HEARTGAME DRESS REHEARSAL

[finalbows]

thank u rah u hero

tracking sheet
 

[ ..somewhere in the pasture, Angel Devil falls down.
His clothes have twisted away into bone-white rags, leaving a body covered over with only thick swathes of red fur, and downy feathers. His long tail is curled into a tense arc, banded fur standing on end.

The air wavers like he’s a heat mirage, not a man. He’s boiling away with absolutely stupid amounts of arcane power… and, most frighteningly, he does not seem in control of the fact that it is there and being brought to bear. It’s impossible to get any closer to him.


When he speaks, it’s quite timid. ]

Ah,
I thought… I had a little more time.

[ (and in a blinding flash of light, there is the sound of something breaking.) ]

~KRRSHHK~

[any observers will see, strangely see-through and superimposed on the scene, some kind of vast tree, illusionary roots twisting over and around to frame a door.  the door itself is wrought of opaque stained glass in blacks and whites and greys; a stylized rendition of Angie in that strangely ragged, feathered form, curled in on himself, eyes closed.  Angie himself is nowhere to be seen. ]

instead, a shadow . . . steps into view from behind the door.  for a moment it looks like nothing so much as a second genome – then it turns, gaining features and definition with the movement.  The monkey tail separates into three plumes; a ponytail unfurls into wings that lift up from the sides of the head.  

Teleute(?) is here, dressed in her customary black, but there is colour in her skin, and her hair and eyes are blue.  she’s frowning.]

. . . well.  This is the least I can do before I go, in exchange for the safe harbor.

[she lifts her head, nodding to any observers, and gestures at the door.]

You’ll want to head in there now if you don’t wish to lose your flockmate, I think.  Even the false-death of this place won’t be much help to him, if his soul is left to finish pulling itself apart.

My sisters and I can maintain the way into and out of it for you, but we were not made to knit such wounds by ourselves.  Have a care.

Comments

[finalbows]

[ YUP, STILL CONSCIOUS, and still wearing the mask of Radical Acceptance


he does not currently look like he's Accepting his circumstances very well but he's new to this ]

[wants_the_phd]

[Note to self: talk to Angie later about when is and is not an appropriate time for radical acceptance. This would be an example of an Inappropriate Time.]

[Well. She's as ready for this as she's going to be. Can she open the gate?]

[If not, is there space to go over it?

[finalbows]

[ she can wrench the gate apart like it's made of tin foil with her ROSE VINES BASS-BOOSTED


or feel around the weird murmuring biomachines until one of them feels suitably lever-like ]

[wants_the_phd]

[Tempting though that may be, she is not the type to fling herself, guns blazing, into an unknown situation against a person who almost certainly can crush her. Sucks, but there it is.]

[She just opens the gate like a normal person and steps inside, calling out to make her presence known. We do not show our fear to strangers in this house.]

Greetings!

I hear you're one of Révérence's former comrades-in-arms.

[finalbows]

"Yeah? And what are you? Clean up crew?" Well,


"GOOD JOB!"


"This monkey's almost back to ship-shape! At this rate, I could have him out there and ripping out throats by tomorrow morning! End~less~ de~spair and~ car~nage~"

[wants_the_phd]

You'd think! But his soul's in terrible shape. I don't know that he'd be much good now, even if you cursed him again.

Are you truly this desperate for people to play with?

[finalbows]

"Yes! Obviously! Because he took my best toy first!
And then, the gall!
He gets pushed around a little-widdle bit after I save HIS bacon from the REAL big boy consequences for betraying us, and that's it! He's caput! Not only does he let some rosey broad stab him to death, it's small potatoes for me to lay that curse on him right after! Sure, he was out to lunch on the verge of oblivion, but he didn't even fight it. You know what Iiiiii think!


I think! He wanted to not have to know he was SoooOOooOOO sad anymore. After all,

Why do you think I'm even still here?

[wants_the_phd]

After what I've seen, I can believe he'd let himself be cursed if it meant leaving those old pains behind. Unfortunately, however, they're still here, festering away, rotting him from the inside.

That's what I mean when I say he's useless to you now. I don't think he can be goaded to fight for Chaos any more, no matter what you do.

[finalbows]

"You know what happens if the Big Guy finds out about that? Bye-bye, dead guy. Hey, hand me another roll of that tape. He's looking crumbly over here."

