⇨ THE GAME CUBE

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone who gets caught in the game.
When: Day 97
Where: Hellbound Hallows, the game inside of a cube inside of a city inside of a computer.
What: On Day 97, a massive Game Cube drops on the city of Mainframe, forcing those caught inside to fight against the User for their lives. This log is 100% Hellbound Hallows gameplay. Plotting deets are here.
Warnings: Diablo-esque violence, characters dying, and edgy video game aesthetic gore.

HELLBOUND HALLOWS↴ The Game Cube drops close to the entrance of the carnival - so much so that it will end up pulling a lot of people from it in, out of sheer terrible luck. Alternatively, your character may have seen it coming down and understood what allowing the programs to fail would mean, dashing in to be caught beneath it out of sheer heroism. Maybe you entered the game for some reason in between. Either way, once the walls of the Cube have passed you, you'll find yourself in a new reality. You find yourself somewhere in the levels of a dungeon crawling game with a dark aesthetic. Some binomes and sprites from the city have been pulled in with you, and all oft them know what to do. It's time to Reboot. Use the icon button the Ringmaster gave each of you. Tap it twice and say "Reboot", and you'll be able to assume your new form. Maybe it's useful, maybe it's not, but it's probably better than nothing. Probably. Now, figure out where you fit in to the structure of setting, and wait for the Game to begin. ► LEVEL ONE: Level one is where the Users will enter. With a cold blue aesthetic, it appears to be some manner of underground fortress, filled with many hallways and grand archeways. In a standard game, the enemies here would be theoretically the easiest to defeat, but you are under no obligation to follow those rules. Level one is ruled over by Sora, rebooted into the form of a vampiric overlord. He must be defeated in order for the Users to gain access to level two. ► LEVEL TWO: The colour pallet shifts to purple here, the corridors becoming darker and only lit with scattered braziers and the occasional stream of lava. Banners and tapestries depicting some hellish god line the walls. The traps here are primarily fire based, with lava traps or geysers of flame becoming more common. Level two is ruled over by Yamato, who has rebooted into the form of a fiery hellbeast. He must be defeated to access level three. ► LEVEL THREE: As the colours shift into a sickly green, the Users will reach the final level. The architecture is shaped based on the screaming faces of the damned, and the rooms are large and dramatic, filled with vast obelisks and deep chasms. Subterranean plant life haunts the floors and shadows of this place, and poison traps become deadly and common. Level three is ruled over by the man Gongenzaka, the final boss of of the game. If he is defeated, the Users have won. Do not let this happen.

Comments

STEVEN UNIVERSE | LEVEL 2 | OTA

[starseedling]

► LOG IN, REBOOT
Steven didn't have to be here, really. He could have stayed out of the Cube's radius if he tried. Yet, seeing that there were still people caught in range, and remembering the results of the disaster they'd arrived right after - well, it'd been an impulsive decision. After the Game has closed in around them, he can't help but wonder if he's made the right choice.

He'd really hate to end up leaving everything behind because of something that was completely his own fault.

At any rate, there was no point in dwelling on it now. He's found himself uploaded onto the second level of the dungeon, and he can see some of the nearby programs taking in their surroundings as well. He doesn't know how, but he's already starting to understand what the purpose of this game will be. He's played stuff like this before, though not quite as... grim. He sees some of the binomes nearby start to Reboot, abruptly reminding him that it's what you're supposed to do once you're in a Game.

Biting his lip, he lets out a slow breath, and then taps his icon.

"Reboot!"

A flash of light lifts over his body, and just as quickly as it passes, he's uploaded his new form from the game. Everything suddenly looks a lot taller as he finds himself having abruptly become a quadruped - and not one much bigger than his proportional size as a humanoid. He's become a particularly tiny manticore, with bat wings and a scorpion's tail, who mostly manages to look inappropriately huggable and not intimidating in the slightest.

It kind of catches him off guard, and he drops onto his butt a few moments later, jolted into letting out a funny sounding lion cub noise.


► GAME START
Having to figure out how to work four legs isn't really helping him get prepped for the game to start. He knows the Users must be coming soon. He didn't learn a lot about this whole business, but he knows enough to guess that much. He asks a few of the locals some questions before clumsily scampering off to try to find some of the other from the carnival.

"Guys? It's Steven! Is anybody here?!" They have to work together, right? The best thing he can do is try to help fortify with the others, and they might not totally recognize him at first. Now that he's got horns and wings and stuff.

