[color=darkgray]Calliope strode forward, looking for any indication the others were nearby. If she got through her room, surely Banjo and Gil did too. Though if it was anything like hers, the torment and trauma was nothing to sneer at. Her footsteps echoed along the walls until she heard a voice and....was that a click of a gun? It happened in a blur. The fear, the panic, the confusion. She knew it had to be an illusion. Another figment courtesy of whoever locked them in here. That didn't make it any less real. Or less painful as a moment of relief was soon shattered like glass as the gun went off. [hr] Calliope felt pain, unlike anything she had experienced before. The sides of her vision darkened as she looked around. She did everything in her power not to look at her leg, knowing if she did it would unnerve her more. Butler's words still danced around in her mind. Again, the simulations knew what to say to dig into her fears and worries. [color=goldenrod][i]"G'day love. Seems you found yourself in a pickle."[/i][/color] The voice came from beyond her scope but she recognized the accent. She wanted to cry out, both from fear and hope. He had found her like she knew he would. She heard his footfalls get closer and closer until she could see the shadow form. She looked and saw....well...it was Banjo all right. But not her's. The Banjo she knew was not this put-together. She often joked how he would roll out of bed and just tackle the day, but it was true more often than not. She had to be the one to beg him to wear actual decent clothes when going out. This Banjo was well-dressed in a dark blazer and colored button-down shirt that accentuated his frame. Tailored slacks fell upon loafers that Banjo would never be caught dead in. Much like how Frigid and the other Katja came into the scene before, this had to be Banjo's twin. [color=goldenrod][i]"Got you good in here, didn't they? Say the word, love, and I'll whisk you away from here."[/i][/color] [color=F796A9]"B-Banjo?"[/color] she asked through labored breath. He chuckled and shook his head. [color=goldenrod][i]"Always hated that nickname. It's Andrew, love. You can admit it, you hate the name too."[/i][/color] Calliope tried to move to see better but she felt her arm buckle a bit, knowing if she tried further she would just hurt herself more. Banjo, or Andrew supposedly, stepped around, kneeling down to face her. [color=goldenrod][i]"I don't know what you see in us, darling. You have to know the messed up stuff we went through. Your's is a cakewalk compared to ours. Let's call it what it is: princess slummin' it to stick it to daddy. Am I right?"[/i][/color] His question was punctuated with a grin. Calli clenched her fist. Andrew seemed to pick up on it. [color=goldenrod][i]"Hit a nerve, did I? You're too good for him and you both know it. There's no effort there. If I had you to myself I would scream it to the world. When is it Calli's time to get her flowers?"[/i][/color] Calli took some deep breaths, feeling angry and scared in equal measure. [color=F796A9]"I..don't need...to be in..the spotlight...content...with where I am.."[/color] Andrew tsk'd her. [color=goldenrod][i]"We both know that's not true. Sure, you tell everyone within radius you're fine when we all know you need that pedestal. How else are you going to be saved if no one can even reach you?"[/i][/color] Calliope closed her eyes, willing Andrew to go away. She needed to think, to figure out how to save herself before she bled out. [color=goldenrod][i]"One day you will realize the toxic nature you both perpetuate being in proximity of each other. I only wish you figure it out before the damage is permanent. See you around, love."[/i][/color] With a flick of his hand he turned and walked back down the corridor. Calli wanted to call out. Even he wouldn't just leave her here. She reached out into the inky blackness that remained. Someone had to find her. To...help her. Someone. Anyone.[/color] [hr] [center][color=darkgoldenrod][sup]________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/COLOR][img]https://i.imgur.com/I2n5C5B.jpeg[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=darkgoldenrod][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]The Southern Plateau, Dundas Islands, Pacific Ocean - Present[/I] [I][/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=darkgoldenrod][b]Welcome Home #2.052:[/b][/COLOR] [I][url=https://open.spotify.com/track/695TlBmO9CcO4sCrrq2mab?si=zH12EcNOScCEkxQwH6QK8w]Black The Sun[/url][/I][/right][/sup][/indent][COLOR=darkgoldenrod][SUP][sub]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][indent][sub][color=darkgoldenrod][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]Calliope - [@PatientBean][/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=darkgoldenrod][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [color=white][I][url=https://open.spotify.com/track/2qeYY4SxrPLyGCdCXL6tbg?si=omJEjRboSqeolAhYWm8bpA]Horror Movie[/url][/I][/color][/right][/SUP][/indent] [color=darkgray] [i]Breathe.[/i] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Dead... She's dead..."[/color] [i]Shut up. Sack up. Breathe.[/i] Banjo stopped stammering and shaking and concentrated on breathing. [i]Breathe first. Then think. Then move.