Fandom Island and Town

"Hey hey!" Hades appeared near the hole between Fandom and Tartarus. It used to be a barrier, and technically it still was, but he was starting to like to think of it as a hole. It was only a matter of time before it was a clear path between the two places and then he would set everything on fire and whoever was left on the island would burn. The whole thing sounded like a great deal to Hades. After all, he'd given them a chance or three and they hadn't taken it, so once everything was in working order and this was officially his turf, all bets were off. "How's my genius protégé? Wait, no, don't answer that. I already know the answer." If Andrew was putting into this what he was supposed to, he would have felt like his life was being sapped away by this whole thing. It was amazing what whispered promises of fame, fortune and power could do to get someone to go along with a plan that involved destroying an entire town and everyone in it.

The part about everyone dying might have been conveniently left out. Details, details.

He lowered his voice to something more calm and soothing. "Only a little longer, kid. A few more hours and the hole will do the rest of the work for you." After there was a human sacrifice to seal the deal. He hadn't decided who to use yet. Hades enjoyed the idea of Harriet Jones staying right where she was far too much to use her. The Mountie was up there on the list. There were a few other names too, but they were still up on the surface, so he'd see. There was plenty of time to decide later. For now, he had to keep Andrew going. "Just think, Andrew, think of all the power you'll have as soon as this thing is over, think of how you'll show everyone your talent. They won't be able to ignore you now. A couple more hours."

Fandom was fighting a losing battle. The last chance to turn the tables was fast approaching.

[OOC: NFI except for the lackey boy.]

Hovering above the main school gates was the Vice Principal upon a flying chariot led by undead horses. "Residents of Fandom!" His voice boomed loud enough to reach every building on the island. Godly voices were handy like that. "This is Hades. Lord Hades to you. Here's the thing. There's now a huge, gaping hole linking Fandom and the Underworld courtesy of moi. Give it a little time and soon this place'll be a nice replacement for the dark, dank hell hole I used to call home, souls of the dead and all. Take this as my official notice that I've taken possession of your little island. But hey, I'm a fair landlord. You have exactly," he checked his nonexistent wrist watch, "30 minutes to vacate the premises. If you fail to get your sorry little mortal behinds out of here by the deadline, you will all be forcibly evicted. Please submit any notices in writing to I Don't Give a Flying [microphone feedback]. The clock is ticking."

He leaned against the chariot and started whistling a jaunty tune. There was no doubt in Hades' mind that right now they'd be gearing up for a fight rather than packing their suitcases. This was going to be fun.

( Hades on his chariot )

[OOC: And we're off!]

The pit of souls, green and swirling with the spirits of the dead, saw nothing beyond the endless spiral they were destined to circle for eternity. They had no solace in death, no safety and peace in the Elysian Fields where it was dreamed during their lives that they would one day rest. Endless torment and anguish made up their entire existence in the afterlife. Some had experienced this for mere seconds, their corpse still warm up on the surface, while others had experienced this for centuries upon centuries. No one, not even those in the pit, could tell the difference between seconds and centuries. There was nothing but the spiral and the whimpering, faded cries of their companions.

Within a split second, that all changed. The empty eyes of the spirits looked upward. They had never had reason to before, but something had changed. There was a crack in the seal that kept them subdued, kept them from reaching out beyond the pit. The crack was widening with each passing moment, only slightly, subtly, but widening nonetheless. The crack called to them, or sucked them in, the spirits couldn't tell the difference. All they knew was that this was something new, something they could feel.

The first spirits, those closest to the crack, drifted up out of the pit, gasping fresh air into non-existent lungs that they didn't realize had left them with their physical body. All they knew as they were sucked into the crack to Elsewhere (a word murmured and groaned throughout the pit before even the first had left) was that this was as close to freedom as they would ever come.

***

Hades watched as the first wisps of what used to be human trickled through the crack that would become so much more. A little nudging here, persuading there, perhaps some human sacrifice and they'd have themselves a fully fledged portal to the Underworld. Or, more accurately, a bridge between the old Underworld and the new. The new had better scenery, more fresh air, a chance to connect to worlds with an endless amount of souls and drinks with little umbrellas.

The only thing standing in his way was the pest problem. The humans had to go. But hey, Hades was a fair businessman, or so he liked to think. They would get one warning to get lost, then all bets were off and Fandom's previous tenants would be evicted for good.

A sharp-toothed smile split Hades' face into a grotesque expression of glee. He placed a hand on Andrew's shoulder as he stood beside him, party to breaking the barrier between worlds. "Good job, kid. I'm impressed." He leaned down and lowered his voice. "Now let's see how wide we can open this thing."

[NFI, NFB, OOC welcome. Thanks to wannabe_pan for letting me mod Andrew. The first spirits will be now appearing in Fandom, say from around 10pm onwards. More tomorrow!]

The school board, in their infinite wisdom, had decided that Fandom High needed to branch out with its celebrations. This came into effect before they had the bright idea of putting Dolores Umbridge in charge, Hades just hadn't gotten around to doing anything about it yet. But hey, no time like the convenient present, right? Right?

That was why the park was set up for Wednesday afternoon's community event celebrating two events that happened to fall on August 8 - National Waffle Day and National Underwear Day. It was also Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night (no, really), but Hades hated zucchini, so he decided to leave that part out. That didn't mean everyone else had to though.

Streamers were out, there was an area to design your own unique underwear, an underwear fashion show and there were waffles cooking for all. What a wonderful combination provided no one crashed the party.

Come one, come all!

The Park was rather busy this afternoon. Aside from a large picnic table littered with all sorts of delicious treats that passers-by were welcome to help themselves to, several activities were set up.

There were jello wrestling and custard wrestling arenas (really large inflatable wading pools), potato sacks for a potato sack race, a few frisbees and balls to throw around and a table set up for a hot dog eating competition.

All welcome!

[ETA: Weather is cloudy. No rain!]

Hades had the microphone and spoke to the students that were around. "Since classes are a little light on Wednesdays and we don't want you charming little citizens of the future running around manic like you usually do, there's gonna be a thing on Wednesday afternoons. Today involves as little effort from me as possible.

You might or might not have heard of improv or Theatersports. Basically, there's a game, you're given a prompt, a few people jump in to participate and they make it up as they go along.

We'll be running a few games at a time all afternoon, so yeah, walk around, join in, get roped in, whatever. I don't care."

[OOC: This is being held in the park so that all Fandomites can join in - namely, townies are more than welcome to participate. There will be threads for each game. Ping in and pair up or team up in each game. You can have a few attempts if you want. The idea is to use the prompt and then try to make a scene up as you go along. Further details specific to each game will be in the thread. Wait for OCD! OCD done!]

[ETA: Weather modded. It's not raining.]