A New Platform [Intro Post September]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

"Good morning Voidtreckers, it is day one of the month of Nebula. Points have been updated on the system."

With points updated, everyone can spend the morning shopping. Most people will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform.

The doors open. As usual, those who leave first notice nothing, walking silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. A-Qing, Atem, Beauregard Lionett, Casper LeBlanc Jr, Donatello Versus, Frankie Bacon, Ichiban Kasuga, Kumoko, Lena Sabrewing, Mami Tomoe, Mono, Peter Parker, Reno, Shi Qingxuan, Tobari, Wen Ning; all pass across the platform, not looking back. And then they're gone, disappeared through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they find themselves on a platform. The platform is open to a bright blue sky, speckled with a couple of clouds. It's very warm, enough that they will not want to stay in those hoodies for long. Behind them through the fogs is a set of barriers, set in a brick wall and in front of them is a single set of tracks extending both ways into that same thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone on the foggy, blistering hot platform; then the fog begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform isn't large, but it is enough to hold the figures scattered around, all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out pours a strange assortment of people, over a hundred at least. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

Behind them, the doors close, and the train is cloaked in the same fog that hides the world beyond the platform.

The Train

After a short time, perhaps ten minutes or so, the fog clears and the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). They will also find a bunch of posters around the train and might notice the new clock in the standard coach.

The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, the ingredient this month is a strange meat, yaddon tail.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags. There is a box labelled for purple team containing a stick of rock for each member of purple team, including those who are new. Join in your teams success!

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. In most rooms, the occupied beds are obvious, leaving the spotless, empty spaces for the newcomers. Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers taking advantage of the fresh air, and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

FOR LO

[seacub]

Emporio holds the box with his purchased disk with something of a fearful anticipation filling his being. He's already spent his morning in a tense mood- watching as Donatello left, once again, the boy chewing his lip at the sight.

He probably shouldn't expect him back.

But now, somehow it's worse. What did he expect, he thinks, sending in this request. That it would be impossible? The world, gone, where would the disks come from? The train could blast through time and space and any number of realities, they knew that much, Donatello being able to arrive at all was a sort of proof.

Why couldn't getting a disk work? Carefully, Emporio opens the box and tilts it in the light, trying to make out the Stand upon it.

"A....weapon..?" It looks somewhat like one, but he can't quite be sure. Since he didn't see a face though that's probably good? It's probably not a humanoid Stand, at least, so...

"AH-!!" Right, he has to now actually find-

"Buttercup?" The box folded up, he sets off to find his friend. "...Buttercup? That um...The thing you wanted me to get came in!"

[knifewithnoname]

She was sat on one of the tables of the standard carriage, back to the window, knees pulled up to her chest with earpieces in, listening to music on her SCA, her red hood is pulled over her hair and she looks up glumly as he approaches her.

For a moment it seems she's not even sure what he's talking about, staring at him blankly.

But then she brightens, pulling out the ear pieces and scooting forward on the table towards the aisle where he stood.

"It did be? Be showing me!"

The coolest weapon from his world. She's still pretty surprised he even agreed to this.

[seacub]

Hooboy. Emporio sucks in a breath, and slowly brings forward the box. Simple, small, and...pretty clearly not likely holding a whole lot.

Not meeting her eyes, he rambles a bit as he holds out the box with the disc. "So, when I thought about it, I couldn't think of any weapons from home that were really...cool, especially compared to what the train has... ...but then I thought, some Stands were basically weapons, and I didn't actually know if this would work...um...but I guess it did..?"

A heavy inhale, before he speaks again. "S...so...I don't know what this does but, if we...um...put it in your head..."

[knifewithnoname]

She blinked at him, looking instantly suspicious. It's not a weapon. But a stand. A stand like the weird man who sometimes was with him? He had said he was a stand right?

And he wanted to put one in her head.

"What do you be meaning? You want to be putting it in my head?"

She's suspicious. She doesn't like this idea at all.

[seacub]

"AH-" How does he salvage this-

"I'm not going to force you to do it..!!" he hurriedly starts with. "...Maybe you should just open the box first? If you hold it in the light, you can see what the stand is...sort of. If I think about it, Burning Down the House wouldn't really have a good picture if it was made into a disk..." Hmm.

Well. "But, this is how I got Weather; I had the disk pushed into my head."

[knifewithnoname]

Of course he would not force her. He could try. He wouldn't succeed. She wrinkled her nose. Opening the box didn't sound too bad and she truly doesn't think Emporio would trick her...

Would he? Maybe he wanted revenge for her making him buy a weapon. She reached out for the box, opening it and wrinkling her nose at the disk.

[seacub]

The box opens and....well.

It's a disk. It just sits there, and depending on the angle of the light, the image of some sort of messy, haphazard gun blueprint can be made out, as if a gun is being constructed but without any idea on what kind of gun it should be. There is no writing or label on the disk- other than 'DISC'- and it just sort of sits there.

Emporio did say, after all, that it wouldn't do anything.

[knifewithnoname]

She wrinkled her nose at it, not really fully understanding. A disk. Round. Sort of a gun on it, weird gun. Whatever, it's not like she had seen a gun before coming to the train.

So far so good. "Now you do be telling me how you do be planning to be getting that thing in my head."

