark hole that seemed... Intimidating? Why was it making him nervous just to look at it? "Is it...? Son of a bitch." He squinted, the ticking in his head adding to what he could only hope was a delusional fear. But he wasn't being delusional.

The hole was growing larger.

"Fuck." He cursed as he quickly began to descend down the cables, looking down to Alice. "We have to go back!" Onyx shouted to her as he quickened his descent.
 
After gaining the attention of crows, upon realizing they were coming towards him, the student swiftly used his power word, a look of determination his face as he was sure to lure them away as far away as he could from Eva as possible. Despite his efforts to try and get away, the crows seemingly caught up effortlessly. Crow after crow, Yohan held some sort of guarding position as he slowly began to become engulfed with black wisps of light.

Eventually, though, it stopped. The figure wobbled slightly, rubbing his eyes, before looking around as if trying to accurately gauge what happened.

Despite the onslaught of shadows, Yohan didn't seem to be sustaining any changes to his appearance, or any injuries whatsoever. It was almost as if nothing had happened at all. Even the usual way he stood and his neutral facial expression seemed more or less unchanged, minus mild confusion. His figure blinking as he checked himself over thoroughly, he gave a visible shrug, before calmly approaching Eva once again, adjusting his hat from a wonky to straight position.

From a distance as he approached, he began to call over to her, holding the back of his head in somewhat of a daze, though Yohan didn't seem to be acting any different.
"Don't worry, I... I think I'm alright! Despite what it looked like, those bird apparitions didn't seem to be interacting with my body at all. I certainly didn't feel anything..." Yohan checked over his own hands once more, before looking up at Eva to seemingly confirm something. "...I don't look any different, do I?"

Just before he could hear her answer, however, Yohan's eyes suddenly seemed to squint a little, his emotions displaying mixture of deep thought and worry.

"But even if I don't look different..." he murmured to himself, before stopping dead in his tracks - still quite far from Eva - but for some reason, he didn't seem to want to go any closer to her.

"You saw what happened, didn't you...? It might've been my imagination, but, did it seem like they were going... inside of me?" Swallowing, Yohan began to take a few backwards steps away from Eva. "...I... I don't think..." he bit his lip, "just in case, Eva, I don't think you should stay so close to me anymore."

A pause.

"Even if I don't look or feel different... what if those crows have done something to me even I can't notice? What if I'm a now... s-some sort of danger, waiting to go off? I don't want to 'lose control'... I can't 'lose control'..."

The usually smiley, optimistic face of the student suddenly seemed to be in visible worry, his figure pacing up and down, before he suddenly said something unexpected.

"...Y-you should run from me, Eva. I don't want to risk anything." He paused, eyes closed, before giving a soft smile. "Tell the others if you can, okay? I'll be alright. Just... make sure you keep yourself safe. If I start acting... unnatural... promise you'll put an end to me. Seek Onyx; he'll be able to do it better than anyone I know or trust."
 
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4StHGrz.jpg

"What, Yohan?!" Before Eva could react, her partner already went ahead with his ludicrous plan of 'luring' them away, practically using himself as bait. How could she stop a man who could instantaneously shift from one place to another.The blonde stopped abruptly, almost falling over as she turned, gazing her mismatched eyes up to Yohan's new position. "Idiot!!" She croaked in both panic and anger. Considering how fast these birds moved, even if he could distract all of them, they would catch up with Eva's wounded feet in a heartbeat, he accomplished nothing with it. However, what could she do? Her power was designed to kill.

"Ku..." Her screams were lodged in her throat as the birds - unsurprisingly - swarmed at the foolish man who so willingly gave himself to them. Their shadowy form converged to him and for a moment, he was drowned in a cloud of darkness. For that short moment, Eva wouldn't be surprised if there wouldn't be any trace of Yohan left when the birds dispersed. "Ah...?' However, so fitting for the maddened world, the 'crows' were the ones who disappeared and Yohan intact. He was... fine?

Even so, she didn't like it, her instincts blaring at her that the danger wasn't over yet. Narrowing her eyes in caution as he approached her, she hugged her own scantily-clad form. "I see... No, you don't." Her eyes shifted a bit, she didn't truly believe her own words. Was this Yohan the same Yohan? Or did those shadowy birds consumed him and replaced the blond with a doppelganger? Anything could happen in this literal nightmare world.

