trans_9 | I can feel the madness slowly creeping in...

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I can feel the madness slowly creeping in...

It is that time again, meatship.

Once again, the King of Nightmares has deigned to spread his touch to all of your dreams.

This time, however, he has decided to give them a much more personal touch, sending his very own children to visit each and every one of you, slowly sowing the seeds of madness within all of you.

Such a kind and loving king he is, isn't he?

[ooc: Alright folks, Nightmare King is ramping things up a bit. These nightmares are a good bit more dangerous now, and he's sending in his minions to make things a little more real. The nightmares will be of a much more serious nature this time, designed to start driving the crew slowly insane. Characters are more likely to run into nightmare minions in the guise of someone or something that will tug at the edges of their sanity. Also, this time, the characters can have joint dreams, as these nightmares are of a more mystical nature this time. Once again, tagging in isn't mandatory, but if you want to, go crazy (literally)!]

[Additional Note: Any injuries won't be carrying over to real life at this point in the plot but don't worry, we'll get there eventually!]

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That was good enough for now, she decided.

Making sure he was close enough for her to grab a hold of him as necessary, Ahava tensed in readiness. Her eyes flicked from the green-skinned woman in the doorway, to the laser cutter sitting in a tray of tools close at hand. She'd only have a few scant second to work with, so she'd have to make the most of it.

Her intended target disappears behind Ahava's back, and the woman's face changes from that twisted expression of pure delight to a blank, emotionless mask that is somehow more chilling than any sign of rage would have been.

"Give him back, he's mine to do with what I wish," she says, flat, cold, and lifeless. "I brought him into this world, and I can take him away from it."

"Well he's not yours any more," Ahava answered, calm and in control before she suddenly swept up the entire tool kit and flung it at the woman - if that was even what she was - as hard as she could. Hard enough to make her flinch back. But by then Ahava was already moving, sweeping Querl up protectively in her arms and diving past the woman while she was distracted.

Even then, she almost wasn't fast enough as the green-skinned woman lashed out and Ahava felt long nails scratch across her back. But she didn't even think about slowing down. Querl was safe (though she was willing to bet not that happy about being carried), and that was the important thing right now.

Actually, he can't run fast enough with his legs this short. It's uncomfortable to be carried by this stranger, but it makes the most sense. And in another way, it--

It's somewhat comforting.

He feels like a child, especially in the presence of his mother. He feels vulnerable. To have someone protecting him as his real mother should... Querl can't help but shake a bit in her arms as she carries him. Small green hands curl into the stiff cloth of her her lab coat and his arms tighten their grip where they're wrapped around her neck. To avoid looking at the woman chasing them, his face is buried in Ahava's neck.

As Ava runs, the scenery changes. They're outside, on a planet. The sky is dim and somewhat gray--tall, ornate buildings reach up to the sky. In their presence, however, security panels drop down over all major windows and doors--standard anti-Brainiac security. Never know what might explode in the presence of one, after all. And with Brainiac 4 in the picture, too, it's even more of a threat.

The footsteps are close behind them.

It was hard to tell if Ahava noticed how Querl clung to her, or if she thought it was anything other than him holding on for dear life while she ran down the neat, ordered streets with their blocked off windows and doors. But all the same, her arms tightened around him possessively. One thing was abundantly clear in her mind, and that was that under no circumstances would she allow the nightmare of his mother take him.

She hadn't been keeping track of where she was running, but now there was a door in front of her, the access panel flickering invitingly. The footsteps were still gaining, relentlessly following them, so Ahava didn't waste a moment more, simply pressed her hand to the panel and slipped through the door once it opened.

Inside was a laboratory, that much was clear. But at least it wasn't as small and dark as the one they'd just fled. She set Querl down and knelt in front of him. "We don't have a lot of time to work with," she explained quickly. "Will you help me?"

He's already pulling the sheets off the lab tables and equipment there. The place had been exactly as it had been when he left it.

"No, I intend to go and take a pleasant nap--of course I'll help."

Ahava smiled and shook her head slightly. With how he'd been acting when the green-skinned nightmare woman - his mother - had appeared, she'd wondered if he'd need some reassurance somehow. But she should have realised that even as a child he was still obviously a Brainiac.

She rose and joined him at the lab tables. "Did you have anything in mind?" She could think of something herself if need be, but it was equally likely that he already had a plan.

"...No. I--"

There's a banging at the door and he flinches.

"I--"

He's completely terrified. He has no idea what to do. For all his mind is brilliant, at the moment, it's flooded with fear because of one of the only things he's truly afraid of and that quaking terror is blocking every other thought.

"I don't know what to do--I don't--"

He's starting to panic, to hyperventilate, and tears are in his eyes. Even as he stands before her, he seems to be getting younger and younger, as if to reflect his helplessness. This is what the thought of her reduces him to.

Ahava's eyes narrowed at the sudden banging at the door and the effect it had on Querl. While she might have wondered about it initially, it was obvious that he was growing younger by the moment; another part of the nightmare no doubt. It was up to her then.

Quickly she knelt down in front of him again, resting both hands on his shoulders. "I promise that you're going to be alright, Querl," Ahava said, sincerity ringing in her voice. "I won't let anyone else hurt you."

There was another ringing blow to the door, and Ava tugged Querl into a quick hug before standing up again.

There was a device on the table, the design suggesting 'gun' though she instinctively knew it wasn't exactly that. Ava wasn't sure if it had been there a moment ago or not, but either way it was there now, and that was all that mattered. She hefted it awkwardly and turned to face the door just as another blow caused it to fly open.

The green-skinned woman seemed larger than before, the door much closer, and the lab itself somehow smaller; Querl's nightmare taking a hold of him even more, she realised distantly. But that was all secondary to the figure of his mother as she lunged towards them...

