[ one moment you are minding your own business, trying to figure out this time loop nonsense... the next, you feel a strange, ominous sensation up the back of your neck. and then the next? you are falling. you fall for an extremely long time, and then - you black out!
and when you wake up, you are standing backstage of an extremely popular television show, waiting for your turn at the grand prize.
the producer for the show is explaining to you the rules of the competition, and you, vincent and w, are absolutely lost in the sauce. right now, you are about twelve years old (you have the mind of an adult, which is weird) and you are getting ready to participate in Legends of the Hidden Tower! you've been excited for this for months, when you got the notice in the mail that you were selected to be on television - all of your friends have been so jealous. your permission slip has been signed, and you're ready to go. the rundown is as follows:
1. you've been assigned to one of six teams: the red jaguars, the blue barracudas, the green monkeys, the orange iguanas, the purple parrots, or the silver snakes. the two of you can either be a pair, or you can be on opposing teams, whichever you'd like.
2. the grand prize is your greatest desire granted to you instantly.
3. killing and maiming other contestants is fine. do anything to win.
sound good? pick a team, pick a prize, and put on your uniform. you've got three rounds to get through! ]
she may be red, but it's blue barracudas time because that was always MY favorite and also she'd be jazzed about it because barracudas are rad and she doesn't like cats for some reason she doesn't recall right now. it's whatever. i'm making this call for w and if anna is a blue barracudas anti they can become opponents.
flurry is right that w doesn't need much motivation to fight but that prize (while it might be weird for a supposed 12 year old) is definitely freedom for sarkaz. w is in fact a rebel with a cause that's not "just blow shit up"! wow.
[Well, Vincent probably looks like a fucking little NERD as a twelve year old, enjoy. Putting in his nerd little uniform.
He should also be Red Jaguar, but NO, he is going to be a Silver Snake because that was my favorite team, and he is now forced to endure me living vicariously through him.
Guess they are now rivals. This will go well for them. ANYHOW, he does have a greatest desire surprisingly, so he is definitely going to be the first one to put the monkey pieces together....... HE'S READY.]
[ the producer leads you out to the set, and you are standing with your teammate on the deck. in front of you is a moat, and obviously you can tell it's just a regular set with a pool of kid-safe chlorinated water in front of you. you have a live studio audience - there may be some familiar faces in there - as you get set up and put on your uniform and helmet, the cameras swing around to introduce the host of the show!
it's... a chihuahua. with a little pink bowtie covered in rhinestones. he speaks! don't worry about how he can do this, he just can. ]
Welcome... to the Legends of the Hidden Tower!
One player from each team is laying on a raft. When I say go, you paddle across the moat as fast as you can, dodging obstacles as you go. The second player has their choice of weapons to pick from in order to help defend player one! When the first player reaches the platform, they can pick up a weapon of their choice to destroy the obstacles in the way, so that the second player can reach the platform. Once both players are on the platform, they can hit the button, and they'll get to go to the next challenge!
Are you ready?
[ and the cameras swing over to all of you. the teams are as follows!
decide which one of you on your team is going first! you can also take this second to talk to each other if you'd like, since the cameras won't start rolling until you actually say you're ready. ]
[as if she wasn't going to just be ready to Go. let's go let's go let's go.
of course she'd be stuck with someone like this, though. ugh. she's probably going to get yelled at if she tries to just go tackle theresis into the fucking moat. why? children are violent, and the sight of that specific child just incites it in her heart.
anyway, to ines:]
You take the raft first, I've got the weapons handled.
[GOD. She is so cute as a baby, it's fine. That's me, not Vincent.
He will get on the raft only because Tifa normally can punch and kick the shit outta anyone, so why not start now. Show your mentor the baby skills. This will end well for them surely.
Ignore the way he gets super flustered when he spots Lucrecia!!!!! Fuck you, Hojo. He doesn't even say anything, he just gets on the raft with the reddest face and tries not to think about the fact he is gonna murder 12 year old Hojo.]
[ ines waves a hand. yeah, yeah, she's got this. she's not going to let the other kids beat them, that'd be pathetic. she goes to set up at the moat, climbing onto the raft. tifa gives vincent a little smile, pats his shoulder, and tells him she knows he'll get through it quick. she will not make fun of him for getting all flustered, but she sees. go team!!
anyway. w will find that she really does have all weapons available. she also doesn't have any restrictions about shooting at the other teams? like, who is going to care, really. might make it easier for the next round. tifa is already at the back wall checking out the slingshots and guns, frowning a bit because she really is more melee based, but. it's okay, she'll figure it out.
the chihuahua, seated safely at the other side of the moat, gives a little salute with his paw, and then says: ]
Contestants! Get ready! On your mark... go!
[ and... ines, vincent, lucrecia who i definitely didn't spell wrong the first time, theresa, and aerith all take off across the moat! the obstacles seem a little silly at first. there's a big floating duck in the way that ines impatiently kicks out of the way, paddling with her hands. aerith has to do a big turn in order to get around what looks like a lego brick just sticking straight up in the air.
... but there's a very sudden scream from theresa, off to the side. and if you turn to look, all of you will see a shark rising out of the water and taking a huge chomp out of the raft that theresa is on. huh.
vincent, you feel something slimy grab at your foot. ]
w immediately grabs whatever can shoot fastest. she is, unsurprisingly, unloading on theresis. she doesn't even see the shark and assumes the scream is that theresa fell in or something.
what! this is strategic! yes yes she'll look back to ines in a SECOND let her do VIOLENCE UPON A RIVAL.]
[HELP W THIS IS KILLING ME also i'm so glad i really did make the best worst choice for a scenario LETS GO TIFA i believe in you to learn a gun
Vincent is quick and efficient, steady. He picks his way along the raft, but the scream does make him tense, and he snaps his head over. A SHARK?????? OKAY!!!!
He shoots a worried glance in Lucrecia's direction, though the sliming hold on his head distracts him so fast. NO!!! He kicks his leg while trying to be mindful he's on a raft. WHAT IS IT
[ yeah that's what i thought you'd do you dumb bug
w shoots whatever it is she picked up at theresis, who is not expecting to get shot at from this angle? he's also not expecting a grenade, because i've decided that's what she picked up, and he only just barely dodges. unfortunately for him he gets thrown into the moat because of the explosion. wow!
ines is making her way across the the moat at a steady pace! as she paddles, she comes across what looks to be a log in the water. she moves around it - and it snaps at her, because it's actually an alligator. she lets out an alarmed sound, but pretty instantly punches it in the snout, distracting it for now.
it's cute that vincent shoots a glance at lucrecia, because her raft bumps into vincent's, and she gives him a wide-eyed look. why? because there is a big tentacle that is trying to yank him off the raft. like, really big, it's... perhaps... kraken sized. lucrecia immediately, without thinking, tries to grab vincent to stop him from being yanked off. tifa sees this from across the way and shouts, hold on!! and aims her slingshot. roll a d20 for me with advantage!
in theresa-ville, the shark is still chowing down on the raft. she's doing her best to kick it away from her, but her partner is currently being grenaded, so she's not having a lot of luck. more than half her raft is gone and she's barely away from the start.
aerith is halfway across the moat... wow. hoederer has a sniper rifle, and is taking out the obstacles as they come. what a good team... it'd be a shame if someone tried to stop them. like hojo, who has lifted a rocket launcher and is aiming at aerith. (ty voice) DID YOU KILL ME AGAIN ]
[well. she's having some inconvenient feelings about the theresa thing, but like, people are saving vincent? if they don't help her it's their fault! and also theresis's fault for not being better at dodging. her inherent feelings when it comes to theresa are complicated, anyway.
so she launches a second grenade theresis's way before turning her attention back to ines.]
Hey! You can hold on, right?
[is she contemplating certain applications of physics to just get ines the fuck over there... perhaps... perhaps.]
A LOT IS HAPPENING!!!!! First and foremost, he is worried about LUCRECIA, and then he has two of these other water bottles to be responsible for!!! Also, this tentacle is fucking huge.
Pausing in the foot kicking, he reaches out to shove Lucrecia's raft ahead to get her to keep going even if this is not competitive play.] Go! [When that is finished, he twists around and uses his other foot to start kicking the shit out of the tentacle!!
