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Post by Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff) on Apr 13, 2014 15:30:00 GMT -5
Endre gasped. There were indeed voices coming from inside the theater! The mafia had to be in there! But...all he had was a business suit and a sandwich or two meant to last him for a while had his little rowboat delayed him. Endre was a practical man: he knew that the noise in the theater didn't come from the movies themselves, but there was no way he could help anyone without a weapon with which to defend himself. And so he sped home, adrenaline swimming in his veins. He threw open the door and reached into an unused fish filter, retrieving the pistol within. He slid it into his jacket, resting but a minute to catch his breath. But by the time he reached the theater once more, the place was completely vacant... Endre didn't know what to do with himself and gaped at the theater like a codfish. A few minutes prior...Alma tugged the scarf off of Lili and sobbed over her friend's body. "Lili....Oh, how I failed you...No.." She stroked the newly-reddened cheeks as she sobbed harder, cursing at her poor decision to let her go by herself, even for a minute. Wasn't Endre's advice to not travel alone? And look what had happened once she'd pursued her own desires. Lili would never again be Alma's shoulder to cry on, and Alma wouldn't be Lili's, either. The bears in Lili's house would rest unattended, accumulating dust, and Aifam Accounting would go to pieces without Lili's head for numbers. In other words, Alma's world would crumble. Alma sighed and sniffled. She didn't deserve to do anything for herself, not when the town was in peril. After vomiting profusely in the conveniently close bathroom, Alma exited and returned, egging the crowd on to get the door open and even assisting with a battering ram. The mafia had to be stopped. Lili had to be avenged. She had to be... Alas, any efforts were rendered useless by you mind numbing conditions. It was all too much, too much. The tank she was in was far too small. Too many carnivorous fish threatened to eat each other, and one seemed far more lethal than most. Alma couldn't believe it at first--the woman seemed so unassuming, but here she'd cast off her habits and fired a gun HOLY CRAB SHE HAD A GUN run run run RUN! She....had another girl in what from Alma's position looked like a headlock. Alma screamed and rushed over to the two of them, knowing full well she may have been running to her doom. "Don't hurt anyone here, please! We can't have any more bloodshed!" Alma pleaded, instinctively cradling her stomach, which did flips as she recognized the nun. Lucille? She'd hung around Beatrix several times and Alma had seldom if ever seen hee travel alone. She stepped back, gulping and trembling. Lili was no longer at her side, and Cheryl was taking care of Christopher, coaxing him while Alma had been beating a dead fish--or rather, throwing things at him. There was no one she could protect at that moment, nor anyone who could protect her. Alma fled and blended into the crowd. It seemed as though the world itself was reborn when the doors opened right until Morty Gunderson and his brother in law showed up. As soon as the words tumbled from his lips, Alma recoiled and balled her fists again. He deserved to die, yes, especially after murdering several people directly or indirectly--Did that make him a serial killer?! The town didn't need a mafia AND a serial killer! But....bloodshed was practically pointless. Everything was pointless at this point. "We can't kill him," Alma shouted to keep her voice above the waves of the mob. "Not yet. He needs to be tried and restrained! We can definitely beat him, though!! Who's with me?" Alma lifted another popcorn cart to emphasize her point.
Now armed with a pistol he'd kept hidden from even Alma, Endre returns to the movie theater only to find it's empty and that the doors are open. He is very perplexed by this.
Alma sees her dead best friend and sobs over her, wondering what will happen. She decides she wants to stop the mafia and avenge Lili, so she rejoins the town. Upon returning, she sees Lucille out of her usual habits and armed at that, and is promptly terrified.
Yadda yadda yadda, Alma is about to go bat fluff insane on Morty. Maybe Err.
Beware the mobile popcorn carts, evildoers. |
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Post by Kristykimmy on Apr 13, 2014 15:43:57 GMT -5
Anna sat in her car waiting for Christopher to come out and give her the all clear. She watched the time tick by on the car's dashboard clock, it had been well over half an hour since she had pulled up and called to him to come. Anna frowned, biting her lip. She was considering getting out to investigate when two bundled men walked up to the door and unlocked the door. She turned off the car and got out, hurrying to see what was going on. After all, there was no longer any need for her to smash through the doors with her car. She stood just outside the doors, listening to the scene inside. So that moronic Morty had been the one responsible for locking everyone in the the death trap. She wished she'd thrown more things at him at the Burger Hut the other day. “Well um—you do also know that two people were murdered in here while you were gone?”Anna dropped against the wall, floored by this revelation. That's why they hadn't cleared the lobby so she could break the doors down. There was simply too much chaos inside from discovering another murder. The crowd inside was turning ugly, but this time it was at the proper source, Morty Freaking Gunderson. Morty and his cousin Err took off running, numerous people taking chase along with them. Anna considered going back to her car and running Morty down, but decided against it. She needed to get inside and find out what had happened. “Evan! Liliana! Kylie! Cheryl!” Anna shouted, calling for the people she knew, hoping they would answer. Anna waits in the car for a signal that never comes. When Morty unlocks the movie theater she goes over to see what happened. She learns someone else has died since she left. She watches Morty flee, but decides against chasing him for the moment, instead going inside to try to find her friends. |
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Post by Diana on Apr 13, 2014 15:48:32 GMT -5
