[Semi-closed] | Icarus Was My Best Friend

[sciencesquid]

Who: Otto Octavius, Rob, everyone who volunteered for the mini plot
Which: Log | Closed
Where: Riverside warehouse
What: 'Doc Ock' has finally finished his life's work. Again. Turns out, nuclear reactors are dangerous. Who knew?
Warnings: TBA in the comment titles if needed

The morning of the 14th dawns as any other, at least at first. It's brisk and calm, up until it isn't. Clouds begin to gather above the riverside district. In a world where emotions can call upon rain, that may not be so odd. Not long after, the earthquakes begin; just minor tremors. A portrait may slip sideways and the coffee inside one's cup may ripple. The closer one is to the riverside, the more noticeable it is. It would be a small inconvenience, were it not for the fact that the tremors don't stop. They just keep going and going and going…

Magnets stop working and if they were clinging to a surface before, they now fall to the ground, their purpose stripped from them. Then they begin to move, sliding along the floor until they inevitably hit an obstacle. Small bits of metal follow the same pattern, be it a paperclip or a screw, all headed in the same direction: the riverside warehouse district. The more observant characters will realize that something's definitely happening.

All who choose to follow the metal bits along their journey will be led to the source of the problem. The clouds centered over one particular warehouse flash ominously. One might mistake it for lightning, but the color is too warm. It looks more like solar flares. Is that still dreamotion effects caused by one person, or is something happening to amplify these effects? The signs outside the warehouse's outer walls warn against intruding. There's a good reason for that, as those who approach may soon
discover.

((OOC: Please use the nested prompts for your replies!))

Comments

Meet-Up

[sciencesquid]

[Is your character going to investigate? Will they meet someone else along the way? Do they hesitate before approaching the warehouse, perhaps? Gather here!]

[lonelysmiles]

[He remembers this warehouse from the little confrontation by the river some weeks ago. This was where his shadow friends had escorted the "good" doctor.]

Oh dear, Dr. Octavius. Just what are you up to?

[He starts to walk closer but stops. His ears twitch backwards as he hears others approach.]

[allegedprisoner]

Dr. Octavius...?

[ Luca was led here by the floating scraps of metal. He deals with a lot of electromagnetic science, so he realized magnets malfunctioning was a cause for concern. It didn't take him long to discover a pattern and follow the breadcrumbs...

Which just so happened to lead him to the deer demon he spoke with last month. What was the fellow's name? Does it matter that much? All that Luca knows is that he spoke to a scientist with that name on the journals... Before...

Luca frowns. ] I assume you've seen him here before?

[lonelysmiles]

Once, yes. We met a few weeks ago by the river. A rather unpleasant man, if you ask me.

[Alastor folds his hands behind his back.]

But I'd unknowingly walked into one of his dreams before then. If he has something similar to what I saw in that dream in there with him, well, then we're in for some potential trouble.

[allegedprisoner]

... I'm not too sure about unpleasant. I did rather enjoy discussing scientific theories.

[ But then again, Luca may be questioning himself now. Especially now that we're talking dreams. ]

What was in that dream?

[lonelysmiles]

An old attic with a machine Dr. Octavius would later call a "nuclear reactor". [The phrase is said slightly slower than Alastor's usual speech, the words still unfamiliar on his tongue.] In the dream, it generated a miniature sun in the middle of the attic. It also had the rather curious side effect of drawing in anything metal to itself.

[Sound familiar?]

Unfortunately, it didn't stop with metal. Everything around it was consumed by the sun that kept getting bigger and bigger. Then presumably Dr. Octavius awoke since it all came to an abrupt end.

1/3

[allegedprisoner]

[ Luca does perk up a bit at the words "nuclear reactor." He heard those before... Wasn't he... ]

2/3

[allegedprisoner]

[ No. No, the feeling of familiarity slowly turns to horror as the demon goes on. Hazy bits of memories start to form, bits of things said... ]

Oh... T-that...

