The City of the Specter, Atem's Palace

[metagame]

The corpse sinks to the floor
Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest blade
Becomes sand, becomes dust

Comments

final battle

[metagame]

[The further you descend the steps, the more it may dawn on you that this is a tomb, Atem's tomb.

Eventually you enter an even larger room that incorporates the entirety of the palace above. In the middle of room the sits an intricate-looking stone sarcophagus. It appears the Millennium Items can fit into the empty indentations. And sitting upon the sarcophagus is Atem, of course. One leg pulled to his chest as the other dangles off the side.

He turns his head to the group, one part of his face hidden while the other that stares at them blazes a sickly yellow. Underneath his tattered cloak he appears... skeletal. Nothing like how he appeared in the Palace proper.]

How long were you going to keep me waiting..?

[He slowly rises to his feet and hops off the sarcophagus.

A better look reveals that Atem is quite dead--- his skeletal rib cage exposed, his heart missing. He removes his crown and drops it to the ground with a loud clatter.

The third eye on his forehead opens.]

I want to play a game.

[beautifulknight]

...What kind of game?

[ Argenti is side-eyeing this now because Atem looks way unfriendly now. ]

[metagame]

A Penalty Game.

[beathollow]

( mafuyu is... quiet. a little pale, both from the nerves from the puzzle and in sickened horror at the sight before her.

...

she will not be brave this time. )

[metagame]

[The Millennium Puzzle pulses in her hands as it weeps.]

[townmusician]

[Well, that's certainly a look.]

How can you talk like this?!

[ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS--]

[beathollow]

Is that really the important thing right now?!

[beautifulknight]

[ ...HELP HARUKA!!

Argenti doesn't know what to say here, but he understands why he'd question it, at least... ]

[prozaic]

[Shalem sighs.]

And so it boils to this, at the very end. A straight-forward battle this will not be, I see.

[metagame]

Don't you know, Shalem..? I abhor violence most of all.

[His third eye shines brighter.]

You may won your game before... But I saw what you did upstairs... For your grave misconduct, you must play a Penalty Game!

[cleansewithfire]

[ Well now,,,

Sunrise instinctively tenses, because guess who normally busts other undead? ]

...What game is it?

[metagame]

A penalty game!

[emptyself]

Ah...

[ soujuurou is... well, there's only so much that he can comprehend from the sight before him. from the head, he can tell that it's [ ]. it's [ ], right? no, it can't be. there's no way that [ ] has ever looked like that, there's no way that a human body could ever look like that or move. there's no way, there's no way, there's nowaythere'snowaytheresnoway--

unable to comprehend the situation before him, soujuurou's body sways and ultimately collapses on the ground with a dull thud. ]

[beathollow]

--Soujuurou?!

( she's immediately at his side, tending to him- )

[beautifulknight]

[ ...Argenti looks over at that, honestly concerned. ]

Ah! Soujuurou?

[ He's unconscious, isn't he? ]

[moodwrecker]

[Aubrey doesn't have much of an answer either, as she is a bit pale and distracted by the whole partial skeleton thing uhhhh holy crap.]

[metagame]

[Hey, Aubrey, what's that sound?

Is it your friends back home? Their voices seem far away... But you can follow the sound! Aren't you curious what they're doing?]

Re: final battle

[privatedomicile]

Nope! Not today, Jigsaw!

[Aaand he immediately goes to the shadow realm.]

[finalmix]

Sorry, we got lost on the way here. It wasn't exactly easy to get to you, you know?

[ he's seen the dead in many, many conditions - the skeletal grotesqueness and the missing heart don't really phase joshua all that much, but there is a little bit of unease mostly because that's... hm. he's remembering the penalty game thing from earlier even if it hasn't come into effect just yet. ]

... Do we get a chance to pick the game? Or you have already decided?

[metagame]

[no

fuck you

you're going to play atem's penalty game and enjoy (???) it]

[metagame]

Those of you who have trespassed upon my soul... You must be punished!

[Atem points to the group with his skeletal hand.

For many of you, the room darkens and distorts. No longer can you see the tomb, your friends, or Shadow Atem. Something is deeply, terribly wrong. Can you hear your heartbeat in your ears? Feel a pressure building behind your eyes? Is it difficult to breathe?

The Door to Darkness has been opened.]

[pointzeropercent]

[Well. He passed the game before, so he's kind of just standing here like :man_standing: while most others experience the horrors. This sure is a pickle.

In any other situation he would just go "okay nice talking bye" and just walk out, but this is a palace after all. Exiting can't be that simple. With the only way out being forward, Sou musters his courage to keep a sense of calm while he speaks.]

So...can I pick the game this time?

[beathollow]

( mafuyu is going to attempt to use energy shower on the punished! )

[privatedomicile]

["Not today" wasn't a valid response, huh? Because not long after, Jesse finds himself in complete darkness. He looks around, and there's just nothing for a moment, until he backs up and trips––over nothing in reality, but to Jesse, it's someone familiar. She looks exactly as she did when he found her dead, and she's not alone.

cw descriptions of gore / overdose / emetophobia / body horror

People he knows and saw get shot in the chest, or had their head crushed by an ATM, or were dissolved in acid. People he doesn't know, only recognizable by charred skin and the smell of jet fuel. Of course, Jane Margolis, eyes partially open and bile still lingering on her mouth, takes the majority of his focus.

All of it is his fault. Jesse tears up, staring forward with his clouded over eyes.]

[strawsandals]

Atem - this isn't you. You know this. You don't have to do this. Please.

[ He frowns. ]

Please come back.