Ladypug

The Crossroads (Multiverse-Style Battle Royale Crossover RP) (Unlimited Slots, Always Accepting!)

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Steven dove behind a tree when he'd heard that ominous twig-snapping- but then he sort of laughed at himself. Like, stars, that was such a cliche, right? Walking around in a forest when suddenly snap? Oh, jeez, this had to be a punishment, right? A punishment which involved cheesy horror movie cliches. He bit his lip to shush his nervous laughter, leaning hard into the trunk of the tree to keep himself hidden as he forced his ears to listen. If it was a threat that couldn't - or didn't want to - talk it out, he needed to be ready. He needed a plan, so he needed to know where it was, and-

And he proceeded to grimace when he heard what sounded like something getting very sick. Unpleasantly sick. Concerningly sick- Steven peeked out to see if he could get a bead on what made that sound, his first instinct to be to maybe help the poor sickly thing- but then he saw a flash of something black, and then he heard shouting. Human shouting. It felt like his fingers went cold as he instinctively summoned his shield.

He ran out from his hiding place, then chucked the circular shield as hard as he could at the black mass, the shield making solid contact - he could literally hear the impact from here, and it made him wince sympathetically, if only briefly.

Even if he felt bad about hurting whatever sickly-sounding animal that was, he wasn't going to let someone get eaten by it!

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@LouisTheDummy (I had permission to auto-hit!)

The Crossroads (Multiverse-Style Battle Royale Crossover RP) (Unlimited Slots, Always Accepting!)

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"I knew I should've put some tennis shoes in my car."

Steven grumbled to himself as he held his jacket closed, another little shiver running up and down his spine as he trudged through the snow. He was forced to leave his car behind simply because he couldn't keep weaving his car through the trees. He wasn't like, the worst driver, but he also recognized he could only push his luck so far. He didn't want to get the Dondai stuck between a rock and a hard place, y'know? His dad would be so upset. Not really at him, but.. His dad loved that Dondai a lot, so.. Yeah. Leaving it in one piece was better than trying to bob and weave through ever-thickening trees. Despite all his hesitation, he ditched the car in the hopes he wouldn't need to walk that much further.

He found himself tempted to nix his shoes entirely, but.. Gah, his feet would be completely unprotected, and that was no good. He could practically hear Connie telling him that "suboptimal protection was better than no protection!" With that said, he didn't like having to shake the stray snow from between the underside of his feet and the topside of his flip flops every so often. It was so cold. So very freaking cold...

As he continued to walk, he found himself wondering... Why? Why was this happening to him? Why now? Who brought him here? Did they need his help, somehow? And then a very particular kind of thought came to him, making him flush with anger- Was this yet another punishment for something his mother did? Maybe this was some Gem that had.. dream powers, or something, that Pink Diamond once again abandoned, or Rose Quartz somehow wronged, or- He groaned inwardly, unclenching fists he didn't even realize were clenched tight before stopping and ruffling his own hair in some vain attempt to release the anxious tension.

"Stop it," he softly whined at himself, "Stop it Steven! Thinking about that stuff does you no good! Come on, one foot in front of th-"

CRAK

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@LouisTheDummy (this is a planned interaction)

The Crossroads (Multiverse-Style Battle Royale Crossover RP) (Unlimited Slots, Always Accepting!)

@Zoey Boey welp, time to figure out how I can watch the show now, hehee-

I wonder who would win in a battle not of brute force, but of over-dramatic flair? Steven, or DIO? 🤔

cause, I mean, the gem boy's got a flair for performance, c'mon

The Crossroads (Multiverse-Style Battle Royale Crossover RP) (Unlimited Slots, Always Accepting!)

@Zoey Boey Is Jojo's Bizarre Adventure as hammy and hilarious as what you wrote for Dio? because if it is... Oh my god, I simply HAVE to watch it now.

The Crossroads (Multiverse-Style Battle Royale Crossover RP) (Unlimited Slots, Always Accepting!)

WHEW
-slams hands on the table-
I WROTE ENTIRELY TOO MUCH.

also I hope Steven having the Dondai at first is ok, just realized maybe I should have asked first. I'll happily change it if need be.

The Crossroads (Multiverse-Style Battle Royale Crossover RP) (Unlimited Slots, Always Accepting!)

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Steven's back ached.

