Theories and Chalk Dust [Bar Open!]

[JunoZXV]

(NOTE! THIS THREAD IS POSTING WILLY NILLY! THERE IS NO POST ORDER! NO TURNS, NO ONE WEEK WAIT TIME. IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE OR CHANGE THE TOPIC, GO AHEAD. OTHERWISE LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT REACTING.)

Juno's Bar and Inn:

Fragments, floating in midair as if caught mid explosion from a center point and suspended in animation. Twirling, spinning in place and then suddenly the bar back to normal as if someone had hit a rewind button.

"Hehehe! It worked!" Juno replied walking past the unexploded swinging doors with an bucket of water dousing the fireplace. Due to a time bubble things had be accelerated, leading the the bar on fire and exploding as a result. But due to time being weird from events... it had rewound and Juno... Had killed that possibility from ever working.

Now the catboy was wearing his normal black attire but with a backpack with lights and wires, and attached to his side was a small little scanner with coordinates blinking away from something he had done earlier, and now. He was running those numbers and getting a solid read on where it led.

During this time the bar is open, granted the bar tender is a little preoccupied.

[Windra]

OoC
Hope you don’t mind a bit of creative … um … deconstruction. =D
If I’m planning this right, forger and Barbannis should be popping in, too. *crosses fingers*

—

There was a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning. The blue sky (well, when it was blue) split open above Juno’s bar, revealing a gaping obsidian pit. Far from it’s cousin, the stellar black hole, this anomaly wasn’t sucking in light and tearing the planet apart. It was just there and being a total eyesore. But, you know, with everything else going to hell in a hand basket and quick … did anybody really care?

Welp … Juno probably would.

Because two things fell out of it and through the roof of his just-remade-bar.

Wooden beams cracked and fell apart. In no time at all, there would be a small pile of destruction formed before the pirate. Sawdust filled the air. Beneath the splinters and disarray, a groan and a cough.

” … did someone get the plate of that semi … ?”

The big black hole in the sky remained where it was, spinning slowly. One could only wonder if it was getting ready to puke out more unsuspecting civilians.

[JunoZXV]

"Ah good, Just what I needed." Juno replied rather... unphased when looking at his scans. Using his free hand he gripped the metal device strapped to the pack and shot it at the black hole, causing a lazy orange beam that wobbled around to contain the portal in the sky and drag it downwards, putting it about a foot above ground level. Then taking the scanner he had in his hands, he began to make a few adjustments to get a reading on the 'black hole"

"Also, the semi's name is the Bloody Rose. Welcome to the bar. Feel free to order a drink. With an entrance like that you might need one."

[Barbannis]

Having the black hole placed closer to the ground saved not the speed he had entered.. Barbannis dropped into the ground with a heave, his sword clanging off to the side and coming to a halt a few feet from his hand. His chest creaked as the Tyrai wolf scrambled to his side, tail swishing out and across as his nose picked up new scents.. a new area.

He rubbed his head and face, running his claws down the front of his muzzle as if foiled by a headache. The wolf knelt to the ground, moving from the side of the contained black hole, peeking across and aside, noting Naira and Felix.. he thought,

"Always with the gateways.." he stretched out his back with a click of his form he snorted the air, smelling only sawdust and wood, but there was something else itching in the wind.. the gateway as it were... something was distorting, "You alright Naira?"

[Windra]

OoC

Just waiting on forgerofsouls now. Until then ...

--

" ... With an entrance like that you might need one."

A hand emerged from the rubble, giving a thumbs up. "Bartender, Irish Whis - wait ... " She shoved a large piece of wood away from where her head was and peered around, expression coming up blank. "How in the hell did ... oh ... " Answer: black hole, looming right above them. And it was quickly closing. "That thing just swallowed the floor of my inn. Crazy shifting reality is crazy."

So black hole = getting randomly teleported. Fun times! Minus the demolition bit. She glanced at Juno with mock-sadness.

