Mzzkc's Mind Games

All from one LD.

04.05.2010

Outburst (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







I struggled fervently against the sheets that trapped me to my bed. Every slight movement was a struggle, and the possibility of being snapped back down to my mattress was all too real. A boost of strength would be necessary if I were going to push through this. A song I've only ever heard on Rockband starts playing, "Highway Star" by Deep Purple. With no time to be puzzled by the choice my subconscious made, I drew from the energetic guitar riffs and pushed my way out into the common room. My sheets broke away as I passed through the door. Without hesitation, I dashed toward the blind covered window and burst through it, shattering the glass and tearing through the blinds that bended like elastic around me. I flew off, following the asphalt hill behind my dorm.

For some reason, I felt tremendously powerful, and I had the urge to use that power in destructive ways. I picked up a nearby parked car with my bare hands and slammed it into a wooden fence. Not entirely satisfied, I chucked the car across the street, embedding it in an SUV. These acts of violence were only making me more antsy. MORE! I NEED MORE! A frenzied look on my face, I began to dart off, looking for new ways to exert this power. But before I can, rationality shines through and I stop myself and the still playing song. Regaining control of my emotions I play the song "Created" by Portugal. The Man to help center myself.

_________________________

04.05.2010

Release (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







"Bankai!" Energy burst out around me as I shouted the word. It had been awhile, and boy did it feel good. But there was something new I had been meaning to try out. I reach my hand up to my face, fingers bent like a claw, and start to slowly tear away at the air. Sure enough, a Vizard mask begins to form about my face. Finishing the motion, the mask forms itself to my head, obscuring some of my vision.

BA-DUMP!

My heart throbs once, violently, for a brief moment. I convulse; my back doubles over. The dark powers the mask drew forth were enormous. Looking down, I saw black rings of energy coursing up my leg. It felt fucking awesome. I revelled in the moment as everything began to normalize and I became used to the state.

_________________________

04.05.2010

New Tech (DILD)

★★☆☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







Making up my mind, I decide to try my hand out at portal creation. I focus on my fingertips, bringing as much attention to them as I can muster. My digits begin pulsating as if they were storing a large amount of energy. Not surprisingly, the dream destabilizes. By quickly utilizing a combination of my own personal focus technique and the tactile sensation on my fingertips, I'm able to ground myself enough to keep the dream going.

Reaching my hands out, I pick the first target to come to mind: Raven Knight. I pull at the air in front me with surprising results. A tall, orange, door sized, holographic interface appears. I touch it, and a 3-Dimensional globe pops up along with some controls on either side. Erm, how do I work this thing? Magically, I'm forced into third person wherein I get to see my body (Vizard mask still on) go through a tutorial on how to work the transporter.

Pick a destination.

Code it in.

Step through the gate.

Wait for the destination to load.

Engage!

The world fluctuates around me before shifting into a new environment. I'm in a tropical, forested, slightly urban area, and everything is on fire. An orange hued glow fills the hot night air while once green trees and brush lie before me, charred and blackened by the flames. I take off to see what was going on, blade at the ready.

27.04.2010

Assault (Non-lucid)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Flitting down through the air, I weave between the surreal structures of the Central Tower. Halfway down, I watch as a fellow Special is sliced to pieces by the psychic tantrum 'Alpha' was throwing within the Complex. Instinctively, I knew the same was happening to Specials across the city. The kid has lost it. If something wasn't done soon, every Special in the city would be dead by sundown. . .

Far from the tower, I still felt the effects of Alpha's continually siege. What I should do about it remained in question. Without warning my vision began to violently flicker. Pulsating with bright purple static, my sight was fading as my head began pounding from the psychic pressure. I needed to find a safe-haven.

"Go to the Burger King." A deep powerful voice surrounded me as I hovered there. Yes, of course! I flew at full speed toward the Burger King I knew to be beyond the tree line, located on one of the bay's inlets. The pressure grew stronger and stronger as I traveled; if I didn't make it there soon, it would all be over.

As the Burger King came within view, the attack on my psyche subsided just as suddenly as it had begun. Relieved to be within the safety of the Pylon, I relaxed a bit, even though every other special out there had most likely been killed. "Now, assemble the monsters here into one container. If all of them are let loose within the city, Alpha will be forced to deal with them, without your help this time."

The disembodied voice is right. If I were to place all these docile Godzilla rejects scattered about the bay into a single holding area, I might be able to transport them into the middle of the city. Alpha's fit would then cause all the monsters to lose the mental blocks I put on them long ago. Their rampage should snap Alpha out of whatever the hell set him off, and hopefully he'll spend the rest of his energy stopping them.

I got to work, and in no time flat I had collected all the creatures in the bay into one huge container. Putin my arms against the box, I hear the voice again "Concentrate!" I activate Teleport, taking myself and the box to center of the city. Instantly, the monsters inside begin freaking out. They tear through the holding crate and begin destroying the city. Okay, now I need to get the hell out. Teleporting away, I feel the assault fade away. It's going to take awhile to clean this mess up. . .

Thought for sure I was in a FA.

24.04.2010

Saturday Morning (Note)

★☆☆☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







"You're gonna want to not miss this."

Intrigued, I hurriedly donned my socks and entered my suite-mates' room. Inside was my ex-roommate and his girlfriend, positioned in front of the window. The sky was dark and murky and yet the sun found a way to shine through, providing just enough light to determine it was actually daytime. "Look out there, there are people boxing."

"Where?" I couldn't see anything from the angle I was at.

"Well, you're not gonna-- There you go." I had moved around them to see for myself that there were, indeed, two guys duking it out in the front lawn of one of the apartment buildings. Big red gloves and everything.

"Weird."

As I made my wait outside, heading toward the Commons to pick up a late breakfast, I noticed the field outside my dorm was crowded with a huge number of people. More than that, there were awnings set up along the side of the field. And half of them were in flag football gear. I RC. Nothin'.

Approaching the Commons I notice six squares of varying sized imprinted upon the concrete pillar in front of the entrance. Four on top, two on the bottom, all aligned to the left. Surrounding the squares were patches of wet concrete that defined their edges flawlessly.

I RC again. . . Still nothing.

Odd way to start a Saturday.

22.04.2010

House Party (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

"Do you hear that?"

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The two men before me looked at each other, nodded, and began tearing away the old mansion wall. The sickly green wallpaper tore away easily enough. In fact, even the steel-lined vault-like wall was able to be pulled away, layer by layer, by these men who probably had some kind of super strength going on.

Once the last layer was pulled away, a faint sigh echoed slowly through the room. There, in the wall, amidst all the wooden studs and shredded insulation, lay a body. This girl had been contorted and stuffed into the walls long ago. And yet, while she was no longer alive, neither was she fully deceased. In a sickeningly quick motion this remnant of past transgressions twisted, pulled, and tore its way out of the wall. She was headed straight at me.

Mouth hung open, black wet hair strung about her face, and eyes as black as the darkest pits of hell, she lunged at me. Aghast, I take a step backwards, rationalizing the situation as I do. "It's okay," I tell the DCs around me, "She just wanted someone to know she was here." Obviously, this statement was more to help me than the lifeless characters about me, but it did its job. Smiling at the creature inches from my face, still uneasy, I turn away to rejoin the house party.

Time passes, and I find myself on a couch. For some reason, I turn around to see what's going on in the living space behind me. Many people I don't know are hanging out around a table, drinking, laughing, and socializing.

A bright flash pulsates through the room.

Suddenly, everyone around me had transformed into demonic monsters. Fire roared around them and licked the walls of the once pristine house. Everything was charred black and the red glow of the flames shone menacingly off the wide serrated tooth lined jaws of the patrons before me. In unison, they all turned toward me. Verily freaked the fuck out, I duck my head out of sight behind the couch. Still lucid, I do my best to recreate the flash that enabled this shift of perspective. Sure enough, a white light shoots through the room.

Everything was back to normal.

19.04.2010

The Race (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

And so, with gusto, my new friends and I took to the highways. I was on a small, sleek, and terribly fast motorcycle while these three strange creatures trailed behind me. Each one of them meant me harm. I knew that, and had confronted them about it earlier. The wispy woman, whose body was made entirley of formless darkness seemed taken aback when I mentioned it. Each of them was even more surprised when I explained that, despite their ill will, I would accept and welcome them with open arms. For, I knew they could cause me no real harm, and maybe showing them just a smidgen of kindess would help to change them at a deeper level. Regardless, that was all behind us now. What lay ahead was an open road filled was fun, adventure, and daring!

Only minutes after starting our journey I found myself taking a detour. Apparently, there was an intense motorcycle race going on, and I wanted to join in. Seamlessly, the motorway I was traveling on branched off into a race-track. Upwards of twelve racers zoomed past me and my group. With a glint in my eye, I zoomed off after them, planning to win this race using any means necessary. By sheer force of will, I pushed my bike faster and faster until, within seconds, only two competitors stood between me and first.

Revving my motor, I barreled into the racer in front of me, clipping his wheel and sending him spiraling out of control. One down, one to go. Reaching out with my mind, I forcefully launched the leader, motorcycle and all, 20 feet into the air. He lost his grip on his bike as man and machine shot off the course, tumbling over the concrete wall, out of sight, out of mind, out of luck. I was home free. Excitement and happiness welled up from my core as the finish line came into view. Everything started to fade. . .

NO!

Quickly utilizing my own personal focus techniques I managed to stabilize just enough to keep myself in the dream. Gritting my teeth, determination etched upon my face, I refused to let the dream end before achieving my goal. My bike slowed as my focus shifted. Sensing the other riders gaining on me, I gripped the handlebars ferociously and, with one last push, shot forward, clearing the distance between me and the finish line in a fraction of a moment.

As peace settled in, the last thing I saw was the pale smiling face of the smoke woman. I could feel, without a doubt, that she was genuinely happy for me. I woke up, content.

Edit: Fixed for craptastic writing and grammar.

07.04.2010

Undercover (Non-lucid)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I screamed at my mother as she slammed her foot on the accelerator, the van door still wide open as we sped away from all my new friends. She didn't answer. I had just stepped into the vehicle and hadn't even gotten a chance to sit down. In a matter of moments, the people, with whom I had recently become acquainted, were nothing but specs in the rear-view mirror.

Well this is just great, I think to myself, slightly agitated by my mother's reckless actions. After a little while of driving, a police car shot up alongside us, quickly overtaking the van before cutting us off. The police car screeched to a halt, but my mother was able to brake just as quickly. We had come to a stop right in front of a dank and sketchy dock. Two officers jumped out of the car and apprehended a man near stairs leading to the murky water. Suddenly, several men further down the dock, to the left, opened fire upon the two officers. My mother yanked me down to the floor of the van.

After what seemed like a good while, I looked up and saw a man knocking on the window. However, I was no longer in the van. It turned out I was down at the station, and the window belonged to the door of the interrogation room. Two officers, different men from before, stepped in and began questioning me. I answered their inquiries fully and with such detail that I myself was actually able to see my tale visually unfold around me.

I'm back in the car, by the dock. The policemen have already approached the man near the stairs. Behind them and to the right, someone appearing in civilian dress pulls out a handgun and shouts at the two officers to watch out. It turns out he's an undercover cop who had been placed at the scene for some reason unbeknown to me. The undercover guy starts firing at the group across the dock, and they respond in kind. The two officers let their attention stray from the man they had approached just long enough for him to sneak around behind them, take the gun from the third officer, and put down all three policemen.

With the officers gone, nothing is stopping them from eliminating witnesses. They unload everything they have left into the van. Remarkably, neither myself or my mother were killed. And we were so good at hiding, that when they came to check the car, they somehow managed not to spot us. . .

BONUS ENTRY OF DOOM!

07.09.2009

Thunderdome! (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







Last night, I managed to get lucid during an in game "grand release" of Issue 16 and Going Rogue in City of Heroes/Villains. The Devs had a planned a huge event for all the new players. They were going to have a bunch of veteran players compete in a trivia game based on the game's story. In my now lucid state I realized just how lame this was. So, I took Admin powers away from the Devs, gave them to myself, banned the Devs, constructed a huge arena, filled it with all the newbies, and made the area a free for all PvP zone. I commanded everyone to go at it. The 23 survivors would win fame and status symbols. Everyone else would have their account deleted.

The battle was epic. From my lofty viewpoint, flying above the arena, I saw many bursts of colored energy blasts. Swords clashed, and the earth shook.The cheers from the audience were overwhelming. In the end, as I shouted out the names of the winners to the crowd (as they stood on their pedestals) I was surprised to see none other than Oneironaut. He had managed to survive a bout with super powered entities with nothing more than his bare hands and kick-ass trench coat.

Fun stuff.

From a Nap filled with 3 WILDs:

29.03.2010

March Basic ToTM Completion (DEILD)

★★☆☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Still holding onto my lucidity, I rack my brains trying to decide what to do next. With no goals in mind, I figure I'll just take a shot at one of the Tasks of the Month. What were they again? Oh yeah, "Taste the Rainbow." I look up, and sure enough, a dim rainbow stretched itself along the inside of the concrete archway above me. Flying up to the arch casually, I grab onto the rainbow, tearing a piece away. Surprisingly, it's somewhat elastic, just like a Fruit Roll Up.

Not wasting any time, I pop the piece into my mouth. Yuck! Indeed, it does have the texture of a Fruit Roll Up, yet it tastes like stale popcorn. Utterly disgusting. Slightly displeased, I drop back down to the ground. . .

??.02.2010

Raven: The Spar (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

"M---?" Hrm. . ? Someone is saying my name. "M---!" The room around me starts to come into focus. My consciousness catches up with me and I encounter the woman calling my name whom I recognize as. . .

"Raven?" She hugs me in response, but I can't make out anything above her neck; it's just one big blur. "Why is your head blurry?" I ask.

"I don't know. Try focusing on something." I comply and go through some focus exercises. I turn toward the scene around us: a nice sized house with wooden furnishings and squared archways between rooms. Sure enough, her facial features becomes clear and defined. Medium length black hair fell about her smiling face. I controlled my excitement to prevent waking up. This is what We've planned for.

I pull out my blade. "Don't take this personally or anything, but I want you to remember this." I dash in for a strike. She whips a Claymore out of nowhere and deflects my blow. She steps in for an attack, but I spin around, stopping the thrust with my Katana, above my head. She's fast. We're both fast. I'm pulling off moves that surprise even me. One of them, a horizontal slash to midsection, manages to make contact. I barely feel resistance as the tip of my sword passes through her belly.

