ic A Journey Into Mystery

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Inside the room, everything continues to shift and change between the two states, back and forth as they watch.

 

With some reluctance, one of the technicians hands the tablet with the data over to Rewind, while another adresses Madame Raven. "No, we don't know what will happen. No one has been in there since the shifts began. Z-Space Radiation can be... tricky. What if it pulls your arm to the other side, but not the rest of you? We don't even know what will happen in there if... If we step inside, I mean."

 

He pauses, looking at the others. They all seem to agree. For the mockery of not being a part of the family, they seem more than happy to let this newer group take the reigns.

 

Inside the room, a teddy bear appears on the bed.

 

It is holding a piece of paper.

[Poncho]

"Well, that's definitely...interesting." Dwyane mumbled, looking back and forth at the bear in the room and the bear in Rex's hands. "Same bear, different dimension, you think?" he asked the others. "I don't suppose some of this equipment could do a more detailed analysis and see if we're dealing with a copy."

 

He hadn't even, and wasn't going to, acknowledge the remark given to Rex and the others; he had heard worse, and he wasn't going to raise up to a simple taunt like that. 

 

"I could try to do some distance perception on it but obviously it wouldn't be a scientific sensory like the equipment can probably do."

[Kaede Kimura]

The Dreamer 

 

The Dreamer was pretty sure Rex misunderstood her reasoning for giving him the Bear, taking a long moment to consider if she should explain when the bear appeared in the room. She considers the theory Dwayne posits that it's a duplicate of her bear, a small frown flickering across her face as she considers it.

 

With a slow exhale, she Dreams of the bear lifting into the air, and floating towards them to hover in the middle of the group. She looks at the plush toy, noting the piece of paper it is holding. "Curiouser and Curiouser." She looks over to Madame Raven as she says it, before continuing. "Perhaps it would be prudent to perform a scan before we read the letter?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Madam Raven

Callie was trying to take in all the information that she could, whilst entering the room would be the easiest way to gather Intel that was obviously out as an option!

 

"It could be some kind of temporal displacement or the room could be self-aware and trying to communicate with us..." she was musing to herself whilst waiting for those skilled in such areas to provide more information

 

"Good think I can deal with six impossible things before breakfast!" she playfully shot back to Dreamer "But I agree we should do all the necessary scans before we do anything rash!"

[RocketLord]

Rex Atom

 

"No, I don't think it's the same bear... unless you dreamt of that bear?" Rex asks the Dreamer. He had read up on her and everyone else here, and what they can do. She could theoretically do that, but it would be too much of a coincidence. Even more so than the group encountering an anomaly like that before they have even formed.

 

He agrees with both her and Raven, though, and glances over at some of the scanners. "You mind?" he asks the technician, as he looks over the readings. 

 

It is kind of what he expected. Close enough, at least.

 

"The bear's absolutely saturated with Z-Space radiation." So, what then? Continue to play it cautious, or actually do something?

 

With a slightly crooked smile on his lips, he returns the other bear to the Dreamer.

 

"How about a leap of faith?" 

 

He reaches out for the bear, takes the piece of paper and turns it around to read it.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The small bear floats over, like it is dancing in the air, until it finds itself in the middle of the group, where it stays, still holding the piece of paper, as the group discuss what to do, the scans necessary, what to do about it.

 

They can all hear a faint murmur. Mumblings, like a distant voice that they can't quite hear. 

 

The moment Rex takes the paper, the voice comes through completely clear, like he just established a perfect connection. 

 

"Mom?.......Tesla?......Can anyone hear me?" a young woman's voice says, slightly garbled, broken slightly by static. 

 

The piece of paper only holds a single word, hastily scrawled down in black marker.

 

HELP

 

Rex looks at it briefly. His expression grows determined.

 

"I won't fault anyone staying behind, but this just became a rescue mission. I'm going in there. Prepare for Z-Space breach."

Edited April 19 by RocketLord

[Poncho]

"Come now, Rex." Dwayne said almost teasingly to the younger man as he adjusts his suit and checks his alien watch. "If I wasn't up for some rescue work, I wouldn't have been an EMT, and I definitely wouldn't have taken the offer to join the family." he looked across, to the other room, the portal and the different dimension, and nodded.