"Guess you aren't the only one who's gonna need to rebuild ... " Well hell, the inn's bits were built over the course of a week. Nothing hard work couldn't fix. And ... another glance up. "Erm ... sorry 'bout the roof ... "

WHAM!

Out came Barbannis. The black hole may have been a bit closer now, but that didn't make his landing any less painful for the victim on the ground. She was shoved back beneath the wood pile, Barbannis' foot on her face.

He asked if she was alright. The Reaver would have laughed. She muffled a response and flailed an arm. Translation: I could be better. Geroff, plz?

[JunoZXV]

(Well enough waiting for forge!)

"Eh don't mind about the roof, It'll fix itself." Juno replied in a manner that one really couldn't tell if the Neko was joking or not. "Anyway you two have a seat. I'll be right with you while I get this portal under control"

There were a few clicks on the device he Neko was holding and then a hum. After that things clicked into place and with a few beeps the portal shrank in its confines to a small marble encased in glass. Juno then walked over to and picked it up, pocketing the small tear in space time.

Juno's bar, sans the hole in the ceiling that was now actually fixing itself due to some temporal event happening, was more or less whole, with stair case leading up to the rooms above the bar circled around the center trunk of the tree and posters plastered on the wall made 2 years ago when the forest was in need of leadership after the attack of the three armies. "Vote for Juno" one of the posters said "When there's only one neko, there's only one vote" Another one with stripes reading "We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and the Hivemind. Madre Di Dios She'll kill us all!" In front of these posters stood a few metal racks lined with various electronic equipment all leading from cable ties from a cylendrical central lamp nestled in the V where the trunk split into its stronger branches, there a sign read "Generously donated by Norad" Painted over a yellow plate of what probably was a radioactive warning sign... riddled with a few bullet holes.

"Alright got that taken care of, what can I do the two of you for?" There was a slight pause.

"Right Irish Whisky, you don't mind if it's slightly radioactive, right?"

[Barbannis]

He snorted the dusty air once more, flicking his tail to the side, hand poised to the side of a bench. He turned his blue eyes across, swiping at the saw dust as it ploomed around him, not noticing that he was standing mostly on someone who had previously fallen through the same black hole. Barbannis finally peeked down with the voice reaching his ears, coughing at the air before stepping across with another snort, "Oh, Naira" he grumbled, leaning across and plucking up his sword first, "Sorry"

His paws wrapped tight around its form, peeling it back and slicing it back into place across his side. He knelt to the slight, leaning inwards, offering his hand to help her up from the mess.

As the smoke cleared from him he was able to take in the surroundings more easily, take in the new scents of the... bar?

Barbannis wiped his paw across his lips and blinked a couple times before hearing another familiar voice. Though he had barely met the one he knew as Juno, he remembered images of him driving a floating ship into the very maw of the Hivemind. He peeked upwards, expecting another to fall through the same dark hole, but nothing followed, catching on as the ceiling began to repair itselt on its own. The Tyrai wold swiped his tail across, stepping forward and looking around,

"Whisky?" he gruffly speaks, looking around once more, "Might need it after I find out whats going on..." Though it had been years since he had settled himself within a bar like this very one... his younger days... he was more concerned about what was happening now, "What is going on out there?" he asked himself.

[Windra]

Well ... at least he noticed her. And moved. Naira took in a big lungful of air before grabbing Barbannis' offered paw. Once righting herself, she brushed the debris from her clothes, puffing out a plume of sawdust. A quick glance around told her that nobody else had fallen through the portal. Were Sera and Silent still at the inn? And Felix?

As the roof mended itself (because this was Juno's bar, that oddity didn't come as a surprise), green eyes landed on the pile of mechanical material with the sign 'Generously Donated by Norad'. Naira cawed. "Now that's a lie." Something metallic gleamed beneath the pile of wood she'd just exited. Naira stepped over, digging it out with wide eyes and a bright smile. "There you are ... "

The main goal of going to the inn had been to stock up. And get her new toy. She did a quick check of the scimitar's sheath and blade to make sure there was no damage. Not a scratch. The Reaver turned, briefly undoing her belt to slide the sheath on so that it rested on her left hip, then strapped the belt again and joined the others.

