The Artists Maze (Rift Malfunction)

The Artist’s Maze (Rift Malfunction)

There is a world that mimics one that used to exist. Where friends build extravagant bases and sold their collected wares in shops. But now, that world and this mimic are both nearly gone; Being erased and replaced by a world filled with lies and fractured memories.

 Once you find yourself there, in this forgotten world, the walls raise and you feel them shift around you to form a maze. It is important to recall this advice:

Stay to the right.

 Even when the walls shift around you, even when the floor changes color and the walls resemble your friends, even when eyes stare down at you and laughter echoes around you, and finally when you feel breathing down your neck....

You must, no, you need to remember:

 They are not real. None of this is real. This is a prison in a trashcan waiting to be deleted. An error that needs to be fixed before it gets too out of hand.

 The walls continue to shift, but now holes are beginning to appear in them. Through the many gaps, you can see something wandering through the halls like you. The being’s footsteps are off. Their body drags against the wall as if they’ve been injured and a red-like substance sticks to the brown, palette board-like walls on the other side.

 Luckily, they haven’t seemed to have noticed you yet. You’re unsure if you want to call out to them. A part of you wants to find them. But, the other wants to run as fast as it can to get away.

 But you can’t run away now. You need to find him.

 You need to find the center of this madhouse and end this nightmare once and for all. You need to save your friend before you lose him forever. And maybe if you save one, you can save them all...

 Eventually, you find the center, you find him leaning against a gnarled tree that branches into the purple sky. He’s bleeding from his stomach and he looks like he hasn’t slept for months on end (the crossover hasn’t even lasted for a month) by what you remember, at least).

 As you approach, Beef’s eyes open like a computer booting up after restarting. His chest weakly rises and falls with each breath.

 “ B....B....”

 He’s trying to say something. You can’t tell what he’s saying, so you move a bit closer.

 “ B-Behind.... you....”

 Your ears swivel as a noise comes from behind you. A rumbling snort that’s swiftly followed by a giant shadow that looms over you and Beef. 

 When you turn around, you are met with a giant bull-like creature. A massive, painted axe is in its hooves as it glares down at you. You recognize that its side is bleeding. But it’s not actually blood:

It’s... paint?

Two options now stand before you:

{ESCAPE}

{PROTECT}

I’ve made a realization that Rift Malfunction has elements of Unwelcomed Guests in it.

There’s a lot of hostilities within both AUs. Quite fun. 

Stuff for both AUs coming soon (mainly sketches of Rift Malfunction)

Cold Opening (Rift Malfunction)

 The Deep Frost Citadel was no longer what Jimmy’s fuzzy memories remembered it to be. It was no longer just a fun game with friends, and it was no longer a dungeon crawler:

It was a prison with one prisoner, and Jimmy was staging a prison break.

----

“ It’s a death wish.” Fwhip spoke as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. The deer, goblin, and human hybrid was touching at the green-colored splotches of skin on his face. 

 As Jimmy left the small shack, Fwhip turned towards a map on the table as he touched gingerly at his still growing antlers.

-----

 “ You’d either freeze or burn to death...” Scott spoke in a mumble as Jimmy helped him change the bandage going across his eye. 

 “ What do you mean?” Jimmy questioned quietly as he stopped working while flinching at the mention of freezing. But, it was good that Scott stopped him, he needed to grab the new bandage anyways.

 “ Well, we don’t exactly know what kind of magic Tango’s usin’ right?” Scott narrowed his only eye as he gave Jimmy a heavy frown. Jimmy slowly nodded his head as he began to wrap Scott’s eye socket. 

 Scott’s wings flapped as he flinched away from Jimmy’s returning hand. Jimmy’s feathered ears lowered as he quickly moved his hands away from Scott.

 “ S-Sorry! You alright mate?” Jimmy questioned with a tilt of his head. Scott let out a sigh, “ It’s still a bit tender. That fake eye did.. a lot of damage to me.” he mumbled with a small, awkward chuckle.

 Jimmy shuddered then chuckled as well. After the chuckling ended, a tired silence filled the air as Jimmy cautiously went back to work. 

 One false movement could cause Scott pain, and Jimmy didn’t want to harm his friend.

-----

“ Do you want to get skewered again?” Joel questioned with a laugh. A large, fang-filled grin formed on his bearded face. 

 Jimmy rolled his eyes and turned around. He didn’t have the energy to argue with Joel. The bird hybrid’s wings flapped as he waved a dismissive hand towards Joel and headed for the door. 

 But as he left, he gingerly touched at the still bandaged wound near his stomach. An icy cold pain radiated from the spot as he walked away from the wolf hybrid.

-----

“ Jimmy, “ Lizzie spoke as she looked directly into his eyes, “ Are you sure that you know what you’re doing?”

Jimmy stared at the cat as his feathered ears twitched. A soft, pained sigh escaped from him as Lizzie changed his bandages. While Lizzie was diligent and gentle with her work, Jimmy couldn’t help but tense up as the clean bandage wrapped around him.

 “ I-I’m certain. “ Jimmy eventually mumbled, “ Tango knows me... Even in his changed state...”

 A frown formed on Lizzie’s snout; then, She looked down at Jimmy’s bandages, “ Are you sure? What about-”

 “ Don’t talk about that...!” Jimmy chirped as he flinched and pain traveled up his side. He forced himself to look down at his wound. A grimace crossed his face as he looked at the icy blue marks that coursed across his abdomen. 

 Admittedly, It looked better than.... before; however, that’s not saying much. It still ached horribly and only stopped when he laid down.

 “ Look, “ Jimmy put his shirt, vest, and bandana back on gingerly, “ I-I know that I can do this. W-We need to start getting the hermits back.”

 “ But-”

 “ But nothing, Lizzie! I’ve been stuck in this little cabin for days now!” Jimmy threw up a hand and flinched again. A deep breath escaped from his gritted teeth as he shook his head.

 Lizzie’s ears lowered as her tail curled around her. The hybrid messed with her pink hair and ran her claws through it. 

 Jimmy’s angered expression softened as he sighed,

 “ I-I’m sorry for shouting.” Jimmy mumbled as he sat back down; the hybrid curled in on himself as his wings wrapped around him, “ I just want to do something to help the hermits... to help our friends.”

 “ It’s fine, Jimmy... I know.” Lizzie nodded her head as she put a paw against the bird hybrid’s shoulder, “ Just call if you need backup, okay?” she smiled as Jimmy nodded his head.

----------------------------------------------

Icicles shot through the ground and nearly pierced through Jimmy’s body. A yelp escaped from Jimmy as he froze in place. Each icicle was worryingly close to a vital organ or a joint.

 What made matters worse was that the skinnier and sharper of the icicles were aimed towards his legs and arms. Even if he were to wiggle out, there was a chance he’d lose a limb or more in the process.

 “ Well... Well.... Well...” An icy voice hissed from the darkness as a white fog suddenly filled the room. A painful chill went up Jimmy’s spine as his feathers fluffed up. Jimmy wanted to curl his wings around himself, he wanted to warm up; however, he couldn’t risk moving his wings.

 But, Jimmy could look to see who was approaching.

 Slowly, carefully, Jimmy turned his head and watched as a blue-eyed, fiery being glided into the room. The hybrid’s heart was pounding in his chest as his breathing quickened.

 There was no look of familiarity in Tango’s glowing eyes. However, there wasn’t a look of anger in his eyes either. 

 Was it curiosity? Was it annoyance?

 Jimmy didn’t know. Jimmy was afraid to know.

 Tango’s hair moved in wisps as he walked, no, glided past Jimmy. Cold winds swept across the canary’s face as frostbite bit at his nose and cheeks. The hybrid’s own breaths were whiter than the fog as the taller hybrid slinked around him like a cat hunting prey.

 Then, Tango stopped and moved his face closer to Jimmy’s own. A snarl rumbled from the icy lion’s throat as he opened his mouth,

 “ Now tell me, little canary,“ Tango hissed as an icicle grew closer to Jimmy’s throat.

 “ How did you find my citadel?”

So, I’ve been pulled over a few times in my life. Not many, but a few. And I’ve also been in a couple of cars that got pulled over. And let me tell you, if you were actually doing something wrong, the officer doesn’t make any small talk, just straight into “I clocked you doing 70 in a 55.” The only time I’ve ever gotten the “do you know why I pulled you over?” was the time when I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and I got let go even though he insisted to the end that I was doing 87 in a 70 (white privilege at work).

“Do you know why I pulled you over?” is a trap. It means there’s a good chance the officer doesn’t actually have a good reason to ticket you, and is trying to get you to waive your 5th Amendment rights and incriminate yourself. If you make a guess, that’s a confession of guilt.

But there’s another trap, that I’ve heard of but haven’t yet experienced. It’s “do you know how fast you were going?” With that one, they’re hoping you’ll say no, because then they can name whatever speed they want – you just said you didn’t know how fast you were going, if you deny the speed they name then you’re lying to them.

 The Deep Frost Citadel was no longer what Jimmy’s fuzzy memories remembered it to be. It was no longer just a fun game with friends, it was no longer a dungeon crawler with rewards to uncover....

 It was prison with one prisoner...

Man, I could really go for some pizza bagels rn.

and in other news:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa