[WELL DICEBOT HAS DECREED EMPHATICALLY THAT BAIKEN GETS A 10
On entering the room-- she isn't immediately attacked. Things look pretty much the same, initially. However-
The glow within the apple has faded a bit, largely because something seems to be blocking it. What she missed in this room the first time were the bodies.
One body has just been pulled fully into the apple's core. Its roots are wrapped around two more, dragging them to itself... and from the apple, a stalk emerges.
At the end is the head of a man, grinning down at her.]
[he has learned! which is good, because she flinches, when he offers his hand. instinctive. but after a second, she takes a deep breath and takes his hand. it's nice to have something to center herself with. you know, until she realizes what's going on with that fucking apple monster.
she assumes baiken will shout to them to tell them what's up with that. haha.]
[ cute that you think baiken is thinking of anything else in this moment.
her first reaction is abject horror. there's no hiding the tremble in her hand as she reaches to draw the katana - she almost forgot she had it. her stomach flips upside down, and she falters as she tries to find her voice, as well as her stance. it's hard with the roots to get the right footing.
whatever this thing is, it isn't him. ]
What the hell did you do to Anji?!
[ there's a waver in her voice, her typical growl softened by her fear. ]
[ >two more bodies >two more of us >hmmmmmmm nah its fine probably
with throné's hand in his, he gives her a little encouraging tug to get her going so they can catch up with baiken. though... well... once they do, he can immediately tell something is off. fear isn't something he'd ever think to associate with her.
he carefully treads over the roots, makes sure throné can safely traverse them too, before standing by baiken's side, glancing at the twisted face staring down at them now before focusing on her again. ]
[That head just grins back at her. Taunting. Too quiet, nothing to say (for now).
And as Ichiban brings Throné in... they see the apple finish absorbing its new nutrients. The other two bodies are sucked into its core, stifling the last of its golden glow from within, before moments later, it grows one new head. Then another.
she follows ichiban into the room, dizzily. she's not sure exactly what's going on with this thing, even if she can hear baiken panicking. baiken doesn't ever sound afraid. it's off. it doesn't make sense. but throné isn't looking at the head just yet, distracted by the way the bodies are being dragged across the floor, being absorbed, and she thinks... strange. it must be alive, powering up. it makes her think of the carnivorous plant the travelers had fought, not so long ago.
and then she looks up at the newly grown stalk.
her breath leaves her all at once. she sucks it in harshly and then can't figure out how to exhale, staring at the last head. her heart drops, her blood turns to ice, and her expression is horrified as she yanks her hand out of ichiban's grasp and goes for her dagger. but she can't...
she can't get the name out. she stutters on it, tem - temen - te -- and takes half a step back, and then another step forward, like she can't decide what to do. was he... he wasn't, he told her, what did he tell her? he'd said something about these trips. she can't remember. the only thing running through her head is
temenos is dead and you failed him temenos is dead and you failed him temenos is dead and you failed]
[ the way the head says nothing is all the more unnerving. anji always had some line or quip for her. no matter how she tried to steel her resolve, no matter how tried to convince herself that this isn't real and that isn't really anji... her sense was already too distant to pull back. not with that thing smiling at her.
she almost misses ichiban's question in her focus on the monster, and without tearing her eye away she responds: ] It's Anji.
[ this means nothing and there's no time to explain. with her hazy perception, she missed the other bodies being pulled in, and jumps back half a step when the new heads sprout.
this isn't real. this isn't real. this isn't real.
if this is affecting her this badly, she can't imagine what these new faces are doing to throné and ichiban. even with the one she kind of recognizes - it's easier to see through the facade she thinks is there. but not anji. even after all the times she threatened to cut him, she never thought the day would come she would actually have to. ]
[ as soon as baiken responds to him, he knows what's up. but... even though he braces himself to see a familiar face, it's different when it's, you know, actually in front of him. the one staring at him is alien, twisted, a shadow of the man that ichiban remembers... and yet, a voice rings out in his head, a rough-sounding 30-something whose japanese is tinged with just enough of a twang that makes you go "wait, where are you from?"—
"isn't it better to die for something than live for nothing?"
those last two times—did he die for something? ]
Yeah. That's your Anji, that's Throné's Tem, and that's my Tomi.
