maskormenacelogs | (no subject)

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(no subject)

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: Jeopardy -> Heropa
WHEN: Nov. 19
WHAT: A resolution and a swear-in
WARNINGS: Please label threads

Somewhere, in a place that is and is not Jeopardy, time has passed. To some, it may have felt like mere hours; to others, days. For time doesn't truly touch this place. Only fate exists here, for imPorts to change or allow to proceed as it will.

Somewhere, the sisters look into the hearts of those with the power to decide the fate of this entire world and know their choice. A blinding light grows, forcing even the strongest to close their eyes, and as they do so, a vision of what could have happened appears in their minds. A world wreathed in flames, fire and screams echoing ceaselessly as they depart; a peaceful world, healed and whole and well—and a certainty that another world has paid a heavy price.

And then there's the sensation of three powerful forces leaving, two taking an unwilling third with them to wherever they are going. This world will be left as it is now, and its future will be whatever the people here make of it.

MEANWHILE, IN HEROPA

One week into the mysterious storm that has enveloped much of Jeopardy, citizens across the nation are losing hope. The government continues to monitor the situation at a safe distance, but cannot enter the affected part of the city, though one SEAL team did make an attempt, only to become lost in the wind for hours before emerging without ever making it through. While the storm hasn't grown, neither has it shown any sign of changing.

The heroes who bravely charged into the storm have not officially been given up for lost, but with no news coming from Jeopardy, few believe they will emerge unscathed. To honor their sacrifice (?) and offer sorrowful natives a means of coping, a candlelight vigil kicks off outside Heropa City Hall at 4:30 PM EST.

Speeches are given. Commemorative t-shirts are sold. It is at this point that a large portal of light opens up in front of the building and deposits all imPorts who entered the storm, as well as a confused but unharmed Layla and Sally Clapp. A stunned silence falls over the crowd — followed shortly by an eruption of cheers.

Organized chaos quickly reigns over the occasion. Medical personnel are quickly called in to aid any imPorts who might need it, and government officials quickly descend, one thing on their mind: what the heck happened, heroes?! ImPorts are asked to state, for the record, exactly what they experienced — which leaves a lot of room open for the more creative among them. Just what each imPorts is willing to confess to or lie about is up to them, but there are other imPorts at hand to refute or support all statements.

While imPorts are technically free to go, all are encouraged to enter the building for a debriefing with government officials. Those who care to share their story begin to paint a picture of what happened, and a flurry of transportation begins to move between City Hall and the local porter outpost, as Jeopardy will certainly require some aid now that it is fully accessible. Reports begin to filter back that while there have been some casualties and collateral damage to the city, it is far less of a disaster than the government anticipated during the storm, no doubt due to imPorts' efforts. Additionally, news from other porter cities begins to arrive; with the dissipation of the Jeopardy storm, all dimensional anomalies elsewhere have ceased.

Following the briefings, ImPorts may go home and get some rest, although they may have trouble shaking off the crowds — which are largely ecstatic that the people who apparently saved the world are in front of them.

While imPorts were occupied with the post-disaster debriefings, locals have used the time to launch an impromptu celebration of their defense of this world. Local restaurants, breweries and nanas have hustled their finest wares over, and free food and drink are flowing for the homecoming heroes. A local party & events organizing company has strung up some lights and tents in the park across the street from City Hall, lending a festive atmosphere to the area. T-shirts being sold to honor the assumed-fallen heroes have been 'edited' with permanent marker, going from 'FALLED HEROES' (there was an error in the print run, given the notice of less than a week) to 'RISEN HEROES' and are, regretfully, being given away for free.

For those who stay, an impromptu party breaks out, and the occasion quickly becomes the latest swear-in, albeit with a more casual emphasis on the actual swearing-in than usual; a card table is set up with the usual seals and documents, but it's a bit haphazard.

Along with tasty libations, local musicians start jamming on acoustic guitars in the park's gazebo, setting up some cheerful background music—or maybe you're not too tired to dance? A local physical therapy school has rolled in multiple portable massage tables, with free sessions for sore heroes!

The locals who haven't dispersed yet are also around, likely to seek autographs from the world savers, while podcasters, BlueTubers and regular nosy nellies might lean in with a recording device, asking for the real story of what happened. For imPorts who become too intoxicated or exhausted to porter home, many locals are offering couches to crash on — although the pillows they use may later show up on ePay.

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"Alright. Didn't want to presume." He sighs and nods, resting. He glances up at Erik and nods again. "I take it you were not swept into Jeopardy for the Notpocalypse?"

He shivers. "It was a mess. Monsters, and visions of the past, and dread old goddesses, and a stretch of time that felt both like a day and like a year." It really had, and Harry still has no idea how long he has been gone.

It would be that or Magneto, and that just seems a strange name for someone who's dating his daughter to call him. Unless he's trying to send a different kind of message, of course.

"I was not, and it sounds like I didn't miss anything I regret missing." For no other reason than the fact that he'd really like the past to stay where it is.

"No. I am glad you and others got to miss it." He shivers, not wanting to think about it too much, but tired and having trouble thinking about a lot.

"How long ago did this start? It was the twelfth when we went in..."

"It's the nineteenth today." So that should answer his question, hopefully. "I wasn't here when this started today, but it seems that it started as a vigil for those who went. They were feared lost." It seems that Harry should be included among that number.

Erik turns to look at Harry. "Was Wanda there?"

"Seven days? Holy heck hounds." He shakes his head. "What a freaking crazy week." It felt like more and less both, but he was definitely tired enough for a week's worth of happening.

