intro

[pinkprismstaff]

You don't remember getting knocked out.

That's the best descriptor for the feeling you experience before you wake up. There's a glittering absence of color to your field of vision, and a sensation that you aren't yourself, you aren't anything in particular. Abruptly, unpleasantly, you wake up in a strange, sunny location. Where that is might vary--laying in a sun chair on the pool deck, draped over the skee-ball machine in the arcade, face down in a cart in the laundry room....or just stretched out in the long, long expanse of sand surrounding the island.

There doesn't seem to be anyone else here, aside from the others who have woken up and have as little clue where they might be as you do. It's a silent, empty island filled with a lot of questions and few clear answers. What you can conclude are a few things: that you don't get hungry or tired, that any wounds you have don't seem to either heal or worsen, and leaving the island doesn't seem to be possible.

Maybe it would be good to meet with the others who have woken up?

Comments

[shoveltalks]

( kurumi remembers going to sleep. they'd gotten into randal corporation's main building finally- except... she had trouble climbing the ladder. they had to pull her up in a makeshift harness. she does not remember coming to a beach-side pool, however.

amongst the neon pool deck furniture, kurumi sits up slowly, shovel in hand- that's still there, at least- and looks around in a daze. the chlorine and blood both hit her nose strongly and she recoils a bit but... ultimately? this isn't new to her at all.

the silence, however, is.

well.

first thing's first. find the others. which is where you may catch kurumi running in stumbled steps across the island (WHEN did she get onto an island!!!!) calling out multiple names- )

Yuki! Miki! Rii-san! ... Asoi-san! Where is everyone!?

( the fact that there's more blood everywhere- toppled chairs and tables, food left out- it's all so familiar in the worst way, the way she's become acclimated to with a heavy pit in her stomach. but eventually she has to sit down at the restaurant, shovel at her side and head in her hands. did she push it too much?

thankfully, it looks like she's not entirely alone on murder island. she looks up and stares for a moment when she hears someone approach before she simply smiles cheerfully. )

Yo! Weird place, huh? I don't suppose you've seen any others yet...?

[compendiem]

[ Minato opens his eyes to stare up at the brilliant blue sky, content, for the moment to just lie there and breathe.

The moment lasts all of two seconds before the tide comes and crashes against the side of his head, salty and bitter and dripping into his eyes as he sits up with a start and stares around at all the pink. Like he'd woken up in the wrong portable game.

Yes, okay. This is a familiar feeling. Body exhausted, head foggy, stumbling around like a zombie poking his nose at anything and everything:

You can find Minato riding the elevators up and down... and up and down... and up and down... He spends quite a lot of time in the arcade as well, helping himself to the tokens to try each game out two or ten times. However much he'd like nothing more than a comfy bed and a fourteen hour nap, he doesn't find himself a room to hole up in, but rather visits each room whose door is still unlocked, going through the suitcases and clothing like he's searching for something. Eventually he'll head back outside to walk the shoreline he'd woken up at, head bowed and staring at the sand, looking a little forlorn. There are no crabs ): ]

[compendiem]

...Yo.

[ Minato pulls himself away from the doorway after a moment, like he has to be snapped out of a daydream before he realizes he's being addressed, and approaches Kurumi. Just sort of standing there in front of her instead of taking a seat. ]

Not yet. [ ... ] Nice shovel.

[ It's nostalgic. Wandering halls covered in blood, holding a bus stop sign or a mop. Whatever works, really. ]

[photoning]

[For Prompt A, Mahiru finds herself leaning against the balcony of a third-story master bedroom. It's not that different from the edge of the ship, at first, she thinks; her hand shades her eyes from the sun that must have disoriented her. No... No, that's not quite right. There's something all too familiar and suspicious about waking up on an island like an eerie dream. If she really is in, ugh, let's say a special environment, she still has to interact with it like a normal person. She braces herself on the balcony, takes a deep breath, and calls out to whoever's - wherever. Other balcony? Most likely on the beach below.]

