[OPEN] March Catch-All

[kyley_b]

Who: Kyle Broflovski and you!
What: Finding a way through the catacombs per the March event and dealing with deepening corruption
When: Throughout March
Where: Beneath and around Trench

Content Warnings: corpsey monsters, burning people themes and memories, anxiety, corruption, body horror, skeletons.



UNDERGROUND

Pulled below the earth, faced with the impassive stone face of the Moss King, Kyle accepts what has to be done quickly. He takes a pack from the cubbies without a word, his mouth a line like a bloodless cut. He is very thin and very pale, his skin pocked with blemishes, and it doesn't look as though he's been sleeping much. Still, he hefts his pack and walks without hesitation through the mouth of the stone carving and into the catacombs.

He mutters to himself as he walks, his usual cheerful nature subdued. He stops whenever the tunnels branch off into different directions, restless eyes searching the walls. He talks to himself softly - "Latin? Is that Latin?" "...the answer is three." "Oh, come on, that's dumb." - before he picks directions, moving further and further into the maze.


i. life can't be easy

Kyle smells smoke long before he sees it. He recognises the sound as soon as it's audible, and he looks to whoever he's with with wide eyes. "Dude, that's a fire." He hurries down the tunnels, following sound and smell and then heat.

The burning house in the center of the cavern the tunnel opens into isn't familiar, but that doesn't matter. The screams of a woman burning to death take him suddenly and swiftly back to his childhood, and Kyle doesn't even think about it - he drops his pack and runs into the house.

He has no intention of coming out until he finds whoever is inside.


ii. it's not always swell

"There's definitely somebody following us," Kyle says softly. He looks around, frowning at the walls of the tunnel. His eyes flutter briefly, looking dark and strange. "This whole place is alive. Dead. Something. But there's definitely somebody following us."

After a few more twists of the tunnels Kyle stops, turning around. He stares into the dark beyond the circle of the flashlights and headlamps. If you try to hurry him along he just hushes you, focused on whatever may lurk in the shadows. Just when it seems like he must have to give up, there's the sound of shuffling feet.

The shambling corpse that gradually approaches the sanctity of your puddle of light might look familiar to you.

Or maybe it doesn't. Maybe instead of an undead loved one, you instead witness a slowly moving man in army camouflage, his rotting hands tied in front of him. You can't see his face, because it's covered with a moldering green alien costume upon which perches a jaunty wizard hat.

Kyle backs away from this absurdity as fast as he can.


iii. don't tell me truth hurts

The black hole is terrifying, but Kyle finds himself drawn to it anyway. Something in him wants so badly to experience whatever its horrors are even as most of his self is screaming in terror.

He stands in front of it for a time, thin body swaying slightly. When his lips part its to utter a reedy little whine that eventually becomes words. If you're with him, he will turn to you at last. Or maybe you get a video call on your Omni.

"I'm really not a good person. I let people think I am. But I'm not. I'm an arrogant, self righteous fraud who thinks he's better than everyone else just because he did well in school." He tips his head back and cackles.

"People think I'm nice, but I'm just angry all the time. I'm poison."



CORRUPTION


i. flesh is a trap


It becomes increasingly harder to get ahold of Kyle as the month progresses. After his excursions to the jungle and the catacombs, he is seemingly more reluctant to leave his house. He answers voice messages and texts, but he won't engage with video. His responses become shorter, more confused.

If you come by Kyle's house to see him at this point, he will speak to you from the other side of the door but will not open it. he has good reason for this - Kyle's face is not what it once was. It's not much of anything, anymore.

If you really want to see him, you'll have to be forceful.


ii. and magic sets us free


You'd be forgiven for not recognising him after a certain point; a denuded skull sits atop Kyle's body, and human skulls are pretty hard to identify at a glance. This one is gold, however, and its eye sockets glitter with Darkblood. Around it there is a faint radiance resembling a winged halo. Darkbloods who can see auras this month will see behind that something red and circular, something that feels outside of humanity.

