Vivian-Squad 4-What In The Deep-dish Kentucky Fried Fu-
Viv had never been close to the Saint. She'd be the first to admit it, and though he'd never been anything less than avuncular and friendly to her, the two heroes' paths just didn't cross that much. For all of that, she knew he was important, special, unique. Enough chatter from her friends and other classmates about the Saint that she developed as fierce a sense of loyalty to him as anyone else.
Therefore she was damned glad of her new body when she spotted the familiar figure in the courtyard. Her knees couldn't give way without consent and fainting was out of the question. However, her voice did crack, and somehow metal fists closed involuntarily. She was so shocked she totally missed her classmates' request to pick up Iuvem.
"How? How?"
Outside Foundation HQ
Saint didn't waste any time in giving Rebecca a big old hug. "Hey, it's okay! It's okay. You're not pathetic. If anyone's pathetic, its' me. I'm the one who wasn't watching and got himself killed. Who made everyone worry. Who let the world go to hell. At least according to the news stations. For someone who's supposed to be the world's greatest hero, I messed up big. But you've still got a future ahead of you. And you shouldn't be wasting it because of me. I know you're gonna be great. Always did. Trust me. Okay?"
Ultimate Hope, Absolute Insanity
Squad 3 – Outside Saint Foundation HQ
Oh goooooosh! The Hunter was really riled up about the possibility of the Saint being a fake loser. His anger feels so swee-hee-eeeeet~
On a more serious note, Mari doesn't know what to make of the Saint's story.
Eh...she won't get instantly get hostile as Cambion Hunter over there, but she will keep an eye on him for now. His excuse seemed believable enough.
So she'll just play along~
"Heheheheh!", she jovially chimed in at Mikael's last phrase, "That's what I'll also do, Sainty boy!", she dramatically pointed at him.
"But first..", she ran up to the Saint, "Can we have a selfie?", she asked him.
Iridium Wonders – Outside Saint Foundation HQ
"Hmm...", the jester listened to Saint's story as he still scanned the hero
"Fine, I guess", he crossed his arms as he stopped scanning him. He still gave the Saint a really serious glare; the glare of someone who doesn't want to give up that easily.
Dante was relieved to the Saint was alive. He never really looked to him like a really devoted fanboy. However, the Saint was a powerful role model.
When Dante wanted to become a hero, he just looked at a picture of him that he found on Venice and said:
"Tu...", he pointed at the picture of the Saint in his youthful days, "Tu sarai colui che verrà sorpassato da me, il Principe Del Carnevale, e questo è certo!"
He needed to say something to the Saint first.
"Lemme say something to you...", he began calmly, "Well, Mr. Nathanial, we welcome your return! However, reveal something that determines you aren't what you seem, and I will not guarantee you'll make it out of that situation unscathed...", he paused for a bit.
A smile appeared on his face, "...Just saying~", with these last, calm and jovial words.
Dante's 'threat' was just him trying to playfully mess with him, though he stands by what he thinks. He won't be not watching him...that's for sure.
Edited by Theyja on Aug 24th 2019 at 4:38:51 PM
You might know everything I'm going to do...but that's not going to help you, since I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO DO! STRANGE, ISN'T IT?
Outside Saint HQ
Saint blinked rapidly before responding to Mari's request. "Uh, sure! Why not? You want to take a selfie, lets take a selfie!"
Ultimate Hope, Absolute Insanity
Squad 3 — Outside Saint Academy HQ
Oh yeah~ He accepted it! These are the best minutes of my whoooole life!
Mari pulled out her iPhone X as she went closer to him, before placing it (with her right arm) in a way that will also include the Saint in the eventual photo.
"Cheeeese~", she cutesily beamed, her eyes closed, she took the photo* .
"Thank you, thankyouthankyou— thank you!", she excitedly jumped up and down.
Oh yes, she made a selfie with the Saint. Now here comes the problem...should she post it online? I mean, it's a selfie! Her fans need to get her daily selfies! On the other hand, the public would know about the Saint's presence!
I dunno; Maybe some people will say that the 'Saint' might be an actor! Heck, even a random shapeshifter friend of mine. Maybe there will be an uproar, which will greatly damage her reputation. Maybe those pretentious commentary nuisances will bark even louder! However, this...stunt of mine will maybe clarify my suspicions about the Saint...hmmm, hmmmmmmmmm...fudge it, LET'S POST THIS CRAP! I need to be ready for the consequences though. Maybe an apology video would suffice...
"Thank you, Mr. Saint!", she made a quick bow before running off to meet up with her squadmates, as she posted the selfie with the Saint.
The captions read:
"Oh mah god. Just finished a very arduous mission. And guess who helped us, da winners, deal the final blow? #isthatthesaint #nathannathanial #curiouserandcuriouser #saintfoundation #marimira #heromodel #miranation"
Edited by Theyja on Aug 24th 2019 at 5:27:01 PM
You might know everything I'm going to do...but that's not going to help you, since I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO DO! STRANGE, ISN'T IT?
Marky - Squad 1
Marky looked at her with a somewhat stilted, forced smile, obviously trying not to be sad around Renee, "Y-Y-Yeah...yeah I'm...I'm—-" And then he looked down and kicked at the ground. His forced smile faded and he was left obviously frowning, looking outward.
"No...No, I'm not." He threw the pebble in the air and then caught it, breathing a heavy sigh.
Why is this so difficult?
Surrounded by weirdoes
Squad 1
"Well, we've gotten this far getting into weird situations" Sam commented "There is a lot of this that won't make sense to us, but however it goes, better stay together" He wasn't too sure how they keep landing themselves in this stuff, but he had to take any hit coming his way, lest he break completely.
And god knows he's been way too close before.
IW
Ryuu, now a bit more refreshed, walked to Martin and gave him a tap on the shoulder.
"So, how do you feel about all of this?"
Wake me up at your own risk.
Where am I? What's going on?
Rebecca - Squad 3
After the hug and pep talk from Saint, Becca slowly stopped crying. She wasn't magically okay, or anything, but at least she had regained control of herself.
Where had all these awful feelings come from? It felt like they had been there for a while, stirring just beneath the surface, but Rebecca herself had never even realized their presence until they broke out. Or, maybe a part of her had known, and she just refused to acknowledge it...
Okay, deep breaths, deep breaths... Rebecca got back on her feet and slowly walked to the back of the crowd. No need to waste the Saint's attention on her.
Renée - Squad 1
Renée put a hand on Marky's shoulder.
"Look, I'm not gonna make you talk about it if you don't want to. Just know you have friends like me who'll be there for you, no matter what."
Whoa, where had that sappy speech come from? She had just said that without thinking. Still, it felt like the right thing to say, and Renée had meant every word.
Edited by PossiblyQuiteInsane on Aug 25th 2019 at 12:04:46 PM
Outside Foundation HQ, May 1st, 2020
The month since Darkheart's attack on the Foundation had been nothing short of an uproar. Saint's apparent resurrection had not gone unnoticed, and had quickly spread across social media and the news networks like wildfire. No-one was sure what to think. There was every chance he was some sort of fake or phony. Some still remembered the war with the Mirror Dimension back in the 70's. It was such a fiasco that the President wound up getting impeached, and that was the least of it.
And yet it wasn't the first time a Superhero had come back from the dead. Miracle Monday seemed to come back once a week after getting killed off in some appropriately grisly fashion, and other heroes had managed to cheat the reaper in some way or another. So maybe, just maybe, it really was him.
He certainly acted the part. Whether he was the real deal or not, he had wasted no time getting back in the swing of things, throwing himself back into hero work and helping to make Supercity a safer place. He also made frequent appearances on news stations and talk shows, establishing his public presence and doing his best to regain the public's trust. Though given that there were already talks of giving him a parade, it wasn't as hard as some thought it would be.
