I'll tell you all how the story ends

[cleartranquil]

Who: Ghost Quest kids and all those who want to see them.
What: So as it turns out, going against the label might've been a bad move. Who knew, right? 
When: Feb 3rd and after 
Where: Pride HQ
Warnings: Talk of torture, aftermath of violence, aftermath of brainwashing, dudes there's some dark stuff.

For the past three days, the troublemakers and ghost helpers of Pride Records were kept locked away from their friends and their bands. 

As far as everyone else knew, they were just gone. And then they were back. 

They are all worse for wear, some far more than others and some much more mentally than physically, but they are all returned to their penthouses, finally, at the end of their ordeals. 

But, at least they're back. Somewhat in one piece. For the most part. 

Comments

TIGER UNIVERSE | SYSTEM CRASH | OTA

[tigermillionaire]

THE PENTHOUSE
Tiger is lying on his back, and the ceiling is spinning. His vision seems unfocused and shifting, like his eyes aren’t quite working right. He’s back in his room, he thinks, hazily. But nothing is the same anymore.

There’s a spiderwebbing crack across the gem on his belly, and it feels like that same crack must be going through his whole body – like he must be on the verge of splintering apart. Being back on his bed is more comfortable than any other position he’d been in during his imprisonment, but it doesn’t even really feel like it makes a difference, like being in a cage is just the natural way of things.

He wants to cry, but it’s like the urge and the function won’t connect. He feels like he’s underwater, like he isn’t breathing.

After what feels like a really long time, he finally gets up. All he’s wearing now is a tank-top and his boxers, and he is suddenly reminded of the presence of the patches of glowing fracture lines that have appeared across patches of his skin, as if mimicking the break in his gem. He ends up in front of his mirror – his eyes no longer have any pupil or iris, instead filled with cloudy pink fog and speckles of light. It almost looks like stars.

He’s broken, he thinks. He doesn’t know why, but that’s the word and concept that comes to mind. He isn’t working right. He’s been thoroughly wrecked. He’s incapable of contemplating how it’s going to get better.

Eventually, he makes it out into the hallway, but before he gets far he sinks down onto a random spot of floor, staring into space.

PRIDE HQ
He ends up outside of his penthouse, at one of the common Pride HQ pool areas. He feels like he wants to be in water, for some reason, like this horrible state of being is something that has a chance of just washing off. He walks into the water in his boxers and tank top, not really thinking about how anyone might object.

And then he just finds himself standing there, alone in the pool, his arms wrapped around himself. The pink-glowing crack-lines refract across the water, lighting dim at this time of night. Everything seems so far away.

[sailorlaughter]

Tiger! [As soon as she sees him, Pinkie immediately falls to her knees in front of him, taking one of his hands in both of hers to run her fingers over the weird glowing lines. It doesn't come off; she's not surprised. Part of her must have already known this wasn't body paint and weird contacts.] What did they do?

[tigermillionaire]

[It feels so weird, hearing her voice now, and it takes a few moments for the concept to settle. After what they'd done...he'd never thought he would be back here again. He never thought he'd see her.

And now he doesn't even know what to do with it.

He looks down at his own hand, turning it over between her fingers. He doesn't really get what happened to him, either. They hurt him, he knows that very intimately. But he doesn't know why he's broken quite like this.

He reaches down to his belly with his other hand.]

It got broke, and...and everything is messed up...

[He doesn't sound distressed so much as hollow and in shock.]

[sailorlaughter]

[Pinkie frowns at the gem; she hasn't seen it before. But compared to everything else happening with Tiger, it's far less upsetting. It's just a cracked jewel.]

Can we fix it?

[tigermillionaire]

[He squeezes the gem between his fingers, and then gasps as if it hurt him. He bends forward, another shattered pattern shooting up his arm, his curls falling in front of his face. His voice comes out in a mumble.]

I don't know. I don't...I dunno what it is, it's hurting me.

[sailorlaughter]

[Pinkie draws in a sharp breath between her teeth as the patterns change. Her hands shoot back to her middle, carefully away from the jewel - she'd been thinking about touching it, to see if she could figure anything out.

I grew up on a rock farm, y'know!

She shakes a vague impression of granite and geodes out of her head; what's happening now is more important than all that.]

Ummmm...why - why don't we get you into bed? You should rest!

[The cheer rings horribly false. She doesn't know what to do about this.]

[tigermillionaire]

[Wow Pinkie, now that's dedication.]

Okay...

[Another mumble. He doesn't go anywhere, but he also doesn't...actually do anything but continue to sit on the floor, until he vaguely reaches out his hand for her, as if for guidance.]

[sailorlaughter]

[Okaaaaaay...Pinkie takes his hand and stands, as if to pull him upright. But then she just stands there.]

You...want me to carry you?

[tigermillionaire]

[He gets up with her, blinking heavily like he's trying to clear his thoughts. Asking if he wants to be carried? His gut impulse is that he does, even if he doesn't need to. It makes him feel safe, especially with someone like Pinkie.

Instead of really giving a good answer off the bat, though, he responds to that gut feeling by moving forward and wrapping his arms around her in a hug, hiding his face against her body. He can't believe he's back here, with her. It all feels so far away.]