[/i] He straightened up in the duct, and got his bearings. Looking behind him was a walled up section, which made it an easy decision as to what way to go. [i]This place is all augmented reality. Maybe she's not even dead. Maybe it's bullshit. But everyone [b][u]IS[/u][/b] in trouble. So you've got to move. But everything in order. Breathe. Think. Move.[/i] After a few more deep breaths he started to crawl onwards through the ducting. It bent hard to the right up ahead and he paced himself, nervous of the sound he made as he progressed, and unsure how vulnerable that noise made him. Rounding the corner he came to a section of ducting that was filled with small pinholes of light on all sides, and the far end of the ducting showed light at the end of the tunnel. Buoyed with optimism for a possible way out he crawled faster, until a voice echoed in his ears. [color=sienna]"G'day."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"All good, champ. I've got it figured from here."[/color] [color=sienna]"Not why I'm here..."[/color] The disembodied voice of Mamili's uncle called back. Darker in tone this time. Banjo sensed the shift. [color=sienna]"And did you just 'champ' me..?"[/color] The dark voice ominously asked. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Aww Hell..."[/color] Banjo muttered, realising his error from the breached social taboo from back home. Suddenly the pin prick lights started to swirl and change shape, colours and forms burst from the black walls like the canvas of the night's sky. [color=sienna]"Want another tale, white boy? More of our culture to misapprorpriate? Wasn't enough your ancestors slaughtered and enslaved us in bunches... stole our children..."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"God damn it! I called this! The real one's thousands of miles away! And this isn't even close to what he was like!"[/color] Banjo tried to grab hold of the sides of the duct to steady himself as the lightshow swirled and disorientated him. [color=Sienna]"In the beginning there was the Rainbow Serpent..."[/color] Swirls of lights combined to form a multi-coloured snake, which coiled and sprang at Banjo through the darkness. He ducked beneath the snake with a clatter as he sprawled onto the floor of the metal tube. His breathing and his heart rate spiked. He glanced behind him and could see the snake wasn't done with him. Somehow, despite being born from the lights that surrounded him it had gained physical form, and an ability to exist beyond just that flat plane. It reared up and hissed aggressively, rainbow coloured coils of pinks, oranges, greens and yellows finding purchase upon themselves. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Shit... Again."[/color] He slid to the right as it struck out with another lunge again. Once more only finding air before landing with another thump on the metal. But how long would that be the case while his movements were limited in this enclosed tube? [color=darkgoldenrod]"A supposed snake out of myth and legend... what're the odds whoever's runnin' this picked a venomous one to play your part?"[/color] The snake hissed, and turned back on itself again. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Yeah, that's what I thought. Don't suppose you'd like to go find y'rself some kind of rat or other vermin in around these ducts, eh?"[/color] It once again arched itself up on it's coils and held a menacing demeanour, ready to strike. [color=darkgoldenrod]"I take it ya mean you like the look of the vermin ya picked already, eh? Well... shit."[/color] It lunged again, and once more, Banjo flattened himself against the floor of the duct and let it pass by overhead. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Can't keep doin' this. Sooner or later I'm gonna pick wrong."[/color] Banjo turned to face the snake, as it re-positioned itself for another attack. Squaring up and staring straight at his serpantine aggressor. [color=sienna]"You would [b][u]FIGHT[/u][/b] the Rainbow Serpent?! The Creator?!"[/color] The voice of Uncle Motlop screamed. It was a barely human distortion of his voice, which made Banjo almost sick to hear. But it hadn't played it's last card. Lights swirled. The snake coiled. Uncle unleashed a blinding flash. Strike! Banjo snatched at the snake with his left, grabbing it just behind the head, mere centimetres from his face. It wrapped it's coils around his wrist and writhed to free itself, unable to get leverage on it's head to sink its fangs anywhere. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Heh. Heh-heh-heh. How'd ya like that? Gotcha."[/color] Slowly at first, the snake started to expand. More coils wrapped up his arm, as the snake then grew in width. It grew bloated and wide, and the duct seemed to shrink even more than Banjo already felt it had. He had to clutch the snake with both hands. Then wrap himself around it's back, behind its head to keep it from striking at him. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Aw f'r fucks sake..."