- Pronouns
- He/Him
I think Dennis is a full-on Toon, unrelated to the Ducks from Ducktales
DoofQuest- a Disney Villains Victorious CK2-Style Quest
- Thread starter Made in Heaven
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- The City of Tears, Hallownest
- Pronouns
- He/Him
They're probably some related species or subclassification, like Anthrofictus Linnaeus
Mistaken Identity: Part 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Mistaken Identity: Part 1
--Somewhere in Las Vegas
"Gentlemen. And the lovely Barb, of course!"
Steelbeak was no Sinatron, no Taurus Bulba. Lacking the charm of the former, the intimidating presence of the latter, the ruthlessness that had brought them both success, what little respect and authority he had once commanded had vanished fairly quickly once Paine rolled into town. But in this room, in front of these washed-up villains and B-listers, he was king. Only the very top of Yosemite Sam's hat could be seen over the table - High Voltage's own Barb, sitting next to him with her energy orb crackling, was a giant by comparison. Dwarfing both was Brutus, once a minor Toon celebrity before his role was stolen by the considerably more famous Bluto, reducing him to dock work and petty crime. Hardly a collection of criminal masterminds, but tomorrow night they'd be pulling a heist worthy of Negaduck!
"The robbery will be simplicity itself. I've kept an eye on the goods since the Mama Aiuto gang first lifted them from the Cape Suzette treasury! Shego may think she covered her tracks well… but those fusion power cells will be mine before they're brought within a hundred miles of New York! And the courier - why, he's the real prize! Shego's got enemies around every corner, who'd sell their own dear aunts to pick the brains of a Drakktech scientist!"
Brutus pulled a stick of chewing tobacco from thin air, giving it an exaggerated chomp. Somewhere in the background, the opening bars of "Barnacle Bill" could be heard on a low register, causing a confused Barb to crane her head around looking for its source. "Yeah, yeah, Beaky. Who's this Palooka with the goods, huh? Just tell me that, and I'll do the grabbin'."
"Oh you can't mistake him, Brutus my dear fellow. Black hair, pallid blue skin… why, there aren't many men who fit the unique description of Doctor Drakken. I want the power cells, and I want the doctor! Now hit the road! His armored car will be leaving tomorrow, and I've pinpointed just the spot for an ambush..."
--Somewhere on Highway 86
The following night
Drakken had been having a remarkably good few months. After so many thankless years toiling away in the bowels of a company that used to be his own (and still bore his name), he'd nearly forgotten what fresh air tasted like! But that was beginning to change, at long last! With this moonbase collaboration with the Xanatos fellow taking up so much of that treacherous Shego's attention, his genius had been in high demand indeed. And his progress - with, he supposed, some small help from Xanatos and his bumblers - had been very swift. The next rocket would be the biggest yet, courtesy of the priceless compact fusion power cells he was transporting in secrecy, pillaged in the recent air raid on Cape Suzette. If not for the deafening racket Motor Ed was making up in the front of the armored car, the moment would be perfect. As the miles of New York highway vanished behind their fast-moving transport, the pallid blue genius let out his first genuine evil laugh in years...
"Aaaahahahahahhaaaha!"
A shrill cackle echoed through the night as the horse galloped alongside the New York highway. Snidely Whiplash, stroking his mustache with one hand and carrying the captured Nell Fenwick with the other in a flagrant disregard of safe riding practices, had been having a remarkably good few days! He'd left that meddling Do-Right behind miles back, and ridden hard for hours since, until he could be sure his dastardly deeds would be uninterrupted. He was a bit south of his traditional stomping grounds, but in a few short moments he'd have Nell trussed to the nearest railroad track, and then? Why, she'd finally agree to wed him, as soon as she knew her precious Dudley wasn't going to be...
...Actually, he wasn't sure where the nearest railroad track was. It was all just highway! What sort of a country was the USA, anyways? What was a villain supposed to do?
As he pondered this conundrum, stroking his mustache furiously, a distant noise attracted the pallid blue desperado's attention to the South. That bothersome American "rock music", by the sounds of it, coming from - an armored car! And approaching quickly!
"When in Rome, my bride to be…" he muttered, grinning evilly as he lay his captive down on the worn pavement of Highway 86. Seconds later, he lay hidden behind an outcropping of rocks, watching the road with a gleeful giggle. Any moment now, the armored car would come around the corner, and -
"A WOMAN!" Cried a bizarrely loud voice from the North, turning Snidely's head with a snap. "And she's ALONE AND UNPROTECTED!"
Mere seconds later, a purple runabout screeched to a halt beside Nell, disgorging a pallid blue coward, bully, cad and thief. Dan Backslide had not been having a particularly good few days - but they were quickly turning for the better. "I'll steal her! NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!"
Furious and forgetting the danger, Snidely leapt onto the road, swinging a punch and hurling insults at the off-colour Toon imposter trying to steal his bride! Startled, Backslide raised his fists and opened his mouth for a retort - a retort cut off as Motor Ed's armored car came screaming around the corner. As the headlights illuminated the bound Nell and the two brawling villains, Ed slammed on the brakes and veered hard, losing control of the bulky vehicle as Drakken screamed in the back seat. Before either could blink, the armored car plowed into the tiny runabout, tipped over and began to skid, sideswiping Snidely. Drakken was hurled through a shattered window, slamming into Backslide, and the three villains collapsed among the runabout's wreckage.
Tucked behind another rock outcropping a half-mile to the north, the bickering of Sam and Brutus was silenced as the sounds of the crash came echoing past them. As silences go, it was not especially long-lived. "Pipe down, ye doggone addle-brained safecrackers! I reckon that's our stagecoach! Some varmint's tryin' ta jump our claim!"
Barb's power orb flashed, casting three long shadows. "Well then boys, let's go fetch the rooster his little blue man."
--Somewhere in Las Vegas
"Gentlemen. And the lovely Barb, of course!"
Steelbeak was no Sinatron, no Taurus Bulba. Lacking the charm of the former, the intimidating presence of the latter, the ruthlessness that had brought them both success, what little respect and authority he had once commanded had vanished fairly quickly once Paine rolled into town. But in this room, in front of these washed-up villains and B-listers, he was king. Only the very top of Yosemite Sam's hat could be seen over the table - High Voltage's own Barb, sitting next to him with her energy orb crackling, was a giant by comparison. Dwarfing both was Brutus, once a minor Toon celebrity before his role was stolen by the considerably more famous Bluto, reducing him to dock work and petty crime. Hardly a collection of criminal masterminds, but tomorrow night they'd be pulling a heist worthy of Negaduck!
"The robbery will be simplicity itself. I've kept an eye on the goods since the Mama Aiuto gang first lifted them from the Cape Suzette treasury! Shego may think she covered her tracks well… but those fusion power cells will be mine before they're brought within a hundred miles of New York! And the courier - why, he's the real prize! Shego's got enemies around every corner, who'd sell their own dear aunts to pick the brains of a Drakktech scientist!"
