gooseberryhigh | 💍 LET'S STEAL PROM! 💍 Round 3!

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💍 LET'S STEAL PROM! 💍 Round 3!

ROUND THREE: Conquer the Maze!

You couldn't miss today's event if you'd tried. The entire atrium has been repurposed for the grand heist and much of the open area is blocked off by ominous modular walls, each of them stretching over eight feet tall - the freshmen insisted that none of the upperclassmen giants be able to spy on their work.

A set of ominous doors mark the entrance to this strange contraption. And just outside, a row of familiar briefcases wait on a table. Participants are asked to open their briefcases (and those who could not solve their puzzles last round are assisted by an especially smug freshman), because the key to solving this week's puzzle is waiting inside: a map. What's beyond the walls is the final event: a maze full of shifting pathways and frankly obnoxious traps. And somewhere, in the middle, the grand prize.

If you're going to pull this heist off, you'll need to conquer the maze.

Welcome to Round Three of Let’s Steal Prom!

HOW THIS WORKS

Competitors are limited to those teams which previously signed up. In the first round, each team was presented with a set of cards listing their 'role' for the event. These roles are for flavor purposes only and have no effect on the final outcome.

Stewart Ocean and his band of merry freshmen were still primarily responsible for this round, but Ursula did make sure nothing in the maze could seriously harm someone. If something seems too complicated for a freshman... assume staff helped.

Post your pair under the THE MAZE heading, and play out a scene based on the current round's scenario. For every tag, Manx will RNG a number between 1–25 to add to your pair's score.

Current Scenario: As soon as your team enters the maze, the wall closes behind them. That's not the only wall moving - every 30 seconds, the maze rearranges itself, but thankfully your map updates itself as well. Throughout the maze are trip wires, pressure plates, statues that resemble various staff members and magical proximity sensors that can trigger a variety of traps (see team assignments). At the end of the final hallway, there they are - a pair of crowns! Unfortunately there's a magical laser maze that has to be bested first and a team of eager looking freshmen perched high atop the maze walls ready to dump buckets of green slime if they hear the buzzing sound of one of the lasers being tripped. In a final twist, once obtained, the crowns explode in a burst of confetti and there's a note saying the winners will be announced at prom. In the distance, you can hear the sound of a wall opening. Have fun getting back out!

Please note! This information is being provided for flavor purposes. There's no need to encounter all traps or actually reach the crowns. Just pick somewhere in the maze and have fun putzing around. All gas effects encountered last 1 minute.

Up to 6 tags per pair will count for your score each round, i.e. you only get a maximum of six RNG numbers to add to your score. But feel free to tag more or less!

Double jeopardy! Team lagging behind in the weekly rankings? At some point during the maze each team will encounter a door labeled "SHORTCUT???". Passing through this doorway could bring a team closer to their goal... or it could land them back at the start of the course. Teams that opt to try the shortcut will receive an additional RNG score between -50 and +50.

The team with the fastest time through the maze will gain 5 bonus points.

Scores for round 3 will be rolled on all tags posted through Friday, May 25th 11:59 PM EST. For the sake of suspense, third round rolls and results won't be revealed until prom. Scores from prior rounds will carry over.

