From One City to Another [Open post event info and start]

[stringmods]

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Who: Everyone (guests and non-guests alike)
Where: Geartopia
Summary: Event in City start!
Warnings: Cowboys and Gears
EVENT INFO: Read about it here if you're a new comer!

The Mayoress keeps her word, and the Visitors are whisked away and changed into more suitable clothing for this world, free of charge. As they step down from the portal -- a stark contrast to the last time it was used, a giant man standing easily over eight feet tall and resembling a mammoth takes out a piece of string and measures everyone for their complimentary hat, vest, goggles and boots, as a small team works nearby to adjust the sizes of the materials they already have. It's rather interesting to see them at work, cutting with iron scissors - a spiderlady using her own silken string along with a robot aide to patch things up. Before long, you are given an outfit that's been tailor-fit for you.

Hopefully you aren't too arachnophobic, she's a nice old lady.

Once that's all done, the Mayoress speaks up.

"Come with us, please!"

Robotic horses and chariots draw them into the middle of the town, as a small map is given to everyone, but it's overly simple at best.

As they arrive in the town square, a look around reveals that the people here seem to be a mixture of humans, humanoid animals that have evolved, and robots. The feeling is very Old West, but with it all kept at a simple level despite the advance technology present. Compared to Hinoto-Ri and its lights, bright city and atmosphere, Geartopia feels like it falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. There's barely anything that would make you think of a modern city.

Which is why those that don't look like they belong stand out even more than you do.

Confused people from various worlds, not meant to have landed here... but currently with no way to go home, are stuck in Geartopia, violently torn from whatever they had been doing.

"We ain't sure what happened," she tells the Visitors, shaking her head. "But the past three days have been nothin' more than a giant mess! And they keep pilin' up. We need you to help us figure out what's happenin’!"

As they continue towards the town's center, she gives a bit more explanation: Once, long ago, Geartopia was built by aliens visiting the planet that granted intelligence to some native species. That includes her kind! The giant black obsidian monoliths humming precariously outside of town are an example of that. Normally the rocks only work when they need to contact other worlds. Three days ago, they started to glow, and that's when others began to appear here. People that had not been planned for. And they were still coming in, too...

The technology the elder aliens left them allows them to contact other planets during times of distress, but otherwise, there is nothing futuristic going on - the aliens wanted it this way and for the most part, the population respects this. Most of the area is dry and arid, with very tiny grass and shrubs growing over the hill, and, strangely enough, an area from town that is densely populated by forest.

They'll need your strange and powerful manpower in the upcoming days… just like twenty years ago, when the previous mayoress had called upon great heroes for aid.

[OOC Info about Geartopia:

- Saloon and bars of all sizes. Most are comically named with an object and a color. You can find all sorts of them across town. The shadier ones can be found at the far end of the west.

- There are hotels with gear-driven pianos playing wistful tunes as you drink hard liquor made from cactus juice, honey and barley. The honey wine is especially prized and costly.

- There is also a small carnival with a steampunk and old west fair, sugar and cactus fruit pies, whole animals roasted over open pits, musicians, and a single wooden coaster. It's not much, but the food is excellent.

- Be careful, however. The cactus fruit does cause stomach aches for most people not native to this world.

- There are farms around here, if you feel like having real food and doing honest work.

- The general store has steampunk items for sale, but most of them are much too expensive for the visitors at this point. You can try to barter.

- Oh, and news travels fast. Cause problems, and the rumors will travel to the mayoress fast enough.

- Start posts with Open or Closed depending on what you want to do!

RP VISITORS NOT FROM STRINGS: Here’s your own situation: Your character showed up here anytime from the 4th to the 16th and they have no idea why. They just popped out from their own place and popped in here. HAVE FUN!]

Comments

OTA

[zouichi]

A dark-haired man, dressed almost head to toe in black body armor, looked up a statue that looked marginally like himself. In one hand it held a weapon very much like the sidearm currently holstered to his side. In the other, as if offered up to the sky, was a disembodied robot arm.

Perched magnificently on his shoulder, wings spread, was a statuesque metal parrot.

"How did they roll these things out so fast?" Zouichi asked, frowning rather critically at his own likeness. It clearly didn't look anything like him. Why, he hadn't even gotten to keep that robot arm! But they had done an excellent job capturing Alan. Very lifelike.

