Labyrinth

[raptorcanaria]

Here's the thing about Milliways: It's not the Real World. Dinah has a very clear delineation in her mind: there're things that happen in the bar, and there are things that happen at home, and even if people visit from one to the other, they're very different places.

Justice League, supervillains, Oliver. Those things don't follow her in. Which is good and bad, because it becomes a place to escape. And escape becomes too safe, somewhere where actual threats aren't real. That's the problem with the place. It's not home, and it doesn't touch home, and if she wanted, she could stay in the bar, rent a room, and never have to worry about outside. And that's what's so dangerous.

Not that she's thinking of danger right now, even deep in the forest where there might be demon rabbits. She's just thinking of the run, and the exercise, and also where she wants to take Ollie for dinner tonight. That's how she manages to get lost.

And how she finds herself facing a rough hewn stone wall, with a door cut into it.

Dinah stands in front of it, stretching out her warm muscles, staring at the door. Has that always been here?

Comments

[boston_bruiser]

Nobody knows.


Dun-dun-DUUUUUUUUN.


Well, okay, somebody probably knows, but it's sure not the guy who just came out of the brush all kitted up, topo map in one hand and compass in the other.


"The fuck is that?"

[raptorcanaria]

As far as 'people Dinah expected to come out of the forest,' Voodoo isn't the least likely, but he's not the most likely either.

She shrugs, looks over her shoulder at him and offers a faint smile.

"No idea. You know, other than a wall."

There's a symbol carved into the rock above the door - a triangle. And that's it.

[boston_bruiser]

"Well well well," Voodoo says, stowing his nav gear and stepping out of the brush. "Looks like we got a bonafide mystery in our backyard."

(His German submachine gun stays slung across his chest, for now - no need for it just yet.)

He pats down the door, feeling along the cracks.

"Well, it ain't airtight," he says. "Drafts comin' from behind the door."

[raptorcanaria]

"Drafts mean it's more outside behind there, right?"

Compared to him and his gear, Dinah looks positively under prepared in her running gear. It feels weird to be facing unknown mysteries in sneakers.

She comes up behind him, and runs a hand along the door - it's a heavy wooden deal, that looks possibly older than her own city, let alone the building.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't think mysteries should be left unsolved."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo looks up at the triangle above the door.

"Well, I'd be a lot more inclined to solve it if I didn't have a gut feelin' it'd land us in the middle'a something outta Young Indiana Jones."


"Screw it."

He pushes on the triangle.

[raptorcanaria]

"Young Indiana Jones is the greatest hing on TV and I won't hear a word against it," Dinah tells him cheerfully.

That doesn't stop her shifting her weight so she's got a solid stance as the door swings back into the wall, with all the appropriate creaking noises a door should carry.

Beyond that, she sees:

A pleasant field of verdant grass, stretching out to a distant horizon.

And absolutely no sign of a forest.

[boston_bruiser]

Well.

This is unexpected.

So Voodoo, you know, side-eyes the fuck out of the place before raising his submachine gun and carefully stepping over the threshold, scanning this...field.

(Never you mind the scare italics.)

[raptorcanaria]

There are cows in the distance. They appear to be standing around, as cows do. Beyond them, a single larger tree.

Dinah pauses behind Voodoo, resting a hand on the door.

Which now starts to swing closed. Dinah leans her hand against it, then both hands to press on it, and as it continues to move, she finds herself using both hands to pull it open again.

"Dammit. Voodoo!"

She digs her feet in and pulls, but nothing seems to slow the door's swing.

[boston_bruiser]

"Jeezus, the fuck did I - oh shit!"

That's the sound of him running over and pulling at the door with all his might. It's an admirable effort, really, muscles straining and teeth gritting, but...

[raptorcanaria]

But.

Dinah even swings herself around in front of the closing door, lifts a leg against the wall, tries to use herself as a brace.

It does nothing, and then the pressure forces her to leap out of the way, back onto the grass. She scrambles up and tries to help him pull it back, but by this point she's half resigned.

