The Fifteen Strangers Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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15strangers2020-02-09 12:08 pm
strangerpeople) wrote in 15strangers2020-02-09 12:08 pm
W̧E̷E̡̕K ͡3̴
She offered you something you hadn't ever expected: hope.
"I think I've pinpointed where this blight has come from, and how it became so virulent. You were among the first whose crop was infected-I wish to speak to you personally about it."
You meet in a car, and drive to an isolated road. She will not take any chance to speak publicly about it-not yet. She doesn't want to release the information until she is certain. But she felt honor-bound to explain to you, given your own importance in her research. You hadn't known she had sampled your dead and dying grapes, but she did.
"This blight..." She opens a folder, showing you the photos. "Started with a gopher, several years ago. I know, it sounds insane. This disease should only affect certain animal species. But one day, it jumped into vines...the original gopher died a long time ago. But not before it had eaten an entire cluster of grapes in one swallow. It ended up scratching itself on the trellis of the grapevine as it choked to death. Its blood, its body decayed, and helped to water and fertilize that strain of grapes the next year or so, and...well, the seeds from those buds that resulted were sent out to every farm in the area. Then, to every farm in the country, different regions..."
That sounded insane. This woman's theory sounded utterly bonkers. But you can't dismiss it out of hand-you have no better answer.
Before you can say anything more, the woman's phone rings. She answers, and you see her face turn white. You don't have to guess why.
Before, the theoretical gopher had infected the grapes with the blight.
Now, the blight had claimed its first human victim.
-
[The morning hurts. It hurts to know that, even dead, there was that final, terrible moment for the Embarrassing and the Nagging. It must hurt more to know that this will continue, and that there is something out there that is invested in ensuring each and every last one of the Strangers are, if not dead, than broken.
And then, there is IT. IT is the enemy, it seems. But...what is IT? Is IT the one truly responsible? How?
As you try to think on it, you remember your truths, and suddenly, you realize, another has changed:
[That you would. Can you? You know that, whatever your answer, you must find a way to the truth. The alternative is too horrible to even contemplate-if it is even possible to be comprehended. After all-if what you saw is what happens to the dead and condemned, what will become of the living at the hands of the terrible, unknown IT who is your jailer?
Hope that you do not have to find out. Hope there is an answer in the new floor that has opened up in the Building. Otherwise...otherwise you really are doomed.
There are 13 strangers in this place.]
. . .
[It's a shadow animation. As Oso watches, he will see those fun runes he knows to associate with certain white rats, with subtitles proclaiming what is happening.]
THE SAPIARCH
THE MYSTERY
THE CREATURE
[First, it is the CREATURE that speaks. It is not seen. It doesn't matter.]
CREATURE: Our story, which spans everywhere, began in a little multiversal cluster. In a timeline where the Fourth Era was in its second century, and the Emperor Alexis spoke in the tongue of dragons.
[A day in TAMRIEL. The SAPIARCH, an elf, despairs.]
SAPIARCH: Ah, reality is so restricting. How I wish to return to what I once was! If only all could give way to nothing!
[The MYSTERY appears. To the SAPIARCH, it is as a thought, in the form of a beautiful flower. The Rose-of-Archon.]
SAPIARCH: Great Mara!
MYSTERY: I have come from from Auriel, where time begins and ends. You speak truth. Isn't life so tiring?
SAPIARCH: Yes. Yes, Change is not coming fast enough. Reality must be undone now, or not at all!
MYSTERY: Undoing the worship of Talos, that was a step in the right direction. But chaos is also a part of existence, alongside good. If you are to undo reality, you cannot simply undo the Aedra's work. You must use evil as well and undo the Daedra. Reach out into the chaos and let the blood flow! Let the game end with you as the winner!
[The MYSTERY dances, weaving a scenario for the SAPIARCH. A game where representatives are mantled, and kill one another, weakening reality further. The SAPIARCH proceeds to wreak death on her enemies, taking her most hated foes and their sacred weapons into her control. A great and massive golem, capable of opening up portals to other points of reality, is built by her instruction. A giant, sickly monster which begs for a death that will never come.]
SAPIARCH: May the end of time begin! May reality collapse at last! these 15 Dwemer be the instrument of my triumph!
[The CREATURE speaks again, still unseen.]
CREATURE: The hands of 15 Strangers, all holding the sacred weapons with which they were mantled and became the lifeline to gods, tried to fight this fate.
[Said hands all appear, forming a circle around the SAPIARCH, closing in until she falls down, lifeless. However, it is too late. A dragon appears, letting out a great roar, and everything goes completely black.
At this, the invisible CREATURE speaks once more.]
CREATURE: The 15 Strangers were not Dwemer, as the Sapiarch had thought. Indeed, they did not even come from her universe. And that was the trouble. Just as she brought the 15 Strangers into her multiverse...
[Soon, the blackness starts to dissipate, and the 15 Strangers appear in fast-closing circles, all together, all happy. However, the MYSTERY, still in the form of the flower, manages to float out and away before the circles close fully.
As the flower floats off, the circles with the Strangers inside them become more distant. The formation the circles have all taken look suspiciously like grapes.]
CREATURE: ...So, too, did she let something out into the realities beyond when she succeeded in her quest. Something that had before been an anomaly, a madness that, when her reality was rebuilt, was reinforced and strengthened enough to escape. After all, people may die...
[The flower's petals fall away, as do the spores. They scatter into infinite directions as the curtains close on the silhouette play.]
CREATURE: But ideas are eternal!
no subject
well. Osomatsu was going to search for... other things in this room, but he's engrossed in what comes up on screen, particularly when the weird show starts speaking of 15 Strangers. he didn't think he'd find out this much information so fast. he wonders if he can take pictures, or make notes in his wrist thing.
15 strangers, wielding sacred weapons, trying to fight the SAPIARCH and her golem. but then there's a dragon?
is there more? he will take a seat and continue watching]
no subject
no subject
he removes that first tape from the player, and sets it aside. he's going to hang onto it, maybe, watch it again.
he pops the next Betamax tape into the player and hopes for the best]
. . . 1/2
CHARACTERS:
THE AVATAR
THE MATHEMATICIAN
THE ANGELS
THE COMPOSER
THE CREATURE
[The CREATURE'S voice speaks again.]
CREATURE: The madness. As the Mad God had been part of rebuilding reality, it was this remaining Daedra's power that helped the Sapiarch's madness to--
???: HEY!
[And...suddenly the tape pauses, and the silhouette of an elderly gentleman pops up from the side of the screen. One gets the feeling this figure...whoever this is...is not part of the story, per se.
Clearing his throat, the figure snaps his fingers, and the subtitles and character list pop up with a name along with his dialogue: THE MAD GOD
And yes, it's in Comic Sans.]
THE MAD GOD: Now see here, Mr. Videocassette! You're not going to sully my good name by making unsubstantiated claims to unsuspecting sextuplet NEETs trapped in an existential hellscape plane of reality! This was most certainly not my fault! Just because I'm the Daedra of madness, suddenly every act of lunacy is my fault, is it?!
[A beat.]
THE MAD GOD: ...I might have been enjoying the skeleton's creations a little too much. Spaghetti trees! They bore meatball fruit! GENIUUUUSSS! and...DELIIIICIOUS!
Anyways, I'd better be off. Until your next series...or until whenever the hell we return to Tamriel. What a funny coincidence, isn't it? Both of those things involve the number 6, too! HAHA!
2/2
CHARACTERS:
THE AVATAR
THE MATHEMATICIAN
THE ANGELS
THE COMPOSER
THE COMPOSER'S TEAM
THE CREATURE
[The CREATURE'S voice speaks again.]
CREATURE: The madness. As the Mad God had been part of rebuilding reality, it was this remaining Deadra's power that helped the Sapiarch's madness to the far reaches of countless clusters. Among them...
[There is a shadow that passes on the screen, as it is touched by the spore of madness. At its front is a massive, hard-to-discern mass, with translucent fog swirling around it.]
CREATURE: ...was an AVATAR of that multiverse's deepest, darkest evils.
