Team Cognac II: The Sequel Recolle Doesn't Need, but Deserves

[redarm]

WHO: Team Cognac & any victims guests that were invited along.
WHERE: OUR DEAR HOME THE SUBWAY
WHEN: 1/6 - onward
WHAT: The Subway calls, so the team reunites to once again venture in
WARNINGS: Violence, Swearing, Stupidity, possibly Zoro's ass


Mood Music (cause we're about as dysfunctional as the Avengers)

With the sudden increase of mysteries coming from the subway, it seemed only natural that the team once assigned to investigate would rise to the occasion to look into its dark depths once more.

So on the first weekend on the month, Team Cognac arrives at the subway. Some were informed through a text call to arms, some were drawn here on their own by perhaps fate, and some were probably dragged kicking and screaming. How they got there doesn't matter. They had a job to do. To get to the bottom of the subway mystery once more, and have some food after.

And a few lucky people, who weren't part of the team before, have been brought along for this reunion. Welcome to the team, new Cognac members. We're really sorry.

[OOC: Okay all starter toplevels are up! A few notes:

At this time, the area Cognac explored in August is INACCESSIBLE. How mysterious.

Cognac members can bring a few guests along to explore with the team!

The post is set up in this format to encourage threadjacking and allow for multiple chances for characters to interact. If you have an idea for a starter that does not fit into any of the categories below, feel free to add your own new top-level.

If you want more plot information, please refer to the Event Log

Have fun team! ]

Comments

REUNION / ARRIVAL

[redarm]

[They meet at the subway entryway. Some of you haven't seen each other since parting ways in August. Some are brand new to the team and have no idea who anyone is. Here's a chance to introduce yourselves, get reacquainted, or go over the plans and supplies before heading out. ]

[buncho]

[ Okay, so like. Mafuyu recognizes some of the +1s but not all of them, hadn't brought in a guest of her own, and very likely missed the memo about there being twice as many people here as she originally thought there'd be, aside from Grell who had asked the team if it were alright.

It's this face that she gives the new Cognacs, like a guard dog on edge and very unwilling to accept new people into her family.

Until they offer her food or something, she's easy. ]

[invocate]

[Meet Noah's +1.

This is Li-Na's first time going on a Recolle-style ~adventure~, but she was in the city back in August. So she tried to come prepared. She has her long, green hair is pulled back in a braid, and along with wearing her boots, which at the moment look like black leggings and black ballet flats, Li-Na has a backpack full of hopefully useful items. Like a couple bottles of water, a thermos of coffee, snacks, flashlight and extra batteries, 100 ft of paracord, and a (rather dinky) pocket knife. Oh, and a first aid kit. Because.]

So there really are subway tunnels under the city.

[geckoman]

[Hey all. This is Fai's +1. AKA his boyfriend. AKA the owner of the airsoft/paintball shop. He's looking gruff as ever and has a stick in his mouth. A small white stick.

Like one would find on a lollipop.

Probably because it is a lollipop. Shhhh...he's enjoying sweets being back okay.

Anyway, he's mostly over here keeping to himself. Mainly because he doesn't really do social stuff and also partially because he doesn't know everyone here. He's really just here because Fai asked him to come along and he figures it would be a good idea if he knew some of what's going on.]

[anguinous]

[ Laurent cannot believe he is back here again.

He honestly thought that, after last time, he would spend the rest of his life steering as far away from the subway system as humanly possible -- yet here he is, not only walking back towards it but walking back towards it planning to meet up with the same people who gave him such a headache before.

This time, though, he's accompanied by his bodyguard -- and this time Faolan isn't blocked out from entering the place.

He pauses long enough to make sure Faolan isn't about to be turned away, then tugs the zipper a little higher on his dark blue hooded jacket and shoves his hands into his pockets. His jeans are a faded, greyish tone in anticipation of this whole situation ending up untidy. ]

Who else are we still waiting for?

[ He squints around the opening to the subway, trying to count the number of people and remember who had said they might bring someone else along. ]

[livingdeadgirl]

[Winter means winter fashion! Ami's outfit today is unusually practical, compared to her normal tastes, but I mean... she did still wear a cloak. Her lusus is along, too, wearing a doggy Christmas sweater that is only sort of suited to her body shape. She's roughly the size of a big dog, but that's where any canine resemblance ends.

Anyway yeah! She'll be making the rounds saying hi, and introducing her lusus to anybody who hasn't met her yet. Happy new year everybody!]

[ladytakamaki]

[ yo what's up this is mako's +1! ann knows some of the people here, but not everyone, but she tries to seem open and approachable enough? welcome to team cognac, i guess.

she's trying not to step on any toes, though, being a newcomer, and she feels like she's potentially intruding on something, so she's a little more shy than usual. still, though, she will attempt to integrate into this new community, and she'll walk up to those she hasn't met yet with a greeting. ]

Hey! I'm Ann. Uh...thanks for having me. I hope we can get along!

