[As soon as the door opens, Damian realizes how free he is, and he drops down low to escape their arms while also picking up the squish again. Did I forget to say it's a pink heart with NOPE on it and a face? Because he looks stupid carrying it, but it fits him.
And yes, he immediately tries to zip into the cabin unless Dick grabs him by the back of the collar.]]
[ dick absolutely grabbed him by the collar to wait for steph, which took like two minutes, damian, god, and then off they went. and... yeah, it is noisy. dick fully expects it's going to be a waste in about two seconds, but he still takes out a purple glowstick and cracks it to try to get some light. ]
Careful. Last time, the door closed after us after we came in. And remember, whatever you see in here-- it's not real.
Steph places her hand where the right wall should be — and there's nothing. It's like coming in contact with a void. There is empty space where, by all rights, there should be a wall. But there isn't. Dick's glowstick is going to do diddly squat, too. But by then, it really won't matter. Just like he said, the door slams shut behind them, leaving them in the dark. The sound of the crowd grows louder, their voices gettig closer and closer, and then
A spotlight shines down on the group, illuminating the dark void they've suddenly found themselves in. The door is no longer behind them. The "sky" above them is black, black, black as far as the eye can see. And in front of them, they will see a building lit up in nothing but eerie, vibrant reds. Something is written above the doors, but it blurs and shifts every time they blink. Try as they might, they cannot seem to read it.
OH? Damian at least doesn't race away once he is just inside the door, only taking up a small margin of being-ahead in comparison to the other two flanking him. The door shuts, but that doesn't surprise him. Of course it shuts.
His brows furrow, and he squints under the spotlight, holding up a free hand.]
I have been homeschooled my entire life, and I refuse to be integrated in a childhood prison system. [but he follows :\] The first person to break out into song will have their neck snapped.
[ dick looks at the dark sky, the red lit high school, and then at damian ]
I think your cultural understanding of high school might be flawed. Or of high school musicals, at the very least.
[ but yeah they'll ... go inside the school? there's nothing in the. void before the school, right? they can't go play in the courtyard or anything? bummer. he is making sure to stick close to the other two, looking around in case. something pops up ]
[There's nothing in the void before the school, correct! It's just them, and the steps leading to the entrance. Everything is silent as they make their way up, and though the front doors are glass-paned, it's impossible to see what's inside. There are a few sheets of paper taped to the doors. They may read them if they wish, but since they're immediately walking inside the school, maybe not.
As they open the doors, however, they will find themselves a school lobby. Posters and flyers line the walls, and two trophy cases flank an empty hallway. It stretches on for what appears to be forever, though they will see several lockers and a couple of classroom doors from their current position. Red and black stripes decorate the floor. The lights are dim, flickering on and off intermittently.
Once they're inside, however, they will hear the doors they just walked through lock behind them. Pleasant.]
[This is very pointed because look at the place they walked into, Grayson? Clearly, school is a hellscape with no laws or morals. The doors have shut on them, and they are not surprised, but are very, very tired.
Also, the papers on the door probably said, DON'T DEAD, OPEN INSIDE. It's fine.
Damian will--inspect the trophy case. Is there a prominent Sports Anime System at this school?]
[ the rest is fine? dick is going to be nosy and see if he can open any of the lockers on their way while the other two look at stuff, but if none of them do he'll try to look into the classrooms around ]
No. We've got no way of staying in contact right now. [ he REALLY misses m'gann's mind link, god. so easy. ]
SHOULD I DIE? YOUR OWN DEATH IS THE BEST GIFT FOR YOUR FRIENDS
[Hm. The trophy case seems to be mostly football oriented, but there are achievements for other sports and activities in there. Damian won't be able to read any specific names, but the years are still visible. The latest trophy seems to be dated to 1989, with the majority being older than that.
