Scene #8094: PNL: Todayborday Investigation

Owner	Pose
Stanley Padgett	The bus tickets that the groups had received the last time they were in Lampport are still good, it would seem. A time loop is good for preserving the dates on tickets. That said, using a ticket at one of the control points outside of the main grounds of Silver Springs Union High School will give everyone that same feeling of S i d e w a y s T h r o u g h R e a l i t y until they are in the Reversal. And the streets of Lampport are now dark and smokey, the usual briskly utilitarian architecture now swoops overhead and around the crew in brutalist designs, weirdly lit by Neon Lights and Signs that float in nothingness. Pockets of misty darkness flutter at the edges of vision, while human sized argon and xenon shades float along the "sidewalks" Stanley is fidgeting with his phone, even on this side. He's no longer in his school uniform, but rather the garish glowing neon wire and stark black outfit of his Revolution form. "Oh hey, you made it, come on, we gotta get inside." Inside, of course... is past a "barrier" of glitching space, like what you'd see with bad programming in a video game. On one side, is the Reversal of Lampport. On the other? A ruin of an ancient fortress, a edifice of defense now beaten and plundered, the drawbridge open across a "river" of glowing water. Stanley starts across the bridge. "Come on, before stuff spots us."
Rita Ma	Rita spends her first few moments on the Reversal just craning her neck and staring up at the towering signs, nearly in danger of falling over backwards. "It's really nothing like the arcade, is it? I mean, the ghosts are the same, and the colors are still bright like that, but..." "Is there really a unique place like this, for everywhere in the city? How could you get used to finding your way through that?" She politely weaves around the ghosts, rather than simply stepping through them. When they reach the barrier, she carefully touches it with her fingertips to make sure it won't bite her before holding her breath and passing through. On the other side, she sighs in relief. "Was it like this when you fought Mr. Hunnicutt's shadow, too, Mr. Stanley? Or has it changed? And do you have any idea who it might be, or are we still figuring that out?" Glancing over the drawbridge's side, she adds: "And what's wrong with the water, Mr. Stanley? It looks kind of scary..."
Hibiki Tachibana	Going into the Reversal inside the school creates capital-P Problems. A part of Hibiki is mildly curious on what exactly they are. Fortunately for literally everyone involved, they won't be digging into that today, and the single-use ticket she was given is put to its proper use in a non-Problematic area. After some sideways-oriented vertigo, of course, which is going to take some getting used to. At least it's not as bad the second time. She's also come in a change of outfit, which isn't all that surprising given what they're likely to expect - namely, her Symphogear, the oversized scarf of which the magical girl adjusts and tugs at while approaching, doing her best to keep focus on him rather than the out-of-this-world environment. Still can't help a few glances at some of the shades meandering along, though. "Wouldn't have missed it for the world," is her only comment before starting after Stanley, peering off the side of the bridge while stepping across. Despite how unused she is to the Reversal's aesthetic, given how much the color scheme favors neon, she can't even say she's too surprised to see the water glowing. She's also not going anywhere near it. No, sir. "...The Happycade had its own kind of vibe in the Reversal, and it seems like the school here does too. Kind of throws me off."
Timespace Riders	"Whoa... I don't know if I'll get used to that." Sougo indulges in a curious look around the Reverse side of Lampport, after shifting over. His colorful pink-and-blue button-up, the khaki jeans and matching low-cut boots seem ill-suited to such a gloomy environment. Woz looks about right, though. "Tarry not, my Demon King. Though it pains me to say it, time is short." Sougo nods with his usual smile, though it's a little weaker than usual. Maybe he's still thinking about Rita's advice from last time. He and Woz hurry inside, and, when bidden, past the barrier. On the other side, both riders reach for their tespective belts; Sougo using the white TIMESPACE DRIVER (the LCD screen displays AU30 ) and Woz using the silver-and-green BEYONDRIVER. The retainer's belt seems to read information from a cartridge inside his differently-shaped ridewatch, displaying 3D image of the armor as it's built. o/` Ka-meeen Rider! o/` ZI-O. . . KAMEN RIDER WOZ? WOZ?! If the concern was 'getting spotted' it's probably a good thing they did that on the other side of the barrier. "So this is where the Tyrant is?" Zi-O turns to ask Stanley. "Someone's strong desires, running rampant, making the same day happen over and over... yeah, I agree with Rita. It is a little scary. Especially since the fortress looks like it's been plundered... what does that mean?" The armored fighter's head hangs slightly, deep in thought. "I am eager to see this upstart to the throne of Time deposed," says the silver-and-green armored retainer, Woz. "Dear Stanley," he says with slightly menacing sweetness, "Is there any warning or advice you might give us, before we cross?"
Kukuru	By the time it's time to visit Lampport again, Kukuru has already forgotten about the bus ticket. She shows up at the control point right on time, of course, but it's only when someone brings it up that she actually remembers she even has the thing in one of her many pockets. She's looking about as relaxed as she usually does, of course, greeting him with a lazy wave and a tired yawn. "Hey, Stanley... Oh, right. We're on a time limit here, right?" She asks while eyeing all the weird space inside of the barrier, glancing back and forth between the Reversal of Lampport and the weird fortress in the semi-distance. Stanley warns the group about stuff seeing them, and Kukuru gives him a little salute before opening up an ominous purple cloud below herself. "It would get kinda confusing, wouldn't it?" She asks after Rita's comment about other reversals while following the group the several smaller teleports here and there, apparently finding it easier to just do that (and risk missing choice bits of dialogue) instead of actually walking like a normal person. "That must be someone's house." Kukuru states conclusively as she stares at the castle again, then at the glowing water below. "I wonder what kind of fish they might have in there... Oh, but I'm sure it's nicer on the inside than it is outside. Just because it's scary out here doesn't mean it has to be that way inside, right?" She flashes a reassuring smile at Zi-O, then finally starts walking after a while (so she can make sure Hibiki's scarf doesn't catch on anything). "But it does still feel super weird... So everyone stick close, okay?"
Lilian Rook	"Honestly. I leave you alone to go to the arcade for one night and this is what happens. Was sharing your arcade tokens really that bad?" "Theatre kids. I swear." Lilian does not politely weave around things like Rita. If she even recognizes the shades as people and not spooky-punk environmental decor, she says nothing about it, in the process of strutting right through them. "What exactly is so scary about that?" she asks in response to Sougo (somehow it doesn't quite feel the same as 'asking Sougo) along the way. "A day where nothing bad can happen, no one loses anything, and in fact, nobody notices anything is happening, must be in the bottom percentile of 'scary' things." Then, a little more seriously while ploughing ahead, "How strictly do you mean that there's a time limit on this? Just by the end of the day, for the obvious reason? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. I can handle it just fine." She finds an unremarkable tiny litter object to kick into the glowing water just to see what's up with it, before she crosses. "Frankly, I think I prefer the garish glow to that ratty strip mall regardless."
Stanley Padgett	Hibiki gets a thumbs up at her own transformation. "That looks really good on you! I need to get a scarf! A second thumbs up, before people start moving towards the castle. "Yeah, Zi-O. Be ready to get jumped by stuff. There's guards all over. Or there were when I stormed the castle." Stanley blinks at the place as the group crosses the threshold into the fortress. There are no guards. There is no watch posted. A guard room at the portcullis to the gymnasium is empty. The gym itself, transformed into a training field, lies empty and ruined, dummies and busted gear strewn all over the place. "Yeah, this is weird, when I was here last time, it wasn't this... beat up. I mean, I sort of wrecked the place when I took on Dr. Hunnicutt, but this.... this is new." In the garish light of the fortress, his hair shimmers a lovely bright pink. He's already got his rapier out, the long fencing blade out of its scabbard, and ready for action. "This was all lit up with torches and shit, and there were guards like the ones from the Reversal game, only in school colors, and..." Stanley makes a noise in his throat. "It's falling apart, is what it's doing, or-" Farther down, though, there's the sound of marching steps, and digitized grunting voices chanting... something. It's not an actual language, whatever it is. The answer rounds the corner, though, rushing down the hallway... as an ambulatory set of playing cards rounds the corner, carrying flintlock rifles. No faces, just arms and legs and faded shitty numbers and suits. It's not even a good poker hand. The lead card points and 'says' something but the noise is just a mess of digitized army man grunting, too garbled to make out words. What is VERY clear though, is the five cards straight away forming a firing line, and cracking off rounds from those muskets. Garish PINK and YELLOW clouds of digital haze fill the corridor, as one of the cards charges Stanley, who parries the swipe from the bayonet of the musket. "THESE GUYS ARE NEW!" Stanley yelps, as there's suddenly five Stanleys, and all of them are dashing in different directions.
Stanley Padgett	One of the Stanley's passes by Lillian as it moves to try and flank the cards. "I /like/ the strip mall! It's homey!"
Kukuru	"Aw, but theatre kids put so much work into it, even though they know there'll be people watching. That's gotta count for something, right?" Kukuru's still taking it easy as she drags herself along, letting out a curious noise when Stanley mentions things looking different this time around. "Are we in a different place, then? Or... Hmm. Are you sure this is the right place?" She offers a few more guesses, then notices that cue to get ready for a fight and brings out her own torso-sized claws from her very regular-sized pockets. And then there's cards. Kukuru's a bit slow on the draw when they form that firing line, though, and she takes a shot square to the chest that gets her staggering back as she grunts painfully at the fresh new bullet hole. There's a moment where it might even look like she might topple over, but stops herself at the last moment with one claw reaching back to keep her steady. Another one of those teleporting clouds opens up beneath Kukuru, and she falls into it. Moments later, she appears behind one of the cards, both claws held out at her sides so she can slam them both together with the unfortunate card right in the middle. Her hold is freakishly tight once she does, apparently intent on just crushing the thing into a messy wad.
Timespace Riders	Lilian's response earns a sunny noise from Zi-O, and an emphatic nod. "I bet some people are really having fun! Although... even if it's fun to repeat the weekend for a few people, there could be others who have had a really bad day. They might not be aware of it, but it's still not fair to those people." His clock-faced helmet tilts slightly towards Stanley. "...Whoa!" Zi-O points an armored finger at the approaching playing cards. "They're going to shoot!" They do--and the pink rider is so busy ogling that he catches a few bullets--they strike sparks from his armor and stagger him. Futuring Shinobi! SHINOBI! Woz leaps into action, his smartwatch-themed silver and green sporting a new shade of purple trim in the form of shuriken pauldrons, the same over his breastplate, and a stylish purple scarf. Teleporting across the battlefield in deer-scare 'bonk' puffs of smoke, the retainer hurls a spread of hardlight shuriken through the firing line. Zi-O, meanwhile, takes inspiration from Stanley. PADGETT! Per! So! Na! A disembodied suit of armor appears before him, then snaps into place atop his own. Blue takes the place of white, while the bodysuit beneath becomes a wonderful, garish splash of bright colors. Shoulderpads become blue stages-in-miniature, while the space atop his helmet sports pink spikes resembling Stanley's hair. Charging forward to join one of Stanley's doubles, his empty hand calls forth a rapier. His form is competent, and only that--but his superhuman strength, and the gusts of wind he weaves into his attacks, should more than turn the tide. Brandishing a sickle-tipped polearm with what appears to be a touchscreen halfway down the haft, Woz calls: "No doubt the work of this Tyrant--dear Stanley, have there been any new members of faculty, any new students within the past few days?"
Hibiki Tachibana	"You think?" Hibiki seems slightly caught off-guard by the compliment, in a good way. She gives said scarf (which can flow freely under Kukuru's careful watch) a glance and another adjustment. "...Thanks. I gotta say, you rock the look pretty well yourself. I like the neon lining." She can't argue with him, though. Scarves make everything better. Woz could use one on that suit too, maybe. Maybe. That thought will wait for another day to be voiced though, because--well, honestly, the inside of the fortress is kind of offputting. After what Stanley had said, she was ready for a garrisoned castle...but it seems like it's as decrepit on the inside as it is on the outside. Now she's less on guard and more on edge. "I guess after what you did before, it's dismantling itself for whatever reason...? Or no, maybe if who we're looking for is hanging here, then..." That thought trails off when the sound of 'speaking' first hits the ear, and then comes around the corner with weapons at the ready. Fists come up, though all she does is blink and squint in a dumbfounded sort of way at the unintelligible announcement the commander(?) makes. When those muskets start getting fired off though, she's quick to tense up, shift on her heel, and weave to avoid the storm of fire. "They're /new/!?" She shouts back towards...well, she doesn't know which one is the real Stanley if any of them right this second, so just to the room. What she can't dodge, she defends against with alternating shifts of her gauntlets - eventually going to outright /reflect/ the shots back at the firing line with some seriously precise deflections off the metal, which should help leave them wide open for the others. "Then I figure Woz has a point! It's gotta be them! And if it's nobody new, has anyone you've known been acting off or something?"
Rita Ma	"Isn't it scary because, if it resets with us here, we'll just disappear? And with Warpgates everywhere... I'd be scared of that happening to visitors, Ms. Rook. It's not like the people here could warn them." ---- Rita's right eye, and only her right eye, smoothly tracks the oncoming musket ball on a timescale of milliseconds. Her hand comes up, her fingertips gently grazing the projectile off-center. With a spray of sparks, it's redirected at an angle and zooms by her shoulder, stirring her hair in its wake. Cool and smooth. Then a fraction of a second later, Rita's brain catches up with what her body's doing, and she yelp-startles so badly that she stumbles and falls back onto the floor. She struggles to regain her bearings afterwards. "Mr. Stanley! Are you alright?!" After a moment, she manages to pick herself back up and join in mopping up the fight. Now that she isn't flat-footed anymore, those reflexes work in harmony with her, ensuring she can slip and weave around the bayonet strikes. She grabs one's gun in her hand and crushes it into splinters and twisted metal with a squeeze. Her other hand rakes across its body like a claw, tearing the cardstock to ribbons. "Or it could be someone already here who hit a breaking point, right? Cards and time... I don't see how those fit together at all. Mr. Stanley, do you know anyone into card games who's been having a hard time?"
Lilian Rook	"Yes, yes, I'm sure it was very impressive. You must have been incredibly brave." says Lilian. It's exactly as dismissive and shitty-sounding as one would expect, but she isn't hiding the fact that she is carefully scanning the area. When Stanley mentions torches, she looks for light sources. When he mentions guards, she checks the dummies. It looks like she's sweeping a road corner for IEDs. "Well, you've been here all of once. We know nothing about this dimension, so anything could happen." "I believe people watching is the point of theatre." Lilian says, mildly confused, to Kukuru. Her attention drifts to Sougo, looking more than lightly baffled at the conclusion he'd drawn. For a second, she wears an expression that amply indicates she really hadn't considered 'someone having a bad day' at all. "They wouldn't even remember it, though. They were going to have that bad day already. Honestly, for all intents and purposes, they aren't even--" She clenches her jaw to terminate the ugly thought. Rita has something more important to say. "Beg pardon? Disappear? What gives you that idea?" Being under attack is almost a relief at that point. Lilian shows no indication that she recognizes the garbled sounds as speech, even in mockery. The recognition that they are an Enemy is enough. Tearing the lodestone pendant from her neck, the glamer dissolves as she snaps out her arm, five foot length of Night Mist resolving out of a wave of black fog. Then the place where it had rested below her collarbone glows mutedly through her top, and the dissipating fog becomes black metal particulate, drawn right back to her body in tightly interwoven patterns of laced armour banding and baroquely articulated greave and gauntlet joints, golden lines glinting in the gaps as they move. Small metallic antlers, swept like a Celtic torc, incidentally frame the gold lily pin in her hair. The last of Lilian's earlier condescending dispassion is fully betrayed for how fake it is. There's barely time to hear a click of folding metal from her ankles before a short blast of wind from behind signals that she has already blown straight past everyone. Her second audible footstep is a stony crunch in front of the ranked firing line. The cobbling breaks under her heel from the torque of the fully extended slash that swings twelve feet all around her. Bullet and stone fragments ping off her sword and puncture right through the nearest wall, creating pinholes of external light. "Just keep moving forward then! If they're coming out to meet us, they'll have reinforcements, and they'll all be coming from the same place! Push upstream and follow them back to their source!"
Stanley Padgett	The cards, despite the garish appearance and the jump they got on everyone here, don't really put up much of a fight once they're flanked and hounded by everyone, that's for sure. The 6 of Clubs gets mashed and pulped by Kukuru, whose claws rip right through it, neon haze and ichor spraying everywhere. Stanley and Zi-O powered by P E R S O N A smash holes right through the commander, the 10 of Diamonds, dropping it neatly where it too dissolves into horrid neon smoke and miasma. Rita's 3 of Hearts barely has time to react that its bullet was parried by the Nice Lady before it too finds itself sliced to pieces by More Claws. Hibiki's answer to GUN is PUNCH and it's always a Good Answer, the reflected blasts of lead and steel ripping large chunks out of the 4 of Spades, dropping it to the pockmarked stone floor. Lilliana's assault staves in the middle of the 7 of Spades, more of that garbled digitized game noises, this time very clearly a videogame-y death rattle, as that card boils off into nothingness. And Rook is right, the noise has riled up the new inhabitants of the castle, it would seem, and there are more noises coming from the adjoining hallways. "She's right, just go for it! It'll be fine, right?" Down one of the too long hallways, another set of Cards sets up a firing line, but the pack is hopefully out of the line of fire by that point. A twist and a turn down a hallway... and the group comes to a second 'wall'... Much like the wall of digital glitching that made up the barrier between the Lampport's Reversal and the school... this one is much worse, and much wider, the 'transition' more widespread. On one side, the crumbling school fortress. On the other, in what would presumably be the school lunch room... is a massive mushroom patch. In the middle, all of the school lunch table's are shoved into one long row, much too long to actually fit into the place that they should be in, discarded lunch trays and coffee mugs and silverware and everything making a mess of the whole place. Darkness pillows the spaces outside the long dinner table, and there are murmuring noises in the murk. But over the top of it all.... is the tick tock tick tock TICK TOCK of the school clocks, plastered against all of the Mushrooms, all starkly visible, despite the fact that this is the Reversal, and those clocks look precisely Normal. The Cards start to barrel into the hallways behind the crew, but immediately slow to a halt and s t o p as they try to pass through the glitch or fire into the glitch.
Timespace Riders	The two riders advance. Woz and Zi-O share the front line--the Demon King himself fighting more conventionally, focusing on sight-lines straight in front of him and blasting with those gusts of wind. Zi-O keeps pace with Stanley, mixing in wall-cracking kicks with his swordwork. Meanwhile, Woz employs the high mobility of his Shinobi armor to make gravity-defying lateral leaps from wall to wall of the hallway, inverting midair to rake his sickle polearm across the cards. Each impact creates an aftershock of purple energy which crackles and explodes violently. Faced with another barrier, the riders share a glance before hurriedly crossing. There are more Cards coming--and they're not the source of the problem. "This is the lunchroom in the Reversal? It looks like a storybook..." Woz hmphs. With a flourish of his armored (non-weapon) hand, he nods towards the clocks on the mushrooms. "The demesne of our Tyrant, I presume." The retainer makes a dramatic leap, landing nimbly atop one of the mushrooms to get a better view. With his weapon held at the ready in one hand, he sweeps his vision over the darkness to see if anything approaches from outside. Zi-O, meanwhile, cups a dark-blue glove to his colorful helmet. "Hello? Is anyone there? I'd like to understand why you're doing this, so could you come out, please?" There are a few reasons he could guess at... maybe 'lunch with your friends before a long weekend' is something that you'd really want to repeat? But you'd have to want it really, really bad for that desire to become a Tyrant, wouldn't you? Maybe this person's having a hard time...
Kukuru	"Uhuh! So... Um. Wait, why'd that come up?" Lilian's confusion only serves to confuse Kukuru further, but her thoughts don't linger there for too long what with the gaping chest wound Kukuru is still sporting for at least a few more moments. Once the cards are dispatched, though, she gets a chance to heal up that wound, letting her nanites just patch that all up before she can bleed out too much. When the call to just go is given, Kukuru doesn't linger longer. Spotting the end of the hallway, she teleports herself over there with a light grunt on landing, then takes a moment to look ahead to figure out how far she has to go then. All together, she's probably not moving any faster than even the slowest person of this group, but she's keeping up at the very least. Firing lines that happen to be in her path get more claw-shaped tears through their ranks, and more healing is distributed to anyone that gets shot up to ensure they're all still in good shape by the time they reach... The mushroom lunch room! Kukuru turns around slightly after passing the glitch border, getting ready to catch those oncoming cards in the chokepoint behind her once everyone gets through. Upon noticing their shots stopping and the cards themselves stopping despite their attempts to break through, however, she attempts a quick little experiment of just grabbing and pulling one right on through to see what happens. "Be careful not to eat anything here. We don't know how long it's been around, but it's probably been a long time if there's all these mushrooms here." She warns, pausing to look around again at all those clocks. She checks her own watch (which she totally has on her wrist and not tucked away somewhere), and she furrows her brow. "We've got until midnight, right? Then..." "... Do we have any way of calling the person out? Or their shadow? Like... Oh! I've got Fresh snacks ready, but only if you come out!" She suggests/calls out, clearly grasping at straws to try and figure out a faster method.
Stanley Padgett	Kukuru reaches out to snag one of the Cards, and bodily drag it through the barrier... only to watch as the arm she's dragging unravels as she pulls it across the threshold, like a paper ribbon unfurling. The hand that DOES make it across immediately dissipates into smoke and neon haze. Stanley reaches out to poke at one of the lunch trays with his rapier, and makes a blech noise. "...Yeah not eating this."
Stanley Padgett	Woz leaps up to one of the mushroom caps, and nearly bonks his head on the drop ceiling tiles which are colored like the night sky, little points of light poking out. And up there, he'll be the first to spot a whisp and curl of... Xenon mist curling out of the darkness, and coalesing into the shape of a young man, younger than Stanley, in the Silver Springs school uniform. He's a redhead, natural unlike Stanley's attempts, and has strikingly yellow eyes, but not neon like the rest of this place. "...Oh hello. Someone finally decided to come have tea. Or lunch, or whatever. It was getting really boring in here. I guess there's quite a mess going on outside?" The child's young voice carries in the murk, as he slides to sit at the head of the lunch tables, which immediately shift to be much closer to everyone else, the room seemingly shrinking in the process. "...Though I don't recognize any of you."
Rita Ma	Rita races down the hallways- at first too fast for Kukuru to keep up, then slowing down deliberately so the group doesn't get too spread out. (She keeps looking back over her shoulder at that chest wound, for some reason. Doesn't she know Kukuru will be okay?) Bullets ping the walls behind her a few times, but she makes it through unscathed. Once again, she hesitates at the glitchy barrier... but the card soldiers that are storming in behind the party press the point, and force her to duck through before she can catch a back full of lead. When she emerges into the lunchroom, it's with an air of wonder and awe. "Whoa. This is really pretty, isn't it?" Reaching out to touch one of the many, many clocks, she adds: "It feels sort of... nostalgic." She looks up at Sougo with visible disappointment. "So lunchrooms aren't always like this, Mr. Tokiwa?" "You said this was some kind of holiday, right, Mr. Stanley? And that means no school. Do you think that this person's wish that made them a Tyrant was that they didn't want the holiday to be over? That they didn't want to go back to this? Maybe that's why it's so dark." She jolts visibly when the young man appears, then gives him a polite and slightly panicked bow. "It's good to meet you! My name's Rita Ma. I'm, um, not a student here. Actually, we came because..." She glances over at the rest of the party for confirmation. When she looks back at him, she's wearing a stressed, confiding smile. "Because we think someone here might be having a really hard time. I don't want to be nosy, but is that person you?" Rita sits down at the lunch table across from him. Maybe that helps, if he's lonely?
Lilian Rook	Lilian frowns to herself at the death of the card man in front of her. It's not because of death. It's because, "Well, the relation to the arcade is obvious. And cards are a sort of game. Does this seem to you like someone else has already moved in and made this all about their hyperfixation on gaming? Or . . ." She is of course following her own advice. Leading the charge, in fact. The rank and file fire is so obvious and telegraphed that she'd never be caught dead being flat footed against it. As tempted as she is to try grabbing some of them and making an actual poker hand out of the cards, that seems like a lot of work for likely no payoff, and Lilian is still feeling slightly disturbed by Rita's conjecture. Arriving at the cafeteria barrier is the first pause she makes, and only because her discomfort with the clocks has grown. It bothers her. It bothers her that it feels so loosely familiar. Like she can see it from the shore of where she is. "It looks as if it's been half-renovated. I'd wonder if these changes would continue to progress over time, but they seem to be resetting that, rather than allowing it to pass." she says. The corner of her lip twitches at the last four words. She turns and points to the stopped shots. "Look. It isn't keeping the moment in. It's keeping everything that could intrude on the moment out. This . . ." 'the tick tock tick tock TICK TOCK of the school clocks' 'The sound of exactly one second per second. The rate of moving inexorably forward into the future, for everyone, everywhere, until the end of time. The only universal rule that is relentlessly fair.' Lilian wanders over to the lunch table, picks a head arbitrarily at one of its terminal sides, drags a chair, and then irreverently drops her weight into it. Her gaze roves over the mushrooms, and her thoughts dimly drift to storybooks from years ago. "Wonderland. The never ending tea party. Lunch period, as the exact moment in school where you stop watching the clock in hopes it'll speed up and start watching it in dread that it won't slow down." "This isn't about someone who is having the time of their life and they never want it to end. Someone is dreading what comes next, and can't accept that the clock is eventually going to move without them. I'm sure of it." She has perfect timing, given the phantom student's appearance. "That would be you, wouldn't it? 'Outside' is always a mess. Don't you know that?"
Hibiki Tachibana	One firing squad down, plenty more to go. Lilian's idea for getting to the heart of the matter is exactly the kind of thing she was hoping for. "Sounds like a plan to me! Let's go and punch through!" Literally in her case of course, with her trademark all-in brawling. Out of the way of the next squad aiming down the hall and onward. Any more card soldiers in her way are going to be subject to a particularly violent fist-first ramming, so for their sake, there hopefully won't be too many of them in their path, because that's going to be how it is all the way to-- Another 'barrier' leading to the weirdest lunch room she's ever seen. Probably because it's barely recognizable as one, if it wasn't for the bundled tables. A glance back over the shoulder is plenty enough to convince her to cross over into it, where she remains ready to go only long enough to acknowledge that their pursuers apparently can't do the same. "...Yeah. Seems like it. Can't say I expected a whole different territory in the middle of a crumbling one," she mumbles towards Woz, her fists steadily lowering. Which lets her stop and get a proper look around the mushroom-filled grove, eyes darting between the murky darkness and the everpresent, loudly-ticking clocks. She's not even going to give the lunch trays a glance. She knows food. Not this stuff, not in a thousand years. Hibiki frowns beneath her scarf for a moment, side-glancing towards Sougo briefly, before looking back out into the surrounding area. Right as a certain someone shows up. She's silent for a moment before speaking up slowly, "...That's probably because we're not from here." Discounting Stanley, whom she looks towards to see if he recognizes the redhead before turning her focus back. "It's a mess, alright. You're bored, though...?" Her brow furrows. "You make it sound like you haven't left. You can't? ...Or you don't want to?" She doesn't take a seat, but sort of partially leans against the back of one.
Stanley Padgett	"Wonderland? Probably. My other self seems to have left this... here without realizing he was doing it. and left ME behind too. It's REALLY quite frustrating." He points at Hibiki and Lillian. "...Oh you're offworlders. Okay, that makes... no sense, why would any of them care about shitty Lampport?" Stanley perks up, and then points the tip of the rapier at the kid. "...Chet? Uhhhhhhh Chet Markson? Class 5-B, Mrs. Staven's Chem II." The Shadow of Chet blinks back. "...How do you know that you maniac?" Stanley looks put off. "...What, we were told to remember everyone's names, weren't we? Also, these are my friends!" He puffs up his chest, and sheathes the rapier. Shadow Chet huffs, and then waves a hand. "Whatever weird kid. Okay, so... I guess you're all here to... get me out. And stop this nonsense." He holds out his hands, and smiles, those yellow eyes sparkling. "...Help me out?"
Rita Ma	"It's nice to meet you, Chet Markson!" Rita briefly sounds quite formal, then drops back into her normal voice. "And by 'your other self', you mean..." She glances uncertainly at Stanley. "You're his shadow, aren't you? But you seem really nice." She reaches across the table to offer a handshake. "How can we help you, Chet? Are you just looking for a way out of here?" This is shaping up to be a happy ending. Nice and tidy! There's only a tiny glimmer of uncertainty in the back of Rita's mind. She feels guilty for doing it, but she looks back over her shoulder questioningly at Lilian. For some reason, that seems to be her gauge of character.
Timespace Riders	"A mess... I guess you could say that," says Zi-O. "I don't go to this school, so I guess it makes sense you wouldn't recognize me! In fact, I graduated last year." He'd seen the reaction Stanley had to the lunch trays, and opts to trust that. "I wish my school had a lunchroom like this," he asides sadly to Rita. Though he doesn't partake, he does take a seat, and removes the watches from his belt, at that. Sougo smiles sunnily. "My name's Sougo Tokiwa. Nice to meet you, Chet!" He extends his hand. This seems to bother Woz. The retainer, still armored, leaps from the mushroom (careful now of the ceiling), landing gracefully. "Indeed he is, Rita Ma. Don't pretend as if you're the victim, boy." With venemous politesse and a twirl of his polearm, "Time would not be snared so, had some part of you not wished it. Unfortunately, your reach exceeds your grasp--the throne of Time shall be my Demon King's alone.~" Pointing the sickle at Chet, "Relinquish it... or I shall disabuse you of this fantasy." "Woz! Don't threaten him. That won't fix anything..." Sougo casts an apologetic look at Chet. "I'm sorry. He's... protective." The Demon King frowns, folding his hands in his lap. And then, as he had tried to do with Stanley's supernatural assistance, Sougo travels to the past. What would have led Chet to have this kind of wish?
Kukuru	Kukuru waves her own hand in front of her face to try and disperse that smoke as she backs away from the glitch border, frowning briefly at the... Does it even smell? She's mostly flinching in reaction, having already forgotten mostly about her mostly healed chest wound (although the hole in her shirt is still rather obvious), and the unfamiliar surroundings have her mostly gawking and listening rather than trying to make sense of it herself. "I'd love to have a big eating space like this some day. I could get everyone together, we'd have so much nice food laid out, and there'd be plenty of air conditioning and blankets and beds... That's more normal for these kinds of places than it is now, right?" She looks from Rita to Hibiki to Sougo, and then to Stanley for confirmation. Her fanatasizing doesn't last long, though, once she realizes there's someone else here. "Ah! He-llo there, Chetty~" She's still chipper as usual upon meeting the new face, at least, humming pleasantly while approaching the strangely arriving child. "Is it boring in here/ Ah, that's rough... Why don't you come out with us, then? Oh, my name's Kukuru. Ku-ku-ru." Yes, she has to do that every time. She joins the child at the table, sitting right next to him while reaching into her pocket to retrieve a container of food! This time... It's some kind of soup noodle dish. It doesn't quite look like ramen or pho, but some weird combination of the two with a lot of artistic liberties taken to barely look like either one and offend connoisseurs of both. Somehow, though, it's still warm as she slides the container over to the child with a decently sized soup spoon and fork. When his hands are offered, meanwhile, Kukuru is all too willing to take them into her own. "Where do you wanna go?"
Hibiki Tachibana	"Because we're Stanley's friends," Hibiki says towards the boy questioning their presence, as if that is plenty enough answer in of itself. "And my name's Hibiki." Actually, his way of talking about Lampport gets a frown out of her, though it's not easily seen with her scarf covering half of her face. A long stare is given towards Chet's Shadow afterwards, as he speaks, smiles, and asks for their help with those golden eyes glinting. It's a bit difficult to tell what's going on in that head of hers, but the exchange between Sougo and Woz seems to help her make up her mind on something. She pushes off the chair she's leaning on, standing back up to her (admittedly not very impressive) full height. "...If you need help, we'll help. At least, I want to." Like Rita, she also gives Lilian a brief glance for whatever reason, before going back. "...But you'll have to tell us how. Your 'other self' - he left this, and you here? ...I didn't even know that could happen." A beat passes. "...That would mean he's the one keeping Lampport stuck the way he is, and you're just a prisoner who can't escape from it." The look on her face gets a little more complicated. "It almost sounds backwards from how I thought it was supposed to go. Why would you...he, want to do something like this? You should know, right?"
Stanley Padgett	A big old handshake for Rita. "It's nice to see you, I guess, but still a little weirded out by you people showing up in here. Didn't think anyone else knew what this place was, much less uh.... everything else. Chet smiles at Kukuru, and makes room for her at the table by kicking a mess of plates and trays over onto the floor. "Thanks, but I don't haaaaaaaaave to eat but if I did I'm sue I would appreciate it." And he happily snags Kukuru's hand instead, and waits to be lead out of the Lunchroom. Woz and Zi-O peeer into that Shadow, the other self... Chet is staring at his phone, as he walks back from Saturday lacrosse practice. Was it true, did people really get what they really wanted just by playing Reversal? It can't be, right? Nah. It can't be. But what if it is? And he WAS the new leader of the scoreboard for Silver Springs, right? Might as well try it, maybe. He opens up the victory screen, the Capture Point manager, and murmurs into the voice recognition. "...I wish that I didn't have to go back to school on Monday." The phone... just beeps, and goes back to the idle state of the game. "...Huh, didn't think so." And the kid is off to get in his mom's boyfriend's car. The flashback ends immediately and- Shadow Chet is right there, staring into Woz's face, nearly nose to nose. "...you could have just asked... you know?" There's no direct malice, but boy howdy that's a reaction. He's still staring directly into Woz's face, as he speaks up again, hovering a few inches off the ground to make sure the heights are correct. "...and it's very nice that you're Stanley's friends, I figured you'd all be in jail like he ought to be. He's a thief and a punk and a liar, you know that, right?" Still no malice, just a cold hard voice. Shadow Chet finally breaks the stare, as he turns to look at Hibiki. "...And why a cute girl like you would like him is beyond me. He's not even going to be here long. I hear his rich dad's cutting him off when he turns 18." There's a clench of leather on leather behind Kukuru, and Stanley is gripping the hilt of his saber REAL TIGHT. "...shut up."
Lilian Rook	'these are my friends!' Lilian, behind Stanley and thus out of his field of view, looks to the Shadow and silently shakes her head. "Well, we're certainly here to 'stop this nonsense'. That much is accurate." Lilan says. "If you're the cause, and you're amenable to doing away with it, then certainly, let's talk." Rita looks at her. Lilian tilts her head slightly and raises a finger to the corner of her eye, flicking her gaze towards the Chet shadow evocatively. It has a kind of tense patience to it. "Three and thirteen." she adds, quietly just for Rita. And then back to the Shadow. "If you prove to be an enemy we have to defeat anyways, we'll do so all the same. With apologies for impoliteness in advance, in the case of that hypothetical, please don't be deluded into thinking you can stall us here; it certainly won't work." 'He's a thief and a punk and a liar, you know that, right?' "Yes, we're all quite aware." says Lilian, and in that moment, it is brilliantly clear just how effortlessly she genuinely concurs with the Shadow, and just how little it matters to her; how intangible it is to her world. "Don't worry about them." she adds, waving her hand vaguely in Hibiki's direction. "If she were just here for money then she'd be on my arm and not his." Her diction is utterly fearless. "And cool your heels, Padgett. This is how you keep getting black eyes. If you leap head first into every single provocation, you've done no such thing as demonstrating your character nor teaching anyone a lesson. You've simply given the provocation absolute dominion of your mind." She folds her arms and turns back to 'Chet'. "The salient matter is this. What will it take to make this stop, other than destroying you? What need have you for 'the other you'? If he were brought here, what would become of him?"
Kukuru	"Jail? No, no, we'd never stay in there." Kukuru says with that same reassuring tone, somehow talking about a potential jailbreak as casually as she would anything else. "Besides, everyone has reasons for doing stuff like that sometimes. I'm sure he doesn't do it just because he wants to." She turns to Stanley briefly to give him a thumbs up. Whether or not that's actually reassuring is another matter entirely. Turning back to Shadow Chet, Kukuru is about to get up and help him out of that lunch room when she hears Stanley getting heated and Lilian hitting him with the hard logics. Also, talking about Hibiki's finances (maybe). Kukuru gives her a sympathetic look for a moment, then reaches way over to pat her hand reassuringly before turning right back to the Shadow and Stanley alike. "Lili's right. You two should work this stuff out instead of just swinging at each other. If that happened, it'd just be messy, and then you would both feel crummy, wouldn't you? If you get it all out there with words, then things can start getting not so bad!" A pause, and then she scratches her cheek lightly."... Oh. Um. And this is about you, or the other you?"
Stanley Padgett	Shadow Chet is now floating idly back to his spot at the table, and waving a hand. "Listen, I'd love to stop all of this, really, but that's noooooot really up to me. I'm just... me and Chet is also Chet, and you don't want someone making choices about themselves half-cocked, right?" A grin at Kukuru as she gets the 'joke', and Shadow Chet gives her the finger guns... Still no malice. Just cold humor, as the freshman kid settles back into his spot, and looks to Lilian. "...And... uh..." Okay "destroying" has finally seeped through the Shadow's neon brainfluff, and those yellow eyes narrow. "...What do you mean, destroy me?" The clocks on the walls start to Tick Tock Tick Tock faster. Is the rooms shrinking again?
Hibiki Tachibana	'He's a thief and a punk and a liar.' That response, and what comes after, doesn't have Stanley as the only one with a tensed grip. At Hibiki's side, one of her own hands has clenched a bit too tightly considering she's not the one being insulted right now. "...And he's still here, trying to fix this mess. And help you. Don't write someone off like that just because they're a little rough around the edges. That's the kind of crap that makes someone all of those for real." Lilian gets a side-glance at her comment, and it probably says something that she just gives a groan instead of actually saying anything to that. Actually, she begrudgingly(?) agrees with her on what comes after. "...At least this time around, there's not a point getting angry about it. Don't let it get to you too hard. After all, you're all of the things Chet keeps buried away from the surface, aren't you?" She looks back towards the Shadow. "So I'm not really surprised you got a real blunt way of talking about things. Not sure mine would be any better," she murmurs dryly before her voice picks back up - after he's processed Lilian's whole comment about destroying. And also after Kukuru has given her a reassuring pat, even though the actual finance part of things has kind of gone over her head. "Neither halves of 'you' can survive without the other one, right? ...Even if that fixes this, I don't want it to come to that. And neither does Stanley," she gives him a quick look, and then back again. She's been doing this a lot. "If we do get you out of here, so he's not making his choice 'half-cocked'. Will Chet--the Chet outside of the Reversal--be able to take things back and put a stop to this? If he will, then just say so." A tense look is given to the ticking clocks. "...We don't have a lot of time."
Timespace Riders	"Chet... I'm Stanley's friend because I like being around him," Sougo says, with a concerned frown. "I think he has a good heart. Lying, stealing... I'm sorry, but I don't care. If you knew him like I did, you wouldn't, either. And you certainly wouldn't say he should be in jail," adds Sougo with a shake of his head, squeezing his hands together anxiously. "Where I come from, that can ruin someone's life. It's hard for me to say anyone deserves that, much less him. But, um... I don't want to talk about him. I'm here for you." Sougo takes a breath, steeling himself. "Chet, I want to ask you to stop this, since Woz won't. If you can't do it yourself, then I'll help you. You're you, and Chet's Chet... but a part of one is in the other, isn't it? Or else you wouldn't know enough about Stanley to try and hurt him. Please..." Sougo bows his head deferentially, eyes screwed shut as the clocks begin to tick faster. "Please tell me why he didn't want to go back to school. I know he wanted this. Even if you're not him, you're the part of him he doesn't want other people to see, aren't you? I promise... I promise this will=-" Woz's expressionless helmet coldly reflects the yellow-eyed leer from Chet. "Dear boy, you seem to believe that wasn't me asking nicely," the rider evenly replies. "Allow me to illustrate the difference." Woz's hands spread out along the weapon's haft, and he steps forward to rake from the hip up, attempting to hook the Shadow around the neck with the sickle and throw him to the floor.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley is trying to relax the grip on his saber, but it's just not working as well as he'd like it to. Years of whispers being spoken to his face for once will do that to a kid. Though Hibiki's words get him to soften, if just a touch... "...who even told you that stuff, Chet?" Shadow Chet completely blows off Hibiki AND Stanley to huff huffs at Zi-O. "Whatever, it's just... you know what, I'm not sure why you care that I made that wish." He points a finger and grumbles. "Why do you do the shit you do, fancy man, I-" Woz /strikes/. The yellow eyes of Shadow Chet widen and he's shoved to the dirt... before the table rumbles, and clatters and explodes. And there is no Shadow Chet, anymore. What is there instead is... a grotsquely malformed rabbit, starkly white, but with the most technicolor, TV test pattern bright rainbow coat you've ever seen, a full 15 pocket watches stuck into bits of his outfit. And it stands up, letting the hook of that sickle cut at its fur, dribbles of cyan and magenta staining the fur and the coat. One tall ear droops, and those baleful yellow eyes shift. "...You're... late." The clocks are ticking louder in the room, faster. "...You're late... you're late..." TICK TOCK. TICK TOCK.
Rita Ma	"Three and thirteen." Rita narrows her eyes, trying to recall something, then nods with slight dismay. Throughout the back-and-forth that follows, she's unable to keep up, struggling to soften the blows on both sides and fumble for some sort of reconciliation. If she notices the room shrinking, that blends into her general distress at seeing a fight between two parties she's inclined to like. "Wait, but that's not- Mr. Stanley wouldn't- Mr. Woz, please- We won't-" Then Woz attacks, and the table explodes, and Rita is-hurled-slash-flips across the room to a skidding halt. She looks up with eyes wide, struggling to take in what she's seeing. Haplessly: "Mr. Stanley!" Implicitly, 'what do we do??' <J-IC-Scene> Stanley Padgett says, "...THIS IS ALSO NEW." But he seems baffled too. Rita spends a couple of stunned seconds assembling the pieces in her head. First piece: the time loop deadline may be an urgent threat to everyone here. Second piece: nobody outside this room is gonna solve it. Third piece: it doesn't look like it's going to be solved by talking now. That leaves one proven solution. Rita crosses the room in the blink of an eye from a crouch and throws a hook to the rabbit's jaw that sounds like a thunderclap. Even so, if her voice is audible over the impact, it's almost pleading. "I'm really sorry, Chet! But we can't let you keep doing this!"
Kukuru	"Maybe not halfway, but... Thinking too hard isn't good, either. Doing that can just make it feel too... Fake, you know?" Kukuru reasons, tapping her chin again as she tries to navigate the complexities of this whole situation. The keyword is try, of course, because it's Kukuru. The destruction angle has Shadow Chet understandably agitated, and Kukuru tries to piggyback on Hibiki trying to calm down the Shadow. "Nobody likes hurting people on purpose for no reason. I just want everyone to be happy and safe, and if that means helping you two... Three?" She looks from Shadow Chet to Stanley, then back at Shadow Chet again. "It sounds like you two have got some history, so..." Kukuru backs up to let them get their issues sorted out, but it doesn't quite work out that way. Instead, Woz tosses Shadow Chet, and things start exploding unexpectedly! What was Shadow Chet now appears to be some kind of strange rabbit, and Kukuru peers up at it blankly as it gets bigger, and it starts repeating things while the ticking grows louder and more obnoxious. More worryingly, however, is the fact that the only path forward seems to be just what Lilian warned the Shadow about and what Rita is already throwing herself into: Destryoing it. Kukuru takes a deep breath to steady herself, then falls backwards into a cloud of purple energy before reappearing above the rabbit and dropping towards it at a rapid clip. Her dive is timed roughly around when Rita's fist comes in, and she tries to wrap her arms around the white rabbit's head. It would almost look like a loving embrace if she didn't have freakish strength and was trying to squeeze the life out of it in the process. "Come on, Chetty. Can't you stop this? Nobody here wants to-" She pauses, recalling Woz's actions just a few seconds ago. "... Most of us don't want to hurt you, and this isn't going to make that not happen. Don't you want to go back home?"
Lilian Rook	'...What do you mean, destroy me?' "Did I stutter?" Lilian kicks her armoured heels up on the table. "This is a rather considerable problem. We're here to stop it, so, it'll be stopped. You can help us with it, and have our thanks, or you can be flattened as we roll over you. That's how the world works, as often as not. School is your opportunity to learn all about that. Which hills you shouldn't bother to die on, and how to make things work for you. So work with me." Lilian half-unfolds one of her arms, splaying her fingers with little clicks of black and gold, far too perfectly shaped to actually put on manually. "Right now, I don't precisely know what a Shadow is. Are you human? An aspect of a human? A unique person? A reflection of one? A Chinese Room given a face? A monster only wearing one? Which applies to you? The Third Code, or the Thirteenth? Do you understand reason? Or do you exist only to prey upon ordinary people?" Her fingers slowly curl into a fist. "Do you get it? I am the failsafe here. If you really are a person, even if the others lose their cool, I'll still be here to attempt reason. And if you really are a monster, even if the others fall for it, I won't. I'm giving you the opportunity, so choose your fate." "Can this endless loop be severed without destroying you, and without destroying the boy? Yes or no." She is, in fact, able to keep seated, and keep talking, even as Woz jumps in to strike right at the tail end. The hideous morph into an evil rabbit monster changes the way she looks at the Shadow, her fingers curling around the hilt of her great sword, planted into the ground, but it doesn't change her posture; only the level of tension inherent within it. She doesn't seem to be inclined to jump in to strike with Rita already handling that in her own way. But Rita and Hibiki know well enough that anything that looks like unguardedness or unpreparedness from Lilian is utterly fake. "One opportunity, 'Chet'. If you're still there. You still possess the power of speech, so you can still answer me. But the moment you make this a battle with me, you've signed your death certificate." '...You're late... you're late... TICK TOCK.' The material under Lilian's armoured fingers audibly creaks with the squeeze on her sword. Her voice is deadly calm, in the way of a surgeon's grip on a scalpel. "Please. I understand where your anxieties are coming from, but don't try to project them on me, of all the people. I assure you that--" For just a second, she sounds like two people are speaking at once. Or, that one is audibly speaking, and one simply communicates an idea, impressed on the mind like subtitles. "I have all the time in the world." §All the time in the world <is mine>§
Timespace Riders	"WOZ! I ORDER YOU TO STOP!" Woz hesitates, and for it, he's knocked backwards by the explosion. Skidding across the floor of the mushroom clearing, he nevertheless rises with an agile kip-up, tossing the Shinobi armor's scarf over his shoulder. A dismissive, yet pleased 'hmph,' hurled at the rabbit. "The Tyrant, I presume." Striking a one handed kuji-kiri, Woz disappears in a flash of smoke. A puff of smoke appears on the opposite side of the rabbit's head from Rita's strike, and the rider capitalizes with a momentum-defying midair lateral kick brought down upon the back of its head. Sougo armors back into the Padgett Armor, appearing over him in a flash. He'd been knocked back by the explosion too, a painful, bumpy skip across the dirt for his trouble. "I said I'd help you stop this..." Rising from the ground, the armored fighter strides up, stylized rapier in hand, and makes two probing cuts. "I meant it!!" He weaves in a snap kick with the left leg, then fades with a backflip, hurling a gust of wind at the giant rabbit. "CHET! if you're listening... this isn't healthy! If time only moves forward for you, how can you hope to connect with anyone else?! LISTEN TO US!!" With a frustrated, anguished cry, he makes two more strokes with the rapier, foregoing any semblance of form to swing with pure, brute strength, hurling gale-force winds at the rabbit.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Oi, Woz--!" Hibiki takes a step forward, caught right off-guard by the Kamen Rider's sudden action. But she's even more surprised by what comes after, the table's sudden explosion forcing her to bring an arm up to shield herself. That's hardly the problem though, as she learns very quickly after she lowers the limb and looks back again, first with a squint, and then with wide eyes. "Wh--" The transformation is a lot to take in on short notice. What it means takes a little longer after that. And when it clicks, a bit like it did for Rita, her face goes right from shock to strain as her fists clench tight together once more. She is not, however, jumping in immediately to join in on physically subduing the Shadow. She knows very well that Rita will do what she has to, if she has to. She also knows that Lilian will do the same. But Stanley had solved the last incident with only roughing up, not killing. She just has to have hope that that's still possible. And /that's/ when she starts moving, steadily picking up the pace and closing in the middle of everyone else sans Lilian taking their swing, waiting for a moment where there are no chins being crunched or swords being stabbed to step in - and reach out with a hand. To take hold of the hare by the coat, for however briefly she can, and get face to face. The expression on her face is somewhere between anger and distress, but there's definitely a lot more of the former in her voice. "Get /this/ through your thick skull! We said we were going to help you, so if you want to get out, work with us! And not just you, but your 'other self' too, if we have to! Whether you wished for this for a petty reason or an important one, nothing's going to ever change if you're stuck in the same couple days forever - and I'm NOT going to let you force us to have to hurt you for real!"
Stanley Padgett	CRACK Rita's punch /levels/ The White Rabbit, tumbling it into the mossy earth of the lunch room, that sickle tearing another garish splash of Technicolor across horrible matted fur. The Rabbit's yellow eyes roll around in its head, wide and glassy. "YOU'RE..... LATE...." It's just repeating those words, even with a broken jaw, the words less thoughts now than just sheer imprints on the minds of those in the space. Kukuru TACKLES The Rabbit, putting it into a headlock. The jaws work frantically to try and escape from the hold, but she's a Very Strong Creature. Large feet scrabble in the moss and mush and undergrowth, kicking helium and xenon clouds of mulch into the air, as it struggles. "YOU'RE! L A TE!" Zi-O's attacks and words fall on busted ears, Woz's kick just batters the rabbit some more. "LATE LATE LATE HOW ARE YOU SO LATE?" Hibiki is trying to reason with The Rabbit, but those glassy eyes are far away now, yellow and ugly and horrifying. "L A TE..." The clocks tick louder, faster in the room. Stanley's phone is ringing an alarm like someone's pulling the cord on a bus to.. to get it to stop. "...Guys? I think we're in trouble!" He rushes over to try and get people off of the Rabbit. "It's happening!" The VOICE echoes in the Rabbit's ears. "I have all the time in the world." §All the time in the world <is mine>§ The Rabbit gurgles again. "YOU ARE LATE. TOO LATE. NO..." It rolls, trying to toss Kukuru off of itself, pocket watches spraying all over the room. All of them are showing Eleven-Fifty-Nine. "NO TIME TO SAY.... GOOD BYE..." There is a ghastly, ghostly whisper in the room, as all of the mushrooms start to swell up, and the room, which was starting to get claustrophobically close in on everyone... yawns wide. Chair, tables, plants, Cards, neon, smoke, all of it expands outward at an exponential rate, too fast, too fast to see it happen... Excecpt for Zi-O and Woz. They can clearly feel the hypotenuse being divided by zero, the familiar tickling of temporal horseshit, of the ending of a section of causality...
Stanley Padgett	And everyone's bus tickets burn up inside of their pockets. There's a sudden jolt and all of the people in that room will find themselves sitting in a very Well Apportioned Tour Bus. Delilah is already here, with a little cart of snacks, tutting a bit. "Many apologies for the sudden extraction, but... you didn't want to be there when the loop happened again, trust me." Stanley is already up and stalking around the bus, neglecting to even think about food. There's a worrying lookin in the boy's eyes, as the Revolution dies away, and he is just regular old Stanley again. He stamps his foot intothe carpet. "....DAMMIT."
Stanley Padgett	Zi-O and Woz, though, weather the storm. This is their storm, after all, their tricks, their moment... And the two find themselves outside of the palisades of the Hunnish Fortress. It is still wrecked. It is still ruined from Stanley's assault and the fall of Hunnicutt... but right as the pair appear, there's a sudden lurch in the Reversal, and a flash of energy. And Woz and Zi-O will watch as a massive section of the middle of the Fortress is simply... erased and overwritten, with a flash of digital energy and static. Where there was ruins and debris... there is now Wonderland, spreading farther than before, almost out to the entrance of the Fortress. ....Hmmm.
Hibiki Tachibana	The moment as everything begins going foul, Hibiki grits her teeth hard enough that it hurts. No getting through...? Is there nothing left to do but--? A sudden jolt comes with a sharp intake of breath, followed up by a very physical jolt as the magical girl snaps straight up in her newfound seat and rapidly glances around the interior of the bus, breathing heavy. It takes several seconds before it begins simmering down and she realizes what actually happened, with Delilah's helpful input. At which point, all that built-up tension seeps out in the form of an extended hiss through her teeth, letting her weight fall back against the seat and bringing a hand up to her face to briefly cover it. "...Crap..." Murmuring into her own palm, her fingers dig in a bit deeper. And after a short delay, it slowly drags down. "...It reset again. But we learned a lot, so it wasn't a waste...right? We can use that to get it this time..." She almost sounds like she's asking someone to confirm that's true. Huh. Wait. She looks around the bus again. "...Where are Sougo and Woz?"
Timespace Riders	Time is running out "My Demon King, the hour draws near. If you will not finish this Tyrant, nor allow me to, then let us away!" "Ha... I'm sorry, Woz, but doing that won't fix the real problem. I think... I'm going to try being selfish." "I must insist." Woz turns his back from the rabbit, as the clock races towards midnight. The scarf of his Shinobi armor extends outwards, spear tucked behind his back. Zi-O's rapier thrusts. "Woz... I order you to come back for me. " A gust of wind bows the scarf aside, the impact causing a spark-shooting burst of friction for a moment before it passes. The clock strikes midnight. Woz appears, unarmored, beside his Demon King, moments after Sougo is himself dumped at the entrance of the fortress. "My Demon King... that was most unwise. " Woz's politeness is strained to the point of visible proof; appearing as a bulge in the side of his neck.
Rita Ma	Rita goes for the follow-up, but hesitates. They're not supposed to kill it, right? Or are they? How tough is it exactly? Where are a rabbit's vitals, anyway? Eleven Fifty-Nine. Her heart jolts in her chest when she sees that number. The possibility that they will just cease to exist turns her blood cold. Her eyes dart to Hibiki, Kukuru, and- well, no, actually, those other three are probably going to be fine. But the bus tickets, the warpgate, the Lady in Black's power: even if it's just one second to midnight, she has to be able to string something together. She gets as far as reaching into her pocket, grabbing the two of them by the arms, and taking off hard with a backscatter of shitty cafeteria flooring when- ---- Rita's lurching momentum causes her to smack her face on the chair in front of her when she's repositioned to the bus. For a moment it looks like she's about to have a heart attack. Then, relief. "Oh. Um. Ow." Her eyes scrunch up tight; she rubs at her cheek tenderly. "Thank you, miss..." Her heart's still pounding. She needs a second. "Delilah! I really appreciate it. I'm sorry we couldn't solve it this go around. If we'd started a little earlier..." Deep breath in, then out. "How are you feeling, Mr. Stanley? Are you going to be alright?"
Stanley Padgett	Delilah looks at Rita, and looks at Hibiki and smiles warmly. "It will be fine, don't worry. You made quite a bit of progress." Hibiki gets a plate with a lemon bar on it. Rita gets... a tray of sashimi. Stanley gets a pat on the head and a Doctor SALT Neo. "Take a break, Stanley, you'll be fine. Stanley huffs and flops into the seat next to Hibiki and just... pops his soda. "...I'll be alright. Just frustrating. Frustrating seeing the worst side of people."
Lilian Rook	'It's happening!' "I can count, thank you." says Lilian. The final convulsions of the rabbit-shadow seem to have made up her mind. Standing up from her now-orphaned seat, in lieu of an intact table, Lilian casually wrests her sword from the ground, rests it over her shoulder, and says "Then you've made your choice. Good bye." Lilian does not seem surprised to be on the bus. In fact, she is quite well-situated, though in the process of realizing her armour makes her smart device inaccessible. She starts talking to Rita as if there was an ongoing conversation already. "I wish you would have told me you could do that. I was about to grab you and Tachibana for the same purpose. That would have gotten in the way instead of dividing her efforts." She doesn't sound very cross. "Of course we'll get it this time. You can wake up early, yes? Even if you can't make the cut, I will." she says to Hibiki. "Who do you take me for? Even if it takes three days, I'll get it done tomorrow." '...Where are Sougo and Woz?'She shrugs. The armour doesn't even clatter when she does that. "Probably erased." A beat. "That's a joke. If that retainer of his is legitimately some sort of time traveler, they'll no doubt be fine. Besides, they're not with the Watch, and not even 'good guys', so why do you care? They-- oh my, over here if you please." Lilian is instantaneously distracted by snack cart. As ever, she unfailingly addresses anyone who seems to be The Help with infallible politeness and the vague impression of familiar fondness. She splits her attention between introducing herself, negotiating how to pay Delilah for snacks, and Stanley's outburst, the latter getting a distracted "What are you getting so upset for? The same thing will play out all over again tomorrow. You've gained knowledge and lost nothing. Honestly, you people simply aren't very good at grasping time, are you?" "It's still a school holiday for you too, yes? So arrive early and proper next time, and we'll erase that obnoxious cartoon in one go. I've already pieced together everything I need to know." She absently twirls Night Mist on its point. The magnetite blade lightly sizzles against the extradimensional carpet.
Stanley Padgett	Delila gives Lilian a judging look and then hands over a packet of salt and vinegar chips and a lemon spritzer. She IS the adult here. "For the elctrolytes," Delilah explains. Stanley grumbles but looks to Lilian, before relaxing and sipping on his Shady Soda Beverage. "...It's still my first time loop, Ms. Rook. It's my first for a lot of things. But..." "...Yeah, we'll get him this time." Another sip, and anyone with a mote of magical senses will feel the young man's reserves slowly fill up again.
Lilian Rook	Lilian sort of just watched Stanley with inexplicable interest as he drinks. "You should have told me more about your friend here. She's the only properly behaved person I've seen since coming to this world." Lilian notices judgemental behaviour directed at her about as often as a fish notices water, for the same reasons. "Oh, perfect! I actually need to be on more sodium at the moment too. It's been quite a time since I've had crisps though." She is able to unbottle wine barehanded.
Rita Ma	"You've seen me, Ms. Rook," Rita jokes. She does this with a mouth full of sashimi, which perhaps defeats her point.