In this photo, three children are caught in the rain, two with umbrellas and one without. The child in the front wears an orange raincoat and grins happily as he catches raindrops in his mouth. Behind him, a boy with black hair seems to be commenting dryly on his choices from under the cover of a blue umbrella, while a girl in a pink raincoat with a matching pink umbrella laughs from behind the pair. The photo is blurred with raindrops that must have hit the lens, but it’s not enough to hide the casual friendship the three share.
[Arven peers down at the photo, taking in the sights with something of a wistful expression. Photos of fun and friendship... This is something he's only just recently gotten to experience. He wonders how many more he would have if he had any other friends growing up.
Anyway-- What kind of clues can he pick up on here?]
[Which figures, but it's such a stark contrast to her current self that seems like they're looking at a completely different person. In any case, is anything else going on with the scene or is it just them horsing around on repeat?]
A blink, and characters find them in the cool air of a rainy day, although the rain itself seems to go right through them. They’re on a suburban street, and a gaggle of kids (sans the teens) are walking along the sidewalk in raincoats and, in some cases, armed with umbrellas against the weather. The first two are a young girl in pink with a matching pink umbrella, standing next to a boy in a bright orange raincoat with no umbrella - approaching are two more boys, one with black hair and a blue umbrella, and one with blond and a green umbrella. The boy in orange calls out cheerfully:
“Hey, Sunny! Hey, Basil! What took you guys so long!?”
The blond boy responds, somewhat bashful. “Sorry... We got carried away playing this new game where you fight each other with these things called pet rocks.”
The girl in pink pipes up excitedly: “Basil, Basil! Take a picture of my new raincoat!”
The blond boy, Basil, seems surprised but agreeable. “Oh! Okay! One sec...” He hurries to meet her, getting into position to take a polaroid photo as she poses under her umbrella. The boy in orange, in the meantime, gets behind her to photobomb her. Once the photo’s taken, she turns to the boy with the blue umbrella, Sunny. “Do you like it, Sunny? It’s my favorite color... pink!”
The boy in orange groans. “Ewww... pink is a gross color.” Unsurprisingly, the girl turns to him in a huff.
“No, it’s not, Kel! You’re a gross color!”
Kel, wisely, responds: “That doesn’t even make any sense.”
Apparently done with Kel’s antics, she turns to Sunny again. “Oh, Sunny! That reminds me! Mari and I were talking about dyeing our hair together. Mari says she’s going to dye her hair purple.”
“P-p-purple?!” Kel sputters from behind her. She turns again to Kel.
“You wanna know what color I chose?” Kel makes a face as the answer dawns on him.
“Wait... are you saying you wanna dye your hair... pink?! Ewww... that’s weird... Why would you ever do that?”
The girl just shrugs. “I don’t know... I just thought it would be cute! Mari thinks so too!”
Kel responds with a huff of his own. “Hmph... I’ll never understand you two and your crazy ideas.”
Basil chimes in helpfully: “I think pink would look good on you, Aubrey.” And then, turning to Sunny, asks: “What do you think, Sunny?”
Sunny gives a quiet response and a nod in yes, and Basil interprets for him: “Sunny says he thinks that pink is a great color!”
Aubrey turns to Kel again, proudly. “See, even Basil and Sunny agree... You’re the one who’s weird, Kel!”
Kel feigns disinterest. “Psh... whatever.”
After that, the kids begin chatting far more idly. Kel and Sunny discuss the new Pet Rocks game and checking out the local hobby shop to see if they’ve got anything new in. Basil shows Sunny the photo he took, teasing Sunny over something or another as Sunny blushes. Aubrey exclaims cheerfully that she’s definitely going to get her hair dyed, though perhaps not anytime soon - her father is strict about these things.
A perfectly normal day and a perfectly normal group of friends enjoying it in spite of the dreary weather, their cheer making up for the gloomy grey. And yet...
There’s the sound of paper tearing, and a dark rift appears in the very air as the scene freezes, the scene once more only a photo - a photo that the characters are still very much stuck in, as that tear slowly begins to grow and grow...
And then, a familiar girl steps through, though her coloration is strangely faded - like a polaroid photo left in the sun. Still, this doesn’t stop her from leveling her nailbat at the scene before her.
It doesn’t matter anymore... None of it does.