[The AVATAR moves and the shadow spreads with it.]
AVATAR: Is this the truth of reality? This infinity of clusters? And this madness...I will use this to sow chaos and death. And when the end approaches, when every civilization in that which is left shall belong to me. Then all reality will be stripped of its greatest flaw: the foolish and outdated concept of "individuality".
[The darkness and shadow spreads, and more grape-like clusters begin to appear in the path of the shadow.]
AVATAR: BAH! But even now, my eyes are open to truth. There are multiverses of multiverses! Entire clusters of reality! All must be freed from free will, but we are not strong enough! There must be a way to encompass these realities, to claim them more efficiently!
[Enter the MATHEMATICIAN. Strange, stencil-like creatures trail in their wake.]
CREATURE: It was by chance the AVATAR found a perfect vessel to weaponize.
MATHEMATICIAN: So zetta cool! I'm in another universe! I'm pretty strong now.
AVATAR: You. You shall be the instrument of my will!
MATHEMATICIAN: Wow, me follow you? You're not even a yoctogram! Why should I care about what you want? It sounds zetta boring!
[The AVATAR's shadow changes, and two swirling red spots suddenly appeared on its form. As this happens, the scene suddenly becomes static, and the fog becomes red.]
AVATAR: wHo SaId yOu HaD a ChOiCe?
[The entire scene becomes static. Then, black.
This stays this way for ten seconds, before the black finally dissipates, revealing the COMPOSER. Smoke swirls from a pipe she is smoking, and a spore falls into it.]
CREATURE: The AVATAR's power became incredible, and entire realities began to fall to its new weapon. There were those who sought to stop the monster they thought they knew, but little did they know...the madness was ever-present.
[Enter the ANGELS.]
ANGELS: Your Reaper's Game is violent, and though in normal circumstances we might find it cruel, it is efficient. The more and stronger Producers and Composers we can send back to the front lines and home universes to fight back, the better.
COMPOSER: I cannot help my nature. I was evil in life, and I am evil in death. So, I will continue my tactics. There can be no mercy.
[Bodies and ghosts are strewn in her wake. Then, THE COMPOSER'S TEAM appears.]
CREATURE: The COMPOSER was deep in the madness of the game of murder. But, eventually...
[THE COMPOSER'S TEAM hold out their hands and wing in friendship and trust, and the COMPOSER looks reluctant.]
CREATURE: There came along 15 Strangers.
[The COMPOSER is soon looking over at the hands of the 15 Strangers, and though she transforms into a great beast to fight them all, their determination clearly overwhelms her. She collapses, in time for THE COMPOSER'S TEAM to return with a car. Soon everyone is loaded into it, and they drive away into a black, swirling hole.]
CREATURE: Thus this game finally ended after years of death. But this game, too, allowed the AVATAR to thrive still further. For the ANGELS were betrayed by one who claimed to be a soldier on their side...
[The figure of a small girl peeks in at the receding car, before slowly slithering back out.]
CREATURE: A soldier...who was a snake all along!
no subject
what the fuck.
second question.
how the fuck]
Uh.
[so there's some fourth-walling going on here? and then we're back to the story? okay, okay. he needs to find the next tape! he has to see what happens, and try to connect it to what he's going through. clues, clues!
for starters, that voice of the old man is definitely familiar. Osomatsu met a guy who called himself a God of Madness. so... maybe it's the same person!
and then, the number 6? maybe he should check Bernie's house, too, huh? later. maybe that was a gag, though! he doesn't know, yet. still, probably should check anyway.
anyway, onward, next Betamax!]
. . .
CHARACTERS:
THE WOMAN
THE PARASITE
MARIE
THE CREATURE
[There is the silhouette of a WOMAN, standing still. Slowly, the figure grows until her body takes over the screen.
CREATURE: Size doesn't matter. Nor does the when or where, in some cases.
[The large the WOMAN'S figure gets, the more the body transforms, into stars, planets. A grassy field, where a massive EPCOT structure stands. There is the broken bits of a giant mecha in front of it.]
CREATURE: The madness which evokes the game of murder does not differentiate who it picks. The macro, the micro...the young, the old. The smart...
[In comes THE PARASITE. It is child-like, albeit with swirling tentacle hair.]
CREATURE: ...and the unrepentantly stupid.
[In walks MARIE.]
CREATURE: The 15 Strangers had come to save this universe...and failed.
MARIE: AHAHAHAHA! WOW! I'D SAY GOOD JOB, BUT THAT WOULD BE GIVING YOU TOO MUCH CREDIT!
[MARIE has a rather grating voice.]
PARASITE: Aunt Marie...it was the EPCOT, and our foreknowledge of Diatron-15's arrival and capability, which had assured victory for us.
MARIE: YEAH, SURE, YOU WOULD TRY AND PRETEND IT WASN'T BECAUSE OF MY BRILLIANCE! HMPH! STUPID...WELL, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THEM!? I BET IT'S GOING TO BE FUN! AHAHAHA-
PARASITE: Shoot them in the head.
[Silence.]
MARIE: WH-WHAT!?
PARASITE: Time is of the essence. I don't want them to have the chance to escape and become a threat. If that happens we won't be able to leave before...this body dies.
MARIE: THAT IS SO...BUT...!
PARASITE: I will return when the Neutral Zone has fallen.
[As the PARASITE leaves, a spore enters MARIE'S head.]
MARIE: SHOOT THEM IN THE HEAD! BAH!! STUPID FREAK! I HAVE A WAAAAAY BETTER IDEA! I'M GONNA HAVE MY OWN FUN WITH THESE LOSERS! I'M GONNA BREAK THEM APART!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HAHA!...HA...!
[MARIE enacts her plan, and soon there is a group of podiums surrounding her.]
CREATURE: Stupidity is its own form of insanity...and the madness took its toll. But...
[A rocket explodes right in MARIE'S behind, causing her to also explode into itty bitty pieces. The PARASITE returns in time to see what has happened, and drops to her knees.]
CREATURE: As it turned out, the game that was played had the opposite effect. Instead, 15 Strangers came together and saved a universe...and more than that.
[Fifteen figures surround the PARASITE, many giving the figure comfort.]
CREATURE: Still, though, the darkness marches on. Even as the PARASITE was saved, and the WOMAN cured, the universe beyond that one body...
[The scene of the strangers and the PARASITE transforms into the WOMAN once more. The WOMAN turns to see static and darkness approaching. Two hands reach out for her, and she grabs them, being pulled away before the static can get her.]
CREATURE: ...unknown to the 15 Strangers, began to be given to the spreading evil!
no subject
The madness which evokes the game of murder is an interesting description, as well. hm.
that tape is ejected and set aside. then he puts in another tape]
. . .
CHARACTERS:
THE AVATAR
THE SNAKE
THE FEAR
THE PARTNERS
THE CREATURE
[There is silence in the clusters. Then.
The SNAKE appears. It is the small girl silhouette that Oso may remember from before. Stencil-like wings unfurl from her body as the AVATAR appears.]
AVATAR: You? You are a Composer-level Reaper, according to my weapon. Have you come to fight me?
SNAKE: Me? No. I learned of you from a certain little boy. He suspects your hand in what is happening...and he was right!
[The AVATAR trembles with hate. The color of the background cracks.]
AVATAR: That little brat! May he be Erased, by my hand, by the darkness which birthed me, by my weapon...!
SNAKE: He's but a child, still. Stupid enough to trust me, at least.
[A pause.]
AVATAR: You have a Reaper's powers but do not fight for the so-called forces of good?
SNAKE: Using my powers to fight for the sake of stagnation? To let the weak live? Idiots. The point of existence is chaos, from which only the strong can survive!
AVATAR: I see...you too, then. You do not need persuasion.
SNAKE: I'll help you willingly, though of course I'll only ask for one thing in return.
AVATAR: Name it.
SNAKE: BREW.
[A world appears before the SNAKE, and she holds it in one hand, while BREW is in her other hand. The planet begins to turn blood red.]
CREATURE: The deal was struck. The SNAKE aided the AVATAR, and in return, the AVATAR gave her aid to traverse space-time with ease. She went to her home world, and altered the timeline accordingly.
SNAKE: See? Only the strong survive! Humanity doesn't deserve the power of Imagination!
[FEAR appears, wreaking havoc on the planet, ripping apart human silhouettes.]
CREATURE: As the final bastion of humanity of the present is assailed, THE PARTNERS, having seen themselves in the mirror of a better future, are sent back to try and stop FEAR. But...
[The PARTNERS are ripped apart as the SNAKE embeds a spore of the madness into the heads of two unseen individuals. Not that Oso needs to see them-he'd figure out pretty quickly who they were.]
SNAKE: You two can revive your mistress with this. I certainly don't need it anymore~
CREATURE: They fail. And yet...
[As the PARTNERS are ripped apart, a small silhouette in the corner of the screen is kneeling, and starts licking a door. Soon, 14 others are running towards FEAR, and the 15th figure, after looking back and forth at the door, charges in last, dealing the finishing blow.]
CREATURE: Though the SNAKE still retains her grip on that cluster, even as we speak...
[Soon, the 15 is whittled down to 6, alongside a dancing seventh figure with a top hat and cane, and they capture BREW. They, and the horrible past they were confined in, vanish, leaving only the large silhouette of a familiar statue.]
CREATURE: Somehow, hope did not yet die!
no subject
Osomatsu finds himself rubbing his face in agitation. there's so much information here, and it's coming all at once. he'll have to recall what he can.
onto the next tape!]
. . . [cw: silhouette body horror]
CHARACTERS:
THE AVATAR
THE JUDGMENTS
THE EMPRESS
THE CORPSE
THE SUN
THE TRUE EMPRESS
T̷̨̛͠͞Ḩ͟È̡͢͜ ͏̨͝͏Ĺ͢͜͝A̴̵̡D̨͜͝͝Y̷̶̨͘ ̵̢͟I҉͢N͏̀ ̵̵̕͝L҉̶͜͞Í̴͜͡L҉͜A͠͝Ç̵̀̕
THE CREATURE
[There is silence, for a few moments. Nothing but black.
The CREATURE'S voice speaks again, this time as the JUDGMENTS appear. They are creatures of multiple wings, holding what looks like stars with spidery legs and tentacles.]
CREATURE: In the weaker clusters of the multiverse, there were those...
[The JUDGMENTS rip an already-open hole bigger through their reality, pulling in the EMPRESS and what looks like Earth. Said Earth smashes into a second, identical Earth, shattering one and maiming the others.]
CREATURE: ...who brought about their own inevitable doom.
JUDGMENTS: You, human, who we have raised on high. You will do our bidding...restore things to the way we demand, and give us our tithe. Sate the hunger of your betters like a good little girl...and in return...
[The JUDGMENTS pull The CORPSE up, putting it into a star until it lights up the screen with an ominous mint green.]
EMPRESS: Oh! My love, you shine brighter than ever! Now, and forever...my SUN!
[At this, a window appears, and immediately shatters. The pieces congeal on the EMPRESS, turning her into a crystalline figure. THE TRUE EMPRESS and T̷̨̛͠͞Ḩ͟È̡͢͜ ͏̨͝͏Ĺ͢͜͝A̴̵̡D̨͜͝͝Y̷̶̨͘ ̵̢͟I҉͢N͏̀ ̵̵̕͝L҉̶͜͞Í̴͜͡L҉͜A͠͝Ç̵̀̕ leap in.]
T. EMPRESS: This madness must stop! I am here to avenge our Earth, the lands you stole through the Wefts, and all of the dead of the-!?
[The TRUE EMPRESS turns, letting out a gasp of horror at the SUN.]
T. EMPRESS: No...this can't be...what have you done to him!? To yourself!?
EMPRESS: I gave him life...and now he is more beautiful than ever!
T̡̢͠҉҉H̨͝Ę́͘͠͠ ̸̡͡L҉̨҉A̵̢͢͞D̡́͜Y̸̵͠͡͡ ̀͡͏̴Į̶͘͞͠N͢ ̧͠L̢̕͜͜I̵̛L̷̨͘͝͡A͢͝C͏͝͞: You corrupted his memory and soul. Your love is as Clockwork as that foul Law now.
