+ It's good that we can't see what isn't there +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: EVERYONE
Where: Wonderland and adjacent dimensions!
When: Friday, April 21st to Monday, April 24th
Rating: PG-13, warn if higher!
Summary: A place to list your tears throughout the event, and describe the worlds that can be seen or accessed through them. Event Post.
The Story:

While invisible zombies ravage Wonderland, tears are popping up everywhere! Through them characters can see versions of themselves from alternate universes. Some of them show a different version of Wonderland, some a different version of their home. Some are as benign as a character drinking coffee instead of tea, others are as drastic as somebody's entire personality changed completely.

On day one tears are so small as to barely even be recognisable. Faint voices and melodies can be heard through the tiny cracks if you step really close, but these brief and indistinct glimpses are barely even worth describing.

On day two tears have opened up wide enough to recognise them for what they really are. Yesterday's melodies will sound clearer, and the voices will become decidedly familiar, belonging to people characters know, sounding perhaps even like the characters themselves. Look through the tears and they may catch sight of home, or something that merely looks like another part of Wonderland. The tears are yet narrow and instable though, and the field of vision is correspondingly poor.

On day three the tears have grown a great deal. The worlds beyond them can be seen and heard, though most cannot be interacted with at all. Only the biggest ones are already stable enough for characters to stick their hand inside, and pulls through any objects within reach.

On the fourth and last day some tears have finally become large and stable enough for characters to pass through whole. Not all tears will reach this stage, but those who have can be visited, and the world beyond them explored... at each character's own peril.

Comments

L E O N A R D

[demonstrate]

( iris is backed against a wall, gun pressed tightly to her chest.

the thing about events is that despite the warning they come with, you never know the exact moment when they'll hit, and they usually do when iris is scattered from her loved ones. barry, clementine, all of the friends she's made within and outside wonderland: she worries for their safety, and does her best to navigate the hallways as smoothly as possible, helping whoever needs it along the way. she doesn't need to be a superhero to do that: to help and make a difference.

for now, there is silence, but iris doesn't trust it. all she has for company is her ragged breathing and the pounding in her chest, but she doesn't let her guard down. and she is right to keep it, for she begins to hear a scratching sound once more. a zombie is approaching, but she does not know from where.

she could really use some of that ice of yours, buddy. )

[catchacold]

[Ask and you shall receive. Leonard's gun goes off as he aims it, coming in from the hallway and spotting Iris. Of course the gun isn't aimed at her, instead it freezes the surviving, temperature dropping considerably, but more importantly... Yes.

Leonard immediately spots the actual zombies once ice crystallises on them - by now he has an eye for it - and he shoots again, icing them over.

With that done, he walks over to Iris, shouldering his gun, because why not pose a little.]

Cool?

[demonstrate]

( iris is only a fraction slower on the uptake.

leonard has already iced the zombies by the time she's lifted her gun up in their direction. she's never been afraid to fire a gun if she needed to. being a cop's daughter has its perks, and joe was determined to show her how to throw a good punch and how to acquire a good aim.

her shoulders drop in relief. )

... Cool. ( yeah, she'll give him this one. she moves over to where he is, though she keeps an eye on the zombies just in case wonderland doesn't have more tricks up its sleeve. ) This place decided zombies weren't bad enough, it had to make them invisible?

[catchacold]

From what I can make out of them, that might be a blessing in disguise. Don't think they'd be winning any pageants.

[Leonard leans against the wall, gun still cocked, leg lifted to prop his foot against the wall as well. Nothing unusual, he's looking pretty relaxed.]

Don't mind the zombies, actually. Finally something to freeze.

[demonstrate]

( she really shouldn't be surprised, and y e t. iris cranes her neck to look back at him like exqueeze me. )

Does anything faze you?

[catchacold]

[Actually a good question. Leonard thinks for a moment, reflecting on his life, then finally nods.]

Used to. Think I'm a bit past that now.

[He's been through it all twice at this point.]

But jumpscares never got to me.

[demonstrate]

That's because they were never meant to be real.