She swings her bat, and another tear appears in the air itself, accompanied by a horrendous ripping sound.
[Once Arven gets over the shock of being transported into a photo to be some sort of phantom observer...It's a completely innocuous scene until it absolutely isn't.]
W-What's going on?! Aubrey, why are you doing this?!
[If only it was as simple as a memory of a bunch of friends hanging out. But Aubrey's appearance and the tears disturb that idyllic scene quite swiftly, and as Eli goes to grab her arm, Aaron's going to draw his swords and try to knock the bat out of her hands.]
Oh-- [Thank god Eli managed to get out of the way of her bat, but this is bad.] Come on, don't make us fight you! We're supposed to be allies, not...
[He trails off. What she's saying is a lot to take in. It's real heavy stuff. Man, just how many of the teens here are hiding dark shadows like these?]
I get that it might be hard to look back on happy memories now, but you shouldn't just erase them.
[Well, that didn't work! But no one's hurt and the tear didn't widen, so it's better than nothing. He briefly debates going for another strike, but he'll pause when he hears Aubrey.]
So you're just gonna run away and pretend none of it ever happened? You know shit's never that simple, right?
Why should I care about any of them anymore?! They all left. Every. Single. One.
[She takes another swing, this time at Arven - but misses (2). However, the swing still catches on the photo, causing a new tear to form.]
Sunny did come back out again recently, I guess. He and Kel teamed up again. You know what the first thing he did was? Picked a fight with me and stabbed me, the little freak.
[ Okay, nope. Washed Out Aubrey may have missed Arven, but Eli isn't going to give her another chance. He moves to stand between her and the other two. There's an attempt to grab the bat (5), only he misses it. For now. ]
Okay, that is messed up, but. Your hair is still pink. You said Mari thought it'd be cute. She was right, you know? Tell us about Mari. You two must have been close.
[Clearly something awful happened here, and time's only making it worse.]
If this is your attempt to try to move on from whatever happened, Aubrey...I don't think it's working. For you or your friends.
[He knows it's real bold of him to say that when he hasn't even had the opportunity to start processing what just happened to him, but. His trauma hasn't taken physical form here.
While he appreciates Eli's attempt to protect him from another swing, he can't just stand here while she keeps ripping holes in the photograph. What'll happen to them if she succeeds?
He steps past Eli to make a swing at the faded Aubrey with his frying pan (15), aiming more for the bat than her. Real or not, it's hard to bring himself to attack her directly.]
[HMMMMM all right, not liking that tear so maybe attacking was the right answer. Not that her bitterness isn't understandable given that a former friend stabbing you is pretty fucked up, but it's not just about that, right?
While the other two say their pieces, he'll follow up Arven's frying pan attack with a swift kick to the wrist (20) in a second attempt at getting her to drop the bat.]
Look, I get you're pissed off 'cause they abandoned you. I'm not gonna stand here and lecture you on how to feel about it, either. But if you're actually set on cutting ties with 'em, then go and say it to their face. But doing shit like this is just taking the easy way out.
Well... Apparently her flimsy form really is that - flimsy. Because Arven and Aaron's attack tear her right in two, her eyes wide in shock.
She opens her mouth to say something, but it takes a moment before anything comes out.
“...
I just... wanted to see us happy again. But...
It was never going to happen. It isn’t the same anymore. ...It’ll never go back to the way it was.”
Her form buzzes with static, before fading away into shadows. In her wake, a single item is left behind:
Umbrella: A cool blue umbrella. Reflects an ice attack back at the enemy; one use before it is destroyed.
The rips in the photo remain, however - looking closely, there seems to be a room beyond the tear. And, thanks to all of the fighting, it should now be big enough for everyone to slip through. But before they do, characters may note that the light seems to shine on a nearby picnic basket in the grass of the nearest house. Inside are yummy gummy snacks that couldn’t have been there before - anyone who pauses takes a bite will find their health and SP restored to full.
[ But Arven and Aaron have already torn her apart. She was as flimsy as the photo paper. He can only hope it means that wasn't the real one, the real Aubrey. ]
...the hell is going on? [ He looks dumbly down at the umbrella before reaching down to pick it up off the ground. ] If that wasn't her, then where is she?
...oh. [Arven whispers, his hands trembling as he holds onto his frying pan.] I didn't- I didn't mean to do that.
