MISSION 002

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: May 3rd-28th
WHERE: Within the Labyrinth
WHAT: The second Mission
NOTES\WARNINGS: Potential death, violence, injury. Please add additional warnings as needed within threads.

⏵ into the labyrinth ⏴ Aurora's announced time for the mission was correct: four days after, as she had promised, the door to the Labyrinth opens, connected to Etraya's atmospheric bubble by its entrance point. Characters are directed to come to the entrance on May 3rd, and warned that they may want to bring medical supplies, weaponry, and any important artifacts along with them. She warns that large vehicles will not fit within the limited space available, and smaller ones may be difficult to remove, thus advises those to stay behind. Aurora also offers to watch over any companion animals and keep them safe while competitors complete the Labyrinth. They are given a short amount of time outside of the entrance to speak with one another, to plan and organize themselves, before they are ushered into it in groups of two to four. Once passed the entrance, they'll find that they are unable to turn around and exit out of it: a barrier keeps them from going back into the city proper, and as soon as they are far enough forward, the walls around them shift, closing them in, moving in complex patterns meant to separate them and bring them together. Characters with extraordinary abilities may find some of them inaccessible: super strength may be downgraded to closer to ordinary strength, magic may prove to be less predictable than it should be, and regardless of how strong, fast, or clever characters are: passing over the Labyrinth walls or destroying them proves to be impossible. While one may be able to run through the pathways at superhuman speeds, the pathways compensate for it by running them in circles, refusing to allow them to make any progress on their own. ⏵ pathways collide ⏴ Junctures of the Labyrinth often present competitors with choices, some that may have consequences: a left turn down a darker path may prove to be harmless, whereas the well-lit path may be full of traps intent on slowing them down: a trip wire that activates a swinging massive axe, or arrows that shoot straight out of the wall as soon as one gets close enough. Other junctures may present characters with choices that have consequences: they can choose the shortest pathway, but at great personal risk to themselves or their partner (ie, you can go this way, but your arm isn’t going with you) or they can choose the lengthy pathway full of traps and trials they’ll have to surpass to get to the end. ⏵ balancing act ⏴ The pathway opens up into a massive space, but it's not one with an easy path out: instead, competitors will find an obstacle course that will not let them continue forward until they complete it. Many of the tasks involve things that one cannot do on their own: they must walk across multiple wooden boards balanced precariously on a tall beam, but to ensure it's balanced, there must be one person on both sides of the boards and make sure that they're walking on the board in just the right space to ensure their weight doesn't cause it to sink too far on the opposite side. If a smaller child is on one end, they may want to stand significantly further away from the beam than the larger person on the other half. ⏵ help! i'm bleeding! ⏴ A large garden area spawns off of a pathway. The peaceful chirping of birds can be heard among blooming cherry blossom trees, and it all seems utterly peaceful and calm. An area one might wish to take a breather in, enjoy the sunshine reflecting from above, and get a good nap in. Or would, except a companion bot whose abdomen is covered in ketchup appears to be struggling across the ground, crying out for help. They state they are bleeding profusely and require immediate medical attention, otherwise, they will die. The companion bot also carries a bag of medical supplies and MREs, which player characters are welcome to utilize. The pathway out of this open space will not open until after the companion bot no longer states they are dying. Whether it's because they're "dead", or because those who came across them offered "medical attention" and patched them up until they've stated they're good and no longer need assistance - well, both will technically suffice. ⏵ choice is an illusion ⏴ After walking down an additional pathway, characters will find themselves trapped within a glass box. In front of them is a pedestal with two buttons: one red, and one green, as well as a tablet above it displaying the image of another group of characters. The tablet states hindering them will help you. You may either choose to make the second group's time through the maze more difficult, or hinder your progress by pressing the green button and helping the other group forward. Characters are given two minutes to decide which path to take; the timer, on the tablet, counts down regardless of any attempt to break or hack it. Pressing the green button will drop several squishmallows into the glass box. Inside one of them is a key that unlocks the roof of the glass box. Pressing the red button, while it promises to hinder the other group, actually. . . causes a toxic yellow gas to flood the glass box. The gas will burn the lungs of those who breathe it in, but it also begins slowly melting the glass box. This gas will make breathing difficult for the next 24 hours, but will not kill those who inhale it. Healing factors will not offset the