END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[sailmods]

[the prisoners wake up on cold, hard floors.

the lights are bright, glaring, a sterile cell with sterile bars facing a sterile hall. the prisoners with you, across from you, and no one else. no rocking of a ship in waves, nothing. just the prisoner and their prison.

time passes, one assumes. the rhythmic click of Friday’s heels down the hall. it’s almost like the ticking of a clock.]

Comments

[teethoftherisk]

[Hmm. Siffleur considers pressing it again. He looks at the sliders instead and after a moment of thought, he shoves them all upwards. Maybe the effect was small since the sliders weren't at the extreme end.

He also notices Fio looking sad, and gives her a gentle nudge towards the control panel. Her turn.]

[nepetaleijon]

From one cell near the end (beginning?) of the corridor, there's a yowl of alarm.

Nepeta, who has been diligently scratching at every inch of the wall and floors she can reach in hope of finding a weak point, was knocked backward by the shrinking of her cell and is now clawing futilely at the bars.

[makesomedeals]

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

Cannot wait to be crushed into a cube and jettisoned into an incinerator.

[ Leaning his head against the bars. ]

I know no one can hear me but now would be a good time to collectively agree on a place to go that'll provide freedom for all of us.

[sabigoe]

[ Fio lights up, shuffling (a little excitedly...) forward to the control panel. ]

Hm. [ Is it broken? Siffleur seems to have made a few adjustments with the sliders, so... ] Let's try pressing it again!

[ Again, she pushes the blue button and doesn't remove her palm. A brief glance back, as if making sure everyone's watching her like she just did something very impressive... then back up at the monitors. Any changes now? ]

[not_the_last]

When the word gets passed down the shrunken cells, with the help of Victor where gaps are left, Cassandra sends in both directions:

"Would it work to wish that each of us could go where we most want to go?"

[sailmods]

[nothing appears to have happened.]

[sailmods]

[the cells are now upside down.]

[makesomedeals]

[ CTHHHHUNK

SCKKKKSSSSHHH

CRNSH ]

[sabigoe]

...Huh. [ Drops one arm to the side, swaying it lightly. Her other is still wrapped around the toy ship, by the way! As much as she wants to press the buttons again... ] Does anyone else want a turn?

[ Because it's polite to take turns! ]

[blindwatchersees]

Thud!

"Ah, now this is more like a typical Tirdas."

[makesomedeals]

"Your guess is as good as mine. I only have a rudimentary understanding of how this works. I believe the appropriate description is that I'm merely the vessel."

And he's not that happy about it.

"But I doubt that will work as most will choose "home" which is rather dubious and could be misinterpreted."

[freedomsuitsme]

"Crushed to death by walls. I don't think I've been through that yet..."

[angrycrabnoises]

FFFUUUUUUUUUCKK

[As Karkat falls, he bumps his horns onto the wall on the way down, causing a dent. He ricochets and lands flat on his face on what was formerly the ceiling with a loud thud. He’s conscious but he decides to just lay there for a while.]

[redlightgreenlight]

[Valdis glances at Natsuno when he mentions rescuing Steve, she had doubts about them being able to rescue themselves, much less Steve. Luckily Fever is taking over again, and with everything she's lost, Valdis is glad she doesn't have to think too hard.

Just give her something to fight and she'll be useful again.

They keep to the edges and the shadows, making their way through the maze of boxes]

We need to find a wall. Maybe we can follow it to a door.

[not_the_last]

"I don't think there's any wish we could make that couldn't be misinterpreted. I'm putting that forth as my suggestion, and I'll abide by whatever's decided."

[goodweather]

[ His miserable state makes the flurry of feathers that he falls down face flat in the middle of even funnier, unfortunately. ]

[nepetaleijon]

Nepeta clings to the bars upside down for another moment, then lets go, twists around, and lands bristling on all fours.

[sailmods]

[after some time of running through the cardboard jungle, the group runs into... something, on the ground in front of them. it appears to be some sort of food: a cake, or maybe a cookie, about the size that they currently are, with hard icing. written on it in additional icing are the words "EAT ME."

there's also some sort of folded note next to it? also the size they currently are. maybe they can fold it into a plane and fly.]

[tempingainteasy]

[April can only watch for so long before saying something:]

-hhhHHEY maybe we should quit touching those until we know exactly what they do, yeah??

[Yes for anyone just tuning in, that's Siffleur's paper hat talking.]

[decohere]

There's no way to know what they do until we f-[cuts off] around and find out.

[pokes the green button?]

[inhairently]

Any other time and Steve would've reacted with mild disgust at being handed a feather that came from some dude's body. Right now, the significance of the gift isn't lost on him. Bringing a feather to a magic-and-bird-monster (dinosaur) fight may not exactly put him at an advantage but it helps, and he understands the sacrifice Cassandra is making by giving it up.

"Thank you," he says, staring down at the feather in his hands. When he glances back up at her he looks grim, but there's a smoldering determination just beneath the surface. "Be careful, Cass. I'm serious, whatever happens."

They've all seen how quickly things can go into an all-out riot. People die, yeah, but with the Captain under Malin's control he's not so sure they can rely on coming back anymore.

[theweakhavepurpose]

[ And then there's Pratt. ]

Whoooo!!!!

[ Lands right on his feet with a cheer. ]

DO A BARREL ROLL!!

[not_the_last]

That determination steels her own heart, and wrings it at the same time.

(It's not Percy on the other side of the green glass wall she sees this time; it's Percy on the other side of her desk, before leaving with the others to fight the ancient red dragon. If we survive, I owe you much. And if I don't ...)

"I will," she says steadily. "And you do the same."

[tempingainteasy]

Yeah but - [grimace as the button is pushed. nothing explodes or starts screaming but April won't apologize for it anyway.] - how do we know for sure nothing's happened? How many of us have eyes on these monitors, we could be looking for a door or a change in lights or-

[a crinkle as she squints at the monitors to double check, look for any differences as she mutters.]

God, I hate Observation Duty... FNAF... All that low effort horror game- Wait, hold up. Where are the cells on here?

[abhorrently]

..."Eat me."

[that's pretty clearly an invitation, right? and there's also the big piece of paper...

she decides to work at trying to break off a piece of the big cookie. Valdis or Natsuno might need to go for the big paper.]