[/color] He was now stuck riding the thing, as it's coils slammed themselves and him into the sides of the duct, trying desperately to pry him off. Unless he could think of a way to-- Oh. Banjo breathed, then let his breathing halt, as his body turned black and he felt the familiar rush, he soaked in the light Uncle had filled the duct with to try and blind him. His body turned cold, and frost began to cross the snake's face, as it listed far slower in its movements. It began to enter a hibernation state. Shrinking back to its previous size again. As it fell limp, Banjo threw it down the duct with a black arm. It landed with a thud and didn't make any moves at all, until the colours faded, and its light was once again taken and repurposed for this place. [color=sienna]"Lawlessness. You would kill the order bestowed by the Rainbow Serpent?"[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Piss off."[/color] Banjo grumbled. He was tired of this. Watching people he knew twisted and perverted for use, if they weren't being killed horribly in front of him as some sort of a message. He tried to power down. [color=sienna]"But then that was alway going to be your role. Destroyer. Devourer. ...Tiddalik."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Tiddalik..? Are you takin the piss--?"[/color] Suddenly 'Uncle' shifted the lights, the whole duct went bright and pulsated with light so strongly he could feel it in his throat and in his ears. He kept feeding. For some reason he found himself unable to stop. [color=sienna]"You know your place in this world..."[/color] His surroundings went black and he was taken to a place. A city. A dour dystopia of huddled masses in thick clothes struggling for their last moments of survival. Those poor people who were still alive tried to flee. Banjo was feeding. More. Above a building, from a dying world's skyline he could see what remained of the sun - the darkened embers of it's core struggling to hold flame in the face of entropy. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Heh. Ha ha..."[/color] Banjo slowly chuckled. [color=darkgoldenrod]"So this--"[/color] He swirled his finger around, gesturing at everything. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Let me get this straight. This is what you've got on me? Hahahaha..."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"I was brought here to teach me how to get a hold of my powers. And [b][u]THIS[/u][/b] was never a concern. Not a real one. The fear of a dumb kid who didn't know better, maybe. But not really. I just didn't use 'em because I was scared of it. Heh-heh."[/color] Actually seeing his fear from so long ago actually play out in front of him made him realise how absurd it actually was. How foolish. Made even worse by the fact that it was still a nagging little fear toying with the back of his mind on occasion - as evidenced by the fact that it had been brought to the fore here. [color=darkgoldenrod]"I was a dumb, naive kid who was smart enough to be an idiot. I learned about the nature of entropy and the heat death of the universe and thought it could be theoretically possible I could play a part in it. But two things; first, I couldn't do this by myself, and second, it wouldn't happen like this if I could. This is all you have though, isn't it? You're working off of fears and insecurities. Doesn't matter if they don't make any sense. Just like my stupid nightmares. And I'll tell you right now, it's havin' the same effect. You're just pissin' me off."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"And you're blendin' stuff, to the point where it no longer makes sense. I get the vents... playin' up to my claustrophobia. Smart. But the Rainbow Serpent... it's a creator myth. It's movements create rivers and terraform the earth. It's not fittin' in a bloody air conditionin' duct."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"And Tiddalik wasn't a kookaburra, like the old bloke you're playin' long tried to beat into my head. He was a big arsed frog. Heh-heh-heh."[/color] Banjo gave a wry smirk. [color=darkgoldenrod]"And when he laughed, everythin' went back to normal. BA HAHA HA HA HA!"[/color] Banjo erupted into obnoxious laughter, hoping to break through its own programming. He kept cackling with laughter until... He found himself powered down and back in the duct. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Ho-lee shit. That actually worked."[/color] He started crawling again. [i]Just goes to show... It's all about mind over mind over hard-light not-really-matter. It plays to your fears, but if you keep your wits about you, a clear mind, its not really that hard or unsaf--[/i] The airconditioning duct crashed twelve feet to the floor below in an open hallway. Banjo groaned and rolled out of the broken metal, onto his back. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Uggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."[/color] Thoroughly battered and bruised, like he'd been left in a clothes dryer. Every part of him ached. Slammed and smushed against the sides of the duct with the snake, mentally drained from watching the rest of his team in turmoil or taken by death, and now dropped from a great height with no hope of a soft landing. His body ached everywhere. Through hazy eyes, he can barely see two legs and a slim lower half running towards him out of focus. The figure runs up to him and kneels down next to him. [color=F796A9]"Banjo? Oh my God, are you Okay? What the Hell happened? Please say something."