☆TRACK XIV: THE END COMPLETE

[interdimanagers]

Who: ALL WHO DARE ENTER.
What: The Grand Finale.
When: July 25th, 2055
Where: THE MOON.
Warnings: All kinds of things, I'm sure.

“These are the days. The end complete. The world still turning to the sound of the suffering. You are the jury, we are the saints. Our minds divide, the past repeats. A war still brewing in the hearts of those we once bled. I am the knowing, the living dead.” ☆THE END COMPLETE The aftermath of the battle with Lesedi is a mixture of fortune. On one hand, a severe enough blow has been dealt to Lesedi that she has been forced to disappear almost entirely, and Gold has survived the conflict – on the other, Silver has disappeared too, and so have the rest of the Pride musicians. While Virgo carries on to the end of the tour, Pride is almost entirely absent from the last two weeks of the schedule. Some of what remains of its bands will appear on stage, but something seems off about them – including the musicians that the rescuers know personally. Even when on stage, it’s like they’re not really there. As if something is puppeting them directly from behind the scenes. Anansi appears only briefly during the final performances, and from what Gold will tell everyone, she has been Silver all along. The two of them had been working undercover for years to gain the power and influence they had, enough to begin fostering a rebellion in their seconds lives. So much of what made it possible to bring the rescuers together had been enabled by those connections, which was why it had been so crucial that no one know the source of their power or their knowledge. Now Gold seems to be blaming herself for the fact that Silver hasn’t returned, suspecting that Blanche has done something to her as a result of her stepping in during the fight with Lesedi. Neither exec has left hiding since then, and its nauseating knowing that they could basically be anywhere. There only seems to be one thing left to do, and that is beat the two of them to the proverbial finish line. Gold used her close connection with Lesedi to gather crucial information about where the finale of it all would be taking place, and the basic essence of what would be done – which was part of what had inspired her to attack Lesedi so desperately. The end of the ritual is scheduled to take place on the moon. ☆THE MOON It’s a good thing Shep has a spaceship. The scattered remains of the world tour are spent in preparation. Though some may try to get close to the musicians that remain, it’s become nearly impossible – any attempt to get too close to met with those individuals being abruptly teleported away, no matter how disruptive it may be at the time. It’s not like it matters to the audience. The enchantment of Tera’s populace is still holding, though there is something off and inconsistent about it. Most of the time, festival goers will refuse to acknowledge that anything besides a radical concert is going on, but then there are those in the crowd that will suddenly seem to peer through the fog. Something about the spell is broken, and it’s likely the series of disruptions to its execution that has done it. The best option seems to be following the two of them to the finale, and ruining the ritual once and for all in its critical moments. The lost musicians have to be there, and it could be the rescuers only chance to retrieve them. On the day of the rituals climax, Shep’s ship will carry everyone willing to fight towards Tera’s moon. The rescuers will catch glimpses of the Crescendolls ghosts more and more frequently as the moment arrives, though they seem to be avoiding Gold and Shep in the meantime. Through a combination of magic and brute force, the rescuers will be able to make their way into the the label’s moon base – a structure paradoxically shared by both Pride and Virgo. It seems that this entire thing has been organized to end in a structured battle from the very start, like a final duel between r ivals that has been planned for centuries. Everything is finally coming to a head. But how will this play out when one of the two is a mere shadow of their former selves? ☆PRIDE For the musicians of Pride, the fight with Lesedi is the last thing you remember clearly. If you weren’t there at the time, then the moment when things changed is even more disorientating. You remember the feeling of Lesedi’s spacial pull against your body, and then everything became a long, confusing dream. There is darkness and fire and stars, and then a feeling like you’re feeling split from something essential to your being. After that, nothing goes back to normal. You think you remember performing a few times, but it didn’t feel like you, even if the magic was still there. Life passes by weightlessly. It’s a familiar feeling – like a hole has been left inside you. Despite all the progress you’ve made towards regaining who you are, it’s seems like there’s one final hurtle to overcome. Despite everything, you’re still here. ☆VIRGO For anyone left in Virgo’s ranks, things are much clearer but no less tense. The rest of the tour has been rushed, and the events have been minimal. The execs, however, have been in a very good mood. With Pride’s near total disappearance, it seems like Virgo’s victory in whatever battle this has been is guaranteed. But yet, there is still a sense of ill ease. Whether you knew what she stood for or not, one of the most visible veterans, Anansi, has gone missing, and the rest of them seem nervous. The end is coming fast, and nobody seems to know what that means for them. And then it finally becomes clear why, when the entirety of Virgo is rounded up and taken to the moon – not as performers, but as sacrifices. “Dig deeper, remember All you've been and all you've left behind. Wave goodbye, my dear. Dig deeper, remember All you've been and all you've left behind. Welcome home, my dear.”

Comments

☆PHASE ONE: OUR MINDS DIVIDE

[interdimanagers]

Those with any sense for souls or magic will realize it as soon as they enter: all those spirits, all those crystals, all those partners and loved ones who have disappeared over the weeks, months, years – they’re here. They’re right here.

They have been used to build the stage of the nebulae’s final performance.

It’s a spectrum of colour that you can both see and feel. Thousands of crystals, of souls, line the walls and the floors, organized in meticulous arrangements of colours. The lights flicker and glow according to a kind of music that goes beyond the sense of sound, the souls played like an inhuman instrument for a much larger purpose.

Virgo’s side is prepared. The musicians, both new and old, have been brought to the Virgo stage and chained in places of seemingly ritual significance. Some of the veterans are yelling or pleading, apparently haven’t thought themselves above this, but Blanche regards them without attachment. The only one he pays any attention to is Juno, with whom he exchanges solemn and heartfelt words with in voices too low to hear.

And it’s with Juno, his closest companion in recent centuries, that it become obvious what Blanche’s intent is for the rest of them. She offers herself to him, and with uncharacteristic gentleness he consumes her soul.

Anansi, or Silver as the rescuers know her, is next in line. She doesn’t react to her surroundings, staring blankly downward, and as Blanche carefully lays Juno’s husk on the ground. But this is when Lesedi and what remains of Pride finally arrives.

Where Virgo arrived with careful dignity, the spectre of Lesedi appears in a crash of lightning, dragging her slaves with her. None of the musicians are chained, but it quickly becomes clear that they are every bit as bound as those in Virgo – Lesedi is a fiery cloud of space, but within her floats dozens of crystal shards. Soul shards, the likes of which the rescuers have seen before.

It’s like she’s tethering herself to their souls for balance, to keep herself in one piece. And now that she’s here, it’s clear that she has no subtle rituals in mind. Her screeching makes it all to clear that she is here to destroy Blanche, first and foremost, as she feeds off of her slaves who stand around her like brainwashed acolytes.

Except, this battle is split three ways.

The nebulae are never given the opportunity to duel in solitude, as they had planned for over all these years. Because the rebellion is here, and they won’t allow it. Not after all this.

And the Crescendolls are here too.

As the rescuers begin to struggle against the labels’ defenses or their brainwashed friends, the four spirits enact what they have been planning for all this time. They try to take control of the lingering musical energies too, and the imprisoned souls in the crystal react to their call.

In doing so, the ritual is brought into chaos. The power of gods is unbalanced and let loose, and reality itself twists and bends.

It’s like the dreams you’ve seen before, where the world is bent by your thoughts and feelings. Only this time it is real. This time, the real world is being bent to the whims of the minds of everyone present, and in this chaos it is all too possible to get lost.

But because of it, there is hope. If you can take control of it, you may be able to turn it against your captors. However, some of you may need more help than others.

[OOC: So this may be a little confusing, so bear with me! What has happened is that Lesedi, Blanche, and the Crescendolls are all trying to take control of the reality bending magic at the same time – the same magic that the nebulae had intended to use to ascend to godhood. This has resulted in reality becoming super malleable to the thoughts and feelings of everyone here. It’s like the dream world, except no one is dreaming. Everyone is awake, and what is happening here is functionally real, even if it’s all just created by everyone’s minds.

