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YOU'VE JUST CROSSED OVER INTO -

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
from
HOTEL MULTIVERSE AT THE EDGE OF THE COSMOS BETWEEN CANONS™

Guests who find themselves partaking in the Hotel's amenities quickly find some tricks afoot. The decor is first, neon lights changing to autumnal oranges, garish greens, and ghoulish purples overnight. Those who peruse the shops will find them stocked with masks and costumes, and the ambient music which plays throughout the ship is punctured by blood-curdling sound effects such as screams and anxiety-inducing musical stingers. This is Halloween.

Those who utilize the Hotel-provided devices will find an ad splashed across their screens. Similarly, TVs, phones connected to the network, and flyers posted will read:

"FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT OF OUR GUESTS, HOTEL MULTIVERSE AT THE EDGE OF THE COSMOS BETWEEN CANONS™ IS HAPPY TO PROVIDE HALLOWEEN-THEMED ENTERTAINMENT."

Staff members' uniforms change, with employees adding costume pieces to them as the weeks wear on. Guests are strongly encouraged to put together a costume with pieces from the shops, but those who opt out will instead find one of the standard options (listed at the bottom of this post) and chosen at random (by googling "rng 1-19") in their wardrobe.

After dark (or, what would be dark), the ship transforms into a hotel of horrors, the following chaos breaking loose:

TRICK-OR-TREATING
Costumed guests are welcome to partake in trick-or-treating with the ship's staff, who can be found with carts of candy in common areas. Guests are also offered flags for their doorknobs to indicate that they have candy available in the rooms if they would like to partake as well.

SCAREZONES
Grab a map from the concierge or walk the halls at random, but don't be surprised if a staff member jumps at you from the shadows!

HAUNTED HOUSE
Guests using the hotel app will find numerous ads alerting them to a haunted house that's overtaken one of the hotel floors (and honestly, the ads are impressive, opening as an emergency alert to a runaway alien), and the hotel itself plasters the attraction across its screens and walls overnight as well. Obviously, a haunted house is a great thing to do after you've had a ton to drink, or a great way to meet fellow guests (whether or not you're reaching for their hand in fright). However, to ensure the safety of all team members and guests, do not make physical contact with any member of our cast. Remember: the actors' intention is to frighten you.

HORROR MOVIE MARATHON
Guests hoping to keep things a bit more low key might find what they're looking for in the hotel's movie theater and lounges, which offer 24/7 horror movie marathons ranging from the classic to the avant garde. A programming guide can be found outside of each respective screening or on the app. Film buffs will be delighted at the hotel's library, but don't be surprised if your niche fave is banished to a graveyard slot.

MASQUERADE
The hotel's ballrooms are open late for those guests interested in keeping the revelry going night after night. Just don't let the anonymity of your costumes take you too terribly far (or, I mean, do what you want, everyone has a room, after all).

If you aren't able to purchase a costume or aren't feeling inspired, no problem! Our courteous staff have taken the liberty of providing you with a courtesy costume, free of charge, to allow you to participate in the event. You will receive one of the following at random:

01: Ghost
02: Alien
03: Devil
04: Superhero (Your Choice!)
05: Skeleton
06: Pumpkin
07: Zombie
08: Vampire
09: Clown
10: Mummy
11: Werewolf
12: Black Cat
13: Pirate
14: Frankenstein's Monster
15: Witch
16: Spider
17: Bunny
18: Bat
19: Angel

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[Was it though? If they were both in a dream, perhaps there was something else. Did... did he forget something else? He was no longer running away from his sins, he told his friends what happened, but... was that truly everything?

He didn't know, he couldn't know, Omori potentially had more control over this dream than he did for now.

He could at least try to... move forward? Maybe following was the answer. He reached for a yo yo, trying to use it and failing miserably. Definitely not a good choice of weapon. With a hum, he moved to pick the frailest looking plastic hammer. that... was going to do, right?

