sheep_game | [JUST A MINUTE!]

[are we all here? because Lupin has started up a little campfire and is roasting some fish and veggies outside for the occasion. might as well turn this into a makeshift bbq!1]

Does everyone understand the rules of the game?

[A red dog plushie is waddling into the barn. Said dog plushie also has its face covered in blood. It's probably nothing to worry about.]

[Red's been hanging in the background the whole time, just fiddling with. . .a key of sorts? It's not important.

He's swinging it around a finger until they finish their 'game,' and then, he drops it.

The key drops to the ground and melts into a shadow, suddenly engulfing him. Now sitting in the chair is his humanoid form, except totally covered in shadow. A shadow persona in a way.

A snap of his fingers, and 3 doors appear. He snickers.]

Oh? So he's ready to end our contract? Okay then.

So, Thistle, is it? You've have quite a reputation among demons right now. So I want to give you all a fair shot at this. Bargaining is kind of my thing.

So, three doors. One leads to your shepherd's home world. You all could leave right now, no strings attached. You'd likely be stuck in that world though, of course.

The second, it leads to place only Red knows about. Getting back is your problem.

The final door leads to a portion of the demon realm. You might die, you might not. Ehehehe, I wonder what will happen!

So, which will you pick?

[As soon as you step through, the door slams shut behind you, and you're shrouded in darkness. . .for just a moment.

Small red shades of light begin to illuminate the void, but the source of the light seems to be uuuuh dozens upon dozens of glowing red eyes and mouths, the latter of which begin to cackle. They have an audience of demons.

Also, they're in handcuffs???

They suddenly hear the sound of a gavel pounding. BANG BANG, and an amorphous demon appears at a podium, wearing a judges wig.]

Hear ye hear ye! We've gathered here today to pass JUDGMENT.

[POINTS AT THISTLE]

You've been accused of the MURDER and VANDALIZATION of demon kind!

How do you plead? Guilty??

Are you ready to be sentenced to DEATH?

[All three step thru. . .

And step on to set concrete. It's a gray, drizzly day in town and the back alleys, with many people bustling this way and that. Maybe school just got out, as many high schoolers seem to be loitering about. Lupin himself will find he's wearing his default school uniform, with Odin wearing a variation of it as well. Tyr can't pass for a student, so he's just wearing some snazzy civilian clothes. Though more alarmingly--if he doesn't remember it already, Lupin will suddenly know his own name.

But, he'll have forgotten Tyr's and Odin's (though still recognizes them as flockmates).

That aside, of immediate note, three scenes stick out:

A girl young, beautiful girl with pigtails near a vending machine. She idly wonders if she should get a drink right now, but fuck it, time to treat herself. Though she wonders where her friends are.

A long haired, scruffy man, playfully hitting on a doctor(?) as she tries to get out of the rain, throwing some faux flirty Spanish her way.

Then in front of a burger joint, a young boy with black hair, and bandages on his arm, attempts a giant burger challenge. Someone jokes he might die, and he says that would be just fine with him.

They hear Red's sing song voice in their heads.

Some of these things are not like the others~

They will find that, no matter what, they can't actually leave the block their own. They'll loop around if they try. They also have to travel together. It looks like there's fuckery going on here.

But hey, it seems to legit be his hometown so!! Enjoy seeing something that's not a farm for the first time in fucking forever.]

[Instead of Thistle's barn, when both groups pass back through their respective doors, they find themselves in an elaborate mansion, in a dining room to be specific. High ceilings, grand paintings of wolves and sheep alike, ornate furniture and.............balloons??

So many balloons. And confetti???

Oh shit it's a party. A kid's birthday party to be precise.

"Happy Birthday Princess!" this banner hangs over the table that is stacked with sweets and snacks and gifts of all kinds.

Guests of all species are packed within the hall, mostly giving their blessing to the birthday girl--Blossom, though much, much younger, looking more like her 'original' body, tho with a big fluffy wolf tail and much smaller horns. She seems overwhelmed and looks like she's about to cry so like, maybe she was born with anxiety.

More importantly, near where they entered, away from the crowd. . .is Red, in his humanoid form. He raises an eyebrow, surprised to see them, and then laughs light.]

Huh. That's certainly not how this memory goes. My future self is up to some shenanigans, huh?

[a shrug. Then--a smile!]

Hey strangers! I guess this is a contingency plan, hm? So, question!

I can be given but never bought, spoken but not caught. What am I?

[Shortly after a conversation, Edgelord is coming to visit, with Flare in tow.]

Oi! Open up!

[They're all back in Thistle's barn, and standing there. . .is Red! Back in his little fox form, looking a wee bit confused.

But right beside him stands his shadowed doppleganger, his demon, one with a big ol smile, that laughs in Red's cadence.]

A deal's a deal. For my power, you gave me your name. Now that you've taken a new one, our contract is null.

Well! It was fun while it lasted, hm? If you ever want to make a new deal. . .you know where to find me~

[a cackles, and the fox demon disapears into a black mist.

While leaving behind several flip phones! SOME NOTES:
-The phones have a single app on them: the MetaVerse app
-When activated, any character using one can activate their own 'persona', costume change included.
-Using your persona/weapon you get from the app, characters can one-shot EVERY lost soul/heart blocking them from the Wolf King's core. And by one-shot, I mean actually free them, they aren't killing random souls.
-Wolf King's heart is Final Boss battle so it'll still need Minuet's power to open up, but characters can keep their personas/gear with them once in.
-This also works on Mist Wolves.
-The flip phones work as normal phones generally, but can't make calls in the mist. Signal interference u_u
-PLEASE ASSUME RED EXPLAINS ALL THIS
-Speaking of: Red's item bartering has been severely nerfed. He can still get some items from Thistle's homes if they ask, but no other characters. Everything else he provides is stuff he already has in stock. ]

Edited 2024-09-29 00:45 (UTC)

night, 106!

Before the Thing above

FoxTrot