melodiesoflife | Event || In Your Worst Memory

Event || In Your Worst Memory

Characters: All Heroes of Light. Only those who signed-up can start a memory.
Where: Interdimensional Rift
When: May 27th - May 30th
Summary: The Heroes of Light relive some of their worst memories, with a twist. All characters participating in this will be physically missing from Crystallis for the duration of the event.
Warning: It depends on the memory.

Where you were or what you were doing— It does not really matter. Not any more. Everything around you freezes, nearly as if time itself stopped, as if the world was frozen in time. And before you have a chance to understand what is happening, you can hear a voice right behind you.

"Kali Shashidhwaja."

Should you turn around, you may see a child who seems to be the only one aside from you unaffected by what is happening. And as she stares right at you, it makes no doubt these strange words are aimed at you. But before you can reply to her, the world around you collapses. Reality twists and shatters... Or maybe you are the one who is collapsing and shattering away from reality as you know it. No matter what the answer is, it will only take a few seconds for you to find yourself sinking into a void, Crystallis vanishing into the distance. There is nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see.

And once again you feel different: all the powers from your Jobs are fading. Not only that, but you might find that your Crystal is gone and your clothes back to what they were before you woke up in Crystallis. It is silent, cold and before long it feels as though life itself is slipping out of you... And yet, slowly the world reforms around you. The darkness fades away and a new world appears, yet at the same time this is not a world.

This is a memory. The question is, is it yours or that of someone else?

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"Well. Both ways sound equally shitty. But I think maybe going for the time machine might be the better one. A time machine that's a... phone booth?" That's an odd thing for a time machine to look like, but then again, is it any weirder than a Delorean or a hot tub?

"These Toclafane. You said they have about the intelligence of kids, right? Would there be a way to distract 'em, or is killing people they only thing they're interested in?"

Yuna smiled. "It's also bigger on the inside." That much she remembered from the last time she had an interact with the doctor. It was pretty interesting and while it's obvious that the situation was grim Yuna felt like she can do something here and that gave her hope.

She shifted her weight between her feet and her grip on her guns tightened. Her gaze flicked towards Rikku. She was happy that she was here.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get going then." The whole team here were people that Yuna could trust and for that she was grateful. If anything she remembered about The Doctor was true then they were in for an interesting adventure.

Rikku listened attentively to the Captain, blanching at the number of Toclafane. The Spiran could not wrap her head around that, she doubted there were even that many Pyreflies in all of Spira. All this time stuff, it was way beyond her, but, "I'm sure I could stop his machine." They were second nature to the mechanical savant.

What was a phone booth? Sounded like Johnny and Jack could point them in the right direction. Machina with the intelligence of kids? Clearly they were highly advanced. In the end, it all worked the same though. The Al Bhed's gaze lingered at the guns in her cousin's holsters, a look of utter confusion crossing the blonde's face momentarily - before flickering up at Jack's comment about the security cameras. At that, she offered a confident grin. "Sure!" Child's play.

At first Cloud thought this all went over his head but as he listened he could at least justify it. Not the parts about an army in the billions being able to be summoned at once. He could at least meet that halfway considering red materia. Even the idea of dying only to get up stronger had some foundation. Even the time stuff could be attributed to magic.

But Jack seemed to know the deal with all of this and he had no reason not to trust the other hero. He was a little curious about how Yunie knew about it though. Did it have something to do with how she knew him when they first met in Crystalis?

"I have some materia with me. Ice and Lightning I think." They were his usual go to materia when a mission allowed him to use them. "So I can probably use magic. But if we go for the box first, will we be able to do anything with it? You said it belonged to your doctor, right?" Would they be able to fix it or operate it if he wasn't there? Cloud pursed his lips in uncertainty. Jack and Rikku seemed confident but it didn't seem like they had time to make a mistake.

His eyebrows raise at Johnny in surprise. "If it's possible, I never pulled it off. But my way of 'distract the guard' isn't too effective on them anyway. We run into one of them alone, maybe?"

Jack regretfully looks up through the grating to the upper levels, imagining he can look all the way through to the Bridge. It feels like they're leaving the Doctor behind, especially with Cloud's question. His answer is both for himself and for Cloud. "We don't need to use the box, we need to break it. Break the Paradox Machine, time goes back to normal. None of this ever happened." His voice is less confident and more determined. This isn't going to be easy, but it's the only path they've got.