3/3

[allegedprisoner]

[ . . . There was something else. ]

I think I've seen something similar. S-seen, not walked into. I didn't see who was dreaming, it was from their perspective... There was a woman... And that- Yes! That sun you described! It exploded before everyone's eyes! And... And then there was this strange voice talking to me... "Keep going," it said... "Finish it..."

[ He blinks, shaking his head before pressing a hand against it for a moment. ] I... I tried speaking with the dreamer after that... Somehow... Not sure how I was able to from such a distance-- But I swear, I was hearing that voice again- It... My head...

Rob's Boobytraps

[nulland]

[You can do your own things with each other in general unless you need me to RNG something or you're directly dealing with Rob!]

Outer Yard

[The ground is strangely uneven and covered in loose dirt and pebbles from the main yard for this building all the way to the warehouse entrance. This is to hide various triggers and traps, but it’s hard to tell what’s safe and what isn’t. You get to decide how well you luck out, of course!

The first thing you’ll run into are pitfall traps. Pretty standard; the ground will go out from under you and you’ll find yourself in a hole. They’re not that wide; only room for about one or two people. But they are about 6 to 8 feet deep, and the flat, packed dirt walls make climbing out tricky.]

Inner Yard

[As you get closer to Otto's hideout, more traps pop up. Sure, you could still find yourself in the ground. There are also some very obvious barrels set up on ramps lining the sides of the path. These are very large, heavy barrels. They could be called "casks" if Rob's show aired later in the day. The ropes that are obviously attached to release devices on the ramps to control when they come careening toward you vanish under the dirt pretty quickly, though, so one may come hurtling down if you step on the wrong spot. Or you can try to destroy them before they can do anything. Up to you.

You also have a chance of triggering a dreamotion bomb, unknowingly curtosy of Herlock Sholmes. There's a chance these will explode, but it's far more likely something weird and less dangerous will happen. I (Kaito) will RNG these results so please note when you're triggering one! Of course, how much it actually affects your character (if at all) is entirely up to your discretion.]

Entrance

[The side doors are all jammed shut with bricks and plywood, but the main entrance just seems to have a couple of huge plywood sheets serving as doors. Hmm…

Rob is inside up on the walkway ready with more traps. Those "doors" maaaay be ready to set off some smoke bombs as you enter. And there may be some mystery objects ready to fall down on you as soon as Rob cuts the ropes. Again, how your character is hit/hurt or isn't is your call. I'll note that they're not obscenely heavy, but could give you a good knock on the head if you're unlucky.]

Hallway

[The path to the main hall isn't much better than outside, but it's helped by the fact that Rob is used to oblivious cartoon characters. With spaces readily available to hang falling objects, some are not hard to spot. There are lower-hanging palettes of bricks that will be super easy to avoid unless you really don't want to.

Less easy to spot are burlap sacks higher up in the darkness. These have various things inside which I will also RNG the results of, so again let me know if you want him to cut one down at the right time!

And there are still dreamotion bombs around too. The set-up is the same as before.]

Rob

[Just before you get to the main hall, Rob will finally come down from the dark walkways. If you want to confront him or convince him this is all a terrible idea, this is the time to do it. Or just ignore him and go in after Otto. He's too new here to do much to stop you under his own power.]

Hallway

[b_a_n_g]

[Reaper had made it this far with little, if any trouble, avoiding the traps. He had decades of experience getting to places that he shouldn't be in, and his powers to turn to literal smoke aided him in that endeavour. Still, he was used to military grade defenses, and this was... not that. At all.

He was almost insulted. He should have navigated this drunk on 76's moonshine to make it even a little bit of a challenge.

As he entered the hallway, he stopped and looked around for obvious and less obvious traps. His black leather coat flared out as if caught in a breeze despite their not being one, and he sighed as if annoyed.]

