tabularasa_rp | 004 - Lucid Dreaming

004 - Lucid Dreaming

Lucid Dreaming Event Info Pt.1 ▲ Event Info Pt.2 ▼ Comments Please see the two info posts linked above for details on the nature of the event, the nightmares within, and the setting it takes place in. You may ask any unanswered questions in either post. If your character dies at any point during the dream event, please leave a comment in the death report thread to notify the mods.

As a final reminder, all characters will fall asleep for the full duration of this event whether you decide to take part or not. You may continue tagging threads that take place before the event, but everyone will fall asleep simultaneously.

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Falling Asleep, Waking Up
The shift happens without warning, much like the first time people appeared in the world. Perhaps you remember what you were doing in the last moments before a strange feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed you - or perhaps you remember nothing at all. Whatever it may be, you've appeared somewhere new. A seemingly ordinary train station, if not for the bizarre walls of flesh blocking the only exits. The only path forward is down into the pulsating depths, a humid breeze pushing at your back.

There may be others here with you, or you may be alone. Could there be more people trapped in this strange place? You won't find them just by standing around.

Nightmares
The screeching of a distant train will echo through the tunnels on occasion, shadows flicking through the translucent flesh of the walls. Sometimes, however, instead of fading away the noise will only grow louder, closer, until it sounds like the train should be upon you. It never appears, but something else always will.

The train is a siren call for nightmares, and you're unfortunate enough to be their victim. The shadows turn alive, twisting and growing as they rise up from the ground and begin to transform. What form they take varies, but the shadows of the mind know the true fears of those who walk among them. Are you prepared to face the darkness?

Volcanic Panic

The shadows congeal at the edges of the floor, and soon after a hot orange glow begins to fill the room - molten lava is pooling in from the other end of the tunnel. It rolls slowly forward, devouring everything it touches with an unquenchable searing hunger, leaving behind only the charred bones of its victims... although, strangely, the tunnels themselves appear to be completely unharmed.

Outrunning the flow of lava shouldn't be a problem, but there seems to be no end to it. How long can you run from something that never stops? Or worse, what happens if you find yourself surrounded? You'll need to find a way to higher ground before that happens.

A Radiant Plague

The shadows rise up into familiar shapes, and at first glance it'd be easy to mistake them for people. They may even share the faces and voices of people you know, stumbling towards you with wide, open arms... and empty, glowing eyes filled with an orange light. Something smells sickly sweet, and it's only once they're close enough to grab you that they begin to attack.

These are not your friends, and they'll do whatever it takes to make you one of them instead. Unfortunately, it's not an experience you'll be able to survive. Your only hope is to fight back before the plague can take hold, lest you become another mindless husk that knows only to further spread the infection.

Trust No One, Not Even Yourself

The shadows stretch and fill the air, choking everything in a thick blanket of darkness... before dispersing just as quickly as they'd appeared. A few moments pass and nothing else seems to be happening. You must've gotten lucky this time!

... Or did you?

Surely it can't be that simple. Nothing else here has been, so something must have happened just now. It's only you and the person you're currently traveling with... but are you sure that's really them right now? How do you know they haven't been possessed by another nightmare, waiting until you let your guard down to stab you in the back? Should you interrogate them to be sure, or start with restraining them and ask questions later? Wouldn't it be better to just kill them before things get out of hand? The sooner you strike, the safer you'll be when their true form emerges.

Yes, that must be the real explanation. It has to be them that's been possessed by a nightmare. What else could it be?

Joker’s Wild

There’s no limit to what form the shadows can take. The world may have its own perception of fear, but your nightmares are something only you could understand. What darkness lurks in the depths of your heart?

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[ Everything is happening really fast, she thinks. These Shadows don't seem to be stopping, and even she knows that there's only so long she can hold off by herself. Eventually, she's going to get fatigued... it won't be the first or the last time. Except, this time she doesn't have her fearless leader to give her commands or tell her to do this or that. She's on her own, now. Go figure, first time for everything.

Panther's eyes widen as a very large Good Boy emerges, flames and all, and all she can do is just sort of blink a few times. She's never seen a dog do that before, and of course, she's never seen... one that big, either. But more importantly, there's someone very familiar riding the Good Boy. ]

Blue-san! Hey, are you okay?! [ She turns fully towards him, and when she does, Carmen does, too, and although she eyes Arcanine, she looks wholly unimpressed. ] A Ghost-- no! No... I'm real! [ Now, she's got a dilemma here. She can give up the "ghost" so to speak and say, 'it's me, Ann!' or you know. Not do that, because no matter what this is Mementos, changes and all, and she's not entirely sure how connected this place is to home still. Better not take any chances... and maybe... maybe Blue will figure it out on his own... ]

Huh...? How do you know my name?

[This just makes Blue even more suspicious! He's fairly certain he's never seen this girl-- these girls???-- before, and even if he had already realized this was a dream he had seen plenty of impossible things formed in the shadows already, anyway.]

