Multiversal travel can be disorienting, but there’s no need to worry! All side effects are temporary and lessen with each trip. Your body may experience several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You may have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer dizziness while others are perfectly fine. You notice that the area you are in is filled with a soft cerulean light and feels slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you. Regardless of your current state, however, the stress of transit forces your body into unconsciousness.
Waking up is another story. Or maybe it isn’t.
You find yourself in a nondescript room; sometimes with others who have found themselves in the same situation, sometimes alone. Welcome to Avagi Station, your new home.
New arrivals are, of course, welcome to explore the various locations around the station. Additionally everyone is provided with a communicator in case they want to pose any questions to the population already residing on Avagi.
The Labyrinth
After stepping through the latest portal from Avagi to elsewhere, you find yourself dropped off in an area that has been dubbed The Labyrinth for reasons that become clear once you start to explore. The area you’re exploring is a lush forest, full of life. But soon enough it becomes clear that the forest is a staging ground for a massive labyrinth that goes down into the earth like an inverted pyramid. It goes quite deep and the lowest levels are hidden beneath a shroud of mist that cannot be penetrated from the top levels. If you want to find what lies at the heart of the labyrinth you will have to descend and explore.
The Beginning:
The beginning comes off as a very classical maze structure. High walls and a great many twists and turns. It’s easy to become lost and disoriented if you don’t pay attention to where you’re going. However, it’s important to know that the Labyrinth does not take kindly to cheaters. Anyone who thinks they’re going to be sneaky and climb the walls to get a better idea of where they’re going will be in for a nasty surprise when they climb down and find they’re in a completely different section of the maze than they were before. The way is uncertain, with doors that will lock behind you once you choose a path and trap doors that will dump you in different areas if you don’t watch where you step. Likewise, those that try to mark their path will find their signs moved, erased or otherwise changed. You must proceed honestly if you wish to move forward.
The Mire:
The landscape of the labyrinth shifts as you make your way deeper, as you venture down beneath the mists the stone walls end up slowly shifting into a strangely twisting forest covered in vines and moss. Here you must contend with strange creatures that reside in this part, creature that are troublesome because given any opportunity they will lead you astray by stealing the voices of others to lure you off the true path. It doesn’t even need to be the voice of someone present, somehow they know the voices of loved ones who aren’t present and will shamelessly exploit that to distract you from your goal. If you do give in to temptation you’ll find yourself stumbling lost through the greenery until you end up tripping into a swamp. Anyone falling into its murky waters will find themselves stinking to high heaven. Careful, the smell won’t go away for at least a few days if you do end up falling in. For those wise enough to resist they might be able to find their way to the center of the labyrinth.
Maybe the Real Treasure was...:
You have braved your way through the labyrinth doing your best to face its challenges even though there was never any certain reward for your efforts. In the end the Labyrinth knows the heart of those who navigate its twists and turns and gives the reward that had been earned. Those that made their way through without cheating and without being led astray will find a simple treasure waiting for them at the center. A wooden music box made from the same wood as the middle sector of the maze that, when wound, plays exactly the tune of whatever song you’ve been wanting to hear.
For the cheaters and those who strayed from the path, they will also find that there is a wooden box waiting for them, though this one is significantly larger than the music box and cannot be removed from its stand. The difference between their prizes will become quite clear the moment someone chooses to open it. Instead of music they’ll be greeted with a rather rude raspberry before the box snaps shut and locks of its accord.
Regardless of prize, those who make it to the center will find the way out is a set of stairs that cuts through all the levels and delivers you back safely to the entrance.
(Oh well that won't do. Eddie wrinkles his nose up at his nickname being used.)
Don't call me that. It's Eddie. Richie just can't figure out how to pronounce that half the time.
(And if he does, there's always some addition on the end. Like Spaghetti. Do you see the bullshit that he has to deal with here? He did notice Jughead grabbing at Richie to pull him away from the swamp, his hands going tense on his handlebars for a fraction of a second just in case.
Jughead was a real weird name, but considering Eddie knew guys nicknamed Belch and Booger? Jughead wasn't that bad. Richie's introduction, however, has Eddie looking far more skeptical. He stares at Jughead critically, frowning hard.)
First of all, my mom says tattoos are one of the easiest way to get infections. Second of all, if he's in a gang he's probably a criminal, Richie.
(He says this point blank to Richie, as if Jughead wasn't right there. Then at last:)
You idiot. Not all psychos are as obvious as Bowers and Hocksetter. (He bikes himself slowly around Jughead.)
