Season 2, Episode 7 - Racecars, Lasers, Aeroplanes!

[fallers_npcs]

CHASE TEAM:

“Alright, I’m sure you guys know the deal by now.” Professor Kukui said. “With Aether missing, we’re also missing our friends, so we need to find them and get them home. That goes double with finding out where Glomgold disappeared to. That’s where you guys come in.”

With that, Kukui motioned to the remains of the Aether team as well as the former members of Overwatch assembling a machine with an angry Della telling them to hurry up.

“...anyway, once the machine is ready, you guys are going in.”

“We aren’t able to figure out where Aether is, but we have a lock on Glomgold.” Wicke said. “In theory, that means that you should get the drop on him and get back everyone.”

“Yeah…” Kukui sighed before shaking his head, the Aether crew giving the team their equipment, including Ride Pokemon. “Don’t worry about us, we’ll hold down the fort. This is your time to shine.”

Once everyone is geared up, the portal shines to life. “Don’t worry, Solgaleo and Lunala will help out if anything goes wrong!” Wicke said, nodding. “Good luck!”

With that, the team was sent off into the wild unknown, reappearing over the skies of what appears to be a city in the horizon… and a large bin on an island under them.

Things have gotten just a little rougher...


HOME TEAM:

“All seems good on our end,” said Wicke, tapping her controls as Winston adjusted his glasses. “Now all we can do is pray for their safe return…”

“Indeed,” replied Winston. “For now… we have things to do. Repairs, and a festival to plan.”

“Can’t believe you’re doing a festival right now,” remarked McCree. “Seems kind of strange, don’t it?”

I.Z.U. tilted her head. “In times of duress, even the darkest days are lit by the most gentle of moments.”

Wicke smiled as she nodded. “That’s right! C’mon everyone, the festival of boats is waiting for us.”

That evening, the entire town is lit up with brilliant lights as the boats are decorated with incredible lights. Somewhere, someone is playing the theme from Tangled like a meme or something. But it truly is magical as a thousand lanterns are released into the skies.

It’s the start of the new year in another region. Time to celebrate.

Throughout the evening, there’ll be star shaped cakes, desserts, and a time for rest and relaxation for the Fallers and natives who remained on the island. One can find the Champions who had managed to defeat their adversaries relaxing on the beach, and Ash and Serena sat there with Iris and their friends, although after a while, Ash broke away to talk to anyone who seemed down. Maybe he’ll approach you during this time. After all, Gladion and Lillie went with the Fallers who were chosen to travel to find Lusamine and the others. And this time, they weren’t coming back without their mother.


Away Team

You’re in the Ultra Metropolis! Wow! Oh hey, look at that giant building, maybe there’s something interesting in there?

Or there’s all the Zones! Fire Zone! Water Zone! Camelot Zone! (Don’t go there, it’s a silly place.)

Or maybe you could talk with the leader of the Rescue Team, Mako, who is relaxing with Hoopa and her Hydreigon.

There’s also Lusamine to talk to, make sure she’s okay and all.

Orrr you could go tell Giovanni how much he sucks, maybe?

You’ve got downtime for a while, spend it as you please!

(OoC: Feel free to do starters for any of them. Setting up a top post for the Chase Team!)

Comments

[improvking]

Zorc's response is full of surprised amusement at being addressed directly. Cutting out the middleman, are we? Thiefy can't be too pleased with that.

What follows is a deafening mental-SILENCE. It's gone again in an instant as Zorc starts frantically trying to shuffle through his everything - because the Thief-King isn't just being quiet (he's never being quiet) Zorc cannot FIND him. This is not a single-pilot vehicle, wHAT AR -

Ok the Wdjat-convo was cool but done now, thank you very much, Zorc attempting the mental equivalent of slamming the door on Zahra. He likewise attempts to physically extract himself from the group, but it's a rather flaily sort of action, almost like he isn't used to handling the whole physical-form aspect of. uh. having a physical form,,

[bloomingdespite]

"Yeah... yeah. Thanks, you guys."

For a while, Zahra is just content to be surrounded by their friends. (Well. Friend, singular. Zorc was... another matter entirely.)

Then, when Seto leaves and they've recovered.