Hey! Excuse me! Did you bring me here? Can you tell me what's going on?

[For Prompt B, Mahiru is just walking around wherever on the first story and grounds. Down here, it's much easier to see that she has a camera on an orange strap around her neck, which she's using in a somber way. She tries to put on a smile once someone actually looks at her like they want to talk about what's going on.]

Oh, I'm getting a feel for the layout of this place, that's all. If we can talk with the concierge, I just might be able to get these photos developed!

[Bit of an eyetwitch there.]

rooms!

[shoveltalks]

( kurumi is cautious as she goes about- even if there's no sound of them yet, that doesn't mean they couldn't be hiding somewhere. but every room is empty- none of the girls, no undead.

up until she finds a boy with blue hair and balks for a moment- it's so strange seeing living people, even after the college. )

Uh- hey. Whatcha doin...?

[shoveltalks]

Mm, it's my trusty sidekick!

( normal things to say about a shovel! though she deflates slightly at his answer.

even if she kind of expected it. )

I was afraid of that though. ... Do you remember coming here at all? Like... um. What's the last thing you remember?

( his uniform's clean- maybe he was at school before the outbreak too? but he's maintained it pretty well. )

[compendiem]

[ The boy is slow to turn around, looking over his shoulder first before pushing off his knees to straighten up and face Kurumi properly. ]

Snooping.

[ Invading other people's privacy in an attempt to find ...something. ]

Find anything interesting?

[shoveltalks]

The bean bag chairs on the beach are super comfy. And the fabric's not scratchy at all~!

( the most imperative information since their first meeting, clearly. )

... But no, not yet.

[ghostinmichelle]

[ flump

That's the sound of Misaki dislodging an approximate metric ton of stuffed flamingos as she sits up, squinting into an overwhelming mass of pink. Okay. It's... some kind of tropical gift shop? Not the weirdest place she's woken up, honestly. ]

...The aquarium? No, this isn't - aah!

[ And that was the sound of Misaki putting a foot out and realizing her impromptu sleeping arrangement comes with a steep vertical drop. She yanks her leg back onto the shelf, sending a few flamingos raining down to the floor and narrowly avoiding joining them.

Okay. If she got up here, she can get down. Theoretically, she could just climb down the shelves below, avoiding their assortment of souvenir cups and stationery... if she can trust them to hold her weight. Which is why this plan isn't one she's super jazzed about. She casts a glance toward the doorway, hoping a plan B will walk by, and raises her voice: ]

...Uh. Help?

[ Later, assuming Misaki escapes that particular plight, she'll be found wandering the resort, her worry meter ticking up slowly but steadily at each sign of disarray, disorder, or general Not Right-ness. Upon nearly stepping in a particularly fresh bloodstain, she visibly pales. ]

You think we've been dragged into some kind of murder mystery? I mean, a fake murder mystery, obviously - a really, really fake one... right?

[ please be ketchup please be ketchup plEASE BE KETCHUP ]

[compendiem]

[ missing his trusty sidekick... ]

Um... [ last thing he remembers... ]

I was at school. Went up to the roof... took a nap.

[ and didn't think he was going to wake up from it. ]

[shoveltalks]

--And the outbreak...?

( she absolutely thinks their situation is the same. )

a!

[shoveltalks]

( kurumi jolts before looking up slowly. she's never seen hair that red before- it's cute. but... )

No, I don't know. I'm sorry.

[compendiem]

[ Oh— that gets his attention, actually, turning his head towards the window overlooking the beach. Super comfy chairs on the beach. Noted. ]

That's interesting, though... Makes me wonder where everybody went.

[birdysnatcher]

[When Shade wakes, it's not on the grey expanse of Gotham city, but somewhere quite opposite in tone - the sun beats down on her skin (humans get so hot, and their skin so sticky) and the sky is bluer than she's seen on the planet so far.