Boy, is he ever nervous about this. He doesn't know how many people got caught within the Game's range, but if any of his friends are here he wants to find them right away.

[whattaprick]

"Up here." While Steven is scampering down a corridor, he'll hear a familiar, surly voice -- surlier than usual, even by Lambert's usual standards -- from about six feet above his current line of sight.

If the voice wasn't enough to give it away, it's a recognizably gargoyle-shaped Lambert perched on that pedestal, arms up and clawed fingers curled menacingly, frozen in a pose that looks like he's just about to leap onto the ground below ... except he isn't. In fact, he's solidly frozen in place. His face isn't even moving, though his voice comes through clearly enough. Whatever weird magic shit in this world at work, he can at least be glad he isn't mute again.

[stillwinningthehardway]

"Here. Of course you ended up cute," Scout says sourly. "Why am I surprised?"

She hangs back so at a glance just might be someone on a horse with a long spiky tail. But there's the green glow of the three firey eyes and the long, spindly arms, and... yeah.

GAME....ALMOST END....

[otoko]

[There is an eerie feeling in the air, like pinpricks running up every scale along his back. Gongenzaka's wings are shuddering every now and then, and the desire to dive into this hole and do 'something' (what, he can't be sure) is growing ever stronger. It seems this game is coming near to a point of ending. It is coming down to a point where it will become all or nothing, Win or Loss. It makes even him nervous-something he does his best to keep to himself, claws twitching as he looks around the room and waits.

And listens. Is that who he thinks it is? A familiar voice at the end of the hall toward his arena, echoing off the walls. He hears it again, and his many heads focus on the doorway, peering forward.]

Steven? [he rumbles, voice loud despite any attempts to leave it 'welcoming' for any allies.]

Is that you?

[mirrortide]

Steven is probably more stable on four legs than Lapis on hooves, though it hardly deters the Gem-Turned-Demon from swooping down from a higher level to scoop him up into a tight hug.

It's probably a little awkward on account of her new anatomy and Stevens', his size not withstanding either.

"Steven! You're here!" She sounds unbelievably relieved at that. "Are you okay? Did you get caught up in this place like I did? How do we get out?"

[periphrasing]

Peridot hears him. It'd be pretty much impossible to not hear him, since the form she has rebooted into has ears so large she could probably pick up a TV signal with them.

He might even hear her before he sees her, because from down the corridor, there's the frantic flapping of wings, and then a name being called with steadily increasing volume as the source of it draws nearer:

"sssssssttttTTEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVEEENNNNNNNN--"

Peridot comes tearing around the corner and nearly blows right past him, she's flying so fast. Her rebooted form is that of a plucky little imp, bright green, and only about the size of a housecat.

"Steven? Steven where are you!?!" She frantically turns this way and that in the air, and it doesn't occur to her to look down at quadruped height.

[drrdrrdrr]

"Heyyy, Steven, lookin' good!" Amethyst is trying to cover up some low-key concern about how this is going to shake out with a hefty dose of good cheer, but the compliment is nonetheless entirely earnest. It takes a little while for her to wobble into view, and... well, it's probably a good thing that Steven is used to seeing her face on things that aren't strictly Amethyst shaped, because the shape she is right now is just... kind of... square. Her gem floats in the middle of a translucent purple cube of slime, and one way or another she's managed to manifest her face on the outside of it because of course she has.

"Check it out, I'm jell-o!" She grins, her teeth just kind of appearing I guess when she opens her mouth. "Kinda not really sure how I'm supposed to fight anyone like this, but, uh, I guess I can roll with it. Or... y'know..." she wobbles for emphasis, "not roll..."

GONGENZAKA | LEVEL 3 BOSS | OTA

[betheman]

[-TapTap- IS THIS THING ON]

MMNFG- [He did not expect this. Not at all-Gongenzaka looks around from where he was caught in the very center of the cube and swallows, his robot-like body clashing greatly with the shades of green.]

SNUH! [Barks 'Suzu' as the realm shifts. It is difficult not to contain any panic, at least for the puppy, but Gongenzaka pats down the somewhat shiny 'dog', looking around. So, this is the Game...this is a dangerous situation indeed, he thinks to himself. And he only sees so many Biomes with him at that. Indeed, though he is certain judging by the room that there should be more than just them, it is a daunting image.

Still, he remembers what they were told. He taps Suzu first, after taking her as far from the 'entry' to the room as he can.] Do not worry, Suzu...this will help to keep you safe, hmm? REBOOT!

[There is a slight yip, and Gongenzaka has to jump as the dog abruptly morphs into some sort of thorned plant. It gives a muffled bark however-and so, Gongenzaka sighs in relief. Well...that at least proves the snubull is alright.

Then, that leaves himself. He takes a deep breath, facing the doorway with a determined frown.] REBOOT!

[...What happens next is quite unexpected. The earth beneath him crumbles-in the same moment that a flash of light blinds him, he feels his body abruptly shift significantly. Everything is tiny, minuscule, and more importantly 'scattered'. It is as if...] A-

AUHH!!

[As if he has gained another head. Or...Four, really. It is ironic, but his closest friend would likely see him now and be reminded of something quite familiar in the worst of ways if he were there...but for now, Gongenzaka finds himself a legless, long-tailed dragon, most of him hidden within a cavernous hole in the ground. A significant gap sits between his body and the edge of it-and as for Gongenzaka himself, he now bears an enormous wingspan, and menacing claws on muscled forelimbs. Five heads, one hooded, two from his shoulders, and two from the wings, stare downward with beady eyes, and the entire body seems somehow comprised of cruel plants. Thorns, blood, petals...they coat him entirely, and he looks himself over with wide eyes.

...Well.

They certainly did say there would be no way to predict the form but...] Th-This is...

Is this truly what I, the man Gongenzaka, am to work with..!?

[Not that it's bad, persay, but as the information fills his mind...

...Something feels very unique about all of this!!]

[MUFFLEDBOSSTHEMEINTHEBACKGROUND]

[Obviously, that is not his actual Boss MusicWith the Game started, Gongenzaka finds himself...Stuck. Everyone needs to work together, but it feels to him as if he's in a large dead end. Not to mention, unable to move. There is a 'feeling' in the back of his mind. A feeling that tells him he'll need to eventually duck into the very hole he's sitting in in fact, as soon as...

The dragon's many eyes flicker, and he finds the urge to do so overwhelming. As soon as the Player(s) are in range, is the answer. Within an instant he's under the ground, and all that remains of him is the end of a tail, coiled up into the air in the mimicry of a tree.

When the players come in to inspect it...a rumble passes through the ground. Earth shuffles and breaks in cube-like fragments, as the players are crudely thrown to the ground in what the Users will call a 'cutscene'. The dragon's enormous form breaks the earth where his 'hole' would be-and a roar passes through his five throats, wings dropping bloodied petals in his wake as a tail decorated with pixelated vines and leaves trails behind him. He circles the 'arena' once...and then dives into the hole, before rising back upward.

The Boss is here. And with another roar-]

SAHH! SO THIS TRULY IS THE END THEN? [He 'questions', looking down upon the challenger team.] THEN I, THE MAN GONGENZAKA, SHALL FACE YOU!

[Some time ago, he was slotted into the 'villain' role for a duel as a show...

...As he reminds himself of the people of Mainframe however, acid brewing in his mouths, he feels far more 'suited' for it. This 'villain' after all, is no 'villain'.

As the Final Boss, he stands as the last defense between those biomes and 'nullification'.]

COME FORWARD!

[empty_vessel]

Spawning in will never not be disorienting. But he's still on level three, according to the gold trim, anyway. Except instead of the usual small pile of loot, he's in the middle of a huge pile of loot.

Invincibility potions, haste potions, a handful of fire breath potions and enough health and mana potions that it should have been spawned in by the gallon. The users haven't arrived yet, and there's no sign of anyone else. Jimmy can't really go far, but he can look around a little bit. He leans to peek around the massive, ornately carved doorframe and see if there's anyone he knows down there. ".... Hello?"

Boss Battle Canon Fodder - TW: Cheesy video game gore

[thevictoriandetective]

[After that massive earthquake, Sherlock suddenly feels himself get yanked towards something else, and suddenly reappears right next to a giant plant dragon thingamabob nonsense creature that he honestly did not have time for because--where was Toby!?]

Toby!?

[A faint bark from one of the entrances where he'd been hanging out all this time, from what he could deduce that this was what they called a 'final boss' battle that he was right in the middle of.]

Good! Toby, stay there! I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but it's safer if you--

[Wait. The dragon thing fighting the players. That was Gon's voice!]

Gon! It's me, Sherlock! I--

[Just then, a user fired a blast of something right towards the dragon. Sherlock didn't even hesitate, he had insanely fast spider reflexes and jumped right in front of the blast, desperate to protect Gon.