Brutus pulled a stick of chewing tobacco from thin air, giving it an exaggerated chomp. Somewhere in the background, the opening bars of "Barnacle Bill" could be heard on a low register, causing a confused Barb to crane her head around looking for its source. "Yeah, yeah, Beaky. Who's this Palooka with the goods, huh? Just tell me that, and I'll do the grabbin'."
"Oh you can't mistake him, Brutus my dear fellow. Black hair, pallid blue skin… why, there aren't many men who fit the unique description of Doctor Drakken. I want the power cells, and I want the doctor! Now hit the road! His armored car will be leaving tomorrow, and I've pinpointed just the spot for an ambush..."
--Somewhere on Highway 86
The following night
Drakken had been having a remarkably good few months. After so many thankless years toiling away in the bowels of a company that used to be his own (and still bore his name), he'd nearly forgotten what fresh air tasted like! But that was beginning to change, at long last! With this moonbase collaboration with the Xanatos fellow taking up so much of that treacherous Shego's attention, his genius had been in high demand indeed. And his progress - with, he supposed, some small help from Xanatos and his bumblers - had been very swift. The next rocket would be the biggest yet, courtesy of the priceless compact fusion power cells he was transporting in secrecy, pillaged in the recent air raid on Cape Suzette. If not for the deafening racket Motor Ed was making up in the front of the armored car, the moment would be perfect. As the miles of New York highway vanished behind their fast-moving transport, the pallid blue genius let out his first genuine evil laugh in years...
"Aaaahahahahahhaaaha!"
A shrill cackle echoed through the night as the horse galloped alongside the New York highway. Snidely Whiplash, stroking his mustache with one hand and carrying the captured Nell Fenwick with the other in a flagrant disregard of safe riding practices, had been having a remarkably good few days! He'd left that meddling Do-Right behind miles back, and ridden hard for hours since, until he could be sure his dastardly deeds would be uninterrupted. He was a bit south of his traditional stomping grounds, but in a few short moments he'd have Nell trussed to the nearest railroad track, and then? Why, she'd finally agree to wed him, as soon as she knew her precious Dudley wasn't going to be...
...Actually, he wasn't sure where the nearest railroad track was. It was all just highway! What sort of a country was the USA, anyways? What was a villain supposed to do?
As he pondered this conundrum, stroking his mustache furiously, a distant noise attracted the pallid blue desperado's attention to the South. That bothersome American "rock music", by the sounds of it, coming from - an armored car! And approaching quickly!
"When in Rome, my bride to be…" he muttered, grinning evilly as he lay his captive down on the worn pavement of Highway 86. Seconds later, he lay hidden behind an outcropping of rocks, watching the road with a gleeful giggle. Any moment now, the armored car would come around the corner, and -
"A WOMAN!" Cried a bizarrely loud voice from the North, turning Snidely's head with a snap. "And she's ALONE AND UNPROTECTED!"
Mere seconds later, a purple runabout screeched to a halt beside Nell, disgorging a pallid blue coward, bully, cad and thief. Dan Backslide had not been having a particularly good few days - but they were quickly turning for the better. "I'll steal her! NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!"
Furious and forgetting the danger, Snidely leapt onto the road, swinging a punch and hurling insults at the off-colour Toon imposter trying to steal his bride! Startled, Backslide raised his fists and opened his mouth for a retort - a retort cut off as Motor Ed's armored car came screaming around the corner. As the headlights illuminated the bound Nell and the two brawling villains, Ed slammed on the brakes and veered hard, losing control of the bulky vehicle as Drakken screamed in the back seat. Before either could blink, the armored car plowed into the tiny runabout, tipped over and began to skid, sideswiping Snidely. Drakken was hurled through a shattered window, slamming into Backslide, and the three villains collapsed among the runabout's wreckage.
Tucked behind another rock outcropping a half-mile to the north, the bickering of Sam and Brutus was silenced as the sounds of the crash came echoing past them. As silences go, it was not especially long-lived. "Pipe down, ye doggone addle-brained safecrackers! I reckon that's our stagecoach! Some varmint's tryin' ta jump our claim!"
Barb's power orb flashed, casting three long shadows. "Well then boys, let's go fetch the rooster his little blue man."
Last edited:
- Location
- Somewhere nearby.
This can only end well, they're after a little blue man and stumbled on a brawl with the Blue Man group.
- Location
- Two hours away
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The Coat-Check-Inator: As the sort-of leader of the almost Tri-State Area, you are automatically fancy enough to warrant a room where people put there coats and stuff on revolving conveyer-belt things.
You probably should have told people you set up an inator to take people's coats and stuff.
Mechanically: All hero operating in Doofania have their items unequiped and stored in a secure location. There are 2½ ways to retrieve the items before the inator self-destructs and sends everything back to their owners: (1) Leave Doofania, (2) Take an automatic roll to retrieve it.
DEI staff, and allies take stewardship rolls to retrieve their stuff from the staff, while everyone else rolls intrigue.
Good: You put together a basic AI to run the coat room. Stewardship DC < Intrigue DC
Bad: You put an intern in charge of a room dedicated to an inator and is terrified of being exploded. Stewardship DC > Intrigue DC
You probably should have told people you set up an inator to take people's coats and stuff.
Mechanically: All hero operating in Doofania have their items unequiped and stored in a secure location. There are 2½ ways to retrieve the items before the inator self-destructs and sends everything back to their owners: (1) Leave Doofania, (2) Take an automatic roll to retrieve it.
DEI staff, and allies take stewardship rolls to retrieve their stuff from the staff, while everyone else rolls intrigue.
Good: You put together a basic AI to run the coat room. Stewardship DC < Intrigue DC
Bad: You put an intern in charge of a room dedicated to an inator and is terrified of being exploded. Stewardship DC > Intrigue DC
Interlude: Thinkin' 'Bout the Government
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Brx kdyh ehhq khuh ehiruh.
The birch trees crowd around you, watching with knotted, glowing eyes. With every step they scratch and claw at your tattered suit. You don't remember where you are.
Blf szev yvvm sviv yvuliv.
You are surrounded by fog and darkness, but it is not dark and it is not foggy. Your vision simply halts, twenty-five feet out, in a way you find impossible to describe. You can't remember why you're here.
Wco oaqi gsvt vxki octiye. Tsz gfauam xuc chl dzttgvj hh yil.
You're hunting something. Or something is hunting you. You can sense it in the corner of your mind's eye. You are in terrible danger. You don't remember your own name.
"Agent Russ." A voice said.
---
Reality underwent a sudden change in perspective, and Agent Russ realized he was looking at himself.
He was standing in the midst of a small room, filled with odd machinery obscured in the gloom. A projector shined upon the wall, playing back a scene of Agent Russ himself wandering through a birch grove somewhere he did not recognize. Agent Russ watched himself for a further moment, and strange senses tingled at the back of his brain until he realized, with a start, that he was dreaming.
