☆TRACK II: DISCORD AND RHYME

[interdimanagers]

Who: Kidnapped Pride Members
What: Corporate hazing, in the style of themepark murder clowns.
When: October 18th-19th.
Where: A large, empty carnival, apparently.
Warnings: This is basically Saw games for babies.

“Burning the ground, I break from the crowd I'm on the hunt, I'm after you. I smell like I sound, I'm lost and I'm found And I'm hungry like the wolf.” ☆DISCORD AND RHYME It’s your first free night after a particularly feverish series of performances. It’s a comparatively lazy Sunday evening - one that all of you are obligated to spent in the HQ. Things are normal, at least as normal as they ever are, are you’re free to go to bed early and for once have the luxury in sleeping in tomorrow. At least theoretically. Whether you go to bed or not, you’ll find yourself drifting off - and then the sound eerie, peculiar music...like the sound of an old music box, with a soft feminine voice singing wordlessly along. You’ll fall asleep, hard, and when you wake up you are somewhere else. "【Sad and Scary Song】"Come Out And Play"Creepy Music Box】[HD]" (Watch on YouTube) ☆THE SACRIFICES At first, you wake up in what seems like some kind of boiler room. Some parts of the floor are slick with moisture, and your hands and feet are bound, with your wrists locked to the industrial piping behind you. Regaining consciousness is slow and difficult, as if it wasn't meant to come to you quite yet. You can hear water and steam flowing through some of the pipes, and the complex is obviously still active with...whatever it's supposed to be doing. But maybe you're just too busy freaking out at your evident kidnapping to think too hard about circumstantial evidence. You aren't the only one in here. Whether they are awake or unconscious, four other Pride members are bound nearby. Around the side of some of the machinery, you can see the glow of computers, though you can't quite see the screens - there are chairs, though, and a cup of Starbucks that is still steaming. Whoever brought you here is probably still around, and there's no telling how long you have before they return. (Click here for your top level!) ☆THE CHALLENGERS You wake up sitting in what appears to be a bumper car of all things - you know, one of those little vehicles you drive around at carnivals to crash into each other? You're sitting in one, and your hand are handcuffed around the bar behind you. Your neck is definitely sore, like you've been sitting like this for a while. It only takes a moment to realize two things: 1) you actually are in a theme park of some sort, and it's still night time, and 2) you're not alone. At least a dozen other Pride members are handcuffed to the bumper cars around you, all pointed in the direction of an empty stretch of wheel worn floor - like an audience, intended to view a speaker. Whoever brought you here doesn't give you much time to be confused. They stride into the center of the "stage" like they own the place. They are wearing a hooded coat of a decidedly gothic style, with a hood that shadows their face. When they speak, they sound feminine - almost like the voice you remember putting you to sleep earlier. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," they say, "to your trial by fire." (Click here for your top level!) “Strut on a line, it's discord and rhyme I'm on the hunt, I'm after you. Mouth is alive with juices like wine And I'm hungry like the wolf.”

Comments

[mildwildchild]

Through his own steadily-mounting terror Jamie can't really pick up on the change in B's tone, but he does hear that burst of profanity as B's footing slips. Jamie strains against the shoulder harness, trying again to see over the edge. Due to the cart's position on the track relative to B's, the older teen is out of Jamie's range of sight, something that only exacerbates Jamie's anxiety.

"You okay?!" he calls, alarm flaring; if B falls, they're both dead. He's hoarse from screaming and not sure if his bandmate can hear him, but he keeps trying anyway, voice shaking. "You can do it, B, c'mon! I-I'm counting on you!"

holy crud i'm sorry about how late this is

[killerbeep]

For a moment, he's not sure he's going to be able to keep holding on. He clings to the metal framework, his bare feet swinging in open air.

He can hear Jamie shouting, if only barely, as he finally manages to get one foot back on the track, and he's about to respond, when... something happens.

Something in Jamie's voice, his desperation, clicks somewhere in B's mind, and for an instant the nighttime darkness and the carnival's lights are replaced by a very different lighting - the dark of a windowless room, purple lights, the sting of metal under one hand replaced by something crystalline, something that he can't identify as warm or cold, and he doesn't want to be holding it but can't seem to let go.

And a voice - a little younger than Jamie's, but no less desperate, shouting at him, though it takes him a moment to make out the words - "I know you always listen to me, no matter what!"

An instant later, he's back in the fairground, clutching at the rollercoaster like his life depends on it - which it kind of does at this point, as does Jamie's, a thought which puts a fresh surge of panic through him that overwhelms the need to figure out what the hell he just saw for the moment.

