epidemiology | EVENT ★ CRUMBLING WORLD

Are you prepared for the fight of your life? You better be.

The Oska staff and the others who are staying behind gather in the courtyard to wish the recruits luck. It's a much more formal affair than rifting out to missions usually is, with recruits casting spells on each other for luck and for strength, and still others passing around potions and elixirs for healing and stamina.

In addition to Audentes and the guests' teams, there are also a number of ex-convicts from the Asterion Prison ready to rift out as well, and familiar teams like Mariposa, Squirrel Fucker, and Unicorn. The undead catlike humanoid Pomarr stands near a brother and sister recruited from Q-65. A handful of former Zymandis agents look uncomfortable in their new purple uniforms but grimly ready for action, with Mavahari at the head of their team.

And Team Kittypaw, Audentes's big sister team, is of course ready to get their hands (and paws) dirty right alongside everyone else.

A green-skinned alien who works in the Medical Center steps forward and gives a brief statement of hope and a wish for luck. Then the recruits flagged for the rift begin to glow, the world flickers white, and it's time for the crumbling world.

THE LAND AND SKY

When the contingent of ALASTAIR teams rifts in, it's onto a series of unsteady, crumbling stretches of land. Why the land is so unsteady is quickly apparent: they are floating platforms, unused to the sudden weight of so many bodies. The platforms are so wobbly that some unlucky ones may lose their footing and actually go sliding toward the edge. This is not a soft landing by any means.

Once you get your bearings, you'll want to start toward a castle rising in the distance: the Ophiel AI still active inside the ex-Zymandis agents' jewelcomms pinpoints it as the location of the TIMELINE.exe's signal. But don't expect an easy stroll to reach it. The entire landscape is separated into floating, drifting chunks of crumbling earth, with no way to travel between them but to jump.

Making things even more difficult is the steam rolling over the platforms, obscuring the edges and reducing visibility all around. As the planet cracks apart, its surface peels back to let lava heat up the atmosphere, causing the steam and filling the air with oppressive heat and humidity. The lava occasionally burbles up into geysers, so be careful when jumping from platform to platform, and make sure you time it right.

Patrolling some of the larger platforms are Zymandis robot guards. If you avoid the large platforms and take advantage of the camouflage provided by the steam, you might be able to avoid the robots . . . but if the steam clears, look out: they're equipped with laser weapons and can rocket boost short distances to whatever platform you may be hiding on. And not only is their close proximity bad for you, but their extra weight is bad for the already-fragile platforms.

Make it past all these obstacles -- the platforms, the steam, the lava, the robots -- and you'll find the biggest platform where the castle sits, itself a crumbling mass of stone.

THE CASTLE

The castle is made of dark and brittle stone, and is palpably thrumming with magic and electricity, like a dark twin to Oska's own castle. It's situated on a platform floating high above the others, fortuitously far enough from the lava below that there's a respite from the humidity and heat. But this far up in the sky, the opposite appears to be the problem: the wind is cold and biting, threatening to push anyone right off the ledge. Best push on into the castle itself.

Just beyond the massive gated door is the grand hall of the castle, though in its crumbling state, it's objectively not very grand at all. Elaborate stained glass windows once filled the walls and ceiling, most of the panes now on the ground in jagged piles of glass alongside stone rubble. It's probably best not to stand in one place for too long -- you never know when some other structure in the castle will collapse.

Some time may be spent exploring the grand hall before moving on, though there's not much to find. A rusted halberd here, a pile of useless debris there. The Ophiel AI urges everyone to move on to find the TIMELINE.exe, but there's suddenly a noticeable chill in the air and from the staircase descends a trio of white-robed figures.

The figures are spirit wizards, Ophiel quickly explains; they have no physical body but are instead formed by pure spiritual energy. As long as one lives, they will keep reforming as three, so all of them will need to be taken out all at once. Physical attacks won't be very effective against beings without a physical form, Ophiel continues; burn them away with magic and the elements and you might stand a chance.

The spirit wizards can fling people about with wind magic, electrocute with lightning magic, and engulf anything in flames. Lacking a physical form, they can also teleport, so protecting one another is an important strategy to survive the battle.

The other teams are all practiced warriors in one way or another, but with so many people in one place, all fighting the same enemy, some organization is called for before it becomes an all-out catastrophe. The castle, after all, can only withstand so much accidental fire before it's game over.

OOC NOTES

Welcome to the last mission of the season! This log will ICly last three hours, with the next log picking up immediately afterward. If you have any questions about this log, please direct them to the dossier.

