DISNEY'S HAUNTED MANSION

[rehandle]

Who: Stephen Strange rehandle & EVERYONE
What: A cursed mansion starts pulling people into a House of Leaves style sub-dimension and trapping them. Others come to provide rescue.
When: March 9-12
Where: Sunset Falls
Content Warnings: Altered mental state (paranoia, fear), claustrophobia, loss of autonomy, shadow monsters, potential for violence, to be updated.

DISNEY’S HAUNTED MANSION

In Sunset Falls, up a winding residential street on the outskirts of town, sits an old Victorian manor: four stories if you count the central tower, wood-paneled with arched windows and a stone staircase leading up to the porch. The whole place looks worse for wear, roof tiles slipping and window shutters hanging on by loose hinges, rotting wood on the porch railings.

The house has long been a haunt for the local youth, used as a place to test their magic away from prying eyes, and with that comes chaotic, concentrated magical energy melded into the very bones of the building. It’s in the basement of this cursed house that a group of teenaged metas come together to cast a spell from a mysterious spellbook and unwittingly open a door to another dimension.

In early March, whether by opening a door elsewhere in town and getting trapped inside, or approaching the exterior to answer the call for help made over the Guild network, characters arrive at an old Victorian manor in Sunset Falls, supervised by Stephen Strange.

WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

People approaching the house on Will-o’-the-Wisp Walk will pass through the property’s wrought iron gate and up the winding drive to find Dr. Stephen Strange standing in the driveway, flanked by tall grasses and scraggly shrubs in the large, overgrown front yard. His feet are planted and hands raised, burning orange mandalas of shifting runes and geometric patterns wrapped around his wrists as he maintains a spell that coats the building ahead of him in a shifting amber glow.

He’ll call you over for a debrief as you arrive – there’s a group of teenagers trapped in a parasite dimension that he’s currently containing as best he can to the manor: it’s made of powerful magic, it’s leaking through his spell, and you need to get everyone out before he can lock it down for good. Before letting you go, he covers the basics of everything you’ll need to know ahead of the operation to rescue those who’ve become trapped inside.

• The entrance to the spellscape is in the basement.


• Take a light.


• If you can, mark your route as you go. Check the house for supplies — there’s bound to be something in there that can help.


• When you find someone, you’ll need to tether them to this reality in order to bring them back. Grab them, talk to them, attach them to yourself somehow, do whatever you have to do. And then don’t let them go.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

The house is a trap, and all over town its mouths yawn open. For as long as the spell remains active, any door opened anywhere in Sunset Falls might lead here. And once someone crosses that threshold, there’s no getting out without help. This is true not just for metas: anyone opening a door in Sunset Falls has the opportunity to befall that same fate - including natives to this universe, meta or otherwise.

Once inside, you’re met with complete darkness. There are no bulbs, no candles, no torches tucked onto window ledges. There are windows, but they look out on more pitch darkness.

If you have your own light or you feel around, you’ll find the place is dilapidated, paint peeling and floorboards bare. No furniture, no possessions, no fixtures or fittings, just discolored patches on the walls and floor where they might have been. This isn’t a place abandoned in a hurry: this is a place withdrawn from completely.

The fathomless interior seems to defy natural physics as well as any impression of the house’s size or layout that you might have gleaned from looking at the outside. Closets open into grand reception rooms, hallways don’t seem to end, and staircases can take you to floor after floor after floor. Worse, it doesn’t stay still. Walking out through the same door you just entered can land you in a completely different room.

At least you’re not completely on your own. Around any corner, you might find another lost soul trapped in here — including one of a group of teenaged metas you may recognise from the Diadem. What are they doing here? Do they know what’s going on?

Characters making their way through will find this house attacks the senses. The longer you spend in here the more a sense of isolation creeps in, breeding stress and paranoia. Noises become threats, your eyes find figures in the shadows. Is it your imagination, or are they really there? Were those footsteps in the room behind you…? Did someone just say your name? Whatever’s happening, you’d better get ready to run and hide - or failing that, to defend yourself.

The house prevents rescuers from clearly contacting trapped characters, so while these mysterious figures causing paranoia may be the house playing tricks, it could just as easily be rescuers attempting to make contact. Trapped characters can see and hear other trapped characters, but their rescuers might look like a shadowy figure or sound like some cursed spirit. In the dark with shadows jumping out at you, you might just run/lash out first and ask questions later!

It doesn’t take long for it to become clear: no door in this place can be trusted, and no room offers safe harbor. Consider the prompts below for specific ways that the house might torment trapped characters.

Opening one door leads to a hallway no wider than the span of your arms. It seems to get smaller as you walk down it. Was the ceiling that low before? Were your arms that close to your sides? The corridor never seems to end, just keeps getting smaller, and if you turn to leave the way you came you’ll find no door and a wall much closer than it should be. Try to go the other way and there’s an end to the corridor now, but no door. You’re trapped in a run, and with each length of it you pace it just keeps getting smaller…

If somebody else steps inside the hallway is suddenly long and tall again. You’d better get to them before the door closes, because with two of you pacing around in here it won’t be long until it’s so cramped that you’re running out of air... When the hallway is small enough that they can’t move any more, a door to another room will appear. They can also try breaking through a wall, though failed attempts could do more harm than good.

You also might find yourself in a room that’s all windows, glass panels set in frames from floor to ceiling. Introduce any light and the lock on the door will click shut. Your reflection shows in all the windows… and outside in the darkness there’s a sense that something starts to move. The horrible feeling of being watched. By who? By what? The light and your own reflection spares you from catching a glimpse of whatever’s outside looking in… but it also makes it easier for it to see you. You could turn out your light… but what if it's the only thing keeping whatever's out there at bay?

Any rescuers outside of the windows won’t be visible to the character inside, and will have to get their attention in other ways or try to find their way to the door of the window room. To get out of here, characters inside will need to turn out their light, which leaves them standing in a windowless room with an unlocked door in another part of the house altogether, or to be freed by someone else opening the door from the outside.

Turn a corner and find yourself staring into a huge mirror. It covers one wall, and it seems to exude just enough of its own strange not-quite-light that you can see the shape of yourself reflected in it. Approach and you pick up more details, though it’s shadowy in the dark. Get right up in front of your mirror image... and it smiles - you smile - as you become the reflection.

For as long as they are reflected, mirror-caught characters are being controlled by the mirror, and they will become violent if anyone tries to damage the mirror or remove them from the room. Successfully completing either of these actions or lighting up the room will break the mirror’s hold. (The mirror can also reflect rescuers. Mirror-caught characters will be able to see their rescuers in the mirror even if they can’t see them otherwise.)

GET OUT

Rescuers who head inside will find that the decor matches the exterior: old paintings in gilded frames, original light fittings, mirrors spotted with age. In some rooms furniture is covered in dust sheets, in others sheetless antique couches and armchairs are scattered with old pizza boxes and half full soda bottles. There are runes scored into the wallpaper, ominously dark corners cordoned off with tacky halloween tape and hand scrawled notes warning others to steer clear.

Characters can find various tools throughout the house: drawers full of old utensils in the kitchen, closets with brooms and ladders and buckets and mops. There’s a box of basic tools in one cabinet, flashlights and candles stowed throughout the house, garden tools and lengths of rope and twine and a child’s box of chalks stashed on the back veranda. For the most part, while far from harmless, the house is what you'd expect of an old place often overrun by magical truants: dusty and a little cursed.

It's downstairs that the real fun begins. Down the rickety stairs to the basement, through a room filled with the remnants of a few light occult rituals and pages of forgotten homework, the door to a second basement room stands ajar. This room is oppressive: maybe it's the poorly rigged single bulb and the eerie quiet, maybe the stark emptiness and bare stone walls. Or maybe it's the door cracked open on the opposite wall, the darkness behind it almost tangible.

Walking into the dark takes you through to another place. Turn and you'll see the door you passed through framed with bright amber, a landing signal: this way home. Start walking away in any direction and you’ll keep walking through pitch dark until the moment you start to think it might be time to turn back, then your foot hits the bottom step of an ascending staircase, and the door at the top welcomes you out into fresh darkness.

This is where rescuers must search for the missing teens and anyone lost through a doorway. Rescuers will find that trapped people don’t register them: they don’t answer when spoken to, they don’t seem to see you. However, they may start to get agitated in the presence of rescuers, which doesn’t always end well.

The house doesn’t want its inhabitants rescued and it wants you out, and as you start to move through the rooms it finds ways to make that very clear:

Shadows are everywhere in this place. The light you carry casts them wherever you walk and your mind starts to play tricks. This is fine while you can still swipe those images away with your light… not so fine when your light source, whatever it is, starts to struggle. Each time it blinks out the tall, thin shadow in the corner of your eye grows more solid. Just before your light finally dies, it drops to all fours.

Your character is being chased by a shadow creature! It’s made of solid shadow so can be harmed, but is difficult to kill. It will try to kill any rescuer characters it comes into contact with using talons and teeth and brute strength, but will stop short of hurting a trapped character. It can be warded off with light (though the original failed light source will not be available again until the creature is defeated or escaped) and will completely vanish if the room is filled with light.

The floor is… gone? Instead of floorboards there’s a massive empty void from wall to wall, so dark you can’t see the bottom. Throw something in and there’s no sign it ever lands. Here’s hoping you didn’t leave anyone on the other side, or that if you did the hole in the floor isn’t so wide that they can’t find a way across. If either of you leave, there’s no telling if you’ll find each other again.

Sometimes, the house creaks. This is to be expected, old houses creak, but there comes a point where it stops being ambient noise and starts being loud, the room filling with the sounds of cracking wood and screaming metal, like the whole thing’s caving in. It’s deafening. It’s time to run as the ceiling begins to give, destruction tearing after you until you’re either buried by it or escape: both outcomes leaving you unharmed in a room with no trace of fallen ceilings or buckled walls, no damage at all in any part of the house you track back through.

Rescuers can leave at any time through the amber-framed door. The house may make it difficult to progress inside, but it’s always surprisingly easy to find your way back — unless you have a trapped character in tow.