That was the first thing he noticed when he woke up. The second thing he noticed was that he was outside - and as he shifted slightly to try and get more comfortable, he figured that he must have conked out on top of his Dondai. He was almost going to turn over and maybe get five more minutes before a surge of panic filled his body- Like, he up-and-left with no warning last night! After the Cactus Steven incident he'd insisted to the Gems that he didn't have anything he needed to talk about, that he just wanted to rest after all the fighting and the picking-cactus-spines-out-of-skin.. and he did all that, obviously, but when he was sure the Gems weren't paying any attention, he slipped out of the house. He just.. He needed to be alone in his thoughts, so he'd gone to that one little spot in the outskirts of the city that he liked. His personal little broody space, if you will. Brooding Hill was fine, but everyone went there to brood. It was too mainstream. Or would it be main-hill? Ha-

Ah! Right, right, anyway- Crap, he shouldn't have conked out! He needed to call Pearl and tell her that he was ok! He snatched his phone from his pocket and was horrified to find he had almost 20 messages. He quickly tapped the screen to read them, thinking it was his dad, Pearl, and Connie all texting him in a panic, but.. No. No, the messages were from someone who's number looked.. Garbled? Glitched? Ah, no, was his phone broken? The glimpse he allowed himself to take of the messages were.. Nonsensical, to say the least- His phone had to be busted, somehow, right? Cracked? Overheated? He brushed his finger against his phone, then tried to maybe angle it in such a way that the sunlight catches a crack before just giving his phone's screen a quick peck - he couldn't see it, but it had to be there, somewhere. He checks again, but.. Nothin'. No scratches, it's not overheating- There's nothing wrong with his phone. The number and the contact information really were just positively garbled beyond his comprehension. Maybe it was a hacker..?

Steven readjusted how he was seated as he scrolled through all of the messages, carefully taking in the information they held. It all sounded kind of bogus, or like a really weird spam-y copypasta. Like.. Crossroads? Tokens? Pacts and traitors and wishes..? It all sounded insane, but..

He looked up again, suddenly finding himself.. Unsure. Like sure, this did look like home, but something felt funny when he woke up - and not just his back. Something just.. felt.. wrong. It was too quiet, it was.. It was just too.. Aaah, he couldn't quite explain it in words. It's just a feeling, you know? With that, he hopped down from the roof of the car, and after securely placing his phone in his pocket, decided to jump up up UP into the air to get a look around. It felt silly, because he knew, logically, that he'd just end up laughing this off as he sees Beach City and Little Homeworld in the distance- but... Well, he didn't. He didn't see Beach City. He didn't see Little Homeworld. He didn't even see where Jasper's had made her little clearing. He only saw more forest, and up to a point it stopped being his forest. Where his forest ended and this new, weird forest began, it was snowy, and the trees were of a different type. It.. It didn't make sense! It looked like someone cut a chunk of his home out and plopped it somewhere else! It made no sense-! His descent sped up slightly as he felt a flush of anger rush from his chest and to his face. Like- what? Just.. Just what? What was going on? Why did this happen?! Why him? And why now, of all the times-

He landed firmly on the ground below with a little puff of dirty dust, his face still tinged red from the surge of emotion. Steven then pulled his phone up again and re-read the messages, scanning for any sort of answer, but... Nothing. He grumbled, hands shaking as he wrestled with the urge to just smash his phone into bits, but- no. No, he can't do that- But as he's looking at the phone, he gets another idea. Maybe he can call his dad. His dad could go to where Steven last remembered being, and then-

The positively horrific, robotic screaming that emanates from his phone makes Steven let out a girlish yelp of surprise. In said surprise, he accidentally drops his phone to the ground and stumbles before falling backwards, his right ear ringing from that horrible technological death-screech. He quickly got right back up, hanging the phone up as fast as he could so his speakers didn't get shredded to pieces from that noise.

"Ho-kay," Steven breathed, talking to himself, trying to pep himself back up. "Okay. This is fine! This is fine." He turned his phone's screen off to conserve the battery, and with still-shaking hands he pocketed it again. "You've been through weirder- er, equally weird things, and.. And you got through it. You'll be ok, Steven. You will be ok."

An explosive exhale quelled some of the anxieties that had bunched up in his chest and throat, and he opened the door to his Dondai - he's not about to walk in the snow in flip flops and get frostbite and all that crap. When he sat down in the driver's seat, he was surprised to actually see those five little "token" things that the mysterious text messages made mention of just.. chillin' on his dashboard in a neat little stack. He pulled his phone out again to re-read the texts for a third time - mostly the parts about the tokens. Flip one like a coin, and something good or something bad could happen; get 100 of them, and you can wish yourself back home; or use three, and summon someone to help...

