Chapter Text
???: “…”
???: “…Finally.”
???: “…I have everything in place.”
???: “…After all of these years, I have accomplished my goal.”
???: “…Everything is going according to plan.”
???: “…It’s time for the games to commence.”
???: “…After everything they’ve done, they deserve it.”
???: “…Hahahaha…I can’t wait to see them all suffer.”
(...)
???: “...”
???: “...”
Dreamcatcher: “...Mh…”
Dreamcatcher: “...Ugh…huh?”
Dreamcatcher exhaustedly opened her eyes, seeing nothing but darkness around her. Her eyes soon adjusted to the darkness and she could more clearly see her surrounding area. She noticed that she appeared to be in…a classroom? There were desks all around her, with a table at the front of the classroom that would presumably be for a teacher, with a chalkboard directly behind it.
Dreamcatcher: “School? Bleh, I hate school.”
Dreamcatcher weakly lifted her body off the ground. She struggled to maintain focus on levitating her body.
Dreamcatcher: (“Ugh, I’m so lightheaded. And since I’m just a head, that’s really not good.”)
After a little bit of time, Dreamcatcher’s headache passed away and she decided to get a closer look around the classroom. She saw the windows and thought there were some kind of blinds covering them, so she floated towards the windows to let in some light. As Dreamcatcher got closer, she realized that the windows weren’t covered by blinds, but large metal plates attached to the walls by comically large screws.
Dreamcatcher: “(“What the…”) Ugh, as if school didn’t feel enough like a prison already.”
Dreamcatcher then turned around and saw in the darkness the outline of a door. She was so tired of this room already and immediately went towards it to leave. She noticed the light switch right next to the door and turned it on. She was relieved to not be in darkness anymore. Dreamcatcher looked at the classroom one last time but didn't see anything new so she left. As Dreamcatcher floated out of the classroom, she didn’t see where she was going and bumped into something. Dreamcatcher looks up to see something horrifying standing in front of her. She saw a large bone-like ball thing with a tail attached to it. Two bony tendrils are attached to the tail. The thing then turns around to reveal the bone-like ball is actually an eyeball.
???: “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there! Pretty ironic for me to not see something. Are you ok?”
Dreamcatcher was still in shock as to what she’s seeing, trying to process what the creature in front of her was.
Dreamcatcher: “Wow, you talk.”
???: “Uh, yeah. Most things in Skylands talk. Not entirely sure why that surprises you.”
Dreamcatcher: “Well, um, I-”
???: “Oh, where are my manners? Hello, I am Occulous! In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a giant eyeball!”
Despite Occulous’ menacing appearance, he displays himself with a very social and respectable manner.
Dreamcatcher: “Well, I-I’m Dreamcatcher. It’s like, nice to meet you, or something.”
Occulous: “Nice to meet you too Dreamcatcher. Tell me, do you remember why you are here or how you ended up here at all?”
Dreamcatcher: “Duh, of course I know that. I-”
As Dreamcatcher was about to continue speaking, she realized that she didn’t know why or how she got here. The thought didn’t even occur to her until now.
Dreamcatcher: (“Wait, why am I here? How did I get here? Why can’t I remember at all?!”)
Occulous: “Based on your confused expression and how you stopped talking mid sentence, I’m going to assume that you don’t remember.”
Dreamcatcher: “Uh, y-yeah…”
Occulous: “Don’t stress about it too much. I can’t remember why or how I got here either. The same goes for everyone else here.”
Dreamcatcher: “Well, I guess it’s nice that I’m not alo-...wait, ‘everyone else’?”
Occulous: “Yes, it’s not just you and me that are stuck in this facility. There are many other people in here with us. I’ve met about half of them so far. Well, at least I assume it’s half.”
Dreamcatcher: “Oh, I guess it would probably be good for me to meet them then.”
Occulous: “Indeed. I can see someone at the end of this hallway that I haven’t met yet, so I best be going now.”
Dreamcatcher: “Alright. I guess I’ll get going too.”
Occulous: “See you around, Dreamcatcher.”
The two then parted ways. Dreamcatcher decided to check the other classroom directly next to her. She cracked open the door and slightly poked her head through it. She noticed two individuals having a conversation. One of them was a purple woman with multiple arms wearing a fancy dress, and the other was a man covered in white armor-like clothing with a body that seemed to radiate light.
???: “I still don’t know why they would bolt up the windows in such an extreme fashion. How am I supposed to perform in such gloomy conditions?”
???: “I agree, this is simply despicable. Natural light is a beautiful thing. I hate darkness so much.”
???: “I would just try and pry the metal plates off with my magic but for some reason, my magic feels weak, like I had my energy sapped from me. Do you also feel the same?”
???: “Yeah. Normally I can shine as bright as a star, and shoot beams of light from my hands, but I’m struggling to even make my body glow. It’s almost like we’ve lost our powers.”
???: “You look pretty bright to me.”
???: “Normally I’m much brighter.”
Dreamcatcher: “Lost our powers?!”
The two hastily glance over at Dreamcatcher, shocked by her sudden comment. Dreamcatcher also became a bit spooked, hiding a little bit more behind the door. After a second of maintaining eye contact with the strangers, Dreamcatcher approaches them.
Dreamcatcher: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you guys.”
???: “No worries, I feel like everyone’s a bit jumpy given our current situation. So, what’s your name anyway, miss?”
Dreamcatcher: “I’m Dreamcatcher. And who exactly are you guys?”
???: “I am Mesmeralda, performer and puppeteer extraordinaire! I’ve been a part of many plays throughout Skylands. You might’ve heard of me.”
Dreamcatcher: “Oh, I don’t really watch plays. They’re like, not my thing.”
Mesmeralda: “Oh…well, that's ok. Everyone has their own interests.”
An awkward silence swept over all 3 of them. They looked back and forth at each other, waiting for one of them to break the silence.
???: *Clears throat* “Well, I am Luminous. I am born of pure light and wish to spread the beauty of light throughout our world.”
Dreamcatcher: “So, what exactly did you guys mean by ‘lose our powers’?”
Mesmeralda: “Don’t know if you noticed, but everyone here is suffering from having their abilities either weakened or just completely gone. It’s the strangest thing.”
Luminous: “And on top of that, no one has a clue as to why that would b-”
As Luminous was talking, he accidentally knocked a chair over.
Luminous: “Whoops!”
Dreamcatcher: “Woah!”
Just before the chair hit the ground, Dreamcatcher used her psychic abilities to grab the chair and slowly put it back to where it was.
Mesmeralda: “My my, what an impressive ability.”
