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[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/577859824721592320/1216831120625111060/image.png?ex=6601d14a&is=65ef5c4a&hm=234609aa35e84163cc9bf8cb540f46c7baf01c3bd30a5443103e3a6f1a62a477&[/img]

[URL=https://youtu.be/_nGvkfj8aWs?si=Lnhv_UIekpItlUNa]{ ♪ ~ ♫ ~ ♪ }[/url]
[h1][color=6ecff6]• • •[/color][/h1][/center]

[color=4169e1][b][i]Darkness...[/i][/b][/color]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[center][color=2b58de][i][b]A void much blacker than night...[/b][/i][/color][/center]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[right][color=214cce][i][b]Empty...[/b][/i][/color][/right]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[center][color=1d44b8][i][b]Silent...[/b][/i][/color][/center]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[color=1a3ca2][i][b]Weightless and cold...[/b][/i][/color]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/577859824721592320/1216857300292337786/d8fbb1179f2fdb48e7323f18e121b0bb.png?ex=6601e9ac&is=65ef74ac&hm=bd1cf4b3987b3c5c8062e125ce801f0d0c8eede1d44ea161fc15c7ad61e9305c&[/img][/center]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[right][color=4169e1][i][b]And then back to black...[/b][/i][/color][/right]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[center][color=2b58de][i][b]The echo of fighting...[/b][/i][/color][/center]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[color=214cce][i][b]A cacophony rings...[/b][/i][/color]
 
 
 
 
 
 
[center][color=1d44b8][i][b]The laughter...the voices...the cries of all things...[/b][/i][/color][/center]
 
 
 
 
 

[indent]The nightmares rolled on, flashing in scenes. A woman running through a parking structure. A barista flinging a tin full of salt. Another individual took a rather nasty fall. Then a gunshot rang out. A fire burst through the void. The flames soon swept away, and a dog could be heard. The barking cut off, in a sad little whine. Then more shots broke out. Two and then four, then one more, then none. A woman cried out, then a man, in return. So many voices, and so many sights, all overlapping, each but a blip, breaking the darkness, before fading away. The story then settled on a dark lonely alley, where a man was faced off against a known fiend. They exchanged only words, respectful and calm. Then away they both faded, same as the rest. The darkness returned, and silence once more took hold, until that choir of voices once more broke through...[/indent]

[center][color=4169e1][i][b]Awaken, my heroes, break from your slumber.
Arise now, dear heroes, and try to remember.
An encounter, a hunt or a brawl.
A masked figure, who brought you to fall.
A fiend or a beast, you choose the label.
However it's said, will not change this fable.

You walked the path that set forth this tale.
Now it's up to you, brave heroes, to complete without fail.

Take in your surroundings, survey the scene.
A bed, a nightstand, a lamp, you know the routine.
Escape from your prison is the first act to take.
Search through your room, for some way to break.

But! Hold now, what's this?
You notice...something's amiss.
What was just said?
A twist was impled.

Heroes, a plural, but how could it be?
Look down to your wrist and note what you see.
A symbol, a marking, so bright and so true.
A red one, a black one, green, yellow, and blue.

Your soul has been bound.
Three others around.
Your tales to be shared together as one.
Quadruple the odds increases the fun!

But where are the rest?
To find them is the test.
So make your first move.
Have you nothing to prove?

Make your escape.
Let your quest take its shape.
Hunt down your crew.
With them, you'll make it through.[/b][/i][/color][/center]

[hr]

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[h3][color=4169e1]~ • ~ • ~[/color][/h3][/center]