CLICK HERE FOR TEAM ASSIGNMENTS

149% Naughty
Lilika + Webster
Traps Encountered: Babbling Gas-Breathing Statue, Falling Sticky Net & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Adverse Drug Reaction
Rosy + Danny
Traps Encountered: Giggle Gas-Breathing Statue, Giant Beachball Boulder & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Catwomen🐾
Ari + Jade
Traps Encountered: Itching Gas-Breathing Statue, Falling Sticky Net & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Danger Butt
Dinah + Chad
Traps Encountered: Hiccup Gas-Breathing Statue, Giant Beachball Boulder & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Flotsam & Jetsam
Ursula + Ferdie
Traps Encountered: Giggle Gas-Breathing Statue, Multicolor Plastic Ball Pit & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Hero & Marie
Archie + Nisha
Traps Encountered: Itching Gas-Breathing Statue, Multicolor Plastic Ball Pit & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Innocent Nun
Heathcliff + Fern
Traps Encountered: Babbling Gas-Breathing Statue, Falling Sticky Net & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Lake Gooseberry Killers
Sy + Clem
Traps Encountered: Giggle Gas-Breathing Statue, Nerf Dart Barrage & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Loot the Booty
Riley + January
Traps Encountered: Hiccup Gas-Breathing Statue, Multicolor Plastic Ball Pit & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Munificent Mermaid
JD + Ophelia
Traps Encountered: Sneezing Gas-Breathing Statue, Giant Beachball Boulder & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Nap Mom and Squonk
Griffin + Georgie
Traps Encountered: Babbling Gas-Breathing Statue, Nerf Dart Barrage & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Nerf Herders
Lucas + Bash
Traps Encountered: Sneezing Gas-Breathing Statue, Giant Beachball Boulder & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Pirate Ninja
Todd + Grace
Traps Encountered: Giggle Gas-Breathing Statue, Giant Beachball Boulder & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Princess Sparkle
London + Quentin
Traps Encountered: Itching Gas-Breathing Statue, Falling Sticky Net & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Salubrious Sword
Yancey + Lachlan
Traps Encountered: Sneezing Gas-Breathing Statue, Nerf Dart Barrage & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Spira
Spencer + Ira
Traps Encountered: Babbling Gas-Breathing Statue, Falling Sticky Net & Magical Mistletoe Snare

The Varmints! (ง •̀෴•́)ง
Jeffy + Essie
Traps Encountered: Itching Gas-Breathing Statue, Multicolor Plastic Ball Pit & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Titanic Panic
Iliya + Cameron
Traps Encountered: Hiccup Gas-Breathing Statue, Nerf Dart Barrage & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Wagonman
Eve + Salem
Traps Encountered: Hiccup Gas-Breathing Statue, Nerf Dart Barrage & Magical Mistletoe Snare

Shoeless Swan
Reid + Austin
Traps Encountered: Sneezing Gas-Breathing Statue, Multicolor Plastic Ball Pit & Magical Mistletoe Snare

» SHORTCUT???: Post the form below to get a completion time and opt into whether your team attempted to take the shortcut.

» THE MAZE: Navigate through the maze and try to avoid falling victim to its traps to secure the prize. ...Or are you being graded on how much you can entertain a crew of freshmen?

» OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

While Lachlan is inclined to agree that the sneezing statue is a gross addition to the maze, he's too busy scrambling to pull his handkerchief from his jacket pocket to cover his mouth and his nose. He doesn't want to breathe in...whatever that is. It doesn't do any good, though, and he too begins to sneeze. Once. Twice. And there seems to be no stopping it.

With the hand still holding the map, he reaches for Yancey's arm and tries to pull him along. Is hurrying still on the table? Can they hurry? He releases him almost immediately, though, as he turns away to sneeze again.

Team Name: Innocent Nun
How much do they hate the freshmen right now: Maybe a 5? Because they're minor menaces with bad taste in animals.
Did they take the SHORTCUT???: Yep~
Anything else?: Who wouldn't take a shortcut? What could possibly go wrong?

They don't land in a romantic meet cute kind of way. Instead, her elbow hit the ground hard, and Heathcliff grunted like he took most of her weight in the lungs. It takes a minute afterward to get off of him without crushing anything vital, and she can't stop babbling the whole time, even when she's talking over the top of him. "Fucking hate babbling gas, who the fuck came up with it anyway? And oh, I bed someone really thinks this is fucking funny. Little shits probably moved the maze to get us to come this way. If they want to see something funny, I can show them funny," she says, holding her hand out to him to help him up. She does crack a smile, seeing him sprawled out on the ground like that. "Though, you do look pretty funny. I'm not that heavy, god."

To Georgie's credit, the bells and whistles do not make her lose her balance. Yoga has taught her to maintain focus in the face of certain distractions, Coppertale has taught her just how many distractions she can handle.