Luminous: “So, you have psychic abilities. Very impressive, Dreamcatcher.”
Dreamcatcher: “Uh, Thanks. I…I…”
Dreamcatcher felt something strange in her mind. She couldn’t quite make out what this feeling was, but it was very faint and not bothering her that much. Whatever this was, she knew that it probably was caused by her using her psychic powers. The other two took notice of her reaction.
Luminous: “Uh, Dreamcatcher…are you ok?
Dreamcatcher: “Uh, yeah, I’m fine…I just got like this…weird feeling in my head. I’m not in pain or anything, but I can just barely feel something.”
Mesmeralda: “It's probably due to what we were talking about before, about how we’re not as strong as we once were. For whatever reason, our elemental energies seem to have been stripped from us.”
Dremcatcher found this rather odd. She knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to over exhaust her psychic abilities, but her curiosity was getting the best of her.
Dreamcatcher: “Alright, I’m gonna test and see if that’s actually true.”
Dreamcatcher lifted a chair into the air with her mind, with that strange feeling coming back in her head.
Mesmeralda: “Do you feel anything?”
Dreamcatcher: “Yeah. It’s like, more annoying than before but not too annoying. Let’s see how far I can push this.”
Dreamcatcher lifted a few more chairs. That feeling in her head started to get stronger and stronger, but not affecting her abilities that much. She then cranked her psychic abilities to the max and lifted every chair in the room just slightly off the ground. The other chairs that were already lifted into the air began to float down to just barely above the ground, like all of the chairs she just lifted. This startled Mesmeralda and Luminous.
Luminous: “W-woah, take it easy.”
That feeling in her head became more and more apparent, feeling as if something was pounding on her skull. She began to feel lightheaded, similar to how she felt when she first woke up but to a lesser extent. Dreamcatcher then put all of the chairs down.
Dreamcatcher: “Ok, I think I’m starting to reach my limit.”
Mesmeralda: “Are you alright?”
Dreamcatcher: “Y-yeah…I’m just annoyed. I can only lift a certain amount of things with my mind for a limited amount of time? Ugh, that’s like super lame.”
Luminous: “Yes, yes it is.”
Dreamcatcher: “Well thankfully, I’m feeling better already. I guess my headaches last a very short time. I’m gonna go meet everyone else in this place now. It was nice to meet you two.”
Luminous: “Sayonara.”
Mesmeralda: “Farewell Dreamcatcher.”
Dreamcatcher left the classroom and noticed a room next to it with a symbol of a trash bag on it, presumably a garbage disposal room. Before she could enter the room, a black dragon walked out. Unlike most dragons that Dreamcatcher has seen, this one only walked on two legs. The front limbs of this dragon were replaced with two large wings with a blue spike at each tip. The wings also had many tears and holes throughout them. In fact, the entire appearance of this dragon has a sense of decay to it. Many parts of its body were exposed to reveal wisp-like blue light coming the inside of its body as well as the eyes. The head also appeared to resemble that of a skull more than something alive.
???: “Well, hello there…”
Dreamcatcher: “Uh…h-hi…(“Yeesh, and I thought the eyeball guy was creepy”).”
???: “What’sssss with your tone girl? You ssssseem to be on edge. Are you ssssscared of me?”
Dreamcatcher remained silent. She began to profusely sweat and became frozen with fear, horrified as to what this monstrous dragon may do to her.
???: “It’sssss ok, I underssssstand. I am very intimidating. But don’t be alarmed. I have no intention to hurt you or anyone elssssse here.”
Dreamcatcher calmed down a tiny bit. She still didn’t dare to speak, but would listen to what this dragon had to say.
???: “Allow me to introduccccce myssssself. I am Vathek. Pleasssssed to meet you.”
Dreamcatcher: “Oh, well, I’m Dreamcatcher. Nice to meet you Vathek.”
Vathek: “Sssssay, are you alssssso ssssstruggling to ussssse your powersssss? My body doesssssn’t feel asssss powerful asssss it normally doesssss.”
Dreamcatcher: “(“What’s with this guy’s deal? Is he supposed to be a dragon or a snake?”)...uh yeah. I spoke to two other people and they felt the same way.”
Vathek: “Hmmmm…how sssssussssspiciousssss.”
Dreamcatcher: “...sus...”
Vathek: “What did you jussssst sssssay?”
Dreamcatcher: “Nothing, nothing. Say, what is that room you were just walking out of?”
Vathek: “That isssss the garbage room. Any trash we make can be dumped in here, henccccce the garbage bag sssssymbol on the door. I wasssss throwing out my leftover food when I ate in the cafeteria.”
Dreamcatcher: (“Oh, yeah. Seems like kind of a stupid question now that I think about it.”)
Vathek: “Though I should warn you. There’sssss a guy in the cafeteria that’sssss rather ssssstrange.”
Dreamcatcher: “Strange? Strange how?”
Vathek: “He’sssss wearing a cloak made to resssssemble a sheep. He alssssso has a hand puppet that, jussssst like him, ressssemblesssss a sheep. And he talksssss to it like it’sssss a real perssssson.”
Dreamcatcher: “(“Yikes…”) Well, there’s a lot of this place I haven’t seen yet so I should go exploring. Thanks for the heads up.”
Vathek: “You’re welcome.”
As Dreamcatcher continued down the hallway, she felt the oppression of this place start to sink in. The walls were all a dull gray and there were barely any posters and whatnot on them. It felt like there was no soul left in this place, that all of the life and charm died a long time ago. Before Dreamcatcher could continue to ponder on what’s the deal with wherever she is, she made it to the end of the hallway, with a sign hanging above that states ‘NORTH HALLWAY’. The hallway split off into 4 different directions, making the shape of a plus sign. She also noticed many doors with faces on them close to the hallway intersection. She recognized a few of the faces being the 4 people she had just met, but there were many more faces she didn’t recognize. What shocked her the most was that one of the faces was her own.
Dreamcatcher: “Uh, why is my face on this door? Wait, don’t tell me, is this my own personal room? Am I expected to live here? I am so not doing that.”
???: “Tell me about it. These living quarters are unacceptable for my standards. My bed better have a frame made out of solid gold.”
Dreamcatcher turned around to see who was speaking to her. Standing behind her was a skeleton with an outfit that screamed wealthy and regal. He was wearing a golden chestplate, golden shoulder guards, golden wrist coverings and golden boots. He also sported purple gloves and a purple cape with a fancy mustache and a golden right eye.
