Falcon and Wolf TV Dungeon HUB

[gorobo]

Scared of himself, of the monster others perceive him as, Wolf fled into the TV, hoping to find refuge in the digital space, only to find himself trapped in a nightmare...

 

Blinded by his own hate, his own insecurities, Falcon witnessed himself on the TV.
Driven by the fear of what it meant, he went inside to stop it, only to find himself trapped in a nightmare...

 

---

Welcome to the TV Dungeon hub for Gorobo and Digigoro's TV Dungeons! Here, you can find all relevant information, as well as the toplevels for each 'checkpoint' of the plot. In case you are unable to tag for any reason at all, or threads go past the deadline, please indicate what your character(s) did in the summary check-in below!

SCHEDULE:

15/3/25: Signups open. 

 

21/3/25(Today!): Hub goes up. 

 

22/3/25: Toplevel of Gorobo and Digigoro's appearance on the Midnigh Channel. General catch-all for players to have their character react to the disappearances, and their appearances on the Midnight Channel, as well as to ICly create a team/plan/etc

 

29/3/25: Toplevels for the dungeons. Characters will discover one dungeon that, when entered, splits into two distinct dungeons. ICly, they will not know what path leads to who, but we will provide info OOCly for players to make a decision.

 

5/4/25: Toplevels for the confontation with the Shadows.

 

12/4/25: Resolution toplevels. Characters can speak to Gorobo or Digigoro after the fact, or with one another to discuss what happened.

DUNGEONS:

It appears as one dungeon. On the outside, it is a jungle-covered Tokyo. The main building is a laboratory, which has a staircase going up, and one going down. For Digigoro, take the stairs down. For Gorobo, take the stairs up.

Gorobo dungeon info
Digigoro dungeon info

ANY QUESTIONS?

Please feel more than free to ask them! I'll do my best to answer them.

Comments

SUMMARY CHECK-IN

[gorobo]

Thread went past a deadline, or want your character involved without being able to tag? No problem! Please reply to the relevant post below to summarize what your character(s) did!

I will, when everyone's checked in, also try to post a summary of everyone's summaries, so that if you're checking in you can keep track of the general state of the plot.

SUMMARY CHECK-IN

[gorobo]

22/3/25: Falcon and Wolf appear on the Midnight Channel.

Example post

[gorobo]

Falcon was too busy getting beaten up by his own shadows to notice the broadcast, and he couldn't have even if he wanted to, considering he's inside the TV

SUMMARY CHECK-IN

[gorobo]

29/03/25: Dungeon exploration.

(For more info about what the dungeons are like/what happens in them, refer to the information docs above!)

[vampirethief]

Kaitou aka Vampire Ren went through Wolf's dungeon and during the trip, learning about Wolf's feelings about feeling like a monster hit Kaitou rather close to home. He still focused though.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that he ate a few shadows in the dungeon too.

[aknightnotaprincess]

Shiho aka Knight also found in Falcon's dungeon. She's pretty angry on Falcon's behalf despite not really knowing him well. She brought that sword she got last year that can cause status effects, which helped with fighting.

Granted the status effects thing is useless against bosses, but hey. It speeds things up.

SUMMARY CHECK-IN

[gorobo]

6th of May: Encounter/boss fight with the Shadows

[gorobo]

While the weather in the Velvet Room is usually rather fair, only changing with the collective cognition of its inhabitants, it appears that today, that is not so. It has been cold and rainy all day long. Indeed, every door has the same dreary weather; there is no escaping it. The dead-eyed cognitions that usually roam about complain about the rain, holding umbrellas and wearing raincoats, though they mill about just the same as always. It is just rain, but something about it feels off.

Indeed, should the inhabitants of the Velvet Room happen to be up at midnight, and near a turned off television, the sudden sound of static will echo through the room. They may witness one, or perhaps two scenes…

---

Akechi Goro's laboratory of Artificial Bonds
“Hi, hi! Hello? Are we live?” a voice asks, a distinctly human Goro Akechi appearing on screen. He doesn’t look particularly well- thin, near emaciated, his skin pale and his glowing yellow eyes sunken. There’s something off about the way he moves- and indeed, as he fills the screen more, he appears to be caught in a large chain of sorts, on that keeps his arms forcibly pressed to his sides, leaving limited movement. His clothing is fancy- speaking of wealth, similar to the princely outfit some Akechis wear in the Metaverse, but it is worn. Ragged.

Still, despite all this, there is a large, near manic smile on his face, eagerly looking into the camera.

“Finally! Oh, finally! I’m so glad you’re watching!” he titters, tilting his head sideway in what looks like an attempt to be cute. “Welcome to ‘Akechi Goro’s laboratory of Artificial Bonds!’"

A splash of letters briefly fills the screen, displaying the title the Shadow mentioned. It lasts for a second, before the camera returns to its grinning face.

"I’ve been so, so very lonely for so long, but you’ll be my friends, won't you? You won’t say no, will you? I-”

The Shadow is cut off, the chain yanking, and the camera moves alongside it. The chain mounts into cables… which attach itself to the bottom of a robot in lieu of legs. The robot, unlike Falcon, or any of the other anti shadow weapons, has no mesh to give the impression of fake skin. Only the cold, naked machinery that is hidden below it. Its eyes are dark and expressionless, only a glowing yellow dot indicating it is watching at all.

“That is enough,” it says, voice deadpan, emotionless. “We have no need for frivolous ‘friendships’, for we are not like them.”

“But-” the human Shadow wails, but the robot cuts it off again.

“Pointless. They are human. We are a machine. We have nothing in common.”

Its head turns to the camera, its expression not changing even once. Even so, the glowing yellow dots are intense, almost threatening.

“They do not deserve peace. You do not deserve peace. You are the enemy. You-”

The robot’s voice glitches as the human Akechi angrily tugs at the chain from his side, causing the cables to spark, briefly. The camera focuses back on him, and he shoots it an award-winning smile.

“Anyway! Please tune in next time, friends! I promise that this-” he gestures at the stabilizing robot, “-thing won’t stop us from connecting! You promise too, right?”

“Love you lots, and until next time~”

With that, the TV turns itself off again.

---

Goro "Wolf" Akechi in: The Lab
The camera is shaky, and low-quality, held at an angle which suggests, perhaps, a handheld camcorder. The light illuminates a child's face- Goro Akechi, eleven years old, eyes luminous and amber-gold, expression one of hollow exhaustion, laced with… nervous anxiety.

"It's working. It's- it's working." He draws a shaky breath- and moves the camera in close. "My name. Is Goro Akechi. I-I don't know how long I've got, I-"

In the distance, echoing but muffled, a door opens, and the boy drops his voice to a whisper. "I'm scared. I can't deal with this anymore, I- I need help. I don't care who's listening, just somebody- anybody-"

He freezes, turning to look away from the camera. Footsteps can be heard approaching, in the dark, and the boy moves to cover the light- and holds his breath.

Out of frame, as the camera adjusts to the gloom, a sliver of light near the edge of the frame is suddenly interrupted by shadow, and the footsteps stop.

In that darkness, a silent eternity passes. Ten seconds, fifteen, twenty- and then the footsteps return, receding away from the camera as the shadow across the gap disappears.

Goro drops the camera to the floor, his breath shaking, coming in gasps that suggest veering to the very edge of panic. "Help me. I don't wanna be here, I can't stay here, they'll kill me or they'll take everything away and I can't- no-"

The sliver of light vanishes entirely, as though someone outside has cut the lights.

In the distance, something that could be a wolf- too deep and too loud by far- howls.

The boy's breath quickens as thunderous footfalls approach at speed. Something massive impacts the door, throwing it open-

A pair of eyes in the dark, red and luminous, too high up to be human. A flash of fangs in motion-

And the camera feed cuts to black.

In the silence that follows, the kanji that appear onscreen read, simply:

GORO "WOLF" AKECHI
IN
THE LAB

[vampirethief]

Ren was up doing some cleaning when the Midnight Channel dropped. It was quite bizarre, as if it was some low-budget tv show. But what's more disturbing is that, going by what little he knows about the TV World, it means that not one, but two Akechis are in danger.

He doesn't know either of them well, and he's pretty sure the first one is that robot Akechi he's heard about.

"Looks like trouble has come up again a lot sooner than expected."

At least it's not some evil kid this time. He's definitely gonna help where he can.

[aknightnotaprincess]

Shiho had been starting to get ready for bed when she caught the Midnight Channel. She has heard about it, but it's the first time seeing it. Aside from the fact that it looks like some low-budget TV show, it's disturbing.

"What the...?"

Once both shows are over, she's stunned. It's pretty clear that not one, but two Akechis are in danger.

"This is bad." But a part of her is also excited 'cause she's been dying for some real action after being here for so long.

She couldn't help with Evil Ken because she knew she wasn't strong enough to help. But this time, there's no way she was gonna skip this. She might seriously lose it if she isn't allowed to help.

Well now she's fully awake. So much for sleep.

[odysseyandroid]

Lyssi has been wandering for a long time now, and is currently in Tokyo. He's been searching far and wide throughout the Velvet Room, trying to find Falcon in a haste.

He disappeared from the house, suddenly. Not a word. He's been acting different, but for him to leave suddenly like this... It's clear that something is wrong.

Not only that, but... when he sends pings out to try to determine Falcon's location, there's nothing. No response. It's as if he's never even been in the Velvet Room... and that is illogical.

"Falcon-senpai. Falcon-senpai! Please respond. Please respond!"

Lyssi's internal clock blinks from 11:59 PM to 12 AM just as he passes an electronics store... but he stops as he registers the sound of the broadcast begin behind him.

"...?"

He can't help but quietly approach the screen, watching and listening carefully, recording every second with those eyes of his. Taking it in, but not quite understanding what it means.

But he knows one thing for certain. The unusual timing, the context of certain things in the strange broadcast... It has to be related to...

"...Falcon-senpai...?"

...He needs to find Falcon. Immediately.

network

[very_elaborate]

Goddammit, where's Rise when you need her.

Dunno if that broadcast worked outside of Inaba or not, but if it didn't, we got two people stuck in the TV world right now. (Or maybe three? But it looked like two of 'em were basically the same entity.) [In a way, Kanji's glad it finally just happened, instead of being a lingering warning indefinitely.]

We could use someone with navi skills to figure out where their dungeons spawned, and at least two groups of people (with navi if we can) for the rescue mission. Usually it's just random Shadows and a miniboss or two along the way, but who knows if these things will want to do some kind of 'look at my tragic backstory' thing.

Once you get to the person you're gonna have to deal with their Shadow. It's gonna spill a bunch of nasty shit and buried insecurities and basically be awful for everybody involved. The person you're trying to rescue will, most likely, want to reject it. (Especially that first one-or-two, feels too much like Naoto for me to think they're getting out of that cleanly.)

The Shadow will go into full monster mode, and you will have to fight it, and it will probably suck. Then you gotta hope the person's calmed down enough to accept it and get their Persona (back?). Place won't fall down around your ears once you're done, at least.

Most important: We're on a deadline. Not that this place tends to have much weather, but it will now, because that's how the Midnight Channel works. Keep an eye on the forecast. When we hit three or so days of rain in a row, we're almost out of time. That means a foggy night's coming, and after that... well, I guess here they'd respawn in the Velvet Room, but still. Let's not test that too hard.

[pancakeboy]

[Ugh. Magpie was ready for one dungeon, but not two. And not like that.]

I'm in for either. Falcon for preference, since I owe him, but let's see how the numbers fall out.

[mirrorgirl]

You know, deciding to check this midnight Chanel thing might have been a mistake, really when it was raining she didn’t expect to see anything but.
Sure enough there was something on the tv.
Two something’s even.
That… probably isn’t normal.
She should tell akechi-
Well…
Actually…
She should see who’s making a plan. And also tell Akechi-kun.
She doesn’t want to sit back and watch this time.

[rookandhound]

More than a day after the broadcast, a small, bedraggled figure staggered free of the house that Wolf had occupied- and made its way towards the Dojima house.

Rookmon... had not slept. That much was obvious. In fact, he looked more than exhausted; his left wing was being held at an odd angle that suggested an injury, his feathers badly ruffled and even singed in some places-

But with effort, he made his way halfway across town to his destination- and so it was that just before sundown on the day after the Midnight Channel had flared to life- the quiet air of Inaba's residential district was split by the sound of a fist pounding on the Dojimas' door, a hoarse voice crying out-

"Raven! Ken! Sovereigns- someone, answer the damned door, please-"

[herewardbound]

God dammit. I'm in for team Falcon. How many of us does that make, and how many are on team Wolf?

