You're the ones who are good enough (or lucky) enough to be close to Escherville. You've had the good fortune to be scooped up and now you need to regroup and get ready to take on the Nightmare King himself. Time to reorganize and gear up as best you can with what you've got. The Nightmare King isn't going to wait for you.

Get moving.

_{((OOC: This is for the various groups/peoples who will be fighting the Nightmare King directly or assisting in that endeavor. If your character was in one of the Challenge from Beyond Groups, tag them in here! Feel free to do some tagging back and forth and enjoy yourselves. Please get tagged in by Tuesday night, March 2nd though, so we can get the Final Fight properly organized. ))}

Nightmare becomes reality....

[roster: leader - Captain Kirk, Ben 10, Daimon, Eddie Bloomberg, Static, Isaac]

Eddie sits at the edge of the roof of Titans Tower and watches the sun set, as he had done before in his universe. Only it's a simulated tower, above a simulated ocean reflecting simulated sunlight.

Eddie breathes a heavy sigh, smoke pouring from his mouth. Ever since the big reveal about his universe not existing, he'd been spending a lot more time in the sensoriums. At first he just played around, recreating the missions he had once done as a Titan and recreating battles he had lost so he could be victorious. Sometimes he would recreate his favorite movies to star in, and sometimes make up his own. Eddie usually made sure to lock the door so no one would disturb his fantasies.

Now all he wanted to do was watch the sunset. The more time he spent in the sensoriums, the more he missed. There were so many things happening, and so many more people were emerging from the pods that he didn't know. It was even worse when he did know them, because it meant he had missed out on seeing his old friends. Eddie was afraid to leave the sensoriums though. He just couldn't handle all that was happening now, and all he knew to do was run away, to create some fantasy world to escape to, like the movies his Aunt Marla used to direct. Here he could make whatever reality he wanted, but deep down he knew it was all fake.

Eddie wondered if there was a more permanent solution. If he emerged from the pod, perhaps he could go back in, go back into a deep sleep where he could dream and just be rid of all his problems...

He rubs his head and groans. "No, I can't think that way. There's still a chance I can make it work." It wouldn't have been the first time Eddie had chosen the easy way over the right way though.

There was a slim chance of hope though. Eddie had taken a chance to go to engineering, met some new people, socialized, and made something real again. Not a simulation. If he was to get out of this depression, he needed to stop shutting himself away. If he failed, there would be only only one choice left.

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!]

Since the big reveal Eddie has been...depressed. It was fun to hang out and meet new people back when he was pod popped, but now he was feeling the weight of it all. Eddie was beginning to realize just how small he was in this huge and expanding multiverse, and his enthusiasm shrunk.

Now Eddie finds himself here, in the engineering sector. He's stumbled across a room full of spare parts and odd bits of machinery that don't seem to have much use. Eddie reminisces of the time he used to spend building his Kid Devil suit back in Dan Cassidy's special effects workshop. He didn't just idolize Blue Devil as a hero. Before that, Eddie already idolized Dan for all the ways he made his Aunt Marla's movie so awesome, and it was Eddie's dream to be a special effects artist, just like Dan.

Eddie hadn't flexed that skill in a long time. He hadn't had the resources, until now. Scrapping together several bits of machinery, Eddie lays them out on a table and gets to work. He's not quite sure what it is he's doing, so he just improvises. He soon discovers that, being a fire demon, his fingers make for good welders.

In a little less than an hour, Eddie has finished his invention; a remote control toaster.

"Now if I could only invent bread."

The conversation between the bridge crew, Stacy, and the Admiral is broadcasted where the rest of the crew is in the MedBay, and gathered right outside. Even in the bridge itself, the sound echoes over the monitors so that anyone resistant to psionics can hear Elfangor's side of the conversation.

They have now been told why they were brought to the ship.

Their worlds are gone, destroyed by the Ohm. They are refugees in an unforgiving Omniverse.

Transmigration 9 is an ark.

While Stacy is partially restored, including her core personality (which is far more personable), she is still severely damaged, and running on automatic somewhat. Until the ship can be repaired, podpops will keep occuring and they will be forced to go on missions to undo the damage the Ohm have wrought to the Omniverse. The threat of the being in Escherville is still a threat, one with no immediate solutions.

But they have allies out there, they have an AI watching over them, they have the smallest glinting traces of hope. Their loved ones are (hopefully) on board, and even beyond that, there is may be a chance, however small, of restoring their home universes.

Stacy broadcasts to the entire ship when it's all over, when all has been revealed.

||The bodies of the individuals that died today are being prepared for funeral services. A list of their names will be made available, though I can assure you that none are individuals any of you know. The funeral will be on Obs Deck in several days, and will be announced.||

||Those that wish to have their memories of their rescues restored, as proof their worlds are gone, will have a chance to request this after the services, but without grief counselors on board, I strongly recommend against it.||

||In the meantime, all of us must heal and recover from our ordeal. New areas of the ship have been made available, such as the Crew Lounge, and I have opened up the Crew Quarters for use, and cleared out the belongings of--||

Here she falters, sadness creeping into her voice.

||--of my original crew, so that all of you may sleep more comfortably. These quarters fit two people to a room, and have actual beds and sonic showers. Dining will still be provided in the Mess Hall, with periodic days of real food in the Lounge--they must be spaced out until my food stores are replenished with fresh food products.||

After a moment of thought she says: ||And because I think you've suffered enough, fornicative activities are now allowed--however, both parties must stop by the Medbay for a Contraceptive shot or this will not be allowed. These shots will provide protection for six months and do not protect against venereal disease, but all of you, barring several individuals with certain conditions--|| Like those, say, infected with zombie viruses, Steve ||--are currently disease-free.||

||The ship is now open, and the bridge team can relocate back to the Living Areas. The doors will remain open after they leave the bridge. I must now engage in heavy repairs. My AI will not be quite as available as usual. Please, take time to grieve, rest, and have your wounds treated. We will discuss more when everyone has recovered from this ordeal.||

Princess Projectra was not pleased. Wasn't that a big surprise?

