bravenewworld | The Labyrinth of the New Moon

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The Labyrinth of the New Moon

Most of Union was familiar now with the second world that had so abruptly inserted itself into their lives. They called it the Dream World: a place where fiction became more real than reality and where the imagination knew no bounds. If it weren't quite so intrusive, some might even find it an amusing place to visit - there were secrets to be uncovered here, surely, where the mental barriers of friends and enemies were relaxed, and powers to be taken advantage of. Who wouldn't want to host a pool party every night?

For a week, the people of Union continue to pop in and out of the Dream World until most have grown tired of the seemingly random nature of the disappearances. Low mutterings and disgruntled complaints begin to spread throughout the city, but it seems as if no one truly knows how to stop it. Giant fans to disperse the fog are suggested facetiously once, and a number of Fan Rotoms are seen working hard the next day... But such efforts amount to nothing.

On the night of the seventh day, something changes.

Those who pop into the Dream World tonight will realize immediately - the landscape has changed. Dream mists still swirl and eddy at random intervals, but the Neutral Spaces have grown dark and shadowed. There's no ominous feeling of danger, but rather... alertness. The sense that something unusual is about to happen.

Up in the sky, a shadowed moon gleams with a faint luster. A new moon. ...This is impossible, of course, but then, many things are impossible in this world. And no matter where you head, it seems as if each step takes you closer to that black moon, a gaping maw in the twilit sky... Step forward, retreat backwards, close your eyes and flee. It matters not. One more step and it has devoured you whole.

There is the sensation of falling, of spinning, of coming to an abrupt halt without feeling an impact. But when you open your eyes, you are not alone. Two or three others you may recognize are with you, and a long corridor stretches out before your group with doors dotting each side as far as the eye can see.

Welcome to the Labyrinth of the New Moon.

[OOC: All plot logs for people in the Dream World will occur here. Please make the first post with all the names of the people in your group in the subject line so people know where to post. Mod responses will come about once every 24 hours as long as at least one person has posted.

The group listings are here. We will not be running randomizers anymore, but you may still sign up with a full group of at least three if you can find one and tag in. Keep in mind though that the log may not be finished depending on when it is posted. You may also hop in an existing group as long as all existing group members give permission and the group is not full.]

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[ It's probably better not to see how Usagi is faring at least. She's finally reached the bottom of the climbing wall, and staring up at it nervously, watching as jets of fire appear almost out of nowhere to make her way up even more difficult. Look, she was never good at climbing either and this is just making it even worse!

Still, she doesn't dawdle too much because now Lucky is in trouble and the moon rabbit can't just leave it like that! So up she goes, after she ties up her hair real fast so it doesn't inevitably get singed from the flames. Fumbling with getting a good grip at first, but making a bit of head way once she gets used to it, Usagi finally gets to the first stream of flames... winces once when it almost cooks the top of her head, and then bolts upwards once the flames die down.

Oh! Hey! She did it! Yay!

... now to get up the rest of the way. OTL. ]

[The screen will fade from Eiji's sight once all three Senshi have made it about halfway up. Haruka scales the wall the most quickly with her Flying techniques though a jet of flame may singe her as she goes, followed by the Fire-type Rei.

Usagi.....

Well, at least she's not dead yet! The ends of her hair might be smoldering, though.

Let's leave Usagi for the moment and look forward. There's another long path of swinging blades before Obstacle Number 2: a crawling course. A long length of barbed wire is strung close to the ground, requiring the girls to get down and crawl along a staked out path. As with the wall, at periodic intervals on certain sections, spikes will erupt from the ground.

As Haruka reaches the crawl pit, the timer reads 2:49. There is one more obstacle to go after this.]

[Rei doesn't even pause, she just bolts straight for the pit. Dodging the spikes and timing her movements is actually somewhat simple, thanks to the gift of foresight she has. This, at least, is a challenge she's well equipped to handle and she'll go as fast as she can, desperation driving her forward. She will not let her cousin get hurt, she just won't and that's all there is to it!]