???: “Living in The Underworld makes me very used to seeing a lot of dull grays, but you can still make dull grays vibrant! Has this facility no basic understanding of interior design!?”
Dreamcatcher: “Uh…right…whatever you just said.”
???: “Oh, enough about the rooms, let’s talk about me. I’m sure you’re wondering who this dashing and dignified deceased in front of you is. Well, wonder no longer. My name is Count Moneybone.”
Dreamcatcher: “My name is Dreamcatcher. So, you sleep on a bed made of gold?”
Count Moneybone: “A bedframe, not a bed. That just wouldn’t be comfy. But yes, as ruler of The Underworld, I like to ensure that my castle is in peak condition so I am always ready to rule my people.”
Dreamcatcher: “R-ruler of The Underworld?!”
Count Moneybone: “Why yes, the magnificent Count Moneybone is the lord of The Underworld. I lead my people to prosperity and make that desolate and bleak land into a thriving empire.”
Dreamcatcher: “Dang, that’s kind of impressive actually.”
Count Moneybone: “Indeed it is. No doubt due to my brilliant mind, expert leadership, and oh so generous personality. I’m actually very well known throughout The Underworld as the nicest undead there is.”
Dreamcatcher: “(“And so humble about it”)...well, If that’s the case, I’m sure someone as smart and rich as you knows why we are here, right?”
Count Moneybone: “Uh…hehe…I know this will be rather hard to believe, but I actually have no clue as to why any of us are here.”
Dreamcatcher: (“Figured.”)
Count Moneybone: “This is probably part of some contract that my stupid secretary, Margaret, didn’t read properly. I really should fire her. Oh well, I always get more money, power or some combination of the two from these so I’m not too upset.”
Dreamcatcher: “Uh-huh…well, there’s 3 different parts of this building I haven’t explored yet so, see ya Monkeybones.”
Count Moneybone: “It’s Count Moneybone.”
Dreamcatcher: “Right, right. That’s what I said.”
The skeleton then walked off with an annoyed expression on his face. Dreamcatcher then walked down the hallway with the sign that stated ‘WEST HALLWAY’. She noticed 3 sets of doors, one on each wall, and a large machine standing in front of the one at the end of the hall. It had a bulky orange upper body with a thin black lower body with 4 legs. It also had a small drill attached to it.
???: “WHAT IS WITH ALL OF THESE DOORS?! THEY ALL APPEARED TO BE LOCKED!”
Dreamcatcher: “Wait, locked?”
The machine turns around to speak to Dreamcatcher, surprised by her unexpected comment.
???: “OH, HELLO THERE. SORRY, I DID NOT SEE YOU BEHIND ME.”
Dreamcatcher: “Oh no, it’s cool. I literally just got behind you.”
???: “AH, I SEE.”
Dreamcatcher: “My name is Dreamcatcher, btw.”
???: “WELL, NICE TO MEET YOU DREAMCATCHER. MY NAME IS DRILL-X.”
Dreamcatcher: “So, you said all 3 of these doors are locked?”
Drill-X: “CORRECT. I TRIED OPENING ALL OF THEM BUT THEY WON’T BUDGE. I THOUGHT THIS DOOR AT THE END OF THE HALL WOULD BE AN EXIT SINCE THERE ARE NO OTHER DOORS THAT COULD LEAD TO THE OUTSIDE OF THIS BUILDING. IF THAT WERE THE CASE THOUGH, I CAN NOT COMPUTE AS TO WHAT REASON THIS DOOR WOULD BE LOCKED.”
Dreamcatcher: “Exit? Wait, so we’re trapped in here?!”
Drill-X: “UNFORTUNATELY, IT SEEMS TO BE THAT WAY. UNLESS SOMEONE CAN FIND A WAY TO OPEN THIS DOOR, WE ARE IN A LOCKED AREA.”
Dreamcatcher: *Sigh* “Wait, let me try something.”
Dreamcatcher began to emit psychic energy from her body.
Dreamcatcher: “I can create a portal to my home, the Realm of Dreams. Maybe we can use that to escape from this place.”
Drill-X: “FANTASTIC IDEA DREAMCATCHER.”
Dreamcatcher used more and more energy to create the portal but no matter how hard she tried, one wouldn’t appear. All of this use of her strength tired her out quickly and she floated down to the ground while being completely drenched in sweat.
Drill-X: “ARE YOU OK DREAMCATCHER? WHAT’S WRONG? WHY COULDN’T YOU CREATE THE PORTAL?”
Dreamcatcher: “Huff…huff…puff…ok…so…that…has its…limits…as well.”
Drill-X: “WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN BY ‘HAS ITS LIMITS AS WELL’? ARE YOU IMPLYING THERE ARE OTHER POWERS YOU POSSESS THAT YOU ARE UNABLE TO PERFORM?”
Dreamcatcher: “Pretty much, yeah. …This spider girl and light dude told me…that everyone here has had their abilities drained from them…so our abilities are either like super weak…or just flat out don’t work. …Ugh, I hate it here.”
Drill-X: “I SEE. SO THAT IS WHY MY DRILL WON’T WORK PROPERLY. NORMALLY MY DRILL IS ABLE TO SPIN BUT MY MOTOR SEEMS TO NOT BE FUNCTIONAL. PERHAPS I SHOULD TRY BASHING THE DOOR OPEN WITH MY DRILL THEN. EVEN WHEN IT’S NOT SPINNING, IT’S EFFECTIVE AT SMASHING THINGS.”
???: “Don’t waste your time. Your drill isn’t even going to make a dent in the door.”
Dreamcatcher and Drill-X turned around to face where the noise came from. Behind them was a thin woman in a black dress with a V-shaped neck blouse and long black gloves. Her dress had a few purple crystals on the torso as well as many adorning her hair net and one where her forehead meets her hair.
???: “I’ve tried using my magic to bust open the door and it wouldn’t budge. Not only are our powers weakened for whatever reason, but the door is covered with a thin layer of traptanium.”
Drill-X: “TRAPTANIUM? THAT IS INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO MAKE THIN TO THE POINT WHERE IT’S INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE WITHOUT BREAKING IT.”
Dreamcatcher: “What the heck is traptanium?”
Drill-X: “TRAPTANIUM IS AN INCREDIBLY RARE CRYSTAL THAT IS KNOWN FOR ITS DURABILITY, WITH WEAPONS MADE OF TRAPTANIUM BEING THE ONLY THINGS THAT CAN CONSISTENTLY BREAK SAID CRYSTAL. EVEN MY DRILL REQUIRES A LOT OF ENERGY TO GENERATE ENOUGH FORCE TO BREAK IT.”
???: “It’s not just the door that’s lined with that stuff. Every wall, floor, and ceiling has a thin layer of traptanium on it. Whoever or whatever brought us all here, they don’t want us getting out so easily.”
Dreamcatcher: “As if this day couldn’t get any more dumb. So, who are you exactly?”
???: “I suppose an introduction would be the polite thing to do. My name is Kaossandra.”
Drill-X: “NICE TO MEET YOU KAOSSANDRA. MY NAME IS DRILL-X.”
Dremcatcher: “And I’m Dreamcatcher.”
Kaossandra deviates her eyes from the two to look at the door next to Dreamcatcher’s right side.
Kaossandra: “Do either of you know what’s with the weird symbol on that door?”
The two look over to see what Kaossandra is referring to. Next to Dreamcatcher was a pair of doors with very unique looking handles. The handles of the doors appear to resemble two different species of chompies. The left handle resembles a standard chompy while the right handle resembles a bone chompy.
Dreamcatcher: “Huh. I didn’t even notice this. Such a weird looking door.”
Drill-X “I WAS ALSO CONFUSED AS TO WHY THE HANDLES OF THESE DOORS RESEMBLED CHOMPIES. I WAS HOPING YOU KNEW THE ANSWER SINCE YOU SEEM VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND OBSERVANT, BUT I’M AFRAID YOU ARE JUST AS CONFUSED AS US.”
Kaossandra: “Hmm. Well, I’d love to chat but I still have a lot more investigating to do. I have a feeling that there’s more unique quirks and secrets of this facility that I haven’t found yet.”
Dreamcatcher: “Yeah, I still got more people to meet so I’ll get going as well. C-ya.”
Drill-X: “GOODBYE.”
As the three departed from one another, Dreamcatcher decided to check the hallway directly across from her, labeled ‘EAST HALLWAY’. Standing in front of her was a robed figure whose robe was made of different white and yellow fabrics. The figure has their face completely covered in shadow apart from 2 glowing white eyes as well as no legs popping out from the bottom of the robe. Instead, a purple mist emanates from the underside of the robe. Past the robbed figure was a set of doors labeled ‘CAFETERIA’.
???: “Hmm. How peculiar.”
Dreamcatcher: “Um, hi there.”
The robed figure glances over at Dreamcatcher.
???: “Hello there child. I assume you’re wondering who I am, correct?”
Dreamcatcher: “(“Wow, so ominous”) Y-yeah. Yeah I am.”
???: “The name is Spellslamzer. I am a spell punk with a desire to obtain as much knowledge as possible.”
Dreamcatcher: “Spell punk? Like, the tiny wizard dudes?”
Spellslamzer: “Yes. While the most common types of spell punks have the same physical appearance, there are some, such as myself, that have more unique features and attributes.”
Dreamcatcher: “Cool.”
Dreamcatcher then pans her eyes over to see what Spellslamzer was originally looking at. She sees a staircase leading upward blocked behind some metal bars.
Dreamcatcher: “Stairs? Why would a set of stairs be locked up?”
Spellslamzer: “I was wondering the same thing. What could these stairs lead to and why would they be barricaded behind some metal bars? This place, wherever it is, is quite mysterious. Though, what strikes me as most odd are all of the monitors and speakers scattered across the building.”
Dreamcatcher: “Monitors?”
Spellslamzer pointed at a TV mounted high up on a nearby wall. Two speakers are attached to each side.
Dreamcatcher: “Huh, so there really are monitors and speakers on the walls (“wow, I need to be more observant”).”
Spellslamzer: “I’ve checked all of the rooms in this building and every one of them has at least one of those monitors and speakers setup. I wonder what their purpose is for?”
Dreamcatcher: “Do you think we’ll ever learn what’s the deal with these TVs? Or be able to see what these stairs lead to? I wonder what else this place has that I haven’t seen yet.”
Spellslamzer: “Only time will tell.”
Dreamcatcher: “Hmm, I guess you’re right. I’m gonna explore the cafeteria as well as some other places in this building. TTYL.”
Spellslamzer puts himself in between Dreamcatcher and the doors to the cafeteria.
Spellslamzer: “Hold on, girl. You haven’t told me your name yet.”
Dreamcatcher: “Oh, sorry lol. My name’s Dreamcatcher.”
Spellslamzer: “Hmm, Dreamcatcher. That name sounds familiar.”
Dreamcatcher: “R-really?”
Spellslamzer: “Yes. At least, I’m fairly certain I’ve heard of that name before. I just can’t remember where I’ve heard it and for what context.”
Dreamcatcher: “Huh, weird. Well, I’ll let you figure that out while I explore the cafeteria. Who knows, maybe you’ll remember where you’ve heard of me by the time I finish exploring.”
Spellslamzer: “What an optimistic assumption. I’ll see you later, Dreamcatcher.”
Dreamcatcher floated past the mysterious spell punk, thinking about what he said about her.
Dreamcatcher: (“He knows who I am? Why? Do I know him? For what reason? I don’t think I’ve met that weirdo before.”)
As Dreamcatcher floated into the cafeteria, she noticed a man with a cloak covered in what appears to be wool with a sock puppet also covered in wool. The man appears to be having a conversation with the hand puppet.
???: “Would you stop freaking out, Sheep Mage? We’re gonna be ok.”
???: “Ok? OK!? Look around you, Sheep Puppet! We’re locked in some random facility with no memory of getting here. What about this screams ok?!”
???: “We’ve gotten out of more confusing situations than this one. Remember that time we let out all of the sheep in that petting zoo and got completely trampled? We were unconscious for days but we managed to get out of that situation fine afterwards.”
???: “I suppose you’re right, Sheep Puppet.”
???: “Plus, we also have a great chef with us that can make us delicious vegan foods. You know how hard it is to come across that kind of stuff?!”
???: “So true buddy.”
Dreamcatcher: (“So this is the nut-job that dragon dude warned me about. I can see what he meant by strange.”)
Despite her better judgement, Dreamcatcher approached the woolly duo and introduced herself.
Dreamcatcher: “Uh, hey. My name’s Dreamcatcher.”
???: “See, Sheep Mage! I told you there were more people here that we haven’t met yet!”
???: “Well, excuse me for being hungry. You know I can’t do anything on an empty stomach.”
???: *Sigh* “You’re right, I’m sorry. Truth is, I’m just as scared as you are. And I tend to lash out when I’m stressed.”
???: “That’s ok Sheep Puppet. At least we’re not alone. I got my best buddy with me, so I know we’ll be ok.”