It's just when the slime hits, she kind of can't just stay up anymore, and Georgie comes crashing down. There's more buzzing from the lasers, and the deluge of slime continues down on their heads, even as Georgie lies on her back, trying to get her breath back.

"Griffy!!" she calls out, hauling herself up into a sitting position. "You found a—" Georgie's message is briefly interrupted by slime plopping into her mouth. Huh. Hopefully this is vegan slime. "—shortcut! Let's go!"

This is clearly the way they were meant to solve this puzzle.

The Beach Ballder comes crashing down on them, instantly killing them both and doing the school a big favor. Chad, barely recognizable without his glasses, will be buried without a name, but Dinah will be given a hero's funeral, the Canadian flag draped over her coffin.

At least, that's how this issue of DINAH DANGER will end. It'll be a cliffhanger, right before a break and a mega-sized PROM issue.

In reality, Dinah's flat on her face, having been literally bowled over by a ball, snort-laughing at Chad's plight.

"Churro," she squeaks, eyes so full of tears you would think she had just been blasted with Giggling Gas, "how many fingers am I holding up?" The answer is none and Dinah's an asshole.

"Babbling gas? Shit. Seriously?" Heathcliff knows he's speaking over Fern but he can't seem to stop speaking over Fern, even as he tries to focus on what she's saying. "Okay. Yeah. Duh. Definitely babbling gas since I don't think I've heard you say this much at one time, like, ever? Not that I'm complaining. I like listening to y- Hey! I only fell because I was trying to keep you from falling, so whose fault is that? I never said you were heavy. I could pick you up with one hand!"

He pauses just long enough to grin as she offers him a hand up. Then he reaches to take it...only to pull her back down on top of him. In a romantic meet cute kind of way. Maybe. Then, teasing (and starting to hopelessly babble again), he adds, "Told you I was stronger than you, huh?"

Innocent Nun tried to take the shortcut and wound up back at the start. (-20) They completed the maze after 16m 52s.

Rosy almost had her composure back, she had almost vanquished the foe that is joyfulness, but there's just something so fucking great about Danny's little giggle. It's just so small, so free of his usual pretenses, and she both loves and hates it because now she's pushing him out of the way to collapse against a far wall.

"I hate you," she snickers, the map a crumpled mess in her hands. She doesn't even know which direction they're supposed to go now. "I'm about to leave your ass and—" A thought occurs to Rosy that would make her smile like an asshole under ordinary circumstances. The effect here is greatly multiplied, and she can barely get enough breath to gasp out, "the crown won't fit over your hair anyways."

"Oh, gosh," Yancey sneezes, lighting his fingers on the other boy's shoulder. And then as he tries to finish his thought sneezes two more times. "I'm sorry, Lach."

"We should..." He inhales, like he's going to sneeze, again, but it gets stuck. And he stares up at the ceiling futily hoping for it to stop. Or the sweet release of death. "We should get--" There it is, a terribly loud achoo. "Get out of this powder."

This is worse than dating season on the squonk farm. Not mating season, though. Nothing's worse than that. But this is pretty much exactly like dating season.

"Shortcut!!" Griffin agrees, pivoting sharp enough that he slips. One leg up in the air, he glides across the slime-slick hall to the conveniently placed SHORTCUT??? door and slams into it with enough force to daze himself a moment.

"Let's get out of here," he says, swinging the door open and motioning for Georgie to join him. He peeks through. Huh. That hallway on the other side looks kinda familiar...? Oh well.

Edited (icon switchup) 2018-05-22 17:03 (UTC)

"Fuck you," he exclaims, wide-eyed and grinning, half because he can't help it and half because of how happy Rosy seems. Logically, he knows it's the magic doing it, but he's not going to not enjoy that smile. "I'll transfigure it so it fits."

