seasonsgreetings | Test Drive Meme #3

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Test Drive Meme #3

Test Drive Meme #3
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Arrival

Part 1

You arrive in an unknown space, dressed in white clothes (player choice what kind of clothes, as long as they cover everything). Whatever was happening to you before no longer happens. It's like everything was put on a pause and you were transferred away from the situation without you realizing it happened.

The space that you find yourself in is one of these four options:

An empty landscape filled with snow and ice, almost like a blank canvas.
A field with cherry blossom trees and spring flowers.
A sunny beach near an ocean that seems never ending.
A quiet forest with falling autumn leaves.

All of the spaces seem to continue endlessly. No matter where or how far you walk it almost seems like you're not moving at all. There are no animals here - just those who happened to wake up there at the same time, in the same place. Everyone is wearing the same kind of plain, white clothes.

Despite the possible rollercoaster of emotions you might be feeling, the place somehow feels familiar. Like somehow you belong there.

And it looks like you're not alone.

Part 2

After half an hour has passed the surroundings change as everyone is teleported into a room with all the other new arrivals, no matter what space they woke up in. It's a large place with plenty of seats to sit in and beverages to enjoy. Medical attention is offered to those who need it and the doctors here are very prepared for any challenging situations.

Here, in this room, everyone gets an answer to where they are and why. A hologram of a man appears at the center of the room, waiting to be heard. He brings a message on behalf of the leaders of Ellipsa.

The Message [ Click to Expand ]

Hello, my name is Olwen. I'm one of the leaders of Ellipsa as it currently is. I'm also one of the four who summoned you here.

Our world is in trouble and we need your help. I apologize for tearing you away from your world and forcing you to come here but I hope you understand. The magic we used doesn't let us ask in advance, nor does it let us choose who we bring here.

This world is composed of four Seasonal Segments. All of them represent one of the seasons. They were the places we used to get our resources from, but now they're dangerous places no one should go into unless they have the power to fight back. All of them have their own sets of powerful monsters and natural catastrophes.

We used to have plenty of people here who could control the powers of the four Seasons. We called them Seasonal Power Holders. Unfortunately, due to a tragedy you can read about later, we lost almost all of them. Now only four of us remain and the world is in chaos. We have done our best to protect the world, but we need more power holders to do that.

That's where you come in.

All of you have been assigned to one of the seasons. Whatever space you were in just now is what season you represent. You will learn different skills based on the season and those skills are going to help you save this world.

These powers don't interfere with your own natural powers. They use a new energy that has formed inside of you. It's harmless to your health, but it's vital to your seasonal powers. Your own powers should still work, even if the dark energy outside the city might interfere with them.

Unfortunately bringing you here wasn't as simple as it sounds. We couldn't do anything about how to keep you anchored to this world other than making a simple spell that helps with it. That is, you need to touch someone else who is not from this world ideally at least once a day. It will help you stay in control of your powers and boost your magical energy. If you don't, the consequences aren't very good. But as long as you hold someone's hand or give someone a handshake, you should be fine.

That's all I have to say about the situation. The staff of the Research Center will give you more information about housing and other necessary things. I will, however, promise that you will be sent home once the situation becomes better. That's the least we can do.

The hologram can be viewed in private in a separate room later, should someone wish to look at it again. For now, the staff of the Research Center hands everyone their new smartphones with their small flower lucky charms (the flower is anything the player decides). They're also told that the building next door is where everyone can find a room assigned to them with some of their belongings there and possibly even any animal companions. Those concerned about their mount-sizes companions are welcomed to the stables downstairs to see if their friends are there. The mounts are allowed to stay there until you find a place more suitable for them.

In the Arrival's hall there are also several stands with information pamphlets.

First type of stand is for the local Guilds and about the benefits or joining one.

Second type of stands is for the Welcoming Committee that aim to show otherworlders what the world is like and help guide people in the beginning of the journey and helps in getting settled into the new world. They even have people to help if you're unfamiliar with the new phones.

Third type of the stands is for The In Touch Support Group that is led by the Otherwordly Ambassador, Kamisato Ayato. The pamphlets have contact information for businesses looking to help Otherworlders. They also focus more on the lore of the World and what they have discovered so far, as well as a guide on what to think about when preparing to venture out to the Segments.

Once you get your smartphone and necessary information, you're urged to go out and find your apartment. After that whatever you want to do is up to you.

