October 2018 Test Drive Meme

[sodder]

OCTOBER 2018 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to October’s Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: HALLOWEEN HORROR.

All Test Drive Memes contain at least one clue to the Deerington's upcoming in-game events for the month! Keep your eyes peeled! But...not literally.

Characters may die during TDMs, but you do not need to count it towards a game-canonical death unless you want to. Consider it a freebie. All TDMs can be considered game canon as TDMs introduce minor aspects about the world of Deerington that can be revisited by characters later on in the game. You may also use TDMs for your application writing sample as well as AC.

CW: Wet and rotting corpses/zombies, ghosts, violence, blood, knives, possessed dolls, options for underage drinking

Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

IT’S JUST A BUNCH OF HOCUS POCUS

It’s not Halloween if you don’t make a trip to a cheesy haunted house. At least, that’s what everyone in Deerington likes to say. The old Victorian stands at the top of a hill, rickety and in desperate need of a new paint job. The yard and porch have been decorated with what you’d expect for your typical haunted house; fake spider webs spread across the overhang, painted foam grave markers with cheesy names like “Here lies Richard Cranium” and “BEWARE!!” in creepy letter etchings. You can see the blinking of variously timed strobe lights in some windows and the shadow of what you’re pretty sure is a full-sized doll standing in the window, meant to look like someone staring out at you. The rocking chair on the porch near the door has a skeleton with a bowl of candy in his lap, and a sign is propped up against the wall next to him.

“ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. TOUCH NOTHING AND NOTHING WILL TOUCH YOU!”

Well that sounds promising.

The first few rooms you enter are appropriately cheesy. There’s the silly burst of air that you hear just before a plastic figuring pops out of a poorly constructed coffin, the clicking sound of the machinery inside echoing in the room when it starts to pull back and the lid closes once again. There’s fog machines trying to give the appropriately spooky air, stuffed sheets shaped to look like dead bodies wrapped up laying in piles on the floor with fake blood staining the white fabric, black lighting to show off words scribbled on doors like “TURN BACK NOW” and “SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES.” Nothing you haven’t seen before. It might be even worse than things you’ve seen before, over the top cheesy, boring enough to give a yawn. Each door seems to open on its own so you don’t even have to touch the handles.

As you make your way through the next automatic door, the room you walk into is different than those before it. It’s a regular children’s room. A bed against the wall near the window, a dresser in the corner, a small desk with a chair. Nothing out of the ordinary, save for the lights not being on, and the strange flickering light in the closet. You step towards it, figuring you’re in for another jump scare, but the door doesn’t open. Whether you’re naturally the curious sort or not, something in the back of your mind makes you want to open the door and see what’s on the inside.

If you fight it and walk towards the next automatic door, you’ll find you’ve walked out to the backyard of the house, those same foam decorations and a dozen or more jack o’ lanterns lighting your way on a path back to the town.

If you choose to pull the door open, however, it’ll take you into yet another room, with a flickering television playing nothing but static. Once you step past the doors of the closet, they slam shut behind you and whoever else dared to enter. The doors won’t lock no matter what you do, no matter how strong the person shaking the handles or pushing against the wood may be. You realize you broke the one rule; you’ve touched something. But can things now really touch you?

The only light source in the whole room is that television and it’s not lighting up much inside the room around it. If you squint when the TV is at its brightest setting, you can just make out another door. Your exit, you hope. But as you make your way towards the door, the flickering suddenly stops, the TV steadily bright, a low humming noise coming from the screen, and suddenly the door seems several more feet away from you than it was a second ago. Before you can reach the door, there’s the sound of trickling water from behind you. If you choose to look back, you’ll see something coming out from the screen - a girl with soaked clothing and pale, rotted skin. She emerges fully from the glass and starts to move towards you. You know it’s best to start running for that door. If you stay and try to fight, you’ll find that no regular weapons work on her, though special weapons and powers that are effective against spirits will definitely do the trick. For those who don’t have any of these at their disposal, however, there is one more hope besides just trying to run; two old school VHS tape sit on the table near by, a fancy machine between them that is meant to copy one to the other. Work as a team and have one distract her while the other records, and you’ll find that she disappears as quickly as she flickered on the screen and the TV will return to static.

