of those blackholes & revelations

[capemods]

WHO: All imPorts.
WHERE: Atropos.
WHEN: January 7th to January 14th.
WARNINGS: Death and destruction.
SUMMARY: Atropos has risen in the night, and the inevitable has come: with her jaws she shears away the City from Earth and swallows it whole.

But the City is not yet dead.
FORMAT: Whatever you please.



The formless mass of metal haunting above, hovering like a lunar tombstone, begins to take shape. Asteroids plummet into the cheeks, the eyes, carving out bone structure. Her features howl with fury, with triumph, as she stares down below, savoring her conquest. A cavity opens. Metal swoops to form jagged, angry shears. Her teeth are born.

She waits as the world rotates, its spin more wobbly than it used to be.

And then she leans down to feast, her bite vampiric. She takes the City and then some, and all that it encompasses, so that every single imPort is captured. She takes the time to drink in any stragglers, any imPorts elusive to the City's thrall.

She holds the City on her tongue as she draws back her fist to punch the world.

And then teeth close to the shuddering, glass shattering vibration of a cosmic laugh. The jaws close, and there is no light for about an hour -- until Atropos begins to siphon solar energy from the sun into her veins. She is dissatisfied with its dying tint, or perhaps she cannot stand the redness of color, so once she injects this energy into her her body (her most intimate domain), she turns it bright yellow again. The universe within her is illuminated.

The City is a floating chunk of broken skyscrapers and puckered asphalt streets. The trauma of consumption has wrecked the usual infrastructure: buildings are half collapses, or skeletal, vehicles are flipped and strewn across the layout. Whatever vegetation that is still clinging onto life has rejoiced under the return of normal sunlight.

You can breathe. It isn't too hot, or too cold -- it's unusually pleasant, in fact. The sunshine veins that light your world are not overwhelming. There is no blue sky to complement the atmosphere, and whatever water still in the City will be constrained to the bottled kind found in shops.

But there are other floating pieces of worlds, and they might have water. Or food.

If you live in the City, your possessions should still be in the City. While about 76% of the natives have fled the City (which had gotten the brunt of focus over the past week), there are still some natives who were too sick, too sentimental or too stubborn to leave.

You'll find that your powers work normally, though you can't teleport within Atropos. You probably wouldn't want to teleport outside of her, anyway.

She swallows, and the City gentle glides down a slick throat. Dust and particles create stunning visuals, like the aurora borealis, except in warmer colors. Light reflects so easily from solar veins and starstrewn flesh.

While you can breathe easily, gravity is fickle. Physics is often defied. Atropos was never one to play by the rules.

Comments

JANUARY 13th

[capemods]

[Platforms jostle out of City ground, emerging from earthquake tremors to create a stairway to heaven -- or, at least, a staircase of cement and dirty and stardust leading upwards towards a pair of "lungs".

Atropos's bluegreen lungs have specks of red and orange dotting them, and they are the remains of gaseous planets burning together; they are two gigantic clouds of methane, hydrogen, and oxygen and nitrogen glowing and swarming in ways that defy known chemistry. These clouds, when you enter them, provide an almost liquid feel -- as if the respective gases are poised to a degree just before liquidation, degrees that are unique to them.

Mermaid-like fish people swim within the gaseous masses, tridents and bone carved forks in hand. They're guarding something -- the entrance to Atropos's heart, which is located just behind the left lung. They sneer and shriek like intimidating guards might, but they don't seem to suffer any ill effects from the substance they swim within. If you want to enter that door, you'll have to sneak past these fishy Metamen.

The door to the heart itself is a literal door, encased in gold. The heart chamber is an exact replica of Lachesis's station that she had always lived within.]

so long, farewell

[hackeralastair]

[a week of wandering alone, sleeping in abandoned buildings, and raiding half-looted convenience stores is finally over. Alastair hears the message from the Porter loud and clear, and there really is only one response. He shoves the cats back in their carrier, gathers his things, and hops on his salvaged motorcycle. The stairs extending upward into the universe are easy to see from a distance, so he makes for them at top speed, and lays out the Ducati at the base of the stairs, hopping free of the wreckage before it takes him out too.

