middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

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So Familiar a Gleam: Ongoing

JUST Ā̸̛͇̹̈́͌͐͛̐̋͝Ǹ̵̠͍̲̘͈̮͈̺͔̤͙̳̓̔͑͌̒̓̃́̄̚͘Ớ̶̻̱̄̓͆͂̈́̄̔͋͌̽̀̕͘T̵͙͍͓̻̩͙̻͙̹͎̫̘͇̱̈́̌̓͝ͅH̶̭̻͇̰͈̯̦̹̦̗͐̒́Ẽ̵̡̡̘̳͉͇͚̼̗̣̩͎̞̏͒̈́̏͂̈͝Ř̴̠͋̐͘ NORMAL DAY

"Jinnjar citizens. Unfortunately, all train travel will be closed due to issues on the lines. Members of the Voidtrecker Express have been located around the city, and are deploying trickery to agitate and confuse us. We ask any volunteers at this time to help us locate any suspicious objects and people, and to restrain them.

For the f̴̘̯̰̦̺͖̔͌̋̃ũ̴̢̖̦͙̩̼̺̪͚͍̥͈̜̝͋̌̒̊̚ẗ̶̪̺͕̤̯̞̤͓̝́̑̄̎̊̕future of our city!"

A TL;DR notes version of days/prompts: (click to show)

EVENT BASICS:

DAYS 5 & 6:

By now, some people have broken out of their fake lives while some haven't. Tension is rising in the city as people are led to believe this is by the Voidtreckers, which some will believe due to illusions and messing with one's heads is believed to be one of their many tactics.
Some oddities are occurring with travel, and glimpses of how the city is made beginning to show. The streams of colour - the void - are getting brighter. Electronics are not working well. Some monster sightings are seen, but not to a large degree.
The prompts here are light to give characters and players time to ICly coordinate, as Voidtreckers are being more actively hunted. Some faces are known. You know who you are, troublemakers.

DAYS 7 & 8:

The world is really starting to go a bit wild now, with more things disappearing, animals on the loose and more monster sightings.
By the end of day eight most people have realised the truth though those who are very susceptible to mind control or very stubbornly wanting to believe in this world will still be trapped, believing this is the Voidtreckers doing.
There are monsters to fight, people to keep calm and a plan to make.

[ HOME SWEET...HOME? ] By day 5, the people of Jinnjar are in a state of anxiety more than before. There's those who realise they're not a part of this world, never were, while there's those who still cling onto this life. Health services say that the source of confusion comes from the colour trails that are brighter than ever in the sky, while the D-Force/Heroes have it confirmed - internally and publicly - that there are Voidtreckers amongst them.

The media shows pictures of potential suspects, some Voidtreckers, some not; a man with the same face as two others, one who made a show by creating ice in the middle of the street. Your face may be shown, but don't worry - they're asking people not to play vigilante.

That'll surely keep people behaved.

[ TRAVEL REVIEW. ] As if it couldn't get more frustrating, most of the trains are down. Air taxis are still available for short journeys, yet some people have the bizarre occurrence where they end up in the wrong spot, and even remember going in this wrong direction...but never say anything about it. Those using the tele-pads will also find themselves not always arriving where they should, or worse, suffering intense headaches, swirling colours behind their eyes, their thoughts jumbled for as long as ten minutes before it passes.

You might want to walk.

[ MAKING DO. ] Still, with all the chaos, many are trying to live. You have a life here, no matter what some other force is trying to make you believe,

For our HEROES: The cinema has rethought its showings due to the worrying happenings of the last few days. Clearly a boost in morale is needed and so they have pulled out some of the great films of the past. Action films that show heroes beating the bad guys, disaster films where the good guys beat the aliens, stop the natural disaster or thwart the secret agency looking to take down civilisation from the inside, at the last minute. Even the childrens films have taken on a pro-hero and triumphant air.

It's not quite distraction though, how could it be when every film has a warning before and after. REMEMBER TO REPORT ALL SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY TO DFORCE and WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SHOW. REMEMBER TO WATCH YOUR SURROUNDINGS AS CAREFULLY AS YOU DID THE SCREEN.
Fun Park: It's for the kids, but one of the largest arcade parks has a special discount on everything to anyone who come visit. It's even advertised across the news: For half the price, get amazing fun and even better food! Kids younger than eight or from the orphanages get free access everywhere!