"You never really did get to explain," she piped up. Sera, Silent, and Felix were still on her mind, but she was certain that they were alright. Or rather, hoped. Barbannis asked first. Naira added. "What Barbie said. And where's Gaeva and the others?"

[JunoZXV]

"To put it simply, that." Juno replied pointing to the rapidly closing hole in the ceiling as he handed Nay and Barbie their drinks. He leaned his back to the counter and straightened upholding the scanner.

"Fairly recently there have been a string of odd events happening about the forest, particularly concerning new arrivals, or more recently lack of new arrivals." The neko scratched at his hair pulling out a braid that was hidden under the pink mop. Strapped to the pink strands were a series of what looked to be three small dream catchers, chained in series. He folded them up, one on top of the other, and if one was watching closely they could see the irises of the woven things clench and dialate as their patterns began to spin.

"This little device is what I've used for my various ventures out of the forest" He replied unhooking it from his hair and the device stopped, returning to a dormant state. "It helps me see the gateways past the edges, beyond the mountains, past the swamps, outside the edge... Its how I've managed to get my drinks. But planeswalking, as its known, isn't with out its risks." Juno made an emphasis by pointing at his eyes, or rather where an eye patch used to be. "Temporal shifts due to the timing of the various places. One portal may lead you to a place where while it appears time is going forward, when you get back you'll have arrived in the past of the place you left. This can cause all sorts of paradoxes that may need to be corrected."

"Like this." Juno replied holding out the small marble that contained the tear on space time that had ejected Naira and Barbiannis

"This device," Juno said pointing to the gigantic battery sitting in the branch. "Powers this palace and I have it fueling a temporal stasis. I originally had this device running in the event of an emergency. I mean. Dishes and glasses are hard to come by here in the forest, So I set this thing up." Juno replied holding up the half bottle of whisky and chucked it behind him, causing it to smash against the poster. After the bottle had shattered the pieces slowed down as did the liquid and the whole thing began to reform, and then fly backwards from its previous trajectory right into Juno's hands. "Some materials were targeted to reform back faster than others. Artificially made materials such as metal or glass reform back quicker than wood... as wood was living at one time."

"Point is My bar is what's keeping us safe from what's about to happen, happening, has happened out there." Juno then pointed to the lake outside one of the windows, there just beyond the trees one could see the fires and hear the explosions as well as the slow cracking of something big.

Juno then placed the bottle on the counter and walked back behind it, bending over to pull out an old map of vellum that had been purchased from the... well... that place didn't exist anymore as far as time was concerned. Old brush strokes and pitch markings along with a few added markings in red that Juno had added to his own, most of them were dots on the edges of the forest with small scribbles and numbers but there were a few more clusters inside the forest.

"These, are the portals that I knew of two years ago.... before everything changed." Juno replied pulling out a sheet of tracing paper and laying it over the forest, this one was covered with a few more dot clusters closer and tighter knit. "When that time shift happened. The portals closed. I was stuck here along with a few others... the ones that didn't vanish. It was good business for the drinking industry and it was how I manged to get that."

"These were after the shift, recorded about a month ago."

He pulled out another sheet.

"And this... was morning of... well the arrival of the crater"

The whole map was covered in large red lazy lines all of them seeming to radiate around a particularly large tree of Geava's.

"Now, I wasn't at there when the events started happening, but you were. The Alicorns were right were you left them" Juno replied looking at Nay. "If you could tell me anything about the Alicorns before what happened, I might have a clue as to whats going on here. Because the way it looks to me..."

Juno pointed to the map directly at the tree. "Everything's about to become like me. If it doesn't get obliterated in the process."

