A seemingly ordinary day in January becomes subtly stranger for the citizens of Ink City when something... shifts. While everything looks the same, save for the recent snowfalls adding plenty of white to the landscape, many of its residents briefly feel quite odd. Dot asks if anyone else just tasted purple; while nobody else appears to have experienced that, they generally agree that something's different now.
Still, the momentary oddity is swiftly forgotten, as everyone goes about their normal business. New arrivals show up from the Well, just like always. Pinkie Pie delivers cupcakes to everyone, including some very confused Decepticons. Tigger discovers that Christopher Robin recently arrived, and the pair have a happy reunion... while Kay starts to realize some of her friends may have gone home without her.
But it just keeps getting colder. And colder. And colder... Until just two days later, a sudden snowstorm sweeps in, catching many residents by surprise and away from their homes, forcing them to take shelter wherever they can find it.
Marty McFly's got a particularly rough time of it. Having just arrived in Ink City on the day everything shifted, he finds himself with a half-buried DeLorean and his newly acquired stalker Trevor showing up to play The Cavalry. With no other options, he's forced to accept the dubious honor of being invited back to the Mad Scientist's compound to wait out the storm... and try to ensure his host doesn't get his hands on anything he can use.
Most of the residents are luckier. Bumblebee was escorting Wasp to their base when the storms hit, but are fortunate enough to meet up with Don and get invited back to Edgeworth's Mansion. Yosuke and his Zorua Kyoko wind up at Larry the Cucumber's , while Aisling and Blurr are invited to stay with Professor Layton. Despite his distrust of all the other residents, One can't bring himself to turn Kay away when she shows up. Ava also sneaks into Souji's place to find food, while Teddie crashes with Shiro. Optimus Prime gives a hitchhiking Freeman a ride, Twilight Sparkle invites Mordecai to crash at the library with her and Spike, and Ren ends up at Kirby's. Digger and Elias find themselves staying at the Tower of Efdup, and Rapunzel, having left her own tower, stumbles across E. Nigma's humble abode.
As the storms continue, those concerned citizens who can withstand the cold venture out to find anyone who might be stranded and need help. Arthur helps Ariel break through the ice and carries her to Petitus' place. Kat finds Ash struggling through the snow with Pikachu and transports him to Shiro's Pokemon Center, while Legato and Rock find Ichigo keeping her garden warm and carry her back home.
Dot, meanwhile, has to deal with her brothers and Rigby going progressively stir-crazy. Three Warners and a raccoon trained in the art of toon antics do not do well inside for long periods of time.
In the middle of all this, new arrivals still crawl out of the well. Among them is Swindle, who soon discovers this world's 'Cons are not like the ones back home, and responds to Blurr's less than friendly welcome by trapping him in the well. York also arrives... And Hades responds to finding himself spat out into a snowstorm by forcibly defrosting the area around the well.
After just over a week of snow, ice and gloom, the weather takes a shift towards surprisingly warm, and everything starts melting away, letting everyone who couldn't handle the cold return to their homes. Really, Tai Lung thinks they were all just overreacting...
This Event includes examples of:
- Big Damn Heroes
- Brutal Honesty: Ichigo doesn't even think twice before telling Dot she'd been out in the snowstorm without even realizing how bad it was getting. This earns her a Face Palm.
- Cabin Fever
- Contemplate Our Navels: A few citizens spend the time indoors thinking a lot. Lune, in particular, is eventually driven to ask the city what exactly makes someone a monster.
- Implausible Deniability: Caught elbow-deep in the DeLorean, Trevor claims that he just 'lost a lens' in there. Marty doesn't buy it.
- Insistent Terminology: Marty repeatedly tells Trevor that the DeLorean is not his car, but belongs to a friend.
- Interface Screw: In-universe: Blurr's distress signals are scrambled by the Ink Well so that they come out completely backwards.
- No-Sell: Being a snow leopard, Tai Lung isn't affected by the weather at all and finds the others' reactions "cute".
- Orcus on His Throne: Makuta muses to himself that he could send out a lightning storm to melt the snow, but is more amused to just sit and let everyone else struggle through it.
- Painting the Medium: The voice in Ren's head, which normally speaks in red, temporarily switches over to purple after the shift. Judging from their reaction, this wasn't intentional.
- Real Life Influences The Plot: While the snowstorm event was already planned, and the city moves just before everything gets blanketed, the timing was fortitious.
- Relationship Values: Souji unintentionally creates The Tower Social Link with Ava, despite already having that one back home.
- Skewed Priorities: Nevermind being stranded in a storm, Ren's first instinct upon spotting Legato is to bean him with a snowball!
- Snowed-In
- Tastes Like Purple: Dot did, at least!
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Discussed when Ichigo confides to Legato how she wishes she had powers over more than strawberries. Legato reassures her that Heart Is an Awesome Power.
