This is another of those massive co writes.

With a few elves remaining behind, our heroes are now in the eternally damned realm of Hey Daze, where things about about to get.. interesting.

Interesting, deadly, and mean!

 
Warning: Language, F-Bomb

 
For a few seconds, Glyn's suit pulsed and emitted a symphony of colors as he analyzed his new surroundings. He turned to Sebastian Dash to discuss his findings. "In case you missed the last bit, Aleena's sent a distraction patrol to draw attention away from our arrival, Dash. We've made it - what's the plan?" asked Glyn.

Dash shrugged. "I don't know if it's possible to come up with a plan. Goals, sure, but I'm not sure if we have much in the way of a plan. I mean, this is Hey Daze. It's far from typical geography."

"Not quite impressed yet personally. OK, you said goals - one being finding and assisting Catrina's return? Are we going to gather information about the Dark Gods in addition?" Glyn pressed.

"That'd be nice," Dash said. "I'd also like to make sure we don't leave anyone behind. There might be others foolish enough to come to Hey Daze without properly preparing for what they'll find here."

"Y-a-w-n. Yeah, sure - would hate to be that person. So we're just waiting around and shooting the breeze? Just asking."

Dash raised an eyebrow at this, wondering if Glyn knew the threat of Hey Daze. "Where do you propose we go?"

"Nope, not falling for that - Tarvel will have something to say about any of my suggestions. And you're the head honcho - I'm but a lowly Prince, wishing for -"

<Sebastian, Glyn. Glad I can still reach you.> Aleena's voice said, as though she were standing behind them. She remained behind in the forest however, using their special ability to communicate at a distance. <Hey Daze appears to be a morphic plane. Your location isn't merely where you are, but also where you are heading. Geographic features seem to shift location at random; our drones, despite knowing how far and in what direction they've travelled, all see the world differently. It's making navigation and coordination impossible. We may lose radio contact with you if we can't sort out a path for our comms to take. I suppose an individual of sufficient power may be able to navigate easily... maybe even force all points in Hey Daze to be as close as they want them to be. Anyways, we think we may have observed a party of creatures approaching your location. Please keep watch. And good luck.>

Dash turned his attention to Aleena, focusing his thoughts in that unusual way Aleena taught him. How long do we have to deal with this? Can you tell how many demons we're talking here, Queen Aleena?

<A dozen. Walking, but they seem to be covering more territory than would normally be possible... I have no idea.>

Todd growled, seeing the seemingly inattentive Dash and the elves. He wasn't particularly religious, but... "Whenever you guys are ready?"

Dash nodded to Todd and gathered the others around him. "There's no benefit to staying in one place too long according to Aleena. But there's also no point in moving without having a clear idea of what's going on."

Todd looked from Dash to the elves and then the light went on. "OH... so this was just some sort of space weirdness. Hey okay, I'm cool with that."

Dash nodded at comment. "Todd, Sunset, between you and the elves, we should be able to get a pretty good idea of what's going on around us. I'll lead. The rest of you spread out somewhat. Spread out, but keep each other covered. Think birds in flight, the v pattern. I'm sure some of you are familiar with the formation."

"When did I get drafted?" Todd wondered then smirked. "Nevermind, Scratch that- just give me a nice ass to look at that's all I ask."

"Just not mine!" Wildfall said, nudging Todd with his elbow playfully.

"I would suggest focusing on something other than your libidos while here, gentlemen." Fahari growled as she scanned the area, tail flicking. "The Dark Ones are not known for their love. What you would receive here is from pure hatred- and unfulfilling." She closed her eyes for a moment, calming herself. She took a deep breath of the fetid air, then stopped, taking another, her whiskers twitching before she opened her eyes and turned quickly. "Goddess defend! We are-"

Dash looked around and started to say, "Stay together until we know what's going ..."

At that moment a huge cloud of dense, black smoke billowed up, surrounding the team. Dash strove to see through it but it attacked his eyes, nose and throat. Even so, he thought he could see faces in the smoke- horrible faces, demonic ones... all laughing.

 
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Todd coughed and sneezed from the smoke, but he could tell it was already clearing. Eventually he opened his eyes, ready with some quip or another- which died on his lips as he saw that he had somehow stepped into... a cathouse?

Well, not a 'cat' house specifically, but a bordello. Todd had walked into a bordello filled with the most lovely vixens imaginable- both vulpin and kitsune alike... all naked and looking at him...

"Wha.. wait a second.. this..." Todd closed his eyes and shook his head. Something is wrong here. I should be in Hey Daze givin' that windbag Wildfall a ribbing for such a terrible line!

He opened his eyes- and nothing had changed, save for the most gorgeous Kitsune vixen of them all was now standing in front of him close enough to touch- and with plenty to touch, if you know what I mean.

Todd took a step back. "No.. um.. sorry ladies but.. um.. you really can't be real. Crap.. that sounds like a bad pick-up line but..."

He didn't get any farther- as the vixens dropped that part of their ruse. They were still vixens alright- but Dark, evil... succubi waiting, and wanting, to feed!

Todd turned tail and ran!

 
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"Stay together until we know what's going on," Dash tried to say, but the thick black smoke appeared out of nowhere, surrounding them as if it were hunting them down. Only with great effort was Dash able to force himself to speak in spite of it. Even so, Dash was hardly able to speak through the smoke. "Ack, wh.. what's going on? I need a status.. update."

He heard a familiar coughing. "Someone needs to put up a no smoking sign, that's your status." Wildfall, obviously. The Ireacan accent made it an easy voice to identify.

"Give us a moment! Glyn, shield!" cried Sylenia, as the smoke grew too opaque to see.

"Bien sur, mademoiselle!" replied Glyn, jointly activating a particle filtration program with his fellow Morlencir to relieve their beleaguered comrades. "Guard yourselves, friends - this event has the hallmarks of a magick clusterfuck!"

The smoke was quickly dispersed but Dash's eyes were much slower to clear. "Much better. I don't know what that was, but I'm glad it's..."

Dash's voice trailed off and everything came into view. Problem is, it wasn't anything like the area he was standing a moment ago. Instead, he found himself looking at what he figured was supposed to be the "smoldering remains" of Honorburg, the futuristic city which Dash had once spent so much time in. There were no signs of survivors nor were there any corpses that Dash could see. "Over? What in Hey Daze..."

"Sorry for your discomfort Dash, but you're right - Hey Daze is likely the issue here. I see the city too, but..." Glyn murmured, discomforted by the sudden communication disruption. Soldiering on, he continued; "It's likely 'smoke and mirrors', to use an expression. There's too much white noise and phantom signals around here, so much so that I can't correct and compensate the overlaid figments from reality at the moment."

Dash sniffed the air, smelling a familiar mix of blood, ozone and sulphur. "Believe it or not, this might be based on an actual vision of a possible future. But that isn't important.. we need.. why can't I sense any of the others?"

"Maybe because of the nature of the vision? Or because Hey Daze prefers to drop-kick you out of your comfort zone?" Glyn said bitterly. "I'm working on a way to get us in touch with everyone, so leave that aside. If it's just a vision, it shouldn't matter if we move about; and I think we might want to see more of what happened down there, agreed?"

Dash nodded. "Agreed. Why this vision? Why are you seeing it, instead of me being here alone? Maybe we can find some answers here. Still, something tells me I'm not going to enjoy this."

Dash and Glyn turned sharply, suddenly sensing a familiar presence. Stepping out of the strange mist between the buildings, Tarvel grinned as her suit's cannons powered up. "Something tells me that I will, though."

 
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Fahari had braced for the malevolence that hit them, but still her eyes teared up and she coughed and wheezed. Then her tears began to clear and she found herself.. alone, in the dark. No, no not alone she could see in the gloom.. see...

Oh Goddess! she thought, please, not this memory again! She whimpered like a little girl, for here she was a little girl- in big trouble!

Her family had made the seasonal trek to Aldara in order to sell the fur from the prey that the village had caught for useful items for the months ahead. She had been travelling with her Mamma and Poppa, her first trip to the big city, and all had gone well until the return trip, when they had been set upon by bandits!

Now here she was, in a dream that was more than dream reliving a memory that haunted her being. She knew that if she reached out she could feel the cold body of her Poppa.. and if she paid attention she could hear why her Momma still screamed- what the evil men were doing to her.

"Now who do we have here?" A gruff voice asked in the gloom, and Fahari had to dodge that meaty hand for the second time in her life as she ran again, screaming. "Aww.. come back kitten! Brund's not gonna hurt ya! You're gonna love what I got planned, just like yer ma!"

She ran blindly, like she had before- like she always did in her nightmares. And again she felt the tree more than saw it as she collided with it and fell back, out cold.

 
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The smoke fell away for the last three as well, leaving them in yet another unfamiliar location.

Wildfall fell to his knees at the sight of the endless dead land stretching out below him. Brown grass grew, barely, in large spots, but there were no trees to be seen anywhere that Wildfall could see, and very few shrubbery for that matter. To say nothing of water, which was a shame as the air in this part of (Where were they again?) was exceptionally dry.

Wildfall talked, despite not even being aware of who else was with him at the moment, if anyone. "It's like some horrible end of the world scenario."

"That's what it is, all right," said Cyber Sunset, getting a sturdy grip on his broadsword. "Somethin's not right about it, either. I mean... sure, it's the bad part of the afterlife, but I kind of expected it to be horrible in a more immediate sense. This is more...figurative. Ephemeral."

Wildfall sighed, standing up. "Overreacting? I guess it's because I grew up in the thick Ireacan forests. That... and we're in freakin' Hey Daze!"

"Who said anything about over reacting?" asked Cyber Sunset, legitimately confused.

"No," Wildfall said. "I was asking if you thought I was overreacting. Which obviously I'm not. This's probably my nightmare, so I should be in charge."

Cyber Sunset looked around the landscape, half listening to Wildfall.

"Charge? What? Oh, sure," said Cyber Sunset. "But have you ever walked through a desert before? I have... plenty like this back in Lonestar. Anyway, you stay in charge, but don't expect me to follow you after any big pools of water you see in the distance."

Wildfall's vision had fallen on a distant spot on the horizon. "How about that soda fountain over there?"

"I'm guessin' no," said Cyber Sunset. Before he could say whatever else was on his mind, the two were interrupted by the sounds of a piercing scream.

Their heads all snapped in the direction of the scream, which was all the opening that the creature needed. Four hands pushed their way out of the ground and grabbed the heroes, beginning to crush them. When it was certain that it had them all in its deadly grip, the strange demon began to rise from beneath the sand, its four massive arms connecting to its brobdingnagian torso as a red, bull-like face leered at its new captives.

"The good news is that I think we're in Lonestar," said Cyber Sunset, shocked, to his companions as realization dawned upon him. "The bad news is that...certain artistic liberties have been taken."

"Why does it always have to be giant manbulls?!" Wildfall complained, fighting against the beast with no success. "At least it doesn't have wings."

Actually... it's the last of the co writes for this mission with THIS many handlers/ characters in it.

 
Since our heroes are split up, the roleplaying splits up to follow them. This illustrates some of the storytelling that I like for Hey Daze missions - mutated versions of their worst fears and memories come to life. Although considering this is the afterlife realm, "to life" might not be the best way to put it. We'll explore a couple of those hellscape visions next and then.. it's time for some new players to hop on the Hey Daze board.

All aboooooooard!!