It's time not to think too hard, and to ignore the trouble! Play laser tag, racing cars or get a high score on the dance mat!
Encroaching Dangers: Something new is beginning to happen, as the city continues to shift. It starts at night, those that stay out past when the streets go quiet might see a shadow, might hear a growl.

Rumours and reports start to spread about monsters on the street.

DAY SIX: HELP FROM INSIDE

[ AID. ] DIAGNET is full of videos but one that has started doing the rounds is of a small droid and a cat. It's not hard to see why it has gone viral, the cat and cleaning droid are chasing each other around an apartment, caught on a home security footage. The cat tries to catch the droid but every time it gets close the droid turns to chase it and the cat runs away. It has been uploaded with stirring orchestral music, which adds to the madness.

But... For those Voidtreckers who have already regained their memories that little droid seems familiar indeed. As do the sounds that punctuate the music.

beep beep beep boop | boop

boop boop beep | boop boop boop

boop boop | boop boop boop | boop boop boop | boop beep | boop beep beep | beep beep boop | beep beep beep | boop

boop beep boop beep | beep boop | beep beep boop beep | beep

boop boop boop | beep boop beep | boop beep beepp | beep | beep boop beep

boop beep | beep beep boop | boop | beep boop beep | beep beep | boop | beep | beep boop

Of course it might not be anything, just weird droid sounds that haven't been fully edited out of the video.

[ MOONDUST CAFÉ. ] It might be that they figured out the message or, it might be that a friend is dragging them to the cafe. But for those that make their way there, they will find the Moondust Cafe is a bustling cafe on the edge of a park, near local transport links.

For those that say the right words, a slightly bored looking teenager manning the counter waves them to a side door. "Best sit downstairs, service will be quicker."

Downstairs has a fair number of tables and booths and is lit by coloured lighting making everything look a little obscure. There's soft music playing, not loud enough to make it impossible to hear each other but enough to make it a little harder for evesdroppers.

Mingle, discuss. This is probably the closest to a safe space there is.

[ LOST & LOST. ] You may have spotted it already - that is, spotted what's missing. There's been the pets, the birds in the sky, a pen or apple or wrench from the garage. But now, with every single bad thing going on, more is starting to disappear. Machines stop working, from air conditioning, freezers, your Jinnjar MP3 player, to TVs and more.

And in some business buildings, even entire rooms are gone, their floors empty of more than the door you opened to find this out. Even the heroes seem worried and they quickly clear any affected areas, chasing away bystanders and sealing off whole wings of office blocks.

None of them have answers though, except that this must be the Voidtreckers doing. After all who else but that group could have power enough to do such damage?

DAY SEVEN & EIGHT: UNRAVELLING

[ OVEREXPOSURE. ] Everything is starting to escalate. The headaches are getting regular the more you're outside, buildings are starting to go missing around the outskirts. People see parts of the city flickering, and when they reach certain sections of the city, they find they can't go beyond it.

Life tries to go on, but as more areas of the city begin to be sealed off and considered dangerous, even those who are most stubborn about pretending everything is normal can see that is is not.

[ LET LOOSE. ] The breaking down of the city has caused a lot of chaos, but one of the biggest problems are that parts of the zoo have vanished. Walls, fences, enclosure roofs. Meaning that the animals inside are no longer confined and are now prowling the city streets. Real birds now fill the sky that the fakes left empty.

And they aren't all that's there. Twisted creatures are becoming more common on the streets of Diagad. Creatures that look almost like animals but warp and twist between them, one moment a bear the next it has horns and then it is a wolf. But no matter how they look those claws and teeth are bad news for everyone.

[ CRUMBLING, CRUMBLING. ] By day eight whole streets are disappearing. homes, houses. people need to be moved in closer around the congress sector. Colours crackle through the sky like lightning and the world shakes often.

It's not just the infrastructure but the memories of those in the city. Dreams have come realities and all but the most stubborn have begun to realise that this world is not their own. They are from another place. What is going on? Why are they in this city? Who are these people who are their 'family'?

