{ GM ORP } Memory Blank (REUNION P 25)

[prolixity]

Another grenade went off; this one knocked the man who had thrown it flat on his back, and John moved over to help the guy sit up and bandage the worst of the scrapes. "Hey, man. You okay?" he asked.

HP: 10/30
Target: Melvin
Healed for: 5

MoonKitsune

 

[MoonKitsune]

Prolixity

He felt a hand at his back and was brought back to sitting. Rubbing the back of his head, he looked over at some stranger (though everyone was strangers to him), and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I don't know if that's the first time I threw one of those, but I really didn't get much distance. Didn't blow my arm off." Thank god for little miracles like that.

Looking over, he watched as the guy started to bandage him a bit. He did feel like crap, but better now. "Thanks."

HP: 15  

[WE ARE HALLOWEEN]

Instead of rapidly dissolving from the series of barrages, the mass only began to grow. It began to burgeon at the seams before expanding rapidly outwards, almost comically, balloon-like, each edge and end horrifically inflated, twisted, growing.

At twenty feet tall and rising, it was a monstrosity of eyes, arms, limbs, odd little paws and melting mouths. At fifty feet it seemed infallible. At one-hundred feet, as it coiled inwards, organically, and then extended thick black tendrils branching outwards at all angles, tendrils that shot out more tendrils, twisted and tree-like, absorbing the sky into infinite black matter, dome-shaped, that the threat became almost too much.

One single eye, red, and a large mouth split open from the seam, from the sky.

"∑˙冠ˆß ˆ† †˙冠¥ø¨® ˙´å®† ∂´ßˆ®´ß÷¿"

One sloppy hand formed from one side of the black dome, turning into claws sprouting tiny arms and feet, reaching downwards towards them until a perfect hand-shaped shadow hovered beneath them, a hand above them, the victims hopelessly sandwiched, until-

Darkness. They were alone. Perhaps, this was the finality of absolute death.

And then inside it, cage. A hand reached out. Clawed perhaps. Feathered. Not a hand but a series of them. Wings. Horns. It seemed familiar. It didn't seem, unlike the shadows they had just defeated, wrong. The cage rattled.

A voice rasped out. Female. Male. Neither. High. Low. Familiar.

"Did you forget about me?"

Silence.

A scratching sound. "Well, are you going to open the cage?"

OOC

REUNION
All your memories have been sealed in this figurative cage along with your character's WEAPON. As the ??? boss was defeated, now you can of course, reclaim what is rightfully your characters.
- Feel free to delve into solos or a simple post as your character approaches their sealed memories/ weapons/ talks to them and finally regains that lost sense of self.
- Even if you missed a few posts you are still free to join in the for the REUNION

 

[prolixity]

John nodded to Melvin. "Those things are dangerous," he said. He paused, then added, "But effective."

As Killer picked himself up and attempted to nonchalantly brush himself off, John went over to pat his shoulder. "That was pretty great. You okay?"

He got an enthusiastic hug and a quick peck in return - which he would have appreciated more if they hadn't been still in danger, and if he hadn't noticed earlier that he was wearing what looked like a wedding band. He started to open his mouth to say so, apologetically.

Movement caught the corner of his eye then, and he turned to see the black mass growing, rapidly and out of control. Looks like this is the end - he had time to think, before the black dome arched overhead.

Did you forget about me?

"Of course not," he answered automatically, as the deep, rough, metallic voice awoke a familiar longing within him. He had forgotten everything, but he'd known that something, someone was missing, was supposed to be there in that ragged empty space within him.

The tall figure made of iron stepped out of the shadowed cage and went to one knee to wrap his arms carefully around Jordan, and Jordan leaned gratefully into his weapon's embrace. Ferros was all angles and hard surfaces, but that never mattered.

Memory came crashing back in, rolling over him like the huge wave that had broken over his head when he was out too far on his bodyboard as a kid, inevitable and inescapable, and just like then, he would have been submerged and tumbled helplessly in its current had he not had anything to cling to.