The second Winston touched Afe… he wasn’t even really sure what happened. It was like the slow motion the ghost had been moving in was suddenly reversed – Afe zoomed away from him like a Youtube video on fast-forward, corkscrewing into the distance. Argh! Stupid glitch character! Winston fumbled for his dialogue options, but he hadn’t managed to activate Afe before the ghost had moved out of range. And he had no idea where the ‘call back party member’ option was, because the menu was completely defunct. He sighed. He didn’t need a party member to do the quest – otherwise the game would have prevented Afe from zooming off – but it would have been handy. He really needed to fix his default behavior the next time he turned up. Still, he was fully capable of doing this alone – he was the hero, after all! A… currently dead hero, but not for much longer. And not even death could keep him from his duty! Because God Mode kept his energy meter from depleting, it only took him five minutes to reach his destination. He phased through the shut doors, wholly intent on finding some quest-specific NPCs to gather relevant information. But the movie theater was completely empty. Not the good kind of empty, either, he concluded a few minutes later (where a location would appear eerily dark and vacant, and then enemies would emerge from the shadows in droves), but the bland kind of empty where you entered a cave or ruin, only to find out that you’d already defeated all the monsters and emptied all the loot chests. And while Winston had trawled much of Aifam Cove in his search for experience points and Rupees, he was pretty sure he’d never been to the theater before. If he couldn’t control the character on the screen, he wasn’t interested. Speaking of, there wasn’t even a movie playing! The flier had lied. This was so lame. He did find a few pieces of food on the ground, but as far as quest initiatives went, this location was sorely lacking. Maybe he’d stumbled into an incomplete area? A partially programmed quest? With all of Aifam’s problems, and the way even death wasn’t working properly – it was becoming increasingly plausible that they’d released the game as a beta version. Winston felt a surge of derision. This was the sort of thing he’d expect from modders, dirty and greasy characters as they were. Developers were supposed to be above that! The only remotely interesting thing he’d found in the dark theater were a few NPC bodies. One of them had a nice scarf, but when Winston tried to loot it, it fell through him. He gave it a few more attempts, but he couldn’t get it to stay on his shoulders for more than a few seconds. Maybe the bodies were there for clues instead? He gave the fallen woman a critical once-over. She wasn’t, like… glowing yellow, or highlighted or something, so obviously there was nothing of importance here. “Meh,” he muttered. “This is stupid. I have a spawn point to find.” Suddenly, a voice echoed from the darkness! Winston tensed, lightsaber flaring up. "Aaand what did I tell you, the culprit was the baker named after a French wine who had an accomplice in the ivory tower academic writer. Saw it coming from a mile away, Chapter 2 dropped so many blatant hints. Seriously, there was so much foreshadowing that it was practically chiaroscuro." Huh. That didn’t sound like an antagonist. The words were sophisticated enough, but the voice just didn’t have enough malevolence. Honestly, the delivery sounded closer to the introduction of a potential party member or a mission-only ally. But he’d just gotten a new (defunct) party member so recently… that couldn’t be it. Still, the voice sounded… detective-y, and a sleuth-type character would be incredibly useful at this point. Maybe they could discover the location of the respawn marker? He clipped through the wall back to the theater proper, where the voice was continuing to spout lines ( Hey, where did everyone go?). He wasn’t sure how he’d missed an NPC earlier in his area sweep, but the answer was quickly revealed when he scanned the far back row – it was a child NPC, and thus had a smaller scale than usual. Without Detect Life, in this darkness, how could he be expected to notice them? He frowned slightly. Definitely not an antagonist, then; there was a strict no-child violence policy on the games market. On the flipside, children were rarely useful, and they were all disgusting cheaters due to their permanent God Mode state. But he really didn’t have any other leads on this quest... “No, I’m not going to play tag with you,” Winston grandly introduced himself. “Do you know if there’s a quest objective in here or not?” Winston arrives at the quest location only to find it deserted. He discovers a potential quest lead, but it's a child, eww. |
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Post by Gelquie on Apr 13, 2014 15:52:18 GMT -5
Kylie had spent most of the time watching over Bea, even when Bea finally woke up (and consequentially hit Kylie in the face... But at least it helped to snap her out of her trance). Despite her own reservations about... everything, Lucille had helped; she had definitely helped. And she made things a lot calmer... So Kylie was eventually able to calm down slightly herself, and not only help Bea, but get the salt. She left the project with the doors to the others; by the time things had come around, it seemed the others had a good plan for getting out. But then just when things started to seem okay... Liliana was murdered. And according to Neah, she seemed to be strangled. Liliana... Would these killings ever end? How much of the town was left anyway? It had to be more than eight... But the number seemed so much smaller compared to the morning before the murders. She remembered the crowds that she had to wind her way through on her horse, the bustle, the chatter... It changed. It all changed. It still wasn't safe... Would it be safe ever again? Kylie kept close to Lucille and Bea, not daring to go near anyone else. She didn't like to; she wanted the town to be as it was before, with the bustle and chatter, and the small-talk with the faces of those she thought she knew, even if only in passing. Even with the differences she had with the others, she could at least have trusted them when things went wrong. But right now... Now the only person she could fully trust was her mother. Yes, Bea had her problems, but... She was no killer. Kylie knew that for certain. But the fact that was the only thing she knew for certain made Kylie intensely uncomfortable. But soon, the doors opened, and she found herself facing... Morty and another man she didn't recognize. Morty... He was responsible for locking them all in? For the deaths of Miko and Liliana?! (Okay, perhaps the last one was indirect, but... It didn't have to happen at all.) And knowing who else could've died... Kylie glared at him. Sure, perhaps he managed to catch Bardsley... But was it worth this? Eventually, the two ended up running. Putting the bags of salt into her purse, she turned to Beatrix and Lucille. "I'm going back to the stables," Kylie said. "They need tending to. And... Maybe they can help us catch Morty, before he tries killing anyone else. Just... Just as long as we don't put them in dange--." “Evan! Liliana! Kylie! Cheryl!” Came a voice. It was Anna's. Kylie winced at the second name. She didn't know... And Kylie didn't really know how to tell her what had happened in spite of everything that's happened in the past few days... Still, Kylie approached the ghost. Maybe if she counted the dead... There were still more people she could trust. "Anna... They... Lili..." Kylie shook her head. That was no way to form a sentence. "We... We need to stop Morty. He... He's gone too far. He locked us all in and left us to..." Kylie gulped, hating the words she was about to say. "To die..." Kylie finds herself losing her trust in the town, with Bea being the only person she can fully trust. She gets angry at Morty for locking them in, noting that catching Bardsley was his only good move. She decides to go back to the stables, and suggests to Lucille and Bea that they could use the horses to catch Morty, as long as the horses are ultimately safe.