???: *Gasp* “you mean it!?”
???: “Of course. You’re my best friend, and you always will be.”
???: “Yay!”
Dreamcatcher: “(“Wow, I don’t even know how to react to this.”) Um…ok…so, who exactly are you? Er-you two?”
???: “I am the Sheep Mage.”
???: “And I am the Sheep Puppet.”
Dreamcatcher: “...Sheep Mage?”
Sheep Puppet: “And Sheep Puppet! Don’t forget the puppet.”
Dreamcatcher: “...Uh-huh. …So, you just…really like sheep?”
Sheep Mage: “It’s more than just “liking sheep”. Sheep Puppet and I and advocates for all of sheep kind. We take great care of our flock, of all flocks. Sheep are beautiful creatures that deserve to be protected at all cost.”
Dreamcatcher: “I see…so, you mentioned before something about a chef being here?”
Sheep Mage: “That’s right. We have a chef in the kitchen right now that makes delicious food. And he makes vegan food! If we are stuck in this facility, I’m glad I’m stuck with a chef that can make vegan food.”
Dreamcatcher: “Alright.”
Sheep Puppet: “There’s also this blob thing in there with him that keeps yapping on about soda.”
Dreamcatcher: “Ok then…”
Sheep Mage: “I don’t get why people need all of these fancy, artificial foods. Whatever happened to the good ol’ days of just surviving on grass and water? Maybe the occasional apple that falls off the tree for some variety?”
Sheep Puppet: “Yeah! Being vegan rules! Proud of you for not eating animal products.”
Sheep Mage: “Thanks Sheep Puppet. You always know how to make me feel better.”
Sheep Puppet: “Anything for my best friend.”
Dreamcatcher: “Wow, you two are like, proper weird.”
Sheep Mage: “Weird?! How dare you call us weird! Just because we dress up as the thing we adore most in life doesn’t make us weird.”
Sheep Puppet: “Well, I dunno. Maybe she has a point. Maybe dressing up as a sheep might have been a bit extreme.”
Sheep Mage: “Sheep Puppet, who’s side are you on?!”
Sheep Puppet: “I’m on your side, I’m just saying that I don’t know if it was necessary to decorate ourselves with real wool. It’s so itchy.”
As the two began to converse with each other, Dreamcatcher slowly backed away into the kitchen. She entered and saw exactly as the wooly duo described, a person dressed in chef attire and a blob-like creature. The chef was portly, with a head that seemed to resemble a chili pepper. The blob meanwhile had two arms with 3 fingers and barnacles on the back of each hand. It’s head was also very pointy and had a crown around it. As Dreamcatcher entered the kitchen, she was hit with an aroma that smelt like the tastiest thing she has ever smelt.
???: “Oyee! Slow down! I can only cook food so fast. Plus, you’ll give yourself a stomach ache with how quick you’re eating.”
???: “Gulper has gut made of steel. Gulper does not get stomach ache so easily. Though, Gulper can get very burpy.”
???: “Still, it wouldn’t hurt for you to have some patience.”
Dreamcatcher: “Uh…hi…sorry if I’m, like, interrupting something.”
The two turn to face Dreamcatcher.
???: “Oh, hello floaty head girl. Do you have soda? Gulper really want soda!”
???: “Gulper, that is not how you do an introduction. You can’t just demand things from someone you just met.”
???: “Oh, Gulper sorry. Gulper is just very hungry.”
Dreamcatcher: “It’s cool. My name is Dreamcatcher.”
???: “Well, nice to meet you, Dreamcatcher. I am Chef Pepper Jack, the most renowned chef in all of Skylands!”
???: “And Gulper’s name is The Gulper. Gulper loves soda! Please give Gulper soda if you have any.”
Dreamcatcher: (“Something tells me this guy doesn’t have much going on in his head.”)
Chef Pepper Jack: “Well, I suppose that introduction is better. So Dreamcatcher, what do you reckon is the deal with this place?”
Dreamcatcher: “IDK. A bunch of people get trapped in some boring and random place with no memory as to why they’re here. Like, that’s so weird.”
Chef Pepper Jack: “It really is so weird. I do find it especially weird that what appears to be a school has such an amazing kitchen. Not that I’m complaining. Just look at the amount of ingredients and cookware in here! It’s relieving that I can still perfect my craft in this facility.”
The Gulper: “Gulper is also happy. Pepper Jack’s food is so good. Can Gulper have more food?”
Chef Pepper Jack: “I thought I told you to have patience!”
Dreamcatcher: “He is right though. The kitchen smells so delicious right now. What are you making in here?”
Chef Pepper Jack: “Oh, that was just my famous spicy meat and 4-cheese burrito. It’s an old family recipe.”
Dreamcatcher: “Ooooooh, you got any left?”
Chef Pepper Jack: “Unfortunately, no. Gulper here just ate my entire batch in the span of like a minute.”
The Gulper: “Gulper very fast eater.”
Chef Pepper Jack: “I don’t even think you chewed them. I’m pretty sure you just shoved them down your throat one after the other.”
The Gulper: “Like Gulper said, very fast eater.”
Dreamcatcher: “Awww. Tell you what Peppy, I got another part of this building that I haven’t explored yet. So, why don’t I leave and finish up my little tour, and you can prepare another one of your burritos for me when I get back? Deal?”
Chef Pepper Jack: “Hehe, sure thing. One spicy meat and 4-cheese burrito coming right up!”
The Gulper: “Make that 2 burritos. Oh, oh, wait! Make it 3!”
Dreamcatcher: “Thanks. Later boys.”
Chef Pepper Jack: “Adios.”
The Gulper: “Bye-bye.”
Dreamcatcher left the kitchen and re-entered the cafeteria. She was relieved to see that the Sheep Mage was gone since she didn’t want to talk to him again. She walked out of the cafeteria and down the hallway with the sign saying “SOUTH HALLWAY”. At the end of the hallway was a glass door with two individuals talking to each other. Before Dreamcatcher could make it to the door, she heard a voice speak from behind her.
???: “Hello there.”
Dreamcatcher: “AAHH!!!”
Dreamcatcher screamed in shock. She hastily turned around to see that behind her was a man who looked very similar to a taller version of a mabu. The man dressed in a purple coat with a thick neck covering, purplish-blue pants, thick purple calf coverings and thick purple gloves. He also wore a purple head piece that covered the top of his face. His eyes were wide open and he was in a defensive stance, clearly surprised by Dreamcatcher’s sudden shriek. The two looked at each other, neither one making a sound or moving a muscle. After a few seconds, the stranger spoke.
