idolpro | Heart Game: Intensity (Turn 2)

During sign-up, you will have been assigned a faction/NPC based on Intensity's perception of your character and various other factors. Where you start and your relationship with Intensity will determine your standing with the different NPCs as well as your power set.

What you know:

Intensity's heart will reboot in exactly 4 hours.

Puzzle pieces are a form of currency and are used to align with different factions/NPCs.

If you started in Hell, you will have powers appropriate to the wish you were granted (assuming you sign the contract).

If you started in Heaven, you will have canon powers.

If you started anywhere else, you will have the same abilities you have in Imeeji.

How to win (this is known ICly):

By siding with the faction/NPC that has the most puzzle pieces after all Heart runs. You do not have to ICly give puzzle pieces to NPCs. You can also just use the turn-in (see below) after finishing the Heart Game. If you do ICly hand a puzzle piece to an NPC (or lose one), you can't give it to someone else later.

Making changes to Intensity's central programming without causing a core dump. Attempt too drastic of a change and it won't stick upon reboot.

Other OOC information:

In general, I am playing this as everyone is in the same space/time continuum for the first 4 hours of the Heart.

Then Intensity will wake up (hopefully!) and I'll let you exploradora at your own pace and will backtag as long as you want to.

What factions are available:

Hell - The King of Hell

Heaven - Mokuba

Blue Eyes

The True Heart

K̵̭͋̀̇̽ȁ̴̗͕̰̄̚ì̵̭̹͍̬̋͘b̴̰̦̝͕̆̇̈́ȧ̶̮͈̮͉̏ (Canon Intensity)

[[P.S. Sorry if any of the fonts/styling bork when viewed on mobile. Webdev or CSS master, I am not.]]

Please comment to this thread with who you gave your puzzle pieces to and whether your run is scored/unscored.

You enter a very modern and very corporate office space - obviously of some higher ranking official in the company. If the pricey decor wasn't enough to give that away, the fact that you can see nothing but open sky outside of ceiling-to-floor length windows is just another data point to that fact. Also, if you have any experience with corporations or negotiations, you'll notice that this is a high-ranking reception room due to its sparse furniture. And no chairs on the customer-facing side of the desk indicates one meant to intimidate.

On various surfaces on the room, a single word has been - for lack of better description - erased. Where the company name should be (K̵̭͋̀̇̽ȁ̴̗͕̰̄̚ì̵̭̹͍̬̋͘b̴̰̦̝͕̆̇̈́ȧ̶̮͈̮̏) and the first letter in the company logo (K̵̭͋̀̇̽), it looks like static if you stare at it too long.

Behind the opulent desk (which still manages to have a 90s-style CRT desktop), the chair is turned away from you and facing the windows. But by the sound of fingers tapping together, it is obvious that someone is there.

On the edge of the desk sits a large crystal bowl that one might use to serve candies at a party. It currently has one (1) puzzle piece.

There is only one exit: [ Behind you ]

You find yourself in a wide, expansive cathedral with ceiling to floor stained-glass windows and heavy columns lining the unnecessarily long walkway. Pews are lined up neatly (perfectly so) on either side of you and a dark blue carpet framed in silver cushions your steps.

There is a figure at the end of that carpet, lounging comfortably in a silver throne behind a silver desk. A symbol of everything that is modern and all things technology in comparison to the layout of the room.

Even at this distance, you can see that Intensity's skin is paler, almost porcelain-like, and his hair has a bleached-silver sheen to it. Probably even more noticeable is the two giant white metallic wings that spring from his shoulder blades and the long dragon's tail that peeks out from the hem of his coat. Oh. And one more thing. You can very obviously tell there's not a single inch of human flesh on him - he's 100% artificial.

The King of Hell greets you with cold eyes and a colder smile, lacing his fingers in front of him.

"Congratulations. You graduate."

There is only one exit: [ Behind you ]

Edited 2020-02-15 21:13 (UTC)

Before your eyes even adjust to the dimness of this room, you are bombarded with feelings that are not your own. A vengeance that is not yours. But, oh, for those few precious seconds, how it sings in your veins as if it was.