BOOM!--

Green goo and plant-spider parts everywhere before de-rezzing in a poof of smoke.]

IS THIS THING ON

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya doesn't have a chance to get his icon working before Gon's. So he stops trying for a moment so watch Gon's transformation into--well, it's an even more eclectic rearrangement than he usually is. And distinctly more reptilian.

He just stares, mouth agape. Partly it's the unsettling similarity to Zarc that puts him, for a moment, back before he ever entered the carnival. The other part is just because Gon is a five-headed dragon and that's still kind of sick.]

Uuuuuuh... you got.

Bigger.

[control_freak]

Foster had never meant to be in the game to begin with. He'd only entered the realm at all to get away from carnival; when the game dropped, he'd been inside of it, and once inside of it...

Let's be real, the incredibly 90's flavour of his video game aesthetic was wasted on him. He hated video games. He hated hobbies that served no productive purpose. He hated distractions, the innumerable petty ways people went about the business of not living the lives they were given.

He'd hardly bothered to fight the users the first time, which mostly just netted him a respawn in a new, more monstrous form on another floor. But finding himself the pixellated mashup of a monstrous, quilled gator and a prehistoric horse was not an improvement.

If anything, it was a downgrade. He didn't even have thumbs.

".... again," he murmurs to himself, under his breath.

Zecora Level 3 | OTA

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Zecora tapped her icon twice.

Nothing happened. She tapped it again, and then again, scowling down at it where she'd pinned it to her cloak.

"This is not cute.
Would you just reboot?!"

She'd kind of thought the word was optional. It was not. But now that she'd said it, her body disappeared in a flash of light -- leaving only two eyes behind, peering out of the darkness.

"...I understand
This was not as planned."

Well, at least she could still talk. Despite having no mouth. Or body. Or anything. Could things stop happening that robbed her of corporeal form, please?

THE MAN IS H E R E

[otoko]

[Gongenzaka, for his part, has only barely gotten over now being an Enormous Five Headed Dragon. Hearing Zecora's voice is surprising...but it takes quite a while to actually pin point where she might be, and seeing her at all is flat out.

It's quite the struggle suffice to say-eventually the great dragon simply gives up, and calls out-] Zecora?

Are you in here?

Jimmy Novak | Various | OTA

[empty_vessel]

Rebooting!

Jimmy had been out in the city, doing the tourist thing again (sans hideous shirt this time) and the cube dropped down on top of him and Pea. He hadn't the slightest idea what the binomes were panicking about until what he thought was a wave of blue and purple went right over him. Seeing the binomes start tapping their icons prompts him to do the same for himself and Pea. This game doesn't look particularly welcoming, but they're here, so the might as well roll with it. Zoning in, it's not so bad. It's a well-appointed room. Not huge, but clean, and it has all the usual bedroom items. Four taps and two 'reboot's later, Pea has turned into a small furry gremlin thing, hopping around and making little screeching noises instead of barks. And himself?

Well.

He's not quite sure where to start, honestly. The 'totally not copyright violation' metal bikini? The obviously pandering extremely attractive body? Or the fact that, oh yeah, he's a girl.

Then the opening cinematic kicks in, and two orc-like things burst into the room! Both of them have Icons, and there are a few murmured apologies before Jimmy is thrown over one's shoulder and carried off, with Pea clinging onto a bikini strap for dear life!

He's dropped off in a room that's obviously a holding cell for captives and while most of the captives are blank, the guards are chatty enough when there's no players around.


Wildcard!

Jimmy is a bonus objective that the players can rescue for additional experience and gold! He can appear anywhere in the game, and be rescued multiple times (since there's only four girl models, differentiated by hair and outfit color).

LEVEL 3 WILDCARD

[starseedling]

Steven is scouring the area for other NPCs, looking for people to team up with... only to come upon Jimmy, who he doesn't recognize at all like this. He just sees he has an icon and figures it cool.

"You're not... a User, are you?" he asks uncertainly, landing nearby. He flaps and folds his wings. They look like they're locked up? Is there something he can do here?

Scout | L2 | OTA

[stillwinningthehardway]

A
Scout wasn't sure about rebooting. Knowing how the Carnival works, she's certain that this will result in some changes, and she's not had any since her tail came in near the end of her last contract. And she has her lightsaber here, and can see a few seconds into the future even if she has few other powers.