What a waste. Meager talent wasted on obvious pitfalls. [He began to stride forward.] If you want real training on how to trap a place, we can talk whoever you are.

[nulland]

[Master of disguise Rob has been busy running along the dark walkway trying to properly time when to cut the ropes on his indoor traps, but snide comments tend to trigger responses from him. Blame Gumball.]

HEY! I have been doing this for a while! Besides, there's more where those came from!

[If you'll just walk under one of those painfully obvious palettes, or bags, or on a bomb trigger. Totally simple and not random chance for his luck!]

[b_a_n_g]

[Reaper can hear whoever made these traps moving around. It's the enhanced hearing, but also, he was paying attention to determine when the ropes were being cut. Look at that! Not even a self-dropping system of pulleys. What an amateur.]

Then you learned poorly in your long period of time setting up traps. Everything is obvious. Even a blind person can navigate this mess.

[He actually set his hands on his hips, looking up the way of the darkness. Don't make him come up there, young person.]

[nulland]

[He's used pulleys before! This feels less likely to fail to him. Not that he doesn't fail literally every time, but statistically it's gotta work at some point.]

Oh, there are people who couldn't get through this! [Mostly the idiots in Elmore. And then something else would happen to spare them anyway.] And it's not like there's a villain academy with online classes out there!

Outer Yard

[lonelysmiles]

Ah, this feels familiar!

[Ground that you couldn't be sure was safe to walk on? It was the bayou all over again in his eyes.]

[He strolls forward at a slower pace than usual, taking great care to not put his weight fully on his lead foot until he was certain the ground was solid.]

[Good thing, too, since he jerked his foot away the moment one section started to give, revealing a pitfall trap.]

Not quite like the old days but close enough. [He tilts his head to one side.] At least these won't suck you down to drown you.

[nulland]

[Also much like the bayou, there are oddly placed shrubs and large rocks around the edges of the area. Right, that's a bayou. At least it works for someone trying to move while staying out the way and hopefully out of sight. Who is also wearing odd cloaks of leaves and pebbles to help blend in. It's actually not a terrible job, but careful observation would show Rob sooner or later.

It would help if he kept his mouth shut, too. But people actually noticing his traps for once is hard to ignore.]

Heh heh! If you make it far enough, you may find there's a bit more to it than that!

[...He's still a kid.]

[lonelysmiles]

[Well, this is new!]

Hello there! Didn't realize the good doctor had a collaborator!

[And going to avoid falling into another pit trap.]

I take it these are yours? Oldies but goodies!

[nulland]

[Collaborator, misguided villain thinking he can get away from the life using the very skills he picked up from doing it, same thing!]

That's right! And just because they're even simpler to make here doesn't mean they can't be effective...

[Rob, Alastor is avoiding them...]

[lonelysmiles]

Oh absolutely!

[One step. Two steps. Three steps. Backstep to avoid the next pit.]

Lots of people overlook the effectiveness of a good pit trap!

[Alastor could easily teleport himself directly to the landing of the "front door" so to speak, but there's a subtle reason for why he isn't doing that: His shoes leave rather distinctive prints due to the deer prints on the soles. Anyone following after him that can't teleport could use his prints as a guide of where was safe to walk.]

Confronting Doc Ock

[sciencesquid]

[The vast main hall is flooded with heat and an orange hue. It's not at all difficult to spot the source of it. A large machine stands in the back, with a sun floating within the four arm-like structures. It's very small by the sun's standards, but that doesn't mean it's not big. Twenty feet in diameter, solar flares detach from the surface in the shape of long tendrils. For the most part, they're held in check within an invisible field, but it's evident this precarious containment may not last much longer. Bits of metal- screws and bolts- are consistently torn from the walls and sucked into the sun, where they burn before they even reach the body. Overhead crossbeams, walkways and even the walls themselves begin to sag, any metal within struggling to surrender itself to the magnetic field.