[ ines is like, what does this mean. please explain. but perhaps she does not have time to explain because she smacks into a buoy while she's looking over at w. the buoy explodes into just. it's just so many snakes. like a million snakes, and they are going to try and eat ines. physics might be a good idea.
hot DAMN, vincent rolls a nineteen, which means not only does he push lucrecia's raft off so fast she gets a good distance towards the end, he also manages to kick the shit out of the tentacle. with tifa's help, they manage to scare the thing into being like, no thank you. the kraken does not really want food that fights back, and it groans, the tentacle sliding underneath the raft instead, looking for other prey. vincent is now more than halfway across the moat, and tifa is - well, she was going to yell good job, but she sees vincent shout for aerith and turns to look at hojo...
meanwhile, hojo has shot the grenade launcher! it explodes, and aerith, who has just enough time to make eye contact with vincent, frightened, gets blown off her raft into the water. hoederer turns the butt of his gun on hojo, immediately slamming it into hojo's nose, and that just sets the two of them off into fighting each other. unfortunately, as they do this, there's a suspicious red liquid coming up out of the water where aerith fell in. tifa lets out a horrified shout, looking like she's about ready to jump in the water.
theresa is more than halfway across, at this point - she's struggling with the shark, and it looks like maybe she's injured, judging by the way she's holding herself. but she is seemingly ready to get to the other side. theresis, who has taken two grenades to the face and is twelve, is a wet puddle, hanging onto a buoy out in the water. he's staring at lucrecia's raft like he's considering stealing it.
so, to recap: theresa, vincent, and lucrecia are the furthest in this race, with ines right behind. aerith is nowhere to be seen. ]
[oh, good, she has no reason to feel bad about her choices then. great!]
Hang on tight! I mean it!
[because she's shooting the next grenade behind ines, intending to push her forward with the explosion and to land it far enough behind her that SHE doesn't get caught in it.]
Vincent is frozen long enough to scour the water where Aerith vanished, trying to figure out if he wants to dive in for her, or not. The desire and the match are on the line. Would it be a forfeit? Would he even find anything to save?
Is this her fate, to just die in every scenario?
Growling, he turns to grip onto the raft for when W's CRAZY INEVITABLE GRENADE TSUNAMI COMES. If Hoederer doesn't get rid of Hojo, he absolutely is when he gets to the other side. What's important is that Lucrecia is safe, and so are he and Tifa.]
[ at least it wasn't a sword, this time... imagine i brought sephiroth instead.
vincent doesn't get a whole lot of time to think about it - whatever happened to aerith, he won't find out, because the grenade tsunami does, in fact, come! on the plus side, it explodes on the snakes. on the less plus side, it also causes chaos on the rafts. ines goes sailing across to the finish line, as does lucrecia and vincent. theresa gets absolutely bodied, dunked under the water. she does not come back up - and all of the contestants that made it to the other side can see that the tentacle may have found new prey.
this leaves w, hojo, theresis, hoederer, and tifa to make it over to the other side. however, theresis and hoederer no longer have partners, which... is a problem. theresis is still also in the middle of the arena, clinging to a buoy and keeping a wary eye on a shark that is circling him.
another couple of rafts pop up in front of the starting platform, in front of w, hojo and tifa's positions. tifa has already jumped on one and is trying to make it across - she's relying on vincent to keep her safe as she crosses.
[she laughs delightedly as that happens, watching the resulting wave-- fuck yes! god. this is great. she KNEW getting on this show was the best idea of her life, all definitely twelve years of it.
w will get on the raft, but she's grabbing a couple knives first. you know. for in case she needs them. they didn't say ONLY the non raft partners get weapons.]
Vincent rides the tsunami in to the finish line and clambers up as Tifa hops into place on the raft. l
He is twelve, but he picks up a Winchester, and he braces it on his right shoulder. But he immediately aims it at the back of Hojo's head, and his finger hesitates on the trigger. Under different circumstances, he wouldn't think twice. But Lucrecia is unfortunately his partner, and he isn't sure what will happen to her if Hojo is gone.
He has an inkling what might, and it's nothing good by the looks of everything else. FUCK. Okay.
The barrel swivels to Tifa's area instead, prepared. Time to become Jason Todd.]