He turned to look in Omori's direction, raising an eyebrow and silently asking him if that was a good choice]

[When Sunny turned to inquire about Omori’s opinion on his choice of weapon… Omori was busy playing with the yo-yo. The shell was quite skillful at using the Toy, a fact made known as he twirled it one more time, eyes locked with the Dreamer, before he stuffed the object in his pillowcase - just in case.

Omori’s dark gaze focused on the hammer, staring for a few moments… and then he gave Sunny a thumbs up. It was better than Sunny’s bare fists, and honestly Omori didn’t put much stock in Sunny being able to break the weapon, even with how frail it seemed. He just didn’t have the strength for that.]

[Ah, of course his dream talented self shows off. There's the smallest hint of a pout on his face but it's gone as soon as it comes out. In the end, he just nodded in Omori's direction, silently admitting he knew he wasn't as good as his vessel. He once tried to juggle some colored balls and he couldn't even coordinate his hands well enough.

The 'dreamer' let out a faint hum, tossing the pillow case over his shoulder and holding the pathetic plastic hammer between his hands. There. He was... ready for combat. Probably.

Oh, speaking of which. He... gestured midair, pretending open menus and clicking buttons before offering a shrug. Where... where is the stats menu, Omori? He can't find anything.]

[Just like Sunny wasn’t pouting, Omori wasn’t showing off… but it did give him something like an echo of satisfaction inside. It was a hollow feeling, but still.]

[At Sunny’s motioning, it took a moment for the shell to figure out what he wanted. The answer? Another shrug. When would he have to worry about something like a menu? Sunny normally dealt with that… and he wasn’t concerned about it. They hadn’t met anything that couldn’t be felled by Omori’s blade, dream or not, so far.]

[Perhaps. But it wasn't easy getting quick access to an inventory without a menu? What if anything actually happened and they needed candy or drinks on the go... were they just supposed to get things from the pillow case without even having a 'pause' menu?

Still. Omori didn't seem to have answers. He returned the shrug and just... glanced around. What now? There was no specific quest at hand and the party never had such weird composition.]

Mh?

[He merely grabbed a few snacks, throwing them in the bag, silently letting the other know he was at least done for now. But now... adventure time? Or more trick or treat?]

[It seemed like, for now, they’d have to operate without menus or pause screens. Who knew if the battles were even turn-based here?

Omori wasn’t about to pick a fight with some random stranger or Sunny to find out ~~unless the other was that insistent on figuring it out~~.

It seemed like, for better or worse, the monochrome shell had grown bored of the task at hand. The boy took a look in both his and Sunny’s pillowcases, nodding. Apparently satisfied with the stock they had ~~after all, if they were going to have to manually carry everything around, they’d have to worry about encumbrance, and while Omori wasn’t tiring he was sure Sunny would after a while~~.

What next? What next? No objectives to guide them, but there were a few other things they could do here… Omori pointed his blade towards and object in the distance - a haunted house.]

[Oh, no, no no no no- no action based games, please. Perhaps Omori wasn't aware of Sunny's physical state, but the dude just got stabbed recently and he had four years worth of not leaving bed to recover from. Do you want to see him toasted as soon as a battle starts, Omori?

that being said, they still had no enemy creatures sitting around so all was. good, right?

Anyway, he wasn't supposed to think too hard about it, right? Right? Right.

He squinted just slightly at the sight of the haunted house. That.. was unpleasant. He didn't want to focus too much on the dread, but it totally seemed the kind of place where to find an adventure. He nodded in Omori's direction, slowly starting to move toward it.]

[~~I don’t know, would it be funny to see Sunny Toasted in a battle? Maybe. Maybe not.~~ For now, Omori figured his chances were better in a group… even if that group included the person who took over him habitually.

Omori was mildly surprised that Sunny agreed so easily to the haunted house. It was the only objective he could really see - that was where encounters normally happened, right? In the big foreboding castles, the open spaces (of which this place was filled with people), the murky waters… All of which weren’t here.

Maybe there was something that both of them had to overcome, as they walked closer. Not that Omori felt much on that thought.]