( they're movies or they're video games, intended for an audience that finds itself on the other side of the screen, unharmed if not intrigued. wonderland brings it all to life and tosses them into the arena, usually with no life vest at the ready.

and if zombies aren't fazing leonard, then maybe the sound of his own voice behind them will.

a tear is forming right before them, giving them a glimpse into an alternate reality that is his and his alone. )

[catchacold]

[To be fair, he doesn't tend to flinch even when gunshots go off or speedsters appear from nowhere, whether any of that was meant to be real is debatable.

But, yes, that does get his attention, as he turns his head to see himself, somewhere that looks like it could be a set right out of Star Wars or Trek. It's the oculus, just before the explosion, and he's not even surprised.

All as usual, Time Masters trying to stop them, fire, ice and other guns keeping them from it. Leonard watches himself listen to Mick's explanation of what he's doing. Same as happened before. There's a difference, finally, when he kisses him, not all that dissimilar to the kiss him and Sara have shared in his actual reality, if with a lot more familiarity and feeling behind it. But that makes sense. It's Mick.

He doesn't even need to hear his next words to know what they are.

My old friend. Please forgive me.

With that he punches Mick out. Back in familiar territory. Sara carries Mick off, with both their guns, and that Leonard is just like he was, surrounded by Time Masters, moments from the explosion, ready for his last words.

There are no strings on me.

The explosion is bright, it's just as Leonard remembers. The last thing he remembers. He shields his eyes with one hand and turns to Iris, raising his eyebrows.]

Well. That was fun and dramatic.

[demonstrate]

( iris doesn't know that she'd call any of that fun.

she doesn't even know that she'd call it dramatic, as the word often carries with it the unspoken belief that such a level of emotion is unwarranted. when the aliens invaded, leonard snart was nowhere to be found, and ray palmer called him a hero. it hadn't meant much to iris at the time. she couldn't remember all the events wonderland crafted for them, events wherein a friendship was manufactured until quite suddenly it became genuine.

she finds that she cannot be glib in the face of this tear, and so she turns to len with her distress plainly written on her features. )

Was any of it real?

[catchacold]

If I get this right then somewhere all of it might be real.

[Parallel universes and all that. But that's not really what Iris is asking, so Leonard lifts his shoulders in a slight shrug and wonders where the significant differences between this and what had been his reality really were.]

Very close to what happened. Give or take some kissing.

Seen myself die a lot today already. Been fun.

[demonstrate]

( with anyone else, iris would be taking a step forward and placing a hand on their back. nurturing as she is, she can never quite stop herself from reaching out. but this wouldn't be comforting to leonard, and so she doesn't even think of doing it.

no, she stays where she is, the hand that she'd have extended anyone else replaced by something quieter in her gaze.

fun, he says in that voice of his, but she has to know better, doesn't she? )

Not the word I'd use. ( is iris actually angry on captain cold's behalf? possibly. ) It's sick, and you shouldn't have to see any of this.

[catchacold]

You're sweet. [He's actually genuine when he says that, not that he's really capable of keeping that edge of mockery completely out of his tone.]

I think I'd rather see that then me with another life entirely. Like my mirror.

[So many mirrors he keeps breaking.]

You seen anything yet?

[demonstrate]

( he's right, though. iris is sweet, not that it keeps her from punching a motherfucker when she needs to. but she's seen different sides to leonard snart since arriving in wonderland, and it goes beyond the weird alternate worlds wonderland likes to force them into.

this dynamic they have, it's been forged by them and them alone. )

Weirdly enough, I get that. ( it's harder to see a lie. a lie that could've never been possible.

she shakes her head at his question, though. )

Not yet, but we need to keep moving, so I'm dreading that it's only a matter of time. You ready?

[catchacold]

Oh yeah. What's the worst that could happen?

[It's said with enough of a sarcastic edge that it's clear he's very aware of how that's always the sentence to say when the worst is definitely going to happen. Maybe being genre savvy can help.

He keeps the cold gun at the ready and heads down the hallway, making sure she keeps pace with him.]

So many dull moments here and then this.