He opens his glove box and moves the tokens from his dash to safely in his glove box. He can't summon anyone to help, because what if they get hurt? He wouldn't be able to live with himself. Connie would probably be infuriated, but.. No. No, he wasn't going to watch Connie die like he did Lars, and he's not going to watch the Gems get shattered. Steven reverses the Dondai out of the clearing, picks a direction, and then drives. He very nearly goes to turn on some tunes, but.. He feels like he really ought to focus on where he's driving, lest he runs into something unpleasant.

Hopefully, of course, he doesn't, but.. Better safe than sorry.

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Root River: A Wonderful Life!

Location: In Town; Abernova General Store

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"It isn't a far walk, so we'll be in town before you know it."

Ana simply nods in response, tailing behind the brunette as they walked up the tree-covered road. She didn't get a good look around when she was in her dad's car and was hustling to move herself in, but... It really is nice here. There were flowers blooming in the bushes, a gentle breeze rustled the leaves and the grasses around them, and there was the faintest of birdsongs in the distance.

"In about a week, firefly squids will be swimming through this river and the nearby lake during their annual spawning season. It's a beautiful scene, Ana, so if you happen to have time that evening, you should come see it with the rest of us."

Firefly squids? Like, fireflies, but they're squids? Squids, but with wings and light-up butts? It didn't exactly sound beautiful, but it did sound interesting. She'll have to remember to put it in her cellphone's little reminder app.

"The fenced-in building is Werewolff Vineyards."

Ana's eyes lit up, mouth opening to immediately ask-!

"And no, Mahina isn't actually a werewolf."

Oh.

That's.. well, it feels bad to say that's disappointing, but... Man, having a werewolf friend would've been really cool-! As long as she was the chill kind of werewolf that didn't like eating people, anyway. But then again, how would Irina know that Mahina wasn't a werewolf? Maybe Mahina was, and she just did a really good job hiding it. Maybe Werewolf Mahina only went after cats and rabbits when she heeded the full moon's alluring call. Or maybe the whole town knew! Maybe they fed newcomers they didn't like to the werebeast that was Mahina!

Or.. Maybe she's just being over-imaginative.

"And over there is my house, as well the post office. So, if you have need to send anything, or even want to talk, I'll probably be there."

Ok, was that just Irina giving a friendly suggestion, or.. Or was there more to that? Did Irina maybe feel the same way about her too-? Oh, God, no, of course not, no way. Why would she? That was dumb. Ana was being dumb, but she couldn't help it! Irina was just really pretty, and she was really nice too! Ana's just being dumb. Dumb dumb dumb. Super dumb. Mega dumb-

"Over here is the Abernova General Store, which carries probably anything that you could think you would need here. Outside the specialized goods, of course. Like Mahina's wine."

Ana nodded in understanding - yes, that is definitely a good place to be aware of. She needed to buy quite a bit of stuff so her fridge and cabinets were all nice and stocked up. Maybe pick up some little knick knack-y things too. She saw how Irina looked around her house. Ana knew her house looked barren. Her dad even kept gently asking, "Are you sure you don't want to pack an extra blanket or two? Maybe some non-perishables? Not even your posters?"

Maybe she should shoot her dad a text and tell him some of the things she needed and didn't realize she needed...

"I imagine Luna's probably organizing her stock for the new year right now, and since I need to stop there to pick up a few things for my grandmother, I wouldn't mind introducing you to her as well."

Getting to know the person behind the counter would also potentially be a good thing! Maybe use some of that Moore Charisma to sway this Luna into giving her some discounts-?

Ah, no. No, she was way too awkward to try that. Even her dad was at least slightly more charismatic. Maybe if she was more like her stepdad, or her mom, cause neither of them ever seemed to care what other people thought! Or if they did it was like water off their backs or whatever the saying was. But.. Meeting everyone in town still sounded like a good idea, and this Luna girl seemed like a good start.

"...So, you in?"

"I'm very in," Ana said with a smile.

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@Kuro

Literally have no other way to introduce m'self - <-)b

-waves frantically- hi vabrobro

The Crossroads (Multiverse-Style Battle Royale Crossover RP) (Unlimited Slots, Always Accepting!)

*rubbing my little fly hands together*
mmmm
yes

it's time to party

The Crossroads (Multiverse-Style Battle Royale Crossover RP) (Unlimited Slots, Always Accepting!)

I'm just... sittin here.... thinking about all the absolutely fucking bonkers Steven fusions... because that's the type of person I am....