Kylie hears her name shouted out by Anna, and Kylie ponders how to tell her the bad news. She ends up explaining that they need to catch Morty. |
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Apr 13, 2014 16:12:59 GMT -5
Evan could only wonder what was going through the residents' minds once the doors opened to reveal Morty and his brother in law before they were chased out. Of course, with Morty opening up the doors, it definitely ruined any potential plans for the residents to break out. Fortunately, as Anna had brought her vehicle, they had a way to transport the dead bodies of the florist and Liliana Parker to the morgue. As if on cue, Anna called out his name as she entered the theatre, among others. He knew that she wasn't going to be happy when she learned of Liliana's death. "I'm fine, Miss Dywight. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Miss Liliana Parker. She was murdered by the mafia," he told her, looking away slightly as he was telling her the news. With some help from Doctor Stabstrike, they were able to load the bodies into Anna's SUV so that they could be transported to the morgue. When they were finished, Evan decided to head back to his office. He wasn't in the mood to do anything else after the day's events. Those two murders (with Morty's indirect influence) had taken a toll on his body and he was completely stressed out. Evan is unable to look Anna in the eye as he informs her of Liliana's murder. The bodies are loaded into Anna's SUV before Evan heads back to his office. |
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Post by Tiger on Apr 13, 2014 21:28:04 GMT -5
They were stuck waiting for quite a while. Cheryl turned off the camera to conserve its power, and spent the entire time with the hairs on the back of her neck pricking. At least three mafioso ghosts here, and Cheryl was positive she’d heard Piper’s voice as well. She texted an update to Pratchett, and the technician reported no luck so far in finding alternate escapes. Cheryl might have gone snooping herself except that she didn’t want to leave Christopher alone. That turned out to be an incredibly fortunate decision. Liliana Parker, accountant at Aifam Accounting, was murdered when she left the safety of the group. The mafia was as bloodthirsty as the town. Cheryl was starting to consider how best to make a defensive weapon when the doors finally opened. Gunderson’s voice, smug and hated, made Cheryl’s jaw clench. She thought the name Err sounded familiar, but couldn’t place it and didn’t much care to right now. Gunderson had locked them in this theater – the murders of Miko Shamen and Liliana Parker were on his hands just as much as the actual killers’. And finally, the entire town seemed to realize that. Morty and Err ran. Alma Mathers, assistant accountant to Lili Parker, shouted that Morty needed to be restrained, not killed. Cheryl had no intention of following the mob – getting trampled in a stampede was about the last thing on her to-do-list, and despite her fury at the so-called vigilante, she needed to make sure Christopher was all right – and Ris and Coena, if she could find them. A slightly distant but clear shout of Cheryl’s own name caught her attention. Other names had been called, too, and Kylie Devon, horse-lover and daughter of Beatrix Devon, owner of the Stallion Inn and potential alcohol smuggler, approached a spot of air that looked empty to Cheryl. "Anna... They... Lili…We... We need to stop Morty. He... He's gone too far. He locked us all in and left us to...Doctor Parker elaborated, "I'm fine, Miss Dywight. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Miss Liliana Parker. She was murdered by the mafia.”“That’s two people Gunderson’s responsible for. Ms. Devon’s right, we need to stop him.” She scowled out the open theater doors and reluctantly added, “But…Ms. Mathers is right as well. We can’t kill him, much as might serve him right…” Sometimes being an investigative reporter with a solid sense of integrity was more burden than blessing. “All right – I’m going to take Mr. Dylans somewhere safe, and then I’m going to try and stop this mob.” Maybe she could even find him first. “…Is anyone with me?” She couldn’t quite hide the wariness from her voice. Any one of the people in the theater could be part of Winter’s Wrath. So far it had been the least likely suspects who had turned out to be mafiosos…well, okay, Travis hadn’t been a total surprise. The point was – any of the living could be enemies. Some of the dead certainly were. But Cheryl remembered all too well how useless her lone voice had been in saving Miko Shamen. Stopping the mob was going to require more than one person. More than just a few scattered protests, even – they would need teamwork. In this sloppy post, Tiger fights with her keyboard and manages to type the following post: Cheryl decides she’s going after the mob to try and stop them from killing Morty and asks who’s with her. |
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Post by Avery on Apr 13, 2014 22:02:17 GMT -5
It was all very overwhelming for Bea. Her head was still woozy from her fainting spell, and she couldn't even soothe herself with any vodka since Lucille had apparently splashed away what Bea had brought-- and then that Liliana woman turned up dead, and Morty showed up and-- Bea was feeling very light-headed. After Morty and Err ran off, with several of the townspeople in hot pursuit, Bea stood at the doorway of the theatre, breathing in the fresh air, her stomach churning. Behind her somewhere, Cheryl was asking if anybody would help her stop the mob. Logically, Bea knew that perhaps she should agree; whether or not Morty was a terrible person, no one deserved to die at the hands of a venomous lynch mob. But the thought of actively helping him-- of actively doing anything-- right now... "I need to lay down," she announced to no one in particular. "I... I... need this to be over." Stroking the plush fur behind Merry's ears, she glanced back at those still in the theatre-- the ones who hadn't stormed off after Morty and Err. "Nathan?" she called, hoping to see him in the crowd. "N-Nathan, would you like to walk me back to the inn? I'm... I'm not feeling so well..." Bea doesn't like the idea of chasing Morty/Err. She calls into the crowd for Nathan to walk her back to the inn. |
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Post by RielCZ on Apr 13, 2014 22:27:56 GMT -5
