The Search for the Newcomers, November 2012 Edition.

[stringmods]

Who: Open to Everyone, but only Newly Accepted Characters can start threads.
Where: All around the city, anywhere from the 5th to the 20th.
Summary: Newcomers arrive and by now the Government is more ready and sends everyone out to go people hunting.
Warnings: ARRIVALS. Also assume the first thread is the ones who tell you about the city, and the other tags for the character can be talking with others in the city and learning more about it.

[FOR THOSE IN THE CITY:]
They were getting much better at this, it was for certain.

The COMPS had been upgraded with a new program, HORUS which allowed them to spot abnormalities; if something or someone showed up suddenly in a city that was constantly scanned, then there was a high probability it was a newcomer. There was also a sort of left energy from the travel; the Wise Men called it leftover Magatama Residue, where the magical energy used to pull them to this world and keep the String intact was still faintly present around them. It wouldn't last more than a few minutes, however, and due to the fact they could appear in most parts of the city, it made finding the newcomers was both easy yet frustratingly difficult. As the blips appear on your radar function, they were nice enough to calculate for you the best transport and destination routes to take to get there.

Now it was just left up to chance and make sure you got there fast enough that you were still able to find them relatively easily. For the most part, the fact they stuck out would most certainly help...

[FOR THOSE WHO JUST ARRIVED:]
You're not in your homeworld anymore. That much is evident. So how do you feel? Happy? Sad? Troubled? A little of all three? No matter what, the memories of a butterfly man named Philemon are fading like a dream; you'll remember the details, but perhaps not everything he has said.

There is one word that stays with you, however.

Persona.

So...here to save the city, huh? First you'll need to find out more information. And who knows, maybe a familiar face or two...

[OOC: As stated above, only new characters can start a thread, but feel free to jump in any of them. characters arrive with their clothing and whatever items they had on them the moment they were taken; the remaining items will be later found in their apartments.]

Comments

[burnamotherdown]

[When Axel had first found himself standing in the middle of a street full of busy stores and bustling stalls, his immediate instinct had been to duck back into a side alley, away from prying eyes. He was kinda conspicuous between the bright red hair and black coat, and the go on missions had always been, 'try and avoid being seen'.

However, as the scattered memories of his dream start coming back to him, Axel cares less about being seen... and a tad more about what the heck a 'persona' is and why he's meant to help save a city he's never heard of before. Insert neck scratching and some good old eyebrow furrowing here.]

Whoever this Phil is, he sure knows how to overload a guy. Sheesh.

[First things first- if he'd been dumped in this world, best to make something worthwhile of it before heading back to the castle, right? Right.]

Heh. Might as well do some recon.

[If you're anywhere around the Virgo district today, you might catch sight of Axel, no longer concerned about being seen, but wandering about the stalls and asking questions.]

dis gon' be gud

[travelsthefarthest]

[You can take the Nobody out of the Organization, but it seems you can't quite take the Organization out of the Nobody. Or the Somebody, as the case may be. Even with his heart intact once more, Lea's still wired for recon, and after walking with Xion and Roxas to the pet store where Xion was employed (that would still be jarring for a while... when did Xion get so grown up?) he decides maybe he'll have a look around the Virgo district. He's gotten fairly familiar with the Pisces ward and the housing area, but he hasn't branched out too much yet. One thing at a time, after all--gotta make sure to leave room for naps in that busy schedule!

[Hands shoved into his pockets, Lea meanders down the sidewalk with no particular destination in mind. He's always had a bit of an appreciation for architecture, even if he really doesn't know anything about it. One of the coolest things, in his opinion, about traveling to other worlds is seeing how different they all can be. So he's paying more attention to the shop windows and building faces than where he's going. The sidewalk is fairly empty at this time of day anyway, so no harm, right?

[Well, no harm until he rounds a corner and collides abruptly with another person.]

Oof!

[Stumbling backward and catching himself on the corner of the building, Lea snaps his head up, trying to decide whether to apologize sincerely or throw out a 'why don't you watch where I'm going?'--

[--and that's when he freezes where he's still half doubled-over, braced against the wall. He blinks, eyes wide, as he sees that the person he's run into is basically in the exact same stance. More than that, he's... got the exact same coat. The exact same hair. ... The exact same face.

[And for once in his life, Lea is speechless, because somehow he just bumped into a walking mirror.]

yis, yis indeed B]

[burnamotherdown]

[Wh- what.

Half a second ago, Axel's biggest concern had been working out whether he'd been intentionally shoved, or accidentally bumped into. Now? Well, whatever he was planning on saying has died in his throat, and he's beginning to wonder if he still hasn't woken up from that weird dream he was having earlier.

...Or if he's maybe going crazy.

The guy standing in front of Axel doesn't just look similar to him. Not like a distant cousin, or a first cousin, or even a brother. No, he's the spitting image of Axel, from the spiky red hair all the way down to-- oh. Different shoes... and no tattoos.

Still, it's beyond unnerving, this feeling of almost looking into a mirror- so Axel goes ahead and does what any perfectly normal, rational person would think to do in this situation.

He begins to raise one arm slowly, watching his 'mirror image' very carefully.

Would a hallucination know what he going to do before he did it??]

awwww yeeeeah

[travelsthefarthest]

[It's almost like looking into the past or something, Lea thinks. This walking mirror looks exactly like him... up until about two months ago. Really, this guy could have stood in for him in a lineup, easy, he just needed a little makeup to cover the tattoos and a pair of sneakers.

[Straightening slowly, cautiously, Lea's eyes widen further (if that's possible) as the mirror image figure does the same. Okay now this is just weird. He's pretty sure he's seem a movie like this, where a guy meets his twin and they just do a ridiculous mimic dance for a minute. Stuff like that doesn't happen in real life, though!

[... Does it? Okay now he has to know. Extending one arm, he watches with growing alarm as the mirror figure does the same. Holy moogles, this can't be happening! Okay, Lea, wake up, come on, this is ridiculous. Seriously. Making a bit of a face, Lea stares the stranger down.

[All right, doppelganger mirror person, slowly raising one arm is easy, but what if he does spirit fingers with the raised hand?]

crying

[burnamotherdown]

[Woah-! Woaaaaah, woah woah woah. Things just went from extremely bizarre to downright terrifying. That wasn't supposed to actually work!

So what was this then? Some kind of copycat creature that was commonplace in this world? Was he making an idiot of himself by getting so caught up in it? Okay no, that was a ridiculous theory. But c'mon, what the heck was he supposed to make of this?

Clearly the answer lay in continuing to test this doppelganger-facetwin thing of his, so Axel wiggles around the fingers on his raised hand a little without warning-

And stares, totally nonplussed, as his- er-- reflection does the exact same.]

/WHEEZE

[travelsthefarthest]

[Okay now it's getting spooky. Seriously, Lea's all for a good prank or two but this is way more elaborate than anything anyone he knows is capable of pulling off. ... Okay. Okay. One last test...]

[travelsthefarthest]

[JDHFGVKSFGB]

[travelsthefarthest]

Okay, seriously, what in Light's name is going on here?

[Seriously unsettled now, Lea takes a step back and folds his arms defensively, eyeing this doppelganger with an almost comically severe expression.]

Look, whoever you are, this was really clever but you can stop now.

[burnamotherdown]

[It talks!! Uh, he talks. C'mon Axel, this can surely all be explained in a completely logical way.

Axel goes to cross his arms as well- but stops when he notices his twin doing the same, and hangs them loosely by his sides instead, fists curled.]

Okay, so you've stolen my face and now you're stealing my lines. What next?

[He glares right back, more than a little thrown off.]

How about a new plan- you tell me the reason for this double act.

[travelsthefarthest]

[Mirrors can't talk what is this. Lea glowers.] You callin' me a thief? What if I say it was my face first? [Doppelganger pls.] I was about to ask you the same thing, to be honest. I'm already here, so what's another me doing here--

[He's about to go on an all-out defensive, demanding to know who sent a lookalike and what his purpose is, when something clicks in the back of his head. Wait a second. Xion hadn't known the outcome of the expedition to find Aqua. Roxas hadn't even known he'd survived C.O. Aqua was from a good six years ago, and Riku apparently wasn't even from the same shade of universe. Whatever this place really was, it was apparently a melting pot of times and realities.

[Is this a trick... or is it actually him from some other point in time?

[Oh, Light, he can feel a headache forming already. Closing his eyes for a moment and sort of prodding his forehead, Lea then shakes two fingers at the mirror-figure.]

Wait. [Meeting the other man's eye, Lea squints dubiously. Well, there were a couple of ways to determine whether or not this copy was just a copy or the real deal.] Okay, I think I have an idea how we can determine which one of us stole whose face.

[Dropping to a crouch, Lea grabs the bottom of his own left pantleg and hikes it up sharply, probably to the confusion of the other fellow. No, this isn't a Nice Legs Competition, stranger, but you may recognize the scar just below your double's knee. It's not very big, but it's noticeable if you know what you're looking for.]

If you're who you claim you are, then you should have one of these too. [He looks up defiantly, daring the other man to follow suit.] And you should be able to tell me how you got it.

[If you get this wrong, there's going to be an Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, bro.]

1/5 welp

[yoursandmine]

[Axel and Xion are being a little more...careful, about keeping an eye on him. Which isn't fair; it's not his fault that he brought home a weird unconscious guy yesterday! It definitely alerted them to the fact that he'd tried to go out alone, however-- Axel even escorted them to the pet shop today.]

[Luckily, it was easy to sneak off when Xion was working. Maybe if he brought back some lunch in a few hours, they'd relax a little? Plus he could always look for an ice cream shop too....]

[So that's the plan. Or at least, that's what it is until he runs straight into someone, staggering back and just barely keeping his balance.]

S-sorry. I wasn't-

[yoursandmine]

[Oh poop.]

[yoursandmine]

[Of all the dumb luck, he had to run straight into Axel-- but he's only just out!]

[Maybe he could barter with him-- except he doesn't have anything to offer. Or maybe Axel would let it slide he was way more lenient than Xion-]

[yoursandmine]

I was just going to get Xion some lunch I didn't sneak out!

[yoursandmine]

[.........]






[Hey man how's things?]

1/3? all aboard the good ship brainbreak 8]

[burnamotherdown]

[Woah, geez, this is gonna become some kind of being-bumped-into record at this point--




Well talk about a familiar face. 8] ]

2/3 (assuming Lea has infodumped him by now shhh)

[burnamotherdown]

Roxas!

[Although to Axel it hasn't been a day since he's seen Roxas, it's a relief to see the kids face again- mostly because if he has to be stuck in this place, at least he knows he'll be stuck here with a friend.

And wowwww, that's a colourful series of expressions across that aforementioned familiar face of his.]

Woah there, leaving a pause between your words is a good idea, alright? How about we try this again in a language I can understand?

[burnamotherdown]

[Aaaaand then it hits him. This Roxas probably thinks he's Lea, doesn't he?

Awkward.




Oh, you know man, things are pretty good.]