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memestertrucks2025-05-15 04:31 pm
monstertruckers) wrote in memestertrucks2025-05-15 04:31 pm
Entry tags:
MAY TDM
Things are a little stranger than usual at the gas station and garage. Namely that gravity just isn't working as it should. Objects float, pieces of the floor float... Even unlucky new arrivals can also find themselves floating! It's going to be a challenge to get around without any scrapes or scratches... Though at least there's what looks like a hospital nearby? Granted, it's an upside down hospital, but it's better than nothing.
01: SUMMONING CIRCLE
Drifters come to with an odd floating sensation hooked into their stomachs, and instead of laying on the concrete find themselves drifting a foot or two above the floor. An unfortunate few may be stuck on the ceiling. Whether they crash down hard into the floor (and the various vials, daggers, and broken glass scattered about) or remain floating in the air is a coin toss.
Still, it might be best to lend a hand with pulling them back to the ground, and hoping gravity will work as normal in another breath or two.
Once they make their way out, they can see a gas station and garage located in the midst of strange, floating rocks… And an upside down hospital close by, for those who had a rougher landing.
Still, it might be best to lend a hand with pulling them back to the ground, and hoping gravity will work as normal in another breath or two.
Once they make their way out, they can see a gas station and garage located in the midst of strange, floating rocks… And an upside down hospital close by, for those who had a rougher landing.
02: START UP
New arrivals will have a similar experience to before; a Convoy waiting for them, and a collection of vehicles, one of which feels like it belongs to them. The key to the vehicle may already be in the ignition, on the dashboard… It may have even been on their person, ever since they woke up in that garage. Either way, Drifters have the keys to the vehicle now.
…But there’s a few rough edges on these vehicles. Flat tires, cracked windows and mirrors, maybe some stuck doors and locks; all of them the sort of thing that requires two pairs of hands and supplies. The garage can take care of the (sometimes floating) supplies… Now it’s just a matter of finding some extra hands.
And hopefully no one's vehicle has decided to float. But one can never be sure in a place like this.
…But there’s a few rough edges on these vehicles. Flat tires, cracked windows and mirrors, maybe some stuck doors and locks; all of them the sort of thing that requires two pairs of hands and supplies. The garage can take care of the (sometimes floating) supplies… Now it’s just a matter of finding some extra hands.
And hopefully no one's vehicle has decided to float. But one can never be sure in a place like this.
03: HUSKS AND HAUNTS
The inverted hospital seems to have trouble deciding the exact formation of its hallways, whether the new arrivals should be walking on the ceiling, floors, or walls. But one thing that is certain: this place isn’t entirely deserted. Warnings of “Beware the Husks” have been spray painted on the walls. Metallic bodies line those same halls, some of them broken open. A wet trail leads from the broken Husks to the rafters… Where several odd monsters wait to drop down. Some look like they’ve merged with the hospital equipment, while others look like they’ve been cobbled together from different body parts. And all of them look ready to turn the newcomers into a corpse, or part of a specimen collection.
Strange, malformed chimeric creatures that are Unknown stalk the hallways. Unknowns come in three different colors, red aligned with fire, green with poison, and purple with lightning.
Adding to that are the various screens flickering on, and diagnose new arrivals as infected. The screens declare the infection seems to be contained, but requires further study… And if the monsters aren't enough to worry about, there’s also the restraint systems trying to activate and tie the new arrivals down.
Strange, malformed chimeric creatures that are Unknown stalk the hallways. Unknowns come in three different colors, red aligned with fire, green with poison, and purple with lightning.
Adding to that are the various screens flickering on, and diagnose new arrivals as infected. The screens declare the infection seems to be contained, but requires further study… And if the monsters aren't enough to worry about, there’s also the restraint systems trying to activate and tie the new arrivals down.
04: TESTING (CW: Needles)
The deeper someone plunges into the hospital, the more the building reacts to them. More defenses are deployed, treating them as thieves or intruders. Traps and monsters alike wait for them, with syringes melded into the forms of attackers, or lining places where someone might step or reach for. The syringes make a quick bite on skin… But it’s only a few minutes later where the effects become clear. Something in those syringes is now in the blood and forcing monster transformations. There might be an antidote amongst the supplies… Or the newcomers might need to rely on each other, in order to stay anchored.
The needles can also force temporary Swarm traits, along with:
+Group Mind: compelled to link thoughts with other Drifters, to share emotions, memories, and achieve cohesion.
+An increasing reliance on telepathy/empathy/etc in place of speech.
+Increasing collectivist mindset. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; this becomes more evident during high stress situations.