But is that enough? She's studied up on Games, how they work, how rebooting is kind of a crapshoot but essential, in most cases; how the Users (Are they normal people playing games? Without save files? That they don't try again?) control powerful avatars. And she does stand out here in the purple fire halls.

It takes a local who's inhabiting a shape like a flaming spiky tank to talk her into it. A resigned Scout finds an apparently unoccupied corridor and touches the icon on her belt. "Reboot," she says.

Then she's blinking the light out of her eyes and trying to take stock, but it's a long moment before she can make sense of what the new body is telling her. What is - four feet touching the floor with only the tips of her toes - is there something on her back? - is she riding something? - she's breathing differently - this is more eyes than she's used to, hang on, she can turn this one back and see it and see through it back at herself -

Scout's a kind of nuckelavee, with green flaming eyes and red and white scales that look like bare musculature from a distance. Before she can stop herself, she screams.

B
So now it's time to canter through the halls and discover that this body(it's easier if she doesn't think of it as hers) can run very fast, but corners at that speed are difficult. Ow... Also that the equid head - ugh it has two sealed eyes and one open flame eye - can exhale some kind of oily smoke that sinks to the floor and rolls along it. Turns out that causes a status effect!

She doesn't know when or if the Users reach this level, though it's going to be 'when', not 'if'. Better be able to put up a fight.

C [Actually playing out a fight?? Scout's all around strong, tough, and fast but she's got a serious weakness to magic.]

B

[sunflowerfields]

A cow is wandering through the corridors, seemingly lost to have found its way all the way here. Or maybe not, since it's toting a battle axe.

"Hello?" It calls out with Hinawa's voice. "Is anyone here? I think I took a wrong turn somewhere..."

It's at this point that the cow rounds a corner and comes face to face with Scout's terrifying visage. Hinawa screams, or at least she tries too, because it just comes out as a distressed sounding moo instead.

shima | level 2 | ota

[perverses]

IT'S REBOOT TIME

[ You had better believe Shima is going to play a video game, even if it's only as part of one! How cool is that, though? How cool is that?! Admittedly, losing would make it much less cool, but he liked to believe that they, somehow as the protagonists, would be totally fine. That's... that's how games worked, right? Right. So when the Cube dropped, he didn't bother making a run for it, although he does regret it slightly when he sees it is, in fact, some kind of... horror game? Some kind of dungeon crawler? Aw. ]

So much for a sim full of cute girls... [ Disregarding that the 'cute girls' would have just been other carnival workers rebooted as them. Okay, in retrospect, maybe not the best thing to hope for! In any case, once the setting has settled in around him, he hits his icon and pumps a fist up into the air as he yells, ] Reboot!

[ So melodramatic, Shima. As far as what he ends up as, it isn't too uncool! The flash of light around him dies and he's left as a ghostly figure in armor, some kind of archer. Archer... archer? A bow? He has a bow? ]

Wait, wait, what? A bow?! [ He fumbles with the unfamiliar weapon. ] Aw crap, I don't even know how to fire one of these things...

LOOK OUT!

[ No, seriously, he really is shit with a bow. He's a close combat fighter with a little range, thanks to his usual demon companion, but he hasn't bothered summoning Yamantaka out for this. Chances are it wouldn't work and, even if it did, he's not sure how the demon would appear in a digital setting. As a virus? Something else?

So while he idles away on Level Two, he's trying to get the hang of shooting arrows. The problem with that is he really sucks. Like, really, really sucks. The arrows go flying far off course or the string snaps back or the bow itself rebounds right into his face on occasion, leaving him to stomp around, rubbing his nose and grumbling out words that aren't even a little polite! Worst of all, he may accidentally fire at someone who isn't a User as they take a wrong turn down his corridor...

Which is exactly what's about to happen!

An arrow may whiz by an ear or, if you're truly unlucky, it may actually come close enough, maybe even as a hit, to shave off a few of your health points. ]

look out!

[whattaprick]

[ The unfortunate thing about Lambert's stone skin, as convincing as it can look for low-res graphics, is that it isn't actually impermeable. Were he an actual gargoyle following the rules of his world, Shima's arrows shouldn't even do more than glance against him, but because this is after all a digital world where the rules of physics are mostly arbitrary...

The arrow that zings through the air buries itself sharply in his flank, prompting a sharp yell of surprise. The arrow, naturally, disappears instantly and doesn't leave any wounds, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt any less. The only good thing is that since Lambert's crouched in 'recovery' position to start with, those lost hitpoints start replenishing themselves almost immediately.