Nuh uh, dragon dick. You and the others are a fucking mess. We're sorting this out right now before all of this bullshit happens again.

Then, with the combined strength of Zahra, Atem, and Anzu, they all attempt to bust down the door to the Ring-Spirit's mess of a mind. Time to sort this out.

[improvking]

Zorc had darted back under Zahra's bed real quick after escaping that hug, and he's been hiding lurking under there since. He is surprised (and... maybe a little concerned) that Zahra can re-initiate mind-chats whenever they want with no warning, but.

But.

Very unusual unacceptable situation happening right now.

So the trio charge the door and it opens instantly. Not locked, zero resistance, y'all in.

...Is this a soul room? It's huge, the ceiling and walls far out of sight. The place manages to be claustrophobic all the same, mainly by virtue of being crammed full of countless sets of shelves (all of which are overflowing with papyrus scrolls). Also it is weirdly dark in here. There's enough light for the trio to see by, but barely, and there are no visible sources.

"Thiefy's missing. ...And don't bother looking for the fusion before finding where that brat of a thief went." Zorc's voice, but no clear source for it either.

[bloomingdespite]

“Wow, it’s really been a while, hasn’t it?” Anzu looks almost identical to Zahra. Same haircut, same clothes—the only thing that’s different is that their bangs are straight and their eyes are a deeper blue. “Man, we really need to come up for air more often.”

Atem nods. “Indeed. If I am not mistake, we are months overdue for our scheduled duel.” The pharaoh, meanwhile, looks exactly as he appeared in ancient times.

“Atem, bud, I hate to say it, but...” Zahra closes their eyes, thinking. “I think you’re part of the problem. You too, dragon dick. Manifest yourself and find a good corner to sit in with Atem. As long as you two are here, I don’t think Bakura—or the Thief King, whatever—is going to show up, if my instincts are right. The way the spirit reacted when I mentioned what happened to the Puzzle and how I failed to protect it... I have an inkling. Atem, I might-“

“Already on it, partner.” The two clasp hands, and a brief golden glow passes between them.

“Right. Like I said, come on out and wait here with Atem, you washed up edgelord. You two have things to talk about anyways.”

[improvking]

Their demands are first met with quiet, then a supremely unimpressed "Really."

There's a beat, then a sullen growl. "I don't normally take a form in here, but if you really -" Zorc's clipped response cuts off, and some of the nearest shadows gather together, coalescing into an over-sized (though... oddly enough, not titanic) purple cobra. He coils himself into a resting position right where he forms, pointedly not approaching any of them. Unlike the Zorc last seen in the Memory World, his eyes are yellow.

"'Bakura' is not his name - if it matters. Not that he has one, last either of us checked..." He graces Atem with a venomously-sweet smile, his glowing eyes cold. ...His face is pretty expressive for a snake, let alone for Mr. What-Is-A-Facial-Expression.

[bloomingdespite]

"Alright, Anzu. Let's go. Anzu and Zahra vanish into the depths of Zorc's soul-room, passing between scrollshelves and slipping through shadows. Then, Zahra starts whistling.

It's an old tune. An old, old tune, dating back to Atem's time. While the pharaoh himself never had time for such diversionary activities like song games, a friend of his—Mana—did, and occasionally taught him them to lighten the mood. It's a simple, nonsense song that was sung by children in the slums to keep themsleves happy.

"It's been a while since we've talked, hasn't it? Like. Really talked. Not just soul-blending instant transmission concept mumbo jumbo," Anzu says, glancing at some of the scrolls.

"...yeah. It has."

"That's it?"

"What."

"No witty quip? No repartee? C'mon, Zahra, I expect better than that."

"I just..." Zahra rubs the back of their neck, looking away. "I'm not in the mood to talk right now, okay?"

"This is about Noa, isn't it."

"Of course it's about Noa!"

Meanwhile, back at the entrance, Atem stares into the shadows for a few moments, closes his eyes, then turns to Zorc. "Would you perhaps care for a game of Senet? It would give us something to do while we wait."

