recolle | Nightmare/Fog Open Catch-all

WHO: May + whoever
WHERE: anywhere + dreamscape
WHEN: October
WHAT: May's gotten on the bad end of more than one incredibly dangerous person in her canon...
WARNINGS: Mentions of violence, general chase related terror. Mostly just violence, though.

[ i - does the sheep count the sheep ]

-The whirring of the wheels were mostly what you could hear out in the grey mired thickness of the fog, seemingly coming from every direction. It whips by, faster than any vehicle you probably know of, rushing here and there. Accompanying that are the sound of hurried foot steps, and panicked panting. The rattling wheels can't be pinned to a source, but the running footfalls are clearly getting closer.-

Hey! Hey, you need to get out of here! -Whether you know her or not, May is the one that appears from the fog first, clearly panting, a lead pipe in her hands. She had no time to bring her anchor along, having left it at the shelter, but the pipe has clearly seen some use. It's slightly dented, with scratches all through it. It probably couldn't hold up to much more abuse, whatever it was that abused it. But May grabs your shoulder, forcing you to look in her clearly tense eyes.-

Don't zone out on me, I said you need to run! Now! -But the source of her fear becomes apparent as the wheels sound again, rushing near.-

Shit! Get behind me! -May turns about, raising the pipe as if it were a sword of some kind. The source of the sounds comes from the fog... a bed frame. Just a simple bed frame by the look of things, with a young man seemingly strapped in. A closer look showed it was more than simply stapped, but with large screws piercing his shoulders, almost crucifying him to it.

But it didn't remain a bed frame for long. The wheels that had been whirring popped out to the side, extending, growing, as the bed itself rose off the ground. Mishapen limbs spring from the back of the frame, a huge crowned head rotating forth as the bed transformed from crude gurney into nightmarish machination. Its gaze, glowing and red, seemed to pierce into the very mind, causing a ringing in the ears, a throbbing of the temples. Its presence was immense and crushing, like nothing seen before or since.

One of it's long arms raised up, the wheel spinning like a rotary cutter, making a similarly twisted sound as it slammed itself down, caught on the lead pipe May raised in defense.-

I SAID RUN! -She screams. But where could one even run from a thing like that?-

[ ii - suspicious cook ]

-The realm of Morpheus doesn't bring any more peace to the girl. Crossing over into her nightmares, one finds themselves in a bizarre shrine of some sort, the giant heads of seemingly once living beasts adorning a central pillar, their features marred in seemingly ironic "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" fashion. The lighting is all provided by mysterious floating orbs, and they all seemed to move to their own ends, going this way and that. But any time to observe one's strange dreamland is interrupted by the sound of May's piercing scream.

Following it, you find her engaged in battle, and against something human-like, but twisted. The man had to have been at least nine feet tall, though he was crawling about like an animal, swinging a giant scalpel around as if it were a spear of some kind. All the while he couldn't seem to stop... laughing. And his laugh was twisted, cruel, dripping with madness. Blood stained the area around him, several disfigured cadavers strewn about, cut to bits, sewn into horrifying shapes. And he went after May, clearly intending to make her his next victim.

May seemed somehow younger, crying as she desperately fought back. But her anchor didn't seem to make much difference, only landing glancing blows on the lizard-like twisted body of her attacker. He screamed about her being due for surgery, and May could only scream back, swinging her the anchor to try and keep him at bay. It was working, for now, but who knew for how long...-

[ iii - wildcard ]

-If you had something non-nightmare related planned for May, go ahead and post a top level here and I'll respond to it!-

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[There was something in the air above them; Lucy snapped her head up to look. That thing again, as if summoned by her words. Speak of the devil.

But Lucy had made a promise.

Her face twisted into a scowl, and her vectors leapt skywards. They bypassed the weapon, aiming for the doctor's head instead.

If she couldn't tear anything, she'd strangle him.]

-Unfortunately, his reach was rather long, being such a tall man using such a long weapon. The spinning slash landed a hit on May, opening up a deep gash across her shoulder and cheek, the doctor aiming to do the same to Lucy as the rest of him landed.-

[The blade cut into Lucy's left arm, the edge so sharp that she almost didn't notice. Had he missed? He must have, he was landing on the ground and there was...new blood on the scalpel? Lucy's arm wasn't responding correctly below her elbow, and as she glanced down at the red making its way down to her fingers the pain hit her like a truck.

