DBA Episode 44 - You're Lost In a Dream

Surprisingly one of the few episodes GM'd by zanzaKlaus, this one is generally held as one of the better episodes of DBA. Its story involves hopping around the minds of its core protagonists as they grapple their personal issues, in order to eventually discover what mysterious ailment is afflicting their friend James.
== Plot ==
The episode starts with everyone entering the arena ready for a match. What they find instead is James Invisible unconscious on the floor. The announcers Rave and Jamie appear, but decide to postpone the match in order to deliver James to DBA's on-site psychologist and therapist. They can't do it themselves however, since Rave would probably kill him and Jamie's arms were, and will always be, a little tied up if you know what I mean.
After carrying James to Dr. Marlow's office for an examination, he determines that this issue is specifically epithet related in nature, and calls upon a friend of his to deal with the situation: Morpheus. He seems confident in his ability to deal with the situation, but before he can enter, the most cursed man of all, Hella Money, enters the building from out of nowhere. He bribes both Morpheus and the rest of the party (with some extra convincing needed for certain party members like Melograno) to have the DBA crew enter the Dreamscape and solve the issue themselves on live television. This works, as they're getting paid like $500,000 each and the doors are all locked and reinforced with anti-epithet titanium. Before leaving, the chaotic duo of Chip and Weylan thoroughly rummage through Marlow's private belongings, and the party continually calls him evil despite the man doing nothing but his job.
=== Morpheus' Mind ===
The gang first enters through Morpheus' mind, but since he's kind of the God of Nightmares and all his mind looks more like a well-kept apartment. He explains to the gang that normal people have a lot harder time moving through the Dreamscape then him, so they'll have to jump through each of the player's minds one at a time and find the exits hidden within, until they make it to James' mind to expunge his affliction. He also explains how he can try to help out and give advice, but if he does too much hand holding then Hella Money will ring a buzzer and stop him from interfering. Lastly, he explains that no one in the Dreamscape can die as they're more astrally projecting themselves into the realm then being there physically, so they're mostly safe. Before leaving Chip, Weylan, and Davin order tacos from Dream Taco Bell on Morpheus' computer, which exists.
=== Davin's Mind ===
The first mind they moved to was Davin's, which appeared very similar to the most important mission of Davin's life where he chose to blow up an entire warehouse against orders instead of letting a super weapon fall into enemy hands. The section was heavily inspired by Metal Gear Solid, with low visibility in the blizzard letting the players stealth through the courtyard. Or they would've, if Davin hadn't instead attack rushed every guard they found, taking them out before they could call for backup. This annoyed Melograno quite a bit. Hope decided to ride on Chip's head like a hat to reduce the chances of someone falling behind and getting spotted, and Melograno ended up calling Davin's old mentor in Stealth Wrestling, KO Nami. At the end of the section they found out that the true mastermind behind this operation was Davin himself, as Davin sees himself as a violent killer who is addicted to combat and doesn't believe he can be the hero he pretends to be. This dream self, who was quickly dubbed "Revolver" Revolver Davin (Revolver Davin) by the party, planned to escape with his super weapon, and once he was far enough away he would detonate the entire complex with all of his own men still inside. However, Melograno was able to make a gumball turret which kept reinforcements at bay, while the rest of the party entombed Revolver Davin before crushing him into a cube and performing a Super Rat Punch to destroy him. Seeing his worries of being a villain as "cartoonish", Davin's change in self-perspective caused his mind to temporarily white out while the path to the next area opened up.
=== Weylan's Mind ===
The second mind was Weylan's, which appeared as a massive labyrinthine set of school hallways, lined with golden lockers. A royal decor covered the place, with people writing their combinations on the lockers with messages of adoration to "His Coolest Dudeness" engraved on the lockers. However, one large set of lockers at the center were not made of gold,had the word "Motif" written on them in crude sharpie, and didn't have a combination. Even using his powers, Weylan was unable to open them without first finding the combination numbers hidden throughout the school. However, during the expedition they were chased by the Dark Principal, an unholy summation of all authority which sought to put the players in "detention" for not being in class. Venus drove a car around the halls to help pick everyone up and keep them away from the Dark Principal, although that didn't stop Davin from trying (and failing) to intimidate the school tyrant. The players managed to gather the combo numbers, and within the large locker was... nothing. Just cobwebs and empty air. Weylan's dream world represented how he felt above others due to his epithet and fully believes that him acting like a middle school bully is what "the cool kids do", and that it makes everyone like him. However, deep inside no matter how much he hides it Weylan has some abandonment issues over his biological parents he never knew. However, immediately after, the Dark Principal closed in on them, so the players fled to the next mind.