It's cute that Dick thinks he can leave the lobby, though. As soon as he moves for the lockers, he will hit an invisible wall keeping him from entering the hallway. Not only that, but for all his acrobatic skills and dexterity, the bounceback causes him to fall flat on his ass. Oops? The reaction is immediate, however. The moment Dick's butt makes contact with the floor, thousands of black, beady eyes appear on the walls. They all shift to stare at him, unblinking, before the walls distort and mouths appear on the wall for every set of eyes. And then—]
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
[—like something out of a horror movie, shadowy figures begin to crawl out of the walls, their bodies covered in eyes and mouths as they all point and laugh at Dick. Some of them boo. Some of them whisper and giggle to each other. Some of them even call him names, chanting: FREAK, SLUT, MURDERER, MURDERER, MURDERER. The group will find themselves surrounded by the figures in a matter of seconds, all avenues of escape blocked off by them.
[He absolutely abandons the trophy case and hastily closes the distance between himself and Dick. But he spins around to face the shadows emerging from the walls.
He braces for a fight because of course he does. His middle name is fight. If any of the shadows get close, he is one hundred percent going to swing at them!]
They're closing in! We have to fight either way unless one of you have something to get rid of them.
[ ow, his perfect ass. he's more surprised by the landing than hurt, and then the shadows show up. he springs up in a smooth movement, taking a defensive stance as well towards them.
he would be touched damian immediately sprang for him if he wasn't so busy being so annoyed at even the shadows calling him a slut. come the fuck on. ]
I think this is why I never went to college. [ gotham academy was 0 percent like this, but he'll make the joke either way because this is unnerving and-- let's go with rude, he can feel personally attacked later. ] Damian's right. Unless you guys have a surefire way to distract evil high school monsters, I think we're stuck on the fighting side of things. Especially since I don't exactly have a bully victim on hand.
[ he is ignoring that right now, he is the bully victim. ]
We create an opening and we go, that's it. We don't know just how many of them can keep pouring out the walls!
Since Steph is just poking one of the shadows, she will realize that they are entirely solid. The shadow she poked stops laughing, gasping in shock as it turns the the one next to it and shrieks:]
"Did you see that? That skank touched me!"
"Gross!"
[The shadows won't attack them, but they will continue to close in on them. Pointing at them. Jeering. Shouting expletives. Their eyes are trained on them, the sclera far too white and visible even in the dim lightning. Spittle flies at the three of them as the figures laugh and boo and yell. The pitch and volume of their voices rises the longer this goes on, to the point where the group will feel the beginning of a headache, nausea creeping up on them as the space becomes smaller and smaller.]
Damian is 100% tired of both the growing headache and the damn stupid shadows making fun of all of them. The small child goes feral as soon as the "okay maybe we can figh--" leaves Dick's mouth.
Like a cat, he leaps from the place he's standing right up and over to the first shadow. He kicks his leg out and tries to roundhouses the first one in the neck.
He, like, wants to fight, but Dick said to make an opening, so... he guesses he is just going to keep pushing forward to make them a little path.]
[ dick has a headache and it is only 50% due to the screaming shadows hounding them. he'll ... stick to pushing or shoving past them and going? he'll hit if necessary but it does not seem necessary. he is trying not to lose track of damian or steph, here, this is horrible. can we please get to the hall. ]
[It seems that, in this case, violence isn't the answer. Dick can push past the crowd with a bit of effort, and make his way past the ring that has formed around the trio. But when Damian tries to roundhouse one of the shadows in the neck? He will find himself losing his balance completely; one moment he's on his feet, the next he's face down on the ground, eating shit.
If it's even possible, the shadows laugh and cackle with more intensity. Their eyes turn in Damian's direction, pointing and booing at him. Among the shouts and jeers, he will hear:]
"Aw, look at him! Poor little Dami is throwing a tantrum!"
"Are you gonna go cry to your mommy, baby?"
"Pffft, like his mom even wants him! No one wants him!"
[Hm. Maybe they should just keep pushing. It's clear the shadows will not attack them physically, at least.]
[ can steph please just get a normal break-in. let her just punch something, she begs you.
but hm, this seems to be... something. but also acknowledging what is happening seems like a bad move at the moment, so steph is just going to pause near damian until he's back up; she knows offering to help him up is just going to get on his nerves. but once he is, she will follow behind dick. ]
[He's not sure what he's more angry about, being knocked down, or being kicked while he's down there. His eyes blaze when he whips around again. It doesn't even take him two seconds to get back to his feet with his fists balled.]