Regardless of what you choose before carrying on, the next room you come to as the door slams and locks behind you is entirely different. Brightly lit and filled with what seems like hundreds of porcelain dolls, it’s almost hard to tell where there could possibly be another exit hidden among the massive shelves. You can start to wind your way through them, but before long, you start to hear the sound of running feet, the jingling of bells, the swish of satin, and most eerily the sounds of children giggling - but there’s nothing that sounds save about them. Some of the dolls you saw on the last shelf seem like they’ve moved and are sitting in the corner or laying in a new position on a new shelf. Sometimes you swear you can see their heads turn to watch you pass, but it has to be a trick of the light, doesn’t it?

That is until one of those dolls runs by you, brandishing something shiny in their hands - something sharp. A knife, you realize too late, as it tries to slice at your legs and knock you down. You can kick them away and they’ll go flying, and when the porcelain smashes, the doll will scream in agony. You notice there’s blood pouring from the hole that formed, spreading quickly across the ground. The dolls are easy to kill, but are they really just dolls? You can take your time to contemplate that later, as now you have to fight your way through the violent and armed toys to reach the door at the end of the maze of shelves. Hopefully you can get out without too many severe injuries.

When (or if) you do manage to get to the next room, you seem to have a chance to take a breath and tend to any wounds. It’s decorated like the room of a small cottage, a large pot over the fireplace that isn’t lit, and several jars full of (possibly rotting) food and herbs on the shelves. You see a book on the stand in the center, latched shut and covered in dust. You can open it, if you want, but remember the warning you ignored that got you in trouble in the first place. It’s probably better to carry on to the next room.

If you do choose to open the book, though, there will be eerily glowing text lining the pages, the light will seem to poor out and fill the room, and you’ll be transported back out in front of the house.

Those who continued through the door will find themselves out in the backyard. Just like for those who got out sooner, there are dozens of jack o lanterns, but the graves don’t look like they’re made of foam this time. They’re real stone, engraved with real names and real dates this time. And the ground underneath them seems to be moving, like someone’s trying to crawl out of there. Better not to wait around. Soon as you start to move down the path, you’ll start to hear the sounds of groans as the undead start to crawl from their own graves, pulling themselves up through the dirt, and determined to get to the only food source they see - you. The zombies seem like they’re never ending, coming from every inch of the yard, but at least they’re just like normal zombies - completely incapable of being killed unless you cut off the head. There are shovels lying next to a few graves if you need a quick weapon, but there’s also still always the option to run as fast as you can up the stone path to the front of the house and back towards the street.

When you do finally manage to get back to the front, there’s a momentary blinding flash of light, disorienting anyone near it for a few seconds. When it finally fades, any leftover zombies chasing you have disappeared and the house looks like the same, cheesy haunted house you walked up to in the first place. If for some reason you decide to go and explore the backyard again, the grass will be back to normal, and the graves will all be replaced by cheaply painted foam once more.

Was that all in your head? Who knows. But maybe it’s best to just get out of here.

WE DID THE MASH

Somehow the street lamps have all been converted to oil based flames, the Authority are in witch hats, and every where you go there is music that seems to be playing from faintly glowing bats hanging upside down from telephone wires. The bats will open their mouths in succession, seeming somehow capable of producing the sounds of instruments and singers alike of popular Halloween songs.

Yards are decorated as thoroughly as the front of stores. Maybe you haven't bothered to decorate, but your neighbor sure has! Fake gravestones are propped up in yards, giant fake spiders in trees, and no matter where you walk, the ground seems covered in thick, rolling fog from machines. Or at least you hope it's coming from machines. Hell, you can't even find it in yourself to be too worried! Everyone around you is having way too good of a time! And God, there is food everywhere! Might as well grab a bite while you're out, huh?

It's tempting to break loose and dance. Jack-O-Lanterns absolutely crowd the streets. There's more than you can even begin to count, and all of them are lit all throughout the night. Even if you accidentally trip over some, they don't seem to catch fire to anything or go out! Some neighbors have camp fires set up with marshmallows to roast, while others have...are those broomsticks? Well that's kinda cool, you guess. Correction: it's really cool since you can actually pick one up and take it for a fly! Make sure to attach a little lamp to the front though because God knows it's dangerous flying at night. The brooms only work if you wear the appropriately provided hats, of course, but you can keep both the broom and hat indefinitely and have a readily available means of flight in Deerington after! Be forewarned though: the brooms are as easily broken as regular brooms and the hats easily blown away in the wind.

TRICK OR TREATS

At any of the events, especially the nighttime partying, you can find any number of the following treats (and their potential side effects):

Donuts (Will make you deliriously happy. Everything is amazing to you. May cause a lot of affection. A lot of affection.)
Candy Apples (You will eagerly tell someone everything you like about them. Talk about a sweet tooth.)
Candy Corn (Will make you extremely sad. Like god, you'll be wondering why you hate yourself so much.)
Pumpkin Spice Lattes (Causes suspicious amounts of obedience and a desire to do what you're told.)
Hot Chocolate (Can provide some minor healing. Best stuff to drink with a common cold!)
Hot or Cold Apple Cider (Nothing will happen. It's just really good.)
Alcoholic Cider (This isn't your grandma's apple cider. This stuff will knock you on your ass. Anyone who drinks this will get wasted regardless of whether or not they are immune to alcohol or even ingest regular food. It only takes one or two before you start to get tipsy, but any more than that and you'll be well on your way to drunk. Please drink responsibly. We don't need any FUIs.)

Character Arrival

You can read how all characters arrive in Deerington here.

There is not a collective "all these characters showed up at the exact same moment" occurrence in Deerington. Since characters fall asleep, die, or pass out at various times throughout all their worlds, it wouldn't make too much sense if they arrived in game all at the exact same time. There should be some discrepancy between character arrival, whether by a couple minutes, hours, or even days up to a week.

The players are entirely in control of how/when they want to play their characters arriving in Deerington. For TDMs, you can play it like your character has just arrived and that can be maintained as your game canon, or you can wait until game events for that moment. Or you don't need to acknowledge it at all. The flexibility for character allows a bit more of an organic feel to the character arrival situation, so please play it to whatever feels right for you.

If you are interested in having an "arrival" introduction for one of your TDM prompts, you are more than welcome to explore that option.

Comments

Eddie Brock/Venom | Venom | cw: body horror (because Venom), violence, dismemberment, cannibalism?

[familiarnightmares]

Hocus Pocus
[ Eddie generally isn't the biggest fan of haunted houses. It's not that he's scared of them, exactly; most of them are transparently fake, and jump scares are really only scary the first couple times. Not to mention Venom's a hell of a lot scarier than anything your standard haunted house can muster. But they probe at the darker stuff, the stuff you're scared of as a kid and never fully get over. The monsters hiding in the dark, and the darkness is always scarier than what you can see.

He's quick to keep his hands to himself, even as Venom teases him for it.

WE'RE STRONGER THAN ANYTHING THEY CAN CONJURE UP HERE. DON'T BE A PUSSY. ]

Shut up. We don't know how we got here, what makes you think there's not something weird about this.

OF COURSE THERE'S SOMETHING WEIRD ABOUT THIS.

[ The room with the television only cements the fact, but at least they get through it; Eddie's pretty sure he's seen the movie before anyway.

The room full of dolls is worse, not because it's any more difficult to get through, because it isn't, but because an entire room full of murder-dolls is creepy as hell. Venom helps, mostly through lashing tendrils and advance warning; they're only dolls, they don't need a monster to be taken out, only awareness and a clear head.

