[[OOC: Takes place after this investigation post and the comm post calling for security and science.]]

Wanda and Kazami waited for the members of the Science and Security Department to arrive. It was an out of the way location in the City in a small building. While it's obscure location made it harder for the teams to get to, it at least made it much less likely that any passing crew would stumble upon it.

Wanda was silent as she stood outside, her arms folded over her chest. She was trying very hard not to shoot Kazami a periodic glare. Having to be woken up in the middle of the night to investigate a murder was not conducive to making friends.

||Attention, Attention,|| Stacy's voice rang out suddenly throughout the ship. ||Will the following personnel please report to the Obs Deck:||

||Michael Blanc,||
||Kazami Shiro,|
||Andrew Davis,||
||Aibghalien Marsai,||
||Spiderman--616 universe,||
||Julian Keller,||
||Nanashi,||
||Katara,||
||Lash,||
||Wags-Tail-Alot,||
||Phillip,||
||and Vita.||

||Attention, Attention...|| The message repeats over and over, until all of the people she was calling reported to the Obs Deck.

Once they get there, they're greeted with an unusual sight. The mouth in the huge statue on the wall opens, revealing a screen. On it, the dossier for the mission flickers into display, understandable to every person there. Smaller copies of the dossier appear in holographic form in front of everyone.

The planet's stats, right next to a rotating picture of it, a dusty brown orb with orange clouds overhead:
( Read more... )

It had taken months of nearly ceaseless work, but he'd finally completed his self-given project of dismantling, cleaning, repairing, reconstructing, and tuning up all of the motorcycles in the Hangar. Feeling the satisfaction of a job well done, Kazami had gone to the Sensoriums to work off some kinks he'd been feeling while lifting the last of the engines into place and bolting it in.

Of course, being in the Sensoriums, it tended to work off of his mind. As he was working out, the first of the monsters had attacked.

It was now a good few hours later. The gymnasium he'd constructed in the Sensoriums lay in ruins, rubble charred and spattered with blood, foam, and parts of monsters, mutants, and cyborgs. Kamen Rider V3 panted heavily before raising his arms again, standing off against the four men who surrounded him in a semi-circle.

The first to speak was a dark man in red and gold armor, like a Teutonic knight of old. He bore the symbol of a scorpion on his chest. "Rrrrrriiider V3." Doktor G jabs an axe at V3 accusingly. "You may have beaten us in solo combat in the past, but can you withstand the full fury of Destron's Commandants working together?"

"Of course he can't. He could barely beat us alone!" This from the second man, with blue skin, and wearing animal skins and a mammoth skull on his head. Baron Tusk, master of Africa's dark magics, had been a fearsome foe. V3 answers them by sliding a foot back.

The third, an elderly man wearing tattered robes and absurdly long facial hair, shakes his head. "It shall be Archbishop Wing of the Destron Winged Corps that brings him down!"

The final member, a man with crablike armor and a mace for a fist, laughs. "No. It shall be a true warrior to bring Kamen Rider V3 to meet his doom." He jabs his mace at V3. "I! Marshall Yoroi! I will be his undoing."

V3 spreads his hands out, lowering his body a little. "Either way, it will end as it did before. The four of you are too busy bickering to stand a chance." Still, he can't just charge in. Doktor G and Marshall Yoroi had been terrifying foes before, alone. Now... Well, he'd just have to be more careful. Especially now, he was tired and didn't have the full use of his powers like he used to when he fought these four before.

However, it was unlucky for him that the Sensoriums had a cracked door the entire time. So much for properly locking it.

Miku had gone into the city, to take the time to appreciate the Meiji Shrine that lay nestled in a far corner of Religion Row. It had, miraculously, managed to remain intact. The torii gates stood tall and even, and Miku bowed once before she entered through them.

The trees that once had been planted evenly were thickly overgrown without anyone watching their care, and darkened the path ominously. Miku hurried down the walk, pointedly ignoring the feeling of being watched from all sides. Once she reached the temple complex proper, the feeling of being watched intensified, roiling around inside her until it felt like it was rippling along her skin.

Still, she'd had a broom, several dust rags, and a look of severe determination on her face. As a Japanese citizen, she felt a sudden jolt of duty to clean the huge temple complex up.

