OCTOBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

OCTOBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to October's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: MONSTER 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: ... Monsters..., excessive blood, possible death via monster or drowning, violence, being trapped in tight spaces, bloody GIF, dead body parts
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

curse the fiends

Waking up groggy and confused on the floor of what seems to be a large metal warehouse is never anyone's idea of a good time, but here you are. You may not have even known Deerington had warehouses (except for those who have been to the real Hair of the Dog) let alone how to get to one of them. It's clear you've been placed here against your will, but for what reason?

You aren't alone. There may be one, two, or even three people there with you. You're all in this together, so you may as well work as a team to see if there's a way out. The room isn't very large and it's completely empty, save for a single flashlight in the center of the floor. The only way out (or maybe it's a way in) is a long, narrow, and very dark corridor. That's gotta be completely safe. Despite hesitations, what choice do you really have?

The flashlight won't give off an abundance of light, but it at least makes it so you aren't stumbling around blindly. As you move through the corridors, you'll start to hear the sickening screech like nails on a chalkboard, but there's something worse about it. Something that makes you feel like a bucket of ice has just been dropped down your back. Something dangerous. There are different corridors that branch off of the main one you're walking down and your team will have to decide whether to stick together an choose one path or split up and explore multiple to find away out. Given that you've only got one source of light, you'll want to choose carefully.

Whether you stay together or split up, the corridors all look the same. The same sound follows you wherever you go. Eventually you'll start to notice it sounds close. Too close. Like it's right... above you?

Looking up, you'll see a large monster which jumps down in front of your team within seconds of having the light turned on it. The beast takes up the majority of the space in the corridor and there's no getting around it. Time to double back and try out one of those other passages, it seems. Hopefully you can run quickly. It's not the only thing that's jumping out of the shadows to try and hunt you, either. The large creature is working with a smaller set of monsters who seem to appear out of nowhere, their footsteps impossible to hear, but the screeches they give are almost deafening. If you split up earlier, maybe you'll run into each other now; it seems like the monsters are herding you together, trying to make you easier to hunt.

The small monsters can be killed easily. Any weapons you have will work against them, no more than a couple of shots from a gun or a good hard swing of a blade will be needed to take them down. The big beast you first ran into is another story. Nothing seems to work to slow this guy down. It'll bleed, sure, the injuries are more than apparent, but it doesn't seem to make the monster any weaker. If anything, it just makes it more irate. The only chance of living is getting out.

If you're lucky, you'll eventually turn enough corridors to see cracks of light at the end of one. Light that seems to be coming through a door. If you can outrun the monster down this long, straight stretch, it seems to actually be your exit. The door is heavy and the lock is a little rusty, but with a little team effort, you should be able to get the thing shoved open. Slam it closed before the monster can get out and you'll find yourself safe again.

fear the old blood

It's just the month for getting stuck in tiny rooms. This time, walking through any door in Deerington could land you inside this cramped closet with far too tall ceilings. Again, it seems you aren't alone; the wall on the opposite side of the closet seems to have brought in someone the same as you. The doors behind you both disappear and it seems like you're completely trapped. There's shelves all around you, completely empty, but they've got to hold a purpose, right? You may take some time to look them over, see if there is some kind of switch or hidden compartment they might be blocking.

While you're observing the cramped space around you, trying to find a way out, you might hear the sound of air rushing from above you, almost like the sounds of an elevator shaft. There's a ding, a click, the sound of doors opening— all from the ceiling up above. It's a way out! But nothing ever comes so easily in Deerington. Within seconds of the doors cracking open, blood will start to fill the room, pouring in from your only exit.

Working together and using the shelves as leverage, you might just be able to reach the ceiling to pull yourself up (and hopefully your partner), but you'll have to push against the downpour of blood in the process. It's far from easy, definitely slippery, and you'll have to move quickly if you don't want to end up drowning. Waiting it out for the room to fill so you can reach the top easier will prove to be a horrible idea; the moment the blood reaches the top of those bookshelves, rotting hands will begin to reach from the walls, dragging you down and keeping you from getting to the top.

Once you have both made it into the exit above, the doors will close, and the elevator will right itself. There's no blood anywhere to be found and there also isn't a button to press to choose any floors. You'll simply hear the sound of the elevator climbing the shaft before the doors open again, and you'll be let out into the lobby of the Grady Hotel.

Time to head home and take a shower, I guess.

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

QUESTIONS

[sodder]

iwamine shuu | hatoful boyfriend

[partridgicide]

( i. curse the fiends )

[ are you alone? are you wandering the corridors of the warehouse, feeling your way under the dim light of the torch? you may hear a strange number of noises. growling. groaning. the odd flutter of wings — a fluttering that gets louder as a large partridge descends upon you with a cleaver!!

but he stops half-way with a disgusted noise. ]

Only a human. Pity.

( ii. fear the old blood )

[ oh no, the room is filling up with blood. terrible! awful! well, not so much for shuu because he's already flying to the ceiling, grumbling. he really hates flying for extended periods of time. it hurts his old injury. ]

Don't take so long. Do you want to drown?

( iii. wildcard )

[ feel free to notice a nearly human-sized partridge wandering around deerington. ]

A

[onerthes]

Thank you very much, my fine feathered friend, but humans do not generally have three eyes.

[There was an almost offended snort as she looked at the oversized bird with a complete lack of 'what the hell.' No, seriously, she'd dealt with teenaged mutant ninja turtles, a giant robot with a grumpy attitude, and at least one incarnation of satan at this point. A talking partridge wasn't going to ruffle her feathers.]

It's Onelthes. And I would point that cleaver at whatever else we have been 'blessed' to be joined by momentarily. There will be ample things to cut soon enough.

Taako || The Adventure Zone: Balance

[fromteevee]

a. arrival
Uh huh. [ Taako throws out the letter from Sodder and walks out of the apartment that is apparently his. ]

Uh huh. [ He says again when he walks past the department store. ]

Uh huh. [ Past Hart Mart. ]

Uh huh. [ Past the movie theater.

Taako stops out outside of the Hair of the Dog and shoves open the door and orders a drink. ]

b. fields
You gotta to be kidding me. [ Taako's head is swimming when he wakes up. It's dark. Too dark. And cold. And Taako is sick of being yanked around from place to place like this. ]

c. old blood
[ Taako enters the room, then immediately turns on his heel and tries to leave, but of course the door is locked. ] Yep, that's about what I expected.

d. wildcard
[ Whatever strikes your fancy ]

C

[onerthes]

[There's a sound of a door closing behind Taako and an annoyed grunt. Someone else was thumping at the wall with an irritated look in her eyes before she turns back around and groans in the tight space, pinching the bridge of her nose.]

Seriously? Again with the magic door into the horrible room we can't get out of? Gah. I hate Octob...

...

Taako? What the hell are you doing back?

Weiss Schnee | RWBY

[shatteredthemirror]

arrival; closed to RWBY cast

[Weiss had somehow managed to fall asleep in the ship taking her team away from Atlas. Somehow being the key word; between fighting a horde of Grimm, seeing her sister's - the word betrayal isn't strong enough, but there's no better term for it. Seeing an even bigger horde of Grimm on the horizon. Between everything that had happened, she had hit the limits of her stamina. She was just going to rest her eyes for a minute -

- and then she feels herself being dragged into a forest. Not one she recognizes; this one is different. She manages not to scream as she's dragged across the forest floor. She only just has time to hear the words We need them! before she wakes with a start.]

What happened, where -

[She doesn't realize she's shouting until the words are out of her mouth.]

---

curse the fiends; ota

[This is the second time Weiss has woken up somewhere strange in Deerington. She blinks the sleep from her eyes, lightly smacking her cheek to wake her up the rest of the way. Her left hand immediately, instinctively checks to make sure that she's armed, and Weiss breathes a sigh of relief to find Myrtenaster is still at her side.

No light? No problem. Weiss spins the barrels on Myrtenaster, sending fire Dust down the blade. The light is dim, but it's enough for her to find the flashlight. She picks it up, turning it on.]

Stay close. I've got a bad feeling about this.

Curse the Fiends

[onerthes]

[She wasn't the only one to show up in this place. A figure drew close as she spoke, coming from another direction towards the light of her blade's flame and walking with a tall staff that had a hammer's head at the top, shaped a bit like a dragon's maw. Three eyes paused and stared at her, blinking momentarily.]

Weiss...?

[That had slipped out before she thought about it. She mentally cursed herself. there was a solid chance Weiss didn't recognize her. She coughed once into her hand to clear her throat before reaching out a hand.]

