Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Strange times were upon the world.

Strange times were commonplace on this, the middle of autumn, on the tenth lunar cycle of the year. Each year without fail, when the white moon was at its fullest, the green moon would follow suit, and usher in a night of great upheaval. Winter's Eve, they called it in the Free Kingdoms to the west. In the Holy Atlantean Empire they called it Geheimnisnacht, the Night of Mystery. But in time, the kingdoms of the world reached the consensus of a new name: The Harrowing. For centuries this was a night where the gates of the netherworld swung wide, and foul spirits walked the earth with impunity. The night when the powers of witches were at their strongest, cracks between the material realm and the worlds of demons became gaping doorways. It was the time when lords of darkness stooped to conquer, terrible sorcerers made their final bids for immortality, and black mists rolled across the shores to permit the dead to make war upon the living.

But tonight, there came something that gave even these dread fiends pause. In the skies above the nations of the continent Meropis, dark clouds billowed and swirled in a manner most unnatural. Bizarre energies coalesced, focusing on the centre of the mainland until at last there came a great burst from above. A bolt of green energy struck the land, like a bolt from the green moon itself, and from that point of entry in the heavens, countless streaks of light streaked across the sky at every point of the compass and then some. For seven leagues a second these little lights flew, until at last they lost their speed and were pulled towards the earth, and crashed into the ground like so many meteors showered upon the world.

Across the world, there were countless witnesses to these streaks of light. Armies of the living and the dead paused their assault and looked about the sky in puzzlement. Malign wizards and witches paused their dread incantations, and when they resumed, it was with some sense of chilled foreboding. Some of those closer to the bolt of green, those who were old enough and had seen enough of the world, would remark how this strange occurrence had happened once before, at midsummer on the other side of the world. It was an event that few could fathom, and none could have predicted. None...except for a few.

For there were some to whom this night rang all too close to home. Mortals- men, women and others -who had been born following that first fateful event forty years prior. Born with heads full of memories of full lives lived until death; lived in worlds beyond the imagining of any other. These people had dreamed of this very night, weeks before, maybe even months ago, and in those dreams, the lights had reached the earth in very specific locations. On some intuitive level, they knew these dreams were omens, premonitions, and felt compelled to set out on pilgrimages to the kingdoms where stars dropped from the heavens.

Strange times were upon the world, and they promised to turn stranger still.

A new day broke over the centre of the eastern world. Well, off-centre to the bottom, at any rate. This was among five provinces of the Kinai, the Capital Region, just to the southwest of Heian-kyo, the current capital of Ashihara. Like any other nation in this world, it carried the scars of the night before with as much dignity as it could muster. Its towns and cities had shuttered its windows and barred its doors, with only the most able-bodied warriors standing in the streets to repel the dark forces the Harrowing always brought. But now it was eager to shake off the dust and resume its normal business. In fact, it was more eager to get on with business than on any other day, for reasons any gossip hound on the street could bark at you.

But of course, this was not a day like any other, or even like any other day post-harrowing. Rumours and reports drifted across the province of a terrible boom echoing across the sea, followed by great streaks of light racing across the sky and crashing down to earth. Some brave souls had volunteered to go and investigate what seemed to be the crash sites. Others had to deal with the already present demons and undead beforehand, maybe even get a good night's sleep, before setting off to get to the bottom of things as a posse.

Now this province, this island, and indeed this world had strange new visitors. Most of them appeared to be mere people, dropped from the sky and leaving craters in their wake. In other cases, the lights had hit not the ground, but bodies already present, embedding them with new souls. Others yet had been far less subtle, with wooden boxes or great hulking machines ploughing through the earth and uprooting vegetation before coming to rest. Now, at the first light of dawn, these beings awoke. They might have found themselves in a woodland clearing, or on top of a mountain. They might have been a stone's throw from a village, or at the waters of a lake or a beach. Either way, it was now up to them to get their bearings and find their way to civilization.

The day had barely begun, and the port city of Okinoka was already bustling. Workmen were clambering over the buildings and street corners, buffing out the scorch marks and fixing any unsightly battle damage. Vendors were opening up their stalls, and selling their wares on the steadily-filling streets. Some were even hanging up streamers and decorations, lining specific streets with posters of the Crown Prince of Ashihara and a lovely looking female. Last but not least, the ports themselves were open for business, and ships from the grandest galleons to the humblest fisherman boats were drifting in and out of the docks to earn their daily bread.

