[Day 0] Odile's 7 Deadly Scumtells Mafia

[Sinderella]

For whatever reason you decided to answer the eerie young woman's (or tumbleweed’s, or branch dragon’s) call is your own prerogative. Perhaps you're looking to add a little extra spice to your dull life, and being visited by a creepy dream mirage is the way to do it. Or, maybe her taunting lights a fire in you, and you have some sort of reason to prove yourself to her...

Either way, you all end up in the same place after you fall asleep the next night.

You awake to blackness. As your eyes adjust, it lightens into an endless, deep red veil. Smoky, formless matter swirls about in the space above your head, like ink moving through water. When you sit up, you're met with resistance, as if trying to pull yourself out of liquid. Your suspicions are confirmed when you lurch upright and are met with the sound of splashing.

You’d been submerged. Now, an uncomfortably thick substance drips down your body.

You know you're dreaming at this point, but you feel as awake as if you were walking down the street in your hometown. As if you were getting up to head into work, or wherever you go in your waking life.

What you're not prepared for is to see that the liquid you've just emerged from is not water. Or mud. Or even oil. No, the stomach-churning crimson you find yourself sitting in looks all too familiar in the most grotesque kind of way.

Whether you scramble to your feet or stand slowly, upon trying to wipe the blood off of your body, you realize there is no need. You're completely dry. Only your shoes (or bare feet. We don't judge.) still remain covered. It seems to be because they're the only thing still touching this nightmarish pool. Upon further examination, you come to realize, however, that what you're standing in isn't a pool, but miles upon miles of a sanguine ocean. The only presence within it appears to be you and your new comrades.

For now.

DAY 0 HAS BEGUN!
Countdown to Signups End/Day 1 Start​

---

@Flyg0n @Seren @Persephone @unrepentantAuthor @Chibi Pika @HelloYellow17 @lyrical @yiran @Dragonfree @Shiny Phantump @Panoramic_Vacuum @EonDuoLatios

[[For my new players: Day 0 is just a beginning phase to allow you to get into the groove of your character and have a chance to indulge in some RP-only interactions with your fellow players should you desire. No game information will be sent out until this phase ends, after which the game will begin. If you signed up but DO NOT see yourself tagged above, PLEASE CHECK YOUR DM. Your signup was not verified yet and you are not clear to enter the game until you follow the instructions sent to you.

Have fun you crazy kids!]]

 

[Dragonfree]

Gabriel lurched up in a panic at the realization that he was submerged - but the liquid was shallow, and it was red.

He swayed on his feet. For him, there was no such thing as wiping the blood off; he'd be wiping off globs of his skin in the process. His clothes were dry, somehow, but his hands and undoubtedly his face had taken on a crimson shade with the blood they'd absorbed.

He was dreaming. He had to be, right? None of this made sense. And there were other people here. He recalled the dream he'd had sometime before (or was he just dreaming that he'd dreamt it?), with the dragon-monster that wanted to play a game...?

For a few seconds he stood there dumbly. The blood, happily, was slowly dissolving into the normal orange of his skin, though he felt a little queasy. "Hello?" he said. Maybe, if this was a dream, a Slugma Pokémorph would seem perfectly normal to them. Maybe.

 

[lyrical]

As a Violet Core Minior, Pleione was technically rare, technically valuable, and, as it had just discovered twenty minutes ago, technically delicious. One minute it was minding its orbit, and the next, well-BAM!-something with wings and poor impulse control was chasing it halfway across the stars.

So it did what any sensible Minior with survival instincts would do: catapult itself towards Earth at terminal velocity, of course.

A streak of purple arced across the sky, trailing sparks of red, orange, and pure, unfiltered terror. It sizzled, it screamed (as loudly as it could in its mind), and it prayed to Arceus, Mew, Rayquaza (it was so scared it was praying to Rayquaza), and whatever else might lend their ears to a pitiful Minior's cries.

As Pleione plummeted toward Earth, it spotted them- tiny specks moving just below the cloudline. Multiple somethings. Winged. Blurry. Definitely not more hungry predators, hopefully.

Pleione pulsed with cautious optimism. Maybe they were friendly! Maybe they'd help! Maybe she could say-

"Hi-"

The planet said hello first.

 

[Flyg0n]

Anubis immediately tried to shake himself dry, only to find himself perfectly dry already. He had no sense of what humans called 'squeamishness' about blood but a sea of it was certainly not what he expected. Rumors of these nightmare games intrigued him, and he'd jumped at the chance to test himself. That and he certainly wouldn't let that oaf of a dinosaur be the only one who'd ever gone.

