Endgame: Flowers of Heaven

[errours]

Who: found(?) idols
Where: ???? a mysterious meadow
When: Day 232

[ As you pass through the gates, it’s as though a heaviness lifts from your chest—some terrible weight that you hadn’t realized you’d been carrying. It had felt like terrible sadness, like you had failed, and would forevermore be worthless and alone. It wasn’t your burden, but you were carrying it all the same.

Now you are Free.

You’re in a meadow, now, beneath a sky that shimmers with a shifting rainbow of light; the horizon stretches as far as the eye can see. Any fire still surrounding you dissipates at last, dissolving harmlessly in the light. Then, in first a trickle and then a flood, your memories, if they were lost, return to you.

...And there at the center of it all, sitting on a bronze tripod stool, is a woman who might look familiar to some of you. She’s wearing a summery golden top and a pair of wide-legged pants, slit up the sides to display the burn scars that go halfway up her legs. ]

Well, wasn’t that something truly special. We couldn’t have done this without all of you—and that’s what makes you so all so remarkable.
[ turning to face a presumably hidden camera ]
Weren’t they just inspiring? There’s no one quite like the Imeeji idols, is there?

[ facing all of you again with a fond sort of smile ]
And an extra congratulations to BARiTONES, Taisho Roman Revolution, AlcheME!, and pep!pep!, for holding on to yourselves, even when all seemed lost.

[ Sure enough, those units will find themselves fully restored; you might even feel renewed. The extra 800 points aren’t too shabby either. —Oh hey, and you've got a cute little holographic flower sticker on your clothes that says, "WOW!"
Everyone else, though…
Well, at least your memories are back. The rest is a lingering reminder of the cost of letting go.

A little in the distance, looking somewhat odd in the wide meadow, is the Game Tower elevator. Perhaps you’d like to go home. ]

Comments

[learntofly]

... You don't still feel like throwing things, do you?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

But you haven't even seen my weapon of choice yet.

[learntofly]

No weapons.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[He's getting scolded by all the children today. What gives?

It's not like he went on a crazy roomba-throwing---

Oh.]

That's a hard sell.

[learntofly]

It's not a sell. It's a rule.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I put a taser in my arm.

Hard sell.

[learntofly]

Taze me and I'll sneak bolivian death peppers into your food at random for the rest of your life. You will never again know when it's safe to take a bite.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You can't do that!

... Can you?

[learntofly]

[ Looks him dead in the eye ]

Do you want to find out?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Is this a staring contest?

This is a staring contest!]

[learntofly]

[ Whose intimidation will reign supreme??? ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Well...

Intensity does have intense physical exhaustion, so---

Blinks.





Damn it.]

That doesn't count.

[learntofly]

I didn't know you were such a brazen cheater.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

How is that cheating?

[learntofly]

You obviously blinked. Only a cheater would try to claim it doesn't count.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Fine. Then I want a rematch!

[learntofly]

No thanks. I'm good.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Wait.

Can you--- can you do that?

Can you just NOT have a rematch???!!!!!

(This does not compute)]

What!?

[learntofly]

Winners don't need rematches.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You can't just play keep away with your title!

[Blasphemy!]

[learntofly]

Why not? I earned it, didn't I?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Isn't not worth anything if you there's no chance of losing it?

That's like those ridiculous vanity items you get for logging into a game on a special day of the year.