3789/Indiana Jones and the Temple of Snooze

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Snooze
Date of Scene:	03 August 2019
Location:	The Dream Realm
Synopsis:	When ancient temple exploration turns into a kid's game show?
Cast of Characters:	Ariel Theodore, Norie Okana, Kotomi Kobana
Tinyplot:	Fragments of Something Precious

---

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    Another night, another foray into the world of dreams. Tonight's a little different though after consulting that ominous old book. It appears as though a new lead popped up while no one was looking, in typical rhyming format. Something about an ancient temple where hearts are removed.
    Naturally such a creepy sounding place means going alone is out of the question, and once everyone is slumbering peacefully, Ariel gathers who she can for the outing. It's a smaller group than usual, but sometimes, less numbers have their advatntages.
    Ariel is currently worming her way through plants and overgrowth that slide out of the way for her with a few polite requests, before reaching a cliff overlooking the ancient temple of dreams.
    Crumbling stonework and old idols decorate the valley below as a vast pyramid rises to meet her and the others as she adjusts... Her fedora.
    Indeed, rather than her armor it looks like the unicorn is clad in a lighter set of adventurers gear, consisting of... Okay okay she's dressed like a tiny Indiana Jones.
    "I think we're finally here."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima came along because Lacrima is more than happy to help Ariel with anything without too much questioning or pushing. She's dressed as her usual Lacrima self. Lacrima has manifested a black ichor parasol and is using it to push the brush around her as she keeps it open in front of her. She frowns a little.

"So if you see an idol on a stand. Don't touch it... because that's how boulders happen..." she mutters from somewhere behind Ariel.

"Also. I hate jungles." she makes a face.

"...and I bet there's traps. Lotsa traps..." she says.

"....Does anyone know latin?" she asks. "I know latin." she says. "That might be useful. A pause.

"...How many of you have watched the Indiana Jones movies anyways?" she asks. "Either of you?"

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi is following nervously behind Ariel and Lacrima, wearing a pink T-shirt, red-orange shorts, and a purple backpack. She's here because why wouldn't she come along on the sort of magical girl business she can actually participate in?

She's alternating between trying to stay under Lacrima's parasol, and keeping her distance, because she's not sure the deliciousness is still a factor, and she's too nervous to ask. "Um, I think I saw the first one," she says. "I know, um, what the idol thing is about at least!" As usual, her voice sounds a bit more feminine than it does in the waking world, and her physique is subtly different. "I, um, don't know any Latin, though ..."

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    It's hot, it's steamy, it's sticky and sweaty, plants are all up in the way, and there are bugs-- it's like a real life rainforest and just as nasty. There was even an incident with a scorpion on the way to the temple, in which Ariel had to stop and ask the thing for directions.
    We're not going to talk about that, what we are going to get into is how Ariel is unbundling a rope and shimmying down the cliff to get to the steps of the pyramid.
    "I don't think it's Latin in origin... It doesn't looke Roman in design." She points out; indeed, the temple is more of an ancient Mayan or Aztec design, but still, she purses her lips. "There probably are a lot of traps, yes, but we can do this, just us, right?" She says sounding hopeful as she makes her way up the steps to the entrance. Only to find the great stone doors are ajar. ... Someone has already been here.
    "Oh. That's not good." She says before pausing at Lacrima's question. "... Oh! Oh! I saw one of them! The one where he used the whip, right?"
    Focus, Ariel.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima stares at Ariel. "He uses a whip in like all of them." she says.

She shakes her head and sighs. She'd been using an parasol to push brush aside rather than make an awesome ichor machete to cut it because she saw Ariel asking the brush to move and decide to politely push it aside inside.

When they get to the cliff she looks to Kotomi and then Ariel and sighs and gently jumps off the edge and uses the parasol to float down instead. Also if that doesn't work she'll just splat and reform.

Look, sometimes being undead is pretty awesome. This is one of those times.

"Oh... the door's open. Who else could be here though?" she asks as she blinks at Ariel and Kotomi.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi hasn't had much of a problem with the forest, insofar as she's let Lacrima and Ariel handle all of it.

Or at the very least, she hasn't voiced any concerns about how they were going.

She gingerly shimmies down the rope after Ariel, and can't quite stifle a giggle at Lacrima taking the fast way down. "I ... might be able to handle, uh, the traps!" she says. "If, if they're like the movie ones. And not like the book ones that are ridiculously complicated and made by a Patrician ..." (She's more familiar with books than movies, natch.)