[ Usagi's not dead yet. Good. She just has to manage to stay that way. Haruka checks the timer with little more than a flick of her eyes upward, then hunkers down to begin the crawl. Crawling itself isn't too difficult, spikes aside, but she's the largest person doing this course. She can feel the barbed wire tearing at her clothing and, in places, biting at her skin.

But she doesn't let that slow her down. One arm in front of the other. That's the size of her world until she gets out of this.

One stop to go! It doesn't matter what condition she's in when she reaches it, as long as she's there. ]

[ It's okay. She didn't need that hair anyway it was just getting in the way.... ... at least, that's what she's telling herself as she finally makes it over the climbing wall.

NOW it's the crawl pit. But, she's learned from the climbing wall with its jets of fire and is now watching for the spikes that shoot up from the ground for a few seconds before she finally gets onto her stomach and begins crawling at quicker pace than she had with the wall..

Look, she's the tiniest of all three and the barbed wire will probably miss her head about an inch. That's enough space for her to move a little more freely while hoping that all she acquires are a few holes in her clothes. ]

[As Haruka is slowed by her size, Rei begins to catch up with her abilities. Usagi, too, makes more headway as the clock continues to tick down. No one is likely to be speared through the chest or anything along those lines, but the barbed wire is liable to induce some scratches here and there.

The timer reads 1:14 as they make it to the last obstacle. What a pain - it's a long stretch separating them from Eiji with rapidly moving walls of various sizes shooting their way to push them back. Some can be jumped over, some must be ducked under, and some will require careful alignment to fit into a hole halfway up the wall.

The timer is rapidly ticking down...

When the clock hits one minute, the post holding Eiji will slowly begin to sink into the water. Options flash once again for Eiji - he can increase the speed of the walls, he can make the walls spiky, or he can even swap places with one of the girls in return for extra time...]

[Rei barrels forward, barely stopping to look at the clock. There's a fire in her eyes, and while she is beginning to feel the strain from all this running and moving and dodging, she isn't about to let herself slack off. A single second could be disastrous for her cousin, and that's not something she's willing to let happen.

The moving walls are another challenge foresight helps with, but her body isn't quite as trained as it should be for this kind of activity. Rei isn't Haruka, her Senshi-like abilities are more focused on speed and agility than actual stamina, and because of that she doesn't hit everything perfectly. Her Enlightened agility and speed thanks to that recent evolution coupled with her ability to predict (if not always dodge perfectly) walls should give her good time. But she'll definitely get clipped more than once.

And even if she is starting to slow down, panting, she isn't giving up...she can't, she won't! Family is on the line.]

Just-Just! Hang on!

[He's staring intently at them fight their way towards him. While he wants to fight his way free, he doesn't want to incite another penalty. He behaves for now. When the pole begins to sink he jolts, eyes going wide. His heart is beating in his throat- he's scared, but he hasn't given up hope that he'll be saved.]

[When the options flash in front of him again, he only spares them a moments notice before he tsks and turns to see if he can peer over them for the others.]

Put the others in danger just to save myself some time? What a terrible joke.

[He directs his eyes skyward.]

Your game is sick, but you won't win! I have faith in them!

[A pretty brash thing to yell as he sinks to his doom.]

Edited 2014-10-31 04:58 (UTC)

[ Focused though Haruka is on the obstacles in front of her - she's about halfway through the last stretch and getting pretty frustrated with it - Eiji's cry hits her ears and she smirks. The Hino family makes them tough, doesn't it? ] Taking all the cool parts...

[ Right, enough of this "following the rules" nonsense. Anything she can't easily leap over (which is, admittedly, a much larger range than a normal human's) is getting Earthquaked until it crumbles from now on. The best way out is always through.

Almost there! ]

[ Well. Crunch time's now! Once Usagi's managed to crawl her way through, worse for wear, she doesn't even stop this time once she's met with the walls that move to inhibit her from getting to the sinking, yet hopeful, Eiji.

She's 100% done with this obstacle course from hell! The sooner they won this thing, the faster they'd be able to get out of this place!

