Podpop

[cityship]

Instructions: Post your character with one post establishing them as being podpopped. Tag each other in groups of 2's, 3's, and 4's, to get some interaction to start with. If a thread doesn't already have 2 or 3 people tagged in, tag it with your character's podpop popping near the other people, rather than making a new subthread. If you would like to play out them talking to the AI, please send an email to the mods making the request--we do this only by request. Then move onto the big Newbie Meeting. Once your character has gotten the rundown from the old crew, you may start posting entrance posts and freely tagging.]


||Pod Release Protocols Initating|| Stacy's familiar voice sounds out to all the podmates through the ship.

In the Pod Caverns, there are the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There is condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slide out onto the floors, covered in slime.

--

There was nothing. You were going about your normal life, then there was a bright light, and then? Nothing.

Then the world lurches.

The chamber here is humid.

Actually, "chamber" isn't quite accurate. You're in a cavern, half-lit by an eerie greenish light, going on and on as far as the eye can see. The light is coming from what can only be described as pods, glistening, round greenish-yellow things, glowing with a pale inner light, outlining human -- and not quite human -- forms. Each is rooted to the floor, to the walls, with something black, twisted, and unidentifiable.

They line the walls of the cavern, go up in maddeningly high columns, curling and corkscrewing up into the darkness, until the light from them is like that of the stars, glowing pale and mournful in clusters in the darkness above. Twisted walkways and stairs crisscross, traverse the platforms in front of the pods, wending their way back and forth, up and down through the chamber.

You just came from one of those pods, broke free like a butterfly from a (slimy, nasty) chrysalis.

Now you stand alone but not quite alone, naked, not knowing how you got there, who took you, or why you were taken.

As your body heats up again, you realize the air is warm -- just a few degrees too warm to be comfortable -- and muggy; it smells acrid and organic, like freshly spilt blood and sweat. Your mouth tastes of salt.

The floors are pulsing under your feet, throbbing...

Wherever you are, this entire place...is alive.

Oh, and also you're naked and covered in alien snot.

When you call out, ask where you are, a voice speaks to you, in your head. She tells you:

||You are here.||

When you ask who she is, she tells you that her name is STA'C K'LTRRB'TXFT, but that you may call her Stacy. When she tells you who she is, there is a gush of emotion, love, maternal warmth. You are on a ship. She is that ship. Her name is Stacy and she loves you. Her voice is warm and motherly, even if these messages sound almost automated.

Glowing phosphorescent lights appear in pustules along the floor. They lead you up a massive spiraling walkway that gives you a view of what are possibly millions in stasis. At the top is a room with moving vines that clean you and clothe you in a plant-like body-suit--soft, but durable. After that, the lights lead you to a great cavernous room with a clear floor that lets you see all the holes and tunnels in the walls of it. When you reach the center, the last thing she tells you before whisking you away to gather your belongings and meet the rest of the crew is this reassuring thought:

||You have been Chosen to accomplish a Great Purpose. You have been Chosen to help fight the Ohm, a race of insectoid beings that are the destroyers of worlds.||

||You have been Chosen as champions of life, as protectors of the worlds and peoples that are left. The others are waiting for you. They will explain everything.||

She will tell you nothing more. Your answers lie with these "others" she speaks of.

Comments

[oh-itsasnake.livejournal.com]

What fell to the floor of the pod cavern was not a human body, but a massive writhing white form -- a snake, its body an amalgamation of countless other snakes.

Such was his pain and shock, from both the transition to waking and the suddenness with which he found himself bodiless, that he could not resist nor counter the mental intrusion. It shocked him back to his senses, like icy water to the face. The great white snake lifted its head, that much effort taking vast quantities of strength.

His body, his taken body, had failed. Where was Sasuke?! He had not lured the boy for nothing, had not coddled him for three years, to have him abruptly vanish! The Sharingan was to be his! But the boy's chakra, Orochimaru's own chakra, was nowhere nearby. Nor Kabuto's, nor any of his servants and minions --

How did it come to this?

A body. He needed a body. Whatever had happened, it had shattered his plans brutally, cast them into so much dust. Galling though it was, he had to claim a new one, and wait yet again to claim the eyes of Uchiha that should be his. The snake cast his gaze around, finding the separation between most of the other figures too great. And yet next to him, a male form of some twenty-something, fit and seeming healthy, coughed out slime as he struggled to his feet.

In a moment, the snake's chakra had ensnared its victim, and it seized upon the body to consume it. In another moment, the transfer completed. The snakes contracted, swarmed, writhed around each other till nothing but the body it has seized was left, which smirked with a cold expression that until this moment had never crossed these features before.

"...it will have to do."

[black-hawke.livejournal.com]

This was not how he envisioned death.

Death was supposed to be a big nothing, a definitive ceasing to exist, not a sticky, slimy tumble out of an alien pod and onto a pulsating floor. It wasn't supposed to be nakedness or head voices or…were those other people?

The last thing he remembered was shooting Von Bolt's life support system, telling the other COs, telling Lash to get out, get out before the building collapsed around them. And they did, they listened and left and he stayed to make sure Von Bolt didn't escape, sealing his own fate in the process.

Then, blackness.