He glanced around whatever Mindscape he was in. "This is… deeper than I can ever remember being."
"It is deeper than anyone ought to be, Agent Russ."
The figure had been standing there the entire time. Or perhaps it hadn't. Its face was covered by a long, grey robe which was nearly obscured in the dim light, leaving only the vague impression of a human form beneath it.
"I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. You saw an opportunity to help someone, to find the truth behind it all. So you leapt. Those who go this far rarely come back. But it presents an opportunity."
"Who are you?" Agent Russ asked warily.
"I am… how would you say it? Not at liberty to disclose my identity. Those few I interact with call me a Sleepwalker. I'm simply one with a vested interest in places like this."
"What place is 'this', then? Where are we? And why are you here?"
"My state rarely allows me the opportunity of interaction with the waking world. Even now, my options are limited. But you, Agent Russ, represent both an opportunity and a danger."
Agent Russ said nothing.
"Through sheer luck, you have touched the immaterial, walked however briefly in its slumbering halls, before you were cast adrift within it. The possibility of return is remote, but… extant. You simply need to know which way to sail."
"You want to… help me, then?" Russ asked, mind struggling to fight through the cobwebs that held it down. "…why?"
"There are more things on heaven and earth than you have dreamt of." the Sleepwalker replied.
"You can't be vague with a secret agent." Russ said, beginning to gain a grasp on the conversation. "We know all the tricks."
Sleepwalker sighed. "A degree of uncertainty is necessary. Idle tongues draw attention, and all is not well in the mind's eye. You represent an opportunity to perhaps correct the balance. If you can be taught how."
"Then you're here to train me."
"No. I am running up against the edge of my remit simply by being here. But there is another who can. He will teach you many things, if you are shown the way to him."
As Sleepwalker spoke, a door opened on the edge of the room. There was no hinge; the opening simply slid into existence, filling the room with blinding light.
"Why should I trust you?" the Agent asked.
"The choice is yours." Sleepwalker replied. "Brave the unknown, or repose here forever more. The Twilight does not give up its prize without a lesson learned."
Russ scrutinized the doorway for a brief moment. Then, without further pause, he walked briskly towards it.
The figure watched him go. "If you make it to the waking world, search for a man called Mercurial. He will help you find your spark."
Agent Russ stepped into the unknown.
---
Reality inhaled sharply, and Agent Russ found himself wandering in the desert.
Russ knew neither how far he had traveled, nor for how long. Sensation felt deadened here, the sand beneath his feet almost unfelt and the cool of the air almost unnoticeable. Stretching before him was a vast expanse of wandering dunes, shaded a deep blue by the light of the stars above. No, not stars. Russ squinted. Most of the pinpricks of blue and purple light which radiated down on the vast, heatless desert were simply distant dots. But a few, hovering over his head in the luminescent sky, were close enough to make out the moving figures within them.
A sound wormed itself into the edge of Russ' hearing, coming from the other side of the dune he was cresting. He strained to hear it. It sounded like… a harmonica?
How does it feel, how does it feel?
An enormous bulk crested over the dune, scattering bluish sand grains across Russ' body. He raised his arms to shield himself, and felt more than saw it land just past him.
To be on your own, with no direction home
Agent Russ coughed out the sand in his mouth and looked up to see the stern of an enormous pirate's galleon. The ship's figurehead was a soaring dove, its anchor a peace sign, and the massive sails tacking to an unfelt wind shone in whirling tie-dye colors.
Russ stared.
A complete unknown, like a rolling stone!
"Like a rolling stoooooooone!" A voice on board the ship cried out in ecstatic joy. "Ahh yes, that's the good stuff."
"Uh- pardon me!" Russ bellowed.
The anchor smashed into the ground and the ship came to a screeching halt in a spray of sand. A blue figure popped his head over the edge. "Yes, hello?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me where exactly I a-" Russ began
"Ahhh! Everyone hide!" The figure screamed, leaping out of view. "It's the Man!"
There was a brief pause before he returned to the ship's edge. "Wait a moment." He asked himself. "Why is the Man wandering the Astral Plane?"
As Russ walked closer, the figure came into clearer view. He was human-shaped, at least roughly, though his entire body was varying shades of light blue. A shaggy beard and enormous mustache flowed into a mane of voluminous hair parting behind his head. The remainder of his hair, and there was quite a bit of it, was tied into a haphazard topknot. His long face and bright eyes were the most distinct thing about him, quite literally. The edges of his hair and limbs faded into a cloudy haze, almost seeming to disappear if Russ did not focus on them.
"Are. You. An Officer of the Peace?!?" The little blue man hollered down with his hands around his mouth. "You have to tell us! Legally!"
"I'm… off duty at the moment." Russ replied uncertainly.
"Oh!" the figure cried. "Well why didn't you say so! Welcome to the Day Tripper!"
A moment later a ladder made of hempen rope was tossed over the side and Russ, bereft of more appealing options, began to climb.
"Heavens man." The blue figure cried as he helped Russ over the side. "Why do you look like that?"
Russ looked down at himself. "I take it this is an unusual mode of appearance?"
"Any free spirit existing in the Astral Plane should take on the same approximate form."
"Like… you?"
"Yes, exactly! It is what the human mind makes from the ineffable sight of a soul, living or dead. It is quite peculiar that you should appear like what I assume to be your corporeal form. Are you a wizard? Some Grimoires are said to have such spells among them."
"What an unusual circumstance." Another blue figure commented, a handful of them crowding around Russ now that it was clear he was not here for a midnight raid.
"I don't… look." Russ said, trying to get his bearings. "I think we should go back to the start. My name is Agent Russ."
"Hrm. Unusual name." the first figure commented, then broke into a chuckle at the look of dismay that flashed across Russ' face. "Only joshing you old fellow! Just kidding around. Though genuinely, you should try not to let your profession dictate your identity. It is but a single label upon the creature that is you. As for the creature that is me, you may refer to me as 'Moonwind Stardancer'."
Russ chuckled.
"That one wasn't a joke." Moonwind clarified. "I am the presently elected officer of Mystics Without Borders. We meet here in the Mindscape every Tuesday to pursue the mental arts for the good of all mankind. These are my friends and allies. That's Windstar Dreamermoon, Dancerstar Windmoon, and that over there is Dreamerwind Dreamerdreamer."
"You live for these moments, don't you?" Russ asked.
Moonwind looked sheepish. "Call me out why don't you…" He muttered. "Well, anyway! Seeing as you are wandering across the Astral Plane without aid or direction, you certainly seem like you could use our help."
"I wouldn't be adverse to it."
"Right then. Why are you here?"
"I don't... know." Russ replied. "There was a grey hood… and a hotel… and an elevator… and..."
"Hmmm… This would not happen to be the Hollywood Tower Hotel at 6200 Bueno Vista Drive, Los Angeles California, would it?"
