[There's a guy on your phone, and he looks a little winded, but his whole attitude is one who's used to making a show in front of an online audience. At length. He's confident, even if clearly alarmed.]

Hey, folks. My name's Shaun Mason, and back home, I'd be identifying myself as staff of the After the End Times, but that doesn't really mean much here, so I'll skip that part.

Anyway. The fact that I'm here means there is trouble. For you and for me and for everybody.

To stave off some of it for now, big advice until we know if it can be stopped: don't die. Don't get killed, and don't kill each other.

Trust me on this one.

I'm carrier of an airborne, highly infectious virus. The passive form went around my world in about three days overall, and it was a disaster. Because it goes from passive to active basically when somebody dies, and the active form... well. It reanimates people. Their bodies, at least.

Anyone who gets the picture of what that means, raise your hands!

Anybody with ideas how to stop the apocalypse from coming to this world - the whole world, mind you, not just the island, I'm open to suggestions.

Keep it in mind, folks, and you probably want to come up with something pretty fast.

That's all for now, and, yeah. I'm sorry. But you all needed to know.

Shaun Mason out.


ooc: And if police - or doctors - are coming to apprehend him, they won't find him until after he's had a chance to chat with Georgia.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to New Moore. It's awesome having you all so far, and it's nice to see the streets nice and busy. Just so everyone knows, our good buddy Conrad usually does a free drink for the newcomers over at the Nancing Phony. But once you've gotten that out of the way, over at Madame Red's we've got some awesome deals going on right now. And if you call in to Paradox Pizza and request Ramona as your delivery girl and say the phrase, "There's a pizza party in my pants," I'll buy you a free order of breadsticks with your order of $15 or more.

It seems there is a great deal of mass confusion concerning this place.

If anyone has an escape plan, I'm happy to lend you my services.

[ A red-and-orange suit of armor takes up most of the view of the video. Although impossible to see the wearer's face, it is apparent from the tilting of the helmet and the movement of the video that they are inspecting the device they are more interested in it than in actually using it.

The video goes off. Right after, a text message appears. If it is possible for anyone to tell, it is not coming from a phone. ]

I've been told I should take a leave more often, but this is not quite what I would have had in mind. There is not much chance of getting a ride off the surface, I gather.

I will go through the proper channels with the local law enforcement, but I am curious if there is anyone with bounties needing hunting. I'm not against working while on leave.|

[ If anyone possesses the GAMING CRED to recognize this individual, then they are given permission to scream in awe. Otherwise, here, a person of indeterminate gender in indeterminate armor. ]

Who likes hypotheticals? Okay, actually, let's don't answer that because I bet a whole bunch of you don't like hypotheticals. But let's say you do, for the sake of understanding what page everyone is on. A lot of people might be on the same page, after all, and other-me pulled out a nice hypothetical situation, and I'd like to pull out a reality. You know, just to see who knows what.

So, uh, hi, I'm Peter Parker. That's a starter! See where I'm going with this? No, well, there's a reason why I'm not your witty clever blogger, but I did consider it a few times. Turns out it's really not for me. I never got any hits and everyone was very unimpressed with me. How does one become a famous blogger, anyway? Because Perez Hilton pulls it off and everyone can't stand that guy.

Okay, focus.

So, the not-so-hypothetical situation is that it seems like we've got a lot of people here from similar places with similar stuff, and it might be good to ... figure that out! So I'm going to lob out twenty questions (it might be less, I'm writing this by the seat of my pants). I'm not saying that other people can't play along. It might be fun. If you wanna drop a comment of your own and try to figure out this mystery, that'd be great.

Right—uh, questions!

1. Do you know how miserable it is to stand in the line for Shake Shack, right up until you get a delicious burger into your hands covered in weird not-imitation cheese even if it seems like it, while sipping down the most delicious shake of your life? (If you have any relevant allergies here, you can skip half this question. Or if you're a vegan. I'm gonna be open and conscious here. If you're a vegan, I might wonder about you, because then you may never know the wonder of Shake Shack.)

2. Do you frequently wonder why the east side of New York mostly only has the green line, the most hated line of them all, well known for its frequent jerkery and unpleasant cramming against other bodies?

3. Do you know the Avengers or the Ultimates? Specify which!

4. ... Or the X-Men? Though I think they're kinda defunct these days.

5. What about that masked menace Spider-Man? Though I've heard rumors that his reputation's looking up lately. I wonder what's going on with that.

6. If none of these are familiar, do you have masked superheroes in your world?

7. ... Do any of these masked superheroes include Batman and Superman? (Though we're using mask in a loose sense here.)

8. If none of the above, do you use a lightsaber? I need to get your autograph.

That's all! I guess I fail at twenty questions. But I think I got us started, so uh, let's get the ball rolling.

[ooc: as a brief note, questions 1 and 2 refer to NYC staples for all the NYC characters. Shake Shack is a super popular burger establishment and the green line is an often overly packed line that services a large portion of the city. all times are rush hour on it.]

So, is anyone else, like, totally weirded out by all this stuff? Not like Bayville didn't have it's own problems, but, like, this is completely off the "sci-fi" scale. Not even the Professor talked about stuff this out there.

Anyway, speaking of "weird stuff"... does the word "X-Men" mean anything to anyone? I'm just, um, curious, that's all.

[Poor Kitty is too distracted by everything around her to realize that she hit the wrong button and the video is still going. Don't mind her -and the phone camera- phasing through a wall to the outside.]

Does anyone have a map of the island? I need one, ASAP.

Hi, my name is Paige Matthews, nice to meet you, yadda yadda. Seriously. Someone tell me where to get a map.

Will the real Gwen Stacy please stand up?

Oh wait, I guess technically I don't count.

Okay, so uh.

The fictional thing was weird. But I almost ... find that relieving in a way. That'd make more sense than my life for the past year.

But can anyone explain why I'm somehow from the future? Or how.

Uh, thanks.

hey all you new bassholes stop freaking out for a sec

I'm assuming this isn't Wonderland. Unless there's a smoking caterpillar somewhere I'm missing.

[She sighs.] Someone care to explain what's going on, and what's the quickest way back? Or at least to the nearest world-hopping portal or whatever. I have people to find.

Who: Hela and you!
What: The Queen of the Dead comes to New Moore
When: Various and sundry times
Where: Various and sundry places
WARNING: please be advised that Hela is someone who has gone toe to toe with Odin and Thor and is perfectly willing to use magic or violence. If you need to reach me about this for any reason you can find me at ohmygodbees.

Adventure A: Arrival

The arrival of the dread Hela does not come without warning; a few seconds warning, maybe, to feel the temperature in the park plummet to cold and clammy, and stay there. She's the proverbial tall and dark, taller than anyone should have a right to be, clad in black and green armor, and for the few moments it takes her to grasp her situation everything is dead silent.

"Who dares?!" The righteous shriek of indignity, louder than any human could scream, the temperature dropping dangerously and the air hard to breathe. But of course, there's no one there who could be called the culprit. Or is there?


Adventure B: Magic

There's a light display somewhere just beyond the city limits, violent neon green lightning arcing up towards the sky and skittering over the barrier. Hela has a lot of power to bring to bear, and yet no matter what spell she tries nothing seems to work. The portals flash and glow, but refuse to open to Hel; her magic can map the boundaries, but not break whatever wards remain in place.

But she has a lot of power, and nothing but patience. She can stand here for a day and a night and longer, if she has been, trying an eternity's worth of tricks. And if it seems she takes no immediate notice for anyone who might investigate, well. The power to ward herself still functions as it should.


Adventure C: The Search, aka. The Noir Woman

When power fails- when you can't get what you want for yourself- there's no shame in taking the resourceful route and finding someone to do it for you. Hela has a guise for going about among mortals that would make Sam Spade weak at the knees- a dress cut down to her hips, sleeveless and tight, and the sort of large and fancy hat that would make any Southern belle jealous with envy. She can't recognize the magic or the work, but surely someone else can. In the offices of the city hall, the hospital, down to the last bar she can find, lying in wait or walking in like she owns the place; sooner or later, someone will heed, and someone will talk, and she will know who to make pay.

New Moore, was it? I need this planet's coordinates. The sooner, the better.