This version of Kyle can be seen walking the streets, paying no mind to anyone around him.


[Don't see anything you like? Eyyy, wildcard me! Will match format.]

Comments

Underground..they goin on the WHOLE ass journey

[klawful]

Karkat isn't much better looking. He hadn't bothered sleeping much in the slime lately which leaves him pale and exhausted looking. Being a paleblood this month fucking sucked and he can't even remember the last time he slept period. He's not even surprised at this point when he's forced into this shithole underground with some asshole.

Due to the circumstances of his blood, Karkat doesn't recognize Kyle whatsoever. He sees his face, but there's something off about it, little tendrils of fungi growing around Kyle's neck in some hallucinogenic terror. Karkat had at least gotten used to seeing that on other people, so it's not a shocker at this point. He's just fucking tired.

He climbs to his feet and yanks one of the bags out of the cubbies.

"Stupid fucking..." He stalks off after Kyle, stomping along. He's useless with Latin or any of the other human languages, so he just tails after the human in the meantime.

"So, you're kind of a dork, huh." Said conversationaly. As though they were just meeting. He'll realize it's Kyle eventually. Just not right now, apparently .

[kyley_b]

Kyle assumes that Karkat recognizes him, but he also isn't paying particularly close attention to how he's acting. If anything he is more fascinated with the life pulse surrounding Karkat than his words.

Although those ones penetrate.

"Yeah," Kyle agrees easily enough. "But it PAYS to be a dork. I get out of more trouble by thinking than by force."

He stops again, looking at two tunnels. "Okay, see, this one says 'two roads diverged in a yellow wood.' That's from a poem about the road less traveled, so we should take the shittier looking tunnel."

[klawful]

"Are you sure about that?" Karkat grumbles this, but Kyle was probably right. Karkat lost track of how many times he has fucked up because of impulsive choices. Granted, he wasn't an idiot, but sometimes his temper might as well make him an idiot.

"Is it actually from a poem or is it just a coincidence?" He's asking to be difficult, but he's sure Kyle must be right.

"I'm Karkat, by the way. Since we're apparently going to be stuck doing this for god fucking knows how long."

[kyley_b]

"I'm sure. And yeah, it's, uh... Robert Frost, maybe?"

Kyle looks over, shocked. Karkat doesn't recognize him. He isn't sure how to process that. Is it permanent? If it is, isn't that a blessing for the troll? He could forget all Kyle has done to hurt him.

"I know," Kyle mutters. "We've met. Are you okay? Not hurt or anything? Or like...distressed? You know how these places play mind games."

II

[imaglyphwitch]

So this month was already starting to be a whole big round of insanity. She thought that HER month had been pretty bad, what with being corrupted and everything, but then next month started and boy, was that a heck of a beginning. What had happened after all of this, though, was Luz resolving to try and find out what all of her friends had been up to.

In this case, she didn't have to go and find Kyle: him walking around was enough of an indication that she and he needed to have a bit of a talk. She had not seen anyone who had a skull on their head, and seeing as they had the similar build of Kyle, Luz figured it was time to try and approach him

"Uh, Kyle? That you, buddy?"

[kyley_b]

The figure stops and turns, expressionless by virtue of what it is. Taller than usual, wrapped in a long embroidered coat, it seems ageless and alien.

"I'm not your buddy, guy," Kyle replies emotionlessly. But he steps closer, apparently looking down at Luz.

[imaglyphwitch]

Ok. So. That was sure strange. Never mind that they already looked creepy enough, that didn't sound like Kyle normally would, with none of his warmth. Still, Luz was not about to let this deter her: clearly SOMETHING was going on here.

"I don't about that. You sure sounds and look like him. What's with the mask?"

life can't be easy

[obeir]

"Kyle—!"

But in the blink of an eye he's already gone, careening off toward the burning house before K can even make a grab for him. The android has no choice but to follow, unwilling to abandon his friend to this obvious folly.

