TEST DRIVE #1

[collectedmods]

TEST DRIVE #1

Hi shoppers! Welcome to the first Test Drive Meme for COLLECTED. A few things before we get started:

» For the time being, our TDM’s are closed to those eligible to apply based on our invite system. This means that you must be on one of the mod’s plurklists, or invited as a +1 by someone on those lists. Thanks for understanding!

» TDM Threads will NOT be canon.

» Because of that, feel free to assume/handwave CR, and assume your character has been in the setting for a little bit.

» When the game opens, characters will be able to try their hand at going outside. But, during the TDM, all doors and windows to the outside will be locked, and characters will be unable to venture out there.

» These prompts are not exhaustive - feel free to make up your own within the setting of the mall! Anywhere on the Second Floor of the mall is free game. And if you have any questions about what you can and can’t do (or about anything else) reply to the QUESTIONS comment below, and we’ll get back to you soon.

Most importantly, have fun! And thank you so much for your interest in Collected; we’ve been so stoked over the turnout!! 🧡

PROMPTS

I.

There’s one big problem about getting around the Mall - and no, it’s not the bottom floor that’s flooded.

The other huge problem that the dilapidated infrastructure causes aside from making everything smell weird and leaving tons of crumbled debris around is that at some points in the mall, it’s impossible to get across large gaps in the flooring where it’s fallen through to the waters below. In fact, to access the side of the mall across from where you are right now, there are no paths that are safe for walking across. But there is one way.

One attraction of the mall has stayed (mildly) in tact - and that’s a Hi Wire Bicycle. The one way across to the other side of the Mall is this rusty, dusty bicycle attached to a thick wire, with signs around the attraction describing how much the fare used to be to ride across - if you were daring enough, that is! Obviously, no one’s ridden across this thing in years - much less for the overpriced payment required.

More than that, it seems a little… less than safe. The net that probably provided mall-goers with some degree of self-assurance has aged, sagging and unraveling at the junctures of some of the knots. If you were to fall onto it, would it still catch you…? The wire affixed to the bike doesn’t seem too steady, either, not to mention how hard you’ll have to push against the rusted pedals to get them to move. As it stands, though, it’s the only way across to get to the Second Floor’s other half of stores. Luckily (or maybe unluckily?) there’s a seat for you and a friend. So, at least you won’t go down alone.

To make it across, you’ll have to be brave, be creative, and most of all, be lucky!

II.

A.

Near the heart of the food court, decorations for what used to be Santa’s village are still laid about. How many Christmases ago were these left here? By the looks of things, a lot. A thick coating of dust has settled on the nooks and crannies of what is supposed to be the elves workshop, alongside the seat where Santa must have sat to take pictures with children.

In the Elves’ Workshop, you’ll find a massive amount of animatronic elves. They’re all positioned to be working on toys, putting up decorations, or singing from carol books - it looks like these little guys were put here to perform for kids, not unlike an interactive (and more Christmas-y) version of It’s a Small World. There’s even un-opened (and therefore okay-to-eat!) boxes of chocolate chip cookies that must have been for the Mall-goers around Christmastime stashed inside an open cabinet, which was most definitely only for employees to access.

The only problem is that once you enter and make your way inside the workshop… something strange happens. Is something grabbing onto your clothes? Your hair? Maybe a stray finger? It’s the little wooden hands of one of the elves. Your first thought is that you just brushed past it and got caught on it - but, on the second thought, it’s not letting go. In fact, it’s grip is getting tighter. Painful, even. All while it smiles blankly ahead, eerily still aside from it’s tiny hand squeezing you. Take your eyes off these cheery boys and girls for too long, and you’ll realize they’re not staying put like good little elves - they’re moving closer to you only when they’re out of sight.

If you’re unlucky enough for several to latch onto you, you’d better ho-ho-hope someone can break you free.

B.

Outside the Workshop, more towards where the line to meet Santa would be, there’s a big snow machine. Unluckily for you, the machine’s sensors, which would have known to start putting out snow whenever people walk by, seem to still be working despite the Mall’s run-down state. As soon as you get near the thing, it starts spewing out tons of fake snow. It’s completely unlike the delicate sprinkling you’d find in a shopping center: it’s plain blasting you with the stuff, more like a hose than anything else. Too bad that the part of the machine that broke was whatever controlled the volume and speed of the snow instead of the sensors, right?

The fake snow is sticky and old, and will stick to you and the floor the more you get caught in it - better hurry and stop that machine!

C.

There’s a huge, luxurious chair that was most certainly reserved for the Santa employee in the center of the village area - tall and wide enough for at least a few people to clamber onto. Even though the paint is chipping off parts of the throne, and the wood is decaying in places - it still doesn’t look too bad, all things considered. Even the camera is still sitting in front of the chair, balanced on a tripod as though there were kids coming to take pictures with Santa today.

You’ll find that walking into the frame of the camera with more than one person causes the camera to go off. The camera will even print your picture, and never seems to run out of film - no matter how many times it fires. Did it catch your bad side, the first time? Feel free to try again! Dress up, find props, take pictures with your newfound companions to your heart’s content!

The only thing to be wary of is that in every few photos, someone else is in the photo. It’s a smiling, bright-eyed child, despite their transparency compared to you and your companion in the image. Judging by the sitting pose, and the performative smile, the added kid is none other than a reflection of a child who had taken pictures here with Santa long, long ago.

III.

With the size of the mall, and the variety of the stores inside, it’s only natural to think to forage for items that might be of use - there’s got to be something left behind here that will help you, right? Or a portal home?

Not too far from the department store you’d wandered in from, there’s a clothing store with an… interesting problem, for lack of a better word. The store has been overrun with rats. Big ones, too, scurrying about the floors and what’s left of the shelves, gnawing on what remains of the carpet and the remnants of cardboard packaging. Anyone sane would steer clear of this mess!

But, there’s something off about this store. Not only do all the rats somehow stay mysteriously contained within the walls of the store, never scurrying out of it, and with no signs of other stores being infested at all, but there’s also something that’s very familiar to you in this store. It could be a weapon, an item of clothing, or something as simple as your most favorite phone charm - point of the matter is, the rats have a hoard akin to a dragon’s behind the cashier’s counter, full of trinkets and belongings to all who have come through this place. They’ll work to keep their paws on what they have, too.

If you want your special something back, you’ll have to brave the vermin.



NAVIGATION

Comments

QUESTIONS

[collectedmods]

[arnaults]

this... is the silliest question. but are the elves in II-A actually playing music like "It's A Small World" or are they just positioned to look like they're a choir?

cinnabar / houseki no kuni

[globs]

C is for camera shy

[ what the hell is Christmas?? Cinnabar doesn't know, much like Cinnabar doesn't know what 90% of anything is in this weird place -- by now, they're at least accustomed to the way things look (and smell, unfortunately.) They recognize the chair, obviously. The wintery landscape is familiar, too, even if it's fake and painted. What they don't recognize is the camera. A weird, reflective block of metal and plastic - a mysterious substance that they don't understand but which is absolutely everywhere - perched on 3 legs, apparently accomplishing nothing.

They wait until the area is clear - or, at least, until it seems clear - to approach, heavy feet taking hesitant, suspicious steps towards the foreign object. There are buttons on the back - buttons they don't dare to press for fear of breaking them. Glass they're afraid to touch in case they corrode it. And, in front, some sort of big peephole. Once Cinnabar's circled around the camera once or twice, they crouch down in front of it, leaning in to try and peer through the lens --

and, of course, the camera goes off right then with a tremendous flash, sending them careening backwards in surprise onto their back with a loud crash. ]

What the--!!

D is for dude it is rat time

[ Cinnabar has no idea what a rat is, either, for the record! But they're standing on top of a fallen piece of concrete not unlike a frightened housewife from an old cartoon, except they're a genderless rock golem who is up there because they're afraid of squishing and/or poisoning the rats instead. Whatever!! No matter the reason, they're up on their pedestal of not-that-safety, staring behind the counter where the rats are swarming. There's what looks like a very rustic wooden box back there that Cinnabar's eyes are on. There's a rat chewing on it. ]

G... Give that back.

