red

[aunter]

R E D > You enter the door and find yourself in a glass box, suspended in the sky. Bright blue skies, white fluffy clouds, even birds pass by in the air around you. One look down and you see grass fields and sprawling lakes as far as the eye can see. Some wild horses running across the fields, some cows, just exactly what you'd expect. It's idyllic as fuck. Then the words appear:

Comments

PUZZLE ONE

[aunter]

hi. 👋
super happy to have you here.
first puzzle is about to start.
i'm here if you need anything! 🙇

[ There will be a small table in the middle of the room with a 12 sided dice and an incredibly sharp hunting knife next to it.

Then a sheet of paper that says:

SACRIFICE
PETER: 1 & 12
SEBASTIAN: 2 & 11
JAMIE: 3 & 10
SARA: 4 & 9
CHIDI: 5 & 8
ALICE: 6 & 7 ]

[wheatcake]

[Okay, question time. He doubts he'll get good answers, but for the sake of using every option:]

Hey, what are we sacrificing? And... will this thing run outta air eventually?

[Kicks side glass wall thing.]

[wheatcake]

[And- he'd do this even if he wasn't 'team leader', whatever that means.]

[So he immediately snatches up the knife.] Nobody's sacrificing anything unless we all agree to it. That's non-negotiable, okay?

The numbers are in a descending order. I'm guess-...

[Well, no point in that anymore. Time to focus, Pete. Get serious. He takes his mask off and reveals a perfectly human face, if a little tired in the eyebag reason.] And my name is Peter.

[lost_first]

Agreed.

[ He doesn't like the very idea of 'sacrifice' as something willingly chosen.]

If we've a need to move forward, however...

I would willingly give my life. I've had it a very long time.

[ And his death would be sweet with spite.]

SACRIFICE: 2

[aunter]

[ Hey, Sebastian.

A box will appear nearby and oh good god, does it stink. Like death. Like real, real death.

And if you open it, there will just be a pile of dead cats inside. Some of them just dead, some of them torn apart, some just in pieces. All familiar cats, of course. He's kept every single one of these cats at one point or another, hidden away from --

Oh, there's something else in the box. Under all the cats. It's small and soft, initially, until you reach down and bit and realize that it's hair. Blue hair. And if they decide to pull it out, they'll find a head. The cut off head of a certain Ciel Phantomhive.

Poor young master. ]

hm, bad!!

[cutlery]

[ Ah, now that's a familiar smell. To his sensibilities, it's more pleasant than not, but he at least puts on the correct show of wrinkling his nose in disgust and bringing a hand to cover his mouth and nose. Sebastian glances at Peter with a brief look of displeasure, since the paper makes it clear just who this is directed at, doesn't it?

But still, he'll approach the box without much in the way of hesitation. He takes a knee next to it and opens it up, but immediately, it's clear that the contents unnerve the rather amiable butler. His expression falls into one that's completely flat and severe. Tenderly, Sebastian runs his hands across the head of one of the cats that isn't completely in pieces, but it's in that gesture that he feels something more, a bit deeper into the box.

Compared to the tenderness he'd shown to the cat, his fingers clench rather tightly into the hair underneath his fingers, and he pulls out the head just enough to see who it is before he lets go. Sebastian's fingers tremble, and his eyes are absolutely locked even just that partially visible face.

His lips crack into a smile, but it's not a pleasant one in the slightest. The way his expression shifts, it's almost like looking a different person, not at all pleasant and affable, since it's a scary, unhinged smile. It's probably all the more unsettling with how his way of speaking doesn't change. ]

Oh, dear. What an absolutely vile sense of humor.

SACRIFICE: 1

[aunter]

[ Oh, Peter.

It won't be visible here. Not for Peter. Not quite. It won't be visible because what happens is just -- it's. More mental than anything else.

Or, hopefully, just the memory.

Because Peter will feel strange for a moment until suddenly, there's just... someone... he can't quite remember anymore. A few someone's. It's kind of strange, how they just sort of fade from his memory, like they never existed.

Just this blankness when he tries to think of his Uncle Ben or his Aunt May. And heck, who's that one girl? Mary Jane Watson or... was it, Gwen Stacy? Then those guys -- Harry Osborn? Or, uh, whatshisname, Flash Thompson? Oh and, shit, what about Betty Brant? No, no, all of them. All of them seem to fade from his memory, there one moment and gone the next.

And it'll come with this sudden, aching feeling of loneliness as a result. ]

[wheatcake]

[And Peter doubles over.]

[The memories of the people he's lost hold him up. The memories of the people still with him keep him there. They're his motivation, his life, his everyone. And now he just feels a... vast expanse of nothingness.]

Sebastian. I'm so sorry, Sebastian.

[aunter]

i think you need a push 🤔

[lost_first]

Then push me.

[ He's still got the knife in his hand, the edge darkened by his blood, a few drips falling off of his arm.]

END

[aunter]

ok!! the puzzle is over
you solved it
kind of
i'm still a little 😕 about it but
i guess it's overrrr
you (collective you) hit the criteria to pass
anyway let me set up the next one pls
give me a moment 🤠

[wheatcake]

[No translations this time. Peter is just. Lying on the floor.]