You're right. I don't trust any of this. If you can keep the fire going, I can hold the flashlight.

Fai D. Flourite | Tsubasa: Reservoir chronicles

[behind_my_smile]

arrival
Waking up in a new world isn't exactly anything new for Fai. Ending up in said world without the help of Mokona or with any of his companions is new, however. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in Nihon and this is certainly not the same bed he was laying in there...

Fai pushes himself up and looks around. He feels physically fine and is very clearly awake so this isn't a dream and he hasn't been sucked into an illusion of any sort. He stands up and walks around the room, looking at it and determining that whatever this building is, it is very old.

He steps out into the hallway and raises his hand to his mouth, "Helloooo? Is anyone out there? I appear to be lost!"


fear the old blood
Apparently ending up in strange places is the normal state of his life now. He has never known a world that liked to just change at will like this one seems to do. He was pretty sure the bedroom he just exited should have been on the other side of the door he just went through. It certainly makes thing exciting if not a little annoying.

He looks around his new location and places his hand on the wall. As he is studying the spot where the door used to be, he hears the sounds of someone else making this same unfortunate mistake.

He turns to them and offers a smile, "Does this world make a habit of playing games like this? Because if so I would really like to learn the rules before I commit to participating."

Old Blood

[keystaff]

[Sakura's been missing Fai for a bit. She herself hasn't yet experienced someone actually leaving and returning like this though, not someone she was that close to. So when she hears that familiar voice she pauses in her confusion and panic at apparently being trapped like this. Because -- that had to be.....? She turns, green eyes widening at the familiar face, relief evident on her features even if it's probably obvious from various clues she isn't the princess he might be familiar with, but another Sakura instead.]

Eh? Fai-san....? You're....back? Kurogane-san will be glad! I mean. I am too! But I guess we should focus on getting out....

[It's quite cramped. She isn't as sure on figuring if Flight might work. Using that and then pulling Fai up perhaps? Or Mirror in giving him his own ribbon to fly with as well.]

Nile Freeman | The Old Guard | ota

[babyimmortal]

[ooc note: “Prose” or [Action] are fine! I’ll follow suit.]

{Arrival:}
The dream was vivid enough that it hurt as she was dragged over rocks and things. One minute she was falling, falling and--crash! Everything went black for a moment. Then she was being dragged, groggy, hearing voices. Her help was needed? Before she could struggle or fight it, she was waking up in a bed, in a home.

Not her home, because she didn’t have a ‘home’ anymore. Not like she had a home in the Marines either, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, she had no idea where she was or why she was waking up here.

After some investigation she found her basket, and the note. An explanation that sounded like bullshit if you asked her. She tossed the note to the basket, looking at what was in it. Her cross, her dog tags. A picture of her father. Her phone. All of which she grabbed up and put on or into her pockets.

“This is insane.” She said to no one, strapping the Fluid on her wrist and moving outside to explore. The world outside was bloody and creepy and honestly, nothing about it felt welcoming. She was no stranger to the dead, but body parts lining the street were a bit much. Vines like veins crept up the gothic like building. She stumbled away from the building, pulling her gun and pointing it down, taking off down a street in disgust.


{Curse the Fiends: A:}
The four or five people she was trapped with decided to split up. The larger group went down one way, leaving her and one other in the dark. She hadn’t seen who she was stuck with, but it didn’t matter. Or maybe she does know them. Either way, the first comment out of her mouth was: “You wouldn’t happen to have a lighter on you?”

She ran her hand down a wall, starting down their hall slowly. “Because, not to state the obvious, but it’s pitch black now that they left.” She wished she had her Marine uniform, as she had a lighter and a flash light in it. But no, she was in a simple jacket and tank top, so that was… well, nothing helpful.

At least she had her gun.


{Curse the Fiends: B:}
Running. SPRINTING for the light, a monster on their ass, she pushed it for the door. Or what she hoped was the door. “Run, run, run!” She panted, moving to crash into the door, pushing at it. Rusted. Creaky. Her body hitting it like a boom in the dark room. She pounded her hands on it and moved back, bringing her foot up to try and kick it out. The door was stuck.

“I can’t get it opened!” She called back to the group of them as they were catching up. She kicked again. Smaller monsters were coming after them. She could shoot at them, but they needed to get this door open too.

“Give me a hand with this!”


{Fear The Old Blood: First Time}
She had gone through a door in her so-called home. One step through her bedroom door and she was in a tight room. The room had shelves with nothing on them, like an old pantry room or something. Turning around to head back through the door proved hard for two reasons.

One, someone just entered behind her. And two, the door was suddenly gone. “Shit. What the hell is wrong with this place?” She said more to herself, reaching out to feel where the door was. She pound her hand on the wall a moment then hissed. “You alright?” She asked the second person, checking on them next.


{Fear The Old Blood: Second Time:}
It happened again. She stepped through a door and ended up in a trapped room, but this time with someone else. “We have to climb. Trust me.” She said, Trying to help the other up the shelves first.

The ding from above said that the blood was coming. She winced, putting her hands on the other person's back side and telling them to “Hold on, it’s about to get messy.” And the elevator doors opened, and blood rushed down, spilling over them and filling the floor. “Fuck… we have to--ack.” She spit blood, ducking her head. “Have to get through those doors!” She encouraged the other person to keep moving.

She didn’t want to drown here. Not in blood. They needed to get out, as soon as possible. Before the hands try to grab at them.


{Wild Card:}
[Write a random starter for me and I’ll gladly follow along.]

arrival.

[muqatil]

A second time, he's woken up expecting to be strapped to a gurney being dissected only to find himself in a strange unseemly town. The first time, he'd had company but unfamiliar faces. It had taken some searching, to find the home that his key belonged to and that's where he'd found Nicolo.

This time, he woke in a different location with no way of knowing where Nicky could be. If he was still here or if these figments of his imagination were distorting into something different.

Not being new to this didn't make the deep reservoir of his irritation any less. His scimitar is strapped to his back, a duffle on one shoulder and he's jogged from the suburbia he'd woken up into the town itself sporting the same clothes he'd had on in Merrick's lab.

He's lost, he'd woken up before making it into town last time only to find rest between careful swipes of the scalpel. Bringing him to hear a second time, and he was none the wiser for it. He's looking around, committing the structure of where he was to memory. Halfway to the street again when a familiar face goes storming by. He stands there, at first, not quite believing it. The last time he had seen Nile, he hadn't been sure she'd choose to stay. His face is careful, tentative, but eventually, curiosity got the better of him and he takes advantage of her still being within earshot. "Have you seen others?" Others being the rest of the team, obviously.

Song Lan | The Untamed

[onthelan]

[ A. Curse the Fiends ]

The world is a haze when Song Lan wakes up and he feels a chill he can't explain in his bones as he looks around but there's limited visibility but he can determine that he's in a small room and by the sound of it he's not alone. He rises to his feet and goes to the source of the light. It's a strange sort of lantern but he picks it up anyway.

He turns slowly with the light, searching out what is or isn't in the room but also the source of breathing that he hears. He doesn't say a word but he does keep the light on them once he finds them.

[ B. Fear the Old Blood ]

Being stuck in a small room is not something Song Lan relishes. He's done his part in searching for secret levers, handles, or buttons but there's nothing, nothing until they find blood pouring out of the only exit that has appeared. His stomach turns as he feels the blood but he pushes away the feeling, his survival instinct enough to have him moving forward to figuring out how to get them out of the small area before they're completely surrounded by the blood.

"Climb first," Song Lan instructs his companion, he'll make sure they can get out first, intending to support their movements and then he would worry about himself.

[ C. Wildcard ]

[ Feel free to hit me up with anything else you might desire! ]

A

[cultivatingsin]

He is equally groggy and confused - until the light falls on him. Xue Yang is looking quite handsome in his new robes, but one of his hands is just...a mess. He has it splinted with odds and ends and the wound that goes straight through the middle of his palm is clean, at least. But the limb is useless.

"Nn A-Lan?" he blinks, unsure if he trusts his eyes. How can Song Lan be here? Xue Yang will never forget the day he awoke to an empty bed and no sign of Song Lan anywhere in Deerington.

"You came back?"

Well. Obviously. But how? When?

Lord El Melloi II| Lord El Melloi II Case Files (Fate/ -verse)

[slightlytaller]

A

[As mysterious abductions into fantastical locations went, this was on the far less extreme end of anything that he had imagined. The Professor, hair pulled into a ragged ponytail and glasses sitting askew on the severe profile of his nose, slipped out into the quiet fog of the early morning in little more than his pants and a loose, oversized t-shirt with the logo of a decade old video game, heedless of the chill in the air. Blearily lighting a cigarette while he read the note that had been left at his bedside.