=== Hope's Mind ===
The third mind was Hope's, and appeared as a massive wasteland of sludge and rot. The floor was mouths, the walls were mouths, and the sky was mouths. This represents how Hope is hungry. When visiting here, the players found Morpheus' lost dream dog Yharguul, who had gotten out of his house earlier. However, due to the negative energies of Hope's mind, he was corrupted into a massive evil bramble monster who fired eye lasers at the party, forcing them to fight the doggo while dealing with various "Dream Hopes" made of sludge that rose from the floor to devour the party and seemed impervious to long-lasting damage. Melograno cried a lot. In the end, they managed to beat the negative feels out of the puppy to return him to normal, and Chip was able to use his powers to create a second dream doggo named "Goopy" who became a sort of mascot for the group.
=== Melograno's Mind ===
The fourth mind was Melograno's, which appeared like an exaggerated version of the Valentine Family Circus. Various faceless clowns were stabbing themselves with swords, tripping over themselves, and shooting themselves with cannons all for the slightest bit of attention, even if that attention is from the faceless masses mocking them for how stupid they are. One of the Valentines tells Melograno that the only way he'll allow him to leave is if he performs more tightrope practice for the audience, something that Melograno deeply loathes due to his disdain for the family and their curse, which in turn invited a lot of extra "lessons" to try and "correct" him from his family. However, Melograno isn't so petty as to refuse at expense of the party, so he performs the walk. With the help of Chip intensifying his focus and steadiness, Melograno is able to keep his cool and zone out all the mocking jeers of the crowd, finishing with flying colors. This mind clearly represented how Melograno views his family, and forced him to re-confront his abysmal childhood.
=== Chip's Mind ===
The fifth mind was Chip's, which at first appeared as a wacky casino where every machine was boobytrapped. All the gambling machines hand cannons pointing at the players, or dynamite strung around the case. At the center was a Dream Chip who offered to show them the door to the next mind, but only if they play some EXTREME VITRUVIAN POKER with him. Unfortunately, some members of the party continually failed to do "extreme things", which eventually caused Chip's mind to avoid contamination and retaliate by putting the party into "The Pit". Once there, the players found Chip's worst nightmare: a boring grey set of office cubicles, with various "Greyed Chips" working mindless office jobs, with the most exciting things in their lives being assigned to a special audit or having coffee that was the perfect equilibrium of temperature. Chip had a breakdown. Many of the party members tried to cause an uprising, but those in the pit were clearly lost causes. Hope eventually took a part of Chip's epithet and spat it at one of the Greyed Chips, which caused him to ascend out of The Pit. The party was then pointed towards a door that contained the doorway out, but they were told a little too late that that's where they put "the psychological trauma". Contained within was a horrible monstrous combination of those that have traumatized Chip: Nagito Komaeda and Negative Theory MatPat. Giving up, Morpheus just used his powers to create the doorway to the next mind. This mind represents how Chip values living life to its fullest and being as off the wall as possible, otherwise your life will become a boring slog and you'll fade away into history with nothing remarkable about your life. It also has references to when he was forced onto MatPat's team right before Matthew Patthew was defeated, leaving him to be destroyed in a 6v1 that specifically involved being thrown into one of Big Kong's pits, as well as when he met Nagito Komaeda who bent luck to his will in a complete bastardization of his philosophy.
=== Venus' Mind ===
Up till now Venus has acted as the emotional support and backbone of the party, helping everyone cope with their inner demons. Her mind ended up appearing like the Vanderbelt Manor stretching on forever, however bits and pieces of it were breaking apart and sinking into this black corrosive ichor which was swallowing the ground they stood on. Everyone also felt much heavier here, like gravity was pulling them down. Eventually the party found a Dream Voia, who was then touched by what looked like Cynthia made entirely of the corrosive fluid from earlier. This turned Dream Voia into a rampaging mute monster who attacked the party, while Dream Cynthia attacked with triangles and energy attacks from above to continually destroy the ground the party stood on. However, with creative usage of their powers and even Melograno swallowing some pride and calling home for a trapeze tether (which he used instead to slam into the enemy), they were able to sever the connection between Voia and Cynthia, which quickly diminished their power. In the end, Hope spat a part of Cynthia's epithet at Venus, which made her powerful enough to live out her own power fantasy for a short while of beating her older sister in straight combat. This was also around the time Dream Taco Bell finally delivered. Afterwards, Voia told Venus that she's her favorite sister, before turning into the door to the next and final area. Venus' mind represented how Venus saw her family and its legacy being torn apart by their villainous tradition, as well as the pressure she puts on herself to fix the whole thing herself. The black ichor is directly supposed to be the evil deeds of the family, manifesting as the embodiment of this side of the family in Cynthia. Voia represented someone who Venus knew could be good, but was being corrupted into a monster by the pressure of her family.