Danny gestures with both hands, still laughing. Then he glances up from them, at Rosy, and adjusts the size, snorting as the imaginary grapefruit-sized crown becomes an imaginary grape-sized crown. "I'm going to make it super fucking tiny." He brings his fingers close together and pantomimes carefully putting a hat on. "Little tiny ass crown on my head. So it doesn't mess anything up." He wheezes.

Edited 2018-05-22 17:14 (UTC)

"Oh my gaaaawd, I wouldn't put it past them," January agrees. She's just about to trip one of the wires to test out this theory when anticipatory giggling and ominous sloshing sounds from above stop her short. Oh, great. Freshmen.

She eyes the maze, trying to find a clear route through it. Which was the better approach: Floor Scoot Butt Jut or Cracked Back Boob Thrust? These were the tough choices they now faced. "This is like compleeeetely discriminatory against girls with hella fine assets???"

Team Name: Wagonman
How much do they hate the freshmen right now: 4. this is exciting but they’re irritating so theres some hate on principal.
Did they take the SHORTCUT???: No.
Anything else?: hiii <3

Wagonman played it safe and didn't take the shortcut. They completed the maze after 10m 25s.

Edited (hello hello! <3) 2018-05-22 22:34 (UTC)

Breathing has become a serious issue at this point, and Rosy can't remember the last time she so much as smiled for more than ten seconds. Her cheeks are going to be so fucking sore if she manages to live through this, and this is one hell of an ab workout.

"It's gonna get lost in there, you know," she coughs out, taking deep, steadying breaths as she forces herself to a standing position. Please, for the love of god, do not let there be another one of those hidden tiles in this wall, because she cannot take another disaster right now. She moves back toward Danny to run a hand up into his hair. "We'll have to send Newt in after it."

And at the image of Newt the Niffler rummaging around in Daniel's overly-coiffed hair, Rosy loses it again. She may never recover.

Edited 2018-05-22 23:07 (UTC)

"Also teeny tiny little legs??" Riley whines. She loves being tiny and adorable, like a cute little speck, but this is downright rude. And maybe a little hard to manage in her heels—not that she would dream of venturing out of her cabin without them.

But FINE, WHATEVER, might as well just try to figure this out. Riley drops down to her hands and knees and approaches the new problem, in a way that conspicuously puts her fine ass on display, and decides the solution here definitely involves sliding along the floor as much as possible. Hey girl, you watchin'? She puts her hands on the floor and pulls herself along, glancing back just enough to make sure January's eyes are on her...

And then there's a sound. A not-super-positive sound that almost definitely came as a result of someone's cute booty not making it under that wire.

And then there's the slime.

Essie watches the mountain, shifting into a wide legged gunslinger stance, but resisting the urge to immediately go chasing after Jeffy. He's not EXACTLY built to be a BALL PIT NINJA after all.

She's about to start pelting the spot he disappeared with more balls (which isn't EXACTLY super effective but whatever) when something grabs her and the squeal that escapes her lips is a mixture of surprise and delight. "Jeffy Jaws is no match for Eszilla!!!" she yells and launches herself into the balls, accompanied by her best kaiju roar. "First I'll defeat you and then I'll smash all of Luxembourg!!!"

Oh, January is watching that scootin' booty all right, sliding along the floor right behind Riley with her own booty equally thrust into the air for... freshmen??? to admire. She's also watching as that cute booty gets thoroughly covered in slime. Ooooh, now that's just nasty.

It's also a perfect excuse to grab that cute booty as January slips in the slime on the floor around Riley. "You got a little something riiiiiight there," she says, giving Riley's butt a completely necessary honk as she wipes some slime off of it.

Then there's the buzzer.

And then there's more slime.

He shuffles kind of upward, balls careening to the sides, and it's kind of funny. Ferdie nudges her nose with his, after looking to be sure no one can see. Not that it matters. He doesn't want the freshmen to enact some hilarious retribution, is all. "It's fun." He insists, softly. "Really. Thank you."

It doesn't hurt, exactly, and he's definitely had worse. He continues flopping around like he's actually forgotten how to sit up or walk, and makes a big show of slapping at what is probably Dinah's face. He really can't see without his glasses. It's like...pretty unfortunate. Where are they???

