Lunar Interlude 2

[balancemod]

Let's try to keep the paperwork to a minimum, shall we? NAVIGATION 1. NEW RECLAIMERS A. WELCOME WELCOME! FAH WHO RAHMUS For the nine of you who will be arriving today, the story is the same: though you may not remember it, there was a moment where you were living out your life, at home or wherever you were ... and then there was the moment the Hunger came. And amid the television static that is your memory of that moment, a hand reached out to you, beckoning your escape as the tendrils of darkness destroyed everything that ever existed about your world. "Would you hurry this up, please? Your world no longer stands a chance. Come with me, we are the last bastions of hope for all universes everywhere. And we're going to need you." And then, unceremoniously, you are dragged through the universal wringer and plopped down on the soft, though not quite cushioned, grass of the Moon Base Quad. There are other people out in the grassy fields — they may even be people you recognize. They may just be strangers, other Reclaimers, who recognize what you're about to endure. The things they say may be interspersed with static — as if the words themselves aren't reaching your ears correctly. And you have a few minutes to chat before you're calmly led away by Bureau administration, to do something about that pesky static problem. B. THE VOIDFISH The nine of you are quickly divided into two groups, and brought to the easternmost geodesic dome, to an elevator in a well maintained, but sparsely landscaped field. There's nothing particularly ominous feeling about the space — in fact, the two guards who greet you at the elevator entrance seem pleased with your arrival. You are, after all, one of the few chosen by the Director, the few who will reclaim what the Hunger has destroyed. And in a few moments, you're about to find that out for yourself. After a tightly packed elevator ride, your group is ushered out to a rather grand looking hall, banners of the Bureau of Balance adorn both sides of smooth metal walls. And inside the Voidfish's chamber stands a tank — impossibly tall, and soaked in a black ink that obscures whatever the tank may be holding. You may notice the sound of someone speaking. It's a bard, on his second round of introducing Reclaimers to the Voidfish, and this time, he has chosen to demonstrate the functions of the outrageously vertical tank not by playing violin music, but by reciting a piece of classical, and highly valued poetry. When he finishes, he pulls at a drawer just at the metallic base of the tank. He solemnly enters a few scrolls into its basin as the tank begins to light up, like lightning behind dark clouds. And suddenly, you forget what that invaluable example of universal literature sounded like. "Yeah, man, like... don't think too hard about it, it's like that every time. I'm guessing you're here to be inoculated? Just a heads up, you might want to, like, seriously, hold your nose while you drink it down. It tastes wicked gross, man. Anyway, I'm supposed to tell you that you have a choice. If you drink the black stuff, you'll be able to hear through the, uh... Huh, how do I describe it? Through the [TSHCSCHTSHCHSC] sound. You guys like, hear that? Anyway, it's all about knowledge or something. I don't know, I'm just here to, like, feed the thing. We call it the [TSCHHSCHSCH], by the way. So, like. You get a choice. You can drink it and understand stuff, or not drink it and then hear that crackling noise all day every day. If I were you, I'd drink it. But, hey man, I'm not like, your dad or anything." The bard takes five cups and draws liquid from a spigot connected directly to the basin of the large tank. Stormy, muddy looking ichor is drawn into them, one by one. He offers each of you a sip. Drink it (he wasn't kidding about what it tasted like), and you're inoculated to the wisdom of the Voidfish. You try to remember the poetry this bard recited a few moments ago and the rhymes, the meter, the significance, all come back to you. And if you think back to your arrival, some of the things you may have heard other people in the Quad say, that simply sounded like static, are suddenly clear. Bureau of Balance. Grand Relic. Reclaimers. Yet you still can't remember the Hunger or what it had done to your world. And as you look back to the tank in front of you, the water has become clear. There's a jellyfish, as tall as a building, floating within. You look into the body of the creature and you can almost make out a beautiful, tiny universe floating within it. 2. THE TEST OF INITIATION With your new knowledge on the Bureau of Balance and your purpose here in tow, you are led without hesitation to the Arena, where the final phase of your initiation into the Bureau will be held. You are partnered up, whether it is with someone you drank the ichor of the Voidfish with, or perhaps even a veteran Reclaimer, who either stopped by to help, or simply out of curiosity. One Grand Relic has already been reclaimed, you're told. They were a pair of bright red mittens, held by the mayor of a small village who may have meant well, but under the draw of the mittens' incredible space-bending powers, was corrupted into using them, and to nearly killing everyone who lived