"I reckon with a giant storm surrounding the portion of the city we were in, people could think that, especially after seven days." He glances up and nods.

"Yes, she was. We were together part of the time, but he damn place had some weird magic, and separated you from people as often as it let you stay together."

He heaves himself up, then, and starts looking, glancing around for both Wanda, and for a higher spot to look from.

"I'm glad you both made it back then." Harry mostly for Wanda's sake, but Erik doesn't know him very well yet. His feelings on that could change.

"What happened over there?"

"Thanks. Me too. And I am glad that you didn't have to deal with it. It was a mess."

He shakes his head.

"When we came out of the ritual, which seemed to work, suddenly, we were under attack by the OTO, who had brought giant Spider-robot things. We took care of those, and even chased the OTO back to their lairs and took them down, but on returning to Jeopardy, we discovered that a part of it was covered in clouds of darkness, and monsters looming around. and once we entered the clouds, we couldn't leave. "

He blows out a long breath of air, and stares off, still looking for Wanda, but also seeing that place. "It was some kind of test by the Fates. Of strength, of will, and of willingness to sacrifice. There were lots of monsters, and there were times when memories seemed to come alive and make us relive them. And there was a trial to see what we were willing to sacrifice to save civilian lives. And then ... suddenly, it was over. It both felt like a day, and a year."

He knows well the feeling of time being interminable. He's dealt with it more than once in his lifetime, of thinking that finally something must come to an end, but it doesn't, and today has the potential to be worse than yesterday, but no better. Time is fickle.

"Ritual? Sacrifice? Do these have something to do with that coded message?" He'd followed what was happening with that, but hadn't gotten involved himself.

"We had to summon the other two fates to stop their sister, but the doing so unleashed monsters. Also, the OTO had been breaking the dimensions and we had to close those rifts, but the only ones with the power to do that were the Fates. And they asked what we were willing to give up to save others. Well, those of us who entered their demesnes, anyway."

Harry nods, remembering.

"The coded messages were sent out by someone giving us clues as to how to summon the other two fates to stop their sister."

"At least you had some idea of how to stop it." Not that that seems to have made it any easier, when it came right down to it. He doesn't know what he would have given up to save others.

"Was it OTO who set it in motion, or did one of the Fates decide to end it all and recruit them?"

"Apocalypses are all too familiar to me, sadly. " He sighs, but rubs his face as he nods. "Something out there wanted us to succeed."

"I am pretty sure it is a coincidence of both. One Fate was trying to find this world and burn it down, another was hiding it. The third was missing. The OTO, who hated us, were looking for ways to get rid of us and they eventually reached out to the one that wanted to destroy us. Everything came together and bam, apocalypse."

Fucking idiots. Most of the OTO were dead now, and the others seemed to be in comas.

"I haven't faced many myself, if you consider an apocalypse as the whole world ending." Except for the entity who was literally called that, and Erik hadn't exactly been helpful there, oops. "Threats to mutants have been plenty." Which is enough for him. The end of the world as mutants know it counts as an apocalypse.

"It sounds like it was chaos."

"I can imagine. Humanity often manages to not like and be afraid fo anything that is different." Wizards had gone through the same thing before they had gone underground. Something Harry did not like.

"It was. We managed to stop the bad things, but... it felt like a total mess."

"There may be some humans who are different, on an individual basis, but as a species they're predictable." With predictable in this case meaning they're afraid of what's different.

"Sometimes you just have to deal with it and clean up the mess later."

"I find every species is that way, across the board. Some am,azing individuals, and crowds are always bad."

He nods.

"True, that, and so we did. And hopefully, someone else can come help clean up. I need to sleep for a week." He pauses. "Maybe more."

"Do you have a lot of experience with other species?" He just knows humans and mutants, and that some people think there's no difference between the two.

"Yes. For good or ill, I am an expert on the spectrum of peoples in my world."

Being the last line of defense for humanity against supernatural beings and supernatural beings against humanity both, well, that meant having to learn a lot.

"How big of a spectrum is it?" His world only has humans and mutants, and he knows more than he should about how the two groups interact with each other. If only others would listen to him.

"Well, most consider it one group of interrelated species,m but the truth is, it is a huge spectrum of some several hundred different races. Most beings of myth are represented in some form, on my world, though often not quite as legends tell of them. Elves, Gnomes, goblins, the Billy goats gruff, and more, are all there, all their own races."

And he did his damnedest to protect them from Humanity and humanity from them. It kept him busy.

"That sounds like there's a lot of potential for trouble. Even with just humans and mutants, it can be an unsafe place." And that's really all he wants. A place for mutants to be safe.

"A whole lot. Most of it under the radar of the mass of people, but it happens, and that is where I come in, and others like me. Trying to smooth the edges and keep things from erupting into outright war."

he shook his head.

"I hope you can find a way to balance it on your world. I always feel like mine is one bad day away from disaster."

"It's a nice thought, but I don't think it's possible." He's seen too much of the contrary to believe that. "Humans fear what they don't understand." And they can't ever fully understand mutants without being one.

harry smiled sidelong and nodded, slowly rising again and dusting himself off.

"I hope you are wrong, but either way, my door is open to you, for whatever."

He extended a hand to the other man, hoping beyond hope that for once fate would let Erik Lehnsherr have a peaceful life.

He hopes he's wrong too, but history has shown him that he's not. He wishes he could see things the way Charles does, but it's just not possible.

He shakes the hand Harry's offering. "If I ever need it, you'll know."

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