Annoyingly, he can't even turn his head to look in the direction they came from, but that's not going to keep him from getting pissed off about it. ]

Hey! Watch where you're aiming that thing!

Lambert | Level 2

[whattaprick]

[ 1: THICK SKIN AND A STONE HEART ]

To say Lambert's not pleased with his Reboot form is the understatement of the century. For one, he doesn't get to keep his sword or any of his other equipment, things that he's damn sure he'd be able to wipe the floor with the Users, but as it is...

Lambert can be found frozen in a crouch on a plinth, or a pedestal -- whatever elevated, rocky outcrop the level has to offer-- not looking too differently from how he usually does. Mainly, he looks like he's carved out of stone now, and wearing a lot less, dressed in a loincloth that tastefully obscures his now-dragonlike nether regions in pixelated shadow. He's also sprouting a pair of batlike wings that rise majestically from his back. However, he's completely inert. Not for lack of trying, either, but nope, his feet remain firmly fixed in place, muscles locked no matter what he does. At least he can still talk, something any other NPCs passing by can attest to if they pass close enough and he hisses at them:

"Hey, you! Are there any Users around?"

At other times, he can be encountered with Pig -- who's Rebooted into some kind of hell horse, flaming hooves and all -- who's pushing him along the ground, to the sound of scraping stone. She's actually not doing half a bad job, either -- well, until they hit a bump on the ground and Lambert topples over.

[ 2. SWOOPING IS ... GOOD? ]

Maybe you're in a tight spot, cornered by a couple of the Users. Or maybe you misjudged the distance of a jump, and found yourself accidentally plummeting into the abyss because of a stupid map glitch.

Well fear no more, because with a beat of leathery wings, salvation descends from above in the form of huge, taloned feet coming to wrap around your body as you're borne up, up, and away.

Though not without complaint, as Lambert grunts when he takes on the weight.

"Oof! Damn, you're heavy!"

[stillwinningthehardway]

From the other end of the corridor Scout watches Pig shoving him and him falling over, and weighs her options while the poor mudsdale lips and nudges at its master. Yeah she'd probably better step in.

It would be nice if she was completely and not mostly unrecognizable. The lower face certainly is, but the upper one has something of her in it, despite the color and the fire and the different horns, and her extremeties are bronze-tipped, and of course she can't change her voice.

Still it's kind of good to be reminded that she absolutely could be worse off. Scout approaches, trying not to think about the coordination needed for four legs and arms that nearly reach the ground. It works better that way. "Do you need help? I understand that's a rhetorical question, but if you like I could leave you here."

Sherlock Holmes | Level 3 Minion | OTA

[thevictoriandetective]

Sherlock looks up at the approaching game cube. He could run, but what would be the point? Besides, he may be of help here. And it was all very fascinating in its own way. So, for science, he and his little dog-like Toby remain. And now things are odd and green, strange mutated plants and disturbing architecture. Very nice. Well, here goes. He taps both Toby's and his icons.

"Reboot."

What happened next was difficult to describe. It certainly felt odd, entirely more real than he'd expected, and incredibly disorienting. Suddenly there was too much input. Too much visual stimulation, too many legs--

--too...many...legs?

Sherlock looked down, and a pair of green-ooze-dripping, moving mandible-like fangs were where his mouth should have been. And he could see almost in 360 degrees, if not entirely so. Well, all he really had to do was look at Toby, for he was an exact miniature version of himself.

A spider with a tree on its back.

What sort of nonsense was this!? He inspected his legs, which were covered in moss and vines, and seemed to be a hybrid of wood and arachnid. Little hairs let him sense vibration around him, as well as the large oak tree that was growing out of his back. There were mobile vines that he seemed to be able to control. He figured he was probably the size of a small car.

Toby chewed on one of his own vines and yelped when it moved of its own accord. He growled and began chasing it.

"Well," he said, his weird fangs clicking as he spoke. "Suppose it could be worse."

He soon discovered that there seemed to be a perfect place to ambush people. Sherlock stared at the mossy wall, propped two of his legs on it, and began to try to scramble up with the rest of his many legs. It was difficult to coordinate it all, and he looked like an ungainly baby deer as he hauled himself up.

He wanted to hide, his spidery body insisting that it was necessary, and he was compelled to do so. He found himself a network of tunnels built into the vegetation that was the living wall, and would pop down on his vines (instead of webs) to assault or insult anyone that passed his way. A tiny Toby-spider copied his every move.