"I'm--" His voice comes out shakier than he would like, but he does his best to shout up. "I'm fine! I'm coming up, just-- just hang on!"

He reaches up to keep climbing, over the curve of the track, and before long it stops feeling quite as steep, even though his shoulders hurt like hell and his hands and feet are stinging from the friction of the track under them. "Almost there, just... I'll be there soon, alright?"

[mildwildchild]

B's voice seems fainter, and Jamie's not sure if it's because the wind's picking up or B is losing steam. He remains as he is for a minute or so longer - leaned as far to the side as the harness will allow, one hand gripping the edge of the cart, listening for B even though he can no longer see him. Finally his neck and shoulder start to ache and he acknowledges that he's not accomplishing anything this way, so he leans back, with a long shuddering breath, resigning himself to a long wait.

His mind wheels around in a morose cycle of thoughts buffeted around by constant near-panic. What if B can't make it up here in time? What if he falls and dies trying to get Jamie out of this thing? What if he decides it's not worth the hassle and he just gives up? That thought terrifies Jamie more than anything, for some reason - he's fairly certain B wouldn't do that, but it's not like they're family or anything, B doesn't exactly have any obligation to risk his neck trying to get Jamie out of trouble.

It galls him to feel so powerless. There must be something he hasn't tried yet. Gritting his teeth, he tries again to extricate himself from the cart, tucking his elbows in against his ribcage and pushing up against the restraints with everything he's got. He thinks he feels the harness give maybe a fraction of an inch, but then as soon as he relents it settles back into place. The harness fits too snugly to work his shoulders through the gap in the center - unless he's like triple-jointed, which he isn't, or wants to try dislocating both his arms, which he doesn't - and he can't slide down underneath it. In short, the harness is doing an excellent job of keeping him securely inside the cart. Whoever designed this safety device should be proud of themselves.

He hammers against the padded metal chest bar one more time with a frustrated snarl that's almost a sob. He's completely at the mercy of either B or whoever's in charge of this bullshit, and it's as humiliating as it is infuriating.

The cart suddenly lurches forward again and he can't bite back the yelp of fear this elicits. It seems to just keep moving and moving, closing the distance to that missing section of track, and it feels like forever until it squeals to a halt again, even though in actuality it's only moved another couple feet or so. By the time it's stopped Jamie has his hands locked around the harness in a death grip, trying his hardest to keep his composure.

This time, at least, he doesn't bother to scream.

aaand top reached

[killerbeep]

The track keeps going, slowly curving into less of an incline, but it still seems like an agonizingly slow journey, especially as the pain and fatigue in his body intensify.

He looks up again with his eyes wide as he hears the cart creak forward, the sudden increase in his heart rate and the ensuing flood of relief when the cart stops again painfully familiar by now, and there's no denying his own creeping fear that he won't make it in time. He can't predict when the cart will move again, and if it keeps going...

If it keeps going, there will be a point where there's no track left to stop on. He tries to force that thought away, not to think about it for the time being. Panicking won't help Jamie.

It seems like an eternity until he grabs the track again, wincing a little as his knee bumps against the metal - and then he realizes just how shallow the incline has gotten. His eyes widen, and he scrambles the next few steps forward, stumbling to his feet. He regrets it and instant later, dropping back onto all fours and trying very hard not to look at the drop below him.

He looks back up at the cart, swallowing hard before speaking up again. "--Jamie! I'm... I'm almost there, just hold on!" He keeps crawling forward, and, the moment he can, grabs onto the back of the cart to balance himself as he moves toward the front.

do we PM the mods or...?

[mildwildchild]

B's voice doesn't even register at first, whether because Jamie's slowly going numb with fear or because he's convinced himself that B wouldn't (or didn't want to) make it this far, he himself couldn't say. When it finally does pierce the fog of terror and/or apathy surrounding him, Jamie's eyes open comically wide and he twists around in the seat, trying to see over the headrest. He fails, because the seat was designed that way for safety reasons, which only makes him more frustrated and panicky.

"B?!" He sounds almost incredulous, like he can't believe the guy's actually here, but mostly he's relieved. They're not out of the woods yet, but if B is as close as he sounds, then maybe there's hope after all. He wants to say something encouraging, something to express his gratitude for B coming to get him despite the risks, but all he can manage is, "Don't die, okay? Please?"

The coaster and its unseen operators aren't through having fun with them yet, however, because as soon as B's feet leave the track and he's in or on the rear of the car, it starts moving forward again...