Better to Receive than to Give [open to all]

[applesaucemod]

Somewhere in the cosmos, there is something bright, and young, and playful. Somewhere, this being watches over their little flock and does their best to make those people safe and happy. Somewhere, that godling and their flock celebrate the winter holidays in the happiest of dreams.

And somewhere closer at hand, a sleeping giant stirs.

The bright tapestry of dream threads gathered by Zephyr is suddenly yanked hard enough to pull it from its temporary mooring. Something entirely unlike the little godling reels in the dreamers so neatly gathered and packaged up for it, bringing its own toys back to their proper place and taking all the others it can with them. Unsatisfied, it reaches out again and again, dragging in dreamers from all across the multiverse. It will snare them, all of them, and then it will possess them completely.

Perhaps it's fitting that when the stolen dreamers arrive in this new shared mindscape, they'll find they've been designated the Rift's Christmas gifts to itself. Each might awaken inside a dark box, or cocooned in…is that tissue paper? When they claw their way out they'll be greeted by the sight of an enormous evergreen tree laden with twinkling lights and kitschy knickknacks looming overhead. Beyond the shadow of the tree the rest of the world -- that is, the living room -- is just as large. Or is it that the dreamers have just become very small? Giant packages wrapped in bright paper form an obstacle course, but the wooden floor of the room is wide open between the tree and the hearth where an enormous plate of cookies and glass of milk await a cataclysmic Santa Claus.

All in all, things are fairly normal as far as the rift's dream gatherings go…at least on the surface. The more telepathically sensitive among the dreamers may notice an undercurrent of something darker, more urgent, and more possessive than normal. The rift isn't just sampling the wares of other worlds tonight; this time it means to play for keeps.


[OOC: This is the second part of our crossover with wethelost! Part one can be found here. Usual dream party rules apply: all players and characters are welcome regardless of whether they are currently in the game, and characters may remember or forget the events of the dream party at the discretion of their players.

For reference, characters of average human height are roughly four inches tall according to the scale of their current surroundings. There is an entire giant house beyond the living room; characters will find a kitchen and dining room on the same floor, a staircase outside the door of the living room that leads up to a second floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom, and another staircase off the kitchen that goes to an unfinished basement. Feel free to add details as needed!

This event takes place on evening of August 8th/morning of August 9th in Applesauce time, and December 31 in WtL time.]

Comments

[scruffy_mcjackass]

Dustin was hoping for something more than he's getting, yes. The scruffy man wrings his hands and snarls in agonized frustration.

"Are you too stupid to realize that this isn't a good thing?" he snaps. "You're in a dream right now. None of us are supposed to be here. We can't escape. Is it sinking in yet?"

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou's grin only widens. "So it's really dangerous! Then that's great!" He doesn't care that he's probably not doing much to endear himself to Dustin. "That just means there's even more opportunity here!" No fear off of this one. "So if something magical's got us stuck in a dream, then I'll just have to eat it afterwards!"

[scruffy_mcjackass]

That answers Dustin's question quite nicely. Too stupid to understand. He can deal with that. Rather than getting more violently frustrated, Dustin busies himself with aggressively pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's the Rift," he drones. "The Rift is a transdimensional portal. You cannot eat the Rift."

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou considers this information. "I dunno, has anyone ever tried? It'd be a great adventure. And that much magic? Heck of a meal!"

[scruffy_mcjackass]

This is absurd. "An adventure--" Dustin cuts himself off, eyes squinted and brow furrowed in a way that heavily suggests he's just heard the stupidest claim of the evening. After a long moment of speechlessness, he gives up and throws his hands in the air.

"--No. No, they've tried escaping the Rift, but they have not tried eating it. Maybe you should give it a shot. Why the fuck not? Go on."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Chimera's willing to give it a go, so sure!" Nitou flashes Dustin one more cocky grin before producing a couple of really gaudy, toylike rings. He passes the first one over his belt buckle, which looks sort of like a cage door.

"DRIVER ON!" The voice seems to come from the magically-appearing bulky belt appearing around Nitou's waist. It too looks like a closed cage door, only larger and more substantial.

Nitou strikes a pose. "Hennnnn-shin!" And he puts the other ring he's wearing into a spot on the side of the belt.

"SET...OPEN!" The belt keeps right on nattering along as Nitou twists the ring, and the doors on the front spring open, revealing a golden relief of a lion with glittering red eyes. "L-I-O-N! LI-ON!" And as the belt chants, a golden magic circle forms in front of Nitou and passes over him, leaving him in armor as it passes.

"Alright! It's lunchtime!" Nitou rubs his hands together. "Now, where is this Rift?"

[scruffy_mcjackass]

Dustin wasn't exactly expecting Nitou to act--laugh and walk away to do whatever his delusional little mind had come up with, maybe. Not pull off what looks like a more flamboyant version of Hajime's transformation sequence. Dustin watches the ritual unfold, expression baffled and flat.

"...You're in it," he says, at length. Then, with a more flustered gesture at a vague point to his left (which happens to be towards the humongous tree), "Well? You have a lot of work to do."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Really?" Nitou looks around and produces another ring with a flourish. "Guess I'll have to break it up into easier to digest chunks, then." He also produces a sword out of nowhere, and he merrily gets to hacking away at the scenery. "Man, this is gonna take forever..."

[scruffy_mcjackass]

This is the part where Dustin should shake his head and walk away, having successfully diverted this annoyance so he can do more important things. But then, that sword is doing a number on things, and this guy is all too eager to put it to use...Dustin can use this to everyone's advantage. He pauses with a pensive scratching of his chin.

"You should start on that tree," he suggests idly. "It takes up the most space and has a lot of fiber."

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou takes another swing at the scenery, but instead of it breaking up into normal bits, it's sort of sucked into his belt. The red eyes on the lion relief on said belt are glowing. Something somewhere makes a snarling, chomping noise. "Alright, I can try that! Dunno if I need the fiber, though, man. I'm pretty regular."

[scruffy_mcjackass]

That is...simultaneously interesting and entirely too much information. Dustin raises an eyebrow, hums his agreement, and finally gives up and walks off to other parts of the room. He's showed this dumbass the right direction, at least. He'll check on the aftermath later.