[ the rats are not listening to Cinnabar ]

d.

[regale]

[ He'd been trying to befriend the rats, honestly, when he hears the voice. He's deduced that rats are harder to Disney Princess than doves, or at least these ones are. There's probably an anecdote about mall rats that would fit this situation. A quote of some kind.

His head is popping up over the edge of the counter on the other side, a bit like a jack-in-the-box. ]

Good evening! [ He's loud. Not yelling, but cheerful and his voice is a bit too excitable for the situation. ] Have these small souls taken something that does not belong to them? Shall we see if I can retrieve it for you?

[ Fear of rodents is pretty common, and that's what he's assuming this is—Wataru, on the other hand, is afraid of one (1) thing and it's certainly not of lovely rats. ]

lottie person | snotgirl

[oomfies]

I

[ She hates bikes. And, come staring at the bicycle strewn on that wire, just threatening to fall at any ounce of weight sat right on top of it, she decides she despises bikes. Sadly, her hatred isn't enough to curb the monstrous amount of anxiety she feels just looking at it. In fact, if you even glance her way, she looks terribly pale, her knuckles white gripping what remains of the barrier separating them from falling head first into the inky black pools below, and like she's either on the verge of passing out or (worse!!) vomiting.. It's hard to tell!

But when she snaps her head towards your direction, pretending like you aren't witnessing her having the worst panic attack of her life, she blurts out: ]

Y-You first!

II

a. So creepy.

[ Maybe it's only made worse by how rotted these little elves are, but still - it's eerie, makes her feel a sense of discomfort to rival the curiosity it took for her to even come inside the Elves' Workshop. Which is why she huddles so closely to you - and, an even better note, huddles closely behind you - that's right, she is making you lead. ]

Who even liked any of this stuff? [ She mumbles, and then louder: ] It's old as hell.

b. [ Who knew the costume rack for Santa's Shop was still fully stocked? Not Lottie, that's for sure, but she's been having a ball since the discovery (even without finding a sexy Santa). And while the way she enticed you into indulging her, just this once ("So retro! Let's do it. Just one! I promise."), managed to work - after reviewing the stockpile of photos printed out, maybe having a photoshoot in an abandoned spooky mall may have been a questionable idea. ]

It's not even that big of a deal.

[ Her expression screams, 'So what if there was a dead little ghost child standing between the two of us in that last pic we took?' Lottie's tone is nothing but dismissive, entirely focused on perfecting her smokey eye for the next photo. She doesn't even bother turning around to face you proper, only looking at you through the mirror in her compact. ]

If it was a real ghost, I think it would've shown itself by now. [ She's an expert on ghosts, after all! ] So put the elf ears back on, we're gonna do it again. I'm Santa this time.

III

[ It seems the playground is as child proof as it is Lottie proof, because no matter what she's done to try and wreak havoc inside, it remains virtually untouched. Save for the stray misplaced toy, and some coloring books that rest precariously at the edge where the floor meets the wall (clearly thrown). If you walk in, either to pillage or explore, the sounds of someone rustling aggressively through cabinet after cabinet only becomes louder the closer you walk towards it.

And when you open the already ajar door - the one to the employee's only section of the playground - you'll find an extremely disheveled and high-strung looking blogger, defensively pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose when she spies you standing in the doorway. She breathes quickly through her nose, reigning in her scowl and downgrading it to a pout. But, stubborn as ever, she refuses to say anything first, instead staring you down with furrowed brows and clenched fists. ]

IV

anybody wanna head to the gym?

wildcard
[ or wildcard me! feel free to throw anything at me, or if you want to hash anything out specifically feel free to pm this account or pp snottie! ]

ii-b

[takeroot]

The elf ears pinch most persistently, you know.

[This is Constantin's first foray into plastic costume accessories, and he's already determined they are Uncomfortable. Not that he's left, so clearly the novelty of plastic accessories and flash photography are enough to keep him around, but he's still looking at the picture with the strange little ghost child as he distractedly sticks one kitschy elf ear back on. Pinchy...]

What do you suppose his name was? Is? He looks quite well, for an apparition!

[Play with him in this space, what is the full narrative of this little boy posing for his Christmas picture!!]

He strikes me as a Bernardin.

misa amane | death note | feel free to assume cr!

[lifespanned]

I.

[ Sneaking through this tiny elf workshop to get some rations all seemed very easy from the get go. She’s tiny, and agile, so it should be no problem just to slip in and slip out without knocking anything over, right? Misa isn’t really even afraid of the little elves - they’re just dolls, afterall. They’re nothing creepier than the dolls she keeps herself at home.

Or at least, that’s what she was thinking until one of them latched onto the hem of her skirt as she passes by en route to the cookie boxes. At first, like anyone rational, she thinks it might just be caught on it’s hand, but… even after a little tug, it’s not letting go.

You, who followed her in here or are at least within earshot of the door, end up hearing something like this: ]

What kind of creep set up this place?!

[ These elves are naughty… not nice!! She seems more creeped out by the prospect that elf is latching onto her skirt rather than the fact they’re latching onto her at all. ]

II.

Did you know that that camera actually works?

[ Misa gossips, gesturing over to the camera nearby Santa’s chair. ]

I saw it go off and print a picture earlier when people were near it. [ Whether you’re friendly with her or not, she loops her arm with yours as though you’re best friends, tugging you that way. ] I'm serious! Don't look skeptical! I'll prove it!

[ The real text between the lines is: she wants to take a picture!! She’s a model!! And she feels she must commemorate this bizarre mall somehow, as well as the strange folk inside it. What harm could a little polaroid to take home do? ]

III.

Oh my god, you’re not thinking of going in there, are you?

[ Maybe you’re going inside Rat Hell Zone to retrieve an item of your own, or maybe you’re going in there to retrieve something for someone else - either way, Misa is trying to stop you. ]

Are you crazy? What could be in there that's worth it?

III

[arnaults]

They're just rats. [ dorothea shrugs, staring into the store with a thoughtful expression. what could be in there... ? ] There could be something that'd make our lives easier in there.

And rats aren't that bad, all things considered. Even if they bite, they've got pretty small teeth.

raylan givens — justified

[ultimatums]

» ONE

[ Raylan's certainly never been dumb enough to attempt a high-wire bicycle in a regular mall; trying it out in this place would be like asking for trouble. But there's a certain rubbernecking instinct that has him lingering around nearby sometimes, leaning casually against the fencing with one leg crossed over the other at the ankle, thumb hooked in one of his belt loops, on the off-chance that someone might decide that today is the day. Hell, he's old enough at this point to accept that sometimes you just want to see someone either succeed in a madcap stunt, or be there when they fail to make sure they don't break their neck in the process. Whenever someone looks like they're considering it, Raylan has... well, they're not exactly words of inspiration, but they're certainly words for them. ]

Y'know, after all his years of high-octane death-defyin', it was heart disease that killed Evel Knievel.

» TWO (C)

[ The flash startles him, the way certain people get startled when they hear engines backfire; he'd been ambling with his usual loose, loping gait, but now he's tense, standing straighter, shoulders squared as he peers around for the source of the light. Jesus, a camera – he's getting twitchy. He puffs out a sigh and aims a sheepish smile at the person who'd been coming in the other direction; seems like they'd crossed paths at just the right time to set it off. ] Well, shit, I hope I wasn't blinkin', [ he says, stupidly, because he might not be a dad but he's close enough to one for dad jokes. ]

» THREE

[ Raylan has lost his hat.

It's only been missing a few hours, as far as he's aware, but it feels a little funny without it, like going out into the world with only one sock on. He remembers taking it off and putting it down somewhere, and it's only after searching high and low – retracing his steps, like his momma would patiently tell him to do whenever he lost something as a kid – that he realises what's happened. He stops in the doorway, hands on his hips, his expression square between a grin and a grimace, shaking his head a little. It's right there, behind the counter: an off-white stetson, with a rat sitting right in the crease at the top, and another on the brim, as if it's some sort of novelty-shaped couch. There's no two ways about it: he's gonna have to go in there and get it. He sighs, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. ] Son of a bitch. The hell does a rat want with a hat anyway?