THE EXORCIST

Strange mentioned establishing a tether between the trapped and the world outside in order to bring them back, but it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out what works. Maybe your characters work this out for themselves, maybe they learn some methods from Strange as he’s given more information from rescuers leaving the house, but tethers that work include:

• An established sense connection with a rescuer (touch/sight/smell/sound, though given the house’s ability to warp all of these things they’re the riskiest)


• A magical/powers-based tether to a rescuer (ie: telepathy)


• A physical connection to a rescuer (ie: rope)


• A physical connection to the outside world (ie. an object brought in from the outside held by a trapped person)

Established tethers will make it progressively easier for trapped characters to perceive rescuers, though each time a tether is severed this easing of the spell’s power over them must start from scratch.

A trapped person can leave the spellscape through the amber-lit door when successfully tethered, but without a tether, walking through that door will just take them to a random room in the house, and they’ll have to be found all over again.

RECOVERY

After no more than three days, all characters trapped within the house will have been successfully rescued.

Both rescued characters emerging from the spell and their rescuers will need help recovering from the ordeal: food and water, somewhere to rest, medical assistance, emotional support. The local authorities and townsfolk do their best to set up stations with supplies and places to regroup in the yard of the old manor.

However, NPC townsfolk stray into the area only to leave their offerings and go. These people are familiar with magic, and nobody’s looking to be this close to a spell that nasty. This means it’s down to the metas to support one another in the aftermath of their experiences. Do what you can to look out for one another: it’s been a rough few days.


As a note, it might be useful to add TRAPPED or RESCUER to your subject line for ease of identification!

Please direct any questions regarding this log to the Questions comment HERE.

Characters can speak to Strange to ask questions and share information at his top level HERE.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[rehandle]

If you have any questions, let me know here and I’ll get back to you with answers!

[thecoolerloki]

hello it's me the little german boy who went in the weed cave

Doublechecking on mirror stuff! If they're caught in the mirror, do they only exist as a reflection? IE: no physical form anymore or like the reflection taking their physical form to protect the mirror etc!

and more specific question for my child, can his magic interact with the spell in less than helpful ways? Since Loki is able to create illusions and constructs, I sorta thought about Old Man Loki appearing because 1 fear 2 what Loki was trying to accomplish with the spell when he cast it with the others

Re: QUESTIONS

[fastandcurious]

Since this is a magical space which messes with geometry, size, and location, can giant robots find themselves suddenly human sized or in rooms that accommodate them somehow in the name of absurd event stuff?

[variantcover]

1) Trapped characters can't see rescuers, but can they see items/objects the rescuers bring in with them? (If a rescuer brings an item from outside and sets it out as bait, and then a trapped person comes by and picks it up, will they be able to be tricked into creating a tether?)

2) Is it possible for a rescuer to become trapped so that they themselves need rescuing?

[planetary_bonds]

So, curious: how successful will rescuers be at trying to directly interfere with the house's structure? I imagine the house will decidedly fight back against any efforts to mess with the wiring to light up the place, whether it's through physical or mental repellent, but the idea of Yusei accidentally supercharging a room for a brief few moments with his momentum blood is a funny thought that just occured to me. Just wanted to test the feasibility of such an idea!

Talk to Strange

[rehandle]

Characters can interact with Stephen here while he maintains his containment spell. He’s available to answer questions and accept information. Please note that responses will be mostly dialogue and conversations are likely to be brief. OOCly, it can be assumed that Stephen will share any plot-relevant information learned during these conversations with other characters.

(If you’d like to plot in a different kind of interaction, you can find me at miscreates or sculpts#6553. I may request to handwave these.)

Loki Laufeyson (Kid Loki) | Marvel Comics

[thecoolerloki]

I.

[Well. It seems another one of his plans has had unforeseen consequences. Who could've predicted this? Surely not him. Loki keeps moving through the house, refusing to give into his curiosity to explore each strange thing he passes by. He should try and find the epicenter of the spell. Probably. That sounds like something he should do, not that he really knows anything about magic.

As he walks through various corridors, ignoring shadow creatures and possible rescuers, another person walks behind him. The shadowy specter of Loki's past literally haunts him, though he doesn't seem particularly scared.]

When do you plan to start being useful, old man?

When do you plan to stop and listen to me, Loki?

[Although Loki himself can't see any rescuers clearly, the elder version may smile at them knowingly.]

II.

[See, this is why he shouldn't have explored any of the rooms. Because now he's caught in a mirror and it's a whole weird reflection thing and UGH! Why is magic so annoying? Except, since the mirror's in control, he doesn't look particularly upset.

In fact, he looks like the picture perfect creepy child found in a haunted house. He sits still in front of the mirror, grinning.]

2

[calldw]

[ Nothing bad could ever come out of approaching a creepy child in a house you've mysteriously appeared in somehow, right? Right.

That's why Darkwing is convinced that nothing bad could possibly come out of poking this kid on the shoulder repeatedly, undeterred by the psycho grin. ]

Alright, Shining Twin #2. Where's the way out of here?

i.