[wants_the_phd]

Yes, well, I think the Big Guy could do better than this, too. If he's specifically looking for the worst people he can find, he's not very good at it if he only has like. Five dudes, fighting on his behalf. Embarrassing, frankly.

And hell no, I'm not handing you anything. I want you to leave some part of him left for me to take apart. I've worked much too hard to let you have all the fun.

[finalbows]

"..."
"So, Does.
That mean the JANITOR.... is gonna try and fight me for a broken puppet?"



[ wiggles his fingers in an Awful way. cockroach-esque ]
"Now look who's desperate."

[wants_the_phd]

It's true. I've been trapped in a cage away from home and he's the only one who's any fun to stab in this place. And he puts out! And he's even started teaching me magic. So you can see why I'm invested in keeping him around...!

[finalbows]

"Guess that means we're going to have RIP EACH OTHER TO PIECES about it."

[ the piano is so excited about this fact! ]

[wants_the_phd]

I'm really bad at fighting though. I work a desk job.

Is that really gonna be fun for you?

[finalbows]

"Huuuu-uh? What's that?
Wah-wah-wahhh, I don't wanna get DESTROYED, Mr. Kefka, I'm just too pathetic? Don't poison the CIVILIANS, Mr. Kefka, they're not involved!"

[ an ugly, roiling green spell appears over his hand. ]

"Oo, there's an idea. Poison! Eat some Bio, desk jockey!

[ THROWS IT AT HER ]

[wants_the_phd]

[oh hey that looks like the thing angie jabbed into her stab wound that one time.]

[but anyway YIKES she's lunging to the side, if she can]

Hey...!

Damn, bro, I'm just the janitor!

[finalbows]

"Guess that means I won't have to deal with YOU for long, then, will I!"

[ pops away in a flash of confetti ]



[ pops back in existence alarmingly close to throw a ball of fire at her head. except it. goes in a zigzag pattern, bouncing on thin air, just barely missing her the first time. but watch out. coming back atcha ]

^{"ugh i always forget the weird hitbox on that stupid firaga"}

[wants_the_phd]

[Flinches away from it, tries to scamper farther away. UGH! She is so desperately outclassed here, it's iNCREDIBLY uncool.]

[but we gotta do SOMETHING, starting with MOOD EDIT NO JUTSU. She is flooding his heart with a heavy sense of ENNUI.]

[finalbows]

[ midair pirouettes away to begin CLUTCHING AT HIS CHEST ]

"Oh, no! Oh, WOE, cruel world! Oh, the AAAAGONY, the cccruuuuSHING, WEIGHT! Of all my despaaair! I simply cannot take it! I simply cannot bear it, one, horrible moment, more!"

[ abruptly straightens. ]

"Haa, haa. Gotcha, didn't I? Yeah yeah yeah biiiig ssaaad feelings. Who cares. Nothing matters.

Let's have some barbecue."

[ SECOND GO ON THE ZIG-ZAG FIRAGA, LOOK SHARP ]

[wants_the_phd]

[Fuck!]

[She squeaks and throws a protective dome of vines over herself, then another, then a third, thorns jutting out all over like a sea urchin]

1/2

[finalbows]

[ pokes it ]



[ poke poke pokes it ]



[ poke poke poke poke poke poke POKES it ]

[finalbows]

"Guess I'll just... GO BACK AND FINISH WHAT I WAS DOING... pouring gasoline on a hot monkey brain. What do you think, Angie-wangie, for your next life? Wanna have a compulsive need to eat dragon steak?"

3/3

[finalbows]

[ angie trips him with his tail ]

[wants_the_phd]

[Damn. This guy seems like he'd be a really fun and interesting person to play with if he wasn't literally trying to kill her. Shucks, buster.]

[Every square inch of surface in the chamber -- floors, walls, ceiling -- starts sprouting wiggly little vines. They squirm and flail like living things, and when they find each other, they intertwine, then separate, and find other dance partners as they grow and stretch ever longer. The room steadily becomes choked with a web of spines.]

[finalbows]

[ WOAH

he
doesn't have answer for that one beside get out by it.


tho the vine are also steadfastly encouraged to avoid choking angie's own position, thank you. ]