realmofstories | Nightmare on Index Street

Nightmare on Index Street—

After the final hours of Halloween are coming to an end and everyone is slowly beginning to gather their things and return to their homes to prepare for the clean-up to come in the later days, a strange, eerie silence falls throughout the Index along with a mysterious gray fog. It seeps over the ground like a veil dragged behind an invisible bride and soon engulfs the entire city. The sound of hooves clattering over the cobbled streets echo over every street like an army followed by a chorus of loud, high maniacal laughter. In the next instant everything turns pitch black, as if the light of the world had been shut off.

And then just as suddenly, the light returns. But the sight that greets those who bear witness sends chills down every spine. Pumpkins lay smashed along the streets, cobwebs cover almost every window and doorway, and scarecrows swing from nooses tied to various branches. A cold, black frost covers the ground, steam rising from the thin, icy sheet before a new sound echoes around.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Big, heavy footfalls and then—

VRRRRRMMMMMM WHEEEEEEENNNNN

An ear-splitting roar of motor and metal as sparks fly from a giant chainsaw. The thing wielding it? A giant skeleton several stories tall, its mouth open wide as another shrieking laugh erupts, its eyes glowing fire. As it laughs, those closest to the abomination scream in terror before it suddenly swings its weapon out, cleaving everything and everyone in its path.

YOU THINK YOU CAN DESTROY ME, OUTSIDERS? YOU THINK YOU CAN BECOME HEROES? I'VE EATEN THEM ALL, DEVOURED THEIR SOULS AND TAKEN THEIR POWER. NOW I WILL TAKE YOU AND YOUR WORLDS! I WILL CONSUME EVERYTHING!!

From its open mouth a black vortex appears, growing larger and larger until it hurls outward to smash onto the street in front of it. At first nothing happens—only a gaping, black hole exists. But then the first claw reaches out, the first tendril, wing, tail, head. Black, hellish creatures rise up and locals scream the words,

"Erasers! It's the Story Eater's minions run for your lives!!"

By now the journals of each Aspect will have begun to burn, a loud buzz drumming in their ears as the Storyteller reaches each and every one of them.

Aspects! The Story Eater has sensed of your arrival and has breached the barrier of this world. It must be repelled, but there are only so few of you and it has grown so strong. We fear you will not survive if you face it now. But with the aid of the one known as the Father of Christmas, you may be able to weaken it enough. Quickly, find his gifts, use your powers, and weaken him until I can write a new barrier to expel him.

Please, hurry!

§ prompts.

¶ I. Unwrap Those Presents! So what are our would be heroes to do? The Storyteller is utilizing the essence of—if you haven't guessed already—Santa Claus to create special presents that will help damage and delay the Story Eater. Again, it won't be enough to defeat it, but it will give the Aspects that extra oomph and time to chip away at that giant HP bar for the Storyteller to do its magic to reconstruct the shield and expel the Story Eater.

There are four types of presents:

Big Red. Big red presents will summon giant snowmen that will fall either on top of or around the Story Eater. They can't really attack, but they will create a lot of ice and snow in attempt to freeze the Story Eater place. It will also help make parts of the Story Eater a bit more brittle, so those who do try to do direct attacks can deal some damage and chip away some of that bone structure. Nothing massive, but at least some cuts and small bones can be hacked off.
Polka Dot Blue. Blue, polka dotted presents come in various shapes and sizes, but they all do the same thing when unwrapped and opened—create a lot of noise. Technically they're choirs singing various Christmas Carols, but doesn't really sound like it up close. Fortunately, they also come with special ear muffs and a small note saying, "Cover your ears before opening," but if disregarded then those who hear it will find themselves stunned and a little hard of hearing for a good while. Closing the flaps will silence the noise. What needs to be done is to direct the opening of the present towards the Story Eater. The "music" will amplify and stun it, giving a few precious seconds of vulnerability.
Orange Gift Bags. Large gift bags with black ribbons tying them close will unleash an explosion of pumpkins once opened. These pumpkins will rise into the air laughing before raining down in a wide area and explode on impact. So be careful! These will need to be brought over near the Story Eater to deal damage.
Black Envelopes in Black Stockings. These gifts are a bit harder to find, but it's also easy to notice a giant sock hanging from somewhere and a black envelope sticking out of it. They're up high, so some climbing or flying will be required. But once reached, opening the envelope will produce one of two cards. A card that is labeled "TRICK" can be used and thrown at the Story Eater. The card will expand in size and turn into steel to slice at the Story Eater, dealing a lot of damage. A card that is labeled "TREAT" can be used to help heal or boost those fighting, even allowing characters to immediately learn abilities that could help with the fight.

And around all these presents will be Erasers trying to reach and destroy them first. Some will be easy, but some may require a bit of fighting, so be prepared!

¶ II. Erase the Erasers. Erase the Erasers. The Erasers are pouring out of the black vortex and it seems as if there's an endless army of them. They are going after the citizens, so try to intercept them and defend the populace. They come in all shapes and forms, some even looking like creatures straight out of the lost stories themselves. Alternatively, try to see if you can plug up that massive hole. Perhaps a few well placed snowmen and pumpkin bombs? The gifts will also be effective against the Erasers, although it might be a little overkill.

