[OPEN]

[daddyscythe]

Characters: OPEN
Location: Outskirts of Nevada
Rating: PG
Time: All day, Feb 27
Description: Shibusen offers a field trip to acclimate the guests to the Madness wavelength.


It's a perfectly pleasant day for the most part, if one is to look at the sky and maybe the horizon. For the attendees of the fieldtrip, however, things are naturally a lot more grim, if also lot more colorful. There are understandably no civilians in the area -- or any other signs of life apart from the group.

As promised, the location is extensively arranged to cordon off various areas of the place where Madness spikes have been identified. They are all properly labeled, both with text and visuals, and discreet agents kept an eye on all corners of the large field. The mirror by which the guest will come in is set in a corner, with some food provided next to it.

People are free to come and go, though the other end leads to the clinic instead of the Death Room. The rules are simple: venture into a level you think you can handle, and if you can't, someone will help.

In the afternoon, a light rain will come to add some variety to the endless desert. Make sure to take shelter in the open tents provided to protect you from the elements!

[ooc: Just put in open tags in the comments, [Character Name | Open/Close | Area/sort of madness targeted/whatever marker you want].

Plotting and information post was here.]

Comments

[shiromadoushi]

There was another moment's hesitation before Bakura took the offered hand, not letting go even after he was standing. As long as they were resonating... it should be fine, right? "OK. If we focus on each other... it should be fine, right?"

...should be "brought" up there, it's my turn for typos tonight

[attentionwenches]

Loki nodded, about to say something else -- then he noticed the desert dirt on Bakura's clothes, and felt a twinge of guilt.

"...sorry about knocking you over earlier," he said. "I don't know what came over me."

That wasn't quite true -- he knew exactly what it was, the Madness -- but the apologetic figure of speech still conveyed what he wanted it to.

I didn't even notice :)

[shiromadoushi]

"Aaaa..." Bakura rubbed the back of his neck a moment before dusting off his clothes, the touch of embarrassment returning. "It's all right, the Madness makes people do things they wouldn't normally," he assured. "I've had friends that under that influence attacked me with a sword or bit me in the arm, just a push is nothing," he smiled, waving a hand.

[attentionwenches]

Loki's eyes widened. "Oh, dear. I am glad the effects were minor this time, then."

He turned to face towards the areas marked high-level, pulling a deep breath.

"Are you ready?"

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura took a deep breath of his own as he eyed the area before reaching out to take hold of his friend's hand again for reassurance. "I... might need to transform... if it gets to be too much," he warned, unable to keep the touch of nervousness from his voice. "It's easier to block it out that way, and I think resonance works better when I'm that way too. So if I vanish, catch me?"

[attentionwenches]

"I will," Loki promised, squeezing Bakura's hand for a moment.

Okay. Time to do this. Loki shoved away the rising embarrassment over his earlier outburst and took his next steps towards the Madness, pulling Bakura with him.

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura followed closely, a half step behind. Even with the buffer from his friend, he could feel the Madness growing as they approached, and his grip tightened. He could do this... he had his friend to support and he knew that the Voice he heard wasn't the real one...

[attentionwenches]

Loki knew what to look for this time. The return of Thor's voice was like a jolt of pain as Thor began laughing at him for relying on someone else. No, Loki thought, this is the best way. You would try this alone, and you would go mad. I will not let go. I shall not become angry again. It was a battle in his mind -- a defensive battle, as Loki struggled to maintain sovereignty over his own mind against the invasive, insidious Madness.

The resonance did help. Feeling Bakura there, both in his hand and in his mind, helped. Loki wondered if he would be able to feel when Bakura couldn't go on without danger.

[shiromadoushi]

The Bakura's step began to slow as the echoes of the Ring's Voice grew stronger, his left hand twitching as memories overlapped with the growing presence. He could feel the Ring on his chest; the tines in his skin burrowing down in as the Ring burned with an unnatural heat, blood trickling from the wounds. There was always blood... running down the tower of Monster World's castle, dribbling down his arm.

It was eating at him again. The teeth that he couldn't see but he could feel as the Ring's voice filled his head with mocking laughter.

His grip on Loki's hand tightened as he tried to keep from being lost to the mangle of memories.

[attentionwenches]

The cheers in Loki's head were deafening. It was Thor they were cheering for, he knew it, it was Thor who was receiving all the praise for everything Loki had ever done, and the unfairness of it threatened to boil over. It was the words Bakura had spoken that kept it in check -- that what he was doing was right, that it was unselfish, that he was doing this for the good of Asgard's people -- and the resonance he was feeling from...

...Bakura?

Loki stopped walking, and whirled around to face his friend. His free hand closed around Bakura's shoulder, and reached into the overlap between their minds that the resonance created.

"Bakura, look at me. Look at me," he commanded. Loki couldn't ignore the cheers and the admirers and the screaming women and the foolish men and Thor's laughter through all of it, but he could choose to look at Bakura instead. "It's not real, Bakura. None of it is real. But I am."

[shiromadoushi]

The paler teen startled, looking up with wide, frightened eyes a moment before looking down, seeming truly shaken. "I--" he faltered, left hand twitching as if it was being impaled over and over on the tower. "I-- I think I need-- need to transform. I can't--" He cut himself off, taking in a deep breath, trying to refocus. "I can't do this when I'm still me, I-- the rest of me isn't there when I'm not," he tried to explain, voice shaking, left hand moving to clutch where the Ring's scars lay hidden under his chest. His Weapon form was his moment of strength. That moment where he had tricked the Ring, when he was alone, out of himself, waiting for the moment when he would finally tip the balance in his favor...

