ROUND 1

[idolpro]

[ The room is BRIGHT YELLOW, as all the rooms you will enter are. Black tiles make up the floor, changing to your unit's color when pressure is placed on them. There is a button in the very center of the room standing on a podium; it's slightly smaller than palm-sized.]

[♫]

Comments

Cardigan vs King

[idolpro]

Re: Cardigan vs King

[puzzlekeeper]

[ Someone is having Nam flashbacks.

THIS SHIT AGAIN.

He barely restrains himself from immediately drawing a weapon because that would seem rude. ]

[deicider]

[That's completely fair; Cardigan, however, stays relaxed.]

I've got to be honest with you, I'm not super interested in fighting a kid to the death.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ ... He manages to look affronted at least. ]

Really?

[deicider]

Really. No offense, but you wouldn't stand a chance, and that's no fun for me.

[puzzlekeeper]

If what's fun for you is that I submit and die, then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you.

[deicider]

What a thing to think of me.

[Cardigan gestures to the button.]

Go ahead.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ His pride has never hated anything so much.

He doesn't move yet, though. ]

And your team? You're not concerned with securing victory for them?

[deicider]

No, I know some of them will fight tooth and nail to the top. No point duplicating effort.

[puzzlekeeper]

And I don't have similar confidence in my own team.

[ ugh


U G H ]

However-- you can expect a challenge from me once all of this is over. Leaving it like this is unacceptable to me.

[deicider]

That's what I like to hear. From now, take it as a gift.

[puzzlekeeper]

A gift for Heart Soldier, then.

[ Inclining his head just slightly. ]

Thank you.

[ Time to go SMACK THE BUTTON ]

[deicider]

[Cardigan flicks a mock salute before they're whisked away to have a very bad time.]

Make it count!

Win: King

[idolpro]

[ With the button pressed, the unit color-lit floor opens up to swallow the loser whole before the tile swings back up, as if a cartoonish trap door. The door unlocks with a click, sliding open for you.

After about thirty seconds, if the winner does not proceed to the next room, the floor tiles will start moving up one row of tiles at a time, starting from the back wall - they tilt to a steep angle that rounds at the edges, even gaining a slippery quality to ensure that none may be able to get a grip on the tiles or move backwards. The winner will eventually be pushed out of the room and into the next one. (To be unlocked when the next round unlocks.) ]

Hallucinations - Cardigan

[idolpro]

The back of your head throbs as you stand on stage. You can't remember why it hurts or what happened or who you are, even—but that's alright. That's alright! Someone lovely (but a little bit dull) sat you down and told you what your role in this story is and you will play your part for the audience (even if they're a little bit dull)! You'll do your best, you'll be the best—that's how you must be! You're sure!

But when you stepped on stage you lost control of your limbs: you did not fall, nor did you even slump, but you could feel that your body was no longer yours to own. If you looked up—as far as you could with your head being kept exactly straight—you could see thin wires reaching up to the back of the stage, tugging and pulling to have you move along. You try to fight it, to scream—but you can do nothing. This isn't your body anymore.

The story must be told. Even if you can't move the way you want to, you have a role to play—right? So you have to do the job right. You're sure.

...Even if you can’t help but keep straining against the wires and the razor-tight way they wrap around your joints. They want you to play this part, and you’ll do it—you’ll be flawless, if only they just accept that you know better. That you know best of all. But, just before the climax of the performance, the steel beam above you snaps. You were not meant to move beyond this spot in the play. And all those wires you tried to resist with your meaningless struggle are still tight enough that there is nothing you can do now except watch helplessly, as the beam hits several other beams, and then—

The whole stage collapses.

You wheeze your final breaths, wondering—

Who are you?

Why are you here?

What was the reason for you being born?

What is the reason now, for your death?

Was there ever a reason at all . . . ?

Effects

[idolpro]

Take 3 or more punishment, at least 1 from each:

Physical:
> Unable to control a limb (or two!)
> Wires through your fingertips
> Crushed arm or leg

Non-Physical:
> Temporary amnesia
> Obedience to someone of your choice
> The desire to keep telling stories