[ and for those who are familiar: ]

Oh! You're here, too? I'm glad!

[stopbleeding]

[here is zoro, late as ever, clunking his way into the tunnels wearing nothing but a ridiculously fluffy coat, jeans, boots, and the two swords–one black, one white–that are always on his hip. no leather this time. truly, he has evolved.

and as nice as it is to see cognac family, etc etc, he greets everyone with one, single, loud announcement, pointing back up the tunnel.]

Oi! Listen up! My cousin's coming and if any of you let even a scratch get on her then you'll answer to me! Got it?!

[doesn't matter if anyone replies. he'll take anything as a resounding "yes, zoro, your cousin is queen", and settle back into normal, waving.]

Hey.

RATS & VINES

[redarm]

[Now it's time to start heading in. The group is really large, so it's not unreasonable to split up into smaller groups. But as they go down the tunnel, they encounter their first problem.

From the Event Post:

Though the tunnels may be dark and empty, this doesn't mean they're without danger. Similar to another tunnel previously discovered, vines and roots will come to life out of the walls to stop travelers. The red glowing eyes follow, but this time they're accompanied by the forms of large rat-like creatures that rush forward to delay travelers further. Bats echo in the caves even if they can't be seen and while the tracks closest to the city appear battered and broken, they remain whole and stable the further you walk into the dark.

Help out your fellow teammate, or get helped yourself. Or do something stupid, that's kinda the Cognac way anyway.]

Re: RATS & VINES

[invocate]

[Li-Na didn't go in the Retrospec building in October, so when the vines start creeping, she doesn't notice and is caught by surprise.]

Iiiiyaaaahhh!

[Sorry to whoever's ear she just screamed into.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[Ami was expecting some danger, but not quite like this. As the roots come snaking out of the walls, one evades the beam of her flashlight and lashes itself tightly around her arm.]

Ahh!! Ow, ow, ow!

[Momentarily forgetting about, you know, her superpowers, Ami ineffectually whacks the root with her flashlight. Meanwhile, there's the skittering of giant rat feet as several pairs of glowing eyes start to converge on her...

Her lusus gets between Ami and the rats, standing remarkably tall on her hind legs and letting out loud, low growls like Ami's never heard her make before. Don't get any closer, you rats!]

SUBWAY CARS 1 & 2 (Normal Cars)

[redarm]

[With all the twists and turns of the tunnels, it's no surprise that Team Cognac has had to split up into smaller groups to cover more ground. Or maybe you just keep getting lost and finding yourself in different tunnels. Whatever. Logic isn't really a Cognac thing anyway.

Team members who come across these cars are in luck though, because according to the event post:

One car appears to be an abandoned passenger car scattered with the remains of life lost. The luggage of vacationers can be opened and ransacked for clues but the newspapers, clothing and items appear to be personal in nature, dating back at least fifty years ago and mirroring the world news and trends from that time period.

A second car is a sleeper car featuring rows of beds and musty sheets, also scattered with the belongings of people who no longer exist.

Examine the cars, try to get clues, or just take a breather.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[50 years ago, for the record, was 1968. I don't feel old or anything...

Ami pokes around a set of floral-print luggage, unsure how it opens. The past truly is a foreign country.]

This stuff is ancient... Why would they leave it behind?

SUBWAY CAR 3 (Food Car)

[redarm]

[From the event post:

A third car appears to be a little more useful. With a full kitchen in the back this dining car has everything you need to dine in luxury...sort of. Some covered platters of spoiled food sit out on tables, but some digging around will reveal food and drinks from the modern era including from new establishments such as Big Bang Burger and Freshens brands. These are safe to eat if you're desperate, but they may come with side effects including dizziness, temporary loss of taste, temporary loss of sight, and sudden transparency. The effects will only last for an hour and will even be in effect if the food is removed from the car itself.

But surely no one in this team is dumb enough to eat abandone-- what are you doing GET THAT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??]

[buncho]

[ Look, there's burgers here and fast food burgers don't rot? Mafuyu has half a burger in her mouth and the second half would have disappeared in the next second in it hadn't dropped to the floor with a muffled scream of panic and—

Oh. No, Mafuyu calms down right away, crouching down and feeling around the floor for the rest of her burger. ]

..Crap, that scared me. Who's holding the flashlight? Shine it back over here!

[ The light, in fact, did not go out. She's just blind now I guess. ]

[geckoman]

I wouldn't eat those no matter how good they look.

[Because why would you eat abandoned food in an old subway car? Of course he is frowning at anyone looking at the food too long.

Look. His dad instincts are strong okay.]