???: *Clears Throat* “Excuse me, I am very sorry to have spooked you. I have a bad habit of sneaking up on people by complete accident. Name’s Nightshade, by the way.”
Dreamcatcher: “My name’s Dreamcatcher, and please don’t do that again. It’s kind of rude to sneak up on someone like that.”
Nightshade was about to speak, but Dreamcatcher quickly cut him off before he could say anything.
Dreamcatcher: “So, what’s with the getup?”
Nightshade: “You mean my outfit? It’s covered in a deep but beautiful shade of indigo. This allows me to blend in better with the darkness of the night.”
Dreamcatcher: “Darkness? Why do you want to blend into darkness?”
Nightshade: “To practice my ninja abilities. I take great pride in my athleticism and stealth abilities, and love to show off my physical and mental prowess whenever I am given the chance.”
Dreamcatcher: “But if you’re hiding, like, no one can see you. You can’t show off what you can do when no one even knows you’re there. That’s just common sense.”
Nightshade: “That is a fair point. At that moment, no one can grasp my impressive feats. But soon enough, they eventually realize I was there the entire time. And that realization hit them like a baa-barian.”
Dreamcatcher: “Huh, ok. Well, I gotta go see what this room at the end of the hall is, so I’ll talk to you later.”
Nightshade: “Say, before you leave, there’s actually one thing I wanted to ask you, if you are alright with that.”
Dreamcatcher: “Uh, yeah, shoot your question.”
Nightshade: “Is it just me, or are our memories rather…oh, what’s the word…patchy?
Dreamcatcher: “Yeah, no one here can remember why or how we got in this place.”
Nightshade: “No no, I’m not referring to that, though that definitely is peculiar. I am talking about our memories in a more general sense. They feel particularly incomplete, as if bits and pieces of our memories have vanished, leaving behind tiny snippets of our lives. Do you also feel the same way?”
Dreamcatcher: “Wait, what?”
Dreamcatcher began to try to recall her memories, and just as Nightshade said, they felt incomplete. Everything she could remember felt as if she was only getting a small portion of any memory. Certain memories would end abruptly without any conclusion and others would begin without any context. Dreamcatcher became more and more confused the more she tried to remember.
Dreamcatcher: “Wait, you’re right. Why are all of my memories so fuzzy? This is starting to creep me out.”
Nightshade: “Yes, this entire situation is most concerning. I assume everyone else here is similarly suffering from the same thing. ”
Dreamcatcher: “Yeah…”
Nightshade: “Well, I don’t want to hold you here any longer. You may resume your original activity.”
Dreamcatcher: “Uhh, thanks. Bye.”
Nightshade: “I bid you adieu, Dreamcatcher.”
With that horrifying realization in her mind, Dreamcatcher continued onward and walked through the glass door. On the other side of it was a large pool area, complete with lounge chairs, pool floats, shelves with neatly folded towels, a hot tub, a diving board, and of course, a giant pool. To the side of the pool, she noticed two doors, one labeled “MEN” while the other was labeled “WOMEN” (presumably locker rooms). Standing in front of the two doors were two people chatting.
The first individual appeared as a large canine-like creature dressed in typical pirate clothes, with a long red coat with the left sleeve torn off, white vest, purple pants, a belt buckle with a golden skeleton on it, a peg leg replacing his right foot and a glove on his left hand. He also had a big blue beard, an eyepatch on his left eye, two large horns on the side of his head, and a pirate’s hat with a small cannon on top of it. The other individual appears as a large blue drow sporting a black and green chest piece, long green cape, black and green arm and leg guards and a black and gold helmet.
???: “Yar-har-har! So you’re telling me ye could upgrade me ship’s cannons to fire twice as fast?!”
???: “Indeed I could. I’ve tinkered with various pieces of technology in my time.”
???: “Well, if ye ever be lookin’ for a job, I’d happily let you join me pirate crew.”
???: “Um…thanks. I’ll… I’ll definitely consider-”
The drow stops talking mid sentence and notices Dreamcatcher. The pirate soon realizes where he was looking and faces to see her as well.
???: “Oh, hello there. You must be Dreamcatcher, right?”
Dreamcatcher: “W-wait, you also know who I am?!”
???: “Well, no, not really. I was just talking to Drill-X a few minutes ago and he mentioned that he spoke to a floating blue head named Dreamcatcher. So, seeing how you are a floating blue head, I immediately put 2 and 2 together.”
Dreamcatcher: “Oh, ok.”
???: “Well lass, allow me to introduce meself. The name’s Captain Frightbeard, the most notorious pirate to ever exist!”
???: “And I am the Machine Magus. Though please, call me Magus.”
Dreamcatcher: “Nice to meet you two.”
Magus: “Hey, before when I guessed your name correctly, you asked if I also knew who you were. Is there someone else here who actually knows you?”
Dreamcatcher: “Uh, yeah…This mysterious cloak guy knew who I was. Totally forgot his name.”
Captain Frightbeard: “I believe ye be referring to that Spellslamzer fella.”
Dreamcatcher: “Yeah yeah, him.”
Magus: “Hmm…interesting.”
Dreamcatcher: “So Mags, you seem like a smart guy. You got any idea on how to get out of this place? That drill robot said the exit is locked.”
Magus: “First of all, it’s Magus. Secondly, I got nothing. Normally I’d just whip up some type of invention in a situation like this, but I don’t have any of my supplies.”
Captain Frightbeard: “It irks me that not a soul can remember why we be in this place.”
???: “Ugh, you said it.”
The three turn to the direction of the voice to see a woman relaxing in the pool. She has 6 smaller tentacles and 2 bigger tentacles protruding from the back of her body along with 2 crab claws for hands. She wears a green dress, sunglasses and sun hat with a tiny flag on top. As she lifts herself out of the pool, water splashes onto the other 3, with Magus and Dreamcatcher being slightly annoyed.
???: “I’m supposed to be on, like, a VIP vacation right now. Relaxing on the beach, having a nice refreshing drink, and soaking in the sun. And for some reason, I wake up in this dinky place with no memory. Do you know how bad this will be for my skin?! I have a strict skincare routine that I can not afford to mess up. Also, whoever put us in here better let us out soon, ‘cause I have a spa appointment with the finest troll massage therapist later this afternoon and I am not rescheduling.”
The three don’t say a word, with them occasionally glancing at one another, not sure on how to respond.
???: “Oh, also, name’s Beachcomber, bee-tee-dubs.”
Dreamcatcher: “Nice to meet you. My name is Dreamcatcher.”