Puffing in further irritation, after a few tense moments in the thin morning light he crumpled it and tossed the note over his shoulder.]

Sod it! [He scoffed, shaking his head and sending the loose strands of his hair flying.]

Damn the inanity of this miserable engagement to hell!

[Anyone caught staring at him were swiftly targeted with a withering look before he stomped inside-- emerging what felt like a lifetime later in the pristine black trousers, shiny leather shoes, and long overcoat that he was accustomed do. He stormed down the sidewalk looking for something of civilization where he could get more information-- a news stand, a library.

Breakfast? He had no desire-- his stomach was queasy with unease and his irritation was well beyond his limits. There was only so long a man could subsist on spite alone...]

B

[The flashlight was pathetic.

Smacking the butt end of the electric torch with a gloved hand in hopes of coaxing more illumination out of it, the young Lord who was once called Waver Velvet frowned deeply as he mulled over the details of their situation. This was far from his first time being caught in a forbidding passage with no known exit and no promises but horrors within, but in this instance he felt out of his depth.

Had he his materials, he could have alchemized at least a better light with little trouble. As it stood, not even a directed application of a quick burst of mana could increase the functioning of the light. It was all they had.

It was time to think outside of the box, as it were.

Ponderously, methodically, he began walking the perimeter of the room with a sharp step, as if purposefully searching out anomalies by sound alone. Likewise, he rapped along the wall with the knuckles of a gloved hand in search of the same-- a tactile shift, a change in type of sound.

Practical problems required practical solutions... and a lifetime of facing cloak and dagger tactics within the sphere of the Mages Association, followed by a decade of playing a variety of video games from numerous genres had taught him that following the corridor would surely lead to a trap.

He was tired of traps.]

C

[Wildcard! Hit me at woodrift for questions and plotting]

A

[onerthes]

Errrr?

[She watched the outburst, raising an eyebrow as she saw him shout towards the heavens and go back inside. New? He looked new. It was the start of a new month, and things were already awful. Two massive eyes were staring down from the dark, hellish sky instead of the blood moon she'd expected. Probably neww.

Leaning against a hammer staff, she just waited for him to emerge again for a little bit, curious.]

Let me guess... you're new here?

Alec Holland / Swamp Thing | DC Universe

[dipshitbiologist]

THE MONSTERS HAVE THEIR PICNIC |

[Those who are unlucky (or perhaps lucky enough) to wake up with the large seemingly moving patch of wet moss and earth with blood red eyes will have it easy because out of nowhere when the monster shows up...

Well. This is not his green.

That throws him. This is not his green and his commands fall on unwilling and confused ears. The human equivalent of Who the fuck are you and Where do you get off telling me what to do? There is perhaps another avatar here. So he must ask, the bayou god, and he must be polite..

Alec Holland, were he still among the true living and not in limbo - would laugh hysterically.

As it is, the swamp thing asks and large roots from trees answer with a casual well sure it beats hanging out and drinking water all day, making a grab for many of the smaller monsters. The big one has his arms spread out wide. The vines and roots won't risk themselves for the big one. It's a few very old spruce who rise with a hurrm and raise their roots trying to trip the thing - but it does nothing.]

Behind me!

[The monster speaks!] I can delay it enough for you to all get away!

[laminae]

[So... this is a thing. Fern is used to being around other non-humans. Heck, he grew up with them back home. They're a bit more of a rarity here in Deerington, but nothing overly surprising to him.

Except for this guy.

Fern has been stuck in Deerington for over a year and a half by now, and the only time something remotely similar to him has shown up was that sketchy Moss King guy, and he obviously wasn't the same as a regular Sleeper. He isn't sure if the large plant-y thing in front of him is more Sleeper or more Moss King, but right now he's leaning towards Sleeper, and that's more than a little bewildering for him. Some other Sleeper that's actually a plant - that's weird and new and kind of uncomfortable for him.

Of course, he doesn't have time to dwell on it, what with the monsters and all. They're the priority here, and he forms a sword from the grass in his hand, looking ready to lunge at the big one.]

That's stupid, I can kill it easy.

Father Abel Nightroad | Trinity Blood | OTA!

[expio]

I. CURSE THE FIENDS
[ you poor, unfortunate soul. what luck you've had - first, waking up somewhere foreign and cold and unwelcoming... uncertain how you got there with only your wits to guide you. perhaps you're just beginning to shake off the grogginess of sleep, or maybe you're starting to open your mouth to inquire where on earth you are -- regardless your current state, there is abruptly someone tall and lanky fumbling in your direction, hugging himself with a look of the utmost woe on his face. his teeth are chattering. he looks on the brink of tears behind his glasses.

and you - your luck not bad enough to stop at kidnapping, today - he has spotted, now.

the priest grasps you - a shoulder, an arm, a hand, whatever he can get - with ferocity. you are driftwood in the ocean and he? is drowning. ]

Th-- thank the Lord!! You're awake?! I would've thought you were dead but you were snoring a little which was very- ah. Interesting, by the way-- [ he's patting at you. he's patting you gently, as if trying to assure himself you're real. ARE YOU?? ] Please tell me you know what in HEAVEN'S NAME we're doing here?! Is this one of those 'candid camera' prank shows? --Wait, it isn't, is it?

[ he's scoping the warehouse for cameras, now... and no, he hasn't let go of you. ]

II. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
[ you were going somewhere. wherever that somewhere was, it isn't here, but that doesn't much matter - because here is where you are. a doorless room that is decidedly bereft of all the things you were looking forward to - but you get a consolation prize!

there is one (1) tall but rather unassuming priest staring at you dumbly, his hand half-raised in something like a wave. awkward... ]

...Oh. Well. H-haha, funny meeting you here~! Come here... often...?

[ yeah. awkward. little do you know how much more awkward it's going to get. ]

[ooc: feel free to hit me up at skordghoul if you'd like to discuss anything or add a wildcard option!!]

[inquiryguqin]

Lan Wangji woke up on the hard floor. When he wakes up and his vision came too, and he took noticed of his surroundings, there's an unpleasant smell and he woke up in a dark empty warehouse.

He heard a voice in the dark. Someone is alone and is clearly frightened. Lan Wangji has long been battle-harden after living here for months, and he becomes used to the horror of this town.

"You...you must be new." He sighed. "Please, remain calm. I am your friend...and I don't snore. I was out of it. I am awake now." He reached inside to pull out a paper talisman, mutter an incantation to summon a spell of light to light up the darkness. He sees a bespectacled man, a priest who looks absolutely terrified. In return, Abel will see a Lan Wangji wearing all white oriental robes and holding a sword in one hand.

"Fear not, I'll figure out a way to lead us out of here." He said, with such a calm despite the situation. "And, I'm afraid this is not a candid camera prank show. This is very real. Please, pay attention and we will figure it out."

salem | rwby| ota

[easilyswayed]

arrival.
[ Salem has not slept properly in a long time.

It is not something she needs to do, not really — a lack of sleep cannot meaningfully hurt her, anymore. And she been alive for so long that the difference between “day” and “night” do not hold much meaning for her, anymore. But tonight, she sleeps. She dreams. This is not her first dream of an antler-clad figure, although the one she is accustomed to stands on two legs, and glows a sickening, saccharine golden. This time, she dreams of an actual deer, and it is taking her somewhere. She does not mind the pain, barely notices the cuts and scrapes. Again, it cannot truly hurt her, not where it matters.

After she reads the note, however, her good nature about the dream evaporates. She is trapped here. A prisoner. Salem throws her head back and howls, a horrifying sound that echoes throughout Princess Drive.

Later, she will walk the streets, pale-skinned, black-clad, and red-veined. If you are unlucky enough to cross her path, she will point a long, bony finger at you, and speak in a clear, cold voice: ]

You. What do you know about Sodder?

fear the old blood.
[ Salem walks through a door, and into an small, shelved room. The doors shut behind her, which is to be expected. But then, they vanish, and an old hatred sets in. An old fear, if she could even properly feel that anymore. Salem believes she can’t, even though right now, she’s experiencing otherwise.

Salem refuses to be stuck here for long. She can’t take the cramped space. It dredges up memories that are too old, that may as well belong to another person.

Salem whirls to face you, a small, red ball hovering above the palm of her right hand. She hurls it at one of the walls, just past you. It’s hot, and it sizzles on impact, but ultimately does nothing. Salem, meanwhile, feels oddly tired.

And that’s when the ceiling opens up, and blood begins to rush in. ]

No!

