ROUND 3 INTRO LOG

[foundationmods]

Welcome to The Island. The Witch extends her greetings to you on this fine day, and is pleased to finally begin the game. Please, take a seat.

Though this game may be more difficult than originally expected, there are high hopes placed upon you. Fight well against what awaits you in order to reach a truly sparkling end.

The difficulty level is challenging, but also depends on you. Think deeply on your moves as you play.

You wake with a start - even if you don't remember falling asleep in the first place - and find yourself standing on the dock of what looks like an island. There's a noise behind you - and if you turn to look, you'll see a plain white boat taking off and leaving you all behind, not stopping for a second if you try to flag them down or scream at them.

It doesn't look like you can swim to shore, either - there's nothing but sea in all directions, and something tells you trying to swim out will end up badly. However, a small dip, if you were so inclined, would be fine. It's not like the weather is bad for it - it feels like it's summer, despite it having been firmly springish at the Foundation.

...Speaking of, what happened? The last thing you remember is being...wherever you were, and then seeing a yellow bird come towards you. Perhaps it was in the corner of your eye, or landed on your shoulder...regardless, all of you saw the bird before you were whisked away to this strange island.

Is it a new SCP? Something like this isn't outside the realm of their abilities, after all.

And there's something else. Your abilities are blocked, beyond those natural to your body. Try as you might, you just can't use any of your more supernatural or superhuman skills - though all of your physical abilities are intact, of course.

There is also a...letter? on your person, as if it was there all along - in your pocket or in your hand. It is...a remarkably plain envelope, and even the letter itself is plain parchment.

It reads:

'To the players in this game,

First and foremost, let me begin with an apology: for many of you, this is not a good time to bring you here, and forcing you to play in this game instead of asking nicely is quite rude of me. For that, you have my apologies.

However, as you will soon find out, this game is quite necessary. I hand-picked all of you because I felt you were the best for this task, strange circumstances notwithstanding, and I am sure you will excel beyond even my expectations. Please give me some consideration and play this game to your best efforts. Success will be greatly rewarded.

I will be watching, and I will intervene if needed. But I think all of you are up to this task. I am in your debt for this.

- The Witch of ██████████'

...hm.

If you decide to head up the path, you'll find Goat....men? waiting for you near the doors to the mansion. Despite their bright red eyes, they merely bow politely and wordlessly bring you into the mansion, showing you your rooms and then stating that they will prepare food for you or anything else you should need whenever you want, in surprisingly deep voices.

As they leave, you can't help but wonder...

Where are you now?

Round Calendar!
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Comments

[anonnomnomnom]

Well, maybe not everything, they have some pretty fun ideas sometimes!

[Or they're just fun for him, that's possible too.]

Though I get the feeling they do that more by accident than anything. This is the first time I've gotten to meet such a big group of really interesting agents! Usually they just scurry around like ants and don't want to talk to me.

[Now that you're trapped with him, you may be starting to see why.]

Do rich people usually like goats?

[sotoshini]

I can see why. [ Yeah, he's just out and saying it. He will answer the question without a pause, though. ]

I doubt it, they're a country thing. And not one of the "liberating" parts of the country either.

[anonnomnomnom]

Ehh, does that mean I'm still not good enough at being lowkey...?

[It's mock-petulant and half to himself, but he doesn't actually seem offended by Natsuno's bluntness??

But also he's really shitty at being lowkey, even without the hot pink hair...... Speaking of which, the damp locks just sort of flipflop around as he cocks his head.]

The country is liberating?

[sotoshini]

Something like that. [ A shrug of his shoulders, he's really not the best person to ask. ]

That's what people who move there say as justification. A more liberating and peaceful life than the city. [ By the sound of it, Natsuno really doesn't agree. ]

[anonnomnomnom]

[He grumbles something that sounds suspiciously like need to train more! like the shounen genre disaster he is.]

Hmm. It's kind of boring in the country, though, isn't it?

There's barely any people if you're not in a city, and no shops, and you can't chase anything...

[Surely he doesn't chase cars, right? Right.]

[sotoshini]

Kind of? [ He lets out something that could be considered a laugh. ]

No high school, no konbini, one temple, one rice shop. [ He looks at Anom as if to ask "What are you chasing?", but moves on. ] But there are plenty of livestock to "chase".

[anonnomnomnom]

Mmm... Chasing livestock definitely isn't as interesting as chasing people. [tag...?] Especially human livestock. The livestock from the Underworld was a lot more of a challenge.