[ he steps forward, even if the other two are rooted to their places. he looks at the abomination before them, locking eyes with the one wearing his friend's face before declaring, ]
You guys... it's all fake. You know that, right? [ he tightens his grip around the hilt of his blade, knuckles white. ] It's... not them. It's not.
[Temenos is a little different from the other two heads-- eyes closed, drooping lifelessly, looking much more dead. Gone, not even enough of him to whisper an accusation, or to call out to her. Blood drips slowly down the stem.
Anji still smiles down at Baiken, though, same as ever.
she can't take her eyes off of temenos - she's trying to make her brain work, but ichiban's words fall on deaf ears. it's not real, it's not, temenos even said, when he came back from his, that it wasn't real, but this is her nightmare, this is what she promised.
she darts forward. she can't just - leave him here, she has to - he's dead, so she'll cut his body out of the thing, she'll stop it from happening, if she can get him out she can heal him.]
[ it was only the last time she saw him that he had said those very words to her. and she said the same to him then.
ichiban's convincing - thin and pleading though it may be - helps reaffirm her own internal monolog. this isn't real. that isn't anji, or temenos, or tomi. this is a monster, and she's fought plenty of those before.
except there isn't even a chance to reorient before throné is charging ahead ]
Wait— !
[ shit. she dashes forward, sword a little more steady in her grip. ]
[ the words of the monster wearing tomizawa's face hit ichiban hard, enough to throw him off balance for a bit. he did say that, didn't he... tomizawa, chitose, the legendary kazuma kiryu himself—he promised all of them he'd help them, didn't he?
. . .
yeah. yeah, he did. and he intends to keep his word, because ichiban kasuga is a hero—he's the hero of yokohama, and a hero never lets their party down.
so even as throné darts forward and baiken tries to dissuade her, ichiban remains calm. he adjusts his grip on the katana, rolls his shoulders as he steps forward with a cocky grin. where the aberration had tried to frazzle him, to taunt him into believing he can't do a damn thing... it actually ended up reminding him what's really important, what matters the most to him—
the friends he made along the way. ]
Hey, apple jackass! [ hehe. ] When life gives you apples... make APPLESAUCE!
[ bringing his free hand to his heart, he taps into his e.g.o. and charges. ]
[Throné charges forward, and while Baiken follows-
Ichiban taps into his E.G.O. The warmth of it fills him, the strength of that flame-- so long as anything, anything is alight, then it's fine, isn't it? Even if it's only the flame of a match. That much can burn more than you would think.
"I burn only what I wish to burn."
Flame erupts around him, infusing him and his weapon both, and while the other attacks will still be effective against those heads... cutting one of them down prompts a mass to burst from the apple, rot and decay and tiny worms forming a larger shape that looks like a haunting face, two other shapes that seem to be arms.
It's this mass that Ichiban meets with his flames, the fire setting it alight easily as the False Apple lets loose an ungodly scream. As he charges in, he'll be able to smash it up much more effectively, the material of the apple growing softer and more rotten.]
she doesn't stop trying to get up close. if she can just - get there, if she can get into the apple, she can find temenos, she can pull him out of it, she can heal him. he can't be dead all the way. she won't allow it. does she find anything? can she try to slice the stalk with temenos's face off and down to the ground?
she does not, for a second, care about the fire. if it hits her in her attempt, she ignores it.]
[ death may be cheap in this world, but that doesn't mean baiken has to deal with it if she doesn't have to. with ichiban's assault she hops away (although she's already covered in applesauce so what's more), but, she still has a low tolerance for stupidity and scruffs throné to yank her away. don't make her parry throw you because she absolutely will. ]
the flames only burn what ichiban wants them to burn—throné and baiken are safe, no matter how brilliantly the fire rages on, no matter how much they care or do not care about their own lives at the moment. to the two of them, the only thing they'll feel is a comfortable warmth as ichiban blazes through the grotesque apple viscera in his pursuit of its heart.
with his katana ablaze, he slices, he dices, he makes the world's most disgusting apple pie out of this stupid piece of fruit. ]
[He slices! He dices! He juliennes! It's the Ichiban Apple Slicer, yours now for the low cost of $39.99. Act now and we'll throw in the Throné Paring Knife and Baiken Meat Carver ABSOLUTELY FREE.
