thefolder | September Missions - Dark Field Elimination

That's not nice, Princess. Pixie is a baby name. You call him Pixie and I call you Snookie-Pookums.

Puddin'-pop.

Honey-bunch? Cuppy-cake, sugar-plum, pumpy-umpy-umpkin. You're my sweetie-pie. You're my cuppy-cake, gumdrop, snoogums-boogums, the apple of my eye! [ She was singing, just like that, eyes glinting with playful menace as she walked ahead of everyone, heading straight for the Dark Field. ]

...And I love you so and I want you to know that I'll always be right here, and I love to sing sweet songs to you, because you are so DEAR!

...

Wow. Okay that happened.

[ Squall raised an eyebrow to the breaking out into song. Yep. That certainly did just happen right now. ]

That always happens with her.

I hereby rescind my previous order. Neku, you're going in.

Oh come on! [ Roze cried, laughing despite the disappointment. ]

Don't be like that! I'll go, I'll go. And I won't sing anymore, promise! Geez, Princess.

You guys do what you want. They're Lance and Squire to me. Two sturdy little heroes, right guys? You'll digivolve sooner or later. I wouldn't worry too much...

...gumdrop. [ She laughed softly, chewing her bottom lip in thought as she crept closer to the field, raising both hands to the back of her head. ]

I really don't see what the big deal about these things is. They look innocuous enough on the outside... [ Roze shrugged, leaning forward and popping her head in, just like she'd been previously ordered.

She had her eyes closed, expecting it to feel weird - maybe like dry-dunking your head into a vat of pudding - and found it largely without effect. Until she opened her eyes.

Forced to squint against the rush of light into her vision, she tried to re-balance herself, tilting too far forward in her lean. Hands previously behind her head moved to windmill for balance, until something brushed her face, again, then again. The pain registered belatedly, like bearing your face in a powerful blizzard, bits of ice tearing at your exposed skin. She tried to reel back immediately, jerking her arms back and straining to right herself, not realizing she'd already leaned well-forward off her heels. ]

Edited 2013-09-25 02:29 (UTC)

[Neku had started to huff in amusement, not at all wanting to go near the damned thing but willing to for peace of mind. Even as he approached it though Roze strolled past. Which put him in prime seating to see what happened.

When she jabbed her face in he growled]

Damn it Roze, at least let us tie something to y- ACK!

[Failing arms and tipping boots. Without thinking about it he snagged the hem of her shirt, digging his heels in. But Roze outweighed him by a lot, and he was not going to make headway. But at least maybe he could hold her up until Squall or Seifer saw what was happening.

Or could have, if her pinwheeling hadn't caught him, elbow right to the temple. In fact, the one NeoDevimon had injured only a few days before. He didn't even have time to cry out, out like a featherweight against Mike Tyson, flopping over right into her back.

Best team, good job]

[ He was walking closer with his hands still in his pockets. He wanted to tell her to be careful about this. It wasn't a stupid game they were playing. Others have gotten really hurt by playing around in these Dark fields. He wanted to at least, but before he could open his mouth she already stuck her head in. ]

C'mon Roze this isn...! [ before he could even finish his sentence She started falling in and Neku took on the duty of trying to pull her out. But he wasn't that strong. Why did he think he could do this! ]

Roze! Neku!

[ He lets out a frustrated noise and runs to the Dark field. Gone! They were completely gone! He looked around to see if there was any trace left, anything to hold onto just anything at all, but his mind was racing and nothing seemed useful around them. He lets out another frustrated growl.]

[ Seifer looks at Squall and gestures to the point in which Roze and Neku vanished. Did that just happen? Did that seriously just happen? ]

Okay, so now we both know for sure that those two are complete dumbasses.

[ She just ran on up without grounding herself at all. BRILLIANT! Sure, his plan was risky but she didn't take a single precaution. Sheesh. And Neku weighs less than a chocobo feather. What was he thinking? ]

Might as well follow 'em.

[ Although he wasn't sure if he should actually go in there with the device. Would that ruin it? He supposed Squall could babysit it, but... ]

[ Roze fell forward, getting her hands out in time to prevent smashing her face into the ground. What she didn't expect was for a sack of potatoes to fall on her back as well, forcing a pained curse from her. She was feeling better but that didn't mean her ribs weren't still broken. ]

FUCKIN' CHRIST GET OFFA ME! [ She snarled, reaching over and moving to hit whatever was on her, but...there was nothing. She writhed and squirmed and eventually crawled away, pushing herself to her feet and ducking her head as she covered her face.

