☆TRACK XIII: HIT THE BOTTOM

[interdimanagers]

Who: Everyone!
What: The tour moves on to Asiana, and Gold makes a move.
When: June 21st - July 8th, 2055
Where: Any of the potential tour stops, but mostly TOKYO.
Warnings: Again, probably violence.

“What's going on? Could this be my understanding? It's not your fault, I was being too demanding. I must admit, it's my pride that made me distant, All because I hoped that you'd be someone different.” ☆HIT THE BOTTOM Blanche's attempt to weaken Pride Records had mixed results. On one hand, a large number of Pride members have escaped as a result, bringing Pride down to Virgo's level. On the other, he managed to lose almost the entirety of Defying Atmosphere, one of the major headliners of his newest wave of musical acts. While the ranks of the rescuers swell, life within the labels has hit another low. After the last mass escape, both labels have shut down most of their musicians access to the outside world, beyond the closely watched concerts and publicity events. Bands that have shrunk down to one or two members are being reformatted - are you the only one left? Congratulations, you're a solo act now. You won't have the same fame level as someone who made it there the normal way, but it's an act of necessity now. To the labels benefit, even if they've both shed a large amount of their newest acts, they still have a solid standard of veteran acts remaining. If your managers treat you with some added disdain in coming weeks, it probably shouldn't be much of a surprise. Your entire generation of musicians seems like they have been at terrible mistake. Those in the tiers above you seem remarkably complacent, at least on the outside. ☆ASIANA TOUR All of these cities are basically what they are like IRL except about 50 years more future-like, and you have full creative liberty to make up some developments to the local culture and worldbuild because this is the last time these places will ever be mentioned meaningfully! THE OFFICIAL STOPS: Mumbai (June 21st - 23rd), Bangkok (June 24th - 27th), Shanghai (June 28th - 30th), Seoul (July 1st - 3rd), Tokyo (July 4th - 8th) Tokyo is the biggest event of the Asiana Tour. In a change from the Europa Tour, the rescuers will be following the labels to each city location instead of just assembling at the last one. Security has gotten so tight, they need to take every opportunity they can to try to save another life. ► WORLD OF YOUR DREAMS: It's while Shep's spaceship is camping out in Shanghai that Gold breaks in - and the effects of their visit will extend throughout the entirety of both the rescuers and the captive musicians. Back during the Vista City festival, Agent J managed to capture a large amount of ambient musical energy via a group dance routine, and handed it over to Silver who condensed it into the physical form of a glowing disk. Gold has arrived to ask for it, to use as part of their plans against Pride Records. Upon entering, Gold will use their magic to cast a sleep on all the present rescuers in order to give them some privacy with Silver. Silver, of course, is going to say no to handing over the disk, refusing to enable Gold's reckless plans. This conflict is going to result in Silver trying to hide the disk with magic, and then things are going to get a little weird. Most of you are familiar with the strange dreamscape that rescuers first met the captured musicians in... well, we're going back there, again! With everyone asleep and the ambient musical magic thick, everyone previously associated with the shared dreams is getting dragged back into that same dream realm, which happens to be the same psychic location that Silver hid the disk. Everyone interested in being the one to find the disk in the dreamscape can enter below, and a winner will be drawn via RNG (after which, they can group up with however many others they like when the actual discover happens). After that, they'll be free to do with the disk what they choose, whether that is keeping it from Gold, giving it to them, or something else entirely. Everyone else, of course, will just get to experience sharing a dreamscape one more time before endgame, including being able to meet up with the musicians still trapped within the labels. Everyone will be in what represents their "true" forms once again, and memories still locked away with feel a bit easier to access. Gold will end up fleeing, with or without the disk. Whether or not they end up with it will affect the events to come. ☆GOLD MAKES A MOVE Here's what Gold has been building up to with all of their reckless nonsense - they intend to try to take on Lesedi Santiago, one on one, and they're going to do it during one of the exec's public appearances during the Tokyo festival. Gold's intent is to take her out before she can even get to the end of this ritual - how this turns out will be entirely dependent on the players. Any rescuer or musician can be present if you wish, and they'll have full liberty to act on both Gold and Lesedi once the fight begins. Do you support Gold? Do you support Lesedi? Do you say fuck it and try to take them both out? There will be one free for all thread that will go up after the dream event winner has been sorted out. The fight will be in public, and as usual, the audience will be too brainwashed to do anything but clap and cheer. Everyone but you, of course. Please ask any questions you might have below! “I turned away, 'cause I thought you were the problem. Tried to forget until I hit the bottom. But when I faced you in my blank confusion, I realized you weren't wrong, it was a mere illusion.”

Comments

[undergardens]

You changed my life.

[ Persephone squeezes her hand. Her fingers are callused from snapping her fingers over and over. It feels like that moment so many months ago when she reached out to try and lead Luci to the underground.