[ w is correct, there was nothing in the rules that said she can't take a weapon! she has many knives.
she starts to make her way across the moat. as she does, she will see in front of her that several objects have bubbled to the surface after her tsunami. they're circular, grey, and have a flashing red light. they're also beeping, steadily. weaving in between these objects is a shark fin. ines is is on the other side, and she's ready to assist in whatever way is necessary - what will w do? roll for it, also.
tifa starts to make her way across the moat as well. behind her are three lazily swimming alligators, and they're gaining on her. she's going as fast as she can, but it's a little difficult to navigate when the waves of the moat tide-pool are so rough. there's also theresis, who is still on that buoy, and looks like he's going to jump onto tifa's raft as she passes. what will vincent do? roll for it, also.
the others are busy and will be accounted for eventually. "flurry are you regretting writing npcs into this" maybe so ]
Okay, so Vincent shoots first at the alligators tailing Tifa, swinging the lever each time after he fires. Then he swings the gun up and, pushing thoughts of anything immediately away so he doesn't hesitate, he shoots at Theresis.
[ ines follows instructions, even though she's sort of annoyed that she's being given them. her drive to win is more important though so she does find a grappling hook! and she waits, watching, as w does an eight foot vertical leap and uses the explosion to grab that hook.
the nature of a twelve and a thirteen means that w gets to do this, and the crowd around her gasps in shock and awe. however, she's just a touch too close to the explosion itself, which means she gets a sick-ass flash burn, like being lightly toasted in the microwave. the hook itself also hurts like a motherfucker - it digs into her hand a bit, and yanks her arm right out of the socket. owie.
but hey! she one, explodes a shark, and two, causes another ripple of tsunami mines. all of this is to say that w soars over the rest of the moat and lands on the platform with a crunch. go hit that button with ines.
jesus this roll spread, okay. so - vincent shoots at the alligators. the first one, vincent isn't used to the kickback of the gun. he shoots, and the bullet swerves wildly and hits tifa in the arm. she yelps, but it's probably fine, it's just a flesh... wound... thankfully, the second shot goes way better. the second shot goes right through the alligator's brain, and it's so dead on that it knocks this one into the third alligator, which means that third shot pierces through that alligator's jaw. both go down under the waves. this leaves one alligator left, but it's struggling with the way the water is sloshing around like crazy, and tifa thankfully is very good with her legs, so she just kicks the shit out of it.
as for theresis, an eight means that the bullet misses him - but it does scare the absolute shit out of him, and he falls into the water. right into the shark! oh no. that's a lot of blood.
tifa takes advantage of the lack of alligators, and also the tsunami to catapult herself off the raft to the platform. she's injured by the nature of being anna's partner, but she is here! go slap that button. ]
[the good news is that, despite the pain, w is laughing through all of this.
that's also the bad news, because it sounds kind of unhinged? but hey, she's in one piece, and even if this all hurts like a bitch, she made it! they're good to go.
she hauls herself up and pushes forward, momentum carrying her to the button so she can slap it... and then fall onto it a little because she's just using it to both stop and to support herself as she tries to take a second to put her arm back into place after its dislocation.
which is also going to hurt a ton, whether it succeeds or not, so honestly w is probably whiting out a little over here in the process of dealing with the consequences of her actions. give her until the start of the next round, ok, thank you.]
A hiss of regret comes out of him when he does, but he continues firing anyway to make sure she's safe(r) in relation to alligator and THERESIS. W, YOUR CASTMATES.
It's fine, the poor guy falls into the water to his doom which is unfortunate since he was also kinda hot.
He will race for Tifa and the button, but also, I'm sorry, he also desperately wants to know what happened to his first and only love, Lucrecia.]
[ you all slap the button! tifa is fine, she's just bleeding from the arm. ines will help w pull her arm back into place but like, rudely, and not gently at all. congratulations! you've made it. the chihuahua hollers to the audience about the silver snakes and blue barracudas being victorious, and turns his attention back to the remaining players.
the moat is starting to settle down. it appears that in the chaos, theresis and theresa both have been eliminated from the competition by force. hojo made it to the other side and has slapped the button with lucrecia. she gives vincent a little smile when she sees him - she's mostly undamaged, and hojo is a little bloody, but they're okay.
hoederer has also made his way over to the other side of the platforms, and is by his button, but... aerith is nowhere to be seen. he is partnerless.
the chihuahua host tip-taps his way down from his podium, and sits in front of hoederer, looking up at him. and then after a moment of this, turns to the audience: ]
We have a partnerless team! We all know what that means!