(( Before Murder)) He hated this town. He hated these people. And he hated himself. Had Rilen found Miko's leaving during the middle of the film a bit suspicious? Of course he had! But only for second; he'd learned to trust her -- she became really the only person on the island he did trust -- but did anyone else know her and trust her the way he did? Well... considering he had only met her about 2 days ago, probably... but definitely not the majority of the town. Why hadn't he protested her leaving? Why hadn't he just said, "Sit back down... it's better for you this way"? And now he was screaming, and staring at the poor florist, lying in a pool of her own blood. Oh, why hadn't he-- But then a gun was fired; the sound brought him out of his loathing and stupor. Rilen looked around. There were others mourning and screaming, especially over Miko's death. He realized he had been crying. The one who cracked the rifle was speaking of escape and solidarity. Shortly thereafter, what was once chaos and anarchy had turned into initiative; people were banding together in an attempt to escape. Morty's name was mentioned a few times -- he probably had some hand in this, yes. Rilen thought about trying to help the effort, but many roles were already filled. Silently, he supported their actions. The boarder frowned out of contemplation. Maybe his general hatred of the town was unfounded; maybe there were still genuinely good people here. He just hoped there wouldn't be another murder... (( After Murder)) He hated this town. Rilen was sure the newly deceased had attempted to defend Miko's innocence. And now she was dead. He had to get away from it all. He just didn't care anymore. Navigating back inside the theatre, the movie now a distant and traumatizing memory, he returned to his seat. Holding Barbra in his arms, he shut his eyes. Maybe this was all some kind of time-warp -- and he almost smiled at the song, but didn't feel up to it -- dream, and the last 10 or 15 years had never happened. Maybe he was still 10 years old, and rather than Barbra it was popcorn he was clutching. Maybe when he opened his eyes, his sister would be beside him; maybe he had just fallen asleep at another terrible movie. "I swear it's the baker." The words snapped Rilen's eyes open and his feet kicked something under his chair. Had he fallen asleep? He didn't know... but he didn't care. He bent down and retrieved what he kicked; it was Miko's purse. The boarder realized he was sitting in her spot. Oh well, what did that matter now? He opened the purse. The first things he saw were the bars of smuggled food and he managed a weak smile at the thought she tended to bring her own snacks, too; oh, the two could have been the best of friends. And underneath there was an overwhelming amount of money. His eyes widened. He leaned back in his chair and reflected. Miko had handed Rilen the plant and called him her friend; obviously she had wanted for him to take care of Barbra, and having called him her friend there was at least a sense of closure between the three. But what about the "under my mattress" he'd heard her say? Provided he wasn't going crazy, of course... And then commotion came from the lobby. Grabbing the purse and Barbra, he headed in the sound's direction. The doors were open, and Morty and a friend were standing in the doorway. Rilen almost seethed. Of course he was behind this. Locked for our own good? Hysterical. "No, I did not know that." And then Morty claimed all he did was "contain suspects". Rilen could have killed the burger shop proprietor. But what would that have made him? It wasn't long before the two were driven out of the theatre and a hunt began -- finally, some rightfully directed malice. The boarder, carrying Barbra, followed the mob out, but instead hurried down Fawlton to Seeds of Love. He had to figure out what this mattress thing was. He went to the back and entered the kitchen where she had made the pizza. There were two doors leading elsewhere; he opened one. It was a tiny pantry; on the floor there seemed to be a picture of Miko, but she looked... different, somehow. Picking it up, he turned it over; "Princess" was etched onto the backside. He tossed it down. Rilen opened the other door. After walking a brief flight of stairs, he came upon a bedroom. "What're we going to find in here?" he said to Barbra. There was a bed; setting the plant down he looked in between the two mattresses of which it was comprised. More money. Tons of it. Enough to "go somewhere warm." What an empty proposal that was, now. He supposed he was not crazy, that she had willed him to have the money after her death. Almost crying again, he took some of it and placed it in the purse. Picking up Barbra, he navigated back toward the staircase. But then he stopped. On the wall was a picture of Miko. She looked happy. He put that in the purse, too. Returning to the storefront, Rilen frowned. He had to do something for Miko, didn't he? Sure he liked gardening, but didn't think he was competent enough to run the enterprise or something-- And then a different idea came to him. "Babra, forgive me for this," he told the -- his, he supposed, though it would be weird admitting it -- plant as he plucked 10 of the most beautiful flowers he could find in the shop and stuffed them in the purse. Retrieving his -- that was still weird -- most precious plant, he returned to the theatre. Returning to Miko's body, he took the flowers he had picked. Three covered her throat wound. The rest he scattered around her. She didn't look so morbid, now. "Thank you... for everything," he said to the florist. Finally, he could put his mind at-- No. His mind definitely was not at ease. But, he had attempted to return a favor, and there was now a deeper sense of closure. Hugging Barbra tightly, he said to her, "I will never let you of my sight. As long as I'm around, nothing bad will ever happen to you." Shortly thereafter the bodies were taken away to the morgue. Rilen stepped outside. There was a man there, looking dazedly inside the theatre. He appeared to be new to the island and Rilen approached him. "Trust me," the boarder suggested. "You don't want to know what's going on in this town." He started wandering off, wondering if there was something he could or should do. Before Lili's murder, Rilen says he hates the town, but gradually calms down as he realizes a lot of people seem to be as sad as he is, and many also taking some initiative to break free.
After the murder, Rilen discovers Miko's purse with money. He wanders up to Seeds of Love and looks under Miko's mattress, as instructed. There, he finds more money.
Out of thanks, and for some closure, he takes some flowers from the shop and adorns Miko's body with them before it is taken away.