By which I mean yeah, he destroys this asshole apple, throwing bits of rotten fruit and pulp everywhere as he seeks the apple's heart. A golden glow begins to emanate from its hollow, disgusting corpse.
(A corpse in which Throné will find no sign of Temenos whatsoever. Nothing but his head.)
As that glow brightens, they can just barely see a gold branch-
Before it flashes, disorienting them, and the next time they open their eyes is somewhere else entirely.]
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no subject
On entering the room-- she isn't immediately attacked. Things look pretty much the same, initially. However-
The glow within the apple has faded a bit, largely because something seems to be blocking it. What she missed in this room the first time were the bodies.
One body has just been pulled fully into the apple's core. Its roots are wrapped around two more, dragging them to itself... and from the apple, a stalk emerges.
At the end is the head of a man, grinning down at her.]
no subject
she assumes baiken will shout to them to tell them what's up with that. haha.]
no subject
her first reaction is abject horror. there's no hiding the tremble in her hand as she reaches to draw the katana - she almost forgot she had it. her stomach flips upside down, and she falters as she tries to find her voice, as well as her stance. it's hard with the roots to get the right footing.
whatever this thing is, it isn't him. ]
What the hell did you do to Anji?!
[ there's a waver in her voice, her typical growl softened by her fear. ]
no subject
>two more of us
>hmmmmmmm nah its fine probably
with throné's hand in his, he gives her a little encouraging tug to get her going so they can catch up with baiken. though... well... once they do, he can immediately tell something is off. fear isn't something he'd ever think to associate with her.
he carefully treads over the roots, makes sure throné can safely traverse them too, before standing by baiken's side, glancing at the twisted face staring down at them now before focusing on her again. ]
Baiken-san... you know that guy?
no subject
And as Ichiban brings Throné in... they see the apple finish absorbing its new nutrients. The other two bodies are sucked into its core, stifling the last of its golden glow from within, before moments later, it grows one new head. Then another.
At the ends of these stalks are familiar faces to each of them.]
no subject
she follows ichiban into the room, dizzily. she's not sure exactly what's going on with this thing, even if she can hear baiken panicking. baiken doesn't ever sound afraid. it's off. it doesn't make sense. but throné isn't looking at the head just yet, distracted by the way the bodies are being dragged across the floor, being absorbed, and she thinks... strange. it must be alive, powering up. it makes her think of the carnivorous plant the travelers had fought, not so long ago.
and then she looks up at the newly grown stalk.
her breath leaves her all at once. she sucks it in harshly and then can't figure out how to exhale, staring at the last head. her heart drops, her blood turns to ice, and her expression is horrified as she yanks her hand out of ichiban's grasp and goes for her dagger. but she can't...
she can't get the name out. she stutters on it, tem - temen - te -- and takes half a step back, and then another step forward, like she can't decide what to do. was he... he wasn't, he told her, what did he tell her? he'd said something about these trips. she can't remember. the only thing running through her head is
temenos is dead and you failed him temenos is dead and you failed him temenos is dead and you failed]
no subject
she almost misses ichiban's question in her focus on the monster, and without tearing her eye away she responds: ] It's Anji.
[ this means nothing and there's no time to explain. with her hazy perception, she missed the other bodies being pulled in, and jumps back half a step when the new heads sprout.
this isn't real. this isn't real. this isn't real.
if this is affecting her this badly, she can't imagine what these new faces are doing to throné and ichiban. even with the one she kind of recognizes - it's easier to see through the facade she thinks is there. but not anji. even after all the times she threatened to cut him, she never thought the day would come she would actually have to. ]
no subject
"isn't it better to die for something than live for nothing?"
those last two times—did he die for something? ]
Yeah. That's your Anji, that's Throné's Tem, and that's my Tomi.