"FIVE." He shouts, because he sees zero, and clearly it's a trick. "OR TEN. Duh."

Ursula crinkles her nose, bumping it back against his softly. She knows they won't have to worry about the freshmen until the very end. Also knows there's a high chance neither of them are getting out of this maze without getting drenched in slime. All the more reason to dawdle. "Think we could convince Mr. Hightower to have a ball pit installed at the camp site before finals? For mental wellness, of course."

"CHADISH," Dinah shouts unnecessarily in his face, seemingly unfazed by his thrashing around and slapping. She pulls herself up to kneel in front of him and tightly grasps his shoulders. Please don't shake the baby, Dinah. "CHAD-ISH," she repeats. "The answer is nineteen and you clearly have brain damage. I'll have to carry you the rest of the way."

Carrying him seems unnecessary, but Dinah's prepared to do it. Get on her back, Cheddar Chew, or she's carrying you like a swooning southern belle in a fun and funky Hawaiian print shirt.

Jeffy bursts out from under the cover of the balls right as Essie dives in, declaring death to Luxembourg and all the innocent Texans(?) therein. It's frankly miraculous they didn't crash into each other, because it's bad form to accidentally break your girlfriend's nose so close to prom.

"LUXEMBOURG?" Jeffy shouts, scattering plastic balls everywhere. "Luxembourg is a TRAP." What a TWIST. "And you fell RIGHT INTO IT, ESZILLA." He shoves his arms back under the plastic balls and starts rattling them around to... make it seem like an earthquake? Like there's anything bad about being in a BALL PIT in an EARTHQUAKE??

Iliya is still worried. It's hard not to be, after Cameron returned from his meeting with his father in such a state. He has seen anger before, from Casper and Wilde. Even Ulysses can have his moments. But not Cameron. Not like that.

But today they're trying to have fun. As absurdly over-the-top as all of this is, Iliya does smile just a little at the reminder of the last time they were in a maze. "Hmm," he says, forcing his expression back to feigned indifference. "You know, I have changed my mind. There are things more important than making out." He walks ahead of Cameron. "Things like crowns. And... homework. Vegetables. Waking up ear—"

Iliya takes another step, and unleashes a sudden barrage of Nerf darts on them. "Po dyavolite!"

Edited (a million years later ;_;) 2018-05-23 19:29 (UTC)

Sy's been in a stormy mood all morning. Like, why is he even here? There's no point to them doing this when they're not even going to show their faces at prom, and it's a distraction from Coppertale's final game later today, which he should honestly be preparing for instead of playing stupid freshmen games.

But it's hard to miss the way Sy's face lights up when the maze revealed, and the words "race," "traps," and "winners" are uttered in quick succession. Fuck him for being a fool, but he loves shit like this.

Or he did like four minutes ago, anyway, before their constantly shifting map directs them to another dead end. "Goddammit." He scowls at the map, and glances at Clem. "Is this total bullshit, or am I just really fuckin' bad at reading maps?"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 7 of 8

💍 LET'S STEAL PROM! 💍 Round 3!

Salubrious Sneezes

Re: SHORTCUT???

Re: Innocent Nun

Nap Mom & Squonk Take the Long Way Home

Danger Butt

Innocent Nun

RESULTS

Adverse Drug Reaction Has An Adverse Drug Reaction

Salubrious Sneezes

Nap Mom & Squonk Take the Long Way Home

Adverse Drug Reaction Has An Adverse Drug Reaction

Loot the Booty

Re: SHORTCUT???

RESULTS

Adverse Drug Reaction Has An Adverse Drug Reaction

Loot the Booty

The Varmints! (ง •̀෴•́)ง Do What They Do Best

Loot the Booty

Flotsam&Jetsam

Danger Butt

Flotsam&Jetsam

Danger Butt

The Varmints! (ง •̀෴•́)ง Do What They Do Best

Titanic Panic

Lake Gooseberry Killers