The door shuts, and there's no handles on this side. Not even a triangle. Dinah glares at it, and throws her hands up.

"Great. Surprise! Time for an adventure!"

She doesn't have time for this.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo groans, turning back around, one hand on his gun.

"I take it back. Indy wouldn't let himself get stuck in anything this retarded."

Beat.

"Least we got some cows. You ain't vegetarian, are you?"

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah sticks her fingers in the inside of her waistband, into a pokcet from which she pulls a hairband.

"Are you kidding?" she asks, as she pulls her hair back into a small ponytail, "and give up beef sukiyaki? Blasphemy."

She turns around to face the wall, and stares in both directions, watching it stretch into the distance. The field must be on a slight hill, because it's really all she can see.

"Follow the wall or investigate the wildlife?"

[boston_bruiser]

It doesn't take long at all for Voodoo to reach a decision.

"Let's check out those cows," he says. "Least we won't get lost."

[raptorcanaria]

"Works for me."

She glances over her shoulder at the door, hoping it might decide to open again, and walks one with him.

"So what were you doing in the forest with all your gear on?"

[boston_bruiser]

"Nav refresher exercise," he says. "You don't practice reading a topo map and compass every once in a while, eventually you forget how. What about you?"

[raptorcanaria]

"I was out for a run," is the answer.

Trying to clear her head about things at home is unneccessary details.

"Thought I'd explore the forest instead of just circling the lake over and over again. Won't do that again."

The cows, she can see as they get close, don't look like normal cows. They're grey - presumably lots of cows are grey - but also shiny, and as they approach, the nearest turns its head towards them and she can see that it, and all of them, has glowing red eyes.

"Auditory response: Moo."

Dinah stops walking.

[boston_bruiser]

And so does Voodoo.

The MP5 goes up again, pointed right at the cow's red eye.

"Okay," he says, "belay that. What do you say we haul ass back to the wall?


"Like, right now?"

[raptorcanaria]

"Grass length deviation detected," the cow continues. "Resizing in progress."

Two laser beams shoot out of its eyes, converging at a spot not three inches from Dinah's foot. She darts backwards, watching the grass fizzle away from the beam.

"Yes," she agrees, with forced cheeriness. "The wall sounds good."

She's already walking backwards fast.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo follows, his aim never wavering from the cow's head.

"We gettin' any closer to that wall?"

[raptorcanaria]

"Yeah."

Dinah turns around so she's walking forward, and then stops again.

"Uh, you might want to look at this."

Because the wall? Doesn't have a door in it anymore.

[boston_bruiser]

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me."

Voodoo pats it down again - nothing.

Strikes it with his tricep - nothing.

Kicks it - nothing.

Remy, Korra, Ellen, Shephard, Tommy - they're all on the other side of the wall. Fuck, everything's on the other side of the wall. They're stuck.

He takes a deep breath, suppressing a growl of irritation. "Okay. First things first. We need to find a source of drinking water. After that, food and shelter."

He looks up at the sky. "Before nightfall. I didn't bring NODs."

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah moves her gaze from looking up and down the wall to stare at him.

"Really? You go straight into survivalist mode without even pausing on 'let's find another way out?'"

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo holds up his hands. "Hey, if you spotted a way out that don't involve goin' past no cows with laser eyes or breakin' our feet tryin' to bust this Great Wall of..."

He looks up.

"...Stuff down - I'm all ears."

(It's been a long day.)

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah looks up at the wall as well - just enough to quickly dismiss any chance of scaling it.

"Alright," she says, and points along the wall. "I figure we've got two options. One, to check the length for alternative ways through, or to try and circle the cowbots, in case there's a way on the other side."

Worse comes to the worst, she figures they could probably go through the cows, but she likes not being shot at.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo shakes his head. "Goin' the length of this wall? With no idea how long it goes on? Fuck that. Let's try'n get by the cows."