How do you feel about dogs? (He'd answer that question about whether or not he remembers how he got here in a second. He has to interrogate this guy first a little bit.)
I'm not a criminal. [Short and sharp, but Jughead relaxes after, watching Eddie cycle around them on his bike. Eddie's mom sounds like Alice Cooper already, and he shakes his head with with a slight grin at the thought before watching the two younger boys talk.]
And I'm not a pyromaniac either. If I was, I would have burnt my way out of this forest already. Long before running into Pepé Le Pew over there.
[But then Eddie mentions dogs, and Jughead's slightly defensive responses dissipate for an honest one.]
Dogs are better than people. They don't judge based on who their families are or where they came from.
Eddie! [Is he surprised that Eddie's interrogating Jughead? Not by a long shot.] If he were a psycho he wouldn't have let me borrow his really cool jacket. Eddie, look. It's leather.
[It's a big deal, okay. He's never worn a cool jacket before. Eddie is asking important questions, though, and Richie ends up having some of his own.]
But aren't all gangsters criminals? (This time Eddie's voice sounds less accusatory and more genuinely curious.)
Yeah, I see that, Richie.
(Unfortunately. Eddie had to shelf this internal crisis for later though. Eddie does smirk a teensy bit at Jughead's appropriate nickname for Richie at the moment.)
You do stink, Rich. There's no way in hell you're riding double with me out of here. And you don't get to lay in my bed until you smell normal again.
(Or in their room period, really, but Eddie doesn't bother saying that. He glances at Jughead and says with some empathy:)
I'll try and clean your jacket for you if you want. (Can't make any guarantees though. It says enough that Eddie was even offering. Clearly Jughead was mostly passing his psycho-test. It didn't mean automatic trust, but it meant Eddie stopped cycling around him. Jughead's answer on dogs was...It was good.)
I know the way out of here, yeah. (He rests his feet on the ground and his elbows on the handlebars, standing closer to Jughead than Richie because eugh.)
I'm not a gangster, I'm in a gang. There's a difference. The Serpents are like a family. And no, Richie. Mullets are terrible. If you grow one I will shave your head myself.
[These boys are clearly good friends, and rather than wait for Richie to ruin his jacket, the last connection he has to home, he scoops the other small boy up under his arm. With his arms covered, Jughead doesn't look like much, but in his tanktop the unexpected muscles in his arms are hard to miss.]
Lead the way. When we get out of here you can point me to a lake or shower to throw your skunk friend into. Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't drown.
[Richie yelps when Jughead picks him up, more startled than anything. Unfortunately, his inability to stay still extends to this, but he's not intentionally trying to make things difficult.]
Aw doc, anything but the hair! [His hands fly to the back of his head for emphasis, but then he's waving over at Eddie.] Guess I didn't need to ride doubles.
[He's far from being bothered by the comments about him smelling bad; he knows that he smells like the stinky swamp water.] You could take dip too, Eds. The water's nice and pleasant. We can smell like shit together. It'll be great.
(Eddie naturally lurches forward the moment Jughead scoops Richie up, fully prepared to plow into this kid if it meant keeping Richie safe from a potential throttling. But said throttling never happens.)
The hell's a mullet...? (Eddie might be pouting a little, but you'll never be able to get him to admit that.)
What, and risk Lyme disease? Yeah, right.
(Eddie pushes off on his bike, lazily pedaling ahead to lead their group back into the maze. He seems rather absent minded, as if he's not trying that hard to remember his way out. Truth is, he isn't. Richie hadn't been exaggerating on Eddie's abilities. He keeps looking back at the other two, keeping more focus on their conversation than anything else.)
[He prefers Juggernaut to the raw memories associated with being called Juggy, so he says nothing to deter Richie from continuing his stream of consciousness, wondering how it is he wound up with a couple of near preteen boys under his watch. Eddie might be rescuing them, but as long as Jughead is walking with them, he's on some level responsible for their safety and he knows it. They're only a few years younger than him, but they're also only a few years older than Jellybean.]
A mullet is when you keep your hair short in the front and let it grow out long in the back. It's the worst hairstyle known to man.
[Why is this his life. Did they kidnap him to this station just to make him endure other children?]
Riverdale. And the difference is they're my family and that's it, got it Eddie? [He gives Eddie a harsher look. He's trying to help the serpents become less a criminal gang, trying to help straighten them out, and he doesn't take kindly to accusations against them. Softer, with his eyes on the path ahead of them, he adds to it.]