[improvking]

Zorc, meanwhile, stares flatly at Atem. He does nothing else until he not only has Atem's focus, but his lack of response to the suggestion has dragged on long enough to get uncomfortable. Only then does the demon close his eyes (snakes don't... Zorc are you even trying to be a snake properly,,) and hum to himself in consideration. "...Better than nothing, I suppose... There have been a few reinventions of its rules over time, did you know? It might be more... ~interesting~ if we each pick a ruleset and not tell each other which~ we've~ chosen~..."

A senet board appears on the floor between them. Hope you weren't expecting a table and chairs, Atem. The board itself was clearly expensive when first made - and just as clearly, is now ancient enough to be a museum piece. Not so much clear, but a still-pretty-obvious deduction: the Thief-King got this thing from somebody's tomb long ago.

...So, Atem: still interested?

-

Zahra and Anzu might or might not notice, but the dim ambient light sticks with them as they explore - his soul room not being devoid of light is a conscious decision on Zorc's part.

They may well end up travelling a long way, with little to no change in their surroundings. Every now and then there's a hint that the Thief-King or Ring-Spirit have been in here: there's a Monster World book stuffed in with the endless scrolls at one point, a small basket of garlic bulbs (????) abandoned on the floor at another. But overall? The place just keeps going. One of the pair might be tempted to leave a mark to check if they're just going in circles... but they're not. Zorc's soul room is huge.

There's... not really any progress happening. Not until Zahra and Anzu are paying more attention to their discussion than their surroundings. Once that's happened, they'll eventually notice they are. kinda. in the middle of a forest now.

The trees are expertly crafted, but definitely crafted. This place would be familiar to anyone who'd fallen prey to the Ring-Spirit's shadow-game-sessions of Monster World. It is unnaturally quiet. Even Zahra and Anzu's own voices have a muffled quality here.

[bloomingdespite]

This is exactly the kind of game Atem would love, and Zorc clearly knows that. His eyes practically sparkle at the prospect, and if the pharaoh had even an iota less decorum, he'd be rubbing his hands together in glee. "Ohohohohoho." That's... definitely not how Atem laughed in Zorc's world. He even holds the back of his hand to his cheek as he does it. "Now that sounds perfect."

As the board is set and the players select their rules, Atem idly toys with one of the pieces yet to be placed. "It must be unpleasant. Being... separated like that."

-

"I failed to protect him!" Zahra thumps their chest, the familiar weight of the puzzle now gone. "I got too big for my britches and couldn't even react when that elf fucko destroyed the-"

Anzu rolls their eyes. "Oh, please. Would you stop being so self-centered? That wasn't your fault! You did the best you could, there's now way you could've expected him to pull an Ultra Beast out of his pocket."

"But-" Zahra suddenly realizes where they're standing. "Huh. This... is nostalgic." Closing their eyes, they reach for Anzu's memories—only to find them out of reach. "Oh. Uh. You can do the honors."

"You thinking-"

"Of course I am."

Anzu takes a deep breath, focusing on the very first game of Monster World that they had with "Bakura." They hadn't actually gone into the forest, of course. That would be dumb. But still, in this world of souls and memories, Anzu has a picture-perfect idea of where they are.

"Okay. In that direction," they point, "is Zorc's castle. So that's probably where we came from. And in that direction is the village. Maybe..."

"Kul Elna?"

"..."

"..."

"Let's go." Following Anzu's recollection of where the village is, Zahra and Anzu begin the march.

"It really was m-"

"Please. Just stop. This self-effacing stuff you inherited from Atem really isn't cute."

"You make it sound like I'm your kid."

"Don't."

"Okay, okay. Seriously, though. Think of a single thing you could've done to stop Zenos."

"If I didn't attack with Necro, then he wouldn't have gotten serious."

"Like that asshole wouldn't have relished the chance to show off anyways."

"...I... I just..."

"It's okay, Zahra. We all miss him."

[improvking]

Hm! The laugh is different. 'Different' could be fun.

Zorc examines the board. "It's hell." Just. Conversationally?

He pushes one of his pieces to the next square with the tip of his tail. "You'll need to be more specific for further details, I'm afraid." ...Ah. Because Zorc's life is suffering, apparently. Right. Of course it is.

"This game was based off the ka somehow, wasn't it? Not the summoning of them, something else. Their connection to the afterworld, I think..."