So, every so often, she ends up slamming into a wall that she didn't duck far enough down for, or she fumbles over a wall that's too high to jump over, but now that this moon rabbit was serious.. well.. nothing's about to stop her from getting to the end of this race. ]

00:50

[Haruka sends an Earthquake rumbling down the path. The walls collapse, but more rise in their place. As if in punishment once more for breaking some unspoken rule, they seem to come even faster.]

00:40

[Rei stumbles as she leaps over a wall, her foot just clipping the bottom. She's not prepared for the next one and almost gets knocked off the edge, but thankfully, she rolls to a stop before she does so - and the next wall sails right over her head, giving her enough time to recover.]

00:30

[Eiji's feet are almost within biting distance of the Sharpedo now. One lunges out of the water and barely misses his soles.]

00:20

[Usagi bounces over the walls with surprising agility. The world supposes she is a moon rabbit, after all, and she clears 5 in a row perfectly before getting the top of her head clipped by another wall.

Eh, hair just gets in the way, anyway.]

00:10

[The walls are clear. All that is left is a 50 meter dash to Eiji's side.]

00:02

[An outstretched hand can barely reach the sinking man. But is there time to release him?]

00:01

[For each of them, the scene ripples and glitches. All of them will see each of the others as frozen in time. The screen flashes before Eiji even as he begins to be submerged - he can still choose to swap with one of the girls at no cost. The choice for the other three is clear: leap in the water to save him or save yourself.

The Sharpedo look hungry.

And a voice echoes across this frozen scene to each of them in turn.]

Well?

[Things didn't look good and while it had been so close, for all of Eiji's bravado, he isn't stupid. He probably isn't getting out of this. He smiles serenely at them as they get with in arms reach. It's okay, he thinks. They did their best.]

Take care of the others.

[It's the last thing he's able to say before everything freezes around him. He blinks, realizing that he's both submerged but not actually drowning or being eaten. He looks ahead of him at the choice and then glances around having heard the voice. Realizing it must be who orchestrated this he frowns, closes his eyes and tips his head back.]

My answer is still the same.

[Rei screams in frustration as she reaches for Eiji, and without a second's hesitation she's about to leap in after him. Dark/Water types be damned, her cousin is her cousin and she's not letting him be eaten. She'll boil away the pool, find a way to get one of her Pokemon to free Eiji. Something...anything.

And then, it stops.

And she looks up, unshed tears of rage burning in her eyes. She practically growls as she speaks.]

I'll die before I let him be eaten.

[ Haruka is suspended practically horizontally - she'd made a leap for Eiji at the last second. When the voice sounds all around them, she blinks, then hangs her head as what's been going on sinks in. Fine. Play your game and run your test.

She'd shrug if she weren't immobile. ]

You say that like we can't take out the sharks.

[ But in her mind, remembering what'd been possible with Michiru's more powerful Psychic abilities, she tries to send a mental message out to whatever's quizzing them as well - This is your dream?

Gods. One can invest a lifetime looking for them and then they waltz on in with all the subtlety of a stampeding Rhyhorn. ]

[ Usagi is in midstep, having just begun a leap for the gold, before she's frozen in place. WHAT IN THE HECK? They still had time, didn't they?! But, before she can protest, she hears that echo-y voice and it sends chills down her spine. It was giving them a choice? Was that the point of this whole debacle? ]

There's no way we're leaving anyone behind! Eiji-san... [ Usagi glances over that Rei's cousin who is just skimming at the top of the water before looking at all the flying pokemon that are caged. ] ...all of our pokemon.

[ She can see Lucky in the corner of her eye, in mid flap as if she were trying her hardest to get out of her cage. Her talonflame was such a great girl. There's a second that Usagi wishes she hadn't gotten her pokemon stuck in this situation, now that they had a time to allow their minds to actually focus on talking rather than rushing.

Still, Usagi knew she didn't have much time. No time for flowery speeches that she was used to. Eiji's life was on the line, Rei was ready to go down without any hesitation and regardless of how cold Haruka had been to her about the newly realized bond, she knew the woman wouldn't have let any of them be sacrificed. Not without a fight.

No. Usagi knew her answer. ]

We're all going to go home together. [ By either the dream weavers hand or by their own. Usagi was sure of that, at least. ]

I see.

