rubycity_ooc | August Test Drive!

Entry tags:

August Test Drive!

Thinking of apping a character but not sure they'll fit in the city walls?

Have no fear, a meme for you is here.

Directions:

Use an RNG to choose a location and prompt, or wait for someone else to tag.

Post with your character with their name and canon on top!

If you'd like, leave contact info for people to get in contact for plotting and other such shenans.

Tag around! Make friends. Don't be afraid to chat OOC while tagging.

Locations

1.TRAIN STATION - The place where everyone gets dumped off at. Your first view of Ruby City, complete with informational posters telling you all about where you've ended up.
2. THE BEACH - Lovely year-round, though in the winter months, you're probably not likely to dip your toes in.
3. THE BLACK STALLION - A rather quaint bar. Supposedly, the burgers are great, but you don't see anyone immediately who's willing to serve you. Maybe you're meant to get it yourself.
4. THE OBELISK - The tall monolith in the center of the city marks the gathering place of many events, though right now it seems to be cold and dark.
5. THE CLOCKTOWER - Offering an impressive view of the city, several residents come here to clear their heads, if they don't mind braving the narrow staircase.
6. THE COFFEE JOINT - the front windows are warm and welcoming, and it seems there's always someone friendly enough to fix you a cup when you wander through.
7. THE CATACOMBS - Intrepid, aren't you? Those weird holes may beg exploring, but go too deep and you're going to be in a lot of trouble, considering the viciousness of the creatures held within.
8. THE CITY STREETS - All told, Ruby City is a lovely place, once you get past the fact that several of the buildings look derelict and on the verge of falling down. There's no harm in doing a little sightseeing.
9. THE PARK - You thought it'd be a lovely stroll, but the park is anything but friendly, if those approaching wolf-like creatures are any indication.
10. CHOOSE YOUR OWN - Don't like what we've come up with? Feel like picking your own place? There's a whole host of lovely locations to choose from in the City.

Scenarios

1. NEW ARRIVAL - Step off that train, walk down the street. People usually latch on to newcomers to try and help them out. Even if you look shy, the other residents probably won't be!
2. WATCH TALK - Feeling lost? Disoriented? Don't worry, everyone feels that way on their first day. Fortunately - if the signs at the station are to believed - the watch in your pocket can be used to talk to whoever else might be here.
3. BAD WEATHER - Aw, man. Whether it's snow, or rain, or just plain cold, today was definitely the wrong day to get dumped off in a City in the middle of nowhere.
4. A RUN-IN - Maybe you weren't watching. Maybe they weren't. Either way, you just bumped into someone. Perhaps apologies are in order?
5. HELP, IT HURTS - Clumsy, aren't you? Perhaps wherever the train brought you from wasn't so friendly, or you just tripped and twisted your ankle. Either way, you're in a bit of pain. Hopefully someone will notice your booboos and help patch you up.
6. HUNGRY - It isn't very obvious sometimes that restaurants are what they are, especially in a place like Ruby City. Where can a person go to get a bite to eat around here?
7. MISTAKEN IDENTITY - Hey, there's someone you know! --Or maybe not.
8. BEING FOLLOWED - Maybe you're just being paranoid, or maybe you've got a reason to be afraid. Whatever it is, it feels like there's eyes on you...
9. CURRENT EVENTS - None at the moment, but feel free to look through our event tag!
10. CHOOSE YOUR OWN - Don't like any of these ideas? Feel free to come up with your own!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Unfortunately for everyone concerned, Kakyoin might not have been paying attention to the possibility of another Stand user in the vicinity, but Jotaro certainly was. It was, of course, a Stand user that was responsible for this. That was the natural explanation.

Hence, defeating the Stand user would make this go away. That was also the natural conclusion.

He didn't run outright, but he certainly stepped up his pace, moving quickly and with more directed purpose until — ]

...What the hell?

[...This...couldn't be right. There was no possible explanation for the person who appeared to be standing there, a short distance away from him, looking up toward the face of the clock —

Well, no. There was one, anyway.

It was one that ended in really pissing Jotaro off — and, well, to say that'd ended badly for the last guy who'd done it was a little bit of an understatement, and he frankly didn't see any point in breaking that streak this time, either.]

...?

[The sound of someone talking a short distance away managed to start pulling Kakyoin away from his train of thought. Which was good, as it seemed only to travel unpleasant places lately.]

[It took only a second to look over at the source of that voice, and then about five more to process what he was looking at. Because...was he really still alive? (of course he is, he has to be) Did he know what had happened? (from the way he's looking, i have a lot of explaining to do) And most importantly: did they win? (there's no way he would lose.)]