Prying herself from the sand - and oh, how annoying sand is - she gets to her feet. She still has the coat, she's still in her body, not her body. But not where she was.

Exit with intention. And then begin again.

Coloured specks leak and float from her coat as Shade wanders the beach, curiously approaching whoever else happens to be roaming there.]

What is this place?

[And, because it's worth asking:]

Earth?

[When Shade reaches the main resort, it only takes a couple of bloodstains and wrecked furniture before she decides Fuck this shit, I'm out. She finds herself somewhere seemingly quiet - though, this place is too quiet, not like the conspicuous buzz of Earth - and...well, to the untrained eye she just seems to pass out.

But in her mind, she taps into the madness, ready to escape, back to Meta, back to anything that's not this -

And goes nowhere.

Not this shit again.

Shade jolts awake, conscious, desperate on the floor.]

No! Why won't it work?

[compendiem]

[ Outbreak? Ah, she means Apathy Syndrome ]

People should be recovering now... I think. It's fine, now.

[shoveltalks]

... Eh?

( kurumi just stares like "bro................?" )

You don't just get better from being dead- a-and a cure hasn't been developed yet.

( because she's the cure. )

[shoveltalks]

Me too. I haven't seen anyone but... the blood and signs of conflict, it's concerning, isn't it?

( of course it is. )

But I haven't seen anything wrong except for that.

[reresurrected]

[The blood is very definitely concerning indeed, and the fact that Baldr has already been through this once before isn't doing much to assuage his fears about this. He knows what random blood all over the place means when you suddenly wake up in an unfamiliar place, okay.

The fact that at least one other person is alive here is a good sign, though, but this girl definitely looks like she's going through it as she stumbles around looking for what seem to be friends of hers.

First things first:]

Are you all right? You aren't injured, are you?

[compendiem]

Everything is pink.

[ what do you mean nothing else is wrong?? ]

b

[compendiem]

[ Oh, that's smart; makes him wish he'd had a camera to take pictures of everything. ]

Can I see...?

[ If she got any good shots? please, he's nosy ]

[compendiem]

[ Oh, um. He'd open his arms out and offer to catch her, but looks like he'd probably snap his spine doing so. So the second best thing he can think of is to collect all the fallen stuffed flamingos and pile them underneath where Misaki is. ]

That... should be enough. [ looks up at her ] Right?

[shoveltalks]

Some of the deck furniture is orange and blue. ... I saw a white unicorn floatie in the water...

( so it's 99% pink. this is a vital difference. )

... Besides, I think it's like, themed?

cw ronald reagan mention

[baskins]

[ Oh this is not the vibe... is what Robin would think, were she from a later decade. As it stands, she wakes on the floor of an empty arcade and. Looks around, still tired. Giant four-legged flesh monsters? Sure, that had at least been like. Led up to, on account of the Russians and their weird hell gate and the superpowered child?

... Hey, actually, where is that superpowered child? Or any of the other children she guesses she hangs out with now? Or... ]

... Steve? Hey, dingus, you around here?

[ No response. She thinks very hard. She's learned a lot of government secrets, but this place hardly seems Soviet, so... ]

Oh my god, the FBI sent me to a farm upstate.

[ And as soon as she can find a - yeah, a skee-ball in one of her work socks, that's a weapon - she's going to start exploring. ]

All right, President Reagan, come out and face me yourself, you old coward!

[compendiem]

[ Minato startles, a slight rocking back on his heels and the widening of the eyes, before he rocks back and leans over Shade, concerned. ]

What doesn't?

[shoveltalks]

Huh-?

( uh


well. there's a lot she's unpacking all at once and she's not sure how to feel about it. an adult- not a college student but an actual adult, reaching out. her own secrets. her health gradually decaying-

kurumi falters before smiling cheerfully, waving one hand. )

I-I just had a bad fever recently, and it's left me tired, that's all.