» NETWORK

Anyone happened to locate a bottle of bourbon?
I'll settle for whiskey considering the circumstances

» WILDCARD

[ throw literally anything at me! alternately hmu at crowders if you want something specific, i'm all ears! too many exclamation marks! ]

one!

[takeroot]

I've not the faintest idea who that is, but may he rest in peace.

[And here's Constantin, definitely considering getting on this high-rise death machine, however stuck on step one: how to get on it in the first place without ending his stunt man career before it begins. Does it... self balance? Does he need to vault over the back of the seat and just go?

Luckily his new friend here in the hat will surely help! So--]

Now that we both stand idly beside this... thing, would you do me the favor of keeping it steady while I puzzle out the rest?

[It's almost as if he doesn't know how to ride a bicycle, but surely no one would be that reckless.]

Wataru Hibiki | Ensemble Stars!!

[regale]

II. A

[ This place was found when he was scavenging for clothing in his size—which might explain why he's wearing the grumpy elf shirt and has another one tucked under an arm. It doesn't suit him at all, there's nothing even remotely grumpy about his face, but there's an argument that could be made for "elf-like" at least, what with his shiny hair fade and purple eyes.

In... a Christmas shirt... and going eye-to-eye with one of the animatronics. It's unmoving, but it has a tendril of his hair in a grip of iron. Weirdly enough, it looks like the piece of hair is also gripping the elf's hand? Like, the world's strangest handshake. ]

Mmmm... ♪ Ah, I've got it! Your Hibiki Wataru has deduced that I must answer a series of puzzles and riddles for you! Only then will you be satisfied, surely. [ Declaring to no one but the elf. ] To start with, perhaps I need to guess the password? Could it be... open sesame?

[ ...

... it's not letting him go. ]

II. C

[ Wataru has abandoned the elf shirt this time. Or perhaps it's pre-legacy of the elf shirt. What you need to know is that he's found several things that could be used as costumes and props and has spent a fair amount of time tidying them up. Surely there are more important things to do in a situation like this? He's aware of it. But at the same time, there's something routine about this kind of thing, and it... helps.

So that's why he's got his hair brushed out and pulled into a ponytail and has gotten into the costume that he's calling "Young Pet Mom Taking Her Small Pony To See Santa For The First Time" and consists of what used to be an elegant black dress and a slightly eaten toy horse. He's sitting in the Santa chair trying to look at his face in a tiny plastic mirror before addressing you. ]

You! Holiday shopper, with the hat! Please, allow me but a moment of your time...! [ He's saying that even if you don't have a hat. His voice is also softer, to accompany the specialized role of Horse Mom. ] I would ask you for your assistance, if you have the heart to lend but a moment of your precious time to a young maiden!

[ The toy horse probably also has pleading eyes. Acting. ]

WILDCARD.

( This can be used for anything your heart desires, but also, consider: Wataru can, and will, pop out of literally nowhere to greet you. Even if someone who is 5'11" should not reasonably fit there. Also, consider this: he can pick locks, and will be happy to help you get into anything with... locks to pick. He's got a plethora of other skills too, but this is naught but a wildcard prompt... alternatively, you can leave me a comment and I'll come up with a starter for you! )

iia

[glorification]

[I guess this makes him Boss Elf.

Eichi was very enthusiastic about wearing this and entering a Christmas themed section of the mall, but it's actually more gloomy than he thought it would be, to see it all run down and eerie. He'd taken his time poking around the rest of the area to be sure that there wasn't anything useful to bring along, but by the time he's caught up here... he finds this? Dust, decay, a snow machine that he narrowly dodges out of the way of spraying all over him, and Wataru—

Caught by an elf, it seems. That, at least, earns a small laugh as he approaches, leaning in slightly from behind Wataru to peer at the elf.]

Have you gotten stuck, somehow, Wataru? I could give you a hand, if you'd like.

[Get it, a hand?]

azula | a:tla

[firelords]

( one. ho-ho-hold-up! )

⟪ azula is painfully aware of the other person passing through manic elf nightmare land. how can she not be? no one’s to be trusted, not back home and certainly not here. the elves seem to add to her agitation – it’s their lifeless little eyes that feel as if they’re following her. and they’re everywhere, and now and again, it seems as if she’s looked at one before and seen it in a different position.

she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath. nothing’s off here.

nothing’s off until bony fingers close around her left wrist, and she tries to pull away, eyes open and wild.⟫

What are you doing?

⟪ it’s a moment of disconnect before she realises it’s not the other person who is holding her wrist ever more tightly, but one of the vicious little elf things. ⟫

Make it stop.

⟪ ‘cause clearly this one’s on you. ⟫

( two. court painter, but make it worse )

⟪ it’s not picture day in azula’s world. maybe it’s the slightly smeared make-up (even if she’s been here a short while, what little can be found in terms of still-useable products take some getting used to). maybe it’s the do-it-yourself-haircut. maybe it’s the dark rings under her eyes.

maybe it’s the fact that her mall-gathered clothes have seen better days even before she put them on. maybe that's why she stares at the 'throne', but doesn't sit down, and instead just plans to pass it in her ongoing search for whatever will pass for food today. ⟫

What was that?

⟪ the flash, like lightning! she turns to the person with her, eyes narrowed, suspicious. evidently, she’s keen to blame the phenomenon on someone – right up until there’s a noise coming from the contraption opposite the throne-like chair. she’s never encountered a camera, nor anything that can print a picture, so this could be a teachable moment. ⟫

( three. rat me out )

Seen some friends?

⟪ she’s passed the rat shop a couple of times now, only paying the barest minimum of attention to it, even as some people seem to stop and stare. honestly, azula isn’t squeamish, but she is a princess, and she has spent all fourteen years (and change) of her life in a palace. rats are certainly not something she is about to bother with, or particularly keen to get close to.

except her absolutely unnecessary comment does come with a sidelong glance, and then there’s a flash of recognition as she looks past the scurrying animals and to a shelf at the back. ⟫

Change of plan. You’re coming with me.

⟪ and she’s about to head straight for rat-land, with you in tow, preferably. ⟫

( wildcard )

⟪ ooc: want a more specific starter? want to try any of the other prompts? hit me up with something random or pm/pp me @ nehelenia and we can figure something out. assumed cr welcome! azula is from verrrry late in the s3 game, so she’s not doing so hot right now, but y’know. that’s life. ⟫

3

[oraculi]

The hell I am.

[He is unmoving. Less, admittedly, because of the rats (although those too) and more because of, hm, the bossiness of this girl. He stands there with his arms crossed over his chest, shifting his weight each time a rat comes a little too close to the entrance.

He will kick them, if he has to. Back off, rats.]

That's the right way to get your foot gnawed off, but you go ahead if you really want to.

felix hugo fraldarius | fe:3h

[brothered]

ii. felix navidad

[Food is scarce in this hellhole, but does that mean that Felix Hugo Fraldarius is going to willingly eat a chocolate chip cookie? Hell no. He picks up a package of them, when he wanders by the cabinet; he steps to the side to open said package, turning his back to a trio of caroling elves; he gives the package's content a single sniff before wrinkling his nose and holding it away from him, ever the drama queen. Sugar! He would rather die.

But hey, hi, so nice of you to join him? After accepting a quick once-over, please also accept... these cookies, because he's holding them out with the air of one who expects you to enjoy this.]

Take this. I don't want it.

[It isn't safe to go alone, or... something. Anyway, enjoy that—and also enjoy the creepy little elf's creepy little hand, which may or may not be inching closer to the fluffy edge of Felix's cloak? Was it that close a second ago... is it getting closer still...]

iii. r.o.u.s.