[The answer is NO. Sunny doesn't want to be toasted. His self preservation instincts may be to a minimum level, to the point he may stab himself to 'wake up' in case the dream goes too intense ~~that would end well, right?~~ Well, party of two it was.

And, hey. Haunted House? He literally lived in one, have you seen that THING on the stairs? He gave Omori some of the best skills, possibly only rivaled by kel's insane set, he wanted to believe Omori could... handle eventual problems. Also, the haunted house possibly had less people around, which was definitely a plus.]

Uhm... ready.

[Well, good for both of them that Omori was the one with the knife, then? And that he hadn’t attempted to Stab himself to wake up… something told him it wouldn’t work. After all, didn’t he have to be in White Space first? But both that room and the panicked heartbeat weren’t here, so for now… their options were limited.]

[Where Sunny could think of the pros and cons of the Haunted House, Omori simply saw it as a potential obstacle to be overcome. It didn’t matter who or what was inside, they were going through it. Omori’s own expression didn’t change, but there was something in his presence that spoke of preparedness. The way he stood or the subtle change in his gaze as he looked up at their objective.]

[Omori opened the door, making sure Sunny was following, before he stepped inside. Only to be greeted by eerie silence.]

[Listen, some things just work okay? He's a simple boy with a simple dream and said dream is not dealing with a lot of negative stuff. If something was to happen to his friends, he wouldn't hesitate to 'forge a reset' or a 'wake up', so to speak. Fortunately enough, the real world people are probably safe and happy and nothing here is real.

He does feel intimidated by the building, but some of his dreams had been much worse anyway. Big scary whale anyone? Perfectheart???? There is plenty of scary stuff in Headspace. This... won't be worse, right? The teen stands right behind Omori, looking around and fearing what will come next.

It's... so incredibly silent inside. but it's okay. He has Omori. Omori has been the vessel and protector the entire time, right? Not as scary as some of his hallucinations, he's ready to go]

[It’s true that your mind can often be your worst enemy. Ask Omori - a lot of the things he had to face were direct results of Sunny’s imaginations and fear. Nothing in here could be worse than that.]

[Sunny was right though… even if Omori wasn’t currently being puppeteered as a vessel, he still had the base instinct to protect. So the boy would make sure no harm came to the Dreamer. Same as usual.]

[The silence was awful… a deep pit that swallowed all sound and pressed inward, air cloying and tense. Or… it would be, if Omori could feel. Instead, he walked around, making sure to stay close enough to Sunny in case the other needed defending, generally feeling detached from any danger. Like he was watching it through a filter.]

[The sound of a switch was the only warning. Then, something plummeted from the ceiling - a ghoulish figure shrouded in torn gauze. Omori poked it lightly with his knife.

Fake.

The decoration swung on the eaves of the ceiling, back and forth, a little heavier than paper. Something must have weighted it in the bottom, so that it would sit properly. Omori looked back at Sunny to gauge his reaction.]

[Oh, yeah, Sunny would completely agree. His mind has been his own worst enemy- and apparently Basil's one too? Seriously, Omori, how many times did the dream loop? How many times was the kid gardener murdered for whatever reason? ~~Why did it have to be spiders?~~.

But, no. While Sunny's brain was a mess full of terrible things, the boy wasn't magically not afraid of stuff just because he happened to be... there. Inside his dreams. No amount of jumpscares in Headspace could make him impervious to... real world ones. Even if he still believed it all to be a dream.

For now, though? The thing drops in front of Omori and, fortunately enough, the other is turned around and doesn't get to see Sunny jump on the spot and almost drop his 'weapon'. Oh, it was... fake. But even puppets can obtain life in Headspace, right? When the other turns around, Sunny steps a bit closer, nodding in his direction.

Totally not afraid of the dream turning into a sudden nightmare, not at all...]