So he must have died, because there was no other logical explanation for what was happening right now. Hawke had to admit, this was not what he expected, but whatever kind of afterlife this was, it didn't seem like any conception of heaven or hell with which he was familiar. It was nice to not see any fire and brimstone (which was probably what he deserved), but being naked and covered in slime was almost as unpleasant.

Almost.

[bequiet_hescreamed]

It was interesting watching the others' faces - interesting to see how people reacted to suddenly finding themselves whisked away from their world. There were traces on every face of sadness, relief, confusion, or some other emotion. No two were the same. Clef was no different; he strongly felt that he ought to be somewhere else and was grappling with the fact that he now was nowhere near that place. In the meantime, it was better to focus on other people.

There was a man nearby looking vaguely surprised. Clef blinked up at him. What was that guy thinking about? Maybe he was just thinking, "Hey, I was just standing around not going anywhere, and suddenly I've gone somewhere!" For all he knew, someone here had to be thinking that.

[pure-love-bingo.livejournal.com]

"Hawkmon?"

"Yes, Miyako?"

"Didn't we do this recently?"

"Yes, we did."

"Why are we doing this again?"

There was an annoyed sigh. "Because apparently? Someone here hates us."

"I figured as much."

At the moment, laying face down on the floor, was a naked purple-haired girl and a hawk-like creature. They had appeared on-board recently as part of that brief, one day thing, then put back in the pods.

And now, they were back.

And they weren't happy by Stacy's decision to put them through the podpop revolving door.

[punchedoutdestiny]

Nearby, a tall, blue-haired man sputtered and staggered, and couldn't help overhearing the conversation.

"Ugh... If you've done this before, you mind filling me in?" Simon wiped the gunk off as best he could. This definitely wasn't the helm of the Supergalaxy Dai-Gurren...

Also nearby, a small, brown ball of a creature made rather unhappy noises as it tried to free itself of the goop before trying--and failing--to climb Simon.

[windwitch]

Getting spat out, slime-covered and naked, onto the floor, was definitely not what Maxine considered a good way to wake up. And it was sticky and humid and moving. She shuddered, only slowly realising all of these facts, before she covered herself up with a startled sound, trying to preserve some decency as others spilled out onto the floor nearby.

She listened to the voice in her head, to Stacy, the warm motherly voice that seemed so earnest. But Maxine felt alone and kind of frightened, honestly. Getting to shaky feet, her hair drifted just slightly in the faintest wind, generated only around her.

"Okay," she started, looking around and biting her lip. "So where's here?"

[theboywhodied]

The last few words heard lingered in the minds of one of the slowly awakening people.

Kill the spare---

Just like that, in the space of a minute, Cedric Diggory had left his position as an innocent competitor in a school competition and rushed to meet his death. The last thing he recalled seeing was a green light at the tip of the wand, the Killing Curse that Professor Moody had demonstrated to all the older students months ago. No cure, no stopping it, no one had ever survived it except Harry Potter. His rival, his companion in that graveyard. Where was Harry?

Then, he realized, he didn’t know the answer to the most pertinent question. Where was Cedric? If he’d been killed, then this was…after? It wasn’t reincarnation, as he still had the body he remembered, and it wasn’t a fluffy heaven. But how could any of the living had known what death was like? All they could describe was the act of killing, and he could now report that death by Killing Curse was painless. Cedric Diggory was about to make discoveries that millions of other departed souls had before.

Death, he discovered, was warm. It was humid and sticky and not entirely from something as basic as sweat, but a different substance. It pooled with his body in the remains of some sort of flimsy shell, clinging to his bare skin. Well, yes. The dead didn’t need clothes, obviously. Altogether there wasn’t any discernible difference between a living person lying naked in gunk and a dead person lying naked in gunk. Maybe he was just translating the overwhelming newness of death into more familiar sensations?

That wasn’t important right now. What mattered was the knowledge that he had died. He’d left Cho, his parents, his Hufflepuffs, and his rivals behind. Harry was still in the graveyard, unless---did he die too, since the murderer was still there? He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that wasn’t the case. Harry still had so much more to learn and do. Maybe he was immune to the killing curse? Somehow, Harry had to have gotten out of there alive. He quietly prayed that he had, and that the others at Hogwarts were safe.

With all of that settled and the strange voice of what must be a goddess guiding him on, he clung to one of the hanging pieces of the shell he’d been encased in to climb to his feet. There were so many shells---was this just where they appeared when they died? It was impossible to see features, but they all looked full. That was odd, and definitely not a good sign. Unnerved, but possibly just a little curious about the nature of being dead, he set off on the illuminated path.

Soon enough, he came across a woman and immediately averted his eyes. Something had been strange about her hair, but it would be rather rude to look.

"The life beyond? Never thought it'd be quite like this," he suggested sadly.

[youmissed]

John Crichton liked to think he was a pro at waking up in weird places.

Compared to some of the places he’d ended up on, John figured these days that a sentient living ship was fairly low on the What The Hell scale. Excuse him. He guessed “what the frell” was probably what he should be saying if he was getting native about this, except it always did feel weird to start throwing around the…slang. Sure, he’d say it out loud. But in his mind he was still auto-correcting it to old fashioned English; Earth-man; Hooman; whatever it was he got called this time, like he was some idiot lesser lifeform for not knowing something everyone else out here took as fact.

He’d say this was about a four on the What The Hell scale.

Maybe a five.