"Yes!" Russ' eyes opened in sudden clarity. "How did-"
"I know a duck on Santa Monica." Moonwind confided. "But egad man! Are you telling me you went through the elevator?!"
"Okay, I get it. Shouldn't have gone into the elevator."
"You came here through the Twilight! How on earth did you get out?"
Before Russ could respond, Moonwind pulled out a pair of calipers and a series of wooden instruments Russ could not begin to guess at the purpose of. A moment later he was examining the circumference of Russ' ear.
"Hmm, yes. You definitely have those little dangly lobes." Moonwind said. "But that doesn't explain… wait."
After another few seconds of study, Moonwind plucked the Yang talisman out of Russ' pocket. "My my. This is quite the treasure."
"You're familiar with it?"
"No, but I can see what it does. A very handy shortcut allowing one access to the Mindscape as if one were a master mystic. That explains how you got into dreamland, though not how you arrived here."
"This isn't the Mindscape?"
"In a manner of speaking. What most people encounter of the Mindscape- you know the ah, the grayscale bloomy-colors world place? That is the Collective Unconsciousness. A world of smoke and mirrors formed from the combined thoughts and impressions of all the world's peoples. We theorize there may be other, separate Mindscapes on other worlds, but sadly this ship runs on dreampower, and ever since 1986 trying to get into outer space on dreams is a fool's errand."
Dreamerwind Dreamerdreamer doffed her hat in respect.
"But this is the Astral Plane." Moonwind continued. "Or plain, if you want to be more amusing. It is a place away from the teeming mass of humanity's mental signature. It is here that those who reach perfect seclusion unto themselves- whether through raw inspiration that distances themselves from the world, or from painful isolation from it, find themselves. It is a place of eternal spiritual freedom!"
"That's quite interesting." Russ replied. "But I do have some very… complex issues that need solving back home. Can you help me get out of here?"
"Certainly! Give me just a moment and I'll have you set up. "Windstar, please get the bongos."
---
After a brief period of preparation, Moonwind bid Russ to sit crosslegged on the ground as he drew a simple circle around him. As the gentle thrum of percussion echoed across the sands, Moonwind began instructing Russ. "Now. You must relax your mind. Open yourself to your physical surroundings, and reconnect with your body. Once you have done so, a link to your physical form will be established and your spirit will be able to return to it. This can be very difficult for those not versed in the art, so-"
Moonwind was cut off as the circle of sand he had drawn fell away into a rapidly opening portal.
"Well… that was fast."
"I've had practice." Russ replied.
"In any case, once the link stabilizes, you'll just need to jump back to Earth and…"
Looking in, Moonwind did not see Earth. Instead, he saw the back of his own head, peering down beside Russ into a portal, in which Moonwind saw the back of his own head, peering down beside Russ into a portal, in which-
"Wh-whoah!" Moonwind stumbled, staggering into the yawning pit.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH-" Moonwind screamed for approximately two seconds, until he landed with a gentle thump on the sand behind him.
"That was weird." Moonwind said modestly, standing up and brushing himself off. "I think I saw eternity."
"Why am I just looking at… myself?" Russ asked as the portal closed below him.
"This explains everything!" Moonwind declared vociferously. "You're not an untethered soul at all! Your body is, somehow, right here! Your physical body has been transformed into the idea of your physical body, which your spirit still inhabits. You exist, fully and completely, within this mental realm!"
"Can you fix it?" Russ asked bluntly.
"Mhhhhn. Perhaps, perhaps. I've theorized about similar occurrences in the past, but never gone past the theoreticals. I might be able to devise a means of reversing it. But it will take time."
"How long?"
"I will need to ascend temporarily to a higher plane of spiritual existence. For that, I will need to acquire a number of substances of questionable legality. I know a man named Raoul who puts to port with his wares but once every three months, under the light of a full moon."
"So I'm here for some time then."
"Yes, but do not worry! We are happy to share our space with you. The Astral Plane is far from safe, so you will need to stay on the ship until we have taught you the lay of the land."
"Moonwind." One of the other spirits called, putting down a kaleidoscope with which he was watching the distance. "There's something dangerous out there."
"Yes Moondreamer, I was just explaining-"
"No, I mean they're coming this way!"
"What!?" Moonwind leapt up and grabbed the kaleidoscope. "More lost souls?"
"I don't think so. It looks like-"
A chill wind blew over the group as a set of shadowy forms descended on the mystics.
"Everyone back to the Day Tripper!"
The first of the shadows to arrive was a two-headed, translucent creature with ovular green eyes. It reached for two members of the Mystics at once, only for a third to raise their arms and open their palms. A gigantic dove sprang into being, blocking both of the shadow's questing arms with outstretched wings.
The second and third shadows were a lumbering brute and a thin, snakelike creature, as smoky and insubstantial as the first. Both went for the same mystic, the one Russ was pretty sure was named Windmoon, and she responded by firing a burst of tie-died color at her assailants. The shadows hissed in irritation but kept coming. In desperation, another mystic swung the ship's cannon around and fired a burst of vinyl records which drove the creatures back.
"I thought you were supposed to be nonviolent!" Agent Russ cried.
"We are! But the mindscape isn't!" Moonwind replied. "We must be prepared to defend ourselves. Inner Peace Through Superior Firepower!"
"Are you sure you have this? I can help."
"Absolutely not!" Moonwind replied. "I'm sure you're quite impressive in the waking world, but dream combat is entirely different. You must fight with mental constructs, imagining and creating your own inner thoughts as tools of combat. Observe!"
A fourth shadow, tall and spindly with grasping hands covered with spines and needles, made a play for Moonwind himself. In response, Moonwind folded his arms around his body before thrusting them towards the oncoming creature with double V-signs. A massive white peace symbol appeared in the air before him, slamming into the syringe spirit and trapping it as it rotated.
"Wait!" Moonwind cried out to his crew as he strained against the writhing shadow. "Something's wrong here! I think I can get through to them!"
As the other mystics fought their own battles, Moonwind did not notice as a fifth and final shadow crept up behind him. It was the tallest of the bunch, its head crowned with thin horns and wielding an incorporeal scythe ready to swing.
Without hesitation, Agent Russ leapt into battle.
Occult Roll: Dream a Little Dream of You
DC 100
80+15+20(You've done this before)=115
Success!
Russ' hands came up to grasp the bars of the Spycycle, somehow knowing they would be there to meet him. The motorcycle materialized front first, appearing as if mist and smoke suddenly became solid. Agent Russ slammed into the reaper at high velocity, throwing off its swing completely and pinning it to the ground.
"What- how?!" one mystic (Winddreamer Moonstar, Russ thought) asked.
"I have some amount of mental training." Russ replied. "I applied that to what Moonwind told me."
"You do?!" Another cried in triumph. "I knew MKUltra was more successful than they let on!"