-

The other two make their way to the location of the village... and discover that, while it is ruins, and those ruins do somewhat resemble Kul Elna, it's just a set piece. It's probably a real disappointment on final approach. If they move to enter the token-ruins, however, the whole place abruptly unfolds around them, very like the fancier Monster World tiles.

And this is Kul Elna indeed. It's not artificial the way the forest had been, with its carefully sculpted plastic trees: which makes the increasing silence much more off. There's no wind. The sand they walk through doesn't make shuffling noises. And of course, this is Kul Elna... there should be spirits, loud, agitated spirits, somewhere. There are none to be seen, nor heard. This place isn't a graveyard anymore - it's just empty.

Zahra and Anzu are soon presented with a split in the path: one leads to the town's old well; one leads to a building larger and less decayed than most; one leads to the entrance of the Shrine of the Underworld.

sorry that this tag is so sparse

[bloomingdespite]

"From the 'real' Zorc, of course." Atem continues his play, keeping a careful eye on Zorc. "Come now. You really expect me to believe that the sum of all darkness in the hearts of men was shoved in a single mortal vessel? And then there's the fact that you're completely separated from the world from where your 'darkness' was born. Please. You're a fragment at best, the product of a diseased, traumatized mind at worst."

Straight to business, apparently.

-

Zahra and Anzu take a look at the desolated town. "It's-"

Anzu interrupts. "Would he want to remember the sounds? The angry spirits?"

"...fair point."

"And so..."

"The well first."

The two of them turn and begin walking towards the well. The perfect place for a child to hide from a Pharaoh's merciless soldiers.

[improvking]

"H-heh-haha - we are on very different pages, I see! H-Haha-" Aaaand that keeps going for a while. He does eventually, finally, stop, at least. "That was... so. Just so wrong, this conversation is going to be a nightmare, I can already tell. But if we're doing this..."

His clipped tone returns. "...Then I am going to get something into that little detail-fixated head of yours, for once. There isn't some 'real Zorc' and 'not-real Zorc' - it's not even a real name, let alone mine, the fusion pulled it out of some... otherwise-useless drivel trying to be a sourcebook. I know this side of the door to darkness insists on having forms for everything, but do you all have to be so obsessed with it?" He huffs - and examines the gameboard again. He takes a moment to advance a different piece, eyeing the result with some displeasure.

Then he snickers a bit. "Though really, you think something born from the darkness of hearts on this side of the door is going to suffer, somehow, just from being here? The trouble is the getting here - everything needs a form on this side. What part of 'the darkness' suggests I'd have an innate form? The whole point of the Items..." he pauses, scowling. This is really hammering home something he hates is a thing, he doesn't want to think about - ugh, moving on, moving on. "I needed a 'foot in the door', so to speak. Something over here to step into - and I have no idea how you think a mortal body would qualify."

(what, did Zorc just forget about Shadow Magus Akhenadin, YES,,)

He snickers again, crueler this time, and grins. (His teeth aren't remotely snakelike, but what else is new,,) "The next step was all Thiefy. He's sharper than you're willing to admit."

-

And over in Kul Elna: behold, a well.

There's nothing else of much interest in this area. If examined, the well seems very deep... the bottom itself is hidden in darkness, but that darkness only starts getting thick a good ways down. The well is too wide for a child to have shimmied down - or up again - and there's no rope or ladders nearby. There might be something like that in one of the other areas?

The rock walls inside the well are pretty uneven. There might be enough hand- and foot-holds to climb, if Zahra and/or Anzu want to risk trying.

not a gagtag

[bloomingdespite]

Atem carefully considers Zorc's words, eyeing the board. Then he opens his mouth to say something witty-

-and we cut away before the narrator needs to decide what that is, because she is far less clever than the former Pharaoh.

Zahra and Anzu both eye the well. They look at one another. Then the well again.

"Yeah, no."

"Hell no."

"We at least need a torch and a ladder, wow. Curiosity bait is a classic DMing move, and I'm sure as hell not falling for it now." And so the two of them head towards the larger, less-decrepit building in hopes of finding answers.

