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 Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 9:21 pm
The ship waits patiently in the distance, just within sight of the Imagination Island and the horrors that await upon it. On board, a crew of men and women in white coats, golden branches climbing their trim, hustle about, talking on ear pieces and aggressively wielding clipboards. A swarthy man in a hooded coatt stalks through them, a space silently opening before him wherever he went.
Eventually he approached the survivors of the helicopter crash, a smirk curling his lips, "Well,I'm sure you've all had an interesting weekend, hm?"
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 9:31 pm
Glenda had been watching the people milling about with vague interest. She hated boats, but this was a fine, big one; chances of seasickness were low.
"Oh, deary me, I cain't say I had a lovely time, though I wish we'da gotten t'keep somma them pictures." She fussed with her fanny pack, dragging out a slightly soggy cigar. She attempted to light it for a few moments before giving up with an exasperated sigh. She tucked it behind her ear instead, fetching a hard candy to suck on in the meantime.
"Less folk dyin' woulda been nice. I think I'll just take the grandkids to the zoo, if it's all the same. D'you work for Mister Whorl? I'd like t'file a complaint or what not. Them terlits only worked on th' first day, I'll have you know."
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 9:33 pm
Ian felt like the ship was staffed with absolute angels, the white coats might as well have been wings.
He could have been abducted by aliens and he would have been just as grateful to be away from that hellish island and its rampaging nightmares. He was an absolute mess, wild white-blonde hair soaked and matted, dripping seawater all over the deck and clothes chosen for their flowy and ethereal properties now simply sodden and clingy. He desperately wanted to sit after that swim, his every muscle shivering from the strain it had taken, hugging his various charms and crystals as if they were some sort of lifeline. He was not an athlete, he didn't know how to cope.
He eyed the man with the hood as anyone would eye their rescuer, gratitude all but radiating from him - he made sure of it after all by adjusting his psychic vibrations.
He should have been angry about how badly everything had gone. Should have.
Shivering bitterly he replied. "Y..y..coo..could ss..sa.sssay that." He was just a bit delirious, holding up a small tin which contained his precious tarot cards. "I knew.. knew this woul...would happen."
"The Tower." he said, as if that explained everything.
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 9:41 pm
The man looked at Glenda, eyebrows raised, "Oh my, you must be quite hardy to have made it this far. And no, we're from an organization that hmm...cleans up after such messes. Though not," he grinned, "...of the sort involving toilets, I'm afraid."
Ian's barely legible drawling drew the man's eyes to him, and caused him to laugh outright, 'Yes, yes...sometimes reaching too high invites a certain sort of chaos. It feels a bit inevitable, doesn't it?"
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 10:02 pm
Ian nodded in frazzled agreement, hugging himself a little tighter. It was inevitable. Fate wasn't someone you could argue with, she spun the wheel, the cards guessed fate and all psychic abilities were just guessing at the threads that held everything.
"Peopl...people want tt..to believe in monsters. They don't want them t..to be real." he said distantly, almost to himself. And to him that made all the sense in the world too. The joy, like with the psychic animal interpretations he did, lay in never knowing.
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 10:33 pm
Nadya was currently hanging out by the side of the ship staring thoughtfully into the water. Not because she wanted to fall to her doom but she also didn't feel like dealing with others at the moment. Oddly enough water calmed her frazzled nerves and simply kept her mind on other things.
The man that had approached them was regarded with a bit of distrust mostly because that is how she regarded many other humans. Hannah, Tooly, Lydia...
"Monsters...? Sometimes people are monsters. What makes us different from the fantastical?" Nadya shrugged a bit. She never thought of Fynn or Ariel as monsters.
((Sorry. Nadya is a bit ... Nadyaish.))
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 10:37 pm
"Gubberment, then?" She squinted at him. "I pay my taxes an' the like. Every year, an' on time."
She took the damp cigar out from behind her ear, chewing speculatively on the tip. When Nadya spoke, Glenda glanced at her. "I dunno about that, dear. We've got a lot less, well, bits," she gestured with the stogie vaguely, "an' we ain't all runnin about with no clothes on."
Although, she had to admit, giving the hooded man a bold, appraising look, there were a few people on this boat she wouldn't mind seeing in their birthday suits. Tall and mysterious always seemed to get the blood going. A fire in her boots, as her mother would have said, may she rest in peace.
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 10:52 pm
"Well..." drawled the man, "...monsters is a bit of a generalization." Nadya was treated with an indulgent smile, "The difference between humans and the ah...fantastical beings frolicking upon yonder island is less philosophical than you seem to be implying. It's simple physical make up, the source of our creation, and how we maintain our existence."
A crew member paused to whisper something in the man's ear, and his smile widened, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth. When he turned back to Glenda he paused a moment, expression holding the sort of hopeful expectancy of a cat waiting for an elderly mouse to just shrivel up and die with shock already rather than wasting space aboard his ship with her geriatric needs. "Yes, you're all very well clothed," the thank god wasn't spoken but rather heavily implied, "...though a bit damp."
Taking off his coat, he dropped in on Nadya's shoulders and then gave several passing crew members a look that had them offering their coats to the others. "We aren't a part of government, though, so don't fear for your wasted tax dollars at work."
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 11:01 pm
Nadya let the coat rest upon her shoulders and she glanced at Glenda, Ian, and eventually at the man again. "It is not philosophy as much as a belief. Give us all another week and we'd be murdering each other on that place and acting as 'monsters' as well," she gave a small pause, "but thank you for not ... taking a week to get here."
As for the 'make up' of the creatures? She knew very little about that other than it seemed to be so different from the other creatures of the world.
"But...Maybe I got a bit too close to my charges. But it was not entirely horrible so long as it all worked as it should," she murmured softly and quietly pulled the coat a bit more closely around herself.
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 11:05 pm
In the distance, the sound of a helicopter can be heard. It grows in volume as it's joined by another, and then another. Eventually a good dozen are circling the perimeter of the island. Soon a soft blue glow surrounds the park.
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Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 11:11 pm
Ian took the offered coat from one of the crew members gladly. He didn't have much meat on his bones and was shivering like a neurotic chihuahua, it helped to hug the jacket close, too large but something to stop even the stiff sea breeze cutting through him like a knife.
He listened but didn't understand what the hooded man meant about the composition of the creatures. Any similarity was worrying - some of the creatures had looked almost human.
"D..did you have anything to do with this?" he asked, gesturing at the island behind them, people didn't just show up, looking as uniform as these guys without at least knowing something surely?
He cut himself off as distant sounds seized his attention, gawking at the helicopters and wondering what on earth he'd found himself audience to.
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 12:08 am
"Well...that is the question, now isn't it?" The man turns to look at the island once more, and raises a single hand.
The blue glow increases until suddenly a shockwave hits the island, hitting both creature and human alike. Another shockwave soon follows! Those who survive the blasts, witness streaks of light shooting from the helicopters, striking down creatures with terrible accuracy!
"The unit we're using for this call themselves the Shooting Stars," his smile turns bemused, "...yet despite that, they're quite effective in ranged strikes."
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 12:15 am
To say that Nadya looked a little horrified was probably an understatement, but her concerns where not for a lot of the human beings on the island. There was just a part of her that wouldn't let go of certain individuals that she had cared for.
She couldn't help it. Impulsively her mind went back to them and their faces swam up to greet her with smiles and curious noises. Familiar faces hoping for food, eager expressions wanting their 'treat' for performing a trick.
Something about this made her feel heartsick.
Nadya realized that they were a danger in their current state, but this was much like euthanizing a dear companion. Sometimes there simply was no preparation for it. She sunk down to her knees and hid her face. She wasn't crying she just simply didn't wish to see anymore.
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 12:20 am
Ian flinched at the shockwave, eyes wide.
Len was probably out there somewhere. That poor kid. He'd really liked him, a feat considering that he'd long ago sworn off of human companions. He'd had dreams and aspirations. He hoped he was on some other boat watching the fireworks.
He wanted to look away, but something in him felt like he owed it to the people on the island to watch, to be witness to whatever happened here.
The coat wasn't warm enough to stop the chills coming back.
"B..bb..the people too?"
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 12:27 am
The ship's engine started up and began to approach the island. The man turned a pleasant smile on Ian as they got closer, "Well, you survived didn't you? A fairly generous number of you did, all things considered."
The boat reaches the docks, and a massive tentacle reaches out from the water to grab the ship. A glowing whip, spined and strange, appears in the man's hand and is striking out at the limb. It crumbles and dissipates within moments, causeing barely a falter in his stride as he moves to step off the ship.
"I won't tell you to stay here," he smiles back at them one more time. "But this may not be for those of delicate constitution."
((exiting to docks))
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