It seemed the man had the same thoughts. Ironically enough, this made Eva felt relief, a hostile doppelganger would assert to her that he's alright, he'd want to keep close to her. However, what if he specifically wanted her to feel this way? What if... what if he was indeed out for her life? He'd grab and snap her neck the moment she looked away from him. On the other hand, this could also mean he wanted them to separate, then whatever other horrors in this world could pick her off when she's alone and defenseless. She was firmly between a rock and a hard place.

"..." Eva didn't answer verbally but her eyes told him that she at least believed some of his words, she believed he wasn't who he was now. "Yohan, I..." Whether he was now replaced by a monster or still himself but would soon be taken over by the shadow inside him, one option was clear to her, he even said it himself. She didn't want him to suffer and besides... this was a dream world, the real Yohan was safe out there, in his room, sleeping. So... maybe she could... wake him up.

"Okay, but uh... I have to do something first." Gulping, the girl took a few steps forward until they were separated only by a few meters. Hesitation, tension, and anxiety were radiating from her shivering form. "E..." She stuttered, took a deep breath, then swiped her right arm across his shoulders, gritting her teeth, growling, "Eviscerate..."
 
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Alina's eyes narrowed sceptically at the falling black.
She stopped walking.
"You know her, or am I going to have to introduce you?" she asked her companion.

Before, it had been a battle to the death that she had lost. Which made sense, since she had tried to fight that woman all by herself. She had been weighed down by all these complicated equations of probability before. This time she was weighed down by emotion.
Emotion was substantially easier to ignore.
"If she pulls out her gun, can you open it up? I don't intend to get in a fight unless we have to, especially not with just two of us."
That was what she said, but she had already pulled a folded metal war fan from her breast pocket.
Until she had a firm grasp on the blackbird's intentions, Alina was staying right where she was. It was a fifty-metre gap or so, and there was no way even a firearm had a range like that, surely.

So long as she and Heidemarie stayed back for the moment, they would have a chance of living through this.
 
Looking briefly relieved at the fact that he didn't look any different, despite still feeling completely normal, Yohan still seemed cautious as the fellow blonde approach. ...She needed to do what, exactly? For a moment, Yohan thought she was going to give him something like a parting hug, but she couldn't risk getting that close at all if his suspicions about 'himself' were right.

"...No, Eva... just in case, don't get too close to me," Yohan warned, although her approach wasn't stopping. Eventually, though, he stopped trying to back away. Raising an eyebrow, he stopped taking short steps backwards as the girl raised her arm. Was she trying to...

He gave a brief, warm smile to her.
"Eva... do... do you--"

"--Eviscerate..."

"...?"

A very brief, second's look of absolute confusion.

[glow=red] SHRRRRKKK . [/glow]

"-!!"

At first, he felt nothing. Only a flash of light traveled across his eyes, sweeping from one side of his vision to the next, as the top half of his body experienced a brief moment of numbness. Numbness, as if he'd been rooted to the spot and paralyzed.

A gasp suddenly came from his lips as blood seemed to erupt and spray from his chest, and the feeling of intense pain was brief as he felt his body become separated. Falling. Unable to move. And a brief feeling that the lower half of his body was there - a phantom pain - even if it wasn't.

But, despite the pain, despite everything, he didn't scream.

Blood; tiny delicate streams, poured from the mouth of Yohan Rye, the two halves of his body torn asunder. But there was no contempt. No look of betrayal. A wobbly, understanding smile was imprinted on his face as the top half of his body softly thudded against the blood-stained ground.

His brown, leather hat, gently fluttered down in a growing pool of blood next to him on the floor. The remains of the hot chocolate the two shared spilled from his flask, and mixed with the swirling scarlet.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence.

But then, a croaky voice, barely audible, and conjured up with the last of the student's strength cut through the silent greyness.

"G-good... luck... E-Eva..."

A final, genuine sentence, before the young man's eye of shining gold flickered out.

~ ~ ~​

Whiteness turned to a musty green, swirling sky. A mixture of foggy, noxious greens, and empty greys. Body unclothed, hair shaved, Yohan could feel cold and heavy metal around his arms and legs. The floor was glowing - red hot against his bare feet - and until he got used to the searing pain, the hallucinating student screamed out his lungs, until he was shoved to keep walking by what looked like a copy of himself. Shoved, shoved again, until the pain felt like nothing, but the heavy shackles he carried exhausted him with every step.

Penance.

