MAY TDM

[monstertruckers]

code

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

NAVIGATION || RESERVES || APPLICATIONS

Comments

[undyingcrow]

"Why, thank you." He blows on the coffee before taking a sip. It's... comforting, even if it isn't truly real. "Still, I'm sure you can work with our supplies to make something palatable. We still have some bull gorgon meat in the freezer, as well as meat harvested from giant serpents."

Something intriguing, something exotic... Isn't that enticing?

[phantomshow]

Both of those choices are … definitely something, all right. As long as they’re safe to eat, Ren figures he can make it work.

“If there’s one thing I learned from Boss about cooking, it’s the importance of the spices,” Ren explains, quickly fixing a second cup of coffee for himself. “Finding those will be the main challenge, I think.”

With his own coffee now prepared, Ren brings the cup around the other side of the bar and places it in front of the chair next to Akechi. He then slides into the chair, sitting sideways to face him.

“I really missed this,” he says, and a small beat of sorrow pulses out from his heart, then quickly dissipates. He breathes out a quiet laugh and turns his gaze to the cup in front of him. It’s still probably too hot to drink, so he’ll wait another moment to try a sip.

[undyingcrow]

"Our best option is scavenging. At times, the Convoy stops near old gas stations, or the diner during the previous stop. It isn't much, but otherwise, we'd have to take chances with the local flora..."

Pausing, he takes another sip. Then, an amusing thought crosses his mind.

"A few months ago, we came across farmlands, but the fruits and vegetables had ill fitting tastes. For instance, apples that tasted like watermelon."

He watches Ren closely, eager to gauge his reaction to this food sacrilege. "...But yes, I have missed this."

[phantomshow]

“I used to dream about this, when you were gone,” he says, still staring down at his coffee. “I’d walk in and you’d just be sitting there like usual. Or I’d pass you on the street, or in the subway, and it was like … you’d been gone a long time, and I was finally finding you again. And you were OK, and I was happy to see you, even though we weren’t together.”

It should probably feel weirder to be talking about dreams while in a dream, to the subject of said dreams, but it doesn’t. Ren’s not sure why it doesn’t feel strange, but as long as the feeling persists, he will keep talking. Maybe these are things he needs to talk about.

“There was one dream where we went to the beach together. You got pretty sunburned,” he says, with a quiet laugh. “One time, you went with me to the planetarium, and you told me the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi, like I was a little kid who’d never heard it before. But I didn’t really mind, because you were there with me.”

The invisible waves of warm affection surrounding Ren have begun to overlap with layers of sorrow and regret, like the interwoven ribbons of a maypole. He really missed Akechi - more than he realized at the time, he’s discovering.

“A lot of the dreams I had were about being at the jazz club with you. We’d be talking about something I learned in school that day, or even not talking at all, just listening to the music.”

Those were the dreams that always left Ren with the heaviest blanket of sorrow when waking. They were too close to real, and too close to what Ren wanted so deeply. He picks up his coffee and finally takes a sip, swallowing down those feelings of longing and regret.

“Watermelon apples, huh?” Ren looks up at Akechi and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Guess those would be easier to move than the regular size.”

[undyingcrow]

There's a jolt of shock. Very briefly, Akechi stiffens like a pole, trying to process all these rapidfire admissions.

Dreams about him. Dreams about them.

It's so... insufferably sentimental, but perhaps he shouldn't be surprised.

"You took me to Jazz Jin every opportunity you had, while we were waiting to finish things with Maruki. You could have spent your nights any number of ways, yet you sought my company."

He takes another swig of his coffee to ground himself. It's the best thing he can do right now, in this vulnerable state, where his own emotions are hardly secret.

"...How fortunate, then, that we have opportunities. It's a desolate hellscape out there, but since you clearly value my company so much, I'm sure it won't matter." He pauses. "Perhaps we'll even encounter even more outlandish produce."

[phantomshow]

Ren laughs, not unkindly, because he knows that the roots branching underneath Akechi’s shock grew from seeds of abuse, devaluation, and hatred, and not all of those seeds were planted by other people in his life. Some of those seeds were planted by Akechi himself.

“Is that really such a surprise? It’s normal to want to spend time with the people you love.”

It takes Ren a moment to realize what he’s just admitted aloud, and in the speaking of this sentiment - giving the feeling form with words - something in his mind clicks into place. Like earlier, when he came to the realization that Akechi viewed him as better, something inside of him feels realigned, more complete.