Ferros rumbled softly and remained still, rock-solid and protective. Jordan closed his eyes and let the memories sweep over and past in a long roaring flood. When it was over, when he was himself again, the tide of his past ebbed back to its source inside him, and he found himself all the more grateful for Ferros. He had been waiting all his life, weighed down by circumstance and by fear, until then, until now.

What he had when he had the courage and strength to reach out and accept it was worth more than anything. He would fight for that.

"We may have to," Ferros warned in his low rumble.

"We will," Jordan answered.  

[Baneful]

Without memories and the intrinsic self-loathing and masochism bound up with them Rep was positively cautious, when the alarms had sounded that they were under attack and that some manner of horrible monster was on the loose, he had assessed the situation and decided that none of the mentioned creatures were actually in the room with him and the blonde stranger and had instead unhurriedly settled down to investigating him in detail and to see what he could deduce from that. As long as there wasn’t danger he wasn’t going to go looking for it.

Together they managed to establish that they had matching rings which implied they were either engaged, married or shopped at the same jeweller and had quite a few odd tattoos, the blonde bloke had a tattoo on the back of his neck that matched the huge one on his own back, further evidence that they were probably close or at least in the same platoon or whatever.

It was only some time later, when he’d established beyond pretty reasonable doubt that he had at least a vague ally in his bedmate that he figured it had been quiet long enough that whatever danger it was had either left or eaten enough people that it was probably full anyway. After a bit of discussion about the merits of sticking together, he’d convinced the blonde guy – who he’d dubbed twinkie because he could – that they should head out and do at least a damage assessment. It hadn’t taken too long to find their way to the heart of the disaster.

It was really ******** hard to miss the giant twisted amalgam of shadows, claws and mouths that towered over everything.

Rep was ready to turn and run the ******** out of there when the hand descended. He couldn’t remember anything about his life before, but part of him suspected, based on the scars all over him that his luck was and had always been ******** terrible. He found himself reaching out with a hand on sheer reflex, looking for someone he couldn’t recall.

The blackness was overwhelming, but he was not afraid.

Did you forget about me?

A hand with long and terrible talons reached out for him and he reached back without hesitation.

“Maybe my head did but the rest of me didnae.” He swept the tiny figure up in his arms, all rustling feathers and deceptively soft skin, it felt like there had been a hole in him, a hollow void that he’d thought had been a need to be armed, but as knowledge flooded back he realised it ran far deeper than that, that they were bound up inextricably. He buried his face against the crook of the fallen angel’s neck and found himself being held back.

“It’s alright William. It might hurt a little.”

He didn’t know what he meant until the memories washed in like a flood and literally brought him to his knees. He’d been happy, truly happy being a hollow point in time, a man who could be anyone or anything, able to live fully in the moment. What came back to him was a lifetime of hurt and pain, constant trial and failure, being his own worst enemy.

He held Tracey closer until he became his entire world and wished vehemently for all of it to stop.

The light in the darkness was the memory of the guys. It lifted the weight of dread and pain enough that he could breathe again. Somewhere they were out there, probably getting into trouble without him, everything that had gone before might well have been terrible but it had been worthwhile to get to this point.

He had to find them.

“Together.” Tracey said, just as his memories of that word slid into place with finality.  

[Bittiface]

s**t... they made it worse? Hoodie stared in horror as it began to turn everything thick and black with it's horridly growing form. It was so beyond the scope of reality he felt he couldn't be really seeing this. While terrifying it was oddly enchanting, as a bright, red something seemed to shine high above.

As two hands came in to engulf him, he wondered if this would be it. Would he die here, never knowing who he was, and never getting to see what he could become?

All had become dark. Hoodie cowered, his arms pressed tight in his sides as he waited for some final pain or occurrence to end it all. But there was nothing. No pain, no sound no conclusion. His eyes slowly opened to the darkness around him. Terrifying, suffocating darkness. Something so simple yet managed to shake him t his very core. Darkness was anything but peaceful. Darkness was the suspense and mystery of the unknown, of things he had no control over. No way to anticipate what was next and what was coming or going. It made him shake, made him freeze and made hims sweat.