Confusion and anger are growing in the streets and it is perhaps time for the Voidtreckers to come out of the shadows.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

For a small while the downstairs room in the cafe fills with those who are curious or aware enough to know what is happening. People mingle and chat and the music ebs and flows. Drinks and snacks are available- the 'nutrtea' is just a sweet green tea, probably to the relief of those who remember Kamakan.

A girl in a hoodie, that is certainly not in one of those voidtrecker colours, and an apron serves the drinks, a small droid at her side.

After a while, as people eat and drink she pauses at tables, speaking quietly but loud enough for the table to hear. "We went there, the real Diagad. It's gone."

((OOC: Try and group up for these threads but you can tag her alone if you wish! Both 4th wallers and Voidtreckers are equally welcome))

The droid message, honestly, was a bit of a relief. Emporio has been doing well to stay under the radar, but his anxiety has frankly been rocketting upward the more the city downspirals.

A familiar face among tragedy- one that might have Some ideas- is welcome.

"Right," he agrees, swallowing. "Someone mentioned that the thing from the last planet we helped referred to it. Or...its skies, anyway. But if this isn't the real Diagad, what is it? It's obviously held together with illusion, but there has to be a thing to ground it on right..?"

If there wasn't then....well.

Where would their bodies be? For that matter, how would they be alive?

And here's an unfamiliar face, but one who knows enough to not look a gift message in the letters.

After all, what's the worst that they could do? Kill him? Nothing new.

"In theory, you're correct. It depends on the nature of the illusion. I, for one, didn't arrive like many of you did - I don't know how I did. Whoever is doing this is extremely powerful indeed to rip us away from the place we were in. But as for where we are in actuality... I have a few theories, most of them unpleasant."

Yondu situates himself at the cafe and waits, noting the server but doesn't say anything beyond ordering the most caffeinated thing he can snag (but mentions he's passing on the nutritea so she at least knows), counting on her recognizing him. He smells like whiskey, but he can't really help it as enough dried into his clothes after breaking up another small altercation.

When she comes back around and speaks, he flashes her a big shark grin like he's just bein' friendly.

"Is it now? That's what I was figurin'. ...Some of these people seem to come from people's homes, too. Like they ain't crew but they came from somebody's world or some likeness of it."

Edited 2021-07-14 07:37 (UTC)

Danger/Let Loose

It might be a creature you know, or it might be a creature you don't. It might be one of the twisted creatures 'native' to this place. Either way there's someone in between you and it right now, a strange staff in his hands. There's a brief flare of power and then a burst of fire directed towards the creature, followed up swiftly by a burst of lightning.

He turns to the person he's been helping out and smiles, cat ears finally visible along with a lashing tail.

Lost

Nara'a is good at helping people. He's made a career and an accidental heroic mission out of it, after all. That said, he keeps running around asking people if they've seen various objects. A TV, whatever that is. A game console (likewise). Three books, a cat, and a left shoe.

He's starting to get frustrated, and he's not sure what to do about it.

Warrior of Light

He can't keep going forever. Even the Warrior of Light needs to take a break sometimes. He doesn't seem to have anywhere to go, so Nara'a decides to find an isolated area of the park to practice.

At first it's standard - going through movements of attacking and defending with his staff. But then there's a shift in the air and suddenly the clothes he's wearing shift from robes to armor, a lance in his hand. There's a crackle of energy as he jumps and dives down onto the taller branches of the tree he's been targeting, the resulting crack louder than he'd intended.

Oops.

Wildcard

[Got an idea? Throw it here or contact me on Discord (Matt#6266) or Plurk ([Bad username or site: atrypical @ plurk.com).]</small]

OVEREXPOSURE

Earlier that day an entire warehouse and its contents disappear. One moment Murphy's back is turned as he directs a driver, the driver gasps at the wondrous bullshit that happens behind him, and he turns to observe an empty space.

By now he knows, he's just been hanging with it because he doesn't particularly have the want to bother with it. It was an easy ruse to play along with, but this is too much. It's that that makes him drop his clipboard and barcode scanner right there on the concrete and just walk off. He's done! He's out! Bye bye!

By the time he finds someone on the sidewalk, he's in back in the trappings of a black suit with a red shirt, his theme being fully on. "Look, I've played along with some powerful dick's bullshit before? But I know when to get out. This is 'getting out' time."

LET LOOSE

There's a whole flock of bipedal ostrich things with snake heads, and he is not about it. Nope nope nope. He's not had to run like this since bounty hunters were after him.

He runs into a corner store to get away from them, shoving a magazine rack in front of the door. Then backs away slowly as the bipedal snake headed whatsits gather outside, looking in through the window menacingling.

Murphy stares through the window, before spreading his arms and shouting a dramatic, "The fuck?!"

"...Wait are you the guy from the podcast?" whispers a mortified teenager from behind the register, glancing between him and the window. "Big fan."

"....Thank you?!" replies Murphy, before he starts looking for weapons that he can improvise. This is what he gets for not just having his sword cane on him.

Wildcard

[Hit me with whatever. Replies can be either prose or brackets.]

Edited 2021-07-14 08:23 (UTC)

Not Actually Something To Tag
There were dreams. Confusion. But not enough to break, not enough pressure, not until day five. Or rather...the evening.

Adrien was walking home, head pounding, not paying enough attention when a monster arrives. He doesn't notice....but Plagg does. And Plagg will not let it anything hurt Adrien.

Adrien turns at the sound of the yowl, to see teeth inches from his face....and then the creature turning to ash in front of him, Plagg's paws outstretched in the air. And then-

He touched the girl, he watched her metal body decay, watched as she went limp-

He collapses to his knees as guilt crashes into him. Then more and more and more and as he looked up, for the first time, he sees his cat isn't a cat...but Plagg. And he curses himself for falling for this. He would need to catch up with Plagg, with so much, but for now-

"Claws out."

Encroaching Dangers
Are you out after dark? Were you as careless as Adrien had been? Are you ready to fight?

Well, maybe you won't have to be, because if a monster is harrying you, there will be a helpful cat drop kicking the monster from above.

Aid
.....listen, cat videos relax him. And right now, he needs to relax. So Adrien watched it, but while he doesn't recognize the droid, he does recognize the noises.

He perks up, playing it a few times. "That's morse code..." In case anyone else was struggling. Some people have weird skills when they grow up isolated from everyone else!

Fun Park
Listen, there is a draw in just having fun and that's true.

But Adrien has a secondary motive for taking part. He's looking for kids who seem a little TOO skilled at laser tag. Whose reaction time for video games is weirdly good. Because he suspects there may be reasons for that.

But also it is fun to play laser tag.

Lost and Lost
Chat Noir has found a perch and he's looking out for 'Heroes' blocking off things that are disappearing. He has a mask, he has a secret identity, he has quantum masking. Its time to use it.

Some heroes might be minions.

Some may be brainwashed.

And, well, brainwashed is his specialty.

And he was a destroyer. He was going to wake as many people as he could and if that means getting into fights, so be it. But for now, he needed to find people.

Let Loose
Well, this was familiar.

Chat Noir can't just let people be attacked by wild animals or monsters. So he's doing something he doesn't usually do, and focusing on dragging creatures away from any people and with a force of will....

Creates cages from seemingly nothing to seal them in.

Hopefully those last longer then whatever is making this place.

But it takes him time to do. Creation is difficult for him and sometimes it takes a little long to make something. There just might be times those creatures have some friends he doesn't know about....

Family (Locked to previous CR)
The next day Adrien is looking for people. The people he recognized.

He was going to wake them up, one way or the other. Plagg hidden away on his person now.

Edited 2021-07-14 08:42 (UTC)

Wash had finally remembered who he really was (though he really hates that he can never fucking remember how he gets to other worlds). He'd picked up on the Morse code in the message, made his way to the cafe, and taken a table with Yondu - he doesn't know what to make of him anymore, but anyone who runs the sort of operation he does is at least competent, and that's as close as Wash can get to trust when everyone is a stranger and probably whammied to hell and back by whatever had dragged them here.

And then the girl drops by with some actual information. It's somehow both a relief and not at all reassuring.