He then tells a guy he thinks is new to the island, "You don't want to know what's going on here," before wandering away, trying to decide whether he should attempt to find something somewhat productive to do. If I took too much liberty with anyone's characters - especially Miko - please tell me. |
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Post by Rosalie Dylas (Maddy) on Apr 13, 2014 22:57:56 GMT -5
Christopher had waited outside. “Christopher, I'm here!He was about to do as he was instructed but then two people walked up the movie theater. He didn't regonize them but if everyone inside was right then one of them had to be Morty Gunderson. They didn't seem to notice him and he had no desire to make them notice him. He stayed quiet as they opened the door. Then everyone almost jumped on Morty just like they had to Miko. We can't kill him,"Miss Alma! Her voice soothed him. She was right. The town was going to kill Morty. Just like they had killed Miko. They couldn't. Through whispers and frantic words he heard that Liliana Parker was dead. No. She wasn't. It was a sick joke. Liliana Parker was alive. She didn't die in a bathroom in a movie theater. She was still alive. She was holding teddy bears and having a sweet voice. No one else was going to die. Miko was the last one. Liliana was not dead. He didn't see Ris or Coena. He felt a little anxious. They would be ok, Ris and Coena were always ok, right? He was tired. Tired of saying no one else would die and then someone else dying. Liliana couldn't be dead. Miko couldn't be dead, but he had watched her die. “All right – I’m going to take Mr. Dylans somewhere safe, and then I’m going to try and stop this mob.”Cheryl! He found her in the crowd pouring out of the movie theater. Alma and Cheryl could stop the town. Morty wouldn't have to die. Safe. "Safe?" he asked, his voice small, "A church is supposed to be safe Miss Lewis." He had difficulty saying that. "The safest place is with you. Please, don't make me go somewhere alone." Super short post. Christopher waits to give Anna the signal but Morty shows up. Christopher is upset like always. |
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Post by icon on Apr 13, 2014 23:33:12 GMT -5
A voice rang out in the movie theater, catching Ris's attention. “No, I’m not going to play tag with you. Do you know if there’s a quest objective in here or not?” I cleared my pipes and looked around for the voice. Oh great, another ghost. He floated in like a great billowing of stormclouds, acting like he owned the place but liable to be blown away at a moment's notice. He seemed to be wanting to put on the screws and get some information out of me, but his screws were more misplaced than anything.I still don't like working with the supernatural; like I said, it's more trouble than it's worth.But the phrasing of those words "quest objective" hung in the back of Ris's mind like a pendulum, swinging back and forth- and somewhere, in the crevices of her thoughts, the pendulum set a few gears in motion. Ris reached into her trenchcoat and felt the comfortable weight of her smartphone. She knew she shouldn't pull up that site again, she told Christopher she wouldn't, and a detective had nothing if she didn't have her word. But on the other hand..."Alright, Mr. Hero-whoever-you-are," she began diplomatically. "We need to figure out who the people behind these murders are and crack the case. Now, I've got an ace up my sleeve but I don't want to risk shooting a hole in the cards, because the last time I gave it a look the whole town blew a fuse, and I do mean that literally." She stopped to unwrap another stick of gum and pop it into her mouth. "If we want to get this done properly, I'm gonna need you to get me some research, maybe some books down from the Library, perhaps. Get me... I need..." Her mind raced, trying to recall what information she had picked up over the past few days. "Get me information on the town of Wafflenet." I have to say, I'm kind of curious as to whether people actually read these spoilers or not Ris meets Winston's ghost and sends him on a fetch quest to get information on a town which we've almost certainly never heard of before, nope |
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Post by Lizica on Apr 14, 2014 1:06:54 GMT -5
((Beg your pardon while Lizica writes a huge post
that attempts to cover a bunch of stuff she's missed. xD)) --Before Miko's lynching--"Ah... Ms. Boudreaux, please don't yell. It's very disruptive. This isn't really the time or place to discuss such things, anyway."Ooh. Ooh!Why, that slimy, unctuous, sanctimonious little scumbag!"Don't talk to me about suitable times or places!" Piper cried. "You killed me before I could photograph Webster! And when I get my hands on you, you'll wish you hadn't already died!" Piper flailed uselessly in the theatre wall making threatening gestures at Bardsley--thoroughly frustrated that Snipe Hunt wouldn't let her phase into the building and pummel this self-righteous ghost straight into the concrete--but then someone else sidled up beside her. " What?" Piper snapped. “Susie's a peeping tom. I decided that she'd be one of the best people to team up with. She just loved carrying around cameras to spy on the residents. And what better person to help with some killing? We made quite the team – in the bedroom too.”..Oh. Travis. Piper took a calming breath. “I don't care how, but you find out who decided to play this idiotic movie, and you get rid of them ," he instructed. "Movie's awful, waste of time, I agree with you there," she murmured. "Tell the others if you need the help, but I don't want the stupid fool who planned this alive at the end. I'd have killed them all if I could even pick up my freaking knife!”Travis then gave her a curt nod and headed back to his date, leaving Piper stuck in the wall, alone. "H-hey, wait a minute! Travis!" she hissed, in a much quieter tone than her prior Bardsley-bashing. "Why do I--ugh, honestly, I still have to catch--At least--At least whack that stuck-up professor for me, will you?" Making a frustrated sound, Piper finally pulled herself out of the theatre wall and massaged her sore arm. Snipe Hunt's bells gave a bright chime of greeting. " I'd've taught that professor a lesson if you'd let me," she told it. Piper scolded herself. Why had she wanted to find out what was going on at the theatre, anyway? No one had bothered to call her via her ghost phone to let her know about new meetings. She could have continued hunting Webster just fine all by herself, while everyone was locked in the cinema--but now that she'd been there, she'd been given a job to do, and that was just infuriating. There went her whole afternoon. Ugh, fine. Regardless of what Travis said, tracking down the person responsible for this movie screening was likely important in some way. Judging by the chains on the front door, it likely had to be someone not present at the movie showing. Where to start? The ugly flyers? Piper floated to one of the nearby buildings--the Post & Banking--and poked her head in. Sure enough, little hideous movie flyers plastered the walls and peeked from dozens of P.O. boxes. Who sent them? Where had they been printed? The Aifam Cove Post & Banking had several security cameras in place around the establishment. From the corner of her eye, Piper caught the flickering recording light of the one above her head, and she swept her gaze up toward it with a scowl. The camera abruptly swiveled