You've (They've) been searching for years for this person - this wretch who took everything from you (them), your (their) purpose, your (their) loved one, your life's work, and left you there, a shell of your former self - only to find them dead, dead of natural causes, the end of their normal lifespan they had glorified so much while looking down on you. They've left your reach with everything they've ever wanted - celebrated and at peace, propped up on a pedestal and praised to high heavens while you're still drowning in the muck they threw you down in. You can't stand it. All you had left in life was to find them and make them pay. All you had was them, and they even took that from you. You can't stand it. You absolutely can't stand it.

But you don't have to let it end this way. You can bring them back.

Compared to your real talents, graverobbing was arduous but simple. Their death was recent enough to leave their body still mostly intact, so there's only a few things you'll have to replace to revive them. It's perfect: you'll make them into one of your own creations, the things they scorned so much, and you'll force them to know the real value of your work firsthand. Fingers, eyes so they'll finally have to look at you, and then when you place a heart in their chest and start their life again, they'll become a mockery of their own legacy. And then finally, after so long, so long dreaming about it, finally, finally, with you're own hands, you'll kill them. Over, and over, and over.

Once the vision leaves you, you open your eyes to the interior of a grandiose space station overlooking Earth. It appears no expense was spared in this particular endeavor. The twinkle of hundreds of LED lights and dozens of screens display more data than can be ever consumed by a single person in real time.

Across from where you are standing and behind a set of evenly spaced-bars of light stands "Intensity" looking out over this view. For those who remember the Rift or Liar Hell, yes, those are indeed the very same prison bars. It doesn't seem he has noticed your presence, laser focused as he is on some giant contraption putting together a large pyramid-shaped puzzle in zero-gravity.

If you do step forward to take a closer look at the screens, you will notice that there are pictures of the other occupants in the Heart Game and what they are doing.

There is only one exit: [ Behind you ]

The room you arrive in is plain and simple in contrast to everything you know about Intensity. There is one bed large enough to fit two children at most pressed up against the far wall. A chess set sits on a folding table with two chairs. Yu-gi-oh cards are scattered atop the rest of the table's surface - this one sitting proudly on top.

And the far wall is almost entirely dominated by this image.

In the center of the room sits an Intensity that can't be more than 10 years old and... smiling. Like. Actually smiling as he carefully puts together a 3D puzzle that looks like it would take a long time to complete even for an adult. But he seems to be entranced with it as he carefully slots two pieces together.

Perfect fit.

He looks up at you as you enter.

There is only one exit: [ Back to the Fin Common Room ]

Starting Faction Representation: Heaven

It's rude how everyone wants to interrupts your sleep.

The first is Silver as he ruffles your hair on his way to the gym. Gotta get up early and train. The national championship isn't going to win itself, you know. And he's very cautious about not being too loud. You barely even wake up for it.

The second is Gold on his way to do prep work for his store. He never really stopped being a workaholic even when he did leave volleyball behind as just a "hobby". He brings you breakfast in bed and a kiss on the cheek and you try to pull him into bed like you do every morning, but off he goes.

The last is C - a tornado of noise and energy and color as confetti or streamers or something goes off as he talks excitedly at you. You don't quite remember what he says but it has something to do with a combini, your "adopted stray", and carbonated beverages. And it sounds safer than his last endeavor, so you send him off with words of confidence and a yawn.

And last (and most certainly least) is the buzzing of a phone that you haven't picked up in ages. Yet it incessantly buzzes in the furthest back corner of the dresser, prompting you to drag your protesting body yet again to fetch it. The lock screen is a picture of AlcheME! The background of the twins and tinies. And one unread message.

CEO: I need you to stop by today.

How long has it been since you heard from your boss? Months? Years?

Regardless, you shove your phone into yours jeans pockets and head toward the door and---

You wake up again.

[[ Powers:

B Who You Wanna B: B will return his canon powers to be able to shapeshift into anyone he wants - looks, sounds, smells, the works. Like his canon powers, pain brings him out of the transformation. Unlike his canon powers, you are free from snake-y influence.