The objective is for the musicians and rescuers to help each other get control of themselves, in order to work together and turn this against the nebulae. The musicians that are still prisoners will definitely need help to mentally free themselves, and even some of the rescuers may struggle to stay in control depending on how unstable they are feeling due to everything that’s happened. People can help each other get in control even if they are both struggling, or people who are doing well can help people who are totally falling apart. You can pretty much describe whatever you want going on around your character as a manifestation of their inner trauma – but keep in mind, if you die here you will probably die in the real world too!

Memories can also be restored here – in full. The more memories musicians and former musicians regain, the easier it will be for them to take control. Pride musicians who pull themselves together will also be able to reclaim the soul shard Lesedi has stolen from them. That shard can represent whatever aspect of their personality that you want. If you have any more questions about how this works, please ask in the mod plurk or above in the questions section!

There will be a phase two where you get to turn this on Lesedi and Blanche, once and for all!]

Garnet | OTA

[twoscompany]

[Garnet is...simply there. Her love is gone, and with it any sense that anything is worth anything, including herself. Including Steven. She simply stares at the chaos around her, barely even blinking. Nothing is real. Nothing is right. Nothing matters. Why would it? It hasn't for some time.

She feels herself become less than that. Of course. All of her failures, all of her shortcomings, if she manages to think at all, those things come first. The visages of injured and dying comrades, of monsters and butterflies, surround her. The butterflies, in particular, surround her like a swarm, threatening to overtake her.

She is powerless. She is simply...not.

All she can do is watch, and stare, and feel herself drift further and further into oblivion as she and everything unravels further.]

[lateforkindergarten]

[ A figure comes walking towards her through the swarm, swatting an arm, trying to clear the air. ]

Hey! Uh! Peh! Go away, I'm trying to walk here!

Garnet!

[ The butterflies crowd around her too but they disperse and back off for a minute when she shakes her head and her hair whips out like a lion's main. ]

Garnet. Found ya! We've come to bust you out once and for all. Greg's with Steven right now.

[twoscompany]

...I can't. I...

[Sinking. She's sinking. Ah...]

This is...my life now. I can't stop it. Not anymore.

[traumatizing]

[Terry is angry in ways he didn't know he could feel, and his magic swells around him in fits and spurts, the hint of unknown nightmares he's accumulated since his powers came back trail behind him like smoke.]

[He doesn't know what this is, but something inside him softens when he sees Garnet, a wrenching feeling in his chest when he rushes over to her. The butterflies disperse a little when he gets close, but they still hover close. Like they're waiting for him to leave so they can swarm again, but he won't.]

[He refuses to lose anyone else.]

Garnet? [Terry frowns and reaches for one of her hands to take it in one of his, trying to pull her into the here and now.] Garnet, it's me-- It's Terry. I'm here, okay?

[twoscompany]

...Terry?

[Oh, god. The look of fear in her eyes sparks brighter.]

You need to get out of here. Its not safe for you...!

STEVEN UNIVERSE (NEEDS SOME THERAPY)

[tigermillionaire]

He never had any hope, when he lived here.

He remembers it so clearly, right now. He grew up alone, with nothing but a father he hated and caretakers who couldn’t care less. The only one who had ever really looked after him was himself, and Tiger Universe had always been so self assured that it was fine, because he was going to become the greatest star out there. He had to help himself, because nobody would come and save him if he didn’t.

He’d been so angry when the others tried to prove him wrong. He’d been so confused when they finally did. That hope and love had felt like something foreign and out of reach even when he could see it just outside of his grasp, and that’s how it feels right now, too.

Any feeling of hope is so far away now, as if physically stolen from him, and he can’t imagine anyone else ever making it through this bubble of isolation. When reality shatters, those feelings become perilously literal.

He curls himself into a ball within a blackened glass bubble, seemingly a million miles away from everything else. His clothes are torn, his makeup is ruined and, and one of his eyes is dark with bruising.

He can’t imagine which is worse – how lonely he feels right now, or how scared he’d be to let anyone get close. How could anyone ever be worth believing in?