Silence!
[He's half a millisecond away from pulling out his dagger and going to town, it working or not be damned. Throwing his arms up, he charges after Dick. FINE. HE WILL JUST SHOVE EVERYONE OUT OF THE WAY.]
[ hm, suddenly the shadows make more sense. dick stops pushing his way through when Damian falls, and he absolutely would have helped him up if he'd needed it, ego be damned, but he does not so once he's sure they're both following him off they go again, shoving their way through ... shadows pointing out their insecurities. Bad. ]
Ignore them. They're not real, nothing in this place is. If it's anything like Purple-- this is Winter's "residue" combining with ours. We just have to make our way through it.
[Luckily for them, as long as they don't try to attack the shadows again, they will be able to push their way past them and into the hallway. More shadowy figures line the walls, blocking the lockers and the classroom doors. Furthermore, they won't be able to make it past the first two classroom doors. In fact, they won't be able to approach them at all. A portable stage has appeared in the middle of the hallway, a large TV screen is attached to the stage along with two speakers. There is text displayed on the screen, while music blasts from the speakers. There are three podiums by the left side of the hallway, angled to face the stage at a bit of an angle. Each podium has a small screen on the front. Each screen reads:]
SCORE: 0
[As the group approaches, confetti and glitter rain down on them. The shadowy figures that line the hallway start to clap and stomp their feet rhythmically. The next time they blink, they will notice there are two individuals on the stage now. Though they both wear cartoonishly big red and cyan 3D glasses, and their grins are stretched too wide to be comfortable, the trio will have no trouble making sense of their features. One is an older man Damian will find very familiar, and the other is a young man Steph has seen way too much of recently. Oh, boy.
The younger man holds a microphone in his hand, making a grand sweeping gestures at the trio, right before he begins to speak.]
"Gooooooooood evening, Camp Gatonina! We are your hosts, Goro Akechi—"
[The older man speaks:]
"—and Hannibal Lecter!"
[Together, they say:]
"And we welcome you to another episode of—"
[Suddenly, the shadowy figures chant. Beside them, the group will notice another man working a camera, filming the whole affair.]
"Reasons! You! Deserve! To! Die!"
[The figures hoot and cheer, while their "hosts" stare at the group expectantly. Well, what now?]
[What is with this lost, sassy stage? This is the hallway, do you have a pass?]
Lecter!
[He starts to charge forward, but probably Dick will grab him by the collar again, and if not, Dick and Steph will be doing it so they can get this humiliation over with.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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And yes, he immediately tries to zip into the cabin unless Dick grabs him by the back of the collar.]]
It's noisy.
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Careful. Last time, the door closed after us after we came in. And remember, whatever you see in here-- it's not real.
[ probably. ]
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Steph places her hand where the right wall should be — and there's nothing. It's like coming in contact with a void. There is empty space where, by all rights, there should be a wall. But there isn't. Dick's glowstick is going to do diddly squat, too. But by then, it really won't matter. Just like he said, the door slams shut behind them, leaving them in the dark. The sound of the crowd grows louder, their voices gettig closer and closer, and then
a bell rings.
And everything goes quiet.
A spotlight shines down on the group, illuminating the dark void they've suddenly found themselves in. The door is no longer behind them. The "sky" above them is black, black, black as far as the eye can see. And in front of them, they will see a building lit up in nothing but eerie, vibrant reds. Something is written above the doors, but it blurs and shifts every time they blink. Try as they might, they cannot seem to read it.
There is nowhere else to go but forward.]
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[ the bell... it's haunting her with visions of public school's past.
but well, since that is the only obvious place they can head to, it's time to walk to it! ]
Stay close.
[ damian :/ ]
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OH? Damian at least doesn't race away once he is just inside the door, only taking up a small margin of being-ahead in comparison to the other two flanking him. The door shuts, but that doesn't surprise him. Of course it shuts.
His brows furrow, and he squints under the spotlight, holding up a free hand.]