He has nothing with which to fight, but he has every last Seal of Oricalchos card in his left hand just in case. Nothing is going to stop him from racing up those stairs and getting to the Porter, getting out...and he's taking the cats with him.

Nobody else matters to him. If anything attacks him, he may die on these stairs. But right now, there isn't anything to live for. It's all the same to Alastair. If he can gain that door and throw himself on the mercy of the machine to please, for the love of god send him home, wonderful. If anything gets in his way, the Seal will eliminate that obstacle. It glows on his forehead for the last time as he runs until his chest burns and lungs ache, and then keeps running.]

and goodbye

[notadartboard]

[It takes Sanji a bit longer to respond to the summons, because he's been doing his best to feed other people for the week. Not as many as one might think; he commandeered a damaged restaurant, but realized that the majority of civilians in the city were probably going to die regardless. He couldn't feed them all. So he slowly withdrew, began only giving out food to the handful of ladies he cared about, until the message came.

There was no need to build up stores and ration, after all. Oh well. Sanji finishes what he was doing, has himself a meal of foods he expects he may never see again, and then sets out to try to find the Porter as she called to them. Ah, those stairs, that wasn't there before. Maybe that's the way?

He has the leg strength to make this journey easily. If anything swims at him, he will kick it into oblivion. Merfolk? Pshaw. Small fries. Off he goes, hoping that at the top of these stairs will be a door to the deck of the Thousand Sunny, and the smiling faces he dreams about every night. So long, shitty City.]

open

[glowsferatu]

[ kanaya has no patience for sneaking. she's done with this whole ordeal, ready to find her exit whether through freedom or death. too many days without a shower have made her hair oily, the longer parts on top curling and wild. some of the dried blood on her shirt is her own, like the splotch over her heart, but the larger splatter is distinctly red. there were not the first metamen she's encountered, and she has little inclination to show them any more mercy than the ones before. if this is the end, she's not about to go quietly.

she stalks her way up the stairway, hunched forward with her chainsaw in her hand and a cold fury burning in her eyes. even as she moves through the gas pockets, it's not hard to spot her, living lightbulb that she is, but when the guards swooop in her weapon roars to life. she's ready.

if the only thing she manages to do is drawing attention away from others on their way to the heart and expediting an end to one more piece of vulcanus, that will be enough for her. the kid gloves are off, these ones aren't getting away with just a haircut. ]

[glowsferatu]

[ as soon as she has their attention, kanaya breaks into a sprint, and unfortunately for renee, she's much faster. it's helps to be as a close ranged fighter.

she raises the chainsaw over her head to tear down on one as he comes in range, clouds of blue blood scattering across the gas surrounding them. a leap takes her out of a pincer attack from another two, swiping down with her blade to clang against theirs in a flurry of sparks. she tumbles forward and spins after landing, her weapon's teeth digging into one guard's shoulder and beyond. the third one keeps his distance, hurling a fork that catches in kanaya's own shoulder. she doesn't pay it any attention.

if she's noticed renee, she hasn't shown any acknowledgement of it. she's too far gone, and more guards are beginning to pour in her direction. ]

[glowsferatu]

[ it does the job, the guard flinches against the shot and escapes to rethink its approach, and it gets kanaya's attention, tracing origin of the shot. she stares blankly at renee once she spots her. what does she think she's doing? a disabling shot is a waste of a bullet, as far as kanaya ares right now, and with renee here, she just has one more thing to keep track of. harder to let herself loose when she has to keep someone else alive.

while she's sufficiently distracted, one of the oncoming guards makes his move, dashing forward with the barb of his fork. she only barely catches it in time to knock his weapon up and away before thrusting her own through his chest and ripping it upward.

from here she'll need to part their ranks like a red sea, strike right down the middle to get renee an escape route. before she engages, she turns back to renee with a shout. ]

Go! I'll cover you!

