+ Your imagination can't hurt you! +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: YOU!
Where: The Mindscape
When: starting November 11th
Rating: may be up to R for character deaths
Summary: Navigate challenges to learn valuable lessons about nonviolence, cooperation, and self-sacrifice! Release your inner animal! Read more about the event here, and on the bulletin board.
The Story:




"If you know yourself, you have nothing to fear."
"Working together is the only way."
"Deaths are a necessary part of life, but not all deaths are necessary."
"The needs of the many outweigh the life of just one."

Comments

[stefanged]

It looks the same, but I think I heard something.

[He walks towards the door. There had been a few locks and bolts, firmly sealing this place from the inside - and with the first reaction complete, one lock had... well, unlocked itself.]

Huh.

[Stefan furrows his brow, reaching out and poking it as if it'll send them back to the start.

Nope, it's still unlocked and unresponsive as ever.]

Okay, uh - it looks like each reaction'll unlock a part of this door. Do you see anything else on your side? Another reaction or formula, maybe?

[accelerate]

[ while stefan's preoccupied with trying to open the second door that's revealed itself, barry presses his palms flat against the glass panel separating them and tries to phase through. ]

[ hands vibrating, all he feels is the flat surface of glass beneath the heels of his palms. ]

[ he pulls back, feeling a little defeated — and just in time for stefan's smart deduction. nancy drew has nothing on you. ]

Okay, okay … [ it's a mumble to himself as barry glances around, plucking that marker from his jeans pocket. when he looks back to stefan, he exclaims, ] Hey! Wonderland's given us something new!

[ thanks, wonderland. if only life had this kind of service, barry wouldn't need to go and break the universe. it seems like there's a few cubes on the table, along with more chemicals. perhaps it wants them to make some tea? ]

Is that sugar?

[stefanged]

[Sugar? In a chemistry lab??

Stefan's starting to wonder about his (seemingly) absent-minded professor, but Barry's correct: there's a new set-up, and this time, Stefan doesn't have to do the hard work.

He glances over at Barry as he makes his way over. There isn't a recipe on this side. There may never be a recipe on this side.]

It looks like it. [He pokes the cube, knowing full well that he shouldn't try to eat it. Or anything in this lab.] Do you see anything?

I've got uh, HCl here, ethanol, and I think H₂SO₄.

[accelerate]

Sulphuric acid!

[ he's a little too cheerful about that. knowing what wonderland's trying to get them to do is always going to have barry exclaiming like he's winning. it's odd, considering barry often wings being the flash. ]

Sorry …

[ he glances around, finding a flicker of an equation on his side of the glass. he can't quite see the entire thing, but he thinks he knows what it wants to do. he remembers doing this in school. ]

If it wants us to do what I'm thinking, there's a possibility your mind's going to be blown. [ he's quick to amend: ] Not literally! Just, you know, scientifically.

[ this time, when barry writes on the glass, he does so backwards on his end. he writes (slowly): mix sugar + sulphuric acid to get carbon. ]

[stefanged]

I hope it's only scientific.

[Stefan doesn't think he could survive a literal mind explosion - witches can perform aneurysms, and they're absolutely no fun to experience.

He glances over at Barry's notes as he drops all the cubes into a large beaker, and then an appropriate amount of sulphuric acid. Almost immediately, the mixture starts bubbling as the acid slowly makes its way to the bottom of the beaker. Taking a thin stirring glass, Stefan mixes it very, very cautiously...

Its color changes rapidly from amber to a very very dark brown, and -

Black ooze is climbing out of the beaker. Repeat, black ooze is climbing out of a smoking beaker.

Stefan jumps back, back pressed against the wall, as that carbon just keeps climbing higher and higher.]

Um. [He points at the beaker.] What just happened?

[accelerate]

[ ah, that black ooze he'd wanted to press his fingers into and mould like it was dough. barry remembers learning this lesson back in school and being completely enamoured by it all. ]

[ he still is. there's no denying the pure excitement on his face at the mere sight of something he's forgotten to take comfort in. running at macha speeds, trying to outwit metas, attempting to stay on time when he's naturally tardy — it's all made him forget this. this pure joy, something he once felt compelled to tell his father about, so he'd gone to joe. ]

Carbon. It's meant to do that. Dude, you just dehydra — [ barry's head turns when he hears a very loud click. ] A door! That wasn't there before.

[stefanged]

I'm sorry, did you say that it's supposed to -

[Stefan doesn't get a chance to argue. Another lock's undone on his side.]

We're one step closer, then. See if you can open your door?

[He's not entirely paying attention to Barry, though. Stefan takes two fingers, points them at his eyes, then at the still-oozing black beaker. He's got his eyes on you, big scary beaker, and he's gonna make sure nothing backfires when they're so dang close.]