[So he balks a little, despite her denial, and Arcanine's growling continues. He shoots a defiant and fierce glare back at Carmen, apparently deciding that was the one to watch.]

Who are you!?

...

[ Holy shit, he doesn't recognize her. Okay, well, this is both extremely amusing and a little bit frustrating, but one thing is for sure: if he doesn't recognize her, she's going to keep it that way for now. If things go back to normal ever, it'll be something to tease him about and see then if he can figure it out.

Carmen stares down at Arcanine, taking yet another ridiculously long drag off of her cigarette. Hello, dog. ]

You can call me Panther, and I'm a friend, not a foe. This place has to do with my world... sort of.

Oh.... You brought this here....?

[He doesn't mean to make it sound so harsh; maybe it can be blamed on the stress of everything going on. But before he can ask further about this place, a new wave of Shadows hisses rushing towards them, and Blue cries out again, urging Arcanine to move out of the way, and bringing them closer to Panther and Carmen's side.]

[It seems they'll have to wait to figure out the nitty-gritty of this place until this is dealt with, after all. Some of the Shadows have taken on a, well, truly shadow-like appearance, amongst those that Ann might be more familiar with. Blue seems more distracted by those ones in familiar as he commands Arcanine, slipping off from his back to let him battle properly.]

....Alright. Arcanine, Fire Spin! Don't let the rest of them back through that hallway!

[Arcanine gives a fierce bark and spews a swirling tornado of flame that surrounds the collective of Shadows- they're trapped now, at least, and can't divide their ranks.]

Not on purpose! Believe me, the last place I'd want to bring here is Mementos!

[ She huffs. Jeez, man, way to point fingers! There's bigger fish to literally fry here, though. Besides, now, they have double the firepower, so to speak, and clearing this hallway out should be a little easier. Of course, even if they do manage to clear it, that means very little: there will always be Shadows lurking, but it can at least buy them a little time.

As a second wave rushes through, Arcanine takes care of them, and while he's busy, she reaches out to gently take Blue's arm and tug him a little bit closer to herself and away from the fray. A glance to her left, and through another vein of the area, another wave. She lifts her free hand and Carmen takes the hint, spreading her arms and sending several large fireballs in their direction. One of them looks just like a certain volleyball coach, and Panther is more than happy to have Carmen send an extra barrage of flames 'his' way. ]

Hey, we should probably keep moving... I don't think it's going to be safe for us to stand around in one place for long periods of time...

"Mementos"...? [Blue can't help but find that name familiar somehow. Was that something from Ren or Akechi's....?]

[He doesn't quite have time to finish that line of thought, with the chaos of the battle and danger surrounding them. Blue grits his teeth as he watches Arcanine's attack cut off the charge of Shadows, but even with that they were still left with many of them approaching. Arcanine takes a few steps back, growling, protectively towards his trainer before Ann reaches for him, causing him to jolt in surprise and a small yelp.]

Uh-- hey, was that a person!? [He asks, glancing back towards the direction Carmen's fireballs had just exploded over. What if that had been someone else in trouble!? But the thought barely has time to catch in his brain; she's right. He's in fight or flight mode, and with Blue, the option was usually clear.]

--Alright. Arcanine, let's go! [He holds a hand out towards the canine Pokémon, who lowers his haunches for Blue to hop up on his back again. Blue hesitates, then reaches a hand towards the masked girl.]

You better not be one of these creepy things, alright!? Get on!

Yep, you got it. [ Yes, that's right, blame those two! ]

Her name is Carmen, and she's my Persona. Essentially, I am her, and she is me. We're one in the same. [ There you go, be even more confused, Blue! She glances back at Arcanine as he obediently allows Blue to climb aboard again. She's glad that these two are together, they should be fine... but then he reaches for her, and she blinks.

Oh! He's being nice and letting her come along. She flashes him a smile and takes the offered hand, pulling herself up behind him onto the big dog's back. ]

Thanks! I promise, I'm not. I'm friends with two people you know here! Ren and Akechi-kun... I swear, I'm a friend, not a foe!

...I've got an idea of it, [He comments slowly, frowning to himself. "Persona", "Joker", "Mementos".... All of these confusing names he'd heard from the memory he'd received from Akechi and just given up on, maybe he should have asked after all-- was this how people felt when he tried to explain Pokémon?? (The answer is absolutely, Blue.)]

[Wait, but if she's friends with Ren and Akechi, then........]

--Ah. AH!!!

[It's then that Blue shouts, whipping around to stare at her wide-eyed, and points.] A-A-Ann-chan!? [He can't help but give a-- uh, a look up and down, and-- he's not trying to be perverted, okay, it's just that she's right there, wearing that skintight suit, and...!!]

[His face turns tomato red, even in the dim, reddish light of the flesh hallways, and it takes him a couple seconds to get the wits about him to turn back around and stop staring.]

I... I didn't realize it was you.... [He mumbles, shoulders hunched in embarrassment.] Sorry.

