Bucky Barnes ☆ adorable trainwreck manpain (
soldieronwards) wrote2014-10-04 09:54 am
the heart of the matter
The ground falls out beneath you. You're in midair, you're surrounded by swirling clouds, and there's nowhere stable to put your feet. The space between your body and the turbulence around you feels poorly defined as well; where do you end and your surroundings begin? Is there a stable you in the first place?
But eventually--
[ Join channel #nobodystaysdeadincomics on IRC. ]
But eventually--
[ Join channel #nobodystaysdeadincomics on IRC. ]

GROUND RULES
2. This heart has two halves. The upper half has more NPC interaction, and the lower half has more exploration.
3. Each half has a potential boss fight lurking somewhere in it. I will warn players in IRC or on plurk when someone is approaching one of them, so that anyone interested can find a way to join in.
4. Your powers and skills are on, and you have your items. If you think any of them would let you bypass too many puzzles or fun things, let me know and I'll work something out.
5. This heart depends somewhat on cooperation between characters; a single character cannot get to the true heart alone in any reasonable amount of time. So feel free to collaborate with others.
START
Don't move yet. Shadows flicker past that grate, the shadows of booted feet walking heavily on metal. With them comes the voice of the host of this whole place, of this entire heart, but it's different. Gone is his usual warmth and spirit. He's all business.
"Yes, sir. I'm the only one who has the device to defuse it, and they'd need the passwords too." A pause; you feel heavy, frozen in place by the need to hear this out. "Intruders, sir?" The footsteps stop, and when they resume again a second later they're lighter, more cautious. "I'll take care of that..." Another pause in the one-sided conversation, and he starts walking away. But when he speaks next, it's still perfectly clear. "No, you don't need to worry, sir. Feelings won't come into it. I follow orders, sir. I'll deal with them."
And the footsteps recede, then fade. It's impossible to tell where he went, but you're safe now--for the moment.
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I know not the purpose of this game. Are we to seek these passwords?
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Looking around???]
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CORRIDOR
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Any idea which way he would have gone?
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IN THE DARKNESS
You can explore every inch of this small room in the dark if you wish--it's not very large. There's nothing here, though.
But the floor crackles and crinkles faintly beneath you.
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BELOW DECKS
Opposite each window on the other side of the room is a door.
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THE LIVING QUARTERS
It's sweet. It's very nice in here.
The lighting is soft and golden-white; it comes from a plain glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling, since the windows (normal square windows, not portholes) are heavily curtained with deep red brocade. There's also a king-sized bed with white and pink blankets and pillows on it, a plain nightstand next to the bed, a rack with some clothing draped over it, and a closet with the door closed.
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THE ARMORY
The room continues on, longer than it is wide, for quite a ways, but towards the far end, a cold mist springs up, obscuring the rest of the room from view.
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THE TORTURE CHAMBER
Bodies hang from chains on the wall, cut open and mutilated; none of them seem to be alive, yet they still drip a steady stream of blood onto the hard floor. Tables dot the room--some have more bodies laid open upon them, trickling yet more blood down, and others are strewn with nasty metal implements. At the center of the room, the blood drains into a large metal grating set in the floor.
Where the armory behind it was only as large as it needed to be in order to store weapons, this room is tall and spacious, yet still feels cramped with bad energy. Red light spills over it from above, making the already crimson-stained scene even redder.
Narrow metal catwalks circle the room above, thin flights of stairs leading up to them. Atop one, calmly checking a rifle, stands a familiar-looking man. He looks exactly like the owner of this heart, save that his hair is longer, and the star on his left shoulder is plain red.
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THE HALL OF MASKS
On the left side of the hallway, a series of white marble statues stand. All six of them wear masks of some kind. On the right side of the hallway, opposite the statues, hang cloth wall-scrolls as if they were flags or tapestries.
At the far side of the hall, an elegant-looking wooden double door stands.
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examines the wall scrolls and statues as she walks down the hallway. . . ]
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THE UPPER DECK
More accurately, you're on a ship flying in the sky. A polished wooden deck spreads out beneath your feet, with golden railings off to the sides. Incongruously, in front of you a large building rises out of the deck: a golden-accented theater with a glittering marquee and a ticket-taker's booth out in front.
Aside from the theater and the hall behind you, there doesn't seem to be anything else on this ship.
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THE THEATER LOBBY
Beyond all of this, three hallways disappear into the back.
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ON YOUR RETURN...
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THEATER WEST
The screen seems oddly flimsy. Shadows move behind it.
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THEATER EAST
Yet the screen seems oddly flimsy. Shadows move behind it.
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but
isn't there supposed to be some kid version of Bucky somewhere...
calls out, just in case]
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THEATER CENTRAL
Still, the screen seems oddly flimsy. Shadows move behind it.
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TRUE HEART
The light subsides, and you step forward again, and down; there is solid ground at last beneath your feet.
Around you a field of dirt stretches, with a scattering of distant cabins and brown tents in the background. Much closer to you, a flagpole rises out of the ground, with the American flag flying high in the air at its top.
Bucky stands at the base of the flagpole, leaning on it a little, holding a domino mask in his right hand, but not wearing it.
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then she takes a step towards Bucky and stops. ]
. . .
Hi.
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