The Houndoom stretched, yawned, then wagged his tail upon spotting a strange child and another pokemon. He barked in the way of a greeting.

"You must be some of the other... players?" Speaking felt strangely easier here.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Waking to the sensation of floating wasn't new to Wallace. It wouldn't be the first time he'd fallen asleep in the Gym's pool, or in the crater lake, or in the tidal pool... What was new, however, was finding he'd fallen asleep in a pool of blood. Unusual. Unsettling. (Was it going to stain?)

Thankfully the answer was no, as he sat upright and the red liquid beaded from his clothes like the water from a Sealeo's back. He held up one hand and watched, fascinated, as it drip-dripped from his fingertips down into the sea that spread out from where he sat.

But a sea of blood wasn't the only thing he could see. No, there were people and pokemon here, too. Some of them were even people-pokemon, which was... different. And the pokemon talked?

Humming lightly to himself, he rubbed at his temple beneath his hat (miraculously still atop his head, and also unstained). "Maybe I shouldn't have had that last glass of wine after all."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Morgan felt something pulling down on her manifestation as she tried to get up. For a half-second she wondered if she had a body again in this dream, and had just grown unaccustomed to being bound by gravity. But no, it was just something stuck to her, probably could’ve phased through it easily if she knew how to go properly incorporeal.

Just some sticky… red… oh, this was blood, wasn’t it? Right cheery place this was. The endless blood ocean didn’t make sense as part of material reality, but it didn’t quite feel entirely like her own dream either. There were a bunch of species here she didn’t recognize: A small floating rock, a magma homunculus, and froggy long-tongue. Plus, her dreams didn’t usually mix the species from both worlds.

Well, given how nice and cheery that this place was, she probably wouldn’t be hurting for energy. (If she even needed to feed in this dream?) Especially given the weed girl had promised they were gonna get to kill people, which didn’t tend to be one of those hobbies that inspired tons of cheery feelings. Not that she was here to feed, she was just… bored. And this was interesting.

"You must be some of the other... players?"

Clearly, the others had been offered the same promise.

“I believe I’m one of them. My name’s Morgan. Mismagius.”

She paused to weigh her options. She didn’t know much about the game they were going to play, but she didn’t want to offer up the fact that weed girl had promised she’d get to kill people just in case it was a Daggers at Midnight style of game and that bit was telling her what team she was on.

“Say, what did that botanic-looking wraith gal tell you all that we were doing?”

 

[Persephone]

Unknown entity is capable of forcing lapses is consciousness. Information logged.

Possibilities for present environment include hijacked sensory equipment, teleportation to alternative location and/or dimension, or mass murder necessary to create a pool of organic blood stretching to the horizons in every direction. All possibilities indicate the HOST_ENTITY possesses a higher degree of power than previously believed. The three options make combat with HOST_ENTITY impossible, pointless, or dangerous, respectively.

Promised murder was likely targeted at other present entities. Present entities include one minior. Inherited files suggest minior are rich in nutrients.

Mismagius and houndoom are capable of bypassing metallic armor and should be preemptively eliminated, ideally through manipulation of a third-party.

Humans assigned threat level zero.

[] Initiate Ramming
[] Engage in Communication
[] Do Nothing

Ramming suboptimal with multiple armor-bypassing targets conscious. Truthful communication risks drawing aggression of targets at a suboptimal time. Deceptions could be revealed by other present entities if all “players” received identical information packages.

[X] Do Nothing

There are no objects to hide behind save the blood. You attempt to lower yourself back into it.

 

[Flyg0n]

“Say, what did that botanic-looking wraith gal tell you all that we were doing?”

"A game!" Anubis offered helpfully. A challenging glint sparked in his eyes. "One where we get to prove who is the smartest and most skilled."

And got the most killed? Killed was what the strange scraggly branch bat had said but this was a contest. Like a battle. He was a good hunter, if he needed to be. And he was strong.

 

[lyrical]

Pleione blinked from the shock, doing a slow, wobbly spin, half-showing off, half checking to make sure none of its limbs (which it also didn’t technically have) had fallen off on impact. This wasn’t the worst place it had crash-landed, but it was certainly the most... dramatic. A sea of endless crimson that was unusually viscous. Pleione had never felt or seen such a substance before.

"You must be some of the other... players?"

"Player?" Pleione repeated, its core dimming in confusion. "I don’t understand… What game am I supposed to be playing? I didn’t sign up for any game."