At this point all four of the shadows were engaged in combat, with the fifth still spinning in Moonwind's peace trap.
"I'm warning you, with Peace and Love-" Moonwind began, "To chill out!"
With a burst of white light, the entire battle ended. One by one the shadows paused, rubbing their eyes and, in some cases, their bruises.
"What are we-" "-doing?" The two-headed shadow asked.
"Oh my goodness!" The syringe shadow declared, looking down at Moonwind. "Are you all right? Here, have a lollipop."
"Oh, thank you!" Moonwind replied, happily taking it.
"Did we just… attack you guys?" The hulking shadow asked, looking dazed and confused in bindings made out of flower circlets.
"Liiittle bit." Moonwind replied. "Who are you?"
"We're Shadow nightmares!" The five shadows chorused together. "We help small children to overcome their real life fears by pretending to be Dream Demons and scaring them- just a little bit! Until they learn we're nothing to be scared of after all."
"What were you trying to teach us?" Russ asked blandly.
"I don't… know." The reaper shadow replied in a wizened voice, apparently the leader of the group. "My memory isn't what it used to be…"
"I remember an eye!" One of the two headed shadow's voices rang out. "A really scary eye, that felt like it was pinning me to the wall just by looking!" The other agreed.
"Man, I'm really sorry." The massive shadow added. "I don't know what came over us."
"Things have not been right in the Mindscape for some time." Moonwind thought aloud. "Perhaps some night terror took hold of you."
"I feel really bad about this." The medical shadow agreed. "It violated my hippocratic oath!"
"Listen." The reaper shadow said after a moment. "I don't know what happened. But restitution is owed. If you need help- particularly in the spooking someone straight department- let us know. We can lend a tendril."
"That seems quite fair to me!" Moonwind declared, pulling off the flower ropes binding several of the spirits. "What say you, Mr. Russ?"
"That's acceptable." Russ replied. "Assuming they're telling the truth."
"My, you must work on that paranoia." Moonwind replied as the shadows began to float away. "But I must say, that was very impressive work there. You said you had some training in mental matters?"
"A bit." Russ replied. "Not much more than the average agent goes through in my department."
"Then you clearly have potential! Tell you what. While we wait for Raoul, why don't I teach you a few things, hmm? You seem like a fine fellow, government spook or not. I imagine you'd do only good with it, and it would make you safer while you wait in the astral plane."
Russ weighed up the pros and cons of living with a band of dream hippies for several months. "I would… appreciate that."
"Marvelous! But first I will need to see what I am working with. Do I have your permission to examine your mental defenses?"
"All... right?" Russ said with a touch of concern in his voice. A moment later Moonwind discorporealized into a shining light which flew into Russ' head.
Hmm, yes. The secret agent heard echoing in his skull. Let me see. Wait. If I… and then a… oh dear!
After a moment, Moonwind's head popped disconcertingly out of Russ' ear. "Mr Russ, this is terrible! There is an enormous hole in your mental defenses!"
"What?" Russ asked.
"A blatant backdoor built into your systems!" Moonwind elaborated as he hopped down onto the ground. "Anyone who knew this was here could slip into your mind as easily as a newborn babe's!"
Behind his ever-present sunglasses, Agent Russ looked uncertain.
"We're going to have to fix this on the double!" Moonwind declared. "Why, who on Earth trained you?"
---
Newly promoted Director of Paranormal Affairs Theodore Riddle walked slowly and deliberately along a long metal corridor in the heart of some hidden bunker.
"Readings are completely abnormal sir! Something strange is going on. There's been-"
"I am quite aware." Riddle interrupted. The director and his subordinate walked in silence the rest of the way, until they arrived in a dimly lit room at the center of a government blacksite which you would not remember.
The room was dominated by a body-sized tube, filled with some unknown fluid. Floating comatose in its center was a small figure. Jet-black and comatose, its very shape seeming somehow out of place. Though he couldn't explain why, the young researcher felt certain it was wrong. It wasn't meant to be in this world.
Director Riddle knew exactly why.
"We… we think she's started dreaming, sir."
"Who was it who brought the thing in again?" Riddle asked, but well before the researcher could reply Riddle answered his own question. "Ah yes, Agent Russ."
"Uh… who, sir?" The researcher asked.
Riddle stared fixedly at the young man for a few moments, as if looking for something. "Ah, I see. That would explain several things. I do wonder how the fool managed to do that to himself."
"Sir?" The researcher asked uncertainly.
"Put it out of your mind." Riddle commanded. "As for the creature…"
Riddle gazed into the tube, regarding the being inside with a cold, clinical gaze. "Inform me of any further changes in the containment or stabilization systems. I will be working on a means by which to reinforce them."
D-don't you need to examine the systems further, sir?" the researcher asked.
"I already have." Riddle replied bluntly, turning and stalking out of the room. "I expect vigilance."
"Y-yes sir!" the terrified employee replied.
Inside the tube, the creature squirmed fitfully.
Neither of the men saw the first cracks appear.
The birch trees crowd around you, watching with knotted, glowing eyes. With every step they scratch and claw at your tattered suit. You don't remember where you are.
Blf szev yvvm sviv yvuliv.
You are surrounded by fog and darkness, but it is not dark and it is not foggy. Your vision simply halts, twenty-five feet out, in a way you find impossible to describe. You can't remember why you're here.
Wco oaqi gsvt vxki octiye. Tsz gfauam xuc chl dzttgvj hh yil.
You're hunting something. Or something is hunting you. You can sense it in the corner of your mind's eye. You are in terrible danger. You don't remember your own name.
"Agent Russ." A voice said.
---
Reality underwent a sudden change in perspective, and Agent Russ realized he was looking at himself.
He was standing in the midst of a small room, filled with odd machinery obscured in the gloom. A projector shined upon the wall, playing back a scene of Agent Russ himself wandering through a birch grove somewhere he did not recognize. Agent Russ watched himself for a further moment, and strange senses tingled at the back of his brain until he realized, with a start, that he was dreaming.
He glanced around whatever Mindscape he was in. "This is… deeper than I can ever remember being."
"It is deeper than anyone ought to be, Agent Russ."
The figure had been standing there the entire time. Or perhaps it hadn't. Its face was covered by a long, grey robe which was nearly obscured in the dim light, leaving only the vague impression of a human form beneath it.
"I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. You saw an opportunity to help someone, to find the truth behind it all. So you leapt. Those who go this far rarely come back. But it presents an opportunity."
"Who are you?" Agent Russ asked warily.
"I am… how would you say it? Not at liberty to disclose my identity. Those few I interact with call me a Sleepwalker. I'm simply one with a vested interest in places like this."
"What place is 'this', then? Where are we? And why are you here?"
"My state rarely allows me the opportunity of interaction with the waking world. Even now, my options are limited. But you, Agent Russ, represent both an opportunity and a danger."
Agent Russ said nothing.