[ This isn’t good. ]

hair of the dog.
[ A tale, pale woman sits at the bar of this dingy place. Her eyes are black, with red pupils, and unnatural red veins, like fissures, crisscross her arms and face. All of that is frightening, but nothing is quite so unnerving as the fact that she is covered in blood.

Salem has just escaped the bloody elevator. And she needs a drink.

If you choose to sit next to her, she’ll offer you a syrupy, poisonous smile. ]

And what brings you here?

wildcard.
[ make up your own prompt, or pm this account to plot something else! ]

Hair of the Dog

[threelayers]

[Flop. She had been lucky with the blood elevators and warehouse death traps so far this month, though the giant glaring eyes in the sky above were a new touch. As she landed in a seat, she snapped her fingers to the barkeep who looked at her for all of a second and poured her a club soda with a pinch of dog hair in it before shoving it her way with a nodd.

No booze. She was well aware of the expectations. And then a voice spoke that caused her whole body to stiffen slightly and a chill to run down her back. She'd never met Salem, but she'd heard her voice in Emerald's memories. Her illusion hid some of the reaction, but as she gave a faint, calm look to the left it was real hard to keep a straight face.

She took a pen and wrote on a napkin, pushing it over.]

Work.
You?

natasha romanoff ( mcu )

[inaminute]

i. curse the fiends.

[ The rounds she fires off from one of her handguns are in short controlled bursts as a means to conserve what little ammo she has on her. Shoulder pinned against the corner of a corridor she's found herself in, she's quick in the way she checks on her right, having taken down a couple of those smaller looking monsters making their way closer. ]

This is not how I wanted to spend my day.

[ Cheeks puffed, she blows out a sigh and makes quick work of moving from one spot to the next, more rounds firing through the air as she dives for the ground. One, two, three more shots fired, another smaller monster down, Natasha throwing her back against the wall she finds herself huddled at, checking her surroundings while blindly reloading her gun. That's when she catches sight of someone else here with her and, from the sounds of it, they're dealing with these creepy critters, too. ]

Hey! Little help wouldn't hurt!

ii. arrival.
CW: blood

[ Well. If this isn't one way to make an entrance.

Covered- literally soaked in blood, Natasha makes her way down the streets of Deerington and she doesn't really know what to make of the fact that no one really seems all that disturbed by the sight.

Someone just made it out of that Elevator from Hell at the Grady Hotel.

Her boots squish in the most disgusting of ways as she goes, puddles of blood in the shapes of footprints left behind with every step she takes. This is fine and all that. She's had worse jobs, been in more terrible scenarios, right? Yeah. That's what she's going to keep telling herself as she makes her way down the streets.

She only stops when she finds herself on the corner of an intersection from what she can tell, looking to the street signs to try and figure out just where the hell she is and where the hell she needs to go. When she gets the feeling that someone is close by? She doesn't even bother to look away from the signs. She know she makes quite the sight right now. ]

If you take a picture, it'll last longer.

network.

username: alicecooper
So.
How's this place for talking raccoons
big green fellas
fossils from the smithsonian
and teeny tiny little talking ants?
Just curious.


wildcard??
(( feel free to shoot me a PM if you'd like to do something else. Natasha's canon point is from ENDGAME just as an fyi. ))

text; un: mols

[oofta]

ive never seen a talking raccoon or any talking ants but there might be fossils maybe and there is definitely a big green fella

Joel Miller | The Last of Us

[dadgumit]

Curse the Fiends

This wasn’t the first dark warehouse he had woken up in; basically anywhere that could be secure and provide a roof over one’s head could often be considered good enough. He also was used to sleeping with one ear open, so opening his eyes to pitch darkness thanks to the sound of someone else waking wasn’t an unfamiliar situation.

Yet, the moment he opened his eyes, Joel knew that this was somewhere different. After all, the only time he wore his pack when he was sleeping happened to be when he expected a high chance of trouble or he had been knocked unconscious. Neither option was particularly reassuring considering he certainly didn’t remember being attacked.

Slowly, he rolled to his stomach so he could set his hands on the floor and push himself up to his feet in a single fluid motion. Aside from a faint rustle of his pack as he moved, he was mostly silent so that he could buy himself a second to assess the situation.

Already, age old adrenaline was starting to build. His survival instincts were kicking in. Yet, he wasn’t alone, and that became his first priority.

“That you, kiddo?”

Fear the Old Blood

Great, Joel thought as he glanced up at the shelving of the closet that he happened to be stationed in. He was already reaching out to push at walls in search of an exit because he was not about to stay in here. He did not enjoy being in small enclosed spaces, since it reminded him all too much of squeezing through tight spaces to avoid either infected or hunters.

Of course he was here with someone else, and in the relative confined space, he was definitely not looking to make friends. He wanted out, which was of course when the ceiling decided to open like an upside-down elevator. That was supposed to be an emergency exit, and yet, nothing made sense here.

That’s when the blood came, and Joel issued a loud shit as the sticky warm red liquid poured in.

“We need out, now,” he snapped as he became covered in the stuff. He turned his back and hunched his shoulders as he looked around but like before there was no sign of anywhere to go but up.

Arrival

It was a disorienting sensation to be in a dream in a forest when he clearly could remember that he had been driving like a bat out of Hell to be as far away from Saint Mary’s Hospital in as short amount of time as possible. That was jarring, though forests tended to be easier to deal with than cities when it came to survival, but this was nothing like that.

So when Joel found himself opening his eyes to stare at an unfamiliar ceiling, his hands clenched where they rested against his chest. For a long moment, he simply lay where he was and listened. Voices beyond the walls, a owl hooting somewhere and the general bustle of a lively neighbourhood. It came to him like an old distant memory how normal it sounded.

After decades living like every day could be his last, the dissonance made him agitated. This wasn’t where he was supposed to be, and he didn’t appreciate his chain being jerked either. It made him angry in order to avoid the conflicted mixture of emotions that tried to take root, but anger was as comforting a companion as the need to simply survive.

Joel rolled from the comfortable bed to his feet and skirted the walls so he could move to a window and pull the drapes slightly to peer outside. Daylight, reputable streets, people walking, cars driving and while things seemed to come with an edge, it was very much normal. His jaw clenched, and he snatched his pack from beside the bed so he could head to the front door.

Easing out, he kept his back to the house so he had a secure area. His shrewd eyes moved around, waiting for the other shoe to drop, ready to grab his shotgun in a moment’s notice. “Hey, what city is this?”

Wildcard

[Feel free to make your own prompt! For discussion, please PM and we can come up with a starter that works for us both!]

Fear the Old Blood

[babyimmortal]

Nile had walked into a door and found it closed behind her, in a closet. This was NOT where she had been headed. Spinning around she pressed her hands to the door, only to find wall. "What the hell..." She muttered, her back running into someone else.

She spun again, back to the wall and stared at the man. A man, not a monster. There were far too many monsters around here. Great. Some guy. "How did you end up in here just now?" She started to ask, only to look up as the ceiling opened up, frowning.

And then blood was crashing in over them. She too cursed loudly, turning to the once a door now a wall again. Her fists banged on it, pushing and looking for a way to open it once more.

"No shit. I'm looking!" There had to be a way out of here. the walls were tall, the blood was rushing in and the only way she could see was... up.

Nikon | OC | OTA

[laughofmankind]

ARRIVAL
[This isn't how the dreams tend to go, but you learned a long time ago to not fight when something unexpected happens.

It isn't even the first time you've awoken in a place where you didn't fall asleep. So perhaps you're a step ahead of others. You can't feel the whispering presences that have been in your chest for centuries, and that is the more unnerving thing.

Best to learn your surroundings, especially while the new flesh on your body continues to heal and integrate into you.

You can be found throughout the town and the nearest edges of the wilderness, never getting too far away from town or the people that occupy it. Are you looking for the edges? Or something else?]


CURSE THE FIENDS
A. Awakening
[You wish this was the first time you'd woken up in a predicament like this, but it's sadly far from it. The dark presses in with that artificial manner that means you're inside somewhere, but that's a given, isn't it? Metal underneath, and the soft, almost echoing noice of other bodies shifting.

Something isn't right.]

"We should move."

B. Monsters
[When did you stop being afeared of things that could kill you? This beast is far more fearsome than some things you've encountered in the wild, man or beast or demonic creature otherwise unidentifiable, if only because it's large and seems as likely to find you and your new companions by sight as by smell.

Is there a way to satiate any of the beasts in this place?]


FEAR THE OLD BLOOD
[In a place that manifested you across time and space through no means that you can surmise so far, you aren't overly surprised when you take a turn and step through a door and end up where you're not supposed to be.