gas. ⏵ who deserves the knife? ⏴ A group of two characters will walk through one corridor and find themselves strapped to two chairs, the backs of which are leaning against each other. In front of the both of them are drills, slowly approaching their chests. They cannot go sideways but can push forward and backward. They can push backward and get themselves further away from the threat of injury - forcing the person behind them to suffer but allowing themselves to escape - or they can push into the drill and free the person they're with. Alternatively, they can choose not to push either way, potentially sacrificing them both. Three options, but they are left with minimal time to decide as the drill continues to press closer. If they choose to go out together, they'll find that as the drills press against their chest - they simply stop. Minimal blood will be spilled, and they will have all the time they need to figure out how to squirm out of their bindings. ⏵ the Siren waits for thee ⏴ A seemingly harmless pathway turns into much more trouble than it's worth. A few steps through a corridor, and suddenly competitors will find the floor falling out from under them, revealing a body of water and - no solid ground on either side of it. There are the walls, but they lack any good climbing holds. Within the water are numerous Sirens - beautiful androgynous creatures that sing soft songs meant to entice others into following them deep into the water. While they may look beautiful, their mouths are full of razor-sharp teeth, and their intentions certainly aren't innocent. However, the Sirens can only touch competitors once they have initiated touch first. They will do their best to encourage this: holding out their hands, crying out for help, pretending to drown, or trying to coax them into coming in close enough for a kiss. As long as they remain on the path, they're harmless. But the moment they reach out for the Sirens... getting away from them will not be easy. Their tails are powerful, built for moving swiftly throughout the water and dragging others along with them. They bite hard and will dig their teeth deep into flesh to discourage struggling. If one gets captured by them? They're lunch. Or worse yet: if they get bitten but manage to escape, they may find themselves becoming a bit.. scaley around the neck, eyes shifting color to a too-soft green, and an almost impossible-to-resist urge to take a bite out of their friends. This effect will continue until May 28th regardless of when the character reaches the end of the Labyrinth. After May 28th, they will find that their scales slowly begin to shed, their eyes begin to turn back to their normal shade, and any other new features slowly turn back to how they were before they were infected. ⏵ don't forget your ball of twine ⏴ The Labyrinth is large, and there are many challenges around each corner. There may be space for breaks in between monsters, challenges, riddles, places to sit and recuperate between battles and mind games. It's not all chaos and challenges meant to test one's strength of will. ⏵ NOTES ⏴ May's mission is completing a massive Labyrinth. All characters must enter the Labyrinth; whether or not they participate once they're inside is up to them, but no one will be permitted to stay behind in the city. The duo who completes the Labyrinth first will be allowed to assist in choosing the next mission. Sign-ups for this are here. We will contact the chosen characters on May 13th. This mission will cover the time between May 3rd and May 28th. After May 28th, any characters who have not yet exited the Labyrinth will be gathered by the companion bots and brought back into the city. The companion bots will be aiming for nonviolent intervention. If more is needed, please let us know here. The first to exit will be returning to the city on May 15th. There will be powercapping during this mission, but the extent of which is fully up to players. We want the Labyrinth to be challenging but don't want to hinder gameplay too much. If you have any questions relating to this or want assistance coming up with ways to powercap your character, please feel free to ask us here. We will be largely leaving this up to player discretion. Food is scarce within the Labyrinth, but not impossible to find. There are chests (or maybe they're mimics?) strewn throughout with various useful items. One might have a sword, another might have a fresh chicken nugget Happy Meal from McDonalds. Or an entire birthday cake, candles included. Large vehicles will not fit in the Labyrinth and must be left behind in the city. Numerous challenges are throughout the Labyrinth. You are welcome to make your own, but we will also provide several you may utilize! Please feel free to throw down wildcards, or your own challenges into your prompts! The limitation is that characters must remain themselves throughout the challenges. There are no mirror replicas, nothing within the Labyrinth will affect their personalities or core values. It’s meant to challenge, not change them. Deaths that occur within the Labyrinth will last 24 hours. Please report these on our Death Tracker. All new locations will appear after player characters have returned to the city. Feel free to note the differences from the May 3rd map, versus what characters will be returning to on May 15th.

Comments

🔪

[accelerate]

Nope.

[ Recognise that voice, Jones? It's Barry. Mr Optimism still sounds like he did on the streets, but there's an uncertain, frightened layer to his voice now.