Because this log is going up near the end of the month, you may use threads started in October for November AC, provided you don't use the same thread for October AC as well.

NOTE: November is the last month for AC Bonus Bank! The Bonus Bank will close on December 5th, 23:59 UTC. To celebrate the finale, we are removing the coin cap, meaning you can submit more than 100 coins with no upper limit. Coin balances will not transfer to Season 2.

If you have questions about the game in general, please use the game FAQ.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

N-No, I got this! Really!

[and to prove (??) it, she jumps right to the next platform........ and while she lands on it, she has to shriek and flail wildly to keep from falling off]

[She sure has got this....]

[JESUS CHRIST MAYA]

[with a muttered curse, Akira follows her, gracefully moving from one platform to the next. he lands in a roll, using that momentum to take him closer to Maya so he can reach out to grab the back of her shirt and pull her closer to the center before she falls off]

Hey. . . I don't think anyone here thinks taking a lava bath is a great idea.

[What a smooth criminal. She yelps loudly as he grabs her and he successfully yanks pulls her back, but while he keeps her from falling from off the platform, she falls backwards onto him instead]
YEEEK!

[Maybe it's time for him to repay the favor of a dashing rescue after all]

W-Who said anything about a lava bath! I was platforming jumping in style---!

[welp. at least he manages to loop his arms underneath hers and catch her before both of them fall to the ground this time]

Uh huh. And what style was that? The "Style of the Drunken Platformer?"

[yeah. at this point? he's totally going to scoop her up into his arms and just. carry her the rest of the way to the castle]

Style of the Awesome---

[She yelps again as he scoops her up like a basket of muffins and takes off like the dashing gentleman like he is. She at least has the sense not to struggle or kick, as tempting as it is, but she does kinda grab onto his arm. She's not afraid of heights like Phoenix is, but floating platforms over lava would make anyone nervous]

G-Geez, you really are taking after me...

[they sure would make anyone nervous, which is probably why it's surprising that Akira moves with such speed, such finesse, and such confidence. it's almost as though the lava isn't even there. a stark difference to how much he bumbled around back on the Mothership]

[he doesn't say anything until they land again. and when they do? he flashes Maya a sharp smirk, completely Joker-like in nature. not that she's met Joker yet, of course]

Shouldn't you be proud, senpai?

[Yeah, she does notice that --- it's almost like he's a completely different person, like the bumbling nerd back there was just a persona]

[get it]

[okay but no, once they're on solid ground she eases him a little, breathing a sigh of relief and making looking a little embarrassed. That was so much smoother and cooler than she'd ever thought Akira capable of]

I-- am! Obviously you're picking up on my coolness! And learning from the best!

[And then, a little quieter:]

... Thanks.

[he lets her back down onto her feet so she doesn't have to continue to suffer this embarrassment at his hands. his response is also quiet, but super sincere, and punctuated with a smile]

Don't mention it. Always happy to help.

[he lifts a hand to shield his eyes as he stares at the castle in the distance]

Looks like we're a little closer, but we've still got a ways to go from here.

Show off. [She mumbles, but she can't help looking impressed. Senpai noticed you, Akira]

At least we're on solid ground now. What else can this dumb ol' castle throw at us?

[Famous last words from Maya Fey, as wizards are nearby, waiting for a chance to engage these two in a Zelda boss battle]

Only a little.

[he lifts up his hand, holding his thumb and forefinger like, a centimeter apart in order to emphasize "a little."]

And I'm not sure, but I wouldn't underestimate that castle. What if it's sentient?

[time to speculate on the impending boss fight that awaits them]

Just like water is just a little wet?

[But they've got more pressing matters, alas. She brushes herself off and looks towards the castle, squinting]

Liiiike, a giant monster castle? That sounds like something straight out of a movie...

[But she can't exactly deny the possibility]

[he doesn't answer that verbally, just. shoots her an amused smile. TIME TO FOCUS ON THE CASTLE BOSS FIGHT]

Everything here is straight out of a movie.

[so]

I've chosen to embrace it.

That's a pretty good point, actually. So have I.

[And man is it nice to meet someone she doesn't have to explain television to]

Well! Ready for our big fighting montage scene?

[She says, like she can actually fight]

[don't worry, he is absolutely 100% caught up on his pop culture references]

Absolutely. Too bad I don't have a music player to blast "Eye of the Tiger" on full volume.

EVENT ★ CRUMBLING WORLD

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