John gasped and coughed up what felt like a lungful of Jello, curling up on the floor and wondering when his hands were going to stop shaking. He didn’t even want to think about all the movies starting out this way. Something dribbled out of his mouth.

Oh God. He was drooling slime.

Green slime.

“I, uh – hello? I – ” John tried to wipe the green drool but whatever it was, the stuff seemed to keep coming and he hauled ass to the wall and sat there on his hands and knees, puking his guts up until he ran out of slime. His chest heaved until it hurt to breathe and he couldn’t even see past the tears. John wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Real cool, John. Real cool. “This’s probably the part where I get a gun in the face, so I just want to say: I come in peace. Nice alien. Don’t need to get pistol-whipped or shot or all that fun stuff.”

Hey, maybe it was such a pathetic first impression that he’d be deemed too incompetent to pose a threat. Wasn’t the first time it happened. It was sad that was what he considered a pretty good day, the day he didn’t get his butt whupped across the galaxy. So yeah. He’d take incompetent over, y’know, dead.

[hanzerhands.livejournal.com]

Adam was dead.

Or at least, he had been fairly sure he was dead. He remembered feeling the pressure as the ocean poured into the halls of Pancea after hitting the self destruct button, remembered the pain as the water engulfed him, remembered everything going black...

For a moment, as he fell from the pod, he thought he was still in Pancea, engulfed in water, but after a sudden moment of realization, he knew this wasn't the case.

He looked around, the urge to panic pushed down by Adam's calm, rational mindset. He had no idea of what to make of this place, or this situation. He was naked, and covered in some kind of viscous liquid, and he was in a scene out of a sci fi movie.

For a moment, Adam wondered if he was in Hell, but he wasn't normally one for thinking that kind of thing.

Suddenly, he heard someone near him babbling on about something. He stood up, his jet-black cybernetic arms and legs fully visible, among other things.

"What the hell are you going on about?"

Might as well ask the first person he sees. Better than nothing.

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

Confusion and anger were Alanna's top two emotions as she examined the area around her. Following on the heels of those two was fear, but she refused to cave to any of them. She was a proud knight of Tortall and she would hold her own against whatever this threat was.

Her hand reached instinctively for her sword, but instead it closed on emptiness. Her eyes were lit by surprise, but she didn't let it deter her. The Lioness reached for her axe only to find that missing too. It occurred to her then as she finally allowed herself to a moment to survey her own equipment that she had none of it. And by none she meant none. Her weapons, her armor, her shield...

She was, perhaps, without her weapons and armor, but she was not helpless in the slightest and whoever had brought her here would find that out soon. Alanna fell into a fighting stance, remembering her lessons in hand-to-hand combat.

The Lioness ignored the words that were spoken aloud. The lies of her captor meant nothing to her. She reached for her Gift and was relieved that it, at least, had not been taken from her.

"Who is there?" she finally called, preparing herself for any threat that might come her way. "Show yourself!"

[patenting.livejournal.com]

That was an angry voice. Alanna got a semi-nervous response from nearby from a girl who stuck close to the walls and the shadows because of the whole being naked thing.

"I ... I would, but I soooort of don't want to show myself if you know what I mean!"

[hates-deadites.livejournal.com]

Remember, you must recite the words exactly.

Right. Drink the juice, go into a slumber and wake up in his own time, right? He said 'em. He said the words. Clatto Verata... and... that N-Word...

He woke up trapped in some kind of alien booger, he was sure.

Ash was no stranger to being covered in slime and grime, but there was something especially disgusting about it when he realized he was butt naked which exposed him and all his man glory. Said glory suddenly spilled out all over the floor, sputtering and struggling to stand on his own two feet not unlike a newborn fawn, and groaning like a... well a something. A something like a man approximately six feet tall, marked with angular features and various scars from his head to his toes, and a chin that could kill. He was also missing his right hand, nothing more than a miserable stump at the wrist. No chainsaw, no boomstick. Aside from confused and disorientated, he felt terribly vulnerable and hoped nobody was planning on probing him in this state.

"Hhuuaghhnn--Where am I?" Wiping some of the pod slime from his eyes he could see this was nothing like Medieval times, and this sure as hell wasn't the time he hoped he would be in. Everything was gross and alien. Aw crap.

At least it looked like he wasn't alone. After a few more clumsy attempts, Ash finally pulled himself on his own two feet, sliding preciously around until he could get away from his own little slime pool.

"Hey, what's a guy got to do to get some pants around here?" Ash asked, well, anyone who'd listen while trying to cover up his dignity. Stacy, your explanations were probably going to go in one ear and out the other for the time being. Pants were clearly more important.

[halfa-hero.livejournal.com]

"Follow the lights." Danny answered, grumbling.

"Stacy! Was sticking me back in the pods really necessary?!" He shouted. Last he recalled he'd been running a Rogue Squadron simulation, and then this happened, It had been gross enough the first time.

[handpuppeeet.livejournal.com]

He had never remembered ever before being so damn cold, at least not until he realized things were warming up. And then he realized he never remembered it being so damn hot either. With this humidity he almost would have blamed it on Mezul, but of course that was impossible.

He had been at this for a year, he should've been used to such extreme changes in sensory perception, that was how the humans worked, but-- then why did he find it so jarring? The atmosphere almost made Ankh sick. Was this what it was like dying in a human body?

And then there was that sense of... he didn't even know coming from...well he didn't know that either. But it was some kind of...feeling? That almost made him feel even more nauseous and nervous than before, or perhaps it was more apt to say he didn't understand, but he wasn't in the most right of mind to think and he didn't know what was happening and this temperature was disgusting and--

"What the hell...?!"

Ankh didn't take too well to not knowing what was going on. And so he was just kneeling there, in...some other substance he didn't know about, clutching the sides of his head as if it would all fall apart if he didn't. This had to be another horrible dream, right?

[greeedycat]

There was no feeling, and that was how it should have been- because he was a Greeed. The muggy atmosphere, the salty taste, the acrid smells- none of that was anything he could perceive. Even the green light was seen through a yellow filter.

So, to say Cazali was missing some of the standards of podpop would be a slight understatement. He'd landed perfectly on the ground- on all fours, no less. But unlike his neighbor, he wasn't squawking indignantly and demanding answers.

No, as he rose, Cazali was more wondering how he had so thoroughly lucked out. The yellow drape spread out on the floor in front of him, and if he could have smiled, he would have. So much for fading away.

He didn't even take complete awareness of his surroundings, or company- no, the time for curiosity would be later. For now, he was just going to savor existence.

[patenting.livejournal.com]

One minute Miyuki Itsumi was on board her company's huge spaceship, the Dammerung, and the next...? Well, she was still on a ship. But she just didn't realize that yet. The power on board the ship had suddenly gone out, for reasons Miyuki herself didn't know. But she and her co-workers and friends had immediately taken action, and tried to figure out just what was going on. Did something else happen that she just hadn't realized yet?

She was on her knees, propping herself up from falling most ungracefully from her pod. That was when she noticed and felt the slime covering her entire body. "Oh ... ew!" she yelled, immediately springing up to wipe the slime off of her arms. And it was she stood up and looked down at herself that she noticed she wasn't wearing anything. Face twisting up in a sort of shock, she glanced around her quickly, to make sure nobody was trying to take any looks at her.

And finally, once that was out of the way, she finally noticed the other pods surrounding her from all directions. To be frank, it was creepy. "What the ... where am I?"

And then she heard the voice in her head. Which also freaked her out plenty. Stacy? The ship? Why was a ship talking to her what was happening. The voice though-- Miyuki noticed it easily enough from her line of work, it sounded like some sort of AI.

And while Miyuki was thinking about how Stacy's voice sounded, she completely missed out the whole chosen part of the info-dump. Oops!

[warriorraceguy.livejournal.com]

A large, heavy body slid out of the opened pod in a rush of warm slime. It was still for a moment, then took a shuddering breath and gathered its oddly jointed legs under it, rising to its feet. Standing at full height, flexing mandibles in an effort to clear them of slime, the Sangheili was roughly eight and a half feet tall.

N'tho shook his head in an effort to clear out the disorientation, and by the time the voice in his mind had stopped he was thinking clearly again.

Where in the name of the gods was he?

N'tho peered doubtfully ahead in the dim cavern along the light trail. He wasn't sure he trusted it. This place was definitely not the ship he'd just been sleeping in his quarters aboard, and it was so warm and organic it immediately made him think of the Flood. He needed to find a weapon, and his armor if he could manage it.

Ultimately, he needed to move.

N'tho, unarmed, naked, and painfully aware of these facts, set out at a walk.

[greeedycat]

Admittedly, Cazali sort of thought the pods were interesting, in a completely "what the hell is with organic beings" way. However, watching all the naked humans was getting pretty dull, since they all seemed to have the same reaction- talk to one another, realize they were naked, get all flustered for some reason.

And then there was the eight-foot tall alien thing which was far, far more interesting than anything else he'd seen so far. But approaching things in his state wasn't...the wisest idea, so instead, the Greeed decided to follow the Sanghelli as discretely as he could.

[umadbear.livejournal.com]

She felt horrible.

Inside outside.

"You should have just let me die, don't I deserve at least that?" She mumbled covering herself with her hands.

But despite the cynical words there was no emotion behind it. She felt dead inside and she knew why. She was supposed to be dead, with her beloved. Mister Jake was waiting for her!

...wasn't he? Would whatever heaven or hell he'd been sent to still exist now?

Moving like a zombie she swayed weakly feeling lightheaded.

[sky-high-king.livejournal.com]

Keith wipes his face as he stands up, a bit dazed. He heard the voice in his head though, and he understood exactly what she told him.

"A great purpose...? Champions of life and protectors of the world? Well, say no more. I, Sky High, vow to stop this evil force and help save the universe!" Keith declared and raised his arms dramatically. it was at this point that he noticed he was naked. He immediately turned bright red and covered his unmentionables. Looking around, Keith saw everyone else was naked, and blushed even harder as he covered his eyes.

"H-How embarrassing!"

[monster-san.livejournal.com]

The voice. The words. The slime....

The sheer mangnitude of impossibility would have frozen Fuu to the spot had it not been for one overpowering instinct: find Hikaru and Umi. If she was here, then they were too. This was like the first time they had been summoned to Cephiro, wasn't it? Chosen as the Magic Knights, chosen for this, and if it was true... it seemed utterly unreal and imaginary, but it felt real, and so if it was, they would decide what they needed to do.

Because if she was here, Hikaru and Umi were. That was how it was.

But that conviction was growing less and less certain as the seconds ticked by without a single glimpse of them. "Hikaru-san! Umi-san!" Fuu called, cupping her hands around her mouth. A thought lurked in the back of her mind, frantically trying and yet failing to get her notice, that she was wandering around naked and covered in mucus. But this was more important. There were so many people emerging from these pods. Surely finding them was only a matter of time, wasn't it?

[punchesfaces.livejournal.com]

The Midnighter's eyes snapped open to an unfamiliar room. One he couldn't remember entering. Shit. That was never a good sign. About a milisecond later his brain registered the fact that he was naked, and perhaps more importantly, covered in goo. That was really not a good sign.

"Shit."

And then the voice in his head, fuck. "No get the hell out of there, we are not doing this again right now." He didn't care who heard him muttering through gritted teeth, he was not getting mindcontrolled again. Thankfully, the voice said it's piece - and a hell of a piece that was. And it seemed like the Carrier comm was dead. Just his luck.

He made his way out onto the walkway - this place looked like it was trying to give the Carrier a run for it's money in the size department - and glanced around for any faces, familiar or otherwise. There was a girl - teenaged, looked like, also totally naked - and calling out names into the vast room.

"You know, I don't think that's going to help a hell of a lot in here."

[swordofdorn.livejournal.com]

Blood and Fire. Fire and Blood. These were the final memories of the last crusade of Erhart Ritter. And yet... there is more, now. Light? Heat. He tears himself free, hands clawing out of the pod almost without thinking.

He stands, and stares for a long time, his massive form, slabby with genehanced muscle held in a pugnacious stance, as he listens to the voice of the ship.

"Xenos lies! All of it!" He snarls. His knuckles crack, fists clenched, until he realizes how very alone he is. There are no brothers of the eternal crusade here with him. He is.... alone. There is a great sadness in his voice as he says, far more softly.

"Brothers? Am I the last one left?"

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

Forced out of the pod with slime covering every inch of his vessel, Castiel grunted and pushed himself up, almost knocking into the man in front of him.

"What... is this..." His voice was hoarser than usual, the tone deep and scratchy. Not realising his vessel's nakedness, he slowly stood up, not bothering to wipe the slime off.

"Where am I."

[volatile-vespa.livejournal.com]

Janet was on the floor, all sticky and slimy. "Not again..." She grumbled as she shrank down and attempted to find her way out.

The little pint sized wasp was not expecting to be popped again so soon ever since visitation day. However, that meant she could see Hank again and she hoped that he was still there waiting.

With new-found determination, Janet flew as fast as she could.

[becoming-more.livejournal.com]

Aeryn was still exploring the pod cavern, which seemed to stretch on forever. She'd seen no sign of the others from Moya. No weapons or clothing either. Whoever had taken her prisoner, 'Stacy' or otherwise, seemed to want her as defenseless as possible short of crippling her.

She'd almost decided to turn back and hazard the spiral walkway unarmed when something small zipped by her face. Instinctively Aeryn recoiled and swatted at it.

[heartofalion.livejournal.com]

One of the many pods lining the walls of the pod chambers expelled a skinny redheaded teenager onto the floor. She lay still for a moment, before coughing, and pushing herself into a sitting position.

"Euaagh, what is this? Troll bogeys?" Ginny made a sour face as she wiped some of the goo off her face, before looking around the chamber she'd fallen into. Immediately her heart plummeted as she got a good look at the strange architecture and millions of other pods just like the one she'd just fallen out of.

"What is this place?" She wondered aloud, and was further alarmed when a voice answered her, telling her where she was in overly simplified terms. She sucked a breath in, before pushing herself to her feet. Only then did she realize she was naked, and with a tiny yelp she hugged her arms to her chest, looking around again, before starting to follow the lights forward.

"No one I know better see me in this state," she muttered under her breath, wiping a bit of goo off her shoulder. "I may not have my wand but I can still pop someone in the mouth."

[linsha-majere.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry", someone said next to her, "All the rest here are in no better state."

There was another redhead human female next to her - a woman with grassy-green eyes and a lot of scars on her muscular body. Her auburn curls were cut rather short.

"In fact, I'd prefer to find a place to clean myself and some decent clothes", the woman continued. "All this surrounding love is all right, but first things first. A bit of water and, perhaps, a pair of curtains or something like that is what we need now. Shall we go to find it? Yes, my name's Linsha. Linsha Majere."

Lady Linsha Majere of Krynn, wife of the Dragonlord of Sanction, had seen a lot in her life. In fact, before she came to her senses in the pod chamber, she had been recuperating in her bed after a rather unpleasant adventure including her nasty-behaving children. She would have died if not for the children's conscience and her husband's healing prowess. Still, she had still been rather disabled, but in her husband's palace, under his care... and now she was here, fully recovered, but naked and slimed.

At first she decided that it was another of Crucible's healing techniques; but all the sights and sounds around made her think better. All this cavern, all these people, the strange voice of Stacy and even more strange feeling of all-embracing love... And these words of being chosen. For her, it was all right, after all, she was of a whole family of people who managed to be chosen for great deeds (often against their will) and it would be just a shame to evade her family legacy. But she had no idea how to fulfil a mission being naked, slimed and without weapons.