Work in the front, party in the back. Like Bowers's stupid hair.
[He figures that's enough of an explanation that between the two of them, Eddie would know what mullets are. Then again, he has no idea what the history of the hairstyle is.] Anyway, I don't see the harm in taking the risk? You're already sour.
[And to Jughead:] So is it really more like a club than a gang, then? 'Cause the only gang I ever heard of was ole Hank's and he get off on carving his name into fat kids' guts.
Boys with long hair are gross. (Eddie agrees on this with the wisdom of a boy who actively kept his hair well trimmed and perfectly styled. He knew enough to make that executive opinion. Though he has to stop and look at Richie before looking at Jughead.)
Dude, Bowers hair looks almost just like his. (He points.) Except yours is kinda nicer.
(Keyword: kinda.)
I am not sour!
(He only got a tiny bit shrieky there. Improvements. His head whips around and he gives Jughead a rather impressive glare for someone who is 5'3.)
Then call them your family instead. It's not my fault gangs have notoriously bad reps. (As Richie mentioned- the only gang Eddie knew of was a rather violent one.
His own expression gentles though and he quickly looks ahead.)
Yeah, well then I guess you're no Henry Bowers. He didn't give a shit what happened to his friends. (A fact in Jughead's favor.)
Sounds like a real piece of work. A serial killer in the making. [Though knowing Richie seems to think his hair is a mullet if he resembles this Bowers kid is unsettling. He checks the back of his hair with his free hand and tries to adjust his grip on Richie, tossing him a little to get him more securely under his arm. He's not heavy, but he's heavy enough it's tiring Jughead's arm. He ends up setting Richie down once they escape the mire and the threat of the swamp.]
At the very least a real prick of a bully. This kid around here somewhere?
[Sometimes he has serious concerns about the 1950s. Actually, he has a lot of concerns about them, and he's really confused by how Eddie is remembering Henry. He pats Jughead's arm as a silent 'thanks' before launching himself after Eddie's bike.]
Do you wanna borrow my glasses again? 'Cause there's nothing about him that even resembles Bowers. Hockstetter? Maybe. They're both freakishly tall with that sort of hair but Bowers. You know he's blond, right? 'Cause he is.
[He turns on his heels, walking backward when he's talking to Jughead again.] That dickhead ain't here, thank tha lawd. He """"fell"""" down a well a cracked his head and fell like, for-fuckin-ever.
[He might be using more and more profanity just to see if Jughead's going to say anything about it.]
What? (Eddie whines, but then that whine turns into a shriek when Richie launches at his bike. He pedals faster, picking up in his seat with a 'Noooo! You stiiiink!')
No. Bowers has black hair. I think I'd remember.
(But it isn't until Richie said that second part about Henry falling down a well that has Eddie braking abruptly. He drops his foot to the ground and turns to stare at Richie.)
What the fuck are you talking about?
(Then it hit him.
The timelines. Eddie suddenly looks rather uncomfortable, and turns his head back around, shaking it slowly before removing his leg from the bike to walk next to it instead.)
In my timeline, he gets locked up at Juniper. (He glances over his shoulder but this time at Jughead.)
We aren't from the same time. Me and Richie. Apparently stuff happens weirdly here.
You're from different times, but know the same people? [This has to be a movie plot. Their confusion over what this kid looks like is confusing but fascinating. He walks behind them, stopping when they do, and tries to make sense of how that is possible. Maybe one of them is older than the other but they were brought to this place at the same age? That would make more sense than his initial assumption at those words.]
I gathered as much from the labyrinth. If David Bowie shows up, you're on your own.
[So far, Jughead hasn't batted an eye at the profanity. He's not their parents. If the kids want to curse he's not going to stop them.]
But you do come from the same place? How long have you both been here?
Eddie's from 1958. [It's a question, as he looks over to Eddie. He's pretty sure he's right, but these sorts of specifics they don't get into a lot.] For me it's 1989. When he's from, he knows me. When I'm from, I know him. Shit's fucked, but a lot of stuff are still the same. I've been here, what, a few weeks? A month? Eds's been here longer.
[But then Jughead's making references, and he's returning his attention to Eddie. If he gets close enough, he's getting his cheeks pulled.] You remind me of the babe!
(Eddie gives a nod to confirm the date. He lets Richie do the talking, while he does the walking. Just slightly ahead enough to lead them through the maze. He does smirk a little, looking back at Jughead.)
That means I'm his sugar daddy.
(If anyone were to ever say that Eddie couldn't be as much of a little shit as Richie.....
