The 9th Hour... (Phase 1: Sept-Oct Event)

[central_librarymods]

The cold presence is seeping in through the dark shadows. The darkness is reaching further, brushing the minds of the patrons and opening doors to dimensions that should not be open. Something wants in. But in the Central Library, there are ways to get through without crossing entirely… through your dreams. Among other things.

Pick one of the options below and make a post for other patrons to join you in the events. You may make up your own, but keep it matching the event at hand as the different phases of the event will progressively get worse.

1. Your dreams are getting dangerous, violent even. When you wake up, there are bruises and injuries that shouldn’t be there. What is going on? Why are your dreams becoming a reality little by little? And why is it getting so hard to wake up?


2. Things are shifting in the Library. The shadows are moving and the temperatures are starting to drop. There are cold spots that sometimes get colder and sometimes it feels like if you turn around, you’ll find someone right behind you.


3. The monsters are looking a bit more frantic and daring to come closer to the center of the Library where they normally will not tread. It seems you aren’t the only ones scared of the dark recesses any longer.


4. The Market is now a lovely little faire of the early Renaissance with all sorts of fresh grain, fruits and vegetables! It is a brilliant sight, but it seems the ominous plague masks they don still gives a foreboding feeling of the miasma that killed over two-thirds of the world’s population… Perhaps you shouldn’t wander very far.


5. New areas are now opened up. A blacksmith and workshop for the tinkers has been created. You might want to look or contribute... You might also want to stop in the new bath area. The large pool has a Grecian feel and all of the walls are made of crystalline glass where the stars are always shining with a different universe in constant succession.


6. Wild Card: Make up your own scenario. Just remember that all of the things above are happening. Things are getting foreboding and growing stronger by the day. Sleep will be a luxury you might not have… You may not see what’s coming, not yet. But you know it’s coming.

Comments

Multiple-prompts

[wanna_bash_heads]

1.--Nightmares


Alright! This dream had started out great, and Casey'd gotten used to making himself comfy in odd situations given the invasion, aftermath, and his vigilante'ing. Not that his dreams were usually as vivid as his life had been, all things considered.

A hockey-puck with fire-cracker tied to it went flying with a loud crack, fuse sizzling. Followed by another, and another, as Casey aimed smirked behind his hockey-mask at the swarm of foot-bots. "Hah!" Mocking in the tone, higher pitched before he lowered-his voice dramatically. "Evil Robo-ninjas, round 2! You guys haven't got a chance..."

A combination of the explosive pucks, and his usual manic fighting style with his hockey-stick and baseball bat, and Casey was enjoying this dream. The adrenaline rush, the fight, the fact that he was winning... Best of all? Proving he was doing what he was meant to do!

Hockey-stick over his shoulder, satisfied smirk at the pile of robot-pieces, and the teenager was turning to move on through the sewers on his way to the lair. A sucker-punch from the shadows, catching him harshly on the cheek and he went flying. Hitting the wall behind him, as that had hurt, stick torn from his grasp. His vision swam for a bit as eyes scanned his surroundings. Drawing his baseball bat and getting shakily to his feet.

The sewers had darkened, where before it had felt brighter, and Casey didn't see anything at first. Until a shape resolved itself, faint outline reminiscent, with ears and posture alert, whiskers twitching. Eyes opening, white in the darkness, followed a moment more by four more pairs of eyes in silhouette.

"Master Splinter..." Casey breathed, dropping the tense posture. Whoever'd sucker punched him was in trouble now... "Everything alright?" Asking as the tall humanoid-rat-mutant clad in dark red-kimono stepped further out of the shadows. Red-brown eyes narrowed, displeasure clear in the figure.

"Go Away."

Casey's eyes widened. Huh? Echoing his confusion, before the ninja master clarified. "You are no longer welcome." Snarled out, as Casey backed up against the wall as Splinter advanced towards him. Out from the shadows, the other owners of the eyes resolved into 4 humanoid-turtles wearing different colored masks around their eyes, bearing padding on their bodies at various point. Casey tried to peek around, looking for support, trying to make sense of things.

The one in orange, Mikey just shook his head sadly and turned away. Leo, in blue, simply closed his eyes and looked resigned. Donnie smirked in a very unfriendly way, ties of his purple mask shifting with his head almost mockingly. Raph, Casey's best friend of the 4, the one he'd fought with, related to, was glaring murder at him. That hurt, and Casey's eyes widened more. Biting his lip under his Hockey-mask, then flipping it up as his attention was given to Splinter.

