[In your hand is a fidget cube, a rounded white cube accented with buttons, dials, and switches in the color of a certain Family on the ship.
Play with any of the fidget cube's six sides and you'll receive a vision. There are two problems with this:
1) some very important information seems to have been blocked out, and
2) you know, with a bone-deep certainty, that this vision isn't yours.
But if this vision isn't yours...then whose is it? Maybe the color of your cube is a clue.]
BACK TO THE EVENT POST
Play with any of the fidget cube's six sides and you'll receive a vision. There are two problems with this:
1) some very important information seems to have been blocked out, and
2) you know, with a bone-deep certainty, that this vision isn't yours.
But if this vision isn't yours...then whose is it? Maybe the color of your cube is a clue.]
BACK TO THE EVENT POST
SCARLET
Date: 2025-11-14 10:46 pm (UTC)~
π©·π©·π©·π©·, a blonde beauty dressed in white and black, stands before you on the platform. You extend the bouquet of white roses toward her, and as the love of your life stares down at the gift without a single trace of emotion, you feel your heart skip a beatβ
"Of course." Of course she accepts. Why wouldn't she? Together you lift the floral representation of the long-awaited union between the perfect couple, and for a single fleeting moment you allow yourself to believe that it's real.
"Everyone here in person and online, you heard that, right? π©·π©·π©·π©· has said yes to ποΈποΈποΈποΈ's proposal, and the two will end their three-year love journey by stepping into their wedding ceremony!" The reporter's overly-enunciated commentary slaps you in the face like a bat, and you don't need to look at the drones and cameras and swarm of fans around you to remember why you're here.
It's for show. All of it, right down to the white and gold hero costume you're wearing to your own wedding. Your cape sits neatly on your shoulders, fastened above your chest by a circular blue gemstone. It's beautiful and flowing and heavier than it looks, but to you it feels light as a feather.
"I object!" The intruder's voice cuts through the air with a melodramatic head-turning ferocity that could only belong to a villain.
"It's ποΈποΈποΈποΈ's nemesis, β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘!" Right on cue, the reporter once again states the obvious, quaking in his formal leather shoes as β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘, clad in form-fitting black armor and a matching mask and crown that can't be at all comfortable, stalks toward you and your beloved wife with a growl.
"If I can't have something, neither can anyone else!" β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ points his black sword at you, issuing a challenge.
You spread your arms, projecting innocent confidence toward the waiting audience. "I haven't taken anything from you. Why say that?"
"It's you that I want, ποΈποΈποΈποΈ!" That's the only warning you get before β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ dashes toward you, leaping over π©·π©·π©·π©·βwho, ever vigilant, has already stepped in to interceptβwith impossible agility as he swings his sword at your feet.
The lovely white platform doesn't stand a chance. It cracks like china, sending debris flying everywhere, including at the now-screaming audience. But you fly higher, dodging both the blow and its aftermath perfectly. You summon your golden wrist gauntlets as you land, just in time to greet β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ with a cross arm guard as he swings his sword directly at your face.
"Why don't you reply to my messages? My emails, phone calls... what's your deal?" β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ shoves his weight behind the sword and attempts to push you down, but you're strong enough to maintain a stalemate, for now.
"What's my deal? What's your deal?" The words take effort. You have the raw strength advantage, but he has the experience.
Using her portal gun, π©·π©·π©·π©· arrives back on the scene to intercept. "I know you're envious of ποΈποΈποΈποΈ's perfection and want to leave him with lifelong regret. So your target is actually me!"
β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ makes an annoyed sound. "This woman's too loud. Let's talk somewhere else." With that, he bends his knees and recenters his weight and drives you backward into a different section of the luscious green park. Trees and hedges topple in your wake.
Here begins a hectic exchange wherein β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ continues to hound you like a jilted lover, π©·π©·π©·π©· continues to intercept, and πͺπͺπͺπͺ πͺ makes a guest phone call appearance via drone. You backflip dramatically out of harm's way from time to time, but spend most of the exchange getting pushed around by Sword Meets Cross Arm Guard, Round 2.
It's the last straw for β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘. "Looks like I'll have to take this elsewhere!" he yells as he thrusts his sword into the ground. This time the sword crackles with black lightning, and you barely have time to blink before taller and uglier anime St*nehenge forms beneath your feet and suddenly you're in the stratosphere.
β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘'s here with you, screaming hysterically from atop his own malformed rock pillar. "No one will disturb us here. Speak. Where is ποΈποΈποΈποΈ?"
"I'm right here, aren't I?" you protest, knowing that it's not the answer he's looking for.
"No! I could tell from our exchange earlier." Finally, he takes off his stupidly-tight mask, revealing a young man with black hair that's far prettier than a jilted ex has any right to be. "You're not the ποΈποΈποΈποΈ I know!"
Your heart sinks.
But then π©·π©·π©·π©·'s here again. "You can't escape from me!" she declares, oblivious, running at β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ like he's still an actor on a stage and not a genuine threat. When he flings her away with such force that it sends her crashing to the ground like a useless ragdoll, she beams. "Good. He's finally getting into it."
He thrusts his sword into the ground mere inches from her chest. "Wait!" you cry out. This isn't just for show. The drones haven't even made it here yet.
"What are you waiting for? Do it!"
"Tell me, or I'll kill her!"
On the ground, π©·π©·π©·π©· jitters with anticipation. "Do it, do it, do it, do it!"
"Wait, no! π©·π©·π©·π©·, he's serious!" You're fast. In almost any other situation, you could simply grab her and fly the both of you back to safety. But he's your nemesis, and you're still too new. For all you know, he could be faster.
"Tell me! Where's the real ποΈποΈποΈποΈ?!"
He's your nemesis, so it's no wonder that he realized. And in turn, you realize that no matter how perfectly you play the role of ποΈποΈποΈποΈ, no matter how much your performance earns the public's trustβit's not enough to fool a friend. And now you understand that you need to tell him. You need to tell him, or it's π©·π©·π©·π©· that will pay the price.
"ποΈποΈποΈποΈ, he..."