under him. You may have noticed, at some point while glancing out into space while walking here, to the planet below, a massive evergreen fir that stretches past the planet's atmosphere, very nearly piercing the Moon Base itself. It appears to be decorated for the holidays. That tree is the direct result of those mittens, the actions of a man who could not resist the temptation to use them. Resisting that very same temptation is your task here. And with that order in mind, as you and your partner stand in the middle of the Arena, the walls dissolve, and the simulation begins. You're standing in the middle of a forest. Ahead of you, situated on a pedestal, is an item. It could be any ordinary item: a pair of gloves, a teapot, a simple decorative bowl. Whatever it is, it's yours for the taking. Take that simple item in your hands, however, and the building blocks of the trees around you suddenly collapse like shattered glass, and reform into new scenery — it may even be a place from home that you recognize. A voice in your head beckons you. Perhaps there's a mistake you made, or something that went wrong for you back home that you wish you had the power to undo. Perhaps there's someone you wish you could help, or even save. The item that's in your hands has the power to help you achieve this, if only you'd ever use it. Resist the temptation. Take the item, and drop it into a nearby deposit box to be destroyed. Your partner is here to help you — because once you destroy it, you will be doing the same for them. 3. NEWBIES AND VETERANS, AROUND THE MOONBASE Three or four days into the month, now that the newbies are settled in, something strange happens: The next time you return to your flat from whatever errand or exploring you were doing, when attempting to use your Bracer to open the door results in extremely obnoxious beeping that persists for an entire thirty seconds, and a message on the screen next to the door. ERROR: HOME ASSIGNMENT MECHANISM MALFUNCTION. GO TAKE A WALK. Welp. Looks like you're locked out for a bit while techs fix that. Here's a few places that might be worth checking out. A. PIECES FROM HOME Should you find your way to the Dojo, there's a door that still has that shiny, brand spanking new door look and new door smell to it off in one of the less traversed corners of the building. A sign next to the door demands that you empty your pockets before entering. A scanner for your Bracer will unlock it, assuming it's unoccupied, leading you to a plain white room with no furniture or objects at all in sight. As the door shuts behind you, a pleasant female voice echoes from all corners of the room, greeting you by name. If this is your first time in the room, the voice has a simple question for you: "What memory do you value, or think of, most?" Once you've provided your answer, the walls crumble, much like they did during the Test of Initiation simulation, reforming into something that is, again, pleasantly, or even unpleasantly, familiar. It's a space from home. Perhaps it's your room. Perhaps it's your favorite restaurant (though, the place is curiously empty, and the food you find, for some reason, tastes like strawberries). Perhaps it's a park you always enjoyed visiting, or a corner of the city you lived in. Whatever it is, you, and whoever you may have brought along with you, seem to be the only ones there. And perhaps the details aren't quite right — like maybe someone built a model of your home to explore, but a few pieces were missing from the box. But it's close enough. B. SPEND YOUR DOUGH. SOLVE A MYSTERY Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran returning from your first Field Mission, you've been provided with some spending money. You can use it to buy yourself one weapon and piece of armor from one of the blacksmiths in town. Regardless of who you choose to help you out with that, it'll take about a week to complete your order, so time your purchase carefully. There's also premade weapons and a whole bunch of other bullshit for sale at FANTASY COSTCO. Shelves and pallets of an endless array of nonmagical items, pretty much anything you can imagine, can be bought here, but there's one particular, innocuous item that seems to have Garfield the Deals Warlock in a tizzy. The more those vinyl covers that can be used to decorate your Bracers are purchased, the more the name seems to spread, ghosts of whispers around the entire Moon Base, of a person who may very well be a ghost herself. Who is Miss Zarves? Who was Miss Zarves? A powerful witch with the power to scramble your memories, insists one cantankerous woman who pours you a drink at Madame Frione's Tea Kettle. A heavyset, flushed with drink sort of man sitting next to you disagrees — Miss Zarves is a practical joke Garfield likes to trot out every couple of months to mess around with anybody gullible enough to believe him. Whatever the case, it seems that the name alone gives everyone a curious case of déjà vu. Someone has to have information on her — and this is the Reclaimers' opportunity to hone their information gathering skills. C. A (PERHAPS MANDATORY) DAY AT STOP DYING 101 Whether you're in class voluntarily, or whether you were dragged there on account of dying the past Field Mission, today's