[accelerate]

[ a lovely box of matches appears beside the oozing carbon tube, sitting there like a rather tempting offer of blood to a shark. barry should've seen it, given how he's been surveying the environment around him for clues and loopholes, but he's too excited by reliving his science lessons in school to let it process properly. ]

[ he's slightly out of eye shot, half of himself shielded by how the panel of glass doesn't encompass the entire wall. wrapping his fingers around the handle, he pulls. ]

I swear it opened. [ he shouts louder: ] You heard it open, right? I'm not going crazy because I'm not too sure if this room's properly ventilated!

[ glancing up, barry notes how stefan can't see his hand from this angle, and so he decides to press his other hand, the one not wrapped around a handle and trying to fight it, and attempts to phase through. ]

[ with no luck. perhaps if barry pressed the button to his left, he'd find himself having an easier time. ]

[stefanged]

I definitely heard it open!

[Hm. There's a box of matches, just like the last test. Maybe he's gotta test its flammability too.

Stefan reaches over and lights one, careful to not touch his fingers as he holds it over and - and that is definitely not the carbon. That would be a strand of his hair, and one strand becomes two, and two become four.

Fibonacci would've been proud.

The ensuing smoke - and lots of it - set off the sprinklers before any permanent, lingering damage is done. Forget Stefan's hair gel, or any of his cute, fancy science tricks: he's drenched from head to toe. His burnt strands of hair flop over his eyes as he tries (and fails) to blow them out of his face.

Maybe, just maybe, he should've asked Barry before he continued.]

[accelerate]

[ it's the story of his life: he's not fast enough. ]

[ barry allen doesn't realise he needs to press the button to click the door open. his bony elbow accidentally slams against it, prompting the door to release a breath. it opens easily beneath his hand — and his gleeful expression slips from his face. ]

[ the floor's just as soaked as his new friend, who's looking a little on the toasted side with his hair. ]

Dude. [ his arms flop against his sides in defeat. there's nothing he can do; they'd won the challenge, stefan had set his hair on fire, and the lab they're in has saved stefan from becoming a ball of fire. ] For real?

[stefanged]

[His singed, no-longer-gelled hair speaks for him.

The chemistry lab was Stefan-proof: those sprinklers are still going, and he can only hang his head in shame as he stomps over towards Barry's side.]

I thought it was like the last one.

[Note to future self: listen to every instruction and ASK before lighting those matches.

But the lab isn't crumbling beneath their feet, and the wind isn't howling, and - and the mindscape still stands. With a sigh of relief, the sprinklers go off and he expectantly curls his fingers into a fist.]

Clearly, we're still okay, so... [Fistbump?]

[accelerate]

[ barry's not an angry person (not when there's a non-speedster involved) and any expected frustration doesn't come. he's amused, finding the water to be somewhat of a grounding foundation for him to remember where he is, none of this is entirely real, and it could've been worse. ]

[ he could never deny a brother a well-earned fistbump. his fingers fold into his palm and he hits stefan's knuckles with his own. ]

Are you sure you're okay? [ his eyes narrow slightly, then he looks stefan up and down, and does his best not to wince (and fails) at the sight of his hair. ] Not burnt … elsewhere?

[stefanged]

Trust me, you'd know.

[Fire always beats vampire. Had those sprinklers not drenched him, he would've spontaneously burst into flame. Stefan can't help scrunching up his face at the thought.]

So... we won? My pyrokinetic stupidity aside?

[accelerate]

[ barry smiles, ] Pyrokinetic stupidity aside, we won.

[ he glances around, the smile fading just a little. ] Except there's no winnings. [ he groans softly. his stomach grumbles, a sound much lower than his whiny noise. looking around the lab, there's nothing but chemicals, some sugar cubes, and tools. his hand's on his stomach before he even realises what he's doing. ] I really wanted some victorious pie.

[stefanged]

When we're back in Wonderland, I promise, we'll grab some to go.

[He ducks his head to hide his smile. Stefan motions towards the now-closed door, holding it open for Barry.]

In the meantime, I think we'll take our victories where we can.

[accelerate]

[ if only stefan understood just how many rounds they'll need to make in order to grab to go satisfactorily. ]

[ even though his stomach grumbles just a little, barry remains focused. with a nod and a promise of goos, he glances around the lab and does his best not to get distracted by the equipment that looks a little shiny in its newness. ]

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to prefer doors to rabbit holes. Don't tell the White Rabbit I said that. [ said with a smile, barry walks right through the door — ]

[ and he's not exactly in a laboratory's hallway, just as he'd expected to be. ]