[Felix isn't bothered by rats, per se, but listen: there's something, uh, unsettling about stepping into a dim space and hearing who knows how many critters skittering through the shadows. It's kind of gross? And even the tiniest pests can be a pain in the ass, when there's a cool million to handle at once, but... well. Well. He is here, and he is officially on the hunt.]

a.

[What's up, buddy. Felix is stalking about this store, kicking half-chewed cardboard boxes out of the way as he looks for... something. A rodent to stab, perhaps, because he sure is glaring at anything and everything—including you. Did a new buddy scamper over your foot when you weren't looking? Did it squeak in your ear when you wandered too close to its perch on one of the many shelves? Whatever the cause, you gasped, or squealed, or made some sort of noise, and Felix huffs out a breath, hand going to his hip as glances back your way.]

Don't tell me you're scared of a rat.

b.

[Do you see that rat sitting up on its hind legs, holding what appears to be a burned, blackened spur in its grimy little claws? Cool, because Felix sees it, too—but as Felix is halfway across the store, and as the rat is currently staring up at you with its beady little eyes:]

That's— hey! You! [YOU! He's reaching for one of the swords at his side, but the Look he's directing at you is as sharp as any weapon.] Are you blind? Kill it!

[We don't fuck around in this mall.]

wildcard!

[you know how it be, y'all. throw anything my way and i'll roll with it! i kept it pretty simple because i am planning to tag around, so 👀! ooooooooor hit me up over at tuchanka if you want to hash something specific out. i'm here for it!]

iii-b i couldn't resist

[arnaults]

[ it's felix's yell that makes her jump, more than the rat approaching her with the spur. if she'd noticed it coming on her own, she's probably have dodged it, or tried something more elegant. as it is, she goes with her gut reaction...

... which is to stop on the rat with the high heel of her boot. hard. the sound that it makes isn't pleasant. dorothea makes a face as she steps away from the scene of the crime, a face that she then directs in felix's direction. ] Spooking your allies isn't a very tactically sound approach, Felix.

Jiang Cheng | The Untamed

[pierless]

II A, The One With The Elves;

[Hey, fuck this though!

It's not frightening, because frankly, Jiang Cheng has faced worse than a bunch of little puppets. But it's creepy, and he's in a bad enough mood stuck here as-is. The very last thing he needs is a bunch of possessed wooden elves gripping his robes like demented children.

Now, some might, say, try and pry the little fingers free, or maybe jerk on their robes to see if they'll tug loose. Those would be reasonable first options! But it's been a very long few days, and frankly, his patience isn't worth much even on the best of days.

So there's purple lightning flashing repeatedly in that store, over and over; the crack of furniture breaking and fake snow flying everywhere just adds to the chaos. Dare to head inside, and there Jiang Cheng stands, little hands gripping his arm and his legs, while his right hand whips furiously, trying and utterly failing to free himself.

Help him. Or don't!]

III, The One With The Rats;

[Is it hard to fight off rats? Not really, honestly. Or at least, that's what Jiang Cheng had thought. And to be fair, one rat? Not a problem. Hundreds? Mm, a little more so. He's already kicked a few who got a bit too close, which has absolutely endeared him to the local vermin population. And yet while they hiss and snarl as he stands by the entrance, they don't actually cross it.]

Wait-- stop that, don't be stupid.

[Because this person was so obviously going in without a care in the world.]

They can't cross it. They may be bound to this room.

IV, The One With The Food Court;

[Is there anything more depressing than wandering through a food court? Honestly, yes, and it's this: wandering through when you have no cultural context for it, and also everything dusty and old and reeks of a sense of faded cheer. He's particularly disturbed by a beheaded cardboard cutout of a mascot, cheerfully telling him that a hamburger is half off if he makes it a double. Like, is it the worst thing that's ever happened to a man who was tortured? No, but it's creepy.

Still: he needs food, and this seems the best place to start.

Currently he's examining a ketchup packet, solely on the basis that it has a tomato on it, and he'd probably focus on getting some vegetables before he dies of scurvy. That said: he's particularly dubious that anything could last so long, so . . . . hm. Perhaps he should wait. Perhaps he should exercise caution. Perhaps he should--

Ohp, nope, he's just tugging it open roughly and now there's ketchup all over his hands.]

Shit!

Other;

[Feel free to assume CR! And make some shit up, it's a tdm, nothing's canon, let's go nuts.]

it's rattes time

[takeroot]

[You know? Constantin was, indeed, about to march across this room without a care in the world - or at least, with only one care, which is getting his stuff back from the rat horde's hoard. He stops before actually crossing into the store, looking from the sea of vermin to this purple stranger and back again, like - come on?

Come on, sir???]

But— that's my hat!

[Petulant, practically, as he gestures towards the distant pile, upon which rests a very charming brown hat with a big ol' feather in it. A couple particularly nimble rats see his arm crossing the threshold of the store and try to launch up into the air to snap at his sleeve, which in his defense, does get him to sputter and hastily step back a few feet.

But also: his hat.]

You wouldn't happen to have any cheese...?

dorothea arnault | fire emblem : three houses

[arnaults]

II-A.

There’s much about this place that’s unfamiliar to Dorothea. The architecture, the stores, the wares in those stores – none of it bears much resemblance to the stores of Enbarr, or the open air market at Garreg Mach. So she’s spent plenty of time wandering around the place, trying to get acquainted with the place that she’s found herself in.

So of course the Workshop, with all the weird decorations and figurines draws her in. The toys and theming aren’t recognizable to her, but that’s just a good reason to look around. She takes a bit too long to do it, though - and now there are little wooden hands pinching at her fingers, her clothes, even her hair.

The more figurines she tries to break off of her, the more seem to be pinching at her sides. She’ll attempt to stagger out of the door despite the many elves hanging off her – maybe you’re the one she stumbles into on the way out.

II-C.

Dorothea was planning on just passing through the area, but that chair looks so nice – and that box of props is just sitting there… Sure, she’s spent a long time at a military school, but she’s a performer at heart. She won’t be kept away from anything resembling costumes, especially in a time like this, when the temptation to indulge is just too high.

So of course, she takes the time to dress up. A candy-cane striped boa around her neck, some colorful antlers on her head, and she’s looking like the belle of the Christmas ball – whatever Christmas is. She hasn’t quite figured out about the camera set up in front of the chair, but she’ll find out soon enough when she beckons whoever’s walking by over, eyes bright. “Look at all of this! What an odd box of things to leave behind.”

network.

it’s a pleasure to meet all of you. this is a non-urgent request, but

has anyone found a hairbrush? or a comb? or perfume? or anything along those lines?

please let me know if so. thank you. [ a girl has needs, okay!! ]

wildcard.

[ let’s dooooo this! action or brackets is fine with any of these prompts. if you have any specific ideas or plans, hit me up here or at avioletqueen. ]

network.

[regale]

Oh, pick me~ pick me~ I have at least one of those things your heart desires!

As for the rest... I believe I've got an idea where they may be found, though I've yet to finish searching the depths of the store for them.

[ He gets it. ]

Leone Abbacchio | Jojo's Bizarre Adventure | feel free to assume CR!

[teaserving]

⏪ I. I CAN RIDE MY BIKE WITH NO HANDLEBARS

I've seen a lot of stupid shit, but this is ridiculous.

[A weirdass arrangement of a bike to take someone across. Who the hell designed this? Why is it like this? This is so damned stupid.

Abbacchio sighs, absently scratching at his own stomach, his eyes distant for a moment as he's thinking. Then he huffs and glances at you.]

Well? Any bright ideas?


⏪ II. OH RATS

God damn little bastards.

[Abbacchio is growling under his breath, glaring at the rodents and their hoard of junk. True, he has something missing as well, and he's thought about just ditching it, but-- no, he can't, and he needs to get in there somehow.

He thinks for a moment. A Stand's work might be enough.

So, suddenly, something appears behind Abbacchio in a ring of old as balls dial-up noises before the lanky being starts to creep forward to head toward the pile of items.]

This is the stupidest thing that's ever-- no. Wait, I've definitely experienced dumber, but this is a close one.