[Why indeed? Why had Black Space been so much - a shadow hidden within the light, cast between a hellish nightmare and those forlorn dreams? ~~Maybe it was the space actually meant for Omori, now that Sunny’s imaginations were no longer there to protect them both. Maybe it was Omori’s own Paradise - or hell?~~]

[Maybe, though, for as much as Sunny could still be scared, Omori… still lacked that. It wasn’t just the fact that he had been made to weather the Dreamer’s fears… it was that disconnect. That nothing could truly hurt him, even if it tried. He wouldn’t succumb.]

[He might have missed the way the other had jumped at the scare, but he didn’t miss the other signs: the way Sunny stepped closer to him, almost begging to be protected, silently. The way the boy’s frame hunched in on himself, as if making himself smaller would avoid the attention of what lay within this place. Omori simply took a step backwards - towards Sunny - so that they were closer, but not touching. Swatting the hanging ghoul with his knife so precisely that it crumpled to the ground.

See? Nothing to fear]

[Because... yes. Guilt, denial, self hatred- there were so many emotions packed down and repressed inside Sunny, all trying to bubble to the surface through the shape and form of one of his old friends. The one holding the truth. ~~No, like everyone else, Omori deserved much better than the cards that were handed to him to begin with. Imagine carrying Sunny inside your body all the time, boy had always been a mess.~~

Ah. In part Sunny would envy that. He was, after all, the king of running away from things, he did manage to forget very important things for literal years because he was too afraid to face them.

Still, it was reassuring to see him act so confident. As much as a blank faced kid could be, at least (fun for a blank faced teen to think that).]

Mh...

[Omori was definitely good at making people feel safe, huh? Sunny's opposite in a way. The teen nodded, making sure to follow right behind him, looking at the very fake ghoul and then holding his hammer better once more. He... can fight. The dream is still manageable but he knows nightmares can come out of nowhere.]

[Omori, in a way, had been made to be Sunny’s opposite. The teen had wanted a version of himself that was not - so unlike his own reality that the fantasy became something other than him. Something comfortable, something brave, something unable to succumb.

It was only natural, then, that Omori was that mirror image. For all of Omori’s own strengths, however, they could be considered weakness too.

His inability to know what to do, when not piloted by the Dreamer. His inability to feel emotion - unless it was intense ~~in that, maybe, Sunny and him shared something aside from their physical similarities~~. Even now - Omori’s purpose seemed to be as a shield to Sunny in this ‘scary’ place.

He didn’t mind. Not much.

As they moved into the next area, connected by a long hallway, the monochrome shell slashed at several fake cobwebs. They broke like cotton candy, sticky and dry all at once, but so much less annoying than the ones in Headspace that grew back.

That should have been a precursor to what happened next. Passing through another empty doorway, a bin from above dropped something on the boy - a bunch of tiny, fake spiders.]

[Omori was... everything. Quite literally, all Sunny could only dream to be. Strong, fast, brave, loved ~~Sunny didn't deserve that~~. Perhaps, now that Sunnny was no longer inside him, a bit of jealousy was going to build over time. After all, what was Sunny without Omori?

As for the inability to feel emotions- Sunny may feel them muffled and struggle to process them, but they're right there. Feeling of guilt, self loathing, anxiety... but they were all muddled down there. Omori was, from Sunny's point of view, better even in that sense.

For now, though, the bravery and the strength were welcome.

Sunny followed in silence. The area was already hinting what they were going to face and Sunny didn't know if he was too find a giant spider blocking their way or if they were going to struggle against giant webs or-

Or they're just going to drop some stupid plastic spiders on them. A yelp escaped his lips as he closed his eyes and tried to get them off himself. oh, he hated spiders, he may have been able to face them in his dreams, so many times over the dream loop, but no... real life was different. Or.... real life dreams were different? He pushed everything off and couldn't hide a big shivering reaction, but after that... welll, it was gooing to be fine as long as he kept his eyes off the floor, right?]

... sorry.

[Weak, he was weak...]

[It was ironic, really, how Sunny viewed Omori in relation to what the shell might view himself. Loved - such a concept didn’t exist for the monochrome child, not when the love he received was fake, hoisted on him as part of Sunny’s own desire to feel accepted again ~~even if Omori still found that he missed those other characters, so empty and projected like himself~~.]