[ikols]

[ The magpie soars through the house, hops along railings, kaws loudly to break up the oppressive silence, and flutters away when the walls try to close. Coming from the spell outside the house where Loki is holding the dimension stable, the magpie seeks out a similar thread of magic within the rotting walls and manages to avoid the worst of the creepy lurkers.

It screams on occasion. Serrure! Serrure! A man's voice but a construct's direction forcing the bird to continue searching. ]

[whimsikills]

[Jinx is not a rescuer, or even a hero, but she does have a gun and years worth of trauma to protect her. She has been wandering through room after room, idly poking at trinkets, looking for some poor schmuck to scare, and when all of that becomes desperately boring, she's back in the halls.

To be fair, as creepy as Loki is in the dark with his horns and spectre-self behind him, Jinx is equally as creepy, with her eyes visible before the rest of her eyes, glowing shimmer pink as she emerges from the shadows her cheeks puffed. ]

Huh. [She pauses, crosses her chest across her arms. Her eyes are on the elder Loki, curious. ] You've got one of those too.

[Hers are not visible, or even tangibly real - but maybe with the spell, Mylo is visible, a twisted phantom of his former self, glowering over one shoulder with jagged edges and a sneer slapped across his face. That's how she always sees him anyway. ]

[voicelog]

[ he is following the magpie as he easily lights the way through the interior of the house with his suit. unsurprisingly, he can't get any readings here — the "magic" messing with the feedback he receives from the atmosphere around him. he will have to give that a Thought™ once this is all over.

the house clearly doesn't want him there, but with a seemingly helpful guide at his side and a light source that can't be deterred, he eventually spots two figures coming down from up ahead. one of them is kid loki as predicted, but it is the other one, the taller one, that gives him pause and stops him right in his tracks.

he immediately raises the left hand of his gauntlet at that disgustingly familiar face and the stomach-curdling smile on it.

a lot has happened within the past year for tony. he has set aside whatever hostile feelings he had for a younger form of loki to focus on larger issues at hand. put bygones to rest. so, the suddenness of his anger and displeasure at seeing that aged version of laufeyson takes even him by surprise.

maybe he hasn't laid the horrors of siege completely to rest like he has claimed — or maybe his anger is eagerly misdirected at a more convenient target, one that won't look back at him in the mirror with scorn. whatever the case may be, he doesn't sound too happy right now, his tone thick with caution and suspicion. ]

What's going on here?

eddie and venom | world's best rescuers

[frenchkissed]

IN THE DARK SOMEWHERE !

...No, let me handle this.

WHY?

Why? Because you're thirty-feet tall. And made of teeth. You're only gonna scare them. We gotta be tactful here, y'know?

I CAN BE TACTFUL, EDDIE.

[...]

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

What? Nothing, man.

[...]

C'mon, look, I get that you're grumpy, but you don't gotta mope and mutter about it.

THAT WAS NOT ME, EDDIE.

BUT YOU HEAR IT AS WELL.

THE VOICE OF ANOTHER.

Like... Like in our head? Another one of your alien buddies decided to show up right now?

NO. NOT A SYMBIOTE.

LISTEN.

[ empath time !

anyone who's canonically bonded with venom at some point in time will be able to interface with venom and eddie's thoughts and emotions as if they were bonded with them. other good candidates for this could be fellow losers, outcasts, and weirdos — people who are on the same wave as venom ! bad candidates for this would be anyone considered evil, goody-two-shoes, anyone who hates the taste of cilantro, anyone who prefers winter to summer... essentially, you can RNG to see how compatible you are with these two.

where good candidates hear the chattering of a hungry alien and the confusion of a journalist who's in way over his head with this rescue stuff, those who're incompatible with venom will hear static, feedback, psychic noise, and a jumble of messy, monster imagery.

preferably a ( trapped person ) for this one, but otherwise open. ]

SEPARATED !

( it's the screeching metal, like nails on a chalkboard, or a fork scrapping hard against a porcelain plate, that sends them in opposite directions. venom can't handle loud, grinding, clanging, squealing sounds. they fry him, send him skittering away, from the sound, from the pain, from eddie.

eddie, meanwhile, can't handle the weight of an entire house on him. he doesn't think venom can either, for as strong as he is.

so they're booking it in opposite directions.
no hard feelings.
they both get it.

it's not until after that things get wrong, when they're both unharmed in different rooms, in different realms, in different parts of the universe. that's what it feels like, at least.

you might:

a.) find a pile of goo in the middle of some room. if you step in it, it'll immediately cling to you, wind its way up your body, and find purchase atop your head like a bird, before saying:

WE MUST FIND EDDIE.

b.) find some really, really sweaty dude leaning against a wall, still winded from sprinting away from some imaginary indiana jones bullshit (?!?!) who, upon noticing someone else, hardly moves. )

Oh... Oh my God... ( give him a second to catch his breath, and then: ) Oh, fuck, are you one of the lost kids? Or... Or like another rescuer? Because, holy shit, this place is like the world's worst funhouse. Also, I gotta find my guy. So... Sorta need your help.

