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the-oletus-parlor · 2 years

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Theater of Darkness♪

"What is it you're trying to see? You have no place in the outside world... not anymore... Gaze into my mirror and see yourselves anew. As one of them, an army under my command. If you'd like to fight back, go ahead. Throw the dice and see where it lands. Investigate this place to your hearts' content, and you'll find it's all the same. Complete darkness. There is no warmth here. Go on, be sure to put on a good show once you realize there's no escape." - Agents of Darkness

Opening Cast:

S Tier: Haunted Pink Disk♪

S Tier: Agents of Darkness

A Tier: Heart of the Night -> Midnight Phantom

A Tier: Hacker -> Sweet Dreams

A Tier: Spectral Viewer♪ -> Broadcaster

A Tier: Neon Lights -> Shooting Stars

B Tier: Musical Beats -> Song of Fate

B Tier: Broken Sign -> Party of the Dawn

---

Welcome back to lore! [part 2]

This time, we'll be talking about The Theater of Darkness, which is the second part of the Neon Essence's lore and the finale!

Our settings here are in the Theater of Darkness and The Neonized... 7 years after the events of the Neon Essence. Buckle up folks, you're in for a long one </3 /j/lh

I tried to stay less away from explaining every little thing and tried to put more focus on small story segments to help tell the narrative,,, I'll still try to explain some things though </3 I'll title the segments "Act X: Y" just cause I think it's neat. Hopefully, it also helps you guys get a better feel for the world of ToD and the characters stuck inside it. I may or may not get carried away in some parts,,, hehe,,,

---

Content Warning for descriptions of injury and death (especially in Act 4!), so please read at your own risk!

---

Act One: The Stage is Set... for its final story.

Darkness.

A total, all-consuming darkness, which swallowed any and all light greedily. Like a hungry beast consumes its prey, feasting upon their flesh.

Darkness as far as the eye could see, stretching far beyond what the four people could see.

Darkness.

"Where... where the fuck are we?" Heart of the Night, although severely injured, still glowed the brightest of the four people. He had lost all but the purple and teal glow in his hair and cracked, round sunglasses, as well as the dim light emitted by the brittle staff laying by his side.

"You think I know? Ugh... my watch's map is all messed up, it just keeps saying DATA NOT FOUND." Hacker, on the other hand, had lost all but the light that glowed within her gloves, which was nothing more than a dim, flickering mess. And even that was struggling to stay alive.

"This place... is dark. Very..." Spectral Viewer turned once. "...very..." And then, a second time. "...very..." And finally, she had turned a third time. "...dark." She whispered quietly. From her headphones, a weak, weak orange light fought for its right to be seen.

"Darkness as far as the eye can see..." Neon Lights placed his foot down, looking around. "The ground is flat... but hollow underneath our feet? Are we on top of some sort of structure?" He noted. Though his light had completely faded, his intellect stayed strong and intact.

"And now... now that the stage is set... it is time for your final acts... in this story." A voice echoed from the darkness, soft and alluring. It gripped their attention, demanding to be acknowledged. And from the darkness, she arose. To them, she looked to be nothing more than white scribbles floating around in the darkness, as if she were crudely scribbled in crayon by a small child. Her movements were graceful and fluid, however, as if she were floating across the floor. Behind her, existed three scales, with chains that spiraled up into the neverending darkness. both seemingly anchored to a ceiling of some kind, but also detached to the void around them, following the strange woman wherever she went. And in her hand, she held a small mirror. It, however, didn't seem to reflect light... but show neverending darkness instead. Heart of the Night could not even see a hint of himself in the mirror's surface, even though he knew they still shone bright enough to leave some evidence in the reflection of their presence. She reached up, slowly tapping on the mirror's surface, however it did not make a sound. Where the sound of her nail tapping against the glass's surface should have been... stood silence instead. "Oh... cue the lights, it's been a long time since I've had visitors this far down in the darkness..." Her voice echoed across the space, even though she never moved her mouth, still wearing that same, creepy closed-lip grin. "You're all fading... but you are all still intact... good. You will all make good vessels for the darkness." It spoke again, but its words left the four of them... rather perplexed.

"Vessels..? What the fuck are you on about?" Heart of the Night was the one who spoken up first, seemingly both confused and upset. "Yeah, what are you talking about? Are... are you the darkness?" Hacker added with a confused look. "If that thing is the Darkness... then we can't afford to stay here! If the Darkness gets us, there's no telling what will happen!" Neon Lights had interjected. Spectral Viewer simply looked on in horror at the creature, standing tall just feet in front of them. "Ahh, come on, answer us, bitch!" Heart of the Night snapped, seemingly irrate by the now silent, smiling figure.

And then... it happened. One by one, 4 doors appeared, guarded by 4 heavy locks. In front of the 4 doors, laid a blank television and a table with four bright, glowing keys. One red and blue, one orange and pink, one purple and teal, and one yellow and green. "Choose whichever door you'd like. You are free to explore as you see fit, for you will soon see that... there is no escape for you. And there is no tomorrow. Not anymore..." The figure spoke again, but this time, she held up her finger. "But only one door can be entered by one person at a time. The rest must stay... and watch. You may stand here..." The figure shifted to the side before gesturing back behind her. "Or you may take a seat in the audience, if you so wish." Behind her, from the darkness arose several hundred seats, similar to one you'd find in a theater. Almost every seat had been filled with decaying mechanical dolls with ribbons tied over their eyes and smiles plastered on their faces, strung to the chairs with a simple white string. Only two seats remained open and unoccupied.

"It's... it's like a theater. They're making a show out of us." Spectral Viewer whispered as she covered her mouth. "What do we do?" Hacked mumbled, nervousness edging her voice. "What else can we do? I doubt running from her is gonna do us any good..." Heart of the Night mumbled. "Besides... the battle against the darkness in The Neonized has me fuckin' beat... I'd love to sit down if I'm bein' honest." His knee connected with the ground with a soft click as he felt his legs give out underneath him. "But we can't just, comply with that... that thing! What if it's a trap?" Neon Lights grumbled angrily. "But what else can we do? I mean... we're not in our world anymore..." Spectral Viewer spoke softly. "We're... we're going to have to go into those doors, you guys." Hacker held her hands out nervously, moving them as she spoke. "Whether we want to or not... I don't think we have a choice..."