She frowns at the ajar door. "... my first guess is Yumeji-san," she says slowly, "but ... that's just because she's the only bad guy I'm actually familiar with."

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    "Oh." So he did use the whip in like all the movies. "Then I don't know which one I saw." Ariel admits.
    It's a dream though, so sailing down on a parasol works as easily as going down the rope.
    Still, someone was here before the erstwhile dream defenders and that's not good. The dust on the ground has been disturbed and there are several sets of inhuman footprints. Stepping into the ominous, darkness of the temple is met with the smell of musty air and mildew on the stone work-- and the door slams shut behind the trio. Ariel bleats in alarm.
    But then, the sounds of jungle animals can be heard in an uproar; monkies, birds, insects chittering as a bright light shines down from the roof onto a giant stone face.
    The ancient stone carving opens its eyes, glares down at the three girls and opens its mouth...
    "Welcome to MYTHS OF THE ANCIENT PYRAMID. I'm your host TLALOC, and in today's episode we have the Silver Unicorns versus the Black Nightmares! WHICH TEAM WILL REACH THE HEART PIECE FIRST IN THIS EXCITING INSTALLMENT!?" He proclaims.
    Indeed, there are three amorphous Nightmare youma that seem to have been held captured here as soon as they entered, but those bindings release as the next door opens.
    "Now remember-- no killing the opposite team UNTIL the game begins! Round one! Contestants must each take a crystal skull and dunk it in the hoop. The losers will have a member of their team sacrifices to Quetzalcoatl!" The stone face says as a temple guard thrusts a crystal skull into Kotomi's hands.
    "What?" A very confused Ariel says as the call of 'BEGIN!' signals a sudden game of ancient basketball.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima enters, expecting the worse. Monsters? Arrow traps? A big boulder?... then suddenly.. there's a cacaphony of sound and suddenly a giant stone face and---

"W..what?" she asks with a sputter. "Is this a game show!?" she asks as she suddenly takes a few steps back away from the captured nightmares as she stares at the Crystal Skull as it's shoved into Kotomi's hand. "Is... she up this round?" she asks with wide eyes.

"...This is so dumb." she says as she smashes a hand to her head in frustration. Grumble grumble dumb dream worlds... never as expected grumble.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi stares at the skull in her hand. Then she stares at the youma like a deer caught in the headlights. Then she looks at Lacrima, then at Ariel, then back at the skull. "Uh ..."

She makes her first decision: she dodges. That is, she isn't dodging anything in particular, she just dodges to the side on general principles. "I-I think we all need to work together?" she says. "That's, that's more of a 'magical girl' thing, I think??? W-we just need to get to the hoop!" And she is indeed starting to make her in the direction of the hoop.

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    As soon as the skull is in Kotomi's hands all hell breaks loose.
    The Nightmare youma take forms. One a velociraptor with bat wings, another turns into a spider with fingers for legs, and the third becomes an old crone riding a house with chicken legs. And they all BUM RUSH Kotomi. Her dodge spares her from being tackled as Ariel rushes ahead.
    "I don't know what's going on either!" Ariel shouts to Lacrima. "But I don't want to be sacrificed to Quetzalcoatl! Kotomi, pass the skull! Norie is open! I'll distract the nightmares!" She says summoning a banana peel and... Drops it on the floor.
    The raptor is not happy when it slips and slams into a nearby wall.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima is in her fancy henshin dress. She isn't a 'dream defender'. She can only use her standard powers and none of those are create fancy dream clothes and construct. So she sort of stutters across the floor in high heels as she waves her hands.

"Open!" she calls out "Open open open!" she calls out.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi squeaks, "R-right!" She makes a feint as if she's throwing the skull to Ariel, but keeps it in her hands at the last second and throws it to Lacrima instead!

Her eyes flit to Ariel's banana peel. She reaches for her backpack, focuses, and a bag of marbles appears in her hand, which she pulls open and spills onto the ground around her! Not exactly the same level of comedy as a banana peel, at least in the traditional sense, but it should cover more ground!

... and ... increases the risk that one of the Silver Unicorns might slip instead, now that she thinks of it, whoops!