[ he steps forward, even if the other two are rooted to their places. he looks at the abomination before them, locking eyes with the one wearing his friend's face before declaring, ]
You guys... it's all fake. You know that, right? [ he tightens his grip around the hilt of his blade, knuckles white. ] It's... not them. It's not.
[ who is he trying to convince more? ]
no subject
Anji still smiles down at Baiken, though, same as ever.
I'm not ready for you to cut me down.
Eric's eyes remain focused on Ichiban, meanwhile.
Thought you said... you'd help me.]
no subject
she can't take her eyes off of temenos - she's trying to make her brain work, but ichiban's words fall on deaf ears. it's not real, it's not, temenos even said, when he came back from his, that it wasn't real, but this is her nightmare, this is what she promised.
she darts forward. she can't just - leave him here, she has to - he's dead, so she'll cut his body out of the thing, she'll stop it from happening, if she can get him out she can heal him.]
no subject
[ it was only the last time she saw him that he had said those very words to her. and she said the same to him then.
ichiban's convincing - thin and pleading though it may be - helps reaffirm her own internal monolog. this isn't real. that isn't anji, or temenos, or tomi. this is a monster, and she's fought plenty of those before.
except there isn't even a chance to reorient before throné is charging ahead ]
Wait— !
[ shit. she dashes forward, sword a little more steady in her grip. ]
no subject
. . .
yeah. yeah, he did. and he intends to keep his word, because ichiban kasuga is a hero—he's the hero of yokohama, and a hero never lets their party down.
so even as throné darts forward and baiken tries to dissuade her, ichiban remains calm. he adjusts his grip on the katana, rolls his shoulders as he steps forward with a cocky grin. where the aberration had tried to frazzle him, to taunt him into believing he can't do a damn thing... it actually ended up reminding him what's really important, what matters the most to him—
the friends he made along the way. ]
Hey, apple jackass! [ hehe. ] When life gives you apples... make APPLESAUCE!
[ bringing his free hand to his heart, he taps into his e.g.o. and charges. ]
no subject
Ichiban taps into his E.G.O. The warmth of it fills him, the strength of that flame-- so long as anything, anything is alight, then it's fine, isn't it? Even if it's only the flame of a match. That much can burn more than you would think.
"I burn only what I wish to burn."
Flame erupts around him, infusing him and his weapon both, and while the other attacks will still be effective against those heads... cutting one of them down prompts a mass to burst from the apple, rot and decay and tiny worms forming a larger shape that looks like a haunting face, two other shapes that seem to be arms.
It's this mass that Ichiban meets with his flames, the fire setting it alight easily as the False Apple lets loose an ungodly scream. As he charges in, he'll be able to smash it up much more effectively, the material of the apple growing softer and more rotten.]
no subject
she doesn't stop trying to get up close. if she can just - get there, if she can get into the apple, she can find temenos, she can pull him out of it, she can heal him. he can't be dead all the way. she won't allow it. does she find anything? can she try to slice the stalk with temenos's face off and down to the ground?
she does not, for a second, care about the fire. if it hits her in her attempt, she ignores it.]
no subject
no subject
[ we know, ichiban.
the flames only burn what ichiban wants them to burn—throné and baiken are safe, no matter how brilliantly the fire rages on, no matter how much they care or do not care about their own lives at the moment. to the two of them, the only thing they'll feel is a comfortable warmth as ichiban blazes through the grotesque apple viscera in his pursuit of its heart.
with his katana ablaze, he slices, he dices, he makes the world's most disgusting apple pie out of this stupid piece of fruit. ]
no subject
By which I mean yeah, he destroys this asshole apple, throwing bits of rotten fruit and pulp everywhere as he seeks the apple's heart. A golden glow begins to emanate from its hollow, disgusting corpse.
(A corpse in which Throné will find no sign of Temenos whatsoever. Nothing but his head.)
As that glow brightens, they can just barely see a gold branch-
Before it flashes, disorienting them, and the next time they open their eyes is somewhere else entirely.]