[blindfoldcode]

She doesn't want to see him. Well, that's not it. It's more that she doesn't want him to see her. She'd let such horrible things happen to him and now he--

Now something was terribly, terribly wrong with him. But when she really sees how much has gone wrong with him for the first time since being locked up, when she sees that he's not getting any better, she follows him. Quietly. Afraid, almost, to use her ability.

She doesn't get too close to him, instead watching at the pool worriedly. Like he could get hurt worse. Afraid he might drown, though she doesn't know why. She's afraid to speak up. To let him know she's there and close and... she stays as far back as she can while still being close enough to see him. Her voice is quiet when she speaks.

"Be careful." She doesn't even know if he can hear her. She holds herself and tries to act like she's not there. She wants to disappear.

[tigermillionaire]

He's dipped down low enough for the water to hang just below his nose. He doesn't really hear her when she speaks - or at least his reaction time is so slow he acts before he processes it. He dips under water, holding himself beneath the water and trying to remember a hand reaching down for him.

[blindfoldcode]

Tiger, child, no. She won't wait long before she darts forward to the water because Tiger she is very scared for you.

"Tiger?!" She doesn't want to grab for him and accidentally maybe hurt him but--

[tigermillionaire]

He hears sound faintly coming down through the water. A name. His name? It doesn't feel right, but it doesn't feel wrong either. Nothing feels like it fits, at the moment. He doesn't know what he's doing.

He just remembers looking up and seeing his mom, reaching down for him. Even then, though he was pretty sure it wasn't real.

He surfaces suddenly, his yellow streaked curls covering his head like a wet blanket. Another pink fault line has formed across his cheek - the patterns keep moving and changing, like something continually cracking and reforming.

[blindfoldcode]

She sinks to her knees at the side of the pool with a shaky breath. "Are--"

That's a stupid question to ask. Are you okay? Everything about him is messed up and she doesn't know how to respond to it. She wants to ask if she can help. She clenches her fists in the fabric of her own shirt and takes a deep breath.

"What are you doing?"

[tigermillionaire]

He kicks his legs, keeping head head above water with relative ease. Again, it's like it takes him a moment to hear her, before he legs himself sag in the water again.

"I...I dunno..." He answers shyly, like he's worried about getting in trouble for it.

[blindfoldcode]

"Can I do something?" Her voice only gets quieter.

[tigermillionaire]

"I thought that..."

His face dips part way into the water again, and he stops talking. Then, suddenly, his swimming loses its cadence and he has to reach for the ledge to keep afloat.

Penthouse

[twoscompany]

[Of all of the people she was worried about. Yes, Genos is her friend, and Terry, her bandmate. But Steven is Steven. And he disappeared. She has to know he's all right. She's responsible for him, she's supposed to be there...

So, soon enough, Garnet is back to looking for him, first starting in the System Crash penthouse. She's careful, but...only so much, Technically, she shouldn't even like him. That's what the tabloids said, right?

Its when she leaves that she sees him in the hallway.]

Tiger!

[tigermillionaire]

[His reaction is understated. He doesn't even speak. Instead he just slowly turns to look at her in confusion, his eyes vacant and coloured like pink smoke and starlight. There is nothing in her memories like this. He just sits and looks at her, with his arms draped limply over his lap.

[twoscompany]

[No, never. That's why, when she sees those eyes, her heart stops, and her own eyes widen.]

Oh my god.

[She falls to the floor, staring. What...what is this? What...what did they..!?]

Steven.

[She knows. She knows, but she's so shocked, she forgets for the moment, as she crawls over. She wants to take his face, to examine him, if he'll let her.]

What did they do to you.

[tigermillionaire]

[He lets her, if only because his brain doesn't seem to be reacting quickly enough to question the action. Crack lines formed of light appear in patches over his skin - on his shoulder, on his neck...on the skin around his belly in particular. There's a stone there, peeking out from beneath his tank top. It's cracked.]

I made her do it...

[His explanation is absent - confused.]

I did something really bad.

[1/2]

[twoscompany]

....No.

No. No, no no no no...

[Even if she doesn't remember, that cracked gem is not good, and she knows it. She draws him in tight, as if to keep him grounded, shaking her head over and over, repeating no until her tears began to flow.

When he speaks, though, she looks at him.]

No, no you didn't. You didn't make anyone hurt you. She had no right...

[twoscompany]

[Terry, hurt. Genos, claiming his hero was a villain. Now...now...

Her grip tightens, becomes shaky.]

She had...no right. You did...nothing wrong.

[If anything, whatever he did, maybe it helped them. And that's why he was punished. Because Lesedi - how did she ever think that woman was anything but a miserable, horrible human being? God. She worshiped the woman.

That disgusting, vile woman.]

This is her fault. Not...yours.

[tigermillionaire]

[At first being held is sort of comforting, a kind sort of touch that he'd almost forgotten about in the wake of everything else. But as soon as she starts trying to tell him he didn't do anything wrong, that it was Lesedi's fault, that comfort all falls away.

He whines, pushing against her like he's trying to escape.]

No! No...I...I did. I did. You didn't see.

[twoscompany]

[His attempts are weak, at best, against Garnet. Even so, she shakes her head.]

This is all I need to see to know. You're hurt and that's what I see. How do you deserve any of this?

[She needs to...she needs to contact Greg. Steven needs his father.]