The effects on the nonhuman and Superhero communities were a different story. The Saint's death had been like peeling off a bandaid, with everything his presence had managed to suppress coming out in full force. And his return was like attempting to reapply said bandaid despite all the blood still coming out all over the place. While his return had managed to lower tensions somewhat, it wasn't going to restore things to how they were overnight, nor was the entire hero community going to just go back to how things used to be. Returning things to how they were was going to take considerable time and effort, assuming it could be done at all. Or if this even was the real Saint in the first place.
Still, life went on. As did the Foundation. There were still crimes to stop, people to help, cities to save, and apparently, the odd traffic dispute to resolve. Right outside, a line of cars was backed up behind a red light on account of a small middleaged man walking straight in front of traffic. He was dressed in a grey suit and wore a bowler hat over his large bald head, waving a cigar about as he shouted up to the heavens while not seeming to care one whit about his surroundings. "MCGERK?! HEY, MCGERK! WHERE ARE YA?! I'M NOT GONNA WAIT AROUND FOREVER YA KNOW!"
I.W.-Pretimeskip
Martin smashed the last zombie around him and turned to Ryuu, thinking for a moment while looking at Saint. "Well, if its true then things are going to be looking up for us. A good number of criminals have the mindset 'without Saint around we can run wild', and if he is really back then we have time to build ourselves a brighter future without having to push back a mountain of awful."
A frown grew over his face as he turned away from the group of students surrounding Saint. "But, I can't help but feel that all of this was too...perfect. Hoard of zombies and an attack from a high class villain. Big proper setup and enough firepower to make it hurt. But before it can go wrong Saint appears to save the day just in the nick of time like he is known for. Life isn't as pretty as that, no matter how much we wish otherwise. So I can't help but think, if someone with enough power to throw around calling himself Saint appears in such a way to make any doubt that the worlds greatest hero is back, how can I do anything but doubt it?"
There was also another part that he didn't want to say aloud. It was simply too selfish and horrible to actually think, but it came to him all the same. Before his death Martin had never gotten to test himself against Saint, to try and match the living legend to see how far he could go. Even if this was all a trick, he wanted to find out if he was ready to try and take the first step toward the legend of 'the number one'.
AKA Nixer
Holiday – Outside Foundation HQ (Squad 2)
“Attention local civilians. This is your local ACP. Please remain in your vehicles, and I shall deal with the situation as quickly as I possibly can. Thank you.”
Holiday promptly leapt down from the roof she had been traversing and landed with a dull thud on the ground and mildly fracturing the pavement she had ended up impacting (she mentally made a note to deal with the funding personally later on). Approaching the perpetrator, she quickly caused the skin flaps across her entire form to ripple in consecutive fashion—indicating her nature as a robot as was her usual practice.
It was good for everyone to be on the same wavelength.
“Excuse me, sir. You're obstructing traffic and causing a scene. Could you please move onto the sidewalk to wait for your friend? There are people trying to commute behind you,” she requested, in as polite a tone as she could muster.
She also kept her hands clasped behind her back, and kept an overall looseness to her body posture. It typically made her come across less domineering. Until she had to, of course. She only hoped this wouldn't last too long. It may have been her job, but this was an incident only barely considered viable to interfere on. More a public nuisance than anything.
bork
Street Ouside Saint HQ
The small man barely looked at Holiday as he continued prowling the streets, puffs of smoke wafting towards her face from his cigar. "Hey, have you seen Mc Gurk? MCGURK, WHERE ARE YA'?! COME ON OUT ALREADY, YA DUMBASS! MCGURK!"
Suddenly a small building across the street from the foundation began uprooting itself from the city block it was placed on. Arms and legs of solid cement sprouted from its' sides, and two eyes and its' front windows contorted into a face. It hefted itself toward the street, plopping down right in front of Holiday's traffic offender. "Hey, sorry about that, buddy! Guess I was too busy, snoozing!"
"Took ya' long enough. But hey, no worries! Happens to the best of us!" He turned back to Holiday. "No need to worry your little head, toots! We'll be out of here lickety-split! Unless you've got a problem with that?"
Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 25th 2019 at 4:02:46 AM
AKA Nixer
Holiday – Outside Saint Foundation HQ (Squad 2)
Holiday blinked.
Then blinked some more.
Then blinked again, for good measure.
One could practically hear the clicking in her mechanical head as she slowly worked through figuring out the situation.
“...Oh. Apologies. Yes, I see how's that's an issue. Ahem. Perhaps...” she paused, looking up at the building-sized building as if to assess him.
After a moment, she smiled up at him, and nodded to herself seemingly satisfactorily.
“Might I suggest an escort? It might be easier for all of us if traffic wasn't to be obstructed. I could simply set up a controlled space, depending on where you want to go... corner off a small section of street for the time being until you've reached your destination! How about it?” she smiled even wider, closing her eyes in a way that suggested she was rather pleased with herself for thinking it up by herself. “It wouldn't take long. If I called in a few of my fellow ACPs to help, it should take next to no time to set up.”
Edited by Enirboreh on Aug 25th 2019 at 10:05:09 AM
bork
Supercity Streets
"Oh, that's not gonna be a problem, toots!" The small man waved his hand like brushing aside a gnat. Suddenly all the cars on the street shifted and morphed before turning into balloons. They floated high up into the air, soaring into the skies above as they gradually flew out of sight. As for the drivers of said cars, they were nowhere to be seen.
"Problem solved! Comin', Mc Gurk?" The man and the building began walking down the now-empty street. It seemed to get wider the more they went, opening up as if to give Mc Gurk more breathing room space. And anything that happened to get in their way was turned into another balloon in short order.
AKA Nixer
Holiday – Outside Saint Foundation HQ (Squad 2)
“Oookayyy,” Holiday said with a note of nervousness to herself, shifting in her stance as the curious duo began to walk away. “That's... concerning...”
Swiftly stepping out of the street (eyes lingering momentarily on the balloons that once were commuters), she put a finger up to her ear—activating the communicator placed there whilst simultaneously commanding her brain to save the last minute or two of what her visual sensors had recorded outside just now.
“Mahvash. I said your name just in case you specifically couldn't hear, but whatever. It gets your attention. Persons of all available squads, we have a situation. A potential reality warper has decided to... commute. With a building. I repeat, a living building. He turned the traffic into that bit from that horror movie. With the clown. You know the one. Balloons everywhere. Need assistance. He's not in my weight class.”
She paused at the entrance to the Foundation building, venting herself in an attempt to cool her stressed systems before gripping the doorhandle and entering the lobby.
“May be a high risk assignment. Send heavy hitters. Preferably those who aren't afraid to get absolutely mind#$&%ed. Excuse my profanity; over and out.”
Edited by Enirboreh on Aug 25th 2019 at 10:42:09 AM
bork
Marky - Squad 1 / Past
Marky looked at her with a slight smile, and nodded. It was...really nice to know he had friends. Friends that didn't hinge things on identity and such. She really valued him. Valued him. Some schmucky skater boy with a famous identity that no longer mattered.
"...Yeah, thanks Renee. Truth be told, I...just didn't know, y'know. Kinda jacked me up. How I'd deal if the actual Saint came back. Just kinda made me feel...like I didn't really matter any more. And kinda...honestly, not real. Like, I'm some kinda clone or somethin' - while he's the real deal. He's real deal, I'm not."
Surrounded by weirdoes
Squad 1
Sam had taken this time to do some thinking. The presence of the Saint seemed to have flipped the world. He himself looked like a complete idiot in all of this, but he had to keep alive, and perform daring rescues in the meantime, even if the rest of it came off as really clumsy.
So, going to the HQ with a box of donuts, if nothing else, to raise the mood.
Letting the others handle the current mess (god knows he isn't good at calming people down), he got into the building.
"Hello, everyone"
IW
Ryuu had spent some time thinking of Martin's words. Whatever comes next, they have to deal with it. For now, he tried to avoid questions and try to become the best hero he could be.