"I don't understand, Master Splinter, Raph..." A snarl from the turtle in red, menacing and angrier than Casey'd ever heard. "Yame!" Splinter responded sharply in Japanese, eyes narrowing and spearing Casey where he was trapped. Seemingly taller than ever, and Casey felt a twinge of his phobia. "You are done." Finality to the tone, and the humanoid-rat lunged at Casey, as he threw up his hands in futile-protection."

Casey woke up with a start, bolting up and then twisting, almost falling out of his bed. That wasn't how his dreams usually went. Not even his nightmares were like that, usually. Reaching up to scrub his hand down his face, and wincing. "Ow...what the?" Hesitantly probing at his face, and he could feel a bruise where he'd been punched in the dream. What the heck?"

Sleep was definitely not happening again, so he might as well go exploring. Maybe some skating would clear his head. Carefully, as his body ached in a way it hadn't since he'd first met and fought with Raphael before they'd been friends, he dressed in his vigilante gear. Hockey-mask up, roller-blades down, and moving through the halls as he tried to forget the weird nightmare.


2.Things in the dark


One thing that Casey was definitely enjoying was all the space and epic hallways to skate in. Almost as good as the rooftops of New York, and without his chance of falling off. It'd be even better if Mikey were around, and Casey kind of wished for him or Raph to be there. Especially after the dream he'd had.

Skidding around a corner and rebounding off a wall as he kept going, a Woohoo! echoing with him as he flipped over a desk, landing with a clatter but on his feet. Then something caught his eye, and he turned, skidding to a stop. Turning around fully, and carefully heading towards the corner he'd seen something move. Pulling out his baseball bat, and poking in the shadow--nothing there.

Odd, and a flash of red, with a paddle tail moving, caught his eye again. Whipping around behind him, bat held ready. "Last time I met you things, you got your butt kicked." Well, ok--the dream beavers had been the size of small plush toys. But they'd left for another dimension anyways! What the hell would they be doing here in the giant Library?

Re: Multiple-prompts

[dulcet_cellist]

Sneaking off to the new area wasn't as easy as he'd hoped it would be. He'd heard something loud and the sound of someone having fun. Not that it wasn't allowed, but he had a feeling he knew who it was. Not that he knew many people here. And he certainly didn't know them well enough. But he doubted Alec would be running around the library making so much noise.

Sebastian came around the corner at the 'butt kicked' and instinctively raised both arms up to protect his head with a surprised shout.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[wanna_bash_heads]

Casey had heard footsteps, skates flipped back to rest against his shins as he advanced, baseball bat held high. The shout was answered by one of his own, but he didn't whack Sebastian at least.

"Bookworm..." Casey was as surprised as Sebastian was, and he peered around behind him for a moment, before re-sheathing the bat. Nope, no dream beavers yet.

"What brings you around here?"

Re: Multiple-prompts

[dulcet_cellist]

"I live here!" Sebastian waved his arms around at the library. Okay. He was a little stressed by what had happened and anxious and he'd probably surprised Casey, too. But his heart was racing and he'd just re-experienced several really bad moments. So he might be overreacting. Just a little. "And I heard you 'woohoo'ing."

What else could he call it?

He looked back towards the shadows and straightened his hoodie a bit, trying to calm down.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[wanna_bash_heads]

"Huh, there must be some good echoes then." Casey murmured, flipping up the hockey-mask. No need to hide, around Sebastian anyways. This time there was no face-paint, although there was a wicked looking bruise on Casey's cheekbone.

"I was trying to relax a bit. This place is epic for skating." Of course, his skates were retracted right then, as he'd been a little jumpy. His head tilted, Casey moved so his back was to one of the walls. "So you mentioned getting missions before, Bookworm. How'd you get those? Do things escape from the books often?"

Re: Multiple-prompts

[dulcet_cellist]

At least it seemed they finally had something in common. Sebastian tensed a bit and ducked his head to hide his own bruise and cut. "I don't know about often. I suppose they do. I see some birds. Sometimes."

Something strange was happening. He wasn't sure what it is was or if it was simply coincidence. Maybe he was overreacting.

"Did you get into a fight with someone who didn't approve of skating inside a library?" He asked, carefully watching for Casey's reaction.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[wanna_bash_heads]

Casey was definitely keeping his back to the wall, eyes darting around. "Yeah, you mentioned the birds before..." Absent, as his eyes caught something, and then it was gone. This was not good.