But Eddie's smirk doesn't last because his brows are soon furrowing together because David who now? Born during the time of Eddie's life, certainly, but didn't quite make it big until a ways after 1958. Tragically.
What's also tragic is walking close enough to Richie to get his cheek pinched. He gives a shriek and instantly shoves Richie away.)
No! You stink right now! (Rubbing at his cheek with a look of mild disgust, he falls back in step to walk instead next to Jughead, cowering slightly next to him as if Jughead would actually provide a substantial border between them.)
...If you're a gang member, does that mean you know how to fight?
[Both boys are ridiculous, but in a way that almost makes him think of Archie and Betty. Inseparable forces drawn together by a friendship that could stand the test of any trial. He lets them walk ahead of him, and when Eddie looks back at him, Jughead makes a noise, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Kevin would like these kids. Especially Eddie.
He lets go of his confusion. This mystery is one best left to tackle once they escape this maze, but he responds to Richie first with the easy continuance.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
savmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_ooc2017-12-20 09:07 pm
no subject
Don't call me that. It's Eddie. Richie just can't figure out how to pronounce that half the time.
(And if he does, there's always some addition on the end. Like Spaghetti. Do you see the bullshit that he has to deal with here? He did notice Jughead grabbing at Richie to pull him away from the swamp, his hands going tense on his handlebars for a fraction of a second just in case.
Jughead was a real weird name, but considering Eddie knew guys nicknamed Belch and Booger? Jughead wasn't that bad. Richie's introduction, however, has Eddie looking far more skeptical. He stares at Jughead critically, frowning hard.)
First of all, my mom says tattoos are one of the easiest way to get infections. Second of all, if he's in a gang he's probably a criminal, Richie.
(He says this point blank to Richie, as if Jughead wasn't right there. Then at last:)
You idiot. Not all psychos are as obvious as Bowers and Hocksetter. (He bikes himself slowly around Jughead.)
How do you feel about dogs? (He'd answer that question about whether or not he remembers how he got here in a second. He has to interrogate this guy first a little bit.)
no subject
And I'm not a pyromaniac either. If I was, I would have burnt my way out of this forest already. Long before running into Pepé Le Pew over there.
[But then Eddie mentions dogs, and Jughead's slightly defensive responses dissipate for an honest one.]
Dogs are better than people. They don't judge based on who their families are or where they came from.
no subject
[It's a big deal, okay. He's never worn a cool jacket before. Eddie is asking important questions, though, and Richie ends up having some of his own.]
What about mullets?
no subject
Yeah, I see that, Richie.
(Unfortunately. Eddie had to shelf this internal crisis for later though. Eddie does smirk a teensy bit at Jughead's appropriate nickname for Richie at the moment.)
You do stink, Rich. There's no way in hell you're riding double with me out of here. And you don't get to lay in my bed until you smell normal again.
(Or in their room period, really, but Eddie doesn't bother saying that. He glances at Jughead and says with some empathy:)
I'll try and clean your jacket for you if you want. (Can't make any guarantees though. It says enough that Eddie was even offering. Clearly Jughead was mostly passing his psycho-test. It didn't mean automatic trust, but it meant Eddie stopped cycling around him. Jughead's answer on dogs was...It was good.)
I know the way out of here, yeah. (He rests his feet on the ground and his elbows on the handlebars, standing closer to Jughead than Richie because eugh.)
no subject
[These boys are clearly good friends, and rather than wait for Richie to ruin his jacket, the last connection he has to home, he scoops the other small boy up under his arm. With his arms covered, Jughead doesn't look like much, but in his tanktop the unexpected muscles in his arms are hard to miss.]
Lead the way. When we get out of here you can point me to a lake or shower to throw your skunk friend into. Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't drown.
no subject
Aw doc, anything but the hair! [His hands fly to the back of his head for emphasis, but then he's waving over at Eddie.] Guess I didn't need to ride doubles.
[He's far from being bothered by the comments about him smelling bad; he knows that he smells like the stinky swamp water.] You could take dip too, Eds. The water's nice and pleasant. We can smell like shit together. It'll be great.
Say, where're'ya from anyway, Juggernaut?
no subject
(Eddie naturally lurches forward the moment Jughead scoops Richie up, fully prepared to plow into this kid if it meant keeping Richie safe from a potential throttling. But said throttling never happens.)
The hell's a mullet...? (Eddie might be pouting a little, but you'll never be able to get him to admit that.)
What, and risk Lyme disease? Yeah, right.