[panspermia]

Light doesn't pierce the darkness so much as it gives a good prodding. The twin lights waver and flicker in the gloom, growing slowly closer with a mechanical cough.

The van is old, marked with dents and scratched paint and a cracked windshield. It creeps up, one hard bump in the road from bursting into smoke and oil. It's got just enough gas, though. As long as it can drive, it will.

The man driving looks just as beaten and aged, older than Stiger's ever seen him. His wrinkles go even deeper as he peers through the dark glass, face twisting in relief and grief.

"You're here."

[tigermillionaire]

No he's not, he thinks compulsively, shivering inside his partially self imposed prison. He stares at Greg like he doesn't recognize or understand him, like he can't see through the dirty glass.

He can't hope that this will go anywhere. If he tries, it hurts like old phantom pain. Even with how familiar that van feels like it should be, like a haunting presence at the edges of his memory.

He grasps at his chest, feeling the tug of Lesedi's metaphysical chains.

"You can't help," he says quietly. "I'm not worth it. I was wrong."

[nibelungvalesti]

"Hello, Steven."

With Meril -- with a Valkyrie, a goddess -- came Asgard itself. The Asgard she remembered, a vast plain of green grasses and flowers and gently blowing wind. But the woman herself looked just as she always did, as if she'd stepped out of her apartment in the penthouse and onto the streets on any given day.

Jamie | ALL ABOARD THE TRAUMA TRAIN CHOO CHOO

[mildwildchild]

In a way, he always knew it would come down to this.

He's in the desert again, beneath that strange green sky with its two moons, its vastness challenged only by the broad emptiness of dark sand stretching to an infinity around him. Standing motionless, the Tron-lines of his Flashstep outfit glowing dimly, he stares out at the tableau surrounding him. There are no dunes or cliffs or rocks or cacti here now, nowhere that other people could be somehow hidden from view. There's only Jamie. Alone, as he was meant to be.

He can't even feel upset or angry about it, because that would mean he'd had expectations, that he'd had hope. No, this was just the way things went. People might show up and stay in his life for a moment or two, but everyone leaves in the end.

Numbly, he eases himself down onto the sand, legs drawn up to his chest and arms atop his knees. There's really nothing to do but sit here and be. Whatever happens will happen, but it won't change anything.

He'll still face it alone.

[faithfulflame]

He's not alone, thankfully. He never was, either. Boots crunch on the sand behind Jaime, the sound sound of footsteps approaching, and a warm, feminine hand drops onto his shoulder. Rei wasn't going to leave him alone, it just wouldn't be right. Not after everything.

"Jaime."

It's just his name, but it's backed with strength, all her psychic might thrown into it. She wants him to pay attention, to hear her, and to look up. She hasn't ever told him everything about her, it hadn't seemed right, but if there's ever a time for it...for standing up for the little guy...it's now.

[mildwildchild]

Time here is distorted, almost meaningless - there's no need to keep track of the passage of time in a place where nothing will ever happen save for your own slow, agonizing descent into utter torpor - and Jamie only becomes aware of things slowly, in tiny increments. He thinks he can hear a sound, a shuffling noise like something moving through the sand, but in short order he convinces himself that he's just hearing things. Nobody else is here to make such a noise, after all.

The hand on his shoulder startles him, and with a jerk he straightens and twists around to look behind him. There's no one there, of course. Jamie wasn't really expecting otherwise, but there's still a pang of something like disappointment.

He sighs, breath clouding in the air a little. Then he hears something else, something with enough magical oomph behind it to penetrate the little bubble of isolation Jamie's built for himself. His name.

"Is - is someone there?" His voice is hesitant, little more than a whisper.

[traumatizing]

He said he'd come for Jamie, and Terry will. Again and again until Jamie's free of this hell and out of Santiago's clutches.

Terry sits next to him, mirroring Jamie as he draws his own knees up and hugs them to his chest, and he sighs heavily. There's not so much energy in him after what happened at Lesedi's show, but he'll try. Forcing up lights around them that illuminate the sand, trying to draw Jamie's attention to him.

"Jamie?" He turns his head to look at him, expression concerned, "Jamie, can you hear me?"

J (Closed to Luce)

[eba02]

It's too much.

He hears tunes, high and thin and pained, coming from the crystals that form the walls and the ceiling and the floor, weaving together into Music so agonized it screams. He hears terror, warped and skipping, from chained Virgo musicians; from Pride, he hears nothing but ugly distortion, an absence of sound that somehow augments the Music and makes it worse-

He hears Lesedi's mad destruction, tune held together through sheer force of will and spite. He'd broken his code to try to take her down, and it had meant nothing.

He hears Blanche shake the Music itself, unstoppable as an earthquake. He never had a chance against Blanche - always too strong.

He hears it all, all he can handle, and more on top of that, and more, and more, and it drives him to his knees and it's more than he can take and he-

He can't do this.

He looks younger, shaking on the floor, frozen and overwhelmed, and he barely manages to whisper one word-

"Help."

/comes in late with no starbucks

[giglio_madonna]

Everything is surreal and, against all odds, it's the most familiar Luce can remember a place being.

It's not exact, but something about it is making memories bubble in the back of her mind thick as foam. That sense of unreality, of a dozen or hundred different things happening at once but also not... Yet she isn't afraid of it all. She isn't afraid of the power coiling and burbling before her. There's a chance they could all die, right here and now, but-

They won't.

She won't.

Maybe it's that certainty, maybe it's the harmony in the Flames she lets envelope her, but Luce is able to stand stall amidst all the chaos. She's absolutely covered in clear orange flames that flicker through the air as she darts through everything. Her eyes are on some of those shards hanging about Lesedi and those broken souls around her... but something has her look to the side, and she stumbles to a stop as she spots a familiar face crumple to the ground.

"J!" In a heartbeat, she's burst over there using propulsion from her flames and kneels down besides him. There's fire around her fingertips as she settles her hands on his shoulders, but it doesn't burn. Instead, it's a soft warmth, something harmonious that matches with the undercurrent of her tune.

Agent 3 | Bringing the "fire" power to help break people free from their terrors

[woomy]

With everyone bring images and things from various dreamscapes to life, Agent 3 wishes with all her heart that she had her squad with her. Or even just hearing Agent 1 and Agent 2's voices over her headgear. The last battle was chaos. There wasn't much of a plan or coordination. She needs it. Her squad squids aren't big leagues, but they aren't noobs either. And when she fought DJ Octavio, she still had her back up, Agent 1 and 2.

"Gah!" she cringes as a wave of static fills her ears. No, she doesn't want to listen to this or to whatever Virgo and Pride's playing. She. Wants. Her. Tunes!

"¿ƃuos ɹno ɹɐǝɥ noʎ uɐɔ ¡3 ʇuǝƃɐ" Agent 1's voice comes through 3's headgear, loud and... well. Not clear. It sounds like she's holding the microphone upside down again. Agent 3 jerks her head up in shock. There's no way... There's no way.

"Radio override activated!" Agent 2 chimes in.

"You got this, Agent 3," comes three other voices. Her squad. The Bomb Rush Rush! But they don't even know that she's part of the Squidbeak Splatoon. Did Agent 1 and 2 let the secret out? Is it okay for them to know now? "Show 'em your the freshest squid there!"

"I'm the only squid here!" Agent 3 laughs. Then "Calamari Inkantaion" begins playing live from the Squid Sisters with her squadmates singing along, and she activates her boon with a whoop. It strengthens her ink's power. No longer is it just ink that'll disappear after awhile. No. It now acts as if everyone is a liquid based lifeform, like she is.

"This is our turf now!" she yells and aims her Hero Shot. The bright green ink takes out the nearest nightmare with a few shots, and 3 zips through the ink. She'll stay on the move and jump to whoever needs help fighting off the enemies from people's nightmares. If comforting words fail, she'll start blasting away those obstacles.

Roy Mustang | OTA

[snapcrackleburn]

[ By the time of the world tour Roy felt that he had regained the majority of his real self back. He remembered the people he loved and sacrifices that had been made. He remembered the danger and the struggles he had witnessed when he was younger and in recent years. All of it was still in his head even now.