 

"I'm ready when everyone else is, so let's get to it; we can't know what's on the other side until we get there, I would assume? So we'll have to be careful and keep our wits about us. But I'm sure we can managed whatever is going on." He said confidently. "And if someone's in need of help, then there's no way I can look away."

[Kaede Kimura]

The Dreamer 

 

The Dreamer's expression changed little when the note was shown, just a slight pursing of her lips and a fire entering her eyes. The dreams that had previously been wistfully frolicking around froze for a moment before crowding around The Dreamer, themselves seeming ready to leap into action as she spoke.

 

"I will not stand by while someone is in danger. I am coming with you Rex."

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

Callie had her grapple all ready to go when Pan went and did the reckless things, whilst it worked she couldn't help but feel the caution of the one here with no powers.

 

"No doubt I'm helping where I can, let's not go taking too many risks though! Between us, we should have more than enough tools to solve things with less danger." after waving her grapple for emphasis she gave a little shrug

 

"Still as they say risk is part of the business! Talking of, what's the plan on this one?"

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The moment they are all in the room, 

 

everything

 

falls

 

apart

 

Everything around them breaks into a rainbow kaleidoscope of color.

 

Rushing around them, moving at breakneck speed.

 

Everything and nothing all at once.

 

A barrier that breaks the wall between worlds.

 

Falling into the great nothing, falling into the great everything.

 

And then they land, hard, crashing down onto a floating platform in the middle of the rainbow space. Remains of the Goodman Building, from before it became the Atomic Tower, floats around them, platforms within and outside reach. 

 

Before them, a short distance away, there is half a woman. The left half, to be precise. Her young blonde hair floats in space. Her face is locked in a scream. She is unmoving, frozen in time and space, and yet, there is a definite sense that she is struggling, that she is stuck. Stuck between this realm and her own.

 

She is not alone.

 

By her side, floating in the kaleidoscope of color, there is man shaped beings that are not men. They are hard to look at, a shimmering absence and presence, a distortion in time and space. It is difficult to count them, it hurts to look at them for too long, beings that are both empty and full, like they exist in more than 4 dimensions, drawing in the rainbow light around them.

 

One by one, they turn.

 

And the young woman screams. 

 

A single word escapes her frozen lips.

 

HELP!

 

The group of explorers stand alone. 

 

And the strange human shaped holes in this world between realities turn towards them.

 

Welcome to Z-Space

[RocketLord]

Rex Atom

 

Z-Space is strange, to say the least. Any other time, Rex would be marvelling at the sights around him, try to figure out what it all is, what is going on, but not today. Not when he and the others that had followed him into Z-Space stand like this. The girl is being pulled in both directions, between Z-Space and somewhere else. She needs help. That much is obvious, but those... holes? Nothings? Whatever they are, they seem like trouble, and it doesn't help that he can barely look at them.

 

"We need to get the girl free. Stabilize her, pull her fully into Z-Space. Whatever you can do, do it. I'll get over there and do my best to take those things down." 

 

To the eyes of the ragtag group of explorers, Rex Atom disappears. He is simply gone. Between the blink of an eye, his body shrinks, becoming as small as he can, and then, he is gone. A tiny trail of pink energy is left behind as he flies straight towards the strange beings, doing his best to look right past them instead of at them. To not focus on them, avoid hurting his eyes.

 

It seems like it is the wrong tactic. Despite his miniscule size, he finds himself unable to hit them, the small blasts of pink energy not reach the being that he targeted.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

They are nothing, drawn to the one that is trapped between worlds, and yet, something dares to interfere with them.

 

While the woman screams for help, two nothings reach expand their power, a burst of nothing that strikes out to paralyze the tiny attacker, to bend him to their will.

 

It does not work. At least for now.

 

It is fine. They have time.