SUBWAY CAR 4 (Memory Share Car)

[redarm]

[From the event post:

If entertainment is more your speed, you may wish to try and find the fourth car filled with old instruments, records, audio equipment, and a strange silver screen at the front of the interior. Stay on the car long enough and the doors will suddenly slam shut, a song playing on the speakers overhead in a crackled, muffled tune. The car begins to move along the tracks and you (and whoever you're with) are along for the ride. When the song ends, the screen may be of interest to you. It flickers to life even without being plugged into anything and a scene begins to play out. ...what is this? It looks like something you've seen before. One of your already regained memories is on display for the entire car to see, and despite being with few other people you may hear the reactions of unseen company. There are the sounds of laughter echoing through the car if the memory is particularly funny, or the sounds of sniffles and sobs if it's a real tearjerker. How are you going to explain that one to your companion?

Well. I'm sure nothing could possibly go horribly wrong here.]

[buncho]

[ Mafuyu's memories are either horribly mundane or mind-boggling out of context, but at least they're not nightmare fuel like some other peoples' memories are, so she spends quite some time having pulled an old drum set over in front of the screen and busies herself with hammering her hand down at it while she sees her life flash before her eyes.

The one playing right now is accompanied by disembodied horrified screaming but Mafuyu just looks up at the scene impassively bc haha she doesn't know either. ]

cw: suicide?

[prometheanflame]

[Mohammed walks through the cars with his cellphone held out, snapping pictures of every bit of historical evidence. While a normal person's battery would have died after so much use in these cold tunnels, heat powers prove very useful as battery life support.

He takes so song that the sound of the door shutting scares him into shutting off the camera and running to the window.]

So now they're moving. [Well. It might take them to Candyland 2.0 or Retrospec's secret hideout. Or a way out of the city, which is ideal. He takes a seat and picks up a small pile of records in their sleeves. Soon enough, the music stops and one of Mohammed's memories pays on the screen. It's the one he didn't want others to now about.

A man who has taken the idea of a mullet too far lies on the ground. There's not a lot of detail one can see considering that he is on fire. Three guesses who it is--too late. Mohammed walks into the frame, wearing the long red cloak he has now, a ridiculously gigantic necklace, and a white robe underneath. He throws a familiar dagger in front of the burning man.

"Burning to death is a painful way to die. Kill yourself with this."

He turns his back on the man and walks away.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[A lot of Ami's memories are either abstract and conceptual, or involve a bunch of idiots sitting around typing at each other, but there are a few action scenes as well, and the TV has chosen one of these to show off. It's a memory of an alien and a robot in a beautiful crystalline environment, kicking the crap out of everything that moves. The robot is the one that looks a bit like Ami, and she appears to be dismembering monsters left and right just by waving her arms in their directions. The other guy looks sweaty and disheveled, and is using a more direct approach, beating them up with his STRONG fists. When destroyed, the monsters explode into shiny diamonds, just like a video game.

The memory actually has background music, apparently coming from the giant music boxes that dot the landscape. So you get lovely sparkly music and lovely sparkly environs juxtaposed against brutal monster dismemberment! Seriously, these monsters do not appear to be posing the two of them much of a challenge at all.

The invisible audience is rooting for them, cheering and occasionally going "OOH" at a particularly brutal execution. Ami seems a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing, though, and pretends to take great interest in the instruments.]

Oh, neat, a piccolo.

cw: minor mentions of drug use/child abandonment

[geckoman]

[Iwai has mostly been along for the ride for this one but he's at least been helping with the search. Which is how he ended up in this car. He is ready to look around at the stuff when the car starts to move and he lets out a little curse. He's ready to turn to who he's with when he hears...something familiar.]

Please. Even just a little money...

[It's a woman's voice. She looks like she's really on edge and rail thin. Like she's just itching to get another high. She's holding a baby... No, she's shoving a baby forward.]

What the hell? I ain't going to buy your baby.

[That's Iwai's voice. This is from his point of view but you can see him in the reflection of a window nearby. Without that gecko tattoo on his neck and wearing a nice looking suit.

The woman begs some more for him to buy her kid before she screams at him and then just shoves the baby at him and storms out. Without any money. Without her baby. The reflection is Iwai's shocked face before he looks down at this little baby.]

Shit...someone has to take care of you...

[All around there is a chorus of "awwwwws" and some sniffling too. Despite the fact that...it's only him and whoever is with him in this car.]

What the hell?

[Seriously. Why is one of his past him memories playing on that screen like that?]

SUBWAY CAR 5 (Attack Train)

[redarm]

[From the event post:

Maybe you took another route and came face to face with the last car down below. Unlike the other four cars, this one is completely empty. It's a skeleton of a car, lights blinking and broken and the interior ripped to shreds. You can get closer to examine it if you wish! There's nothing to be found inside. But this particular car doesn't like to be touched; the moment anyone lays a hand on it, the engine whirrs to life and the lights focus, headlights narrowing like eyes as the train begins to move right toward you, two metal appendage-like features springing out from the sides acting as its arms. The arms will make an attempt to grab anyone close by, but even if you dodge the train will prepare itself for combat.

