mildly fun(?) fact: hastur is actually my favorite character to write. but, if an author favors their favorite character, it gets obvious! and irritating! hence him only showing up, like, six times. i love setting arbitrary rules for myself!!!

~~

CONTINUE TO BE DIANA==>

You're still Diana, a thought that Diana herself finds incredibly stupid. If course she's still herself! Her brain must be malfunctioning due to the copious amount of stress she's experienced. Er, you've experienced. Uh...

Moving on.

Right, Wren is inches from your face.

Wren: You're okay, right? 

YOU: Are we about to kiss?

Wren:... That's a yes, then.

YOU: I am fine, yes. Our mutual friend Mister Dream Alien McOrganstealer wanted to pay me a visit. He says that we will be unlikely to encounter him again.

Wren: Huh, that's a shame. I was hoping to KILL HIM

Ryan: "organ stealer?"

YOU: Eye why kay why kay, RYAN.  Uh, what did I miss during my nap? 

Wren: We freed Mr. Aberdeen, for one. 

It's true: the two guards are both lying slumped and unconscious at the wall, and the Mayor is standing quietly nearby. 

Wren: But, uh, we are a little fuzzy on the next bit? We just, like, send him in the general direction of the demon? I don't think he even has a sword.

Mr. Aberdeen: I do.

Wren: oh

He reaches down the back of his shirt, and pulls out a sword, which must have been sheathed back there.

Alex: Sword hammerspace. Alright.

YOU: And, to be clear, you are willing to help us?

Mr. Aberdeen: Sure. They already don't trust me. 

YOU: Sweet. Let us try to sneak over there, then. 

Your group enters a crowd, for added protection. This place is crawling with cultists. You hope that you can get through without being detected, and the fact that you're surrounded by panicking people will probably help with that. And then, like some divine punishment designed by the heavens, Ryan comes up behind you.

Ryan: (look, dude, what do i have to do to convince you that i'm trying to be a better person?)

YOU: (you could give up on trying? because i do not like you, i have no desire to grow to like you, and i am frankly unwilling to put in the necessary work. stop talking to me!)

He lingers back, praises be. Wren is ahead of you, hunched down a little because she's tall, so she'd stand out in a crowd. You do too, given the purple hair, but you're short enough to be practically invisible. Ryan is behind you, as is Alex, and Mr. Aberdeen is at the very back of your little procession.

Wren: (ok, if everyone can hear me, our last plan degenerated into mindless violence, so we might as well just start on that level)

YOU: (excellent.)

You prepare to rush the demon guy, when suddenly a foot sticks out of the crowd, tripping you. You fall flat on your face, which hurts, and you look up to see...

YOU: Kessler.

You can: 

>FIGHT

>FLEE

What do you do?

okay while i'm waiting, you might be entertained to know that the official unofficial theme song of the terminal is Cruel Summer by Bananarama. synths! weird retro feel! and, uh, our friends sure experienced a cruel summer. and now they're experiencing a cruel fall. let's be honest, it's a cruel narrative.  

ok i have a big online playlist that has multiple songs for every character, which ill share toward the end of the project. (id do it now but it'd spoil some later character developments... once this project is over ill explain every individual song choice, probably, let's be honest. but right now... every character has a moment where i really get them, and their dialogue starts writing itself. usually i get a core song for them too. (for example, wren had a moment later in act one, when i really considered who she was and why she was sticking with these people, and i realized oh wow, these people are the closest thing she has to a family, and she's totally trans. and then it logically followed that Hebrews 11:40 is her theme song)

anyway, uh, Ryan had his moment. i really didn't want to like him, but too late, and his song is Gnaw by alex g. Please don't cry/I am not your brother/I am not your lover/and there is nothing wrong

we're cooked.

also, uh, kinda random but in a hypothetical live action version of the terminal, Bryan Cranston would play Sketch Hawthorne, 100%, i dunno why that entered my brain but 

FIGHT ==>

Okay, this is happening. It might be a bad decision, but, you know. It wouldn't be the first time you've made a bad decision, and hopefully it won't be the last.

You leap to your feet, and just friggin deck him. It might've looked pretty cool if you didn't have to jump to hit him. Fortunately, Kessler doesn't flash step out of the way. In fact, he looks downright paralyzed by the audacity of you just punching him in the face. 

Ryan: Whooo! Good one!  

Ryan runs forward, grinning, and Wren follows, reluctantly. 

Wren: Deen... Dude... Is this a good idea?

YOU: He tripped me! 

Wren: Yeah. Yeah, alright. 

She runs forward and swings a punch at Kessler as well. He does his horrible thing, skidding out of the way so fast that it looks like he teleports to the side. Wren winces in pain, pulling her hand back. Her knuckle is red and raw.

Wren: Uh... Looks like it's...bad if you hit him while he does his thing.