He loves Akechi. He’d been dancing around it earlier, swept up in his anger and frustration, circling around the answer to a crossword clue that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Everything is in focus now. Ren hums a quiet sound, some kind of nonverbal that’s interesting, and takes another sip of his coffee.

Fear and anxiety slice into the atmosphere in staccato bursts, and Ren forces himself to keep watching Akechi to gauge his reaction to this revelation. Ren doesn’t expect the news will be received well, but he can hope for the best.

[undyingcrow]

More shock waves tear through the dreamscape. Akechi's eyes pop wide open, unblinking, and he draws a sharp breath. That's...

No. He needs to be rational. "Love" comes in many forms. Ren said people. That implies plural. It's not...

He should set his cup down, just to be safe.

He tries smoothing his feathers, tries adjusting his posture. He feels that fear pulsing through. His own fear bubbles in return.

"Rather a bold statement, given that I nearly murdered you."

[phantomshow]

The reaction is … better than Ren expected, actually. Still not what might be classified as good, but it’s not bad, either. Akechi isn’t angry or disgusted, just shocked and afraid, and really, who could blame him? Love is a terrifying thing.

That’s part of why it can be so great.

So Akechi isn’t yelling at him, or throwing a punch, or even materializing a gun to shoot Ren again. He’s just doing his classic brand of deflection. Ren will take that as a win. He laughs, and his own fear and anxiety subside, and his love grows bigger, warmer, brighter.

“Good thing I’m not so easy to kill.”

He grins playfully into his coffee cup, taking another sip. He probably shouldn’t be joking about such a personal attempted murder with the person who pulled the trigger, but Ren has a habit of doing things he probably shouldn’t.

Like stepping in between two adults to stop a man from assaulting a woman.

Like becoming a vigilante and a thief to change the hearts of corrupted adults and reform society.

Add “loving a murderer” to the list. Ren’s not even keeping a running tab.

[undyingcrow]

His hands fold together on the bartop, clawed fingers intertwined. He ducks his head slightly, avoiding eye contact. Damn it all.

What does he even do with this knowledge? That searing warmth, that blinding light...

"You're so..."

Stupid? Sentimental? Why is it that now, of all times, words fail him? It's so humiliating.

"...If I wake up, will you actually remain here? You vanished not long after our first encounter."

More deflection, but it's the best way to cope with such an overload of... feelings.

[phantomshow]

That’s a good question. Ren remembers meeting Akechi in the garage, but then he apparently disappeared? That part, Ren doesn’t remember, and a chunk of missing time is … troubling. He hums, thoughtful as he finishes his coffee.

“I think so. Though I don’t remember vanishing.” He lightly drums fingertips on the surface of the bar, then stills them when an idea forms in his brain.

“Maybe you should wake up and find out,” he says, with a sly grin. “Do you think you can find me before I find you?”

[undyingcrow]

"You know I'm never one to turn down a challenge..." Though, first, he really should finish his dream coffee. It'd be a shame to let it go to waste, given the meager supplies outside the dreamscape.

Once he finishes, he lets the cup rest, quiet for several moments. He should probably say something, to acknowledge Ren's... interesting perspective, if nothing else.

"...Lucky for you, you don't have much in the way of competition."

Ren can make what he will of that. Really, it's a test, to gauge his intentions.

[phantomshow]

That’s exactly why Ren phrased it as a challenge - that’s the best way to catch and keep Akechi’s interest. Ren knew what he was doing by playing up their rivalry.

“Even if I had a coliseum of competition, I’d still fight for you,” he says, still holding that grin. “And I definitely wouldn’t lose.”

Quietly, Ren slides off his chair, picks up his empty cup and saucer in one hand and Akechi’s in the other, and heads for the sink behind the bar. He turns to face Akechi and finishes walking the distance to the sink in reverse, and another strong pulse of loving warmth fills the room.

“See you soon.”

He hopes. He really hopes this hasn’t just been a product of his unconscious imagination.

[undyingcrow]

Akechi takes a moment to process Ren's words. Someone willing to fight for him. Specifically him.

It's... a lot, really. A far cry from the shallow adoration he got from his fans. Something more genuine.

Taking a slow, silent breath, he rises from his place at the bar and turns toward the door. "I should hope so."

Once he leaves through that door, he wakes up in his cramped Convoy bunk, made all the more irritating thanks to his newly grown tail.