[indent]Mossy green eyes watched the ceiling through the darkness as the Game Master spoke out their rhyme. While the entity spoke, Emmett took note of what he could see through the shadows of the little room. A glowing red dot floated just above him, close to the wall. A camera, he was sure. Another just like it was across the way to his left, positioned just above another colorful glow. A blue rectangle, and a grid of symbols he could just make out as numbers. A keypad. There was no doubt there. His eyes were adjusted enough to the darkness for the glow of the panel to provide sufficient light to take in the rest of the room. The bed, the nightstand, and of course the lamp as they were mentioned, but he could also make out the shape of a desk across from the end of the bed, as well as something tall and shelf-like in the corner. Sitting up slowly, he reached for the lamp but stopped as he did, taking in the fact that he was in completely different clothing than when he had faced the Game Master in the alley. It was nothing new, really, standard for the 'show' as any avid watcher would know. Still, it was a little disorienting to be the one in such a position. His t-shirt and jeans were swapped for a tunic and simple trousers, and his combat boots were switched with some flimsy, leathery, lace-up things straight out of a medieval tale. His jacket and holster were long gone, gun, of course, included, along with his phone, keys, wallet, and anything else he had held on him. Nothing but the clothes on his back, and even those weren't really his.

Brushing it off, he pulled on the chain for the lamp. Once. Twice. Nothing. Then he reached to feel that the bulb was missing. [i]Of course,[/i] he thought with a huff, [i]Why did I think it'd be that simple?[/i] Shaking his head, Emmett got to his feet and began to search the room as the Game Master rambled on. Somehow he had misjudged how much the entity talked during these things...

Down on his knees, Emmett opened the top drawer on the nightstand, giving a triumphant laugh as a lightbulb rolled forward, "Bingo," he said, then grabbed the bulb and got back to his feet to twist it into place. The light flickered as he screwed it in, then steadied out as he got the thing fully into the socket. With the warm light flooding the room, Emmett was able to take things in far more easily.[/indent]

[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/577859824721592320/1216864648553431151/hehe_room_trans.png?ex=6601f084&is=65ef7b84&hm=8025c6a34827fe02a5c364f8d3593b2bbf4c2adaebd9313dd52d5c394d6a45b8&[/img][/center]

[indent]He took note of an apple and a water bottle set neatly on the nightstand, though chose to ignore them as he turned to look around the room in further detail. He stopped though as something the Game Master said caught his more direct attention, and turned his gaze to the camera by the door.[/indent]

[right][color=4169e1][i]"Look down to your wrist and note what you see."[/i][/color][/right]

[indent]As instructed, Emmett looked down to his wrist, the right one first, but seeing nothing, he looked to the left, his dominant hand, as it were, and stared at the emerald green clover inked into his skin, "Mother fucker..." he muttered, then looked back up to the camera and held up his wrist, "This better not be permanent!" he called, knowing full well that the fiend could hear him. When there was no response, he spat another curse, then huffed and turned to get back to the obvious task at hand. The first puzzle was always the same, it was essentially a tutorial, giving the player a glimpse of the types of puzzles to come.

Without any hesitance, he stepped up on the bed, and reached up to the clock hanging under the camera above it. Pulling it down off the wall, he turned it over and dropped to sit on the bed, before opening the back of it. He stopped, though when all that was there were gears and cogs, and blinked a couple of times.

"Oh, my wise hero, do not be so bold, surely you knew, that when it came you, I would for sure break the mold," the Game Master's voice sounded in his room then, actually causing him to jump, and he looked at the camera again, as if it made a difference.

Tossing the clock to the end of the bed, Emmett gave a huff and got back to his feet, "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, knowing that he was the only one out of whoever else was about that could hear the fiend speak in that moment, "I got it. Change up the game for the guy who's studied every run. I'll give you credit, Game Master, you sure are full of surprises. What made you decide to pull off this little Battle Royale anyways? Killing one person at a time not enough for you anymore?"

The Game Master laughed, then simply replied, "A milestone like this deserves a round of high cheers, it's not very often one makes it five years. Though I will admit, there's truth in your query, the same old routine has drove me quite weary. So I broke from my box and forged a new line of epochs. A change of the game, more fitting to the name. The rules are revised, leaving you quite surprised. Good luck with your quest, truly, I wish you the best, and remember, wise hero, you chose this show."

Emmett continued to scowl at the camera for a moment after the Game Master cut out, then grumbled and muttered to himself as he continued his search of the room.[/indent]