"What happened to it?" His voice is low and level, and he doesn't look at her. If the Hunger followed them here, that means it's probably done with Faerun, and that means they're in a hell of a lot of trouble.

VT
GO MOONDUST CAFE
ORDER NUTRITEA.

It's the message encoded in the blast of music, or Chiff itself, that gave her away.

He sits quietly by a table in the thick of a potential crowd forming, talk abuzz and faces that may or may not be familiar. Better to be seen than unseen at this point. When Anan makes her way to his corner, he finally looks up. Roland's hair is tied up so high it looks shorter than it's ever been, a bun hidden underneath a cap. Their eyes meet as his finger taps the side of the nutritea he ordered out of instruction.

"Then where in the universe are we?" He wipes the cold sweat off the glass, his voice a barely audible whisper. "How do we get out of this, Anan?"

If others were to join him, there was more than enough room to gather. Tables unoccupied, seats not taken. Roland doesn't even drink out of his glass, too focused, too worried, mouth set straight.

For the past couple nights, Nino's been having weird dreams. Mainly involving some girl he couldn't remember and some location....Paris? Not helped with him dealing with headaches he's been having since yesterday.

It's not been enough to wake him or Wayzz up.

At the moment, Nino is sitting at a bench in the park, with Wayzz next to him. He's rubbing his forehead trying to deal with the annoying headache.

"Man, fresh air doesn't seem to be working. I should just get some pain killers."

Wayzz doesn't seem too happy either, even looking pretty sad. Or as sad as a turtle can show.

Gabriel had been, unsurprisingly, busy of late preparing for the upcoming fashion show. But finally he has a day when he actually does come down for dinner. Is it coincidence that this was a night Gar was stuck in evening detention? Had to be, right? The man could not possibly be actively avoiding his more troublesome son, right?

Actually... something about Gar had been bothering Gabriel worse and worse over the last few days. Something off. Something just right.

But this morning he had realized what it was.

He didn't have a second son. He only had Adrien. Gar, whoever he really was, was not his son. So why should he waste his time on the boy? He just needed to find a new bodyguard for Adrien to keep the boys apart. Without making it clear that he had caught on. After all, the reason he saw things more clearly now was one he could never share. Actually, that he broke through the Storm on his own was quite... Miraculous.

He had spent so long in that living city learning how to use his powers without Nooroo, having both now? Too good an opportunity to pass up. Especially since Adrien was here, and better yet... Ladybug, Char Noir, and their little good guy crew did not seem to be here. But they followed him. They always did. He would hav to figure out something to draw them out... And then a city full of heroes who knew nothing of those two? He could make it clear that their Miraculous actually belonged to him.

Yes, he had much to do, much to plan. But first... dinner.

He needed to understand where Adrien was now, if he recalled... anything. And he needed to start driving wedges between him and his so-called brother.

Gabriel went to the table, sure his son would already be there, in hopes that he would arrive. Ans arrive he did.

"Adrien."

Edited (icon) 2021-07-14 08:51 (UTC)

Razzy is fourteen, hair cut just below her shoulders, and has a tattoo of a lizard with a crown that's clear on her midriff when exposed as a ghost.

Cinema
Razzy wasn't a fan of liars. She wasn't a fan of manipulation. And when she heard what movies were doing....well, she decided to do a bit of work of her own.

So there may be some cinemas with the screen painted in large black letters. 'THEY'RE LYING TO YOU. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.'

Now someone may catch this vandal in the act. A floating girl with white hair.

Fun Park
Children were underestimated. It happened. There was a protectiveness people had on them that sometimes interfered with being allowed to help, even when the child was very competent, thank you very much!

But it was why Razzy was here, as a human, playing the games.

And feeling things out. "So you think there's anything to the adults freaking out about Voidtreckers?" She asked idly.

Encroaching Danger
Razzy is not actually a hero. She doesn't go out of her way to fight every single bad guy and save the day and all that. She is, however, a good person with superpowers so like, she's not gonna IGNORE the danger.

Also doesn't respect curfews.

So if she happens to be seeing a monster attack on someone, she will be coming in like the tiny lightning bruiser she is and send them flying.