⏪ III. OBLIGATORY NETWORK POST

for the love of god if anybody finds something to drink here let me know
and i mean something with alcohol in it


⏪ IV. WILDCARD;

[You know the drill!]

3

[oraculi]

[Let's be real: Haymitch and Abbacchio bonded on day one over being mean and ornery and old in spirit (if not in age, Leone). They also, undoubtedly, bonded over being alcoholic, because why wouldn't they.]

that's a real hopeful message to wake up to, you know that?

harrowhark nonagesimus | the locked tomb trilogy | ota!

[skeletonize]

I.
( harrowhark had long since mapped every square foot of this building, or at least every square foot that was accessible to her — and there was very little within these crumbling, mouldering walls that remained inaccessible to her, though she was far more cognizant now than she ever had been in her entire life of her resources. it had been in the first twenty-four hours of being here that she had carefully set into her journal a meticulous replication of the architectural floor-plan of the building, complete with numbered marks and cryptography to note doors and places of interest — only a few pages separate from a similar drawing she had completed in the same manner her first night in canaan house upon the First.

these two places were alike in more ways than one: crumbling monoliths to times long since passed, though the magnificence, scale, and austerity of the building that would have been the throne of their Emperor and God did make this dingy testament to ancient consumerism seem like a pebble in comparison to a mountain. but, still: they were both areas limited in space (even if this place lacked cracked windows, leaving several rooms half-open to the elements, and the breathless verandas, crumbling into the distant ocean below), and they were both heavily slumped into a slow, architectural death.

which is fine by harrow. she is, after all, a necromancer, and one of the Ninth — for her, to be surrounded by the dead and dying is a matter of comfort.

she stands close to the perilous edge, hunched over something out of sight of someone who might approach. a few footsteps closer, and she seems to notice — there is the snap of a book being closed, a rustling of thick cloth, and then the black-robed figure turns to face her new company. her hood is drawn, but the pale shape of the skull painted on her face in alabaster and charcoal is easy enough to be seen in its shade; harrowhark is never seen without it.

without turning to face it, she says in a low, sepulchrous tone, ) It is the only way across. ( well, not exactly, but... ) If you were looking to do so.

( maybe she just wants to see someone else try it, just to see exactly how idiotic it looked. )

II.
( she could absolutely not be interested any less in any of the clothing that survived in this forsaken place, but there is something else that captures her attention — less the scurrying carpet of rats that coated the floor (which, do not get her wrong, were disgusting by their own right), but which they seemed to guard behind their seething mass: a trove of plundered items. normally this would not have interested her, not any more than the self-contained plague within the store. the penitent of the Ninth were not materialistic. but her dark eyes catch upon a small, nondescript box among the other pilfered treasures, and something sharp and chilled twists within her — something very much like flighty, irrational panic.

the penitent of the Ninth are not materialistic, but they are that: penitent, and none more so than their Reverend Daughter. within that box she knew to be the necessary materials for her face paint, and, to her, they were more important than nearly anything else that could have been stashed there. it's of course impossible that the item be there — she had warded her safe room well enough that any creature besides herself which entered would have been filled with enough teeth at such a high velocity that the results would have resembled buckshot.

and yet —

such a bizarre sight and such an assembly of precious, stolen items would draw the attention of more than just harrowhark; she draws a sharp breath in through clenched teeth, right hand slipping into her robes to find a shard of bone that would suit this job.

she does, and she produces a shattered bit of ulna, tossing it to the ground. before it even makes contact with the grimy, cracked linoleum tile, it begins to warp and mutate, bone billowing out of the fragment in perfect anatomical order as she mustered a full skeletal construct — responsive, idealized, flawless — from what a normal bone adept would have struggled to even form an arm from.

dull, sightless red lights wink from the otherwise-empty eye sockets as it soldiers towards the rat-infested store, intent on its quest to get what was rightfully hers back.

if you have any requests for what to pick up on its trip into the store, now's the time to make them. )

III.
( i've already written too much — feel free to wildcard something, and to PM me if you have any thoughts or questions! )

i. ok I summoned more energy

[glorification]

...So it seems.

[What an interesting person, just at first glance. It's always said not to judge someone by their appearance, but there's something to be gained by appearances, isn't there? Things that are chosen, specifically, as a way a person presents themselves... Either through their own decisions or to protect themselves. Well. He just thinks the skull paint is Different.

Eichi is much more focused on the obstacle at hand, however, and he looks carefully out over the net stretched out and sagging, humming thoughtfully.]

What a shame. I don't believe someone like me could manage a task like that. At least, I don't feel as though it's worth the risk... "The grass is always greener," or so they say, but I wonder if there's really anything of worth that direction?

I suppose I won't know, simply by standing here. [He smiles.] Are you plan on trying it yourself?

Ruby Rose | RWBY

[sanguinertia]

I. HIGHWIRED

[ Ruby doesn't actually need that bike thing to cross ridiculous gaps. Thanks to petal burst, she can sort of...slam into a giant red blur of rose petals and speed across the gaps? Look, it's normal back home for her, more or less. Sort of. That doesn't mean, however, that you can't find her trying out the bike anyway. At least if she falls she can handle herself without too much worry, and any attempts will be purely for the hell of it.

If you fall while trying it, though...

Well, you'll get slammed to the other side in a blur, before Ruby re-materializes from the petals. ]

Whoa! Close call, right? I'm pretty sure that net's about to give.

[ Along with everything else in this joint, but details! ]

II. ELVES ON SHELVES

A. ELF ATTACK
[ The lure of exploration and knowledge-seeking bring Ruby into the workshop.

...

No, okay, she saw a box of cookies from outside and like any intelligent person she beelined for it - luckily, she's got pretty damn quick reflexes. Although her hood is gripped from behind - and she confirms it isn't one of the other residents - she unhooks her gun from her belt and slams it into scythe mode to swing behind her.

Incoming elf parts! And...maybe a shelf or two. Look. It's hard to control damage in a small area, okay? ]

What?!?!

[ Why is it ALIVE ]

B. COOKIES
[ If battle isn't your thing, Ruby definitely did manage to get a small mountain of boxes of chocolate chip cookies. Does she need twenty of these? Absolutely not. Has she been stuffing her face with them anyway...? Well, of course! She's gotten through about five boxes alone, someone really needs to step in and take some off her hands before she anime-protagonist-eats them away.

Luckily Ruby's pretty easygoing about sharing, and she thrusts out an open box whenever anyone approaches where she's ended up sitting outside of the workshop. There's still cookies inside, and just inside the workshop you can probably see some downed creepy elves...she's got a lot of battle experience, okay. ]

Want some??

[ It comes out more like "Wmm smmm?" because her mouth is full. Manners are for people who aren't stuffing their faces, maybe. ]

III. SOUVENIER PHOTOS

[ Whoever happened to be walking in front of the camera when Ruby was is now officially captive to entertaining her. Like, she'll let them go if they insist, but. ]

Oooh! We should have a fashion show!

[ There's only so much to do in a dilapidated horror mall. Please play with her? ]

IV. PLAYGROUND

[ This place is always kind of creepy, but at least there's room to run around and over things. Ruby can be found stretching at the entrance, and if she sees anyone - friendly or not - she'll beam. ]

Hey! Want to have a race or something? Or we can try to fix that guy's head...uh, man, maybe we should try to clean up this place in general...

[ That last part sounds WAY less enthused than the starting part. Haha. ]

V. FOOD COURT GAMES

[ Well, since the department stores can have board games...Ruby has frankensteined several trashed games into one giant new game. Apparently. It's taking up like two tables in the food court shoved together and looks like, uhhhh, the work of a crazy person? Someone who is working on no sleep? Or...a lot of sugar?

Or, more accurately, a heavy dose of boredom. Look. She doesn't really do lazing around all that well, okay?

Anyway, she's just finished sort of...mashing everything together, and looks proud of herself but now she needs VICTIMS - er, people to play with her. If you happen to be walking down at this (in?)opportune moment: ]

Hey!!! Do you have some time to kill? I think it's ready!