Captain Frightbeard: “I be Captain Frightbeard.”
Magus: “Magus.”
Beachcomber: “Cool, but getting back to the important stuff, I saw that I have a room with my name on it. If that’s supposed to be a bedroom or something, like, I’m not sleeping in it. I refuse to stay in a dump like this.”
Dreamcatcher: “I know, right!? What lunatic thinks that any of us would even consider staying here?! I know for a fact that the rooms here are not even gonna be close to good enough for me to get my beauty sleep.”
Magus: “Ladies, I feel like there are more important things than-”
Beachcomber: “Ugh, finally! It’s about time someone else started asking the serious questions here. I thought it was just gonna be me.”
Magus: “Girls, I think we should be focusing on-”
*Ding Dong Bing Bong*
At that moment, a loud chime emitted from the speakers and the TV turned on to reveal static. In the static, a faint silhouette was slightly visible, though it was too faint to properly see the shape of it.”
???: “Ahem. Testing, testing. Mic check. Is this on? Oh good, it is! Since everyone is awake and has mingled with each other for a bit, will all of the new students please make their way to the auditorium at their earliest convenience? I want to meet you all in person.”
The voice had an enthusiastic, almost cheerful tone. Despite that, Dreamcatcher felt very uneasy hearing it. She felt as if there’s more behind that creepy voice.
Dreamcatcher: “Auditorium? Where is that?”
Captain Frightbeard: “I believe that be the room right across from the doors with the weird-looking chompy handles.”
Dreamcatcher: “But, wasn’t that room locked?”
Captain Frightbeard: “I guess whoever that was unlocked it.”
Beachcomber: “So, like…what do we do now?”
Magus: “Go to the auditorium and meet whoever was on the speakers just now.”
Beachcomber: “You’re actually gonna do what it said? That voice sounds way too sketchy for me to listen to it.”
Magus: “I still think we should go over and see what this person wants. Who knows, maybe they can help us find an exit and leave this place.”
Beachcomber: “...Ugh, fine. But I still don’t like this.”
Magus, Captain Frightbeard, Beachcomber and Dreamcatcher all left to go to the auditorium. When they arrived, the auditorium doors were unlocked, and everyone stepped inside. The auditorium was filled with rows upon rows of seats, with enough to hold hundreds of people. Some of the people decided to take a seat. At the end of the auditorium was a large stage with curtains pulled to the side.
Sheep Mage: “What the? Why is the auditorium empty? That voice said to meet them in here.”
Count Moneybone: “Yeah! Don’t they know that I’m a skeleton with a very busy schedule!? I don’t have time to deal with nincompoops such as whoever this person is.”
The Gulper: “Perhaps TV voice is just running late.”
Spellslamzer: “With how enthusiastic that voice was speaking, it seems rather odd they would be running late.”
Beachcomber: “So, that freaky voice just lied to us? How lame.”
Occulous: “Talk about unprofessional.”
???: “How dare you call me unprofessional!”
Everyone immediately turned around to see where the voice came from, which was the stage. Out of nowhere popped out…a chompy? A chompy about the size of Dreamcatcher appeared on the stage. It looked nearly identical to the handles on the doors across from the auditorium, with the chompy’s right half being a regular chompy, while its left half is a bone chompy.
Luminous: “What the? A chompy? A talking chompy?”
Vathek: “It looksssss jussssst like the chompy on the doorsssss acrossssss the hall.”
???: “Indeed I do. I just love myself so much that I just had to decorate this place with my image.”
Drill-X: “I HAD NO IDEA CHOMPIES WERE ABLE TO EXPRESS SUCH VANITY, LET ALONE ANY COMPLEX EMOTIONS.”
???: “Oh, I'm so much more than your average chompy.”
Magus: “Hey, who exactly are you? And why did you call us all in here?”
Mesmeralda: “Yeah, are you the reason we’re all stuck in this place with no memory of how we got here?”
???: “All of those are beautiful questions. I am Musha, this school’s headmaster.”
Dreamcatcher: (“Headmaster?”)
Musha: “And yes, I brought you all here. I’m sorry to have forced you all in here against your will, but you see, I did it for a good purpose.”
Captain Frightbeard: “And what be that?”
Musha: “Simple. I’ve brought you all here to participate in your entrance ceremonies.”
Chef Pepper Jack: “Entrance ceremonies?”
Nightshade: “Could you elaborate on what specifically you mean by that?”
Musha: “You know what I hate most in life? Negativity. There’s so much of it you see nowadays. With how connected everyone is to the internet, it’s impossible to get away from all of this negativity. You can’t go 10 seconds without some random bloke just hating on you for no good reason. I enjoyed the simpler times of my life in school, where this stuff wasn’t as prevalent. The various different classes, the many different friends you made that aren’t from behind a screen. It all felt so natural, so authentic, so…right. The people you meet in person were all so kind and understanding compared to your friends online. Wouldn’t you all agree?”
Dreamcatcher: “...What?”
Kaossandra: “Cut the nonsense, get to your point.”
Musha: “Alright, sheesh. I have brought you all here in order to make you all relive the most cherished moments in any person’s life.”
Drill-X: “AS A MACHINE, I NEVER HAD A PROPER EDUCATION. ALL OF MY KNOWLEDGE WAS PRE-PROGRAMMED INTO ME AT THE MOMENT OF MY CREATION.”
Occulous: “HA! What makes you think any of us would go along with this stupid idea?”
Musha: “Admittedly, not much. That is why I want to clear a few things up real quick.”
Sheep Puppet: “Such as?”
Musha: “To ensure that you all enjoy your school lives to the fullest, I am extending the duration of your school life here…indefinitely.”
The Gulper: “‘In-deaf-en-at-lee’? Gulper not know what that word mean.”
Musha: “It means that you, all of you, will be staying in here forever. You will all live here for the rest of your lives.”
Dreamcatcher: “F-forever?!”
Dreamcatcher couldn’t even grasp what the chompy had just said. This didn’t make sense. None of this made any sense.
Captain Frightbeard: “What game are ye playing at, ye scallywag?!”
Musha: “No games. I’m just providing you all with the opportunity to relive some old memories.”
Vathek: “Thisssss isssss complete insssssanity.”
Beachcomber: “Oh my Ancients, this is literally too stupid for me to care. I’m leaving.”
Musha: “Good luck with that. The front door is locked and this entire school is covered with a layer of traptranium, so you’re not gonna be able to get out that easily.”
Beachcomber: “Ugh, you’re a total barnacle.”