[improvking]

Atem's commentary goes over about as well as might be expected, and from there it only takes a few turns before Zorc stops to glare at the board. He twists his long (neck? body??) self to examine the board's state from a couple different lines of sight, but - according to the ruleset he's following, he's lost this match. Ugh. It's not a loss that matters, but it's still annoying. ...Worse though, he had NOT been subtle enough to pretend the loss hadn't happened. He settles back from the board, trying not to look too irritated - he's not gifting the little pharaoh more ammunition...

He has story to get back to anyhow. "As you said, finding a suitable vessel for me isn't a simple matter. Having no innate form at all, the vessel would need an enormous spiritual-tolerance just to hold even a 'fragment' (as you put it) -" why is his tail twitching like - oh. he's. it's supposed to be air-quotes, ok. "- of my being." ...Wait no, fuck. He doesn't want to talk about the Items.

Ugh,,, ...Forced out with blindingly obvious teeth-gritting: "The Items needed so much to get even that far; blood-cursed gold, souls and all that, whatever. And it was still damned hard to get worthwhile bearers, had to be capable of wielding powerful magic, but then I get fucking Mahaad bastard smothering me for -" so far from the point, he needs to get back on track. But he had really hated Mahaad and he still hates Mahaad and... he feels a lot better by focusing on how very much he hates a long-dead magician actually.

The giant demonic cobra in the room just abruptly looks so cheerful! "But all that I needed for the door. To get enough of myself over here to really get anything done, I needed more... I've forgotten what my first attempt relied on. Likely a side effect of your little theft... And without my name?" The look he gives Atem is... smug? "Thiefy really had to sell it to me, but think about it: a form created to hold immense power, the capability wield that power - by itself! - and its own name. A ka would match all requirements, but most ka are so weak... and I'm sure you already know how rare god-level ka are."

Wow that's a smile, alright then. "And Thiefy's bet was right: you took our other names, but did hold onto Diabound's for us."

-

Back to Kul Elna!

The outside of the building looks fairly unremarkable outside of its size and somewhat better condition. The door looks old and damaged, though mostly-intact. However, if they try the door, it doesn't stick at all, swinging open quite smoothly.

The inside of the building doesn't match its exterior - or. Kul Elna in general, really. If either of them still remember the place: it looks like Ryou's living room. One side of the room has the large couch and small tv, while the other side has the big Monster World table set up. The windows seem to have the blinds drawn or something, but while the room is a bit more dimly-lit than would be ideal, it's certainly better lit than Zorc's soul room (or the bottom of that well).

[bloomingdespite]

"Ufufufufufu." Atem laughs at his victory, lounging against one of the shelves as he listens to Zorc's story. Something about him seems different, somehow. Sharper around the edges. There's a golden glint in his eye that definitely wasn't there before. "Please, do go on. I'm ever so curious as to how you viewed you little scheme from your end."

Something's wrong.

-

Zahra and Anzu just stand there for a few moments, completely dumbstruck. "How... this shouldn't be possible," is what Anzu eventually settles on. "Has he been keeping Bakura locked up in here the entire time?"

"No. I don't think so." Zahra wanders in, brushing their hand along the bookshelves. "He was bonded with Bakura for years. Longer than even the three of us have been together. I'm not surprised there are aftereffects, but still, this is... I don't even know." They take a look at the Monster World table, maybe there are clues there?

[improvking]

...Yeah, something's wrong alright, and Zorc picks up on that immediately. The cheery attitude disappears and his body tenses, prepared to strike - not threatening to, not yet, but Zorc's all too aware he's left himself at a serious disadvantage by letting them in. He narrows his eyes at suspicious-pharaoh bein' suspicious.

Sharply focused on his 'guest', his tone turns icy as he regards Atem with apparent disdain. "Were we both left here to avoid spooking the thief, or was I left here to keep you occupied?"

...Complete subject shift much.

Was Zorc actually going anywhere with that story? Yes. Does he want to continue it? Yes. Is he perhaps a tad more on edge than he's been carrying himself? MAYBE.

-

Zahra may notice that the bookshelves aren't dusty - they're sandy. How do you even get sand all over a bookshelf, did someone just. dump a bag of it over the thing. Why. There's still books in it.