Except this time she couldn't fuck up. ]

I can do more than tell you. If you're willing to trust me, I can show you.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

[Luci snorts softly, looking down at their joined hands and feeling something familiar. Like that image in her mind of Laura-- Persephone-- reaching for her from a sea of crows. But at the same time, she's been dictated, dragged around, and controlled for a long time. Being presented with a choice, for once, doesn't feel right.] And I bet if I said I couldn't trust you, you wouldn't do anything, right? Probably a sign I should let you get on with it.

[undergardens]

Just warning you now, this might not be fun.

[ With their hands still joined, Persephone takes a step back. The energy that is always waiting inside her bones comes to life, working its way out like roots searching for water.

Under her breath she counts 1-2-3-4 before letting it all out. Once again her eyes turn black, lit only by the skulls at their centers. Shadows of vines surround her and finally when she sings, they wrap around Luci.

Persephone gives her everything. The concert in Brixton where Laura first saw her perform. The night they met and every moment that came after. Memories of Amaterasu, Inanna, Baphomet and Morrigan. All the gods posed in Valhalla. Anything that might help Luci remember.

The jailbreak and everything terrible that came with it. Even her own awakening as a god, that tunnel of infinite faces and the words weighted down with ritual.

When the vines recede, she's still holding onto Luci, praying to anything that might listen that this works. ]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Shit--! [Luci squeezes Persephone's hand in a vice-like grip, apparently regretting her choice to trust her rescuer. She'd seen some crazy shit in her time at Pride, but something about skull-eyes and vines reaching for her doesn't sit.]

Shit, shit, shit-- [Even if her instinct is to duck and run, she stands still and waits for the tendrils to wrap around her. And when they do, her whole body goes slack and she groans. It's the most pleasant touch she's felt in months. Soft, gentle, right in every way, worming through her body in a way that only music can do.]

[But the images. They start wonderful enough, familiar but different, a certain energy in the air that was never present at any Carnie gig. People fainting and climbing all over each other, reaching for her, dressed in white like they're only here for her--]

[But the memories get dark. Luci reducing two gunmen to headless, burning examples of what happens when you cross a god. The judge. Handcuffs and Laura's fingers touching hers. Betrayal. Poor decisions. Explosions. Ravens--]

[Luci chokes on the images of Laura holding her lifeless body, an example of what happens when you cross Ananke. The one who had held her, said she'd missed her, why, why, why had she been abandoned? Luci's nails dig into Persephone's hand and she shakes her head, trying to get the image away, closing her eyes does no good.]

Stop, stop please stop...!

[She has to stay with it though, she knows she does even if she wants to burn the image of her headless corpse from her mind and scream over the time stolen from her. The sea of faces, matching the one from her dream, Ananke's face, grabs her head and rattles it around until something finally, finally snaps back into place and she throws her arms back and snaps her fingers. Tables and chairs in the club go flying, blown to pieces and set aflame. But when the vines finally recede back to Persephone, Luci can't stand up. She feels like Persephone thoroughly beat her, but her body still enjoyed it. That's a new and slightly unwelcome feeling, but what else could be done?]

[She's Lucifer. The Lucifer. And she had refused to believe it until shown the truth.]

[undergardens]

[ Gods are always most vulnerable when they're performing. The song refuses to let go even as Luci's nails dig into her hand, when Luci tries to make it stop and even when the furniture in the club explodes around them. The power flows through her like a conduit but when it finishes Persephone is quickly on her knees beside Luci, hands hovering an inch away from her like she's scared to touch her. In case she somehow breaks. ]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I had to. Ananke has Morrigan and she's killing us one by one and I needed you.

[ So much for the cool and collected god. She feels more like Laura in this moment than she has in this moment, babbling to Luci and unsure if she didn't fuck it up completely. ]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

[Something has been coiling inside of Luci for a long time. A wild thing that's been poked and prodded and abused to the point of lashing out at anyone and anything that comes close. Something that's suddenly grown teeth, and is too angry for words.]

You do need me-- [Luci grits her teeth and stands up with some difficulty, her legs still feeling like ropes of spaghetti. For someone who had just been shown her own murder, Luci seems remarkably composed. But Persephone should know better.]

[After a moment of quiet, Luci starts a godly tantrum. The tables had it easy the first time as Luci begins blowing everything to hell, so to speak. Chairs, tables, anything on the walls, the floor, she starts blowing it all up. Fires break out, anything in her line of sight becomes a target as Luci lets her anger out. After a minute of solid destruction, Luci stops and her shoulders relax.]

She set me up, and once I get out of here, there won't be anything that wrinkled cunt can hide behind. Anything.

[undergardens]

[ She waits out the tantrum, quietly grateful that all this destruction is happening in a dream instead of real life. The club is a ruin when she comes up for air. The fact that Luci seems to remember eases the knot in her stomach to something tolerable.

Thank god.

Persephone stands in front of her, coat smoking a little in the wake of all the flaming debris. A fangirl made divine in spite of broken promises. ]

...welcome back, Luci.