Shackles and chains, and an endless, burning road. Even when his legs gave out, he was forced to walk. Step by step, day by day, to a destination he didn't even know. Accompanied closely were other prisoners - copies of himself - slugging their chained body against this road that never ended.

All he could wonder was... what had he done? Why was he doomed to serve this penance, for a crime he didn't even commit? Confusion and exhaustion was strewn on Yohan's face as his legs felt like giving way and his lungs felt as if they were about to collapse, but his body kept on walking. Remember... he... he had to remember.

Colours briefly flashed into the sky each time he tried to grasp at his memories. Only random memories came; not the ones he was looking for.

His ninth birthday party. ...Something with friends, though he couldn't remember their names.

His signature, brown hat he'd received as a present on his eleventh. His father laughing at the fact it was too big for him at first, patting his head, seeing talent in his son. Promising him that one day, he'd make a fine inventor, just like his dad.

And, some years later, being banished from his own home, without even a 'goodbye'.

But... why had he been banished? What had he done? What did all these shackles, chains... all this punishment, truly mean? But, in the end, nothing but grey vague memories surfaced, one at a time, until the frustration inside Yohan was bottled up, and he let out a roar that reverberated across an empty world.

[glow=gold][/glow][glow=gold][/glow][glow=gold]" WHO AM I?! "[/glow][glow=gold][/glow]

The endless line of prisoners all screamed it out in unison with him - the noise took minutes to truly fade away - and then, no answers came at all. No matter how many times he asked.

Seconds upon seconds; days upon days; months upon months of walking passed, until Yohan was left with no thoughts. No feeling. No command in his brain other than to 'walk' and drag his chains across the rough coals, every fiber of his being feeling... hollow.

For some reason, all he could feel was a heavy sense of betrayal. That he'd been wronged.

And finally, after what seemed like an eternity, when he fell to his knees, Yohan Rye woke up.

~ ~ ~​

A flask of hot chocolate beside him, his clothed body slumped over at his desk, Yohan gripped his heart for a moment, before letting out a sigh of relief.

...It was over.

The hallucinations never got anymore pleasant, but as long as he was here and fine, it felt easy for him to forget about them. Remembering his promise to Alina that he wouldn't die again, a sudden sense of guilt came over Yohan, but he hoped she'd realize it was for a good cause.

...He never had been good at protecting people, anyway. That much, he could definitely remember.

As if to confirm something, Yohan looked up from his desk, before slowly and surely repeating a series of sentences to himself.

"My name is Yohan Rye. I am... 19... years old. That was the fourth 'death' I experienced, though I'm sure it isn't all real. I am a student and inventor at Ringrange academy, and I have a big day tomorrow. My Mother is called... ... ... J-... Ka...?" Yohan stopped.

His heart stopped, eyes shrinking and welling up slightly in realization.

"M-my... m-mother... is... c-called..."

Tears began to well up in the student's eyes as he couldn't answer. Lip quivering, body shaking, the student felt a sudden wave of tiredness; a lack of desire to do anything, as his tear-strewn face slowly fell into his folded arms. Body shuddering slowly in grief, the student did everything his power to remember.

"My... mother... is... c... called..."

His voice slowly trailed off, before at the desk within his cramped, simple, room, Yohan Rye fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.
 
Climbing her way up the makeshift tower's base Alice was partly right with being right behind Onyx, though fearing a collapse like the last time, takes her time in ascending the structure. Partly satisfied with her efforts, her partner had to return.

We have to go back?! "Oh come on! I just got this far.." Narrowing her expression into a frown, just what had he seen. And go back where? To the ground? The base? Having half a mind to stab him on the way down, he was more valuable alive for now, and the earlier theory on the Rabbit Heart might be wrong, and then where would she be? Plus his power seemed useful, with nothing to gain for sure, now wasn't the time for betrayal.

"Okay, umm..keep that Terminate handy. Last time I was told to get out of some place, it collapsed.." Looking at the route behind her, at least she could have finished going the rest of the way and seeing the view. With their back and forth shout finished, she looks at one of the cables, while risky she could just slide down if it became pressing, maybe use the claw hand as a makeshift brake.

But for now getting down carefully would be enough, she did not advance nearly as far as Onyx had, but given her speed it wasn't likely he would be far behind. "Be carful! And what did you see up there?!" She calls up to him, hopefully not being too much of a distraction in the process, walking away from the base of the tower, she turns her head time to time, keeping an eye on her partner as she tries to make sure she's clear from the tower in case it was something bad. Adjusting her shirt slightly, she had wished her sleeping clothes were her normal clothes.. Yohan and the Suitcase girl were lucky in that case at least.. This world is always troublesome..
 