Kessler: I told you. I can vibrate so quickly that I'll break your bones. Quit... Causing... A ruckus.

Mr. Aberdeen: Kessler, these are children.

Kessler: Yes, and you were perfectly fine with sacrificing children you didn't know, but now that you recognize them, it's suddenly a federal issue? Come off it, you're not better than any of us. Your son isn't even here. Just... Let it happen.

Mr. Aberdeen: No... No, it was wrong then, and it's wrong now. I'm a bad person, I know that. But-

Kessler: Redemption is a story, Aberdeen. It's a nice story, but it's a story. Standing up for these kids now doesn't save anyone! It doesn't fix you! Watch any movie. Do you know what happens to villains when they try to be better? They die. Because it's easy to forgive someone who died doing good.  I's a little harder if you have to keep looking at them-

While Kessler is yapping a mile a minute, Mr. Aberdeen rushes forward with his sword, swinging right at him. In a moment, Kessler had dodged it. Only a thin cut is on one of his arms. He smiles smugly, and Alex plows into him from behind. Looks like they snuck around through the crowd. 

Speaking of the crowd, they've all kind of backed up, leaving you surrounded. You're a little surprised that they aren't pumping their fists and chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" 

Kessler stumbles to the ground, and grits his teeth in rage. Aberdeen wastes no time in swinging at him again, and Ryan, who's a little closer, manages to punch him. Kessler speeds out of the way again, behind Alex. His shirt is torn up, and his skin is clearly broken underneath it. Ryan's pulls back his fist. His knuckle is bleeding, but he's grinning like an idiot.

Ryan: Dude, I totally just punched the principal! 

Wren: Yes. Every delinquent's dream come true. And all it took was a horrific hostage situation. 

YOU: I punched him too. You are not special.

Kessler: Ahem.

He totally just said the word "ahem" aloud. He's holding Alex up above the ground by their arm. They're kicking and squirming. 

Kessler: Ah. Here we are at a standstill.

Alex: Just stab him!

Mr. Aberdeen: ...

Mr. Aberdeen: Acceptable losses.

Aberdeen absolutely shish kebabs Kessler. Kessler, to his credit, speeds out of the way, but only succeeds in pulling himself off the blade, which, by the look on his face, he realizes isn't enough to save him. Alex crumples to the floor, holding their arm to their chest and breathing heavily.

YOU: Alex! Are you alright? 

Alex: Hhhh... I... Would... khhh. Would really like to go through one adventure without uselessly.... Hurting mysel-

Wren: Dude, it's okay, okay? You did your best. Thank you.

They smile slightly, unsteadily getting to their feet. Kessler let's out a strangled gargling sound, and collapses to the ground. You breath a sigh of relief.

You turn to Mr. Aberdeen, only to see a look of absolute agony on his face. Oh. A tentacle with a long sharp barb is embedded in his back. A very long tentacle, belonging to... The greaser demon. Uh...

What do you do? 

also! reply to comment 2 pages back that i never actually submitted, apparently. I WAS ALSO VERY MUCH THAT KID who got way too into playing pretend. specifically with all my dolls and calico critters, i had really developed characters and backstories for each of them, like i was playing on a whole different level.

also, i listened to They Might Be Giants recently (and enjoyed it a lot!), and yeah, they seem like something Diana would like.

@azalea, kids who made backstories for themselves on the playground grow up to run elaborate turn based rpg text adventures online, it's basically the law

@sempreverde, it's always nice to have new readers!

~~

CHOP THE TENTACLE ==>

Me. Aberdeen drops his sword, a face of pure pain on his face. You don't have any time to think. You stoop down, picking up the sword and swinging.

You slash the tentacle, and it falls to the ground, twitching erratically. There's no blood in it, which is somehow more disturbing than the alternative. It is pulled back, and it somehow disappears into the greaser demon's back. The barb is still stuck in Aberdeen's back.

Alex: I'll... Get that.

Alex yanks the barb out of Mr. Aberdeen. It's long, and a shiny black. You turn to see the greaser demon barreling right at you, knocking people out of his way. He's screaming Aberdeen's name like a shonen protagonist. 

Wren: Hey, I think Sam's calling me? Should I pick up?

Ryan: Yeah, put it on speaker so he knows we're collectively cooked. 

Call four 

Wren: Hey, Sam, mind if I- Oh, hey Antimony. Yeah. Uh, unconscious? Okay... Yeah, we're in a bad situation ourselves, but, uh, sounds like they can't help right now. Look, just get them over here once their awake again. I gotta hang up now, some demon or something, you know. Love you. Bye.

She hangs up.

Wren: Yeah, they're busy.

Alex: I gathered.

You're glad the gymnasium is so big, or that guy would've reached you already. You hand Aberdeen the sword, helping him out of the path of the greaser demon.

Mr. Aberdeen: I... There ,just be some sort of venom in those barbs, or...

Greaser Demon: Aberdeen! Traitor! You... I can't deal with this. I thought you were cool, man, but you totally just wasted my head priest! And now you're consorting with these cattle? You think you know a guy...

Aberdeen wasted no time in swinging his sword right at the freak yelling at him, but the demon only casually grabs the blade in his left hand. He chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief.

Greaser Demon: Yeah, no friggin shot, compadre. 

He shatters the blade in his hand. 

Aberdeen: I-

Greaser Demon: Nah. Stow it, dude. Everything you'd say would just sound like "Judas Judas Judas." We had something good, and you threw it away! Why?

Aberdeen: My son...

Greaser Demon: Yeah, I'm sure he'll be real proud of you, loser.

The greaser demon grabs Aberdeen by the shoulders, and before any of your party can do anything, tentacles protrude out of his back, and with that added strength, he throws Mr. Aberdeen through the air. 

He shatters through one of the high, opaque windows. He falls past your line of vision.

YOU: He... He could be okay, right?

Ryan: I... Really don't think so.

YOU: Okay, but he is not necessarily dead, right?

Alex: He... He could be alive. 

Wren: ...

YOU: Wren... Come here.

She's crying. Jeez. This sucks. You look up to see a bunch of kids trying to escape. The greaser demon looks at you, and then at them. You can see gears turning in his head as he decides you're a secondary priority. He runs toward the escapees, running at full speed.

What do you do next?

Just popping in briefly ~ 

I feel bad that I just dropped out of this story, and want to get back into it, hopefully? I just wanted to say that I was impressed on how dedicated you are to this, it's pretty amazing 

@hawkstar: it's great to read you around here again! and, uh, yeah. im obsessive? which is neat when you're working on a project and bad when you can hear a fan faintly spinning downstairs and it's late and it keeps spinning, producing a sound that is almost constant and consistent, but not quite. not quite.

~~

CHECK ON ABERDEEN ==>

Wren is crying into your jacket. You guess this thing was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. You decide to at least figure out how bad the situation is.

YOU: Wren... I will  check and see if Mr. Aberdeen survived, okay? Just so we know for sure.

Wren: There's... There's no way he did. You don't have to... For my benefit, uh-

YOU: Wren. I am going to do this. If he is dead, he is dead. But if not, if he needs our help...

Wren: Yeah, okay, you're right. Uh... Thank you. I'm not...

She sniffs deeply, and then giggles manically.

Wren: Not really "leading" too well right now, am I?

YOU: You are justified in being upset, and you are doing the best you can in a terrible situation. You are strong beyond measure, and we are going to step in and help you, while you need us to.

Alex nods firmly. Ryan stares blankly ahead.

Wren: Okay. Yeah. Uh... Jeez. How long have we been here?  It could only be a little over two hours, but it feels like six weeks or something. Which is, you know, ridiculous. 

Ryan: Is it... Always like this?

Alex: Nah. Most of the time we hang around and wait for the next horrible thing to happen.

You look around the gymnasium. The back door is guarded, and so is the front door now, not just by the greaser demon, but also by hooded cultists, presumably so the big guy can deal with any other unusual situations. That leaves the window, which is just below the ceiling. The bad news is that it's a high ceiling, and you're only a little taller than five feet. The good news is that the bleachers could get you about two thirds of the way there. The news that further complicates things is that those same bleachers have been closed to provide space for the dance.  

YOU: Looks like I am going to be getting my climbing on. Ryan, you are coming with me.

Ryan: Really? Why?

YOU: I will need to get on your shoulders to see. You are taller than Alex, and I trust them to be much more tactful toward Wren in her time of need than you would be.

Ryan: 'sfair.

You scale the closed bleachers with some difficulty, coming close to slipping a couple times, and scraping your knee (and tearing the leg of your pants as a result.) Ryan climbs with no problems. 

He stoops down once you're both at the top, and you climb onto his back, and then onto his shoulders. He stands up, and you look through the broken glass to the cracked asphalt below.

Ryan: Well? Is he alive?

YOU: ...

YOU: No. He... Uh. If I had not watched him be thrown, I do not think I could have recognized him.

Ryan: That bad, huh? Let's get down. 

You turn and see the greaser demon stalking toward Wren and Alex! You're not sure if you can get there in time, but yelling to them would alert the creature as well...

What do you do?

oh boy a big fight scene! i envision this as being set to Zombie by The Cranberries, but while i was writing it I was actually listening to the album Ready for the House, so idk, pick your own mood music. and hey, welcome back to both celine and hawkstar. the whole gang is here, or adjacent to here.

~~ 

YELL==>

You turn in the direction of Wren and Alex and shriek with all your might. Or at least a significant amount of it. 

YOU: HEY GUYS! BIG FREAK BEHIND YOU! 

Wren had been kneeling on the floor, but she stands up, uneasily. Alex turns to look at their assailant, and the greaser demon doubles his speed. This did not go well. 

Ryan jumps to the ground without any hesitation. He makes the sound of a person who has just been injured and really does not want that fact to be common knowledge. He hobbles quickly over toward them. You try to climb down without cutting yourself up again, but you succeed only at the first part. 

YOU: Ow, ow, ow. Ow.

Captain skeleton Slenderman with unwashed hair and a leather jacket is monologuing again.

Greaser Demon: Kids... Ugh. The worst age. I'll bet if we'd held a retirement home hostage like I wanted, none of this would have happened. The elderly know how to leave well enough alone. The ritual is abut three-quarters done. You can't just wait, like, twenty minutes? 

Wren throws a punch, pretty bravely, at the greaser demon. It... Doesn't seem to have much affect! Alex, meanwhile, picks up the sword with half a blade that Mr. Aberdeen (God rest his soul) dropped while flying out a window. They're swinging it around with their non broken arm, and they toss it to Ryan, the second they see someone with a non broken arm. 

Alex: You're probably better with this anyway. Also I'm in an incredible amount of pain.

Ryan: Gotcha.

You manage to enter into the fray. Wren is desperately trying to avoid a trio of barbed tentacles that the greaser demon's left arm has somehow dissolved into. You leap in, tackling her out of the way. A metal folding chair is over in the corner, the designated sitting spot for the kids who go to a school dance and then refuse to dance. You grab it and throw it at your assailant. It seems to actually give him some pause. 

Wren: Uh, my phone is ringing?

YOU: Put it on speaker!

Wren: Yeah, okay.

Call five (of five)

Wren: Yello?

Antimony: Wren! Sam and Tracy are no longer unconscious, and I think they are now Awakened like me! We ar- What is that racket?

Wren: Kind of in a fight. Uh, say hi to Antimony, Deen.

YOU: Hi, Antimony!

Antimony: Hello, Deen! Anyway, we are trying to bandage up Sam's socket, and hopefully find his right eye, and figure out what on earth is happening to Tracy's left arm, but then we will come over to help, as fast as humanly possible!

Wren: Okay, I'm gonna need a tl;dr on whatever you've been doing, but it can wait, get over here soon as you can, buddy. Love you.

YOU: I also love you!

Antimony: Bye guys! I am hanging up! 

She does, and the greaser demon screams at the top of his lungs. You turn to see that Ryan has chopped off one of his arms. It is once again bloodless, which is deeply disturbing. A new limb seems to begin to tear out of the non-wound, and the creature barks out an insane laugh. 

Greaser Demon: You have no idea how lucky you are. I've been specifically instructed not to kill you, and otherwise, you would be dead where you stand. Apophis wants his meals whole, but hey, maybe he won't mind a light maiming? Keep testing me. 

You think that sounds kind of bad, actually. Wren moves closer to you, and tries to kick a tentacle moving toward her, succeeding instead in losing her balance and falling down on top of you. She stands back up, and yanks you up onto your feet. Ryan and Alex join you, Alex clutching his evidently shattered wrist, and Ryan clutching his half of a sword. 

Greaser Demon: Look okay, it's cute that you think you can beat me with the power of friendship or whatever but again, I am basically the devil from the bible so I don't know how well that's gonna work. 

YOU: The path to my fixed purpose is set with iron nails, creep!

You tackle him, wishing once again that you weren't so small. He smacks you repeatedly. You look around and see that other kids, people outside of your little party, are joining you in attacking the greaser demon. They're he's stabbing at them frantically with countless tentacles sprouting from his freakishly tall body.

Greaser Demon: Do you even understand what you're doing?! Every action you take blasphemes against a higher power!

YOU: "Speak not to me of blasphemy, man! I, who would strike the sun if it insulted me?"

Greaser Demon: What are you even talking about? Are you quoting something? 

He grabs you, throwing you to the ground. The wind is knocked out of you, and you wheeze desperately. Wren kneels down beside you, with panic in her eyes, and she says something, but you don't hear it, because a great chanting sound echoes through the auditorium. You turn and see the remaining cultists are in a huge circle, chanting rhythmically. They're looking up. Everyone freezes in place and looks up too. There is a tear in the air. A hole, being ripped through the very fabric of reality. A body falls through the hole, and it is recognizably your body, or an exact replica of it. The space behind the hole is black as the space between stars.

Well, most of it is.

In the center though, a yellow eye blazes with hate.

The greaser demon starts laughing. Ryan looks up at it and drops his broken sword. You realize that he's never seen it before, and it affects basically everyone when they first see it.

The greaser demon reaches for Ryan...

What do you do?