Is waiting it out an option? What if you're merely more stubborn than this place? You've outlasted every other bad day you've had, so you don't see how this one can outlast you.]


WILDCARD
[Interested in a personal start? Want to plot something out? Pop me a line through PM here, or at besosde.]

arrival

[morethanachild]

Are you thinking of leaving?

[At the edge of the town, a silver-haired girl in what appears to be a school uniform comes to a pause a short distance away.]

Truthfully, I've considered it. If only to see for myself what will happen. I don't think it's a good idea now, though - not as this mystical 'October' approaches.

Dipper Pines | Gravity Falls

[ghostharasser]

[Arrival - Locked to Ford Pines]

[The Dream had been... well. Honestly, it wasn’t that weird of a dream, all things considered. Forest and pine tree symbology, weird, possibly possessed woodland creatures, creepy voices, all things that Dipper has dealt with at some point in time. It’s just ...]

[He wasn’t in Gravity Falls anymore, right? All the weird stuff should have stayed there, so why is he being haunted by the ghosts of that town all the way in Piedmont? That was a thought he found himself having as he slowly edged towards consciousness. It was ...a nightmare to be sure, something that left him deeply unsettled in a way he couldn’t put a finger on, but hardly something Dipper was going to wake up screaming from. That took a little more, these days.]

[The first thing he notes is how unfamiliar the room is, and that’s about all it takes to sober him up. He snaps his head around, no second bed, no sister, no gaudy boy-band posters, no sign of his own things, either. The second thing he notices, is the sharp pain on the back of his shoulder which, upon investigation, reveal markings of some kind he can’t quite make out without a mirror.]

What the heck?

[Concerning!]

[The walls of the room are ...well. It’s not too different from the borderline dilapidated state of the attic he and Mabel stayed in over the summer at the Mystery Shack. It was just somehow a little more ...foreboding? Yeah.]

[Dipper finds his ways out of the room, looking around for anything that might indicate where he is. He makes his way downstairs until he finds the kitchen. Upon investigating his basket, the letter, and the contents he decides that nothing in the letter sounds that outlandish in the face of most of what he’s dealt with in the past few months, but all the same it sets off a hell of a panic induced meltdown in the time it takes for him to really let the implications of being Dream!Kidnapped settle in.]

[And all that takes just enough time for him to start to crumble away at the edges while he waffles on wether eating suspicious jar food is really stupid or if he should actually heed the letter.]

[Curse the Fiends]

[Dipper was getting really tired of getting dropped in weird places around here. He was getting even more tired of having to run from monsters of unimaginable horror through caves or hallways. At least this one wasn’t a shapeshifter? No, it was just huge and ugly. Dipper and whoever he was with(he had been adamant against splitting up) had made it away from the first big sucker only to run into the gaggle of smaller ones.]

[Dipper, armed with a shovel, takes a swing at the nearest one managing to cleave its head clean off.]

Okay, so that works!

[Fear the Old Blood]

I’m not the only who’s thinking- Augh!- That this place is completely awful, am I?

[Dipper says to whoever is with him, as the elevator fills with actual blood. He’s somewhere between horrified, panicked, and really irritated.]

Like, you can’t make this stuff up? This is an actual horror show!

[The room continues to fill with blood, Dipper in his thirteen-year-old stature is about up to his waist now.]

Anyway, if we wait for it to fill up we can probably swim to the top. Unless you have a better idea?

Fear the Old Blood

[bowliever]

This place is terrible! I hate the Old World!

[Okay, so they're two teens suffering for about the same reasons. But Lev is... much more horrified than irritated because... shit that's a lot of blood! That's not how it should be!

But he hears the other's voice and nods reaching into his pack to pull out his knife.]

We should plan for the best way out... otherwise we might run out of time.

T-800 | ~*~Uncle Bob~*~ | Terminator 2

[chilloutdickwad]

i. TARGET: UNIDENTIFIABLE (curse the fiends)

[A Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 Series 800 Version 2.4 Terminator sits up from where he has rebooted.

Now, if you asked a cybernetic organism rooted in logic and science how he came to be here, he would speculate that his CPU could have somehow survived destruction (there was a slim margin of error, a probability of significantly low estimation of somewhere around 00.0000000000000000000000000001%). Or maybe he would consider that somehow, in some way, his internal memory was somehow downloaded despite having traveled back to a time in which humans had a very rudimentary understanding of wireless transmission. Honestly, there are not many options he can consider that could end with him being completely whole, clothing untarnished and face still intact, and it leaves him with a sea of white text on red background while he assesses the situation that translates to 'what the fuck'.

There is no point in sitting and short-circuiting over something he cannot change; his primary function still is the prevention of Skynet and the protection of John Connor, and so he zeroes in on that instead. Gives himself a goal.

OBJECTIVE: LOCATE JOHN AND SARAH CONNOR.
SCAN MODE
ASSESSMENT: STEEL WALL. 1370 DEGC/2500°F MP, STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS UNIDENTIFIABLE
ANALYSIS:
ADJUSTING INTERNAL CLOCK
????, ?????. ??/??/????3$4 _ ???? 082919970725200304212011

....

... DEFRAGGING.

... Uh. If you wander in, you might find someone sitting, staring ahead, looking more than a little unsettling in how still he is. But give him a minute to shake off what he's assuming is damage to his general... everything, and he will stand up, take note (and scans) of all manner of people, and then ignore anyone to start a beeline for the hallway.

Feel free to follow him; he and his shotgun are at least something?

Or one may just find him later on in the thick of it, blasting a monster's head off before it can sink its claws or teeth into you. Did he do it specifically to rescue you? Debatable. But the creature is terminated.]

ii. ARRIVAL (9/25/2020)

[A town. Much better. Easier to redirect objective perimeters and find intelligence (while also being a nosy bitch). The man wearing sunglasses and leather at seemingly any time of day walks over to the nearest car and proceeds to punch the window out, more than prepared to car-jack some poor soul. It appears he is already suffering from the effects of not eating the food in his blessing basket, though; his arm and wrist are crumbling, slowly but surely.

... But if you're lucky enough to find him later, when he is not committing an arbitrary human crime (on your car, even), he is staring, unblinking, at the Fluid, not sitting, not swaying — an unmovable figure on the sidewalk. As he stares at the screen, one may notice that he's scrolling way too fast to be reading whatever is speeding by on the device. Listen closely enough, and the unblinking man seems to... make a few whirring noises. Is that normal? Maybe that's normal. Either way, he doesn't care to block your walk path.

LOG FILE:
DERWIN, RAMONA
SODDER, JULIA
SODDER, CYNTHIA
SUPERIOR, MOTHER
THE DOGKEEPER, DOUG_
CATALOGING FLUID NETWORK USERS
USERNAME ROSTER COMPILING..._
COMPILE ASSOCIATED ID

BLAKE, JOHN
CONSTANTINE, JOHN
MANNING, SARAH
MORRIS, JOHN
NO MATCHES FOUND.

ERROR: L EXT MALFUNCTION, SH MNT DAMAGE ASSESSMENT.

His left hand jerks abruptly, twitching sharply, repeatedly, a malfunction he can only estimate may come from the error of whoever or whatever reassembled him from his prior state.]

[OOC: I don't mind fourth-walling for this fella, if your character is familiar with him on some pop culture level! If you're not sure about something plotting-wise, feel free to hit me up via pm, I don't bite.]

arrival.

[knowyourexit]

[ John had just been coming back into town after all the Cynthia's grave stuff when he heard the crashing of a car window. There was a dog barking not far off but that could mean anything around here. So color him surprised when he looked around the corner where he's heard the glass and sees him. His heart leaps into his throat, a feeling not unlike the same one that hit him in that mall in Reseda all those years ago.

Thinking quick he knows he doesn't have a lot of options here. He could duck back and hope he wasn't noticed or slowly walk up, which you know isn't suspicious at all. Either way, it's either him and here to protect him or another one here to kill him. Honestly, he'd rather know sooner rather than later which one it is and how quick he's got to run. What was it Uncle Bob had said about tactically dangerous way back?

Try tactically freaking stupid on top. He clears his throat, stopping far enough away that he can use the closest vehicle for cover before booking it out of there, backpack and all. ]

Still not learning yet, huh?

Emily • The Corpse Bride

[brides]

GENERAL CW: This character automatically comes with themes of the dead / undead + associated imagery and content. It's more cartoonish / kid-friendly, but can still be pretty spooky!


➸ ARRIVAL

[ The last thing she remembers is.... freedom.