+Compelled to hunt and share their prey with others.
+Gravity Affinity: If possessing wings or the ability to wall climb, may freely hunt/traverse corrupted gravity areas.
The needles can also force temporary Swarm traits, along with:
+Group Mind: compelled to link thoughts with other Drifters, to share emotions, memories, and achieve cohesion.
+An increasing reliance on telepathy/empathy/etc in place of speech.
+Increasing collectivist mindset. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; this becomes more evident during high stress situations.
+Compelled to hunt and share their prey with others.
+Gravity Affinity: If possessing wings or the ability to wall climb, may freely hunt/traverse corrupted gravity areas.
05: LONG WAY DOWN
A portion of the gas station breaks away with groan and a rumble. And it is slowly pulled up and up, taking a portion of new comers with it! They (and anyone watching) will need to act fast, as gravity starts to go weird the further they rise. They’ll need to find a way back down, taking any supplies from the now-floating garage that they can grab.
What’s more, they are drifting closer to the broken moon, and that seems to be having a strange effect on those stranded on the new floating ruin. They may start to feel their control fray, and their forms shift, the higher they rise.
In terms of getting back down, there’s a handful of tow lines in the ruin that might work as ropes. There’s also a few pieces of rock that are floating up more slowly, and could work as stairs back down… Or there’s just jumping and falling fifty feet and hoping for the best.
What’s more, they are drifting closer to the broken moon, and that seems to be having a strange effect on those stranded on the new floating ruin. They may start to feel their control fray, and their forms shift, the higher they rise.
In terms of getting back down, there’s a handful of tow lines in the ruin that might work as ropes. There’s also a few pieces of rock that are floating up more slowly, and could work as stairs back down… Or there’s just jumping and falling fifty feet and hoping for the best.
06: PSYCHIC ECHOES
There's one last quirk to this area; a few scattered bits of odd plantlife, and the odd dead brain monster. While these things aren't a threat on their own (beyond being unnerving) they still pack a psychic punch; mainly in the form of temporary psychic abilities.
It's possible that after coming in contact with either plants or corpses, newcomers will find themselves gifted with either empathy (projecting or receiving emotions) telepathy, OR the ability to share their dreams with others, and having their dreams influenced by others in turn. This effect fades in just a day or so, but is still capable of causing mishaps.
It's possible that after coming in contact with either plants or corpses, newcomers will find themselves gifted with either empathy (projecting or receiving emotions) telepathy, OR the ability to share their dreams with others, and having their dreams influenced by others in turn. This effect fades in just a day or so, but is still capable of causing mishaps.
MICRO ENCOUNTERS:
PLEASE NOTE! These are small bits of set dressing for players to include in threads if they wish, rather than full fledged prompts or events. You may handwave your exploration of these areas, or thread them out.
Broadcast: The garage contains a few burnt out monitors. But a handful of them are playing a message over and over again on loop, filled with static. It’s a recording of important looking people in lab coats advising people to remain indoors and avoiding all objects falling from the sky. Especially “moon shards.” They insist that they are working to contain and cure the infection, but the safest action is to remain inside.
Warped Air: As seen in Long Way Down, the air overhead has strange warped pockets in it. There seem to be slightly different shards hanging suspended in the air, looking more silvery than the surrounding rocks. Almost like it could have fallen from the broken moon overhead.
Medical supplies: Most of the medical supplies found in the hospital seem to consist of healing salves and potions, a handful of healing herbs, and a few antidotes for poison or sickness. As for reverting transformations… It’s advised that new comers be careful of taking any experimental medicine. It may revert a change. It may also leave them hallucinating nightmares and fears, and they’ll be wanting someone close by to help administer the drug.
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"After everything I've done to hurt you and the others..."
His chest slowly inflates with a deep, silent breath.
"I never said I didn't care. You are putting words in my mouth."
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Ren sighs deeply, and his shoulders slump forward even more than usual. He has kept these thoughts locked away in his heart for too long.
“I let you go, because it was what you wanted. You didn’t want me.”
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He pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down. "Have you even considered what my wish was? Dr. Maruki may have used me as a bargaining chip, but that doesn't mean I was exempt."
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He steps forward, wildly throwing an arm out in his own frustration.
“What else am I supposed to think when you keep pushing me away?”
He feels the knife solidify in his hand again, but he won’t, he won’t use it, not against Akechi, not again -
“What could you have possibly wished for that Maruki would’ve given you?”
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The dreamscape ripples, and with another wave of frustration, the cafe itself shifts into an odd amalgamation of Leblanc and...
The engine room.