She may also just phase random monsters in the sewers if its not too troublesome so people may be seeing that.

Lost and Lost
Well, when places are getting locked down, there is clearly things wrong. So she decides to help.

'CAN YOU REMEMBER WHAT'S INSIDE?'

'DO YOU KNOW WHY ITS CLOSED? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?'

Vandalism can be surprisingly effective. She may approach people she sees trying to remember. Or maybe she gets caught.

Crumbling Crumbling
Razzy isn't much for falling for the false life. She's on the look out for anyone who seems to be falling into the illusion.

Intent on finding ways to wake them up.

These could be as delicate as questions or...well, there's a few skills to brute force it.

Gar had been sticking close to his bro whenever he could without smothering him. So he had been sitting with him, sewing a pair of fake fox ears onto a headband when Adrien spoke up. "That's Morse who what?" If that was a pun for once... he didn't get it.

Well there was a monster, and it was attacking. But the monster didn't look like a Monster in the senti or classical sense. No... she looked like an Akuma. Looked like, acted like...

It was impossible, or nearly so, to recognize Kyoko in the dark figure that had been buoyed by swirling darkness until she landed on a nearby roof.

She reached up to stroke the darkness that circled her, hatred on her face, dark hair parted around her scar as if to highlight it.

"Shhhh," she cooed at the darkness which showed itself to have what looked like a small hateful person-like creature within it. "Just because we can't find he doesn't mean there aren't more people who need to be destroyed out there. Who shall suffer next for their crimes?" she asked rehotorically.

She reached into a fold of her dress and pulled out a very well made doll of one of the local popular singers. A guy, handsome, known to be a little full of himself... but genuinely talented. "Find him," she crooned. "Find him so that we can make him suffer as he has made us suffer!"

The darkness cheered, and several of the dark little creatures flew off away from her.

Either she had not noticed Chat Noir or... she didn't care that she had an audience.

Fighting Fire With Fire
Shadow was pissed. He did not like being lied to. He did not like being manipulated. More than that...

He did not like people messing with What Was His. Link and Zelda were his and they had been messed with and that meant it was time to cause chaos.

Step one, finding anyone who wasn't a person he recognized, DForce, or Hero. From there, he just needed to get close to their shadow.

From there, he'd use his own dark magic and attempt to take control of their mind. Just a moment, he didn't want control. He just wanted to kick hard at the enforced illusion.

It wasn't the NICEST way to break a person free, but he hopes it's Effective.

A Degree of Subtlety
But if they are someone he knows, Dforce, or a hero, Shadow will approach with more care. Put on a look of concern.

"Is it true? Are Voidtreckers as dangerous as they say?"

Heroics
Shadow had decided to try the hero thing years ago. He hasn't done terrible, but Nautilus allowed for a lot of people to defend themselves. So he didn't have to defend people a ton.

Who can say in this place. He doesn't know Voidtreckers. He doesn't know the others here. What he does know is himself.

So some people may find monsters coming out of the darkness, be it the nightly monsters, or the shifting ones from the zoo.

But they will also see another thing from the darkness, a shadowy form in an outfit that doesn't match this place, a tunic and long hat, with sword and shield. But the form will only be a shadow, with no color, and will fiercely fight off any creature.

Overexposure
Shadow is making it a might to find people who start to notice that things aren't quite right in the city and seem confused by it.

"Did ya see that?"

Edited 2021-07-14 09:22 (UTC)

Loki's been sitting quietly in a corner since he arrived, watching and listening. And brooding.

Eventually he stands up and moves to a more central location, and in a voice meant to carry, he asks, "So, Void Treckers. What do you do now? Who is taking charge?"

There is this girl, in a terracotta dress, who was sitting with him. She offers up a helpful wave. "He's got an idea and I'm here to help with it."

As a note, Sunset Shimmer has a massive tattoo with fiery wings coming up around her neck, to a rose in between her shoulders, and fiery vine tail along her side. Both present as human and unicorn.

Making Do
When Sunset remembers, its nothing harsh or dramatic. She's suffered complete amnesia twice. She regularly has other memories dumped into her head. The dreams just kept coming and coming until finally, she remembers being in the parking lot of her school. Of destroying the stone. The rush of her memories returning.