The next room is clear, at least, allows some breathing room between the previous and the next, but when they make their way out into the yard, it's another story completely.

Zombies. Seriously?

Venom only chuckles when he sees them, clearly not threatened in the least by the formerly-dead.

BAD PEOPLE? he asks hopefully. ]

Yeah, I'd think they count.

[ The symbiote flows out, spreading across every expanse of skin and clothing, seeming to swallow Eddie whole, ending with teeth and eerie white eyes unfolding over his head. Venom stretches, already impossibly wide mouth stretching into a grin with far too many razor sharp teeth before charging at the shuffling bodies, rending them in pieces and moving to chow down on whichever is too slow to get away first. ]


Monster Mash
[ A party's never a bad thing, exactly. Eddie used to enjoy them plenty before his life got weirder than he could have ever imagined. He's become a little more skeptical of them these days, but he and Venom are getting along better now. He's pretty sure they'll be alright.

So they mingle. Wander around the place, admire the pumpkins and lights and everything else. Venom is hungry, like always, so they spend a lot of time at the snack table. Down hot chocolate whenever they make it back, walk away with a plate full of donuts one trip, a couple candy apples the next. Try a pumpkin spice latte one trip, but neither one of them are overly impressed, not that it stops them from finishing it. ]

Neat party, huh?


Welcome to the Nightmare
[ Eddie wasn't all that sure what happened. One minute they're in a knock-down drag-out fight with Riot, the next they're in the middle of the damn woods being dragged and unable to get loose no matter how hard either of them struggles. They curse and spit and fight their hardest, but none of it matters, and then there's a damn deer practically attacking them--

And then they wake up. In a normal bed, in a normal room, but it's not their shitty apartment. And there's music. ]

What the hell happened?

WE APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED.

Thanks, Einstein, I figured that much out.

YOU ASKED.

Yeah, yeah.

[ He sighs heavily and swings his feet out of bed, then up and out of the room to explore wherever the hell they are now. Maybe get a few answers about why too, while they're at it. ]

Nightmare

[paradoxpoint]

[That's... a familiar face. Though considerably underdressed compared to Eames, looking a bit sweatier and paler, but- yup, he knows that bone structure.

Keeping in mind how he himself has a 'twin' here, though, he's wary on his approach, frowning slightly and coming up to Eddie, calling out:]

Hey! You lost?

[familiarnightmares]

[ His attention's on most of the space as he passes through it, flitting from area to area like he's looking for something. What, he has no idea, but this whole situation is weird as hell and the both of them are on edge because of it.

...well. Eddie's on edge, Venom's overconfident, but that's pretty much situation normal right now.

WE HAVE COMPANY, the symbiote pipes up, a moment or so before he can hear the footsteps himself and the question cements the presence. At least the warning keeps him from jumping too much. Regardless, he turns to fix the guy with a friendly if wary smile, more than an edge of chagrin to it. ]

A little bit, yeah. Where the hell are we?

[paradoxpoint]

[... Oh wow, that accent. Eames might be a great forger but he wouldn't put that on just for the hell of it unless he wanted to be kneed in the balls by Arthur for teasing him about his own American accent.

It's both disappointing and a bit relaxing for this guy not to be Eames. Disappointing, because it's another piece of home he doesn't have.

Relaxing because Eames is an asshole.]

Take it you didn't read the letter, huh?

[Still, a lot of people don't, so Arthur will reserve judgment for now.]

Deerington, Maine. But not in the 'real world'. Think one big, twisted, shared nightmare experience.

[familiarnightmares]

There's a letter?

[ It's out before he can hold it back, so good luck recovering. He should have checked out the room more closely before he left it, some investigative reporter he is. He makes a mental note to go back and look later. ]

Sounds relaxing.

[ Sarcasm: the best coping mechanism. ]

Why's it always Maine? Are we stuck in some shitty Stephen King novel or something?

hocus pocus

[danzan]

...holy fucking shit.

[ It's the only thing Logan says the moment he steps outside.