Part 3

The building next door is where everyone can find their new apartments. As you enter, you're told by a friendly native that for the first two months you can live anywhere rent-free and five meals a day are paid for you. After that they get a monthly payment that helps with some of their living expenses, but otherwise they have to have a job to support themselves.

All of the apartments are comfortable, two bedroom apartments with all necessary utilities. They are also completely soundproof. Sometimes the magic system, however, does glitch and you might find yourself rooming with a stranger. This is not the intention and the staff will immediately prepare you your own room if you ask them. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?

Party in the Underground

Part 1

The center of Nightwake never sleeps and there's always something happening, but today there's a lot of excitement in the air all around the center and every district! Locals and those who want to help them (for 100 Moon Coins or a gift card of their choosing), are walking to everyone to offer colorful fliers along with free vending machine tokens. There's also colorful advertisement on billboards and posters everywhere around the city advertising all sorts of things like items, clothes, drinks and more.

Local businesses, stores and restaurants are also going pretty crazy with their celebrations of anyone walking in being their 50th, 100th or whatever customer of the day and the prize among other things are gift cards and more free vending machine tokens but they aren't even for that same shop or restaurant? They also offer people to spin all kinds of different prize wheels, spin roulettes, buying a certain amount of things from them, and taking part in eating and drinking competitions for a surprise prize. Someone even put these surprise prizes into the Gacha Restaurant's randomizer, so for a week, you can choose it as a total surprise there too. (The surprises can be even more vending machine tokens and silly things like cute keychains or a 5-in-1 avocado tool as some examples.)

You can't find any of these shops, restaurants and other places, that they are advertising, in the whole city. The locals, posters and billboards will tell you where you can find them. There's a new entrance in every district, where locals welcome everyone to the grand opening of the Underground Mall!

Some may even drop into a sudden hole in the ground on their way and fall (or slide) somewhere far away. Don't worry, there will be very soft and huge pillows for landing in your destination.

Part 2

The Underground Mall's upper floors give the vibe of a joyous mall with several restaurants and shops you won't see on the surface. The mall is definitely a must visit place for those who appreciate different fashion and exciting food choices. The party from the surface continues down here with various sales around the area. A good day for shopping!

For those who like games, there's a futuristic VR Arcade for you! This Arcade focuses on games that are played with VR goggles on. Even your regular DDR machine will now take you to dance in different environments and feel like you're dancing for your life or for an actual audience.

There are all sorts of vending machines lined up in their own, huge corner. You can find the usual ones with all sorts of different snacks, food and drinks, but there are also some with cake, cookies, mayonnaise, cream, flowers, engagement rings and other less usual but normal things. Nothing here is randomized, unless you choose the random option from the machine, otherwise you get exactly what you want. So pick your favorites or try something new, that sounds more or less good! You can find a machine that turns moon coins on your phone into vending machine tokens (or you can pay straight with your phone).

And, yes, you can find vending machines full of snacks and drinks all around the area too.

Then there's also an area for ufo catchers with all kinds of prizes like pokemon plushies and lots of other plushies, items themed to different season, plushies and other items themed to any fauna and flora from all around Ellipsa, puzzles, food themed items etc etc.

Moving inside the mall is done by escalators and elevators, but there are also regular stairs for those who prefer them.

The fastest way of traveling from floor to floor in the mall is by quick teleport nodes. You choose a floor you want to go to from the list of choices, much like an elevator and then you're transported into that floor's node within seconds. Unfortunately, they're still working out on the bugs in the system, so you may end up in the wrong place - including places that aren't on the list of choices.

Part 3

There's also a Poké Ball Vending Machine, so anyone who recognizes poké balls may have some idea what they could get here. The vending machine somehow has enough balls for everyone in Ellipsa but everyone can only buy one ball! The balls don't have names in them and no one can see through them, so even those, who know Pokémon will NOT know what they'll be getting from this vending machine as it is entirely randomized!

Are you ready to get your first Pokémon? What about being ready to see how you two get along? Everyone, who plays this vending machine, gets either a Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, Eevee, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Rowlet, Litten, Poplio, Grookey, Scorbunny, Sobble, Spirigatito, Fuecoco or Quaxly.

(And yes, ICly it is entirely randomized but OOCly you can decide which one you want your character to get... Of course you can rng the result too. More about Pokémon guidelines in the OOC Tips of this TDM.)

