foolishwren | 70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]

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70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]

_{[So while the rest of Johto alternately panics, cries, or rushes around trying to capture as many of the soulstealing insects as possible, there are dozens of souls floating around in that dream limbo, drifting in and out of each other's slumbering thoughts and visions. Whether it's nightmarish flashbacks or just those dreams where you're at school taking a really hard test, and then Dracula shows up, and then everybody's naked ... anything is possible when it comes to what people see in their sleep.]

[But what appears in the darkness in this particular spot in the spaceless, shifting mass of dreaming souls... is a door.]

[It's old, and covered with boards and bolts, rusted near-through in some places. The lock is broken-- mangled and half-melted and wrenched out of the keyhole. The only thing on it that doesn't look ancient is a scrap of torn notebook-paper that's taped up on it at roughly eye-level. It reads only a single phrase:]}

Fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh.

_{[More importantly, though... the door is ajar. Through the gap come the scents of rust and metal-- and something organic, fleshy-- and a low, deep hum of industrial machinery. It's not a door that anyone in their right mind would want to go through. ... But for anyone who may have stumbled this far into the dreams of their fellow lost souls, either in flight from some other nightmare or just pure, wandering curiosity... there's just no other place to go but through the door.]}

_{[Go on. Open it. After all.... it's only a dream.]}

[ooc: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, GUYS. Thanks for being patient! If you commented on that planning post, there's something spooky planned for your character to do here so please feel free to tag or not tag as it pleases you!]

~*~

[ooc: This is the IC post for what was announced over here! Even if you didn't comment there, feel free to participate! I'm still happy to whip up Silent Hill scenarios for folks!]

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Yeah. A warning. About blood and flesh. [He snorts, waving a hand dismissively at himself.]

No reason to get worried.

[Stomp stomp stomp -- they're approaching the structure now, and he eyes it, critically.]

Why? Humans allergic to a little rust?

_{[When she replies, there's an oddly serious undercurrent running through her voice... dark.]}

There's worse things than rust here.

_{[... Because that explains a lot, Heather. But she seems to be dropping the topic there for the moment, because THEY ARE NEXT TO THE ROLLERCOASTER FUCK YES.]}

Awesome, I hate this thing. Can you like... punch it? I bet the whole friggin' thing will fall down if you punch it.

Yeah. Like trash cans.

[He catches that seriousness. And because she doesn't elaborate... he keeps on with his dry sort of sarcasm. Maybe that'll get a better answer.]

I could... Hmn.

[He falls quiet, looking the structure up and down. He could punch it. Or he could tear it down. He puts a hand on one of the support beams, wrapping heavy fingers around it.]

_{[She snorts back.]}

Trash cans don't crawl on top of you and then suck your face clean off of your skull.

_{[Heather is very rarely straight-up with the details of the things she's seen-- why mention them at all in Johto? But in this case... well. They're HERE.]

[She tightens her hold in anticipation as he grabs the rollercoaster. 8) omg omg do it.]}

[All right, that's probably the first time a human's snorted at him...]

Then what does? The pink things?

[Can you feel that skepticism, Heather? Can you? Because it's practically tangible.]

[He pauses a moment longer, before taking a stance, and planting his feet against the rusty grating. Both hands go around the beam... and the massive black Autobot pulls.]

_{[Yeah, she feels it all right. >8( She's not sure she likes it, either, but-- what can she expect from something that would basically be invulnerable to everything this place could throw at him?]}

No.

_{[With JUST a trace of huffiness, she leans over a little to look down at the ground.]}

Anyway, I don't see any. But that's probably because you make the whole park shake every time you take a step. _{[Most of the monsters weren't terribly bright, but they at least had survival instincts.]} If it was just me down there, they'd probably be all over the place.

_{[BUT ENOUGH OF THAT TIME TO BREAK SHIT RIGHT NOW.]

[The metal creeeeaaaaaaaks... and then gives entirely. A set of rickety tracks go crashing downwards-- ... followed closely by the rest of the structure. TIMBERRRRRRRRRR]}

[This is sort of how Ironhide gets his answers out of his kids. If you disbelieve them enough, they'll eventually explain out of sheer frustration.]

[Usually.]

We could test that theory.

[No, Heather, he's not serious. This is another test.]

[But that's not important. Now, he's left standing there with a beam in his hand, watching the structure topple like a big rusty pile of dominoes.]

Huh.

_{[It works ... pretty damn well on Heather, actually. Dancing around the truth is only fun when you're pissing people off with it. If they act like they don't believe you to BEGIN with... She's like most kids in that she'll fall into that trap pretty easily.]