Being a Coldblood at least affords him some useful advantages when it comes to fire — he's immune to burning, and can generate a limited amount if ice. Not nearly enough to do anything about the house, but it might just be enough to prevent Kyle from burning to death before K can bodily haul him back out.

[kyley_b]

Kyle has paused for a moment, one arm thrown up in a half hearted attempt to shield his face. He's looking around frantically.

"Hello?! Hello!! Hand on, just hang on, we're coming!"

He hears a shriek further inside the house, towards what he thinks is the kitchen, and he darts that way.

"Miss Claridge?!" he calls, confused. He pays to attention to K at all. He's positive there's people here, but they are indistinct and at the corners of his vision.

[obeir]

It isn't that K can't hear the horrible death cries just as clearly as Kyle can, but they're not provoking the same desperate compulsion to find their source. The entire situation is deeply unsettling to him and feels wrong, very much like a trap. The shadowy entities he can just make out in the very periphery of his vision really aren't helping to convince him otherwise as he makes his way deeper into the burning house, calling Kyle's name.

It's disorienting — the rooms are hard to distinguish from each other, but he could swear the layout of the house is actually changing whenever he tries to backtrack. He does his best to follow the sound of Kyle's voice, wondering who the hell Miss Claridge is.

"Kyle! Wait!"

Underground

[onerthes]

She was deceptively calm as soon as the two of them were in the shrine. The look that she gave the shrine of the Moss King could have withered stone while she fetched a backpack. She finally snapped, her voice like the crack of a whip. "This didn't go well for Roderic, Moss King." She didn't finish the story at all, but instead stormed off to follow Kyle.

"We'll get through this. Are you alright?"

[kyley_b]

Kyle looks over at Vira-Lorr briefly.

"Fine," he says, sounding tired and irritable.

"You seem pissed."

[onerthes]

"This happened in the nightmare. Julia's dad put us through a bunch of awful games once, pretending like he was helping. I really should have imagined the Moss King would do the same. Bastard likes his games." She muttered, shaking her head and sighing. "But that doesn't help our situation does it?"

Underground

[azurestar]

Lance hears Kyle ahead in the tunnels talking to himself and freezes. Then plasters his back against the wall of the tunnel. He sliiides along, ignoring the skeletons because what is that? Is that a guy actually talking or is he hearing that? He has some issues with hearing voices and seeing things and these tunnels do not help at all with that. What, with all the phantom sounds everywhere, and uh, the corruption he's got going on. His skin id ashy and off and he's got some fangs and an eyepatch over his left eye hiding the worst of it.

But yes, there's a muttering sound ahead and his mind is distorting it to sound like something else. The whispers in his head are arguing that the sounds ahead are a trap from the deep place. He gets close enough to poke his head around the corner and look and when he sees Kyle looking at a sign with an "Oh, come on, that's dumb" his expression goes a bit flat and suspicious.

"Man, you sound about as crazy as me."

Re: Underground

[kyley_b]

Kyle jumps and whirls around, eyes wide. His lips curl in an unconscious snarl or a moment - corruption does NOT help in the paranoia department.

He relaxes slightly.

"I'm not crazy," he says, scowling. "I'm finding a way out of here."

[azurestar]

Honestly? Mood. Lance definitely isn't going to hold that against him, and he steps out from behind the corner where only his head was poked out from behind.

"I mean, it's fine if you are. Crazy, I mean… so which way is out?"

Underground - I

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul is glad for the presence of Kyle as they make their way through the underground. He's one of the few that hasn't outright condemned Maul for his behavior and he's been clear that he'll support Maul as he tries to be better. He also is good for talking while Maul just listens, which is good since the Sith Lord is in one of his moods where he's very quiet right now.

Kyle mentioning that there is a fire makes him glance at his friend with a withering stare. "How very perceptive of you," he says dryly. When they reach the burning house, Maul stares at it with an impassive expression on his face. It's impossible to tell what he's thinking. But before he can say anything, Kyle is running into the house. "Kyle, no!" But he's already gone. Maul grumbles under his breath and goes in after him automatically, not willing to leave behind someone he's grown to care about.