No blood, odd. This brief moment of wonderment allows her to get inside my defenses and thrust her blade into my stomach. I manage to jump back just in time to avoid being run all the way through. Surprisingly, I don't feel any pain. I decide to turn it up a notch. Bankai would be unnecessary, but I could try a bit harder. Again, I start my attack. A few fancy moves later and my blade finds its way jabbed into her heart. I stop it before it can do any real damage, but we both agree to call it at that.

In the fray I had failed to notice the presence of a small boy. On a second glance, I realized, at a deeper level, this is no ordinary boy.

Upon waking I recognized him as that one boy from the X-Files. The child who held the key to everything Mulder had been searching for all these years.

I speak with him for a moment, but everything he says is difficult for me to comprehend, which is saying something. I turn my attention back to Raven, who seems to be distracted by something. "Hey Raven!" She looks up. "I want to try something on you, specifically your Witchblade, do you mind?" She shakes her head. "Cool!"

I put my left arm out, Katana still grasped in my right hand. "Chidori!" Screaming blue electricity enveloped my left palm and arm. I ran the electricity along the length of my Katana, creating a blue strip of powerful energy along the middle of the weapon. I swing it at her to test it out. Her Claymore flips out again to stop my playful swipe. My blade starts to slide into hers a bit, but her blade seemed to be actively resisting being cut. I pulled mine back.

"Chidori!" I follow the same procedure as before, but this time I spread the energy out over the entire sword. "Theoretically," I tell her, "This should be able to cut through anything." I thrust at her. Jointed blue armor forms around her body. The tip of my Chidori charged Katana makes contact with the armor covering her chest. A loud crack resounds through the room as my blade causes the Witchblade to crack and splinter around its tip. Despite this, however, my sword gets stuck before it makes its way all the way through the armor.

I pull it out and toss it to the side. "I hope I didn't startle you too much. That's just something I've been wanting to try for awhile." She seems distracted again and wanders off into the house. I turn my attention back to the child. There's another presence here now. Something I can feel, but cannot see. I pay it no mind.

The boy and I spend the rest of the dream discussing various topics. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to understand him. After awhile, I inform him that I was going to wake up now, since I had already spent so much time in the dream. He nods solemnly and I take my leave.

12.02.2010

The End (Non-lucid)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

VRRRRRRMMMM--VVVRRRRRRR! My father and I were speeding home after just narrowly escaping from a zombie filled corporate building. "Something's not right." He says, as we screech around a corner.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I don't know, the controls are all weird. Bleh! Hold on!" He guns the sleek black car down the straightaway to our house and whips the back around. His expert driving parks us right in front of our neighbor's mailbox in a flurry of smoke and burning rubber. He gets out of the car hurriedly and goes inside their house. Out of nowhere, a friend of mine jumps into the driver seat and turns the engine back on.

"The hell are you doing?!" I exclaim in protest.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" She rolls her eyes at me and takes the car back out into the main street outside my court. "Huh, that's weird." She is all over the road and seems to have absolutely no control over the car.

Frustrated, I shout at her "Get out of the way!" moving her to the side I take the wheel. To my surprise, the turning was, indeed, quite f-ed up. Spinning the wheel in any given direction would cause the car to drift off to the opposite side. It only takes me a moment to get the hang of it, though, and before we know it I've maneuvered my way back into the previous parking position. I get out of the car and look up to the smoky orange sky. What I see only confirms my fears. It's the end of the world.

Large clusters of missiles and bombs are being shot high into the sky and scattered all around the area. I turn toward the house and see my dad motioning for me to hurry my ass inside. I don't hesitate for a moment. Leaving my friend behind, I rush inside the house only to have one of the falling pieces of ordinance crash through the roof and violently pass through my leg. Surprisingly, I feel no pain. My dad takes one look at the small brown and red blinking object on the floor and his eyes go wide. "Quick! Downstairs now!"

As we close the door behind us an explosion rocks the house. My father pulls out a shotgun and explains we would have to hold out here for the time being. I understand completely.

Time lapses, and it turns out the world had been taken over by sentient robots. I'm watching a scene where two of them, who look exactly like me (apparently the thing that passed through my leg collected a DNA sample), discuss breaking into our stronghold. They conclude that if they both go they would lose only one robot life in exchange for the two humans residing below. "Acceptable losses," they called it.

Meanwhile, the rest of the invasion force is searching for the last hope humanity has for survival: The Avatar (think more 'last airbender' not the popular movie). Long story short, they find her, and end her life in a most spectacular fashion. All hope is officially lost. . .

17.01.2010

Making Fiends (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I heard a knock coming from the back work room. I go to investigate, leaving my friend unattended. KA-KRACK! Lightning struck outside, illuminating the cold dark room and the sharp steel tools and saw blades that lined the walls. In the flash, I made out a figure climbing up the wet concrete steps outside. It looked back at me and I saw it was the hag from before, the witch I had given the human test subject to for experimentation!

Oh, no. . .

Had she come to return my gift? I needed to warn my friend.I rushed out to the main basement area only to be pounced upon by the creature I feared would be there. It tore at my arms and opened my skin. I was infected. I felt the virus starting to take hold and watched, helpless, as my friend, who had come to help me, was infected in the same manner I had been.

