![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
STARS FALL
It's like a bomb goes off. The day is normal until it's not. Until it never will be again.
This is not a confluence. A confluence is an event, a phenomenon like the rain with mostly predictable patterns. It affects one area and one area alone, its effects isolated.
This is chaos.
Reports flood in from the world over. The news is wild with reports of bizarre happenings. No two events occurring appear to be the same. All of the wildlife appears to have gone crazy in the Northwest of America. A shard has fallen somewhere and is compelling all wildlife in the local sanctuary to turn on and invade the nearest town. A massive Labyrinth has appeared and consumed the entirety of the New York Subway System.
The only unifying feature is that all of these events are occurring where the meteors fell. And if they're not bad enough, there's still the issue of the missing individuals who have been teleported out into space.
Welcome to 2024, metaheroes. We're starting it off with a bang.
The world is in disarray, and Earth's heroes are scattering in attempts to mitigate as much damage as possible. Atomight has been seen jumping between Europe, Asia, and Oceania trying to help as many as possible. Mechanima's drones are spotted across the Americas, and every other native hero and villain with any kind of useful ability and a want to assist has been pulled into smaller teams to cover countries, states, and areas of the oceans where mayhem has erupted as the people of Atlantis rise to the surface. The island nation of Xinthal is reporting that they are fine, though they are unwilling to help with the pandemonium eruptiong elsewhere. Everywhere these shards fell is experiencing some bizarre phenomenon.
A call goes out to all metahumans, civilian or not. A one time exception. Insurance companies are willing to look the other way. Of course there are those that heed the call, some of them are there to help, but some of them? Are causing just as many problems as the others are solving.
Starfallen in both Guilds are asked to assist - those with first aid capabilities and knowledge are asked to help focus on patching together those injured in the havoc, and others with known combat capabilities may be called to focus on assisting specific areas. Teleporters are given out freely and many sorcerers and teleporters are opening wide doors inside the Alliance and Society headquarters to allow for quicker travel between affected areas. There are also several within Arcadia, which is also being repurposed temporarily as an aide station.
THE LABYRINTHThere subways are not running in New York City today. Civillians are spilling out of the terminals and into the streets, reporting that the subway has changed.
"It's like a maze," they say. "I think there's something in it."
It's not like a maze. It is a maze. Setting foot in the underground is like stepping into another world. Impossibly high ceilings await you, and the maze stretches on and on and on.
Where trains used to carve the way under busy city streets, now massive walls that rival the tallest skyscrapers touch the high cavern ceilings. Deadends litter the labyrinth, and many of them are doing their best to catch those within the labyrinth off guard: a light may appear at the end of a beautiful rose-filled path, but that light? It's a massive lion with a mane of fire, and he looks like he's been waiting for his next meal.
Another curve might lead to an abandoned convenience store full of snacks and easy meals, but it won't be long before the labyrinth starts changing, consuming the convenience store whole and anyone still within its walls. After all, it would be a shame if someone got too cozy. Madness awaits in here, as unless one is exceptionally careful they may never escape. The sounds echo. Something feels like its breathing down your neck, but when you turn you find nothing there. Any wildlife that may have lived here has gone feral, transforming into beasts better befitting an ancient myth. Sewer rats are now Dire Rats that roam in packs, all too eager to devour anything they find. Hands reach from the walls, eager to draw you in and hold you here forever with them. They promise comfort and whisper pleasantries, the world is harsh and they offer salvation and you should just allow yourself to be taken. The appearance of an unexpected friend may not be the boon you think, as the labyrinth is not above creating doppelgangers to lead you astray. These entities are always just out of touch, and it knows what you want the most.
After all, this city is full of dreamers. And the trains are where they so often drift, it knows just how to trap people in its grasp.
The Starfallen consumed by the labyrinth will find themselves eventually returned to the surface - though how they cannot say - it may be hours later, or even days later. The same cannot be said for anyone native to this world who falls to the trap. Regardless, any companions they've gained are no longer with them, any supplies they've picked up are gone, and they must restart their journey. Their drop-off point will be at one of the furthest points from the center.
