(no subject)

[vicedirector]

You awaken to blackness. Frightening, although familiar--this is the same terrible thing you narrowly avoided during your first trip into Lebensbaum. The pain of your death is still real, echoes of the wounds you suffered appearing on your skin. Inspecting your surroundings will tell you that you've woken up inside of the cooled, empty bonfire pit....and the town as it was is nowhere to be seen.

The sky is a whirlwind of blank, dark void. What previously acted as roadblocks on either side of the town seems to have moved upward, blocking out most of the sun's light. The street is barren, filled with piles of broken concrete, shattered glass, and smoking craters where many of the buildings used to be. Old bloodstains dot the pavement, mixing in with overturned cars and crumbling brick walls. Lebensbaum is a dead town, in more ways than one.

Except for the hotel. It stands, as dusty and abandoned as it ever was, but no worse for the wear. Scorch marks can be seen on the ground around it in a clear border, as though it had a barrier protecting it from whatever destroyed the village. If you venture inside, everything is in its place, as though the outside wasn't completely obliterated.

The living can be seen walking around, going about their daily lives, and if you concentrate, you can even see the buildings as they once were--in working order, clean, and in one piece.

As of Monday on Week 10, however, there is a door, seemingly pasted into the middle of the street. As the days tick by, the doors will increase in number, one for each victim.

Comments

mole money mole problems

[jackhole]

[ So after last night's everything, Break and Rhys have decided to share the extent of their knowledge with the ghosts. At this point, it doesn't really matter and it's only fair everyone knows the story as the rest of the game plays out. For Rhys, he's a bit bitter he can't help the living with this information but well, whatever.

Which means everyone gets the shady duo over by the bonfire, Rhys' hands on his hips and expression sour (though lbr, it's always sour). Break stands next to him, arms crossed, but at least looking less salty. Rhys actually knows more about this than he does, but Break is also here to stop Rhys from getting too off-topic or "passionate" about the situation.

When they've got enough of an audience, Rhys will start. ]

Listen up, chucklefucks.

[ Then he immediately pauses because wow, he sure sounded like Jack right there for a moment, huh? Ahaha... awkward... moving on! ]

It's pretty obvious by now that only a few of us know what's actually going on around this town and it's a little unfair that no one else knows the grand story of our kidnapping and subsequent torturefest, 1993 edition. Break and I know a lot because we've been part of Miata's team of moles and have people like Undyne and Clover telling us things while they were dead. It's pretty obvious a story when you're able to put it together like that but it's not a very good one. Actually, it's a really bad one. Like, really really really bad. Kind of cliche? 3/10, would not recommend or even keep on my kindle. Bad Amazon reviews for everyone!

[ Someone shut up Rhys before he goes on about the merits of good and bad storytelling, good lord. ]

Rhys. [ Break says his name with a sigh, since off-topic. He waves a hand in Rhys's direction, but he at least momentarily takes over the story. While less colorful than Rhys's telling of the story, he's going for a bit more... informative... ]

Miata explained most of it to us last week when she told us all that she was planning to resign. Which, for the record, we did try and talk her out of, but she's an idiot. [ Of course, Break's story isn't free of salt entirely. ] This town was destroyed, quite obviously to us, at least. It was destroyed last year in a raid, and Katerina and Miata were the only survivors. This country, Lettland, was invaded by Lorelea, and Katerina's whole intention here is to take revenge on Lorelea. Those bodies that we found in pieces throughout the town on that much quieter week were members of the Lorelean government that approved the raid, or something like that.

[ Break doesn't actually care about this part of the story too much, and there's another dismissive wave of his hand at this point. However, this is partially because the story does get a bit more muddied and also upsetting at that point. ]

We know that Miata and Katerina were childhood friends, and we also know that Miata knew about Katerina's plan this entire time, so I leave interpreting that up to you. But before you start directing any ire, I will say that Miata is trying to help us. She's just a girl who had no business being in the role of a leader, and especially not in a situation like this. It's no excuse, but she's useful to us, if you need a more direct reason to keep her alive. She's the only one that can revive the dead.

[ Back to Rhys again! He just nods along to Break's explanation and it's actually probably a good thing that Break explained because haha, Rhys is much, much angrier about it than Break. Oh boy, he is so angry. ]

But you can still hate her, which I do. You are perfectly in your right to hate her, Katerina, and every single one of these stupid demons. In fact, I implore you to hate them because they're dicks.