[At the offer, though, she lets out a loud scoff-- ... then pauses, trying to figure out if he is serious-- then scoffs again.]}

We could.

_{[What do you have to say to THAT, old man?]

[She can't stop herself from grinning at the massive dust-cloud rising from the rubble, though. BOO-yah. She'd always hated that ride, anyway!]}

[What does Ironhide say? Nothing. He just reaches up onto his big, black shoulder to try and -- gently -- pluck her down.]

[If successful, he will set her on the ground, and step back, canting his head to the side.]

... Wha-- WHOA! HEY!

_{[She was thinking she could like-- climb down or something! She scrabbles in the air a little when she's plucked off his shoulder, more out of automatic panic than real fear (although holy shit those fingers could make her head burst like a grape holy shit). Once she's set down, she staggers a couple steps before attempting to regain her composure by straightening up and dusting herself off as if she hadn't just been flailing around in the air two seconds before.]}

...friggin'-- ... okay, first of all, you're gonna need to like... pretend to be a building or something.

Nothing's gonna come out if it thinks that a giant metal dude is gonna blow it to kingdom come if it pokes its head out.

[He's very careful, at least, in setting her down. Humans are fragile -- he learned that pretty quickly. They all did. He also doesn't comment on the flailing. That would be cruel.]

I can do better than that.

[He takes another couple steps back, before pausing, and fixing her with a look.]

Whatever is here... it will not harm you.

[There is complete and utter certainty in his voice. He means that. And he will make certain it's true.]

[But. Then his armor shifts. Panels flip, fold, and Ironhide sort of sinks down on his hands and knees. Metal grinds, and sparks fly -- like some kind of metal origami thing. Until, at last, instead of a big, black Autobot... there's a big, black truck sitting silently in his place.]

_{[At first she blinks, a little confused-- and then he starts to change.]

[Eyes widening, she takes a couple steps back, just out of sheer 'Whoa'. It takes her a couple seconds to realize exactly what's happening, and by the time he's folded into something Heather could SWEAR she wouldn't even blink an eye at if she saw it cruising down a street, her jaw is just... hanging open.]}

... Holy-- ...

_{[Something about it rings some bells (although she can't quite remember from where...), but for the most part, she's fascinated PLENTY by the fact that... well, he just turned into a CAR. She steps towards the vehicle tentatively. It's a little hard to reconcile a big anthropomorphic machine with a sedentary, seemingly-regular truck, even though it UNDOUBTEDLY resembles him...]}

Man... can you like... still hear me?

_{[She waves a hand up and down like one might in front of a sleeping person's eyes.]}

[He's seen this many times before, among the human soldiers. And the children. But it never really fails to make him feel smug, watching their reactions.]

[His engine thrums to life, proudly. But it looks for all the world like the truck is just idling there. It's a truck, after all, it can't look as smug as he feels.]

Yeah. Hear you just fine.

[Where the voice is coming from, who knows? Probably the speakers in his cab. But it's audible, and it's very much Ironhide's voice.]

_{[Heather is numb and jaded to many things. But seeing a giant metal dude origami-fold himself into a truck? It's not making her faint or anything, but she's pretty sure the only time she'd ever expect to see that was either on a toy commercial or under the influence of LSD. Not in real life. ... Er. Well. If this counted as real life... it sure as hell wasn't like her normal dreams.]

[She's stepping closer when his engines come on, and she actually jumps a little when they do.]}

Ho-lee crap.

That is insane.

That is-- I don't even KNOW.

_{[... And she has to admit, it works a whole hell of a lot better than her initial idea, which was pretty much just 'Yeah, you just... hold still and MAYBE the monsters won't notice you'.]}

[All right. The truck sort of has to chuckle at that. He's proud, and more than a little amused by her reaction. He can't help it. It's nice to have someone be impressed, on occasion. Most of the others are used to him by now.]

We hide in plain sight, this way. You would never know we were around.

Yeah... I seriously wouldn't. That's actually a little creepy. _{[Sure, it was pretty normal to be suspicious of a weird car with tinted windows parked across from your house or something... but that was usually because you were worried about who was inside. The car ITSELF being the one watching everything you do added a whole new layer of OMG WTF to think about when it came to going about your daily business.]} Must work like a charm...

_{[.... A-ANYWAY. Back to business!]

[Straightening up, coughing, and sooort of sliding towards making it look like she hadn't been startled at all, Heather gives her head a shake to get the hair out of her eyes.]}

Okay, so... I guess you can just... do the hide-in-plain-sight thing. This could... uh, take awhile.

_{[Considering they'd just knocked down a ROLLERCOASTER, she's not entirely sure how long it'll be before something actually got the nerve up to come skittering in this direction.]}

How is this 'creepy'?