The strange figure only smiled in response. Unmoving. Only... smiling.

---

In the first "act" of the Theater of Darkness, the group of 4 is introduced to the Agents of Darkness! She's the big bad of the essence, of course. Here, she introduced them to four doors, four sets of locks, four keys [each key with one of the four's signature colors] and a set of seats, with all but two filled with horrifying displays. The two open seats are important, remember that. Also, the fist bump from the "Coming Soon" post is important too, so remember that too! Of course, I tried not to get too much into the details for the dolls themselves </3 those dolls in the audience are all of Yidhra's followers, her leech followers, to be exact.

---

Act Two: And then there were 3 left...

There was silence for a long while. Any type of conversation was useless for the four of them. Silence ruled the dark land...

And then, she spoke. "I'll open a door first." Spectral Viewer's voice was laced with hesitance and uncertainty. "Spect, you don't have to if you don't want to. I'll go-" Heart of the Night had started to protest, but it was too late. "No, it's... fine. You said you were tired, and that you wanted to sit down. So... please. Sit down, and let me go first. You don't always have to sacrifice yourself for the group, you know..." Spectral Viewer placed her hands on the shoulders of the taller, injured party member. "Maybe from my experience... you'll all be able to learn something useful." Spectral Viewer placed her hand over her quick-beating heart. "Maybe... with this... sacrifice, you'll all be able to taste the sweet feeling of victory." She smiled warmly, like a freshly baked good straight out of the oven. "Don't say that Spectral... we're all gonna make it out of this together, you hear me?" Hacker clasped her hands together tightly. "You're still gambling on a better end? Huh... typical of you, boss." Neon Lights mumbled in response. Spectral Viewer laughed slowly. "You guys are funny... I wish I could have gotten to know you all sooner..." Spectral Viewer smiled sadly. "If we do make it out of here... I'll bake you some nice pastries for us all to share, okay?" Spectral Viewer spoke softly as she made the offer. "You better!" Hacker said sternly. "We're all gonna make it out together, and then we're going to snack like kings, queens, and godDAMN royalty." She huffed energetically. Spectral Viewer giggled once more with a soft nod, while Neon Lights chuckled with a quick nod. And yet... Heart of the Night had made no effort to make a response.

And then... she had turned and gently scooped the yellow and pink key into her hands. It glowed softly, but it felt warm in her hands, as if she were holding a freshly baked cupcake in her hands. She then observed the four different doors, each with different colored chains. She hesitantly walked up to the third door, grabbing the lock with her right hand and holding the key with her left hand. She looked back once, seeing Heart of the Night and Hacker sitting in the audience, with Neon Lights standing by their side. She smiled, turned, then placed the key inside the lock, turning it until she hear a small click. The lock and key then dissolved in her hands, leaving a glowing yellow door in front of her. She took a deep breath, feeling as the doorknob turned in her hands. She pushed the door open... and suddenly, the world had shifted.

She stood inside an empty building, alone. In front of her was a table, with a tape rack with 10 slots, a tape player, and a monitor on it. "Hmm? 10 empty slots?" Spectral Viewer reached out, gently running her fingers along the empty rack. "Perhaps... I have to find those tapes..." Her eyes wandered to the tape player. "And play them on here..." Spectral Viewer mumbled something quietly to herself as she observed the room. To her right laid a glowing orange tape. She gently scooped the tape into her hands before hesitantly placing it into the tape player. However, the monitor remained off, and sound came... from somewhere else. Despite not being connected to anything, a soft voice emerged from her headphones, speaking in a low and hushed tone, as if trying to avoid alerting something...

And this went on for 8 more tapes. Spectral Viewer would look around for the tape, she would place it into the tape player, and then she would listen to the person through her headphones. The stories they told were... discombobulated and choppy, as if parts of it were missing. But... upon gaining the 10th tape, something was different. For the first time during her stay in the strange room, when she placed the tape inside the tape player, the monitor had finally turned on. "H-Huh?" Spectral Viewer had stepped closer to the monitor, carefully looking at what it was displaying. It was showing an aerial view of the room, as she could see herself looking at the monitor. And then, one final recording began to play.

"I tried to stop it... I really did... but now it's hungry... very hungry... it's looking for something to eat... something to feast... And I think... it's found something. I can hear it... crawling. Circling. I can hear it right above me... I think it's coming... and I think... that I am going to taste... delicious."

---

While the tape players, Spectral Viewer can hear something crawling above her, but it's too dark for her to see anything. But it begins to get louder... and louder... and louder. And then, it swings down, grabbing Spectral Viewer and dragging her up and into the darkness. There's a moment of silence before a loud crunch is heard and something falls to the floor from the darkness and the television in the theater shuts off.

So what happened is after Spectral Viewer listened to the first 9 tapes, which told the sad tale of a woman who had her work stolen by a big TV station and was refused to be given the credit she deserves, the 10th tape played the haunting last words of the woman, right before her death. And then, the thing that killed the woman swoops down and grabs Spectral Viewer. The "thing" that falls to the floor is actually her body... without her head attached. [That's why in her upgraded skin, Broadcaster, Beth's head is replaced by a TV! Don't ask me how that works it just does, okay :(]

---

Act Three: And then, there were two.

"Next person... please." The strange woman spoke again, but couldn't hear her. An eerie dreadfulness hung in the air at the conclusion of Spectral's door. But a painful conclusion soon arose. Spectral Viewer... was no more. Going through those doors... spelled out certain death. There was no doubt about it... not anymore. "Oh... oh my god... Spectral..." Hacker covered her mouth as tears rolled down her face. "N-No way that just happened... that can't be fuckin' real-" Even though he had been sitting down, Heart of the Night felt like he had all the breath knocked out of him as he gripped onto the armrest. Neon Lights was quiet, however, as he stared at the now blank TV screen. "Next person... please~." She spoke again with eerie enthusiasm. "I told you, didn't I? There's no way out, there is no escape... and there is no tomorrow. Not anymore..." She giggled for a moment, high in pitch. Her words rang through their ears. "Someone must go... or else someone will be forced to go." She spoke softly, words crashing over the remaining three like ocean waves crashing over a person inside of the sea. They were all silent for a long, long while... And then, she made her move.