[ Rhys, stop. ]

So, here we are at reviving the dead! Which is a thing that is happening, I guess. I mean, the plan is in motion and if nothing insanely terrible happens, we're good. That's what Miata is working on right now even though she's... trapped in the church basement. Er. -- Oh! Yeah, the church basement is where all the hostages are, still. Katerina kept them as leverage just in case one of us tried to step a toe out of line. Like, uh, me. [ Have a shifty look that totally implies Rhys may have done something at one point that had Fiona thrown in his face. Whoops. ] Aaaanyway.

Katerina burns the bodies after every trial, that's sort of what the whole song and dance of a trial is for. Those dramatic executions? It's part of the ritual sacrifice that Katerina is running to feed power to the demons for her cliche revenge plot. I mean, why demons? Why ritual sacrifice? Why not, like... therapy?

[ A valid question. ]

So, good news! You'll probably come back to life! I'd say we're at about a 70% chance of that happening. Good odds. Bad news! If your body was desecrated in any way during your murder, such as beheadings or ... various other limb dismemberments -- you won't be returning to your original body! Your soul will be transplanted into a corpse and a magical glamor will be put into effect to turn the body into your old body. Sorry, Gilbert. If you guys are wondering why there's a ton of corpses in the basement, that's Lithuania and I. Miata sent us outside of the void on the edges of town to collect a few corpses and let me tell you, that sucked. A lot. I didn't enjoy myself at all. We tried to pick some good corpses though so hopefully you'll be okay! I am going to be suuuuper optimistic here. We'll be fiiiiine.

[ Break glances at Rhys in the sort of way that doesn't seem like he disagrees, but. Your phrasing, Rhys... Not that he misses a beat, since it's his turn. ]

But for people to be revived, those items of ours are crucial to the process, and it's why they've been disappearing. They're connected to us in some way, so if Miata doesn't have that item, then she won't be able to revive the person in question. It's why I've been keeping Emily in my safe ever since I found out, and it's why I told you two- [ He looks at Undyne and Clover ] to be careful with that bookmark. It's the only way to revive the dead, so if those items are damaged or destroyed, then that's it. So if you put your item in someone else's care, I would suggest getting in contact with that person to tell them just how important it is.

Finally, for the sake of filling everyone in, Miata chose people to be moles for various reasons, as I understand it. So Rhys, for example, is because he's not exactly the sort of person you would expect, and that's important as to why this was kept so secret. Save for the basement in the hotel, Katerina is able to listen and watch over everything we say and do. That's why we've had to keep it so secret up until now. If Katerina caught wind of what we were doing any earlier, then all the effort would have been for naught.

[ He sighs, then shrugs as he (hopefully) finishes this explanation with what they've all been waiting for. ]

As for Katerina herself, other than what I said earlier, I'll at least end with what Miata told us about how to actually stop this. Katerina is a normal girl, but she's one being protected by those demons. You seem to know more about the demons' intentions than we do, so that's something that we should likely discuss. However, we do have to deal with them in some way. So long as they're around and relatively loyal to Katerina, we can't touch her. But as soon as we deal with her barrier, then it's as simple as taking away her book. After that? Well, it's up to us. I'd suggest killing her, obviously, but after we're quite sure that she doesn't have anything we need. So if it gets to that point, it's my recommendation that we don't immediately skewer her, shall we say.

[ Rhys nods. He hates Katerina, he does, but Break has a valid point and Rhys agrees with it completely. Question first, skewer later. A good plan. So, they're mostly done here but Rhys will add one more final thing before opening the floor for questions. ]

Yeah, I think you guys have interacted with the demons more than we have. I've only met Leviathan and Mammon. If you go downstairs to the basement, you'll be able to see my chalkboard where I kept up all the information as the weeks went by. It's good for referencing if you're missing any details and I also have a digital copy in my arm if you need it.

[ Then something seems to occur to him. ]

Oh, right! Leviathan is on our side? Inaba sort of just told everyone that out there but honestly, that girl is as dense as a pile of bricks and is more of a hazard than anything else. If shit goes poorly out there? Probably her fault for not being subtle at all. I'll explain what she meant here. Leviathan doesn't like Katerina, is tired of her so she swapped sides to Miata. She gives Miata power and all of us who were part of Miata's team took on two designations -- for instance, I'm Greed and Envy. It makes us a little weaker since we have to give our energy to Leviathan who will then give it to Miata to make her stronger but it sort of seemed like a good cause. As of right now, it still looks like Leviathan is on our side but I wouldn't be surprised at a last minute betrayal. That's kind of how these things go. So, head ups on that.

[ He pauses, running a hand through his hair as he considers and the nods to himself. ]

I think that's it. Basic teal deer is this -- Katerina's a bitch. Miata's a coward. Demons suck. Katerina has a book that protects her and binds her to the demons. Get that book back, you can kill Katerina and "win the game" or whatever. Miata is trying to bring us all back from the dead, might succeed. After that, everyone's free to kill Katerina, the demons, and hey, even Miata if you want. Lithuania might get pissy at you for it but haha, who cares?