"Through sheer luck, you have touched the immaterial, walked however briefly in its slumbering halls, before you were cast adrift within it. The possibility of return is remote, but… extant. You simply need to know which way to sail."
"You want to… help me, then?" Russ asked, mind struggling to fight through the cobwebs that held it down. "…why?"
"There are more things on heaven and earth than you have dreamt of." the Sleepwalker replied.
"You can't be vague with a secret agent." Russ said, beginning to gain a grasp on the conversation. "We know all the tricks."
Sleepwalker sighed. "A degree of uncertainty is necessary. Idle tongues draw attention, and all is not well in the mind's eye. You represent an opportunity to perhaps correct the balance. If you can be taught how."
"Then you're here to train me."
"No. I am running up against the edge of my remit simply by being here. But there is another who can. He will teach you many things, if you are shown the way to him."
As Sleepwalker spoke, a door opened on the edge of the room. There was no hinge; the opening simply slid into existence, filling the room with blinding light.
"Why should I trust you?" the Agent asked.
"The choice is yours." Sleepwalker replied. "Brave the unknown, or repose here forever more. The Twilight does not give up its prize without a lesson learned."
Russ scrutinized the doorway for a brief moment. Then, without further pause, he walked briskly towards it.
The figure watched him go. "If you make it to the waking world, search for a man called Mercurial. He will help you find your spark."
Agent Russ stepped into the unknown.
---
Reality inhaled sharply, and Agent Russ found himself wandering in the desert.
Russ knew neither how far he had traveled, nor for how long. Sensation felt deadened here, the sand beneath his feet almost unfelt and the cool of the air almost unnoticeable. Stretching before him was a vast expanse of wandering dunes, shaded a deep blue by the light of the stars above. No, not stars. Russ squinted. Most of the pinpricks of blue and purple light which radiated down on the vast, heatless desert were simply distant dots. But a few, hovering over his head in the luminescent sky, were close enough to make out the moving figures within them.
A sound wormed itself into the edge of Russ' hearing, coming from the other side of the dune he was cresting. He strained to hear it. It sounded like… a harmonica?
How does it feel, how does it feel?
An enormous bulk crested over the dune, scattering bluish sand grains across Russ' body. He raised his arms to shield himself, and felt more than saw it land just past him.
To be on your own, with no direction home
Agent Russ coughed out the sand in his mouth and looked up to see the stern of an enormous pirate's galleon. The ship's figurehead was a soaring dove, its anchor a peace sign, and the massive sails tacking to an unfelt wind shone in whirling tie-dye colors.
Russ stared.
A complete unknown, like a rolling stone!
"Like a rolling stoooooooone!" A voice on board the ship cried out in ecstatic joy. "Ahh yes, that's the good stuff."
"Uh- pardon me!" Russ bellowed.
The anchor smashed into the ground and the ship came to a screeching halt in a spray of sand. A blue figure popped his head over the edge. "Yes, hello?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me where exactly I a-" Russ began
"Ahhh! Everyone hide!" The figure screamed, leaping out of view. "It's the Man!"
There was a brief pause before he returned to the ship's edge. "Wait a moment." He asked himself. "Why is the Man wandering the Astral Plane?"
As Russ walked closer, the figure came into clearer view. He was human-shaped, at least roughly, though his entire body was varying shades of light blue. A shaggy beard and enormous mustache flowed into a mane of voluminous hair parting behind his head. The remainder of his hair, and there was quite a bit of it, was tied into a haphazard topknot. His long face and bright eyes were the most distinct thing about him, quite literally. The edges of his hair and limbs faded into a cloudy haze, almost seeming to disappear if Russ did not focus on them.
"Are. You. An Officer of the Peace?!?" The little blue man hollered down with his hands around his mouth. "You have to tell us! Legally!"
"I'm… off duty at the moment." Russ replied uncertainly.
"Oh!" the figure cried. "Well why didn't you say so! Welcome to the Day Tripper!"
A moment later a ladder made of hempen rope was tossed over the side and Russ, bereft of more appealing options, began to climb.
"Heavens man." The blue figure cried as he helped Russ over the side. "Why do you look like that?"
Russ looked down at himself. "I take it this is an unusual mode of appearance?"
"Any free spirit existing in the Astral Plane should take on the same approximate form."
"Like… you?"
"Yes, exactly! It is what the human mind makes from the ineffable sight of a soul, living or dead. It is quite peculiar that you should appear like what I assume to be your corporeal form. Are you a wizard? Some Grimoires are said to have such spells among them."
"What an unusual circumstance." Another blue figure commented, a handful of them crowding around Russ now that it was clear he was not here for a midnight raid.
"I don't… look." Russ said, trying to get his bearings. "I think we should go back to the start. My name is Agent Russ."
"Hrm. Unusual name." the first figure commented, then broke into a chuckle at the look of dismay that flashed across Russ' face. "Only joshing you old fellow! Just kidding around. Though genuinely, you should try not to let your profession dictate your identity. It is but a single label upon the creature that is you. As for the creature that is me, you may refer to me as 'Moonwind Stardancer'."
Russ chuckled.
"That one wasn't a joke." Moonwind clarified. "I am the presently elected officer of Mystics Without Borders. We meet here in the Mindscape every Tuesday to pursue the mental arts for the good of all mankind. These are my friends and allies. That's Windstar Dreamermoon, Dancerstar Windmoon, and that over there is Dreamerwind Dreamerdreamer."
"You live for these moments, don't you?" Russ asked.
Moonwind looked sheepish. "Call me out why don't you…" He muttered. "Well, anyway! Seeing as you are wandering across the Astral Plane without aid or direction, you certainly seem like you could use our help."
"I wouldn't be adverse to it."
"Right then. Why are you here?"
"I don't... know." Russ replied. "There was a grey hood… and a hotel… and an elevator… and..."
"Hmmm… This would not happen to be the Hollywood Tower Hotel at 6200 Bueno Vista Drive, Los Angeles California, would it?"
"Yes!" Russ' eyes opened in sudden clarity. "How did-"
"I know a duck on Santa Monica." Moonwind confided. "But egad man! Are you telling me you went through the elevator?!"
"Okay, I get it. Shouldn't have gone into the elevator."
"You came here through the Twilight! How on earth did you get out?"
Before Russ could respond, Moonwind pulled out a pair of calipers and a series of wooden instruments Russ could not begin to guess at the purpose of. A moment later he was examining the circumference of Russ' ear.
"Hmm, yes. You definitely have those little dangly lobes." Moonwind said. "But that doesn't explain… wait."
After another few seconds of study, Moonwind plucked the Yang talisman out of Russ' pocket. "My my. This is quite the treasure."
"You're familiar with it?"
"No, but I can see what it does. A very handy shortcut allowing one access to the Mindscape as if one were a master mystic. That explains how you got into dreamland, though not how you arrived here."
"This isn't the Mindscape?"