Pleione did another spin in an attempt to shake off the confusion. For whatever reason, though Earth was ominous, its people didn't seem to be. At least, most of them. The Metagross staring at it intently reminded Pleione far too much of the toothy creature that had chased it here. The Houndoom was wagging his tail- surely he was amicable. Pleione caught the Mismagius speak.

“I believe I’m one of them. My name’s Morgan. Mismagius.”

Morgan. Why did she have a bloodthirsty look? Pleione shivered as it floated closer to the two of them.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"A game!" Anubis offered helpfully. A challenging glint sparked in his eyes. "One where we get to prove who is the smartest and most skilled."

Funny, aside from the whole ‘talking’ part this dog appeared to be, well, a dog. Even the non-fallers she’d spoken to weren’t really like this. She smiled, raised one tendril to the ring of pearls around her neck, and laughed. “Good, then we’re on the same page so far!”

Except they weren’t, really. Fido there hadn’t mentioned jack shit about being able to kill people. Unless everyone else was as good at keeping information to themselves as she was (which they usually weren’t) then she was probably whatever Mafia called it’s version of a Pact Killer. At least, if her theory was correct and this was like Daggers at Midnight. Was there going to be a midnight phase, or was that just a Daggers thing?

"Player?" Pleione repeated, its core dimming in confusion. "I don’t understand… What game am I supposed to be playing? I didn’t sign up for any game."

Oh, that was interesting. The rock didn’t know what it was doing. (It? Usually she’d go ‘they’ for an unknown person of an unknown species. Maybe it was a dream thing, but ‘it’ felt intuitively correct here.)

“I believe we’re all in a collective dream-space. I mean, they’d have to kill an unreasonable amount of organics to get this much blood. We’re playing Mafia, which is some kind of social game I’m not entirely familiar with. Social deduction, bluffing, killing, not sure in what ratios yet, but we’ll see~”

Morgan, for one, was very excited in anticipation of hopefully being Pact Killer. Assuming nobody actually died here, which would be sensible for a game played in a dream, it was one of the most fun roles to play.

 

[Seren]

Being startled awake after having some kind of nightmare was nothing new to Kimiko. What was new was waking up, not beside her boyfriend in their shared tent or cozy Pokémon center room, but underwater. Or, under… blood.

But something about this nightmare had been different. More specifically, the large tumbleweed bramble dragon was different than the ghosts she usually saw. Still rather terrifying, but also disturbingly familiar, like a long-forgotten memory she couldn’t place. So, despite that terror, the strongest feeling was one of curiosity. It was enough for her in her dreaming state, to respond to it, at any rate.

She wasn’t even sure she was actually awake now, given she seemed to be suspended in some sort of deep red ocean. But she was here now, might as well go with it. Swimming had never been a problem for her, and she didn’t feel any tubes so anything, so she made for the surface.

When she reaches it, what she now recognized as blood dripped off her as easily as the water she’d mistaken it for, and just as easily, the memory she’d been reaching for was within her grasp. Leave it to the blood legend to have her own pool of the stuff. Was this her domain? …Did she actually even have one?

And yet, she didn’t see her host anywhere in sight. There was, however, several others gathered nearby, a large percentage of them being Pokémon. The other victims for Odile’s game, most likely.

There was nothing to fear, really. Not from Odile. Still, the lack of Odette and the general haze of confusion in the air itched her nerves, and Kimiko decided to hold herself to the fringes of the group for the time being.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

(When one of the humans breached the surface, Morgan couldn’t help but stare just a little. After all, it had been almost a year since she last saw a human face. And if she made eye contact, then whatever. It wasn’t likely the woman would care.)

 

[OmegaDusk]

N lifted one foot carefully before setting it back into the disgusting liquid. Quick glances back and forth revealed several other...humans and pokemon. One of the 'pokemon' caught his eye. "Slugma-! Those...those trainers...what sick thing is this, using innocent pokemon for experiemnts. Confining pokemon, forcing them to fight...now this!" He rounded on the humans (at least, the obvious looking beasts). "For that machine you call a pokedex, you do things like this?!"

 

[Persephone]

This is your pet’s cousiN. Fascinating.

You appreciate her more by the microsecond. She is not overburdened by morals.

At least he has fun contradictions to pull at. It will give you some entertainment before the killing begins.

[Amusing. Subject N detests violence against pokémon yet voluntarily joins the Pokémon Murder Game. Hypothesis: Subject N craves hurting Pokémon, is too burdened by social convention to engage in craving, has grown envious of those who freely engage in it.]

Is your stated hypothesis correct? Almost certainly not. Perhaps you will tear his mind apart to find out before you kill him. It does not matter. The purpose of this exercise is to throw your prey off balance and force him to reveal information he might not have.

