From the Warehouse District to the Dorms, But Really Across The Island, Wednesday Morning

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

There was a flicker of something that passed over the warehouses early in the morning; some strange twisting in the air that warped them, changed them, and for a moment showed signs of rot. Walls that had stood proudly now laid collapsed, ivy and moss winding their way through the ruins.

Within, things shifted and moved, shadows of something more dangerous. A ringing pierced the silence, like a fine sword cutting through the air, and the shifting stilled.

A man in a red coat stalked out of the ruins, white hair framing the edges of his black-and-white mask. His hands were balanced on the edges of the sheath of a katana, slung across his shoulders.

The flicker ceased. The warehouse district returned to its old shape. But the man remained, walking, his feet hitting the pavement of the road as he made his way up Fandom's stairs. "That's great, it starts with an earthquake..."

There was another flicker elsewhere. He could see it from the corner of his eye. Across the way, by the docks, a brief glimpse of a familiar figure before Fandom's old status quo reasserted itself. "Birds and snakes, and aeroplanes..."

Beneath his feet, the cobblestone fickered from worn to well-kept to worn again. Something prowled along the road, but he paid it no heed. He did not stop until he saw Fandom's dorms, their integrity still intact. It had been a long time since he had seen them like this, but he wasn't lingering on that bar that it meant he did not yet have to act. He slid the katana back into its old location at his side. "And Lenny Bruce is not afraid..." A simple boost of a jump brought him up into a tree at the preserve.

He reached into something else, twisting the laws of physics, and pulled out a long rifle. He checked Spiral over carefully, but soon his eyes darted back towards the dorms.

Flicker. A shadow spooked past a dilapidated window, then was gone. "Eye of a hurricane..." he hummed, and began his watch.

There'd be worse soon, and the people at the school would need protection.

[[ thus begins the bde! Today will see increasing 'flickers' of the future world superimposing itself on current Fandom, for those of you who need a sign to get out of dodge - or would like to start playing their AU characters. the flickers will last longer and longer as the day progresses, until finally taking over at midnight.

... also, open for interaction ]]

Comments

[godilovedthis.livejournal.com]

"Something's happened."

It had taken Kathy a lot longer to reach the edge of the preserve than it had Dante and she could not jump up into the tree to join him. Both of these had been true for long enough that she no longer felt a sense of wrongness over either fact--just a simple pang that tore through her and was easily pushed aside.

"Still happening, I guess," she added as a flicker danced across the side of her vision. She eyed the tree, looking for any branches low enough for her to grab to pull herself up. It was never a good idea to be caught flatfooted on the ground when she couldn't run and those hard-won instincts didn't desert her just because Fandom was being Fandom again. "Obviously. Any clue about what's going on?"

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"If I'd have to take a guess," Dante drawled, his voice slow and measured, "Our plane's mashing into another one." Beat. "It's been a while."

It was more complicated than that; from his perch here in the tree, he could see not just this plane, but the overful mess of the afterlife mashing into an emptier copy of itself. But the difference wasn't exactly important.

[godilovedthis.livejournal.com]

The closest branch was a little higher than she could reach on her toes. With a sigh, Kathy jumped to get it--and missed. "Fuck!" she cursed, wincing in pain as she landed.

To try to cover it up until she could make a second attempt, she glanced back over towards the school. "Looks like it's going to be good for scavenging, at least," she noted. "That's always a plus."

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"I don't know."

Dante uncoiled, letting Spiral slip back to the plane it came from. He climbed down from one branch to another. "This might get interesting," he noted, as he came down to the lowest branch.

Not for any particular reason, of course.

[godilovedthis.livejournal.com]

Of course not!

Kathy waited for Dante to expand, then gave a sigh that held equal amounts of affection and exasperation. "Oh?" she asked. "Care to elaborate?"

And tried to bounce up to the branch again. Fuck you, branch, you weren't better than her.

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"You're gonna hurt yourself," Dante drawled idly.

He tilted his head up at the dorms again. "And I don't know. Just... interesting."

[godilovedthis.livejournal.com]

"Little late for that," Kathy pointed out, panting a little with the exertion. "Now I'm just dealing."

Her grunt of pain was louder this time, but the third time, she managed to wrap her arms around the branch in time. Pulling herself up would still be annoying, but it wouldn't be painful unless she fell again.

"Well, I'll make sure to put on my party dress and cheerful smile on the off-chance it's not the terrible kind of interesting," she said. "For however long it is until our own terrible spills over and ruins this place, too."

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"I think ours is going to win sooner rather than later," Dante said.

And with Kathy in place - and apparently not in need of a hand - he produced the rifle again. He leaned his shoulder against the trunk of the tree.

"Poor bastards."

