cancry | introductions

It comes to you suddenly, at the end of an unravelling thread of thought. A sudden, piercing sense of wrongness stops you in your tracks and sends you tumbling through rapidfire questions that you realize you have no answer for. How long have you been here? How long have you been doing the same things, over and over, blindly going through the motions of a routine? Just who are you, anyway?

Questions beget more questions and answers prove illusive until you arrive at the only things you know for certain: the first is that this place is Purgatory.

The second is that you're here because you're dead.

Oddly, this doesn't feel like a surprise of any sort. You don't remember how or why it happened, but it did and that's that. It feels rather as though you've been slapped awake and everything around you has come into sharp focus. You're in Limbo, where you've been wandering since you arrived here in Purgatory alongside all the other mindless souls who are acting out what little they remember of their original lives.

Still lingering is that horrible sense of something being terribly wrong. It hasn't dissipated with your realization of the truth – if anything, it's intensified. There's no way to tell what it is, but there's something going on here.

Maybe you should investigate – or at least see if there's anyone else here who's had the same realization as you...

[ OOC: Welcome to the very first log of Can Cry! For the first few hours, Executors will be free to explore and mingle among themselves. Mod replies will come in a few hours. If you're planning to investigate, please indicate that you're doing so in the subject line as your comment. ]

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...

[Kingslayer drops the Spectre, staring at Hope with an unreadable expression.

(Which may be because they're wearing a helmet, but still.)

Then they start laughing. Guffawing ungraciously, with full-on knee-slapping and doubling over.]

Oh, man! You're really something, aren'tcha? Damn, you have BALLS!

So, alright. Okay.

I can feel your intent from here, and if you want a fight so bad...

I CAN GIVE IT TO YOU!

[Hope has a few seconds to defuse this bomb before he's caught in the blast radius.]

[Hope furrows his brow and grits his teeth as Kingslayer mocks him. At least the Spectre is out of harm's way.

He wasn't looking for a fight, but he shouldn't be surprised at their reaction. Even so, he's gone too far to back down now. The fight-or-flight response clicks into "fight" at full gear -- he takes a defensive stance, as he has no weaponry to use, nor the strength to use his fists against such a foe. The way his body instinctively reacts surprises him a little, implying that this isn't his first battle, but he has no time to think about it.

From his position, standing tall, he still tries his hardest to seem fearless as he gives a clear reply.] No, I was only stating the truth. That Spectre has no answers for you, but I might!

[If he was ready for a fight, so were they. Kingslayer comes barreling at Hope full speed, apparently in a frontal charge-

Before leaping into the air and aiming a stomp-kick directly at his face.

Some things never change.]

Then I'll beat them out of you! Where the hell are we?

[That escalated quickly! Hope realizes that he should probably pick his words more wisely in the future... But, bullying the weak and helpless is the exact thing that makes his blood boil.

He braces himself as he watches Kingslayer run towards him, but he wasn't expecting them to jump into the air. Though he may not be strong, Hope is decently agile, so he scrambles his way to the left in an attempt to get out of Kingslayer's landing range. If he's not, well... There is one more thing he can do if he really has to.

In an attempt to end the assault as soon as possible, Hope finds himself yelling into the air:] We're dead! This is the afterlife!

You think I don't know that, dumbass?

Truth is, [Kingslayer continues the assault, taking advantage of their armored bulk with sweeping, powerful blows. While it's mixed up with a few punches and elbows, most of their attacks are rough kicks and rougher elbows,] I don't even have that big of a bone to pick with you. That was actually a pretty brave thing you did back there, ha!

But if I've been shambling around like a damn zombie for the past who knows how long, it's high time for me to knock off the rust a little bit!

HAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[They go for a low legsweep to knock Kazuya off balance, attempt to bulldoze him over with a shouldercheck, and follow up with a brutal stomp.

Okay, maybe they weren't being entirely honest. Kingslayer is also confused, frustrated, and maybe a little bit terrified, and what better way to vent negative emotions than through violence?]

[Though he's tried to dodge Kingslayer's blows, Hope has been hit enough to leave him sore for days. He's even attempted a last-ditch, ego-crushing ground roll in order to avoid some attacks, but it didn't help as much as expected.

It makes him wonder if standing up for anything is even worth it, if it's going to lead to this every time.

But no, seeing that quivering Spectre safe and out of harm's way is worth something. As he's getting off the ground the first time, he manages to reply between gasps,] I don't understand... Why do you... treat me like... an enemy?

[And then comes the legsweep, and Hope goes right back onto the ground. With the assumption that he can't die again but still wanting to spare himself the pain, he tries to roll along the dusty pavement once more...]

...I'm your enemy?

[They momentarily abate their attack, tilting their head to the side as they stand genuinely confused.]

I'm not trying to kill you, good God! If I was, you'd be double-dead already.

I was just looking for a good sparring partner and you seemed a good candidate with the way you were sizing me up.

But man, you're actually kinda disappointing...

[By now, Hope is tired and just shakes his head from his place on the ground.] By the way things were going... I thought you had made me your enemy. I only wanted to help that Spectre and give you an answer. [Mostly the former, but he was hoping the latter would end the fight.]

[And now he wants to burst into bitter laughter, but instead a thin smile makes a crack along his dirtied face.] I am disappointing. I'm weak. But... If all I can do is save someone weaker than me, then I've done my duty. [He may look small while crumpled on the ground, but Hope's eyes are still bright with determination.]

...

You're pissing me off.

[And then, rather than kick him while he's down, Kingslayer offers a hand up to Hope.]

Get the Hell up.

[It seems that Hope's display of humility has calmed the beast. He doesn't revel in it, though: it's the truth -- he is weak -- but it's also a dangerous thing to admit.

That's why, when Kingslayer offers their hand, he's relieved. He does hesitate for a very short moment, but firmly takes it and raises himself off the ground with their help. See, they're not enemies.]

Thank you. [After taking a moment to look himself over, he asks, slightly unsure of how to phrase it exactly:] Are you... feeling better?

Yeah, a bit. Thanks for the scrap.

[...the thanks is... entirely genuine?]

I have to ask since you apparently know so much about this place: where in the blazes are we?

introductions

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i'm so sorry for them

oh me too. :(

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