He's cut up a little in the legs by the dolls (some of them had been able to sew themselves back together and attack him like the mob of gremlins they are), blood seeping into his boots, but it's nothing that'd require any immediately urgent care. He'd noticed the blood all over the doll room when he went through it, though, certain that someone must have just blown past it without effort, and now...

Well. Now he gets it.

He doesn't even move to help, transfixed as he watches this black creature consume the corpses as they rise from the dirt. Honestly, Logan thinks about just walking the rest of the way before he's noticed and leaving the yard entirely.

In a weird kind of way, this is actually pretty fascinating to watch, though. He's just not sure if this guy's part of the town, or a Sleeper like him.

Logan's abruptly cut off from his staring, however, as the black thing twists its massive upper body with a corpse still half-eaten in its mouth. Said corpse makes a nasty cracking sound from the whiplash, its spine breaking and the lower half of its rotted torso flying through the air and nearly smacking Logan in the face. He punches it away like one would spike a volleyball, the torso goes flying in the creature's face, and...

Man, Logan really should've just walked away when he had the chance. ]

[familiarnightmares]

[ Venom had been focused on the undead things. No, they didn't taste all that great, but it was better than the alternative of eating Eddie, so he made do. They'd find something better for him to eat later.

However, there's suddenly a new life form, human-but-not-quite, so it turns to look partway through its meal.

That's absolutely disgusting, Eddie comments as the gesture snaps the thing's spine and part of it goes sailing away, but Venom only laughs at him. ]

A LITTLE LATE TO GET SQUEAMISH NOW.

[ A comment that's stalled a moment later when the damn thing comes flying back to hit Venom in the face. He hisses in annoyance, swallowing the rest of the zombie whole before fixing his attention on the humanoid properly with its wide, toothy grin and taking a step closer. ]

CAN WE...?

[ NO. I don't think he meant to do that, Eddie interrupts quickly before Venom can get any further. Venom growls in disappointment but at least stands down. ]

WHO ARE YOU.

[danzan]

[ The creature steps closer and Logan's hands heat with the want to push his claws out. They do slide a bit, maybe half a centimetre slicing through his skin, but the most painful application of self-control has them returning back up his skin. He bites back the pain that stabs up his arms-- apparently it hurts even if his claws had barely been out, and that's interesting to note-- but his jaw sets, just as his stance sets even while the animal in him tells him to run the fuck away.

It's weird hearing it speak and the decidedly dissonant combination of voices that come with each syllable, but he understands the question enough to answer, ] Logan. [ They don't really have time to pause, though, given the dead continue to sprout up from the ground like disgusting, smelly flesh daisies. ] I'd save the teeth for the fucks behind you.

[ Because now that he's been noticed, Logan decides to do the right thing and run forward to pick a shovel up, swinging it with two hands to lodge the sharp end into a zombie's skull and listening to it crack while it groans in pain. A swift twist of his wrist and he scoops two-thirds of its brain out, and it flies with the same velocity as the legs had, smacking wetly into the fence.

He kicks the stumbling corpse behind him, towards the black thing standing there. ] Don't let me get in the way of your dinner.

[ Logan goes for a another swing, and it connects with a hard crack that smashes the zombie's face in, rotted blood and viscera going flying. If the creature decided to talk instead of eat him, then hell, he's going to count that towards the "treat it like a teammate" cause (as opposed to treating it like a nightmare monster). ]

IT'S FINE

[familiarnightmares]

[ Eddie is going to regret every last second of letting Venom out later. The meat's rotten, even Venom can admit that, but it doesn't stop the symbiote. He just keeps going; meat's meat, he'll get something out of it, even if it makes Eddie sick later. He'll fix that. He doesn't really need to be reminded to go after the zombies but the new guy -- Logan -- points them out anyway, a revelation which pulls another chuckle out of Venom. ]

NICE TECHNIQUE.