@Jageroux @RedArmyShogun
With each tick, the incrementally widening abyss emerged in Onyx's thoughts once more, as the two students ran back southwards, occasionally stumbling over rubble or scraping their elbows against tightly packed poles. No significant injuries were sustained, however, and after a while, they could properly run, backtracking with the obelisk as their guiding point. Breaking out into the open plaza, their urgency caused Marionette to quirk an eyebrow at the duo. Xi Feng remained sitting as well, her eyes still smouldering, but the duo's hurried arrival broke that anger for a moment.

"Back so soon? I didn't hear anything," Marionette began, a small smile on her face, "But d-"

Before any words could be exchanged, a powerful crack echoed off in the distance, a sound much two familiar to two of the individuals there.

The sound of a bullet cracking against a hard surface.

@Random
The pavement cracked as the blackbird landed, its dark attire drifting gently onto the fractured pavement even as its porcelain limbs no doubt suffered from it. Silver droplets splattered beneath its feet as it rose slowly, two golden eyes piercing into their quarry. Challenging. From within the cloak, the trademark Thompson Contender was revealed once more, a black barrel and a mahogany handle.

"Outlander," Heidemarie growled, her own golden eye burning with a fiercer light.

No attention was spared to the individual beside her. Not even a gesture. Instead, the girl took two steps forwards, placing herself in front of Alina, her knuckles bone-white. An aura of aggression radiated from her, a far cry from the detached, calm woman that once was there.

"Leave."

The blackbird aimed, and fired.

The bullet whizzed by Heidemarie, splitting open her cheek and ricocheting off the pole behind her, the bullet bouncing by Alina.

"LEAVE!"

@Izurich
It went as expected.

With a single stroke, a spatial rend, Yohan's life ended, replaced by yellow fat, multi-colored organs, and scarlet blood gushing out as the corpse fell onto the ground. A powerful stench struck Eva soon after, iron and vomit mixing into a volatile aroma that made her reflexively want to vomit. She had done the right thing, right?

But nothing else had happened. The corpse was just a corpse. The shadows that had disappeared into the body did not reemerge, nor did anything else of importance happen.

In the distance, gunfire sounded like thundercracks, echoing through her mind and reminding her of just how alone she was now. How vulnerable she was. How she had removed the only person worthy of trust from this world.

Now, there were only the words that had reverberated through her soul when she first came to, and the interpretations that everyone shared in regards to those words.


Offer the Rabbit's Heart.


One of them was the Rabbit.

He had wished her well, even after she killed him.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

@Jakers
A song played through the public announcement speakers through Ringrange. It was a strange song, disconcerting yet comforting, a song that lulled a young man back into consciousness.

It was morning. Late morning, but still morning.

If he left now, Yohan would still make it to his morning classes.

Yes, he was still a student.
 
4StHGrz.jpg

"Gu..." If Eva had any second thoughts, they were far too late as the full destructive nature of her power ripped through Yohan's body like a knife through butter. The blonde watched wide-eyed, frozen in place, as the student was sliced into two, every fiber of her being refusing to move as if they told her to watch, to witness what she had done. She stood still even as he flopped over, blood spilling from his torn body, blanketing the concrete crimson. The chocolate they shared, now wasted and soiled.

"Ah..." It was when Yohan croaked out his last words that Eva's body broke out of its trance, the first thing she did was falling on her behind, scampering backward before she flopped over on all fours. "Hurk...!" Hurling whatever her belly held, including the hot drink given by Yohan moments ago, given by the student she just murdered. "Ga-... aaah...!" Coughing violently, the grisly memories of her dying moments in the previous two nightmares came flashing through her blurred vision. The bullet through her skull, the sword impaling her heart, all the blood, the bits of flesh vividly depicted, joining in a chaotic cacophony with the fresh image of Yohan's mutilated corpse.

She... she did this, she killed him, out of all people, she chose him... him! The only person who went out of his way to protect her both here and in the real world. Back then, he didn't take any advantage of her bumbling state, alleviated some of her worries, gave her his coat. Here, he comforted her first instead of his friends, stayed with her even though he could just leave her, shared her the drink, gave her his shoes. She repaid him with murder.... just because she thought the murder diving into his chest would somehow turn him into a monster. She justified that she was doing him a favor, that he would wake up, safe from all the suffering.