Managing that would be enough, at least for now.
And making sure that the others stay in one piece, of course.
Edited by Blueace on Aug 26th 2019 at 5:03:32 AM
Wake me up at your own risk.
Up on Melancholy hill.
Zach - Squad 1
Zach ultimately learned, a long time ago, at a young age, that the best strategy was ultimately to just...go with the flow.
Magical ink powers that may end up killing you? Go with the flow. Accepted to a superhero school? Go with the flow. End up marrying a fox demon and acquire a small family? You guessed it; flow. It was his intent to make sure thing could take him by surprise if everything seemed mundane enough to just accept it.
So Saint coming back to life? A little difficult to fathom but fuck it, go with the flow.
And there was nothing better to help with "flowing" than a balanced breakfast of donuts.
Oh, great, yoink. He...found it necessary to write as he yoinked one of the donuts from Sam's clutches. How's everyone holding up? He asked, as the donut disappeared into his inky depths.
Octavius - Squad 3
So, needless to say, Octavius had done some thinking about this whole..."Hero" thing, specifically the stern talking to he got about "reckless endangerment of human life" and "how the destructive capabilities of his cannons was catastrophic and dangerous in the wrong hands", or some such nonsense.
They suggested cutting back on the alcohol. Octavius hadn't laughed that hard in years. But, ultimately, it was true in some regards. A captain was only as good as his skills and as much as drinking may have helped him get through some of the existential pain of knowing his days were, at this very moment, limited...he'd cut back to one bottle a day.
Didn't say anything about how strong that one bottle could be though. So, he was in a bit of a surly mood as he walked into the building, fingers rubbing idly together as he silently counted to 10.
Mason - Squad 4
When one had insomnia, one had to...accept it as a fact of life. Sure, there were a lot of things that he could DO as a result of it, but in his mind, he ended up wasting a lot of time sitting around and just resting, regardless of how relaxed his body was. But even he admitted defeat after a while. Just...not yet.
He didn't accept defeat JUST yet anyway. But with no projects to work on, the whole "candy thing" being a bit of a side project that he was almost scared to work on, all he could do was sit and reflect...and reflect...and reflect.
Specifically about what Iona said about Saint...and how she didn't trust him. Iona was a good person, he could tell. She wouldn't try to lead any of them down the wrong path for...any reason like that. So, there was some thoughts that had to be had about that...
Well, until he looked out the window and issued a few, dull blinks.
"Uh...Ty..." he spoke aloud, looking over at his room mate. "Is that building moving around, or is that sleep deprivation hitting me like a freight train?"
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
AKA Nixer
Tyulla – Saint Foundation HQ (Squad 4)
“Uh?” Tyulla blinked, lifting up her head from her book and leaning forward for a brief moment to look out the window. After a pause, she let out a small hum of intrigue—before sitting back again and continuing to study her book.
“Yeah. Moving. Doesn't look very strong, though. There's a lot of balloons out today as well. Do you think there's a parade?”
A short pause as a frown appeared on her face.
“A... really small parade... with a sentient building... when there was all that beeping outside a second ago...”
Her tendrils twitched as she sighed, reluctantly setting her book to one side and quirking an eyebrow (or rather eye-ridge) at him in a rather nonchalant fashion.
“It's probably trouble then, right? Should we help, or...?”
bork
Vivian-Squad 4-Business As Usual
Viv was deep in thought. Oh, she could scan hundreds of sites in no time while just walking around, but sometimes it was good to connect to her main hub and let the subsystems sift through the Net for useful tidbits. Like this:
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER, GREEN BERET KILLED IN SAME NIGHT
On the surface it was just another article. But there was 'something' about it that had caused it to be pinged. Something important. It would likely have helped Vivian out down the road. But at the same time it popped up on her screen, another did as well:
WALKING BUILDING SPOTTED IN DOWNTOWN
And thusly she filed the first one away for future perusal and took off into the city to confront the anarchist architecture.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Squad 1
"You can figure it out" Sam answered, ignoring how Zach's body works in order to avoid another headache "Between being overwhelmed, confused, suspicious, or just straight up having an identity crisis" He admitted.
"Better go one by one" He shrugged.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Squad 1 — Wonderland
Suddenly, regardless of whatever else they had been doing, the entirety of Squad 1 suddenly found themselves in a large courthouse. Which would have been fairly mundane (aside from suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a courthouse,) were it not for the fact that the aisles were stacked with large playing cards. They all sported card-thin limbs and heads, and carried thin spears in their grips.
Perhaps what was most curious was who was on the witness stand. Wearing a blue skirt straight out of Victorian London and sporting a blonde wig was none other than Marky, who surprisingly looked rather fetching in a dress. Meanwhile, most of his Squadmates were seated in the front row. Wilma was dressed in a green tuxedo and sporting a rather humongous tophat atop her head, while Zach had for some reason used his shapechanging abilities to turn into a well-dressed hare. (Assuming someone else hadn't forced him to.) Sam and Lily were each wearing red caps and suspenders like they were still in grade school, and in the prosecutors' chair stood Renee, dressed in a red waistcoat over a bunny girl getup like something out of playboy. And sitting in the judge's chair was none other than Ellie, wearing a black and red Elizabethan dress and holding the gavel like she was about to order an execution.
As if on cue, an Ace of Spades waddled up to Ellie, whispering in her ear like a close confidant. "Uh, your majesty, I believe you were about to say 'Off with her head?' Mustn't keep the audience waiting. After all, it isn't every day we have a full house, is it?"
Squad 2 — Land of the Winkies
As for Squad 2, they found themselves in a similar predicament, only in their case they were in the middle of a barren wasteland. The skies above were filled with nothing but dark, ominous storm clouds, and the only sign of civilization was a large castle in the distance. It was like something out of a gothic horror film, in spite of everyone else's getups.
Speaking of everyone else's getups, they were all dressed as though they were participating in a costume contest. Sally found herself wearing a light blue skirt like something from out of the early 20th century, while Ryuu was dressed in a raggedy farmer's outfit stuffed with straw, and Iris was wearing a lion suit. As for Holiday, she had suddenly found herself stripped down to a grey tanktop and pair of hotpants, which surprisingly matched her skin. It had been removed of all coloring, reduced to a dull grey. For some reason she was wearing an oilcan on her head, and carried an axe like she was born to it.
The other didn't fare much better. Aster had been stuffed into a tiger suit, while Dante found himself wearing a worn plaid shirt and a Jack O' Lantern over his head. But perhaps the one most embarrassed was Martin, who was currently on all fours and wearing a dog suit. The only consolation was that unlike the others, he had a clue to what he was supposed to be. Namely a collar around his neck and a nametag that in no uncertain terms spelled 'Toto'. As if whoever was responsible felt the need to point out the obvious.
The only question left was, aside from where they were and how they wound up in this mess, where was Matten? Not that they had long to ponder it. In the distance they could see something coming their way. It was hard to make out what it was, but whatever it was, it was howling up a storm. And at the speed it was approaching, it likely wasn't friendly.
Squad 3 — Hill Above Grandmother's House
Meanwhile, Rebecca, Jumping Bean, Emily, and Octavious of all people were standing atop a tall hill overlooking a small cottage. They were each wearing dresses of various colors — Rebecca red, Jumping Bean green, Emily yellow, and Octavious blue — and carrying baskets filled with goodies in their hands. As they looked down below, they could see Finn trimming the garden in appropriate gear, while Van was sleeping below a tree with an ax and shotgun at his side. If they looked closely, they could see Mikael resting on a bed through one of the windows, wearing a cap and nightgown.
That just left Mari. Unbeknownst to the others, she had been dropped behind the cottage and stuffed into a wolf suit. Complete with pointy-eared hood. Aside from that, she was none the worse for wear, and yet she couldn't help but feel the slightest bit peckish. Perhaps there was a tasty morsel somewhere inside the house?