But no matter. He has work to do, so once he shakes off his sleepiness, he heads out to track Ren's scent.

...

Ren's... scent. Fuck's sake. What is he, a dog?

[phantomshow]

It takes Ren longer than he’d like to pull himself together after he wakes from the dream, eyelashes damp and heart aching but smiling widely and still so full of love. That dream was so cathartic, and he’s overwhelmed by it all - the confessions, the realizations, the release of so many secrets he’s kept locked away inside of himself for so long. He laughs - he really is a fool.

He fell asleep in his van, passed right out on one of the bench seats, barely remembered to pull off his glasses and stash them somewhere safe before he lost consciousness. What had he been doing before then? Why hadn’t he found Akechi first? Ren can’t remember. Maybe it’s not important. It’s definitely not as important as finding Akechi now.

He doesn’t bother looking for his glasses before exiting the van - they’ve been his everyday world mask for so long, and he doesn’t need that separation right now. Doesn’t want that separation between himself and Akechi right now, not when he’s just pulled himself so thoroughly apart to show the other boy his heart and his soul. He wants to keep letting Akechi in, not keep him even a little bit out.

So no glasses. Just sliding out of the driver’s side door of the van and leaning back against the dusty metal body. Closing his eyes and sending the tendrils of his mind out to wander, searching for a familiar presence.

I’m here.

[undyingcrow]

A shadow passes overhead. Moments later, there's a soft thud as Akechi swoops down in front of Ren... who's just standing there, leaning against his vehicle, but very much there.

Akechi grunts out a whisper of a laugh, incredulous. "It appears that I'm the victor."

Though perhaps Ren wasn't trying especially hard.

[phantomshow]

It’s true, Ren wasn’t trying to win this one. Reuniting with Akechi is the real prize, after all - who found the other first isn’t as important to him as the two of them simply finding each other. Ren opens his eyes and looks up, barely restraining a delighted smile.

“Long time no see.”

Is he going to keep making that same joke? Possibly. He nods, acknowledging Akechi’s statement.

“You won. Guess I owe you a prize.”

[undyingcrow]

Akechi cracks a faint smirk, gesturing at their surroundings. "You won't have much to work with, I'm afraid, but I'm sure you can get creative."

It's... good, of course. That Ren's here. He even dares to step closer. "So, I presume you remember that... interesting dream."

[phantomshow]

Ah yes, the dream. How could Ren forget, with the echoes of so many words still reverberating in his head, so many feelings tugging his heart in different directions. He nods.

“I do. We both said some things, in that dream.”

His heartbeat skips, but he doesn’t move when Akechi comes closer. This is good; this is what Ren wants. Better that they talk about this now than ignore it or push it around like a chess piece on the board until one of them cracks and explodes.

“Any conclusions, Detective?”

[undyingcrow]

That is the question, isn't it?

Akechi averts his eyes, one hand settling on his hip. That damn sagebrush continues projecting his emotions, even outside the dreamscape. That obnoxious, nauseating fluttering of anxiety. Waves of tension...

"I don't know your intentions, but I trust you realize that I'm far from a healthy, affectionate person."

[phantomshow]

Ren’s eyebrows lift in mild surprise. “My intentions?” He hasn’t had time to consider that far yet. One hand slips out of his pocket to reach up and fiddle with a bit of his hair.

“I don’t know,” he says, after a quiet moment, and returns his hand to his pocket. “I don’t expect anything from you, if that’s what you mean.”

He doesn’t even know if Akechi feels anywhere near the same way about him. He’d admitting to viewing Ren as better, but that doesn’t translate to reciprocating his feelings. Ren reaches out to Akechi’s anxiety with a wave of calm, an attempt to soothe and reassure that he is safe with him.

“I know who you are - at least, I like to think I do. I don’t expect you to change who you are just because you know that I -”

He halts, tongue tripping over the words. A trickle of fear and anxiety creeps into the cloud of love and hope pulsating from Ren. Even with all his confidence and his collected demeanor, he’s still a little bit afraid this won’t go over well. But that’s what it means to be brave, right? Facing fear directly, in spite of it. Ren pushes off the side of the van and closes the distance between the two of them.

“I love you,” he says, gaze upturned so he can observe Akechi’s expression. “That doesn’t have to mean anything more than you want it to. But it’s the truth, and you should know it.”