[At this point we're definitely not sure what he's chasing anymore. At least he's not actually chasing the goats. Natsuno gets a briefly curious look.]

I didn't really go to school either, but I thought all human kids go to high school. You have to wear uniforms and take really crazy tests or you'll get kicked out, right?

[Is he calling him a dropout.]

[sotoshini]

[ Hold that thought. He might answer the high school question if prompted again but- ]

You chase humans? [ It may just be the light, but his eyes look almost predatory. ] 

[anonnomnomnom]

[He'll meet the mysteriously menacing gaze with the same totally guileless grin. Well, it might have an edge of mischief to it.]

Only sometimes! You see, we were holding this real big fighting tournament at home, and there were a whole lot of humans in it, 'cause God is a funny guy. Some of 'em fight by running away until everyone else knocks each other out of the running, some of them don't know how to fight so they run, and others like to lure you into traps by running!

I kind of miss it. There's nothing like it here yet. [a beat] Well, maybe we'll get to do something like that here, instead. I would have lost my edge if the Foundation kept being the Foundation for much longer.

[sotoshini]

[ There's a lot to unpack here (that seems to be a trend with anon), but Natsuno is really only focused on one thing. ]

What are you?

[anonnomnomnom]

[This is what happens when you enter the shounen dimension, y'all. Regrets. Regrets and Natsuno being a weirdo about perfectly natural shit.]

An Infernal!

[sotoshini]

[ Let him live, turning only made his edginess worse. ]

A demon?

[anonnomnomnom]

That's probably the easiest way to think about it!

[OK but is he living or is he dancer.]

[sotoshini]

...I'm not really surprised. [ Hm. He'll have more or ask to say once he's done processing that information, but now's a prime time to ask him something in the meantime. ]

[anonnomnomnom]

Ehh, you've met demons before? That's actually almost surprising!

[He's definitely perked up the more the conversation went on and Natsuno continued being an oddity.]

Are you sure you're a human-type SCP?

[sotoshini]

Close enough. [ Shiki, oniyaki, in that general vague sense of occult he's pretty open minded. ]

I'm not human.

[anonnomnomnom]

Close enough is close enough.

[He gives a sage nod, because that's basically what he is!

Close enough! Natsuno gets a frankly intrigued look now.]

Ah, if you're not human then what are you? You're pretty good at disguising yourself.

[Or they just met, but he's here to cheer you on or something.]

[sotoshini]

[ He considers for a moment, but ultimately decides he's not really trying to hide what he is. No, his stubbornness only extends in so far as he doesn't want other people to help him, befriend him, or any of that nice and warm stuff.

And well, if he's dealing with another non-human then he can be a bit more open, probably. ]

I don't think you would have heard of it. A jinrou.

[anonnomnomnom]

You're right, that's definitely not something I've heard of before.

[He's going to turn in a big circle around Natsuno and start examining him from every angle. Luckily for him, he's escaping nice and warm stuff despite Anon's general friendliness, but that just means that he gets treated like the latest zoo animal.

But it's okay, they're all zoo animals at this point, being herded by goat zookeepers...?]

So... where do you come from? What do you do?

[sotoshini]

[ Craning his neck as Anon walks around, but he doesn't look too bothered. Disappointingly(?) Natsuno looks pretty much like your average human, save for the way the sunlight bounces off of his eyes. His pupils look normal, but they're definitely more reflective than a human's eyes should be. ]

Japan. Why's the rest matter to you?

[anonnomnomnom]

[JIIIIIIIIIIIiiiii as he stares deeply into his eyes.]

Japan really is a strange country. Our tournament was actually held there, but that's probably 'cause God was biased.

And why wouldn't it matter to me? Of course I want to learn more about jinrou. The universe is way bigger and cooler than I thought!

[sotoshini]

Your curiosity doesn't mean I have to share. [ But for what it's worth, his eyes just totally went red. There, sharing! Even if he seems impassive as ever. ]

[anonnomnomnom]

We're both sharing!

[Now it might be veering a little close to the warm and fuzzy but like--

Oh, hey, eye color change! What the heck happened there. Anon perks up immediately.]

Ah. We match.

[sotoshini]

Yeah, now I've "shared". [ Despite his statement to the contrary, this was apparently intentional. That's enough, right? ]

[anonnomnomnom]

So you can actually change that even though there's a seal on... that's pretty great! Usually, I'd be able to change a lot more things, too, but that'll have to be for later.

[So apparently he's accepting this for now??

Don't think you'll escape his nosy mcnosiness forever, though. For now--]

But you should also share your name. I'm Anon, by the way. It's good to meet you!