THE SQUAD DOES AN INTRO - [modplot] [event]

[wildermods]

THE SQUAD DOES AN INTRO
OOC POST
In their homeworlds, they suddenly hear water flowing over stone, the wind through the leaves, and the gentle rattling of Kodama. The hushed sound of treetops waving in the breeze lull them to sleep whether they want it to or not, and in what seems like a dream they fall through a tunnel that passes through layers of dirt and roots and then through seemingly endless boughs of trees.

During this impossibly long fall, spirits whisper in their ears. They tell them that they must save the Wilderlands and the Green. They tell them that they will be given the power or weapons to do it - or that they're already strong enough as they are. They tell them that in the times they're not needed, they may find themselves trapped in the faerie realm known as the Brugh, but that the mirrors will let them speak, and the mirrors will let them see.

And they tell them that they're about to become lost in the forest and that there are others like them, just as lost.

When they wake up, they find themselves in the ruins of an abandoned city; the forest has overtaken it, threading new life through the decay, but the green of the leaves and vines pales in contrast with the broken buildings and streets. Every single building in this city was once a vibrant shade of emerald, and even now, after the slow ravages of time, the green ruins glimmer like they're hewn from precious gems.

The only things that aren't that bright shade of emerald are the statues. Countless statues are scattered through the abandoned city, shaped like men and women and children and pets, all dressed in 1900s era Earth-style finery. These figures are extremely intricate, almost too detailed to be believably carved by a human hand. Many of them are smashed and broken.

Some of the statues don't look human. Among the humans are little beings shaped like china dolls that are made of stone like the rest, instead of porcelain. And in the middle of the city, standing near each other are three strange petrified figures: an axe-wielding man that looks like he was made of metal before being petrified, a man who looks like a human-lion hybrid, and a living scarecrow. All three have expressions of surprise or anger on their faces.

When the characters are brought into this place, the magic that brought them in seems to have trouble getting them all in the same place at first. They find themselves spending brief amounts of time in one spot (sometimes just minutes, sometimes longer) before they're teleported again. Each time they teleport they find themselves near someone new, someone just as lost as them. Those that don't speak the same language may find some difficulties communicating, but over time, the magic of the Wilderlands will kick in, and plant a whole new language in their heads. This magic works faster the more they emotionally connect with other and find understanding without words.

The teleportation keeps zapping them in different places all over the city -- and sometimes outside it, where they can see an abandoned road made of yellow brick that trails off into the distance. Fortunately, the people they keep getting paired off with seem like normal people just like them, and beyond that, they're entirely alone in the ruins.

Probably.

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OOC INFO
✦ Post in actionspam format. Plots and mod-run events in the game are meant to be in actionspam format to keep a brisk pace.

✦ Please see the OOC post linked up top for more information about the event.

Comments

[outofresets]

Yeah, small favors and all that, I guess.

[ Tim does a good enough job of willing himself not react, that Bart doesn't catch any sign of a negative response, though he didn't exactly expect to see one. This was Tim after all. Of all of them, he'd always been the best at schooling his reactions and keeping his emotions in check. For the most part.

But the crack about touring Alcatraz is a pretty good indication that, yeah, one way or another the situation there doesn't improve. And a year...that's...that's not too bad. Tim's only a fifth of his life ahead of him. Surely there couldn't have been too much that happened in that time span that they would have to keep from him, right?

He was hating this already.

He gives an understanding nod though, trying to keep his tone light, and forces a cheesy smile. ]

Well, I can definitely tell you the place hasn't improved. Like the new tour guide really sucks. Zero out of a hundred review score. Do not recommend.

[ Even if the smile and joke were convincing, he's started swinging his arms and lightly clapping his hands in front of him, a clear sign that the conversation is making him more restless then he's trying to let on. His attention even seems to drift for a moment as he temporarily looks off to his side, and even back the way he came for a second, before returning his full attention to Tim. ]

Have you seen anyone else here?

[the_hit_list]

[ The tour guide was Deathstroke. He didn't have to reach for the knowledge. How could anyone forget such a persistent pain in everyone's collective neck, knee, chest, eye, heart... damn, but Tim does not like that man. He doesn't hide it either, pulling a face that is at best sour lemons (at worst, a simmering undercurrent of hatred). ]

The tour guide sucked when I was there too.

[ He falls away abruptly, having changed his mind on continuing at the last moment. He was going to make some oblique reference to hidden depths or something like that, but Bart hadn't met Joseph Wilson yet. It wouldn't matter that he had been redeemed, and one revelation would lead to more, most of them unpleasant.

And Tim wants to keep Bart in his present as much as possible. That bright, shiny time when they were finally Titans, and they were going to be better than any that had come before.

But he can read Bart; he's always been fairly good at it. Bart moves when he's trying to fill time. Tim has always wondered if his friend's thoughts run too quickly, if the constant need for distraction was just a way to let the thoughts percolate properly. Speedster, but still human. Bart needed time to cope as much as anyone did, especially when confronting his own mortality. ]

Our stupid tour guide caused a huge accident. There was this huge BANG! and I thought this other kid had gotten seriously injured, but 15 minutes later, he was fine. The tour guide was still stupid. Even his name was stupid - who names their kid Slade?

[ You're going to be okay, Bart. ]