It was then she realized that they were still in the mercy of whatever cruel force brought them here, she wasn't doing him a favor, she was merely prolonging the inevitable, she didn't fix anything, hell, she made things worse. He was the only real partner she had, now, she forced him out by splitting him in two. All alone with no one to guide her, no one to keep her safe. She indirectly committed suicide. Oh she was such an idiot, once she woke up... she'd find him, wherever he stayed, she'd go to him and beg forgiveness. Whether he'd accept it or not, she didn't care, the least she could do was to apologize for her being such an idiot.

Right now, what could she do? The voice in her head... It was telling her... telling her to kill the others, yank out their hearts. "He... hehehe..." A small empty giggle, so this is how it was, huh? Whoever was watching them enjoyed the games, they wanted these poor students to kill each other, that girl Heidemarie was correct. There was no puzzle to solve, no riddle to investigate, the goal was always the same, this was a survival of the fittest.

"Haha... ha... hahahahahahahaha!" Yes, yes, that's right! Yohan was already dead anyway and... and she couldn't give a rat's ass for the others, especially that red-eyed sword bitch, ooooh... she should have killed her from the start. That white-haired puppeteer slut, she deserved to die... the talkative girl who couldn't shut up, the boy whom Yohan told her to go to should anything happened to him, everyone... every single one of them! She had killed the only person who meant anything to her, what was stopping her from offing the others? Right... she was the monster, not Yohan. If... if this was what the world wanted then very well. "Hahaha..." She didn't care anymore, they wanted the rabbit's heart? She'd give it to them.

Standing up and wobbling on her feet much like a zombie, Eva trudged forward, aimless and lost. Just a few days ago... she was just an Archaeology student minding her own business. Now, she was a murderer with blood on her hands.
 
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Glancing about as they ran and climbed down, Alice used her sliding trick in part so that she could keep up with Onyx. Unsure of why they were running, she panted and sweated, doing her best to keep up. With the largely flat terrain she was able to do that much at least, the rubble along the path seemed to have slowed both of them down more or less equally. Suffering a few minor scrapes the Machine Girl was more than a little displeased.

"ah-ah-ah-ah...W-why..wh-y are we r-running!?" With a frown on her face and a narrowed eye, her partner didn't bother to explain, only insisting they get back. Following the path back towards the Obelisk, Xi Feng and Marionette both seemed to still be there and none worse for the wear.

Naturally Marionette would ask the very question Alice still wanted an answer for. "I don't kno~~ ehh!?" Jumping slightly at the sound out of alertness, the girl's sour expression remains even more so. She had heard this sound once before, in fact it had been part of a series of events that had lead to her first death.

"Oh not again.. Please don't play heroes this time unless you have a plan.." She says with a bit of a sigh, though on the plus side it had confirmed her earlier thoughts, they weren't the only ones here.. The question now was what would they do, the shot sounded a bit distant, but could it be the rabbit, or were they the rabbits?

Pausing to think on this, she flexes her claw hand by her side, using the opportunity to catch her breath until one of the others decided a course of action, or she was forced to.
 
Alina took her cue.
There was absolutely no chance for her to survive in a fight against that blackbird.
Heidemarie was hardly about to cooperate, it seemed. There was nothing that she could do in that regard if she tried.
There's nothing I can do here.
There was nothing around. No cover, no saving grace. There was nothing here to protect her from the Duplicated falling stars. There was nothing to abuse this time.
Heidemarie's ability, however she used it, was the only thing that could possibly avert this certain death standing before them.
Standing here, Alina was worse than a liability.
"I'll get out of your way."
Taking a deep breath, she turned to the buildings to their right and clenched her fists.
"Good luck."
She had a window of a couple of seconds. She could only hope that the blackbird was focused on her opponent.
Otherwise, she was dead again. Of that there was no question.
She ran.
 
Onyx understood Alice's dismay at the fact they had to almost immediately start running back to their starting position, but he really couldn't be bothered to care. He had considered answering her question as to what was going on but that was a luxury they didn't have. They had to move quickly to avoid being consumed by the ever-expanding abyss. Yes, he knew they weren't exactly right next to it, but he could feel as though it was expanding faster with every passing second. So Onyx knew the only thing Alice could do was suck it up and get a move on - he'd spare her an explanation afterward.

