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It took just one spark to cause a combustion. One tiny catalyst to cause a big reaction. Exactly what that moment was would be a mystery to all involved. Was it the moment in which one knight had finally reclaimed the ancient title of Templar? Perhaps the power of brotherhood and camaraderie in facing the Queen that tried to blanket the Earth in darkness? Or was it the awakening of one more fledgling knight, creating just enough power to shift the tides and reawaken a sleeping force tucked away in space? The reason why didn't particular matter, only the reaction. And though it began somewhere far away from the Earth, in the ancient ruins of a Coliseum on Mars, it's affects would quickly be felt by the knights that protected Earth.

One by one signet rings across Destiny City began to flicker and glow before disappearing completely, taking with it the owner of the ring. Whether they were powered up in the middle of a battle or simply at home asleep, each and every person in possession of a signet ring or knightly starseed found themselves unceremoniously ripped away from whatever they were doing, consumed by the feeling of motion and travel. Until finally after a few moments they arrived someplace strange and foreign, fully dressed in their uniform of service, though their weapons were not to be found. Any attempts to summon them, in fact, would remain unsuccessful.

This section of Mars was probably similar to what someone from Earth might imagine it to be. Dry, warm, red sands stretching far into distant deserts and canyons. The only sign of civilization at all was that of a grand Coliseum, eaten and degraded by war, sand, and time, but still nonetheless marvelous against the desolate skyline. Though the once perfect lines had seen some crumbled rubble and other faces worn thinner by the hammering of wind for a millennia, it remained mostly intact, rising hundreds of feet overhead, large enough to make a person feel dwarfed in it's presence. Upon further inspection large arched doorways beckoning the confused travelers.

Within the walls, the interior of the Coliseum was far less touched by time and wear. The Coliseum floor was actually tiny, far too small for actual battle or tournaments, instead hosting what appeared to be an ancient podium. Around the floor was ring after ring of bench-like seating reaching up towards the sky. Enough to seat hundreds, possibly even a few thousand. It was more then enough room for the group that had been brought here on this night. And those that spoke up would find that, by design, this place had the perfect acoustics to carry their voice far further then they might have intended to be heard.

He was on Mars, because, like, great, this week couldn't possibly get any weirder, could it? Or, at least, Babylon assumed this was Mars. It was red. It was sandy. The sun wasn't the right size to be Earth. There was a massive Roman-style ruin rising in the distance. Like, how many places in the known universe would check all those boxes? It sure wasn't Mercury - that was for sure - but Babylon was spending an unusual amount of time on planets not his own lately, and this was... probably not happening without good reason.

It was warm, and Babylon took off his gloves and rubbed his hand, where his signet ring had glowed hot for a moment before. Of course that had something to do with this: it always did, it felt like. If just for once, something weird could happen in Babylon's life that did not at all relate back to a small but magically significant proportion of his family tree originating on Mercury... he probably wouldn't know what to do with himself, he had to admit.

He made his way into the colosseum, already sweltering in his heavy furs. Looking up at the stands upon his arrival, he spotted Nifhel, who he knew by sight from previous magical get-togethers of this sort, although not by name, and his name is used here to convey narrative clarity. Babylon, rest assured, thought of him as that guy. "You have the right idea," said Babylon, climbing the stairs and shedding his cape as he went.

His coat followed, and Babylon tossed them both into an empty seat, before plopping his butt a safe distance down the row from Nifhel. Some people, he knew, could be tremendously weird about strangers deciding to sit by them when there were hundreds of empty seats to choose from.

Still, if this was Mars, then Kairatos's outfit made a whole lot more sense all of a sudden. Even if planetary weather patterns were turning out to be supremely strange and counter to everything science had ever said they were. (Then again, they were currently on Mars via magical means, sans space suits, so science could safely be assumed not to apply.)

"Hiya," he said, extending a hand to Nifhel. "I'm Babylon. I hope we're not being called here, to, like, fight and honorably die against a thresher maw. That would suck a lot." Which was a reference he only knew by watching someone else play Mass Effect.



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Megiddo was just wrapping up the night's lesson with Gunn when her signet glowed, transporting her far away with a lurch that was sickeningly familiar. "Not again," she groaned, when her vision cleared, although this didn't look like the surrounding and nothing immediately hostile jumped out at her. "******** s**t," she sighed, looking around. This was not Saturn. She was not supposed to be here. (She was not even supposed to be on Saturn, most days.)

Also, her heels were totally not suited to walking in sand. This was awful.

Twenty minutes and one twisted ankle later, the page finally arrived at the colosseum, feeling fed up for having made the effort. She flopped dramatically into the first available seat - front row for whatever was about to happen - and dabbed at her forehead with the cuff of her wrist.

"If you guys could, like, send out invitations before you just kidnap people?" she asked nebulously. "I would super-appreciated it. Some of us have lives that involve doing things with actual people."

Gunn, she thought morosely, was gonna be so pissed.

When he suddenly appeared on Mars with a colosseum not to far in the distance now powered up when he hadn't been before he disappeared, Shang just sighed. He was slightly grateful he hadn't been at work, but didn't think he was going to be able to explain very well why he wasn't there. He hoped his sister or someone would cover for him, he only knew from her that this sort of thing happened from time to time in different capasities, but never actually experienced it for himself.

Shaking his head lightly he set to walking, the colosseum wasn't very far and and at no time at all he was stepping out of the sand and into the large and wonderous building itself and frowning slightly at being hot. Off came the hat as he entered noticing other knights also gathering and take seat. He walked over trying to maneuver his mass of curls into some sort of a bun before decided to forgo replacing the hat.

Currently he knew no one there, but he didn't fancy sitting alone when he had no idea what was going on, so he headed up to knights that didn't look much like they cared for the heat either [Nifhel and Babylon].

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Pharos blinked as she found herself no longer in her kitchen giving her cats water before she went out, but instead in a red desert looking at a colosseum in the distance. She was momentarily very confused as to what exactly had happened and a tiny bit panicked because this wasn't the first time she'd disappeared and she really could afford to be gone for another month or so. Switching schools hadn't been so bad, but that didn't mean she wanted to do it again and her cats had probably enough water to last only a few days, more if you counted the toilet, a rather disgusting idea.

Frowning she headed through the sand wishing she could take of her shoes, but knowing her feet would suffer the price if she did. Her frown however did not remain in place as she got closer to the large colosseum and felt a little excited for a new adventure, she just hoped it was a short one.

Reaching it she walked in looking every which way, noticing knight, two of which she'd met before and waved too. "Hi Shang, Hey Nifhel," she said before bounding off to one of the seats right up front feeling quite a bit better about all this as more knights showed up!

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One moment Lyceum was locking up her store and headed to her car and the next she was a wash by heat in the middle of a desert. Her eyes went wide and she looked around feeling extremely out of her element. Her heart was racing and she wasn't feeling very go with the flow at the moment.

Amidst her panic she spotted the colosseum. It wasn't to far, though she didn't think she would make it her without a heat stroke in what she was currently wearing. She grumbled as she walked removing her coat and winter gloves for what good it did, because underneath was a long sleeve tight top that resembled under armour, which meant she was hot sweating and unhappy when she reached the colosseum.

She noticed two familiar faces, but that didn't make her feel any better about the situation. She didn't say hello or even acknowledge either instead taking a seat close to the exit and wondering if she could get away with ridding herself of the shirt she currently wore, but didn't fancy being stared well not in this moment anyway.

Palatine's first thought upon appearing on Mars was that she was thankful Cal was actually home to watch Lilah that evening, otherwise her eighteen-month-old daughter being left home alone would have pounded the “I am a terrible mother” thought more firmly into her head.

If things like this continued, she was really going to have to look into hiring a full-time nanny.

In any case, here she was. On Mars. Well, she wasn't entirely sure where she was at first. One minute she'd been flicking through late-night television programs and the next the ring on her middle finger began to glow and she found herself being whisked off to a strange place where her uniform appeared in the place of pajamas like magic. But then she was fairly well acquainted with magic by now, so while it was slightly disorienting to find herself in the middle of red sands when she'd previously been rather comfortable in bed, it wasn't too out of the ordinary.

Palatine considered approaching one or two of the others who'd shown up as well, but decided she failed enough at being social without trying to force it. She was quiet as she made her way toward the coliseum, making a quick study of a few of their faces but making no effort to ingratiate herself into their company.

She made an educated guess as to where they were because... well... red sand, and followed the others into the coliseum-like structure, where she plopped down onto one of the lower benches a ways away from the others and tossed her feathered hat on the seat beside her to discourage anyone from joining her on at least one side.

It had been a quiet evening at home. Howl had been settled in, sipping some tea just before bed when rather suddenly his signet seemed to act strangely. He had not been able to observe the strange pattern of glowing, flickering light emanating from his finger before he was rather suddenly transported to a foreign place.

With his cup of tea still at hand.

The odd journey had phased him from his evening clothes to his full uniform, which led him to the obvious observation that this had something to do with knights. He was not nearly as familiar with the various different worlds, so picking this one out from all the potential ones was quite a task to attempt. It wasn't a game he was willing to deal with at the moment.

He was actually far more concerned in figuring out if he was in a coma again or not. The previous time he had suddenly been transported to a desert-like surrounding, he had apparently been in an odd plague-like coma that had swept across Destiny City. The previous time, he had been transported without his shoes. Glancing down, Nysa found he clearly had his spatted boots. Glancing to his hand which held delicately to his teacup, he was somewhat reassured that he was not unconscious. If he was in a coma, he probably would not have had his tea as well.

Taking a sip from his cup to empty it out, he then proceeded to check out the landscape. There was only one dominant feature of civilization, and logically, it was the correct direction to go. With his menacing teacup at hand, he proceeded to make the trek, no longer concerned about accidentally burning the soles of his feet in the process.

~

Eventually, the Neptunian knight had managed to make his way to the ancient Coliseum. He entered and found that several knights of varying worlds had already secured themselves a seat. It seemed a few were familiar with the others present, clustering together in a manner that seemed to function as a security blanket.

Though the weather was not well suited for his manner of dress, Nysa would have never considered shedding an ounce of clothing just to make himself more comfortable. Before he attempted to locate a suitable seat for himself, he acknowledged a stray question he heard from a dark haired Page (Themiscyra).

"I would like to imagine it is not a frequent occurrence, Miss." The manner in which she spoke was of one shocked that others had seemingly invaded her space, leading him to believe that this was perhaps the world she was assigned to.

"...Might I ask for your title, Miss?"

For once he was grateful for something weird whisking him away to wherever the hell weird things whisked people away to.

By some odd happenstance and shifting of moods, Ashur was actually powered up and doing some patrols despite having to trudge through the day in a particularly low state. Stress points were stacking all around and he couldn't really wrap his head around it all, so his escape? Powering up and going for a nightly run. Hey, it worked well enough. Most of the time. His mood had actually been improving! Until, of course, he slipped on another jump over an alley and started plummeting back towards the ground.

Or, when he looked down, another dumpster. The page was ready to curse his luck when, without warning, he felt...something. And them BAM. He was in a desert.

The page landed rather unceremoniously in red sand, feet first (a fact he was thankful for, since a face skidding on sand would not yield very pleasant results), though he ended up staggering and falling forward anyway. Momentum, he thought with a groan as he pushed himself up and got to his feet. The last time he ended up off-planet was when he visited Uranus a while back, and as he dusted himself Ashur took in the sandy scenery all around him -- sand and sun and red and blistering -- and decided that he was probably not on Uranus. Better than in a dumpster, he thought with a snort.

He soon started heading towards the only signs of possible shelter from the sun (and likely life, if he were being optimistic). The coliseum was certainly something, and the closer he got the more impressed his expression became. He saw a few others wandering through the arched doorways and followed without much word, then gave the place a good once-over once he was inside. Eventually his eyes went from the construct of the place to the various faces that were seated in various spots in the stands, a number of them familiar.

"Guess we're in your element, huh?" he said with a smirk as he bounded up and took a seat nearby Themiscyra, patting Nysa on the shoulder as he passed him, though he didn't in fact know who he was at all. Nothing wrong with being a little friendly, though. As soon as he was seated he regarded the others nearby with a wave.

"Makes me glad Uranus is about just as hellish. The long sleeves really don't help, though." The statement was more directed at the four who looked entirely uncomfortable in their clothes considering the heat, and he could only offer them a sympathetic smile as he listened in on whatever the conversation was about.

Yeah, he was doing a bit better. This, whatever this was, was about as far away from the other stress points in his life as it could get, and he half-hoped that it'd last a while.

Falias had not been patrol, had not been patrolling since the fallout of night time events at a now destroyed warehouse, instead he had been up in the flat as Marlin watering his tomato seedlings with a mixture of water and worm cast when the signet that he was wearing on a simple chain around his neck.

What the...?

One minute he was dropping the watering can with fingers that had suddenly gone nerveless and the next he was finding himself deposited as Falias in a place with red sand by what looked to be the remains of a Coliseum.

It was much warmer than the Destiny City evening that he seemed to have been torn from, the warmth and heat not something that his Squire outfit was really suited for, although he told himself as he made his way into the Coliseum that it could have been worse - he could have had had the misfortune of being stuck in an outfit with fur.

Hearing voices he realised that he wasn't the only one here - wherever here was and once inside the walls such as they were Falias started to spot faces to go with the voices, some such as Nifhel, Alfheim and Shangri-La somewhat familiar from the Knight Temple game last Summer and a senshi and knight training session put on by Maia respectively however there were a lot of unfamiliar faces there too.

As he slipped into an empty seating space, Falias tried hard not to mourn the fact that his not particularly cheap wormcast was most likely on the floor at home and going to waste whilst trying to puzzle out why he had been brought here.

Kairatos

"Themi!" if anyone were somewhat unsurprised by being randomly summoned by some power greater than them, it was Kairatos. Disappointed, maybe, but not surprised... which did not stop the enthusiastic knight from making an attempt to ruffle the feisty pages hair... from as far at arms length as he could manage.

It hadn't been too long since he'd been here to retrieve his signet ring, and he couldn't remember any occasion on which someone had said this was possible, and everyone looked just as confused as he felt.

"This wasn't on the sign up sheet." he commented, offhandedly, curious, but not yet alarmed. "Is this normal?" He flicked his other hand at the wrist in a passing wave at sweltering Babylon, who's uniform was considerably more out of place on the hot red wastes of Mars.




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Hara Berezaiti

Hara Berezaiti couldn't have been less impressed with this summon either. Last time she had been unexpectedly swept into space, she'd come away from the experience... considerably changed... to put it politely, and aside from her immediate wide eyed search for any trace of giant Space Youma looking for a page sized snack, she was just really tired of being swept out of her kitchen. One time had been plenty. A second time was just.... no.

"Ohmygodsomeonehasgotsomeexplainingtodo." She declared in a angry, anxious rush, gripping her scarf defensively, as though it, like Dorothy's equally glittery shoes, was her key home. This wasn't her kitchen. It wasn't anyplace in the Surrounding that she remembered. What. The. ********.