15strangers | (no subject)

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*round 6

(no subject)

W̡͜E̶EK ̵̕2̕͠

[The blight would not stop.

The world's leading experts have been trying to find a cure, to no avail. Th blight keeps changing, keeps foiling all attempts at being fully understood. It's almost sentient, or at least more sentient than any disease that's been encountered before. People fear the disease jumping from what's left of the grapes into other plants, into animals, or even humans.

You can only watch as entire economies and ecosystems collapse. You can only bury your head in your hands as your own business comes to its end. The destruction of the clusters of grapes has not simply destroyed the wine industry, either-other businesses are being destroyed by the plague. Food, transport, retail, nothing is untouched.

You look on your own vineyard, its yield almost entirely blackened and dead.

This can't keep going on.

-

A week has passed since everyone's arrival. No one has died, yet. But surely no one is holding their breath to see if they would survive this unscathed. They are veterans of the game, and they must know that whoever it is that is in charge demands their pound of flesh. The question is when it will happen.

It is the second week, after all-and when the second week of the game comes, death is not far behind. Not even when you wake up, feeling something different in your mind as you remember the truths you originally woke up with, deep in your mind. You feel...lighter, somehow, when you realize there is a change.

Even so, there are 15 strangers left in this place.]

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[great. gotta do something to liven this place up a little. Osomatsu really misses just kicking back and being dumb]

Awesome. Honestly, they should expect it, giving you that kinda thing.

Exactly. Especially after the stuff Link said on the first day, making me think we might go home if we started liking this place.

[He's still angry about that, considering how much strength he puts into throwing the ball back to Osomatsu…even if it's not that powerful to him.]

[ah, he feels it when he catches the ball, letting out a slight oof]

No kidding! What kind of idiots do they think we are?

[hm]

Especially since we've all gone through this song and dance before.

Apparently big ones. I've gone through this type of thing before, and the stuff with Pete, and they think I'm going to play their game this time?

At this point I think I'd rather get hit by a bus.

[And live, of course. He still doesn't wanna die.]

[a few more dribbles while he thinks]

I keep wondering if that whole thing with those hosts was them hiding some bigger picture. Back at the Mansion, we had the hosts, but, like... there was someone else pulling the strings behind them. Someone stronger.

Probably. We only had one host, The Conductor-I think her name was Millie? The one behind it, though, was 'Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty.'

[Yes, he is adding the finger quotes.]

Technically speaking, she had good intentions, but the fact still stood that she was the reason six people from our group died, and who knows how many from the other trains.

[Because, you know, there was more than just the two he was on.]

"Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty"... what does that even mean?

[another pass, but he's about done with basketball, himself. there aren't even any hoops to play with]

[He catches it and does some more dribbling.]

Can't remember what the Thrice Renewed part meant. Maybe...she had a couple vessels before the current one? She had to sort of co-inhabit a body with someone if she wanted to actually communicate. There might've been other's before the current one.

[He's not fully sure about that.]

She's The Empress of space London if you're wondering how she's royalty.

[…also is there any chance Osomatsu can just roll with this answer?]

[he makes a face at the, uh... body sharing mention, but otherwise won't question it further]

Space London.......

[he doesn't know much about London, or space. but he can imagine. his imagination is taking him very strange places, like Mary Poppins meets Doctor Who strange]

So, what were those good intentions?

Yeah, it gives me a head ache too.

[All he knows is that it's London IN SPACE!]

The sun in their world was turning people to glass and stone, and brainwashing people somehow. She needed extra time to figure out how to fix it, and somehow killing us meant she'd get the time she needed. Technically she could've used her own subjects, but there were people being teleported into her universe at random, some of them getting recruited into the rebellion against her, and decided that they would be the better choice.

…I still don't forgive her for most of that, but she was going to work on getting me and my family back home before I got pulled here, so she was better than the rebellion, who were drafting people by force and putting them in a space prison until they got super powers.

[The situation there was literally 'Everyone here sucks.']

[what the heck...]

Sooo... she killed strangers to save her own world. Seems pretty shady to me.

Yeah, it was terrible, but she couldn't control me or anyone else ending up in her world. And I'm still just hoping that she might be able to get us back home once things end.

After that, though, the only people that I plan on talking to again will be everyone from the train, if I actually can.

[He appreciates Chaesun trying to get him and his family back, but that doesn't make up for what she'd done to them all. At least in his eyes.]

[a nod]

I'm not sure if Excalibur will ever be able to get me back home. Or any of the survivors from our round. I know he's got powers but... he's also annoying and doesn't really use them.

[He stops dribbling for a second.]

Are you talking about the sword Excalibur? Or did someone actually name their kid after the sword King Arthur used?

[That was the one Arthur was in...]

No, I'm talking about the sword, Excalibur. Like, the literal sword from the legend. I'm pretty sure that's what he is. He doesn't look like a sword, but then, I don't look like a scythe, either. At least, not right now.

[yeah, that doesn't sound confusing or anything, Osomatsu]

[…this would raise a lot of questions...but then King remembers Arthur's transformation into glasses.]

Oh, so everyone from your incident turns into objects now? Arthur, ah...told me about him turning into glasses.

[He would say weapons, but glasses are not a weapon.]

We were being trained to be Weapons, something like that.

[he hasn't shown anyone aside from his group this, yet. but he brings out some curved blades that seem to come out of his body. yikes]

[He lets out a whistle, the kind people do when they're impressed by something.]

Yeah, that's...a lot more intense than what I got stuck with.

But how do glasses count as a weapon?

[Sorry, it's just...he can see a scythe, thanks to horror movies, but glasses just seem impossible to use as a weapon.]

[he can partially explain the glasses, but he probably shouldn't]

I mean, we had someone else who turned into an eraser. At least the glasses are useful.

Touché.

[He's not sure what type of glasses they are, but they're probably better than an eraser.

He passes back the basketball before speaks again.]

Definitely better than mine. I shapeshift into cats.

[whoops! Osomatsu gets rid of the blades. then catches the ball and sets it down]

You... shapeshift into cats...

[a dog that shapeshifts into cats. wild]

Yup. If it wasn’t completely random, I’d think they were trying to be ironic what powers we got. I think most of the others got terrible powers too, or at least to them.

[Some people might’ve been okay with many eyes that can be used for espionage. Zack, on the other hand, was not.]

I don't think turning into a cat sounds like a terrible power. But I guess it wouldn't be very useful in these... uh. Games, we're playing.

I guess I can act as a sort of of comfort animal, if people don’t like how I look. But it’d be pretty weird back home, considering I’d either look like a weird, deformed cat, or some new cat on the block.

...did I mention I’m not a freak of nature where I’m from? Most animals are...I think the word is anthropomorphic. Point is, it’s weird to see cats on all fours or not be able to talk, at least on my end.

[He should probably get that out there now, since he hasn’t yet.]

Oh! I didn't think you were a freak. I figured you were some f-- different world.

[he almost said "furry"]

Just 'cause I don't see real anthropomorphic animals in my home doesn't mean you're strange. We're just from different places.