SPOOKY HAUNTS AND TRAILS » OPEN

[maskreant]

WHO: the infamous nasty crimeboy, Akira Kurusu, and you!
WHERE: Places in Recolle
WHEN: Spooky Month of October
WHAT: EVENT STUFF and mundane stuff if it comes up. if you would like to plan anything, hit me up via halloway or hei#2323 on discord.
WARNINGS: Persona 5 spoilers for last boss battle and late-game conspiracy unveiling. Will update when necessary!

NOTE!! You can leave an empty comment with the subject header of your choice or even RANDOM for something unlisted/miscellaneous (lighthearted) and I'll write the prompt. For nightmares, it may skip around and make no sense very much like how actual dreams are.

nightmares

[ When you enter the dream, you're engulfed by darkness until you hear a deep and unfamiliar voice. It speaks in a language you are most comfortable with. ]

The contract has been sealed...

You have agreed to provide the Trickster support
in his journey to oppose fate and seek change.

CASINO
It's filled with a variety of gamblers from talking fish to actual people. Shadows are also gambling? But they're aggressive due to their mass losses. There are several elevators and it seems like the treasure is on the VIP level.

If you choose to enter the CASINO, you may appear outside of the structure or on the first floor in costume and mask. Akira will accompany you in his Joker outfit.

VELVET ROOM
Are you a prisoner? Or a keeper? You can stand behind the bars with Akira, withstand the abuse and rebel alongside him, or on the opposite side—ushered by two wardens and a man with an elongated nose to carry out discipline. Rehabilitation is important.

If you choose to enter the VELVET ROOM, you may appear inside or outside the cell. Your attire will change into prisoner wear or officer uniform respectively.

MEMENTOS (SPOILER)
In the city of Recolle, you notice there's something strange. People walk past the blood red rain and the towering skeleton pieces. The irrelevant become forgotten. The forgotten vanish. Is it your hand that's disappearing? Or is it Akira's?

If you choose MEMENTOS, you'll be in your normal attire or in your underwear. Whichever your character feels less attractive in if you want. Once again, Akira is beside you.

CODE CREDIT

fog

[ Akira has been having a hard time with his nightmares. Some of them he remembers bits and pieces (all useless), but he's thinking a jog in the ungodly time where the thick fog rolls in is a good idea? Unfortunately not... He ends up running away from one of these three tormentors in his pajamas. What's with his luck?

As he looks behind him, he crashes into someone. Sorry. ]

TWIN WARDENS (SPOILER)
Their names are unknown to you, but they're two girls with silver hair with a single golden eye (an eyepatch covers the other). As attendants of the Velvet Room, they have this ethereal aura to them, even menacing as they shoot various skills into the fog.

"Come back here, inmate! You can't hide forever!"

"You're only delaying the inevitable."

IMPERIOUS ANGEL (SPOILER)
An angel appears with an abstract body shape. Wings scaling wide and halo spinning over its head, it spreads its several hands that hold instruments. With the rise of the triangle, the angel rings it with a clear ding. In a matter of seconds, a flash of light magic strikes near.

"I am what humanity desires. Why oppose me?"

You can hear the sneer in its voice.

GOLD PIGGER
This silver piggy bank may seem cute, but it's also massively large and rolls without end. What does stop it from rolling are valuable items. Throw something expensive and it'll take a break to appraise it with a series of oinks. The one in control is a half-fly guy throwing out some mad rhymes.

"Yo yo yo! You think you can just walk into my neighborhood and disrespect me like that, dawg?"

CODE CREDIT

wildcard

[ THROW ME WHATEVER! Baby haunts from the new ghosts or even the Retrospec Maze! Even anything normal. ]

Comments

[sketchythief]

[ ...

Daisuke feels like the pulsing is giving him a headache. There's a slightly distraught look on his face as he looks at Akira. He can't eat anymore because his surroundings are too concerning--IS IT REALLY THE TIME TO EAT RIGHT NOW?! ]

Why is the room...