The shard in the labyrinth is held by its guardian in its ever shifting center. Getting to it will require a team.
PET SEMETARYIn the Pacific Northwest, something is going on with the animals.
In the local animal sanctuary in a tiny town outside of Maine, a shard has fallen onto the bones of a long dead wolf. It died to poachers who had never even bothered to claim its body as bounty, and its fury has never fully abated. The skeleton's eyes light up as the energy surges and the creature throws its head to the moon and howls, and at once, the animals change.
Not juust the wildlife, but the domestic animals. Each of them has heard the call of the wild and as such, they change. Reverting from domesticated dogs and cats to things much older and wilder, turning on their humans.
The people flee, barricading themselves inside their homes. Their distress calls are clear - they want their pets saved, but their words are not reaching them. These beasts need to be contained and brought somewhere safe to be researched, so the power imbued in them can be removed and they can be returned to man's best friend.
And the thing in the woods needs to be dealt with. The skeletal wolf has grown several sizes larger than it ever was in life and glows with a powerful blue flame. The beasts of the forest are its loyal subjects, and all have inherited its bloodlust. It waits for a worthy challenger in the thick of the woods, but you'll not find it easy to reach it.
AFTERMATHIt doesn't end, but it does let up. The power surge going through the fragments can't last forever so eventually, the new incidents being reported globally die down. First aid stations are set up outside several of the affected zones as well as Arcadia, manned by volunteers and heroes alike.
But the effects don't. Unlike a confluence, they remain. New York still has a Labyrinth instead of a subway station even if the fragment is retrieved, and the animals who were affected by the wolf still remain feral. That will be an ongoing task to solve.
Still, more examples come day by day. Shadows begin coming to life and attempt to overtake their hosts in Southern Texas, non-metahumans suddenly find themselves empowered, and so on and so on and so on.You may ask yourself if this is the new normal - and it is.
Though the efforts of the Starfallen are valiant, this is not a problem that can be so easily solved. These things fell everywhere the world over - and not just on Earth, they're everywhere.
This is a problem that is not going away any time soon. Missions will involve c containing these outbreaks. We strongly encourage cooperation and teamwork in resolving these issues.
➢ The shards have all activated at once, meaning that the world has gone from relatively peaceful to complete pandemonium. Where ever these shards landed is now faced with its own unique disaster
➢ A Labyrinth has consumed the New York City subway system. It will require a team to take it down.
➢ These events are happening absolutely everywhere. You can comment to the Assignment comment to receive a specific assignment, or can use any of the examples above.
➢ Teamwork makes the dreamwork! Work with people you haven't worked with before you receive fabulous prizes. Comment to the engagement post to let us know how you want to tackle these big issues.
no subject
[Donnie watches as the lights appear, trailing along across a foreign ceiling and off before them.]
You both fly, right? I can fly too if we wanna go that route.
[The surroundings certainly look nothing like the sewer tunnels he'd grown up around, the way ahead deceptively pleasant, although perhaps a touch ominous for that very fact. And maybe the green light that tints things, but Donnie had heard that sound earlier and isn't too keen on finding out what made it.
Still, they can only keep going onward.]
I thought they said this was a maze...
no subject
[ And she's beginning to think this is one of them. It seems almost impossible that the light could be from the outside. ]
And this is no ordinary labyrinth in which we find ourselves.
no subject
Do we pull a Hansel and Gretel and leave a trail? I can do markers too.
[ they'd be like. hot girls holding up signs. ]
no subject
[He glances behind them.]
...if it does move, I don't know how well leaving a trail will be, but we can try?
no subject
[ She floats there in the air, giving it some thought. ]
Kyle, if it's not too much trouble, I would suggest the crumbs approach. Or a string, as Theseus once used. But I'm more concerned about what lies ahead than behind.
no subject
[ kyle conjures a hot looking woman, holding up a rope. he grabs one hand while she holds the other. he loops the rope around his wrist. ]
All right. We're good to go.
no subject
He glances over as Kyle sets them up, blinking before he looks dryly at the man. Well, that's one way to do it, he supposes. He smiles crookedly before turning towards the way before them, the rotors of his battle shell unfolding so he can join the flight club. And at least this way they won't trigger anything that might be on the floor.]