[ He gives the audience a quick finger guns and -- ]

Any questions?

[crazily]

[ While everyone else has their questions, tweedledee and tweedledumbass will just continue their shady, salty chatting. ]

...You know, when we explain it all together like this, it's very tiring, isn't it~? This whole "trying to help" thing is very tiring. My original ideas would have saved me several grey hairs.

[ Break's hair is naturally white, though... ]

[jackhole]

What, killing everyone? I mean, yeah. That's a valid solution but pros, cons, etc.

[ think logically, bro. ]

[crazily]

Well, minus the fact that it was a lie, it could have worked, you know~? Pros include that you were one of the seven that Gilbert and I picked, but cons, well. It would involve killing twenty or so people, and that's generally frowned upon...

[ Break says it with the tone of "for some reason," but he's definitely kidding. After getting punched and then glitterbombed with a dunce hat, he's not actually about mass murder anymore, don't worry!

At least, not here. ]

[princessantly]

... Not all of us chose to change. [ In reference to the designation bit, but Alisha's heard a lot of this before, so she won't actually have any questions here. Except-- ]

So right now, the most important priorities are getting her book and freeing the hostages... and figuring out a way to accomplish that, correct?

[jackhole]

[ he nods. you were The One Sensible Mole in that respect, alisha. ]

That's really it. I don't really know how get the book by myself without fucking it up, same goes for the hostages and I... I can't risk fucking that up. Which is why I'm here to give all my information to everyone else. Hopefully someone else can pull this off that's not me.

[princessantly]

I... can't entirely say that I would be good at either of these things, but all the same...

[ ... ]

I would like to try and assist the hostages, myself. I don't have anyone among them, so should anything happen to me in the process, it shouldn't affect the hostages or those who want to see them safe.

[ And also she can't not do anything?? She's a knight!! ]

[stupidly]

[OKAY BUT WHOSE BODY IS HE POSSIBLY GOING TO STEAL LIKE SOME SORT OF DEMONIC POSSESSING ENTITY....... He's also definitely wondering like "hm, can a Baskerville survive being decapitated as long as they aren't decapitated with Magic, maybe I can still salvage that--" because that's a very discomforting alternative. And what about Urashima?? Like, what's his deal even, his body's not even real, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING--

But a chance at revival is still a chance at revival so that's... good. Thanks, Body Squad and Serial Killer.]

Er— So should we focus on Katerina first and freeing Miata and the hostages second, then? If she's been working this entire time on learning how to bring us back, I'm not sure she would be an asset in a fight against the demons, anyway.

[Unless revival magic also doubles as offensive magic WHO KNOWS.]

[crazily]

Ideally, I would say we should take care of both of those problems simultaneously, since it would be better to not end up in a situation where Katerina feels backed into a corner and still has leverage.

[ It's not hard to guess how that would go, since Katerina keeping them at all has made her intentions and also her fear rather clear, so far as Break is concerned. ]

But that's a matter of tactics and strategics. Leviathan mentioned that each demon has their strengths and weaknesses, but she didn't get a chance to explain further. Still, we're not completely blind in that respect any longer, I would say. There are quite a few of us that have fought the demons, so we might be able to do so more effectively a second time around.

[stupidly]

So in that case, it would be better to divide into two teams, right? One to break out the hostages, and one to fight the demons.

[Who even knows how many they'll have to take out at this point, though?! Hopefully Sans can convince sloth to just keep slothing.]

[thebonezone]

["how the fuck is the corpse thing going to work with monsters" is sans's first question but whatever they all have their dust somewhere. dust + magic = monsters already so this seems like less of a stretch! though. huhhhh. will undyne be revived shiny because she's in glitter. that's gonna be something. ...MOVING ON]

i got one. miata ever tell you guys how the power limiter magic worked?

[it's not like he wants to fight but they are absolutely going to fail the stealth portion of this and get into fights, so. though it'll be more relevant to the guys up there. the. like. 3 people with powers up there. yikes.png]

[crazily]

[ Break shakes his head, but it comes with a soft sound of approval all the same. This is definitely the right thing to focus on, since let's fuck some demons up. ]

No, she didn't. I never thought it was worth asking, since Miata herself is actually something of a novice with magic, which I know will inspire plenty of confidence~.

[ He'd probably be more comforting about that fact with other people, but eh, fuck it. This is a skeleton that stood outside his door and told five knock knock jokes, he can take some sarcasm. ]

I have guesses, of course, since Undyne managed to slip past that restriction, but it's not based on any additional information.