This isn't the first time he's found himself strapped to a chair. This is, however, the first time he's found himself strapped to one with a drill pointing his way a little distance away. Hopefully it's a piece of equipment meant to support maintenance work?

He feels hollowed out; he feels like how he did when Wells stole his speed. But it's there, a glimmer of it, waiting to be found. He's like a pond that's been dried out. If he can capture it in his hands, he can phase out of here and get her untied within a flash. ]

Maybe your sharp tongue can be useful for once and get us out of here.

[ Is this Barry being mean????



Yes. ]

[ebrius]

[ You know what, Barry Allen? She's going to punch you in the throat when they're out of here.

Of all the people she could be tied up and stuck with, he would have been near the bottom of the list. She struggles against the bindings, trying to rock a bit mostly to try and piss him off.

If that was even possible. The bindings are pretty strong despite her knowing that she should be able to break through them. But, her strength is severely depleted here and it's pissing her off.

Everything is pissing her off. ]

Maybe I'll rip your tongue out when we get out of here and use it as a bookmark.

[accelerate]

You read? [ It's not said derogatorily despite the surprise in his voice. ] What kind of books?

[ Barry grins, knowing he's getting under her skin. Usually, he'd have someone (usually Iris) in his ear, heeding he be cautious and patient, but Iris isn't here, so Barry isn't patient. He remains still as she wriggles around behind him. Phasing through the bindings should work, but— Barry's biding his time, taking in their surroundings as he tries to piece together what team bonding activity this is. ]

[ebrius]

Does it surprise you that I know how to read?

[ Though, it's definitely not he favorite way to pass the time. But, she does it. Occasionally. ]

I read books that have words. What kind of books do you read?

[accelerate]

Books with pictures.

[ He's lying. He reads books with a lot of words, too. But where's the fun in saying that when it's clear she may want him to fill a specific role? ]

Have you read any books about being tied to chairs? My library was out of copies when I wanted to borrow them.

[ebrius]

No, I haven't.

[ Said oh so dryly. He can't see it but maybe he can feel her rolling his eyes. ]

Guess we both missed uot on a very important topic, didn't we? Oh no, now we're doomed to be stuck like this forever.

[accelerate]

[ Yes, he can. ]

I have a feeling we won't be stuck like this forever.

[ He sighs heavily. Why is he in a remake of SAW?

Machinery lightly buzzes. ]

The drill just turned on.

[ebrius]

Oh, that's great.

[ She can hear it now too and she winces because, unless someone was doing some home repair, that wasn't a good sign.

She takes a breath. ]

Turn it off.

[ A girl can dream that maybe he's got some kind of telekinesis to do just that, right? ]

[accelerate]

Sure.

[ Barry sounds dubious as he tries to phase his hands through the rope. There's a vibration from behind them both as he manages to shake his hands, but it's not enough to sear through the rope. If anything, Barry earns himself some nice rope burn.

With a deep sigh - ]

Uh. So. Looks like I can't. And—yep. Yep. [ Mechanical hinges groan as the drill starts to move on its contraption as slow as the Turtle. ] My worst nightmare is coming to life.

[ebrius]

[ And, even though Jessica knows that her own strength is massively reduced, she still tries to pull at the ropes. Something that should be so easy feels like a monumental task and she curses loudly. ]

What the fuck is this!

[ You don't need to answer that, Barry. She doesn't want an explanation, she wants her shit back and she wants to get out of here. ]

Fine, any other ideas?

[accelerate]

[ If only he knew.

Over the last two years of being the Flash, he's seen some wild things: men controlling the weather, men coming from the future, and time travel. He's seen and been things he couldn't comprehend and still fails to understand fully.

Not being able to access his speed when no one has taken it from him is unnerving. Barry refuses to let himself be scared, not when Jessica's embraced it. ]

You could try yelling at it. Your personality would stop anything in its tracks.

[ Give him time to think as the machine moves forward. ]

[ebrius]

What if I yelled at you, could I do that instead?

[ She's going to kick you when they get out of this, Barry. Right in the shin. ]

Can you move at all? Even something small?

[ Could they rock themselves out of the way? ]

[accelerate]

[ He lets out a rough exhale. ]

Maybe.

[ A small movement to Barry feels like not moving at all. His fingers curl—a movement!—and… he's pretty sure his leg vibrated for a miniscule of a second.

