bus

[mgtropes]

BUS? A BUS???

The wheels on the bus (don't) go round and round...

You wake up on a bus.

It's a very nice bus, though. Luxurious, even! The seats are comfy and can be used as beds, with pajamas also available for you to change into. It's stocked with enough food and drink to last a week or so, along with a bathroom that also has a shower and free toiletries to use. The downside, however, is that apparently you have to share—as you're not alone when you awaken.

It seems like you're not where you should be, either. The bus comes equipped with TV screens, but rather than any movie or show, it's reality TV in the most literal sense. You might even recognize a few faces over there in the terminal, but either way, you can watch the participants go about their day. You're as equally confused as they are, after all, even if miles (?) separate you.

For that matter, that's pretty much all you can do. You're stuck on this bus. You can't access where the driver's controls would be, and there's no driver to begin with; in fact, the bus isn't even moving. The doors are shut, and any attempt to break the windows will send you bouncing back. Opening the shutters will treat you to the enticing sight of... outside airport scenery. You're on airport grounds somewhere, but you can't tell anything other than that. If you do some digging around, though, one compartment on the bus contains a random assortment of card games and board games for you to entertain yourselves with.

Better get cozy, because you might be here for a while.

RUNDOWN

• This will be your one mingle post until next Friday.
• You do not have any personal belongings on you. Unlike the other players, you also don't have a phone. Sad.
• The W0 weekly effect, once revealed, will apply to you as well.
• Your characters are able to see anything that takes place on the public mingles, including network posts, via the bus TV screens. You may also handwave them being able to see the initial notification that the players all received on their phones.
• We will have a small, pseudo-mini-event for you on W0 Wednesday at 12pm PST/3pm EST.

NAVIGATION; (FULL NAV)

INFO

PLAYER STATUSES IC PROFILES MURDER PROPOSALS CYOA SIGN-UPS

SETTING

NPC AUDIENCES LOCATIONS ROOMING CURFEW

REPORTING

PC TURN-IN MOD REPORTING EVENT TURN-IN VOTING

Comments

[tactic]

Oh, you have got to be kidding me...

[ This is like the third?? time?? he's randomly woken up in the middle of some place that he doesn't belong. But since there is absolutely no use in muttering to himself, Aventurine will try for the doors and the windows, stepping over your character if they're still not up.

If they are, they can be treated to a bunch of games falling on their head when Aventurine opens up the special overhead compartment because it is now an overhead compartment i have decided this. ]

[frostfist]

[ gets stepped on and dies




jk he gets stepped on and then hit on the head with a falling box of monopoly, because i hate him. predictably, none of this goes over well. but he will nevertheless try and play nice. ]

You know, you could have just asked me to move.

[tactic]

[ NOT THE DOUBLE WHAMMY

Meanwhile, Aventurine looks down like he's surprised there is someone right under him. Do you ever just step on something so solid you assume it's Ground. ]

Apologies, friend. In my hurry to make sense of our surroundings, I must have missed sight of you.

[frostfist]

[ to be fair to aventurine, wriothesley is dressed in varying shades of Dark that help him blend into the bus upholstery. but, well, the guy seems to be doing something useful (?) so he can have a pass. for now.

lest he come under fire a second time, wriothesley skooches over and then up onto his feet, and takes a step back—only to bump into one of the poles. ow. ]

Find out anything interesting?

[tactic]

[ wrio be careful ur ass is too fucking fat 😭 ]

The doors are locked. As are the windows. I can't seem to access the controls either, and if you take a look outside, you'll see we're in some sort of... airfield.

[ It's an airport but they've transcended airports in his cosmos so he's doing the best he can. ]

[frostfist]

[ HE HIT HIS HEAD? i hate you so bad

meanwhile, guy who has no idea what an airfield is. but they do have aircraft? thankfully, he has a brain and a functioning pair of eyes, so he will carefully shamble over to the nearest window, unshutter, and glance outside. ah. ]

Don't suppose they're planning on using us as some sort of landing pad or target for the aircraft.

[ that's morbid. ]

[tactic]

[ Okay, while this stranger goes to assess what's happening outside of the bus, Aventurine's gaze will land on one of the many TV screens. His mouth drops open a little, and then there's a noise that sounds a lot like he's being strangled. ]

Hey, wait a minute. I recognize some of these faces.

[ STARING AT BOOTHILL AND TOTTY (WHERE ARE THE OTHER SCAWWYS) ]

[frostfist]

[ but is he staring at boothill's ass

the surprise is enough to snag wriothesley's curiosity, and he's quick to pivot away from the window and towards the television. (guy who DOES know what a TV is.) and, sure enough, amidst that sea of people are a few faces he recognizes. hi, vi.

a bad feeling starts to settling in his stomach. ]

What do you know, me too. [ except instead of surprise, there's sort of a grim finality. ] Didn't think I'd see any of them ever again.

[tactic]

[ Math lady meme... No asses are being looked at.

Give him a second as he starts putting context clues together, his eyes darting across the screens on the bus, and then at the interior of the bus itself as well as its occupants. ]

... This again. [ Cryptic. ] But it does beg the question why we're here, rather than present with the others.

[ Returns his attention to this stranger with the fat ass!! ]

You once woke up in a similar fashion, with a large group of people like the one currently being shown on screen, I assume?