RESCUE SNACKS !

( in the three days this whole 'rescue mission' takes, eddie and venom don't take many breaks. the door back to their home looks inviting and, sure, they've thought about it, but they're both strangely dedicated to getting as many people out of here safely as they can. venom doesn't need to sleep and, technically, eddie doesn't need to either if he allows venom to tinker with his brain the right way. not something he does often, but this seems like the right kind of emergency for brain hacking.

snacks, though. snacks are non-negotiable. catch venom on an empty stomach and he's more likely to eat a trapped person before he rescues them.

after everything is said and done, they're sitting outside of the monster house, digging through their bag and offering food to whoever's nearest. )

Slim-Jims, Almond Joy, or Cheetos?
V's already got dips on the Snickers. Sorry.

in the dark somewhere with future god of outcasts

[thecoolerloki]

[Loki and his shadow construct had been having their own conversation when two voices not belonging to Loki's head piped in. The two Lokis are quiet for a bit as they listen in, until eventually growing tired of the bickering. The voice of a child can now be heard clearly by Eddie and Venom, frustrated to have someone intrude on his mind. Only Lokis and Loki hallucinations allowed in here!]

Would you two please shut up? I've one annoying old man to listen to already, I have no use for another.

[And then the voice of an older god,]

Will you not ask for help, Loki?

Would you three please shut up.

separated: goo monster edition

[planetary_bonds]

[Yusei's already had one too many encounters with awful shadow beasts today. Seeing the puddle of black tarry goo immediately start crawling up his leg the moment he gets near it is enough to get him to help and attempt to shine his (weakly flickering) flashlight at it.

Venom's not a shadow beast, though, so the flashlight doesn't do anything. Which only gets him to stiffen up and try to pull the goop off - at least not until it settles itself on his head and speaks of Eddie.

...Venom.

[And he visibly relaxes. Good thing he didn't try pulling out the rainbow magic blood.

Yeah, actually, Venom, hope you didn't touch those scratches on his cheeks on your way up. Don't know how well a symbyote would mesh with like...pure perpetual energy plasma. stuff.

why is he bleeding rainbows, actually?]

What happened to your partner?

telepathy time

[variantcover]

[ Gwen's really fucked up this time. After rescuing a couple people, she got cocky, and went back in to try to save a few more, only to get trapped herself!

She's been wandering through the pitch dark halls, trying to find the exit she came in from, when she hears an argument of unfamiliar voices in her head. ]

Uh... H-hello? Who's there?

alina starkov (trapped)

[sunmon]

01. mirror mirror on the wall | trapped

something is alive in

this house.

the walls breathe. the shadows pulse and whisper in a way reminiscent of the F O L D

alina shuts her eyes to it, presses the heels of her palms to them, counts and breathes and listens to the drum, drum, drum of her heart like it's

getting

louder

the house has a pulse and it's louder than hers and it is alive and it is nothing.

it closes around her, squeezes tighter and tighter until the light bursts out of her, explodes out of her, a cacophonous glow — and in the burning sun, the glint of a mirror. herself. stone faced, not terrified, not weeping and shaking. cold as the glass and the silver.

she touches her face to it and her breath leaves her.

someone calls. her fist clenches without her permission. a fist clenches against her flat pane. the image of herself turns away from the mirror, gaze dark and narrow over her shoulder.

what do you want?

02. recovering | outside

[ someone puts a blanket around alina's shoulders, and she pulls it tighter. she doesn't look sickly and weak like the others who were rescued. her skin glows, warm and shiny. her hair is softer and smoother. camera-ready. a reporter notices, sticks a microphone in her face —

'were you one of the daring heroes?'

alina jerks back, squints away from the light on the camera, shining in her face. she holds up her hands, expression sour. ]

Seriously? Now?

03. wildcard

[ if you would like to tether with alina and the first prompt won't do, or if you'd like to link up and be trapped together, hmu with a top level or reach out to me at protects and we can discuss a custom starter that i can write up. ]

01

[portolan]

[ these corridors are endless. a turn, a turn, a dead end, backtrack. he knows the map has changed. the light in his hand flickers. tired. afraid. there's something in the corner. a shadow. an image of his father. of venat.

he wishes Fran were here. he shouldn't have come, shouldn't have come alone with no real magick. he's playing hero when he's just a worthless boy far from home

what is he doing? first rule of a mission is never go alone, never leave yourself without a way out. he should have told David, should have more directly flagged Strange. but Peter was missing, and then the message, and he's survived how many terrible cursed places full of monsters and magick?

but never alone. never without magick. never as this useless illusion peddler

he presses into another room, because what else is there to do? ]

Peter? [ he calls, more to force the suffocating silence back than because he expects any answer.

his light flickers again. damn. the next room. it stutters. the thing in the corner is larger. he hits the light against his leg. come on. come on

a blinding light flashes through the adjacent door. a hiss. the shadow is gone and his own light is bright again. he presses toward the room. that can't be of the house. ]

Hello? Is someone in here? I'm here to get you out.

