TEST DRIVE 004

[phantasmods]

Hello and welcome to the fourth test drive for Phantasmal Rift!

Test drive threads are assumed to be game canon for accepted characters unless otherwise noted, so don't feel like you'll have to introduce yourself a second time to everyone you meet! As an added bonus, participation in the test drive comes with the chance to earn up to two items of loot for your trouble! Characters who are accepted can earn one item for having a top level, and one for tagging out to someone else's top level! Your SWEET LOOT will be included with your acceptance notice.

Additionally, characters currently in game can earn themselves a piece of bonus loot for the dungeon by tagging people's top-levels on the test drive! Existing characters get their bonus loot along with the rest of their loot at the conclusion of the dungeon.

This test drive takes place in Keystone Reef, a water-influenced Fissure to the northeast of the station. It is home to numerous fish and coral species, as well as a very interesting magical effect...

OPTION ONE: FINNY FUN

Under the water is where you woke up, and under the water is where you might be stuck for a while. The magic is lodged in you and has changed your form -- maybe a little, maybe a lot. Perhaps you only have gills, but you may also have a full set of changes, fins and no feet to speak of. Don't panic, you'll surely be fine if you just keep swimming...

Aside from the strange changes, it's a pretty cool place to be. If you've ever dreamed about scuba diving on a coral reef, the place that you've found yourself is perfect for that (minus the needing to scuba part). Curious fish swim up and then dart away into rock crevices, coral growths, and even down to bury themselves in the layer of sand at the bottom. The water is also fairly shallow, allowing you to surface if you so desire.

Even the sharks are friendly and just want to have as much a look at you as you want to look at them. Don't harass the glowing eels tucked into cracks between the rocks, though, they bite and don't particularly let go.

OPTION TWO: WORLD'S SMALLEST JUNGLE

This must certainly be an oceanside jungle - in spite of the humidity, the smell of salt on the air is strong. Brilliant greens and the occasional bright flowers, accompanied by island birdsong... It could be a nice place to spend an afternoon. There's not even that many bugs that want to drink your blood (though bugs in general are, well, quite plentiful).

Eventually, though, however far you go, you'll reach the beach and be met with the expanse of the ocean - blue, uncaring, and real big. While one side of the little island thankfully has land visible in the distance, the outer side just overlooks a near-endless expanse of blue. If you're a very good swimmer, you could probably make your way to land past the rocks of the reef itself... Otherwise, though, you might be just a bit stuck on your jungle island paradise.

At least until someone brings a boat.

OPTION THREE: SHIPWRECK

Both above and below the waterline are the remains of ships crashed upon the rocks, just waiting to be explored. Even though it has clearly been an incredibly long time, the chunks of wood and metal are still in fairly good condition, and the chance of finding something nice tucked in with them among the rocks is surely tempting to anyone with an adventurous spirit.

The wrecks beneath the waves also grow coral and seaweed, and provide havens for larger fish, dragon eels, and sharks. Those along the rocks above the waterline, on the other hand, provide a home for seabirds of all varieties. Most notable is the hulking shell of a shipping craft in the distance, looking very much modern if ruined by some centuries of exposure...

For right now, though, you'd best contend with the flotsam a bit closer to you, and the wildlife that might not take too kindly to your exploring. Below the waterline, the dragon eels found in a few places don't take kindly to being disturbed; above, you might run afoul of some overprotective seabirds protecting their nests. Maybe even an invisible seagull (normal sized) - how ridiculous would that be?

Comments

[makejapangreat]

[Shido watches him as he leaves, then can't help but look at Akechi.]

Witches, really? [...it's a bit hard to keep some of that disbelief out of his tone. Even though his world has already been turned upside down so many times already...]

[coagmentatio]

[ Aiden's quirking a brow at her and doing an amazing job at hiding his own amusement, because this is clearly! serious business!!!

... That is an interesting thought, though. ]

After everything I've seen until now, I wouldn't even be surprised...

[hairpincurves]

[It's mostly already becoming clear that if she runs into these people she's gonna be the weird one... ugh.]

... I'm pretty close to average height for a girl... How much of a beanpole is guy me?

[Yeah, she's going with the height being the clear obvious thing. Her figure is, honestly, nothing impressive as far as she figures--which she doesn't mind. Being bigger in the chest would be annoying, for sure.]

... Huh? You... know about that? [Well. Hell.] ... Yeah, that's still my code name.

[foolishjustice]

There's an entire magic research laboratory.

[He grins, finned ears wiggling excitedly. When Aiden runs off, he shifts a little deeper into the water.]

Yes, witches. They're teachers at a school for magic in a world where it's in common use.

[coagmentatio]

Five-foot-nine. [ a beat ] I'm actually considered abnormally tall for people of my world. A lot of guys where I'm from are about your height.

[ It's spoken like nothing more than a scientific fact. Though it's only for a couple of seconds that his expression is chill, because it eventually turns into a frown. ]

... One guy in that mall was six-foot-six, and his weight was listed as "A Lot." I can't imagine trying to get around discreetly at that size.

[hairpincurves]

[Her worst enemy: the imperial system. She almost considers asking him for the centimeters, but... hm. It takes her a bit but she manages to figure it out. Then frowns.]

Fifteen centimeters taller than I am... [She almost pouts at the thought.] And four taller than the average.

... Eh? That's almost hard to imagine... ... Both of those things actually. I guess it's one thing if stealth's not a worry, but... jeez.

[founderinglight]

They're perfectly good people, for the most part - not so different from humans in that regard.

[coagmentatio]

[ An entire magic research laboratory... The mention of that had resulted in his own expression brightening!