[frostfist]

[ if you keep talking about wrio's fat ass i am going to start talking about aventurine's omega slick

anyway, the answer's easy enough, isn't it? he shrugs once. ]

I did. Then I fell off a [ what was it called again ] roller coaster, supposedly died, and woke up somewhere completely different, separate from everyone else save for those who had also [ supposedly ] died.

[ archons, that was such a shitty vacation. he smiles grimly. ]

I don't suppose you remember dying, by any chance?

[tactic]

[ go ahead i will also assign wrio omega slick i see him bottoming all the time too ya know ]

The previous times? Certainly. This time? Not at all.

[ Crosses his arms over his chest and gives a little click of his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He hadn't even been in a dangerous situation, he'd just gone to bed in his home and then woke up here, tf... ]

You think it's death that separates us from them, then?

[frostfist]

[ another shrug, though this one seems less forced. ]

It's just a guess. One instance doesn't exactly make a pattern.

[ though the fact that both of them have people here they recognize sure is concerning. hm! ]

If you have other ideas, I'm all ears.

[tactic]

[ He just shakes his head. ]

No. It's a suitable guess. It would explain these [ points at all the TV screens ] and why we're able to watch them from here. In my experience, this was only possible once you had died.

[ Damn... This is bummer news to wake up to, but Aventurine doesn't seem all that pressed about it. ]

Pardon me if this is too personal for your liking, but what was the final outcome of your previous encounter with this sort of thing?

[frostfist]

[ you would make me remember the endgame post that i was completely absent for save my kissing tl

but tragically for me, wriothesley has more brain cells than i ever will and actually takes things seriously, and as such he takes a moment to dig through his memory archives for the result of his particular 'vacation', canting his head to the left as he does so. ]

If I recall correctly, we had to destroy the device keeping us stranded in one place and deactivate further devices to escape. Once we did, we were allowed to go home. [ another pause. ] There seemed to be a lot of technology in play that I was unfamiliar with. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to explain any of it even if asked.

[ when you're from the equivalent of industrial revolution france. ]

You?

[tactic]

[ Oh, we love the forthright. Unfortunately for you and very fortunately for me, Aventurine is the opposite of that. ]

Let's just say they were similar. [ haha yay! ] Two for two, then. I can appreciate those odds.

[ He will simply get out of this current predicament as well. ]

But where are my manners? I believe introductions are long overdue.

[frostfist]

[ and this is why aventurine is the ultimate bottom between them

the lack of detail is noted, shuffled away, but not commented on. far be it from him to judge other people for their mannerisms, even if it will affect how he goes about interacting with this guy in the future.

instead, he sticks out a hand. ]

Wriothesley.

[tactic]

A pleasure, Mr. Wriothesley. Please, call me Aventurine.

[ Their long ass names i'm gonna explode. ]

While I wish the circumstances were more in our favor, I have to say that this is better than having to go at it alone.

[frostfist]

The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Aventurine.

[ i hate it here ]

I can't say I know too much about our circumstances, but I'm happy to help where I can.

[ but i refuse to talk tactics (ha) this early in the game so instead wriothesley will nod back towards the television. ]

Which of the ones gathered in there are your friends?

[tactic]

[ If they're gonna chill, Aventurine will grab a deck of cards from the floor and drop down into a seat. They may be trapped in a bus, but at least it's a nice, spacious bus.

He'll pat the seat next to him for Wrio before turning to observe the people on screen, expertly shuffling the deck in his hands for something to do. ]

The cowboy cyborg, the glum, purple elf with the cat, the girl whose face you can't make out, and... [ squints ] oh, the ordinary-looking one there.

[ He's talking about Todomatsu. ]

[frostfist]

[ the way that 'ordinary-looking one' is oddly specific given the eclectic cast on the television and yet still encompasses just enough people that the additional direction is helpful. but he successfully clocks the other three at least. ]

Interesting assortment. [ though the same could be said for his own group. ] I wonder why only some of them are here and not all.

[ also he did take a seat i just forgot to write it earlier ]

[feminitis]

[wakey wakey!

to sei, it's obvious pretty much instantly that she's not in kyoto anymore; the bus is far too different from the shinsengumi's headquarters for her to think for even a moment that perhaps she just fell asleep in a different place than usual. she sits up, frowning as she takes in their surroundings, her gaze flicking from one part of the bus, to the tv screens and the people on it, to the other three people similarly waking up.

she groans.]

Not this crap again. [and then, checking her immediate surroundings for any personal belongings, she scowls as she realizes something is missing...] Ugh, of course my swords are gone.

[feminitis]

[and the games come tumbling down...

sei gets hit by idk a box of cards or something and frowns, grabbing the box and examining them before looking up at the overhead compartment.]

Whoever stocked this didn't pack that very well, if things are falling out just from you opening it.

[frostfist]

[ hello, strange youth. but— ]

Again?

[ please ignore the way he has a fancy fur coat draped across his shoulders and a bunch of decorative chains that clink across his chest as he props himself into a more seated position nearby. it's Fine. ]

[feminitis]

Again, unfortunately. Though I wish I could say this was the first time something like this has happened.

[alas, it is not. there's a grimace, and she glances at the tv screens again, scanning the feed of the living mingle for familiar faces.]

[frostfist]

[ sei's gaze immediately beelines for the tv screens and wriothesley's takes a more leisurely path around the interior of the bus. he frowns. ]

You regularly wake up surrounded by strangers in [ actually he doesn't know what a bus is so ] unfamiliar locations?