Chef Pepper Jack: “S-so we really are just stuck in here? For the rest of our lives?!”
Sheep Puppet: “I can’t stay in here! I have so much to do! So many sheep to care for!”
Musha: “Well, if you really want to leave your school life that badly, there is one way to get out of here.”
Count Moneybone: *Scoffs* “Well why didn’t you mention that at the very beginning!? Tell us, how do we leave this ridiculous place?”
Musha: “In order to leave this school, you need to take a rather…aggressive approach.”
Spellslamzer: “And what exactly do you mean by that?”
Musha: “If you truly wish to leave your school life and go back to your old life, you must kill one of your fellow classmates.”
Everyone looked at Musha in complete shock. A few people began looking back and forth at each other, seeing if they all heard the chompy correctly. No one could comprehend what she had just said. Tension filled the room with everyone’s mind racing from this information.
Dreamcatcher: “W-W-WHAT?!”
Luminous: “What the heck!?”
Drill-X: “I CAN NOT PROCESS THIS INFORMATION.”
Musha: “Choking, stabbing, electrocution, drowning, poisoning, blunt force trauma, psychological warfare, doesn’t matter how you do it. In order to leave, you must commit a murder.”
Captain Frightbeard: “Alright, I’ve had enough of ye!”
Captain Frightbeard immediately charged the chompy and hit her with a mighty punch. To the surprise of him and everyone else, the punch completely demolished Musha. She was reduced to nothing more than a pile of scrap. Frightbeard had revealed that Musha wasn’t some type of living (or dead) chompy. Instead, she was a robotic one. His confusion quickly turned into relief.
Captain Frightbeard: “Yar-har-har! Not so tough now are ya, ye bucket of bolts!”
Musha: “I know, right? That girl was such a pushover. All bark, no chomp.”
Captain Frightbeard: “Indeed…wait, WHAT?!”
Frightbeard turned around in a panic upon hearing Musha’s voice, who somehow appeared out of nowhere once again.
Musha: “Yeah, hate to break it you, but I’m not going down that eas-”
Frightbeard punched Musha again, who was reduced to bits and pieces of metal like the last time. And just like last time, Musha reappeared again perfectly fine, as if nothing happened.
Musha: “As I was saying, I’m no-”
Frightbeard delivered another punch and destroyed Musha in another single blow, with her reappearing on the stage yet again.
Musha: “As I wa-”
*PUNCH*
Musha: “As-”
*PUNCH*
Musha: “Would you just-”
*PUNCH*
Musha: “I’m trying to-”
*PUNCH*
Musha: “Could you not-”
*PUNCH*
Musha: “...”
*PUNCH*
Musha kept reappearing on the stage, and Captain Frightbeard kept destroying her every time. At first it was just a few destroyed Mushas. Then it turned into 10. Then 20. Then 30. Then 40. Then 50. Soon, the entire stage was covered in Musha remains.
Musha: “Alright, I’m tired of this.”
Musha blocked Frightbeard’s punch before kicking him in the gut, sending him flying into a chair. Frightbeard groaned in pain upon colliding with it.
Captain Frightbeard: “Grh!”
Musha: “Normally violence against the headmaster is a big no no, but I’ll let it slide just this once since I didn’t properly explain what the rules are yet and it also helped set an example of how futile it is to resist me.”
Frightbeard looked up at the robotic chompy, a mixture of rage, exhaustion and shame showing on his face.
Musha: “Now, let me specify that to escape from this school, you have to do a little more than just kill someone. I mean, just stabbing someone in the back and then walking out of here? That’s so boring! So, when a murder occurs, there will be a brief period of time where you can investigate for clues to figure out who the culprit is. After the investigation period is over, you will all engage in the amazing and adrenaline-pumping class trial!”
Sheep Mage: “Class trial? What’s that supposed to be?”
Musha: “In the class trial, each of you will talk amongst each other and provide your evidence and vote for who you think the culprit is, a.k.a., the blackened. If the blackened receives the highest number of votes, then they alone will receive punishment. But, if the blackened does not receive the highest number of votes, then everyone besides the blackened will receive punishment, and the blackened will be able to graduate from this school and leave.”
Spellslamzer: “And what exactly do you mean by 'punishment'?”
Musha: “Oh, I guess another word for that would be execution.”
Count Moneybone: “WHAT?!”
Magus: “So, if we kill someone and get caught, you’re gonna kill us!?”
Musha: “Yep. And if the blackened doesn’t get caught, then I’ll kill everyone besides them.”
Luminous: “I-I’d never kill anyone!”
Beachcomber: “U-uh…y-yeah, me too!”
Nightshade: “I would never engage in something so sadistic.”
Musha: “You say that now, but sooner or later, that may change. And just because you’re not planning on killing someone doesn’t mean that one of your classmates isn't already planning a murder.”
Musha admitted a horrifying realization. Despite what anyone says, they could be lying about their true intentions. How do you know who to trust in a situation like this?
Musha: “Oh, also, before I forget, I need to hand these out to all of you.”
Musha pulled out 16 tablets and threw them to each person.
The Gulper: “What is fancy square? Is it some kind of chocolate bar?”
Musha: “These are your mushapads! Sometimes called e-handbooks, these bad boys contain all sorts of information, such as a map of the school’s layout, a list of the rules and info on every student here. They also act as the keys to the electronic locks on each of your rooms, so I’d advise that you have them on you at all times. Last thing that you want is to leave it in your room and accidentally lock yourself out. Now that would just be embarrassing!”
Dreamcatcher didn’t even bother picking up the mushapad (and not just because she doesn’t have hands). All of this information was just too much for her to grasp at once. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what to think.
Musha: “Welp, I gotta get going now. I got some things to prepare. So, I’ll see you all around. Oh, I can’t wait for the despair to take hold of all of you! Goodbye for now and welcome to your new life.”
As Musha finished her sentence, she disappeared, leaving Dreamcatcher and the others in the auditorium alone. All of them stood in silence, no one knowing how to react or what to say. I mean, what would anyone do in this kind of situation? Dreamcatcher’s mind began to run rampant with paranoia. She didn’t know who she could trust. Everyone here is a complete stranger, so she doesn’t know their true intentions. Can she even trust herself right now? Will she even make it out of this place…alive?
TOTAL: 16
Occulous
Vathek
Captain Frightbeard
Drill-X
Count Moneybone
Kaossandra
Mesmeralda
Sheep Mage
Chef Pepper Jack
Dreamcatcher
Luminous
Nightshade
The Gulper
Beachcomber
Spellslamzer
Magus