[Kaede Kimura]

The Dreamer

 

The Dreamer's breath caught in the moment she fell, not a familiar feeling but one she had felt before when her father had used the device to save her from the Terminus. She fell as everything swirled around her, her wheelchair tumbling away even as a pair of harpies tried to drag it back to her. Suddenly she hits the ground, her chair tumbling off the side of the platform. It takes her a moment to get he bearings as Rex and two of the figures begin fighting. Their numbers are equal, but the Academy is at a disadvantage needing to save the girl, which her dream if The Raven is already running to perform. The Dreamer pushes herself up to a sitting position, leveling a harsh glare at the two figures that are not committed to a fight at this point.

 

With a steady exhale she focuses, pillars of rainbow crystals erupting from the earth, stretching up to the sky and across the platform. She looked at the figures, hoping they would be unable to bypass the wall. 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The two holes in reality cut off by the wall does not appear to be surprised as it appears, even as the rainbow crystals stretches out around the platform.

 

Still, they take a short moment to study the crystal structure, before moving towards it, pressing what seems to be their hands into the structure, slowly starting to push into it, weakening the entire structure.

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

As hard as it was Callie knew she shouldn't focus on the strange environment, instead thinking of the place like a giant jungle gym to get her to where she needed to go. As leap, a tumble here, a grapple when needed, she even spent a moment gliding in the strange messed up breezes of this place. It seemed like hours, it could be considering this weird messed up place. But finally, she was close enough to put her, simple, plan into action. 

With the care and attention of someone well-practised she captured the woman in her grapple ready to pull her toward them and out of danger. Now she had to hope none of the shadows interfered before she could finish the job...

[Poncho]

"Girl first, okay, that makes sense enough to me." Dwayne saidlooking at his wrist. in a few quick taps, a light enveloped him again, returning him to human, then a few more and another light show started.

 

His ears enlongated, his face become more batlike with a strong underbite, his eyes sliding further apart. His whole body became covered in a soft grey fur, as his arms lengthened; doubling in size and the skin flying out into a papery membrane shot through with veins. His legs bent forward and grew thicker muscles, ending in sharp claws. A giant bat from an alien planet. With a flap of wings, Belfry flew across the abyss, flapping his wings across the expanse of nothing but everything of Z-Space. He landed surprisingly gracefully for the sheer size of the creature as he approached the girl, using his enhanced senses to look over her and the situation she was stuck in.

 

"...Hrmm..." Never do anything rashly, always consider the options. That was what he did the best, so that was what he was going to do. Even if he really had no idea what was going on right now. 

[RocketLord]

Rex Atom

 

These things are... are they even really here? Are they real? They are fascinating, an absence in the bleed between worlds, a hole in the hole between realities, but the way they are acting, they way they are attacking, moving for the young woman and them all, they are clearly driven by some malevolent force of will. Their own? Someone else?

 

He will have to think about it later. Madame Raven got the right idea. Pull the woman out of there, get her to safety, then get out of here.

 

"Dreamer! Devon! Can you do something about these things? Just keep them away while I back up Raven!"

 

Flying away from the two holes near him, he raises his hand to release a glowing pink beam of energy that latches on to the half woman, starting to pull at her.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The holes in reality moves. Or rather, the holes shift position. While they remain vaguely humanoid, it is more like reality seems to break in new patterns and closes behind them as they approximate movement. 

 

One of them moves towards Rex Atom, reality crackling and spreading out around it as it's arm almost reaches him, but passes just overhead.

 

The other breaks reality as it reaches for Madame Raven, but doesn't even come close.

[Tiffany Korta]

Madame Raven

 

Cassie set the grapple on automatic and clipped it to her waist, her own body weight should be enough to counterbalance all the forces. As long as things work here as they should in the real world.

 

"Might need a hand here if they decide to mess with the line!"

 

Stepping back to get a more distance from the nearby break she sent one of her Raven Claws towards the thing. For now, she wasn't overly keen to be touched by the things, high-tech composite materials could only do so much when faced with walking rends in reality!

[Kaede Kimura]

The Dreamer

 

The Dreamer tutted as the pair easily breach the wall she had dreamed. It seemed that walling them off was not practical. Shifting the balance of the combat in their favour would require a different tact. She turned as the Dream Raven called out for assistance. That was a task she could assist with. 