[When Sunny yelped, Omori turned around, knife at the ready… some plastic spiders were stuck in the own boy’s hair. Nothing to worry about. He stopped - was it hesitation? - before reaching out just a tad, helping Sunny reach the spiders that were harder to dislodge. Just a brush of a touch, as they both tended to dislike it.]

[If the other thought Omori was annoyed… he actually wasn’t. It might have surprised even him, except for that feeling of protect was still present. A thumbs up - assessing the Dreamer’s status. Now, you know, Sunny was at least more sufferable at the moment. He wasn’t Basil. Basil, his best friend. Basil who always worried what others thought, who always wanted to appease their little group, who constantly found himself in peril. Sunny was just above on the opinion matter for now…]

[But Omori was loved, wasn't he? Aubrey had the softest feelings for him, Kel adored him, Hero was created to be perfect the way he was and the most dedicated big brother. They were made to blindly follow Omori, right? and Omori probably deserved them better anyway, considering what Sunny did...

The teen closed his eyes once more at the contact, yet he didn't flinch. At lest Omori seemed aware of how little Sunny enjoyed that kind of things and the big bunny outfit protected him from feeling too much.

He returned the thumbs up, nodding in Omori's direction. Following. What eve was the point of being there if danger proved to be false? We don't talk about Basil. Sunny has just been stabbed by Basil and, if you ask him, he deserved it. His feelings toward Basil are complicated at best and he's not even planning to talk with the headspace one, thank you very much.]

What... are we looking for?

[If Omori was loved… it was a different form of love. One he was missing, for sure, but also… how much could love fill up a hollow shell? Could he even recognize it as such, or did he only realize after the fact…? That emptiness that remained once he found himself here, without his friends.]

[Even false danger could prove a point, though. Sunny was facing some of his fears, in his own self. That was more progress than he could have said four years ago. Omori found the challenge of this place to be lacking. He looked back at the Dreamer, expression dead again.]

Boss.

[A raspy hiss, his voice not used to being used as well, was the answer. Writing here would be difficult, and there was only so much he could convey with nonverbal communication techniques. Still, no further elaboration.]

[Sunny couldn't help with that kind of questions, sadly. He barely understood Omori's nature to begin with, the other had never been anything more than a fancy body to walk in until their conflict at the very end. But... Omori was loved in his eyes. He made Aubrey so she would always adore the boy, no matter what. Kel would always look at Omori and see him as his most important friend. Hero was built to be... the brohter he needed. Being needed, being wanted, that was... the equivalent of being loved, right?

He couldn't see much progress in his situation, not when he was cowering behind Omori at every other step, but... at least he wasn't hiding in his room anymore? Since he opened the door for Kel, things felt almost... overwhelming as a whole.

The idea of facina a boss is terrifying. And this isn't even real.]

Oh...

[He nods, looking around. There is nothing really... big around. Nothing that catches people's attention, right? Maybe the boss is... hiding? He doesn't even know if he has skills though so... what is he even supposed to do? What CAN he even do?Still, Omori is there. Omori is the One. Omori is... everything right now, in a certain sense.]

R- [He brings one hand to his throat, the word died right there at his first attempt.] Ready

[For all Sunny had gifted him, it would take a while before the shell would learn what any of those concepts meant. Friendship, love, sadness, pain… they were all surface-level for him.

Still… Sunny was making progress. There might have been a time, before facing his fears, that he would have refused to come into the haunted house. When he would have run away or panicked deeply about the fake, benign horrors of this place. So while he was hiding… Omori might yet consider it progress.

Maybe there wasn’t really a boss here - could you imagine if they made children fight an employee dressed as a grotesque clown or something in order to leave? The sole function was to frighten, of which Omori was immune from and Sunny was doing surprisingly well.

But, once again, the shell was only operating on what he knew. Gathering items, clearing dungeons, fighting bosses.

Maybe it was time for the both of them to learn there was more to life than that - Sunny’s fantasies and Omori’s fabricated world.]

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