[ he squints in the light. there's a figure there, something shining behind them. not Peter, but definitely not a shadow. ]

02

[fastandcurious]

[ Almost as if by magic (because he wasn't there a moment ago, oddly), a man indeterminately in his thirties appears to gently push himself between Alina and the reporters, a frown on his face. Maybe he was the one who gave her the blanket, though? It's hard to say. ]

Look, why don't you leave her alone and find someone else to bother about this whole mess, okay? She's clearly been through a lot.

Harleen Quinzel ❖ Trapped

[amenace]

❖ THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

[ Things are a little strange after the spell is casts. It's dark and quiet and Harleen is sure where exactly she's going, but eventually she finds the door in the basement and passes through. Where she expects to find stairs leading up and out she finds herself in the landing above the foyer. ]

Wow! Easy and weird! [ She muses aloud only to find her voice kind of dies the moment it hits the air. Strange, but she thinks little of it as she makes her way toward the exit. She can only assume from the silence that the others have already made their way back outside.

Only when she opens the door and passes through she finds herself in what appears to be a large dining room instead of the front porch. She pauses, looks around then turns back to the door she passed through only to find a wall behind her.

Stranger still.

She doesn't stop, however. She heads for another door and passes through. This time she finds herself in a hallway. Seeing no doors immediately to either side of her she begins walking.

And walking.

And walking...

The walls feel as if they're closing in and as she walks she swears she hears whispers. She pauses, looking behind her. Darkness behind and darkness ahead. And the whispers seem to come from all around. ]

H-hello? [ She calls out again only for her voice to be swallowed up by darkness. Was that someone moving ahead of her? It could just be a trick, the dark getting to her.

And then she remembers she can make light, sort of. She tries to produce some sparks only for them to die immediately. If anything, it leaves her blinded.

It's about now she remembers that whole thing about if you're lost you should stay put until found. Maybe she can backtrack a little?

She turns and heads back toward the door she came through only to finally reach the wall and find no door.

She's been fine up until this point. Wandering, lost, but not afraid. But now, now it's another story. The hall gets smaller one way and then there's no door the other so how is she to leave? How is she to be found?

She begins banging on the wall. And then punching as if she can punch a hole through. By all rights, she should with her enhanced strength, but the wall is seems to be much stronger than anything else she's punched before now.

Before long she's left exhausted, knuckled bruised and bloody. She collapses against the wall next to where the door should be and pulls her knees up under her chin. ] I just want out...

[ Maybe the magic was a mistake? ]

❖ RECOVERY

[ She's uncharacteristically quiet once she's finally freed from the confines of the spell. She's tired, hungry, and thirsty. More so than she can ever remember being.

Once she's given something to eat and drink she absolutely devours and goes looking for more. Her movements are nothing but a shuffle due to exhaustion but she needs to fill her belly (and probably make herself sick in the process). ]

hall house

[planetary_bonds]

[Rattle rattle.

There's the sound of a doorknob being turned echoing in the hall - but wasn't there no door just now? That can't be right. The sound is so close. But it's coming from the side that's absurdly narrow, too, so how could Harleen even make it ou-

...wait, isn't that end starting to widen? Now's your chance - get out there while that door's still creaking slowly open!]

yusei fudo | rescuer (ostistensibly)

[planetary_bonds]

[a. who needs hallucinations with rescuers like this (for trapped persons)]

[Who knows how long you've been here. waiting. wandering. trying to escape the shadows constantly scrabbling at your heels, blocking every which way to escape.

this one appears no different. it might appear at the end of one of those unnaturally narrow corridors, or come trudging up the creaking staircases with heavy footfalls. It's humanoid, just shy of six feet, and has...spikes? horns? six of something jutting out of the sides of its head, and it's all nothing but shadowy, only silhouette, like all of them.

Except. Those eyes.

It's unlikely you've seen any shadow with those kinds of eyes before in this house - but that only makes the appearance more jarring. Especially when they widen upon seeing you.

Flee or fight. Make your choice.]

[b. blinding (for rescuers)]

[There's the sound of screaming as Yusei tears down the hall, a shadow creature hot on his heels. He'd been caught off guard by his shadow coming to life and attacking him, and there's a series of scratch marks on his face as a result of the encounter.

He hasn't realized that what's dripping from them isn't blood, but rather a plasma-like rainbow-colored substance. Nor has he realized that they're dripping from his face into his hands, onto the dead flashlight he's holding.

Not until he hits a dead end and turns around, instinctively brandishes the flashlight without thinking...and nearly blinds himself as the device suddenly erupts with light.

Hope you weren't walking in on that.

Alternatively, he might just happen upon you as you run from your own personal shadow creature. He won't hesitate to run after you, and the moment he catches up:]

Do you have a light?!

[c. follow the trail (ota)]

[there are specks of...something. on the ground. it's very bright.

actually, it shimmers like rainbows. like light made solid. or liquid. like plasma, maybe? but it's splattered on the ground like blood, and there's a clear trail of it down whatever hallway you're on.

for those who can sense it, the energy readings it gives off are insane. like a consistent thrum of power despite there being no visible source. electronics or other devices that come in contact with it are briefly supercharged before burning out completely - a useful thing for those struggling with flashlights to be sure, but only a brief respite.