[Windra]

OoC

Sorry Barbs! It's been a week, so I'm going to skip you. I hope you don't mind!
Also, why the hell does the whole crater scenario have me playing that song from FFVII in my head? You know ... the Mako Reactor theme?


--

Juno handed each of them a glass of whisky. She hadn't actually expected him to do so, but shrugged and took a sip. The acris burn sliding down her esophagus served as a bitter reminder of why she never drank heavily - only in spurts. Naira resisted the urge to cough.

That resistance was ill nought. Juno said something that caused a wave of shock to ripple up and down her psyche. Admist the hacking fit that ensued, she sputtered out, "Two years?"

Time was always a peculiar thing. She had been hoping that the sideways trek to Earth II would have left the timeline of Deep Forest unobstructed, and she would reappear at the time of her disappearance. That, apparently, was not the case.

"I was gone for two years ... ," Naira mumbled under her breath, following up with another sip. To her surprise, that emptied the glass. She set it down on the nearby counter. Juno was looking to Naira for an explanation and she actually felt a bit ashamed when she could offer up nothing. "At the time, I was being harassed by this talking cat." Though 'harassed wasn't really an apt term. It was just a string of odd conversations ... For the life of her, she couldn't remember the creature's name. "We got split up when the earthquakes started happening." Naira offered up a sheepish grin. "If there's anybody you could get an explanation from, it'd be Scar ... and she's, well ... "

The subconscious nervous tick of running her fingers across her right temple began. Naira was trying to remember what exactly it was that the V-ACT 32 had told her the day everything got screwed up. Eyes closed. C'mon, Scar, talk to me ...

"She was with Meali and one of her siblings. Kid brother, I think." She pinched her eyes tight and forced concentration even though the memories were fuzzy. She was delving into Scarlet's, after all, and not her own. But coming from a blind woman who didn't make much sense of anything. "No wait. Both kid siblings. They were playing hide and seek, surmat. Eventually parted ways and Scar came looking for Mish and I."

Well, that was useless. Thanks a bunch.

She felt something that wasn't there swat her on the back of the head.

Hey!

That was fer callin' meh useless!

"Right." She clapped her hands together and promptly looked defeated. "I've got nothing. Once Scar, Mish and I caught up with one another, we were making our way to the Meadow to catch up with Gaeva's family ... and the damn ground cracked open. Mish teleported us somewhere else. For whatever reason, we couldn't get back. Almost like we were firewalled from Deep Forest. And that barrier took two years to break down." A hefty sigh escaped her maw. "Sorry I can't be of much help," Naira said apologetically. "The only person I can think of that would have an inkling as to what's going on might be Norad, buuuut since he and the Twins seem set on vaporizing you - and me, 'cause I defended you and whatnot ... you can see how that might be a problem."

Who the hell else could they scavenge information from? From the way things were looking, their only option might be to search for clues at the source of the problem - the crater.

[Barbannis]

(OoC: Sorry for the slowness guys D: been a hectic month, wedding stuffs D: slowly getting back into things again)

Ic:

Barbannis remained to where he was, looking over to what was going on with slight interest. It had been some time since he had ventured free of the Silver trees and into the forest once more, even longer since he had had conversations with those of his past. He remained quiet at first, furred hands wrapped around the whisky he and Naira had been handed. He snorted lightly at the glass, tipping his hand back and taking a sip in the same.

Rough.

He nodded slightly, placing the glass to the same table the map Juno had placed down, his blue eyes flicking across the different stages of what was going on. He heard familiar names being thrown in, places, times.. Gaeva, Meali. He had been so out of the loop he could not remember how long it had been since he had said a word to Gaeva.

He closed his eyes a moment, listening to the happenings around him and nodding to himself in silence, waiting for his opportunity to jump in, his eyes opening and glancing over the 'crater',

"Could we not go to the source?" he questioned, a little slow, pointing to the nexus of the lines across Juno's map, "May or may not be easily accessible with what you said of cracks across the ground. But reaching the source of this may bare some answers". Portals, gateways, it was familiar to him, though there was almost a hint of relief swooning within his mind, knowing the forest was in danger. This time however, it was not caused by him.

[Windra]

OoC

Aww hell, Barbie, it's no biggie. We know ya just got married. And of course you're going to be busy. :]

And since Juno himself said that there's no post order in this thread *gesturing to the first post* ...

(And yyeeppp ... this totally has me playing all the FFVII songs ... )

--

Naira didn't hesitate. "Agreed." She peered at the image of the crater on the map. Was it really as bad as all that? "Whatever's happening to Deep Forest has to be tied in with the unicorns somehow. What better place to look than the epicenter of it all?"

Though the mystery behind these happenings remained to be solved, the effects were being felt everywhere. Something large - and very close - exploded outside. A resounding HWAAAOORMMM resonated around every corner of the building and the earth shook. Embers of red and yellow skirted past the windows. Was it ... raining fire?

Or frogs. Naira definitely saw an amphibian or two zipping by. Despite herself, she chuckled. This is absolutely mad ... "We might have a problem getting there."

[JunoZXV]

"Hmm..." Juno paused looking concerned and then nodded, his hand slipping under the bar counter as he continued "Alright. but keep in mind I already 'died' there earlier. That's the third time since I've been in the forest. Last I saw of it, at least what I remember before this warped reality brought me back. Is that here..." Juno tapped the map to show where the crater was "is incredibly unstable. There were pillars of light, orange rivers of something that wanted to corrode your very being, oh and of course a single tree in the middle with limp alicorns hovering around it. Heck knows what that means."

There was a click and a claxon going off in the background as the turbelent bubbling of water could be heard from under the lake.

Juno shrugged. Despite the sound of clamps being released somewhere.

"Anyway if were going to go there then I suggest we at least know about our key abilities as that can help. Me? I'll be taking this." Juno replied as he picked up the backpack from earlier. "It's essentially an array of anti magic dohickies. I'm not going to bore you with the details but it's mostly complex theoretical physics that have an uncanny ability to vaporize the surface of anything it hits. Very handy when dealing with anything that involves psychokinetics. IE. Portals, ghosts, Eldrich horrors, In-laws... Basically if you can make something happen with your mind, this can cancel it out to the point of negation or even destruction. This means though that while I'm wearing this pack I really can't do anything magical as its going to dampen my own casing fields. Oh and it's nuclear device so... if it gets damaged I hoped you packed a lot of sunblock."

The sound of rushing water outside could clearly be heard over the explosions. But Juno carried on unphased.

"This thing has a small radius about it to keep reality from shifting me when it's on so..." There was a hum as Juno lifted off the safety to the pack. "I'd suggest standing close to me unless you want to become a being of pure... oh I dunno, pancakes? Point is you don't want a ripple of reality to pass through you when that happens, last thing you want is suddenly be breathing in air when your lugs were suddenly re-purposed to inhale concrete."

There was the sound of wood creaking and cloth unfolding... and then the sound of what sounded like jet engines firing up.
Outside nestled to the side of the walkway around the bar was a massive ship, still dripping with lake water as the jets below that kept it airborne mantained a constant humming.

"Anyway our ride's here. Gentleman, and Lady, behold. The re-purposed Nightmare. Now with less snapped in half appearance. She's ready to take us to the crater, just... well when you get on don't stick to the edges. Were going to have to just sail on top of the canopy. Norad's primed to shoot anything that gets in range of his guns and I really don't want to look like swiss cheese."

Juno walked out the doors and onto his ship, grabbing the maps, charts and a small glowing cell that had been hooked to the main device that was nestled in the tree. "You two coming? We have a forest to fix."

(Make your confirming posts here and then it's off to the prison!)

[Barbannis]

Though his concentration seemed straight on what was going on, he seemed almost distracted while Juno spoke, his eyes glancing across, hearing the sounds, the vibrations and movements of what was going on outside. The Tyrai wolf pulled up the mug to his lips once more, downing the remainder of his drink with a raise of his lips, almost growling in distaste. His tail flicked to one side, nodding to Juno once,

"Just lead the way, I'm sure we can show off our key abilities on the field" he turned lightly, pulling at the hilt of his blade slightly, placing the mug down and following Juno quietly.

Before leaving the doorway he came to the sight of the ship once more... familiar.

Images in his mind, he could remember looking up from the battlefield, fighting his brother, the warriors around Nightal, seeing the Hiveminds jaws come crashing down on a ship that looked almost very similar. The colors of the explosion had left quite the interesting cloud spearing into the battlefields air for hours...

The Tyrai wolf flicked his ear lightly, eyes peering out to the now dangerous forest outside, "Never thought I would see such a ship again" he muttered lightly, "It feels like it were naught but yesterday..." his words drifted as he followed onwards, peeking back to the interior fore stopping midstep once they moved out onto the pathway to Juno's ship.

His ears flattened to his head, the air outside cold to the touch almost, tingling reaching up his fingers as he rose his metal hand up... Fur was now covered in the same silver and grey armor he remembered, its form stretching up most of his arm, the front of his feet also taking on the appearance of his former.. 'knight' self. He took a step back, turning his head to the side for a pause, taking a breath.. knowing it was merely the forests rippling disaster playing with the world around him... it couldn't be real.

The Tyrai wolf took one more breath as he stepped out, feeling a rush of cold air filling his lungs, metal pouring over his wolf fur, wrapping around his body in a silver slipstream, tail fading back as he took on his former humanoid appearance, flickering white light simmering at the edges of his visor. But he continued to walk behind Juno without a bad thought, his sword attatched to his back, belt and leather holding his pouch in close... his wolf form vacant for the moment,

"Then let's get to it"

[Windra]

Barbannis and Juno were out the door. Naira was right behind them.

Seeing the Nightmare brought on an extreme sense of nostalgia, and she grinned broadly. How long ago was it that they'd charged into the battlefield from the sky, clinging on for dear life while the Hivemind raged on before them? It seemed like ages. A familiar tingling sensation crept into her fingertips. Anticipation of something big and bad looming ahead. Maybe nothing. Their search at the Prison might leave them asking more questions than they had when they started. But when Deep Forest was on the very edge of being destroyed, any lead was a good one.

"I think you know most of it by now ... " Naira said after Barbannis, explaining her key abilities. "Unkillable, body-wise at least. Wind magick, including but not limited to the manipulation of some basic organic compounds in the atmosphere." That came in handy. Two years floating about on Earth II gave her the time to play with forming minor storms, even cooking up a small-scale tornado. " ... And fast."

Once up on deck with the others, a quick glance cast at the sky presented the ominous notion that the weather might take them out before they even took off. She considered clearing the sky for them, leaving nought but a thin layer of clouds to conceal their presence ... but once the effort was made and nothing happened, the Reaver gave off a puzzled look. Oh right ... the backpack ...

So long as she was in Juno's presnece, Naira wouldn't be able to tap into her magick pool. At least the speed and strength were genetic traits that would be left unhindered.

Hand resting idly on the hilt of the scimitar, the dragonish humanoid settled in next to Barbannis and readied for whatever they were going to run into. "No time like the present." She tilted her head. "Shall we?" Her knuckles suddenly turned white as her hands clenched, ready to grab onto anything nearby just in case. Why? Well ... last time they'd gone into Ludicrous Speed ...

--

OoC
Ready ~

[JunoZXV]

"Alright! Here we go then!" Juno took the small capsule he pocketed and placed it into the mast of the ship where a large whine could be heard coming form the engines. Juno then dashed back to the helm of the ship to take hold of the wheel. After a bit they were just above the trees.

"Allonsy!"

And then they were off.

(TBC at the Prison thread)