The Monster World table in Ryou's apartment had had chairs around it, for both the players and the DM. This one doesn't, which is kinda weird. Also weird is the slight shimmering in the air around the world tiles - which seems to be a force field if either investigator tries to touch it or anything on the table. If they try really really hard, they'll get a slight shock for their trouble. Apparently this Monster World is off-limits, at least to either of them.

The table itself has the Dark Master's (Zorc's) Castle on one end, and a (generic??) Desert Ruins tile on the other. Between those two is a Forest tile, which in turn is separated from them both by a lot of 'blank' landscape tiles. Close examination will reveal that none of the tiles are the fancier options that open - not even the castle, which is unusual. ...There are no figures on the table.

The wall behind the DM's side of the table looks like it was a massive display case at some point - the shelves inside suggest it may have been intended for Monster World figurines. Ryou didn't have this thing, at least not in his living room anyway. Be careful, the case had a glass front once. The shards of it are all over the little shelves. Closer examination will reveal the entire thing is covered with dust - glass shards included.

Oh hey, there's also a little clear box on one shelf. It's labelled, and appears to have something inside it.

icon is solely here for atem

[bloomingdespite]

Where did the sound of a storming ocean come from? It's here now, regardless, echoing in the vast chamber. Thankfully, there's no actual water to accompany it. Yet, at least.

Atem laughs uproariously. "OHOHOHOHOHOHO! Unlike you, my partners have their full faith in me. Even—especially—after everything we've been through. No, their intentions were pure. I can assure you of that." He cocks his head to the side, gaze piercing straight through Zorc. "Oh, my. You aren't scared, are you? My, that seems out of character... my other self."

That golden glint is now a furious glow covering his irises, and the shadows seem to deepen around him. Whoever he really is.

-

"I might have an idea." Zahra snaps their fingers and begins looking for a desk lamp. "If we can shine a bright enough light over town-"

"No. Just. No."

"Why?"

"Do you want to get blinded?"

"Fair point."

While Zahra looks for a portable light source to investigate the well with, Anzu looks at the clear box. If they were their alternate-universe counterpart, they'd probably expect to find a cute diorama in there. But they aren't, so they have absolutely no clue.

and what an icon it is, A+

[improvking]

...

"I've been talking talking to you?!" The tension in Zorc's coils decreases - while hardly relaxed, he's no longer prepped to strike. The ice in his tone is gone, he's too annoyed. "Is this why you kept going on about 'fragments' and who's where?"

It's not that he feels at ease with another Zorc. He's unpleasantly aware that the Items are a factor and that only one of them still has his, in pieces or otherwise. It's also not like he doesn't know himself - another Zorc in here is far worse than the pharaoh. It's just that he doubts another Zorc could pull out any light-based attacks. Not today, Horakhty.

That and he really is annoyed by the development. "It's no fun telling you anything." He settles down into his coils in the most sullen way possible. There's not much to do in his mind besides waiting out the impending theatrics.

He knows how he responds when his bullying gets rewarded.

-

As for Anzu... if they had expected to find a cute little diorama, they would have been disappointed. Their alternate-universe counterpart would have more context for what they do find, all the same: inside the box are a pair of shattered d10s. The accompanying label reads 'Idiot'.

Zahra doesn't have much luck with portable light sources. Whatever this place is/was for, 'lighting' doesn't seem to have been a priority. In fact, the windows aren't covered - there aren't windows. The two sets of doors that opened onto the balcony are absent as well.

The other half of the room looks a bit more lived-in. The large couch is covered in papers, including some complicated-looking diagrams. The chair opposite is part-way reclined, with a throw blanket rumpled up on it. The tv is off, with what looks like a remote atop it. ...It's probably the tv remote? It's a weird remote though, it hardly has any buttons.

[bloomingdespite]

The spirit bites off a grape from the bunch he's holding, smirking as he maintains direct eye contact with Zorc. Oh, c'mon. That's just excessive. (Where did he get that thing, anyways?) "Not exactly the one you're thinking of~"

the tilde,

really, spirit,

It's hard to tell at this point, but the delivery of the monologue is very Zorc. "If destiny had gotten its way and I had been partnered with Yugi, all sweetness and light and kindhearted idiocy, I'm sure you'd be talking to Atem and just Atem right now.