Fortunately, Shido brought him close to the area he'd stashed his stuff, so it doesn't take long! Once he's back, he flops down unceremoniously. He doesn't even hesitate to comment: ]

I'll have to check this laboratory out as soon as possible...

[ He sets his bag and guitar down on the sand next to him, and then proceeds to pull the phone out. He's taking a picture of the side of his neck. ]

... I wonder what influences the level of physical change within each individual. [ squinting hard at the picture ] My situation isn't that different from some of the ones I've encountered so far.

[ Annnnnnd he's talking to himself now apparently... ]

[byhalves]

You should. [It's where he ran into his friend, after all!] They're the strangest thing here.

[Hopefully you can follow his logic. The strangest place means the place most people will probably be inclined to check.]

...so is this the second or third time?

[byhalves]

[The flash is enough to startle him, the water around him going just a little colder as his instincts try to kick in - but. The odd man doesn't seem to see him, so he's probably not a threat.

He doesn't quite relax, but he is curious about the flash of light rematerializing into a man. He hasn't seen a quirk quite like it - a cross between Hagakure's ability to reflect light and a displacement quirk, if he had to guess what was happening - but it's working well enough.

Hopefully he notices his surroundings soon, because Shouto is just curious about this man to start swimming towards him, nosiness overriding wariness.]

[founderinglight]

[Fortunately for both of them, if nothing else, Izunia always looks before he warps. There's some kind of object in his hand, but it vanishes into a sparkle when he gets sight of the boy coming over to investigate.]

Ah - hello! Another new arrival, I take it.

[byhalves]

Yeah. [That's - that's really close. Maybe a little bit too close??] Mostly, anyways.

[He's pretty sure there needs to be something super to make it a superpower, but compared to someone who's quirkless it's...probably pretty super??

Not that he knows anyone who was born quirkless to make that comparison.]

Don't you...have one yourself?

[byhalves]

Apparently. [He's new, and he's arrived, so...that probably means his a new arrival?

Still not sure about where he is, but. He's here.]

But you're not new, then, and not a native either...?

[Which is more of a guess than anything else.]

[founderinglight]

No, I've been in this world for a few months now, as have a number of others.

[Don't mind if he just. Sits? On the nearest bit of ship that isn't totally coated in coral.

Trading water with eight legs is tiring.]

[byhalves]

So it can affect our bodies like this but not our quirks.

[h m m]

I'm not sure if that makes things more or less dangerous.

[It's definitely odd, and it bothers Todoroki. There's something big going on here that doesn't quite add up, but he doesn't know enough to figure out what that is.

It doesn't seem to be actively malicious outside of the wildlife, though, so he's even more at a loss.]

There's a lot of sharks in the water, so you could be careful. They frenzy when they can smell blood, don't they?

[He's not a marine biologist, okay?]

[byhalves]

So you know what's going on here.

[He swims closer, because he's trying to work on that whole "being rude and starting a grudgematch" thing.]

But you still got turned into a fishman, too...

[Huh.]

[founderinglight]

Well, I don't particularly mind. It's much better than not having a body at all.

[He shrugs lightly, in spite of the words. It's nothing but simple truth. Any body at all is better than none.]

Did someone give you the explanation yet?

[byhalves]

...

[He's not sure if that's a joke or not. It gets a curious, almost-suspicious look from the boy, but he's not going to press.

He is going to remember that, though.]

Not yet. Everyone I've met so far has been new to this place, too.

[founderinglight]

Very well, then. The short version is that this is another world from wherever you came from, and we're in the middle of an erratic magical effect called a Fissure. Among other things -

[And here he gestures to where his legs should be, to the vaguely wandering mass of tentacles he has instead.]

- they're notorious for pulling peoples and things from other worlds and leaving them stuck here.

[makejapangreat]

Right now, what we're in is called a Fissure. It's... the collision of two worlds, I believe. And it disturbs the laws of reality, pulling others in from other worlds, and altering those inside of it.

[MMMM... SHOULD HE... ADMIT THIS...]

... this isn't what I normally look like.

[serrata]

[ Hugging!! Yelling!! This is just what we do around here!! ]

Yes, a month! [ wait, record scratch. Church isn't acting like she's been gone for a month, so– ] And– and we were definitely all with you, right? None of us just up and disappeared?

[ it's not that she doesn't completely trust the information they have, it's just that she doesn't completely trust the information they have. ]

[motherfucking_ghost]

I was just back home! And everything was fine!

cw: gore, blood

[makejapangreat]

[A pained yell escapes him as the eel is knocked away, ripping some skin and flesh with it and causing a much larger spray of blood into the water. He... doesn't exactly rush away when he has the chance. In fact he's just kind of floating there, tail undulating weakly behind him as his hand automatically comes up to cover the injury. His gaze is unfocused, and his skin has become paler, which is more noticeable around his head and shoulders where the skin is yellow. He also doesn't seem to be floating in place very well, lilting a bit.

And then, in just a few short seconds, he goes limp.]

[makejapangreat]

I see. [........ he guesses.

He turns to look at Aiden once he comes back, and shakes his head.]

I'm not sure. Of all the transformations, I think Akechi's and mine are among the most dramatic I've seen.

[foolishjustice]

Maybe it's related to supernatural ability and willingness to accept a changed form. You seem to be at least familiar with magic, while Shido had only even heard of psychic abilities secondhand before he arrived here. I have powerful psychic abilities of my own, but I don't mind adapting to a new shape...I even have some shapeshifting abilities of my own.

[It's that, or...considering he and Shido both got similarly dramatic changes because of the relation.]