The trek back to Marionette and Xi Feng wasn't as treacherous as one would expect for a world that frequently threw them curveballs. Making it back with only a scrape or two here and there, Onyx didn't bother to throw Marionette a glare or snide remark like he normally would. The sound of the Contender firing had immediately taken Onyx back to the first world they had visited and for a second his eyes met Marionette's and he was certain she had the same flashback.

The worst part? The gunshot rang from the south.

"Big hole. Really, really big hole." He motioned frantically with his hands, struggling to actually explain what he saw. "I crawled to the top of the canopy, and this isn't 'the center'. The center is some fucking ginormous abyss that's... It's pretty much getting bigger and consuming everything. Which means, if we want to avoid it we have to go..." He pointed south, to the sound of the gunshot.

"That way. I really hate the idea of having to trust you, but I'm pretty sure you know what's waiting for us south, right?" He said, finally talking to Marionette as if she wasn't his sworn enemy. "Our only option, regardless of if we like it or not, is to head south or we get eaten by the abyss. I'm pretty sure you and I can kill that stupid bird this time around without dying in the process." Looking around, he could only curse under his breath when he realized he wouldn't be able to leave a message for any of the others to head south if they returned to their starting position. Hopefully, they'd be able to somehow get a glimpse of the abyss before it was right upon them.

He heard Alice's natural anxiety and sighed.

"Between my 'Terminate' and Marionette's 'Dominate', I'm fairly certain we'll be able to kill that son of a bitch. The only issue is..." He turned back to Marionette. "If I can actually trust you." Marionette's ability had him constantly nervous, but he doubted she'd be keen on dying to the abyss or suffering a repeat fate at the hands of the Blackbird.

"Regardless, we have to go now." He said, feeling antsy. So much time had been wasted talking. Precious time that meant the abyss was getting closer. "And as much of a threat she could present, we can't just leave her here." He said, pointing to Xi Feng. Onyx didn't trust her, but the idea of leaving her to die to the abyss just seemed unnecessarily cruel.
 
@Izurich
West west west. Further and further away from whatever conflict brewed behind her, the sound of more gunshots ringing behind her as she continued to drift away. Outside of those brief bursts of noise, nothing else disturbed her troubles as she marched on and on. Gradually, the rubble and wires that impeded her path became less and less frequent, until Eva had a clear line of sight to the taller, untouched buildings that stood in the distance.

Tick tick tick. Time continued to pass in her head, the only companion left now in a silent world. Even now, if she turned, she would see the obelisk, standing above wreckage, a guiding post that offered all a sense of direction.

But, even though she had a compass, she continued to wander, lost in a dizzying haze of murderous thoughts and malevolent regret. In her mind's eye, she could feel it now. A yawning abyss growing wider and wider, swallowing more and more of the world that they inhabited. Inviting her into its fathomless maw.

In a dark gray world illuminated only by ostensibly bright moonlight, it was hard to see when one's own shadow squirmed.

@RedArmyShogun @Jageroux
More gunshots punctuated Onyx's words, Marionette's eyes narrowing very slightly at the reveal of ever-growing abyss. Her lips pursed, before breaking into a smile. "Well," the puppeteer said, brushing the dust off her dress, "I'm interested in another bout with her, to be sure. Xi Feng, let's go!"

A painful wince emerged from the eastern girl's features as something was released, before she slowly got up onto her feet, taking light, delicate steps as blood worked itself into her legs once more. There was still a mask of stoic rage carved into her expression, and it was clear she had nothing to say to the rest, but the Disciplinary Committee girl was the first to run, picking up the pace further with little to no regard as to whether or not the others would be able to keep up.

A sense of urgency in a situation that became more and more abnormal.

With a bit of a shrug, Marionette pulled up the hem of her dress, before running after her.

@Random
Gunshots rang out behind her, heralded by the monotone 'Duplicate' that had ruined them so badly before. Iron balls rocketed around her, fragments of stone exploding. But, despite the deadly accuracy that the blackbird had displayed earlier, none of them were targeting herself. Heidemarie had definitely drawn fire effectively, and, as seconds drew out into minutes, a distinctly different gunshot sounded. Weaker, compared to the explosive bursts of air from the Contender.

So the suitcase had held a weapon after all.

And, further off into the distance, north-easterly, a bright orange flame burst above the rubble, a bonfire that lit up the skies itself, slowly becoming more radiant as it approached. It was far off, comparatively, but the manifestation of Caelan's power lit something else up. Bravery, perhaps, inspiring her to continue on even though her physical abilities weren't anything to write home about. Fatigue creeped into her muscles, but Alina still moved on, encouraged by the flame and spurred on by the gunfight that continued to intensify, more cracks of thunder sounding.

It was only when she encountered four familiar faces that Alina stopped, guiding them back towards where they came. Slower progress, considering the respectively distances they had ran, adrenaline no longer serving to empower their physiques as much, and slowly, the gunfire receded, growing more and more faint.

The group of five arrived, only to find red and silver blood staining the ruptured ground.

Heidemarie and the blackbird were both gone, not a single bloody footprint to indicate direction.

Turning around, the flame was now over the obelisk.
 
Brightness through his window, and the sound of a distant yet familiar and comforting song was what caused Yohan to awaken from his face-down position on his desk. ...Was that being played through the campus speakers? It wasn't often people used those unless something special was happening. Did he forget some sort of 'event' happening today?

Red marks on his cheeks that had been caused from a mixture of resting on his arms, and tears from thoughts - more emotional and dire than usual - that had pried their way into his dreams. His flask of hot chocolate had gone stone-cold; not even a sip of that helped to lift up his spirits. Even though today was a big day... he didn't feel right at all. If anything, he wanted to clamber back into his bed and have a proper rest for today.

Though, as soon as he looked at his clock, a tremor of panic shook his still awakening body.

He'd overslept, big time. Usually, even when he got as little sleep as five hours, the student recalled almost 'training' himself to wake up at the correct time, and only felt slightly drowsy after doing so. Was it really like him to make such a blunder...? He didn't think so. ...Then why was he suddenly in the dilemma of being very late to classes?

Regardless, he knew he had to hurry. Thankfully already dressed up in his beloved hat, and his plain button-up shirt, trousers, and shoes, some dissonance seemed to occur in the young man's mind as he instinctively reached for his coat atop a hanger, only for it to not be there.

Where's... my coat? Squinting his eyes in confusion for a moment as he stared plainly at the empty coat peg, Yohan dismissed the thought, skipping out on breakfast; hurriedly cleaning his mouth with a cheap mixture and scrubbing his face and under his arms before he burst out the door, his suitcase packed with blueprints, a prepared script, and his invention Kalende had inspired him to show off.

Pushing open the door to his accommodation open with his shoulder, it was clear something about Yohan was off, even more than usual. His tired eyes - a grey line under gold - seemed to be focusing on nothing in particular. His skin seemed slightly pale. And his footsteps lacked their usual spring, his feet instead trudging along the ground. If anything, Yohan looked ill.

He hadn't lost that much sleep, right? Why did he feel so... tired?

And even if he was tired, he knew he should've been hurrying along to his classes. But something within him just lacked the sense of urgency. As chains of laziness seemed to pull on him from all directions, Yohan's heart sank further and further as, by now, he'd given up trying to remember the many names and things he'd forgotten. He knew something was wrong as he lacked the motivation to run down the stairs of his flat, instead slowly and deliriously taking step after step.

I still have my creations... I... still have my ideas.

Clinging onto that one thought, the student's grip on his suitcase tightened slightly, palms moist, as he left into the outside world.

But something wasn't right.

Something wasn't right at all.


The white-grey skies of fumes and clouds were bright today. Unusually bright - enough to make the student squint - as if the sun's glow had invigorated the clouds themselves. In all of his life within this campus, he'd never seen a day like this. And that was just the first sign that something... abnormal... was happening in what he knew as 'Ringrange'.

As soon as that faint lullaby eventually died down as he stepped outside, the student felt... extremely uncomfortable. There was no sound. No distant chatter. Only the sounds of his own breathing, the distant flow of canals, and the sound of the machinery that whirred without the need of human intervention. Whilst most students would be at classes at this sort of time, you would still see the occasional group walking; the occasional loner sitting to read or study at a bench. And you'd certainly see the faces of shop owners behind counters, tending to customers that were sometimes nonexistent.

But there was nothing. Not a soul in sight. Only when he looked inside reflective glass did he see another human figure. His leather boots causing a gentle reverberation against concrete with each step, Yohan began to get more and more concerned - and somewhat intrigued - the longer and longer he walked without seeing another human in the usually bustling Ringrange. He even used his ' Translocate ' to scale a tall-ish building, wind gushing against his face as he scanned his surroundings from atop an abandoned grand library. But he could only find the figures of buildings and lampposts. Nobody. Nobody at all.

Blinking, his face expressionless yet confused, the student held onto his hat as he plainly fell some forty feet from the top of the building, before using his power word at the last moment to 'cancel' his velocity and harmlessly appear atop the concrete path once more. Looking around, almost exasperatedly at this point, it was on the side of a beige-painted cob wall that the student saw some sort of... sign.

It was an arrow, imprinted on the side of a wall. There was no description under it, there was no reason for its existence. It was just... there. He'd been on this path many times, and this arrow certainly hadn't been here before. Graffiti was mostly unheard of in Ringrange, which made Yohan think that this had been put here on purpose. Someone knew he was going to end up here, and he was to follow this 'sign'.
...Somebody... is calling for me? Is that it? Is it just me and 'them' in this place for now...? Are the others here too? Yohan's tired eyes glanced towards the direction the arrow was pointing: towards another arrow, and so on, until he'd presumably reach his 'destination'. Am I still not... 'awake'? Is that what's going on here?

Yohan kept his glance on the arrow for a good few seconds, before his legs scraped against the floor as he sluggishly began to move into motion. Step. Step. A long rub of his eyes as he still tried get used to the blindless, and the feeling of being completely alone in what he'd initially thought was the 'real world'.

But this. Unless something on a huge scale was happening that he'd missed... this wasn't the Ringrange he could remember.

With no other options he deemed sensible, Yohan could only follow the arrows, and answer his summons. His mind didn't even consider the fact that these arrows could've been here just for no reason, or were here to lead him to his peril. ...At this point, he almost felt as if he had nothing to lose.

Perhaps here, in this strange day of what he doubted was the 'real world' still, somebody would be there to give him some answers. Or, at the least, some comfort.
 
"A giant expanding hole?... Alright.." Throwing her mechanical arms up and to the side as if to make a shrug. "This place is mad..though now that time limit makes sense, we have till then or the world swallows us all..." As his explanation rolled on, she knew they had no choice but to head that way, tempted to offer staying here herself, that likely wasn't the most sound of ideas.. She also wasn't as helpless this time, the terrain wasn't fully against her and she was armed with more than a bag of groceries.

"O-okay let's go!" Nodding her head, she then takes a look at the rising sword woman. Was she really as evil as they treated her, or was she doing her best to survive in this crazy world.. She had helped her once before after all. Course that didn't exempt her from being an enemy, but for now she was an ally.

As the group ran, Alice was a little more than surprised with the fact she was managing to keep up, though tired. Maybe even a bit faster than Marionette. Turning her head to the rear to check their backs, a most unusual site was in the distance, a sudden flare of fire.

"Wha-..." Shaking her head she was fairly sure she didn't want any part of that, or to at least to address it at this point in time. Plus it seemed they had what they had came for;

Alina.

Tired of all this running, she was very thankful then all the rest seemed to finally have tired out, taking a more direct and slow path to the scene of the gunfight. With silence being all they were meat with it seemed the battle had passed, or it was some form of trap. Walking into the open with the others the only trace of what had happened was some spots of blood, red and... Silver? Hadn't she caught a slight view of that before? In either case it seemed the game was not over, so was the shooter the Rabbit after all? Regardless it didn't seem they would be finding either now, or easily at any rate.

Turning her head the flame from before was still there, no it was closer and over the Obelisk. "We might should go back.. but I don't think that will be so easy.. Should we try and find her?"


Or maybe even wise...
 
4StHGrz.jpg

On and on she marched West, heedless to the pain jolting from her legs. The landscape around her gradually shifted from a ruined city to a desolate piece of land in which the only things she could see in the distance were... intact buildings. "Ah..." So did she and Yohan pick the right direction? Perhaps the answer lied within those buildings. For the moment, she stopped, catching her breath while also turning around to check whatever was happening behind her.

The sight of the obelisk ever present, the ticking of clockwork echoing in her skull, and the mental image of an endlessly growing abyss. Combined with those standing buildings on the horizon, she knew the answer now, she must get away from this place, away from all obelisk and... from that cursed hole which called out to her, tempting her to jump into its maw into certain death.

"Nnnkh..." No, no no no! She must resist! Whipping herself around, Eva ran West, towards those buildings, distancing herself from everything behind her. Let those fools fight! Haha... let them kill each other and when they do... she'd be the only one left alive, she'd 'win' the game and when she woke up, she'd find Yohan and apologize. Everything... everything would turn out just fine~
 
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