Squad 4 — The Banks Household
Last but not least was Squad 4, who appeared to have wound up in Edwardian London. Or rather a large and pristine mansion in Edwardian London. While their new choices of attire were somewhat less drastic compared to the others, they were none the less striking. Iona was dressed like an old-fashioned governess in the nursery, complete with a wool coat, skirt, and prim and proper bunn. Mason and Tyulla were dressed like a schoolboy and schoolgirl respectively, and were standing patiently in the nursery as if waiting for their cue.
Meanwhile, Iuvem was looking over a series of documents and checks in the studies, dressed in a well-tailored suit and sporting a suitably bushy fake mustache. Nariko had just bursted in and was wearing a long banner over her dress, bearing the word 'INDEPENDENCE' loud and proud. And Vivian and Perry were waiting right outside, each dressed in the frilliest maid outfits imaginable with dusters in hand.
Not that the mansion was the only location of interest. Across the street, Cole was dressed as though he were ready to sweep some chimney's, not that it stopped him from having a set of drums strapped to his back as though he were dancing for his money. He also found himself compelled to speak in one of the most ludicrous imitations of an English accent imaginable, though the words coming out were just as incomprehensible. "Chim chimeny chim chimeney chim chim charoo..." As he started to sing, a loud orchestra could be heard all around them, as though a spirited tale of family and the celebration of the free spirit were just beginning to unfold.
AKA Nixer
Lily – Wonderland (Squad 1)
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh–
Lily looked down at herself, silently gobsmacked, before swiftly glancing between the rest of her squad in a manner that promoted absolute disbelief.
Which was understandable, given the circumstances.
UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH–
She discreetly shook off her confusion, remaining as neutral as she could with only her wide eyes expressing her shock and slight fear. A glance towards Sam to her right—an unasked question of ‘what the actual #$&% is going on’ present in her eyes—before she shot them over to Ellie as if to see what she would do next.
...This is Alice in Wonderland.
A sigh escaped her lips before she could suppress it, and she quickly pursed them in case another one threatened to come out.
Great.
Holiday – Land of the Winkies (Squad 2)
ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR
Holiday shook her head back and forth with an audible rattle—a detail not missed by her judging by the frown that appeared on her face shortly after—and promptly moved her hand up to her head in an effort to cradle it and somehow relieve it of the screaming error messages within it. Except there was an axe attached to her hand, and she promptly clonked her skull with it. She winced at the clang, and gave herself a proper assessment.
...Huh.
Could've been worse.
She was a gunmetal grey, for one, but to her it felt like she'd just been coated in spray paint. Nothing much. The clothing somewhat resembled her more casual wear, so she didn't pay it much mind. The massive cone on her head (or funnel... thing) was downright insulting. She grimaced and touched it with the fingers of her other hand, only to hiss between her teeth and glance at the others.
“...As amusing as this all is, that doesn't sound friendly. Be glad I'm a machine, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd have had a stroke by now,” she muttered, somehow half to herself. “Once you're all... finished, we should move. Something's coming. It's blaring in my sensors even with this terrible hat blocking my ears. Plus, we're missing someone. So can we please? ASAP?”
Mahvash, where are you?
Emily – Hill Above Grandma's House (Squad 3)
She was in a dress.
Emily tried to think back to the last time she had even seen a dress, but was too caught up in the fact that she was in one. And it itched. Extremely. Unconsciously, a psychic film coated her entire body underneath the offending material, attempting to push it away even by the smallest fraction possible. It took a bit of concentration, but she was willing to keep it up. Everything had changed in an instant, and she was struggling to adjust to it.
Her vision was swimming, but she forced herself to focus on a patch of ground. Her stress ball hadn't made it, which was typical. A few strands of grass twisted and warped in her line of sight, which was serviceable therapy enough. For now, at least. She'd have used the items in her possession, but she thought it would've been rude. They might've been for somebody.
“...Can I have a minute? I'm swimming,” she said distantly, clutching the straw basket even tighter in her hands as if in an effort to keep herself in reality. Or unreality?