"You've all taken too long to decide." She had announced. "So now... my followers shall choose someone for you all." She kept the same eerie smile as she spoke. "Fo...llow...ers?" Heart of the Night's voice was quiet as he spoke first, as if the words were stuck in his throat. She turned to look at the young man sitting down in the audience. "They are all around you... followers, it's time... to arise." She reached up, tapping her fingers against the glass mirror once, then twice, and finally, a third time. And then, one by one, the sound of thread snapping could be heard, which brought along a horrific scene. The dolls, which were previously sewn down to the chairs, had begun to move. Their movements were sharp and jerky, like that of an unoiled puppet. Some of them were tall and lanky while others were shorter and stubbier because they were all creepy and unnerving nonetheless. "Wha..." Hacker seemed to be taken aback by the sudden, overwhelming presence now in the dimly lit theater with them. They moved forward jerkily, pushing their way forward towards the three remaining doors. "H-Hey! No pushing!" "Get your fucking hands off me, you creepy pieces of shit!" "Let go!" But the dolls did not listen, nor do they pay the three protesters any mind, for though their movements were choppy, they still trudged forwards.

"Shittt man..." Heart of the Night groaned as he laid flat on his back. Hacker whimpered as she clung to the floor. "Did they really have to throw mee... I never want to let go of the floor again." Hacker sobbed. "Hey... where's Lights?" Heart of the Night winced as he held his head. "You don't think..." Hacker turned around slowly as she faced the three doors. The last door was unlocked. "No... Neon! NEON!" Hacker screamed out to her informant desperately, but it was far... far too late for that. "Hacker. Hacker stop! HACKER-"

"What the hell..?" Neon Lights grit his teeth as he stumbled to his feet. The setting was no longer that of the Theater, but rather... the streets of the Neonized? There was not a single light around, and the location reminded him a lot of his meeting spots when he would pass information onto Hacker.

...

Hacker. Where was she?

He turned once, then twice, looking around. Then he paused. "She's not here... and neither is that man, Heart. I... suppose that is a good thing. But... where am I then?" Neon Lights glanced around with a confused expression. "I shouldn't stay here long... this isn't really the Neonized, there's no telling what's lurking around the corners here." He mumbled to himself. He carefully made his way around the corner, with much caution. Any enemy waiting around the corner was no match for him, for he was too cautious with his movements and approaches. But no matter how hard he fought, they keep coming and coming, as if they came from an endless horde.

At the end of the long stretch of land laid a mirror, hung on the brick wall. His body ached from the fighting and continuous running, so the enemy-free stretch of land was suspicious... yet very relieving. The mirror looked similar to the one of the strange woman. However, a mirror in an open alleyway such as this was... suspicious. But the only other way he could go was back towards the hordes, so where else can he go? He was quiet as he approached the mirror slowly. He reached out, able to see himself in the reflection of the mirror. He gently reached toward the mirror, however, before he could touch it, he could see enemies approaching in the distance. He turned to face the hordes, however... nothing was there.

He turned back towards the mirror...

...but his reflection was not the same as him, holding the very same gun he had been using to protect himself the entire time against his chest with a sewn smile.

"Trust no one... not even yourself."

Even if the TV turned off before the ending could be revealed... what happened was clear.

---

Okay okay so. Basically, Neon Lights was shot by his reflection! Trust no one, not even yourself, as the reflection said. Who would have guessed your own reflection could be your enemy?

As for the mess earlier, what the followers did was basically they picked up the three remaining survivors, grabbed one of the keys, unlocked the door, and then threw the person associated with the door, inside of it! They then dropped the other two on the stage floor... or more, they dropped Hacker on the stage floor and threw HotN at the theater stairs. lol.

---

Act Four: Make me a promise, Hacker.

And with that, another one had been lost. Another life had been taken, right before their eyes. Another friend... claimed by the darkness they all had banded together to try and defeat.

"Why... why does this keep happening..." Hacker's voice was shaky as she choked back sobs. "Hacker... Hacker please, calm down..." But Hacker was inconsolable. "Why...? P-Please... Heart... why?" She had gripped the other remaining boy's shoulders as she struggled to choke back sobs. "...I don't know why. Things like this... they don't always have a reason why..." Heart of the Night reached over, placing his hand on the broken girl's shoulder. "Sometimes... terrible things happen to good people. Like Spectral. Like Neon. Sometimes... people get terribly sick... and they become weak... and they die because someone took advantage of their general unwellness. And people like us... there's nothing we can do to stop it." He frowned a bit as he quietly pushed Hacker's hair back. "But they're gone now. No amount of feeling sorry and feeling regret is going to change that." Hacker sniffled. "It's okay to cry... but if you linger on it too long... it'll consume you." Heart mumbled. "...Did you have someone... that you've lost to the darkness too?" Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, as if she was treading on forbidden territory. "...You're just now asking me this? Really? In the like, 4 months we've known each other-" Heart groaned in response, rubbing his forehead. "...yeah. I did. My daughters. They both died right in front of my eyes, with the younger mumbling 'papa... I don't wanna die... papa... papa please...' ... I couldn't protect either of them." He mumbled quietly, the remark leaving a stinging pain in Hacker's heart. "That... I..." Hacker squeezed her eyes tightly, sniffling. "I still see that scene every time I close my eyes. Although..." Heart's eyes shifted to the strange woman, who was always standing there, holding the mirror and smiling. "...I don't think I'll be seeing it much longer." He frowned. "... you're going through the door?" Hacker's voice was shaky as she asked her most dreaded question. "...Of course. Someone has to. Oh, come on, don't look at me like that." Heart noticed the growing frown forming on Hacker's face. "You can't! You're not in any shape to-" "Neither are you. Just look at yourself." "No! You CAN'T go! Please! You'll die... and I can't handle seeing another person I care about die... Heart, please..." "Hacker... I'm sorry, but if it's not me... it would have to be you. And if we take too long, what happened to Neon is going to happen to us." He tried to reason with the distraught girl, but his words went in one ear and out the other. "No! Can't we figure something out first?" She clasped her hands together with a pleading in her voice. "...I don't think we can. And I don't think... that you could stop me, even if you tried. Face it, Hacker. You can't help me. You can't even help yourself. Just give. it. up." His words felt like a slap to the face for the young coder, who refused to face defeat. Not like that. "At least... at least let me see the odds, you asshole. Even if it's a one-in-a-million chance I can stop you... at least let me take it..." Hacker sniffled. "You really do like pushing your luck, don't you? Do you realize that one day, the odds won't be in your favor? Whatever, try your luck with me if that's what you want..." He crossed his arms as he held his staff in his hands. "Come at with all you've got."