YEAH SURE SEIFER. UHHH JUST STICK YOUR HEAD IN HE SAID? Brilliant! What the fuck did she do now?! ]

Musashi? Musashi!?

[ Where was her Kotemon? Outside with Seifer and Squall of course, scrambling forward and crying out in horror. ]

LADY ROZE! LADY ROOOZE!

[Terri was not as ...lucky? Unlucky? As Musashi. Being on her human's head when he flopped kinda meant she went in as well. The BlackGatomon opened her eyes to find herself on her partner's back.

And that's all she sees. Terri hisses, back arching and tail lashing.

As for Neku? Oops, someone is still outcold. Roze is kinda strong after all. Dumbass]

[ Squall glares at this field as if that would even remotely help the problem. ]

Someone should stay behind right? I don't know about you, but I don't really know how these things work. The device could short circuit if you brought it in or a new opening might open up?

[ He groans and covers his face for a moment while he tries to think. He was feeling anxious just standing here though, and hearing Kotemon's cries for his partner weren't helping. ]

What do you think?

[ He was really asking for Seifer's thoughts on the matter. ]

[ Seifer gives Squall a long, heavy sigh. He'd held onto the device the entire journey over here, ready to play the part of hero and flip the switch. But Squall's right. Seifer didn't know whether or not the device would be okay in the Dark Field. So he tossed it gently to Squall who better catch it. ]

You like followin' orders, yeah? Fifteen minutes. And no matter what happens, don't flip it before then. Don't flip it after, either; fifteen minutes on the dot. Hope you can count. Pixie, you stay out here with him just in case some nasty Digimon comes out here.

Wh-What?! I'm supposed to protect you!

I don't need protecting. Stay out here with puberty boy. I'll tell ya all about it in fifteen minutes. Squall, timer starts now.

[ He waves them off and, unlike the two dumbasses before him, walks into the Dark Field like a decent human being. Impmon stands miserably at the edge of the Dark Field. ]

Kuds, you better take real good care of puberty boy!

[ And, ever loyal, Impmon passes through it as well. ]

[Roze and Neku enter the Dark Field together, but even if they grope around, they will find they can't reach each other. In fact, everyone is...separated.

A burst of bright light overtakes them, comforting, warm. Pain? Why did others describe pain? This is not pain. This is...

The light is blinding. The light is burning. The light is commanding. First-degree burns will start to appear against the skin of those in the Dark Field; Neku, fast asleep, will be burned until he wakes, it demands, you will listen to me, you will open your eyes.

You can try to walk. But an uneasy feeling will rise at every step. Like something clenching at your throat.]

This is what every fish I've ever pan-fried feels like...

It hurt. Not indescribably, not more than she could handle. She'd been through worse in her life - though back then she could heal from it almost as quickly as it came, depending on the origin of the attack. This time, she couldn't do anything. She didn't know what it was, where it came from. She didn't even really know why it was happening.

Even as she tried to shield her eyes she felt like long simmering water was rushing over her skin, turning alabaster into boiled leather. ]

Musa-SHIII! [ She clamped her mouth closed, teeth grinding together, fully aware that her cry went from low and angry to pained and high-pitched. She would not scream. She would not fall mere victim to some stupid technologically induced anomaly. It was all fake. Everything was fake. This wasn't real...this couldn't be real...God it felt real.

It felt too real.

What if it is real? ]

NEKU? SEIFER? SQUALL!

[At first it isn't the pain that wakes him up. Or even his panicked partner shaking him. It's a memory.

He dreams of one thing more then anything else when it comes to the Game. Not anyone dying. Not waking up in the same place over and over.

It's getting shot. He dreams about that a lot. And one major thing about that memory hits him in a surprising way- Joshua had shot him from point-blank range. And bullets burn. That smell, more then the pain, that he remembers. Scent is the core of recall, after all.

It is the burned-pork reek that finally pulls him from unconsciousness, shrieking in both real and remembered pain, clutching his chest. Shitshitshit this isn't a *dream*!