[glowsferatu]

[ but stopping is the last thing on kanaya's mind. she has to have her last hurrah, perhaps her last chance at being useful. he has to make them all pay. so she just cuts, and cuts, and cuts, winning renee's escape by literal surgery.

but when renee isn't taking it, that's a red flag. of all the times for this conflict to manifest. ]

Quit wasting both of our time and go! Do you think I'm just doing this to amuse myself?!

[glowsferatu]

[ she has her hands full, getting out now would be impossible, and that's about the only reason she doesn't shake renee by her collar. but she does spare the moment to glance back at her. ]

RENEE! This isn't the time for your fucking power games!

[ one of the guards tries to take advantage of the distraction, stabbing toward her with his trident. she catches her forearm between its teeth, jagged points cutting deep, but she takes hold of the handle and wrenches it from his hand, whacking him across the head with the blunt end before following it with the roaring blade of her chainsaw. ]

Get to the Porter! NOW!

open! (and also cw I guess since she's dying)

[shipper]

[Nepeta is so angry by now. the chaos of the prior week and brutal survival demands of Atropos' innards aren't what bother her - the ferocity reminds her of home, calls to mind some kind of urban jungle streaked with charcoal and smoke - it's the despair. the world has ended (again) and there was nothing they could do about it (again).

when the platforms begin to stretch across the sky, she knows exactly what she wants to do. it's possible for people to sneak behind the guards lurking in the gaseous soup, but to accomplish such a feat would be much easier if a distraction were in place; Nepeta knows from experience that she is very good at distracting people.

it's an exhilarating feeling to be dashing up the steps, claws flashing out to strike arteries and organs and scaly joints, like an aching hole is being filled up inside her. Nepeta hasn't been able to really hunt since being pulled into the City, and the satisfying crunch of a merman's neck snapping solidifies what she's always known: steel forests are no home for her.

reality quickly shatters her half-formed thoughts. without warning the number of mermen she's facing multiplies from one to three; before she can even react a trident finds its way through her defenses and pierces her stomach, the green-coated tips breaking through her back before being extracted. her adversaries only allow enough time for her eyes to widen before they embed a smaller fork into her chest, its size making it lethal but expendable.

they're in a position to finish her off, but there's really no point - there are countless others climbing the stairs behind her, possibly more ahead. seconds are vital in this battle, and the guards have none to spare on a troll who is very obviously bleeding out. without a second look they dash away, minds likely already on their next opponent.

it is now that Nepeta finally reacts to her injuries, the delay only serving to intensify her emotions. she sways but does not fall, moving only to scream. there's nothing inhuman about the noise, no feral howl of pain that some have heard before. it's the sound of a very young girl who is in unbearable pain, who knows that she is dying, who suddenly feels very alone.

her voice wobbles and keens, cuts off as Nepeta's strength gives out and she falls to her knees. she's a mess of green now, tears leaking down her face and hands covered in her own blood as she attempts to futilely stem some of the bleeding. her mind is raw and running on instinct, unable to focus on anything but her feelings. she can't remember if the fork should stay or be pulled out, isn't even sure if it matters now.

some part of Nepeta wonders if this outcome wasn't inevitable. she never did seem to have the best luck.]

[deformer]

Holy shit!

[A voice rings through his head that he shouldn't slow down and he doesn't listen to it. He comes to such an abrupt stop on the staircase, he actually slams into the stair a couple rungs above Nepeta and has to slide back down. A shocked look that's gradually ceding into understanding and horror is on his face as he gets closer and his hands start running through his hair.]

Nep...Nepeta, oh, holy fuck, what'd...oh, geez! [He sees her wound and the weapon in her chest. He has bandages in his backpack, he has to get them - but he doesn't have his backpack anymore. He ditched that when he was with Karkat. He remembers what happened to Karkat and just a second of wondering if the same thing's gonna happen to her now is too much for him. Having nothing else, he tries to help stem the bleeding with his hands.]

I...it's not stopping!

[shipper]

[if this had been any other moment, there would have been a 'of course not, dummy, there's a fork in my chest!' ready and waiting for that kind of obvious observation. but there is a fucking weapon in her chest and what feels like a gallon of her blood on the ground and Nepeta doesn't feel like doing anything but crying.

she screws her eyes shut instead, because a huntress must be brave always, hands instinctively reaching for Rua's. neither of them can stop the inevitable, she can feel that in her bones, but he can at least keep her from facing this alone. she squeezes them tightly, mind still in shock from the pain and unable to say much more than:]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-

[deformer]

[Her hands grab his and he's not sure whose are shaking more at the moment. Realization slowly, agonizingly dawns on him that there's nothing he can do for her. He frantically looks around.]

H-HEY! IS THERE ANYBODY AROUND THAT CAN HEAL?! WE NEED SOME HELP HERE! [His voice cracks a couple times, he can't make himself heard over the din of people trying to get up the stairs, skirmishing with the metamen. Even the metamen aren't paying attention to them at this point, they're just a miserable little tangled mess of human and troll that aren't going anywhere. The realization that help isn't coming is even worse than the first.]

Shi....shit! [He throws a look towards the top of the staircase. He pulls his hands free from Nepeta's and loops one of her arms around his shoulder, trying to support her weight.]

C'mon, c'mon, we gotta! We gotta get to the top, somebody there'll be able to help! [And, slowly, one step at a time, he starts to climb.]

[shipper]

[she wants to find the words to tell Rua that she's seen this a million times, that she's done this to animals a million times, that there's nothing anyone can do to help her. but by the time she has the breath he's hoisting her up, and it escapes as a broken sigh instead. looks like she's going to climb anyway. maybe there's a miracle waiting for them at the top.

Nepeta wants to be strong so badly; she has to, because she's a huntress and huntresses never show weakness even at the worst moment. but moving with open wounds is never a good idea, and every step they overcome feels as if she's been rent in two. she begins to lean more and more heavily on Rua for support, and by the time they hit the eighth step her grip on him is like a vice]

I can't.

[the word fractures in the same way her scream had, the agony leaking out from every decibel. she wants to be able to finish this so badly, but there's nothing left for her to give.]

[deformer]

[For a fleeting second or two, he thinks this is gonna work. They just have to get to the top, find someone that can heal or something and she'll be fine. But after a couple steps she's starting to get heavier and after ten or so, it's pretty much all him and after a week of exhaustion, hunger and dehydration he just flat out isn't strong enough to carry the both of them the rest of the way.]

[Still, he snaps back without thinking:] Yes you can! [ And tries to keep going. He makes it one or two more steps before he stumbles, dropping to his knees, gasping for air. He's barely gonna be able to drag himself the rest of the way at this rate.]

C'mon, it's not - it's not that much fur... [His voice dies in his throat as he looks over at Nepeta. He puts a bloodstained hand over one of his eyes and chokes back something. He can't help her, he's not strong enough to carry her, what the fuck is he supposed to do.]

I...I dunno what to do...

[shipper]

You've got to let me go.

[it's terrifying to utter those words aloud because it means that she's acknowledging aloud that there's nothing left for her. this is the end of the line.

Nepeta coughs wetly, runs her tongue across her lips to try and futilely catch the blood leaking out before speaking again. dying alone is the last thing in the world that she wants to do, but she can't conscience keeping a friend here when things are so dangerous. Rua had a future, and she couldn't let him endanger it by trying to pointlessly save her]

You keep going.

[deformer]

N-no fucking way! I just...just gimme a sec to think of something! I just need a second to think!

[He looks around. He vainly thinks 'if Karkat were just here, he'd know what-' and that's as far as he gets before his hands are going through his hair, he's remembering Karkat drowning in his own blood and shit. He shakes his head, reaches down and tries to pick her up again, vainly fighting back tears as he does.]

F-for one thing, Karkat would k-kick my fucking ass if h-he found out I left you behind! [He lets out a grunt of exertion, managing to get them both up half a step.] A-and besides, you two are always talking about how much tougher your species is than humans, s-so why...why... [Why am I still alive and having to watch both of you die.']



[His hands slip off of her. They're so slick with olive blood and he's so weak, he can't even get a halfway decent grip on her anymore, muchless carry her. He drops to his knees and looks over at her.]

C-- c'mon, there's gotta be another way...!

[glowsferatu]

[ nepeta's not the only one who hoped to draw their attention, who thought fighting her way through might give everyone the opening they need, but when that scream hits kanaya's ears she can feel her blood run cold. she's no sooner traced it to its source than she's set upon by the very troops who caused it.

letting out a cry of her own, she swipes and tears through them, looking more to bypass than engage them. when one of them loses an arm, they let her. she isn't ascending yet, and they'll need to regroup before making a second pass, especially while still weak from the wounds nepeta left them with.

she drops to her knees at the other girl's side, retracting her weapon but still leaving her arms hanging in there air, frozen in panic. she has a first aid kit in her purse, but nothing in there is going to stop this. all she can do is mutter frantic apologies, useless and unequipped to keep her alive. ]

[shipper]

[it takes Nepeta a moment to register that there's even someone next to her; the world outside of her own two hands barely exists now, anything that isn't blood difficult to focus on. when her eyes finally flick up and understand it's Kanaya at her side, she can't help but cry a little harder. up until this moment all she'd wanted was a familiar face, but now that it was here Nepeta can't help but wish no one could see her like this. it wasn't fair.]

I guess you were kinda right after all, huh?

[it's meant to be a joke, she thinks, but it's a poor one that's hurt even further by the pained way she tries to smile with it. this isn't what she'd wanted at all.]

[glowsferatu]

[ the words cut deep, but the smile is only the icing on the cake. her face falls, despair painting across her expression as the tears start to stream down. ]

No, I was wrong. I've never been more wrong. [ her hands are useless to stop this from happening, the only thing they're good for now is wrapping around nepeta's shoulders as she rests her chin against her ear, openly bawling. ] I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!

[shipper]

[Kanaya's tears only pull more out of her, her small body shaking with sobs too big for it to contain. she hasn't seen Kanaya in so long, hasn't spoken to her kindly in longer. this shouldn't have been their reunion]

I just wanted to h-help!

[she wants to pull the other girl close, cling to her like a life preserver, but the fork in her chest prevents it. she holds on as much as she can, hiccuping and sniffling and trying to choke out more of her words. Nepeta's voice is soft when she speaks, its wobbliness belying the vulnerability behind the words.]

I'm scared.

[glowsferatu]

[ that's the worst part of it, if they could have put aside their differences earlier, if kanaya hadn't been so stubborn, this wouldn't have had to happen. they could have faced it together from the start rather than separately, and what a terrifying collaboration that would have been for their enemies. she could have done better by nepeta, especially when she knows this could be the last time she'll have a chance. this is all her fault. ]

You did your best, you fought bravely. [ fear now she can't be faulted for, knowing what's coming, knowing what waits on the other side. who wouldn't be scared in the face of it? helpless.

helpless.

it's the part that hangs most heavily. kanaya hates being helpless, hates just standing by and watching as a friend, and she is still a friend despite it all, die. she can avenge her to some group of doomed guards, but that would be meaningless, empty. there's only one power kanaya knows that can stop this.

she catches her breath and realizes she's balled her fists, knuckles going white. her jaw sets, she can't accept this sitting down. so she breaks her embrace, bracing the fork in nepeta's back in one hand, minimizing the movement to avoid aggravating the wound, and with all the fury of her impotence in the situation she snaps the handle to reduce its length. then, slipping one arm under nepeta's to cradle her head, the other moves under her legs before she stands up. her voice comes out lower, cracking but determined. ]

Don't be scared. We won't let this be the end.