This is your time to shine, Venus! They need you to impart your wisdom on the island! This is what you were brought here for! Just wait until Artemis sees you-

Oh, hi there, New Moore! I understand that some of you are having a trying time. I, too, once went through this transition from normal, beautiful, irresistible teenager to that of a wonderful magical girl, fighting for love and justice. It's hard, but you can do it. I believe in you.

Now, there are rules when it comes to being a magical girl.

[She holds up a finger.] One! Never tell your secret identity to anyone. That just puts them in danger and you don't want that! Your family could be used against you.

[Two fingers.] Two! Never hurt civilians. You want to protect them at all costs!

[Three fingers now.] Three! You fight for love and justice! You fight for true love to withstand all! You fight for justice against the forces of evil that want to take over the planet! ...or in this case, the island, but it means the same!

Now I, the sailor-suited soldier of love and beauty, Sailor Venus, will be around to answer any questions you might have.

[The phone clicks on in the process of falling onto the floor in such a way that it's looking straight up the side of a mildly rumpled bed. Whomever dropped it doesn't seem to have noticed, and for a long minute or two nothing changes. Then something small launches itself off the bed and quickly out of sight.

...Was that a mouse? With wings? Not a bat, but a mouse?

A soft, wiggling pointed nose comes into view much closer, but the little brown eyes are peering guiltily through a pair of large spectacles.]

Whoops. Well this isn't going to work! I need a harness or something to carry this monstrosity!

[Anyone who works at the police department or in Avengers Tower would recognize that voice and those glasses - it's Sheska! She waves little mousy paws in an exasperated manner, working on tipping the thing upright - yep, there's a fuzzy mouse tail, big round ears, and soft, beige, feathered wings. She gets a good grip on the phone, she can't be more than 6 or 7 inches tall, and starts dragging it toward the open bedroom door.]

Maybe I can just get her to carry me on her shoulder, or in her pocket instead... KATE! KAAAATE! I COULD REALLY USE YOUR HELP, PLEASE!

[Even shouting at the top of her tiny lungs, her voice is still small, and it's hard to say if it would carry more than fifteen feet. Sheska trips over a snag in the carpet and goes down with a yelp, dropping the phone. The camera shuts off.]

[Well, someone's looking a bit more mature than usual... Aisling looks at least 13 instead of 6-8 years old - something about the shape of her face and the proportions of her hands as she brushes her hair back from a gilded tiara engraved with oak leaves. Unlike her normal, generally care-free attitude, she's actually looking a little worried.]

Does anyone know anything about something kidnapping animals and killing trees? There was some damage done yesterday, but before I could get there, the culprit was gone! One of my friends didn't come home last night, and no one around the damaged area is home either.

Who: Anyone!
What: The Free Will card runs around making people neglect their responsibilities.  Join in the fun, or try to stop him!
Where: School? The Hospital? The Police Station? Wherever there's problems if you don't do what you ought to! I'll start with an example.
When: Any time during the plot (until someone kicks his ass back into a card).

There's an ambulance, lights still flashing, parked outside the Ice Cream Shoppe.  The EMTs are inside, laughing, while the clerk loots the till.  Outside on the street, someone has wandered out of the salon next door, hair obviously in mid-perm, and started passionately kissing the mail-man.  A teenager graffitis a nearby wall in plain view of a police officer, cap pulled down over his eyes and snoozing on a bench.  A young child plays in traffic while his father wanders off, discussing sailing with a complete stranger.

At a distance of about half a block, traffic is stopped and people on the sidewalk are staring.  Beyond that range, no-one seems affected, and the chaos within that bubble is really messing with their day.

On the rooftop of the Ice Cream Shoppe, with nobody in particular paying attention to him, or even showing any sign that they can see him, is a pale boy with red eyes.  He's dangling his legs over the edge of the roof, simultaneously watching the crowd and flying a kite, with the slightest of smiles on his face.

It's wonderful seeing everyone do what they want to do, with no obstructions.

Great news, everybody!
As your magical sugar cure sakura honey angel moon princess, I sent you all of your children from the future to take care of! Hurray!



Nah, I'm just kidding. Can you imagine?

This small, harrumphing rabbit is holding an enormous fob watch open in front of him, reading the clock face as though it's a book.]

Attention, attention!  I've become ahare that not all of you here know what's going on right now, and that's simply a disaster.

I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry.  But the powers you've been granted were given to you for a reason, and that reason is about to arrive.  

Well, reasons, actually.  Five reasons.  Five reasons and a lizard.  Or more than five, really, who knows?

What's important is, very shortly a lot of large, unpleasant monsters are going to attack the island.  Some of them are here already. Already!

Only you can fight them, you girls and boys and boys who are for the moment girls!  Only you!  


So you'd best get ready!  [He blinks in alarm at something he sees on the watch face.]  Oh my!  I'm about to be late!  Very late!

Okay I have been waiting for this moment literally my entire life.

I look good in this!!

Who: Lydia and her secret admirer + Prada
What: An almost stranger shows up on Lydia's doorstep
When: Early eveningish
Where: Lydia's apartment
Warnings: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING NOT NORMAL ABOUT THIS

( Read more... )

[[ooc: Because things are fucked up enough for him without his little bro being a sword]]

---

[He's not running, but his footsteps are quick, breathing heavy and not panicked, not panicked, because Bro Strider doesn't panic, not even when he wakes up in a hospital bed with the last memories he has still fresh in his mind being told by someone who sounds too calm that he's fictional. Or was.

Under his breath, he's talking to himself.]

Okay, okay, just. Calm down. Take it easy, Bro. This ain't the most fucked up thing you ever got yourself into, just.. Okay. Priorities. One. Find out where the fuck I am and what the hell is really goin' on here 'cause I ain't down with all this 'you ain't real' bullshit.

Two. Two.. find a fuckin' bar.

[His footsteps pause, then resume. The audio cuts off.]