A Maze And Worry

[Smith]

Characters Appearing: Dr. Otto Octavius, Nancy Thompson, & Smith (Possibly Owl!Jareth as well)
Location (s): Somewhere in the Labyrinth
Previous Thread Name.: A Maze And Worry
Plot Summary.: Dr. Octavius, Nancy Thompson, and Smith must find a way to survive and escape the twisted Labyrinth before it claims their lives.

[Smith]

While he could see what Nancy was trying to do, indignation bloomed in his chest. Him? Stink? As if she was one to talk! Humans had the most repulsive stench of them all---

But he felt the claws retract from his flesh and now he was rapidly descending. The hand that had covered his mouth swiftly removed itself, and those that passed him along seemed to only touch him for as long as they had to. He could see some of them shake and wipe their palms on the walls as soon as they let go.

“Wait—we should be going up!” he shouted, but was ignored. Then, all at once, he was dropped entirely.

He landed on the other two in a heap, baring his teeth in frustration as a door swung shut over the hole they'd just fallen from, trapping them in near darkness. The only thing fighting the inky blackness was a small window in the door, but that light only stretched so far.

Rolling off of the others, he got to his feet, pausing only half a second to give his coat an experimental sniff, just in case. He was relieved to find that he did not, in fact, possess any kind of odor beyond the cologne he wore.

But rather than comment on the frankly embarrassing means of escape, he focused his attention on exploring their surroundings. He took small, careful steps until he could see the bumpy, glistening texture of a rock wall. Then, placing a hand upon it, began to follow the perimeter in an uninterrupted loop. No exits. He did not feel any breeze. He was pretty sure there was even a skeleton in the corner.

They were trapped.

“Congratulations, Dr. Octavius,” he sighed, leaning against the wall on his good side. “You've landed us in an oubliette. There's no way out.”

[Nancy Thompson]

Nancy felt a surge of panic as she involuntarily let out a squeal, joining the human heap of Smith and Otto. She winced in pain as she extricated herself from the tangle and rolled onto her back, her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she were melting into the floor. "Sorry, Smith. Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly, using her sleeve to dab at her forehead as she tried to compose herself. When she felt ready, she stood up and offered Otto a helping hand.

"If this is an oubliette, then we're in trouble. There's no way we can catch a lift now, especially after what I said about you being a stink bomb," she said, crossing her arms and huffing. "There must be another way out. Any ideas that don't involve breaking through walls?"

Her skin, glistening from the humidity and sweat, caused much of the faint powder she wore to vanish, revealing a lightly freckled face. In the dim light barely shining from the distance, her normally blue eyes reflected the darkness of their surroundings, giving them an opalescent quality. Her hair was incredibly disheveled at this point, almost resembling a trolls doll. Nancy ran her hands over the stone walls, hoping to find some sort of hidden door, but everything felt uniformly solid in this seemingly bottomless pit they were standing in.

This sucked.

[Otto Octavius]

"Is Smith alright?" Otto asked as he graciously accepted the offered hand. However, it was more of a polite gesture as the actuators slowly reactivated and lifted Octavius back up to his feet. "Certainly, ensuring Smith's safety is our top priority, despite my recent role as a stunt air mat for the both of you," Octavius replied, slightly adjusting his posture. He then directed his attention to Smith.

"Why is this my error?" Otto huffed as the four mechanical appendages extended behind him as they searched for a potential escape route. "You may also wish to question the intentions of those hand-like creatures, as they appeared to be more of a hindrance than a help. It is possible that they were strategically placed there to ensure that anyone who chooses that door ends up down here, as evidenced by the pile of remains left behind by the previous individual to encounter them." Otto said, pointing to the pile of dry bones in the far corner.

"And fear not, there is always a way out, my niellist friend…" Octavius closed his eyes for a moment as the arms checked the room. Suddenly, one of them discovered something buried in the dirt. "Odd," he said as the other arms gathered around the object. The upper left actuator reached down and picked up what appeared to be a small door and, out of instinct, placed it against the wall. Doors go on walls, after all. It then loudly clicked, and the door attached itself to the rock's surface as if it had always been there. Otto then narrowed his eyes in disbelief as his upper left arm insisted he try the door as it screeched!

"No. I refuse even to entertain the idea! There is no logical reason for that to be anything more but a flat door on solid stone...."

[Smith]

"I'm fine," came Smith's reply in clipped tones, his face set in a scowl. The wound smarted, but he would live. It wasn't as if he needed the 'blood' or whatever it was, and he remained operational. It was nothing to make a fuss over. Besides, they hardly had the time.

As Otto complained, that scowl became a sneer. "It's your fault because your stunt with the guards landed us in that shaft in the first place! The answer was easily found, but you bullied your way through anyway, and then dragged us down with you!" Honestly, the fact that Octavius refused to see that fact did not surprise Smith in the least. Infuriating, odious man!

But that infuriating, odious man had, against all odds, found them a means of escape. A door--one that defied all logic, but a door nonetheless. "When has anything in this place made a lick of sense?" he challenged, walking over to it and turning the nob. With a pull, the door swung open, revealing.... 

A broom closet. A plethora of cleaning supplies spilled out at his feet, making a racket as they went. He stared down at them for a moment, then quietly shut the door. The door was magic, that was for certain. Just in the most mundane of ways. 

"I'm beginning to really hate this place."

[Nancy Thompson]

Nancy didn’t intend to chuckle at the comment about the stunt air mat, but it was undeniably accurate, a description she couldn't soften or deny. "Thank you," she said, lowering her head to conceal the sheepish smile. However, that smile faded quickly as Octavius and Smith started bickering about their situation. She furrowed her brow, empathizing with their frustration as they both made valid points, but their arguments wouldn't bring them any closer to finding a way out.

Then the man with fluffy hair made a promising discovery, though he seemed to be struggling to reconcile logic with fantasy. Smith, the voice of reason, not only reminded him but also Nancy that nothing about their situation made a lick sense from the beginning.

"He’s right. I realize that none of this makes much sense at the moment," she reassured Octavius with a soothing voice, carefully selecting words that were reassuring rather than patronizing, "but we are no longer in our world. We are in theirs..."

Anticipation silenced her as they awaited what they would discover once their companion opened the door. She felt compelled to hold her breath, fearing what might emerge from the depths to ensnare them, or worse. Where would it lead them? In her imagination, she could almost envision the boiler room beckoning them on the other side. Gripping Otto's sleeve tightly, unaware of how firmly she clutched the fabric, she kept her eyes fixed on the door.

"Smith, wait, don't—" Nancy managed to say, reaching out a hand to stop him, but her reaction was belated. To her relief, it was nothing but a janitor's paradise. "Oh, it's just a bunch of cleaning supplies..."

Then she fell silent, listening intently when a peculiar noise of distant whirring and clinking caught her attention. "Did you all hear that strange noise just now?" she couldn't help but inquire, eager to verify whether it was a trick of the mind or a genuine sound she had heard.