A cage was there, in this dense and unforgiving darkness. From it, he saw the faint glimpse of a female hand reaching out, long nails painted an electric blue.

"There you are!" She cried, her voice shrill with worry and pain, as if she'd been hoping and wishing for too long that he would come. "I knew you'd hear me! You would never abandon me, right?" Almost hysteric, she laughed with a nervousness that her own words were hard for herself to believe.

"C'mon, Muffin. Open the cage. Get me out of here!" She cried, reaching desperately for him. She sounded so familiar. Like home? Maybe like home.. it was like a part of him; a memory that made him feel safe.

Somehow, he wasn't afraid of her. The situation as a whole should have seemed shady, but the boy didn't hesitate as he reached for her hand. The cage opened, and memories began to flood back into his mind. Many of them were depressing, sad or terrifying. Some were nice. Some were comforting and warm. These memories made his peaceful expression shift into a tighter, sour one. His brows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed. Otto remembered everything. He remembered, and his heart seemed to become heavy with burdens. The world sucked. His past sucked, and his future wasn't any more promising.

"Otto..." Tenya frowned, pulling the boy tightly to her chest. The weapon clung to her master as if letting go would make him leave. She knew, deep down somewhere, that this kid could one day put all his prejudices and attitude behind him. Maybe one day he wouldn't wear a glaring face as armour. After all, he seemed a lot more easy going when he didn't remember anything, and still maintained his natural sass levels. "Let's go home."  

[demon_pachabel]

Did you forget about me?

Cass' head burned through the question. It was like the voice drew a slow finger along her mind, touching it gently. Trying to touch and feel what should have been there but had been smoothed off of the surface. Even in the darkness she could see the faint glimmer of... something. Navigating through the darkness, she found him, wrapped in dense dark fabric which was torn from blade-like spines that seemed to grow up his arms - dark green and brown, mottled with awful spots, but smooth..almost amphibian. The light she'd seen was from the lanterns that hung from the chains that bound his body.

One awful clawed hand touched the bars that held him, the color fading into something more human. Cass touched the fingers. They were warm - warm like that finger that seemed to touch her mind.

I'm right here.

The words were familiar - so familiar they sent a cascade of familiar memories through her head. They were the first words that he had ever said to her back then too -

'Tell them Nicodemus has arrived'

'The boy will be there when you're done training, stop staring'

'You can always back out now.'

Are you going to leave me waiting again?

Cass grasped the hand tightly. This was what she'd been missing. This was what left that hollow hole in her entire existence. Pulled out of her, this was who she'd been waiting to see. Not her husband (sorry Marcus, you weren't who completed her this time). This man.

"Sorry, Nicodemus." she murmured, grabbing the bars of the cage with both hands and pulling it open - the same way she'd opened her own doors to wake.

The tonberry put his arms around her shoulders and pulled the young lady into him. And now we can go back to what we were. You're not allowed to kick me out again. it was as close to a joke as Nicodemus ever got.

But she really was glad to have him back.  

[chiickadee]

Darkness was a familiar cradle at this point. Silence, its arrogant brother always followed in suit. Together, the second brother was absent though, as a tiny jingling noise took its place. Bells, like tiny wisps of light.

The light formed a cage out of nothingness. There was an ethereal sense about it, as though it was both simultaneously tangible and intangible. Was her weapon truly locked away behind silver bars, or was that yet another trick of her absolutely battered mind? Silence.

A loud snap came from the cage, followed by a low rumble of a growl. A flutter of colors and a cacophony of shrieks, scrapes, gnawing, biting. It was as though the cage was attempting to destroy itself from the inside- it didn't- it couldn't sit right with her. Ami stared at the cage with a pale coolness, but her insides were a tumultuous mixture of memory and vexation. Horsemen. Cages. Prison. Screams. Torture. Ami was now on the outside of the cage looking in.

"Did you forget about me?"