Force dammit, even he could tell that this was a trap. As soon as he goes inside, he blinks against the smoke and heat that assaults his senses. Where did Kyle get to....?

[kyley_b]

There's a simple fact about Kyle that tends to go unnoticed because he's so deceptively normal: he's a goddamn walking disaster magnet. His entire life has been defined by events that are so violently absurd that explaining them makes him sound like a lunatic. Running into a burning building is incredibly low on the list of dumb shit Kyle has done.

Inside, he squints against the light and the heat. He thinks the screams are coming from the kitchen, and so he heads that way, ignoring Maul completely. "Hello?!" he cries, looking around frantically.

[survivalthroughhate]

The heat makes the air shimmer in front of Maul's eyes and he finds it hard to take in a breath. For a moment, he thinks of Mustafar, the planet he grew up on for five years after Sidious had kidnapped him as a child. It had felt very much like this place, all hellish fire and dizzying heat. He's trapped for a moment in old memories, the terror of a small child left to fend for themselves by someone who should have been watching out for him instead.

Then he snaps out of it as he listens to the crackle of the fire around him. He pushes down everything he's feeling and snaps right into the mission mode that he always used to do when making assassinations. He never failed his master then, and now with his only motivation being himself, he's not going to fail now. His only goal is to find Kyle right now and get out of here. He listens to the screams, knowing that's where he'll try to head, and goes off in the same direction.

don't tell me truth hurts; Video UN; lothrat

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Ezra blinks at the transmission, not certain it was meant to aimed at him. But maybe it was. They'd kinda talked about this, back in Temba, a little bit hadn't they?]

There's nothing wrong with feeling things, Kyle. Feelings aren't good or bad.

video; UN: TripleJ

[kyley_b]

[Kyle actually glances at his Omni, although he still seems mostly absorbed in staring at the void.]

Feelings spur on our actions, don't they? They direct your heart.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Our feelings and our actions are connected. But you don't act on every feeling or impulse, do you?

Abramelin (closed to Wrench)

[kyley_b]

Kyle wanders the street with no destination in mind.

His flesh is gone from his face, and what remains is a skull that was once golden but is fast flaking away. Underneath there is something that can't quite be seen - something red and pulsing. To look at it too long brings on a tremendous headache. He is at least nine feet tall now, his body emaciated and his arms elongated - his hands fall nearly to his knees.

The only thing recognisable about him is his voice. As he walks, he murmurs to himself.

"I summon you Headless One, who created earth and heaven, who created night and day..."

Citizens of Trench who see him wisely cross the street or duck into a store or an alley. Kyle's empty eye sockets are far from sightless, and there's an alien knowledge in the Darkblood roiling there.

"I am the Favor of the Aion; my name is a heart encircled by a serpent. I summon you, Headless One, who created the earth and heaven, who created night and day..."

[wwrench]

What's the sense of a certain grip on reality when reality is no longer a fixed point? When it can slip at a moment's notice and pitch you headlong into something better suited to a storybook or a Blockbuster movie?

To Wrench, it's as though he's looking at it all through a piece of cellophane. It's all there, more or less, but something about the way the light refracts or the colors shift and change makes it seem unfamiliar. He passes people he knows without as much as a nod of acknowledgement, and spends too long staring at faces he's never met. And that's all to say nothing of the mushrooms.

Once in a while, though, something pulls him back like a homing beacon. A strong emotion he just can't ignore, or the sense of someone else's certainty towards him. Maybe it's just the raw and earnest core in all of them. There are a few he can't help but recognize. So while the other Sleepers scatter at the sight of the enormous, willowy beast, Wrench stands his ground and stares up into its face with pursed lips.

What are you? he wonders, his curiosity shoving the words in his mind towards the hope of some kind of empathetic link.

[kyley_b]

Kyle - what's left of Kyle - stops. His golden face turns toward Wrench and he regards him for a long moment.

It doesn't matter. He signs it and thinks it back. There is still a trace of his self that comes across the link.

It's what I will become that is important.