An image of Akechi in his princely garb stares through the present day Akechi and straight at Ren.
I wonder why we couldn't have met a few years earlier, Ren...
The real Akechi winces. He didn't intend for this to happen, and yet...
"Imagine, a world where my crimes never transpired. A world where I wasn't so 'broken.' Maruki offered it to me. Surely you remember..."
Akechi-kun! Don't throw away your life! If you're with Amamiya-kun and his friends, you could begin to atone what you've done!
"...But in such a world, I'd cease to be 'me.' Everything I am... I'm certain he'd wipe it away, leaving me a hollowed out husk. I wouldn't have been the same Goro Akechi you knew. The death of the self is still a form of death... and you spared me from that fate."
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Ren swallows hard and refuses to shudder. This place haunts his dreams, the place where he failed Akechi the first time. As he did then, he says now to the apparition in white and red:
”It’s not too late.”
It was never too late, until it was February 2nd.
“Why do you think I refused that deal, in the end? I didn’t want a puppet version of you any more than you wanted to be one. I wanted you.”
Goro Akechi, the broken, angry boy who only wanted acceptance and love. Outcast, assassin, criminal, detective, friend, rival - special. Ren’s fingers grip the knife tighter.
“Damn it, Akechi, why didn’t you tell me? Why did I have to hear it from him?”
Takuto Maruki, the madman with the face of a friend, wielding kindness like a weapon, and Ren helped him, without even realizing it. Remembering that part of the entire conflict makes Ren sick.
“You could’ve told me. I could’ve done something, if I knew - if I had more time. We could’ve done something. Together.”
That was what Ren wanted - the two of them, together. He throws his knife to the ground and moves to close the gap between him and the other boy.
“I fought a god to save a world full of strangers. Don’t you think I would’ve done the same for you?”
He presses his lips together, and he shakes his head.
“I would’ve done more.”
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He grimaces, still avoiding direct eye contact. "My memories had a hole in them because of Maruki's assumptions. He altered history to 'save' me, and to bring me to you, and yet..."
The engine room melts away. In its place, a room appears. Relatively well furnished, comforting... Polished, wood floors, a splash of green from the window outside. A heavy blanket thrown aside...
A shelter for wayward souls.
Another memory of Akechi appears, deeply distressed. By some miracle, he hasn't thrown his phone. It sits on the nearby pillow, reading February 4th. Still, unhinged laughter bursts from his lips.
"Fuck!
"...I had to grapple with not only my survival, but the memories that filled the void that Maruki left behind. I was in no condition to talk to anyone. So, for a time, I remained here, piecing together what happened, while I searched for what to do next."
Unlike his memory counterpart, the real Akechi blows a soft sigh.
"You would have moved mountains for me. I knew that... But I also knew you were in a rather difficult predicament without me to take the fall for you. So, once I had composed myself, I chose to take every bit of knowledge I had acquired from my time as an assassin and use it to take down any scraps of the conspiracy, not only for my revenge, but to prevent any stragglers from harming you or the others."
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“You make me so angry.”
His hands curl into fists again, red leather of the gloves softly squeaking with the sudden movement. His face twists in a contortion of pain, squeezing his eyes shut.
“You keep criticizing me about making assumptions, but didn’t you do the exact same thing? Assume that we couldn’t help? That we wouldn’t?”
If the Phantom Thieves had been given every scrap of information Akechi held back, they could’ve come up with a plan, together. They could’ve at least tried. Maybe Ren himself wouldn’t have been able to do much from juvenile detention, but Makoto could’ve found a strategy, Futaba could’ve worked some hacker magic … hell, Ren has a blood oath with a particularly tenacious journalist and an ex-yakuza member, among others. They were all able to work together to free Ren from incarceration. What could they all have done for Akechi if Ren only had the knowledge he needed? With eyes once again open, he continues:
“I don’t care about your high and mighty rationalizations - you chose to do everything all alone. You chose to keep information from me. You chose to manipulate me. Again.”
It hurt less when Akechi’s manipulations were all stacked in place to work against Ren. It was far easier for Ren to accept those misdeeds when he believed Akechi only wanted him dead.
“Is that really how you think you care about me? By distorting the truth to keep me in the dark? Keep me away from you?”
He shakes his head, voice trembling.
“You are such a hypocrite. You want to be loved and accepted, but you keep pushing me away when I’m standing right here.”
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It's not surprising to see him break like this. In a way, it's cathartic. Earned. Exactly what Akechi deserves. Anger is easy. Resentment is simple...
But that's not what it is, is it?