[The same words are spoken to each of them in turn, and there is a certain amount of satisfaction in its tone.]

The fear of being unable to save what is in need of salvation... the fear of helplessness and desperation.

But it is inevitable that failure will come someday...

[There is a light gust of wind, and everything vanishes in a puff of smoke - platforms, obstacles, ropes, and water. The four of them now hang in a dark void, the light slowly fading.]

What will you do then?

[Those are words that hit Eiji to his core. His earlier dreams from this week being still vivid in his mind. His hand reaching out to the children who died in his care as the flames licked around him. The fear, hopelessness, and anguish he felt as he laid in a hospital, being told that he was one of very few survivors. The guilt that drove him away over a year ago.]

[But. There's something he's learned this week as well.]

You keep moving forward. You fight. You can't have a tomorrow, unless you fight for today- so that yesterday will not be in vain.

[His words are firm, resolute, and there is such a determination in his eyes that's not often seen from the usually detached, goofy Eiji Hino.]

[They're words that resonate in Rei as well. She's known fear, she's known desperation. She's been alone, her mother stolen from her and her father passing her off like an unwanted doll. She's been through her own personal hell, surrounded by people who just didn't care. But she'd also learned to push through. With help from old friends like Jinxie, and by discovering her bonds with Usagi and the others, she's gotten another lesson.

To never, ever give up.]

That's right. Eiji's right. You just keep fighting, you just push through. Because there's always a chance, and there's always, always a way to at least do some good, even if it's your time. Without today, there can't be a tomorrow, and even if you do fail, it's better to fail with no regrets than live full of them and wonder if you could've done things differently.

Edited 2014-11-02 06:24 (UTC)

[ Usagi's eyes widen as they're given a question to answer. It wouldn't have been so shocking if she hadn't had a similar conversation with Michiru the past week about this.

Failing. No way to save everyone. What could she do about protecting those she cared about? It filled her with the same desperation and helplessness that the voice had just echoed to each of them, because as much as she had spoken those flowery promises, it didn't change the fact that she didn't really know how to go about it.

But, Usagi listens to both Rei and Eiji, their words resonating with the feelings she still has under the layer of worry confusion and takes a deep breath to calm herself. ]

Everyone fails. That's just the way life is... you can't just give up if you don't succeed the first time or it doesn't look like things are going the way you planned.

[ There's a small knot in her chest as Usagi glances over to Haruka very briefly before looking out into the devoid blackness. ]

Whether you're alone or you have people that you rely on... the best you can do is learn from the mistakes you've made until you've found the path to make things right. You just have to keep hoping in your heart and soul and even failure can't stop you from what you want to do.

[ This conversation is getting increasingly pointless - that, or Haruka's just suffering from the impression that she's really, really at the wrong party. Wasn't this what the whole obstacle-course-and-sharks thing was about, anyway? Do gods really need promises tied up with fancy ribbons in order to understand humanity's mettle? It fits their theatrics.

But outright laughing while still in a deity's power would be counterproductive, so Haruka just closes her eyes and smirks. They're not even talking about what happens in the face of true failure, are they, the kind where there is no getting back up. The kind where the world is at stake and you rail helplessly but nothing works.

The kind that's not worth thinking about until it happens, so that if it does you can meet your doom with no regrets. But nobody actually wants to hear her opinion, do they? Not even God. ] There you have it.

[ For better or for worse. And, before this gets any more absurd: ] You can wake us up now.

[ It's been a week, okay. How are you supposed to test the way humans live their lives if you don't let them get back to said lives?

Besides, if this God keeps Haruka any longer, Michiru might end the world before it gets a chance to. ]

Hmph.

[The voice snorts a little bit at Haruka's request.]

I have very little desire to watch humans act out their nightmares, as entertaining as it may be. Your awakening is not my decision to make.

I do, however, have even less desire to watch you stumbling deeper into my realm, and so I shall intercede here. Your sentiments are admirable, but surely you realize they have been echoed by thousands before you...

Do you believe yourselves different?

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The Labyrinth of the New Moon

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