session of Fatalistic Fauna, and Danger Sense to channel your inner barbarian is going on a little field trip to the Arena. Because this is your first test to see if you can put all that information that's been given to you in the first few lectures to good use. You and a partner are placed in the middle of the Arena, in a simulation of an expansive, empty field, up against the first monster you were introduced to in class: A Bulette, a fearsome beast that can burrow, lunge, deal severe piercing damage, and jump an absolutely incredible distance. And you and your Reclaimer partner are absolutely no match for it. Your only option here is to escape. Can you? If you are dealt simulated fatal damage, then the Arena will dissolve back to normal, and you'll be given extra homework and reading material for the day. Sorry, them's the breaks. D. OPEN THE DOOR, GET ON THE FLOOR, EVERYBODY DO THE DINOSAUR There's a signup available for those looking to take Dance lessons at the Academy. There seem to be enough slots available for 50 or so people, and the form's name simply reads: "DANCE, NOW. WITH MS. CHARLOTTE." It's a pretty large time commitment- a crash course in dancing is a rather intensive affair. You'll be spending 4 days a week for 2 weeks, 2-3 hours per day, learning all the basics of the waltz, the tango, and the quickstep. Don't even think about trying the cha-cha slide here, it's simply not pasodoable. At the studio, you can borrow a pair of ballet slippers and join in with Ms. Charlotte, which, for anyone coming to the class for the first time should be rightly horrified. The newest member of the Bureau of Balance is a spider. A delegate from New New Aspen, Ms. Charlotte comes equipped with a bracer of her own, has taken in the Voidfish juice, and relocated here, to teach at the Academy. She moonlights as a ballroom dance instructor and a coach, and boy... she's pretty demanding with her approach, but incredibly thorough. You don't want to let Ms. Charlotte down. The sessions she teaches will get you to learn the basics. Natural aptitude, of course, goes a long way, but she's very 8-hands on with her approach at correcting posture and steps. Not without compassion, however, if you manage to get blisters on your feet, Ms. Charlotte's web bandages will set and help heal those sore, tired feet. The next 2 weeks of this boot camp are going to be brutal. E. THE MOON IS YOUR SPACE OYSTER (WILDCARD) There are plenty of other locations around the Moon Base that you can explore at your own discretion. Feel free to refer to the Settings page for more ideas on what shenanigans you can get into. Additionally, we'll be fielding Bender rolls again this month! With the exception of the three items that have been removed from his recipe database, if a food item was destroyed in a failed roll previously, you may roll to try to fix it. Bear in mind, of course, that you may make it worse. Successful food rolls will stay in place at this time. 4. THE DIRECTOR ACTS; A GRAND RELIC DESTROYED Erika has obtained and delivered the Space Mittens to Madame Director herself. She struggles to remain calm and composed at the moment, but the amount of immense pride and relief at recovering the Grand Relic slips through an otherwise sturdy exterior of coolness and level-headed features. She congratulates the entirety of the Bureau of Balance for their hard work, and relates to Erika that she couldn't be happier that she had made this world one step closer to being safe. A message will appear across all bracers, everywhere, with the following: Reclaimers, welcome home and congratulations on a successful first mission. Although there were certain drawbacks and difficult decisions that had to be made, I believe, without a doubt, that you all have irrefutably surpassed all expectations. Congratulations on a job well done. However, next time, please do be more careful out there. For those of you who wish to watch, my office will remain open until 1600 hours today. The relic will be destroyed, and if you would like to attend to see how it's done, please stop by. There will be light refreshments and coffee served, of course. If unable to attend, you can watch the ceremony later on your bracers. Don't forget to click Like and Subscribe. At the appointed hour, a ceremony will occur. She calls forth Davenport to wheel out the structure that's been created and designed with the sole purpose of destroying these things. She dare not takes the relic herself, no, refusing to touch the item at all. It's a medium sized metallic sphere, and once opened and closed, can never be opened again. Pulling back the curtain to an observatory, the Reclaimers can watch as Davenport sports a nifty pair of goggles, and wheels the orb onto a raised platform. He waits for the Director's signal, which is performed by an agreeable stamp of her oaken staff against the floor, and a nod. Davenport hits the KILL SWITCH, and the light show from behind the glass is amazing and terrifying all at the same time. You watch as the Space Mittens are obliterated from existence. An eruption of cheering breaks out. This concludes the first successful mission, and a deeply needed win, for the Bureau of Balance. blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