He jerks up, trying to beat out invisible flames]

Sh-shit... where....?!

Fifteen minutes, huh?

[ He stares down at the device in his hands and had pulled out his D-T to help keep track of time. No one who has ever entered one of these places has ever come out looking alright. Dante comes to mind with his broken arm and burnt up body. ]

I swear... if anything happens to any of you...

[ He shakes his head and sticks close to the Dark field. Something might come out of it and he has to be ready for that. He ended up tucking Kotemon under his arm as well to keep him from doing something stupid. ]

Th-they'll be okay. They're strong. They can handle this, right Squall?

[ Squall just stays silent as he paces around outside of the field. ]

[ He'd listened to Alex's recaps of the Dark Fields, so he's prepared for something bad to happen, imagined or not. And happen it does. The blinding light assaults him, and it feels like he tripped and fell into one of the lava pools in the Fire Cavern.

He keeps calm though, mostly because he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he panicked. Sure, he wasn't a SeeD, but he wasn't some chicken-wuss or puberty boy. Tons of people had gone into the Dark Fields. They came out a little worse for wear, but they all survived; he would, too. Trying to pretend like his flesh wasn't on fire: ]

Where the hell are you two dumbasses?

[It's like a vacuum. Even though nothing can be seen, in any direction, screams and calls are swallowed up, and no echoes answer. Sound? What's that? Walking will not produce footsteps. The ground itself is less like ground and more like glass.

Walking, there is nothing. No one. Except...

There has to be something. What else would be causing that itching, on your arms, your legs, your back. The burns are one thing, but this...as if attacked by a wild animal, sudden slashes cover the Chosen. Shallow at first, and then deeper, deeper. Along with the feeling that something wants them gone, immediately.

The silence isn't always pervasive. If they try to walk or not, eventually, after a short time of this assault, a quiet hiss will take root in their ears, growing until it forms words.

They are the words of familiar voices, someone the Chosen knows...but it is not words of comfort or joy. It's a phrase, something the Chosen has heard, something that hurts, repeating over and over and over. With every word, a new slash, a new burn.

The field is relentless.]

You'll come crawling back...

What?

You'll come crawling back...you ungrateful bitch

Who is that?

[ Roze spun around, hopping back on her heels and holding one arm over her face, the other flinging out, hand clawed. Eventually she forced herself to stand straight, hands falling to her sides balled into fists as burns curled across her skin in snail trails of virulent red. ]

COME SAY IT TO MY FUCKIN' FACE!

You'll come crawling back...nothing you do changes anything.

[ Slashes came on syllables and she hunched, putting one leg back and grounding herself solidly, ignoring the heat of tears welling in her eyes, the trembling of muscles under skin as she quivered like a horse that caught a wolf scent. ]

Nothing you do changes anything...

[ She broke off into a run, screaming at nothing, stumbling over nothing as she leaped towards the voices - voices everywhere - rage boiling bile bitter in her throat as her fists slammed against nothing. Screaming felt better. Fighting back was better than just taking it like a bitch, listening to those words so full of hate and working so hard to break her down. She would never disappear. She would never let "them" tell her she didn't matter. Never again. ]

Nothing you do changes anything; you'll come crawling back, you ungrateful bitch...

Shut up! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!

Nothing you do. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. You're nothing. You ungrateful bitch. You're nothing.

[ All she had to do was stop the voice... ]

[Most people, in a Dark Field, heard every cruel word, every discarded feeling, every hurtful action from their lives. And at first Neku does too- he has plenty to choose from. But in his mind most of those were almost like things meant for someone else. The person he was before the Game. Some of them, maybe even many of them, deserved in a lot of ways.

He even hears his own voice a few times, hissing in his ears. Every hateful thought and word he'd said to others that were nothing but shameful now. He snarls at the voice, snapping up Terri and running to escape them.

But the phrase that ends up repeating and taking over the others is different. Older and buried much deeper. Innocuous to anyone else but himself. A young voice. Younger then him ~~or at least the Him Of Now, not the Him Of Then~~ and bright, happy.]

Don't worry, I'll be there. The mural wall, right? Make sure to wait for me, okay?

[At that voice he froze, ignoring the growing gashes, or the weak echoing attempts at Terri to speak to him. This hurt more then any mean word. This sliced deep into the core of every cruel action he made after.

He didn't notice when he started to cry, shaking his head frantically as if he could toss the voice away physically. He thought he had mostly forgotten what it sounded like.]

Wait for me, okay?

[ He impatiently stares down at the D-terminal as if that might help speed up the time. Seriously it hasn't been that long yet and yet it feels like it's been hours. Kudamon was trying to comfort Squall while he continued the pace around and kick at things with his boots.

This was all he could do. Stand and wait. Stand and wait. This was pathetic. ]

[ He feels an unfamiliar sense of dread as he takes a few silent steps forward. Just a few. He tries to think, think through the burning sensation, think through feeling like he's getting his scar again except this time it's spreading all over his body.

But it's hard to think.

And then, the quiet whisper of a voice that hadn't changed since he was a small child. ]

Squall.

[ Always Squall. Always him first. He always seemed to be her favorite. ]

Quistis, Selphie.

[ Bossy, over-bearing Quistis and Selphie, too. Quistis acting like she was years older than the rest of them when she was only older than him by two months. ]

Irvine, Zell. You've all grown so much... and become so strong....

[ But what about him? That dumbass Irvine always sticking with Selphie and Zell getting all the attention because he was a crybaby chicken-wuss. To make it worse, Zell and Quistis had actually been adopted. Families actually came all the way out to the middle of nowhere and decides those two blond-haired blue-eyed children were more adoptable than him.

He could shrug it off. He could remember the mission, which had apparently changed to stick it out for fifteen minutes since he knew there was no way in hell he'd be able to find either of them.

He's better than Quistis. Better than Zell. He could shrug it off. Now isn't the time to be thinking about that. Just focus on anything other than that. Anything other than the burning, cutting pain.

But what about him?

No, quit asking that.

But why couldn't she ever remember him?

It's not important. How much time is left?

Why didn't she care about him, too?

Goddamit, focus! ]

Because you're useless. A useless fool.

[ He reminds himself that Edea's not here. He reminds himself, but... ]

I'm not useless, Matron.

[ The word slips out by mistake. He was the one who protected her. He was the one who stayed by her side, who acted as her knight, who protected her from Squall and the others who didn't even remember she was their matron and tried to assassinate her.

It was him. He was the heroic one. He was the one who made sure she stayed alive. It was because of him that she was able to have her happy reunion with Cid later. Cid, the one training everyone to kill Matron in the first place, who always favored Squall.

They were on the same team. Squad B was one unit. It didn't matter what Cid said; he knew he made the right decision to investigate further. Squall and that dumbass chicken-wuss followed his orders. If orders were supposed to be followed exactly, then why...? If they became SeeDs because they disregarded the exam's instructions to follow his orders, shouldn't he have passed, too? It was his fucking idea in the first place! He laid out the plan! If Cid was so desperate for a gunblade specialist, why did he pass him up four times? Why did he pick Squall over him?! Him and Matron both— ]

You're useless.

[ She isn't here. He knows that. He does. She's not here yet he can't bring himself to actually tell that familiar voice to shut up. She wouldn't... say that to him again.... And even if she would, he wouldn't care because... because.... ]

Squall, will you just flip the goddamn switch already?!

[ Pathetic. Even he was relying on Squall now. There was nothing sadder than that. He'd rather die having come here to rescue people than to put up with this bullshit. ]

[The words continue. The pain continues. Any screaming or protests, they don't dissuade the Dark Field. In fact, it just encourages it, the pain intensifying and--

...and then? What? It all stops. Very suddenly. The words, the scratches.

It will start slow. The Chosen will feel something, a touch. It is perhaps the most comforting kind of touch they can imagine: a lover, a friend, a family member -- it is whatever they want, whatever they need. They may associate it with a specific person. They may see that person, in the dark haze. Whatever it is, it is good. It is nice.

And then it all goes wrong.

The touch, wherever it is, suddenly shoots to the Chosen's neck. There are no hands, just a squeezing around their throat, tighter and tighter. Try to fight, but against what? There's no one there.

There's nothing there.

A flash, like a strobe, and they are surrounded by wastelands, familiar places in ruin, loved ones dead, and then back to the darkness of the field. All the while, the unseen hands keep trying to choke them.

There's nothing there.]