She'd been set free from suspension: a dead thing damned to walk the earth again, and finally allowed access to what comes next. The afterlife, or rebirth..... Emily hadn't known. But she had embraced it. She was finally free.

Then she felt pain — pain, imagine, she hasn't felt physical pain in years (heartbreak is its own pain, a separate category); but the dream had been so real. So very real.

She wakes in a bed. It's.... disconcertingly foreign to her now: she has the memory of sleeping in a bed, but she hasn't done so in... nearly a decade. The earth has been her bed, and she's grown used to the comfort of its stale, damp, cold walls, to its insects, to its cycle of birth and death and rot.

The bed is the opposite: dry and warm and soft, and her skeletal limbs cannot rest here. She gets up, dazed; she follows the music as though in a dream, finds the letter and a jar of berries. She cannot remember what food tastes like — but when she tastes one, it's wonderful, and she sighs softly.

And she steps quietly from the house, moving slowly out into the street. Her round, protuberant eyes open further. Wherever she is, she is no longer in The Land of the Dead. Is this the Beyond? The Afterlife? She begins to wander along the sidewalk, making her way deeper into the unfamiliar town.

You may see her before she sees you, and she certainly stands out: a tall and thin young woman adorned in a bridal gown and veil: the material tattered and stained with dirt. The girl herself... is strange, her skin a cold, grey-blue colour. You may notice that her left arm is completely skeletal, as well as the majority of her right leg. You may notice that her exposed ribs are visible through a hole in her dress, or that her face shows signs of decomposition: her nose is barely a nose anymore, her cheeks are sunken, a bit of her teeth can be seen through a hole in one side of her face....

If she notices you, she'll call out, voice soft and lilted with her accent, quite friendly for a walking corpse bride! She lifts her skeleton hand in gesture, waving to you. Hopefully her skeleton arm doesn't snap off at the elbow in the process (though it very well might). ]

Oh—! Thank goodness, a person! Pardon me, but can you please help me? Is this— is this the Afterlife?

➸ THE LIBRARY

[ Eventually, Emily finds her way further into town, where she gazes at everything with open curiosity and wonder. There are.... things here the likes of which she could not have dreamed of — even the very eccentric world of The Land of the Dead can't compare. And when she was alive, she lived in a time of horse-drawn carriages. This certainly isn't the London she remembers. It... perhaps isn't even London at all.

The library, at least, is a familiarity. Books remain what they've always been: stories and history alike, whether fact or fiction they are a way to speak, and to learn. Emily wanders into the large building and begins to explore its shelves — bone-thin fingers gently touching bookspines until she finds something to dip into. She is drawn to the oldest tomes, the ones resting under a coat of dust. If a spider scuttles across her knuckles, she'll chuckle softly, unperturbed.

You might encounter her there, a tall and gaunt figure in an old wedding dress standing in an aisle. Or perhaps you find her seated at a table with a book, having lifted the crown of dead blue roses from which her veil flows, setting it on the table beside her out of the way. Her eyes are eagerly vexed on the pages she's studying. It's been ages since she's read anything, and she loved reading very much, once. ]

➸ CURSE THE FIENDS

[ When you wake, there is a young woman in a wedding gown peering curiously at you — eyes as wide as saucers, fretful. It appears she's been waiting for you to stir, and once you do, she addresses you quickly. ]

Are you all right? I thought you might be dead! And that would make two of us.

[ She laughs quietly, a flashlight held in her hands. One of which is completely skeletal, all the way up to her shoulder. She... is, in fact, very dead, and seemingly very nonchalant about this concept. ]

I haven't the faintest idea where we are now, but I didn't want to leave you behind.

[ Or you might have already stumbled across those monsters and, like Emily, are now trying to safely find your way through the labyrinth of corridors. You might see her crouched behind a wall, and she'll turn to you, pressing a bony finger to her purple lips, a warning not to make a sound while her other hand gestures for you to come closer. If you need a flashlight, she has one. She can help you.

....Or, if you're nervously stood there unsure whether you should follow a dead lady into a corridor, Emily will probably just reach out and grab your arm, tugging you with her with a hushed 'Come, quickly! We must move!' She isn't terribly afraid of the monsters, but she has realised by now that most in this place are alive, and living persons can be hurt. One corpse bride to the rescue. ]

➸ WILDCARD / ETC.

If you'd like to brainstorm something else, feel free to PM! I'll also happily switch over to prose if preferred; just respond in prose and I'll follow suit. ♡

arrival

[jolting]

[This is the first time he's been anywhere other than Storybrooke in years. It's extremely disconcerting. But also very freeing. He takes this rare opportunity to walk around wherever he wants.

And that's when he sees her. He stares, gaping at this walking corpse. He sure didn't do this, so what the hell? And she speaks too? Fully formed sentences? What is even happening right now?]

Hello. No, this isn't the afterlife. At least, I hope not, because I've been stuck in Maine long enough as it is.

todoroki shouto | my hero academia

[swellter]

i. Curse Fiends

a. Arrival

[ Light penetrates his sleep and he wakes up feeling groggy and confused. The undisclosed room bears one occupant and he squints up at them raising a hand to cover the light. It illuminates him, putting into sharp contrast his heterochromatic features. He's split right down the middle with a scar marring his left side along with red hair and a teal eye. His right side, in contrast, bears white hair and a grey that stares up at the figure behind the light.

It takes a while, but soon information is exchanged. He explains his arrival in this odd town only a few days ago and now seems to have become abducted again. A bit of information about the town is exchanged before Todoroki takes note of the corridor outside the room. ]

We should try and find a way out.


b. Monsters

[ Once inside the corridors, Todoroki and his companion run into others. They group together and try to come up with a way out, but it seems the congregation also attracts an unwanted guest. From up above, a large monster jumps down in front of the group blocking their path. The first screams send half of the group bolting and the ones that follow send everyone else scrambling to either fight or flee. ]

Get out of here!

[ He yells, reacting on instinct having encountered similar scenarios in his hero courses and sends out a wave of ice that cuts the monster's path forward. With it contained behind a wall of thick ice, for now, Todoroki starts running down the corridor pushing forward anyone that still lingers behind. With their light sources now split, he conjures up a small flame in his left hand to better illuminate his path and finds himself with only one companion. ]


ii. Fear of the Old Blood

[ Another cramped room with another companion he doesn't recognize. It's becoming a pattern, one he doesn't care for. This time, Todoroki doesn't waste any time and starts looking for a way out, anything to give him a clue of what to do or where to go. Above him, the sound of air hissing through a small hole catches his attention and he gestures to his companion when a ding quickly follows. It almost sounds like there's something above them. ]

It might be a way out.

[ Feeling like he knows what to do for the first time, he quickly starts climbing the empty shelves helping his companion as they make their way up. Their progress is short-lived when the doors open and blood starts to pouring down on top of them like a tidal wave. ]


iii. A Bloody Encounter

[ He walks down the hotel lobby covered from head to toe in blood. Most people give him a wide berth and others look at him in sympathy having encountered other similarly clad Sleepers exiting the Grady Hotel. Todoroki, for his part, doesn't speak to any of them and tries not to think too closely about what he's covered in. Instead, he focuses on finding the closest place to clean himself off. Right now, he'd really appreciate a wide berth or helpful directions to the nearest pool of water. ]


iv. Wildcard

[ ooc; feel free to make up your own scenario, I'll make it work. ]

i.b.

[morethanachild]

I didn't get a good shot.

[Lysithea frowns. She had abandoned her little flashlight long ago in favor of the glimmering light that shines from her hands. A month ago, she would have called herself a practitioner of dark magic. Yet the only thing she can rely on here seems to be its opposing force.]

You wield your elemental abilities with incredible ease. If it appears again, we should make an effort to incapacitate it.

For the sake of the others.

Professor Qifrey | Witch hat Atelier

[ishuikon]

Curse the fiends

[ He doesn't know what the hell is going on. One minute he was at his Atelier and now the next...well this. Qifrey isn't one that is unused to magicks, back home it was everything, everywhere, but this was strange. He's never seen anything like this before but he doesn't let the strangeness of the situation cloud his judgement. He wonders if it's the brimhats?? But, no, something about it feels off. Either way he'll take out a piece of his palm quire and scribble something on it with a quill pen dipped in ink. Whatever he does draw ignites the paper aflame to help aid in the darkness threatening to consume them. The flashlight is new though and had they the time he'd ask about it, but there wasn't time for that right now. ]

Stay close to me. If we split up now whatever it is that's following us might pick us off one by one. It's better to stay together in instances like this. [ But, you know, he as has an additional light source so this is fine, until it isn't. Because once those monsters show up he'll shove whoever is near him out of the way, before he presses his boots together and jets backwards through the air, flying to the side. He'll use his palm quire to draw more spells then. He'll create multiple daggers of water dropping them into the ground in a arc around the beasts, only to have them get hit and dispersed with a blast of water, which sends the beast careening into the walls.