VI. NETWORK

[ This comes from user: crescentrose. ]

hey so if you have a cool weapon you should send me a picture! i'm bored.

WILDCARD

[ If none of the above are your speed, throw whatever my way or hit me up at Maggie#0451 or via PM to discuss something different. Feel very free to assume CR, since none of this is canon. Ruby's friendly as hell, so she's reasonably likely to have tried to get to know just about anyone. ]

ii-b

[prison]

[ it would have been a small mercy for his already hellish day, to have a box of cookies shoved in his direction. perhaps she'd seen how demoralized he looked, hungry and quite lost, hair a frizzled mess- but then again, when is it not. gray, dreary eyes peer up from beneath his glasses, wordlessly taking a treat from the box and bringing it to his mouth. it hits him like a lightning strike, but he can't stop chewing, and chewing, and chewing, then shallowing. ]

How old are these? [ they're stale as hell, but it doesn't stop him from reaching in to grab another. ]

[impostersyndrome]

II.B

[Getting slammed with sticky fake snow... that's really about par for the course with how Prompto's life has been going the last few days. All he can think is that it's a good thing he's still wearing his snowsuit.

If he can just get to the machine, he can probably stop it, but with the force with which it's hitting him that's easier said than done.

Holding up his hands to try to shield himself, he calls out.]

Hello!? Uh... a little help!?

III

[He was just on his way past the window when he sees it - a camera, but no just any camera. That's his - the one he worked all summer for, the one he took everywhere with him. The one with all his photos, of Noct and Ignis and Gladio, all their adventures.

And it's inside a store, just... sitting there.

Surrounded by rats.

He stands outside the door, trying to psych himself up. He has to get his camera, but... rats.]

Alright Prompto. You've fought daemons. You've fought giant bugs. You can deal with a few rats...

Wildcard

[Feel free to hit me with something else or contact me at dandywonderous to work out ideas!]

III

[iblistriggered]

[Assuming we've gotten the "OMG WHAT ARE YOU"s out of the way, Silver hides behind the wall, peering around into the entrance of the store]

I...is it really worth it...? This camera of yours? Those rats don't look very strong... but there's so many.

Silver | Sonic the Hedgehog

[iblistriggered]

i. loopholes

[Well, large gaps in the floor aren’t a problem when you can levitate! Both yourself, and others! Though he can’t always be around to ferry people around… Silver, cloaked in sea foam-colored energy, floats near the bike apparatus with a worried expression on his face]

We have to figure out something safer than this… maybe I can rig up some sort of hanging cart using the wheels…

[But yeah. That sure is a glowing, flying… cat? Is he a cat? He’s fluffy, that’s for sure. And the glowing flying mammal also does his best to patch holes in the net by tying it to itself over the more threadbare areas. He’ll wave at anyone above]

If you want to cross, just ask, ok?

ii-a. fayophobia

[Silver strolls through the workshop, nibbling on one of the cookies. The animatronics aren’t much smaller than he is] I bet this was a big hit with little kids. … Or maybe a little nightmare inducing? Some of these robots are creepy.

[he turns to look at one of them and suddenly something grabs hold of his tail] …. E… eh?

[then, a high pitched scream from inside the workshop;] HIIIIIIIIIEIEEEEEEEE!!!

iii. rat’s hoard

[Silver peeks through the window at the swarm of rats inside the room, frowning] It’s weird… why don’t they just run out of there…? There’s probably not anything edible left in that store if there’s that many rats.

iv. wildcard

[I'M UP FOR ANYTHING. I don't bite, I promise. If you'd like to plot or chat, add me on plurk, DrFishbone or on Discord, Fishbone#3416]

ii-a

[teaserving]

[This is a nightmare scenario for Abbacchio for a completely different reason: he's inside of a shitty little Christmas workshop with, apparently, an oversized talking hedgehog. He isn't even sure how he agreed to go in here. Maybe on the low hope that he'd find something to eat or drink inside. Turns out there's nothing but disappointment.

Then he jerks when he hears Silver's shriek.]

What the fuck are you crying about?!

robin buckley ▶ stranger things

[decoder]

one ▶

❰ it's not enough to have explored one half of the mall -- no, robin wants to see the whole thing, to find other new tech pieces and weird cultural anachronisms she half-decides for herself, half-shyly asks questions about to fill in the gaps. are there more clothes to look at? mysteries to solve? some solution on the other side of this gap?

good thing robin is a doer, or else she might never know. the solution is a simple one, albeit one that makes her stomach turn slightly at the height and precarious drop involved should one push of a pedal go awry.

but that's what you're here for -- moral support! ❱

You gonna hang on tight during this tandem adventure? ❰ because you've somehow been convinced to be a daredevil with her, but maybe you need a little bit of a push to cling tightly to the teen sitting at the helm of this bicycle built for two ❱

two (a) ▶

❰ a treasure trove of chocolate cookies is certainly reason enough to investigate this workshop further -- she knows from experience exactly where to hide the good shit when you're working in a mall, and assumes that even in some dystopian future setting? mall jockeys probably think alike. it doesn't even have to be something super sweet; this is a situation where any food is good enough to find and hoard.

and yet curiosity comes with a price. the animatronic elves are simply creepy at first, not worth commenting on outside of their hideous paint jobs. then she explores a cabinet too deeply and stops paying attention (why would she, they're just dumb christmas robots?). the pinch comes as a shock, though she assumes it's a rat bite -- gross, hope that doesn't lead to an infection. instead, she yelps as she turns from her position to see the culprit is an elf, attached to the thin skin under her knee. it's such an awkward, tingly place to be grabbed; robin kicks at it in an attempt to free herself.

the elf clings tighter, causing the kick to hurt the sensitive flesh it's clamped onto. she grabs the hand attached to her leg, trying to pry the fingers open. a punch, a push. ❱

Get off me you Santa shit! ❰ another good whack only hurts her hand and topples them both over, and does nothing to break the elf's clutch. ❱

three ▶

❰ ooc: speeding past robin learning how to network and shit ❱

Anyone got anything to bash a rat with?
Willing to trade for something really good.
I've got:
- a flask (yes, there IS alcohol in it)
- jerky
- unopened lego set
- lip gloss
- stationary

Take your pick.

wildcard ▶

❰ if you wanna do anything else or talk something out, hit me up at ships or blush#3016! ❱

three

[teaserving]

does the lip gloss have a color to it?
got a decent baseball bat from one of the sports stores

Shyvana | League of Legends

[cinderhulk]

🔥I. CLOSE THE GAP

[For most people, they might look at the arrangement with extreme reluctant and decide it's not worth crossing. After all, it's a rather precarious set up. A bike on a rope with questionable netting below. Such a ridiculous contraption. Why not just have a bridge? Well, no one ever said that humans always made the best choices.

So, Shyvana lets out a low chuckle.]

I have a better idea.

Unless you want to play with that thing.


🔥II. RATS MAKE ME TWITCHY

Annoying.

[If nothing else, Shyvana sounds more mildly irritated than outright furious. She watches the rats from behind the counter and considers. No, she could probably destroy most if not all of them, but admittedly she isn't sure if the pile of goods would survive that. Normally, the damage along with her actions wouldn't concern her, but she's aware of how much everyone else might need the items.

She's not unfamiliar to scraping by to survive. She just never thought she'd have to again until now.

Shyvana glances you up and down, then huffs out a breath.]

You would be adequate as a distraction.

[Seems like she's volunteering you.]


🔥III. WILDCARD

[Make your own prompt or feel free to ask for one!]

d - vampire hunter d

[damnpire]

ii.c a photo

[Taking even an accidental photo with D is a trip if you wander into the area with him. The moment the camera flashes, he freezes and turns. It surprises him, but it doesn't seem to startle him. There's no jerk to his tall, dark body, and no change to his face.]

It's functioning.

[When the photo slides out of the camera, he steps forward and removes it. Hm. Just a photo of him and whoever else, being nosy by the chair. He hands it off.