Ren wanted to help, that much is clear. It's in his nature. He gives and he gives, even to those who don't deserve it. Akechi is chief among them.
"I wasn't manipulating..." He tries to protest, but... hm.
Selectively hiding information until the last minute, to control the situation...
Damn it.
Love and acceptance... That particular phrasing knocks him squarely back into silence.
He averts his eyes again.
Where words fail, the emotion-projecting properties from the sagebrush step in.
Fear. So much fear radiating from him, against his will, but he can't move. He can't run. He can't do anything.
"...Why? Wouldn't it be simpler if..."
It's so disorienting. Why does Ren have to care? Doesn't he know that it'll only hurt him in the end? Akechi isn't stable. He isn't truly righteous.
Even his mother didn't...
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There are entirely too many rotten adults in their world, and Akechi’s life has been filled with more than most. It’s sickening to think about, and it catches an angry fire in Ren’s heart, in the part where his justice lives.
“When have you ever known me to do what’s simple?” Ren shakes his head, sadly. “Letting you go was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But I did it. Because I care about you, and because it was what you wanted.”
Those waves of fear Akechi projects are difficult to endure, but Ren is steadfast in his resolve to not be pushed away by fear anymore. He reaches out to counter the fear with every invisible tendril of love and compassion and care his heart can hold, and he gently reaches a hand out to test if he’ll be allowed to hold the other boy’s shoulder.
“I don’t know why I feel what I do - I don’t know why I care about you so much, I just know that I do. I like you, and I don’t want to hurt you, and I don’t want you to be hurt any more when you don’t have to. I know I can’t fix the past - I can’t change the entire world for you, but I can build a better world just for us, with you, if you’ll only let me.”
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He just freezes.
It's overwhelming, how much Ren cares. How much he's willing to forgive. Why? Why is he like this? Akechi can't comprehend it. The wide-eyed, hopeful idealist who dreamed of heroism shriveled up and died when he was still so very young. The Detective Prince was merely a performance. A sugar coated mask he wore, a lie based around a distant dream...
"What of the others? Do you honestly believe they'd want me in your life?" It's stupid, he knows. It's not their choice. "Sakamoto, Takamaki, and even Niijima-san may begrudgingly accept. Kitagawa, perhaps... But my presence will create friction. It's simply inescapable. Without a common goal bringing us together, I'm a constant reminder of their pain and loss. Boss as well... I know Wakaba Isshiki meant a great deal to him."
Is he deflecting? Perhaps. That doesn't make it any less true.
But there's something his words fail to convey, however soft. Yearning... Oh, how he wants to believe it's so simple. To have someone fight for him, to need him.
But he can't just say that. He's too proud. To stubborn. Far too burdened.
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“Are you really going to live your life based on what my friends think? That’s not like you.”
The smallest hint of a smile turns up one corner of his mouth, and he gently shakes his head.
“We’ve had friction before. We worked it out - that’s what we do. They may not understand, but they don’t have to. It’s not their life, and it’s not their decision to make. You’re a part of me, and anyone who can’t accept us hasn’t really accepted me at all.”
Even in this dreamspace, Ren’s instinct is to put his own needs and desires at the back of the line. Akechi is so stubborn, and pushing too hard will only push him away entirely. That’s the last thing Ren wants. He drops his hand from Akechi’s shoulder and casts his gaze downward.
“If you truly don’t want this - if you don’t want me, then tell me. I can live with that decision as long as it’s yours and yours alone. But be entirely honest, with both of us. Don’t refuse me because you think you need to keep me at a distance for my own good.”
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He only just got Ren back here a short while ago. Even if a part of him wants to put up walls, yell and scream...
Akechi wraps his arms around himself, looking away.
"Don't be absurd, Ren. That damnable plant has already projected my feelings. Even if I did as you said, I would only be lying to us both."
He deflated, feathers and horns and talons and spines all taking hold. Even his ears look more feline now, to say nothinf of the scorpion tail.
"To live is to change. I've tried to do better. To be better. Pushing you away runs contrary to that."
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Ren is someone who believes with his whole heart in second chances. He’d put his own to good use over the past year, and he believed Akechi would thrive if given the same opportunity.
“I know you’re afraid - I can feel it. And I kinda get it. This is new for me.”
Not the feelings themselves - the naming of them, the speaking aloud. The beginning to understand what they all mean. Ren is someone with a tendency to fall a little bit in love with most of his friends, but - as he was fond of saying - love comes in many forms. How to decipher what those feelings mean isn’t always so obvious.
He’s getting a better grasp on what his feelings for Akechi mean the longer they stand here and converse in the dream.