Welcome to Our Dark Side

The third part of the TDM is under this details cut as it has Content Warnings, including Cursed things, Organized Crime, Illegal Activities, Monster Forms/Body Horror, Attempted Murder, Experimenting on People

The Third Part of the TDM [ Click to Expand ]

Part 1

The lowest levels of the mall are only accessible by random quick teleport nodes around the mall (if you know you know is the motto with these). You can run into them on accident (they're usually hidden, but with so much traffic, the hiding place becomes visible) and they sometimes immediately just teleport people without any warning. The arrival can be in various places. A random shady hallway, in the middle of the floor, in a shady establishment and so on.

Anything that seems shady can be found from these floors. Even the local diners here are very weird and likely have illegal things on the menu. Clothing stores sell all kinds of clothes fit for thieves and assassins and the amount of weapons shops here is twice the amount than on the surface. Rumor has it there are also people trying to summon the devil somewhere around here, but that's still just a rumor.

One of the teleport node locations can take you to the front of a cursed vending machine corner. At first they look like ordinary vending machines, but upon closer inspection one may notice they are anything but ordinary.

The food vending machines are full of different "eatable" bugs with half-hearted warnings that they may or may not be poisonous (they didn't really check before putting them in the packaging), Mystery Food boxes (includes some very suspicious foods that don't look edible, but are actually alright in taste? But may contain some side effects like growing mushrooms out of your hair if you eat the mushroom ones), ones that is labeled Energy Drinks but all of them look more like creepy potions (they provide energy but at the cost of poisoning someone for 24 hours) and hyper realistic cakes that look like various body parts (the cake part is intentionally written in small print).

Other vending machines have various shark eggs (hatching them will provide a magical shark with little hands and legs that invades the first watery surface it finds and bites whoever comes too close - it does not belong as a pet, but one may try to tame one), Mystery Boxes (with anything from highly cursed jewelry to books that suck your soul if written into) and Cheat Slips (it's said these slips will let you master a skill immediately, but all it does is cause one's powers to go berserk for 2 hours).

Part 2

The lowest levels are also a place for a large Casino. While they do exist on the surface, this one is a little different.

The Casino (named just that, "The Casino") is divided into four different sections; All of them are dominated by an organized crime group. This is the only area of the underground they work together in peace and sometimes come to relax. They don't cause trouble for each other here, but they definitely can try to cause trouble for everyone who is visiting the place.

Losing in this Casino can mean being taken to the back rooms by whichever group's area you ended up losing in. They will offer to let you go if you can pay off your debt you made in the Casino, but they have other options of compensation.

Name: Diamonds
Game Area: Card Games (Poker, Black Jack, Craps)
Compensation: They will send characters on a criminal quest to either steal or sabotage something or even smuggle a (cursed) item into important places.

Name: Spades
Game Area: Roulette
Compensation: They will attempt to kill the character that lost in the quietness of the backrooms.

Name: Clubs
Game Area: Pool, Darts
Compensation: They will just make characters clean their casino area.

Name: Hearts
Game Area: Slot Games
Compensation: They will drag characters into experiments in a different facility.

You may also end up taken to the back rooms for getting caught cheating, although it may also end up in a congratulatory meeting for an impressive sleight of hand instead or an invitation to join one of the groups. How would you feel about a life of crime?

Part 3

Those caught in Hearts Group's Experiments will be subjected to series of tests. Mostly they're to check the characters' physical condition before proceeding. Once the tests are concluded, the character will be given a medicine (either via shot or a pill). This medicine will not show any signs of working for a while and characters are let go afterwards.

The same medicine can, however, later be consumed by anyone else in various foods and drinks (free samples, some restaurants, even some grocery store items), even in the higher levels of the Mall. The experiments were the final test before distributing the medicine secretly to the public. So your character may accidentally end up getting the medicine in other ways.

What are the medicine? Monster Form activators. They will awaken a monster form inside a character that will trigger under one of the (player) selected conditions: strong emotional reaction, full moon, near death situation or bleeding.

The form can be returned from by calming down and focusing on their sense of self, but there's a chance to go berserk, making this difficult. If characters go berserk, their powers will be a lot stronger, but they won't know who's a friend and who's a foe. Their form may also be a lot scarier than it normally is. They will likely only want to cause destruction around them or want to feed on humans.