[But all of that and any number of intelligent responses were a little beyond Kakyoin at the moment, and he responded with an astonished:]

Jotaro?!

[To his credit, he didn't move much; his expression didn't crack, and he didn't tense or scream or lose his shit in any of the ways that he frankly would've liked to at that moment. The way he did move was almost imperceptible, save to a trained eye — his stance widened just a touch, his face sank a little deeper behind the upturned collar of his coat, and the purple glow that'd been flanking him now manifested fully at his side, a little behind and to his right.

Star Platinum was looking rowdy today, too; more inclined to put his emotions on display than Jotaro, the implicit promise of violence in the Stand's demeanor was probably the one thing that most betrayed just how agitated his user was.]

...I was already going to say you made a mistake, doing whatever you did to bring me here.

[One fist came up out of his coat pocket, and turned into a pointed finger as he stabbed his silent accusation at the young man in his line of sight.]

But showing up looking like that? Now you've really pissed me off.

Wait, I didn't--

[It was Kakyoin's role from the start to evaluate all possible outcomes and plan strategies to counter them. Hierophant Green was not made for all-out combat like Star Platinum; he suited his user, clever and subtle. He'd had more than enough time to consider 'what if someone I know shows up and doesn't believe I'm who I say I am?' It had happened at least once before, so it wasn't as though that was an unreasonable suspicion.]

[But even so, it was almost funny that Kakyoin had expected this situation to unfold like this almost verbatim. 'Almost' because being punched by Star Platinum was not an experience he wanted to repeat. Hierophant appeared behind him in a flash, Kakyoin raising his own arms in front of him to intercept a potential attack and answering as quickly as he could.]

Jojo, it's really me this time, I can prove it--!

[Luckily, Noriaki Kakyoin always planned ahead.]

[There were two things that stood out immediately about that protest — not enough to make him drop his guard or ease up a single inch with Star Platinum, but enough that at least he was attending to the implications of what was being said rather than just dismissing it as useless deception outright.

He'd called him Jojo. That wasn't conclusive of anything; it was precisely what he'd expect from a good imitation of Kakyoin.

But he'd said this time, and there was something about the combination of that, the defensive pose, and the abrupt appearance of Hierophant Green that all just added up wrong.

Was there such a thing as a Stand powerful enough to put him in a circumstance like this, and imitate Kakyoin, and imitate Hierophant? Maybe.

But there was something in Kakyoin's urgency that just reminded him of the ambulance, and that stupid old man's fucking around, and — ]

...What's the best number car to play as in the racing game, F-Ultra.

[...Kakyoin wouldn't get that wrong, would he.]

[Kakyoin lowered his arms slightly once he was sure Star Platinum wasn't gunning for him that exact second, eyes narrowing behind black lenses. Truthfully, he'd come up with a couple different things to say to prove he actually was himself, but this was easier.]

[If asked in exactly those words, then 'Noriaki Kakyoin' would only answer one way:]

...for god's sake, Jojo, it's F-Mega.

[You filthy casual.]

And I always use twenty-eight.

[...Okay, that was slightly more credibility, then. Right down to the exasperation.]

How did we meet and what did you give me when we did.

I was sent to kill you.

[Satisfied he could get out of this situation without being pummeled to death, Kakyoin took off his sunglasses and crossed his arms.]

Hierophant cut your leg and knocked you down a flight of stairs, and I handed you a handkerchief with a threat written on it.

...Tch. You almost had me...but the real Kakyoin would've known what his Hierophant really did to me that day.

[Eyes hard and face impassive, he dashed forward and silently ordered Star Platinum into an attack; as the distance between them closed, the Stand reared back for a mighty hammerpunch, mouth already open with the beginnings of an attack roar escaping.

And Jotaro's, in contrast, was gritted to the point where his teeth were beginning to ache, and there was something like self-loathing twisting in his stomach for pulling this but sorry, I'm sorry, but I have to be sure, so stop me already...

If it really was an imposter, this of all times would be when he would show his true colors and choke.

And if it wasn't...

If it wasn't, then there'd be a lot more to figure out than just how to apologize for the stunt he was pulling right now, wouldn't there be.]

Waitshitthisisn'tfunny--!

[What the hell was he doing?! That was exactly what happened, so what was he expecting?! There was no way Kakyoin was going to attack him--no, was that the entire point? It must have been. An imitation would fall for something like that and strike back, but he knew damn well he wasn't an imitation.]

[Instead of ordering Hierophant to attack like instinct screamed at him to do...Kakyoin lowered his arms to his sides, faced both Jotaro and his Stand head-on, and didn't dare flinch.]