Spoiler for MIND SCAR:

We had to get the cure. . . fast. I called for my father, who had training in these matters, and it turned out he was in the back room all along. With his help, we managed to synthesize a cure composed of various herbs, grasses, and shit. Lots and lots of shit. Using my hands, I mixed the herb components with the gooey brown fecal matter, but I was running out of time. I had to apply the cure to my now quickly decaying body. Taking a handful of the chunky brown and green mixture, I smeared it all over my face. I didn't care how stomaching wrenchingly disgusting the action was; I was determined to live.

I felt the effects in moments. Life was rushing back into me, and survival was in my grasps. Shit! I accidentally opened my left eye, getting crap all over it. Needless to say, it was unpleasant.

A small amount of time passed, bringing my health back to it's previous state. Now, I wanted to go upstairs. Hmm, having something chase me up these stairs would be interesting. Let's try to create something! I focused on the darkness, but was only able to create vague shape. I turned back to the door for a second before looking behind me yet again.

"GRAAAHR!" the ravenous zombie-like monster behind me yelled as it attacked me. I barreled up the stairs lightning fast and closed the door behind me. The creature kept right on my tail and apparently knew how to use a door handle. I stepped into the kitchen and turned around, watching the basement doors.

I'm dreaming. I fear nothing as the infected bursts through the basement door. It snarls at me ravenously, but I hold firm. I make no effort to reach for my blade. I was going to break the cycle. "Hey, you can attack me and try to scare me all you'd like, but it's all pointless." As if to prove me wrong, it lunges at me at full sprint. I step to the side and let it pass, showing no aggression. It makes a sharp turn and tries again, but I dodge to the side leaving it back where it started.

"See," I say, building up happiness as I speak, "why don't we be friends instead?" The zombie relaxes and puts its gnarled hands at its sides. Then, it transforms, shedding off its appearance in a swirl of dark purple energy. What remains is a girl, about my age, with long black hair and pale skin, clothed in a dark colored glossy dress.

"Fine." she says, almost cautiously. I smile, walk over to her, and take her hand.

What follows is a montage of us building a friendship. The scene cuts to me showing her around a cityscape that is plastered in images of me in my lucid state, but I don't look like me, I look kinda like Lucas from SSBB. And the only difference between my lucid state and non-lucid state is a small puft of hair. I explain my importance and the good I do for the people here while lucid. She tells me she's a dream demon.

"Oh, what's your na-"

"Michelle," she answers before I can finish. I smile again. I'm in a really good mood, now, as a direct result of the emotional control I displayed earlier. Michelle shows me some of the forms she has taken in past dreams. One of them is a disturbingly obese child that appears to have Downs or some other form of mental handicap. The gender is indecipherable and the bodily proportions of the kid are barely human. Thanks to the great mood I'm in, I find this hysterical.

Michelle suggests I try out a "Chuckie" dream, and I agree. My lucidity is subpar at this point. The scene changes yet again and I find myself in a deserted trailer in the middle of a dark forest. I'm sitting at a desk and eerie music is playing. However, even when the doll, or whatever it is, attacks me from behind, I'm not frightened at all. I simply exit the body I was in and find myself looking down on Michelle as she hovers over a small box in a frenzied cackle.

My new body is incorporeal and is attached to the old one by a stream of pale, wavy, blue, distilled light. The old body is in the box which is shaking wildly and emitting shouts and screams. Michelle doesn't seem to notice me behind her. Still, I'm not too concerned. I lift my right hand parallel to me and muster forth a bit of excitement. Sure enough, a bright white light builds up inside the box and the right side blasts off violently, expelling debris all over the the place. My other body flies out and gives Michelle a truly pleased and care-free look.

"I win! ^.^" I somehow have it say, making sure to convey the emotion that is synonymous with that emoticon.

"I hate you. . ." she states dejectedly.

My brother's alarm goes off.

Here's another "short" part of the long LD. I might do another one later too. Try to guess which one of the ones I posted happened first. XD

14.01.2010

A Dark Reality (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

The following excerpt comes from an hour+ long LD.

Is that. . ? A Mew?

"Mew!" the pink Pokemon coos as it floats about in the air before me. It's stylized, exactly as it would be in the anime or a drawing. It seems like it wants me to follow it. Sure enough, it starts zipping away through the brightly, and naturally, lit building motioning for me with its tail.

I take off at a run, but it just isn't fast enough. Fly gets toggled on, but I'm still only barely able to keep up as it darts over and around various beams and corners. Before long, I lose track of it. Not giving up, I go the direction I think it went, which leads me outside to. . . my court?

There's the Mew, hovering high above my driveway. Dropping to the ground, I follow it to the street in the middle of the culdesac. The cloudless blue sky shone brightly and clearly, and to my surprise many more small airborne Pokemon scattered the sky around my neighborhood. I felt oddly at peace.