 

[yiran]

The smell wasn't unfamiliar to Grovyle. In the darkened future, it was commonplace to find signs of a brawl, or perhaps even evidence of a slaughter, in the lawless and lifeless world. He thought he had moved past that, but a primal urge caused him to shudder and sit upright immediately.

The lack of any liquid sticking to his body alerted him. This was in a realm either in his head, or in a dimension where the real world's physics did not apply. Looking around, he saw many unfamiliar faces. No, this wasn't his own dream, he wouldn't have been capable of inventing up such a myriad of creatures, already interacting with each other. Some Pokemon, some human, and some... was that an upright Slugma?

No, this was not important. When he had answered the call, he was thinking that there was some purpose to accomplish, and it seemed like this was nothing more than a cruel joke from a deity. Standing upright, he looked away from the crowd and instead to the horizon for clues of what exactly this was, and any way to get out.

 

[Seren]

(When one of the humans breached the surface, Morgan couldn’t help but stare just a little. After all, it had been almost a year since she last saw a human face. And if she made eye contact, then whatever. It wasn’t likely the woman would care.)

She cared.

Kimiko was unaware at first that her arrival had attracted the attention of any other atendees... until she caught one of them observing her. A ghost. Of course there was a ghost here. Did she talk about her issues with ghosts in Odile's presence last they met? She had to have, right? She couldn't recall. Even if she had, bringing one here on purpose just to freak her out sounded like Odile's idea of fun.

Regardless, Kimiko shifted, visibly uncomfortable, and purposely directed her gaze elsewhere - the ocean of blood they now stood atop seemed as good a place as any. Not right down at her feet though, no - can't be too obvious. Good thing it was all she could see in any direction besides the other players. It was easy enough to stare at a spot just beyond the houndoom's head and pretend like she was deeply invested in the conversation going on over there, and not resisting the urge to dive back down into the blood pool. Nope.

(Besides, talking pokemon were a kind of novel concept, although at this point she'd seen her fair share anyway.)

He rounded on the humans (at least, the obvious looking beasts). "For that machine you call a pokedex, you do things like this?!"

When another voice rang out, Kimiko was at first grateful... until the words themselves sunk in. She simply stared dumbly in response for several moments. "Huh?"

....That probably wasn't the response he was hoping for. "Er... no, I... don't think this is what you think it is." There, that cleared everything up.

Kimiko sighed. "No one gets seriously hurt here." Or so she thought. When it came to Odile, who knew? ...She was reasonably certain Odile wouldn't put her in harms way like that, anyway.

 

[Dragonfree]

Nobody was reacting like there was anything strange about him -- until this weird green-haired guy looked at him with a start.

"Slugma-! Those...those trainers...what sick thing is this, using innocent pokemon for experiemnts. Confining pokemon, forcing them to fight...now this!" He rounded on the humans (at least, the obvious looking beasts). "For that machine you call a pokedex, you do things like this?!"

"Uh, what...? No, I'm... you know, human but they spliced some bits of printed Slugma genetic sequences into the human DNA before injecting it into an egg in a lab. No live Slugma involved, promise. And they weren't trainers."

That had him disoriented enough he forgot to even react to the talking Pokémon who were there as if nothing were more natural. Weird, weird dream.

"Look, yeah, I think we're supposed to play mafia? Which is just a game. I mean, pretending to kill people." He glanced around at the shallow ocean of blood, if it even was blood. "I... I think."

 

[Sinderella]

While these intrepid hemoglobular adventurers were getting acquainted with each other and their new surroundings, one (or some) might notice the manifestation of what looked to be a picket sign. It rooted itself in the shallow blood and proceeded to grow…and grow…and grow…until it was the size of a billboard. Only then did the words become visible.

PARTY THIS WAY ➡️
​

Once the billboard’s presence settled in the player’s reality, a pronounced click echoed through the realm. Just beneath the directional instructions, a neon sign of cursive, pink letters flicked on.

SLUTS 🩷​

 

[Persephone]

Pokémon are generally incapable of reading human languages. Translation would assist them and, perhaps, prompt them to walk to their demise.

“The writing encourages all sexually promiscuous individuals to go to a ‘party.’ Parties generally contain glucose-rich foodstuffs. Conclusion: cake may be provided to successful test subjects.”

You stay rooted in place. Sexual reproduction is inefficient.

 

[Flyg0n]

Anubis cocked his head, staring up at the strange sign that had appeared, his eyes narrowed.

"For the record, I'm not a slut," he growled.

Still, there didn't seem to be any other options but to start heading in the direction the sign indicated.