And what about Crucible and children? How would they be without her? Her heart ached for her husband, she couldn't imagine her life without him... What would he think when he discovers her disappearance? Well, perhaps she would be able to send him a message of some form, to warn him or something. If only she would find a way to do that. Or those who know of a way.

This Stacy had told her about some 'others' who would tell her everything, but so far there weren't any self-assured others around, only embarrassed, naked and slimed people - evidently newbies like herself. She should move and find these confident 'others'.

To tell the truth, Linsha was rather confused, but while she was looking around in confusion, she found a human teenager girl next to her, embarrassed and confused no less. Helping others always helped her, so she decided to make team with the redheaded girl, at least until they find these 'others'.

[twin-shot.livejournal.com]

Yukio covered his mouth with the back of a hand as his body wracked with coughs. With a shaky step he rose to take in his surroundings, though everything was a blobbed, colorful mess without his glasses. Hands were placed strategically over his lap for modesty's sake as his mind raced to make sense of what he was just informed of.

The Ohm. A ship. Chosen. Clearly he needed to escape whatever 'here' was as quickly as humanly possible.

It didn't make any sense, any way he tried to spin it. It was much more logical to think that they'd failed in stopping the Impure King, thus landing them in this predicament that was probably the musings of some despicable creature. Still, this obviously wasn't Kyoto and there was little to say of his comrades' presence. It wasn't until the word 'Kyoto' crossed his mind, that he felt his heart seize up in his chest.

Rin. Rin was being held in a prison cell, awaiting execution. Maybe he was already dead.

[cobalt-inferno.livejournal.com]

"Hnnn.... I don't want to wake up..." Rin on the other hand, didn't really pay much attention to whoever it was that he was dreaming about. This Stacy.

Instead, he stretched and yawned, not even aware of the condition he was in, his tail wagging side to side playfully as he scratched lightly over his chest, looking around indifferently as if not even noticing where he was.

No, his focus landed completely on his brother, who was naked besides him, and he simply froze, tail stopped moving and he brought a hand to his mouth quickly to muffle a snort... soon after laughing.

"Ahahaha, Yu, Yukio! You're naked! Haha!" Yes, because that was the most important thing right now.

Blackie on the other hand, was looking around warily. Where had they ended up in. This didn't smell or feel like Gehenna.

[makoed.livejournal.com]

What could he have possibly done to deserve this? After everything he had fought to overcome, life decided he needed yet a new test and threw him an obstacle that he was not at all mentally ( or physically ) prepared for. That rude awakening sent the mercenary to life in a frenzied panic. After several failed attempts to stand to his feet due to the slipper residue at his heel, he finally managed to get a firm enough grip to back himself against the wall, ignoring the strange sensation of movement beneath his fingertips and instead focused his attention on those present in this strange room.

What's happening? That was the first thought that came to mind. Had anyone told him that on the night he retired it would be the last time he would see Marlene, Denzel, his friends, or even Tifa herself ... he would have taken better care to give the goodbyes necessary. Sadly, one does not always go into life knowing what to expect, it simply happens. With hands covering his manhood out of embarrassment, he looked around for any sign of a familiar face or figure that could potentially explain his exact whereabouts but to no avail. Everyone here was a stranger and looked just as bewildered as he did.

Was this a nightmare? An illusion perhaps? A forewarning of what was to come? It was hard to say and far too real to be any of the thought of explanations, and the voice that suddenly spoke somewhere within the realms of his mind only confirmed this.

[thatsveryhim.livejournal.com]

...This is not the first time he's woken up naked in a flash of light. First time there's snot and slime involved, but then again this time there's no burning TARDIS and end of the world or dizzying adrenaline high involved. On the other hand, he's got no idea where he is, and if he's going to be chosen to fight a race of destroyers, he'd have liked to keep his jacket.

He's never been a very good champion of justice and life. He's just...not a very good champion, really.

He wanders around for a bit, stopping and peering into the pods he passes. Without his screwdriver (again! He'd just scrounged one together!) he can't make out anyone else still trapped in the devices, nor force them to release...but upon spotting someone else up ahead it's at least clear he's not the only one who's been kidnapped and appointed as a rescuer. That's somewhat reassuring, considering no one really ought to be looking to him in this universe.

He gives a friendly wave as he approaches the other figure. "Blimey, you'd think they'd give their Chosen people a bit of a warmer welcome that spit up on the floor."

[closed]

[head-heldhigh.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter hadn't heard the words. He'd just Voldemort's mouth moving and seen the green flash.

The next thing he knew, there had been warmth all around him, the feeling that he'd been woken from the best sleep of his life, and then light and warm air. He'd suddenly found himself coughing up what quite honestly felt and tasted like bogeys.

After coughing up half a lung, Harry slipped and slid his way to his feet.

It was rather unfortunate, but he was still a bit lost in his thoughts when that warm voice spoke in his head, so much so that he missed the words--or at least heard them but missed the meanings of them--but he felt the love that came with it, a mother's love, and it was enough to put all the doubts and fears to rest.

Wouldn't death be strange, after all? Harry thought. Different from what anyone would expect? And wasn't it comforting to be loved by something, whatever it was? Even if it was strange?

"Right then. No clothes in the afterlife. That'll take some getting used to, but it is what it is," he said to himself, almost coaching himself through it, mostly because otherwise he'd be mortally embarrassed and he reckoned it was no good to be mortally embarrased when you are bare-a--

Anyway.