Even though he was injured, the fight was too easy, for a victor decided before it had truly begun. "You're too slow!" The remark was followed up by a twirl and strike of the sharp-pointed staff, tearing through the rabbit-themed hood, sending the young girl flying backward. "Ugh!" Hacker flew across the stage, colliding with the stage floor for the nth time, slamming into the ground and rolling from the sheer power and impact. Watching Hacker lay on the floor, Heart of the Night allowed his staff to quietly fall out of his hand and gently onto the ground. He let out strained breaths as he observed Hacker, on the floor, unmoving. "Shit... did I overdo it?" He stumbled to where Hacker lay, using the cupped handle of the staff to push Hacker's face up off the floor. Hacker sniffled softly. "O-Ow..." "Oh, good, you're still fine. Hate to say I told you so but..." Hacker tried to get up, but anything she still had going into the fight had been thoroughly beaten out of. "How the hell did you... even..." Hacker winced, whining. "You learn a lot working at a bar, you know. People get into fights all the time, drunk out of their minds... I just picked up on some of the more interesting beatdown techniques." He held his hand out, waiting for Hacker to take it. She had taken it after a moment, now kneeling on the stage floor. "Hey. Make me a promise, Hacker." Heart smiled sadly. "W-What kind of promise..?" Hacker looked up nervously at the older boy. "Oh, you know, the kind you try and keep." He joked. "...Promise me you'll take care of yourself. No more stupid in the heat of the moment decisions." He reached over, gently patting her on the head. "...I'll try. And you know... try to be careful in there yourself."

And, just like that, another door had been opened... and another person had been lost to the darkness. But even then... this time... something was... different.

Heart of the Night found himself in a rather familiar environment, facing the frozen-over lake that was located just 5 minutes away from his bar. "Wait a second... I know this place..." He turned, looking around before mumbling. "Killing me on my own home turf... that's kind of fucked up." In contrast to the other two doors, there were people all around, constantly walking past Heart and talking as if nothing was wrong. And yet... everything felt terribly off. It felt normal... too normal for Heart's taste. He found himself torn between going in the direction of his bar and going down towards the frozen-over lake. But, before he could decide for himself, a young girl with white and purple hair had bumped into him, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling down the cold, snow-covered hill. "!"

...

It felt like he was falling forever, and the cold hard crash landing on the frozen-over lake made everything even worse. He grit his teeth as he tried to stand up, but the slippery ice had even that a much, much harder task. "! Shit-" Heart winced as he slipped and fell backward, slamming his head against the ground in the process. His vision blurred from the number of times he had fallen and hit his head on something. "...clumsy old man on the icy lake... you don't see those every day, especially sober. clumsy old men. Are you okay?" Although he couldn't see the person clearly, he could hear the sound of ice skates getting ever closer. Through blurred vision, Heart of the Night could make out two main colors. Black... and silver. Not a single color in sight, other than their pale blue hair, which looked more white than blue in color. Someone who lost their light? That's the only explanation Heart of the Night could think of. "Hellllooo? Hit your head too many times on the way down?" The voice almost seemed to be circling him. "Are you dead?" "No... just dizzy."

---

Here, Heart of the Night is [once again] pushed by Yidhra and ends up falling down the hill and completely wiping out on the frozen-over lake lol, where he runs into a teenage girl [who's about 14 to 15yrs old] on ice skates, who happened to see HotN fall down the hill, going as far as to calling him a "clumsy old man" and wondering if he might have died on the fall down. Alas, it was not that easy as HotN [finally] responds to the strange girl.

What comes after is a rather long and lengthy interaction between the two [as well as a more detailed description of the girl] where halfway through a conversation of theirs, the ice suddenly cracks underneath HotN's feet and he falls into the freezing cold water.

---

It was so nice to talk to someone new that he momentarily forgot about the danger he was in.

"!" But nothing lasts forever. The water was so, so cold. His entire body went numb, he couldn't stop gasping. What was this feeling? He hated it. He had begun to hyperventilate, desperately grasping for anything to keep him afloat. "Huh? What are you gasping for- OH MY GOD-" The strange girl previously had skating with her back turned to Heart of the Night, but upon stopping, turning, and noticing Heart's situation, began to panic herself. "Wait, wait, don't panic, it's only going to make things harder if you panic." She had begun to softly coach the submerged Heart. Had she not known what to do... he may have drowned in the icy... icy cold water. With the coaching of the girl, Heart managed to get out of the water, but he still felt the worse was to come. "Okay okay, let's go... get you somewhere... warm?" "Y-Yeah..."

And then, once again, Heart of the Night ended up in a familiar place. "Hey... sit down on the stool... I'll go get you something dry to change into... I'm pretty sure Heart still has some clothes lying around in the back somewhere..." The strange girl then disappeared around the bar counter and into a backroom. One where he usually kept a spare work uniform or two for those days where drunk customers were... a little less than pleasant. Strange. He didn't remember having any employees with pale blue hair. Or ones who knew how to ice skate for that matter.