[It's sort of like a human being told that their act of putting on a coat was creepy. It just doesn't make any sense. And it probably won't ever really make sense. Not for him, anyway. Maybe Bumblebee would get it, better.]

I have time.

[The truck hunkers down on its wheels, as if to prove a point. And then, it appears to pause, considering. Then one of the cab doors pops open. If they're going to wait, he's not going to just leave her out there unprotected. Unless he absolutely has to.]

Door is open, if you need to hide.

Well, it's like-- cars are EVERYWHERE. Like rocks. It's like walking out the door, and having to think "... Man... what if the rocks are watching me..." And you don't know which ones are secretly, like... super advanced sentient rocks from outer space, versus just plain old rocks. It's creepy!

_{[Though to be fair, she doesn't sound frightened by the concept. After the things she's seen, intelligent cars are the least of her worries. Doesn't mean she can't comment on the inherent weirdness of having to worry about whether a random parked SUV is spying on you.]

[But in response to the invitation, she actually holds up a hand and shakes her head a little bit.]}

No, they'll ... they'll come faster if I'm just hanging around in plain sight. ... Trust me, I've done this a million times before.

_{[... Or, well... not just STOOD THERE DUMBLY IN THE MIDDLE OF OPEN GROUND a million times before, but fought monsters, yes.]}

Not all vehicles are Autobots. [A pause.] Some are Decepticons.

[Okay, maybe he's having a little fun with her there. But, even so, there aren't many of them left on Earth. He still can't quite grasp why this is so unnerving. Maybe he's just too old to.]

Up to you. I will leave it open, in case you need it.

[Experiment or no, he will live up to his vow to look after her. Besides, there can't be anything too threatening in this park. Except for copious amounts of rust.]

[... can there?]

[The engine dies, along with Ironhide's headlights. And the weapons master settles down to wait, scanners combing the immediate area.]

...

_{[He can just... enjoy that silent ".... :( seriously?" stare she gives him for a moment or two after he says that. C'mon, Ironhide, it's not nice to scare the squishies. ... Or just unnerve them, as the case may be.]

[But in any case, she nods and sort of waves a hand as she turns and walks a short distance away-- though not far enough to become invisible in the dust from the wreckage to make her invisible as it drifted through the park like a haze. The space in front of where the rollercoaster once stood is largely open-ground-- dotted by the occasional abandoned snack-cart. At one point, maybe on a good day, the place had probably been filled with crowds of noisy people. But right now, in the wake of the din caused by the collapsing coaster, it's silent as a morgue.]

[And it stays that way for some time-- the only sounds being the clank of Heather's boots across the grating as she paces or the occasional clatter when she kicks a can out of her path out of boredom. She's looking nonchalant (probably for the sake of showing off), but to the trained eye, it's probably obvious that underneath the casual facade, she's tense ... and getting tenser as, slowly, the unseen sounds of the park begin to tentatively creep back into life once more.]

[None of them are likely anything that'd faze a robot... far-off metallic clanking, the whistles and gasps of wind through empty structures (although occasionally they take on a fluttering tone that could almost pass as a human breath...), strange, distant animal cries... but Heather seems alert to every single sound, judging by the way she stops pacing and turns to stare off into the darkness whenever any far-off scrape or creak catches her attention.]

[The truth is, she hates open ground... and in any other situation, she'd be avoiding it like the plague. Too vulnerable... not enough cover. But HEY. Ironhide wanted to see what made this place dangerous? She was gonna SHOW him what made this place dangerous. ... Even if it meant dawdling around in the middle of a big blank space like a plate of spaghetti in the middle of a circle of hungry Italians. It's tempting fate, plain and simple-- she just hopes that the fate tempted will be one that's easily dispatched.]

[It takes a good long while ... but eventually, the waiting will pay off. No amount of prior noise and threat of maybepossibly being stepped on by a giant metal interloper can keep the twisted children of Silent Hill from trying to reclaim the most important child of all. After all, she was just standing there. I mean, come on.]

[As with almost everything in this place... the first indicator of trouble is the sound. First, the radio, which Heather had placed on the ground by her feet, begins to fizzle. Ironhide may even find his OWN radio starting to emit static-- whether it's on or off. And then, from a nearby alley leading off of the clearing comes a horrible noise.]

[The culprit? A shambling, hulking figure with arms like giant, meaty clubs. It barrels straight past the idling truck (possibly knocking right into him in the process- whatever the hell it is, it clearly has no idea he's anything but a random obstacle sitting there with all the other junk and rubble in the park) and out into the open with a gobbling scream. ... And it's followed by two others... one of which may in fact clamber OVER him in its rush to close the distance between itself and its target.]