Monster	Description	Powers
Alraune	Plant monsters with a humanoid shape. They may have changes as simple as flowers growing in their hair or have complex body modifications such as roots for legs and long vines as hands.	Pollen with status effects like sleep/poison/paralysis, control over plants, poisonous kisses, etc
Gargoyle	Monstrous humanoid winged creatures with horns on their head and stony hides.	Super strength, tough skin, flight
Harpy	Human-bird hybrids. Anything part can be replaced with bird bodyparts, although the most common configuration is arms turned to wings and legs into talons.	Flight, sonic scream, hypnotizing voice, ability to whip up whirlwinds
Kelpie	Aquatic horses with a man made of seaweed and algae, covered in a sticky fur that makes it nearly impossible to get off if one is to ride them. Some may get a fish tail when underwater, although when out of water they have legs like any horse.	Water breathing, illusions
Lich	Undead humanoids, they may look skeletal or simply corpselike.	Raising the dead (into zombies/skeletons), necrotic touch
Manticore	Beastlike creatures with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion or dragon. They vary greatly, some sporting horns on their heads, or resembling a Chimera or Sphinx.	Super strength, flight if wings.
Minotaur	Animalistic monsters with the head of a bull and the body of a human, although some variations exist in which there are different animal heads. Some sport hooves and a tail in place of legs.	Super strength, overall size, super defense.
Taur	This refers to any number of creatures with a humanoid upper body and a lower body that resembles a non-anthropomorphic animal in the same sort of style as a centaur. This category includes things like Arachne and Naga, and other variations of such monsters.	Varies depending on animal the taur is based on
Werecreatures	Monstrous, bipedal animals, the transformation of which is often (but not always) triggered by the full moon. Common variants are wolves and bears, although they can be about any animal. The Pooka would be one of the variations in the werecreature category.	Depends on the animal the form is based on, but usually super strong/fast etc

This effect can either be permanent or temporary, depending on how the players want it. Temporary can be up to just one transformation under the conditions or several.

OOC TIPS

- Ask your questions related to the TDM here.

- The TDM is available only to friends of the mods and their friends. If you want to play in the TDM, please leave a note here to inform us who invited you over. We will get to you as soon as possible.

- Test Drive is open for current characters to make a top level as well. New characters can add TDM (or "New" or anything else) on their subject line to indicate they're new!

- Current characters cannot access the starting area again to meet new arrivals. They can, however, be at the Research Center when the newbies are teleported in.

- The TDM is game canon so anything in the TDM can happen for your character(s) in the game as well.

- Remember to add Content Warnings wherever needed!

- Smut is not allowed on the TDM. You can play situations leading to it, but if the thread is turning into smut, please move it to a private space such a post in your character's journal, or a locked post in the game's log community if you decide to app!

- Pokémon Guidelines:
• Anything mindblowing crazy that the pokedex has to offer for any of the evolutions doesn't carry over to Seasons. They're closer to anime variants where people can get flamethrower at their face and live (we still do not recommend getting a flamethrower at face)
• Pokémon gain experience points much slower, even if they battle one another.
• You may be able to find a vending machine with weird stones mixed in for stone evolutions. Strange.
• All start at level 5.
• More Pokémon may appear later in the game but for now it's just the ones mentioned.
• More on all the available Pokémon here!

- Check Locations: City to find more areas to explore inside the city. Every place in the districts are open. The Underground Mall has been added to the locations page at the very end of it.

- Similarly, Locations: Segments is useful for outdoors adventures. You can find monsters to encounter on Beastiary.

- Minor NPCs page has been updated with the criminal organizations.

- FAQ has information on characters' smartphones as well as general things about the world that might be handy.

- Feel free to check and use out Questboard for additional prompts.

code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I mean, you're not wrong. I am kind of a touchy guy, huh? And now that I'm here, you won't go without either. I always got a hug or a high five for you!" MK grinned wide and nodded. Even here, Red Son wasn't going to avoid MK's random touching. Mei and him were just touchy people overall.

"I guess so. I mean...turns out I might be made of a rock soooo Earth makes sense with Autumn there." A long sip on the tea to just try and not say anything else.

"You are an extremely touchy guy," Red Son said and paused at the offer. He huffed, looking to the side, and trying to hide the small blush, but he couldn't do much about the flickering embers of his hair. "But...yes, there is that. I am unfortunately not the best at the maintenance." Usually he's only managing because Saya or Kantera is around. Usually Saya. Which means he can go days without quite easily. "I will be more....tolerant of your behavior than usual. So don't be weird about it!"