upwards, pointing uselessly at the ceiling. ...That was odd. Well, anyway, whoever was the mysterious "benefactor" of the free movie, they had had little sense of style or decency, and they'd had to have had an outrageous amount of time in order to advertise all around town. Piper decided to go back to the theatre to see who was absent from the idiotic moviegoing throng. Along the way, she gazed in the direction of Sirensong Beach and wondered vaguely if Webster would return to digging faux burrows, now that he knew she was still around. She still needed to figure out how to take photographs. How could she take practical photos? Her supply of memory cards was limited. She couldn't afford to experiment with her own equipment any more. Piper arrived back at the cinema and again wound Snipe Hunt around her wrist and phased through the wall to have a discreet look. ...Well. It seemed they'd killed the florist. That wasn't going to let the townspeople escape. Piper still had a little time, she supposed. Looking over the crowd and the chaos, she noted the absence of several people (good for them, not wasting time at the movies), and also-- That fish lady lifted a popcorn machine and hurled it at--yes!! ...Oh, shoot, Bardsley wasn't even affected. He looked slightly bewildered, but in fact, he looked downright smug. "Throw another one at him!" Piper cried. Then, remembering she was supposed to be keeping a low profile, she ducked back out of the wall and evaluated the people she had noticed missing. It would be a terrible bother to track every single one down to their houses. Piper didn't have time for that. Maybe if she could multitask, working on her Webster problem while still somewhat working on the Hunger Games culprit, Travis would be mollified? ...Okay, that was highly unlikely. Still. The way the townspeople were acting, whoever had set up the free movie wasn't likely to be alive for much longer anyway, with or without Piper's help. So, how could she-- Piper had a sudden thought. Looking into her Webster problems while simultaneously checking in on someone who hadn't been at the screening? She hadn't been too keen on going there before her death. But as a ghost, maybe dead-eyed cameras and zombie copiers were exactly what she needed right now. Piper highly doubted that Pratchett would have had the gall or the lack of artistry to send out ugly flyers. In fact, she truly hoped that he hadn't. He still had her corrupted Webster photo, after all. But going there was an excellent excuse to go examine dead cameras. A block away, a tremendous commotion erupted from the doors of the cinema. Piper, meanwhile, curled Snipe Hunt's camera strap around the door handle of Channel 24 News Studio & Associates, and quietly let herself inside. Piper continues her furious tirade against Bardsley, but her insults get sidetracked when Travis gives her a mafia mission (to kill the movie benefactor). She goes to the Post & Banking to look over the horrible flyers again, then returns to the theatre to see which of the townspeople are not there.
After doing some rationalizing, Piper decides to check out the creepy dead cameras at the Channel 24 News Studio. |
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Post by PFA on Apr 14, 2014 1:27:23 GMT -5
By the time Jonathan got to the Aifam Moviehouse, it was already too late. Morty Gunderson and some other man he didn't recognize had thrown open the doors, saying something about protecting the town from all the murders. Which, of course, he had done an absolutely abysmal job of—aside from the blood on Morty's own hands, apparently two people had died in that theatre while he was fetching his apparent brother-in-law. Jonathan was not happy. First off, he had skipped class in hopes to rescue his childhood friend, who had cryptically told him on the phone of the urgency of the ordeal. It was only made worse when apparently two people had died. Oh no... it wasn't Cassidy, was it? Was Cassidy okay? Rushing past Morty and Err, Jonathan ran into the theatre, searching for his friend. Thankfully, he spotted her quickly, still waiting in the lobby. She looked thoroughly sickened by the events, but she brightened a bit when she saw her friend. "Cassidy! Oh, thank 'Woo!" Jonathan exclaimed, running over to her. "Are you alright?" "Jonathan!" As her friend approached, Cassidy wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. "I'm fine, but two people were murdered... I-I shouldn't have come..." Jonathan frowned, gently hugging back. "Hey, hey, it's okay... you're safe now." The mob was furious with Morty, and Jonathan couldn't help but feel the same. The man had murdered people in cold blood, and now was locking people inside buildings, all in the name of so-called "justice"... this had gone too far. Morty and Err fled, several townspeople chasing after them. Some stayed behind and discussed ways to convince the mob not to kill Morty, even though he more than deserved it at this point. "Whatever we do, he needs to be stopped," Jonathan spoke up. "That man's shed more blood than the mafia themselves at this rate." "We can't kill him! Killing him would make us just as bad," Cassidy insisted. "Besides, I... I'm so sick of death. I don't want anyone else to die." "If we can capture him alive, we should," Jonathan assured her. "But, at the same time... it might be for the best if he died. Because then he couldn't kill anyone else, right?" "No! We can't—" A familiar chuckle echoed from the back of the room, causing both Cassidy and Jonathan to tense. Cassidy already knew he was there, but Jonathan was surprised when he looked back to see the ghost of Professor Bardsley, standing in the corner of the room. He'd already heard rumors of the existence of ghosts, but what bothered him more was that Bardsley looked... amused, of all things. "Why... why are you laughing?" Jonathan questioned. "Oh, don't mind me. This is very entertaining to watch," Professor Bardsley replied simply, in a smooth tone that surprised Jonathan. "To kill or not to kill? A difficult decision, to be sure... but does it really matter? We've already seen that it's not just Gunderson out for blood, and it's very hard to stop an angry mob." He indicated Miko's body, as it was being carried off to the morgue. "Also, as for your theory, I wouldn't be so quick to assume that death would stop him. That man is nothing if not determined, after all..." "Just... just shut up, will you?" Cassidy growled. "Just shut up!" Professor Bardsley just smiled, floating past them and toward the exit. "I think I'd like to see how Gunderson is faring, anyway. It should make for quite a show..." Jonathan just stood agape, watching silently as the professor left the building. What... what was that? He'd watched the man die, he knew that he was in the mafia, but... he'd never seen Bardsley act so completely cold before. "We need to do something," Cassidy muttered, snapping Jonathan out of his thoughts. "We can't just stand here while people die. We need to do something." "What do you suggest we do?" Jonathan asked. Cassidy pulled away from her friend, turning to Cheryl. "You wanted to try and stop the mob, right? Maybe... maybe I can help." Jonathan arrives at the theatre just in time to see Morty and Err open the doors. He rushes inside to find Cassidy, relieved that she's alright. They discuss whether or not Morty should die, when Professor Bardsley interjects, telling them that it probably won't matter either way. Cassidy tells him to shut up, and Bardsley wanders off to watch the mob. Cassidy offers to help Cheryl stop the mob from killing Morty. |
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Post by Draco on Apr 14, 2014 1:49:19 GMT -5
Jack returns to his office a bit annoyed. Once again he was ignored. He knows they could hear him, at least most of them. Yet there they go ignoring him again. How dare they. Maybe it was time to pass that law about having to hang squids from their doors... Not sure where it came from, but he was getting annoyed enough to pass something that stupid... On second thought, that would smell to much... He looked at the desk upon entering the office, noticing the envelope that wasn't there when he left. He opens it, and once again, he is shinned in a unnatural light. However, this time there was nothing written on the paper, in fact there was no paper. Just the light! And rose petals... Rose petals swirling around the room... And a voice... " Ohho! You ignored my last letter! So let me invite you again! I am from another town, where we have gathered the best looking men, who happened to be ghosts, and together we created a host club. A G-Host club if you will. Haha, I came up with that myself, do you like it? Hey where are you going? Get back here! My disembodied voice isn't done talking to you! Come back!!!" Jack was floating out of the room annoyed. Just what he needed, some weird voice bothering him about some weird job. "Come on Mayor Rocky, you're staying at my place tonight." " Oh, that's pretty forward of you. But I prefer women. Any cute girls I can stay over at instead?" "..." Jack stares at the rock unsure what just happened. Ignoring the fact there was a blond, nicely dressed ghost floating behind him, who was holding a rose and sparkles glittered around him like mini fireworks. " Mayor. Yes, I can work with that." Jack was frozen, speechless... --- Afe was somewhere. Where exactly was unsure. He was once again staring at some crabs... Jack has a unexpected guest.... ghost... g-host?
--
Afe is hanging out with crabs! |
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Post by Celestial on Apr 14, 2014 8:04:20 GMT -5
And another one bit the dust. Lucille gritted her teeth. All her efforts to keep people together were wasted. But that was the nature of the mafia, they would have taken any opportunity. Luckily, they did not have to wait long. Before the panic could spread fully, Morty returned with a friend. And oh boy, nobody was happy with him. Lucille considered shooting the man there and then to save them the trouble but...she could not bring herself. Morty was an idiot and a murderer but she had standards: she was not him nor was she one of the mafia. She saw Kylie get up from Bea's side and talk to Anna as the latter issued a battlecry. Lucille sighed and got up as well. She holstered the gun she was going to shoot Morty with and wrapped her arms around Kylie, giving her a soothing kiss. At least she was alive. For how long, Lucille did not know but here, right now, Kylie was in her arms. She might have been tired and weak from the killing but her heart was still beating. She could almost feel it as she pressed the girl against her. "Hush. We all die in the end, that is the will of the Weewoo. But just because that's true doesn't mean we should let Morty or the mafia kill us, or that we should kill them," she whispered soothingly in her ear. "You should look after yourself, Kylie. I'm so scared that one day, I'm going to find you as a corpse. I don't know what I would do. You go back with your mother and Nathan to the inn if you wish, I won't stop you...but I'd be happier if you came with me. You don't have to take part in the hunt like I'm planning to but I can't let either of you go. But whatever you choose, don't die," she bit her lip for a moment, feeling just a touch vulnerable. It was not a feeling she was comfortable with. "I don't want you to die." Lucille looked up at both Anna and Cheryl as she separated from Kylie and took out her gun. "I'm coming with you to hunt Gunderson." With that, she followed the mob out of the theatre and in pursuit of Morty. ---- Diana Pallada drifted through the town along Main Street, her white ghost disguised amidst the snow. Around her, there were no people, nobody. She would have called it a ghost town but that would imply the presense of ghosts. Whatever had happened here happened quickly and suddenly. It was fascinating to her as her mind ran through the various disappearances of recent memory. There had always been legends of ghost ships and unexplained phenomena where all people had disappeare but never on such a wide scale. She drifted further down the town and turned right, hoping to investigate further. Her hopes were dashed however as the mob poured out of the theatre in pursuit of Morty. Oh, wonderful, it was simply the plebian masses enjoying a show that was now over, Diana thought. For a second she was disappointed that her return was not greeted by a mystery. However, as she observed the mob, she noticed their wild looks, the murderous intent in their eyes and how generally edgy they were. They had the look of the mob who had thrown her to her death in Wafflenet and eventually killed her comrades. Diana had to resist the urge to squeal. She was far better than that and she was not allowed to get excited without proof that this was an identical phenomenon as the one she had encountered, provoked and studied in Wafflenet. First she had to gather evidence but if she was lucky, if this was indeed a similar phenomenon then...well, this could easily form her second magnum opus. A continuation of her research onto the collapse of society in small towns. First she poked her head into the almost empty theatre. A ghost was drifting away from it and she ignored him for now. Inside, there was another ghost, a few people and a child. As well as, urgh, undergraduates. However, what the children said was almost like music to her ears. "Wafflenet?" she exclaimed to Ris, drifting into focus in the doorway. A grin split her face. "I am the expert on Wafflenet. For full information, I will direct you to my monograph but I can give you a quick summary, since I expect you will be too stupid to understand it. Wafflenet came about as a result of a provoking factor, that is the Wafflenet Mafia, pulling at the right threads to destabilise the town. It is commonly known even by your sort that in a tragedy humans look for a scapegoat, as they did in the Black Plague by burning witches and killing cats, and Wafflenet was no exception. They killed their own in a desperate panic to try and eliminate us, which resulted in the breakdown of the fabric of the society of the town, paradoxically in an attempt to restore order. It culminated in an irreversible collapse of the infrastructure and social constructs of the town." She laughed loudly as she remembered it and adjusted her glasses. "It was beautiful. History in the making and I cannot tell you how proud I am of being part of it! But of course, as even the layperson knows, history repeats itself? If that is what is happening here..." Diana took in the scene. The splatters of blood, the signs of bodies. Yes, it was!" Then I have no time to waste! I must keep researching!" Lucille comforts Kylie and tells her that she does not want to her to die, admitting some vulnerability on her part before telling Anna and Cheryl she is coming with them to hunt down Morty and runs on after the mob to go get him.