[empty_vessel]

Jimmy pops into existence right behind Sherlock, intended as a bonus reward for having taken Sherlock out. He appears with a small pile of stuff next to him: a number of small glowing bottles, one large bag of gold, and a number of small green tokens labeled 'XP'.

The outfit (such as it is) that he's in has also gone up in quality. What little fabric is silk, instead of cotton, and the metal bikini is chased with gold instead of brass. With Pea-Gremlin perching his shoulder, and oh for pete's sake. He's wearing a tiara.

Whoever designed this game is going to get punched.

Jonathan Strange | level one!

[kingsroads]

1: the bitchiest box at the ball
In a standard game, the enemies here would be theoretically the easiest to defeat, well guess what buds, that's at least true for one enemy and that enemy is Jonathan Strange, magician turned box. He had been attempting to go back to the carnival after another attempt at going out into the digital world only to remember that he downright hates it in the first place. It was just his luck that he would get caught up in one of these game cubes.

"Reboot," Strange grumpily complains as he taps the button twice...and then turns into a box. Specifically a treasure chest with tiny little legs, sharp teeth, and a long tongue that lolls from where the top meets The only signs that the box used to be Strange are the fact that the eyes from the depths of the chest glint as mirrors do and the fact that the box straight up speaks in Strange's all too annoyed tone of voice as he gripes and moans to whichever poor person's in earshot. The overall effect is weird as hell because again, talking box.

"I'm a box! We're finally in a place where I can do magic, where I can be useful and this damned thing reboots me into a literal box! How can I even cast a spell to begin with when I have no arms?"

2: he's probably not worth any xp to begin with
Turns out that getting blown to bits by the mage is real good for making you not really care about the Users. After all, this is just a game, isn't it? These Users aren't really in danger, and the only way he can get his proper form back in the first place is to kill them. So terribly sorry Users, it seems that Strange is going to have to try his hardest to murder people.

And really, after being stuck in this digital world, being unable to access his magic while in said digital world, constantly being reminded of the Matrix due to that whole digital world thing (which considering he's trying to repress the Matrix in the first place isn't helping), and now turning into a box thanks to the digital world, Strange is a little bit too gleeful at the prospect of murder. Computers are awful and he has so much aggression he needs to take out on something.

"They need to defeat Sora, don't they?" He's at least picked up that much about how games work, due to eavesdropping and talking with other binomes dragged into the game, and so on and so forth. "Well, how about I loiter near the outside of his room and then try and eat someone when they enter?"

This is not going to work in the slightest.

1

[osteothropy]

A stone coffin, propped up against​ a nearby wall, will push itself open from the inside, slowly revealing a terrifying mummified corpse! Lol jk it's just Sans wrapped in bandages, his body indistinctly melded into the case in a way that prevents him from moving anything but his upper half. It's cool, though. So far he's just been chillin'.

"Eh, it's not so bad," he says, making it obvious that this is Sans if it wasn't already. "You just gotta... think outside the box a little."

They are definitely all going to die.

Yamato | Level 2 BOSS | OTA

[walkonedge]

[ REBOOT ]

[ So his rebooted form, when he catches his reflection in one of the cracked mirrors along the level of the dungeon that he's been uploaded into, is a freaking fire demon. A fire demon that looks like Skull Meramon, so clearly someone has been jacking ideas from the Digital World. The last time he was in a computer game or its equivalent, he had to deal with nukes and beating an almost-unbeatable boss cough, Diaboromon, coughs harder. So okay, being the boss this time round?

... if it stops them from all being slugs like Carly mentioned, then yeah, sure, why the hell not.

After he figures out how to actually work the mechanics of this level, though. It's not like he can go in guns blazing, or its equivalent, since the first thing that he's figured out is that he's somehow stuck behind an invisible barrier that doesn't let him progress beyond a certain corridor. He can still see what's happening in the main floor of the level, though, and the lava pits somehow seem to spout fire geysers if he concentrates hard enough. Sure, fine, he can work with this. He just has to make sure it doesn't end up as friendly fire. ]

Oi! [ He can hear people, he's not sure, he still can't move out yet since no one has triggered his boss fight yet and can't see for himself. ] Everything going okay outside? [ Hey, if anyone on Level 2 needs a brief space to catch themselves or heal up or just avoid fighting in general, his boss fight area is still relatively unscathed. For now. ]

[anti_nonsense]

[Scrambling into the room and immediately dropping to the floor is a female beastman with reddish fur and feline features. Rita doesn't look much like herself in this form, though she's still a bit shorter and scrawnier than NPCs of the same species. Her health is low, but she isn't visibly injured. If anything, she's just tired from running for her life. Or... one of her lives. Whatever.]