[ and the audience begins to chant, stomping their feet and clapping, blood! blood! blood!
hoederer opens his mouth to say something - and then immediately his head jerks back as a bullet hits him right between the eyes. he crumples to the ground in front of his button, and goes still. the audience erupts into cheers, loud enough to shake the building a little, and the rest of you have to wait for it to die down, watching what happens when you lose at legends of the hidden temple.
the cheers subside, and the chihuahua cheerfully turns to you all. ]
Congratulations! The Silver Snakes, Blue Barracudas, and Green Monkeys have made it to the second round! You're now at the Steps of Knowledge!
[ the crowd cheers again, and the chihuahua continues. ]
Contestants, are you ready for the rules of the next round?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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and when you wake up, you are standing backstage of an extremely popular television show, waiting for your turn at the grand prize.
the producer for the show is explaining to you the rules of the competition, and you, vincent and w, are absolutely lost in the sauce. right now, you are about twelve years old (you have the mind of an adult, which is weird) and you are getting ready to participate in Legends of the Hidden Tower! you've been excited for this for months, when you got the notice in the mail that you were selected to be on television - all of your friends have been so jealous. your permission slip has been signed, and you're ready to go. the rundown is as follows:
1. you've been assigned to one of six teams: the red jaguars, the blue barracudas, the green monkeys, the orange iguanas, the purple parrots, or the silver snakes. the two of you can either be a pair, or you can be on opposing teams, whichever you'd like.
2. the grand prize is your greatest desire granted to you instantly.
3. killing and maiming other contestants is fine. do anything to win.
sound good? pick a team, pick a prize, and put on your uniform. you've got three rounds to get through! ]
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she may be red, but it's blue barracudas time because that was always MY favorite and also she'd be jazzed about it because barracudas are rad and she doesn't like cats for some reason she doesn't recall right now. it's whatever. i'm making this call for w and if anna is a blue barracudas anti they can become opponents.
flurry is right that w doesn't need much motivation to fight but that prize (while it might be weird for a supposed 12 year old) is definitely freedom for sarkaz. w is in fact a rebel with a cause that's not "just blow shit up"! wow.
putting on that fuckin uniform. she's so ready.]
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He should also be Red Jaguar, but NO, he is going to be a Silver Snake because that was my favorite team, and he is now forced to endure me living vicariously through him.
Guess they are now rivals. This will go well for them. ANYHOW, he does have a greatest desire surprisingly, so he is definitely going to be the first one to put the monkey pieces together....... HE'S READY.]
ROUND ONE...
it's... a chihuahua. with a little pink bowtie covered in rhinestones. he speaks! don't worry about how he can do this, he just can. ]
Welcome... to the Legends of the Hidden Tower!
One player from each team is laying on a raft. When I say go, you paddle across the moat as fast as you can, dodging obstacles as you go. The second player has their choice of weapons to pick from in order to help defend player one! When the first player reaches the platform, they can pick up a weapon of their choice to destroy the obstacles in the way, so that the second player can reach the platform. Once both players are on the platform, they can hit the button, and they'll get to go to the next challenge!
Are you ready?
[ and the cameras swing over to all of you. the teams are as follows!
the blue barracudas: w and ines
the silver snakes: vincent and tifa
the green monkeys: lucretia and hojo
the purple parrots: theresa and theresis
the red jaguars: aerith and hoederer
except imagine them as twelve year olds.
decide which one of you on your team is going first! you can also take this second to talk to each other if you'd like, since the cameras won't start rolling until you actually say you're ready. ]
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[as if she wasn't going to just be ready to Go. let's go let's go let's go.
of course she'd be stuck with someone like this, though. ugh. she's probably going to get yelled at if she tries to just go tackle theresis into the fucking moat. why? children are violent, and the sight of that specific child just incites it in her heart.
anyway, to ines:]
You take the raft first, I've got the weapons handled.
[obviously.]
no subject
[GOD. She is so cute as a baby, it's fine. That's me, not Vincent.
He will get on the raft only because Tifa normally can punch and kick the shit outta anyone, so why not start now. Show your mentor the baby skills. This will end well for them surely.
Ignore the way he gets super flustered when he spots Lucrecia!!!!! Fuck you, Hojo. He doesn't even say anything, he just gets on the raft with the reddest face and tries not to think about the fact he is gonna murder 12 year old Hojo.]
Let's go.