“Talk to me. Tell me, what can I do to reassure you?”
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Finally, his attention settles on Ren. "You'll likely change, too. No one here is exempt from the process."
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Another gentle smile, another invisible wave of love and admiration sent rippling out toward Akechi from Ren. He can do this all day.
That comment about changing gives Ren a moment’s pause. He already knows what’s in store for him - Akechi told him when he first arrived.
“Does that bother you? Not knowing what I might look like when I change?”
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He gestures at himself.
"Unwanted changes, never knowing just how much of your humanity will slip away..."
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“Then … you’re worried about me losing what makes me human?”
Or more specifically, about Ren hurting him as a result of becoming less human. Also not unreasonable, given the unknowns. But Ren likes to think his personality won’t change just because his body does. Wings or horns or claws won’t be enough to turn his heart to unfeeling stone or smother his inner fire for justice.
“Has your humanity slipped away? I don’t see that you’re any less human than you were before.”
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But that still doesn't mean Ren deserves it.
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Behind Ren, the scene shifts to something like a shadow puppet show, dark figures against a white background. One figure is smaller than the others - a boy, a teenager, slim frame and messy hair, easily recognizable as Ren himself. The other, larger figures assault him one after another, passing him back and forth with slaps, punches, kicks, shoves, every blow audible and followed by a muffled groan or yelp of pain. Ren flinches, recognizing the sounds of the interrogation room behind him.
“Stop,” he murmurs, frowning, and the shadow scene freezes. Ren returns his attention to Akechi.
“I know what’s going to happen to me. I know it’s going to be hard.” Ren scowls, deep in thought. Why is Akechi hung up on this?
“Do you think I’m going to hurt you, after I’ve changed?”
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The recreation of the interrogation room, however abstract, makes Akechi wince. He did this to Ren. He subjected him to such brutality. Nearly killed him.
It's just...
"You'll stick to your guiding principles. You always do, but you shouldn't have to endure this. You're Joker."
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But he wanted Akechi - as a friend, as an ally, even as a rival. Alive, free of the shackles that bound him to his fate. Throughout the entire time leading up to Shido’s palace, some small part of Ren’s heart held hope that the other boy could be swayed to join his side. All of his actions were the result of deliberate, considered choice.
Ren knew what was likely to happen to him during the interrogation, and he allowed himself to be captured and subjected to the brutality. It wasn’t Akechi’s fault the criminal justice system was set up with such stacked odds and utilized such cruel methods. Ren can’t blame the other boy for the danger he willingly launched himself into with the grappling hook at his wrist.
It’s true that the Akechi played a more active part in the attempted murder. Even so, Ren recognizes Akechi’s actions weren’t entirely free at the time. He was under the thumb of his vile father, carrying out orders for assassination as he had so many other times before. He’d been a young teenager with no system of support, no standing in the world, and Shido took advantage of that to mold a broken boy into a more than capable weapon. Akechi never stood a chance.
“Joker is just a name.”
He doesn’t really understand why Akechi is hung up on his impending transformation. None of the people here should be forced to endure this injustice. Ren isn’t any more or less worthy of the waiting horrors than anyone else.
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It's stupid, isn't it? He's placing Ren on a pedestal. Even Akechi can see that, deep down.
But it's different with him. He deserves such a punishment. Really, he deserves every bit of hell along this uncertain road.
"I realize I'm being irrational, but I suppose that's the nature of dreams."
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He’d won their previous duel - which, in all honesty, wasn’t a fair fight. Twelve Personas loaded with every kind of spell against Akechi’s pair - one, really, he hadn’t yet revealed Loki - was hardly a balanced fight. When they fought in Shido’s Palace, Akechi had faced not only Ren but his team of Phantom Thieves as well. Again, not exactly a fair and balanced fight.
Ren already knew that Akechi envied him for a number of his qualities and skills, but he was of the impression that he was still viewed as an equal by the other boy, not as someone superior. An equal with slightly better skills, perhaps, holding more power due to the nature of his bonds, but an equal all the same.
He reaches his hand up to curl a lock of hair around his finger as he contemplates this new piece of information. Ren is honestly not sure he’s comfortable with holding such an elevated place in Akechi’s view.
“You’re saying … you think I’m better than you?” he asks, tentative with his words. Clearly, Ren is still puzzled by the notion, from both his expression and the ripple of confusion he emanates.
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And really... what right does Akechi have to hold himself on equal ground?
For now, Akechi watches Ren, ready to gauge his reaction.
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🎶 you’ll never see it comiiiiiing 🎶