Following the trail leads to Yusei, eyes aglow with the same kind of light, and visibly bleeding the same substance from cuts on his face and arms. He seems to be holding multiple flashlights under one arm, and threateningly brandishes one in your direction as you approach. It doesn't appear to be working. (Yet.)]

Who-?

[Maybe it's just the light coming from his eyes, but he looks like he hasn't slept for days. He looks on edge enough to be, anyways.]

[d. wildcard]

[feel free to plot with me in dms or plurk @ emexceedschangezearu!]

Gwen Poole (and Jeff!) | Marvel Comics | OTA

[variantcover]

01. GWENPOOL TO THE RESCUE!

A. TETHERING THE EASY WAY

[ Once Gwen gets a debrief from Doctor Strange and learns that tethers can be formed if a trapped individual holds onto an item from the outside world, plans begins to form itself in her mind. She gathers up as many interesting objects and curios as she can find and brings them with her by the armload into the house, leaving them at strategic places around the creepy-ass basement, trying to bait the trapped folks into picking them up. Among the items she leaves out as bait, there are stuffed teddy bears with shiny ribbons around their necks, neon-bright glow sticks, cracked and fully aglow, a handheld radio tuned into the local hip hop station, and a glass of water with one of those bird toys dipping in and out of it to take a "drink." She figures, the weirder and more intriguing the item, the more likely a trapped person is to pick it up. Once they do, she grabs a hold of them, trying to achieve eye contact. ]

Hey, can you see me? I'm here to get you out!

B. TETHERING THE HARD WAY

[ If her bait traps don't work, Gwen will resort to extreme measures. Namely: siccing her baby landshark pet/sidekick Jeff on them, to (lightly!) chomp down on their leg and form a tether that way. Jeff may be cute and cuddly most of the time, but from a trapped person's perspective, the house's magic may warp and twist him into a writhing black shadow monster full of teeth! Out of the darkness, a threatening (but well intentioned!) voice calls: ] Get 'em, boy!

C. A DARING ESCAPE

[ Once Gwen has someone tethered, they must get out of the house alive! Which is easier said than done, when they open a door off a hallway and come face to face with a room with no floor, just a gaping, endless hole! There's a door on the other side leading to freedom, but the gap is far too wide to leap across.

Gwen's face lights up at this seemingly impassable obstacle. ]

Don't worry, I've got an idea! Have you ever seen Star Wars?

[ She pulls out her gun, switches it to grappling hook mode, and aims a shot at the room's ceiling. The projectile fires out, and imbeds itself securely in the ceiling, with a cable hanging back to Gwen and her rescuee at the door. Gwen wraps an arm around her partner's waist, getting ready to swing them both across. ]

What, aren't you going to kiss me for luck?

02. HELP! I'M TRAPPED!

[ Gwen isn't satisfied just saving one or two people... She's a superhero! She has to save as many people as possible! So, after bringing her tethered partners out to the recovery station, she leaves Jeff to look after them and keep them company, then heads back into the house.

Except, this time, the front door to the house leads her not into the real world version of the entryway, but into the magicked version, where everything is dark and empty. Looks like the rescuer is in need of a rescue!

Gwen looks around, unsure what to do now, standing in the pitch darkness. ]

...Well, $#!%.

[ OOC: if you want to plot something else, HMU @ millennialfalcon! will match prose or brackets! ]

02!

[doctopoda]

[Otto's already gotten Peter out of the house, but he pretty quickly turns around and heads back in afterwards. It wasn't a terrible experience; he can pull some more of these kids out, so he should. The fact that it gets him away from the unfamiliar Peter pretty quickly is...well, secondary.

The actuators are something of a light source on their own, four glowing points that bob and weave around in the darkness. One of them is holding a flashlight as well. It scans around, acting as more of a beacon than a light source for himself. Between the cameras and the way that the darkness soothes his eyes, he doesn't feel much need for it.

At the sound of a distant voice, he turns, all the lights turning with him.]

Someone there?

[He knows already that the trapped kids aren't too likely to register his presence, but he calls out nonetheless. It's just instinct. Maybe this is another rescuer, anyway.]

stephen strange / mission control (closed)

[rehandle]

( a spot for closed starters, if you'd like to plot something hit me up at miscreates or sculpts#6553 - I may ask to handwave some plans )

for ikols.

[rehandle]

[ He's been at it maybe an hour or two at this point and the first wave of rescuers have arrived and entered the building, the beginnings of a support effort coming together on the overgrown lawn further away from the house without need for his intervention, leaving Stephen with little to do but stand his ground and feel it as the spell inside the house chafes against his magic, creeping, searching for ways it can expand. There are conclusions to be drawn, but not as fast as additional layers of protection need levelling against the steady outward press of the little pocket dimension he's keeping enclosed with the magic glowing amber over the entire house.

The strength of the spell inside seems to hike at random intervals, always needing more pressure in return to stop it from leaking through. This might just be worse than he'd initially expected.