What was it over this time?

Oh yes.

The "food" that this ship deemed to serve her.

Her.

Royalty at it's best.

She pushed her plate away and stood up. Tossing her hair and her cape, Projectra strode out of the mess hall - and really, given what this ship's idea of a 'meal' was, mess was certainly the right word - and turned left.

There had to be something edible on this ship that wasn't mush!

Cloneday? Dani liked it. She didn't have to hide she was a clone, so why not call it cloneday since she wasn't technically 'born' for a real 'birth.' Cloneday was fitting.

She had flown to the Sensorium, asking for a room that was quickly filled with balloons and streamers and a nice big banner that said Cloneday on it. There was even a few pinatas and birthday hats scattered about as well as empty present boxes.

Dani knew birthdays from greeting cards. So whatever she saw on a greeting card, she had appear.

And then there were the tables, covered with food and drinks. Plus a very large strawberry birthday cake and candles on it. She still didn't get why because fire being pretty meant there were candles on the birthday cake, but oh well.

Now she just had to wait for others to arrive.

((OOC: All are invited because Dani doesn't not like anyone on board. Mingling is also encouraged too.))

Eddie was waiting in a hall for Rose. She said she was going to show him around the ship, but only after she got a snack. Eddie leaned against the wall and tapped his foot impatiently. He had gotten a little more used to the place, but he still didn't feel comfortable without a friend around to ensure him that the floor wasn't going to open up and eat him.

Jaime Reyes is a very, very busy young man. This is because he's been keeping busy, basically acting as a director and go-between all the little teams working on all the little things they need to GTFO.

Actually, he's even decided that should probably be their team name. Team GTFO.

(Not that he'd doodled that at the top of his little omnicom with the touch pad or anything, nope).

As it stands, he's sitting in the Sensoriums, eating a burger and fries from El Diablo's, sitting on one of the outside benches. The door to his little Sensorium is wide open, in case one of his friends pops in, or someone needs him for something, or generally, if anyone just wants to talk to him for any reason. He's a friendly kid, and he knows there's new people wanting to meet people.

Curiously, there are no people manning his little fast food establishment, but then Jaime specifically forbid Stacy from popping anyone he knows in the hologram. Then when she stocked it with weird hologram people, he thought it was creepy, so he just decided there would be no people at all.

As he eats, he seems to argue with himself. Anyone that knows him will know it's not himself he's arguing with.

"That's too dangerous. That's also too dangerous. Look, I know you love running in guns blazing, and think everybody should do that all the time, but that's not going to work here. We need information first, and we need to do this carefully."

A pause.

"I am not an Anxious Annie--where do you pick these phrases up, anyway, when I and no one I know uses them? I swear, the other day, you said the word 'moxie.' Next, it'll be 'dames and broads' and 'pow, right in the kisser, straight to the moon' and I have no idea where you're getting it. Are you watching the classic movie channel in my sleep or did you get it from Dan Garrett?"

Another pause.

"Haha, no. 80s slang isn't any better, and no I would not prefer it--seriously, stop saying 'radical.'"

Despite the talking to himself, even though he's engrossed in his little plans, he does look amused.

In a way, it was almost good to be back. After all, the ship was free of giant insects (or so one would hope), he was no longer being toyed with like a rat in a maze, and.. okay, so where he really wanted to be was home. Kurt was just going to have to take the bright side of things, and run with it.

It just really felt like everyone had their own issues to deal with, which was the honest truth. For now, he wanted to remain out of the way. Not to mention he wanted to distract himself. Too much stress was bad for the heart, after all. He had considered playing with the Sensoriums and had finally figured that being even lazier about it all was the best choice. Instead, he'd found himself in the Media Library, scrolling through the outrageously large collection of movies. Kurt still couldn't pick just one, even after narrowing it down by genre. He was sick of sci-fi, obviously. He didn't want the ship to pick out something by mood.

So, for awhile, he'd just been stuck there, prodding at one of the consoles, hoping something would catch his eye. Heck, he hadn't even decided if he'd put it on a player or stay here to watch it in one of the pods! There was almost too much to use, making the choice even more difficult..

Then again, he was the kind of person that made Blockbuster employees crazy, spending hours reading the back of cases, and sometimes never even borrowing anything at all.

Part of the crew might be gone, but life on the ship goes on. In fact, new people have woken up and, eventually, they've been spat out into the mess hall.

Maybe it's better to introduce them to some of the worst aspects of ship life first, right?

Anyway, the word is out that there's new people, and someone should probably go say hello. Before the n00bs mistake the glop for crew.


[ooc: read before tagging, plz]

[[OOC: Read this before tagging.]]

It seems like things around the ship have been getting rather lively lately.

And now, it's about to get even more lively.

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

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

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