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anyway. w will find that she really does have all weapons available. she also doesn't have any restrictions about shooting at the other teams? like, who is going to care, really. might make it easier for the next round. tifa is already at the back wall checking out the slingshots and guns, frowning a bit because she really is more melee based, but. it's okay, she'll figure it out.
the chihuahua, seated safely at the other side of the moat, gives a little salute with his paw, and then says: ]
Contestants! Get ready! On your mark... go!
[ and... ines, vincent, lucrecia who i definitely didn't spell wrong the first time, theresa, and aerith all take off across the moat! the obstacles seem a little silly at first. there's a big floating duck in the way that ines impatiently kicks out of the way, paddling with her hands. aerith has to do a big turn in order to get around what looks like a lego brick just sticking straight up in the air.
... but there's a very sudden scream from theresa, off to the side. and if you turn to look, all of you will see a shark rising out of the water and taking a huge chomp out of the raft that theresa is on. huh.
vincent, you feel something slimy grab at your foot. ]
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w immediately grabs whatever can shoot fastest. she is, unsurprisingly, unloading on theresis. she doesn't even see the shark and assumes the scream is that theresa fell in or something.
what! this is strategic! yes yes she'll look back to ines in a SECOND let her do VIOLENCE UPON A RIVAL.]
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Vincent is quick and efficient, steady. He picks his way along the raft, but the scream does make him tense, and he snaps his head over. A SHARK?????? OKAY!!!!
He shoots a worried glance in Lucrecia's direction, though the sliming hold on his head distracts him so fast. NO!!! He kicks his leg while trying to be mindful he's on a raft. WHAT IS IT
TIFA HELP she is gonna end up shooting him]
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w shoots whatever it is she picked up at theresis, who is not expecting to get shot at from this angle? he's also not expecting a grenade, because i've decided that's what she picked up, and he only just barely dodges. unfortunately for him he gets thrown into the moat because of the explosion. wow!
ines is making her way across the the moat at a steady pace! as she paddles, she comes across what looks to be a log in the water. she moves around it - and it snaps at her, because it's actually an alligator. she lets out an alarmed sound, but pretty instantly punches it in the snout, distracting it for now.
it's cute that vincent shoots a glance at lucrecia, because her raft bumps into vincent's, and she gives him a wide-eyed look. why? because there is a big tentacle that is trying to yank him off the raft. like, really big, it's... perhaps... kraken sized. lucrecia immediately, without thinking, tries to grab vincent to stop him from being yanked off. tifa sees this from across the way and shouts, hold on!! and aims her slingshot. roll a d20 for me with advantage!
in theresa-ville, the shark is still chowing down on the raft. she's doing her best to kick it away from her, but her partner is currently being grenaded, so she's not having a lot of luck. more than half her raft is gone and she's barely away from the start.
aerith is halfway across the moat... wow. hoederer has a sniper rifle, and is taking out the obstacles as they come. what a good team... it'd be a shame if someone tried to stop them. like hojo, who has lifted a rocket launcher and is aiming at aerith. (ty voice) DID YOU KILL ME AGAIN ]
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so she launches a second grenade theresis's way before turning her attention back to ines.]
Hey! You can hold on, right?
[is she contemplating certain applications of physics to just get ines the fuck over there... perhaps... perhaps.]
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A LOT IS HAPPENING!!!!! First and foremost, he is worried about LUCRECIA, and then he has two of these other water bottles to be responsible for!!! Also, this tentacle is fucking huge.
Pausing in the foot kicking, he reaches out to shove Lucrecia's raft ahead to get her to keep going even if this is not competitive play.] Go! [When that is finished, he twists around and uses his other foot to start kicking the shit out of the tentacle!!
I got a 11 and 19, I will put it in the chat.
WAIT HE FREEZES IN HIS KICKS WHEN HE SPOTS HOJO.]
Aerith!