"In a manner of speaking. What most people encounter of the Mindscape- you know the ah, the grayscale bloomy-colors world place? That is the Collective Unconsciousness. A world of smoke and mirrors formed from the combined thoughts and impressions of all the world's peoples. We theorize there may be other, separate Mindscapes on other worlds, but sadly this ship runs on dreampower, and ever since 1986 trying to get into outer space on dreams is a fool's errand."
Dreamerwind Dreamerdreamer doffed her hat in respect.
"But this is the Astral Plane." Moonwind continued. "Or plain, if you want to be more amusing. It is a place away from the teeming mass of humanity's mental signature. It is here that those who reach perfect seclusion unto themselves- whether through raw inspiration that distances themselves from the world, or from painful isolation from it, find themselves. It is a place of eternal spiritual freedom!"
"That's quite interesting." Russ replied. "But I do have some very… complex issues that need solving back home. Can you help me get out of here?"
"Certainly! Give me just a moment and I'll have you set up. "Windstar, please get the bongos."
---
After a brief period of preparation, Moonwind bid Russ to sit crosslegged on the ground as he drew a simple circle around him. As the gentle thrum of percussion echoed across the sands, Moonwind began instructing Russ. "Now. You must relax your mind. Open yourself to your physical surroundings, and reconnect with your body. Once you have done so, a link to your physical form will be established and your spirit will be able to return to it. This can be very difficult for those not versed in the art, so-"
Moonwind was cut off as the circle of sand he had drawn fell away into a rapidly opening portal.
"Well… that was fast."
"I've had practice." Russ replied.
"In any case, once the link stabilizes, you'll just need to jump back to Earth and…"
Looking in, Moonwind did not see Earth. Instead, he saw the back of his own head, peering down beside Russ into a portal, in which Moonwind saw the back of his own head, peering down beside Russ into a portal, in which-
"Wh-whoah!" Moonwind stumbled, staggering into the yawning pit.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH-" Moonwind screamed for approximately two seconds, until he landed with a gentle thump on the sand behind him.
"That was weird." Moonwind said modestly, standing up and brushing himself off. "I think I saw eternity."
"Why am I just looking at… myself?" Russ asked as the portal closed below him.
"This explains everything!" Moonwind declared vociferously. "You're not an untethered soul at all! Your body is, somehow, right here! Your physical body has been transformed into the idea of your physical body, which your spirit still inhabits. You exist, fully and completely, within this mental realm!"
"Can you fix it?" Russ asked bluntly.
"Mhhhhn. Perhaps, perhaps. I've theorized about similar occurrences in the past, but never gone past the theoreticals. I might be able to devise a means of reversing it. But it will take time."
"How long?"
"I will need to ascend temporarily to a higher plane of spiritual existence. For that, I will need to acquire a number of substances of questionable legality. I know a man named Raoul who puts to port with his wares but once every three months, under the light of a full moon."
"So I'm here for some time then."
"Yes, but do not worry! We are happy to share our space with you. The Astral Plane is far from safe, so you will need to stay on the ship until we have taught you the lay of the land."
"Moonwind." One of the other spirits called, putting down a kaleidoscope with which he was watching the distance. "There's something dangerous out there."
"Yes Moondreamer, I was just explaining-"
"No, I mean they're coming this way!"
"What!?" Moonwind leapt up and grabbed the kaleidoscope. "More lost souls?"
"I don't think so. It looks like-"
A chill wind blew over the group as a set of shadowy forms descended on the mystics.
"Everyone back to the Day Tripper!"
The first of the shadows to arrive was a two-headed, translucent creature with ovular green eyes. It reached for two members of the Mystics at once, only for a third to raise their arms and open their palms. A gigantic dove sprang into being, blocking both of the shadow's questing arms with outstretched wings.
The second and third shadows were a lumbering brute and a thin, snakelike creature, as smoky and insubstantial as the first. Both went for the same mystic, the one Russ was pretty sure was named Windmoon, and she responded by firing a burst of tie-died color at her assailants. The shadows hissed in irritation but kept coming. In desperation, another mystic swung the ship's cannon around and fired a burst of vinyl records which drove the creatures back.
"I thought you were supposed to be nonviolent!" Agent Russ cried.
"We are! But the mindscape isn't!" Moonwind replied. "We must be prepared to defend ourselves. Inner Peace Through Superior Firepower!"
"Are you sure you have this? I can help."
"Absolutely not!" Moonwind replied. "I'm sure you're quite impressive in the waking world, but dream combat is entirely different. You must fight with mental constructs, imagining and creating your own inner thoughts as tools of combat. Observe!"
A fourth shadow, tall and spindly with grasping hands covered with spines and needles, made a play for Moonwind himself. In response, Moonwind folded his arms around his body before thrusting them towards the oncoming creature with double V-signs. A massive white peace symbol appeared in the air before him, slamming into the syringe spirit and trapping it as it rotated.
"Wait!" Moonwind cried out to his crew as he strained against the writhing shadow. "Something's wrong here! I think I can get through to them!"
As the other mystics fought their own battles, Moonwind did not notice as a fifth and final shadow crept up behind him. It was the tallest of the bunch, its head crowned with thin horns and wielding an incorporeal scythe ready to swing.
Without hesitation, Agent Russ leapt into battle.
Occult Roll: Dream a Little Dream of You
DC 100
80+15+20(You've done this before)=115
Success!
Russ' hands came up to grasp the bars of the Spycycle, somehow knowing they would be there to meet him. The motorcycle materialized front first, appearing as if mist and smoke suddenly became solid. Agent Russ slammed into the reaper at high velocity, throwing off its swing completely and pinning it to the ground.
"What- how?!" one mystic (Winddreamer Moonstar, Russ thought) asked.
"I have some amount of mental training." Russ replied. "I applied that to what Moonwind told me."
"You do?!" Another cried in triumph. "I knew MKUltra was more successful than they let on!"
At this point all four of the shadows were engaged in combat, with the fifth still spinning in Moonwind's peace trap.
"I'm warning you, with Peace and Love-" Moonwind began, "To chill out!"
With a burst of white light, the entire battle ended. One by one the shadows paused, rubbing their eyes and, in some cases, their bruises.
"What are we-" "-doing?" The two-headed shadow asked.
"Oh my goodness!" The syringe shadow declared, looking down at Moonwind. "Are you all right? Here, have a lollipop."
"Oh, thank you!" Moonwind replied, happily taking it.
"Did we just… attack you guys?" The hulking shadow asked, looking dazed and confused in bindings made out of flower circlets.
"Liiittle bit." Moonwind replied. "Who are you?"
"We're Shadow nightmares!" The five shadows chorused together. "We help small children to overcome their real life fears by pretending to be Dream Demons and scaring them- just a little bit! Until they learn we're nothing to be scared of after all."
"What were you trying to teach us?" Russ asked blandly.