So much for dreams not hurting. Half of her vectors disappeared as her concentration wavered, agony searing through the gash and up her arm.]

-And it didn't take much for him to cut at the other arm, pinning down what he considered the more unstable of his patients, Lucy. He stabbed right at her other shoulder, laughing maniacally as he did so, twisting the blade, delighting in the agony of it all.-

[Lucy didn't shut down in the face of pain. It made her angry, like goads to a still-feral animal. She twisted away from the blade as the scalpel came around again, shoving May to the side and out of the way with her left shoulder and unresponsive arm. The end of the scalpel still cut her right shoulder, though this injury was more glancing.

Her remaining vectors didn't disappear, but no new ones reappeared. There were just three of them now, and for them to be any use she needed to get closer. Thinking about it was too slow. Lucy charged forwards like a boar running up a spear with no crossbars, vectors grabbing at the doctor's arm to stop the next strike, to pull and crush.

If she mistimed this, that scalpel would carve her arm off or worse.]

-May was paralyzed. As much as she wished for it, screamed for it in her mind, nothing moved. She couldn't even scream to warn Lucy about the Absolute Defense that Dr. Baldhead would no doubt use to block the vectors again. She was still, bleeding, terrified, but Lucy was about to die. Her friend was about to die.

Do something. Do something. Do. something.

DO SOMETHING

Just as that green glow appeared around Dr. Baldhead's arm once more, deflecting Lucy's last ditch effort, and just before he aimed another jab downwards, this time aiming for her chest, he was just as suddenly knocked away, flung into one of the pillars, cracking it from the impact...

May stood above Lucy now, hyperventilating she was panting so heavily, her anchor falling to the side, freshly used.-

[That green light again. That damned light was all Lucy could see again, and when it cleared the blade was coming right for her chest—

The expected pain didn't materialize. No grating of steel against bone, no laughter. Lucy's head jerked up at the crack of stone splintering, pulling at her wounds further. But nevermind that—]

May!?

[Lucy knew May was strong, but seeing that so undeniably was still startling.]

Is he... is he getting up? -May couldn't even look, falling to all fours and panting heavily, body still shaking violently as she tried to get herself back under control.

As for the doctor, well... with blood running down his face, he struggled himself to try to stand again, using the scalpel for balance. But it couldn't last, and without another step being taken, he collapsed.

A great bell sounded, as if signaling May's 'victory'...-

[Lucy wasn't in much better shape, slouching more than normal and wobbling on her feet. She held a hand over the wound in her arm like she could stitch the muscles together.

And she tensed when the doctor moved again, but he seemed to be in pretty bad shape. He didn't even make it a full step, and he didn't move again.]

Not anymore.

[Lucy was still tense as a wound spring, and the sound of a bell made her flinch.]

I... I really wanna go home. -May slumped back onto her haunches, tears flowing from her eyes as all of her emotions started to finally catch up to her, quietly weeping. She didn't care if Lucy saw it. Her heart had been stripped raw by that terror, and she had no more bluffs to put up.-

[Lucy's arm still wasn't responding correctly, and the blood draining from her wounds had started to drip to the floor. It made her feel dizzy and a bit wobbly.

She looked down at May with a blink, the tears on her friend's face startling. And at least some of the shifting on her feet coming from indecision. She knew enough to know that she was awful at reassurances. Pointing out May's surprising emotional state wouldn't help either, though it was quietly distressing.

Distressing, because it was familiar. How many times had people seen through Lucy's armor, to the distorted person underneath? Too many.

Lucy looked back up at the crumpled form of the doctor instead.]

He won't stop you.

Everything else has...

-After all, despite the conflicting memories of it, May was sure she had no home to go back to. She was in a bed at the shelter. This place her other self was imagining as home, this Mayship, wasn't real...-

You going to— [A more severe wobble. Lucy scowled as she corrected herself, more blood dribbling onto the dream-place's floor.] —you going to add yourself to that, too?

...

We need to get you out of here. -They were both hurt, but Lucy was in-arguably worse off. And May felt that guilt, heavy on her heart.-

Nightmare/Fog Open Catch-all

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