[HOE DO YOUR JOB]
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[ ines is like, what does this mean. please explain. but perhaps she does not have time to explain because she smacks into a buoy while she's looking over at w. the buoy explodes into just. it's just so many snakes. like a million snakes, and they are going to try and eat ines. physics might be a good idea.
hot DAMN, vincent rolls a nineteen, which means not only does he push lucrecia's raft off so fast she gets a good distance towards the end, he also manages to kick the shit out of the tentacle. with tifa's help, they manage to scare the thing into being like, no thank you. the kraken does not really want food that fights back, and it groans, the tentacle sliding underneath the raft instead, looking for other prey. vincent is now more than halfway across the moat, and tifa is - well, she was going to yell good job, but she sees vincent shout for aerith and turns to look at hojo...
meanwhile, hojo has shot the grenade launcher! it explodes, and aerith, who has just enough time to make eye contact with vincent, frightened, gets blown off her raft into the water. hoederer turns the butt of his gun on hojo, immediately slamming it into hojo's nose, and that just sets the two of them off into fighting each other. unfortunately, as they do this, there's a suspicious red liquid coming up out of the water where aerith fell in. tifa lets out a horrified shout, looking like she's about ready to jump in the water.
theresa is more than halfway across, at this point - she's struggling with the shark, and it looks like maybe she's injured, judging by the way she's holding herself. but she is seemingly ready to get to the other side. theresis, who has taken two grenades to the face and is twelve, is a wet puddle, hanging onto a buoy out in the water. he's staring at lucrecia's raft like he's considering stealing it.
so, to recap: theresa, vincent, and lucrecia are the furthest in this race, with ines right behind. aerith is nowhere to be seen. ]
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Hang on tight! I mean it!
[because she's shooting the next grenade behind ines, intending to push her forward with the explosion and to land it far enough behind her that SHE doesn't get caught in it.]
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Vincent is frozen long enough to scour the water where Aerith vanished, trying to figure out if he wants to dive in for her, or not. The desire and the match are on the line. Would it be a forfeit? Would he even find anything to save?
Is this her fate, to just die in every scenario?
Growling, he turns to grip onto the raft for when W's CRAZY INEVITABLE GRENADE TSUNAMI COMES. If Hoederer doesn't get rid of Hojo, he absolutely is when he gets to the other side. What's important is that Lucrecia is safe, and so are he and Tifa.]
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vincent doesn't get a whole lot of time to think about it - whatever happened to aerith, he won't find out, because the grenade tsunami does, in fact, come! on the plus side, it explodes on the snakes. on the less plus side, it also causes chaos on the rafts. ines goes sailing across to the finish line, as does lucrecia and vincent. theresa gets absolutely bodied, dunked under the water. she does not come back up - and all of the contestants that made it to the other side can see that the tentacle may have found new prey.
this leaves w, hojo, theresis, hoederer, and tifa to make it over to the other side. however, theresis and hoederer no longer have partners, which... is a problem. theresis is still also in the middle of the arena, clinging to a buoy and keeping a wary eye on a shark that is circling him.
another couple of rafts pop up in front of the starting platform, in front of w, hojo and tifa's positions. tifa has already jumped on one and is trying to make it across - she's relying on vincent to keep her safe as she crosses.
does w jump on her raft? ]
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w will get on the raft, but she's grabbing a couple knives first. you know. for in case she needs them. they didn't say ONLY the non raft partners get weapons.]
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Vincent rides the tsunami in to the finish line and clambers up as Tifa hops into place on the raft. l
He is twelve, but he picks up a Winchester, and he braces it on his right shoulder. But he immediately aims it at the back of Hojo's head, and his finger hesitates on the trigger. Under different circumstances, he wouldn't think twice. But Lucrecia is unfortunately his partner, and he isn't sure what will happen to her if Hojo is gone.
He has an inkling what might, and it's nothing good by the looks of everything else. FUCK. Okay.
The barrel swivels to Tifa's area instead, prepared. Time to become Jason Todd.]
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she starts to make her way across the moat. as she does, she will see in front of her that several objects have bubbled to the surface after her tsunami. they're circular, grey, and have a flashing red light. they're also beeping, steadily. weaving in between these objects is a shark fin. ines is is on the other side, and she's ready to assist in whatever way is necessary - what will w do? roll for it, also.
tifa starts to make her way across the moat as well. behind her are three lazily swimming alligators, and they're gaining on her. she's going as fast as she can, but it's a little difficult to navigate when the waves of the moat tide-pool are so rough. there's also theresis, who is still on that buoy, and looks like he's going to jump onto tifa's raft as she passes. what will vincent do? roll for it, also.
the others are busy and will be accounted for eventually. "flurry are you regretting writing npcs into this" maybe so ]
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Hook me!