[undyingcrow]

It helps, at least a little, even if Akechi's head buzzes with so many thoughts. Why him? How could anyone care so much for someone who has caused so much death and pain in just two short years? To say nothing of the direct harm he did to Ren's friends, his teammates... People Akechi knows Ren cherishes.

Akechi once insisted he hated Ren. It was so close to the inevitable betrayal. He had to, because if he hated his rival, then he could do what had to be done. He could revel in defeating the one who represented everything Akechi wished he could have had...

But it was a damn lie. Even Morgana saw through him.

But what does that mean for Akechi? It's not as though he's had time to truly unpack his own feelings and they might mean. Even here, he's been much too preoccupied...

Funny. He can hear that damned cognition mocking him with that sickening smile...

"I'd much rather you be frank with me." That much is true. It'd be stupid for Ren to lie for his sake. If anything, it'd be insulting. "But if that is how you feel, I trust you're willing to face the consequences?"

Between Akechi's own instability and how others may respond... Is Ren truly prepared to balance this with his friends and comrades? Akechi, selfish though he may be, knows better than to ask Ren to choose him over the Thieves. He doubts that's Ren's intention, anyway.

He'd be disappointed if it was.

[phantomshow]

“Consequences?” Ren bites back a laugh. “You make this sound so dire.”

Any choice has consequences. Ren knows that choosing to love another man, to say nothing of loving this man in particular, is not as commonly accepted as it should be. He doesn’t yet know the social norms of this place, but if they were back home in Tokyo? Well, likely it would be more accepted than in his rural hometown, but still not universally accepted. His friends may or may not approve, but Ren believes they’d understand and accept the two of them being together regardless. His parents … probably wouldn’t, but they’ve barely acknowledged Ren’s existence over the past year, so their opinion of him and his choices only holds so much weight in his mind. None of those people are here, though, and it wouldn’t matter if they were. Ren’s choice has been made, whatever the consequences may be, and no one else will sway him from it.

“I want you in my life,” he says, plainly, with a one-shouldered shrug. “However you’ll have me. If that’s just as your rival, or just as your friend, I’m OK with that. But … if you wanted to try being more than friends … I’d really like that.”

He smiles gently, heartbeat fluttering in his throat. “But I need you to be honest with me, too. If it’s not what you want, if you don’t feel the same way - tell me. Whatever we decide on needs to be unanimous.”

That’s how Phantom Thieves do things, after all.

[undyingcrow]

What does Akechi want out of this? How does he even begin to respond?

Ren's right that it's better to be honest and direct. The trouble comes from his own repression.

Really, he still can't fathom it. Friendship is one thing, likewise with rivalry, but what Ren's proposing... It's so open, so vulnerable. Akechi has hurt him before. Is Ren truly willing to take chances?

...

That's a stupid question. Of course he is. Akechi was his wish, and all Akechi wanted...

Ugh. It's so stupid. So laughably sentimental. Simple things, like chess games after school, without any of those godforsaken complications.

"You really are unusual." He's said as much many times before. "Surely you know I'm not one to back down from a challenge."

Whatever that means. It's not as though anyone else could even compare to whatever it is they have.

[phantomshow]

Ren huffs a quiet laugh and nods. “I hear that a lot.”

So what if he’s a bit weird? He’s already accepted that he doesn’t entirely fit into the mold dictated by Japanese society. If he did, he would’ve kept his head down and turned a blind eye to that woman who needed help. Ren may not bleach his hair like Ryuji, but that doesn’t make him any less of a misfit.

“I know you like a challenge,” he continues, “but that can’t be the only reason for any of this. I meant what I said - whatever we agree to from here on needs to be because we both honestly want it.”

It’s a big decision, and even though Ren is certain, it’s not fair to demand Akechi make up his mind so quickly.

“You don’t have to give me an answer right this second. Just think it over, OK?”

[undyingcrow]

"Heh. You've far lighter expectations than everyone else who confessed their feelings to me." His... ugh, fangirls immediately come to mind. Parasocial, shallow... To say nothing of his lack of interest in girls.

Not that he could ever make that too apparent, given his celebrity status. He had to at least give people the fantasy of the charming, charismatic detective prince to latch onto.

It helps, though. He relaxes, both physically and mentally, though waves of confusion and fear still linger.

"I'll... consider it, but if this is the path we take in the end, I can't promise you a simple outcome. I am who I am, and all the ugliness inside me cannot be so simply scrubbed away."

Not that he expects Ren to want that, after he rejected Maruki's deal. Still, it bears repeating.