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    Ariel bleats as the Nightmares display a distinct lact of teamwork but a notable murderous intent. They're not even going for the skull, as she takes a diving leap to avoid losing her head to the witch on the hut, taking a tumbling roll back to her feet just as marbles go everywhere.
    But they do the trick as the finger-spider goes wheeling off course with a screech.
    "Uwah!" For a second Ariel really thought that Kotomi was going to pass to her, and she jumps for it! Only to look sheepish when it goes for Lacrima.
    BUT SHE'S OPEN TO TAKE THE SHOT! Especially as chicken hut witch moves in for the kill- only to take a nasty spill on those marbles.
    Ariel carefully starts trotting towards the others though.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima makes a small little run forward and with a throw... she can see the Baba Yaga like hut chasing after her, but it trips so she takes the shot, throwing the skull as best as she can. She is not Michael Jordan or Charles Barkley or Bill Murray but she can throw the skull with all her might---

As there may be a tiny shadow bat holding onto it making sure it hits it's target.

Look, it's either skill or cheat. And she wants to win this one.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi winces. Okay, that faint was wholly unnecessary and just confused Ariel, argh! Wait, nope, nope, look at the positives, the marble gambit worked!

She charges forward, nearly slips and falls, and charges forward a lot more gingerly as she follows Lacrima's throw. Just, y'know, on the off-chance that ...

... that the bat carrying it proves to be insufficient, okay never mind.

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    Lacrima makes the toss-- the bat-- if it's against the rules or not-- helps the shot and...
    IT'S GOOD.
    No sooner than the crystal skull goes through the hoop, the floor splits open... Beneath one of the Nightmares.
    With a terrible screech, the bat-raptor falls into the pit flailing, a sacrifice to Quetzalcoatl, as the next door opens.
    "ROUND TWO." Tlaloc declares. "The ten thousand steps!"
    Light illuminates a larger pyramid WITHIN the pyramid. "No holds barred! First team to reach the top will win the round, and the losing team will have a member sacrificed to Huitzilopotchli!"
    Ariel looks to Lacrima and Kotomi. She looks to the two remaining nightmares.
    "Go!"
    She... Starts casually climbing the stairs.
    "Remember to pace yourself! You don't want to get exhausted half way there!" She declares as the spider starts to climb and the chicken hut witch beats her hut to make it start ascending with a squawk.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima makes a face. "Ho..." she says. "How is there a large pyramid inside the smaller pyramid!? This makes no sense!" she says frustrated at DREAM LOGIC so badly right now. She huffs and starts running-- and---

Ariel moves casually. She squints and gently huffs. "Ariel... maybe... maybe pick u the pace. juuust a little bit!?" she says... but.. arghghg! Is Ariel right or wrong in this situation!? SHE NEVER KNOWS.

"I mean.. we.. we're not turtles. And those aren't... hares...." she says softly as she tries to pick up the pace a little faster.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi has seen quite a few different dreams in her own travels by now. Not as many as Ariel, obviously, but she's lost her sense of wonder for how oddball they can get, and she just takes the ... bigger pyramid inside the smaller pyramid in stride.

Or at least, at the moment, in climb. At first, she just follows Ariel's lead. She's making her way up, slowly and steadily. She looks over nervously at Lacrima's rejoinder, however, and she does pick up her speed. Not enough that she thinks she'll run out of strength too early, of course, just ... moving, y'know, a little bit faster.

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    "Um. Norie. You know everyone died at the end of that story, right?" Wait what version of the Tortoise and the Hare has Ariel heard?!
    The original one, actually. But that's really not important as Ariel seems to be picking and choosing which steps she steps on or skips.
    The Nightmares are blitzing it up until...
    "Step to the right please." Ariel instructs. Because the chicken hut has feet that are too big for the steps-- and inevitably trips on itself. The spider though is blazing along, up until weapons appear on the course for the racers to use.
    There are blades, there are hammers, there are cudgels, there is a blue shell.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima blinks a little. "I think your moms read you really old versions of those stories." she says bluntly as she looks forward a little. Okay. KFC is having trouble over there but the Spider isn't. She grimaces a little. Then there are weapons... there's swords! Hammers! Cudgels!--- is.. is that a Blue Shell?

"W..why is that a blue shell." she says.

Lacrima... picks up the blue shell. She doesn't throw it yet or anything. Nope. She's still running near Ariel's pace. Kotomi can run though.

