Ah... Paradise.

Princess Mercury sat on a rock, shoes resting in the sand nearby, yet safely away from water. Skirt was raised to her knees, the water-attuned senshi letting the crashing waves lap at her feet and ankles. There was even a seagull or two, the only sound aside from the natural sound of water ebbing and flowing. The water was perfect, crystalline and blue, the sky clear and the sand warm. Few things were on Earth that Mercury found rivaled her own planet, but the beach was definitely one of them.

Blue eyes closed as the sea breeze tousled her curled hair, one hand resting gingerly atop her Crystal, the other on the rock. Even the light mist that splashed onto her arm, her dress brought her comfort, some sense of peace. A break deeply needed, from planning and explaining and negotiating a new kingdom. She had averted something truly disastrous with her own two hands. Even now, nobody save her friends knew what truly happened, why the Ginzuishou was no more. And it would stay that way. To change thinking, to assure everyone the new rule was not something to be protected, but something to protect everyone.

She may complain, but as her eyes opened and she looked out at the scenery, she would smile. She was content, busy or no.

For a pet shop, it's oddly quiet. But the animals seem contented, many laying down or catching a nap with their fluffy tails curled around themselves. The awake ones lightly paw at their long ears or attentively watch passers-by. They all seem to be in good spirits.

They're also all the same breed, with soft and luxurious fur and cutely mischievous expressions. Swirled markings on their fur create a somewhat dramatic effect.

Amid the innumerable myriad cages is Homura, dressed in a uniform and apron that suggest she works here. She does not look particularly like the nurturing sort for her charges. Instead, she stands against the wall nearest the door, with her arms folded across her chest. Once or twice, she bangs on the bars of one of the cages with her hand.

(ooc: pictures of the cute animals)

Heavy footfalls resounded through the halls of the Fortress of Solitude, the cavernous halls of the building magnifying the sound. They sped up as Superman felt something was just a bit off, and when he entered the main hall he stopped and stared. The gigantic memorial of Krypton, supported by statues of Jor-El and Lara, his long dead parents, had been replaced…

By a gigantic jawbreaker being held aloft by peanut brittle likenesses of his parents.

“What,” he all but shouted, looking around the room for intruders. And it was then that it hit him. It wasn’t just the memorial, it was the entire fortress. The ice caverns had mysteriously changed into translucent rock candy, the chairs were constructed entirely out of solid peppermint, and there were boxes upon boxes of sweets of all shapes and sizes all over the floor, stacked neatly into every open space.

“…What’s going on here?”

He had to be dreaming. There really couldn’t be any other explanation, but then again maybe Mr. Mxyzptlk was up to his old tricks…

Who: Everyone! Open to All. World inhabitants can be npc'd as needed.
What: World Exploration : Suggestion Info here
When: all through November and beyond
Where: Locations in comments, or add your own.

There are whole new worlds out there. Some people know this already, some are learning it for the first time. Tonight, it's a world of mystery where nothing seems to work entirely by normal logic and everything familiar from waking life can become different. Flowers have a temper and may not like being picked, animals wear dapper clothes, and all of them talk. Some of them are helpful.

Whether flitting around the edges of this world at the Rabbit Hole or the Entryway, caught up in the Mad Hatter's tea party, taken to the Castle of the Queen of Hearts, the Croquet Ground, or somewhere entirely different, it's Wonderland. Be careful: The signs shouldn't always be obeyed.

(Notes: This is a log to keep together threads exploring Wonderland. Relevant threads can also be made as separate posts throughout the rest of the month or beyond. Mostly, this is an experiment to see how a mass log will work for world exploring. As usual with OPN, it is entirely optional and creative liberty is fine and encouraged while working within the setting. Feel free to use the location notes as prompts, but also feel free to do something else entirely. More world suggestions always accepted here.)

Mercury is in a vast, open room made of marble with elegantly carved pillars and supports, that all could have come from a temple in ancient Greece. But instead of an altar, pride of place is given to a massive supercomputer. The terminal and viewscreens take up the entire far wall, where she gives them her full attention.

Her eyes barely move as she studies the computer intently, scrolling through lines of code and occasionally taking down notes. There! She sees exactly how to fix that problem now, one that's been nagging at her for what seems like weeks. But after long enough, her head starts to droop over the console and the words on the screen blur into her thoughts, and then into darkness as she falls asleep.

Ami wakes with a start. Nighttime shadows remind her of how long she's been sitting in this chair, with a can of tea leaves and a hot cup of strongly brewed tea to keep her company while she works through the long hours. The marble hall becomes a comfortable room, modern and spacious, with heavily-laden bookshelves and tropical fish. The massive supercomputer is none other than her laptop. With a pang of irritation, she realizes she can't remember the answer that was so clear a moment ago in her dream. She sits up straight, and goes back to her task right away.

Her eyes barely move as she studies the computer intently, scrolling through lines of code and occasionally taking down notes...

(ooc: since it's a dream in a dream, people can feel free to choose which to catch her at/flit through both)

It was late afternoon at the Ranger tree. Dale snapped to attention, one hand to the wheel and the other, the throttle. What was he doing again? The Ranger Wing Gadget was working on....oh yeah! He'd show Gadget he had a knack for this flying stuff! He tapped the gyroscope on the dash thoughtfully. Just gotta make sure all systems are go... he passed over all the gizmos, making sure this one blinked and that one spun. Dale's gaze wondered over the windshield, out into that great dreamscape of the unknown. It was like one of those video game landscapes that only rendered as you passed through it, a whole new world, a whole new trail to blaze. He sucked in a breath, sticking out his chest importantly as he glanced over his shoulder, waving back at Gadget, or maybe it was Chip. "Rrrready!" The words escaped him mechanically, just as the engines revved. As he focused on depressing the throttle to the correct level, the dash suddenly shifted in shape. He had taken careful note of those controls! "Eh?" He breathed, hoping to dismiss it with a blink. The Ranger Wing shot off the landing strip, and Dale was attempting to level the plane. Turn off the thrusters! NO, the button is GONE!? He then attempted to adjust the throttle. Locked. Wheel? Locked!? With a terrified cry Dale tried the ejection seats. Before it hit the ground in a heap, the chipmunk tumbled out from the wreckage, unscathed. Dale sat up and readjusted his googles, popping out the glass on both eyepieces after noticing they had been trashed.

"So instead of having to become a youma, please kill me!"

She's lived this too many times to think he's not serious. This boy would rather throw his life away than to live as she has lived, reborn within the Darkness. Mercury glances away. She's lived this too many times to be disturbed, and yet something inside her won't be quiet. He's led her to the same place, she notes, a secluded side street, as if he was hoping to keep bystanders away.

"Youma Bunbo," she addresses him, "If there's a future you don't want to see, then fight to make the one you want."

Before he can even answer, there's a sound of mocking laughter. Zoisite arrives, and extracts the warrior youma reincarnated inside this pacifistic human boy. It's enormous, like a giant machine, fitted with razors for arms. The yellow rainbow crystal sealed within the monster carries a faint glow as it emerges. She reaches for it, but just then, the shitennou orders the youma to attack the sailor senshi.

Incredibly, impossibly, it attacks Zoisite instead. It rears back to its full, massive height and throws itself at its target. Even Mercury takes in a sharp breath of surprise at the boy who managed to retain his human mind even in a youma's form. The force of the blow knocks the crystal from the general's hands, and she recovers herself to spring forward and snatch it up.

She doesn't fully understand it herself, but in that moment, Mercury becomes conscious that she wants it to end differently this time.

(ooc: waking life version of events from several ic years ago here. characters replying will be able to help it diverge and change the ending.)

It's the middle of night, and it's dark. There's a chill in the air. Stars, moonlight, articifial lighting, all of it seems to be conspicuously absent.

So where is that patch of even deeper darkness coming from, like a shadow of a shadow? It slips through the air, sensed more by its motion than by sight, creeping closer...

(ooc: for pun theme, a member of shadow galactica as a literal shadow! also, trying out potential for a waking dream; feel free for characters to think they've woken up to find the shadow in their room/wherever they're sleeping - set any scene desired.)

Pain.

Kanda had known pain all his life. The first time he had felt pain was at birth, crawling out of a whole in the ground at the age of nine as his lungs had sting what the feeling of cold air with his first breath. Pain had followed him with every experiment he was put under during the following years, it had crushed his hope when he had spilled the blood of the only person who had ever eased that pain. They used to tell him that pain was a good thing, that it was the simplest proof that he was alive. It was no surprise he had tried so hard to stop living with all of his deaths and reanimation. Pain was a constant, he had grown so numb towards it. Things were different now.

The only lamp in the worn bedroom he was standing in gave poor light. The corners of the room were dark and Kanda hadn't bothered to spread the curtains. He was shaking, leaning against a wall as he gripped at his forearm. His fingers were contorted in an awkward way and he couldn't stop wincing.

"You stupid thing..."

The exorcist shrugged off his coat and then struggled to remove his long sleeve. Underneath his chest was bare but his arm guards remained. He grabbed the lamp and moved it towards the bathroom, hanging it on the hook by the wall before inspecting his reflection. Black veins were crawling over the top of the arm guards and he flinched, removing one slowly. They had gotten worse, climbing higher, almost reaching his upper arm. He clenched his fist and doubled over, a loud groan escaping his lips.

"I never wanted you in the first place. Now that I do, you're trying to kill me." He gave a bitter laugh, slipping down against the bathroom wall, hands over his head, his bangs covering his eyes. "I'm not letting you take me yet."