He stays low as he beckons and starts to lead them up the path. He's going from one point of cover to another, as the guards keep crossing on the walkways above their heads. Whatever else is going on, it's certainly gotten some people's attention. They have to pause and hug the walls before a cross-corridor, as guards run past, luckily focused on their objective.

"We're headed all the way, straight to the back, then next to last level. Close to a boiler room." He eyes the forms of the human guards in military garb scrambling after someone. "There's one more hitch," he finally admits, "in the plan. The guy they're all looking for?" The corner of his mouth lifts without actually being a smile. "It's me."

"I can't run into myself, under any circumstances. I'm pretty sure I'm about to be-" Jack doesn't get time to finish that thought.

Yuna will feel it, just before it happens. To the Summoner, even though it isn't happening near her, she will feel someone's death, the soul being released, and then a forcible pull, like the power of a star collapsing in on itself. And that pull is yanking on Jack. One second, Jack is there, and then the next, he has vanished.

A moment later, the all-clear sounds over speakers, the alarms stop, and the overhead lighting goes back to normal. It seems their prisoner has been recaptured.

Edited (Oops) 2015-06-01 00:57 (UTC)

Johnny reeled back in surprise, but manages to stay low and quiet, which is remarkable for him. He looks around the group.

"What the hell just happened? Where'd he go?"

"Jack!" She looked at the others with a worried expression spread across her features. The tug on his soul was enough to make her almost lose her balance. She hadn't felt anything like that in so long. Then he was gone.

"We have to go after him." Except that he had given them another mission. Like he knew this was going to happen. They couldn't very well split up with only four of them on a ship that they didn't know anything about.

Yuna's gaze flicked from Johnny, to Cloud, to Rikku wishing that one of them knew what would be best. She couldn't just leave Jack but that pull, what did it mean? If there was a summon taking place here then couldn't she stop it? She needed to end the dream again.

Rikku rubs a hand at the back of her head, glancing over at Cloud. She had to admit, she was a fan of the spiky blond hair look, "I'd keep lightning extra handy." As much as she hated to admit it, it was always handy against machina. "I ca...whoa!"

Shooting a look of confusion to Johnny, she shakes her head. "I dunno!"

Her clover eyes dart back to her cousin, nodding after the older girl spoke. Rikku was confident she could help with the machina, but in the end would follow her Summoner. Besides, they did not leave people behind. "Do you...know where he went though?" They could do little otherwise.

Cloud looks as shocked as everyone else, but as Yunie suggests they go looking for their ally his eyes narrow and he shakes his head, "No. He gave us a mission and we need to carry it out. We all know this isn't what it seems to be, but if we want to get him out of here then we need to do what he told us." At least, he assumes so.

Somehow he is reminded of that escort mission from so long ago. He lost friends and fellow soldiers on that mission. He had taught that Turk that it was important to stand by your ideals, even in the face of mission orders, but at the same time she taught him that he couldn't give up on a mission in the face of tall odds.

"We go to the box or his doctor. That's what he wants us to do." He's fine either way, as long as they make a move quick.

Cloud is absolutely correct that they have to make a move, as guards are beginning to get back into their normal patterns. With all the interference of both time and death energies in the area, it would be hard for Yuna to isolate where Jack is, for now.

If they choose to go after the Box, Jack indicated they would have to stay low, and go through the maintenance corridors that run the length of the bottom of the Valiant. If they choose to go after the Doctor, their path takes them up and towards the front of the ship. There are plenty of stairwells, some open, some more closed off near the corners. Despite the ship being in the hands of a maniacal supervillain, there are still maintenance maps available with the stairwells marked (Safety First, maintaining the Empire takes the efforts of every one of us! That's the British way!)

Footsteps are sounding on the metal walkways, not too close, but there are an awful lot of them.

Johnny mutters some expletives when he hears the incoming footsteps. If they make it out of this alive, it'll be a miracle.

He whispers to the group. "I say this doctor, but whatever we choose, we need to go now, before we get spotted. I'd rather deal with some guards that can't kill us in one hit. If we stay quiet we can take 'em out before any alarms are tripped."

Yuna looked over at Cloud and then Johnny. "I can't feel Jack anymore but I know I can find him. The doctor first but we aren't leaving anyone behind." Her eyes were determined as she rose her guns up to fight.

Then she looked over at Rikku with a smile. "Right?" It wasn't in her to leave someone behind and she knew that Rikku was the same way.