"We should find a better lit area, Bookworm." Taking a cautious step forward, and passing Sebastian the baseball bat, after taking it out again. "It was weird. I had a nightmare, and woke up with the bruise from where I got sucker punched in it. Rest of my body aches a bit too like I'd just gotten in a good fight, but I'm used to that." Not as bad as when Raph and he had first met, but definitely feeling it.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[dulcet_cellist]

"What am I suppose to do with this?" Sebastian held up the bat as if it was an alien artifact. He knew what it was, but sports really wasn't his thing. And he was more concerned by the realization that he hadn't been the only one having violent dreams that had left him marked.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[wanna_bash_heads]

"Protection?" Casey turned, raising an eyebrow at Sebastian. Stopping, and giving him a full look-over. Hmming to himself, before meeting the other's eyes. "Not hard to swing a bat, and it's good solid wood."

Nevertheless, Sebastian really didn't look like he was a fighting type. Too clean-cut, and his posture was wrong. Besides, his way of reacting when Casey'd shown up meant that while he had guts, he wasn't likely to go looking for trouble. So the vigilante'd stick close to him.

"I feel like I keep seeing things, but when I turn to find them, they're not there." He'd lowered his voice, frowning. Casey didn't really like admitting weakness. He was pretty sure he hadn't been hit with any mutant-mushroom-spores this time, too.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[dulcet_cellist]

"Easy for you to say. You're a jock type. I'm just a cellist." Sebastian grumbled quietly to himself still holding the bat by the fat end.

"You've had a nightmare. Seeing things in the shadows is probably an extension of waking up with actual injuries. It is a library full of magic. Maybe what you're seeing is something from one of the books?"

Despite his effort Casey's unease was starting to rub off on him and he couldn't shake the feeling that at any moment Christian Scott was going to appear out of one of those shadows. Or one of the many other bullies would suddenly shove him into the shadows.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[wanna_bash_heads]

Casey crossed his arms over his chest, giving Sebastian a flat look. "Give me some credit ok, even if I'm not a bookworm. You're bruised and scraped up too, and were way too jumpy considering you heard me, and were headed my way." Absolutely serious in those brown eyes of his, in a way that few really saw Casey be except when it was serious.

"And you're right, it MIGHT be from the books. Magic, for all I've seen it before, is still new stuff compared to the craziness I'm used to. It might also be more than that, considering I HAVE dealt with something like this before. It's part of what I keep seeing out of the corner of my eye. I'm just wondering how they're managing to affect this place, considering that I woke UP from the nightmare, instead of staying asleep and having my life force drained."

Never mind why the hell the Dream Beavers were here in the first place. Last Casey'd seen, they left for another dimension because trapped in the one with the turtles and Casey and April, they'd been the size of plush toys without any of their cool tricks. Too bad Bernie had passed out asleep for the first time shortly after. Casey was kind of regretting not questioning him more now.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[dulcet_cellist]

Sebastian ducked his head and turned away enough to hide his face better. He was trying to forget and pretend it was no big deal. Because dreams were stupid, annoying reminders of things that didn't matter when you were awake.

"They're not real. It's just...the...shadows."

Just the shadows moving. Just the shadows shaped like people. Like clouds. You think you see something, but it's not real. Not real. Not a person. Not Christian Scott standing right there just beyond his ability to know for sure.

It could have been anything. His imagination. A long forgotten memory. And when he closed his eyes, just for a moment, he could almost feel the rain on his face right before he physically jerked back from the fist that wasn't there when he opened his eyes and stared into the same shadow. The bat hitting the floor was thankfully louder than the beating of his heart.

Re: Multiple-prompts

[wanna_bash_heads]

"Bookworm?" Casey asked, eyeing Sebastian as the other closed his eyes, seemed almost to fall asleep right there. The clatter of the bat loud, as Casey watched the other teen for a moment, frown on his face.

Not an unhappy-or-upset-with-Sebastian frown either. A concerned one. "Bookworm? Sebastian..." Moving to pick up the baseball bat, putting it away in its holster at his back. "You've been seeing things too, huh? You alright?" No more playful teasing in the voice; genuine concern.

Casey was a vigilante for a few reasons; one of which WAS helping others. Especially those who couldn't help themselves. (It was a minor reason, compared to wanting to kick the scum out of his city, but it was still there.)

2 - hope this is ok, feel free to knock him out he's lost some blood.

[ingrantitude]

Kara says don't sleep.