And Ava squeezed the trigger.

There wasn't a retort from this weapon, though a bright pulse of light shot out and struck the nightmare woman full in the chest. It was bright enough to leave Ahava blinking for a moment or two afterwards, and then she could see what exactly had happened. Querl's mother was still there, still alive and whole, but smaller. More vulnerable and looking oddly afraid now, as if she'd realised that the dream was no longer fully in her control.

Ava felt a smile twist the corners of her mouth as she stepped forward, hefted the weapon again, and swung it in a vicious arc that connected with a satisfying crack against the nightmare's form.

"Get out," she said, voice low and dangerous. "And don't come back."

In the meantime, Brainy's been working on unsealing the vents.

With a laser cutter.

And setting up certain specific security measures.

"Ahava! Blast her back and then come here. I have an idea!"

Ahava glanced back at him, and for a moment she seemed almost annoyed by the distraction. Whatever the nightmare creature was, she felt she had it under her control, and a part of her just wanted to hit it and keep hitting it until there was nothing left to hit.

But she had to remember there were more important things than her own emotional indulgences.

Nonetheless, she got in one last swing with the weapon before blasting the thing again and falling back to Querl's side. "What's your idea?"

"Into the ventilation system. We can use it to reach the transport hangar."

The vents were small, but even she would fit.

"I've reconfigured the security parameters, in case she tries to follow."

"She'd better not," Ahava answered darkly, "otherwise you won't need the security parameters to stop her."

She shot a look back at the green-skinned figure, just to keep an eye on where she was. "You go first. I'll protect you."

"But--"

He's the Legionnaire here.

He's also currently a child, a fact with Ahava tries to convey with a quick look. "Just go, I'll be right behind you, I promise."

There is a sigh, as he climbs in. Arguing is fruitless and will waste time, and he knows what she meant by that look. He's practically defenseless at the moment, without even adult size to his advantage.

Ahava shoots a quick look back at the green-skinned woman, then scrambles into the vent behind Querl. "Hurry, and don't look back," she advises.

He doesn't look back. He thumps through the vents as fast as he can, following the layout he memorized.

But memory is memory and logic is logic and dreams are not logical.

"No. No! It's a dead end! It wasn't a dead end on the map!"

"The dream must be changing," she says, almost bizarrely calm despite their situation. Panicking won't be much help after all.

There's a thumping, scraping sound in the vents back the way they came, the sound not unlike nails scratching on metal. She's right behind them both and moving nightmarishly fast and Ahava calculates it won't be long before the twisted nightmare of his mother catches up to them.

"Stay behind me." She shifts her grip on the weapon, trying to wiggle it and herself around in the narrow space before the Coluan woman catches up to them.

"This isn't...how it's supposed to be. This is my mind. Mine. I am a 12th-level intellect. I am capable of complete mental control."

He needs something to bring order to the chaos.

"The digits of pi are as follows: Three-point-one-four-one-five--nine-two-six-five-three--"

Science is his refuge. Math is his home. The universe can be quantified--and the things that can't be are a joy to unravel. There is order, scientific and social, there are such things as justice. It's all tied together, the order of his universe, and he tries to remember that to bring order to his mind.

Emotional responses are chaotic. He has facts.

Fact # 1: He is not a child anymore--he's a Legionnaire.

Fact # 2: His mother doesn't love him.

Fact # 3: His mother tried to kill him.

Fact # 4: She failed, and he doesn't need her--he has the Legion.

Fact # 5: She has no power over him.

Fact # 6: No one has power over him, not his insane mother, not Colugov, not Earthgov. He determines his own fate.

"--five-eight-nine-seven-nine-three..."

He may have completer control over his mental processes, but this isn't purely his dream. The Nightmare King has a hand in this too, and if Querl is trying to find a way to regain control over himself and to banish the nightmare, well, it clearly isn't working.

The nightmarish creation of his mother rounds the corner, large enough to fill the space entirely, but not hindered by the press of the walls at all. In contrast, Ahava is nearly certain that the area is smaller than it was previously, Querl closer to her back, and her weapon more cumbersome, difficult to bring to bear on the woman in front of her.

"Two-three-eight-four-six-two," she continues, encouraging him. It's also a distraction, after all. Something that stops him from freezing up as the woman manages to loom over them both despite the space, fingers reaching, grasping for them...

"Don't look," Ahava breathes.

He looks instinctually.

He freezes.

There's blind, wild terror.

Ahava doesn't have to glance back to tell he's frozen in terror, but she finds herself looking anyway. His face isn't that of Brainiac 5, Legionnaire now, but a frightened child in need of protection from the nightmare of his past reaching for him.

The thing that looks like his mother isn't interested in her now, feeding off his fear perhaps, or maybe something else. Either way, Ahava takes advantage of its distraction while she can, wrenching the gun up and free, firing as soon as she's able.

The green-skinned woman shrieks, a long, drawn out cry of pain that's far louder than it has any right to be. She seems to twist in on herself almost, shrinking to resemble a far more ordinary looking woman who looks at them imploringly, a gaping, bloody wound in her torso. She shudders, almost convulses in pain, green blood bubbling at the corner of her mouth and then slowly crumples to the ground.

The security measures were supposed to take care of her, far off where he couldn't see. They failed, because this is a nightmare, and things fail in nightmares.

Querl leans back against the dead end wall of the vent and slowly slides to sit on the floor, silent. There's blood spattered on his face, his mother's blood.

Ahava stares at the corpse with an almost faraway expression on her face, then slowly sets the weapon down in front of her. The sound of Querl leaning back against the vent reminds her that he's still there, and that he most likely saw everything in vivid detail, and she turns back towards him.

"...Querl?"

I can feel the madness slowly creeping in...

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