No glasses either, and his vision was still just as bad as in life. Odd, that. But the lights that showed the way could still be seen without them.

Despite the confusion, and despite the nudity, it was with great dignity and an almost zen calm that Harry drew himself up and went forward to find out what was next.

[grimbiker]

The first thing Sirius noticed wasn’t the slime covering his naked body. It wasn’t even the voice in his head— the words didn’t even register. Instead, the first thing he felt was a sudden rush of feeling. It wasn’t happiness— he doubted he could feel that anymore. It was the absence of despair.

His blood wasn’t pulsing with anger and shame as he turned his back on his family home. He wasn’t shaking and screaming and throwing anything in reach because his younger brother was dead and it was his fault and he should have done something. He was no longer standing over James’s cold, stiff body, looking into his unseeing eyes. He wasn’t looking at his godson, realizing he’d just made him an orphan. He was-

Sirius looked up. This was not Azkaban. And it was much more bizarre than he’d ever pictured heaven or hell and besides, he didn’t remember anyone walking into his cell and killing him. He could have been taken by surprise. He certainly wasn’t at his peak but who would bother? Azkaban was worse than death and impossible to escape from.

And yet somehow he had for he was no longer trapped in his worst memories. Replaying over and over in his mind. This wasn’t what happened when your mind cracked and abandoned any trace of reason— not in Azkaban. And so he could only come to two conclusions. Either he was dead or somehow, someway someone had taken him.

Sirius stumbled as he rose onto his feet. And then he nearly fell back onto the floor.

"James." He had meant to shout it but all that came out was a hoarse whisper. Louder then, Sirius. You could do this. "James!"

Sirius nearly tripped but nothing was going to stop him from seeing his friend, least of all his atrophied body.

"JAMES! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Sirius clung to Harry in an impossibly tight hug, face pressed against Harry's shoulder. "All my fault..." He was sobbing.

It was to be expected that Sirius would be young again but odd that in the afterlife his muscles had withered and his hair was long and unkempt, not to mention several months' worth of a matted beard.

[bymytail.livejournal.com]

Everything felt so wrong. Instead of the refreshing breeze he could feel out on Asmodeus' deck, it was some murky warm air and slime covering all over his fur. Not to mention he wasn't wearing any clothes until he suddenly had a body-suit in place.

"Wuh..."

He stood there, still too dazed out, his head spinning from the uncomfortable smell that went into his nostrils to register most of what the voice was talking about. Not to mention he was busy trying to get his eyes water enough so they would stop stinging from having some of the slime get in while he was trying to get the slime off of his fur.

[patenting.livejournal.com]

Was that a dog person. It sure looked like a dog person. But Miyuki had never seen any kind of being like him before. And he sure didn't look like some kind of Gnosis.

But she didn't want to outright approach him. Mainly because ... well. Red was male, and Miyuki was over there naked; not the best combo for her. She opted to hide herself behind an opened pod door and peer out at him. Maybe he knew something?

"Um ... do you know where we are?"

[tetsuwan-atom.livejournal.com]

For a moment, Atom looked like he was dead. He lay there on the floor of the pod cavern, unbreathing and lacking any pulse. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright, looking first right, than left. He was covered in slime -- gross! -- and in the middle of some bizarre horror movie set or something. Maybe sci-fi.

What was he doing here? He was at the breakfast table with Uran, and the Professor had said something, and...

And...

His memory after that was a complete blank. Even if he had somehow been rendered unconscious, shouldn't he have some recollection of his assailant?

"Hello?" he called out, casting about for someone nearby who he could ask what happened. Maybe he was malfunctioning.

[cooldemonkid.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" a voice responded not far from Atom's current spot.

The owner of the voice seems to be a blond boy, roughly around seven to ten years old. Despite being covered in slime and wearing no clothing, the boy just sat cross-legged, looking fairly irritated.

[hardcoretigress.livejournal.com]

She didn't know what was the worst part of the situation. The fact that she had just been celebrating the freedom of Gongmen city with the other Masters, Master Shifu and Po, or the fact she was without her clothes and her fur was matted over with a slimy green goo. Instinctively she growled, thinking that somehow Lord Chen had risen from the rubble of his cannons and found a way to bend the Universe into sending her and the other Masters to a maddeningly warm cavern with structures she had never seen before holding shapes that seemed familiar and were also completely unfamiliar. The voice didn't go unnoticed as she stopped growling and listened intently, not really daring to hope that someone could love her as much as Master Shifu had as a father figure to her.

It was slightly comforting that whoever this Stacy was had love for her even though Tigress had never met whoever it was. Her tail swished as she tried to clean her fur off with her paw-like hands but couldn't get purchase on the substance. It seemed more like some sort of phlegm and she grunted in disgust at the undignified position she found herself in. She was a Master of Kung Fu and shouldn't be reduced to the vulgarities of being spat out of a pod, even though she had experienced worse. And who were the Ohm? Why was she alone? She couldn't hear Po's usual whining of not having any food nearby, Crane's wing-beats, Viper's slithering, Monkey's chattering, the clicking sound of Mantis' mandibles nor the noble voice of beloved Master Shifu.

She, for once in her life, didn't know where she was.