But the camera flashes again because two people are still standing in the way, and his face winces under the bright light that reaches beneath his hat. Another photo is printed as he takes a step out of the way. This one, though, makes him frown.] A girl. [He hands that photo over, too. A lil ghosty girl.]

iii. a necklace

[He stands tall and dark at the entrance to the store with the rats, watchful. They don't seem to come out ever, he realizes. This may be good or bad.

In the distance, he can see it glittering--a pendant on a silver necklace. Without looking down, the fingers of one hand brush his collar under the cloak, finding nothing there.]

Do you see anything of yours inside?

wildcard

[Feel free to wildcard me anything! Middle of a fight, conversation, chasing him down, etc!]

iii.

[teaserving]

[For a moment, Abbacchio is quiet while he's looking in at the nest of rats and their hoard. He has his eye on something, which just seems to be a zipper pull, but he eventually just shrugs at D.]

Not really. [He lies, like a lying liar.] But you're missing something, huh?

Broly | Dragon Ball Super

[lssj2]

food court
[If there's anything a saiyan prioritizes over all else in a strange new environment, it's food. This goes doubly for Broly, so rather than bother with what was immediately apparent, he tried to navigate this bizarre building - having never even seen a shopping mall before - in the hopes it has something to eat. His search leads him to the food court, specifically on the hunt for meat, but even after he finds it he's disappointed to find it's frozen solid. There's plenty of other food around, but it seems as if he's ignoring anything he doesn't recognize.]

...need to start a fire...

gym (warning for a nude dude in this prompt i guess)
[Despite being a 7ft wall of muscle, Broly doesn't work out in the way you'd expect. Most of the equipment, whether or not it works, goes completely ignored as he strolls past it; he doesn't even know what any of it is for anyway. Instead, he manages to find the shower facilities the gym has and is happier still to find the water seems fine when he takes a precautionary sip.

(Not the safest way to test it, but hey, he feels fine for now.)

So if you happen to find your way here, you'll either find him drinking the water that comes from the shower or, arguably worse depending on your sensitbilities, totally naked and just cleaning himself down. If he happens to look your way he doesn't even respond, carrying on without so much of an acknowledgement.]

internet cafe
[Broly's never seen working technology before. He and his father had arrived on planet Vampa via a stolen spaceship, but his father was unlikely to ever really talk about it, and Broly was unlikely to ever be all that interested in it either. He gives the computers curious, cursory glances, but overall none of it means anything to him.

He does, however, call out to whoever's nearest and points at the word internet on the nearest surface.]

What's an "internet"?

INTERNET

[iblistriggered]

You've... never heard of the internet? [Oh boy. This is gonna be hard to explain...] Well... uh... do you... know what a computer is?

Dr "Eggman" Robotnik | Sonic the hedgehog

[scrambledegg]

Santa's village
[No, that rotund, red clothed man wandering through the remains of the workshop is not Santa Claus, unfortunately. Instead, it's a particularly greedy scientist who's probably on his third box of cookies, tipping the open top into his mouth and messily chewing them to pieces to eat. He's currently inspecting some of the elves frozen in place, a gloved hand to his chin as he does.]

Talk about lousy workmanship. Sure you can't expect much from commercial builds, but still...

[He hasn't noticed, however, the elf behind him that's gripped the tail of his jacket...not yet anyway. Maybe you should mention that.]

Wonder if I can reprogram these things to shoot lasers or something. At least that'd be useful.

Santa's throne
[No matter how he dealt with getting away from those creepy elf robots, he's probably exhausted. Eggman approached Santa's chair and all but fell into it, his legs spread and arms dangling off the sides as he muttered irritably to himself, pinching his brow in frustration.]

Oh, just wait until I find out who's behind this...I'll have those cheap toys in there doing far worse when I get my revenge!

[The camera goes off all of a sudden, briefly startling him, and if you look at the resulting photo you'll see the happy child in the photo sitting on the lap of a rotund man with a red jacket. He's halfway there to being a proper Santa, if he didn't look so miserable.]

What the heck was that about?!

Santa's village

[iblistriggered]

[Silver psychically snatches the box of cookies from Eggman's hand, giving him a glare. But he's not Shadow, and his angry glare isn't particularly intimidating]

Don't eat all of them, Eggman! We have to be careful with the food we have! Also, I don't think laser elves would be a good use of your, uh... skills.

Tony Stark | MCU

[houseparty]

»» A.

( In its heyday, Santa's Workshop must have been quite the attraction for desperate parents and their sugar-fueled brood. Everyone loves dopey Xmas elves and tinsel-draped displays, right? Ish? Anyway- awesome as it was to find a cache of food, any food, Tony had been more interested in seeing what the elves were made of.

And he promptly regretted it.

Anyone in the immediate area of the workshop might have heard the shout, and the resulting noise thereafter, a repetitive hammer of metal to metal. What they're gonna find is Tony, backed up to the door of the 'shop, bashing the shit out of one of the little things with a stanchion. Startle him, and he turns sharply with the metal post, reigning himself in before he brains them, too. )

Jesus- ( behind him on the cracked tile, the elf's friendly-faced silicon casing has burst, the aluminum frame of its head is caved in, and a plastic eye dangles from its socket by a nerve cluster of wires. )

Grab something sturdy.


»» B.

( It's been a day.

Actually, it's been several days, he's still mildly pissed about getting swarmed by possessed mechanical elves, he's hungry, and now he's staring very intently at this rat-filled emporium. Probably standing too close for comfort, but Tony's already worked out that they won't pass the threshold. Rats weave in and among each other over the filthy carpet, chirping and scolding, chittering angrily at his presence so close to their home.

Past the initial rush of vermin, over ruined endcaps and the gnawed-to-hell remains of former displays all boiling with rodent bodies, there is a very familiar piece of equipment behind the cashwrap.

Just how it got there doesn't matter as much as the fact that it's in this dystopic nightmare of a reality, and he wants it. )

Hey!

( Yeah, lucky you, rando person. )

Afraid of rats?


»» Wildcard.

( lmk if I can write up something for you, or if you'd like a different option! I've asked the mods about spoopy back corridors, so maybe we could make something of that, too. I'm also cool with handwaved intros! )

B

[iblistriggered]

Absolutely not!

[Silver is about the same size as a certain foul-mouthed raccoon, but a lot less angry, in general]

... Under normal circumstances. Those aren't normal rats... I threw an empty soda can in there... a can! Made of metal! They ate it! I'm even afraid to levitate over them... what if they climb on top of eachother and make a rat tower?

Tenzin | TLoK

[wafts]

»» I.

( For an airbender, a wide gap in the floor is hardly a deterrent. Clearing it takes minimal effort on Tenzin's part, skimming right over on a swirling gust of sour-scented air, with an equally light touchdown, testing the waiting structure before he commits his whole weight to it.

The dust-encrusted walkway holds, and he breathes a sigh of relief. )

It's sturdy, ( he calls back to his waiting partner, after a cursory glance to be sure there's still navigable path ahead. The high-wire will need to be fixed- he has some idea of repairing that net and all its fastenings to make a bridge of some kind -but he can just as easily not trust his travel bud to the uncertainty and whisk them over on air currents. )

I can help you across, but you will need to relax.


»» II. A.

( Given as he's not from 20th century Earth, and without knowing its holidays and particular customs, Tenzin is mildly baffled by the Christmas decorations. It vaguely puts him in mind of the various Winter Solstice celebrations at home, in particular the Glacier Spirits Festival, but aside from "snow and loudly gilded decor", that seems to be where the similarities end.

Santa Claus? He wouldn't know him. Looking from bauble to bauble, from rodent-gnawed wrapping paper to grinning elfin faces, he's taking it all in.

Ikki would love them, he knows, and no doubt bounce between all of the various little creatures with barely-lidded joy, before demanding that they all come home with her. The thought elicits a pang of heat in his chest, a sliver of that homesick worry he's still working through. )

What do these represent, these... ( Tenzin lightly touches the yellowed surplice of a choral elf, ) ...dolls? Helpful spirits?