 

She focused, remembering her own traversals between Z Space and Earth, focusing her dreams on the woman. She dreamed of her being pulled fully into Z Space, of her being free from her timeless prison and able to move, of this unknown girl being free to live and smile once more.

 

She opened her eyes, not sure when she has closed them, to see her dream constructs working to aid her efforts. A dozen small Gremlins had joined the Raven in pulling upon the woman's form, while an angel attempted to drag her with a lasso of light.

 

This colossal effort continued until finally, with a final heave upon reality The Dreamer pulled the stranger free.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

With the Dreamer's final effort, the woman is pulled free. The interdimensional energies from the breach dissolve the gremlins, as the blonde woman falls to the ground. Shards of rainbow light from the breach between realities fall all around them.

 

The woman is young. 15 or 16, maybe. She has long blonde hair. Her outfit is damaged enough that it is difficult to make out what it is. A super hero uniform, a regular outfit from her world? The strain of finally breaking into Z-Space knocked her out, at least. In the rip behind her, the Academics can just see another hole in reality peeking thorugh, before it closes.

 

As the woman lies on the ground, the holes in reality freeze. And then, there are more of them. And more. The very air around the heroes begin to become wobbly. Gravity begins to shift. The remains of the building that they are starting up to begins to crack.

 

They have little time to escape.

[Poncho]

(Devon)

 

"Okay, we've got the girl, time to go." Belfry said, frowning as he looked around. "Give her to me if need be, I can fly her out of here while the rest of you also sprint out of here. Or if someone else can go fast, let's make sure to get anyone who can't move fast out of here." He said, flapping his big, batlife wings as Belfry slowly floated up into the air, his big claw legs opening to get a hold of whatever the appropriate thing was to carry. 

 

"I'd rather not touch any of these portals...or get lost in this space forever."

[RocketLord]

Rex Atom

 

With Devon grabbing the woman, Rex is free to work his own magic. They have to get out of there. How? He should have an escape ready before they got in, but the room kind of took the choice away from them.

 

Then again, Rex already knows the answer, doesn't he?

 

Flying over by Devon, he grows to his regular size, letting the momentum carry his feet to the ground. Standing, he places a hand on Devon's shoulder. 

 

"Everyone, gather up and hold on to me!"

 

The holes in reality are getting closer. They're not about to let them or the woman go, but it's fine. Once they're all holding him, he reaches for his belt and adjusts it, and then... they all start growing up and out of Z-Space, boundaries breaking around them as the holes in reality begin to disperse.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

It is a disorienting experience for Devon-51, Dreamer and Madame Raven. The feeling of growing, of their bodies expanding beyond what they are meant to hold. They don't have the same energy holding them together as Rex, they're not used to the strain. It doesn't hurt, but it does ache.

 

But it is only for a moment.

 

The reach the kaleidoscope of rainbows that make up the walls around Z-Space, around this border region between universes and then... they breach it. The rainbows shatter around them, breaking around their bodies. It is not the best way to travel between realities, but the best that could be done as such short notice.

 

And then, as they finally breach through Z-Space, as shards of reality wall collapses around them, they tumble back into the room in Atomic Tower that they left such a short time ago.

 

Devon is still holding the woman.

 

Rescue mission status: Success. 

[Poncho]

(Devon)

 

With a flash of blue light, Devon was back to being, well, Devon. A human man in his Atom Academy uniform, holding the woman in his hands. He immediately set her down, going to work with his paramedic training; checking vital signs, eye movements, pulse and blood pressure.

 

"Nice job, Rex. Everyone else. That was...well, I don't know what I was expecting when I signed up for this, but it definitely wasn't that." he said, weighing his words carefully as he continued his work. "I can't pretend I'm not a little shooken up, myself." he added honestly.

 

"But still, what's the difference between rescuing someone from a car crash and rescuing someone from a collapsed dimension...not too much, if you think of it as simply as possible." he tried to stay fairly casual.