In this foggy dream-like state Lesedi had left him in however, he finds his heart filled with uncertainty and frustration. He knows the facts but why had he made the decisions he had made? What kind of person was he, coming home from war only to drag on fighting? He could have retired, he could have let Riza be free. What made him so vain as to believe he should be the one to change the country of Amestris?

Lesedi had taken his duty from him and now he felt lost. The dreamscape before him is an inviting scene, a green field stretching far into the distance. It is tempting to let go and forget his troubles. He wasn't all that fond of himself anyway; why hold on so tightly? ]

[woomy]

[ Question: Why hold on so tightly?
Answer: Because a squidkid won't let him leave without getting a happy ending with his true love, Riza.

So forgive her if Roy gets tackled by Agent 3 in an attempt to get his attention. ]

Hey! Wake up!

[snapcrackleburn]

[ Even in a strange state of reality a kid throwing themselves at you can give a person a good jolt. Roy looks down and finds a familiar face there with him. He blinks at her, wondering why someone else would be here, and for that moment he's more amused than lost. ]

Three. What's wrong?

Ivan Karelin | Memory regaining and looking to nab some crystals along with rescuing people

[sponsorigami]

It's a bright blue spherical light that grabs Ivan's attention and holds it fiercely in his grip. He remembers seeing something like that before, high above the city of Stern Bild. A girl... she was crying for her father, for him, for the heroes to remember her father. And then he--they do. He remembers Kotetsu T. Kaburagi as Wild Tiger.

Ivan felt like he had his memory messed with once before. This memory regain confirms it... And that brings a flood of other memories. They seep into his brain, filling every crack between the memories he had already regained. They flow between ones he hadn't remembered yet. The fog is washed away.

"I-I remember! Everything! It's... it's back!" Then he looks toward the hostages Blanche holds, and his stomach twists. All this time... Keith Goodman from Hue & Cry was one of them! He was--is the King of Heroes, Sky High! They hadn't heard from him for ages. He was fired. Where--where is he? Part of Ivan hoped he made it out, but Sky High had a target on him. He was being watched for helping free the ghosts. And he's not with the musicians up there.

But somehow... Ivan knows that Sky High is here. He can't explain it, but he feels like that's the case. They have to save him too. He and Pao--Dragon Kid--Pao-Lin can't return to Stern Bild without him. Could Sora be here too? Are all the fired and missing musicians somehow present?

[trustme]

"You remember everything?" Doctor turns to watch Ivan's expression. "What's the matter?" That troubled face doesn't look like relieved nostalgia. Doctor is sure some memory is pouring back into him by now but he doesn't feel that "ah ha!" of reunion just yet. It could be the sheer amount of information he has to recover. More likely it's the overwhelming psychic presence of all the lost people surrounding them.

[sponsorigami]

"There were three heroes in Virgo, heroes like me and Pao-Lin. Mr. Sky High--Mr. Goodman was part of Hue & Cry." Ivan's gaze hops from place to place as he tries to pin point that feeling. He can't. He doesn't have a clue where to even begin. Sky High isn't visible anywhere that he can see.

"I feel... I feel like somehow he's here. I can't explain it though."

(Closed to Meril)

[panspermia]

Knowing full well what sort of nightmare they've walked into makes it no less of a nightmare. Greg's fully aware of the twisted warp of reality around them, the extreme magical forces at play trying to drag everyone in. It can't trick him, not after all he's been through... but it can sure push him.

The spiritual feedback of the lost souls is so loud that Greg can hardly think straight. The effort to keep his thoughts his own saps his strength; he finds himself leaning against Meril for support.

"I don't... feel so good, Mer..."

Reality is shifting around them, ready to pull his fears into reality. Greg clutches her tighter as his body's strength saps further away.

[nibelungvalesti]

She who had dominion over souls would not be so easily swayed. Though smaller than Greg by no small measure, she pressed into him with a strength and solidity that all the turmoil around them could not diminish.

"You are still with me, Greg. Find your center, within you. The strength you need is there."