"But Anzu? They had fire. Years of loathing buried under the crushing weight of expectations, bursts of violence, a fury that only blazed brighter as my occupancy wore on... It came to a head when the most raw, unadulterated hate I had ever felt erupted from their heart like a volcano! And so the darkness swallowed the old Pharaoh right up. Corrupted him, turned him, twisted him... oh, you would've loved it, I think. It was glorious.

"That same fire broke him out of it in the end, though. Or however much of him was left, I don't know. So in one last, desperate attempt, he forced a merge with me. Fusions inside fusions, you know. I'm honestly not sure if there's so much as a spark left of the old Pharaoh inside me, or if I'm just a part of [REDACTED] that thinks he's some noble hero type. I've come to terms with it, though.

"Honestly? I'm surprised the same thing never happened to you. And to think it would've been so easy, too..."

He reaches out towards Zorc, brushing the underside of his "chin." "Speaking of... my, my.

"You look delicious, don't you~"

-

"This is definitely where Ryou used to squat when the spirit had control," muses Zahra, picking up the remote. "The room isn't a normal soul-room. I think it's... some kind of prison."

"Yeah. I..."

"..."

"Look, for the entire year that we were on that roadtrip together, Ryou wasn't even inside him anymore. There was nothing-"

"We spent so many sessions and we-"

"No point dwelling in the past. Just turn the damn thing on."

Zahra clicks the remote.

[improvking]

As the other ...entity? someone really gets into his monologue, Zorc finds himself... growing appeased? Soothed? Meh, he's. adjusting, at least.

And it is a fun story. It's an entertaining listen. The grapes though. Whether it's a birthright inherited, a trophy bagged, or some tangled mess of both, someone's showing off their royalty. The grapes - pfft the grapes.

....Aaaaand then. The chin-chucking with that remark sure is a. thing. Hm. HM.

Somewhere within the enormous room, two tiny scrolls poof into existence and cram themselves into a nearby shelf. One is a note-to-self for his own future reference that this is what's being described by the phrase 'felt my soul recoil'. The other is more of a journal-esque musing on whether having that reaction to a variety of himself counts as a paradox of some kind.

While that's happening offscreen, Zorc just swats vaguely at the hand with his tail, distracted by the more important matter of giving the Puzzle-Spirit a questioning Look, because... "Is that all it took? One flare, and he crumbled like a spent wick?" That caliber of opponent is disappointing.

That caliber of fusion-material is pathetic. "Oh, but do~ tell~ how you've decided the thief could break from h-hatred and fff...fury -pfft, h-hahahahaHA-" look he wanted to stick to the more dignified taunting but he can't, he's cracking up, he can't help it "- What did you think he runs on?"

-

Zahra picks a button, and the tv switches on.

The first button pressed calls up a label reading 'Kul Elna' that quickly recedes into the upper right corner. It shows an aerial view of the village they're in mid-exploration of - and the end of the third path looks... off. There seems to be a lot of rubble? The underground shrine might not be in good condition when/if they head that way. There's something near the stairway entrance as well, possibly crates? It's difficult to make out details without knowing which button controls the zoom (does this thing have zoom?)

The second button calls up a similar label, this one reading 'Lobby'. This label also tucks itself out of the way, and the screen displays... huh. It's just this nebulous-floor of clouds/fog surrounded by darkness. What even.

The third button calls up the label 'Ishtar', but when that tucks itself away it leaves a screen of nothing but static.

The fourth button calls up the uncertain label 'Archive?', which moves away to reveal only a dark screen at first. Ah, it seems the camera was auto-scrolling through unlit portions of Zorc's soul room: soon enough Zorc and Atem can be seen, lounging on the floor and chatting. The volume on this thing isn't turned up high enough to make out their words, but one of them must have cracked a pretty great joke. That sure is a giant purple cobra writhing around cackling hysterically.

The fifth button calls up a label reading 'Host', but instead of moving out of the way, this one replaces itself with 'not found, seeking vessel' ...only to then be replaced with 'no ring nO RIN ???' which stays mid-screen over a lovely background of static.

The sixth button turns the tv off.

[bloomingdespite]

"Oh, no, my dear.

"I'm surprised that the Thief King hasn't gobbled you up and taken you for the morsel you are yet."