Her heart stopped. Any advancement she'd made in the past year towards forgetting her terrifying experience in the horsemen lairs was worth nothing now. It was no longer an animal-like hand that portruded from the cage, but her very own. Nails scraped against the bars as she tried to claw her way out. Her own screams cut the silence, echoing off invisible walls, only multiplying the noise of anguish in her head. No Medea, she would never forget about you.

She would never forget.

How could she?

< Amiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. >

"I'm coming!" Her voice shook, but her moral didn't. Though she didn't know where these memories were coming from, she knew someone needed her help. The thoughts made no sense, so she ignored them. Serious as ever, Ami strode to the cage, looking in. Junpei sat in the middle, shivering and scared. There was nothing stoic about him; what could you do though- he had always been a big crybaby. Not that Ami would know that. "Who are you?"

< Oh my Jack, > the figure shifted, attempting to stand up. Due to his height, he could only manage his knees, but he scooted over to the bars and smooshed his face up against them. < How could you?! >

Before he could say another word, she innocently opened the cage. Warm air flooded her, memories returning to her. Heat, then cold. Apathy. Anger.

Silence.  

[Inle-roo]

Evan tightened his grip on his daggers as the creature only grew larger in response to their combined attacks. There was no realistic chance that they could beat it now, armed only with weapons that most of them probably didn't even know how to use. They would die not knowing who they were, or where they were, or why they were here. That was okay. Evan didn't know much about himself, but he knew without a doubt that he would be happy to go down fighting.

/Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey HEY hey hey hey hey hey heyyyyyyyy hi hello/ suddenly echoed in Evan's mind as the creature twisted into something no less dark and dangerous for its stark beauty. The voice was as familiar as it was annoying, but Evan couldn't place it. He frowned at the cage that formed from what had once been a monster, and at the snow white hand that poked between the bars and waved wildly.

/heyheyheyhey--did you forget about me?!/ the voice asked, an anxious whine in its voice.

"Yes," Evan lied. The daggers suddenly felt ridiculous and pathetic in his hands, a poor substitute for--

/Mean,/ the voice keened pitifully. /Let me out I wanna go out open the cage open open open!/ The white hand opened and closed as though freedom was a physical thing that it could latch onto. It strained for Evan as he took a step closer. There were claws at the end of it, Evan could see, but he knew instinctively that this thing wasn't a threat. Not to him, anyway.

/Opeeeeeeeeeeen--yay!/ the voice shrieked as Evan finally opened the cage. There was a teenaged kid inside, white as paper from head to toe to wildly wagging tail except for a pair of floppy, dark red ears and brilliantly green eyes. Evan couldn't make out any other details, because it shot towards him, wrapping him in a hug.

Memory hit him with all of the force of that small body, answers to all of the questions he hadn't asked resolving themselves too quickly for him to handle. He remembered who he was, and where he was, and why he was here, and immediately wished he hadn't opened that cage, like maybe he could somehow stuff his entire life back in there and the wildly clinging Gir along with it. It was too much to deal with all at once, too much--

/I want a sandwich!/ Gir suddenly screeched, dragging Evan forcefully out of his downwardly spiraling thoughts.

"You don't eat real food," Evan reminded him absently.

/I want a tuna fish banana mcpeanut butter pickle chip sandwich!/

"That's disgusting."

/Youuuuuu're disgustingmakemeasandwich!/

"Let go of me."

/Are you gonna make me a sandwich?/

"I'll make me a sandwich. Not that kind of sandwich, though, it's still disgusting."

/HMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmmmm okay deal!/ Gir transferred his grip from Evan's waist to his hand, using both of his own to try and pull his significantly larger partner along. /Let's gooooooo~!/ Gir whined insistently.

Evan sighed, resigned to his fate--all of it--and followed.  

[Saliru]

Killer was trying to catch his breath still as Uni approached. The other man had his full attention without even trying. Hah, he saw that and thought it was awesome too, huh? Good cause it w-- then his hand was on him and Killer immediately turned on Uni in reply, attempting to hug him and peck him on the corner of his mouth; a gesture he felt he more than earned with those sweet moves. His eyes unfocused as he realized now was not the time to celebrate. He turned away as quickly as he swooped in. The creature cast a massive shadow over them all... a shadow which seemed to become a part of it as a massive black cage interrupted.