[Even if it was apparently the right move, it doesn't feel all that good. Aubrey's words echo in his mind, buzzing as loudly like the static she turned into as she disappeared.]
...It'll never go back to the way it was.
[He murmurs that echo aloud. Yeah. He really can say it himself and feel the exact same sentiment.]
There's a room ahead of us. See it? [He points Eli toward the room beyond the tear.] Maybe we'll find the real her there. Maybe that Aubrey will actually listen to what we have to say.
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RAINY DAY
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Anyway-- What kind of clues can he pick up on here?]
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[Which figures, but it's such a stark contrast to her current self that seems like they're looking at a completely different person. In any case, is anything else going on with the scene or is it just them horsing around on repeat?]
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A blink, and characters find them in the cool air of a rainy day, although the rain itself seems to go right through them. They’re on a suburban street, and a gaggle of kids (sans the teens) are walking along the sidewalk in raincoats and, in some cases, armed with umbrellas against the weather. The first two are a young girl in pink with a matching pink umbrella, standing next to a boy in a bright orange raincoat with no umbrella - approaching are two more boys, one with black hair and a blue umbrella, and one with blond and a green umbrella. The boy in orange calls out cheerfully:
“Hey, Sunny! Hey, Basil! What took you guys so long!?”
The blond boy responds, somewhat bashful. “Sorry... We got carried away playing this new game where you fight each other with these things called pet rocks.”
The girl in pink pipes up excitedly: “Basil, Basil! Take a picture of my new raincoat!”
The blond boy, Basil, seems surprised but agreeable. “Oh! Okay! One sec...” He hurries to meet her, getting into position to take a polaroid photo as she poses under her umbrella. The boy in orange, in the meantime, gets behind her to photobomb her. Once the photo’s taken, she turns to the boy with the blue umbrella, Sunny. “Do you like it, Sunny? It’s my favorite color... pink!”
The boy in orange groans. “Ewww... pink is a gross color.” Unsurprisingly, the girl turns to him in a huff.
“No, it’s not, Kel! You’re a gross color!”
Kel, wisely, responds: “That doesn’t even make any sense.”
Apparently done with Kel’s antics, she turns to Sunny again. “Oh, Sunny! That reminds me! Mari and I were talking about dyeing our hair together. Mari says she’s going to dye her hair purple.”
“P-p-purple?!” Kel sputters from behind her. She turns again to Kel.
“You wanna know what color I chose?” Kel makes a face as the answer dawns on him.
“Wait... are you saying you wanna dye your hair... pink?! Ewww... that’s weird... Why would you ever do that?”
The girl just shrugs. “I don’t know... I just thought it would be cute! Mari thinks so too!”
Kel responds with a huff of his own. “Hmph... I’ll never understand you two and your crazy ideas.”
Basil chimes in helpfully: “I think pink would look good on you, Aubrey.” And then, turning to Sunny, asks: “What do you think, Sunny?”
Sunny gives a quiet response and a nod in yes, and Basil interprets for him: “Sunny says he thinks that pink is a great color!”
Aubrey turns to Kel again, proudly. “See, even Basil and Sunny agree... You’re the one who’s weird, Kel!”
Kel feigns disinterest. “Psh... whatever.”
After that, the kids begin chatting far more idly. Kel and Sunny discuss the new Pet Rocks game and checking out the local hobby shop to see if they’ve got anything new in. Basil shows Sunny the photo he took, teasing Sunny over something or another as Sunny blushes. Aubrey exclaims cheerfully that she’s definitely going to get her hair dyed, though perhaps not anytime soon - her father is strict about these things.
A perfectly normal day and a perfectly normal group of friends enjoying it in spite of the dreary weather, their cheer making up for the gloomy grey. And yet...
There’s the sound of paper tearing, and a dark rift appears in the very air as the scene freezes, the scene once more only a photo - a photo that the characters are still very much stuck in, as that tear slowly begins to grow and grow...
And then, a familiar girl steps through, though her coloration is strangely faded - like a polaroid photo left in the sun. Still, this doesn’t stop her from leveling her nailbat at the scene before her.
It doesn’t matter anymore... None of it does.
She swings her bat, and another tear appears in the air itself, accompanied by a horrendous ripping sound.
It’s already broken.
It means nothing now.
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Aubrey?! Hey, Aubrey! Cut it out!
