holyspirits | W5 PLAYER CYOA - Daigo, Eupha, Saber, Wisadel

[ surely nothing bad will happen to the baby

anyway, she can pick it up, yeah, it is so content to be carried around if she wants to.

when you reach the commotion, all you can see at first is a huge crowd of people all mumbling and chattering in concern. why? because there's horrible snarling sounds coming from the center. there's a voice that comes from that center: Back up! Back up, he's --

and then there's an alarming, echoing crack of a sound, and a howl.

that's about the point that people start scrambling away in earnest, screaming. you can only just barely see it, but basilio is on his hands and knees, screaming in a mixture of rage and pain as horrible black crystals crawl out from under his skin, bursting out of his spine and shaping into ginkgo leaves. these flowers start to glow, pulsing, like a thermal bomb ready to blow at any second, but it doesn't seem to stop him. the glow of his eyes and his sharp, malformed teeth are burned into your mind as he looks up at the two of you, and pulls himself to his feet. wis'adel, you'll recognize those black crystals. even in the middle of your au memories, you will very quickly and suddenly know that this is oripathy, somehow - that it's mixed with mara, for rather explosive results.

(is it your fault? are you next?)

and that's about when jiaoqiu comes out of the crowd and grabs both saber and wis'adel, trying to push them to somewhere safer. ]

We have to go, he's gone, there's nothing left of him --

[ we're really putting bas through some shit this cyoa huh ]

[shit. shit, she-- wiš'adel never touched him. how did this even happen? the reasonable assumption is it's somehow her fault, but that shouldn't be possible, he couldn't have...

she glances down to her arm, brow furrowed, before jiaoqiu appears to grab them.]

Wait, wait, then shouldn't we stop him--?!

[ saber, meanwhile, has absolutely no idea what just happened, and only stares at the scene dumbfounded until jiaoqiu comes up to them. they stare at what's left of bas before turning their attention to the other two. ]

There are people. Can they handle this or are they civilians?

[ the crystals on her arm have grown since she looked at them last.

as for jiaoqiu, he looks over his shoulder. ]

There are soldiers, they'll take care of him. I couldn't ask you to help with our problems when you're just visitors.

[ but - he's not going to stop you if you want to fight, to save the people. he just doesn't want to make you responsible for this. ]

[...

she pauses, looking at them. if they've grown--

something strikes her, eyes wide for a second, and she curses.]

Shit. No, you have to-- we have to get everyone away from him. Trust me. Clear 'em out of here.

[she shoves the tuskpir into jiaoqiu or saber's arms. please keep creature safe. excuse her, she's breaking away to go try to catch basilio's attention, gun leveled on him:]

Hey, you!

[ well, saber will listen to her since she seems to know what she's talking about. jq can hold the baby because it's what he deserves 🥺

but saber will just try to get the civilians to get out of the way. if anyone argues they will literally just pick them up and move them they do not give a fuck ]

[ jiaoqiu does hold the baby, looking Very Confused as to why he suddenly has a tuskpir. but he moves back, trying to get out of the way - tries to help saber, too. saber, as you're helping the crowd, you can't help but feel like there's something wrong about this. like you know the person that this monster was.

he certainly seems to know you, because even though wis'adel shouts at him, he seems like he's absolutely focused on saber in particular. he drops forward on all fours, as the flowers continue to grow and snake out from his spine, wrapping like snakes around his limbs. he's going to throw himself at saber and whatever civilians that saber is trying to move away with a roar. the civilians scream, knocking each other out of the way to try and flee.

those crystals are pulsing a little faster, now.

as basilio runs past, he does in fact ram into wis'adel (and jiaoqiu, by extension) on the way past, which throws her to the ground. ]

Shit!

[ow, you asshole

she glances to see if jiaoqiu is okay, first.]

We'll handle it. Make sure they get out.