Along with everything after.

When she wakes up, she realizes what's happened. And she's annoyed.

But she knows making a scene isn't exactly a good thing.

Well, its a good thing she doesn't need to make a scene.

Instead, she puts on a terracotta dress, and she goes about her day.

However, she makes it a very regular thing to touch people, doing whatever she can to seem casual, and she focuses her power. Her empathy is a powerful thing, it lets her feels things, but it also lets her see memories. And she knows that it also allows her to see when memories have been tampered with.

Reality that bleeds into the fake.

So its simple.

She wants to know what people were doing the week before she woke up here, to see if they're awake or if they need help.

Travel Review
Its a shame about that hoverbike.

But Sunset has other ways to travel. And she figures if she has the ability to transform, why not use that?

So, you may be going about your day. Getting coffee or food. Just trying to ignore all the weird.

Then a unicorn just appears nearby in a shower of red sparkles. She may be standing her full under four foot height. She may be sitting on a counter. She may be balanced on a tree branch. Either way, she's going for noticeable.

"Hi, I'm a unicorn from another dimension, how's your day going?" She asked in the most chipper tone.

Because sometimes the direct approach just works better.

Moondust Cafe
She doesn't know Morse Code. But she's good at picking up things without getting noticed. It takes a while, but eventually she finds a Voidtrecker. And then she finds the cafe.

So now she's sitting in the Moondust cafe, studying those around her as she drinks a shake.

Monsters
The monsters are a Problem. Luckily, Sunset is used to dealing with monsters. And even more luckily is that power to just be a unicorn.

Empathy powers ain't great for monsters and without her friends, she can't do any of her Friendship is Magic stuff.

But she can be a unicorn and can make a fireball.

So someone may be saved by the squishiest, most adorable bundle of fire magic.

For Loki
Shortly after Sunset's wake up call, she skips school. Because she has a mission. The fact was, Loki was drawn to her. She's almost certain he's HER Loki.

So she sends a message to him, says she needs to talk to him. Somewhere private, heading to an isolated part of the park. She waits for him, kicking off her shoes. Terracotta dress, no shoes, she hopes it does something for his memory.

But she has a feeling it won't be so easy.

He had seemed so happy.

For 'Family'
Sunset had no idea who these people were. They weren't her family. But...

They had been kind to her. They had showed her kindness and care. And Sunset could not leave them to this illusion.

She's skipped school. She's supposed to be at work. But there are more important things. She heads home, hoping to find them, to see if they're still under. And if not, how she could help them.

Hopefully she could be gentle about it.

Loki has been sleeping slightly better since he reported his dreams and got a medicine to keep them at bay, but he's still very much not at peak performance. When he gets Sunset's message, he almost doesn't understand what it is before his brain kicks into gear. Then starts guessing at what she's not saying. Has she learned something? Found a Trecker? Invited one to talk? Norns forbid- are they holding her hostage?

He tries to remain calm and remind himself that she's almost certainly not in danger as he hurries to the meeting place, but his fears (and his exhaustion) still show on his face as he arrives. He waves to her as soon as he sees her and hurries over.

Sunset looks up when Loki arrives and she waves him over. Then she gets a good look at him, frowning at his appearance. "You haven't been sleeping," she said. Well, now she's glad she found a bench in this isolated part of the park. "You should sit down."

He waves away her concern, but sits down anyway. "Bad dreams, but I have something to deal with them. Just need to catch up on sleep."

He leans forward eagerly. "What did you need to tell me? Is it about- your idea to identify Void Treckers?"

He knows Morse Code. He's not sure entirely what's going on, but he knows that, and secret meetings sound like the right place to go to find out what fresh new insanity he's been interdimensionally kidnapped into THIS time.

"Well, that explains almost something," Wash said dryly. "What does that mean?"

He looks around and sighs. "Okay, so Voidtreckers, I assume you know what the hell is going on. Is this a thing to handle delicately, so is it a problem to solve with a lot of grenades? I won't lie, grenades would be a blast at this point. But I'll defer to seniority."