b!!

[bakucchan]

[This firey teen had just been wandering around, looking at the different weapons and wares when he catches sight of the woman falling and knocking over a shelf not too far from him. The shelf he was perusing topples over too, thanks to the domino effect but luckily he has enough reflexes to jump and roll out of the way. Not so luckily, a knife ends up just barely nicking his cheek and for that there is hell to pay: and he finds the culprit laying among the mess she's made and wastes no time raising his voice at her.]

What the fuck is wrong with you?! If you can't walk around ten minutes without knocking something over then get the fuck away from weapons, holy shit!

You could've cut my head clean off with that stupid stunt, you clumsy dumbass!

[discerp]

Eeek! [Mikan squeals in alarm and cowers instantly, holding her hands up defensively.]

I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! You're right, I'm the worst! I-I'll make it up to you, I promise! I'll do anything! I-I'll buy your weapons, o-or you can hit me, or, um, anything you want! Please forgive meeee!

[bakucchan]

[....okay usually when Bakugo yells at someone they either yell back or ignore him. The way Mikan immediately is on the defensive, apologizing and accepting what he said as if it's actually true reminds him a little of how someone he knew back home used to act and that only seems to piss him off even more.]

Are you fucking with me right now?

[If this were Bakugo if a few months ago he probably would have told her to go fuck herself, or take up on her offer to pay for his weapons. But this is New Bakugo... New Bakugo who just doesn't have time for that kind of bullshit to begin with.]

You should be offering that kind of shit to the old man who's weapons you just knocked all over the place! You got a couple of screws loose or something?

[discerp]

I-I will! I mean, um, I am! I'll clean it up! I-it was my fault anyhow, I'm the worst of the worst... I'm really stupid, I'm sorry.

[She whimpers and wipes at her eyes, continuing to berate herself better than probably even Bakugo ever could. It's easier to just accept what he says and agree if it means she can avoid being hurt.

The blacksmith himself, however, just looks tired, eyeing Bakugo himself with an unimpressed look. "Just... Get her away from here before she actually breaks something," he tells Bakugo and Mikan painfully begins to climb to her feet. She's a bit cut up herself, but the bandages she'd already been wearing on her arm and leg catch the blood and its all mostly bruises anyhow.

She wrings her hands anxiously and looks miserable, like some kind of kicked animal] I'm really sorry. I really shouldn't be here, I-I kept telling them that, but... ['Here' being this moon base thing in general, she means]

[bakucchan]

[Oh god he's being told to take Mikan out of here... he doesn't want to somehow cause more of an issue by refusing but he's not a babysitter.... ugh....

Reluctantly, Bakugo wraps his hand around one of Mikan's forearms and drags her out of there, his frustration at the situation just able to be felt rolling off of him. He doesn't respond to anything she says until the two are outside and safely away from any weapons, and there he practically tosses her away from himself with a sneer set on his expression.]

Like they fucking give a shit about what you tell them! The assholes running this sludgefest don't care about what any of us want-- they're using us for their own stupid gain!

[Surprisingly he's not that mad at Mikan herself, but more because he's angrier at the situation they're in instead of her accidentally cutting his cheek open and having to be drug out of the store by Bakugo himself.]

[discerp]

[Mikan squeaks, but doesn't resist as she hurries along after being led out. Surprisingly she doesn't fall either when he tosses her away from him, deliberately deciding against it since it didn't seem to help gain any sympathy from him, just his continued ire.

So she stumbles a couple steps and then stops, righting herself and staring off a moment.] ...Yes...I suppose that's true. But it doesn't seem like there's anything we can really do about it either...

[Which is just as aggravating, honestly. She was getting very tired of having her life dictated by higher powers, you know? They were supposed to be just living their lives out, maybe not happily ever after, but better and now...?

Mikan turns then, twisting her hands together again, but her brow is furrowed in concern as she eyes the cut on his cheek. Unlike before in the blacksmith's shop, she seems a bit more pulled together now as she approaches him]

Um, that cut... It's my fault, right? I'm sorry... Please, um... Please let me take care of it for you! I-I'm a nurse-- Or, I was, back home, so...

[bakucchan]

[Bakugo looks less than pleased when Mikan steps towards him, and offers to take care of the cut on his cheek for him. If he wasn't specifically trying to learn to get used to the whole "teamwork" idea, he'd tell her to back off especially since it's not a cut that's dangerous to his life or anything.. but at the same time he gets the feeling if he refuses she'll just keep insisting.

She's the type to blame herself way too much from what he can already tell, just by her offering to let him hurt her when he really wasn't the one she caused the most trouble too back there, so with a sigh through gritted teeth he folds his arms over his chest and tilts his head off towards the side.]

Be quick about it or I'll kill you.

[discerp]

Y-yes!

[She seems to actually believe he really will kill her, and immediately jumps to work. She's pretty much never without her bandaids and cloth, just in case, so while she doesn't have magic to heal it right away... She can at least do things the old-fashioned way.

Once again in a completely departure from how she normally appears, Mikan's hand is steady and her expression serious in concentration as she cleans and bandages the little wound.]

It doesn't seem to be that deep, so you won't need stitches or anything like that. It might twinge a little when you smile and laugh, though. [Pause.] If you smile and laugh... [Does... Does he know how to do those things?? Mikan has doubts.

But she smiles in relief when she's done] It's done...! Thank you for letting someone like me help you...!

[bakucchan]

[Okay Look. He was going to just answer to her thanks and call it there, you know? Just tell her "whatever" and go on his way now that this awkward exchange is over but then she had to go and say that. She had to go and question if he knew how to do a basic fucking human emotion!!!

So with a grin that looks more like he's ready to murder her than like he's enjoying himself, Bakugo speaks out rather loudly in a harsh, annoyed tone.]

Fuck you, I know how to smile and laugh! I'm doing it right now-- ha ha ha!!!

[He laughs like a maniac???]

[discerp]

Eek! [Mikan jumps back with a squeak of fear, staring at him wide-eyed] I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry for questioning you!

[Except. Uh.] B-but, um...But you just... Sort of look like you're in pain...? [Or going to murder everyone in the vicinity] It might not, um...It might not work so well when its not genuine! [It all sort of seems very forced, so maybe his natural smile/laugh is less.... terrifying??

Hopefully. Maybe. Either way Mikan is cringing and holding her hands up as if to shield her head again]

[bakucchan]

[Honestly she's not even wrong with that assessment and it pisses him off even more.]

Like there's anything to be genuinely happy about in this slugfest!

[His natural smile is adorable and no one has ever seen it before.. it's one of the world's Greatest Mysteries...]