There was a white glow around him for just a moment before the shattered looking D10 dropped into Loki's hand, red thread instantly reaching out to cling tightly to his friend's palm.

[attentionwenches]

"Then do it," Loki said. He caught Bakura's weapon form easily -- even if it had not been attached, Loki would not have let it drop.

'Do you think we should turn back?' he asked, looking down at the die in his hand.

[shiromadoushi]

'I don't know,' Bakura admitted, much calmer and more relaxed in his Weapon form. The resonance was stronger when he was a Weapon, and his ability to block out the Madness even more so. The walls of the die were protective shields that he could hold up to keep out the deluge of twisted memories that the Madness stirred up. 'Are you all right?'

[attentionwenches]

'For the moment,' Loki confirmed. What with the renewed resonance with Bakura and his humiliating outburst earlier, it was possible to keep his anger in check. 'I think...I think I can go on a little longer.'

[shiromadoushi]

'As long as I can stay like this... I should be all right...' There was a definite note of uncertainty in his voice, however.

[attentionwenches]

'Of course you can stay like this,' Loki thought firmly. Why would he make Bakura change? He had no reason to need Bakura in human form. Closing one hand around the die, Loki stepped forward again, slowly this time. He was deep into the Madness now, at the high middle levels at least, and could not have made it nearly so far without resonating.

He focused on breathing, on his footsteps, on the smell of desert dirt, and on keeping the distorted cheering distant and distorted. Loki's breaths came faster and faster, and his steps became slower and slower. He brought his free arm up to cover his face, his head, anything to keep the voices out. It was like struggling against an oncoming wind.

Why should I just stand back and let Thor take the throne? Why should I let him have it? thought Loki to himself. He couldn't help it. I'm the better choice, and I can prove it. To Father. To everyone.

[shiromadoushi]

'Loki...?' Bakura asked, tone concerned. While it wasn't as practiced of a resonation as he had had with Vash, he could still tell that his friend was physically reacting. 'If it's too much... we can try again later, don't push too hard!'

[attentionwenches]

The initial emotional response was a surge of anger, anger that Bakura doubted him. The idea that Bakura thought he was weak burned in his throat.

'Why do you doubt me?' he demanded. 'I can handle this. It won't get me again. I will not allow it.'

Another step. Then another.

[shiromadoushi]

There was a waver in the resonance at that, the clear memory of Jounouchi yelling at him for not believing in Yuugi echoing sharply in Bakura's mind. 'It-- it's not that I don't! I'm just worried... something like this... it's too much, even for someone strong...!' he protested, the die huddling in his friend's palm.

There was a strong fear along side the worry. Fear of being abandoned. Fear of not being seen as a good friend. Fear of being cast aside because he worried. He didn't want to be left behind....

[attentionwenches]

'Silence!' The word was a snarl, and it cut through their resonance like a knife. Their bond weakened, and the cheering and laughter grew in Loki's ears in a crescendo.

Kill him. Kill him. Thor was all that stood between him and the throne. If he were just -- cut out of the picture -- he could do it, it would be so easy...it would be best, wouldn't it? Best for everyone, if Thor never assumed the throne...

But I don't want to kill him, a small part of Loki protested, the part that was still himself. He's my brother! I can't -- I wouldn't do it!

Kill him for the good of Asgard.

No!

[shiromadoushi]

The word hit like a slap to the face and sent Bakura mentally reeling into the waiting grasp of predatory memories, drowning in the echoes of the Voice as the space around him filled with the comatose forms of his friends.

No... no he wasn't--

In his ears, cutting through the din of Madness, was a sound like a crack, echoing harshly as he felt something rip across his chest.

No. He had promised. The one promise he had made to himself...

'I won't lose any more friends...'

The resonance was breaking. His friend was losing himself to the Madness. If he couldn't do anything as a die...

There was a white glow from the crackled plastic before Bakura transformed back, grabbing hold of his friend's shoulders tightly, his entire body shaking as he fought to keep focused. "Loki! We have to go back! Now!"

[attentionwenches]

"I won't!" The words were ripped from Loki's throat, an answer to the voices in his head, not Bakura. His eyes snapped open and he stared at the face in front of him. It took him a moment to come back to the present enough to recognize it.

Had he really...just been thinking about killing Thor? Had he actually considered it? He had. For just a moment there, Loki had.

A look of deep horror crossed Loki's face, followed rapidly by sorrow. "I can't go on," he said, hot tears welling up in his eyes. "I can't go any further. You're right. You were right."

He hung his head.

"Let's go back."

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura nodded, clinging tightly to Loki just a moment more before returning to die form, clinging tightly to his friend's palm, being as open as he could to help shield his friend from the Madness around them.

[attentionwenches]

Loki closed his hand tightly around Bakura, then started walking toward the edge of the Madness-marked area. Before long, he broke into a run, driven by a desire to escape both the Madness and what it had made him feel.

To kill his brother -- what a horrible thing to think. And yet the confirmation that yes, he would be the better king...it elated him.

No, Loki didn't want to think about it anymore. He just wanted to get away, to get out. He would run until the pressure was gone from his mind and everything was clear again.

[shiromadoushi]

The closer they got to the safe zone, the stronger Bakura began to feel, like a pressure was lifting off him, the taint of the madness bleeding away. The Voice faded, as did the desperation of his attachment.

He was in control again. His friend was safe. It was over.

There was such relief in that....