I have been homeschooled my entire life, and I refuse to be integrated in a childhood prison system. [but he follows :\] The first person to break out into song will have their neck snapped.
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I think your cultural understanding of high school might be flawed. Or of high school musicals, at the very least.
[ but yeah they'll ... go inside the school? there's nothing in the. void before the school, right? they can't go play in the courtyard or anything? bummer. he is making sure to stick close to the other two, looking around in case. something pops up ]
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As they open the doors, however, they will find themselves a school lobby. Posters and flyers line the walls, and two trophy cases flank an empty hallway. It stretches on for what appears to be forever, though they will see several lockers and a couple of classroom doors from their current position. Red and black stripes decorate the floor. The lights are dim, flickering on and off intermittently.
Once they're inside, however, they will hear the doors they just walked through lock behind them. Pleasant.]
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[ terrible.
but she'll walk over to read what the flyers say. hopefully something normal. ]
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[This is very pointed because look at the place they walked into, Grayson? Clearly, school is a hellscape with no laws or morals. The doors have shut on them, and they are not surprised, but are very, very tired.
Also, the papers on the door probably said, DON'T DEAD, OPEN INSIDE. It's fine.
Damian will--inspect the trophy case. Is there a prominent Sports Anime System at this school?]
Do we split up?
[He can already hear the double, "NO."]
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[ the rest is fine? dick is going to be nosy and see if he can open any of the lockers on their way while the other two look at stuff, but if none of them do he'll try to look into the classrooms around ]
No. We've got no way of staying in contact right now. [ he REALLY misses m'gann's mind link, god. so easy. ]
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100 REASONS YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!
[And:]
SHOULD I DIE? YOUR OWN DEATH IS THE BEST GIFT FOR YOUR FRIENDS
[Hm. The trophy case seems to be mostly football oriented, but there are achievements for other sports and activities in there. Damian won't be able to read any specific names, but the years are still visible. The latest trophy seems to be dated to 1989, with the majority being older than that.
It's cute that Dick thinks he can leave the lobby, though. As soon as he moves for the lockers, he will hit an invisible wall keeping him from entering the hallway. Not only that, but for all his acrobatic skills and dexterity, the bounceback causes him to fall flat on his ass. Oops? The reaction is immediate, however. The moment Dick's butt makes contact with the floor, thousands of black, beady eyes appear on the walls. They all shift to stare at him, unblinking, before the walls distort and mouths appear on the wall for every set of eyes. And then—]
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
[—like something out of a horror movie, shadowy figures begin to crawl out of the walls, their bodies covered in eyes and mouths as they all point and laugh at Dick. Some of them boo. Some of them whisper and giggle to each other. Some of them even call him names, chanting: FREAK, SLUT, MURDERER, MURDERER, MURDERER. The group will find themselves surrounded by the figures in a matter of seconds, all avenues of escape blocked off by them.
What now?]
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[ anyway, she was about to comment on the flyers, except then literally all of that just happened and uh. this is happening.
she looks around, looking for some other way? to get out? before experimentally using the bat to see if she poke at one of the shadows. ]
Any ideas?
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Grayson!
[He absolutely abandons the trophy case and hastily closes the distance between himself and Dick. But he spins around to face the shadows emerging from the walls.
He braces for a fight because of course he does. His middle name is fight. If any of the shadows get close, he is one hundred percent going to swing at them!]
They're closing in! We have to fight either way unless one of you have something to get rid of them.
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he would be touched damian immediately sprang for him if he wasn't so busy being so annoyed at even the shadows calling him a slut. come the fuck on. ]
I think this is why I never went to college. [ gotham academy was 0 percent like this, but he'll make the joke either way because this is unnerving and-- let's go with rude, he can feel personally attacked later. ] Damian's right. Unless you guys have a surefire way to distract evil high school monsters, I think we're stuck on the fighting side of things. Especially since I don't exactly have a bully victim on hand.
[ he is ignoring that right now, he is the bully victim. ]
We create an opening and we go, that's it. We don't know just how many of them can keep pouring out the walls!