[maskreant]

This is happening because I have company.

[ It's a distorted way of seeing it... That having a friend or just someone that he can talk to in public is seen as an anomaly to the universe. This small yet necessary desire for companionship is wrong.

So the world is breaking, slowly. Even the people are turning strange. The veins continue to spread throughout the room before it becomes a bright red color. It's beating. ]

It's better if I'm alone, anyway. I'll be fine.

[sketchythief]

[ Daisuke squints. What kind of messed up dream is this--while Daisuke is of the opinion that dreams run with imagination and such, this seems... a bit painful. He doesn't see anything wrong with Akira's expression, seeing him calmly explain, but that's exactly what's wrong in this situation to him. ]

Isn't that a bit too much...?

[ Admittedly, Daisuke is internally freaking out over the change in their surroundings. ]

But don't you have friends already? And a boyfriend??

[maskreant]

Friends...? A boyfriend.

[ At first, he squints at Daisuke like are you crazy? No one even notices he exists in the first place. However, there's something about those words that make the room pulse even louder. Despite that, there's light in his eyes— ]

We need to get out of here.

[ Now he has complete control of his dream self. Standing straight up, he takes Daisuke's wrist before they jump out of the window. The glass shatters against their weight and they start falling endlessly like they were on the 100th floor. ]

[sketchythief]

[ It's one thing for Akira to suddenly snap out of it (in Daisuke's eyes), but for him to suddenly grab his wrist and crash through the window was something he didn't expect at all. There was a small shout of protest, until he realizes that he's free falling without end. He's glad that there isn't an end, but it takes a while for him to calm down. ]

I'm glad we're out, but... Did we have to go out so dramatically?

[maskreant]

It's not like they would let us leave... I'm sure they would just try to brainwash us.

[ They're still falling. Akira positions himself in a way where he looks like he's sitting, stroking his chin and crossing his legs. Hm. ]

There is a bottom... Do you think wings would be too much?

[sketchythief]

Wings?

[ He would like it if he didn't have to splat on the ground, and from what he remembers of his other self, wings were a thing. The thing is, he's not sure how to do it. But this is a dream, so he should just be able to sprout some--

And so he does--a pair of black wings pop into existence.

It's too bad that Daisuke is very startled by its sudden creation that he's... still free falling head first. Good job, Daisuke. ]

Um! Hold on! I think I can... I think I can do it.

[ He just has to not think about how this would even work logically and think of it as the magically working. He's trying so hard while the wings behind him look like it's a part of a broken umbrella.

He reaches out his hand to Akira for him to hold so that he can fly them both... somewhere. When he gets the hang of it. ]

[maskreant]

[ OH?! Akira is susprised. He was actually going to will a giant bird into existence, but this works out, too. He holds onto Daisuke's hand and watches as they ascend and descend like they're a baby bird. ]

I almost can't tell we're actually flying.

[ And they're over Recolle... It's such a nice view. ]

[sketchythief]

[ Okay, he got the hang of it now, so they're mostly flying smoothly. He tries to make Akira comfortable by attempting to hold his other hand as he flies over Recolle. Th view really is nice. He kind of want to stop, but he honestly might space out and accidentally let go of Akira in the process. And that would be Bad. ]

We don't usually get to fly so high like this, so it's a new experience, right?

Where should we go?

[maskreant]

[ Hmm... Akira looks below the city of Recolle. It's colorful and bright, though there are some bits of grey here and there. Despite that, it's... slowly turning color. The red spider veins are spreading. ]

It would be good if we can find the source of those veins.

[ The state of the buildings shift as the city pulses. ]

[sketchythief]

[ All this pulsing feels like Daisuke will get a headache. Despite that, he presses on, looking around in an attempt to see where the source can be. ]

So, if I follow the veins, there should be a source...

[ He starts flying next to one of them. ]

[maskreant]

... Well, I would hope so?