[The only thing that would prove who he was would be to do what Kakyoin had been doing all along: trust the first friend he'd ever had.]

[And sure enough, with inches to spare, Star Platinum stopped.

(A precise Stand, with immense control, speed, and power — of course he could ask his Stand to stop on a hair's breath like that and of course Star Platinum could, and maybe if it were one of the others it wouldn't have mattered as much, any of the others he could've swung at and not cared so much even if it'd connected, but not Kakyoin. Not Kakyoin.)

An instant later, like a faithful pet, he was back at Jotaro's side, and Jotaro had stopped still too but he couldn't boast quite the same precision or control as his Stand; he was breathing through his gritted teeth and the force of it was faintly audible, and when he did start releasing some of the tension out of his limbs, he seemed to have to do it consciously, like he was too keyed up to let it happen on his own.]

...Sorry.

[Absently, his hand came up to the brim of his hat, yanking it down further over his eyes for lack of anything better to do, or maybe just for the sake of having something to fidget with.]

I had to be sure. Sorry.

It's fine. I don't blame you for needing to be absolutely certain.

[He knew damn well his Stand had the precision to stop with much less space than that, and frankly he didn't care. Even if Kakyoin had been hit outright, he would have seen it coming and that would have been enough.]

[Rigid shoulders gradually relaxed, and Kakyoin's own Stand all but dissolved into a thin tendril wrapping around its user's arms like a familiar scarf.]

...You already know, don't you. [Flatly spoken, with an air of resignation. That must have meant it was over--there was no way Jotaro would lose, that had never been more than a distant concern to him.]

[But someone was going to have to tell him what had happened with the clock and the water tower, and selfishly Kakyoin was almost relieved it wouldn't be him.]

[The fiddling with his hat brim abruptly got a lot more deliberate, and if he yanked it any lower it was going to be clipping the end of his nose with how hard he really, really didn't want to be dealing with this right now.]

...That you're dead. They told me.

[Flicking his gaze to the side, he stuffed his hands back into his pockets vaguely irritably.]

So how is this even happening?

...I don't know. [Shaking his head, Kakyoin started fidgeting with his sunglasses in a remarkably similar sign of 'this is not a conversation i want to have'.] I woke up on that train the same as anyone else that ends up here.

We--you won, right? [Obviously. There was no other alternative, but-] The clock, did...was he able to tell you what it meant?

...The secret of The World. He told me.

[...Ohhh, boy, and was there going to be a long-ass story behind that one, and everything that'd come of it, wasn't there.]

He's dead. We put him out in the sun and I watched his body turn to dust myself.

...

[Quietly, Kakyoin let out a breath he didn't fully know why he'd been holding. Of course he'd won, but there had always been that shred of uncertainty hiding in the back of his mind.]

Good--I mean, I knew that we weren't going to come this far just to lose. But it's nice to finally have confirmation, you know?

...What else do you need to know? Let's just get it out of the way right now.

[Better than leaving business half-finished, and the sooner they got this over with, the sooner they could move on to more important things, like properly reeling from the fact that somehow Kakyoin was here and alive and more significantly not dead, and also maybe that thing about finding the bastard who'd done this and punching them until answers started falling out of their pockets.]

...That implies you think there's something I should know, doesn't it? What aren't you telling me?

[Spoken, of course, with an undercurrent of 'if you're dead too you will be choking on emeralds in .02 seconds.']

...Polnareff's alive.

[BECAUSE THAT WAS CLEARLY WHAT HE MEANT. CLEARLY.]

While that's good to know, what else aren't you telling me?

...I'm not reciting everything that happened. The point is it's over. There's no way he's coming back.

[Coincidentally, though, his hat was looking slightly more ragged than usual, like it'd taken a beating in battle.

...And possibly stopped a knife while it was at it.]

...So look me in the eye and tell me you're alright.

[It was a peculiar talent of Kakyoin's to switch from 'stammering concern' to 'team mom voice' in a matter of seconds.]

We're in the middle of a street. You're really going to do this right now?

[Deflect enough and you will never actually have to give an answer "yes" or "no" either way.]

Oh, I am absolutely doing this right now, and don't dodge the question.

[This is what happens when the responsible teammate knows you too well, Jotaro.]

Fine. I'm all right.

[He said, leveling his vaguely irritated gaze at Kakyoin — and to his credit, he wasn't looking away, but that didn't mean he wasn't just doing it out of sheer stubborn will, either.]

I don't have any right to say something like that in front of you, but if that's what you want, then fine.

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