[As she tries to catch her breath, the first thing she does is... of course, complain.] Damn... stupid... bombs! I almost had that jerk! If I could use my magic here, I'd... [She happens to look up then, and in an instant, seems to forget what she was saying. Rita's sure she heard a familiar-sounding voice from this room, but... that hulking demon looks anything but familiar.] What's with you?

Miko Nakadai | Level 2 | OTA

[pullingamiko]

Reboot

Should Miko be excited about this? She probably shouldn’t be excited about this. But, then again, that’s never stopped her before, so why would it now? It’s not like she doesn’t realize what danger she and all the others pulled into the game are in; she’s heard enough to understand that.

But frankly, that’s part of what makes it so exciting.

“Okay, let’s try this.” She takes a breath, then taps the icon. “Reboot!”

When the flash of light clears away, the first thing she notices is that there’s something… weird going on with her balance. She manages not to fall over or anything, and after a quick glance over herself finds that she seems to be some kind of… kangaroo bat demon thing? She’ll take it.

“Aw, sweet. Check out these claws!”

Because whatever random person is nearby will totally be as excited as she is about her having claws, right?

Wildcard

((OOC: Miko will be hanging around level 2, ready to kick/claw up/etc any Users passing through, but she’ll be glad to chat with other workers! If you want to plot, message me here or at omixgirl10.))

Elsa | Level 1 | OTA

[handwringing]

Elsa really should have gone back inside the Carnival, but it's too late for regrets now - she's been sucked into the game. Luckily, she heard the warning, so she taps the icon twice and says, "Reboot?" more like a question than a command.

In a flash, she's suddenly transformed. Her hair turns black, long, and tangled, her fingernails grow out almost like claws, her hands themselves becoming gnarled. Her Mainframe outfit is replaced with a long, white gown. After a moment looking down at herself, she realizes this is a monster she knows.

"A nightmare? Really."

After a moment of looking herself over, she starts to move like she's sinking into the floor. Then she starts to crumble; she's turning into sand.

"Could be worse..."

She travels as sand through the rivulets and walls of the hallways, looking for anyone else. When she finally comes across someone who doesn't seem like one of the users, she spills out of the wall or ceiling near them, becoming a person again.

"Hello!"

[sunflowerfields]

How many times will someone spook Hinawa into mooing loudly? Many times, it seems.

"Oh, goodness! Are you from the carnival?" It's hard to tell who's who in here.

Peridot | OTA

[periphrasing]

After her less than stellar experiences with the Matrix, Peridot had straight up balked at the idea of entering another computer world again. Like, honestly, universe? The last time she went into a computer, she wound up getting her best friend shot. So she really doesn't care if this place is completely devoid of insidious Agent Smiths and a crazy human vs. AI war, she is not having any part of it!

But, as it turns out, the Mainframe has different plans, and now she's stuck right where she didn't want to be. The gem had just been hovering around near the Carnival entrance when the game had launched, and though she'd tried to make an escape, she just wasn't quick enough. So now she's here, along with numerous other carnival workers, rebooted into a new form and trying to make sense of the situation.

Her game form is that of a plucky little imp about the size of a housecat, and unlike most of the other workers trapped here, when she tries to access her personal programming information, she can find nothing about the sorts of attacks she's supposed to use. In fact, all she can find is dialogue. Lots and lots and lots of dialogue...

Turns out, that's because she's a tutorial NPC. A handy guide meant to teach Users how to play the game, except for the fact that they likely already know how to do so, so mostly she's just going to have people skipping through her attempted speeches.

For now, though, she can be found doing one of two things: Trying to make sense of all of her inane lines, or trying to make sense of her temporary bat wings. She's having about equal success with both, meaning one just has her muttering incessantly under her breath, and the other has her flying painfully into the dungeon walls.

[handwringing]

Elsa, now distinctly less blue than usual and instead wearing a white gown, with long black hair and long fingernails, has happened to just pour out of the wall Peridot must frequently bashed into as a pile of sand. She re-materializes just in time to see the other woman smack into the wall again.

It's kind of funny, actually. Elsa has to quickly swallow a laugh under the guise of coughing.

"Are you okay?"