Diana sees the mob run out of the theatre and recognises the murderous intent in their eyes. She heards Ris mention 'Wafflenet' and gives a brief, incomplete summary of her research. She then goes giddy at the prospect that now history is repeating itself and says she must do research on this town too. |
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Post by Tiger on Apr 14, 2014 9:13:19 GMT -5
((A small cubicle in a large tower))”…All right, all right. Everyone else is starting, and I guess there’s not a lot of time left. You can access the roleplay. Happy?”“Finally! And no – I’m never happy. Especially not with you.” Rapid, almost inhumanely rapid, typing filled the cubicle for a brief moment, like a flock of some sort of terrible birds made of typewriters had spooked and taken sudden flight. There was a long, long silence that followed, broken only by the click of a mouse or the slight squeak of the office chair as its occupant shifted his position. At last, he finished reading. “Y’know how much I hate bein’ rude - “ There was an italicized snort. “But you guys’re doing a terrible job. And you let Pallada come back?” ”Look, are you going to complain about every character and every decision or are you going to actually do something to help out?”“Just how're you planning on me doing that? I’m not allowed to help, remember?” “Help in universe , you smug – ...Why am I even explaining this to you? You know what I need you to do. Just get on it, all right?”“Fine, fine.” He waved the italics away and rolled his eyes. All four of them. It didn’t look quite as impressive as it sounded, because each eye was pure red and had no distinct iris from sclera. He had no nose, either. These lacking features didn’t really bother him much – people seemed to get an idea how he was feeling even without them. Tapping a few commands into his computer and adjusting his headphone set, Metastophelous, demonic representative of Purgatory, Inc., added, “By the way, Tiger – nice try replacing me with Pratchett. It’s almost cute how much you missed me. Let’s see if Angelo’s missed me, too!” ------- ((The Aifam Moviehouse))"Safe? A church is supposed to be safe Miss Lewis." Cheryl winced – but it was true. She’d been thinking that the studio would be the best place, where Pratchett could look out for him, but was that really any safer than the crowded church, where so many people should have been just feet away? …Travis’s speech. That was a distraction, wasn’t it? She shoed the stray, ultimately unimportant thought aside. ”The safest place is with you. Please, don't make me go somewhere alone."Cheryl Roxanne Lewis…was not so sure she deserved that sort of faith. It had been her stupid idea to bring Christopher to this theater, when it was so obviously a trap and so obvious bad things would happen. But he’d spoken of the church. And how did Cheryl know sending Christopher to the studio would be any better a decision than her choice to take him to the theater? “You’re right, Chris…but if it gets dangerous, get out of there, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.” Her request for help did not go unanswered – Cassidy, a student at Prettyboy, and the habit-less Lucille, agreed to help. Cheryl didn’t know if she could trust either of them – but it had to be better than going alone. She followed Lucille out of the theater, hastily typing an update message to Pratchett. At least the technician could stop looking at old theater footage now. ------- ((Channel 24 News and Associates))Pratchett snatched up the phone as soon as it lit up, giving it no chance to vibrate against the table. Cheryl’s message was short and full of typos, but Pratchett managed to interpret it – “It was Morty. Mob’s on him. Going to stop them from killing. Any help??” “I’m not a miracle-worker, Cheryl!” Pratchett snapped at the phone. Radio-turned-television technicians couldn’t exactly track people through the streets through the power of manipulating satellites like people did in the movies. This was real life, with its ghosts and velociraptors and monstrous ghost crabs who evaded nature photographers and speaking of nature photographers, one of Pratchett’s security cameras showed another camera hovering near the studio door handle, before it abruptly twisted upward to stare at the sky. Well, that was interesting. Pratchett hadn’t even known the camera stalk could turn that way. Pratchett, being a particular sort of technician, never forgot a camera. Faces, sometimes; voices, occasionally; but never cameras. Especially not cameras that had been right in this very office, right in the same hands now rewinding the footage to double-check that the camera had, indeed, been floating. It had, indeed, been floating. So that answered a few questions, and that was nice, but it raised a couple very pertinent ones as well. Like, what was Piper Boudreaux doing here? Was she after revenge or her corrupted Webster photo or something else all together? Would any ghostly abilities she’d gained in the afterlife affect Pratchett? …Was it worth it to try asking her any of this, or would it be better to stay quiet and hope the mafia ghost was just stopping in to take a tour of the lower floors? Option number two would definitely be safer. If she gets mad I am sort of stuck here. Probably best to hunker down in here with some coffee and do a little research on ghost repelling. Yep.Then again, Pratchett was a little tired of Cheryl having all the fun. The technician tapped the intercom button. “Piper Boudreaux, you dirty, child-killing scumbag! What brings you here, other than disappointing someone else with your continued existence?” More wall-mounted cameras twisted away from the hovering camera as Piper presumably moved past them, some in ways Pratchett suspected they weren’t supposed to bend. A thought occurred to the technician; gleefully, Pratchett asked, “Is your camera still giving you trouble, Pipes?” Metastophelous prepares to call in one of his clients. Cheryl prepares to go after the mob. Pratchett sees Piper (well, Piper’s camera) enter the studio and makes the potentially unwise choice to talk to her over the intercom and ask if her camera is still giving her trouble.
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