[oncearanger]

After landing face-first on the barren soil of a new planet, Billy was taking his time investigating a very suspicious phenomenon. Trapped alone in a new place again, he'd felt fear---but not everything here was unknown to him, as he soon discovered. He'd set off to start asking questions about this town, but he'd been stopped in his tracks by a series of likenesses. Not just any likenesses, but familiar ones. These weren't just any ancient heroes, they were:

Allenby. Jamie. Kaylee. Kang. And many more.

Friends from many worlds who were all gathered in one place once, the same as him. These statues were a sign that his past had crossed paths with this place once, but how?

His investigation was helped along by a familiar face appearing around the corner---a name that hadn't been on the forefront of his mind, but he remembered. Zouichi.

Billy blinked once, twice, then shook his head.

"You're here too? Well...obviously you are, that's a silly question. But have you seen anyone else?"

[justadigger]

A hooded figure nearby raises his head to give Zouichi and Billy both a quick look, and once he confirms just who he's seeing, he lowers his head again. He takes a few steps toward the pair, then chuckles.

"Took a fair amount of time, actually... If anything, the people on this world are diligent." He pauses, then shoves his hood back. "It's been a long time."

[zouichi]

Zouichi had been about to answer Billy's question before the hooded stranger arrived.

He stared at Simon for a moment. Then a moment longer. And then:

"Simon? Is that you? ...What happened to your face?" Because through humans like Simon did age markedly quicker than Zouichi did, he was pretty sure this was a little too fast. Even factoring in growth spurts.

[oncearanger]

"Simon? What?"

Billy leans in to take a closer look. He's finally switched to contact lenses by now, so his wide eyes look perhaps a little less wide than they used to.

"I suppose that answers the question. There is in fact at least one more of us," he chuckles.

[justadigger]

For a moment, the older man just smirks, then nods. Zouichi's question gets a shrug and a head-tilt from side to side. "Little bit of aging, little bit of power side-effects. Like I said, been a long time. What brings you two back here?"

[daswunderkind]

This should have been a very serious thing.

Instead what would next follow would be the sounds of space cracking open before them, the relative peace of someone screaming as she had been sitting down in one overlord's castle back in the ship. Crash landing right in the sand right in front of all of them, even her ranger instincts failed her and she was comically stuck in, hair and all.

"W-w-what the hell just happened?!"

Oh god there was sand everywhere.

[zouichi]

Zouichi shrugged. After the planet of clones, the steampunk spiders, and being brainwashed into thinking he was Lash's evil lieutenant, was this really such a stretch? "Well, we've already done robots and ten different kinds of aliens. I'm guessing some kind of rip in the fabric of space-time?"

Suddenly, there was a smaller, slightly less flashy crack as a brightly-colored shape rocketed out of another temporary rift. It was on a collision course straight for Lash's hair.

[oncearanger]

Billy's mouth fell open when he saw Lash. Oh, they'd had their explosions, but she was his teammate and one of his closest friends. In private, he might have yanked her into a hug. Instead, he shuffled to her side and attempted to help her up---only to awkwardly hit the sand with her as he tried to dodge whatever was coming.

"Please tell me the entire crew isn't going to descend on top of us," he muttered, hand reaching for his morpher just in case.

[daswunderkind]

"Tha--" well so much for actually being polite for once, as she felt the all-too familiar stack of feathers and talons settle into her hair-mass and let look a slew of curses that had been enhanced living with the overlord and his two apprentices.

THAT FUCKING PARROT.

[justadigger]

Well looks like spacetime is gettin' its underwear in a twist again, but that really shouldn't be surprising. It does mean seeing some old friends though, and--

--and there's Lash and Alan falling out of thin air and into Billy and...

Simon just laughs.

"Good to see some things never change!"

[zouichi]

Alan poked his head out of Lash's hair, looking slightly dazed but otherwise no worse for the wear. After a moment, he screwed his beady eyes shut, apparently lulled into a state of drowsiness by the warmth and familiarity of his surroundings.

Zouichi put a gloved hand to his temple and sighed.

"Okay, well. To answer your question, I'm not really sure how I got here. Probably a lot like how Lash did, only I had just about the worst dream about a decrepit old robot that liked to host science experiments in its basement, and... I guess that doesn't really matter. What's up with the decor?"

[oncearanger]

"I was back on my Earth, working on a top secret invention that could have changed our whole future. Apparently that's less important than returning to this life," Billy sighed, pushing himself upright and brushing the sand from his mechanic's coveralls.

He shared part of Simon's smile, though. "But I did miss you too."

[daswunderkind]

"Wait a minute...whose the old guy? D'you know us or something?"

Yes she missed all of you guys too. (Well sort of, you were still on the ship, as far as she knew.) Lash attempted to shoo her parroty cargo away as she asked her question, but her efforts were in vain.

[justadigger]

"I see," Simon answers to Zouichi and Billy before Lash's question gets his full attention. He glances down at himself, then laughs a bit. "I suppose I do look a bit different without the coat and goggles," he starts before smirking in that particularly cocky manner he was so prone to do. "Come now, though - you can't tell me you've forgotten who helped take down that spider robot here, or who ran against you in the council elections!" There's a beat, and his grin widens before he gets a little more boisterous. "Just who the hell do you think I am?" His voice is deeper and rougher than folks would remember, but likely just familiar enough.

[zouichi]

Lash's attempt to shoo Alan resulted in the parrot rolling over, so that his feet were now comically sticking up into the air and out of Lash's hair. So Zouichi made his way over to Lash to carefully extricate the bird.

Who's a good bird? Who's a good bird? (Protip: It was Alan.)

"Well, it looks like things here turned out all right. Wonder if anyone from our last visit's still around."

once upon a time I was gonna bring him to T9. Let's be glad I apped Naoto instead

[deathboss]

Eikichi had no idea what he had expected by showing up here. After visiting the tower he had been less than excited about going anywhere else but cowboys.... The entire issue was a little too fishy as far as he was concerned, but he had managed to calm down once he had been given a free outfit. However, nothing had prepared him to see a guy to look exactly like the statue to show up.

"You look...just like the guy with the parrot!"

Yes, how very observant of him.

hahaha I remember that I think

[zouichi]

"Yeah, well, that's what people keep saying," said Zouichi, turning around to address this new stranger. "But this guy's arm was at least .5cm bigger around. I know. I was holding it."

He blinked at Eikichi; he'd been expecting one of the more animalistic denizens of Geartopia. "Wait, you're not from the ship. Are you?"

[deathboss]

"Well art usually takes a bit of liberty..." That didn't sound much bigger anyway. Not that Eikichi could have made something this great as a metal statue. Besides once the subject went back to him, he was more than happy to strut his stuff.

"Nah babe! I'm from Hinoto-Ri. We've been asked to come here and help!" Look at this Zouichi. This guy is your replacement to help this world.

This world was doomed.

[zouichi]

'Babe'?

"...Is that another ship?" Because the name actually sounded kind of Japanese, which might only mean that Eikichi was from yet another iteration of Earth, but. Well.

"I guess I might as well give you some advice, then. Don't mix the red powder and the blue powder." Zouichi paused for a moment, then added, "Oh. And if you've got a light on you, like a torch or something? Bring that."

[deathboss]

"Bro?" Force of habit. Did you mention something about red and blue powder? Already out of both ears.

"A ship? Nah it's a city! I'm not from there either actually...I'm from Sumaru. Long story short but we're trying to save the city from Nyarlathotep, last I heard. But there's this strange item called the Trapzedo..Trapa...weird crystal that opened a portal to this world." He sighs overly dramatically. "Being the hero is a hard job..."

He holds out his hand.

"Name's Michel!"

[zouichi]

"Nyarlathotep? As in Lovecraft's Nyarlathotep?" Zouichi listened to Michel's story with an expression of mild disbelief JUST ROLL WITH IT, but he did return the handshake.

"Zouichi. So what is it that you're saving this place from, exactly?"

1/2

[deathboss]

"Lovecraft?" He looked at him confused, shaking his head. "Never heard of that guy before. As for why we're here, it's pretty simple bro! --"

[deathboss]

"---I actually have no idea. Something about portals opening up everywhere here and they can't stop it?"

...once again, the heroes of the future, everyone.

[zouichi]

Zouichi looked at Michel in mild horror. Luckily, the emotion was barely noticeable because his artist wasn't so great at facial expressions.

"Well, I guess that might explain why I'm here. And a couple other people I know. Maybe they fell through some of those portals by accident." Wait, did that mean he couldn't go back until they solved the portal puzzle? What he wouldn't give for a gun that could fix this...

"Anyway, if I've been away long enough for them to put up statues of everyone, we must be pretty far into the future."