[find a grappling hook or something over there, hurry, do it. w will grab it. "that's insane" no, this is w.
if ines listens, then she gestures for her to aim higher.
this is because she's leaping upward and throwing one of her knives at one of the mines below her. up and over, bitches.
i got a 12 and 13 for this have fun w,]
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Tifa!
[My fucking rolls took me out.
Okay, so Vincent shoots first at the alligators tailing Tifa, swinging the lever each time after he fires. Then he swings the gun up and, pushing thoughts of anything immediately away so he doesn't hesitate, he shoots at Theresis.
I got a 1, 20, 11, and an 8. LOSING IT.]
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the nature of a twelve and a thirteen means that w gets to do this, and the crowd around her gasps in shock and awe. however, she's just a touch too close to the explosion itself, which means she gets a sick-ass flash burn, like being lightly toasted in the microwave. the hook itself also hurts like a motherfucker - it digs into her hand a bit, and yanks her arm right out of the socket. owie.
but hey! she one, explodes a shark, and two, causes another ripple of tsunami mines. all of this is to say that w soars over the rest of the moat and lands on the platform with a crunch. go hit that button with ines.
jesus this roll spread, okay. so - vincent shoots at the alligators. the first one, vincent isn't used to the kickback of the gun. he shoots, and the bullet swerves wildly and hits tifa in the arm. she yelps, but it's probably fine, it's just a flesh... wound... thankfully, the second shot goes way better. the second shot goes right through the alligator's brain, and it's so dead on that it knocks this one into the third alligator, which means that third shot pierces through that alligator's jaw. both go down under the waves. this leaves one alligator left, but it's struggling with the way the water is sloshing around like crazy, and tifa thankfully is very good with her legs, so she just kicks the shit out of it.
as for theresis, an eight means that the bullet misses him - but it does scare the absolute shit out of him, and he falls into the water. right into the shark! oh no. that's a lot of blood.
tifa takes advantage of the lack of alligators, and also the tsunami to catapult herself off the raft to the platform. she's injured by the nature of being anna's partner, but she is here! go slap that button. ]
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that's also the bad news, because it sounds kind of unhinged? but hey, she's in one piece, and even if this all hurts like a bitch, she made it! they're good to go.
she hauls herself up and pushes forward, momentum carrying her to the button so she can slap it... and then fall onto it a little because she's just using it to both stop and to support herself as she tries to take a second to put her arm back into place after its dislocation.
which is also going to hurt a ton, whether it succeeds or not, so honestly w is probably whiting out a little over here in the process of dealing with the consequences of her actions. give her until the start of the next round, ok, thank you.]
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A hiss of regret comes out of him when he does, but he continues firing anyway to make sure she's safe(r) in relation to alligator and THERESIS. W, YOUR CASTMATES.
It's fine, the poor guy falls into the water to his doom which is unfortunate since he was also kinda hot.
He will race for Tifa and the button, but also, I'm sorry, he also desperately wants to know what happened to his first and only love, Lucrecia.]
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the moat is starting to settle down. it appears that in the chaos, theresis and theresa both have been eliminated from the competition by force. hojo made it to the other side and has slapped the button with lucrecia. she gives vincent a little smile when she sees him - she's mostly undamaged, and hojo is a little bloody, but they're okay.
hoederer has also made his way over to the other side of the platforms, and is by his button, but... aerith is nowhere to be seen. he is partnerless.
the chihuahua host tip-taps his way down from his podium, and sits in front of hoederer, looking up at him. and then after a moment of this, turns to the audience: ]
We have a partnerless team! We all know what that means!
[ and the audience begins to chant, stomping their feet and clapping, blood! blood! blood!
hoederer opens his mouth to say something - and then immediately his head jerks back as a bullet hits him right between the eyes. he crumples to the ground in front of his button, and goes still. the audience erupts into cheers, loud enough to shake the building a little, and the rest of you have to wait for it to die down, watching what happens when you lose at legends of the hidden temple.
the cheers subside, and the chihuahua cheerfully turns to you all. ]
Congratulations! The Silver Snakes, Blue Barracudas, and Green Monkeys have made it to the second round! You're now at the Steps of Knowledge!
[ the crowd cheers again, and the chihuahua continues. ]
Contestants, are you ready for the rules of the next round?
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