Still, there he is, unmissable as promised, feet planted on the old cracked driveway in front of the looming manor and hands raised to twist new patterns into his containment effort. ]

peter parker | closed

[tinglesense]

Peter still can't believe he ends up back in the house anyway, trapped in the spell he tried to stop. Sure, sure, he was too late. He knew when he called Dr. Strange he was probably too late. How had he even thought it was a good idea at all? He's not sure now on the other side of it. Well, fine, okay, guilt spiral later. Problem solving now.

But problem solve how? He's totally alone, and calling into the darkness gets no answer. He only has one light source on him, which is his phone's flashlight. That doesn't seem to be helping, so he clicks it off. Maybe seeing doesn't matter. Maybe his other enhanced senses will help him here. He walks down the dark hallway without hitting anyone or anything, so far, so good.

Rounding a corner brings him somewhere strange, though. He gets that danger sense, like he should turn back. He's not dumb enough now to not listen, so he does turn back. But the house has its own agenda now, and Peter's superhuman senses are no match for the malevolent spell. He comes face to face with…himself?

No. No, it's just a reflection, he realises. Well, this is pretty creepy. It's not a funhouse reflection, distorted, but there's something he doesn't like. That danger sense is still going, but he can't seem to move away just yet. Great.

Well, just in case…

He looks around. There's no one else here in the darkness (haha, he hopes?!) so he pulls his clothes off and pulls his mask up. This is probably a better place for Spider-Man than Peter Parker. Hopefully no one saw that little quick change thing, since he can't just explain it as a magic trick, but he has bigger problems right now, probably.

He notices as he does this whole thing that of course the reflection does exactly the same. Well, actually, that's good. It would be horrible if the reflection did something else, after all! But…now what? There's nowhere else to go.

[doctopoda]

The truth is, under other circumstances Otto probably would not have gotten involved in this whole affair. That's not a lack of concern; it's just recognizing when things should be left to experts. If there's one thing he's not, it's definitely a hero.

But as long as he's able - if Peter Parker needs help, he'll go.

The old house feels terribly cramped at first. It's not until he ventures into the obviously cursed doorway that the actuators are able to fully stretch out around him. They writhe uneasily as he descends the stairs, the white light of their eyes glaring as bright as they can out into the darkness. Their voices are quiet. These days, they've dwindled to a mere awareness in the back of his mind, whispers behind a locked door: easily ignored, but not entirely non-existent. He knows they want to turn back. Absent a goal they understand, they default to trying to keep him safe. Helping someone else is not a goal they understand. But it doesn't matter. He's in charge now. They press on.

The place is a maze. Doors lead to different rooms every time they're opened. One even seems to become a window as he's halfway through it. Hallways proceed endlessly, only for him to find the entrance still just behind him. Otto tunes out the whirring of the actuators as they attempt to map their route. Rosie would have said they were taking the metaphor too literally.

In the end, it's not exactly a dramatic rescue. He simply turns a corner and nearly trips over Peter, claws scratching the wood as he catches himself. "Oh! Oh, dear boy - here you are. Are you alright?" Here in the dark, he's got his sunglasses off for once; the concern in his eyes is visible. He's not looking at the mirror at all. 

(One of the actuators is, though. They're always keeping an eye out.)

kamala khan | marvel comics

[bestversion]

( i. the haunting of hill house ) cw: anxiety attacks.

[ this had been a spectacularly bad idea. maybe one of her worst yet. she just wanted to carve out her own space, without fear of guilds or anyone else taking it from her. she hadn't expected it to turn into this.

her breathing comes out in sharp staccato bursts as she turns a corner into another corridor. it's endless and she's tired. she tried to pummel her way out, but all she succeeded in doing was tiring herself out. ms. marvel flops onto the ground, collecting her breath. she messed up, she messed up. she messed up and now she's alone. she was never built for that.

she tries to steady her breathing, in, out, in, out. she wished her cellphone worked. ms. marvel wanted her friends. bruno, nakia, mike . . . sam, miles. she hears a sound and immediately cringes, wanting to curl up in a ball. ]

W — Who is there?

( ii. aftermath )

[ after all that, ms. marvel surveys the house, feeling ashamed. she bows her head, quietly, and just says. ]

Sorry. I didn't mean — I'm sorry.

[ her eyes don't meet your own and she stands there awkwardly, expecting a diatribe of some kind. which is absolutely deserved. ]

( iii. wildcard )

[ got a different prompt you’d like to do? ping me on timmtams / pm this journal ]

i

[thecoolerloki]

Loki.

[The voice that answers is not mocking or prideful. In fact, the boy almost sounds apologetic.

This Ms. Marvel was not who he expected when they first met up to scope the house, though he imagines he's not the Loki she expected then either. Regardless, they are the Ms. Marvel and Loki stuck in the house now, and specifically stuck in this corridor.

He approaches slowly and after he emerges from the shadows, someone else emerges behind him. The glowing green ghost of his past self is probably... not helping here.]

... I can leave if you'd prefer. I imagine I am the last person one wants to run into in this situation.