She can think of a few ways. They were all messy and brutal and she might sort of, kind of, not think Emporio was as stupid as she once did, she still isn't trusting him enough for that.

[seacub]

"You just kind of push it in. I could show you? You'd um...probably want to duck though- I asked the train for one compatible with you, so it'll probably fly back out pretty fast..."

He remembers Jolyne laughing about that with Hermes- how they'd tried, both of them, to take on Star Platinum's disk only for it to rocket out with great force. At the time he'd assumed it was partly because they had a Stand themselves...

...but Weather proved that wrong, big time.

[knifewithnoname]

"Um." She nodded, "Okay. But be facing that way." She pointed down the aisle, that way he wouldn't hit her at all.

"I will be seeing."

She is more confused, at how to put a disk in someone's head.

[seacub]

That's probably a good idea. Emporio breathes in, and brings the disc up to his head, simply pushing it in through the forehead.

Fortunately, the reaction is not as violent as it could be.

Unfortunately, it does sort of...Spring back out like a slice of toast launching from a toaster. Unfortunately for Emporio, that is. It's probably rather funny for Buttercup to watch as the disc just sort of falls flat on the boy's palm, Emporio managing to catch it before it hits the ground.

"Uhhh..." Hm. "...well, that's all it takes I guess. I don't really know what else to say..."

[knifewithnoname]

It was pretty funny, both that he just pushed the disk into his head, like his skin wasn't there at all. Funnier still that it popped out like that, into his hands.

"But it will be staying in my head?"

[seacub]

"It should!" He holds it out for her to take. "I asked the train for one compatible with you specifically...so if it doesn't work, uh..."

Well.

"I guess we...have to take it out on the train?" Yeah that.

[knifewithnoname]

"Yes." She agreed. "The train will no be knowing what did be hitting it."

But hopefully it hadn't messed up. She wrinkled her nose and took it from him.

She's still a little... apprehensive. But she can't show it. Especially not in front of Emporio.

So she just lets out a huff of breath and reaches up before shoving the disk almost violently into her forehead.

[seacub]

"Right!" Okay! Well.

The disc goes in...and...that seems to be it. LO will feel like something clicked in place- like there's a bit of extra energy or power there that wasn't before. If she reaches to focus it, the Stand will activate- but over time the feeling of something 'extra' will fade, and activating the Stand will be second nature.

Not that Emporio knows to put that to words of course. Mostly he just watches. "...so...how do you feel...?"

Of course if she activates it now, there probably aren't many guns that would be considered appropriate for a small chat in the standard coach.

[knifewithnoname]

It does feel a little weird, she almost crosses her eyes as if expecting to see the disk in her head slightly.

Was this the most ridiculous thing she had ever done? She hadn't even asked if there was a way to take it out again.

She tried to focus and something clicked, activating and then there was a gun in her hand. A tiny light gun, bright purple, see through and clearly filled with liquid.

She studied it, it was the weirdest gun she had ever seen in her life- and considering she had only seen guns since arriving on this train...

emporio you fool it's -homing water- right now!!

[seacub]

Is....is that...

"A...water gun?" He blinks. "...It felt like the Stand would be more powerful than that..."

He may have said the wrong thing.

[knifewithnoname]

"A water gun?"

She's never heard of one. But from Emporio's next words. It wasn't very good at all. She scoffed.

"I should have been knowing."

me realizing that LO has the greatest weapon to terrorize him with now like 'haha rip emporio'

[seacub]

"M...maybe there's more to it?" Ahhhh... "The water might have different effects? Stands work in strange ways...Hermes' Stand manifested stickers, but when they were placed on objects, the objects multiplied- and then when you removed them, they crashed back together. She could even transport people over long distances that way, by putting a sticker on bullets and firing!"

Technically he did the firing, but that's not the point. Maybe the watergun...has special water???

Well it'll be special directionally at least

[knifewithnoname]

She wrinkled her nose. Water with different water? "I did no never even be hearing of a gun that did be shooting water before."

Maybe good against fire creatures? "We should be going to the gym and be trying it out."

She still thinks it's probably a stupid gun, but she's willing to try.

[seacub]

"Normally it's used for playing I think," he explains, "But against things that are weak to water it would probably be pretty useful actually...plus there could be poisons in it..."

Actually, should he be the test dummy for this after all!?

[knifewithnoname]

"For playing?" She's never heard of a gun for playing before. What a weird concept.

Though poisons in the water would make it more useful. This didn't seem like a good gun at all. She sighed.

"Be following." She told him as she hopped from the table, leading the way to the gym.

[seacub]

"Yeah- like in pools, and similar..."

Hooboy. Well, he's following alright, even if it's nervously. He'd kind of hoped it would at least be...useful, but with Stands there's just so many variables too...

"Should we set up something to use as targets?" he asks as they walk, adjusting his hat.

[knifewithnoname]

"I should be using you as a target." She grumbles. But she won't. Probably.

People would get scrunch nosed if the water was poison after all. Even if Emporio just came back the next day.

She went to one of the dummies. "We can be using this."

[seacub]

"If it turns out to be normal water you can?" At least he's helpful.

Still, just to be safe, he stands about as far from the dummy as possible before giving a thumbs up. "Okay! I'll try to see if I can pick up anything weird too," he adds. Water is...well. Not ENTIRELY his area but it's at least sorta his area after all.