[thebonezone]

[break, he would've told about seven hundred knock knock jokes if he could. a little sarcasm is fine because those are his feelings exactly.]

guesses are better than nothing, i guess. [that one isn't even a pun it's just laziness, sans!!!] i'm thinking if it doesn't require katerina's book, we might be able to do it ourselves. might give us an advantage.

[detanimetion]

[Wow this was super long, but there's only a few parts in there that are really new and that she actually cares about. Spoilers, it's not about Miata or Katerina's sad backstory.]

Every demon's killed at least one person here, haven't they? So we should be able to pool together what we know and at least figure out each of their basic capabilities. Like we know Satan's schtick with lava, Lucifer uses swords, and Sloth heals from everything but seems to be weakest to fire.

[thebonezone]

[pipes up:] he uses needles. there might be something else to 'em, but i didn't get to thread onto that subject. [it's never the time for your needle puns, sans.] he can teleport like the rest of 'em, and he did this thing with mist so i couldn't see him coming. that whole fight was just one long mist-ake.

[permanently kill him. do it]

[disapproved]

.. Buddy is in possession of my staff.

[ sorry, this is nice and all, but she's sort of concerned with how she's going to be revived now. she had seen her staff in buddy's room during a failed attempt to make contact with her, so she only figures it's still there. ]

I would not be so quick to place trust in Leviathan. She may help us yet, but a demon always has motives of their own. She may attempt to worm her way into our worlds.

[jackhole]

Yeah. None of us could get it without a reason except for me but Buddy isn't really my biggest fan. In the end, we just left it with her because we knew she wouldn't damage it.

[ sorry, morrigan. he looks a little apologetic as he explains at least, but he's sure you can understand where he's coming from. ]

And... yeah, of course not? I'm hoping to wash my hands of the thing once this is all over, hopefully.

[minogame]

( Okay he's following? He definitely makes a face when he finds out he's going to be resurrected using someone else's body and he's wondering if something like that is even necessary when it wasn't even his real body? He's seen swords recover from lost limbs after healing with the saniwa back home so maybe... he'll be okay too? Ugh, but that isn't important right now! Focus, focus! )

What about going home? Did Miss Miata ever say how to get back home?

[jackhole]

[ if only rhys had answers for you, bro, but miata only ever explained so much. lots of "just trust me" and little information. it's what's made rhys so angry, in the end. urashima's question is just one more thing added to that list of reasons rhys isn't miata's biggest fan anymore.

so, all he does is shrug. ]

Nooooope.

[takanome]

[Takao slowly raises his hand, like he's in class, though you'd hope that he had a more polite expression on his face during class.]

So what kind of corpses are we talking about here? Am I gonna have to come back to life as a little girl or an old geezer, or...? The way this town looks to us doesn't exactly make their glamour spells seem super reliable in the long term, you know.

[jackhole]

[ hey, kid. this is the first time rhys has..... ever talked to you actually which is making this pretty funny/terrible. ]

Er. No clue? We picked a variety. I'll try and uh... put in a good word for your... corpse! Or something. Dude, I don't know.

1/2

[friendboned]

[Papyrus listens to all of this surprisingly quietly.... processing, almost serious]

WOWIE!! A SECRET RESCUE CLUB!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE INVITED ME SOONER.

[well.]

[friendboned]

[The demons are helping Katerina for energy, Papyrus knows that much]

IF LEVIATHAN DOESN'T WANT TO HELP KATERINA ANYMORE.... MAYBE THE OTHERS DON'T WANT TO, EITHER!!! ISN'T SLOTH LAZY LIKE MY BROTHER?? MAYBE HE'LL BE TOO LAZY TO BE BAD!!!

[in other words, aside from trying to convince Sloth to join them.... maybe the other demons might turn on her and break their agreement?]

[clearasmud]

[ You're making Youko dearly miss the days when very little happened around here.

The temptation to groan loudly and long...ly... is incredibly real. But things seem to be at stake, so Youko grits her teeth and listens as an endless fountain of words pours from Rhys and Break's mouths.



And then she groans. ]

Everything... everything is...

It's happening too much!

[ That kind of turned into a shout, actually. ]

Just... just go back to living. All of you new people. Leave. Please. [ She's joking. Barely. (Badly.) ] ...Actually, to that end... Do you two have a plan, or are we forming one now, or...? Or are we just going to move candy and destroy doors. Where do we go from here, seriously.

[billarious]

Yeah I got one. Why d'you think any of this is gonna work? We're up against demons who hold all the cards here. You think demons are that easy to dupe?

[Speaking as a demon here.]