In front of it all stands one man, both arms raised alongside his four tentacle-like actuators. Thick black welding goggles protect his eyes from the bright blaze ahead of him. While his face is likely not visible from where the interlopers are standing near the door, one doesn't need to see it to know that he's elated. It can be heard in the form of a rumbling laugh. It's not entirely maniacal, but he's certainly reached some sort of halfway point where he's already gone far beyond plain happiness.

Evidently, Otto has no intention of stopping the dangerous monstrosity he's created.]

[allegedprisoner]

[ God... This is too much for the senses. Luca feels a nagging migraine as he gets closer to the source of all this chaos. The Sun is so bright, the laughter is so loud... The tentacles are...

Oh... He remembered meeting this man in person. In a dreamscape, actually. The doctor had one too many to drink and Luca found himself discussing alternate energy and generators... ]

Oh... GOOD GOD, MAN! [ Luca's pace hastens towards the man, forgetting for a moment that he was only armed with a sword and a toolbelt in the face of cosmic catastrophe. ] YOU SAID THIS THING COULD BE SAFELY CONTAINED!

[b_a_n_g]

[Reaper was used to science going bad, usually with his physiology in particular. He was no stranger to vast mechanical science experiments, and if Australia had taught the world anything, it was that nuclear energy was dangerous if it happened to melt down. At first, it was curiosity that drew him with the strange magnetic fields and then the ominous not-lightning made this too much like something that would happen at home for him to ignore.

The fact that the place was trapped just made it even more intriguing, especially since the traps were lame and easily avoided by anyone with two brain cells to rub together, a good skip game, and functioning eyeballs.

So for him who had decades of experience getting into places he shouldn't, Reaper moved through the traps easily so he could see what the fuss was about. He ghosted in silent feet despite his size, just a whisper on the air as he pushed into the room that was producing all the warmth and energy that buzzed through his body and dragged along anything small and magnetized.

And what a sight it was. Not just the 'sun', but the monster of a man that was clearly being some kind of doting father to the thing. And here he was without a stick and marshmallows. What a shame.

Reaper walked into the room like he owned the place, letting his footfalls actually make sound now that he had assessed the situation. A second far more concerned party was already here, and he was certain that wouldn't end badly. Yes, go talk to the mad scientist abou their proud creation.]

Are you planning a nuclear wasteland or a new solar system, Doc? [He assumed there was a PhD involved here. Then he held his hands out towards the sun.] I can feel the cancer already. [Now whose side would be more interesting to take? He hadn't decided yet.]

[lonelysmiles]

[Alastor's shadow slides into view, occupying three-dimensional space, before Alastor teleports to its location, hands folded neatly behind his back. Or at least they are for a moment before he raises his arm to shield his eyes slightly from the glare. He blinks a few times to try and clear his vision.]

Oh dear. That is even brighter in reality, isn't it? I imagine that means that once it goes out of control, the damage will be far worse than what I saw.

[sciencesquid]

[The moment he hears the disturbance behind him, Otto knows that Rob has failed him. This is what he gets for relying on a kid. No matter. Time was bought, and that's all that matters in the end. By now, the sun is already self-sustaining. There's nothing any pest can do to stop it.

His laughter dies down as he turns to face them. Ugh, the deer demon. That's an opponent to watch out for. He remembers Luca vaguely, but the third person is unfamiliar. A wildcard. He's perfectly willing to fight them if he has to, but it's ridiculous to him that such a thing would even need to happen. This isn't any of their business. 'Get rid of them' is the main thought echoing through his mind, planted there by the actuators.]

Stay back! [One of the tentacles extends itself and swipes downward, hitting the ground a few feet before Luca to try and halt the man in his tracks. This is his first and only warning.] It won't go out of control! It's still stabilizing!

[lonelysmiles]

And what indicates that it will stabilize instead of continue feeding on everything around it? It's pulling in metal just like in your dreams. The next step is devouring its immediate surroundings, starting with your machine. A rather gluttonous little sun.