thebeastwithout: (Unsure)
Beast Boy ([personal profile] thebeastwithout) wrote in [community profile] recolle2018-08-18 08:14 pm

[open] 006: The Human Zoo

WHO: Beast Boy and You
WHERE: Dreamdive
WHEN: August 20th
WHAT: You know what
WARNINGS: Some mild body horror, violence, can definitely opt out of anything that you'd rather not see.

[He hasn't wanted to make a fuss over it. The timer on his hand... The timer that everyone else had... Of course it didn't feel quite right. It would probably end with the detonation of a bomb that leveled Recolle or something horrible like that. So he ignores the pulsating feeling... ignores the increasing tension and pressure...

Until it is too much to bear.

He collapses in the middle of a street and the world around him vanishes.]


[I: Admission]
[You are in a zoo.

A dark, dilapidated place, falling to pieces. The sky above you is blanketed with billowing, purplish-black clouds. The cages are rusting and all of the animals inside are restless, uneasy. There is not enough space to maintain these exhibits. There is no bedding, no food, no habitat. Just... an empty steel cage.

The animals are commonplace, at first. Raccoons and squirrels and chipmunks and finches. One animal to a cage, every one of them staring out warily at those who pass by. But as you progress, the animals become... more exotic. Cassowaries. Leopards. Caimans. And then... and then you turn a corner and you are face to face with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, barely constrained within a cage in which it can barely move, its razor sharp teeth mere inches from your own.

But it does not attack. It simply glowers... And you are free to move on. ...There is much to see here, if you care to linger. Every animal you could possibly imagine. Maybe some you can't.

...Is that a unicorn?]


[II: Feeding Time]
[The path through the zoo is circular. A wide subtle loop, so that it might not be obvious that you are going around in circles. But as you clear the outermost loop and you progress further into the heart of the zoo, the exhibits change.

Monkeys become apes. Apes become unidentifiable simians. And then...

Humans. Humans in masks. Masks and costumes, each of them standing stock still as if they are made out of wax. There is a boy in a domino mask wearing red and green with a cape billowing out behind him. A tall man, perhaps still a teenager, half his body made of mechanical parts. There are more like this, people who look... exactly like one would imagine superheroes to look. Superheroes... and supervillains. You can take a closer look if you'd like.

At the end of this path, one of the exhibits glances up as you approach. And without any provocation whatsoever...

The figure draws two swords, casually slices through the bars of his cage like butter, and begins to walk straight towards you.]


[III: Special Exhibit]
[You've escaped Slade. Or perhaps you managed to miss his exhibit altogether. You're through the second loop and you're closer to the heart.

And now, the cages become few and far between, but as you approach the first one, you can see that trapped inside... is Gar.]


H... Hello?

Hey... Who is that?

[But if you begin to speak with him, you might find that it's not quite the same Gar you know. For each person who comes by, they'll find someone a little different in each cage...]

[IV: The End]
[You've satisfied the various manifestations of Gar's anxieties and hidden desires and needs and longings. Perhaps they were a little too needy, but... they've let you on towards the end. And it really is the end, at last.

At the very center of the zoo, sitting cross-legged on the ground, Gar is contemplating a thick, tangled knot.]


...Hey, dude.

It's me.

Like... really me. [...] You can tell 'cause I said 'dude'.
frostythehitman: (somebody help me tame this animal)

[personal profile] frostythehitman 2018-09-02 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ He looks around at the animals. The fact that they've all gone still has him wondering if maybe he did the wrong thing here.

He looks back at the boy and shrugs, almost helplessly. ]


I guess so. What else would I do?
frostythehitman: (my walls are closing in)

[personal profile] frostythehitman 2018-09-02 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ Good grief, he looks like a gnarly mess. James can't look away for some reason, though. ]

Yeah...sure.

[ Not that James even knows what he's talking about. But that's fine. He doesn't mind making empty promises to a dying man. ]
fiddlestick: (sh*t)

[personal profile] fiddlestick 2018-09-02 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh no ]

I-I, uh-

[this is bad. He tries to look around for shore]

H-Hold on, we need to get you to safety first!
usurpers: (шнaт ї₴ їт єґёп)

[personal profile] usurpers 2018-09-02 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Then you know he got the death sentence for being involved in the murder of another founder’s family. He wanted to start using the program for his own gain instead of saving destroyed worlds.

Except he never died.
frostythehitman: (-it's not the real me)

[personal profile] frostythehitman 2018-09-03 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ Now this is some full-on magic bullshit. Even in a dream, this is some magic bullshit that is completely beyond him. But whatever. It's fine. He doesn't question it too hard--either because this is still a dream or because he's seen more than enough weird shit in the past year and a half.

When Gar finally reforms, he crosses his arms obstinately. ]


It would have been quick if he hadn't turned into bees first!

...Besides, he was dead either way.
frostythehitman: (there's something inside me that pulls)

[personal profile] frostythehitman 2018-09-03 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
I can't kick bees in the balls either, you know.

[ James looks confused at Gar's last comment. ]

You owe me for killing a bee monster version of you?
usurpers: (TITS ON YOUR HAND)

[personal profile] usurpers 2018-09-03 12:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Thetically. Hypothetically.

[ eren is a grammar/spelling/diet police and you have been pulled over and fined for such a deed. ]

He’s doing what we’ve been seeing. The changes, the layers, these . . . Alternate versions of us. Retrospec’s been trying to fight it off, Zee confirmed it.
fiddlestick: (elliot155)

[personal profile] fiddlestick 2018-09-04 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[God not only does he feel terrible about this, but he can't help but get a terrible sense of deja vu. Deja-vu he didn't expect to have, but now it was tightening his chest and making him feel sick.

But...there was no time for that. He had to make sure this kid got somewhere safe. He had to make sure he didn't drown in the process either. So using what little strength he had in his body, he'll be trying to get a hold of the kid while swimming himself, looking for any place of land or even just a big piece of debris to put the kid on. ]


I-I'll look for them once you're safe! Okay?
frostythehitman: (somebody help me tame this ~animal~)

[personal profile] frostythehitman 2018-09-04 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
It didn't seem to be doing a very good job.
usurpers: (SCROTUM TICKLING)

[personal profile] usurpers 2018-09-05 12:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ you know what maybe he can just tutor you. here’s his number, on a slip of paper. you’ll oddly remember it when you wake up. ]

Most of the rest wouldn’t bother to listen. [ or even understand, for that matter. ]

Vanderweele? [ a pause. ] No one knows. But they’re working on it.
frostythehitman: (somebody help me tame this ~animal~)

[personal profile] frostythehitman 2018-09-06 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
And? How did that work out for you?
frostythehitman: (somebody help me tame this ~animal~)

[personal profile] frostythehitman 2018-09-08 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ He raises an eyebrow. ]

I just killed another version of you.

I think I judged your technique pretty soundly already.
usurpers: (THE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS)

[personal profile] usurpers 2018-09-08 12:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ gar no that is a phone number!!!!!!!! ]

If it’s all true, that’s probably the plan. [ but, as for the knot . . . eren gestures to it. ] Maybe you’ll want to finish that one, first.

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