Wait what.

"Made out of-I thought you were a human?" He asked, looking confused. "Last I checked, humans were very organic about their birth."

MK opened his mouth to say he wouldn't be weird but whoops. That subject change. Right. He did say it earlier but he didn't really explain.

"Yeeeeeah. About that. Um...nope." MK said and took another sip of his team. Aaaaand he's going to leave it at that for a moment. Just hoping Red Son totally dropped the subject.

Red Son waits several beats for MK to go on only for there to be silence.

Ah.

Not going to be that easy then. He supposed it tracks. He's still very new at figuring out how MK works in a 'friendship' sense, but he has noticed that he rarely acknowledges his stress even when called out. So it really is a behavior pattern.

"....do you happen to know if you're are running on a human lifespan, or the lifespan of most things with an abnormal birth?" He asked. It's an important thing to know.

He was kind of assuming he had set himself up for heartbreak in a century when they both passed so it made a difference.

"You know...I don't know. I guess I've been aging like a normal person." MK looked down at his hands. He turned them over, just looking at them. Would he stay like this or was it different? He was different from Monkey King. In a lot of ways.

"I guess I'd have to find the person who made me and ask. But I have no idea who that is or why they even did it. Even Master Subohdi didn't know..."

"Wow. Normal person. Said to someone who was under three feet for decades," Red Son said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Some infancy and child stages are prolonged, sometimes slower aging happens when one enters their prime. It'll probably be....two decades? To really tell if you're aging has slowed."

He picks up his boiling cup of tea, taking a sip. "And the Monkey King?"

"Oh! Sorry! Sorry! I...I meant normal for a human. I..."

There he went, putting his foot in his mouth. He went quiet and sighed. Darn it, MK. He drank the rest of his tea and looked at Red Son.

"Monkey King doesn't know. I don't think. I didn't tell him yet. Didn't really get the chance. Or...I guess I just didn't...tell him. Yet."

"Yes, yes, standard human egocentricism. And they say demons are arrogant," he said with a wave of his hand. Like he wasn't constantly arrogant.

"I would ask him. He is annoyingly perceptive," he said. "Still, good to know for the scans. Hopefully it will be close enough to the baseline to not confuse the results, or else I'll need to see if Wukong has had more luck teaching you to meditate than I had with the Dragon Girl. The magic option takes an hour of you being calm and still." He takes another long sip and sets down his cup.

"I'm going to get my devices. You can make more tea if you want. There is food in the fridge. Don't touch the blood in the cooler," he said like that was a normal thing as he left to go to his workshop.

MK opened his mouth to correct Red Son but stopped himself. He almost admitted he wasn't human. ...He wasn't, was he? He fell quiet and didn't quite pay attention to what Red Son was saying. Then he heard food and blood? What? MK stood up and walked over to the fridge. He opened the door and stared at the food and yep. Blood. There's blood in the fridge.

Why is there blood in the fridge?

Wait. Right. Saya. So this is for her. And that means...Red Son's blood is in the fridge.

He reminded himself to not put anything red in the fridge. Just in case.

Human egocentricism does not require one to be human, just for people to be influenced by them.

Sometimes you know your blood is potent and you easily recover a pint while sleeping so it's easy to make a backlog without suffering ill affects. At least the blood is in medical bags so it's not super easy to mistake for other things.

Red Son takes a few minutes longer than necessary to gather the devices. They were on hand for testing Saya for her hibernation so it didn't take long. But he needed a few minutes to gather himself together.

Rubbing hard at his eyes, as relief and a far more easy hope than he was used to bloomed in his chest. His parents were safe. He was safe. His parents would allow him the friendships he had found himself wanting despite himself.

He had slumped to his knees again, laughing breathlessly, letting go for a few minutes so it didn't all overwhelm him. Enough to pull himself together again.

After his face was clear, he grabbed the box of devices and headed upstairs, going over the rest of what MK said. About the scroll and Azure.

MK closed the fridge door and looked at the tea cup. He picked it up and moved to the sink. Instead of making more tea, he just started to wash his cup. MK isn't sure what the scanner will find. Not sure what the pill he took did or will do. Somehow a mystery pill is less scary than other things.