So, that morning, she'd told Steve where he could find her if he wanted her and set off. After purifying herself (and to a lesser extent the broom), Miku started towards the first shrine building, sweeping a path through the dead leaves.

In his free time, Kazami worked on the motorcycles. That had been his project when he first started, to keep his mind off of things. And, for the better part of a year, he dismantled every motorcycle in Stacy's vehicle bay, cleaned them, reassembled them, tuned them up, and given them a quick test run before refueling them and moving to the next one. He was about eighty percent complete by now, and didn't quite know what he'd do.

But, for now, that day wasn't there yet. He picks up a motorcycle, a Honda of some kind. It was after his time, like as not, he didn't recognize the make. But it was heavy enough. He hefts it onto his shoulder with a grunt, then moves it over to his work area. There, he could drain out the old oil freely.

He settles down into a squat and rubs his chin, wondering where to start the disassembly. "I swear, you newer motorcycles don't make any sense to me. Maybe I should have given up when I started to find computers in you, eh?" Nodding to himself, he moves forward, grabbing a screwdriver, and sets to work on getting the chrome plates off so that he could get to the inner workings.

The reactor may have been saved, but the Ohm's primary purpose in overloading it had been achieved: the planetary defense network on Zokez II was now deactivated.

It was now the true invasion could begin.

A matter of minutes after the reactor had been saved, a number of vast, Ohm Leviathans appeared in orbit above the planet, some of them devouring those fleeing ships they could get their hands on.

Across all of the islands on the planet below, numerous shimmering lights appeared, and out of them poured hordes of Grunts, Grenadiers, Tanks, and all manner of other Ohm types. They swarmed over the cities, destroying everything in their path, and slaughtering anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in their way.

Wherever they went, destruction followed. Left unopposed, they would raze the entire planet without any effort.

But they are not unopposed.

It was time for the crew to finally do what they were Chosen to do.

[ooc: General Ohm fightyness! Check here before posting.]

Kazami disliked large crowds. When he was younger, he used to love being part of the bustle, but his perspective had changed after becoming a Rider. There was no need for it now, of course, but he still found himself pulling away from the large group of crewmembers as soon as possible, zipping off on his motorcycle. The map uploaded to his omnicomm pointed toward the only places he was terribly interested in visiting, a music store and a motorcycle shop.

After picking up a large toolbox and a collection of tools and spare parts so he wouldn't have to borrow Engineering's equipment anymore, a leather jacket, and a scarf, he stopped by the music store, bought a few spare guitar strings, and a harmonica. His sister had loved to listen to him to play the harmonica, and would constantly beg him to play song after song.

The afternoon finds him perched on top of his new tool box, motorcycle to the side, playing an old tune on his harmonica.

Eventually, the Obs Deck made its way through the planet's atmosphere. There was a notable lurch, and then gravity returned to the Obs Deck.

Several minutes pass, and there was a loud thoom as Obs Deck landed. A large section of wall opens up to become a wide access ramp, revealing the bright, blue sky.

As the crew stepped out of the Obs Deck, they could see that they were on a landing pad of some sort. To the side, they could see another hatch on the side of the Obs Deck pod open, with large tendrils reaching inside and pulling out the vehicles Stacy mentioned earlier.

Out in the distance, they could see a large, technologically advanced city, and even further down they could see the long tracks of beach, filled with hundreds of tourists of all different species.

As they stood around, taking in the sights, a rather perky looking, green-skinned alien attendant came up to greet them.

"Greetings, everyone!" she said. "Welcome to Zokez II! My name is Kyzket, and I'll be your liaison for the duration of your stay. I'll have to ask everyone to please leave any weaponry you may have on your person aboard your vessel, as all weaponry is strictly forbidden on the planet's surface."

"Your ship's AI has already handled all the booking, and has keyed your communicators to have a line directly to my own if you need any help."

"Now, does anyone have any questions?"

[ooc: IT BEGINS! After this post, everyone is free to post their own threads on-planet. HAVE FUN GUYS.]

Decade leaned against his Machine Decader, recalling the small amount of research he had done into the Blue Ranger.

After seeing the training sessions Mr. Cranston was in, he needs some help. Since we're generally similar in powers and abilities, what works for me should work for him. If not...well, I'm sure this place has excellent safety protocols.