[T̡̢͠҉҉H̨͝Ę́͘͠͠ ̸̡͡L҉̨҉A̵̢͢͞D̡́͜Y̸̵͠͡͡ ̀͡͏̴Į̶͘͞͠N͢ ̧͠L̢̕͜͜I̵̛L̷̨͘͝͡A͢͝C͏͝͞ draws a gun.]
T̡̢͠҉҉H̨͝Ę́͘͠͠ ̸̡͡L҉̨҉A̵̢͢͞D̡́͜Y̸̵͠͡͡ ̀͡͏̴Į̶͘͞͠N͢ ̧͠L̢̕͜͜I̵̛L̷̨͘͝͡A͢͝C͏͝͞: Is this the pitiful creature who destroyed my love? You are not even worth killing. The Counsel of Peace that could have been, the Message of Seven Cities Fallen, it shall never be avenged after all...
T. EMPRESS: Wait! I can stop this! Maybe I can fix the SUN!
[Strange symbols begin to float in the air.]
T̵̡͘̕H͏̷E͏̛̀͝ ̴̧͘͢L̢̕A̴̛͘͝D̶̡͢Y̶͘͜͟͝ ̵̨̀I̕͢͝N̵̵̛ ̧͢L҉̶͞Ì̢҉L̴̸̨͞A̡̡͘͞͝C̡̨̛̕: Wait, no! The Red Science of the SUN is too unstable, there's no way a single human can-
[The TRUE EMPRESS grabs her head and screams, as her body suddenly, violently shifts with massive spikes coming out of it. The silhouette rapidly and painfully grows, until there is a massive, spike-laden monster above the shreds of clothing beneath it.]
T̵̡͘̕H͏̷E͏̛̀͝ ̴̧͘͢L̢̕A̴̛͘͝D̶̡͢Y̶͘͜͟͝ ̵̨̀I̕͢͝N̵̵̛ ̧͢L҉̶͞Ì̢҉L̴̸̨͞A̡̡͘͞͝C̡̨̛̕::...Well, I will admit this is the fourth-least terrible scenario that could have occurred.
[A spore wafts onto the monstrous TRUE EMPRESS' form.]
CREATURE: Even the best intentions may not be able to save this universe...
T. EMPRESS: It is all clear to me. I need more Time. To close the Wefts...to feed those hungry stars...what I am going to do, my ally, will be terrible. I may be cursed for it. But it may yet save as many as can be possibly saved. I only wish it works.
CREATURE: ...but that is why I am here.
[And just like that, the CREATURE appears on screen for the first time. It looks like a cat with long ears, and it bows its head reverently to the TRUE EMPRESS.]
CREATURE: If it is a wish you desire, I can grant it. You don't have to do it right now, it is clear you are not ready. But whatever assistance you need we'll still give it to you, within limits.
T. EMPRESS: And in return you will grant my wish?
CREATURE: Of course!
T. EMPRESS: Hours are what are needed, and the lands that are drawn in by the Wefts created by the SUN bring in possibilities. The people of Albion will never accept what I would ask of them, and so the burden must fall on the unfortunate innocents. Bring the people of the Wefts together, and let them kill. I hope only that they might forgive me.
CREATURE: And thus, the madness of the murder games continues, as the TRUE EMPRESS prepares herself to-
[And then a group of Strangers appears. They proceeds to rip multiple versions of the CREATURE apart, punting it and setting it on fire and so on, as the TRUE EMPRESS makes her impossible wish. The screen becomes static, the SUN lets out a scream, and--
It ends.
There's no END OF PART 5. It appears that whoever made this final tape...well. They didn't get the chance to finish it.]
no subject
and then it stops. why?
he hurriedly looks around for more unmarked Betamax tapes]
no subject
no subject
he feels like that's enough investigating here for now. he's already got a wealth of information (and new questions) to share with the other strangers.
so, after stacking the tapes neatly back in the storage room, in order, he's just going to leave. for now]