[you're on civilian duty, jq.

meanwhile, since bas is focused on saber, she takes the opportunity she's got: wiš'adel hauls herself to her feet and takes aim, firing at those pulsing crystals.]

[ JIAOQIU PROTECT THEIR BABY YOU FURRY FRUIT

saber is momentarily confused, trying to figure out why they know this man that they've literally just met. none of this makes any sense, but they don't have much time to think about it further when what's left of bas attacks.

if he actually reaches saber despite the shooting, saber will try to wrestle with him before reaching for the snoopy knife. I have no idea how saber has been carrying this thing and i am not going to figure this out now ]

[ jiaoqiu looks fine, though he's disoriented. he nods a little, giving her a worried look, and then takes the baby and stupid fruits his way off to go and protect civilians best he can, shooing them away, guiding them somewhere safe.

the shooting seems to do some damage, cracking the crystals, but it's clear whatever this hybrid infection is doesn't like that. the vines swipe out and wave wildly. one of them, a particularly spiky vine, strikes out like a scorpion tail, attempting to punch a hole through wis'adel. it's knocked off true course from saber wrestling with the monster, but the intent is there.

the longer this fight goes on, it's like your au memories can't quite hold. you both are starting to remember two different histories at once - the one you had before, and barbarilla and kung fury both. it feels like filling your heads with water, sloshy and slow.

the monster, frustrated by the fact that it can't get a good grip on saber on account of being shot at, punched and stabbed, screams in saber's face. it's a horrible noise - strangled and pained, like whatever is left of him is still in there, horrified. it doesn't change anything, much. unable to stop, it starts ramming its fists into saber as best it can - those fists turn sharp, surrounded by the razor sharp vines. as saber is grabbing for the knife, it lashes out and slices saber's kung fist right off, sending it flying a few feet away.

one of the crystals on the monster's back cracks entirely, and starts to leak. the pulsing is now much, much faster, like a bomb about to be set off. ]

Damn it--

[she's about to call out to them, but it feels so weird; what name is theirs again? everything is mixing together in her two histories, stopping her for a second, holding her side where that vine slashed her instead of fully impaling her.]

We gotta get out of here! Get away from him!

[but they're in close quarters, so--

ugh. fuck. she's darting in to try to help yank them away before he fucking EXPLODES or something.]

[ well! well.

saber just lost their hand, and it takes several seconds for that to register before wis is trying to help them get away. they go easily, because they know her even though at the moment they're rather confused as to how they know her. it's not really making any sense right now. ]

What...?

[ they lose the knife but they hold onto snoopy ]

Edited 2025-03-19 21:35 (UTC)

[ explode, you say?? don't mind if he does!

wis'adel comes running in to grab saber, helping them and snoopy up off the ground. the vines are wildly slicing in every direction now, trying to lash at whatever it can. it scrabbles at the ground, trying to stand up, but it seems to be losing strength, a weird sort of acid leaking from the bullet wounds and stab wounds. as saber staggers away, they can see the creature staring at them. it's that same look - betrayal, pain, horror. why would you do this? is that all you can do?

in one last act of defiance, it lifts a vine, and aims it - shoots forward, directly made to drive through wis'adel's back and into saber's front, only. at the last second, both of them get knocked down by something pink.

and then the thing that was basilio explodes in a brilliant flash of bright white light. ]

Wait--!

[the flash of pink registers, and even in her muddled memories, that sets something off. no, he shouldn't, he can't just-- it's going to kill him. he was supposed to get people out, he was supposed to get out--

but the explosion happens just as she tries to turn back to look, still on the ground with saber, sliced up by those vines, and she's forced to squeeze her eyes shut and just--

well, from this close? she's gonna have to just wait to see if she opens them again.]

[ saber wants to apologize, say that they didn't mean for this to happen, but nothing comes out. and then they're on the ground, and there is really too much happening but–

kaboomy ]

[ your ears ring.

it looks like some people made it out, at least. you can see them scattering from the area in the wake of the black crystals. when you open your eyes, you see the remains of the explosion.

what was basilio is in a nasty heap. the body is starting to disintegrate, fading away. his eyes are open and unseeing, staring up at the sky as his broken limbs and torn into torso starts to crumble away. that betrayed look hasn't left. it's still there, settled on saber, and it will be until the last bits of his face are gone. and then there's just ashes.

you were blocked off from most of the explosion. you still got hurt, of course, it was an explosion. but a good portion of it was blocked off by the foxian that threw himself in front of danger for you. there's no tearful goodbye or gentle end, here. when you open your eyes, you're treated to a full view through his torso. jiaoqiu is dead, and that's always how it is, isn't it, in war, in heaven, in all of these places you've both been. sometimes, there's no final words, it's just over.

maybe it was better, though, that he died like this, because you can see the black crystals spreading up his arms, too.

the tuskpir survived, though. it totters unsteadily towards the two of you and flops down next to you, making sad little noises.

what will you do now? ]

Edited 2025-03-19 22:44 (UTC)

Jiaoqiu!

[fuck. fuck, of course the idiot would just-- he'd--

of course someone who so badly wanted people to get to say goodbye wouldn't get the time for it, himself.

she's on her feet despite her injuries, reaching for him without even thinking about it. he's very clearly dead, that's apparent from the beginning, but she still... she couldn't really say why. maybe it's just more real this way. the crystals on him don't deter her; she's already got it, so what does it matter, anyway?

wiš'adel doesn't stay on her feet long, collapsing to her knees with his body with a little groan of pain. ow. but it's still just... it's important, he cared about dumb stuff like this even if she usually doesn't, so it matters to her to not just leave him right where he died. to at least make sure his eyes are closed and he's laid out.]

[ saber stares down at what's left of basilio, before bending down to scoop up the tuskpir with their remaining hand. the pain is overbearing, but they try to ignore it.

they walk over to wis'adel, their gaze falling to jiaoqiu. this... isn't surprising, it seems like something he would do, but didn't they just meet him? except they didn't just meet him. ]

Come. We need to keep going.

[ go where? the two people who were helping them out of the kindness of their hearts and died for it aren't here to lead them anymore. but they need to go. ]

[ that's right... you could tell he was dead straight off ):

wis'adel holds onto jiaoqiu's body. saber scoops up the tuskpir - it makes a little snuffling sound and presses up against their jaw, trying to comfort them. your memories are still jumbled, and it's like the world around you is failing to load properly, every so often. the vaporwave seems to have made it here.

there's just silence, for now. well, other than the hawk cry in the distance. ]

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

[she lays jiaoqiu down, staggering to her feet once again.]

... might as well go that way, right?

[towards the sound of that hawk.]

[ they nod, scratching the tuskpir idly with a finger as they start to head towards that direction.

they are so wobbly. the hand loss unfortunately equals to blood loss. ]

[ you head out towards the hawk sound to find a hawk! it is sitting on a fence, staring at you. it kind of looks like it might be taxidermied. but the nice thing is, once you find this hawk, you also find...

a shoe. a very large shoe, the size of a car. it is rumbling gently, like it has an engine. ]

....yeah, okay.

[they might as well

get in the shoe, she guesses... unless they have to get On the shoe, but whatever. however it has to happen. she is beyond questioning this shit right now.]

[ ........

okay. time to get in or on this show. bleeds. ]

[ you get into the shoe!

and you travel, for a good couple of minutes. it takes you on a grand tour of the yaoqing, which is really just a nice spaceship with interdimensional pockets. which seems to work out for you, because eventually it takes off and flies through the air... straight through a portal!

no time to process all that shit that happened, apparently. it's just as well, because as you soar through the portal, your memories click back into place, and you are kung fury and barbarilla again. maybe you should eat some weed so you don't bleed to death.

please hold for your next toplevel... ]

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rippled - 2025-03-20 01:07 (UTC) - Expand