awashlogs | Intro Log.

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Intro Log.

It's raining, it's pouring.
The old man is snoring.
He bumped his head and went to bed
And he couldn't get up in the morning.

ou wake in knee-deep water, cold as ice and stagnant, in a space that is far too echoey and spacious. It feels like a massive cave, but looking up... there's only one small, circular opening that shows grey sky and shines any sort of light.

It looks like a long trip upwards, a small cylinder with walls of brick that's just a little too high to reach, even when jumping. Getting out is probably going to be a bit of a task, especially considering the water is more than cold enough to make limbs go numb.

The dark makes it impossible to see much further, but the space seems large, all filled with water, but with no other way out, stone walls the only thing for an intrepid explorer to find. Oh, and to make things even better, it's raining today. Water from below (though thankfully only like, knee-deep), and water from above... how fun.

But most importantly of all... you're not alone.

Welcome to Awash's second intro log, everyone! Please review the FAQ and rules before playing. New characters have all woken at the bottom of the well in the middle of the town (which seems a lot bigger on the inside, somehow), and it looks like they'll have to put in some work to get out. Thankfully, they have some friends on the outside, this time.

Once out, they'll be free to explore the various locations the Town has to offer at will. Just try not to die on any of the far-too-rickety walkways.

Please feel free to ask any questions here and don't forget to greet your fellow players here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Robin... [There's a pause as Izuku goes through his ridiculously extensive, mental database of hero information.]

I don't recognize it, but... all the heroes I'm familiar with are based in Japan.

I'm not from Japan. [Technically, technically, he isn't from America either. By birth. It's complicated.] I work out of Gotham City in America with Batman.

Occasionally, we run diagnostics and assist those in New York or Blüdhaven, but our jurisdiction is mostly localized to Gotham. The Justice League deals with world-wide threats, and the Titans and Teen Titans work under them.

[This is all common world knowledge for his Earth, and so he's fine giving it up. It sounds like A Lot, and it is. Sorry, Izuku.]

[America and New York he recognize, but everything else some foreign to him. Which...would probably be a problem, considering what Damian just said about the Justice League.]

I haven't heard of the Justice League either...it's a hero group of some kind, right? [That's what he guesses, from the context.] If it's really that well known, then... it looks like we might be from different worlds after all.

[Izuku sounds a little disappointed, though he brightens up again when they finally reach his cottage.] Oh, this one's mine. I'll grab a fresh towel for you.

It's unsurprising. In the process of saving Superboy, a temporal rift may have opened, [or, you know, he could've just probably drowned...] and I was sucked through to another dimension. This could be a hub at the end of many chutes of interdimensional travel. You and I are just one of them.

[Is he really thirteen? He sounds like a ninety year old astrophysicist.]

What were you doing right before you came here? If you've been here a while, I assume none of you have found a way back yet.

[Hm. Damian scrutinizes the cottage's exterior briefly. He'll wait, like a soldier, a foot away from the door even once Izuku opens it up and goes inside. He's... wary.]

[He makes a startled sort of noise.] So you're already used to the idea of alternate universes. I guess that explains why you're so calm.

Me? I was helping a friend of mine to the school nurse. One second I was back home, and then next I was here. I don't remember seeing anything weird right before that.

[Izuku sticks his head out the door when Damian doesn't follow him inside, looking at him expectantly.] Um...Robin? Standing outside in the rain's kind of the opposite of what we were aiming for.

[Even when Izuku calls for him out of the door, Damian spends another handful of seconds standing there debating. He can't get any kind of suspicious readings through the mask, and he hasn't noticed any traps around the door.

Finally, sighing inwardly, he goes inside. He's thirteen, but can murder an armed man in cold blood with his bare hands. He expects just as much out of someone like Izuku, no matter age or size.

When nothing happens, that's the moment he's surprised. He spends a good deal of time inspecting everything inside.] Nothing happened at all between that moment and waking up in the well? You're positive?

No lights, no fainting, no pains, no wormholes or sleeping?

[Though Izuku notices how suspicious Damian seems to be, he says nothing, leaving him to inspect the place as much as he wants while Izuku grabs a fresh towel for him.]

Here you go. You can go sit next to the fireplace, too. It'll help.

[Izuku himself pulls out a chair by the table and sits down to towel his own hair dry.]

And...I'm positive. Our class has had to deal with a lot of attacks in the past few months, so Aoyama-kun and I would've noticed anything out of place right away.

[Nothing to indicate any kind of temporal or dimensional shift. That's worrying, even if Damian won't abandon the notion.

Carefully, he takes the towel, but hangs it by his side and doesn't use it. He does, however, stand by the fireplace (sorry he's so stupid, Izuku), so that any dripping water can be evaporated both on his body and the floor.

Also, he's got the worst, strangest freezing sensation, something that permeates his muscles and his bones. Weird. Concerning. He's hoping the fireplace will help.]

Attacks? What kind of attacks exactly?

Villain attacks. [He says this like it's completely normal. It kind of has become the norm for Class 1-A, now that he thinks about it. Izuku doesn't think that's a good thing, though.]

The first time, they were trying to get at All Might, because he was supposed to be there. The second time, they were targeting one of my classmates.

[Thankfully, Damian isn't detached from any of this kind of lingo. It makes perfect sense to him, enough that his lips frown against the bottom of his face.]

What kind of villain attacks? It could have had something to do with how you got here. Superboy and I were also being attacked. By Kid Amazo.

It'd make a lot more sense if this were caused by a villain, but the timing isn't right.

The first attack was about six months ago. The second attack was about two months ago. [He pauses, making a face.] Sorry, I guess that's eight and four months now, if you count the two months I've been here.

[Actually, Damian is quiet for a while. Izuku won't be able to tell where his eyes are looking, but based on the pinch to his forehead and slack to his jaw, he's probably staring into the horizon, contemplating.]

Do you know anyone else here? From your world. If so, when did they come from?

[Izuku lets him think, honestly kind of glad to see him already trying to work through the problem. He'd expected as much from someone who's trained to be a hero!]

Yeah, actually. There's six of us here altogether. We all remember the same things, if that's what you're asking? That was one of the first things we checked.

[Honestly, Damian is impressed even if he doesn't show it, but only slightly. "The first things we checked," and here he is, usually surrounded by even heroes who can't understand the importance of fact checking against other things.

His next question is:] Have you tried to leave?

Yeah. [This time there's a grimace.] There's some kind of magic in this place that keeps redirecting people. It looks like we're stuck here until we figure out how to get around it.

Someone who could fly already tried, but they just kept...running into nothing no matter how far up they flew. If you try leave through the forest, most of the time, the forest will send something to stop you, or you'll just end up back in the town even if it feels like you're going straight the whole time. A friend of mine tried to go out in the water, but he said they got turned back that way, too.

[It's a lot of information at once, but Izuku figures it's better to just get it all out in one go.]

[The info pile doesn't bother Damian. He misses no beat.

Getting turned back... That's why his stint in the water at the south end went so poorly. It at least confirms Izuku isn't bullshitting him. Feeling the tight, cold clench of the water, something that shouldn't have been so bad in the Robin suit at all. Shouldn't have been so bad for him, someone trained. He hadn't been wrong then; they haven't found a way back.]

So this is a pocket dimension without exit chutes, or chutes that have been rerouted to return to this dimension.

[His best guess for now.]

That's a good way to put it. The second one especially. [He pauses, thumb pressing into his bottom lip for a moment as he thinks.]

At this point, some of us think that all of us getting pulled here wasn't an accident. There's someone behind it.

[While Damian is inclined to agree because he's a Bat, there has actually been an incident in his very recent past that makes him consider other things, too.]

It doesn't have to be a someone. It can be a something. Worlds can be sentient, too. Ygarddis was a world eater. It could control the planets it consumed as it pleased.

[Izuku nods, taking that in a stride.] After the stuff we've seen here, I wouldn't doubt that this place is sentient.

What I meant was...aside from what the world itself is doing, I think there's someone else involved, but I haven't decided if they're working with or against this place yet.

Edited 2018-05-17 18:51 (UTC)

[Under the edge of the mask, Damian's brows furrow, but even Izuku can see it.] Explain.

Why do you think there's someone else? Have you seen them?

[Izuku breathes in. It's more infodumping, but at least Damian doesn't seem to mind it when he does that.]

We're assigned to our houses. There's a laptop for each of us in the houses, with our names already filled out and our usernames picked out for us. Then, there's this one user on the forum that seems to know what's going on, but refuses to do anything but posting these "quests" for us to work on every so often.

The forest, the water...I could believe it's the work of a sentient world, but if there's technology involved, then it's probably someone else, right? [He pauses, looking uncertainly at Damian for a second.] Unless...the Ygarddis thing you mentioned was capable of something like this, too?

[This is fine. Actually, this is better, and this is why he's a Bat, why Bats are detectives. Instead of having to struggle in experiencing all of these things himself over time, he can just get a consolidated, stream-lined explanation from Izuku. It's more efficient this way.]

I don't know. [He hates saying that out loud. It makes it sound as if he didn't know what was going on.] I don't think so. The planet we were on that it had consumed was mostly primitive. It's possible Ygarddis could control technology if he had consumed one containing it.

You said there's a forum? That implies Internet access. That means there's a network--it has to be connected to something else somewhere. Especially if someone anonymous is accessing it.

[Sorry for his turbo. He's a planner, always planning. None of this matters for the mean time, not when he's gonna have to get settled. But still. He can talk it over at least.]

Do you know their handle?

Yeah...you'd think so. Except the forum is the only thing that really works on those laptops. [Izuku sounds so pained when he says this. He's had to go two months without browsing his favorite websites. Like wikipedia.] There's a paint program and a word processing program, too, but anything that requires internet is a bust.

Oh, it's #FFFFFF. I can show you on my laptop, if you want. Since you haven't found yours yet.

[Izuku's modern, first world problem life is a big mood and also suffering.]

...White? [Odd. Or maybe not so odd.] What's your handle? [A pause. Even better, he gets to play with the computer.] Show me.

Yeah, white. Mine's #FFDF00. It's a really bright yellow color. Hold on, let me go grab the laptop.

[Izuku pops into his room to get the device and turns it on. He'll even pull up a chair for Damian to use while he's at it.]

Here's their quest post. [Izuku pulls it up on the screen.] It's stickied, so they must be a moderator of some kind. No one else has that kind of access on the forum. There's no way to private message them either.

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