The Mew, still in the air, motions to the street below. Particularly, it motions to a strange portal. The portal looks almost like an old oil spill: A shiny, dark, blue, film-like, center with moving wavy gold loops along the outside. The whole thing is sparking visible bolts of electricity all around the inside. I couldn't make out what was on the other side. I didn't know what the Mew wanted me to do. I figure jumping through it wouldn't hurt. Maybe someone I know will be on the other side? I take the plunge.

The oddest feeling rushes over me as I quickly slide into the opening. I don't have time to savor it as I'm spat out into a brand new world that is. . . also my court? Weird. Weirder still is the blood red, black streaked, sky above me. It is unsettling. I don't have time to take that in either, because before I know it some humanoid creatures start to approach me. They look mostly human, but their features are augmented by spiky jaws, white bony skin, and claw like fingers. At least they're wearing clothes.

"Git 'im." One of them says to the other. It try to pull out my Katana, but they're on me too fast. One gets my arms into a lock behind my head, while the other subdues my feet. Things are looking really bad. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

Fire! Instinct takes over and large jets of molten hot fire shoot out of the ground around me in an large Area of Effect. This feat startles the creatures into loosening their grip on me. Instead of simply breaking free, however, I take control of the very earth itself, forcing huge jagged spikes to jut out of the ground. The creatures are killed instantaneously. Their bodies and clothes are rent to shreds, freeing me from their grasps.

I think I'm free and clear, but almost right away I see there are more of them coming for me. One of them has a really long Katana. I reach down to my side and quickly pull out my sword. It's not nearly long enough. Before I can use a finger trick to extend it the guy with the Katana attacks me. It's all I can do to block it in time.

The others start to surround me. There's around five or six of them, all with similar features to the last two guys. They're grinning widely, some of them let out a sinister chuckle. I'm freaking out. I keep my stance, but back up as to not let any of them behind me. An almost paralyzing fear and worry gripped me. What had I gotten myself into? Everything was so nice and peaceful before. . .

Regardless, I had a battle to fight. I strike out at the guy with the Katana. My cut only goes skin deep. He looks down at it and laughs maniacally, mockingly, violently swatting my blade out of his skin with his own. He swings at me again. I block, backing up even further, now entering my garage. I perform a quick volley of assaults, faster than the average eye could follow. All of them hit their mark, but again, all of them only pierce the topmost layer of skin.

I was getting nervous. It had to be my blade. I needed a new one. How about his? Instinctively, I pull on all my archetypes that involve severing limbs. I ended up focusing on the Monty Python and The Holy Grail scene in which King Arthur fights the Black Knight. I swat down at his arm sloppily, I don't need to actually cut it. Sure enough, his arm plops off nice and cleanly.

Their smiles turn to displeased grimaces as I grab the long blade from the air before gravity could take hold of it, throwing my old one to the side. "What the hell?" the now armless creature bellows. I proceed to quickly sever the right arms of all the creatures in the same manner, lightly and sloppily 'pushing' on their shoulder socket with the tip of my new sword. "Aww, that's just fucking idiotic," says the guy who had previously owned the Katana.

Suddenly, they all look out to the distance. What's going on? Is something happening out there? The same one speaks again: "You all go and take care of it. This kid ain't got nothin'. I'll deal with him myself." He regenerates his arm and sword as the others take off into the darkness outside. I'm still slowly backing up, on my garage stairs now.

My opponent gives me a smirk. Sensing my continued fear. We're at the top of the stairs. He rushes at me, I quickly open the door and step to the left, parrying as I did so. Before he could recover, I whipped myself and my Katana around severing his blade arm in a downward thrust. I follow that up with a swift kick to his side, knocking him clumsily into the house. Before he can come back out, I sever his other arm and close the door on him. I focus on the lock and do something to it so it can't be opened from the inside.

After a moment of waiting, I realize I'm home free. I discard my blade and head out to the street. What was this place? Could Raven be here by chance. . ?

I'm not writing out the whole LD. It was way too long and I'm on vacation. I might write up one of the other ones I had last night, though. Meh, who am I kidding.

14.01.2010

January Adv. ToTM Completion (DILD)

★★☆☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

The following is an excerpt from an hour+ long LD.

Frustrated by my failure to locate her, I decide to go about the ToTM as scheduled, without her. There are plenty of DCs around. A couple walking up and down the street, a few off to the side of the road, sitting on benches. I start up my plan, queuing up Guns and Dogs by Portugal. The Man. Once the distinctive sounds and lyrics hit my ears I start my transformation.

I shrink to a quarter my height, slowly falling down onto all fours, my limbs constricting, my joints changing, and my hands and feet becoming paws. My clothes melt into me, becoming a silky black fur coat. I feel my ears elongate and flop down about face as my nose and mouth stretch forward. All of this is happening at once. I'm surprised it feels so easy and natural.