You can try to fight the car if you think you can! It can be taken out with enough damage so long as you can get enough hits in before the train charges again. But you may be better off trying to outrun it and disappearing into another tunnel even as it gives chase and follows for a while.

In other words, this is a train that badly needs Team Cognac to suplex it]

[invocate]

[By this point in the journey, Li-Na has Dark Boots activated all the time, green flames sprouting from her ankles and glowing green markings running up the front of the boots... and the outsides of her thighs. Don't ask how those got there, she doesn't know and tends to avoid thinking about them.

Li-Na doesn't see who touches the train. But she does see the train start moving.]

Are those... are those arms?

GRAND CENTRAL HUB

[redarm]

[Somehow you've survived your ordeals in the tunnels and haven't gotten yourselves killed. Congratulations! From the Event Post:

It's been a long arduous journey for most of you who have ventured this far. You've fought some things, faced some others, and maybe even made some friends along the way. Fear not. The reward may be worth it if you consider a source of light a reward. No matter which tunnel you find yourself stumbling out of or which car you're on they all meet in the center at a grand central hub. The lights are bright down here and though there are no signs of other people there's plenty to look at.

Moving past the trains and the tunnels reveals the beginnings of an underground shopping mall with pop-up shops, vending machines and other fancy kiosks. Some shops appear to be older than others with clothes, toys and goods dating from the 50s all the way through the 80s and 90s. Modern shops appear to be on the rise, too, and you may even find items from Tanaka's Shopping Channel or the Moogle Shop down here with a little looking.

Most importantly, however, there's a shop at the very end of the mall with a blue hue surrounding it and the Retrospec symbol stamped on the sign above the door. The inside gives the appearance of a travel agency or a real estate office stocked with blueprints upon blueprints of the current buildings in Recollé. There are miniature travel guides as well, though some are more faded than others. "Welcome to Rapture", "Welcome to Tokyo", "Welcome to Gaia", "Welcome to New York", "Welcome to Egypt", the list goes on and on. Some of the guides are blank, but those who have regained several of their memories will find that their home guides will have information that corresponds with their memories and nothing more, landmarks they may find familiar and other facts they know to be true. There will be no new information found in these guides that travelers do not already have.

Lastly, there's a large book on the table: "Welcome to Recollé." Flipping through this book details the history of the city and the story of how the four founders traveled far to settle on Earth to create this city decades ago. The city was originally to be a safe haven, a central hub much like this subway station, until the Retrospec project could reform everything. However, the city became a home to the founders, the founding families, and others that were rescued throughout the galaxy who'd lost their planets. The book goes on to explain how Retrospec created their original headquarters in a bunker in the woods hidden from prying eyes so they could do their job with utmost secrecy. Retrospec was never to be looked into by ordinary people and the original company had less than 10 employees working for it.

This subway station, it says, used to be the way that travelers from other worlds would arrive to the city of Recollé and a way that they could leave to explore other parts of the planet at their leisure until the system was shut down sometime in the 1970s due to the collapsing of several tunnels.

There are several pages at the end of the book, too, but the text is illegible. Instead, in bold letters written in sharpie are the words "LET'S REWRITE HISTORY" and dated 2007.

The guides can be taken out of the office, but the book is bolted down to the table. Photos can be taken of the information though. ]

[buncho]

[ Apparently we're allowed to steal things from here so Mafuyu looks like it's Christmas again. ]

All this stuff's abandoned, right? Finders keepers, right?!

[ There's a bunch of food items that may or may not be edible, but she throws them into her backpack to find out later. Mostly she focuses on grabbing these sorts of things, but then!! the best Tanaka Shopping Channel item: FIREWORKS. ]

—Where's Mo?! I need him to light these up!

RETURN TRAIN

[redarm]

[Ready to head back to the starting point? Luckily you don't have to walk back!

From the event post:

At the end of the day, 6pm sharp, a loud electronic recording will echo through the mall: the last train is now boarding. Please make your way to the station to return to the city of Recollé. Returning to the station at 6pm (and only at 6pm), you'll find a brand new subway car fitted with modern accommodations and fixtures. The train will depart at 6:30pm and return all travelers to the start by 7pm. When the last passenger is off of the train, it will begin to move backwards and take off to return to its start point.

Weird. ]

PIZZA PARTY

[redarm]

[Congratulations on surviving a Team Cognac expedition! Like any true Team Cognac adventure, when a sizable number of them have returned, some of the party members taken the time to order a lot of pizza from Pizza Port. With some lanterns and torches set up, they proceed to have a pizza party right inside the tunnel.

Come grab a slice and relax! Great work team!]