She didn't have the energy to ponder over semantics.
“Swimming. Head's swimming. Are you fine?” she finally asked, blinking away her weariness for a second or two to frown at those next to her. Who were also wearing dresses.
Of course they were. Why wouldn't they?
“Where's Mari? She's gone,” she said, frown deepening.
The strands of grass in her telekinetic grip promptly snapped at that.
Tyulla – The Banks Household (Squad 4)
WHAT.
WHAT.
WHAT.
WHAT?!?!
Thus continued the fascinating and wise train of thought of the ancient Primordial. Who was currently standing there with her jaw wide open, looking around and spinning in place in a frantic fashion. Only to screech in horror once she looked down at what she was wearing.
Okay. Nightmare. Had to be. A waking nightmare. Tyulla didn't sleep. Usually. Mason could bore her to sleep, but–
Her head whipped around again, and she couldn't help but feel a massive wave of relief wash over her once she realised he was right next to her. Now that she thought of it, the others looked oddly familiar too. Dirtgirl...
Actually, that was it.
Where the heck were the...?
Oh. Other rooms, probably.
She hoped.
Not hoped. She didn't care, really. Right?
...
“...I want to go home, now,” she said flatly.
Edited by Enirboreh on Aug 26th 2019 at 2:09:30 PM
bork
Where am I? What's going on?
Renée - Squad 1 - Wonderland
What. The. Hell. Renée had overslept that morning, and was in the middle of brushing her teeth when she suddenly... wasn't. And the transplant would have been disorienting enough, but her surroundings right now made no sense. Courtrooms were fine and all, but the card people were decidedly not normal. And her teammates were all dressed in ridiculous outfits. (Though Marky made a surprisingly hot girl. No. Bad thought. Bad).
… Wait a minute...
"WHAT AM I WEARING?!!!" She shrieked.
Iris - Squad 2 - Land of the Winkies
Iris didn't get disoriented easily. When you spent as much time as she had in a plane where the laws of physics folded in on themselves, it was a trait you tended to pick up. Which meant she got her bearings faster than most of her companions.
"Hmm... strange outfits, overdramatic creepy castle... this could be the realm of Ul'hashred, the Storyteller King... if that's the case we really don't want to stick around..." Iris mumbled to herself.
Then she heard Holiday's warning. It was a good thought, but...
"At the speed it's approaching, I doubt we'll be able to outrun that thing!" She said with only a slight note of panic. What she wouldn't do for telescopic vision so she could tell what she was looking at... "Maybe I can strike a deal the next time I commune with Ahl'kuur…"
Rebecca - Squad 3 - Hill Above Grandmother's House
The first thing Rebecca noticed was the lack of pants. A... dress? Phew. Definitely better than the alternative. But why red? Rebecca usually avoided bright colors because they were more likely to visibly stain.
Then she noticed her surroundings. Distinctly not Super City surroundings. Where the hell was she? And why was the pirate in a dress??
Then Emily's words hit her. She was right. Every member of Squad 3 except Marisa was currently accounted for. She tried to reach her on her communicator.
"Come in Mari-Mira, this is Pollutrix. What's your position?"
Renée - Squad 1
In the month she'd known him, Renée had never seen Marky this... despondent before. It was more than a little heart-wrenching.
Exiting her suit, she moved to stand next to him.
"Are... Are you okay?"
Rebecca - Squad 3
Fortunately, the Saints words were enough to shock Rebecca out of her catatonic state. Unfortunately, they caused her to break down sobbing instead.
"I... I gave up... You died, and I wasn't even there, and for the longest time I blamed myself anyway! And I let it destroy me, and, and I went home and wallowed in self-pity for two whole years instead of learning or growing like you would have wanted me to!" Rebecca fell to her knees.
"I don't deserve to be here, talking to you! I took one big hit and I let it crush me, before my career could even start! You stayed strong for over 70 years and I didn't even make it out of high school! I'm pathetic..."