( Not a second later, he feels a sharp pinch between his thumb and forefinger- )

Ow! ( -and the elf has him by the hand, its plastic fingers tight. )

»» Wildcard

( Pick your poison! Wanna try challenging the rats, or scavenging in places not listed? Let's do the thing! Hit me up at backagain if you have ideas or questions )

I

[teaserving]

[With the Power of Assumed CR, Abbacchio has at least been told a little bit about airbenders by this point. Which isn't quite the most bizarre thing for him to encounter, but he hasn't heard of many people with a power outside of having a Stand. Well, whatever, everything got a whole lot weirder when he woke up in this rundown mall.]

Relax. What do you want me to do, meditate about it? I can't blow air like whatever it is you do.

Ignis Scientia | FFXV

[cheffeur]

I. (Walk a tightrope, walk a little tightrope!)

[He's been staring intensely at the bicycle contraption, as though trying to weigh the risks versus the possible benefits of getting across. It certainly looks like a death trap-- or at least a quick trip into a very wet pain in the arse. But really, when had that ever stopped him? (He only wishes that the grappling claw he'd wrenched off in Altissia had been more reliable here. The wire within is likely kinked-- but he's hopeful he could fix it at a slightly-less-destroyed department store across the way.)]

I suppose I should be thankful for such an idiotic installation being here... [It's murmured either to himself or to anyone within an earshot. The bicycle seems like more of a liability than the wire itself, he decides. And so he'll just place both gloved hands on the barrier preventing people from toppling over, and swing his legs over, one at a time, ending up with his heels on the edge of the path, hands on the railing to keep himself from toppling forward.

Perhaps he can just walk the wire across and leave the bicycle for the next poor fool tho decides they need to expand their exploration across the gap. It's just a matter of getting to the wire in front of the bicycle. Before making the jump to try and tightrope walk the thick steel cable, he'll glance behind him.]

I suppose I should ask if you need me to look for anything, should I make it across? [Despite the situation, he still seems in good humour, clearly not overly worried about the possibility of dropping down into the disgusting muck below.]



IIa (They're busy building toys and absolutely no one's dead?)

[He can certainly guess at the intention of the fake snow and celebratory decorations. Some sort of festival involving small, rotund creatures? Ignis has never been any sort of cultural anthropologist, but even he can understand the basics of some sort of folklore celebration for children, given the short heights of everything and the sheer amount and colour of it.

And then there's the dolls with their eternal grins, all posed or on display. Unfortunately, any of the 'tools' laying about are clearly decorative only, as well as entirely too small to be of any use. He's walking briskly through the area, gloved hands passing over anything that might possibly be of any use as a resource. Even things such as shelving can be repurposed into a barricade or whatever else the people here with him need. But after a few moments, there's weight at his ankles, and he turns to investigate.

Of course the flashlight on his chest chooses now to begin flickering in and out-- either losing power or just giving in to the corrosion of the inner workings from his arrival in the disgusting slush of water on the ground floor. With a quiet noise of annoyance, he pulls it from his lapel to give it a good shake, the light flickering, failing, and then flickering back on just in time to catch one of the grinning elves clucthed tightly to his pant leg, chipped-paint face turned up to happily and blankly leer up at him.]

Ah-! [It's a startled noise at the jumpscare of the thing clutched to his pantleg, and he curses under his breath as he tries to shake it off.] Gods.... get off, you infernal thing.

[His grumblings are mostly due to the blow to his pride from that dumb scare. Though the more he tries to dislodge this one clinging doll, the more stray sensations there are on the other leg, or faint brushes at the back of his neck from where he's backed against one of the shelves. Unfortunately, the light can only illuminate one direction at a time, and seems to love giving out at just the right moment. Lovely.

He finally reaches with his off hand to pull out one of his long daggers, skipping the middle man and slashing at his own pant leg, rather than trying to dislodge the creature.]

If anyone could provide some assistance...!

[He'll call out in the off-chance than another set of hands could help him. After all, when he focuses on one, the rest seem to take the opportunity to advance, and its only a matter of time before they get ahold of flesh, rather than something he can carve away.]



III. (Like a sewer rat, I want to be beautiful)

[Like many others, Ignis has found himself standing in front of the department store, watching the desperate scurrying of rats. Gnawing with those large teeth, nails scrabbling and clacking, making chirruping noises are each other, occasionally getting into territorial squabbles. And the sheer number of them is impressive.

The intelligent thing to do would be leave it be. Let the population eventually collapse, and move in when the floors and shelves aren't absolutely teeming with the creatures. But there are some needs a man has that absolutely cannot wait on things such a reason.

A caffeine addiction is one of those things. And the impeccable case of his favourite roasters products is just tempting enough to annihilate most reason.

His fingers close down around the handles of his daggers as his back alternately tenses and relaxes, working out the route and pathing in his head. They can fight their way in, but they'll need their hands free to recover the good and return with them. And any bites inflicted could become infected quick easily with the disarray of the store. (While everyone seems to heal quite readily, its also a miserably process. If this place has a will of its own, he's not sure at what point it would prioritize the healing over extending the suffering.)]

Don't stop to fight them unless you absolutely have to. [Its spoken briskly, like someone rattling off a battle plan, rather than someone planning on stealing a case of coffee from a colony of rats.] Focus more on your movement. They don't seem to be able to leave the edges of the store, so that can be used to our advantage when it comes time to retreat.

Are you ready?

eren yeager / attack on titan / ota!

[trample]

i.

[ His first moments awake are spent in panic. Dark waves ripple behind him as he frantically searches for solid ground; his feet find nothing, and although his arms flail desperately, Eren can barely hold his head above water.

Eventually, he finds land - though, "landing" might be a more appropriate term here. Eren hardly knows how to begin describing the building he's in now; the closest approximation he can make at a glance is that it's some sort of shopping center. But it wasn't home, and that alone puts him on edge.

Despite being soaked clean through, he doesn't so much as tremble when approached. His voice comes out clear and composed. ]

Where am I? [ But the lack of an immediate answer, and the slight hesitation from you pushes him over the edge. ] Where am I?!

ii.

[ Although still just as disgruntled as he was when he found himself away from home, with a set of new dry clothes on his back and some stale, non-perishable foods filling his stomach, Eren soon became more amicable, at least to the people here trapped with him. They wander the mall in groups, sometimes in large numbers, but mostly in pairs. No one wants to be alone in the dark.

Which is why a brilliant flash of light catches his attention. After striding past the food court towards the heart of Santa's village, Eren is surprised to find a piece of technology he can recognize on his own - a camera, and a photography studio fashioned much like the rest of the scenery around them. ]

...Tacky.

[ Evident in his voice, there's a very clear lack of interest on Eren's part regarding his surroundings. He's only concerned by the camera, and this comes back to bite him in the ass when he's examining it from the front, only for it to blind him when you walk into frame. Now sat firmly on the ground, holding a hand over his eyes, Eren grumbles and asks: ]

How's the picture?

wildcard.

( feel free to hit me with anything! I'm really open. if you have anything you wanna ask just let me know at bondrewd and I'll be happy to help. )

wild! card!

[regnum]

Thanks for agreeing to help.

[ Most people want to be compensated for a life-or-death foray into an infested clothing store. Krista might have had something to compensate them with—a week’s worth of her rations, maybe, or a smile for the less demanding—but Historia doesn’t, so she has to settle for what free help she can get.

Strapped to her back are a broom and a mop. Both are easily as long as she is tall. She hands Eren the latter, none too happy about the armaments they’ve been furnished with. ]

These were all we could find on our last run. We’re going to have to use them to get through…

[ Mindful to keep a pole’s length away from where the mall’s linoleum floors end and the sea of matted fur starts, Historia ventures a step closer towards the store. The undulating mass of rats upon rats upon rats chitters, as if to cajole them inside. A cursory swipe of her broom does nothing to faze the creatures, much less make a dent in their formation. ]

That. [ Her nose wrinkles. Ew. ] Do you have a plan?