He could feel the room temperature dropping by the second, it was getting colder... why was it getting colder? Heart closed his eyes, coughing weakly. "W...why... is it... so... cold in..." He had begun to slur his words, gripping onto his wet clothes tightly. He stumbled as he shifted in the chair, bumping against the counter and stumbling onto the floor. "... why is..." his entire body felt heavy, he couldn't move it anymore. "...it so..." his vision began to fade to black. "cold..." the room had begun to freeze over. Heart then came to the sudden realization that he had been tricked by the darkness. Falling into the cold water at the lake and then being placed in a room that quickly got colder and colder, leading to his body temperature falling faster...

...

what a dirty trick to play.

But it didn't matter. Not anymore.

The cold had already taken over... and soon after, the darkness had too.

---

So, what happened is that Heart of the Night was initially thrown into the real world by Yidhra, and pushed towards the lake, where he was supposed to have fallen into the water and either a.) drown from the initial cold shock or b.) get impaled by a falling icicle. But, the one thing the Darkness wasn't expecting was someone to be ice skating at the lake and being able to help him. So, once the girl left to get the spare clothes, she swapped the realm, isolating Heart and accelerating the rate at which he'd suffer from hypothermia [until he eventually died from it]. For the girl, once she exited the backroom with the spare clothes and saw Heart of the Night was no longer there... she went out in a panic, looking for him.

Yidhra kind of fucked up but she managed to get things back on course later on. lol.

---

Act Five: "Who are you?"

Hacker was quiet as she sat in front of the now blank monitor. "What... was that?" She had gotten no answer from the grinning figure. But that did not matter to her, not anymore. It didn't change the fact that another one of her friends was gone. She was all alone, again. She stared at the key. The lone, glowing red and blue key, stared right back at her. "I guess... it's my turn to go in now?" She turned again to look at the grinning woman. "You would be right. Aren't you curious to see what kind of fate lies, just for you behind that door?" For the first time in a while, the woman had spoken. "...no... not really," Hacker mumbled as she picked up the key. "Do you not wonder about a single thing you've seen? Aside from the question 'why did this happen to them?'" Hacker paused as she fiddled with the key. "I mean..." "You've watched three fools in a row all meet their mortal ends, do you really not yearn for some kind of answer?" Hacker gripped her fist with bubbling anger. "They were all good people with families that loved them... they weren't fools." "Ah... but only fools will pick a fight they know they can't win. Though I suppose if anyone here is a fool... it would be you. Your childish display with the recently departed has shown me as much." The strange woman had moved her position by the stage's edge to directly next to the lone survivor. "It was fun to observe, seeing the way you moved around like a chicken with its head cut off. A delightfully pathetic display of powerlessness." Her words stung like a slap to the face as Hacker relived her last experience with Heart of the Night. She had promised him to no longer be so reckless and to take more care of herself... but she couldn't let her talk down about her friends that way. Not after all the shit she had done to them.

Her body moved without her realizing it. The momentarily silent theater was suddenly filled with a sharp and echoing sound, and the surface of her hand stung as she stared at the red mark on the face of the strange woman. But she had doubled down. "Shut up." Hacker huffed. "You don't know anything about them or anything about me." Hacker then turned towards the last locked door, quietly swallowing back her fear and unlocking the door to her doom. "Oh... perhaps you're braver than you act... But we'll see which of us will have the last laugh..."

The room was... dark. Dark and empty. Void of anything and everything. "What... is this?" Hacker turned in a 360 motion, but everywhere was the same. Total darkness. "HELLO?" Hacker screamed out, but her voice did not echo back. And only silence answered her back. She aimlessly wandered the darkness, but it made no difference. Everything looked and felt the same. Cold. Dark. Lonely. She had lost count of time, not as if she had any way to tell time before. How long had she been in there? How long had she been walking? She became lost in the darkness.

...

She sat in the darkness for a long, long time. So long, she thought she could see something, creeping along in the distance. A neon green fog-like substance, slowly moving across the floor.

"..?" Hacker narrowed her eyes as she stared at the incoming fog. As she looked further back, the fog became taller and thicker, to where she struggled to see anything within the fog. She had stood up, and approached the strange fog. It had soon enveloped her, shining in colors of teal, green, purple, yellow, orange, and pink. Colors so warm and familiar to her, yet sad and bitter at the same time. She had twirled and whirled around in the colorful fog, all while trying to observe the area. By doing so... she had missed the sight of the glowing purple and teal blade swinging her way, colliding with her back and slicing it open. The sheer force of the attack was enough to send Hacker crashing down to the cold, dark floor.

"Sweet Dreams... Hacker."

"AH- W-wait... what... wh..."

"Who... are... y...ou...?"

"That doesn't matter anymore... does it? It's okay..."

"You'll be one of us soon."

---

Hacker [after bitchslapping Yidhra] finally enters her door... only to find the area is completely empty... or, so she thought. But after a while of wandering, Hacker comes across a slowly creeping but brightly-colored fog, harboring the same colors as her recently departed friends. But within that fog, it had concealed something even more dangerous than Hacker could ever imagine... but she was too slow to see it coming.

talk about betrayal, sheesh-

"Are you lost, little girl? After all... bars are no place for kids like you, you know. Or... could it be, that we've finally, finally, found you at last? Just in the one place, that we hadn't expected you to be?" - Midnight Phantom

Act Six: "How should I start this conversation?"

"Long time no see? Or... Nice to meet you?"

...

For Party of the Dawn, weekends were far busier than weekdays were. Running a bar, especially at her age with her limited knowledge of general bar etiquette, was very difficult. Weekends were when the worst of the worst would crawl out from whatever opening of hell they could find, and they'd all flock to the one scenic bar in town and drink till they were purple. Dawn always found closing times to be the worst, drunk people would make it a hassle to close, and some would even become violent with the small owner. They would yell and scream, or start breaking things, and sometimes even try and get physical with her. And it became tiring, having that being her normal every day to day life.

Being the owner of the small, scenic bar, however, did have one small good thing about it. If there was one thing Dawn could count on hearing while mixing up drinks for people, it would be the town gossip. Dawn would hear all about what went down in the town, and while it was mostly silly things like who cheated on who or what stupid thing so-and-so had done, some things would prove to be rather useful for the teenager.