-

Zahra and Anzu both stare at the TV, thoughtful as they flick through the channels. "That lobby place, it looks like..."

"Where you met Atem when you two needed to talk? Yeah. I'm surprised it's still here, honestly."

"..."

"Is that-"

"Oh, want to place bets on whether Atem's fucking with him?"

"I'm not gonna take that. Look at those grapes, he's absolutely doing the, 'being of darkness' schtick."

"I still think giving him a sense of humor and a sense of enjoyment out of screwing with other people was our greatest mistake."

"Fair."

"So what now?"

Zahra shrugs, rolling their shoulders. "We should check out the temple, then if that doesn't turn up anything, head down that well."

"Uuuuugh. I don't want to go down there."

"Why?"

"Remember where the darkest place in our Ring-Spirit's mind led?"

"What do you- Oh! Oh, c'mon, MCR is good, and having an entire section of his mind dedicated to their albums is one of his few redeeming qualities."

"Zahra, with all due respect, you have the taste of a- wait, you are a teen."

"We're teens. You have no room to criticize."

"Fuck."

And so they bickered all the way to the temple.

[improvking]

Zorc snorts - and notes that this is actively-Atem (to whatever degree). That particular taunt with that specific wording? Ever-so-slightly off-target. Though barely enough for Zorc himself to detect the difference - the pharaoh's 'impersonation' is far too authentic to be all acting. The two of them really are similar~.

Proving the thief right about something else, and inspiring just so much secondhand-vindication for Thiefy right now. ...Is. Wait is that weird - "Oh! Right, we got a bit sidetracked, didn't we. I never finished my side of our stories." Yes, good, now he can ignore the One And Only One Weird Thing happening at present.

"Diabound retaining his name gave us enough to use him as my vessel. We simply prompted the Puzzle and it handed the name right back to us - and that unlocked -" Zorc cuts himself off with a grimace. Ah yes, who could forget the joy of just abruptly Knowing that you're two people who hate each other more than anything save - stressful. The game turned a bit more stressful than anticipated. Not the point. Moving on! "So we replaced all the 'Diabound' within Diabound's form with me - and it seems the role comes tied with the form." He shrugs, somehow, despite not even doing snake anatomy wrong this time how did he - "So: is it surprising for a mortal to not 'gobble up' his own ka? I'd love to hear your reasoning~"

-

Anzu and Zahra's bickering is increasingly muffled as they go. It's like the air is actively resisting the entire concept of sound.

When they arrive, they'll find that the temple is indeed in poor shape. That much is obvious without even going inside: there are a lot of holes in the ground here, all in places that probably line up with the interior's ceiling.

Beside the path to the stairs down are the things they saw from the tv. These are, sure enough, piles of crates. KaibaCorp crates, each one bearing the well-known company logo. Why are these here. Why aren't they random anonymous crates. The crates prove easy to open if tried, and full of shovels for some reason? A whole buncha different sizes and types, some very tiny, some in weird shapes. There's a few large spades in there too. A few might even be taller than the town's well is wide.

The stairs down are... in ok-ish shape. If they go down to check on the temple itself they'll find that the ceiling is full of holes - large, irregular holes - which serve as pretty decent skylights. The temple is well lit. It's also a mess, to a degree that suggests the ceiling's condition might be the result of a battle inside. A battle very long ago...

The Millennium Stone, on the other hand, seems to have been shattered quite recently. Within its remains is a large hole. Near that hole are a few more shovels, a coil of rope, and what sure do look like lanterns.

[bloomingdespite]

"Hm. I suppose not."

Atem shrugs.

"...but you two really need couples' counseling."

-

Zahra inspects one of the crates more closely, raising an eyebrow. "That's strange. I'd expect the touch of Priest Set in this mindscape if anything, not Kaiba. What do you think's going on here?"

"Didn't Kaiba say something about building a machine to get the Pharaoh back? Is it possible that he came back to Egypt to do... I don't know. Research or something?" Anzu picks up a lantern and tosses another one to Zahra, which they catch easily.

"How would any of them know about that, though? Hmmmm." Zahra peeks into the hole, then looks at Anzu. "Well. Only one way forward, right?"

"At least we have some light." And so they begin descending down the rope.