I am now a dog. Not quite sure what breed, but I'm definitely on the smaller side. As soon as the transformation completes, I trot over to an older woman on a nearby bench who is reading a newspaper. I curl up on her feet, brushing my soft fur against her leg. She looks down, smiles, and makes the effort to bend over and pet me. Boy does it feel good. She would make a good owner.

I think it's only fair to state in advance I left out an important detail in this dream. Here's hoping Raven can remember it and fill it in.

13.01.2010

Enter Raven (DEILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Woke up again. I just couldn't seem to stay in these dreams for longer than 5 minutes. I decided to try again.

I stayed perfectly still and soon enough I felt the onset of SP. After what seemed like mere seconds someone or something started piling covers on top of me.

I RC, and sure enough, I'm dreaming. I start to get out of bed, but whatever was piling those covers on top of me jumps on my back weighing me down. Standard Flight wasn't gonna cut it, so I pulled upon my archetypes from Heroes and the Matrix to allow me to fly at high speeds while still carrying weight.

I shatter through the sliding glass door onto the balcony. Twisting in the air, shaking off whatever it was as I came to a hover 50 feet above the resort's pool. Everything was so clear and vivid. The green grass of the golf course behind us complemented the blue haze of the mountains in the distance. The blue waters of the pool shimmered and rippled in the warm beating sunlight. There were people everywhere, enjoying their vacation.

I fly to the front of the resort, trying to remember what it was I wanted to do. I know! Let's attempt some shared dreaming!
I wonder how to go about something like that for a moment, and choose to try a method Raven Knight frequently uses. But what song to use? I try to think of a good Portugal. The Man song that would be most conducive to a task such as this. For some reason I decide upon "Elephants."

Sure enough, what I believe to be the song starts playing in the background. While I'm oblivious to the fact that the song playing is, in fact, not "Elephants," and is closer to "Gold Fronts," but I really don't care. You see, the song, the beat, the lyrical styling, all culminated into an overwhelming feeling of pure bliss, happiness, and power. I twirl and flit about in the air, just letting the music flow over me. I'm on top of the world. There is nothing I can't do.

I attempt to rip open a portal with my hands in the air in front of me. No good. A few more experiments end in failure before I come up with a new plan. Hovering over to a nearby street lamp/pole thingy (it was fairly wide), I push my hands into the solid metal and pull it apart. To my surprise, a hole had formed, behind which I could easily make out what appeared to be the streets of a small town of sorts. I step through and find myself in a scene reminiscent of an old European village.

Dirt roads wind through the colorful wooden buildings, the architecture of which is very square and practical. I follow one of them to an open building where I see two people, one male, one female. I call up to them, asking, "Raven?" the girl leans over the rafters, knocking down a bit of hay as she does so, saying, "Not here." I turn back, walking only a little while further, before running into another pair of people, again a male and female. The female looks a lot like Raven's Skype picture, except much slimmer. The guy has longish hair and what seemed to be odd dreadlocks. "Raven? Is that you?" I ask the woman.

She looks at me quizzically. "Who. . ?"

"It's me!" I state, excitedly. She seems very cautious of me as does the man she was talking to.

"Wait. . . Are you. . ?" It looks as if she gains a sudden realization, so I reach out my hand for a handshake, but it turns into a hug. However, I feel the dream start to fade due to an overabundance of excitement.

I didn't get to say goodbye.

08.01.2010

Europium (DILD)

★★★★★

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Trying to meet up with some family, I see the person I'm looking for. She looks. . . tense. I head through the crowded plaza, bumping into other nervous looking people. I notice exchanges of money as people passed each other. It was happening all around me.

One person that bumped into me freaked out a bit and followed me, apologizing profusely. I kinda just ignored him. I made my way all the way to the other side only to lose her again. A tall man in a hoodie comes up to me and tries to push some kind of plastic baggy into my hands saying, "Hey, man, here you go."

"What is this?" I asked, refusing to take the bag.

"Europium, dude, now go sell it." He looked to his side, showing signs of paranoia.

"Naw, it's cool, I don't do that kinda thing." I state bluntly walking away as he shook his head at me. I made my way into an open building without doors showcasing a light orange interior. Three men approached me.

"Not, gonna follow the rules, eh?" The one in the tan sweat shirt says in a deep voice. "Then you're gonna have to face the consequences!" He whipped out what looked like a quarter and put it between his digits, making a fist and smiling broadly. "This here's a coin blade. It'll slice you up real nice." He swings at my head, but I put up my right arm to block. The coin cuts through my green trench coat and does, indeed, 'slice me up real good.'

Fuck fuck fuck. This hurts way too much.

Calm down. It's just a dream. I regain my composure. I stand, relaxed, with my hands at my side. I know this is my world. I have all the power here. "I'm impressed that you managed to cut me. I commend you for that. However, it won't happen again." He simply smiles that big toothy smile and comes at me like a maniac, swinging wildly. His mouth practically foaming.

I block and deflect at his forearm, avoiding contact with his small blade. One of his friends tries to come at me from the side. I dodge his punch, grab his wrist, and hurl him into the man with the grey sweatshirt who is also in the middle of a punch. They end up exchanging blows with each other. Before they can recover, I proceed to properly disable them, practically turning them into joined pretzels.

The other guy looks terrified. He takes a hesitant step back before deciding to come at me anyways. I just throw him hard into the other two. He gets back up, and I give him a strong glare. He takes a look at the two men lying crippled on the floor, gets the message, and scampers off the way I had came in.

I walk out the back door. There's a large twisted walkway with large natural barriers on either side. I turn a corner only to come face to face with what I can only assume are more of these drug dealing nazis. I go to the big one that looks like the leader of the group. He's wearing a red sports sweater with some words on it. I treat him like an ordinary DC. "Tell me how to get out of here."

"Why would I do that?" He asks, slightly perturbed by my presence for some reason.

"Look, I just kicked the asses of the three guys you sent at me. And I'll do the same to all of you if you don't tell me."

"Did you kill them?" he inquires in a somewhat expecting way.

"No, I try not to kill if I don't have to. Now, are you going to tell me or not."

Subdued laughter ripples through the group. One of them steps forward, wielding a Katana. He reminds me of Sasuke for some reason ((so that's what I'll call him)). Two others, one male, one female, join behind him, also wielding Katanas. I reach down to my side to pull out my blade. Unfortunately, I have trouble forming the handle and all I manage to pull out is the blade with a thin metal extension where the hilt is supposed to be. I know I can work with this, though, taking my stance.

All three come at me. Sasuke starts his volley. I deflect every cut easily. The girl attacks from my left. I parry her blow, and flick my blade around her sword, pushing it out of the way. The edge of my Katana's blade now rests against her neck. She looks terrified. "You're done, step out." I say to her.

"But--"

"Don't argue with me. Step. Out." I apply a bit of pressure to her neck. She quickly drops her sword, backs off, and joins the others. I throw down my blade. I need a decent sword if I'm going to do this. I reach back down to pull out another blade. I feel the hilt form properly and begin to pull it out. I look down to help solidify it.

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye I see Sasuke dart at me. I don't manage to draw my blade in time and am rewarded with a Katana piercing through my body. Sasuke removes his blade from my right lung, making sure to rip it out at an angle to cause even more damage. My eyes go wide. The hell? This is the most intense pain I have ever felt, dream or no. My body feels like it wants to shut down. . .

. . .

No. I can't give in. I stand upright, ignoring the searing pain in my chest. I rush at him. He parries almost all of my attacks, but even the ones I land don't do much damage at all. Screw this. I stop. I grab my right arm and hold out my Katana.

"Ban--kai!"

Invisible energy explodes from my body, creating a huge gust of sustained wind that throws about the dust from the ground around me. I move at incredible speeds, closing the distance between us in less than a second. He is unable to match my speed, and the torrent of cuts I rain down upon him go un-deflected.

Still no damage?! I swing harder, losing myself in attack as I push him back farther and farther. Out of nowhere, his blade comes in from the right. I jump to the side, but my reaction is too late. More blinding pain wracks my body. I push it out of my mind as Sasuke barrels at me once more. I dodge, throw my blade to my left hand, grab his wrist with my right hand, and attempt to sever his arm.

Oddly, though, my Katana has transformed itself into a razor sharp metallic whip. I strike his arm several times in succession, each time tearing a large portion of skin and muscle from his right arm. Everything starts to fade. The fighting isn't helping matters. I start to run in the opposite direction. Sasuke isn't able to keep up with me. Once he's out of sight I sit and cross my legs. Everything is fading fast. I figure I'll just go peacefully. Sasuke's male henchman has other ideas, though.

He's running towards me carrying what appears to be a large plaster board. I don't bother getting up when he reaches me. For some reason he starts lightly hitting me on the top of the head with it. "Look, dude, all you're doing is stabilizing the dream for me." Sasuke appears behind him and throws him off to the side. Gorrammit. . .

Looks like it's not quite over, yet. I start to attack him, yet again, but he starts doing backflips away from me. This is just getting annoying now. "Getsuga Tenshou!" A streak of blue energy erupts from my sword, which was a Katana again. Every swing of the blade shot out another cyclical blast. I keep up the pressure as he flips over and dodges each one. Finally, one of them clips his side, tearing his baggy white clothes and knocking him to the side. I quickly close the distance between us.

I point the tip of my blade at him. He tries to scamper away as he gets up. In a raspy determined voice I whisper, "Getsuga Tensou." Sure enough a brownish orange tornado forms from the tip of my blade and traps the bastard in its vortex. "Not so tough, now, are ya?" I bang his spinning, trapped, helpless body on the ground a few times. For some reason, my blade is now an ornate spear-like halberd.

I start to walk back toward the others while Sasuke is still stuck in the violently swirling wind protruding from my newly morphed blade. Everything is starting to fade again. I doubt he's still conscious, but the tornado is sustaining itself just fine without any help from me, so I allow myself to wake with Sasuke still ensnared by my sword's power.