He stretched, waiting for the Blue Ranger to arrive.

Ground vehicles were not Samus' specialty.

Yet, somehow she had ended up surrounded by them. She had wandered out of the hangar after doing a bit of ship maintenance and ended up in between rows and rows and rows of two-wheeled, four-wheeled, whatever-wheeled vehicles. Some where fancy. Some were incredibly strange. Some even matched those she would find in her own universe, but she ignored all of them.

Except for a gem she found. Well, it wasn't really a gem. It was actually pretty low-tech compared to everything else she could find. But there was a certain... charm to this one. This plain old 21st motorcycle caught her eye. She couldn't really explain it. Once she saw it though, she had to try it out. The key was in the ignition. Her foot was on the kick start. She just had to go.

Tsukasa entered the Sensorium, after first making sure that the door was properly closed. The words Negi Springfield said to him earlier about training stung somewhat. After the initial battles after he had been awakened, he really hadn't kept up with his battle training.

"What's that saying...about the body going lax...ah, I can't remember right now." He chuckled to himself and stood in the center of the room, drawing up a mental image of what he wanted for his training session.

When he opened his eyes, he was in a completly abandoned downtown Tokyo. He looked around, wondering where the first enemy was going to come from. Then he saw Kamen Riders Dark Kiva and Kabuto, Alternative Zero, Orga, and Shadowmoon advancing upon him with a small army of enemy monsters behind them.

In a word: Crap. But, Tsukasa kept that thought inside as he placed his belt upon his waist and drew his Decade Kamen Ride card. Slotting it in his belt. *KAMEN RIDE!* "HENSHIN!" He yelled, and his belt responded with, *DECADE!*

The magenta-colored armor of the Destroyer of Worlds materialized on him, and he charged Shadowmoon...who promptly punched him in the faceplate, sending him flying back into a wall. The same wall that hid the door controls. But, Decade was so focused on his "training" that he didn't notice the door opened up as he charged back into the frey, RideBooker drawn as a sword.

Maybe this was Stacy's work in order to boost crew mortal. Maybe a distracted crewmate had left the program running, but whatever it was, Lash walked in prepared to recreate a full scaled battle, and instead found herself gazing at stars in the open sky. The air felt slightly cold, but not enough for shivering. Instead it only drew her eyes towards the middle...

It was quiet, the only light coming from the fireflies that flew around, and the huge central fire that crackled and fizzed with orange energy. It looked very inviting, especially since pieces of cut wood and metallic chairs had been placed around it, in a circle-like fashion. Come rest on us, Lashie-poo they called out. Old guitars were placed on the grass floor as well, as were a few drums of various nationally and universes. Huh. The strangest thing, however, where these plastic wrapped piece of candy that were resting on some of the chairs. Upper pieces of branches were placed near them, as if they were meant to be used together.

Unused to such things as Black Hole was not known for parties (or pretty much anything that was celebratory or fun), but not completely ignorant, Lash sat down on one of the makeshift logs, before opening one of the candy wrappers and putting one of the white candies in her mouth. It was very sweet. The afro girl then took a guitar and give it an experimental clang, unsure of how to use it.

"Huh." Music wasn't her forte.

It was probably too soon for her to be back in her feet and training, but Kala couldn't just sit.  Or sleep.  She'd slept for days after the conflict, even when she was worried about Will's hands.  And she was still worried about them.  Naturally, since she couldn't do a gafting thing about it, she was working out her annoyance by working on her ability to control energy in the form of bolts from her staff.  It also meant she had taken the time to find something relatively harmless to shoot.  In the end, it was a ball of something inorganic, but light, and made out of a substance she was unfamiliar with, but it was as good as anything else.

An hour passed before she paused, leaning on her long staff, heavily winded, cold, and disappointed at the number of times she'd missed, as the ball rolled back toward her.

She lacked focus.  Again.  And this wasn't the first day since she'd finally made up lost sleep that she'd been out in the park picking away at her skills.  They were better and whatever growing she'd needed to do had helped, but her aim was still off.  After a moment, she closed her eyes and the staff became a sword.  Kala moved through the practice routines Matt had given her to help train her in his Paladin path, but she found herself tiring quickly even as she drove all of her will into staying focused and channeling her energy.