Can somebody swear at her for me? I can't, my- I can't remember why. Somebody would be disappointed in me.

PART TWO

[aunter]

[ The box shakes for a moment and tiny cracks begin to appear in the crack. Not enough to break it but enough to be... worrying. If anyone puts their hand to the crack, they'll be able to feel the air staring to come through. Well, at least they have more air now!

The table and the paper disappear, but the dead cats box, the blood, even the knife remains.

Instead, something appears on the wall. A wheel.

And a piece of paper will be stuck to it reading:

GIFT
Spin the wheel. Pick someone. Gift them something.
If the gift is greater than the gift they give you, they will be punished. You will be gifted.
If the gift is less than the gift they give you, you will be punished. They will be gifted.
If the gift is of equal value, you will both be punished. ]

[lost_first]

[...Jamie officially hates this. Officially. But he's going to be the first to stand up, the first to go to the wall with the wheel on it. He looks to Peter.]

I saw your face. When Sebastian got his box. It made you panic, and we can't allow for that.

If any be damned for this, let it be me. Aye?

[But he won't do anything until they agree. Especially since he looks over at Sebastian.]

Since you seem... disinclined to participate.

FIRST SPIN

[aunter]

[ Your gift has been given to Alice?.

And then the box begins to crack. Quickly then, splintering all upon the sides, like it was just hit with a hammer.

Then it drops, just a little. Hanging a little askew in the air. Everything begins to slide to the lowest corner of the box but the wheel still hangs.

Sebastian will feel something strange with the tips of his fingers and then, just like that, they all seem to fall off like a butcher knife was brought down upon them. Blood will spill and a few minutes will pass and then another chunk of finger goes. This will keep happening as he's slowly cut to bits until there's nothing left of him. But he has a long time until that happens, he should be... fine. For now.

Peter will open his mouth to breathe and then suddenly, the skin of his face grows over it until his entire mouth just seems to. Disappear. He can probably make a joke about the Matrix now, except he has no mouth to do so anymore.

Jamie will feel sharp pain on his side and if he lifts his shirt, he will find a large bite mark in his torso. Like a large animal, perhaps an alligator has just bitten him. Some of the skin will be missing and it will hurt very much. ]

[wheatcake]

[And Peter is wordlessly scrambling to take off his other glove to use as another tourniquet on Sebastian.]

SECOND SPIN

[aunter]

[ The box tilts completely, more cracks showing in it. A few pieces fall off. The wheel is now on the ceiling.

Your gift has... not been delivered.

Instead, Peter will find something strange happening to his face. While there's still no more mouth, suddenly it'll feel... off and then everything will feel a lot brighter. Across his face six more eyes appear, giving him a grand total of eight and they all... work. Blinking in sync with one another.

Sebastian will be overcome with an overwhelming hunger. His teeth will turn into fangs, difficult to speak around and dripping with blood (his own or someone else's, unsure). And on his hand, a new mark will appear, but he will know with absolute certainty that it does not belong to Ciel.

Jamie... nothing will happen to Jamie. ]

[wheatcake]

[Peter seems excited by this development, and tries to jump onto the side of the wall with his feet-- still no dice, he falls over in a lump. He stays there, but produces one shaky thumbs up.]

FINAL SPIN

[aunter]

[ The box will remain as it is.

Jamie will receive no gift.

Nothing will happen to him.

Peter's gift has been delivered. ]

[wheatcake]

[WELL THATS OMINOUS]

[said no one because he was dead.]

[lost_first]

[ And Jamie will allow himself a moment to weep at least as long as no fresh hell presents itself.]

A MESSAGE

[aunter]

sooooo
i was gonna say what team won but lol
game standards red team won
you standards you're probably feeling a bit blue huh ☠️
uh
give me a second for the next puzzle 😭

[lost_first]

Do I get a prize for my victory?

[ His voice is... reedy. Choked. But every word is very firmly pushed out.]

I would- [ he swallows] I would ask for the right to bury them. If I survive the rest of this.

PART THREE

[aunter]

[ The box drops again. It's hanging on now but just a corner. A few more pieces of glass drop off. It's getting pretty dangerous now.

The wheel and paper disappear.

The knife stays.

Then two words, on a piece of paper:

Take something. ]

[lost_first]

[ He hadn't survived the centuries by being dull-witted, foolish, or slow. Which is why he finds the highest point he can and hooks on with his hook; it's well-anchord by the rest of his arm, so he has little reason to fear it will move. The other hand takes the knife.

He won't grab Peter. Because the voice had said he could have him and he won't waste the effort. He'll take the knife. But since it was also already, technically, given to him-]

Is the something tangible?

Is it something from the two of them?

Is it something from the other group?

FINALE

[aunter]

[ The glass cracks. It begins to splinter completely. The glass begins to fall away and eventually...

Hook begins to fall. ]

[lost_first]

Fuck!

[ Because he's certainly learned his share of swear words from the new men over the years and it certainly seems appropriate.

He knows how to land, has landed from falls before. Hopefully, he won't be free and dead. But he'll brace and close his eyes.]