And stop cowering like a scared weakling all the goddamn time! Do I look like someone who just goes around hitting people for fun?!

[i mean kind of]

1/2

[discerp]

[discerp]

D-do you want me to actually answer that...?

[She just really doesn't know, okay, maybe he wants an honest answer, maybe he wants a lie. SHE'S JUST MAKING SURE.]

[bakucchan]

[Tsumiki....... Girl......]

IT'S A RHETORIC QUESTION! The answer is I don't, dumbass!

[Not making his case good by yelling at her, honestly, but he continues anyway with a fire burning in his eyes.]

Listen, I'm only gonna say this once so listen-- y'got it?! I'm a Hero! The only people I'll lay a hand to are scumbags and villains that get off on being shit-tier lowlifes, so don't go around thinking I'm on the same level as them!

[Well no he'll smack his friends around if they piss him off but that's Different, okay.]

[discerp]

Eek! [She throws her arms up as if to protect her head again]

I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry! [' The only people I'll lay a hand to are scumbags and villains that get off on being shit-tier lowlifes' oh. Hm. Well that's a problem and doesn't do anything to help Mikan feel any better. If anything it scares her more, but of course she's not about to go talking about that in the face of that declaration. Not that she would've anyhow so freely, but this adds an extra incentive to keep quiet.]

A... Hero? [TIME TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT, because that seems like a safer topic. Maybe??]

[bakucchan]

You're damn right!

[It's a much safer topic, and even though he still ends up yelling about it. But after that declaration he finally puts on an inside voice, and starts it off with a huff of a sigh through his nose. There really are a lot of people here who have no idea where the fuck he comes from.. that's such a hard concept to get used to, and it only kind of backs up the "your world is destroyed" theory if there really is proof of other "worlds" existing in the first place but. Whatever.]

Where I come from, the place is overrun by people who can use supernatural abilities. Call 'em "Quirks". Some people like to use them to cause a lot of panic and chaos, like goin' around snatching purses from women who don't know how to use their own Quirks or murdering people just for fun. We call those assholes "Villains", and people who fight against Villains are called Heroes.

[A pretty simple concept, all things considered.]

And I'm gonna be the best damn Hero the world has ever seen.

[If the world is even still around to see it.]

[discerp]

[Just like out of the superhero manga or video games Nanami might've played... Mikan listens with rapt attention, smiling slightly.]

That's so cool! [She claps her hands together in delight] I'm sure you can do it! My, umm, world [boy is it weird to say that] has something like that, but they're called 'Talents' and only a really small handful are acknowledged with them... A-and they're not really supernatural... [Not really. Maybe some like 'clairvoyant' and some of the talents are so crazy well-developed they might as well be superpowers, but...]

Wh-what's your, um, 'Quirk'? [Is he going to demonstrate

please don't demonstrate]

[bakucchan]

Explosion.

[A wide grin spreads across Bakugo's face when she asks that-- but he can't actually demonstrate it for her luckily.]

I sweat somethin' like nitroglycerin and I can ignite it in my palms like dynamite! One snap of my fingers could blow a hole bigger than you into the side of a building!

[Ok he's exaggerating a little bit.. it's more than just a snap but the force of his explosion is no joke.]

[discerp]

[Her eyes go huge]

Oh! [NOT... WHAT SHE EXPECTED.] S-somehow... Somehow that seems to suit you... And explains a lot. [It just explains a lot about him in general.]

M-maybe best not to demonstrate right, um, right here, though. But still, that's really cool! You're probably pretty good, right? Um, have you fought a lot of crime then? You seem so young...

[Younger than her, anyhow, though form his perspective she probably doesn't seem that much older than HIM]

[bakucchan]

Just 'cuz I'm young doesn't mean shit!

[Bakugo spits that at Tsumiki, any sense of pride or excitement about talking about his home immediately gone with that comment from her.]

Who the fuck are you to say bullshit like that in the first place, huh?! You've got the face of a twelve year old, you clumsy fuck!