She did not want to be in this place, this was Antedis.  This was her planet, this living thing, this unexpected thing.  And yet, she had walked into the Sensorium blindly, like a child, and here it had grown.  It grew silvery trees with blood red leaves, crystal studded mountains reflecting the weak streams of pastel yellow sunlight that drifted down, diffused by the constant cloud cover.  There were no people, only wildness and tangles of golden ground cover in the form of shineshoots.

Kala trembled.

Recreating this was wrong.

It would rebel.

She blinked and started to back away.

"Uuugh, this is ridiculous!" Irma complained, looking at the latest set of slop on her tray. While she'd enjoy hanging around the W.I.T.C.H. Bus, she was hoping today was one of those days where everyone could get something non-glop.

Today wasn't it.

"Hate to sound like Corny, but I'd REALLY kill for some REAL food!" She poked her glop and watched it wiggle. Looking around, she glanced at the others and saw them just... eat it. Taking it like men. And women. And whatever.

Okay, I think it's time to have a bit of fun here. she thought. Grabbing the slop, she looked around briefly... and let the slop FLY.

(OoC: Alright, pretty much just have fun, guys! Irma's letting the first shot go and anyone can respond. Start new threads, jump into existing ones - just have fun! We need it!)

Nightmare becomes reality....

[roster: leader - Claire, Kala, Rein, Sparhawk, Will Vandom]

It begins.

This was the moment the Seer had been waiting for.

Though it was now when the King of Nightmares was at its most dangerous, it was also when it was at its most vulnerable as well.

Now was the time to strike.

He did not have time to search out the crew for specific people. He needed someone--anyone--to act quickly on his behalf. So he sent out his call to only a small handful of crew members. Those who, for one reason or another, were easy to reach out to in the swirling abyss of the ship's psychic landscape.

It begins, he says, I require your assistance.

There were many flaws involved in having your life uprooted and moved onto an multidimensional-migration-ship-thingie. Chief among them was dependency issues. Addictions. At least, this was chief among them in those with an addiction to nicotine. Sure, the ship cured the physical addiction before it released you, but there were other things involved. There were mental and social components that the ship just couldn't fix.

Luckily, there was one man on the ship who had something to help; when he was popped, Nicholas d. Wolfwood had come across a small device that produced 'syntho-smokes', a clean-burning, odorless solution to all their smoking needs. No smell, no cancer, fake smoke, technically worthless, but you still smoked it like a cigarette and got your nic-fix taken care of. And luckily, this man was Will's roommate.

Of course, he'd gotten the tech guys to duplicate the pack, so he had one as well, but they still bummed from each other all the time. It was just what you did; smoker bonding. There was even a small sign, stolen from a hotel in the city, affixed to their door denoting it as a smoking room.

They just called it The Smoker's Lounge; their room where every smoker on the ship sooner or later found themselves to get their fix.

Sadly, Will hadn't explained any of this to Kala before bringing her to the room (as per their rooming arrangement). He also hadn't told Wolfwood she was going to be staying with them. All things considered, he'd been forgetting to do a lot of important things lately.

But, no time like the present. He looked back to Kala, her hand still in his, as he opened the door to the room and a wall of synthetic smoke poured out.

"Welcome to the Lounge."

Everyone had been so nice to Ryo since he had awoken a day prior. He wanted to show his appreciation to his friends and the crew, and get a chance to meet others. So, he walked back into the sensoriums and imagined a place. As he opened his eyes, there was the Milk Dipper. Wood finish, stars decorating the place, rough hewn wooden tables and the telescope in it's pedestal at the center. Everything was as it should be, except for one thing. Behind the counter, looking very confused, was a green-skinned demon who bore no resemblance to Airi. Ryo registered his shock as the demon spoke.

"This... is NOT my bar..." The green one said, his own shock evident. He looked at Ryo. "And you're not Peter..." Ryo, not knowing what to do, bowed quickly.

"I'm sorry, Oni-san, I just wanted to throw a party for everyone, with karaoke and dancing, and I didn't mean to summon you!" The demon shook his head, waving Ryo off.

"It's Lorne, and you had me at karaoke. Now, this place.... I like it. Kind of a kitsch-meets-class thing going on... It does need to be bigger, though..." Lorne snapped his fingers and the cafe expanded, now as large as an auditorium. The telescope pedestal sat firmly in the center of a well-polished dance floor, underneath a disco ball and lighting set up. To the left of the counter was a stage with a karoake set-up, and behind the counter was now a lot more than just coffee. Otherwise, the decor remained the same.

"Alright, Ryo-kun." Lorne said with a smile. "Give everyone the heads up and get this party started." Ryo nodded, amazed by the demon's abilities, and gave a call on the omnicomms.

[[ OOC: It's karaoke dance party time! Start a sub-thread with your character singing a song, socializing, or just being a wallflower, and let the CR flow! Especially great for newbies to meet folk and influence people!]]

[[This is a continuation of this thread, open to magic bus people and probably anyone who happens to be walking by.]]

Kala watched Mister Barlow's hat bob a bit as he carried her.  The bus wasn't that far away now, not really.  She could almost feel it pulling at her.  In it was a warm, safe bed, a bathroom that was very nice and had pipes, but she was worried.  Not for herself, but for Mister Barlow, because it was made up of magic and it would be so bright.  She'd been stupid.  Stupid for not controlling herself.  Stupid for letting herself slip up, for not forcing herself to spar.  It hadn't been real fighting anyway.  The ship probably would have stopped them.  And they hadn't been fighting dead on, it was just a stupid surge.  One she'd managed to stop.

Now, here she was, limp as anything and being carried by Mister Barlow all the way home when he was still hurting because she'd gone and--  And tried to just about fry him.  It wasn't exactly successful, but at least she managed to heal him a little.  Kala blinked and a few tears slipped down her cheeks.  It wasn't his fault.  Not even a little.  But.

She'd...helped. 

That was worth something.

The crew dreams.

As they have been for the past while, their dreams are being tampered with, but tonight it's different. Roxie, one of the crew members has done rituals to try to give the crew good dreams. However, the power of the Nightmare King can't easily be overcome, as a result, rather than pleasant or nightmarish, people's dreams are instead taking a turn for the surreal tonight.

Get ready to go down the rabbit hole, Meatship.

The jovial extra terrestrial sporadically giggled at the sight of the imaginary synthetic meat by-product. Exuberance!

Curiouser and curiouser.

Omnitrix has re-calibrated and has connected to Primus.

Those were the words Ben was waiting for. Since he had gotten back the Omnitrix it had been in a blue color, a sign of recalibration that had the young man worried. He knew of Primus, the artifical world that Azmuth created to house the DNA of 1,000,905 aliens. And if it didn't exist, the Omnitrix was nothing but a watch.

"Omnitrix, can you locate Primus?" inquired Ben as he made his way to the Sensoriums.

Unable to discern time-space coordinates.

"So that means it's probably still connected... somehow." mused Ben as he stepped into the Sensoriums and the world melted into the streets of Bellwood.

After getting a Mr. Smoothie composed of broccoli and spinach, he sucked it down and started to twist the dial. Several dozen aliens appeared and he blinked at the sheer amount. "Omnitrix, how many aliens have been unlocked?"

35 and counting. Master Control however is still sealed.

"Well can't hope for everything," muttered Ben as he swapped aliens here and there. He then looked up at the sky and said, "Stacy, can I get several robots? Anything will do."

In a flash, several robots appeared, mostly from media and he grinned. "Oh this will do nicely."

The dial spun as Ben selected Humungosaur. "All right, it's go time!"

Slamming his hand down on the plunger, Ben felt his body grow up... and up... and up until he towered overhead. "WAY BIG! Huh? I was going for Humungosaur."

Scratching his head, he inquired, "Stacy can you make the mecha bigger please?"

In an instant, the mecha were standing just as tall as the giant 30 foot alien and he grinned. "This'll do nicely. Start up the program!"

And with that, Ben tackled the first mecha and used it as a shield from the incoming firepower of the others.

It seemed weird to think about it, but ever since arriving on the Meatship, Will hadn't really spent any time just...working. He'd taken the time to walk around, he'd met people, given some good advice (and lots of bad), tried to do well by people, but he hadn't taken the time to do what he did best; relax.

It was odd that even with the threat of dreams looming over them all, people were still...functioning; their worlds were dead, they were being driven into a war, and they had next to nothing, but they kept going. They weren't in the best moods, their tension had all gone through the roof, but they were surviving. And it was time for him to do his big as well.

He found a nice spot in the middle of the city park and sat down with his back against a large fountain with his guitar across his legs. He'd played a little, but not enough. This was who he was more than his powers. He may have been told he had a destiny in the celestial war, and he'd also been told he was to fight for all the multiverse against...whatever they were, but this was his real calling; busking.

It was a quick few minutes tuning up Ria, his old sixstring, before he set his hat down in front of him (habit more than anything, that) and began to pluck out a tune he'd known for years and always found appealing. After a minute or two to warm up, he began to sing a bit as well, lost in his own little world.

( Busking for fun, not profits. )

The nightmares, increasing in frequency and distressing content, were finally beginning to get to Kazami more than usual. He'd started coping by fiddling with his bike in the vehicle bay, but there were only so many times you could dismantle and reassemble an engine before it got old.

He'd asked about it in the omnicom channels, and they'd said it would be okay. So, for now, parts of the City had a noise echoing off the buildings that it had probably never heard before. The loud, high-pitched thrum of a motorcycle bounces off as Kazami rides his bike through the City. It was simple and relaxing, and it helped familiarize him more quickly than a map did. The replica of the Vatican, some giant temple, a pink bus... All of the landmarks were noted and filed away as he continued to ride.

It was all going so smoothly, until he spent a second too long eying that ridiculous looking bus. A pothole in the road was his undoing. His bike hit and, before he had a chance to regain control, spun onto the side, dragging him along underneath it for several yards. With a slight groan, Kazami crawled out from under it, shaking his head. "How long has it been since I last crashed...?" At least he'd been wearing his helmet, he reflects. Still. He pats himself off, wincing a bit at the new, sharp messages of pain his body was sending. Hopefully no one was watching.

Some cheer was definitely needed on this ship. Whatever chance meeting had brought Kaylee and Claudia together in mechanical mischief had also set their minds to turning over what they could possibly do to get some smiles back on the faces of those onboard.

A costume party.

Claudia had come up with the idea, really. She knew a bit more about it than Kaylee did, but she explained it all in such a way that Kaylee really couldn’t resist wanting to throw one. It’d be a good chance for everyone to let loose and have a good time in the midst of the nightmare madness. Who could resist that?

The sensorium had been melded to an image from Kaylee’s mind, though. A grand ballroom, with marble floors and painted ceiling. A large buffet table stood against one of the walls, covered mostly in fruit, but in some other hors d’oeuvres as well.

[[ OoC: Party style!! Costumes aren't a requirement, but they are fun. If you've got questions about anything, ask Cheryle or Holly. :D ]]

[ooc: Newbie Helpers List | 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... )