The cup is washed and put on the drying rack. the noodle boy put his hands on the sink and let his head fall forward. Why was it almost easy to talk to Red Son? Maybe it was because the friendship was new. Or that Red Son just knew a lot and was smart. Whatever the case, it just all came out. MK couldn't pull back the words or what he said. His mind drifted to Azure as he watched his enemy, his once friend, Monkey Kong's once brother just fall apart.

Because of him.

MK wants to leave the world a better place than he found it but what if his destiny was to make things worse? What if he made this place worse? Could this place handle him going into his monkey form? Handle the power he could unleash? He couldn't control it like Monkey King could. What would Red Son think if he saw him like that? Would they even still be friends?

The echoes of words and memories makes golden energy spike over his body. Oh no. Calm down. Don't let it out. MK groans as he desperately tries to take deep breathes. Like Red Son said. Like Monkey King taught him. Take in a deep breath. Let it out. Focus. Calm. Calm down, MK.

"Calm. Just breathe and be calm..." MK mumbled to himself.

Red Son walks into the room-

And stops, staring at MK. At the flickering golden energy. He didn't have golden eyes like Wukong or MK, but he had a better awareness than most. It had been that awareness that drew his eyes to things of importance. It was how he had been able to achieve the Samadhi Fire by near instinct.

There was power there. There was a lot of power there, different from when he was invincible.

He sets down the box, moving over to MK. He had never been afraid to approach power before and he was hardly going to start now.

He puts a hand on his back. "Noodle Boy, do you need help?"

MK almost jumped when he felt the hand on his back. The sparks surged as his form changed slightly and just for a moment. He turned around and forced down the worry. It was okay. He needed to calm down. No danger here. None at all.

"Hey! I'm fine. Yeah. Just need to sit down, I think." MK quickly moved over and sat down at the table again. He took deep and slow breathes.

"I'm alright. Don't worry about me. So. Scanning time?"

Red Son's eyes narrowed at that. In truth, he could brush it off. If the Noodle Boy didn't want to talk about it, who was he to press?

But.

Wasn't that part of friendship? To care and not brush it off?

Though he wonders if that would spook MK?

He moves over to the box, pulling out a device. "I will not force you to talk," he decided. "However, I would appreciate it if you did not insult my intelligence by implying I would fall for such obvious lies. You were the one who insisted on friendship, and since I have found myself begrudgingly accepting this is my life now, realize I do accept the responsibilities of such."

He smacks two nodes to his temples. "I will listen if you have a problem. Provide a solution if it's a problem that needs one. Or simply let you get it out of that noodle brain of yours."

MK always wants to be the one who his friends turn to. To help them, protect them, and be the one they can lean on. Somehow, somewhere, he can't find it in himself to open up. To rely on them. He felt like he had to be the strong one. Thinking about it, talking about it, it made it real. He'd rather pretend it wasn't real at all.

Red Son's words hit hard when the little nodes are attached to his temples. He looks at his friend. Listening to Red Son, of all people, say that just hits different. Mei could say things but they didn't penetrate well. Somehow, Red Son did. Having his friend who was usually more standoffish and not so prone to opening, suddenly offer to listen just hit different.

"It's my monkey form. It comes out and I can't control it. I feel different. When I was in the scroll, the curse talked to me. It became like another me. Or like me. It wasn't me. But it made me realize...I don't think about stuff when it's sad or I don't like it. I never thought of where I came from or who my parents are. Like ever. And...I'm worried I'm going to ruin things if I use that power. Do bad things if I use it. And that scares me."

Red Son hums. "You'll feel a little warmth. That's normal," he said, poking his forehead, and drawing a circle with a warm band of magic.

"First off, the curse of the scroll is designed to torture you. Its meant to make you look at every horrible thing you've done and reflect on it and either change, or go mad," he said. He feels its important MK is aware of that. The Scroll of Memory is not a pleasant place to be. Its why he had been so terrified for his parents. "Which I imagine is a nightmare scenario for someone who doesn't want to think about sad things."

It did track. MK had always been extremely optimistic, even when he clearly had no idea what he was doing. The only time he could recall him looking down was after he had crashed on the dronecoptor, talking about taking his plan.

"As for your power, if you're afraid of it, that is going to be what happens," Red Son said. "Ruin. Destruction. Bad things. Hurting people you care about," he said, turning to the machine and switching it on. "A bit of fear can be healthy. Power can do many good things. But when you combine fear and power, it will only ever be a poison."