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Hun? Shit... Hey. You made it through. We both... made it through. You in better shape than me, by the looks..."[/color] She shakes her head. [color=F796A9]"They really messed me up, Banjo. Made me see things, question things. What are we even doing? There's no point continuing this lie we keep pushing forward. Everyone on the team thinks it. Fuck knows I've had my doubts for a while now."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Lie..?"[/color] The word, the question, caught in his throat, as he struggled to turn over to face her better, through no small amount of pain. [color=F796A9]"We are two different people, Banjo. We come from messed up backgrounds. There's no future in that. I was quick to be with you to stick it to my father and I fell into the belief we could make it work. What kind of relationship could there be?"[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Oh. That."[/color] He accepted it without question. He'd been waiting for that coin to drop for five years. [i]But now..? We're going to do this now? I'm in bloody pain here...[/i] [color=darkgoldenrod]"But nothing's changed there. That was the same case before. And you even took time to reconsider things when you realised that the first time."[/color] [color=F796A9]"Yeah, and do you know how long that's been weighing on my mind? The looks people give me? Everyone knows our relationship started on a lie. I rushed into it. No..."[/color] She pauses a moment. [color=F796A9]"You pushed me into it. It was bad enough I felt so guilty, but you made me feel worse. The clinginess. The secrecy. Hell, I didn't even know where you came from for a long time and even then, even now, you secrets from me. Tell me honestly, can we recover from that? Should we recover from that?"[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"I can't imagine how people look at ya. Because I've never really given a pinch of shit how anyone's looked at me. So I guess I'm sorry for that. But secrecy? I didn't know where I came from... and as soon as I found out, I told you. And [b][i]ONLY[/i][/b] you. Nobody else 'round here knows any of that. The main stuff I don't tell you is stuff [b][u]I[/u][/b] don't know, so what else is there to-- oh."[/color] He grunted, shuffling slowly to get his free arm to the inside of the AR suit, through the leg of the pants. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Hold on. Nothin' suss..."[/color] He pulled out the crinkled pack of Winfield Blues and his zippo. [color=darkgoldenrod]"I smoke. Is that what ya talkin' about? Because that's about the only thing I can think of that I haven't told ya. It gives me somethin' to do with my hands. Helps me think. And my hype power cleans it right out of me. Thought it was pretty victimless. You want me to kick it I could. Anytime. Juicin' cleans the nicotine right off my synapses. But that's about the only thing I can think of..."[/color] [color=F796A9]"God Banjo, how stupid can you be? It's not about some fucking cigarettes. You expect me to believe there's a world you know nothing about and, what, I'm supposed to just accept that? You know everything about me but you hold so much unknown. For all I know, you were a serial killer child who messed up animals. I care about appearances, Banjo. That should have been obvious Day 1. Look at you, and look at me. We come from two different worlds. This isn't a Disney movie, we don't deserve happily ever afters. You certainly don't."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Well... for one, if I were some child psychopath, then there'd probably be some signs of that in the time since where I have had my memories. But yeah, everything about me that I know... you know. Can't argue with what I deserve, but. So I won't. Is that what this is? Appearances? Reckon you'd be happier with someone else?"[/color] He asked, laying out breadcrumbs. He shook the crinkled box until the end of a single smoke popped clear, and put it to his lips. [color=F796A9]"Of course! You know the way Gil looks at me. You don't think I see your jealousy whenever he so much as greets me? He would be ideal. Someone my father would actually appreciate. You're not exactly ' Family Dinner' material."[/color] He lit up, and rocked his head back. Confirming something to himself. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Hell, can't argue that, neither."[/color] He took a long draw. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Though I will say... I don't much care for the fact that Gil ties into my fears and insecurities in any bloody way at all."[/color] He blew out smoke. [color=darkgoldenrod]"...or maybe the fear is that you might see it as that way."[/color] Calliope looked at Banjo in shock before she let her face fall. Shaking her head. [color=F796A9]"Guess I laid it on too thick, huh?"[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Hey, I was just givin' you enough rope to hang yourself by pivoting from the pair of us not deserving happiness, to contradictin' yourself that there'd be someone else. You're the one who went full blown Daddy's Girl. Nup. Not my gal. No way, no how."