[ Akira doesn't sound at all too confident about it, but there has to be. There's a source for everything—when they fly over the vein, they're lead to the Retrospec building for some reason. ]

That's... Weird.

[sketchythief]

[ Daisuke finds it weird too, but wonders... ]

This isn't something like dream symbolism, is it?

[maskreant]

... Sometimes dreams don't mean anything.

[ He's scratching his cheek, but hops onto his feet when they land. The building is pulsing with veins and the doors are open for them to go in. ]

After you.

[sketchythief]

Okay...

[ He looks behind him. The wings are still there. Does he just will them away? He thinks about getting rid of them--Oh, there we go. It poofs out of existence. For some reason, he feels a void within him once the wings disappear.

Anyway. He squints at the sight in front of him. The earlier the pulsing stops, the better, so he steps inside. ]

[maskreant]

[ The pulses are even more palpable as they enter the building. The building is generally only open and shows one part of the first floor, maybe sometimes the second, but it's oddly vast today with cubicles for miles. ]

... I don't remember it looking like this.

[sketchythief]

... Is this not what it normally looks like?

[ Admittedly, he has never been inside the building in real life, so he had no idea what to expect for a dream version of it anyway. ]

The pulsing is stronger here, so the source should definitely be here...

[ ... ]

I wish we could just get rid of the building.

[maskreant]

I wonder if removing the Retrospec building would be considered a bad omen...

[ As they press on. it keeps pulsing, but they find no workers as usual. This is normal, but the red color definitely isn't. When they reach the center, there's an elevator. ]

I'm guessing we take this.

[ And inside they go! It actually shoots down... Into hell. It gets even redder as if that's all their vision. The floor they hit is... A subway station? ]

[sketchythief]

[ Daisuke was actually terrified when the elevator suddenly shot down and clung onto the side rail for what good that would have done. The redness makes him feel sick, but he snaps out of it once they reach the subway station. ]

A train station...? Is it here?

[ His steps are a little unstable, but he still holds himself up. ]

[maskreant]

[ It's a dark and distorted version of a of the subway station. They can hear the subway running in another area. It toots its little horn, but it doesn't seem like they're in any trouble. The pulsing stops, hut hm...

He knows this place, though he thinks it's better not to tell Daisuke. ]

We might need to go lower.

[ Akira will help him down onto the tracks (which may seem like a Bad Idea). ]

[sketchythief]

Even lower?

[ The elevator was scary, but at least that would have been a sure way down. He's not sure if the tracks would lead them any further down. If anything, they would go up?? At least that's what Daisuke thinks, but this is a dream. Akira would know best...

But it still bothers him. ]

Is it a good idea to be on the tracks when there are trains running...?

[maskreant]

If my memory is right, we should be okay... But it'll be tiring.

[ He rubs his neck as he looks around. Why can't his friend show up? That cat—and as if summoned, Morrigan shows up.

Kitty looks at both of them before sighing, "why do I have to be pulled into this, too?"

Morrigan seems to have a boyish voice, pretty young, and turns into... a car. ]

Nice. I have my driver's license, too.

[ "Who would even let you drive?!" ]

[sketchythief]

[ . . .

What.

Daisuke just looks at Morrigan turning into a car. And did he just talk?? He looks at Akira, so confused. YOUR CAT JUST TURNED INTO A CAR AND YOU JUST COMMENT ON HOW YOU HAVE YOUR LICENSE... ]

Does this mean... the car drives itself...?

[maskreant]

... I don't think the cat in my memories can drive himself, but I don't know about Morrigan.

[ "I can drive. Just get in."

YOU HEARD HIM, DAISUKE. Akira just settles into the driver's seat without any qualms. Seat belts on, he's ready for this. ]

[sketchythief]

A cat car... It reminds me of that cat bus movie a long time ago.

[ Tororo, right? Anyway, Daisuke sits in the passenger's seat and buckles his seatbelt. ]

... How fast does this car go?