He'll look over his shoulder at the bigger beast then with his foot he'll draw another sigil in the ground sending forth spears and jets of water that harden and hit into the larger beast's body, but to no avail. ]

It doesn't look like it's working! We have to get out of here. Come on!

Arrival;

A)

[ So this is interesting. Qifrey can be found wandering about in a rather unusual get-up, but he doesn't seem at all put off should you decide to stare. He's far too busy carrying those books under his arms and finding a place to sit to really take notice either. He'll be flipping through the assortment of books next to him when he finally picks up that fluid phone and gives it a once over. But he's more than happy to wave over someone with a smile. ]

Hello there! Would you mind if I asked you a couple of questions about this device? Nothing like it exists in my world, and I'd love to learn about it. Quite the fascinating piece of technology, isn't it? [ He gives it a very curious once over before smiling happily again. ]

B)

[ Or you can find the professor asleep beneath a tree somewhere, hands folded behind his head as he looked to be deep in thought before he eventually succumbed to his weariness. There's a strange book and quill pen resting beside him, both look worn with use, but otherwise in pretty good condition. Do you take a look? In a book? Like reading rainbow? Or leave the man to sleep. ]

arrival a (also omg I love WHA so much thank you for playing from it ;;)

[cardcaptured]

[The outfit is certainly enough to give Syaoran pause, but not for reasons one would expect. He's been so used to seeing magical girls and other non-standard magicians here, that seeing someone wandering around in traditional sorcerer's robes felt... almost jarring. Even he didn't run around in his ceremonial outfit unless it was for fighting or family matters at home, so to see someone flaunt theirs so out in the open...

... well, it did leave him a bit wary. So when Qifrey calls him over, he approaches somewhat cautiously, his brow knit in suspicion. The question isn't much of a surprise to him at this point-- he's already shown a couple of other Sleepers how to use their phones, so he's gotten used to the idea that not all worlds were up to the same speed, tech-wise.]

... sure. What was it that you wanted to ask?

Winter Schnee | RWBY

[winter_abdicated]

Arrival:
Winter jolted awake, the pain in her side forcing her to wince as a hiss escaped. She must have passed out after letting Weiss and Ruby go, rather letting them get a head start. Her white hair spilled over her shoulders as she put her feet on the floor of the house that she had arrived in. It certainly wasn't a medical facility, and from the looks of it, not an Atlas compound. Everything was disjointed and surreal, the dream still fresh in her mind as she made her way over to a table, leaning on it momentarily for support as she looked down at the basket there. There was an id, with her picture, and her name. Next to it was a letter which she picked up and began to read.

"You have come to a place I would not wish upon my worst enemy. You have found yourself in a position I myself was in a long time ago. I will not let you be without aid. We will likely never meet, but know that I will do what I can to help you."

Hearing someone approaching, she immediately turned drawing her sword and pointing in the direction that the sound came from. She wouldn't be caught off guard.

Curse the Fiends
It almost seemed like there was no end to the ranks of these creatures, about like the grim. And even the most powerful of Winter's glyphs seemed to do little more than to slow down the largest among them. She had already slashed at it numerous time, but it seemed as if she was failing to do any serious image, and so the sound of the hard soles of her boots echoed through the halls of the warehouse as she retreated, searching for a place to find refuge long enough to recollect herself. Seeing a light ahead there was a white glow for a moment as a glyph appeared behind Winter and she shot forward towards it.

"Get back. It's coming."

Fear the Old Blood
This world had a knack for taking one from where they were to someplace they didn't wish to be. As Winter found herself in a closet, she turned to immediately leave but as she did the door vanished. With a frustrated growl, she pounded a solitary fist against the wall before evaluating the small room and each of the different shelves.

"It seems that the only way out is to climb. I trust that you won't need any help if you use the shelves as a ladder."

As for Winter, she kneeled momentarily, a soft white glow forming beneath her feet as her sword touched the ground. An instant later she shot upwards, just as a ding sounded the doors opened, releasing a torrent of red the immediately slowed her and knocked back towards the bottom of the room. About halfway down she managed to catch herself and her sword stabs into the wall and her feet land hand on the top of a set of the shelves. Her uniform was ruined, and whoever was responsible for this was going to pay.

Curse of the Fiends

[clickclickbloom]

Winter hadn't been the only one slicing through the hordes of smaller monsters. Unfortunately they just kept coming and the large beast didn't seem to go down despite Ruby's best efforts to take it down.

She managed to lose the large one briefly when she ducked another corridor. She dispatched the smaller creatures inside before she took a moment to catch her breath. It's then that she sees Winter and the white light ahead of them.

She swallowed hard. The last time she had seen Winter they hadn't left on friendly terms. She wasn't sure whether she had memories of that but it was a valid concern.

She uses her semblance to catch up with Winter as she dashes toward the light.

"We probably can't kill it. We're going to have to find a way out of here."

Bill Cipher | Gravity Falls

[tetractys]

Canon Bill (You Seem Upset)

A yellow streak breaks through the roof of one of the residences, climbs in a crackle like lightning in reverse, then hangs at the highest accessible point of the town and simply appears to be a point of yellow light. It's impossible to tell the size of it from ground level. It's like a little star up there, or a firefly.

There's a pause, and then a sound. Awful, like the agonizing, high wrenching of metal being torn. It's at a tone and volume like a physical force, buzzes in the backs of people's teeth. Cats all over town look up, their ears back. It might take more human residents a second to recognize it as a scream of rage.

The speck in the sky... unfolds. It doubles, then quadruples inside, grows heavy and baleful red. It's the size of a house when it glitches like a television signal, its flight fails it, and it drops out of the sky.

A roaring furnace of a thing, pyramidal, made out of metal so hot that it glows, covered in eyes, hits the ground thunderously, craters the ground and kicks up dust like a controlled demolition. Zygodactyl claws in molten gold emerge from the cloud first, digging into the ground and dragging the horrible, giant body out of the crater. They follow each other in waves, far more than a dozen arms, unnaturally long and with dozens of elbows each. The pavement they touch melts to tar, and the agonizing scrape as red, angular tiers begin to emerge from the ground digs a furrow in the street. The angles of the massive body struggle spark when they contact stone or metal, and by the time it emerges there is a long, molten trench behind its progress. Between the tiers of metal, the rows that imitate pyramidal bricks, are fiery gaps through which are visible the core of the thing: a single pitch-black, flaming eye, its gold pupil tall enough to swallow a lamp-post.

"ANOTHER TOWN? ANOTHER STUPID Ț̮͈̳̱O҉̜̫͕ͅW͏̻̗̩̭͔N̢͉̠?͏͚̙͉̬̗?̩"

CRAU Bill (This Might As Well Fucking Happen)

So he reads the note, and he reads the note again. The big guy is claiming to be "helpful" this time. Yeah. Sure.

It's a system, and every system has edge cases. Every system's got fault lines. He has no idea which ones to push on until he finds the network. Is this supposed to be a communicator, this bracelet? Sure, who gives a shit. He eats the stuff out of the jar after he starts dissolving - it looks to him like a bit of radioactive isotope. Better than the stuff he had to eat on the Barge. Fine.

He doesn't even leave the house, he just makes a post to the feed.

UN: BILL

I'M A BUSY GUY, OKAY? I'VE GOT PLACES TO BE, PLACES THAT AREN'T THE TAIL END OF NOWHERE IN A TACKY LITTLE CARBON-BASED CIVILIZATION. WHAT IS THIS POCKET DIMENSION SUPPOSED TO BE, A COLLECTIVE NIGHTMARE? NEVER HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE. COVER YOUR EYES IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, BUT THE REAL BAD DREAM I'M UNABLE TO WAKE FROM ARE THE "FRIENDS" WE MADE ALONG THE WAY. I'VE BEEN GIVEN THE RUNAROUND ON A REAL RESURRECTION FOR ABOUT FOUR YEARS NOW, AND I'M JUST ABOUT DONE BEING PLEASANT AND COOPERATIVE ABOUT IT! SO LET'S SKIP THE MISTER NICE SHAPE STUFF WHERE I SPEND SEVENTEEN MONTHS HAVING SHARED TRAUMA WITH A BUNCH OF CULTURALLY PALEOLITHIC CELL PROTIEN ACCIDENTS AND YOU GET STRAIGHT TO THE PART WHERE YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY TRIED.

YOU TRIED TO JUST MURDER THE DREAMING KID, RIGHT? BECAUSE IF THAT'S NOT THE FIRST THING SOMEONE DID, I HAVE STUNNING REVELATIONS ABOUT SOME FUN, EASY ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO WITH A PILLOW AND A HUMAN BREATHING TUBE THAT ARE NOT ONLY CHEAP, BUT ARE FIVE TIMES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN THE LEADING BRAND OF STRYCHNINE!

LET'S MAKE WITH THE WORDS, I'VE GOT A ZERO-HORSE TOWN THAT'S NOT GOING TO LEAVE ITSELF IN THE DUST. GOT IT?

CRAU; un: price is right

[tagartist]

if we could actually fucking get to the chick, i’ve had a bullet with her name on it for at least a full year now

but hey you sound super not human, so maybe you’ll have better luck

Norton Folgate | Torchwood (Big Finish Audios)

[pharadyne]

Curse the Fiends: Option A

[Norton turns around slowly, looking around the warehouse.]

I wonder where we are? And why? Not to mention who left this convenient torch lying about and where they vanished off to.

Curse the Fiends: Option B

Why. Won't. You. Die? [Norton snarls as he shoots the massive monster in what he thinks is its head, over and over again until he's out of bullets.]

Where's a good disintegrator ray when you need one?

[Norton turns and runs.]

Fear the Old Blood: Option A

This would almost be nostalgic if it weren't effectively a cage. I have a lot of fond memories of nipping into dark closets.

[He pokes at the empty shelves and runs his hands along the walls. There's got to be a way out somewhere.]

Fear the Old Blood: Option B

[Norton yelps as the blood starts rushing down over them. He tries to squirm out of the way of the downpour but there's no getting away from it.]

Oh my God, this is disgusting. And this is my good suit. Do you know how hard it is to get blood stains out of worsted?

Quick, lift me up. Help me reach the ceiling. There's got to be a way out of here and that's the only door right now.

[He might pull his companion up after him, once he himself is safe. Maybe.]

Curse the Fiends: Option B

[borntolove]

[There's a clear 'wtf' is wrong with you tone. Accompanied by a firm and commanding tone. The Doctor is inwardly wincing as the bullets are poking at his PTSD.]

Stop shooting the creature and run!

[Obviously shooting the creature isn't having any effect and just making the monster angrier. The Doctor reaches for the stranger's hand to encourage them to run for their life.]

Minako Aino ♀ Sailor Moon

[loveandduty]

Arrival
[This was rather unexpected. A place she didn't recognize. Because of that, Minako figured she would at least take precautions and stay on alert for anything that might or could happen.

But even though she was being on guard she also knew that she should look around, see what is about, and maybe gather as much information that she could.

So that is exactly what she did. Eyes darting around, looking for signs of places and people. If she spotted someone she figured she would have to word her questions carefully.

In the end, she didn't know what to expect.]

The Old Blood
[Getting locked in a strange closest is not exactly something Minako would have expected. Taking a look around she noticed the lack of door from when she came in. Odd to say the least, but while she was seemingly trapped in here with someone she couldn't quite make out, she figured now of all times was the best time to make a comment.]

You know usually being trapped in a closest is more romantic.

[Just as she made said comment she looked up, feeling something hit her face moments before she looked and noticed what it was. Blood. It was enough to get the young woman to react.]

Why is there blood coming in?! [She made a face looking around before looking up only to have some drops of blood hit her face. She was trying her hardest to not react too much, but her physically shaking slightly was giving it away.]

I guess the only way out if up. Think we could work together? If we don't I fear we could drown in a closest of blood and that is not the seven minutes in heaven I would want.

Wildcard

[Want something else? Let me know.]

The Old Blood

[undermoonlight]

[Atsushi is not a fan of this small, enclosed space. He may not have whiskers, but it feels like the walls are closing in on him and squeezing his confidence out of him. Patting the wall he came through, he eventually responds with a mix of panic and annoyance.]

What would be romantic about this...? [And then he freezes.

Atsushi can smell the blood before it begins dripping from the ceiling. His enhanced senses guide him to turn his head upward, where he can hear the rush of air. It's like an elevator. But the more it moves, the stronger the scent gets. Atsushi already dreads that there may be more than a few drops of blood coming for them.]

Yeah, the door that was here is gone. [And is there's blood dripping from the ceiling, then that means there's an opening. Still...] But I don't think we want the ceiling to open up. Let's try the walls again!

Victor Frankenstein | Once Upon a Time

[jolting]

Curse the Fiends
A.

Some modern-day Prometheus he is. He gets trapped in this warehouse with the only exit being a dark corridor, and him without any matches or a lighter in order to make a torch. At least there's a flashlight. If the other people with him don't go for it, Victor will.

He hears the noises but ignores them. He's lived through worse than some ominous noises. Everything is fine until the path branches off.

"Well, great." Now he really wishes he had a lighter.


B.

[The fuck are those creatures? Victor has seen some shit, but this is a new one for him. And him without any sort of weapons to fight them off. He sure hopes that whoever happens to be there with him can take care of the creatures]


Fear the Old Blood (cw: attempted suicide mention)

Victor was not what one would call claustrophobic, so being in a small space didn't bother him. Nor did the blood, come to think of it. But as the blood started to fill the room, he got a little more concerned. Maybe he tried to drown himself once, but that was a long time ago. He didn't want to die anymore and especially not by drowning in blood.

"Quick, the shelves!" He said this to whoever happened to be trapped in there with him.


Network
un: prometheus
I did understand correctly, didn't I? This is Maine?


Wildcard
[see Victor around town. Checking out the graveyard, the hospital, wherever. I'll match style!]

Fear the Old Blood

[babyimmortal]

No one liked being trapped in small spaces. Especially this Ex marine. And the blood pouring down? Even more of a Do Not Want. She could survive this, of course, death in blood or not. But who wanted to drown in blood?

Not Nile.

She had tested the door that turned into a all, unable to push it open, but as he said the Shelves, she groaned, looking as the older man started climbing.

"Careful, they're going to be slick." She said... as she too started to make the climb, indeed finding her bloody feet slick on the shelves.

Hellboy | Dark Horse Comics

[redrighthanded]

CURSE THE FIENDS - part one

Hellboy's woken up in worse places. At least this time he's not in the belly of any kind of giant eldritch creature, marooned on an island, or scraping himself up off the floor of that one shitty dive bar outside of Mexico City he can never remember the name of. Juan's? Jorge's? Something like that.

He takes inventory as he picks himself up, a protracted process with a lot of groaning and muttered curses. He's still armed, at least, and, more importantly, when he pats down the pockets of his coat he finds two thirds of a cigar and a book of matches -- hey, look at that, it was Juan's -- in one pocket. Striking one off the rough stone of his wrist, he lights his stogie and examines both the flashlight and the room's other occupant with an unimpressed glance.

"That's a trap right there."

CURSE THE FIENDS - part two

Okay, so it wasn't a trap, but it's not great. Hellboy doesn't need the flashlight to see in the dark, though by the time he catches sight of the monsters lurking in the corridors he's wishing his eyesight wasn't quite so good. Talk about ugly. And he definitely doesn't appreciate the noise.

Once he gives up trying to reason with them, the little ones are a breeze -- the oversized rounds in his gun are more than enough to splatter their weird twitchy bodies over the walls -- but the big boy is another issue. Hellboy isn't a fan of being chased, especially when it's down a bunch of dark and twisting corridors, but it's increasingly becoming the only option.

He doesn't so much turn the corner as skid around it, flattening himself against the wall with a crack of plaster and splintered wood as roars echo through the pitch black halls. Breathing hard, he hunts in his pockets for a box of bullets and starts reloading his pistol.

"Jeez, what'd you do to piss this guy off, huh?"

WILDCARD

[ OOC: throw whatever you want at the big red monkey! HB's coming back for round two in Deer so he'll remember any CR he had back then. ]

Part 1

[laminae]

Fern isn't thrilled to be waking up somewhere that isn't Raccoon Alley or his treehouse or a tree, and it takes him a few minutes to shake off the grogginess. Holding his head as he sits up, he looks around in confusion, spying someone very familiar a few feet away.

And like the responsible knight he is, questioning where he is goes right out of the window as he happily staggers to his feet, throwing his hands in the air. "Hellboy? Hellboy!" He practically shouts, looking absolutely ecstatic. "Hey dude, you're back!"