"Did y'foahget abou' me?" Said a voice from within...
((will edit in more tomz))
 

[Nothing Yet]

For a while, Alice just sat on the ground where she'd been dropped by the creature, staring at her rescuers - one of which happened to be the spy she hoped to run away with. It briefly looked like she might cry, her vision growing blurry as she bit her lip, but she managed to suppress it long enough to make some words happen.

"You...you saved me," she murmured, voice full of amazement. "You cared enough to save me."

The second part was more to herself, gaze downcast on her hands. Being (potentially) cared about was a weird feeling; she probably would not have helped the majority of the others, had they been in that situation, but the knowledge that they had was making her feel kind of warm and tingly.

Or maybe that was a reaction to the blood on her right palm. She didn't have to follow the smudged trail long; it ended where the circle did. The tender skin there must have been less resilient during the attack of the mass of clawing and pulling and biting...or someone trying to rescue her might have come too close. There was no way of telling, she guessed, but it felt a lot better when she pretended the things had done this and her rescuers had prevented it from getting any worse.

She pressed her fingers into her bloodied palm like a child experiencing fingerpaint for the first time, her eyes distant as the darkness overtook them.  

[Nothing Yet]

When Alice looked up and failed to blink the darkness away, she was almost certain that she'd died in that strange place without ever finding an answer. She had awoken with no recollection of ever arriving there, and she would leave without any recognition of how she'd died. A linear process, she supposed.

She remained seated and simply waited, hands still sticky with blood and folded neatly in her lap. Soon she would lose consciousness. This was how death worked, she thought, though it was notably devoid of any retelling of her life. Maybe that was not a luxury offered to someone whose life had been forgotten. As she considered this fact, a scaly, clawed hand reached towards her, and she instinctively stumbled backwards and pushed herself into a standing position. The claws wiggled past what was now obviously an outline of a cage, but lacked the violent desperation of the creatures from before.

She took a step forward.

The thing in the cage spoke to her in gibberish, and despite her leaning closer to hear it better, the words still made no sense. It was a masculine voice, an edge of instability on the fringe of its words, and she had the strangest feeling that she needed to hear what it was saying.

"Could you speak up?" she asked, reaching towards it.

More indistinguishable gibberish in response, until finally, impatiently: "...open the cage, Mimsy."

She grazed the claw with her finger and annoyance bubbled forth. Frowning, she moved to back away from it...then paused, thought better of her choice, and kicked the cage instead, intending to propel it away from her. The cage door swung open, and in a blur of dark wings and limbs it descended upon her, and as it whispered in her ear (more gibberish), she found the barrage of the memories of her existence that had previously been missing from her authentic death experience.

She was as young as she could remember when she refused to hug her mother again, who hadn't hugged her since. She was six and smiling when there was blood on one hand and a kitchen knife in the other, and someone was crying and someone else shouting, and the boy across the street had a mother who called her a monster and took her only friend away. She was seven when she and Clerise were angrily tangled together among the broken remnants of a chemistry set, holding fistfuls of each other's hair, screaming incoherently. She was ten when she got a blue ribbon for her science fair project at her school, and a blue ribbon for her district, and a blue ribbon for her county, and a red ribbon for her state, and didn't place in nationals.

It found her when she was twelve, and again when she was twenty-four, and implied many unknown meetings in between.

She was thirteen when she learned about the Higgs Boson, and fourteen when she wanted it. She was seventeen when she graduated, and twenty when she graduated again, and twenty-two when she graduated again, and twenty-two still when a similarly nerdy man with glasses complimented her and promised her the difference in perspectives that she needed. She was twenty-three when she stepped into a new life and offered her hand to the only person she could say that she cared about.

Mimsy was alive and here at twenty-four, and had been crying over the knowledge that someone cared enough to save her, in the arms of a Jabberwocky who was singing songs made of nonsense - and for the first time in all of her recalled life, she had no idea what she was doing.