[/color] Calliope, no... Frigid let the facade drop as she stood up, blue highlights now appearing as she turned to him, a sneer on her face. She lifted her leg and stomped down on Banjo's knee. [color=F796A9]"Good, then I can do what I actually want to you. I can even make it hut more by telling you what's actually happening to your precious Calli."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"Nggg!"[/color] He grunted in pain. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Juicy bloody chrysanthemums"[/color] He exclaimed, clutching at his knee. [color=darkgoldenrod]"I know... that my first source for news... Is one that will lie to me from the moment it bloody sees me, just to hurt me. So yeah, sure. Have at it."[/color] He rolled to one side and kneeled shakily on his good leg, sizing her up. [color=darkgoldenrod]"You really take the bloody fun out of bein' right, and solvin' puzzles. You know that?"[/color] Frigid kicked him in the side now. [color=F796A9]"Lying to you would be easy. It would defeat the purpose of seeing you suffer in here. After all, we know what your fears are."[/color] [color=F796A9]"So let me lay it out for you. Right now your girl faced one of her biggest fears. I could lie and say she is suffering eternally, but you wouldn't believe me. So no, she got through her room. Scratched, bloodied, beaten up, but she's alive. Though....gosh...not for much longer."[/color] [color=F796A9]"You see, she tried to find you, bless her. But someone found her first and really laid into her. She didn't see it coming. Let's just say she doesn't have a leg to stand on. And the longer you take sitting here, feeling sorry for yourself, the longer she bleeds. Last time I checked, humans carried only so much blood before,"[/color] Frigid made a cutting motion across her neck. [color=F796A9]"I have an idea!"[/color] Frigid quickly formed an ice sword and drove it into Banjo's left leg, plunging it deep. [color=F796A9]"Look, twinsies!"[/color] Banjo's howl echoed through this desolate place. [color=F796A9]"Well, this was fun, but I have to go. Let's see if you can find her in time. Killing you would be easy, but watching you slowly die inside as your girlfriend slowly perishes is all the fun I need. Good luck!"[/color] As if to rub salt in his wounds even further, she slowly walked away into the shadows, leaving him to clutch his leg and bleed. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Nggg... Shit."[/color] He rolled himself onto his back and scooched over to a wall. The ice sword was in deep enough that it held its own weight. Drawing a furrowed brow from Banjo who contemplated removing it, or whether it would be better to leave it in. [color=darkgoldenrod]"That one's probably best served stayin' put. If the doctor's tell me to stay off it and ice it... well... sorted."[/color] He gradually stood up, leaning back against the wall to keep his weight off the other leg. With one arm against the wall, he started hobbling down the hallway. [i]You know she was probably lying to you, right?[/i] He thought to himself. [color=darkgoldenrod]"Doesn't matter."[/color] He hobbled on. [color=darkgoldenrod]"What's the down side... Ya find out she's fine sooner? I can live with that."[/color] Calliope had moved somewhat from her original spot, a blood trail following her. She needed to get out or find someone who wasn't some created fixture in this simulation. God, it hurt. She could only imagine what the others were going through. Would she be the only one severely injured? She doubted it. As she neared she heard something or someone. God she hoped it was someone. [color=F796A9]"H-hello? I need help..."[/color] she attempted to yell, but it came out softly. Banjo hobbled onwards. Considering whether it would be better to call out in this place, where his fears might target him again in a weakened state, and whether anyone however close would actually hear him. He realised he didn't care. [h1][sup][sub][color=darkgoldenrod][b]"CALL-EEEEE!"[/b][/color][/sub][/sup][/h1] [h1][sup][sub][color=darkgoldenrod][b]"CALLLLL-EEEEEEEEEEEEE!"[/b][/color][/sub][/sup][/h1] His voice started to rasp, from shouting so loud. Calli heard his voice and nearly broke down again. Surely this wasn't the other Andrew messing with her, but she couldn't be sure. The voice sounded like it was in pain. She had to risk it. She kept crawling despite the pain shooting through her nerves. The sounds grew closer until a shadow formed in front of her. She stopped crawling and looked up, focusing her gaze. The figure materialized and she knew. [color=F797A9]"Banjo...thank christ.."[/color] Tears began welling up in her eyes. [color=darkgoldenrod]"We. Have... Seen better days. But you're still a sight for sore eyes. Sore eyes, sore everythin'."[/color] He hobbled over and held her. [color=darkgoldenrod]"I reckon its about time we weren't here."[/color] [color=darkgoldenrod]"So whaddaya say, you lean on me, I'll lean on you, and we keep goin' til we get gone?"[/color] Calli nodded her agreement, reaching for him. [color=F796A9]"Going to need...more support probably. On account of the fact, I don't have a leg. And The Butler did it..."[/color] her attempt at humor. He brought out the best in her. He laughed. Broadly. Then felt slightly ashamed at how loudly he'd done so and the timing of it all. Until he saw the smile it brought to her face. [/color]