Edited 2021-07-14 10:38 (UTC)

Sunset tilts her head, looking him over intensely. Then, finally, she sighs. "I was hoping this would get at least some kind of reaction," she said. "But I guess you really don't want to see it, huh?"

She turns to him, crossing her legs on the bench seat. "Sorry, but I think blunt force is gonna be the only thing to work with you. I'm Solar Flare."

And then she turns into a unicorn.

Well, this is a way to be meeting again. Tidus looks between the two, a...fake familiarity with Sunset, if that's what one called this. But he knew they were both strangers - they were all strangers, except maybe between those two.

"We find the guy behind this and we stop him. Get people back home-" he waves a hand. "Just like we always do. Once we get more people outta the illusion."

What else was there to do?

Home Sweet.... Home?

Kyoko was one of the images on the screen. After all, they were looking for odd people who stood out. And... Kyoko as she was now... stood out. A lot. It didn't help that the image they caught of her was in her bright pink - so pink it is a curse, once you see it you can never unsee it, it will burn your retinas - work uniform. You almost couldn't avoid seeing her when she flashed on the screen.

As for the rest, well she had just moved to town recently... right? And... on closer look, things didn't add up. The teachers all thought her parents moved with her also, after all. That she was living with friends of their as an experiment as independence before college. Except...

There are no other Mogamis in town. Just her. No one has ever seen her parents. And she seems to have like... a ton of different jobs? And always seems panicked, like someone might find out her secret? And avoids getting close to people? How could anyone NOT think she was one of these Voidtreker people?

Kyoko saw her own image on a large screen in a public area and just... stared, shocked.

A memory. Stopping outside the 109 and seeing on the screen up there... A girl with long dark hair in a school uniform. MOKO! Flushing, thrilled to see how wonderful Moko looked. So happy and pleased and proud. Then... herself. Also playing and frolicking in the flowers with Moko. Embarrassment. Squirming. Then hearing people talking about the commercial. Praising Moko. She was so happy. And then... calling her plain and boring, like someone they could pass on the street. Anger. Like they were Sho's minions.

While staring at herself on the screen, people looking at Kyoko could see her go wide eyed and smile, and... blush. She bounced, lost in the memory, seeming to sparkle. Seeming? No! The air around her WAS sparkling. Then her face fell and she paled. Squirmed as if wanting to hide. Then beaming happily and sparkling again. And then... Fury. The Sparkles were gone.

"So what if I'm plain and boring and have no **** appeal," she growled at the screen. Seeming furious, she turned and stalked off down the street. She has totally spaced on WHY her image had actually been on the screen...

Travel

It is a good thing that Kyoko always had a back up to mass transit and rarely could afford air taxis. She had a bike. Not a motorcycle. A bike. Girly pink with space for someone to sit behind her if they don't mind getting cozy.

She had already drawn attention as a bike messenger in that hot pink work outfit. But now that more people were walking or otherwise more people could notice. And they would have more to notice than just her outfit. Her speed and recklessness were also quite noticeable.

Awake now

The sad thing about asking "who would have guessed it would have taken arguing with a unicorn about Faeries to bring Kyoko back to reality?" is that the answer would be Kyoko herself. Because that was exactly the sort of lala thing that happened in her head. Kyoko's life was a constant cycle of magical day dreams and harsh awakenings into reality.

So Kyoko was once again herself. And aware of herself. And she... had a lot of apologizing to do. She was looking for anyone she had interacted with while she was under the weird effect, to appologize to them. The whole world was falling apart, but she had faith in the people with magic - real magic, not like the small bit she actually learned in Avalon - that they could fix things with the world.

She was just... Just Kyoko. So she would fix things with the people she upset, instead.

Also... now she knew who her dark self must have been. She'd caught glances of video captured and posted. Mio. Well, that fear...

Actually that was still a potential problem. Just not in the same way. Now that Kyoko was herself, Mio should be herself as well. So asl long as Misao and Katsuki didn't show up, Kyoko should be able to keep her from attacking anyone...

Right?

The fact that the black outs were so similar to the ones she'd had in Avalon bothered her though, but she didn't know who to talk to...

Wildcard

((Feel free to poke me,

ChickletLARP for plotting!))

Edited 2021-07-15 10:04 (UTC)

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