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Since Steph is just poking one of the shadows, she will realize that they are entirely solid. The shadow she poked stops laughing, gasping in shock as it turns the the one next to it and shrieks:]
"Did you see that? That skank touched me!"
"Gross!"
[The shadows won't attack them, but they will continue to close in on them. Pointing at them. Jeering. Shouting expletives. Their eyes are trained on them, the sclera far too white and visible even in the dim lightning. Spittle flies at the three of them as the figures laugh and boo and yell. The pitch and volume of their voices rises the longer this goes on, to the point where the group will feel the beginning of a headache, nausea creeping up on them as the space becomes smaller and smaller.]
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well, the headache isn't helping any. stephanie holds onto her head with her free hand, but at least she got a confirmation. ]
We can touch them. We could maybe try to push through and see if we can get to the hall?
[ this was a terrible time to not bring her grappling hook but it's fine ]
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Damian is 100% tired of both the growing headache and the damn stupid shadows making fun of all of them. The small child goes feral as soon as the "okay maybe we can figh--" leaves Dick's mouth.
Like a cat, he leaps from the place he's standing right up and over to the first shadow. He kicks his leg out and tries to roundhouses the first one in the neck.
He, like, wants to fight, but Dick said to make an opening, so... he guesses he is just going to keep pushing forward to make them a little path.]
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... Apparently, we're going. Come on.
[ dick has a headache and it is only 50% due to the screaming shadows hounding them. he'll ... stick to pushing or shoving past them and going? he'll hit if necessary but it does not seem necessary. he is trying not to lose track of damian or steph, here, this is horrible. can we please get to the hall. ]
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If it's even possible, the shadows laugh and cackle with more intensity. Their eyes turn in Damian's direction, pointing and booing at him. Among the shouts and jeers, he will hear:]
"Aw, look at him! Poor little Dami is throwing a tantrum!"
"Are you gonna go cry to your mommy, baby?"
"Pffft, like his mom even wants him! No one wants him!"
[Hm. Maybe they should just keep pushing. It's clear the shadows will not attack them physically, at least.]
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but hm, this seems to be... something. but also acknowledging what is happening seems like a bad move at the moment, so steph is just going to pause near damian until he's back up; she knows offering to help him up is just going to get on his nerves. but once he is, she will follow behind dick. ]
This is stupid.
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Silence!
[He's half a millisecond away from pulling out his dagger and going to town, it working or not be damned. Throwing his arms up, he charges after Dick. FINE. HE WILL JUST SHOVE EVERYONE OUT OF THE WAY.]
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Ignore them. They're not real, nothing in this place is. If it's anything like Purple-- this is Winter's "residue" combining with ours. We just have to make our way through it.
[ can they. please have made their way through ]
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SCORE: 0
[As the group approaches, confetti and glitter rain down on them. The shadowy figures that line the hallway start to clap and stomp their feet rhythmically. The next time they blink, they will notice there are two individuals on the stage now. Though they both wear cartoonishly big red and cyan 3D glasses, and their grins are stretched too wide to be comfortable, the trio will have no trouble making sense of their features. One is an older man Damian will find very familiar, and the other is a young man Steph has seen way too much of recently. Oh, boy.
The younger man holds a microphone in his hand, making a grand sweeping gestures at the trio, right before he begins to speak.]
"Gooooooooood evening, Camp Gatonina! We are your hosts, Goro Akechi—"
[The older man speaks:]
"—and Hannibal Lecter!"
[Together, they say:]
"And we welcome you to another episode of—"
[Suddenly, the shadowy figures chant. Beside them, the group will notice another man working a camera, filming the whole affair.]
"Reasons! You! Deserve! To! Die!"
[The figures hoot and cheer, while their "hosts" stare at the group expectantly. Well, what now?]
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[ she is so fucking tired
but she glances at the two other men... well, they're most likely from dick's and damian's games then. ]
I'm guessing we won't be able to leave unless we play along, huh?
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Lecter!
[He starts to charge forward, but probably Dick will grab him by the collar again, and if not, Dick and Steph will be doing it so they can get this humiliation over with.]
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