[theboywhodied]

Slowing in his ascent up the ramp, Cedric turned and happened to catch a glimpse of a tiger. But she wasn't quite the sort he expected, the limbs were in the wrong places---a second look confirmed it, and then he turned away, flustered. She must be another magical creature, and it was certainly rude to stare.

He wondered what language she spoke---with a build like that, he guessed she could speak. "Are you all right?"

[cooldemonkid.livejournal.com]

His memory was blurry, but he vaguely remember saying goodbye and promising to see that kid again as his partner started the motorcycle's engine. Yes, it was their last they spending a stay in his new friend's place before leaving to search his girl again.

And then, he woke up to this strange room. Covered in slime without a trace of clothing to protect him from the vile substance, and his usual pompadour has be reduce into something reminiscent of the day he was abandoned. The strong scent burned his nose, there was no trace of fresh air or the smell of Jeed's specific gasoline anywhere.

Ted slowly registered the voice, Stacy's, motherly voice. It reminded him of his girl; Cherish... Yet, he didn't understand a thing the ship had explained, he understand the language yes, but what she(?) had said made no sense to him.

Ted put a hand on his head and groan, none of this made any sense. He didn't recognize any of these peoples, he didn't recognize anything here.

[windwitch]

"Um, are you okay?" Maxine asked, seeing the blonde guy, not far from her, groaning with his hand on his head. She figured he probably wasn't that okay, considering she had just woken up in basically the same situation. Still, she had to ask, even if she kept her eyes from looking directly at him.

[wantstorun.livejournal.com]

And then there was light. It reminded her a bit of the winding corridors beneath Messaline, at least as far as the green illumination went.

Pushing herself up from the floor, which was briefly considered before her head lifted, Jenny settled back on her legs and spared the vast cavern a long, blearily blinking look. Whereas many of the others were glancing about in what seemed to be confusion, fear, or sheer disgruntlement ( or a mixture of all three ), she was one of the few who stared on in wonderment at the surroundings.

What happened? Why couldn't she recall anything after commandeering that ship and rushing off? Shouldn't she at least remember being caught? The blonde silently questioned, even as she took everything in with the all the grace of an awed child. When Stacy's kindly voice invaded her still clearing mind, though, a grin swiftly replaced that gape, hands idly making some attempt to brush away the goo clinging to her thighs.

"Fantastic," Jenny said. "Now, is there—"

Her gaze caught the glowing trail just then, following it until the 'showers' were noted. She watched for a moment, as her fellow awakened moved through and out the other side. Clean and clothed.

"Perfect."

With some amount of caution, she stood, one hand braced against the pod she'd recently occupied, and slowly started toward the mass of vines.

[whotheman.livejournal.com]

Waking up in this strange place was decidedly not a fun thing for the Doctor. Because for some reason, the goop from his pod had made his hair an absolute mess. He tried to do what he could to make himself look presentable, even though he was standing here in pretty much his birthday suit. When he finally did get reoriented, he looked around the crowd to find a familiar face in the crowd.

For a moment, though, he seemed to stop. The last thing he remembered was leaving Messaline with Donna after he assumed that Jenny was dead for good.

No way. No way-- She was here?! His legs were frozen, but to replace the skepticism and the confusion he had, he forced himself to move from his pod to meet his daughter.

Even in these very odd circumstances.

"Jenny!" he called through the crowd, giving her a wave. "Are you okay? How did you get here? Do you know where the others are?" Well, it was a start, at least.

[super-celebrity.livejournal.com]

Karina hit the ground and started coughing, hoping the goop coming out of her mouth was not what she thought it was. Because it definitely tasted suspicious and she...

Her stomach rolled and more of the salty, goopy stuff came up for a visit. Her initial, half-choked questions for where she was were answered by a wholly pleasant and motherly voice in her head. (Which wasn't creepy or B Sci-fi Movie-like at all, no sir.) Karina groaned and started up the path lit by the weird, glowing pustules, hoping there was no video camera recording this. She would die of embarrassment, first.

I am so sorry

[perverttoadsage.livejournal.com]

Close by, another person struggled as he stood up. This wouldn't be the first time Jiraiya woke up naked and covered goop (oh the stories he could tell). He just didn't think that after dying he'd end up, well on the floor again. His last memories had been of sinking to the ocean floor and now he had heard a voice about being chosen for something...he took a look around and...HELLO. He gave the naked woman an enthusiastic grin.

"So this is what heaven is like," he told her. "A strange setting, but I can't really complain about the view."

You looked quite lovely, lady.

[gunspluscells.livejournal.com]

It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Her family, her friends and all the important people were there. Then it turned from a dream into some garish nightmare where the last she remembered was Kyle falling and her own wedding dress stained with blood. Aya couldn't die, not now, not so quickly and not like this.

So now Aya's without any clothes and covered in some sort of goo. Well, this seems kinda familiar. Both are a minor setback but that doesn't stop her from exclaiming "What the hell!" when she fully comes to her senses. She couldn't tell whether this was better or worse than Maeda's apartment.

[head-heldhigh.livejournal.com]

It's okay, Aya! You're dead now. That means everything's fine.

At least that's what Harry Potter thought. That was why he was sallying forth with such a placid calm.

"Hi," he said earnestly with a slight wave. "We're all dead. I think."

That was the only reason he wasn't freaking out about being naked around a naked woman.

"D'you want to come with us? We're going to see what's next."