MK didn't say anything. So he might feel warm. That's alright. He didn't even squirm to try and see the magic circle. He listened to Red Son's words. Yeah. Azure said that about the curse. It just seemed different with him, maybe? Like it knew things and was trying to get him to think. That just had to be what Red Son was saying. It was trying to get him to change or go mad. To give into his destiny as the Harbinger of Chaos.

"How do I stop being afraid of it? Or as afraid of it. You...weren't there. Maybe I should show you sometime. Maybe you and Monkey King can help. He's super powerful and you helped Mei train to control the Samadhi Fire. Maybe you can help me too. So I don't get chaos poisoning."

"Its not a literal poison," Red Son said, writing down notes as he looks at the readings of the machine. "Sun Wukong may be able to help. Its hard to say. I've never heard stories of him being afraid of his power, and its-" He hesitates.

Pen tapping on the paper. Ugh. This would mean being vulnerable and he hates that thought.

But.

But if the scenario happened where he is allowed his friends and his family without conflict, he should commit, should he not?

"Its different, being powerful, and being afraid of your power. It means when you use the power, you don't have control of it. You can't stop it. And then you have to either be more afraid, or find a way to be okay in that lack of control, and that is where the poison starts to spread. You let the power control you. Let it take you how it will. Let the rush be all you wish to pursue," he said. "You become the wild fire and you do everything you can to maintain it. The easiest way to maintain the Samadhi Fire in that state was to hurt myself, and the rush of it all made it so I didn't care once I started going. I hated being afraid of it, hated feeling bad for when it hurt people I cared about, so I kept going until they took it away."

He adjusts a few dials. "Very different from how the Dragon Girl is with the fire now, isn't it? Because I made sure she wasn't afraid of it. Respect the danger of it, to be aware, but not afraid."

This opening up between them MK had always wanted. He wanted to be close to his friends. Close to Red Son when they were friends. He swallowed as he listened to how the Samadhi Fire felt like when Red Son had it. Why he used it. Hurt himself to keep it going. MK had to be at a point of terrible pain to use his powers. To be angry, upset, in danger, and just all around not happy. At least, so far. He had only used it twice.

"...Did you feel like you were a different person? Or like you lost part of yourself? I did. I didn't-" MK grunted as the energy spiked again. His form shifted only for a moment as the golden energy flowed though him. The readings definitely spiked too along with something else. Like a shadow energy wave behind that primary one. MK closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing.

Red Son reached over and put his hand over MK's. Squeezing it for a four count, and loosening his grip. Let him have something physical to follow. It had been something his mother had done when he was younger, and his temperament was even more volatile than it was now, and his outlet of the fire had been gone.

"In a sense. It was more...I stopped existing," he said. "The way to forge the fire is to fully understand all the elements are one. To see no differences. And when that happened, I could barely see myself as different. I was the fire. And then when I was myself, I became more frightened because I had stopped existing, but then when I used the fire, I threw myself into that feeling because if I was the fire, I couldn't be afraid. It became a vicious cycle. That is what I mean by poison. The power will make you feel strong in such a way you think you don't have to be afraid, but when you're stable again, you will fear that happening, and then you start to hate the fear, and it all spirals out of control."

He was taking notes with his other hand, studying the reading carefully. "The Dragon Girl does seem to be spared the idea of losing herself. I can't say for sure if that's because she didn't forge it, or if its because she has such a clear sense of self. It could be either, but I am leaning a bit more to the latter."

The gentle squeezes helped MK calm down. The energy died down as he remained himself. Mei always knew who she was and who she wanted to be. It was something MK admired in her very much. She just knew who she was. She was Mei. She always would be. MK nodded and looked at Red Son.

"I don't want to lose myself. I just wanna be me. To be MK. That's all I want..."

Red Son hummed. He wants to ask why MK would give up such power? But he knows that is a foolhardy question. He knows he has the spark to reforge the Samadhi Fire in himself and he hasn't. For a multitude of reasons. There could be many reasons to not pursue such power.

No, MK was worried about the power changing him. So. "Is Mei different?"

MK blinked and the question just crashed that negative train of thought.

"Huh? I mean, no. She's Mei. Mei is always Mei. ...Why?"

"Mei was gifted a power she was not made for. Random chance is the only reason she has it," Red Son said. "She took an outside power and made it part of herself. But she is still Mei. Agreed?"

"Riiiight. Yeah. I follow you so far." MK nods. But he hasn't quite connected it to what he was saying earlier. Keep going, Red Son.

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