=== James' Mind ===
James' mind appeared as a middle class household that was filled with empty junk food bags and technology, with a conspiracy theory board with various red strings and thumbtacks that eventually connected to a large bagel at the front of the room. However, inside the room was that of Teagan Bedlam, of the Bedlam Family. He explained that his family is involved in a massive competition to kill every other member, with the last one standing becoming God. Only valuing his own privacy and safety, Teagan has gone around as a memory assassin erasing all trace of his existence. He's also researching his other family members to better deal with them when he inevitably comes of age and is forced into the conflict. As such, he is using his newly found Outclass to enter James' mind and look at the DBA database, in order to discover which Bedlams have been at the tournament in the past and near future. The party very quickly calls him a massive loser, which he is. Despite his poetry reading and abilities to vanish into thin air, Teagan was very swiftly taken care of. At the end they found out that Teagan wasn't even aware of the side effects James was suffering as a result of his Outclass, as this was the first time he had ever used it to enter someone's mind. The players saw another door that lead on to what they assumed was Dr. Marlow's mind, and wanting to, and I quote, "Steal his psychic powers", they entered.
=== Marlow's Mind ===
It didn't take long for Dr. Marlow to realize that these ruffians were intruders into his mind. This was the straw that broke the camel's back, causing Marlow to finally retaliate in order to teach DBA a lesson. Having worked here for a while, he sees a lot of DBA's contestants as uncaring for the rest of the world, willing to walk all over the innocent and disrespecting everyone around them for no reasons but their own kicks. He wanted to put an end to that, so he revealed his power my immediately forcing everyone back into their real bodies and blocking Morpheus from their minds, effectively removing him from the combat. Even with Weylan's newly discovered Outclass, which turned every object in the room into a locker, Marlow was able to swiftly mop the floor with the party using his powerful psychic epithet. Davin's psychic pins ended up getting stolen immediately and used against the party. Chip managed to guess that Marlow's epithet was Psycho, but shortly afterwards was hit by a cannonball from one of his own effects. After exhausting every option in a grueling 2 hour fight and eating the Dream Taco Bell, the party used a massive locker fuckscape tri-tech attack to finish Marlow off... or so they thought. Apparently Marlow was still kicking with plenty of power, and deeming his Overclass as too overkill for the situation, ended up finally using his Outclass while the party was on the brink. However, before he could use it, Hella Money re-entered the arena to tell the gang that the episode was going on for too long and ratings were going to start dropping, and told Marlow that if he didn't stop he'd be fired. This made him stop, and also leave for a while. The party got paid, and the "hates their families" club was founded with many of the players like Melograno and Venus using their funds to move out of their old homes and get their own house together.
== Technical Difficulties ==
During the first half of Davin's section, the various gifs used to simulate snow falling caused the jukebox to lag and stop functioning, forcing everyone to use the music bot for that map. During the Weylan section, Dream's internet cut out for a while forcing everyone to take an extended break. That section also required some stopping in order for Zanza to give everyone access to each other's sheets so that Roll20's lighting system would work properly for the stream. 
== Trivia ==
* As the players needed to be figured out before work could begin on the session, the entire thing was made within two weeks.
* This is the first episode in which the Bedlam Family is introduced.
* After the match zanza suffered from serious restless limbs and died.
* The Dream Taco Bell thing was entirely improvised, and the icon was made mid session by YumYum.
* Stella was intended to appear towards the end of the episode as one of Marlow's summons with his Outclass, but as YumYum had to leave a few hours into the session and Marlow was never pushed to phase 2 until the end of the fight, she was never used.
* This match takes heavy influence from the game Psychonauts, and the name of the episode is based after one of Gordeau's combat quotes from Under Night In-Birth, which is one of zanza's favorite characters.
* Clarisse was intended as a backup if someone didn't show up, although zanza says that there wasn't enough time to prepare her stuff so she would've likely been excluded instead and the match would've gone with five players instead of six. Her mind world would have been that of a long white corridor with doors lining it, each representing a fragmentary memory of whatever Clarisse has been able to remember from her infinite existence. The hall would be devoured from one side across to represent how over time she forgets her memories and possibly is even losing "herself".
* James' door was intended to seem like it was already opened, however the players thought that James Invisible's door was, well, Invisible. Zanza says this joke is better, and it's considered canon now.
Category:Episodes
Category:DBA Episodes