Maiden of White: Can summon Blue Eyes to his side at any time. ]]

[[ Proceed to here ]]

Bored.

Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored.

You kick your feet as you sit on the edge of a rooftop, chomping down an ice cream cone and watching the people below wander about their mundane everyday life. Maybe you should drop the dessert. At least that would be interesting!

Dramatically, you flop back onto the roof and watch the clouds float by overhead. 48 hours. Just 48 hours to kill and then Silver will be back and that prank on the neighbor will trigger and your special-order items will arrive in the mail. Ugh. Why couldn't it just come faster???

Distractedly, you pull out your phone and thumb through the messages:

Silver: (Let's be real it's a hot pic of him showing off his abs as he's out for the week doing some intense training with the team.)

Gold: I'm going grocery shopping later today. What do you want?

B: I don't want to know and I'm not going to ask.

Same old. Same old.

But oh! One unread message pops up on the screen.

CEO: Come out of retirement for 24 hours. I need your counsel on something.

How long has it been since you heard from the King of Hell himself? Months? Years?

Regardless, you shove your phone into yours jeans pockets and get to your feet and---

You wake up again.

[[ Powers:

The Influence of a Retired God: You can recruit one (1) NPC in the Heart to be your minion. Choose wisely.

A CAPE!!!: It does nothing special. ]]

[[ Proceed to here ]]

Edited (grammar...) 2020-02-15 21:45 (UTC)

[ An image flashes in your mind - like the mirage of a desert oasis.

You're sitting on the ledge of a tall skyscraper with Intensity, peering down to the seemingly endless stories below.]

It's the moment you realize you're two steps ahead of your opponent and they haven't caught on yet. The moment you take your own life in your hands and flip death off, knowing you're doing something reckless but also knowing that you're going to walk away from it laughing with your head held high. The moment you turn the tables on someone and the look of surprise on their face. The moment all the puzzles pieces fit after all the blood, sweat and tears you put into what others claimed impossible. That's what it means to fucking feel alive.

Well, feeling like a person is something like that. It's doing something because you want to, and no other reason. Weighing risks and then putting your money on what you believe in, no matter how impossible it seems or what anyone else thinks. Having someone look at you, and knowing they're seeing something that's a reflection of your efforts. Feeling like you have a connection with someone that wouldn't happen between anyone else.

[ There is a long comfortable silence that stretches on between you for many moments. And then---

You both jump. ]

[[ Proceed to here ]]

[ The darkness returns for you. But not the silence. ]

You forgot your speech. Really, do none of you know how to perform your own Live?

I felt like this was more of an intimate moment, but if you want everyone to watch me hand your ass to you, next time I'll prepare a gripping monologue just for you.

Oh please. Shame on you if you kick my ass once. But shame on me if you kick my ass twice.

Gyahahaha! Don't tell me you're deluded enough that you think you could take me in a fair fight.

Nothing wrong with second place in a competition like this, Intensity. Though if you think of it like every member of our unit outranking you, that actually puts you in seventh place, doesn't it? Gyahahaha!
Check your math! You're only 1/6th of fucking first place!
Well, 1/6 still ranks above 2, doesn't it?
Shut up! And CHALLENGE FUCKING ACCEPTED! I'll show all of you!
What are you gonna do, take someone on a date so bad they swear off romance forever?
I still owe you a coffee date, don't I?
—A nice coffee date, asshole!

Man☆Eater: whew you been keeping up with this trainwreck?
Man☆Eater: crazy times we live in

CEO: Whoever you are.
CEO: You're under my contacts list as 'sensei'.
CEO: So you're either going to have to identify yourself or I'm just going to default to my normal bullshit.

Man☆Eater: what really???
Man☆Eater: wtf you're adorable
Man☆Eater: ok let's play a guessing game to jog your memory
Man☆Eater: hint 1: i'm very cute
Man☆Eater: hint 2: my unitmate was decapitated yesterday

CEO: God.
CEO: Is that you?

Oh really? Have you hidden any bodies that I don't know about?
If I told you that, it wouldn't be much of a secret anymore.
What? That isn't a fifth date topic. How many dates do I need to unlock that achievement?
Hidden achievement. You'll just have to keep going out with me until you find out.

[Motions him to come closer]

. . . [ moves closer. absolutely 100% casually. ]

[Leans down to press his lips against Man Eater. A very short (but not necessarily sweet) kiss]

[ between the shock of that and everything else that happened, for once his brain doesn't work fast enough to properly to respond to the kiss. when Intensity pulls back, before he can put the brakes on and stop himself, just the first word of a question spills out: ] ... You—?

You're welcome.

What do you want?!
To remind you that I won't let you walk away from me. Or leave you behind.
Gyaha—hahaha! You won't, huh? Maybe I should "remind" you why you'd be better off if you did.
You can try. And fail.
[ . . . ]
Cute, sensei. Is that it?
Of course not. That's your warning shot.

Where the fuck are you going?!
—With you. I want to go home with you.

Bold choice of meeting spot for the number one person you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.
I like to live dangerously. Or so I'm told. So. Shall we continue?
If you've got something to say, then say it.
What are your expectations? So I can properly not live up to them.
What does that have to do with anything?
Unintentional is not my style. I prefer to be much more deliberate about things.
... Well, I don't do expectations.

What are your expectations?
That you don't expect me to change.
I don't want you to change.

You really don't get it at all—!
Fine. Fine. Fucking explain it to me!
It's love. Obviously.
That’s not... You can’t—- This is a fucking rating grab for fuck’s sake! A fucking game!
Hey Izu-chan~ If this is a game. Then by the rules, whoever wins has the stronger feelings, right?
Ah—!
Izumu Niounomiya. You've been charged with the crime of stealing my heart. How do you plead?
Guilty. And I'd do it again!

[[ Powers:

Krystal Avatar: You are under the protection of Intensity's true heart. You may call upon him from anywhere in the Heart. ]]

[[ Proceed to here ]]

[idly fishing out the puzzle piece before sitting on the edge of the desk]

Hey, what's up? Must be important.

[what if i just want to steal the crystal bowl tho]

Okaaay, this oughta be good.

With honors, I assume.

It's good to see what you've made of yourself, Chief.

Edited 2020-02-15 21:59 (UTC)

[ hm mmm m m

looking around first, absorbing in as much as he can before he steps forward, to the bars of light first ]

. . . Intensity-sama.

[His aviator's do a good job of hiding a lot of his surprise, but it's clear hie eyebrows have ridden up as he takes in the room, and then CEO. The statement gets a kind of lopsided smile.]

Huh.

Do I get a prize?

[ I---

You know what. Sure. You can do that!

Because the person in the chair is so flabbergasted to hear B's voice, he doesn't even notice the puzzle piece is missing.

Mokuba spins around to face B with enough speed to make him dizzy. Please hold. ]

Huh? What are you doing here? I thought you retired.

Did the pension check not make it? You know, you can just get a real job, right.

[well Card is here that's good??]

You guys friends?

[ I mean, you could! Looks like B has beaten you on the thievery though. ]

Wha--!?

What are you doing here!?

[Glory is fairly at ease until she sees him, at which point her demeanor shifts imperceptibly tenser.]

Graduate?

[ the photo on the wall is big and eye-catching enough to grab his attention before anything else, and his eyes widen very slightly as his heart jumps in his chest—with surprise and probably some other emotion. maybe several other emotions. ]

He's my future sovereign, as you can see.

Top of the class.

So.

[ And he settles back in his chair. ]

Thought of what you want for your wish?

Heart Game: Intensity (Turn 2)

OOC Bookeeping

Instructions / Info

Turn-In

Character Specific Introductions

Heaven - Main Branch

King of Hell's Office

Enter Kaiba [ 1 / 2 ]

Enter Kaiba [ 2 / 2 ]

Intensity's Lab

B

C

Glory

Man☆Eater

Re: Heaven - Main Branch

Re: Heaven - Main Branch

no subject

Re: Enter Kaiba [ 2 / 2 ]

Re: King of Hell's Office

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: King of Hell's Office

1/2

no subject

no subject