Maybe the point isn't to try and move like the Flash.

Barry tries to tip to the left. It takes a few tries to sort his weight, but his chair groans and shifts against the ground. ]

[ebrius]

[ She's never been more happy to hear the sounds of creaking and shifting than she is right now.

Still, she doesn't know if it's quick enough. ]

Come on, let me do it too. Maybe we can...tip over or something and make it easier to get out of this shit.

[ She starts trying to shimmy and shift, using her weight and momentum to try and tip in the direction she'd felt Barry moving. ]

[accelerate]

[ If he knew Jessica Jones well enough, perhaps Barry Allen would be on the floor by the fact she's suggesting teamwork.

But he doesn't, so he remains seated in his chair. ]

Yeah.

[ He clears his throat. ]

Let's do it. Alright.

[ He moves when she's not moving. It takes a few moments to get into a sense of coordination, but Barry does, pushing against his feet, tipping off to the side and—

Did they fall? ]

[ebrius]

[ Jessica rocks herself, trying to gain some momentum and then uses the tips of her toes to try and push herself off. With Barry doing it too, she feels the chair rock a bit and then it's tipping.

And...then they're hitting the ground with a solid thump. They're still tied together but now they're tied together on the floor. ]

[accelerate]

… Ow.

[ Is his speed healing going to kick in, or will he be sporting a comically large bruise on his arm? Tune in to find out in a few hours!

Remaining on his side, Barry exhales roughly. The drill moves before it comes to a slow, awkward halt, like it's confused that the presence it sensed before is no longer there. ]

You okay? I feel like my arm could be broken.

[ He'll try and get them out of the binds in a minute. ]

[ebrius]

Yeah.

[ No, not really. She'd hit her head pretty hard and she hopes that doesn't mean concussion. She blinks a few times. ]

Can you move at all?

[ Jessica wiggles, closing her eyes when her vision spins a bit. ]

[accelerate]

[ Flexing his fingers and wriggling his toes (inside his Converse), Barry finds he can move quite a bit! But it takes a few seconds before his fingers begin to vibrate at a fast frequency (the action may feel ticklish to Jessica) and Barry's eyes streak with golden threads of lightning. It's like his powers have woken up on speed. ]

I think Jigsaw's trap is broken. Usually there's something else, you know? A key behind an eye. Spikes on the floor.

[ His voice is vibrating. ]

[ebrius]

What the hell are you talking about?

[ Sorry Barry, she'd missed those amazing pieces of cinematic history. ]

A key behind someone's eye? Are you serious?

[accelerate]

Yep.

[ He even pops the 'p'. Hope she likes that. There's a question to be asked here, but since Cisco isn't here and Barry needs to concentrate on phasing, he doesn't ask it.

Instead, he asks another like he's enquiring about the colour pink - ]

Can you move your hands a little to the left? I don't want to cut them off accidentally.

[ebrius]

You cut anything of mine off, I'll break your neck.

[ With a grimace, she does try and move her hands and she feels them shift slightly. ]

What am I gonna do with them now? I moved them.

[accelerate]

[ Yay! She's still so mean. :') ]

Just… keep them there for a minute.

[ With her hands safely tucked away as far as she can shift them, Barry vibrates his hands at a fast frequency. If they were face-to-face, his hands would blur before her, but as their wrists are tucked behind their backs, Jessica doesn't get to experience the pleasure of such a visual. She can feel the air shift quickly near her like a small fan has tucked itself between them. Something's clearly happening behind them.

It takes him half a minute to feel his hands phase through the ropes. He accidentally smacks his no-longer-vibrating hands against hers.

With a deep exhale - ]

Thank god.

[ Then he's rolling noisily away from the chair, kicking the leg accidentally with his heel. This baby giraffe will get to his knees in a minute and help. ]

[ebrius]

Christ, are you just learning how to walk?

[ She gets smacked with his hands and then he kicks the chair which shifts her around a bit and she glares over her shoulder.

But, with him loose, she's able to start pulling her bindings loose too. ]

Let me know when you're done stumbling around back there. I can wait.

[accelerate]

[ With a great big huff - ]

Done!

[ He's on his feet, though there really is no point in celebrating that as he needs to be on his knees to help her untie herself. He works quickly, long fingers and speed (normal speed, mind) put to good use. ]

I'm starting to wonder if Aurora wants to kill us.