Can we locate the palaces to get an estimation on Shadow threat? Not to put too fine a point on it, but if Wolf wasn't able to contribute to the Doomada affair, we might need our heavy hitters for Falcon right now.

Still... someone should check on the kid. These commercials or whatever they are are spawned from our Shadows' mindsets, right?

... It's cut like a trailer for a damn horror film. That doesn't bode well.

Has anyone seen his... bird friend?

1/2

[very_elaborate]

He has a bird friend???

[very_elaborate]

[...anyway.]

Got you, Crow, Rose, and Falcon's roommate locked in for Falcon. Me, Raven, and someone else I haven't met locked in for the other one. A few other people who've said they'll help but not committed to one or the other yet.

[lilcomputer]

You know you aren't going with out me!

[gorobo]

With the help of the team’s navigators, and enough information about Falcon and Wolf both, the team arrives outside what appears to be… Tokyo? Indeed, it appears to be a version of Tokyo, though it has been covered in plants. Vines crawl up the sides of walls and lamps, trees sprout in the middle of the streets, and bushes bar entry to most buildings. It is eerily quiet- far too quiet for both a jungle and a city. Here and there, the shape of a Shadow can be glimpsed, but they disappear before anyone can get a good look. The atmosphere is foreboding, the foliage getting denser the deeper the party travels.

The large group certainly doesn’t make traversal easy, but at least it seems to keep the Shadows from attacking for now. Their noises occasionally interrupt the quiet, but just the same, the party cannot quite catch them as they use the mix of urban jungle and real jungle to keep themselves hidden.

Finally, after what feels like far too long, the party arrives at a peculiar building; one that clearly stands out from the rest, its doors busted wide open unlike the rest of the city. Upon closer inspection, it is a laboratory… this must be where at least one, if not all of the Shadows that appeared on the TV reside.

The laboratory, unlike the rest of the buildings, is in pristine condition, its perfectly white walls harsh and blinding under the fluorescent lights flickering above. It lacks any details that would tie it to either Wolf or Falcon… however, the party quickly notices something; the entry hallway lead into a staircase, and it appears that there are two paths to take…

Upstairs or downstairs? Which will you choose?

UPSTAIRS

[gorobo]

Upstairs: Akechi Goro's laboratory of Artificial Bonds
[OST: Egg of the Universe - DDS2]
Following the stairs up, the party quickly arrives in an open room. It looks bare for the most part… except for the pile of robotic limbs that lays in the corner. It is hard to determine what, or rather, who they belong to, generic and stripped of their identifying features. Should they proceed further down the nearby hallway, they’ll come to find that many corners of the maze have some sort of dismantled piece of technology, and not just any; anyone who’s seen Falcon’s dead body in the Velvet Room can deduce that these are the scrap parts of Shadow Weapons. Circuitry, cables, laid-bare parts of metal and machinery… all thrown haphazardly along the way, a trail of robotic gore.

Before they can proceed, however, an echo of voices rings out through the maze:

”P-Please…” Akechi’s- no, Falcon’s voice stammers, glitchy and more flat than anyone here has likely heard him (outside of, perhaps, that time they removed Shido’s bug from him). Despite the flatness, there’s a spark of desperation in it, fear. It’s quickly followed by the loud sound of a buzzer, like someone or something interrupting an exam, and new voices are heard.

“Akitomo-san!” a man yells, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?! What is the meaning of this?!”

“I’m sorry-” a woman cries out, “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have let them- you shouldn’t have had to-”

“Akitomo-san! Snap out of it! Akitomo-san!”

“I knew we shouldn’t have let you design your own model,” a new voice growls, “you’ve always been too sentimental.”

“But they’re sentient! We can’t-”

“They’re machines, Yumemi! Get it through your skull- they don’t have emotions, they don’t feel, it’s just a simulation!”

“You’re wrong! I’ve seen it, I’ve documented-”

“That’s enough. 024, take her away. We’ll take care of her scrap heap here.”

“No! Leave him alone! 018, you have to- no- NO-!”

“Let’s see… it should still be good for parts…”

The voices fade out, and the party is now free to explore the maze.