"Have you guys seen that strange teal fog? People say that those who enter the fog don't come out the same..." "I heard that some people don't come out of the fog at all, as if a phantom had whisked them away and made off into the night..." "I hear it's not just one person who appears in the fog, but four people. Each all acting in strange and unique ways..."

"Strange and unique ways? How?" Dawn couldn't help but ask as she served the gossipers their ordered drinks. "You really haven't heard? Their victims say that they're all very strange and weird looking. One of them has a TV for a head and no neck... while one of them was as pale as ghost... no, it's more like a phantom. And one has a hole where their heart is, but they're still alive... really scary stuff, kid. You should be careful out there once everything closes down for the night... or else this Midnight Phantom and his friends may get you next." Dawn chuckled as she served the drinks, listening to the claims. "That seems rather silly. A Midnight Phantom? Or a girl with a TV for a head, but no neck for the TV to balance on? Are you sure you're all not just trying to scare me?" Dawn placed her hand on her hip with a pout and a shake of her head. "No, no little bartender, people swear that they've really seen them in that fog, lurking around in the dead of night. And so many people have described them in detail too... can't be the figment of a drunkard's mind, no no." "So, you think they're real?" "If several people are saying the same things about it with similar details and the facts all seem to line up... who's to say they aren't real?" She had paused before nodding. "Well, I'll keep this in mind after I close up the bar. Thank you. Enjoy your drinks."

The idea had struck Dawn as odd. Teal fog that seemed to conceal some otherworldly identity, with the main topic of conversation being that of a "Midnight Phantom"? While it sounded like just the babbles of a drunkard who had too much to drink one night, Dawn couldn't help but think about how it may be... something else. She had gone around and collected more rumors on the fog and the beings associated with it, and more and more did it sound like the darkness that took everything away from her as a child. Her mother. Her father. Her best friend. Mister Heart and Miss Hacker and Sir Neon and Miss Viewer. Even Miss Mayor seemed... emptier inside after everything had gone down.

"So... if I understand this right... right after dusk to right before dawn, a thick, teal and purple fog rolls into the city and covers the ground and much of the open space, four strange individuals wander the city, attacking poor strangers who happen to be out at that time. Of the four individuals, the one that sticks out to most people is a tall, pale, and lanky man who they've dubbed the "Midnight Phantom". They claim of the four, he's the most dangerous and while many have supposedly run into this group, only a few of them actually make it out alive... And those who have survived claim the only way to survive is to outrun them until dawn, which is hard because the one with the TV for a head and someone who can hack into electronics and other objects powered by coding will try to stop you, as well as by broadcasting your location to the other two. The first one is someone who travels via mirrors or reflective surfaces armed with a gun and has a gunshot wound on his chest. The second one is the infamous Midnight Phantom, who usually is the one that takes chase, and it is armed with a staff that functions similar to that of a polearm... and you expect me to think that this isn't a drunkard's tale? Or a story meant to keep people inside during the nighttime?" The Mayor, similar to Dawn, could not believe the story. "I know, it sounds weird, very much like a drunkard's tale. But... I'd like to test it." Dawn had decided. "If these people are a part of the darkness like you think, then you'd be putting yourself in danger, sweetie... I made a promise to take care of you." Song of Fate had seemed worried at the very notion of Dawn investigating the matter, shaking her head with disapproval. "What if something happens to you? You know how disappointed Hacker and Heart would be for letting you get hurt...?" Dawn frowned at the mention of the two older adults. "They can't be disappointed in you. They're gone." Dawn shook her head disappointedly before looking at Fate. "If you're worried for me, why don't you come with me? We don't get to spend much time together like you promised me when I was younger..." She huffed a little as she spoke. "Come on... dusk is almost done..." Dawn clasped her hands together with a pleading look in her eyes. "...If we don't see anything within the first 15 minutes, then we're going inside and we'll... I dunno, maybe watch a movie together? No horror movies or slasher films, though!" "Sounds fair."

Dawn was aware that this... wasn't exactly her brightest idea from the moment she and her caretaker had stepped outside of the large estate and into the dense, teal and purple mist. Dawn could barely see her own hand in front of her, much least the taller mother figure standing next to her. "Woahhh, that's some intense fog... and look, it IS teal and purple in color..." Dawn gently ran her hands over the thick fog, laughing softly in amusement. "Dawn, sweetheart, please, take my hand so we don't get separated." "Okay, Miss Mayor." Dawn had reached her hand back without bothering to look for Fate's hand, knowing she wouldn't be able to see it, however, something about Fate's hand felt weird. Since when did Fate wear gloves? She looked back with a bewildered expression, following her eyes down her arm to look at the hand out of curiosity, but another sight awaited her instead. A tall, lanky, pale man with thick and truly black and white hair with teal and purple highlights had stood in front of her, wearing a mask, obscuring most of his face, other than his black eyes. And... on his hands, he wore black, leather gloves. And in those black leather gloves... was the right hand Dawn had extended trying to find Fate's hand. He had almost looked like a ghost. No... it was something more akin to a phantom. He had made a "shh" motion with his free hand, and while the mask made his expression unreadable... Dawn could sense a sort of mania coming from the man. She had made one sharp tug of her arm, and yet, neither she nor the man would be moved. She had then made a second tug, but it only resolved in a standstill between the two. "Dawn? Dawn, where are you?" Dawn wanted to yell, to scream, to make a scene, and yet in the presence of the strange man, she was frozen still. She wanted to make a sound but yet... all ability to had left her body.

So, why?

Why was she hearing her own voice?

"I'm over here, Miss Mayor!" That wasn't her speaking. No, her words were stuck in her throat. "Why are you so far over there?" No, they weren't that far apart.

Dawn could hear footsteps growing more distant. No, please, please don't go. Silent pleading made no difference. No matter what she tried to do to get away, it made no difference. The only thing that came out of her attempts was silent, unsuccessful struggles. And then... he had spoken, for the first time since he had appeared.