When she heard the footsteps she quieted trying to think of the best way to deal with the guards. She had magic, now that her powers returned she had a lot of magic but she didn't know how long they'd be here and she didn't have any items with her. She gave the group a slight nod ready to jump out when they get closer.

Rikku shoots a grin back to her cousin, "you betcha!" Time to save this healer person. They were always getting themselves into trouble.

At that, the young thief takes the lead, moving fast and keeping low. Rikku's no tank - but her stealth makes for the perfect scout as far as being likely to go unnoticed to look ahead for danger. She keeps an eye out for security cameras to take out as Jack suggested.

Cloud drops into old training, pulling down the visor on his trooper helmet and using the HUD to support Rikku's scouting as best he can. She's still spotting the cameras before he does, but there's no harm in the extra set of eyes. He holds his rifle securely as he moves with the group, ready to fight if he has to.

(ooc: Going on hiatus but you guys can move Cloud around as needed if you want to keep him in the group)

As Jack indicated, the fastest way up to where the Doctor is being held is one of the stairwells. The first camera for Rikku to disable is just outside, before they can start to go up what is indicated as a fire exit.

It's absolutely quiet, and the good news is that the Toclafane, fliers, don't take the stairs. The bad news is that there is no warning of running into the guard on the second landing up who was sneaking a cigarette. They startle him, and then they've got maybe a second to stop him from getting on his radio and making this situation a lot worse.

It's a good thing Johnny is a fast mover. With his old power back also comes his old training, too - those ridiculous superhuman moves taught to him by Coby. Johnny is over to the guard like a shot, almost literally, as the jump he takes gets him onto the second landing in a moment. He punches the guard hard in the gut, and when he doubles over, hits him fast to the neck in the hopes of knocking him out. Hopefully Rikku would be able to deal with the security cameras before he's on video.

Yuna heard the noise and moved from her hiding spot. She trusted Rikku's stealth and her skills with machines but she wasn't expecting to hear combat so soon. She quickly rose from their hiding place and followed the other three. She skidded to a stop at the sight of the man on the ground.

"Rikku." Though Yuna knew even as she said her cousins name that the young thief was most likely already addressing the camera.

"We should move." There wasn't any point to stopping and waiting. Yuna moved up the steps keeping quiet and quick as well as on the look out for camera's. She can at least help by shorting them out.

No sooner does Rikku see the flare of the guard's cigarette, then Johnny is already leaping towards him. No time to be impressed though - ok - maybe she can be impressed so long as she does not let it slow her down. She can't let the camera catch him.

Honing in on the device, the thief ducks out of where she calculates its sights. A mad dash and a swipe of her pugilists claw cuts a critical wire, taking out the camera's power feed.

She falls back in with the group, moving up the stairs to join the two.

There are two more cameras for Rikku to take out, one on each floor, before they make it to the top level of the stairs, with a door marked for the bridge. It was propped open, just a crack, by the guard who stepped out for a smoke, which gives them a chance to see what they're up against before they get in there. Given the sight, they may not have wanted the sneak preview.

The bridge of the Valiant is still guarded by five? No, six guards with guns. Some automated weapons mounted on the ceiling by the stairs to the main platform. Three of those floating spheres that Jack had warned them about are milling by the expansive front viewport and talking in high-pitched, childlike voices.

"Soon we'll fly! We'll chase them all to all their own worlds, and they'll all see!"

"The ground, it's so pretty when it burns. They'll all get to see how pretty it is soon."

A gravelly, aged voice floats up from inside of a cage, by the bottom of the steps. "Stop it."

The owner of the voice is an impossibly ancient man, still wearing a brown, pin-striped suit. The look on his face is still sharp, eyes still glaring out with not hatred, but almost pity, as he looks up at the floating spheres. He's definitely a man being held prisoner, rather than working with the guards. Best odds at being their extraction target.

With the guards milling around, the Heroes won't have much time to stay hidden, though.

Cloud moves with the rest of his group, keeping his rifle ready but his finger off the trigger for now. It will be a good weapon if a fight breaks out, but even with a suppressor it would attract far more attention right now than they need. His magic is pretty much in the same shape, too flashy for stealth.

He glances at the others to see what they think. He nods at his gun to show he's ready to fight but he waits for their signal. Charging in disorganized would be suicide and once they make their move there's no going back. They have to make it count. Holding up his lightning materia he nods in the direction of the floating spheres. He can take those.

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Event || In Your Worst Memory

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