[Said target is obvious. ... Of course, said target has also spun around and is waving her arms in a very obvious AW YEAH WANNA PIECE OF THIS? gesture, walking backwards. If she was gonna show off the horrors of her hometown, she was gonna show 'em off RIGHT.]}

YEAH! Get over here, y'sonsabitches!

Edited 2011-07-03 01:58 (UTC)

[Ironhide sits there. He sits there and he waits. This is always his least favorite part -- waiting in ambush. It feels as if he's not actually doing anything. And the longer he waits, the more pent-up energy he feels building in his limbs. But he resists the urge to roll around, or so much as twitch his door.]

[He's about to suggest they move on, when the enemies arrive. His sensors scream a warning as the first of the monsters looms into view. For all of a second, he sits there, trying to process what he's seeing here. When that fails, he launches into combat mode. She's alone, unprotected, and not paying attention.]

[The truck leaps. It transforms mid-launch, slamming into the back of the lagging Closer. It may be huge, but Ironhide is five tons of anger, metal and guns. As he rams it, he jams his cannon against its back, firing without hesitation.]

Heather! Down!

[The massive 'bot flings the corpse aside, charging toward the other two with a battle roar. This is the old soldier's element, and he's out to prove his mettle.]

_{[Ah Ironhide, ye of so little faith-- she's not QUITE as oblivious as she looks (even if it's hard to tell sometimes). She's already pulled out her gun and slammed a couple of shots into the grotesque, bendy head of the Closer closest to her-- but then he sort of ERUPTS into action, and the first thing on her mind is-- oh holy shit CANNONS.]

[The Closer he kills doesn't even have a chance to cry out-- its body is quite simply blown apart, sending gore and broken limbs scattering across the grate like burst melon chunks. Heather, on the other hand... is getting the hell out of dodge, slightly more out of fear of getting caught in the friendly-fire at than out of fear of the monsters themselves. She throws herself into a roll, getting behind the nearest cover-- which happens to be an overturned popcorn cart.]

[The other Closers, meanwhile, can't exactly IGNORE the giant, roaring THING coming at them. With a collective thought process that probably consists of the monster equivalent of "-- FUUUUUUUUU---!!!", they turn tail and RUN. ... Which, for Closers, is... really more of an amble. Poor suckers... they really don't have any hope of outrunning him.]}

Edited 2011-07-03 02:51 (UTC)

[He can't help it. It's an ingrained response -- PROTECT. He'd give his life in the line of that duty, and damned if he's going to let some weird dream world get in the way of it.]

[As soon as his scanners indicate the girl is out of the line of fire, the Autobot barrels into the fray. His expression is weirdly neutral. One would expect someone to be more emotive during a battle. But not Ironhide. His attention is completely focused on the enemy.]

[He fires on the leg of the nearest Closer, wounding it, blowing its foot off. Then he lunges for the stump, swinging it up with the endless strength of mechanical muscles. Ironhide then proceeds to use the Closer as a club, flinging it at its fellow monster with a low, angry bellow.]

_{[The wounded Closer topples to the ground-- its legs are the frailest part of it anyhow, and with one of them reduced to a bloody stump, it's got about as much a chance of standing as a one-legged Barbie doll. Letting out a ringing screech, it feebly turns to try and fend its attacker off, only to be snatched up and... used as a flail.]

[Needless to say, its compatriot has likely never experienced being BRUTALLY BEATEN WITH ONE OF ITS OWN KIND before, and there are no answers to be found in its primitive brain for the puzzling scenario, 'What do I do when something picks up another monster and starts HITTING ME WITH IT?' It isn't long before it collapses as well, beaten to a bloody pulp. The one being used as an improvised weapon had already perished within the first few whacks, its neck long since having snapped.]

[Just... holy... it's okay, dude... they're DEAD, man... they are all KINDS of dead. Game over, man, game over!]}

Edited 2011-07-03 08:16 (UTC)

[Ironhide does not stop until he is absolutely certain the enemy is dead, and will not rise again. Only then does he toss the ruined pieces of Closer he used as a club away, and gives the pummeled body a swift kick. As if the corpses have personally offended him by still being in his presence.]

Worthless punk. Hmnf.

[And that... should be that. He straightens up, squaring his shoulders. It felt oddly good to be able to brawl like that. Even if these things didn't put up near as good of a fight as a Decepticon. This is what he was made for. This is what he's perfected over the millions of years of his life.]

[He scans the area again, before stepping toward where he last saw Heather.]

You okay?

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TL;DR: CLOSERS and also typos

OH SNAAAAAAAP

CLOSERS. CLOSERS EVERYWHERE.

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