¶ III. Help the Injured.The site where the Story Eater’s avatar landed has been reduced to rubble, and the monster is bent on more destruction as it plows through the city, any citizens caught in its wake bursting into torn pieces of ink and paper. Not everyone’s essence or heart is geared for offense, and there’s more than one way to help save the day. Those who still wish to help can try to save those who haven't been lost, or perhaps heal them if they have the knowledge or power at their disposal. Don't forget there are magical healing potions that everyone received on their first day, and it's not too difficult to find more, possibly buried underneath the rubble. Finally there are the "TREAT" cards that could also be used to help heal the injured.

¶ V. Wildcard. Make up your own prompt! Especially in regards to the festival, anything can really happen.

[Mod note: Refer to the accompanying Game Notes for more information!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He looks around before shaking his head and holding it to her.]

I'll be fine, so go ahead and take them.

Are you sure?

[ She says it before she thinks to write it down, hesitating before reaching for the ear muffs. ]

[Just a nod, a thumbs up, and then pushing it gently into her hands before reaching into one of his leather pouches and pulling out some cloth. Not as good as the earmuffs, but balling them up and stuffing them into his ears will be better than nothing, at least.

Anyway, let's try raising his voice to test if their hearing has improved even with the ear protection now on.]

Are you still deaf???

Not really!

[ she shouts back as she slips the ear protectors on. Ah, these will make those things a lot more tolerable. ]

You're not going to be okay with just that though!

I'll just try and not be directly in front of it! If we open it towards the enemy, they should get the brunt of it!

[...Hopefully.]

[ Rokurou is muted to her, but she can still hear enough to make him out. The look on her face is less than impressed, shall we say.

She grabs the cups over her ears as if to take them off again. ]

Maybe we should try something else.

[NOPE. Already picking up the box HE'S DOING THIS.]

I'm going in!!

[RIP Rokurou's ear drums.]

[ This guy is crazy! Aya's hand instead press down on the cups and she closes her eyes instinctively (like that's gonna help!) ]

Here goes nothing..!

[He's making sure to keep a tight hold on it as he runs with it towards a large group of Erasers. And after bracing himself, he begins to open the flap...

AND THEN JUST CHUCKS IT OVER THERE, throwing it as hard and fast as he could and hoping it doesn't backfire and turn around to face them instead. Fortunately, the opening stays towards the Erasers and as Rokurou covers his ears, the deafening chorus from within slams into the Erasers, stunning them all instantly. And since he threw it a fair distance, the two can definitely hear it and even feel the audio waves, but it's nowhere near as deafening as before. Very, very loud, but more like rock concert loud.]

[ What a relief, she thinks when she finally looks up and the sound isn't utterly deafening. She's letting out a sigh that would have been audible in other circumstances.

Carefully she lifts one of her ear coverings, and when she realizes it's okay, she's shoving them down around her neck and grabbing her bow. ]

Now's our chance!

[Oooh she uses a bow. Fancy.

His own hearing is still a little compromised, but he can at least hear her. Drawing his swords, he nods.]

Let's finish them off!

[And in he goes! Please don't shoot him.]

[ ~~She's too good to shoot him by accident and too nice to shoot him on purpose, sad but true.~~

She's very quick to nock an arrow, sending it flying a few seconds after Rokurou speaks, followed by another, and another.

And they do conveniently all miss him, hitting their targets solidly, making the staggering stunned enemies even easier fodder for Rokurou's swords. ]

[Normally he would try to listen for the arrows, but with his hearing compromised he can only keep a straight path and trust Aya to hit her marks. A giant trust exercise to be sure, but he just grins when he sees those arrows whiz by, not faltering for a moment as he cuts down one after the other. He basically let Aya lead the way—she shoots, he finished them, until eventually all of the Erasers are taken care of.

Swinging his blade free of the black mess, he turns to give her a smile.]

Nicely done! Thanks for not hitting me!

Of course I wouldn't do that!

[ Sure, he's thanking her, but this isn't something to joke about! ]

Be serious, would you?

Hey, I am being serious! But no harm in a little joking around.

Besides, we got it all done!

I know, but you don't need to thank me for something I'd never do!

[ She's still a little miffed at the insinuation that she ever might.

Sigh. ]

But I am rather glad that those guys are taken care of. For now, at least.

Oh is that what's bothering you? Would it make you feel better that I trusted you wouldn't? [Maybe?]

In any case, I think I'll be staying away from that particular present.

Well, yes?

[ Sigh, huff. moving on. ]

Me too. I think I'm going to have a headache for days.

Haha, sorry, didn't mean to offend you. [At least it's a genuine apology! Since she really does seem bothered by it.

But yes, anyway.]

Same. At least I think my hearing is coming back. [Though he wouldn't be surprised if some permanent damage was actually incurred....] Ready to try to find the next one?

[ Sorry Rokurou she's easily offended. She just gives him a look, but moves on because - ]

Of course, we can't just let these guys wander around unopposed.

Then let's find those presents.

[And find more things to fight.

AND SO OUR INTREPID DUO GO FORTH TO HOPEFULLY NOT GET SEVERELY INJURED BY THE NEXT PRESENT...]

Nightmare on Index Street

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject