If madness overtakes us both [Open]

[levelshift]

Who: Accelerator levelshift and OPEN.
What: Event and July/August prompts.
When: Throughout July and August.
Where: Arcadia, Excelsior, Central City.
Content Warnings: Specific warnings will be in the prompts.


((Prompts in comments. If you'd like a specific starter please hit me up on plurk or discord!))

Comments

Downburst: Black Hole. (Open)

[levelshift]

[Accelerator arrives in Excelsior and begins making his way to Arcadia. At first he does so on foot, keeping his choker in normal mode in order to preserve the battery. It means when those black holes start appearing and fights begin breaking out he does what he can to avoid them, not wanting to get involved in random fights and waste what little ability time he has. Besides, there are plenty of real heroes around, they're the ones people should be relying on.

He gets decently far before he finally comes face-to-face with an unformed black hole, one that twists and reshapes itself in response to his presence. Honestly, he almost leaves the damn thing as it's still shaping itself. Whatever the hell it is, it's not something he's interested in.

But then, it settles into the form of a man. A regular man in his thirties, wearing a lab coat and metal gloves, though with the facial tattoo and casual clothes underneath the coat he looks like he would be right at home in a gang. In fact, the t-shirt the man is wearing has a striped design on it that looks almost identical to the one Accelerator is wearing.

Accelerator stops as the man cracks his neck casually.]

Didn't I already kill you?

Downburst: Post-Battle (Open)

[levelshift]

[Chaos Gate and Fantastic disappear, and Accelerator is left staring down at the hand he had used to touch the latter. The murderously excitable mood he had been in a few moments ago starts to fade. Things had been fairly straightforward - for this world - but those vectors coming off of the ex-superhero....

What the hell were they? They didn't follow natural laws he's familiar with, and even more bizarre was the way they just disappeared into nothing. He pauses for a moment, trying to come up with a formula to explain it, but partway through the calculations get away from him.

The high he had gotten from fighting dies away, and he's left feeling oddly raw and hollow. It reminds him of how he had felt after taking out Hound Dog back home. It's a strange kind of feeling, one he doesn't like, so with a click of his tongue he drops his hand and hits the switch on his choker. Then he extends the cane portion of his crutch, leaning on it as he draws in a deep breath.

What now?

That thought crosses his mind, as does Chaos Gate's expression before she disappeared, and after a few moments of mulling it over he turns to leave.

He can be found wandering throughout Arcadia and Excelsior the rest of the day.]

Central City: Movie Night (Closed to Leo and Donnie)

[levelshift]

[Accelerator can't decide if having another movie night is an incredibly stupid idea or genius after everything that happened in Arcadia and Excelsior. On the one hand, it's definitely one normal way to relax and unwind. On the other, he still hasn't figured out if this is something he should be enjoying, or even allowed to enjoy. It's left him in this uncomfortable, unbalanced limbo state that he's been keeping to himself. It isn't Leo or Donnie's business, and since they seem excited for the prospect of watching another Lou Jitsu movie he doesn't want to kill the mood. He can go wallow in his feelings later, when he's alone.

They've got the movie set up, and the food ready to go, and he's just grabbing some utensils from the kitchen before the three of them settle in for the evening. That's when it hits. In an instant two weeks of memories and experience get crammed into his head, making him stumble and nearly crash to the ground. Working for the dark side of Academy City, Misaka Misuzu, GROUP, the #2 Level 5, Aiwass - it's a flood of information that overwhelms him.

But worse than that - he didn't escape the fight with Aiwass unscathed, and his sync up is physical on top of mental. Pain shoots through him and he looks down, seeing blood starting to seep through his t-shirt in two massive crossing slashes on his torso.]

Sh - shit! [He manages to get that out before coughing up blood.]

[faceguy]

[Leo has been looking forward to this movie night - after all the crazy stuff that happened, doing something normal is highly appreciated. He knows it's good for him and Donnie, and maybe it's good for Accelerator, too; to just be a teenager with no pressure and no violence.

He's not aware of Accelerator's full feelings about the situation, of course, beyond grumpy (but he's always grumpy), but in general Accelerator seems to dislike good things happening to himself. If they keep it up, maybe he'll get used to it and start to like it? He can hope!

Either way, it's fun to show Lou Jitsu movies to someone.

He's on the couch, idly scrolling down Twitter while he waits for Accelerator to come back, when he hears what sounds like a stumble, and then a loud curse - hardly unusual for Accelerator, except Leo has no idea what he has to curse about right now. Did he stub his toe or something?

Then he hears coughing that sounds unsettlingly wet, and he's up on his feet, phone tossed onto the couch cushions.]

Accy, you oka- whoa!

[Yep, that's blood for sure.]

Donnie! He's hurt!

[How did he even get hurt like this!? Is someone here!? What the hell!? Leo hovers, hands in the air like he's not sure if he should touch Accelerator right now or not. After a second, he goes for putting a hand on his shoulder so he doesn't fall over.]

[purplexing]

[Accelerator's place may as well be considered their secondary hang out by this point. The Lair's still in the works, but even then, it's not like they can casually invite people over to hang out at a sewer. Well, they could, but why do that when you had above-ground options?

Donnie looks up from where he'd been rotating some of the plant pots at the first sounds from the kitchen, frowning, but the moment Leo's calling for him, he's there in two seconds, freezing at the doorway upon the sight. That's more blood than he ever wants to see on any of their close acquaintances.

He shakes his head slowly, trying to fight down a wave of nausea before he forces himself to step into the kitchen with the two of them.]

What happened? Accelerator?

[He forces himself to think clinically, shoving emotions into the backseat as he starts looking around for towels. While Leo's supporting the esper, Donnie grabs a chair and hauls it over, gesturing for the esper to be helped to sit while he looks for other things he figures might be needed.]

Looks like he's wounded- Leo, can you get his shirt off? I don't know how bad it is but we still need to stop the bleeding.

[levelshift]

[For several long moments his brain tunes everything out - the turtles, anything they're saying, little things like the kitchen's lighting and the floor tiles under his feet, even the fact that he's in Central and not Academy City.

He's home. He's home and immediately leaves the City to go to Avignon, which is in flames because of worldwide protests and riots by Roman Catholics. Then he's working with those idiots Musujime, Tsuchimikado, Unabara. He's killing the leader of Skill-Out, or those terrorists who kidnapped those kids and hijacked a particle accelerator. And he's trying to avoid Last Order, so she doesn't get involved.

Working with Oyafune, possibly the only person on the board of directors who wants to genuinely help the children of Academy City. The knowledge that (Leo was right) magic does exist. That everyone in Academy City is being spied on constantly via nanomachines. That he's the core of the board chairman's plans, whatever they are.

And there's Misaka Misuzu. Kill Point, he's dead because of him. Sugitani, alive but bleeding out slowly. Kakine Teitoku, the #2 Level 5, also dead. That Level 0. 

DRAGON. Aiwass. Aiwass.

That being's words are still ringing in his ears.

“—That girl is a difficult case.”

"- she will certainly break down eventually whether it is very soon or in the distant future -"

“—Go to Russia.”

“—Remember the term ‘Index Librorum Prohibitorum’."

......... Needless to say, it's going to take him a minute to realize he isn't actually in Academy City (anymore), that he's instead in his shitty kitchen in Central City, leaning against Leo. Shaking his head, he tries to clear his thoughts and focus on the immediate present.]

I'm - fine.

[That's a lie if he's ever heard one. He reaches up to hit the switch on his choker, starts using his ability to redirect the flow of his blood so he doesn't bleed out on the kitchen floor. His shirt's still ruined, but at least he isn't about to die. Still, he sinks down onto the chair. Processing everything that just got shoved into his head while doing medical calculations is rough.]

There's a - first aid kit. It's in the bathroom.

Dreams (Open)

[levelshift]

((CWs: Child death, gore, blood.))

[It always starts the same way: a black void filled with blood and corpses. It would almost be serene if not for the slow, steady dripping echoing through the entire scene, and all the gore.

In the blood those bodies are still. They look like young, teen girls who can't be older than fourteen or so. They look identical, too: short brown hair, brown lifeless eyes, clad in a school uniform. Some of them have military-style goggles still attached to their heads. A lot of them are missing limbs. Accelerator is so unphased by it all that he almost looks uncomfortable. Or maybe it's just resigned...? Either way he's just sitting there, in that blood, surrounded by bodies.

Then everything shifts.

1. (CW: Child death by gunshot, Accy's going to have a full on panic attack this one, emeto.) It's a white room, and Accelerator, looking a few years younger, walks in through a massive door. There's a girl in there, one of the bodies, but she's alive and holding a gun. The scene that plays out is heartbreaking.

2. (CW: Gun violence, gore, Accelerator makes a sexualized joke and chews on human flesh.) It's some kind of darkened warehouse filled with machinery and pipes, illuminated only by red emergency lighting. The footsteps of a person in heavy SWAT-like gear echo through the facility, as Accelerator remains in some shadows.

3. (CW: Suicide by gunshot.) It's a narrow, rundown alleyway, the sky above covered up by colourful tarps that have been stretched across the buildings. At first glance it appears Accelerator is alone, but...]

Dreams (Closed to Leo)

[levelshift]

[It's a sunny day, and the wind turbines rotate steadily in the light breeze. A drum-shaped cleaning robot putters by as Accelerator stands there, leaning on his crutch, scowling lowly at Academy City and the two figures walking down the street.

Himself, before the gunshot, no choker or crutch in sight, and a tiny brown-haired girl wrapped in a ratty blue blanket. It's only the two of them, since it's the final day of summer vacation and most of the student population is inside finishing up homework.

“Is that hair natural? says Misaka as Misaka wants to know,” asked Last Order as they neared a family restaurant chain.

“Eh?”

“Your hair! White hair isn’t normal, points out Misaka. And how do you biologically even have red eyes, too? asks Misaka as Misaka is all confused.”

Accelerator - the actual Accelerator not this dream-memory of himself - scrubs a hand down his face tiredly.]

[faceguy]

[And Leo, standing next to the not-dream Accelerator, snorts in amusement, taking in this scene with a huge grin. He doesn't know this kid, but he likes her already.]

Boooy, she's got you pegged, huh?

[And given his sixteen years experience as an older sibling, he can taste the little sibling vibes in the air.]

So who's that, and why haven't you told me about her?

[...He really hopes it's not because she's dead. Honestly, given what he knows of Accelerator's life he kinda wouldn't be surprised, but he'll feel like a huge dick if that's the case...!]

[levelshift]

[Okay, Accelerator would like to wake up now. It's bad enough that he's dreaming about all of this, Leo being here makes it about ten times worse. It'd be too much to ask for him to just be part of the dream too, but there was that incident with that guy in the red helmet, so it probably isn't that easy.

He facepalms, not looking up and only deciding to answer half of that question.]

Technically, another clone.

[“This isn’t natural. It’s a side effect of my power or somethin’. I don’t know. The pigments in your skin and hair and eyes protect your body from UV rays, but I always just reflect all the extra shit anyway, so my body doesn’t need color. Somethin’ like that.”

Unexpectedly, he found himself feeling rather loquacious. He was always arguing needlessly during the experiment too. Maybe he liked to talk more than he thought.

“Wow, that’s, like, kinda logical and stuff, says Misaka as Misaka is surprised. It’s like, you’re Accelerator, so anything goes, says Misaka as Misaka gives up.”

“Why the hell you sayin’ you’re givin’ up? It’s just that my power’s too strong. My hormones are out of balance or somethin’ because there’s barely any outside influence, so now I’ve got this androgynous body.”

“Wait, then are you a guy or a girl? says Misaka as Misaka asks you straight up.”

“What, can’t ya tell by lookin’?” he responded, a bit confused at his own words.

He remembers how this goes, how he lapsed into deep thought about the fact that he was making conversation with a clone, when it had never felt that way with the other Sisters. How bizarre and alien it felt. Like something was changing.

“Hello? Hello hello hello hello hello, says Misaka as Misaka wants to make sure you heard her. Are you thinking about something? asks Misaka as Misaka looks at your face.”

“What? Uh, I was just thinking, are you seriously gonna walk into a store with just a blanket on?”

“…Waah. Are you asking what Misaka will do if she’s refused service? asks Misaka as Misaka is now nervous.”

“Go to sleep.”

“Yahoo, that’s turning into your favorite phrase, says Misaka as Misaka is getting kinda desperate.”

Last Order, face completely straight, started waving around her arms. Accelerator looked away from her and into the afternoon sky.

Those two are entering the restaurant. Accelerator is hesitant to follow them with Leo here, but there's a pressure behind him and when he glances back -

It's pitch black, and there's a red liquid starting to lap at their feet.

He sighs heavily and starts walking.]

I guess we're going in.

[faceguy]

[Leo can't help but grin, amused, as he listens to the conversation. "Another clone" is a worrying answer, considering what happened to ten thousand of the clones before, but Accelerator is behaving civilly with this one.

And it's hilarious.

Leo does file away the info about Accelerator's hormones (maybe one day he'll escalate to annoying Accelerator into seeing a doctor about that), but doesn't ask about it. He just watches as the dream-pair head inside the restuarant.

He notices the red lapping at their feet the same time Accelerator does, and he's all to happy to agree. Follow the happy(?) memory, don't go back to the nightmare. No offense to Accelerator, but he'd rather not see that particular landscape again.]

Oh yes, let's.

[Throwing his hands behind his head, he walks after Accelerator, his grin huge.]

Central City: Deaging (Open)

[levelshift]

[This isn't Academy City. Accelerator isn't sure where it is, but there aren't any of the usual dum-shaped cleaning robots puttering around, no self-driving buses, no gigantic windmills steadily turning amidst all the buildings. Everything seems older, run-down, and there are a lot fewer Japanese kids walking around.

It's kind of terrifying, but his ten year old self manages to keep a straight face, even as he wanders down the street barefoot, clad in only green hospital scrubs.

This could be another experiment. That's probably what it is, the researchers don't always tell him what's going on when he goes into one of those, so maybe he got shoved into a pod and his brain messed with. Like a virtual simulation or something, he knows they can do that. But if it's an experiment then they haven't given him any instructions whatsoever, so he's left to explore on his own until he figures that out.

So there may be a tiny white-haired kid with red eyes and a frown approaching you. He makes sure to keep himself out of arm's reach, just in case.]

Hey, have you seen Kihara-kun the shithead?

[purplexing]

[Having just finished doing a bit of work at the Lair, Donnie's considering possible coffee options when he hears someone possibly addressing him. Someone...small.

With a faint frown, the hoodie-wearing turtle turns his head to glance over his shoulder.]

Sorry, don't know the name-

[His eyes widen once he has a good look at the kid.]

Accelerator??

[levelshift]

[Accelerator's only response is to stare quite a bit. Someone knowing his name (the name of his esper ability, technically) isn't that unusual, but....]

You're green. They're doing experiments on frogs, too? Are they trying to make a real Gekota mascot?

[purplexing]

.....

Wh- no, I'm not-

[Wait, wait, wait- this is Accelerator then. But why's he so short! Okay, not just short but still!]

Firstly, I am a turtle, not a frog. Secondly, wait- where do you think this is.

Deaging (Closed to Gojo)

[levelshift]

[Accelerator still isn't any closer to figuring out what's going on or finding Kihara Amata, but hey, he isn't alone! It's one thing to be in a city full of people, for him it's something else to have found quite possibly the only person he can safely touch without breaking his bones or exploding his internal organs. Once he realizes that's the case he refuses to leave Gojo alone. He's very abrasive about it all (as much as a ten year old can be), but he definitely doesn't want to be alone, and since no one's going to get hurt, well....

He's clinging to Gojo's hand, swinging it back and forth, not letting go regardless of where Gojo is trying to go or do.]

What kind of esper are you, anyways?

[Clearly he's an esper, too. Judging by the school uniform he must attend one of the schools in Academy City, and whatever it is that bypasses his own reflection must be related to his esper ability. It totally tracks.]

And what's with your hair? Is it a side effect too, or are you secretly super old?

[powercrept]

It's the final stage of my digivolution! I got white hair and striking blue eyes. [He peers over his sunglasses to make a point. Inwardly, he's really annoyed about babysitting. Amanai is one thing. She's young, but she's close enough to high school aged. Weird that he's ... here instead of back in Okinawa with her and Suguru, but it's fine. He'll make his way there eventually!

Once this brat is no longer clinging to him. Ugh. At least he can take care of himself. It'll save Gojo a lot of trouble.

Does he even care to answer the rest? Well ... obfuscating when he's Gojo Satoru of the Gojo Clan is usually a waste of time. It's common knowledge, and he doesn't give a damn. About most of it.]

Anyway, we don't call ourselves espers. [Though he's obviously familiar with the term.] I'm a jujutsu sorcerer—Special Grade. [He grins like a celebrity smiling for an invisible camera. Aren't you glad you're clinging to this guy?]

[levelshift]

[Accelerator stares back with a surprising amount of unimpressed energy for a ten year old. He's also showing no signs of letting go anytime soon, because if he can't find Kihara Amata then he'll just stick to this guy until he figures out what the heck is going on.]

That's lame. You should've gotten pendulum blades like WarGrowlmon.

[Said in the kind of matter-of-fact tone one would expect from a professor explaining some scientific concept and not a small child describing his favourite Digimon line. Accelerator continues.]

That sounds fake. Magic doesn't exist, shithead, come up with a better lie.

August 31 (Open)

[levelshift]

[It's August 31st, late in the morning, and Accelerator hasn't gotten out of bed. He has no plans to, not with today being technically-sort-of the anniversary of when Last Order found him, when Amai tried to kickstart the virus that would cause all of the Sisters to go berserk, when he got shot in the head. With the time dilation going on it hasn't been a full year, but it's still that day, and it isn't something he doesn't want to deal with.

So he plans on skipping all of it. He calls in sick that morning, then rolls over and proceeds to sleep for several more hours. Good plan, excellent plan. No need to deal with all the bad memories and guilt if he just sleeps through it all.

... Or at least lying there in an irritated, restless state trying to sleep, since for whatever reason it isn't coming to him. Instead he's stuck with a bunch of morose emotions. It sucks and it leaves him drained of any energy, and the most he accomplishes is the simple task of occasionally looking at his phone and leaving any messages on Read for hours.

Going for that long without responding to a text because he's away from his phone working or sleeping is one thing, but he doesn't usually leave things on Read for this long. It's hard to summon up the effort, so when he manages to it's a simple What. or more likely, Fuck off. He doesn't have a lot of patience for anything today.]

[purplexing]

[It's weirdly concerning. More so, perhaps, given the other weirdness that's been happening this past month alone.

In this case it's strange because Donnie's message is for business. With the laser tested and ready, he'd have thought that the esper would be eager to have it installed, or at least give him a better time for it. Clearly the text had been seen, so what's up?

Absolutely reasonable cause for inviting himself over, right? It's not that Donnie's worried, pff, of course not, that's a feeling and he doesn't do those, clearly. He was just in the area and decided to grab coffee for the both of them as payback for the can he'd helped himself to the last time, and check his plants.

Yes. This is totally his reason for stopping by and popping the door open like it's his own apartment.]

Grubdash...

...'Rator? You in?

[levelshift]

[Sorry Donnie, today is an awful day for him and his usual amount of patience has run out, leaving him even more antisocial than normal.

In fact, even when he hears Donnie coming in he doesn't bother getting out of bed. Or even saying anything. He just mutters a swear under his breath and rolls over. That, and the fact that the tv and all the lights are off make it look like the apartment is deserted.]

[powercrept]

[Back home, Gojo was born with the understanding that he would be the most important Jujutsu sorcerer of his time. Having an impact on his world was a given from the start: it was why some people would come to see him, just to get a glimpse of him even as a kid. He grew used to it, grew used to the fact that his vision gave him a different view of the world, grew used to how everyone would have to defer to him if he inserted himself into a situation.

Even as they craved to be rid of him. Guess they are now. Hopefully everything's okay there.

But it's why he knows better than to offer himself up as more than he has here. This is a world that shouldn't have his impact to the degree that he can offer it. He can't demand respect, nor will he; he'll do what he wants, follow what he likes, and ... frankly, be as selfish as he's wanted for a long time. Yes, he's arrogant and disrespected by many at home, but they know what he can do. He works around the clock to help rid the world of curses, even if he has his own schemes in place to better it.

He's just never been the kind of self righteous guy to think he should be heard everywhere.

This is all to say that he's making connections slowly here, and that's just fine with him.

It also means that when he's bored and wants to bother someone, his list is small. It also means he doesn't really follow social norms (he never has), and thus he turns up on this sad day for Accelerator completely unaware with the following in tow:

• a large brown paper bag filled with cupcakes and baked goods
• another tote bag full of Japanese canned coffee (imported)

Only, well, once he gets there, Accelerator looks like he's having the worst day of his life.]

Aww ... did I choose a bad time? [This is him reading the room.

Sorta.

Kinda.

Never mind that he didn't knock first before he literally just appeared in there.]

[levelshift]

[Honestly, Accelerator is used to people breaking into his home. It happened back home, though the intent there was a lot more malicious, and it happens here with the turtles. He doesn't even bother trying to complain about it because there's no point - it's pretty clear it's going to happen regardless, and he can't bring himself to care all that much. The only thing he owns that's actually important to him is the charger for his choker, so... whatever. People can do what they want.

Of course, when people break into his Central apartment they've so far at least made their presence known. Leo and Donnie, and he's fairly sure even Jason, could easily get in without a sound, but they've all got a modicum of tact and have given Accelerator a warning first.

And then there's Gojo.

Accelerator assumes he's alone until he isn't. Teleporting - Gojo's kind of teleporting - doesn't make any noise, and since he's curled up in bed like one very sad feral cat with his eyes closed he doesn't notice anything unusual until Gojo speaks up. Then his eyes pop open as his brain processes the fact that there's suddenly one white-haired jerk in his bedroom.

Why. Why is this his life.

He sits up, staring.]

What the fuck, you bastard?!

[Kind of a dumb question. He knows Gojo can teleport, he's seen him do it before.]

[faceguy]

[With Accelerator leaving him on read and Donnie going to water plants and not coming back for awhile, Leo decides to go over to Accelerator’s and see what’s up. What’s happening. What’s going down.

What’s going down is depression, clearly, given the darkened state he finds the apartment in that evening. Either that or Accelerator is just out, but Leo feels a sort of telltale prickle of not being alone that means Accelerator must be in the apartment somewhere.

Knowing him, probably taking a nap.

So he sneaks down to Accelerator’s room and peeks in on him and… yep, he’s where Leo thought he would be.

Now, a person who sees and respects boundaries would probably either back off at this point, or say something from the doorway.

Leo is not one of those people.

Leo is the person who walks into the room and comes to sit down on the side of the bed, waiting for Accelerator to acknowledge him.]

[levelshift]

[It's definitely a depression day. There are days when Accelerator doesn't get out of bed (more common over summer, where he doesn't have to worry about the obligation of attending school), but he'll at least be sleeping or make the minimum amount of effort to respond to any texts. Today? Today he is just a pathetic lump of a person.

Though when Leo walks in and sits down at the edge of the bed he tenses up, one hand reflexively going for the switch on his choker as he looks over. Of course, when he sees who it is he drops that whole plan and goes back to his previous status of useless.]

Go away, Hamato.