He can do that, he can live without sleep but he has to admit that there are things he wants - his team, his people around him and this place hasn't provided that. With Kara here he doesn't know what to think of any of it. He just knows he wants to keep her safe.

It's hard to think beyond that. Hard to think of anything beyond the fighting and the anger and how vunerable he feels - right until he hears someone or something approach.

It's pure instinct that makes him slip into the shadows, duck behind a bookcase and then move when the enemy passes him to try and remove his weapon from his grasp. One man in loose fitting workout gear that moves - well. That moves like a weapon with bandages wrapped around his arms.

New people and CR are always welcome. :)

[wanna_bash_heads]

The grab for his weapon has Casey's eyes go wide behind the hockey-mask. His grip is firm as the pair wrestle, before Casey pulls back. Letting the bat go but pulling out his hockey-stick instead, and swiping at the other's legs.

Hooking and trying to trip, and if that doesn't work? Taser-time.

"A mummy? Really?" Taunting, eyes-narrowed.

love it.

[ingrantitude]

Ward doesn't speak. Instead he makes a move to block with his arms, taking any hits that come his way.

"No."

When the hockey stick hooks at him however he falls back hard and is on his feet - until the taser hits and he jerks - and moves to sit back up. He moves like an old man before slumping to the floor.

"...I've killed people for less then that."

And he'll make bigger threats. Just - give him time to get off the floor.

"...You're supposed to be some kind of super hero?"

Home-made-Taser for the win. (Potato-masher+9volt batteries yo)

[wanna_bash_heads]

Casey isn't going to give him that much time to get back up. Not when he can knock the bat away, and put a hockey-stick at the guy's throat. Only reason he's not striking more, is the Cat had warned him well.

Defense was one thing...

"Yeah, I'm really scared, mummy-man." Confidence and cockiness in the tone. "No powers needed here, but I clean the scum out of my city all the same."

I love this already.

[ingrantitude]

The kid's good.

Ward's better. He makes an animal lunge off the floor. He' used to being knocked down and out, used to being put into impossible situations and with years and years of military training -

His muscles are screaming and his head swims but he moves to attack and pin - before pulling back and stopping himself, limbs going woozy. Thin lines of red appear at his wrists and he falls back.

"...I'm not a mummy mummies aren't real."

Re: I love this already.

[wanna_bash_heads]

It definitely takes Casey by surprise, but he's got his own tricks. A hard shove of the other away and off of him, and Casey's pulled out the goalie stick too, armed and ready. "We're in a magic library, and you're saying mummies aren't real? What is your malfunction, man?"

[ingrantitude]

Ward moves to get up -and slumps.

"I'm not one then. If that makes it any better. I didn't know you were so scared of mummies O'connell."

Jokes. He can make jokes. He needs...

He needs Kara. He moved way too fast and his arms hurt.

"...Put the stick down. I won't hurt you. You startled me."

[wanna_bash_heads]

Who startled who?

Casey is eyeing him skeptically, easily seen as his eyes narrow behind the mask. "You're another guest here, a..whaddya call it, patron?" The hockey sticks are staying out for now.

[ingrantitude]

"I'm here to help the library." He's here for Kara but the cat and the librarian were growing on him. He pulled himself up into a sitting position against the books and is trying to get back on his feet - and failing, "Patron. sure I guess. I'm -"

He snorts, then smiles, "Jumpy by nature."

He struggles for a moment, his throat working, before he speaks, "Sorry."

[wanna_bash_heads]

Ok, now finally, after another tense second, the hockey sticks are going away. "You don't look so good, even before I shocked you." Casey's head tilted, as he studied the other a moment. "Sorry about that." He doesn't sound very sorry, to be honest.

But he is holding out a hand to help the other to his feet.

[ingrantitude]

"You shouldn't be sorry. You were defending yourself." Ward will accept the hand and not wince even though his wrists burn, "Never apologize for protecting yourself it's a sign of weakness. I'm-"

I'm amazed you didn't deliver a killing blow

You should have tried to kill me, you shouldn't have let me up.

"...I'll be fine. I'm looking for a woman. Long brown hair, shorter then me. she has...she has scars on her face."

[wanna_bash_heads]

"I haven't seen her. Honestly I haven't seen really anyone yet." Casey replied, moving to grab the fallen bat and replacing it, still keeping an eye on the other man. "...there're things that keep showing up, just out of the corner of the eye though."

Wary, testing, wondering if the other was seeing them too.