What will they do?

DOWNSTAIRS

[rookandhound]

Downstairs: Akechi Goro in: 'The Lab'
The stairs down, at first, are blocked by a heavily reinforced steel door, wide enough for two trucks to drive through side by side, the metal standing pristine and impenetrable.

Upon being approached by anyone close to Wolf, however, there's a flicker, a strange distortion that pixelates the scenery for the briefest moment- and the door shakes, as something impacts it from the opposite side. Muffled, hidden behind inches of solid steel, something massive bellows with rage and pain, the sound halfway between a scream and a howl. The metal begins to glow, red-hot, a set of three claws piercing it-

And then the distortion vanishes. The entryway is now badly burned- as though a terrible fire had rampaged through it, a notice on the reinforced front door indicating the building has been condemned. Something, a long time ago, melted through several inches of solid steel, marks left behind by claws and fangs of impossible size, clawing and biting at the molten metal, ripping, tearing, wrenching until a hole had been made- just large enough that a human could fit through, with care. Any sign of what made the hole is, now, long gone- and any Navigators can detect no threats.

OST: Gloomy Underpass [Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth]

Down the lone staircase lies the mazelike structure of the Lab itself. The air *stinks* of old smoke and decay, the complex having been ravaged some time in the distant past by fire, and since left to rot. Occasional cracks in the ceiling- or else sections that have collapsed entirely- reveal distant, blue skies.

There's another flicker, as the party steps forward, and a man's voice crackles through the air, as though playing a corrupted audio file.

"30th April, 2007. Time… -̶̜̋͂ȩ̸͔͗̍v̶̧͛̏ë̴̹́n̸͔̒-̵̡̎͝f̷̛͔̹s̴̛̾ͅz̵͚͊̍ͅz̵͔̹͂̒t̵͍͇̊̊ three arrived this morning. Twelve in all, in terrible condition, as usual, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers. Before we begin, I've instructed medical to give them a full evaluation and correct any deficiencies as best they can. I'm not going to lose another promising subject becs̸̲̽h̵̞̲̍̈́ḣ̶͕͘ḧ̷̰́͐h̵̰͎͒h̶̫̪́̑ĥ̸̟͓̊7. Time… fourteen-forty-seven. Had to reject two, seven, and nine, but all else seems to be in order. Proceeding with initial testing, based on the refined procedure from generation two. Kurata reckons that the age range of the last batch was the reason it was so inconsistent, and all of gen three is pre-pubescent, but should still be cognitively s̸̲̽h̵̞̲̍̈́ḣ̶͕͘ḧ̷̰́͐h̵̰͎͒h̶̫̪́̑ĥ̸̟͓̊ we'll see.

The voice fades… and leaves only silence, punctuated by the distant drip of water on stone, and the shuffling movements of errant Shadows.

Where to?

[gorobo]

It has been an emotionally and physically draining journey, but your party has made it to the end of their respective dungeon. You arrive at a set of doors, and behind it, a strong energy signature can be picked up by the navigators. This is truly the end of the dungeon, and all you can do is push on. Once inside, there is no turning back. Either you save Falcon and Wolf, or…?

Will you enter the door?

[OOC: Please remember to send in a summary of your character’s reaction to the dungeon and/or how they performed during it here!]

Good News: Found Wolf. Bad News...

[rookandhound]

For a summation of what could be found leading up to this encounter, please check the dungeon document (now updated), which can be found here. This encounter picks up after the heading 'Cognitive Shido'.

The cognition of Shido, dead on the floor, its expression still holding that same smirk, began to dissolve, leaving only black ichor pooling on the floor, and even that was swiftly evaporating. Wolf, bruised and battered but, crucially, alive, glared at it… and seemed, for a moment, as though about to collapse. He hadn't slept. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten.

"You came for me." His voice was hoarse, half-croaking- and Rookmon crossed the distance between them in a second.

"Of course they did, this is what I keep trying to tell you, you aren't alone-"

"Whatever. I wasn't talking about them, I thought- let's just get out of here. Fucking sick of this place."

The lights flickered, and the windows- once overlooking the city of Tokyo- now overlook a room. It's quite a large one, half the size of a gymnasium, with a number of heavy-looking steel doors, all with no visible means of access from the inside, and all shut and, presumably, locked. The room carried signs of struggle, of deep gouges in the reinforced concrete and the scattered remains of testing equipment strewn about. At one end, in a corner, was a bed, of the sort one usually saw in hospitals. A small sink and toilet. A curtain for privacy.

And at the center of the great room, stood a boy who could only be Wolf, eyes amber-gold and luminous in the gloom. And, of course, the beast behind him.



Loogarmon glared up at the windows with murder in its eyes, a deep bass growl resounding from its chest. A warning, dredged from the depths of history, that bypassed the thinking brain and reached into the genetic memory, into the nightmares of what Australopithecus had hoped never to hear when stepping into a cave. Take another step, it warned, and it shall be your last.

The Shadow itself, finally, spoke, its voice clear now, through cameras and intercoms. "Don't go. Please- don't… don't leave me here."

One by one, each with a sound of gears turning, the doors to the enclosure swung open.

Wolf snarled. "Why shouldn't I? I know how this goes, I've read enough secondhand bullshit to have a guess at what's going to happen. You're going to put all my dirty laundry out for everyone to see, let everyone have a real in-depth up close and personal look at Ubukata's little freak show, and for what? A Persona? Didn't ask, don't need it, go fuck yourself. I know what you are, and I don't need you."

The labyrinth shook, for a moment, and distant alarms began to echo down through the hallways.

"You can't leave without me, then. I'll- I'll stop you. And you can't do anything about it, because if you hurt me, then- then you'll just be hurting yourself!"

Wolf seethed quietly, for a second… but with teeth grit he growled out. "Fine. Let's get this fucking circus on the road."

Falcon: at the top of the lab...

[gorobo]

The scene the team arrives at is a bit of a harrowing one.

The room is large, and filled with pods and technical equipment. Limbs, torsos, all parts of what clearly used to be Falcon litter the floor- though clearly too many to belong to one, singular body. The pods are filled with mostly-finished versions of Falcon, all powered down, since they each have something missing. The eyes. The arms. The hair. Some of them look off in ways that are hard to describe. At the far end of the room is a large window overlooking the horizon of the false Tokyo, though closer inspection reveals that it is, in fact, a scrapyard. Inside, there are two immediately obvious occupants.

The robot that appeared on the Midnight Channel earlier immediately turns to look at you, it’s body swaying precariously on the large, metal arm it’s attached to. Its eyes are piercing, judgemental. Where its legs should be, wires hang loose, tangling together into a chain; one that is attached to the second obvious inhabitant. The human Akechi, still bound by the chain and in his tattered princely clothes, so similar to those of Hiro’s, doesn’t seem to have noticed anyone coming in yet, too busy chattering away.

“-Ahh, you wish Amamiya would come save you, right? I know that’s what you want, because I’m you, and I want Amamiya to save me. I really miss him a lot, I wonder why he isn’t here with us-”

It is then, when looking a little closer, that one of the Falcons in the pods isn’t powered down- in fact, it’s not just ‘a’ Falcon. It is Falcon, trapped inside with cables winding around his limbs, plugged into his ports. He looks like he can’t decide if he’s furious or scared. Perhaps, as he raises his head, noticing everyone standing there, it’s both.

“What- why are you here?” he hisses, which, in turn, causes the human Falcon to turn towards the group in delighted surprise.

“Oh! Everyone came!”

“Not everyone. Look,” the robot drones, lifting an arm. “Merely a handful of people came to see us.” It tilts its head upwards, and though its expression doesn’t change, it’s as if it’s judging the group. “How predictable for a bunch of humans.”

Something about the way it says the word ‘humans’ speaks of resentment, though the human Falcon is quick to protest.

“No! No, look, they love us! Well, they love me.” The smile on his face is wide, yet it has a certain melancholy to it… or is it mocking? “Nobody could ever love something like you.”

“I don’t need to be loved. Your incessant need for it is a hindrance. If I were able to simply cut you loose-”

“I could say the same, you piece of scrap metal!”

“Useless bag of meat-”

While the Shadows argue, Falcon stays frozen, eyes wide. Everything about him says that he doesn’t want to be here… and that he doesn’t want the team to be here. The hostility hanging in the room is suffocating.

Now what?