[godilovedthis.livejournal.com]

"It always does," Kathy said, struggling to pull herself up onto the branch, no little pleased that she hadn't had to ask for his help to climb up. When danger was close, she'd do what it took to survive (how many times had he carried her away by this point?) but those fleeting moments when they were safe...ish...she liked to do for herself as much as possible.

"Have I told you yet today your mask is horrifically creepy?" she asked when she was level with him.

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka had dropped one wagonload of her friends (her toys) at Papa's place and then, when he'd been busy getting ready for all the friends, she'd wandered out again to go and get more. Now she was trundling back with a wagon full of toys and having taken a few deliberate wrong turns. She didn't want to worry Papa, but she was terribly curious about what was going on.

And Nanika was aware and watching but not worried so Alluka fearlessly wandered into the Warehouse District with her wagon full of toys, just poking around, not really expecting much.

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

In the trees, Dante - a Dante, not the same one waiting at Jono's right now - followed her with interest. Another shadow of a hollow popped up not far from her, lingering for a few seconds.

He raised his rifle, pointed it at the thing-- but then it faded.

He lowered Spiral again. "Might want to watch your back down there," he called.

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka hadn't even noticed the thing, too busy pointing out a tree to Mr. Bubbles. They weren't sure what kind of tree it was.

She craned her neck to look up at... more trees.

"Nothing's hurt me yet," she said cheerfully. "Papa said it was dangerous but I haven't seen anything."

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"That's 'cause the bad things are still hiding, sweetheart," Dante said.

... and then to prove he wasn't one of them, he threw his legs over the edge of the branch, letting his feet dangle.

[that_oldsaying]

All that really meant was that she was tugging her wagon over to his tree and peering up at him. Again, fearlessly. She wasn't worried about some strange man--not when he was being so nice!

"It can't be me they're hiding from," she said, looking around. "No one is scared of me. Hi!"

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"Not because they're scared, just because they don't want to be seen."

Ah, screw it. If something was going to happen to the girl, long-distance shots wouldn't do much anyway. Dante pushed off the branch, landing in a neat catlike crouch on the ground.

He straightened up and brushed off his coat. "Hi," he added casually.

[that_oldsaying]

“Hi,” she said again. “I’m Alluka. Are you new to the island? Why were you up in a tree? Papa’s all worried too, like you are, but…”

She shrugs.

Alluka didn’t really worry.

“I won’t stay out too long though, or else Papa will get upset.”

Jono was probably already realizing she’d gone missing.

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"I'm not new," Dante said. He shrugged casually. "I'm pretty old. But I haven't been around for a while."

Spiral vanished from his grasp, seemingly almost of its own insistence. "Then I found out some old friends of mine are planning to show up."

[soniaroadsqueen]

It was Wednesday. That meant Ringo had classes. Which, in turn, meant that she had to head out a bit earlier than usual if she wanted to get in a good ride before she had to be in said classes. So she was out in the cold, bundled up in a couple of layers, and humming happily as she slowly glided from the dorms toward the warehouse district.

The humming slowly trailed off as some instinct in the back of her brain began to sound quiet little warnings. Not imminent danger or anything, but something was, well, off. And she wasn't sure what.

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

Now there was a familiar old face.

Dante's eyes jumped to Ringo, but they quickly slid away from her form as years of experience saw him looking for anything that might make things more dangerous for her.

He shifted on the branch, but said nothing.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo slowed down as another instinctual warning told her that someone was watching her. Sort of. It didn't feel like a threat, but it wasn't something she felt very often on the island.

She found herself coming to a stop, turning a slow circle looking for whatever it was that was pinging her mental radar. Nothing on the ground, and none of the buildings within sight. Her eyes shifted to the treeline. Was there someone there?

"Hello?" she called a bit hesitantly.

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

Dante... could have been helpful, yes.

But just because he'd changed didn't mean he'd changed all the way.

So he simply echoed her. "Hello."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Her frowned deepened. The voice sounded familiar, but not, you know, familiar enough to place.

But at least it gave her a direction to direct her attention to. "Um, who's there?" she asked, slowly drifting toward the trees, eyes focusing on the source of that voice.

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"A friend."

No, Dante hadn't actually been reduced to one-word answers over the years, but... it was Ringo.

[soniaroadsqueen]

That was, perhaps, less reassuring than Dante had wanted to be.

Or maybe he didn't care.

But it was enough for Ringo to move closer, and enough for her to catch sight of him. And now she was frowning because he looked familiar but, you know, not.

"Most of my friends have names," she pointed out, continuing to move toward the tree he was in.

[rebelscreams.livejournal.com]

"Then you're lucky," Dante drawled. "Most of mine forget theirs."

He pushed off the branch, landing easily on two feet. He tilted his head, though the mask made it hard to see his features.