And that's good enough! [ All he needs to worry about is getting through this. They're pretty deep down, and right now, she needs to worry about guiding him back up. There's still threats there, yeah, but not quite as... intense as this. Hopefully.

Realization seems to have dawned on him finally, though, and she blinks a few times. It's now that she does, in fact, push her mask up so that it rests on top of her head, and she flashes him a bright smile. ]

Yep! Surprised? [ Okay. It would have been stupid to deny it, and lets face it, right now, it doesn't really matter. Sort of. ] But, while we're here, call me Panther, okay? I'm not really sure how connected this place is still to my world, but it's important that my name doesn't get out.

[ She's not taking chances, dammit. She can't even be mad at the way he gives her that look, because honestly, even she knows that this outfit is... A Lot. ]

Hey, it's okay! No worries, don't sweat it. Not a big deal, right? Anyways, we should probably get you somewhere a little safer...

P-Panther...?

[Blue makes sort of a face, like he's trying not to laugh. Panther, Joker....] --You guys really are some kinda weird superheroes, huh? Well, don't worry! I know all about how a superhero's supposed to keep their identity secret!

[He grins, then turns back around to watch where Arcanine is headed. There's no telling if more of those monsters would appear, but... back this way was safer before, he thinks. As long as this place can't suddenly... change... Can it??]

So you've got some kinda Pokémon-person thing that battles just like Ren-chan, huh? I don't really get it, but it's kinda cool.

It was Panther, or Sexy Cat. Panther sounded a lot better.

[ Listen, Blue. She gets it. She knows how it sounds, and it's probably all stupid, but still... ] I dunno about superheroes, we're... thieves! But we're trying to do the right thing, so I guess that kinda makes us like superheroes! Maybe... either way, I appreciate it.

[ Identities may not even be something that they need to worry about down here, but old habits die hard, and the least amount of people who know about the Phantom Thieves, the better. Poor Blue, this sweet summer child has no idea that this place is already changing. Some tunnels are the exact same that they just went through, others are brand new -- one thing that doesn't change, however, are the various Shadows that begin to slither into existence as they pass. ]

Yeah! That's a good way to explain it... our Persona's are an extension of our true selves. Our 'rebellion'. Wait, Ren told you about his Persona already?

[Blue stifles a chuckle. Okay, sure, better....]

Thieves that are good guys, huh? [He gives a teasing, dubious look. But really, he believes her.... She and Ren and Akechi had all seemed like good enough people for him to believe that whatever it was they were up to in their weird costumes, it couldn't be something bad.] Sounds like some kind of themed superhero to me. You must steal from the rich to give to the poor or something, right!?

[Robin Hood.... that's what Akechi had called his, right? Blue muses on that as he listens to Ann's explanation, though it's quickly clear that he's.. not quite getting it.]

[True selves? Rebellion?? Okay, you've lost him again, but.... he'll just pretend he's still following along and ignores that part to answer the question, instead.] Yeah! --Well, no, not exactly... I saw them in a vision of him and Akechi-kun fighting, in this same place. A memory, I guess it was. So neither of them really "told" me, exactly.

[Akechi had offered to explain some of it, but Blue had passed; it seemed too complicated and irrelevant at the time.... Now, he's wishing he had.]

Yeah! We do what we do to help people. [ She just grins at him... steal from the rich and give to the poor, eh? ] Sort of! We steal hearts, actually... it's complicated. But basically, we get to the root of someone's really shitty desires, steal their 'heart', and make them confess their crimes.

[ Yes, sometimes they can feel guilty... they're sort of in the morally grey spectrum, honestly. Except for Kamoshida. Ann really wanted to torch that bastard's smug ass, and she would have killed him for sure if it hadn't been for Shiho.... ]

Oh, during that weird period of time! Nice! Aha, that must have been really confusing, huh? I'll do what I can to try and help make it easier to understand. I wish that our cat was here, he's the best at explaining these things, you know?

[ ....That probably makes it more confusing, but whatever!! ]

Steal... hearts...?

[Oh no. This really is as complicated as he thought it was going to be! So he thinks it's probably better if he doesn't ask any more questions about these, um... powers that they have. Yeah...]

[It was complicated, but maybe not for the reasons Ann is thinking. He was mostly focused on the personal drama between the two- privy to their whole... well, relationship and all, but--]

[...Speaking of complicated. Cat.] Eh? Ah... You've got a cat Pokémon on your team too? [Blue glances back at Carmen. They had these Persona things, but Blue hadn't heard Ren or Akechi say anything about actual Pokémon before.]

Yeah. It sounds weird, right?

[ He's right about that, it's complicated, but hopefully he can understand that they're not bad guys, at least. They do what they do to help people, to rebel against oppressors, all that good shit. Blah, blah... ]

Oh, no! No, Mona's... it's hard to explain without him actually being here. But he's a cat that talks. Uh, just... no one but us can understand him. [ Let's make it even more complicated, right?! ]

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004 - Lucid Dreaming

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