Look she has a blue shell. She's waiting now.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi grabs a cudgel, and stares at it for a moment. Actually, she's stopping her descent for just a bit, and there's an expression of intense concentration on her face.

In a swirl of light, it transforms into a magical girl wand, with a butterfly-emblem near the tip, colored white and lavender and black like her Dream Defender costume. Kotomi breaks into a grin. "Dreamy Starburst!" she calls out, and fires a beam of white stars with lavender highlights at the spider! It's not a purification attack, though.

She pauses. "... Maybe I should keep this as, like, my magical girl weapon."

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    Over half way up the steps now. For ten thousand of them this is progressing pretty fast, but it IS a dream.
    "It was the original version of the story!" Ariel protests. "... I didn't like that one all that much." She does admit as Lacrima goes for the blue shell.
    Ariel pauses to look at Kotomi's new choice in weapon and taps at her lip thoughtfully. "Oh that's pretty nice." She decides.
    Even if it's not purification, that beam of light works well enough against the Nightmare, the ray slowing down in a stagger just as the spider starts to reach the top. The girls aren't too far behind, they just need to make a little push!

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima is holding that Blue Shell with the wings still as she's looking up at race... "Slow down juuuust a few steps!" she calls out to Kotomi. "Then hurry up... again!" she says as she grits her teeth as she---

Throws the Blue Shell! This should hopefully put the Spider out of commision for longer for Kotomi to race ahead and win this game!

Lacrima plays Mario Kart. She knows the power of the Blue Shell!

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi slows down. She doesn't have any idea what the Blue Shell actually does, but Lacrima shouting at her has ... well, the expected effect. She slows down and pauses, watching the Blue Shell go to work.

And as soon as the shell goes by ... she hurriedly resumes climbing upward again, reaching for the top!

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    The Blue Shell is a potent and dangerous weapon... Once released it hunts down the racer at the head of the pack and shoots them down.
    When Kotomi slows down, this places the spider at the lead.
    The Blue Shell is merciless.
    The spider takes the hit with a screech and comes tumbling down-- allowing the trio to reach the top of the steps.
    "GAME!" Tlaloc declares as a giant hand from the sky reaches down and plucks up the witch and her hut. A sacrifice to please Huitzilopochtli.
    "Good shot, Norie~." Ariel says cluelessly.
    "Well. With the Black Nightmares so soundly defeated, I don't think there's need for a round three." The stone idol murmurs. "I suppose you girls have earned your prize! The shard of the heart you seek! AND AN ALL EXPENSES PAID DREAM VACATION TO TROPICAL FIJI."
    Ariel pauses. "Oh wow, I hear Dream Fiji is nice this time of year." She says as the door at the top of the pyramid opens up into a grand chamber, decorated in ancient paintings. At the center of the room on a raised dais is another shard of the Nightmare Princes' heart.
    But on the wall is an image that depicts the prince standing opposite an elegant and familiar looking figure in a dark and dour dress.
    "Uh. Norie? Why is there ancient art of you and the prince together?"

Norie Okana has posed:
And apparently... they won!? And there is a.. a prize!? And a piece of the hears shard is there... and an all expenses paid (In dreamland? Money?) trip to Dream Fiji. OH....

O..ohkay. Sure. Why not. "Well..." she says. "That's another piece that's... four..." she says as she's counting on her hand. She makes a little note on a notepad. As if to commit this to memory somehow. "...I wonder how many pie---whoziwhazit?" she asks as she looks up at a mural.

"...I... um..." she blinks. "Uh..." she blinks as she looks at Ariel. Who apparently is confused. Then over to Kotomi. Who probably also doesn't have any answers... given her 'newness.'.

"I...I don't know?" she asks.

She fumbles for a camera and takes a picture.. it's all she can do for the moment. That's a good question. Really. She this makes her bite her lip.

"Let's.. let's get out of here."

"...and I totally wanna go to dream Fiji." she mutters.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi smiles faintly. "Oh! We did it!" she says. She hesitates. "Um. You can ... go on that vacation together, I'm, I'm kinda just gonna keep working on my own dream-stuff, I think."

Her head jerks around at Ariel's final comment. "Wait, huh!?" she says, every bit as surprised and confused as Lacrima as she looks at the mural. "-- oh. Oh! You meant, uh. Standing together ..." She hesitates. "Well ... it ... wasn't necesarily that old, I guess? Or something?"

Yeah she's just completely lost there.