Many people flocked to and from Okinoka, for business or for pleasure. Though it was no longer the capital, it served as a vital hub for transport by land or sea. As such, it was the ideal spot for any soul to arrive from the mainland. Especially if they were wayward souls, reincarnated from worlds beyond, led to this land by the strangest of premonitions...

Edited by LizardOfAus on Oct 31st 2022 at 12:03:57 PM

Okinoka, Carrie White

A young blonde woman in a gray hood walked unto the port deck from the small ship she was on. Her name is Carrie. Carrie White.

A percicular girl on a mission to keep the near omnipotent Crimson King from spreading his influence on Foteinigi, she heard rumors about his minions heading towards Meropis. Thus like the wind, she followed the footsteps. Looking around she saw numerous people walking around the port. Her curiosity couldn't be helped as she read all of their minds, giving her a peek into their lives. She stopped after peeking for a moment, intrigued by the glimpses of all of the lives she saw firsthand from her mind reading.

Meropis will certainly be an interesting continent.

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Oct 31st 2022 at 5:15:22 AM

Lara Croft: Forests of Ashihara

Among the lights in the sky, there had been three in particular of luminous green, and two of these lights split into showers of smaller sparks as they fell towards the earth. In the further lands, an ancient warhammer fell, as did a belt of iron and a pair of gauntlets that impacted in the same general region. In another part of the land, an even more ancient sword fell in separate pieces; retaining fundamental energy and destructive power in its components, despite having been ripped apart in the atmosphere. The third streak of light, this one much bigger, landed in the middle of a forest in Ashihara, tearing through trees and leaving behind a crater that glowed with that same green energy.

In the crater lay a person, a woman who was scarred and bruised not necessarily from the impact itself. She groaned and forced herself upwards, and after taking in her environment she hastily got to her feet. A wary scowl was on her face as her hands fell to her hips, and she unholstered a pair of guns and held them tightly in her hands as she began to cautiously step out of the crater.

She scanned her environment thoroughly, making sure there was nobody nearby, before holstering one of her guns and reaching into her backpack for a canteen of water, which she took a few desperate swigs on while she had the opportunity to. She'd just been in a harrowing situation, and as confused as she was in regard to her location she at least had a moment of peace for now. However, she knew that she couldn't just stick around in an unknown forest, so she decided to take advantage of the early light and head toward the nearest road.

A road would mean civilisation. Civilisation meant a point of reference. A point of reference meant the possibility of finding her way home. Keeping a sharp eye out for any danger, the woman made her way out of the forest, searching for any signs of life or familiarity. Once she was someplace welcoming, she could think freely, but as of now all that mattered to her was survival.

It was strange, but somehow she could tell that something didn't feel right. That her clothing was out of place. That the air felt different. That her guns felt foreign in her hands, like they truly didn't belong here. At least she was out of Helheim, but there was no telling if this was the real world or not.

She supposed she'd soon find out.

May your heart be your guiding key.

A vague statement to many, but it made all the sense in the world to Sora. He'd always known that there was something beyond the little village in Hyperborea. Not being someone to think through his actions much, he'd packed his things and said his goodbyes. His family in this world seemed sheepish at the proof that his 'ramblings' had been true and were surprisingly willing to let him leave.

The fact that he spent more time sitting by the fire than helping work was probably a contributing factor. Either way, with his keyblade in hand, Sora knew he'd be able to open up a way to his destiny. He'd just have to find it once he got there. Somehow.

The trip took a long time, especially since Sora wasn't the richest person in the world. Fortunately, he was skilled enough with his keyblade that he was able to keep himself going as a sellsword until he reached the point his keyblade was bringing him to. For some reason, that place was all the way on Onogoro.

Well, Sora could tell that this was the right place, at least. Even if he made it just in time to help out with the Harrowing. Fighting hordes of monsters wasn't new to him, so he gladly volunteered to help keep things civil.

The night had been tough, but Sora was grinning as he accepted some breakfast from a grateful vendor after helping to fix up a bit of battle damage. She nodded along indulgently as he told her about the battles he'd fought against heartless, only paused to take a bite of his food as he did.

Hiroto Kuga, Ashihara-Yamada

Off in the distance near a mountain range, another one of the green shooting stars found their way hurtling to the earth. The impact when it landed kicked up a nasty dust cloud, splintering and shattering rock and creating an explosive boom not unlike a divine bolt from the gods themselves.

After the dust had dissipated, two massive objects could be seen if one could come close enough. One resembled a white golem, massive and blocky while at the same time, surprisingly slim, carrying strange metallic weapons of its own. The blue vehicle beside it looked akin to a compacted metal beast, containing wings and engines perhaps never-before-seen.

And among these two machines, awoke Hiroto. He was groggy, of course, anyone would be, but once he allowed himself to get his bearings, he recognised the machines beside him. Core Gundam II and the Earth Armour... That's weird, he never usually set foot on Eldora with a headache. And he was outside? That didn't make any sense, he was sure he was supposed to be in Milaag Moun-

Realising that he found himself in a crater, he would quickly scramble to the edge of the crater, deciding to look around. ...This doesn't look familiar to him at all.

"May? Par? Hinata? Where are you guys?"

Hearing no answer, he quickly summoned a holographic screen to check his surroundings. Nothing registered, not his friends' machines, not the locations that he visited on Eldora, nothing. So he looks back to his trusted machines and scratches his hair.

"Guess we're having a bad day today, Core Gundam. Maybe we can find a town somewhere."

Getting the Core Gundam II working again was a little tricky, but with a little patience, the Mobile Suit was riding the armoured fighter craft once more as it headed off for parts unknown. Even if the power supply's readings were seemingly limited, as long as Hiroto took it easy, he was confident he could find somewhere he could truly get his bearings and maybe figure out a way to contact the other Build Divers.

Wherever he found himself, this wasn't Eldora anymore.

The Doctor in The TARDIS — Forests of Ashihara

As strange green lights filled the sky, streaking across like falling stars, another followed suit. The green mixed with brilliant blubrilliancering with blazing brillance as it fell to Earth. It landed near the woods, crashing down like a thunderbolt. It sundered the Earth, smashing the trees and cracking the ground, leaving nothing but a storm in its wake.

The smoke soon cleared. In the heart of the crater was a blue box, standing tall in spite of itself. It was covered in soot, beaten and battered, scorch marks from head to toe. It should have been burnt to a crisp, but beneath the smoldering ash, it refused to yield.

The doors flew open. A strange woman stepped out, dressed like a bargin bin mage. She coughed and hacked, sputtering soot, whisps of smoke trailing behind her. She didn't seem too bothered, but she had other things to worry about. She called out, barely glancing at her surroundings as she hollered.

"Ryan!? Gram!? Yaz!? Come on out, you lot! You've... you've got until the count of three..."

It was all she could manage. She gasped and wheezed, resting on the box as she held in her guts. But she wasn't alone. A small tin dog rolled through the doors, wagging its little thing tail, red visor taking in its surroundings. Its body was square and rectangular, like a metal block propped on a set of wheels, but it looked like a real dog if you squinted

"ATTENTION, MISTRESS. PLEASE DO NOT CAUSE YOURSELF UNNECESSARY RISK. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEARCH FOR YOUR FRIENDS IF YOU ARE UNCONSCIOUS."

The woman couldn't argue. Not that she didn't want to. Any other day, she'd be thrilled to have a back-and-forth with her faithful companion, and even more thrilled to be in a new place. But she was out of breath and out of patience. It was all she could do to catch her breath. But she couldn't give up now. She inched towards the edge of the crater, calling out, even if her companion protested.

"Ryan?! Yaz?! Come on out now..."

Forests of Ashihara (Yugi)

Among the green lights, one branched into several. A pair of blue and gold streaks broke off from the green, scattering to parts unknown. One of the green streaks continued to fall, splitting yet again into two, now flanked by red and teal flashes of light before they crashed into the ground. A short time later, a young boy with a golden necklace and a strange device on his arm comes wandering through the forest near the crashed TARDIS, looking through a deck of cards and seemingly talking to himself.

"Pharaoh...where...are we...?"

{I...can't say for certain, Yugi. This certainly isn't your home, nor any place I can recognize...what's perplexing me is Slifer's reappearance. The God Cards were stolen, and yet Slifer has returned to us.}

"Yeah, and then there's this new card...'The Eye of Timaeus?' That wasn't just a dream, was it, Pharaoh?"

{I believe we can rule that out as a possibility. That dream, those men yesterday, and now this new card - they all seem connected. This world might be, as well.}

"'This world?' You mean we're not-"

BONK

Yugi walks headfirst into the TARDIS, falling flat on his rear end and scattering a few cards on the ground around him. The young boy scrambles to pick them up, wincing as he does so.

"What's a phone booth doing out here...?"

Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Oct 31st 2022 at 10:47:47 AM

Yumi || Forests of Ashiwara

This was strange. Jeremie tended to virtualise them a metre of two above the ground, but now Yumi was falling. And falling. And falling. Above her, she could see green light, and stars. Lyoko didn't have stars. She had gotten into the scanners because XANA was attacking, and everything had been fine, so why could she see sta— oh shit that was the ground!

Ow.

Not for the first time since this had started, Yumi was glad that Lyoko didn't have fall damage, even if it did hurt to fall from great heights. This wasn't a Replika, either. The world around her, the stars, they were too detailed, too crisp. Yumi lay in the crater where she had fallen for a moment, just catching her figurative breath.

So, not Lyoko. Not a Replika, unless XANA had really upped their game. But she was definitely in her Lyoko body, and she hadn't managed to get to the Skid, so it's not like it was Teleportation. And nothing was trying to devirtualise her yet, either. This was really weird.

"Odd? Aelita? Ulrich?" Yumi called into the forest, waiting to hear Jeremie's voice from the surrounds, only to be answered by silence. If this was another simulation bubble she was going to lose it. Clenching her fists, she flipped herself up and stretched. It was a pretty forest she was in, but not one she knew.

Where was she?

And how did she get back to Lyoko?

Forests of Ashihara

Dawn found Kanami camping out in the woods of Setshu Province after a long night of fighting creepy stuff that emerged from mysterious places during what she'd figured out was the local universe's Halloween equivalent. She still needed to report her valorous battles against the forces of darkness-and-whatever to the official at the capital who'd hired her to go monster-exterminating in the first place, but having just woken up, she decided to attend to breakfast first to appease her rumbling stomach.

And so, with her sleeping roll stowed safely away in her hammerspace inventory, the Japanese-Italian woman sat upon a convenient fallen log and summoned her magical Chef's Campfire, which was for most intents and purposes a normal campfire. Naturally, the smoke rising from such would mean that anyone within quite a distance would be able to notice her presence, though she wasn't expecting guests. Then she set about pulling things out of her catalog of items and began making a very large helping of minestrone. As she worked, she sang a song that seemed fitting for the weird, green meteor shower that had happened the night before, with what was really quite a nice voice. Because of the fact that her words were automatically translated for whoever heard them, however, everyone within hearing would comprehend her as she trilled:

"Sooooomeday I'll wish upon a star~
And wake up where the clouds are far behiiiiiiind meeeeee~
Where troubles melt like lemon drops~
Away above the chimney tops~
That's where! You'll! Fiiiiiind MEEEEEEEEEEE~!
SomeWHEEEEEEEERE—"

Lara Croft: Forests of Ashihara

More impacts. They had been nearby, too, so Lara could hardly ignore them. If they were threats, then she couldn't afford to let them stalk after her. So she readied her pistols, and began to walk back into the forest.

It wasn't a long trek until she spotted something that looked incredibly out of place, while she kept herself hidden in the bushes. A tall, blue, seemingly wooden box structure with windows lining its top. A police box. A genuine (well, apparently genuine) variant of those telephone boxes that used to be seen on English city streets. What the hell was it doing here...?

Everything about this made her uneasy. There was a kid with wild hair, currently nursing his head after apparently walking straight into the box. There was a blonde-haired woman standing outside of the box, calling out to what Lara assumed were her friends. There was also faint singing, and what looked like smoke billowing in the distance, so someone must've set up camp nearby.

It was a lot to take in, so Lara focused on what was right in front of her. The blonde woman, and the kid next to the box. Taking a deep breath, she pointed her pistols skywards as she stepped out of the undergrowth; casually strolling towards the box before stopping a few metres or so away. She was cautious; though not willing to aim her guns when a kid was involved, she still kept them in full view so that it was clear she was armed.

“So here's the one clearly manmade object in the middle of this forest, and someone's already managed to smack headlong into it,” she commented in regards to Yugi, pacing carefully around as she studied both him and the Doctor. “I don't suppose either of you know where we are...? You both look displaced, by your faces...”

Careful courtesy went a long way, but it was clear in her eyes that she didn't trust either of them. Though her guns were angled up out of harm's way, she could point them at the both of them with a flick of the wrist. She was listening keenly for their responses, and presumably for what she considered the 'right' one.

Yugi's presence meant that she wasn't acting outright hostile, however. If he hadn't been there, Lara might not have had the patience.

Another of those lights found themselves landing on the Earth after a while. After a while, the smoke would clear revealing a old grizzled man, groaning and rubbing his head.

"Ah, horseshit, where the hell is this thing taking me to now?" The last thing he remembered was rescuing that girl Claudette from the hook and that freak with the pins on his face that was obsessed over a box and had all that weird black leather over him. But now...this doesn't look like one of the trials, or the campfire he and the other kids are sent after they die or escape.

...Not only that, but he just noticed that he had his weapons back when he was with Zoey, Louis and Francis. Could this be? ...Is this real and not that damn spider thing playing tricks on him? Is he free?

...But then where is everybody else? If he somehow got out of that hell, he also hoped the kids in that damn place also did too. Still, no use standing around doing nothing. He needs to investigate and hope he isn't in a trial, and his guns are just a trick by that spider asshole.

He certainly did heard the sound of what seemed like singing near him, and he couldn't ignore that. Making his way to where he was hearing it, Bill would notice it was some girl that had set up a campfire. He certainly couldn't deny it was far much better looking than the one in the spider asshole's realm.

"Hey, kid!" He called out as he came on the girl's line of sight, he seemed to be looking around left and right as if...being wary something dangerous might come due to force of habit. "You haven't seen other people around here, right? Blonde haired police officer with RPD on his body armor? Black skinned girl with glasses? A kid with a office worker look and glasses?" He hoped those three got away somehow just like him and aren't....stuck with that thing.

Okinoka, Carrie White

As Carrie wandered around the Okinoka port, she felt her stomach growl. Ah, she's hungry. She took out her coin case from her bag and counted the money she had. It's enough for a few meals.

Carrie walked for a bit, searching for a suitable meal. There, she spotted a vendor giving breakfast to a boy with spiky-brunette hair. She bought some breakfast from the same vendor and as she ate, she sat next to that boy.

She noticed he had a strange looking sword whose blade is key-shaped on him. Out of a mix of curiosity and concern as she never seen such blade, she decided to take a peak into his mind. As she read his mind, she learned that his name is Sora and saw memories of him alongside two humanoid animal companions as he fought off shadowy monsters, fighting alongside others with the same key-shaded blades and a heinous looking white-haired man in black who Sora seems to be opposing.

There, Carrie learned one crucial fact about him.

"You're not of this world, aren't you?" She asked Sora.

Forests of Ashihara, Kanami

"Ah!" Kanami looked up and waved merrily in greeting as Bill interrupted her singing, smiling hugely. "Hey there, old-timer!" she chirped cheerily. "'Fraid I haven't seen anybody who looks like that around, 'least not yet! Buuuuuut if my guess is right, you're probably someplace very far from home. At least, you look like you'd fit right in where I come from, as opposed to where we are now! The good news is that if your friends are in the area, there's nothing around to hurt 'em except yer basic wild animals - I helped clear out all the really spooky stuff 'round here last night!"

As she talked, a deceptively basic gesture of her hand that seemed to be motioning at the surroundings pulled up something visible only to her: a nameplate including class and status for the mysterious, elderly new arrival.

???? ????????
HP: ????/????
MP: ???/???
Lv. 63 Human
Class: Gunner
Sub-Class: Veteran

"Anyways~, I'd totally be up for helping you search for your buddies, but I gotta eat breakfast first! I dunno about you, but I can't do anything productive on an empty stomach!" she continued, stirring the pot of soup bubbling over the fire with a ladle.

"Ya want some veggie minestrone? I wouldn't mind the company, and I made plenty! Kinda wish I had meat to add to it, but I'd have to go back to town for that, and I gots to have my food now, y'know what I mean? I can fill you in on where you are in the meantime~..." the <Monk> offered with a grin, patting the space on the log beside herself.

Edited by darksidevoid on Nov 1st 2022 at 1:21:47 PM

Okinoka - Arc

It was a bright and cheerful day in the lands of a fantasy world. The stark contrast from the night before just awed Arc a little. The places he had stayed at before this didn't face immienent threats of destruction from demons and undead, but from what he had gathered this was a rare but periodic event. It was only natural that generations of invasions on this day caused civilization to prepare for the event and minimize loss.

Soon Arc found himself just walking down the streets observing the repairs underway and looking for anything interesting. While he had breakfast in private, he could consume any sort of drink with the set of paper straws he had purchased without revealing his face.

As he sat enjoying a fresh juice from some fruit he never heard of, Arc heard a few concerning words and glanced over to look at a young lad describing some fantastical battles with creatures of darkness. But it didnt quite line up with what Arc had helped fight off last night. Was there another threat? Out of concern Arc was about to ask when someone he hadn't noticed spoke. You're not of this world, aren't you?

Arc did a litteral spit take making a bit of juice run down the front of his helm then armor. It took him a moment to realize this young lady hadn't addressed him, and Arc quickly looked away in embarrasment, before starting to process the question. Him? What about this kid makes him look like he is from another world?

Just as Sora was reaching the climax of his story, he was interrupted by a strange girl. Sora, of course, had no problem talking to strangers, so he greeted her with a smile before even processing what her question was. Once he did, he nearly bowled her over in his excitement.

"Yeah, I am!" he cried, hopping on his heels, "how'd you know? No one else ever believed me when I told them, but you just know! I was kinda worried once I realized they were real, Donald would've been getting on my case for ruining the world order, but it was kind of too late. Oh, anyway, I'm Sora."

Sora cut himself off with a sheepish grin and scratching the back of his head. He hadn't really intended to get so hyper, but he wasn't used to people even believing him about the different worlds thing. If this girl also knew then he finally found a friend who got it, something he was hoping for as soon as he started getting dismissed.

The Doctor

As the Doctor moved through the crater, the scrawny tin mutt followed along. It continued to urge caution, but the Doctor was anything but cautious. If the mistress continued to put herself in such danger, they'd have to resort to drastic measures, but they hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Before it could continue it's spiel, four separate signals appeared on it's scanner. Half of then were a mile or two away, but the others were in their immediate vicinity.

"MISTRESS, I DO NOT WANT TO INTERRUPT YOUR CONTINUED ATTEMPTS TO CAUSE YOURSELF HARM, BUT IT WOULD APPEAR WE HAVE INTRUDERS."

"Intruders? What intruders?"

And then they saw him. A young boy, no older than 14 and with little sense of direction, running smackdab into the TARDIS.

"Oy! Watch yourself, that's a million tons of compressed matter you're running into!" She rushed over and helped him up, making sure there were no lasting injuries.

"Seem to be okay! Could use another growth spurt. Nothing a radionic infusion of calcium can't fix..."

Something about the boy was familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Eh, she could work it out later. What she needed to do was find her fam, get her bearings and try not to collapse in exhaustion.

But she wouldn't have the chance to. That was the good news. The bad news was some stupid git had seen fit to wave a gun in her face. There were many things she took offense to, but guns were at the top of her list.

"Okay, first thing's first, put those down before you hurt yourself. Second thing second, you should get some new clothes. You look like a 90's refugee! Could be for all I know. And third thing third! I know you're very fixated on looking straight ahead because we're straight ahead and you wouldn't want us not to look straight ahead. But if I were you, I'd look down. Because there's someone you may have missed and he's not too happy about that..."

They wouldn't have to look far. Down on the ground was the tin dog, head tilted up and tail perfectly still. A little laser pointer stuck out of its nose, aimed square at Lara's hands. In the time it took for the Doctor to babble on, her tin dog had readied itself, putting the two parties on equal footing.

"PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT. ANY ATTEMPT TO PULL THE TRIGGER MAY RESULT IN THE LOSS OF YOUR DIGITS. THAT WOULD BE SN UNFORTUNATE OUTCOME AND I WOULD WISH TO AVOID IT IF POSSIBLE."

The Doctor didn't miss a beat. "Better do as he says. If we'd had this conversation any earlier, I'd have put him in the kennel, but it's been a long day and I'm fresh out of patience. Now, are we gonna do the shooty-shooty-bang-bang or can we talk this out like civilized people?"

Forests of Ashihara (Yugi —> Yami Yugi)

“I-I’m fine, Miss, really I’m-“

Yugi looks up only to see Lara with her guns drawn.

“Uhhhh, maybe we should all just-“

It’s only when the robot dog takes aim that he starts looking particularly concerned.

{Are they gonna shoot each other?!}

{Yugi, if I may?}

There’s a small flash from the boy’s necklace, almost like sunlight reflecting off its gold surface, before he gets to his feet. His expression has completely changed, concern replaced with a confident gaze.

”We all seem to be equally confused. We won’t get anywhere antagonizing each other so I suggest we all put the weapons away and start with introductions instead. Maybe we can each other help find out where we’ve all ended up - I’m Yugi Muto.”

This is a far cry from the apologetic demeanor he had literally two seconds ago.

Ashihara-Yamada => Ashihara Forests (Hiroto Kuga)

From the short time in the air, it isn't long before Hiroto finds himself flying over a forest area, where the Gundam's systems alerts the Gundam Pilot to a column of smoke a fair distance away. As they would say, curiosity would kill the cat, so Hiroto decides to change course so that he could find a place to land his machines.

Briefly flying over the site, it looked like a campfire, too. That meant hopefully that the people who set that campfire were friendly. Luckily, Hiroto would find a clearing before his console gives out a "Critical Alert: Power Supply Low" warning. Definitely a bad day for his Core Gundam II. Hopefully the noise of the engines didn't throw off whoever was there.

Once he disembarks, he would carefully trudge his way through the forest, before hearing the conversation that somehow involved guns. ... It's not like he was Mikazuki Augus or anything, but noticing the woman with the two pistols conversing with the other blonde woman, dog-like thing and the other guy with the... Is that really the hairstyle he's going with? gives him cause for concern.

Still, said boy was making a very fair point, too. "What's going on here?" he can't help but say, coming into view with his poncho and gloves being the most apparent features that anyone could see.

Edited by G2BattleConvoy on Nov 1st 2022 at 9:13:02 AM

Lara Croft: Forests of Ashihara

Lara bristled slightly at the woman's remark on her attire, and for a moment genuinely considered just 'accidentally' letting her finger brush the trigger as a warning shot in response to it. But then she looked down at The Doctor's instruction, spotting the strange robotic dog with its own weapon trained on her, and she promptly scowled in response.

"I was dressed for the occasion, for your information. Venturing through old ruins demands the correct attire. Especially if part of it is spent underwater," she said in a deceptively light tone of voice, clicking the safety of her pistols back on as she holstered them again, crossing her arms and leaning her weight onto one foot. "Considering I've been shot at naught but... hmm, twenty minutes before I ended up here, I'm decidedly on-edge. To your credit, however... I was expecting some kind of feral bear, not a Northerner and her metal pet. Not to mention a teenager who's practically drowning in hair gel, by the looks of it. No offense."

She sighed to herself, pinching the bridge of the nose, before shaking off her irriation and flicking her eyes between The Doctor, Yugi (now Yami), and K-9 respectively.

"Nevermind. So long as you can assure me you won't shoot me in the back as so many others like to do, then I'll play along for now. And part of that... trust, if you can call it that, is the exchange of names. If you wouldn't mind."

She paused, before huffing and reluctantly extending her hand towards The Doctor. Obviously not the dog. He didn't have arms, after all. Upon receiving Yugi's name, she nodded firmly, committing it to memory as she decided to give out her own in response.

"I'd say I'm delighted to meet you, but that's all still up in the air at the moment. My name is Lara Croft. I have a million questions on my tongue but I'll refrain from asking most of them for now—excluding the matter of the very obviously misplaced police box in front of me. What is it doing here, anyway...?"

Yet another stranger showed up, and at this point she was getting severely outnumbered. Her instincts screamed at her to draw her weapons again, but she knew that damned robot dog would likely blast her in an instant, so she settled for a grim smirk at Hiroto and a shrug of acknowledgment to him.

"As for whatever's going on... honestly, I have no idea."

Edited by Enirboreh on Nov 1st 2022 at 8:20:55 AM

Yumi || Ashihara Forest, Campfire Group

She could hear singing. Like, surprisingly in tune, relaxing sort of singing. People didn't sing on Lyoko, either, except Aelita when she was using Creativity, and Odd when he was in a Mood. It was a familiar song, too. Unconsciously, Yumi hummed along, the sounds of 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' quietly filling the air around her. If she met someone, maybe she'd be able to tell what the heck was going on, answer some questions.

And, it's not like XANA ever sung. The chances of this being a simulation bubble were becoming less and less, thank goodness. Yumi wasn't sure she could handle another one of those after what had happened to Aelita at Christmas.

As she approached the fire, the singing stopped, and the sounds of conversation took over, what sounded like a cheerful girl and an old man talking. Yumi lingered behind a tree for a moment, just to listen. All she really heard was that there was someone else not from around here, and the offer of food.

Oh, she wanted food. Not physically (she didn't think she had tastebuds in her lyoko form), but mentally. And emotionally. She was in a weird, unfamiliar place, she could use some comfort food. But at least one of them sounded like they knew what was going on, so Yumi emerged from her spot from behind the tree.

"Um...hi? Do you know where we are?"

Okinoka, Carrie White

Carrie was taken aback by Sora's response.

Oh— I didn't expect him to be so excited about what I told him. I'm not sure if I should tell him that I read his mind or not. Then again in my last vision with Maturin, he told me to socialize more... Carrie thought to herself.

"Oh, y-yeah, about that," Carrie paused for a moment, still hesitant to tell Sora how she knew he was from another world. "I-I can read minds. Your funny looking hair and key-shaped sword made me curious; don't worry I didn't scoop around too much, just getting the basic info. I'm also from another world, albeit one that's much different from yours. M-My name is Carrie. Carrie White."

Then, in the corner of her eye, she spots a tall being in fancy gold-white armor. She backed off at first, fearing that it might be a foe. However one quick glimpse into its mind reveals that it's actually a once-regular dude who got sent to Foteinigi as a skeleton, he means no ill-will and his name is Arc.

"And you good sir, are also not from this world!" She exclaimed at Arc.

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Nov 1st 2022 at 9:53:42 AM

The Doctor

"That's a very good question. Trying to figure that out myself. There's a mess of things I'm trying to puzzle out and how we all up washed up here is at the top of the list." She pinched her jumper, giving it a good sniff. "May need to wash these dreadful things too, come to think of it..."

But that was only part of it. It was a burning question, one she needed to solve, but there were others that needed solving. Where was here? Where was her fam? Were they okay? Was Gallifrey okay? No, she knew the answer to that one, best not to think about it. He did it, she knew he did. But why did he do it? Did he know? She barely knew. Lived so many lives that bits and pieces fell through the cracks. But she was starting to remember. And she wondered if she wanted those questions answered.

But that could wait. She had other questions too. Like why ner new short friend pulled a one eighty. Was it the necklace? Any joe schmoe wouldn't have guessed, but she'd seen enough malicious doodads to wonder. Or she was plunging into madcap fantasy to deal with the crushing horror of her existence and the simple answer was a personality disorder? That was possible too. Not probable, but possible.

She'd have to deal with it later. Like everything else in her life. She shook Lara's hand, staring at her dead on, but she did her best to be friendly.

"Name's the Doctor! Just the Doctor. If you're feeling brave, you can call me John Smith. But that sounds a bit odd don't it? Maybe Johanna Smith? Or Jessie Smith. Johanna Jessie Smith? Naw, still sounds daft..."

As the Doctor rambled, the dog lowered their guard. It pulled back its scope, but kept their head raised, ready to ram ahead at a moment's notice. It followed their master's example, it wouldn't hesitate to blow them to pieces.

Edited by kkhohoho on Nov 2nd 2022 at 1:12:28 PM

Ashihara Forest (Yami Yugi)

{The Doctor? Doctor...who?}

"A pleasure to meet both of you...well..."

Yami Yugi turns to Hiroto.

"All three, it seems. As lost as we are, I'm assuming? It might help to find civilization - a town or city. At the very least, people who live here. We all might be outsiders, but there must be someone who's normally from around here. Maybe we could get some answers there."

The young boy with the not-so-young demeanor holds his hand out to the Doctor and Lara as well.

"For the time being, at least, it seems we'll be working together."

Edited by ZodanTheUnbounceable on Nov 2nd 2022 at 10:18:18 AM

So she hasn't seen Leon, Claudette or that Dwight kid...well, a part of him hoped they ended up away from that place just like him. Maybe everyone else also somehow got out too?

...But food, though? ...Ah, horseshit, he doesn't even remember if he even drank or ate anything while inside that damn place. That Entity asshole must had sustained them back to full or something like that whenever they revived or escaped.

"Ah, screw it. Sounds better than what they gave us on my tour in Nam." With a small shrug, Bill would follow along and go sit on the log Kanami patted, grunting a little bit as he did so. Though as soon as he did that, it seemed like another new arrival came out of nowhere, a kid just lost as him.

"Got no idea either, kid. But looks like the lady here knows all about this situation we're mixed in." He'd point over to Kanami as Yumi asked if they knew where they were.

Hiroto Kuga, Ashihara Forest

"Hiroto. I'm Kuga Hiroto."

The Gundam pilot carefully approaches the group, before pointing in a direction that he could recall seeing the campfire from his Gundam.

"I guess I ended up here too, yeah. I don't know about civilisation, and I did see a campfire while I was flying, that way, I think."