[ But he doesn't stick around to watch after that, only returns his attention to the undead and ripping them to pieces one by one until there aren't any more left. ]

Hocus Pocus

[therapissed]

[Why does everyone keep going up against the zombies, why do people enjoy hanging out in graveyards?

Bruce is coming in, ready to pull back the stranger and turn to the Hulk when instead... the guy... gets... swallowed up by a black, slimy mass?]

... I thought I'd seen everything.

[Just going to stare because sir what the hell!?]

[familiarnightmares]

[ The comment, and the smell of fresher meat, drags Venom's attention away from the zombies, at least for the moment. It's a predatory kind of turn, like a shark changing course, and the comment gains a wide, toothy grin and a curious head-tilt.

NO. Eddie cautions before Venom can ask. I really doubt he's a bad guy. Be nice. ]

THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING MORE IN THE UNIVERSE. YOUR VIEW IS VERY TINY FROM EARTH.

[therapissed]

Technically I'm not on Earth at the moment outside of Deerington, but... okay, fair.

[He can't argue the view is terrible from Earth. Seriously.

Which brings him to the next question:]

You're not from Earth?

[And then twitching as a zombie lurches towards Venom, glancing at it pointedly.]

... Are you going to get that?

[familiarnightmares]

I'M NOT. EDDIE IS.

[ Which isn't the best of explanations without context, but then they'll worry about that later.

Anyway, the zombie serves as a good distraction. Venom turns towards the sound, eyeing it curiously, but he doesn't give it a chance to strike before lunging for it full-tilt, chomping down head first. ]

Monster

[nothinicantkill]

[Cable hasn't exactly been mingling, but stalking through the party. He's stopping here and there to talk to people, but the conversations are short, and he's not making many friends. At the very least he leaves the impression that he's a soldier, possibly an agent from F.E.A.R., what with the metal arm and the big rifle at his back.]

[He's internally bemoaning the lack of black coffee at the snack table when he hears the voice. Turning, he realizes he's not seen Brock before, and frowns.]

No.

[familiarnightmares]

[ Eddie's seen the type. Big dick macho guys with a chip and a half on each shoulder. They didn't scare him in high school, they scare him even less now with Venom on board. The metal arm's new, but then his world's gotten a hell of a lot weirder over the past six months, so what does he know. Either way, he looks the guy over with a casual eye and takes another sip of his drink. ]

Yeah, you look like you're not much for fun.

[nothinicantkill]

[Cable decides on the hot apple cider. He's not sure if he'll like it or not, but it'll warm his hand up.]

[The other man seems normal enough, though there's something about him that seems... off? I'm reading too much into this, he thinks. It's hard to turn the off the soldier in him. Just like it's hard not to carry his rifle around instead of having it against his back.]

Not really. The kids like it, though.

[Hard to tell if he's talking about children or about people younger than himself.]

Monster Mash!

[oversight]

It grows on you...

[ That's the reluctant admission of a man who has been back to this party a few too many times in his spare evenings.

John Blake is not quite as social as he looks. He's been polished, those facets cut just so for an image he hasn't used in years. Average height, average looks, average disposition — just a regular guy (that just happens to have a doppleganger, too, if you cross paths with Arthur).

Blake knows better by now to just assume the provenance on a familiar face. Truth be told, he'd seen this person's face before. Twice before, in fact, and he could name those people outright, but he doesn't. Better to just wait and see for himself. ]

Did you try the candy corn? Feel like I've never met anyone that likes that stuff.

[familiarnightmares]

[ Eddie's run into Arthur by now, but while the guy nearby addressing him looks like him on the surface, demeanor and the details are just different enough. It's an unsettling effect, but in the grand scheme of things he's run into weirder. ]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they just keep taking the bags nobody eats and resell them every year.

[ The amused smile isn't quite as wide as it could be, but he's working on it. Working on getting back to something like his old self, even if he's fairly sure that's never going to be a thing again, not really. He raises his cup of hot chocolate that miraculously still has something in it. ]

I've been sticking to the hot chocolate and donuts, honestly. Much happier.