(Eddie pushes off on his bike, lazily pedaling ahead to lead their group back into the maze. He seems rather absent minded, as if he's not trying that hard to remember his way out. Truth is, he isn't. Richie hadn't been exaggerating on Eddie's abilities. He keeps looking back at the other two, keeping more focus on their conversation than anything else.)
no subject
A mullet is when you keep your hair short in the front and let it grow out long in the back. It's the worst hairstyle known to man.
[Why is this his life. Did they kidnap him to this station just to make him endure other children?]
Riverdale. And the difference is they're my family and that's it, got it Eddie? [He gives Eddie a harsher look. He's trying to help the serpents become less a criminal gang, trying to help straighten them out, and he doesn't take kindly to accusations against them. Softer, with his eyes on the path ahead of them, he adds to it.]
We take care of each other.
no subject
[He figures that's enough of an explanation that between the two of them, Eddie would know what mullets are. Then again, he has no idea what the history of the hairstyle is.] Anyway, I don't see the harm in taking the risk? You're already sour.
[And to Jughead:] So is it really more like a club than a gang, then? 'Cause the only gang I ever heard of was ole Hank's and he get off on carving his name into fat kids' guts.
no subject
Dude, Bowers hair looks almost just like his. (He points.) Except yours is kinda nicer.
(Keyword: kinda.)
I am not sour!
(He only got a tiny bit shrieky there. Improvements. His head whips around and he gives Jughead a rather impressive glare for someone who is 5'3.)
Then call them your family instead. It's not my fault gangs have notoriously bad reps. (As Richie mentioned- the only gang Eddie knew of was a rather violent one.
His own expression gentles though and he quickly looks ahead.)
Yeah, well then I guess you're no Henry Bowers. He didn't give a shit what happened to his friends. (A fact in Jughead's favor.)
no subject
At the very least a real prick of a bully. This kid around here somewhere?
no subject
[Sometimes he has serious concerns about the 1950s. Actually, he has a lot of concerns about them, and he's really confused by how Eddie is remembering Henry. He pats Jughead's arm as a silent 'thanks' before launching himself after Eddie's bike.]
Do you wanna borrow my glasses again? 'Cause there's nothing about him that even resembles Bowers. Hockstetter? Maybe. They're both freakishly tall with that sort of hair but Bowers. You know he's blond, right? 'Cause he is.
[He turns on his heels, walking backward when he's talking to Jughead again.] That dickhead ain't here, thank tha lawd. He """"fell"""" down a well a cracked his head and fell like, for-fuckin-ever.
[He might be using more and more profanity just to see if Jughead's going to say anything about it.]
no subject
No. Bowers has black hair. I think I'd remember.
(But it isn't until Richie said that second part about Henry falling down a well that has Eddie braking abruptly. He drops his foot to the ground and turns to stare at Richie.)
What the fuck are you talking about?
(Then it hit him.
The timelines. Eddie suddenly looks rather uncomfortable, and turns his head back around, shaking it slowly before removing his leg from the bike to walk next to it instead.)
In my timeline, he gets locked up at Juniper. (He glances over his shoulder but this time at Jughead.)
We aren't from the same time. Me and Richie. Apparently stuff happens weirdly here.
no subject
I gathered as much from the labyrinth. If David Bowie shows up, you're on your own.
[So far, Jughead hasn't batted an eye at the profanity. He's not their parents. If the kids want to curse he's not going to stop them.]
But you do come from the same place? How long have you both been here?
no subject
[But then Jughead's making references, and he's returning his attention to Eddie. If he gets close enough, he's getting his cheeks pulled.] You remind me of the babe!
no subject
That means I'm his sugar daddy.
(If anyone were to ever say that Eddie couldn't be as much of a little shit as Richie.....
But Eddie's smirk doesn't last because his brows are soon furrowing together because David who now? Born during the time of Eddie's life, certainly, but didn't quite make it big until a ways after 1958. Tragically.
What's also tragic is walking close enough to Richie to get his cheek pinched. He gives a shriek and instantly shoves Richie away.)
No! You stink right now! (Rubbing at his cheek with a look of mild disgust, he falls back in step to walk instead next to Jughead, cowering slightly next to him as if Jughead would actually provide a substantial border between them.)
...If you're a gang member, does that mean you know how to fight?
no subject
He lets go of his confusion. This mystery is one best left to tackle once they escape this maze, but he responds to Richie first with the easy continuance.]
What babe?
[And then straight into Eddie's question after.]
Enough. I don't make it a habit.