"How should I start this conversation?" He had finally let go of her, and yet the familiarity of his voice was now what had her paralyzed in fear. He walked around her, and suddenly, the entire scene had changed, and he had too. "Long time no see?" Why... why did he look like that? She recognized those purple and teal shades and stoic blue eyes, accompanied by messy black hair with bright purple and teal highlights and asymmetrical shirt, with one long sleeve, colored with golden stars and teal clouds, with one plain colored purple short sleeve. Around her was the frozen-over lake she had always loved skating on, the one where she had met that strange dull-colored man who had fallen into the ice and then disappeared without a trace as if he had never existed at all.

"Or..."

And just as quickly as he had changed, he had shifted back to the strange, masked man, back within the fog-devoured environment. "Nice to meet you?"

---

Act Seven: A new piece of information unveiled.

By the time Fate had reached the voice she thought was Dawn, she had come to the conclusion that she had made a grave... grave mistake. "You- You're not Dawn!" Fate had pointed at the strange woman with the TV for a head accusatorily before pausing. "...Where is she? What did you do to her?" The woman stood there for a moment, the static avatar staring back at Fate. And then, something appeared on the monitor of the screen. '...it's too late for her now... the Phantom has already found her. I'm afraid finding her may be impossible now. But... it is not too late for you to escape him too, Musical Beats.' Fate could not help but read that last line over and over again. "...What do you mean it's too late for Dawn? She's just a kid! And... how do you know that name... no one calls me that. Not anymore." Fate asked her questions in a calm and collected manner, but the shakiness of her body gave her fears away. '...There is no saving her, is what I mean. Not from him. Going after her now would be the equivalent of knowingly going towards your death... and... that is who you are to me. You are my old friend, Musical Beats... or do you go by something different now? I'll have to update my database if that's the case...' The little avatar initially displayed a look of sorry, but as the text went on, it displayed a look of confusion, and then deep thought. “…Who are you?” “That is a good question. Who do you think I am?” For the first time since their meeting in the fog, the person had spoken, and her voice was very familiar to Fate’s ears. So much so, that Fate couldn’t believe it. “Viewer? Is that… is that really you? But- But you went missing seven years ago… you and everyone else…” Viewer paused before mumbling. ‘So it’s been seven years since we were all taken by the darkness…? It feels like an eternity… has seven years really gone by?’ The little avatar displayed a look of sadness and confusion. And suddenly, a second avatar had appeared, made in Fate’s appearance. The first avatar grabbed the second avatar’s hands as if pleading for something with her. “…oh that’s so cute. Our little avatars are holding hands!” Fate clasped her hands together, giggling. “But… yeah, it’s been seven years. Well, at this point, it’s closer to eight years now… but why are you back now? What’s happening? And- And who is this Phantom you keep talking about?!” Fate seemed to be distraught by everything happening at once, which was reflected in her little avatar on the TV screen. The original avatar reached over, patting the new avatar on the head as if trying to comfort her. ‘It’s a long story… but one short answer I can give you is… that the Phantom is Heart of the Night… or at least, he was… before the cold and the darkness took over.’ The text appeared on the screen in the form of a text bubble from the orange avatar. “The cold and the darkness? You… you’re not making any sense, Viewer…” Fate placed her hand on her head in confusion. "And, Heart is the Phantom? This isn't making any sense, Viewer!" Viewer paused, then began to form another sentence. 'It's a long story... Heart is the Phantom... but the Phantom isn't Heart... I have an information file in my database that may help... if you wish to see it.' The text formed on the screen as Fate paused. "You have a database????"

---

Broadcaster Data Base ["So, they call you Broadcaster now? Ohh, because you can 'broadcast' people's locations if you know where they are- That's clever."]

…

Loading "Darkness Afflicted" Files… Please enter file passcode.

…

"Midnight Phantom"

Of the three alters, he seems the most hyperaware and most intuned with the world around him, and therefore the most manipulative and controlling of the three alter personalities. The people of the Neonized call him the Midnight Phantom due to his pale appearance (due to the hypothermia Heart experienced during his death) and his dark-colored appearance. He is able to manipulate things within the fog, ranging from manipulating his appearance and surroundings to creating false scenarios and phantom characters to incite panic and fear within those he targets.

Heart of the Night status: It's hard to pinpoint where exactly Heart is located within Phantom's heart, as it's always shifting and changing, that in case if someone somehow had found their way in, they'd be unable to find their way out or their way to anything specific within the space. Heart's specific status is labeled as dormant, unlikely to wake up and challenge Phantom for control… and even if he could, in his current frosted state, he would be unable to do much. Not without some kind of push...

"Sweet Dreams"

Of the three alters, she seems very quiet and reserved, and therefore the most easygoing and enjoyable to talk to. The people of the Neonized don't seem to have a name for her, but I've heard some refer to her as The Hacker due to her familiarity with electronics. Her main skills lie within opening access to locked things, such as locked doors, locked interfaces, and even locked hearts. But she doesn't help anyone for free.

Hacker status: Dreams has a weak hold on Hacker, and I often see Hacker drift in and out of control, even if it is subtle. Hacker's specific status is… weak, I suppose. Not strong enough to completely take back control but not weak enough to lose it completely.

"Shooting Stars"

Of the three alters, he gets into the most conflicts and acts the most competitive and disagreeable. He often gets into fights with Midnight and Dreams over the strangest things… The people of the Neonized call him the Sharpshooter for his incredible aim. He enjoys taking his shots and always makes the riskiest moves. I almost envy his carefree "I do what I want attitude"… His main strength lies in close-quarters chases, such as chases indoors or inside funhouses with many mirrors or reflective surfaces. He, however, isn't the best at noticing his surroundings and can often miss details. Not to mention he is very aggressive at all times which can mess up certain interactions and plans… this is the main power difference between him and Midnight, and why Midnight is considered more dangerous. If you can get your target to stay by your side… it makes the Darkness that much more dangerous.

Neon Lights status: If I had to say something about Neon's status, I'd say that he too was in a dormant state, unlikely to wake up and fight for control…

---

"...interesting. But this implies that they CAN be woken up... right?" Fate was silent for a while after asking the question. Viewer... no, Broadcaster, had then begun to type. 'It's still a working theory of mine but... I do believe that they are... still somewhere deep inside the darkness... and if they can challenge it and overcome it... they can stop the tragedies.' "... if it means we can see our old friends and save Dawn, then how would we do it?"

---

Act Eight: Follow the Plan.

"I... I don't wanna die... please... I'm scared... I'm so scared... I don't wanna die, Heart..." "It's okay... it's gonna be okay... you're not going to die, I promise..."

This is going to be mostly me explaining what goes down in this act instead of my awful writing/j because a lot happens at the same time and it can get confusing if I'm stupid about it and it would also happen to be a very VERY long act so you get ghost the plot knower instead/lh

So, basically in the first half of Act Eight (Follow the Plan), two main things happen at the same time. The first thing is a long showdown between Dawn and Phantom that consists of Dawn trying to get away from Phantom and back to Fate [with Phantom pulling out every trick in his book to make sure she stays lost, it's a lot of mind games and him taking advantage of her having to grow up too fast, always catching her on her more "childish" desires, like wanting to eat ice cream for breakfast or wanting to buy a doll to play with, a lot of things Dawn herself never got to do :( his main goal is to make her stay just long enough for him to be able to capture her.. and it almost works too- but what is it that almost gets her? Apple juice 😣] and eventually ends with a fight between Dawn and Phantom, where Phantom wins and takes her prisoner :( it leaves Dawn with a very nasty cut on her side and pretty bad injuries,,, poor girl, she isn't used to fighting and the baby can only run for so long </3 The other thing that happens during the first act is Fate and Broadcaster working together to free Shooting Stars and Sweet Dreams from the darkness by awakening their dormant friends within, with a little help from a certain Pink Disk who is revealed to have freed Broadcaster from the darkness, and had been watching ever since.

The second half of Act Eight involves finding Dawn and awakening Heart which is much harder than you'd think- it's a lot of heartbreaking scenes [including a reunion between Heart and Dawn that results in Dawn's near death but you know. you get to see Heart whoop ass which is. fun. Her near death is very similar to the way Heart's younger daughter died...] but also a lot of action [like Heart and Pink fighting Phantom together or Fate, Broadcaster, Stars, and Dreams absolutely whooping the ass of the followers who try to interfere... woooo] and funny moments where everyone gets to live a day in Heart's life [aka someone pushes them down a flight of stairs or down a hill or something stupid, lol] and more avatars. Broadcaster showing her plan through tiny avatar action, it's the cutest thing I promise.

---

Act Nine: Darkness's Finale

"We take the fight to her. She's taken things way too far this time." "Aww, it's nice to see you so energetic and empowered again after being so dead, Heart♪. Ahh, Heart? Phantom? You don't quite have a functioning heart anymore♪" "How have seven years supposedly passed and you still somehow manage to be as fucking annoying? And are you calling me heartless?!" "Being annoying is an art, I suppose♪" "There's nothing quite like old friends bickering, is there?"

Another me explaining rather than going storytelling style! Woo! This chapter would be real long otherwise, I'm sorry 🙇‍♀️ It's basically a rematch with the Agents of Darkness! Hacker and pals vs Agents of Darkness, whoop their asses!!! That's it that's the whole act. It's just aggressive violence. It's fun! Vengeance!!! They also defeat the darkness which is cool too

---

Act Ten: The many forms of love

Even after everything was said and done, and the real threat had been fully dealt with, some things in the Neonized remained unclear and uncertain. And yet, the young girl didn't seem to care as she holed herself up inside her new bedroom of her new home. It didn't really feel like home to her... but she was willing to wait and see if it ever would.

"What are you doing?" The young child looked up as she saw the bartender leaning against the doorway to her room. "I'm working on a school project... I don't really understand what I'm doing though..." She looked down at the many papers underneath her on the floor with a frustrated look. In recent months, Dawn had to deal with the concept of school and classes. She had never gone to school as a young kid, and being thrown in suddenly caused her many problems. She struggled with reading aloud and writing things down and often got frustrated due to her incapabilities. So it came as no surprise to Phantom to hear that she was struggling with yet another school-related item. "Well? What's it about? Come on, we can talk through this and solve it together." He had offered. "But, don't you have work today?" He paused at the question, then shook his head. "Na, Hacker's got it covered tonight. Come on, tell me what's up." Dawn was quiet as she scooped up the many papers on the floor. "The project is on the many forms of love, specifically storge, philia, eros, and agape... and then to draw examples of them in your real life..." Dawn whined as she placed her hand against her head. "But I don't... really understand it." Phantom paused as he thought for a moment. "Well... let's start with one at a time, okay?"

---

Storge - Love of family

"It's also known as familial love. When your parents and siblings love you, that's storge love. The love between a family, whether it's a found one or the one you're born in. The love I have for my found family is exactly that."

Philia - Love between friends

"Oh, this one's easy♪ it's the love between friends, and it's sort of like a very close friendship, where you bond and care for one another, no?"

Eros - Love of partner/Romantic love

"Oh, this one... when people think of love, this is what they usually think of. Romantic love, or the love you have for your significant other..."

Agape - Unconditional love

"Uhm... I guess you can say this is a timeless love that will never change. No matter what happens, no matter what goes down, this love is unconditional and can never be changed. It's eternal."

---

"And that's the 4 different forms of love. Easy, right?"

"... I still don't get it."

"Man, I thought I explained that really well. No matter, I'll try to explain it a different way. We'll take our time. You've got this."

---

END finally

#mod ghost #long post #lore post #theater of darkness #violence cw #death cw #murder cw #help #5 consecutive days of writing and now it's here folks. sobs.#fun fact. the 4 types of love could be 4 different sets of matching skins #although they represent the different dynamics found within the ToD [well maybe not eros? Unless you wanna count HotN's dead wife lol]#they could make fun matching skins as well #idv ocs #WAIT WAIT I GOTTA DO. the dreaded word count check #anyways. sobs. here it is it's finally here and I'm glad it is because it took WAYYY too long #i hope you enjoy the art dividers attached to it. drew them just for this.#some details and backstories i didn't go that much into but. everyone's got something lol/lh #FINAL WORD COUNT: 10.400 words #HELP LMAO IT'S 10k+ WORDS. screaming rn

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