[ Eli moves in a heartbeat, reaching out for her arm. ]
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W-What's going on?! Aubrey, why are you doing this?!
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[If only it was as simple as a memory of a bunch of friends hanging out. But Aubrey's appearance and the tears disturb that idyllic scene quite swiftly, and as Eli goes to grab her arm, Aaron's going to draw his swords and try to knock the bat out of her hands.]
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Because it doesn't matter anymore. Why do you think I threw them away to begin with?!
Mari's dead. Hero's left town, Kel's got new friends, and Sunny locked himself up for four years. And don't even get me started on Basil.
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What, so you just give up and throw away... what? Your memories?! Come on, that's never how it works!
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[He trails off. What she's saying is a lot to take in. It's real heavy stuff. Man, just how many of the teens here are hiding dark shadows like these?]
I get that it might be hard to look back on happy memories now, but you shouldn't just erase them.
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So you're just gonna run away and pretend none of it ever happened? You know shit's never that simple, right?
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[She takes another swing, this time at Arven - but misses (2). However, the swing still catches on the photo, causing a new tear to form.]
Sunny did come back out again recently, I guess. He and Kel teamed up again. You know what the first thing he did was? Picked a fight with me and stabbed me, the little freak.
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Okay, that is messed up, but. Your hair is still pink. You said Mari thought it'd be cute. She was right, you know? Tell us about Mari. You two must have been close.
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What the hell...
[Clearly something awful happened here, and time's only making it worse.]
If this is your attempt to try to move on from whatever happened, Aubrey...I don't think it's working. For you or your friends.
[He knows it's real bold of him to say that when he hasn't even had the opportunity to start processing what just happened to him, but. His trauma hasn't taken physical form here.
While he appreciates Eli's attempt to protect him from another swing, he can't just stand here while she keeps ripping holes in the photograph. What'll happen to them if she succeeds?
He steps past Eli to make a swing at the faded Aubrey with his frying pan (15), aiming more for the bat than her. Real or not, it's hard to bring himself to attack her directly.]
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While the other two say their pieces, he'll follow up Arven's frying pan attack with a swift kick to the wrist (20) in a second attempt at getting her to drop the bat.]
Look, I get you're pissed off 'cause they abandoned you. I'm not gonna stand here and lecture you on how to feel about it, either. But if you're actually set on cutting ties with 'em, then go and say it to their face. But doing shit like this is just taking the easy way out.
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She opens her mouth to say something, but it takes a moment before anything comes out.
“...
I just... wanted to see us happy again. But...
It was never going to happen. It isn’t the same anymore. ...It’ll never go back to the way it was.”
Her form buzzes with static, before fading away into shadows. In her wake, a single item is left behind:
Umbrella: A cool blue umbrella. Reflects an ice attack back at the enemy; one use before it is destroyed.
The rips in the photo remain, however - looking closely, there seems to be a room beyond the tear. And, thanks to all of the fighting, it should now be big enough for everyone to slip through. But before they do, characters may note that the light seems to shine on a nearby picnic basket in the grass of the nearest house. Inside are yummy gummy snacks that couldn’t have been there before - anyone who pauses takes a bite will find their health and SP restored to full.
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[ But Arven and Aaron have already torn her apart. She was as flimsy as the photo paper. He can only hope it means that wasn't the real one, the real Aubrey. ]
...the hell is going on? [ He looks dumbly down at the umbrella before reaching down to pick it up off the ground. ] If that wasn't her, then where is she?
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[Even if it was apparently the right move, it doesn't feel all that good. Aubrey's words echo in his mind, buzzing as loudly like the static she turned into as she disappeared.]
...It'll never go back to the way it was.
[He murmurs that echo aloud. Yeah. He really can say it himself and feel the exact same sentiment.]
There's a room ahead of us. See it? [He points Eli toward the room beyond the tear.] Maybe we'll find the real her there. Maybe that Aubrey will actually listen to what we have to say.
[He hopes so.]
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No one's always been a delinquent. Stuff happens to make you that way.
[ Eli would know, right? ]
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[Arven's hardly a delinquent, but he's a serial school skipper. He's learned a lot from Penny and Team Star, too.]
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[he says, like he doesn't lead a youth gang at home]
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[ Empty threat, really, especially since that shadow is about to pop into existence. ]
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[He begins to grumble, but then shit goes down--]