Only one way to go now, so long as things don't start switching up on us. Let's go.
no subject
[ The small sound is infused with amusement: Kyle simply will be Kyle, no matter what. She finds that truth alternately comforting and very slightly exasperating.
But Donnie's right, and they're ready, so she floats up and begins making a push forward, towards the light she can see. As she drifts to the side to make room for the young turtle, she brushes against something – something cool.
It moves. And then suddenly there are so many more, hands reaching for her, grasping for her, and Diana gasps, sharp: ]
What–
no subject
Get down!
no subject
[Oh, that's a nightmare, and it's probably a good thing Kyle comes in clutch because Donnie freezes a moment at the sight of so many grabbing hands. He might have a bit of PTSD from a certain tech heist.]
no subject
[ She ducks at Kyle's call, reaching down as she does to rip the hands off her skin, her own grip iron and unrelenting. Finally, she floats free, eyeing the undulating mass of bodiless arms, of grasping fingers. ]
Even Plastic-Man seems non-intrusive in comparison to that.
no subject
no subject
S-sorry. I just- [He shakes his head.]
Nicely done. [He says, nodding to Kyle. He'll still keep away from the hands of course, not that he doesn't trust the Green Lantern's abilities.]
You okay Diana?
no subject
[ As Kyle deals with the hands, she flies over to the young turtle, concern in the lift of her brows, in the way she watches him. ]
Are you?
no subject
Yeah, how're you holding up?
[ kyle is fine and he's not worried about diana, but they've been through the Horrors. ]
no subject
[He shivers as he looks at the hands, still trying so hard to grab at them all. But it seems like Kyle's taking care of it, and he said his constructs remain for as long as he wants them to, but Donnie's still pretty sure there has to be a limit.]
Let's keep going. Hopefully these things won't be lining every wall. Once we get past them you shouldn't have to hold them back.
[Turning, he starts to fly ahead, keeping an eye out.]
no subject
I expect we'll come across a few more obstacles. Preferably no more hands, though.
no subject
We just need to keep an eye out. We'll be fine as long as we stick together.
no subject
[Inwardly he sighs in relief, glad to just leave that length of hallway behind. He slows a little just so he won't outdistance the other two once they are well down the hall. Kyle does get a nod though.
The hall ahead of them shifts, a singular path splitting in twain. Donnie groans. He knows they were expecting challenges but it doesn't mean he welcomes them.]
Of course.
...
[His brow furrows as he looks down one way then the other, and then back again. There's something that strikes him as...'off' about one way and he's not sure how to really reason that out. Instinct? Gut reflex? ...that doesn't make sense to him either, but turning to face the other path just feels right somehow.]
This way.
no subject
Very well.
[ They're cautious now, moving carefully, keeping an eye out. Kyle's glow thankfully illuminates the maze around them, but as there are no distinctive elements pointing their way, it mostly serves to keep them from running into walls.
But there's more here. Waiting for them. She's certain of it. ]
no subject
the rope, the hands and the darkness though . . . it rings like a story. ]
This doesn't feel familiar to either of you, right?
no subject
Kyle gets a glance once he speaks up with his inquiry.]
No? Not particularly? I mean...the only familiar thing is being in a shifting labyrinth but I doubt there's a minotaur with pizza in the middle.
[They come across another fork and Donnie hardly takes a moment to figure which one to go down. He doesn't much like it, but if it saves them from getting caught up in any more traps or going in circles, he can't completely discount it.
Of course knowing which path to take doesn't mean that it's without its own perils, and the labyrinth is still intent on throwing them off some way or another. The sounds come from behind them, the growls of something hungry or a lot of somethings...]