hashtagafreakingghost

look i have
i have my freaking priorities alright i was GETTING to that jesus
okay
okay wow slow down
you and your friends
1) spawned swarms of monsters
2) somehow could alter reality like a sims game???
3) could jump to another dimension with the right equipment
4) A METEOR HEADING FOR THE EARTH

am i missing anything

[...she is definitely a little on edge.]

there were lots of meteors actually
and the swarms of monsters were more or less preexisting we just transported ourselves into the midst of them with said equipment
that clearer?

yes
wait
holy shit
sorry one second okay?

yeah sure

you ok

[He doesn't get a response for a few minutes.]

yeah
i mean
no?
but it's all
ongoing and i didn't expect to have a thing
the meteors did they

sorry i just need to
you said imps? they're small right? they don't have long arms or legs or sharp teeth and claws?
they were imps
they weren't that right

they were about half the size of your average thirteen year old
and really dumb looking
due to reasons a lot of them ended up with like clown hats and princess dresses and cat ears
will it help if i draw one then you can see how ridiculous and not scary they were

no i'm calming down
seriously

[...And the audio clicks on. Her voice is shaking but she does sound...not completely freaking out.]

I'm so sorry, Dave. I am such a mess, I've been trying to not do this, not here, n- not with anyone. I just- wanted to ask you questions and didn't think this would happen.

Hey, no. It's okay. Um.

[Why is he so painfully bad at this, Jesus. Welp.]

The, uh. Well, it's not the reason I talked to you, but. The thing you said when you got here, about expecting to still be covered in blood? That was something I could've said when I first woke up here, so. Believe me, I get it.

I can try to avoid talking about the thing that sets you off if I know what it is?

[Dave, it's called a trigger warning. Come on, didn't you ever listen to Kankrahahahahdkshgdkd yeah jk.]

I- I've been trying t-to just ignore it.

[A few soft murmurs in the background- from Pokémon, naturally.]

...But that's...n-not working, is it? [Just like what that card reading told her. She takes a deep breath.]

It's...monsters. [...] Well, and- saws, I'm n-no good with those anymore, but- Monsters, ha, i-it's so inconvenient here, right? I just- there were these...h-have you ever heard of a...a wendigo?

Uh...maybe? From, like. T.V.

[On Dave's end, there's the quiet click of a door. Looks like he went somewhere else so they could have more privacy.]

They live in the woods...?

Yeah. On a mountain. A-a specific mountain. They...they were once h-humans that, um. Get possessed b-by the wendigo spirits and are dr-driven to e-eat someone.

[A soft, choked whimper.]

They become monsters l-like- ...like what I asked about earlier. Actually. M- my friends and I, we...well. We k-kind of got caught up in their...feeding grounds.

Oh. [And then, as it sinks in:] Oh my god.

[Is that why--Jesus.]

Were you...did you get out?

[Her voice cracks, but something about it is bitter and angry.]

We survived. Most of us did. W- we were in the ranger station, being interviewed. They- we had to blow up the lodge, and they didn't believe us. Those things would've k- killed us if we didn't! Th- they alm-most...

[She's standing so close to them, while Mike breaks the light. This one advances on him. Sam screams. Draws its attention. There are footsteps, the others starting to run, but she had to wait. Wait until Sam had its attention. They could've gone for her, she could've-]

...I-I was...sitting with Ch-Chris. In the station. Most of the others were still- trying to convince them we d-didn't... That we had a reason. That we didn't kill the old man on the m-mountain and leave Josh to--

[It's the first time she's said his name. She freezes up.]

[Oh.

Oh, no.]

Ashley. Hey.

[His voice is quiet. Sincere.]

I know you didn't. Okay? Neither of those things. I'm sorry. For your friend, and for. That you had to go through all that. That must've been...that was fucked up. Shit shouldn't happen like that.

[Bad things shouldn't happen to good people.]

I believe you.

[She breaks off into a muffled sob. A murmured attempt at an apology- or an explanation? A wobbling I didn't want but it dissolves before she can get any other words out.

A soft trilling noise on her side, and her cries are softer; she's likely buried her face somewhere.

In the end, she can only barely murmur:] Thank you.

'Course.

[That must have been one of her Pokémon. That's good; it's good that this place never lets anyone be truly alone.]

Like I said: I've kind of been there. So, for real, take all the time you need, whenever, and know that I know how it is.

[A strangled mm of confirmation. Ashley's in no shape to do much but cry for a time. There's this part of her that wants to just spill everything, to wail about the wendigos, and the bite, and Josh, and...the twins.

But. He said...

...so when she can, when her sobs have subdued to sniffles, she says:] T-tell me. [Clears her throat.] I- do want to kn-know, what you've, you've been through, s-so tell me.

Th-the meteors. The aliens. A-all of it.

I mean. If we do that, we'll be here, like, all year. I mentioned this all started when I was thirteen, right? I can...maybe get through up to the trolls tonight.

Okay, but you'll still tell me, right? Even if it takes awhile, I- I don't care.

[It's the least I can do. This bubbling urge inside her drives her on, like she has to know.]

I--Yeah? Sure? I mean, I'm not the best at telling stories and TBH I'm a little unclear on some of the behind the scenes metaplot shit, but I'm generally an unstoppable fount of talking about the subject, so. All right. As long as you're positive you don't mind sitting through three literal years of outer space time travel bullshit.

I don't. At all. [Another sniffle. On her end, she's got...quite a few snuggley Pokémon close.] Besides, it distracts me from...I don't know, being out here in the dark with just my Pokémon to light things up. [Because like an utter cliche, she hates the dark.]

Y-you um...you were at...another dimension...?

Yeah. So, um, eventually we all get there. Rose gets John in as his server player, I get Rose in, Jade gets me in, and then John closes the circle and makes sure Jade turns up all right. The thing that happens is each of our houses ends up on our own personalized mini-planet. Mine was LOHAC. The Land of Heat and Clockwork.

[...]

Okay, maybe this part I should draw.

Go ahead. If you think that'd be easier to explain with, th-then, yeah.

I do comics, you know? It's easier for me. Anyway, I'm sending you something like how LOHAC looked.

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[Audio] ...heeeeere comes CANNIBALISM!

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