[ She was hitting something, she thought. Her hands hurt, her knuckles crunched, she could smell the bitter dirty penny scent of blood, but she could see anything to hit, couldn't see herself or what she was going for. ]

I'M NOT NOTHING!

Nothing. Nothing nothing nothing you're nothing. Ungrateful bitch. You're nothing...nothing...

SHUT UP!

[ She choked on a sob, face red and streaked with angry tears as she jerked back, raising her fist to hit out blindly again, only to feel a hand on her arm. She snarled, the sound low, animal and vicious in warning but there was no grip. Just a touch.

Everything seemed to stop for a moment and she stumbled to her knees, relief flooding her as she groped for the hand on her...

But there was nothing there. ]

What is th--GGHECCK!?

[ Both hands went to her throat, clawing for purchase and serving no purpose other than to draw raised welts on her straining throat with her nails. An illusion! It had to be an illusion! There was nothing there! It wasn't real! It isn't real! Why couldn't she believe it? Why couldn't she see past the--

A flash, Shinjuku, the buildings...broken. Everything crumbling and black...So what? She didn't care about that place. She could give it up because there was nothing there for her. Even her parents didn't lov-- White hair and red leather under concrete and rebar. Two scarred faces smeared with ash and covered in crows. Pink curls and crinoline. Sweater and striped tie. Pink hair in tight twists. Dozens of blank and dead faces.

No one loved her, but there were plenty of people she loved. They'd die if she gave up. Everything she'd gotten the chance to have would be gone just like that. The blackness swallowed her up again and she strained for air, back arched painfully and hands clenched as tight as her eyes closed against the need for air and constant pain.

Why wouldn't they close the dark area? Had the device broken? Had they become trapped as well?

I'm not nothing. I'm not nothing. You can't beat me.]

[ Outside, Musashi writhed and bucked and kicked against Squall, tangled in his own over-sized uniform as he roared in his surprisingly deep voice. ]

CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT DAMN YOU CLOSE IT! LET ME GO! CLOSE IT!

[That light touch was a hand in his own, fingers threading between his own. And for a moment he could only feel relief, that hand pulling away to brush his forehead, as if looking for a fever- Mom?

He misses her, he realizes. A lot. He wonders if during those 3 weeks she'd cried.

The, the strangling starts. Not the parental touch, but the smaller hands again. In a panic he claws at the pressure, adding more marks to the Dark Field's attempts.

Oh god this is what Shiki felt, isn't it?!

He sees his two homes- like Roze the Terminal seems to mesh with Tokyo- though his district of Shibuya replaces Shinjuku. Only with more people from his home mixed with his friends here. Had Joshua gone through with his threat after all? Because he couldn't shoot him?

He hears Terri's...NeoDevimon's... cackles in the dark. His fault. Just like that car accident was his fault. People following him to their deaths.

I'm sorry... I'm sorry!

He tries to say it out loud, but the pressure is too much, making him fall to his knees. If he killed him it'd only be fitting. After all those years of blaming the other for leaving him. Blaming humanity for hurting him.

Blame.... me?

For a moment he remembered the girl he had fallen in here with- how she had laughingly forgiven him for what he had done to Terri. The same with Squall... And Shiki back home. How Cam SAVED HIM.

How Cam had listened to him talk about that boy who went away and had been eased by the story. If his friends now didn't blame him would he do so? Had Rhyme blamed her brother when HE failed to save her? No... no way. She, they, weren't that kind of people.

One hand leaves his throat, clutching at his crest in a crushing grip, leaving cutting imprints on his soft palm. He didn't need forgiveness. But there was something he needed to say before this hell killed him. His lips moved but no words could get out- that was okay. His heart knew the words he'd been hiding in the deepest bit of that inner wall. Heh, Sora would be proud.]

I miss you. I miss you and I love you and I'm sorry for blaming you for... everything.

Near Primary Village	Underwater Tunnel	Koromon Village	Milleniummon's Castle	Infinity Mountain	Upside-Down Pyramid
Needed: 4	Needed: 4	Needed: 4	Needed: 4	Needed: 4	Needed: 4
When: 9/20	When: 9/22	When: 9/24	When: 9/26	When: 9/28	When: 9/30
600 BIT	600 BIT	600 BIT	600 BIT	600 BIT	600 BIT

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