"I don't… know." The reaper shadow replied in a wizened voice, apparently the leader of the group. "My memory isn't what it used to be…"
"I remember an eye!" One of the two headed shadow's voices rang out. "A really scary eye, that felt like it was pinning me to the wall just by looking!" The other agreed.
"Man, I'm really sorry." The massive shadow added. "I don't know what came over us."
"Things have not been right in the Mindscape for some time." Moonwind thought aloud. "Perhaps some night terror took hold of you."
"I feel really bad about this." The medical shadow agreed. "It violated my hippocratic oath!"
"Listen." The reaper shadow said after a moment. "I don't know what happened. But restitution is owed. If you need help- particularly in the spooking someone straight department- let us know. We can lend a tendril."
"That seems quite fair to me!" Moonwind declared, pulling off the flower ropes binding several of the spirits. "What say you, Mr. Russ?"
"That's acceptable." Russ replied. "Assuming they're telling the truth."
"My, you must work on that paranoia." Moonwind replied as the shadows began to float away. "But I must say, that was very impressive work there. You said you had some training in mental matters?"
"A bit." Russ replied. "Not much more than the average agent goes through in my department."
"Then you clearly have potential! Tell you what. While we wait for Raoul, why don't I teach you a few things, hmm? You seem like a fine fellow, government spook or not. I imagine you'd do only good with it, and it would make you safer while you wait in the astral plane."
Russ weighed up the pros and cons of living with a band of dream hippies for several months. "I would… appreciate that."
"Marvelous! But first I will need to see what I am working with. Do I have your permission to examine your mental defenses?"
"All... right?" Russ said with a touch of concern in his voice. A moment later Moonwind discorporealized into a shining light which flew into Russ' head.
Hmm, yes. The secret agent heard echoing in his skull. Let me see. Wait. If I… and then a… oh dear!
After a moment, Moonwind's head popped disconcertingly out of Russ' ear. "Mr Russ, this is terrible! There is an enormous hole in your mental defenses!"
"What?" Russ asked.
"A blatant backdoor built into your systems!" Moonwind elaborated as he hopped down onto the ground. "Anyone who knew this was here could slip into your mind as easily as a newborn babe's!"
Behind his ever-present sunglasses, Agent Russ looked uncertain.
"We're going to have to fix this on the double!" Moonwind declared. "Why, who on Earth trained you?"
---
Newly promoted Director of Paranormal Affairs Theodore Riddle walked slowly and deliberately along a long metal corridor in the heart of some hidden bunker.
"Readings are completely abnormal sir! Something strange is going on. There's been-"
"I am quite aware." Riddle interrupted. The director and his subordinate walked in silence the rest of the way, until they arrived in a dimly lit room at the center of a government blacksite which you would not remember.
The room was dominated by a body-sized tube, filled with some unknown fluid. Floating comatose in its center was a small figure. Jet-black and comatose, its very shape seeming somehow out of place. Though he couldn't explain why, the young researcher felt certain it was wrong. It wasn't meant to be in this world.
Director Riddle knew exactly why.
"We… we think she's started dreaming, sir."
"Who was it who brought the thing in again?" Riddle asked, but well before the researcher could reply Riddle answered his own question. "Ah yes, Agent Russ."
"Uh… who, sir?" The researcher asked.
Riddle stared fixedly at the young man for a few moments, as if looking for something. "Ah, I see. That would explain several things. I do wonder how the fool managed to do that to himself."
"Sir?" The researcher asked uncertainly.
"Put it out of your mind." Riddle commanded. "As for the creature…"
Riddle gazed into the tube, regarding the being inside with a cold, clinical gaze. "Inform me of any further changes in the containment or stabilization systems. I will be working on a means by which to reinforce them."
D-don't you need to examine the systems further, sir?" the researcher asked.
"I already have." Riddle replied bluntly, turning and stalking out of the room. "I expect vigilance."
"Y-yes sir!" the terrified employee replied.
Inside the tube, the creature squirmed fitfully.
Neither of the men saw the first cracks appear.
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- Location
- The City of Tears, Hallownest
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh, Dear. Ladies and Gentlemen, Disc one complete. Disk Two begins now. Moonwind is a great person for Naaan to get some training in with, buuut.
Does anyone have any idea what this says?
Does anyone have any idea what this says?
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
My first thought is a Caesar cipher, but I'm too lazy to figure it out. Either way, we know it's Bill.
Virgo with cheer
Also The Evil Within, just so Yaknow.
- Location
- The Place of No Return: Canada
Hmm, not a clue myself for which cypher thats using, but I can definitely point to the one bearing a spooky eyeball corrupting and terrifying small to medium-sized children as Bill's wheelhouse.
I'm more interested in seeing just how the dear, most likely soon to be former, Director will deal once the role as Narrator gets passed to someone else.
I'm more interested in seeing just how the dear, most likely soon to be former, Director will deal once the role as Narrator gets passed to someone else.
Seems that the government thankfully doesn't think we're responsible for unpersoning Russ.
Russ never told us about her, I assume he would have mentioned it if we got his loyalty up high enough.
Whatever this is, the cipher might not be uniform for all three lines. You can get "You have been here before" for the first and second lines if it's a subsitution cipher if you seperate the lines
Daecl
CURSED BY THE DICE
Well now, we definitely need to get into contact the Institute then. Once Russ is back and we have reason to, anyhow.
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sargentorion
Hunter of bunnycats
- Location
- West Sussex, England
Guys I have a bad thought the only character I know who's name could be used as Theodore riddle who is skilled at mind arts is Voldemort I am hoping I'm wrong as that would be another genocidal madman in the wind.
Theodore Riddle is a character from W.I.T.C.H., thankfully, not a reference to Harry Potter.
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- Location
- Somewhere nearby.
I don't know for sure but this Mercurial person might be this guy named Dreamfinder, also called Blarion Mercurial in Disney Kingdoms.
Speaking of Riddle, he got promoted fast. He was only a sub director when Who Framed Bonkers Bobcat rolled around.
- Location
- USA
Brx kdyh ehhq khuh ehiruh.
+ (Vigenere key: ddd)
= you have been here before
Haven't gotten the other two yet.
sargentorion
Hunter of bunnycats
- Location
- West Sussex, England
Thank god one less major rival to deal with hopefully.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Well, since he presumably designed the department's anti-mental attack training and left a backdoor so everyone in it was open to his mental attacks (which compromised their security against truly skilled attackers, as all backdoors do), it's no surprise. The only question is if the trust of their most powerful psychic is natural or not.
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- Location
- Pennsylvania
If Voldemort were in this setting (which he's not), he'd get his teeth kicked in so hard by so many different factions that it's not even funny.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Ahh, so this happened before we emplpyed Russ? Ok.
I wonder if Russ will permanently look a bit like a hippie when he finally comes out of this place? Or will he lean into that cliche of wearing lots of hippie gear immediately after escaping, but also discard it all shortly afterwards back to his old look.
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