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 Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 12:18 pm
Under Construction (9) : Construction in Destiny City is a constant; it is never surprising to see buildings come and go. However, almost overnight it seems as though a large project has suddenly come to life. Where there was once an abandoned strip mall and a sad, trash laden park, the ground has now been completely bulldozed. There's no information about this project available in any media outlets or online, and all attempts to research it result in dead ends. A large fence has been put up, but twelve feet of wire isn't enough to keep out anyone curious enough to investigate. Cameras are set up all over the place and there is a strange, almost magical energy. The space is large enough to be a theme park. Strangely, frosted glass stars in an array of colors can be found randomly across the lot. Someone obviously has big plans for this space already, some strange, fantastical buildings are going up. The space feels strangely large, and once you have jumped the fence it feels like Destiny City is a world away. The sky seems brighter and the city lights seem far away, almost as though there is some strange barrier separating the construction zone and the rest of the city. And, oddly enough, if you are standing outside the fence and looking into the construction zone, everything appears blurry and it's hard to make out the details. It's strange, for sure, but nothing seems wrong about it. Yet.
Which he wasn't. He was just curious, because how could he not be when a massive lot was flattened essentially overnight.
"But knowing what I know, it's not entirely impossible…" the man mused on, scratching the back of his head as he considered. Glancing at his watch, he noted that it wasn't too late. Hannah was working tonight, and he had the next two nights off, so he'd have plenty of time to rest.
He stepped closer as each consideration seemed inclined toward allowing him to explore.
Eventually he gripped the fence with one hand, considered for another moment, before he started climbing up and over it, landing safely on the other side.
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 6:34 pm
An expression of bemusement was lingering over Tory’s face as she took in the sight of the cleared lot. One would have expected signage displayed talking about whatever project was taking place on the other side of the fence but as far as she could tell all such typical signs were strangely absent. The redhead starred through the gaps in the chain link fence before casting surreptitious looks to her right and her left. Those glances confirmed that whatever signage should have been posted … wasn’t. Sure, building permits and rezoning application signs weren’t always needed, but they were helpful tools to proclaim to the public just what was going on.
Without the signs, one would be forced to guess. From the sheer size of the lot one would probably think of a new condo unit if the project were residential in nature. If it was for entertainment, maybe a theme park of some kind. There were a multitude of options to go with and even as Tory turned away from the fence line did the sight of a strange patch of earth on the other side of the fence catch and hold her attention. A star? Glossy at that. Was this some sort of secret sign that she needed to follow?
Gripping the fence the teen carefully began to ascend the structure before pausing at the top. Okay, so entering a construction zone hadn’t been on the top of her to-do list this evening but something about that strange patch of earth was calling to be investigated. Turning around the redhead quickly made her descent before attempting to find any sort of potential cover. It really wouldn’t go over well with her folks if she were arrested for trespassing.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2025 11:12 pm
The fence moving even after he landed safely scared the living daylights out of him, but rather than immediately jump to the conclusion that he'd been caught he quickly snapped his head to and fro to try and see what was making it do that.
Sure enough, not too far off, someone else had the same idea as him.
"Not sure if I should be relieved or not," he said as he jogged over, making sure to wave to try and reassure them from a distance that he meant no harm. Eventually, when he was close enough, he gave the other a friendly smile and nodded toward them.
"You curious, too?" Sure, maybe a stupid question, but he didn't want to go making assumptions. Maybe they lost something behind the fence and were just here to get it or…something. It didn't really concern him, but they were both trespassing here so he was reaching more for solidarity than anything else. "I could swear this was still that old, abandoned mall and the park next to it just yesterday, and I can't remember if I even saw construction anything here all day today so I'm just."
Tristan made a vague gesture at his head, as if to say "worried I'm losing my mind" or something along those lines, without having to say it.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2025 11:46 pm
Tory's gaze had been on the star shaped patch of Earth still but she quickly snapped out of it when another individual jogged up to her claiming that he didn't know if he should have been relieved or not. Whomever this stranger was, she didn't recognize him but considering they were both now on the same side of the fence it probably wouldn't have hurt to be at least a little bit friendly. Her eyes were busy scanning the surrounding area before she hid a smile at the other's rambling. "Perhaps we're both imagining things then. I have also noticed that this lot definitely wasn't like this yesterday," Tory's green eyes flashed with a little bit of concern as she sighed, "so it's more than likely that either we're both going crazy or there is something else at work here."
Pointing back over her shoulder Tory continued, "I find it strange that for a place that was seemingly all but abandoned that there was nothing in the news about a new project being built and it's strange that there doesn't seem to be any signage indicating what might be coming. But if you really wanted to know what drew me into trespassing, it was that," here Tory pointed towards the glossy patch of earth that resembled a star before she moved closer to look down at it. "I've never seen anything like this before and I hate to admit it, but I got curious. I'm just hoping for answers before any such type of security shows up. Not that I believe any will. Destiny City seems to have issues that standard security can't deal with."
The star pattern drew her gaze to it again. It definitely wasn't something normal that one would see everyday. Tory's gaze lingered on the star design before she brought her head up to meet the stranger's gaze. "Can't say I actively look for strange phenomena but this is an exception I guess."
She was cautious as she knelt back down at the edge of the design in the Earth before she sighed, "it's almost like the earth got struck by lightning but it wouldn't have made this pattern," and she pointed out another section of Earth nearby, "nor would it continue to do so.
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2025 8:22 pm
"Right?!"
There was immense satisfaction with the confirmation that he was not, in fact, seeing things, though she did make a very good point. If they weren't going crazy, then that likely meant there was more to this freshly bulldozed lot than meets the eye. The fact that it was happening in Destiny City, of all places, had him wondering if maybe he should have made this trek as Staurolite.
Too little too late, but at least he wasn't alone.
"Yeah it's all kinda…" he paused for a moment to consider what word might make the most sense, ultimately finishing with, "fishy," even though that sounded like the most cliche (not to mention boring) way to describe it all. It fit, though! So he stuck by it.
"And this is DC, too, so I don't imagine that it's entirely normal, either, if you know what I mean."
Tristan sidestepped as she moved closer, his eyes having followed the finger that was pointed at the ground between them. It was only then that he noticed the glossy star pattern on the ground, and his brows disappeared above his bangs and he moved in close, just behind her and off to the side a bit so he could properly see). Eventually, when they're eyes met and she said something about strange phenomena, he bobbled his head in agreement.
"I don't either, to be honest. And yeah, there's no way that came from a lightning strike." Not a non-magical one, anyway. "I can't even think of a reason why someone would wanna…stamp? The ground with this kinda symbol."
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2025 6:23 pm
Elliott had stressed to Victoria the importance of keeping her powered identity secret. There were too many ears listening/eyes watching for a break to link a civilian to their powered identity. Tory though thought that answering a little bit of questions in regards to the craziness that happened all the time in Destiny City wouldn't be too much of a giveaway considering that all residents experienced crazy s**t all the time. She was crouching next to the star that she had pointed out to the stranger before nodding.
"DC certainly has had its fair share of weird events that's for sure. Last winter I got attacked by a freaking snow creature. I managed to escape but only because I threw my thermos full of hot chocolate at the thing. It didn't appreciate being partially melted but it couldn't chase me after that."
This strangeness at least seemed tame in comparison. Making a move to rise from her crouch Tory nearly toppled to her right side before catching herself from doing a full face plant to the ground. Nice move Tor. It's suddenly so hard to see how I played goaltender on ice no less when this happens.
Embarrassed the redhead dusted off the side of her jeans that had made contact with the ground before she stood fully. Her gaze briefly shot towards the sky and then back to the lot before she made a thoughtful sound. "What I wouldn't give to find out what exactly is happening here. It's a mystery and I don't like mysteries that much. When you looked through the fence earlier, did you notice anything strange? I don't think I took a good enough look, but I had trouble making out specific details."
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2025 9:27 pm
Tristan could only bob his head in absolute agreement about the weird events that plagued this city. Not all of it was even at the hands of Negaverse, though he knew they were behind some things. The weird bouts of fatigue that the citizens often faced were a direct result of the energy draining aspect of his job as an agent, and that was just one aspect.
"I read a lot of posts online about those kinda encounters," he said, thinking back to the past winter. "The more optimistic side of me kind of sees it as a silver lining that the city's always full of interesting things, but I think we could use more harmless things. Like pretty non-radioactive, glowing bugs, and–" he cut off, stepping forward in an effort to catch her in case she fell.
She caught herself before he got close enough to actually be helpful, which was fine with him as long as she was okay.
"You good?" he asked, amusement clear on his face. She recovered quickly enough, so he left it there and, at her question he shook his head.
"No. It was…weirdly blurry and unclear. I've got 20/20 vision and I couldn't make out a damned thing either. It's why I hopped the fence in the first place." Turning his attention to the view of Destiny City from where they stood, within the fence, he blinked a bit before gesturing toward the city lights.
"Is it just me or does the city look kinda far away to you?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 2:26 am
Tory nodded in response to the other person's question of if she was good, "ya, I'm fine. Thanks for trying to help though. Hard to see how I managed being on ice skates for at least five years of my life if I'm this clumsy now."
Tory let her gaze follow the trail of stars as it led off into the distance before bringing herself back to the here and now. If she were being honest with herself there was a strong urge to merely abandon the stranger that she had sort of followed over the fence in order to see where they finally ended. There wasn't anything else that she had going on but for the moment perhaps it was better to stick close to this individual because at least if there was any type of security presence than she could use that to her advantage and try to find someplace to hide.
Tory's gaze turned back to the fence and what lay beyond before making a sound of agreement to the person's new query. "Huh, I didn't notice but you are absolutely right. I wonder what it is that is making the interior of this place look blurry when you're on the other side of the fence, but what makes Destiny City look farther away when we are on this side of the fence."
Tory stuck out a hand for the other to shake if he deigned to do so, "I'm Tory, who are you? And are you thinking of sticking around or are you thinking of going back up and over the fence?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:14 pm
He was stuck on it for a second and just barely heard her response or the question he'd been thinking but she happened to ask outloud, but when she stated her name Tristan turned, a bit surprised because he thought they already did that. Quickly rewinding and playing through their conversation thus far in his mind's eye, it dawned on him that they hadn't, and he quickly reached out and gave her hand a firm shake.
"Tristan! It's good to meet you. And sorry, I could swear we already did the introductions. Usually it's one of the first things I do, but I guess this, " he paused and made a vague gesture at the construction site all around them, "kinda distracted me from all that." He let go after a minute and gave a sort of half-shrug at her questions.
"Anyway, I don't really have any immediate plans, but now that you've pointed out these things," he pointed at the pattern on the ground, eyes falling to it briefly before returning to Tory. "I kinda wanna stick around and see if there are more."
It was all so...strange, but annoyingly also on brand for Destiny City. Knowing that, he had a feeling they wouldn't find a whole lot even if they poked around for a little bit longer, but that wasn't necessarily enough to keep him away. Particularly so if there was no guard around to chase them off the property.
Particularly so if there was someone else just as curious he was about the place and willing to stick around and see what more they could find before they had to call it a night.
Nodding to her, he asked, "You?"
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