[oversight]

Yeah, they're pretty good.

[ Blake scratches at the side of his jaw thoughtfully. He's not sure what to expect, but the guy seems nice enough, so he figures maybe he ought to make sure he knows what he's getting into. ]

Someone warned you this stuff's mildly drugged, right?

[ He reaches out and grabs a donut from a nearby tray and takes a bite as if to prove the food's not dangerous (or he's not entirely stable). They're tasty. They make everything feel amazing. It's nice, but still an altered state of mind, let's be real. He adds, a bit cheekily: ]

Personally, I was only mildly surprised 'bout that at a party like this.

Monster Mash

[speed_of_snark]

Non. It's abysmal.

[A ray of sunshine, this one. He's studying the pumpkins, frowning lightly.]

Not that it's shocking. This town is... [He waves a hand, something gallic in the gesture.] Have you noticed it's all fucked up?

[familiarnightmares]

[ He's on his probably-fifth cup of hot chocolate by now; Venom is practically ecstatic and for once not complaining about how hungry it is and, after a couple-three donuts, has somehow managed to wind itself around somewhere near his heart and out down the outside of his arm like a strange tattoo, which is weirdly reassuring among the ruckus that might otherwise not have been. Therefore, Eddie's in a pretty damn good mood too, which is pretty good considering his current party companion seems bound and determined to do the opposite. ]

Nah, my barometer for 'fucked up' is pretty high these days, so I barely noticed.

[ Which is probably at least partly a lie, but still. Comparatively speaking, this isn't that bad really. ]

[speed_of_snark]

[Really, it's not Eddie's company - Jean-Paul's default is just 'cranky.' He glances over, one eyebrow arching.]

Oh, really? Please, enlighten me as what your barometer is, exactly.

[Because he considers his own quite high, but this town unsettles him deeply.]

hocus pocus

[onlydoubts]

[ Upon seeing the zombies, Bodhi had found himself backing away. He needs to run, despite the fact that his legs were bleeding from the doll encounter.

But Bodhi stops dead in his tracks at the scene of the man and the black tendrils that twist and twine and razor sharp teeth tear at the shambling corpses. Now would be a good time to run, but he's transfixed - doesn't want to draw attention to himself.

From either the corpses or this man.

So he runs, finally. Runs, fast like he's dodging blaster fire over a sandy beach, and doesn't have time to avoid it - his foot catches on a disembodied leg that the black creature had missed. Bodhi hits the ground hard - air knocked out of him.

He half runs-crawls behind one of the tombstones on the edge of the yard and waits. Only looking out when it's gone silent. ]

[familiarnightmares]

[ Venom makes quick work of the undead, tearing through them like wet cardboard. It chomps down on a handful of heads until it eventually decides the rot outweighs whatever nutritional value can be found and instead settles for merely separating them from the bodies until they all stop moving. Only then does it slow, craning around towards where it can smell fresher fare and taking a step or two, tongue lolling out and questing towards the smell, until Eddie tells it to cut it out.

Only bad people. You can't just eat everyone you run into, I don't care how bad those zombies tasted.

Venom grumbles. ]

YOU HAVE A DECIDEDLY NARROW SENSE OF FUN, EDDIE. BUT FINE.

[ And with that, it retreats, black ooze sucking back inward and leaving the man in its place, albeit one that staggers a step or two in its absence. He's not usually this exhausted afterwards, which is...less than ideal. Something to look into, for sure. ]

Hey. They're all gone, it's okay to come out now.

[onlydoubts]

[ Bodhi listens, footfalls start in his direction - then stop. The non human voice speaks, but it's not talking to him. When the voice changes and calls out that it's clear, then does he peer out and clamber up to his feet, eyes flickering nervously around the scene.

The creature that had done this is gone leaving the yard is a mess of body parts, all strewn about. He swallows, takes a deep breath, trying to push back the urge to be sick right here and now. When that has somewhat passed without Bodhi losing his meager lunch, he glances up towards the stranger. ]

... where'd it go?