A swing and thrust culminated in a burning itch that quickly became a warning twinge of pain.  It threw off her balance and she felt her knees give.  A second later, she was sprawled gracelessly across the grassy knoll where she'd been practicing, cussing softly under her breath as she stared up into a decidedly fake sky.  She stayed there, her fingers clutching the hilt of her sword (which abruptly turned back into a pendant with a few concerned burbles and some garbled grumbling from Rising Phoenix), and for awhile, drifted into a light doze.

Maybe a nap wasn't such a bad thing.

Kazami's volunteered to help with the repairs to the city, but standing in the middle of the rubble... Well, it's a little hard to see how it can even be done. He thinks it might be easier to just clear everything and use the materials later.

Still, after several hours of wandering about, wondering where to start, he's given up. Kazami sinks onto a large piece of rubble, lying back and staring at the sky. In his hands is his guitar, one of the few things that survived from his world. As he watches the false clouds move, his fingers play a familiar song, filling that small section of the city with the old folk song. It brings happier memories, time spent with his family, watching the sakura petals fall.

If he wanted, he could probably go to the Sensoriums, but he can remember them perfectly. He doesn't need to immerse himself in the memory. Besides, he doesn't feel like competing with anyone for the chambers, they're likely full at this time of the day.

Elsewhere on this ship, a war was being waged. A war for the hearts and minds, the souls and very sanity of this crew.

A war that Stacy wasn't certain that all would survive, hence why she released you. Replacements would be needed.

But that war is miles away from where you are. Or at least, so it seems. There are no screams of agony to greet you, no monsters trying to claw at you.

But that doesn't mean the Nightmare King can't reach you.

Prior to your arrival here on the Obs deck, reality had been shifted. Constructs of the current crew grew out of nothing. All of them look, sound, feel, behave, and scan as the crew member they're copying. They're as real as you are. And with smiling faces, they await your arrival.

They can't wait to welcome you. To your doom.

Won't you say hi?

[ooc: Nightmare plot is still on, people, and this is the newbie portion. For all current players, as stated above, the Nightmare King made copies of your guys, who are still stuck fighting nightmares elsewhere in the plot. You can tag in as the copy of your character, have them be friendly, get the newbies to let their guard down, and then the real nightmare can begin. Newbies, you can tag in, have fun, and suspect nothing until its too late.]

[Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have the copies of your guys greet the newbies.]

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.

Nightmare becomes reality....

_{[roster: Leader - Cameron Mitchell, Daja, Kazami, Lister, Tony Stark]}

Rein was tired from the long time it took to work on all of the devices, including giving herself a checkup. But she was finally done and the devices had been returned to their proper owners.

Feeling a little lonely, the small device had floated to the Sensoriums and conjured up a version of the house she shared with Hayate and the Wolkenritter. Floating around, she had pulled out bowls and small little things, shifting to her full sized form to crack a few eggs. Soon, a batch of cookies were being baked in the oven and Rein was tired as she shifted back to her small form.

She had only meant to sit down for a moment but the couch was soooooo comfy in her opinion that she had soon curled up with her favorite fluffy towel rolled into a full body pillow and had drifted away. All the while, the timer on the oven puttered away, the smell of chocolate and macadamia nut wafting through the air as Rein snored away.

Slowly but surely, the nightmares have been chipping away at the mental defenses of the crew.

Even those who attempt to stay awake to avoid the nightmares find themselves too on-edge to completely concentrate their defenses.

And the Nightmare King has not been idle during all this, no. He has been slowly feeding off the crew, gathering his strength so that he may yet break free from his prison.

And he now uses that new found power, reaching out to affect the minds of the crew even in the waking world. Even those avoiding sleep will find themselves drifting in and out of their nightmares, bringing everyone a taste of despair.

After all, no one can escape the grasp of the King of Nightmares.

No one.

[ooc: OH NOEZ. As you can guess, the Nightmare King is getting stronger. As such, the crew will start experiencing waking dreams. These are much more subtle than the normal nightmares, however, and are more so depressing and surreal than actually brain-breaking. Mostly they would be miserable versions of the character's normal life, or perhaps even their life on the ship.]

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!]]