Log:PSIjinks Gone Wrong

2021/02/10 Felix Kid Tengu Tessa Bran Golden Girl Pamela Phantom Wild Thing Heather

1

You were enjoying a meal or companionship or just hanging out on National Pizza Day at Flying Saucer Pizza, home of out of this world food and fun. The place was packed with families and groups and people you know and lots and lots of strangers.

Who exactly you all were with and why is a bit hazy as is the air. It has a sparkly quality to it and all the stars in the sky and comets whiz by overhead as somehow, at some point, the roof has disappeared revealing a starry universe above.

And why is everyone in costume? I mean, there are heroes and villains and princesses and even some unicorns and pegasi here.

And in the center, sitting on an arcane high tech throne is teenaged girl dressed a la Maleficent looking down at all of you as flying purple monkeys circle above her.

"Oh, good! You are all here! Now the fun can begin!"

Bran blinks and looks around. He's dressed the way he usually is, rather than in a costume of some kind. "Umm...where are we, exactly?"

Pizza pizza pizza. Yep, Heather is down for pizza. Some ... okay most of the other girls at CHHS hate her for her ability to eat so damned much and not get fat. Stupid caloric intake requirement for stupid powers in the stupid lucky blonde girl. Stupid. Did I mention stupid? Well she -was- eating pizza. Now she is dressed in her black leather-looking costume... staring up at the purple monkeys. "Lady." she says, "You've got a lot to learn. Now is definitely when the fun stops, not starts." she states.

Wild Thing crouches low and sniffs the air, and takes in the world with all her senses, confused by the sudden change of scene1

Helen blinks slowly at the 'Queen', then around at her surroundings. She is still in her Amish dress, because her clothing has not been an element of her identity in so -very- long ...

Phantom is his psionic self in this altered reality, his mid-bite pizza gone. He's not quite where he was sitting anymore, and he's in fact standing. << What the...! Guys, I'm not where I was anymore...>>

The Amish girl's magic sense is, of course, entirely on.

Golden Girl looks around curiously. Then looks at her reflection. She wearing her Golden Girl costume, but also has a cape and the symbol on her chest is a sytlized 'S' instead of the usual Atlantan rune.

Golden Girl says, "Is this a cream?"

Golden Girl pinches herself.

A man wearing a slimly compact suit of dark grey power armor says, "What the frak is going on here?"

Wild Thing bounds toward the figure on the throne the instant her senses confirm the realitty. "Why have you brought as here?!" she asks in a low growl.

KT's form and shape is very malleable and so- in such a state it seems that he doesn't so much pick 1 shape as a constantly fluctuating mass of features, shades & textures representing his mood & internal landscape.

Horns roll over his shoulders and wings form on his back- tails sprout and fall back into him as he moves.

He looks around very confused unaware of his shifting form until he sees his hand hard at it.

He focuses to pick a form- this one, a strong-jawed alien protector with ridges along his spine and brow. With a bit of concentration most o fhis features settle into this form.

"What the hell is going on? Did someone spike the gummis?" He asks as he continues looking around until he spots familair faces- at which point he heads straight for them.

Tessa is here for the pizza. She has a half-slice in hand to prove it! She likely never realized when the roof when missing; there's no pie up there!

Nor does she realize that her attire has altered somewhat. Nothing ostentatious, though the school board would not appreciate the fact that the emblem on her Bayside uniform blazer looks suspiciously like a silhouette of flipping the bird. Not to mention that the motto embroidered beneath it is no longer Latin, nor really suitable for minors to read. What a difference a few letters make!

"Hmm? Waths gooink on?"

Wild Thing is wearing her usual costume. After all, if she'd been able to come up with a better idea, that better idea would be her costume.

"What's going on is this girl, who obviously -is- as stupid as she looks... apparently made us all come here, changed our clothes, and seems to think that we are her entertainment." says Heather as she looks back to the others. "Too bad she's going to be disappointed and bored to tears by her insane assumptions. Everyone knows when you make an assumption, you make an ass out of you and umption."

The throne that Maleficent sits upon rises further up in the air as Wild Thing approaches. She smiles wider, a hint of canine in her smile now. "I have brought you nowhere...and everywhere. I want to see you all truly are inside. No one gets to hide here. Inside is out, and outside is in." She sounds /very/ stable.

Phantom walks towards the girl on the throne, trying to get his senses to...well, make sense in this place. He's a little lost as he tries to adjust, until he senses Kid Tengu and Tessa are here too. That's comforting. At least they're in this together.

"You could get an X-Ray for that. Maybe do a medical exam. We all have these persnickety insides that we'd rather keep inside." calls out Heather. "Now, you may as well send us back as we're not science projects for you to examine. Oh, and word of advice, speaking like you are some Disney villain makes you sad and pathetic, not powerful and awesome."

Golden Girl moves over to Wild Thing. "Easy. We'll figure this out. Until we do we need to stay calm and focused."

Wild Thing grins toothily. "Well, if you prefer your insides outside, maybe something can be arranged. Or if not, maybe you can send us home."

Bran folds his arms...definitely not wanting to confront his 'inner self'. There's more than enough self-loathing there to last a lifetime. "We're in some kind of shared mental illusion. I don't know the details. Just that it is."

Golden Girl asks Bran, "Can you made it go away?"

Tessa chews, swallows, looks around, then back to the others. "At least she brought pizza. Could be worse. Alot worse."

Phantom turns his head to Kid Tengu. "Uh, am I any different?"

Helen smiles a little at the girl's 'revelation'

Maleficent pouts. "Oh poo. Some of you are /real/ aren't you? Not just your inner selves." She caresses the arm of her throne. "Well, I can work with that. Monkeys! Separte the sheep from the shepherds!"

Bran shakes his head, "I...can only cause pain. But I could try to do so to the creator of the illusion. Which would do it...eventually. If I don't get attacked for doing so." He looks over to the girl on the throne. And I suspect she's more powerful than I am."

Helen smiles a little at the girl's 'revelation.' "It is not often one gets a chance do you have one's sense of self so emphatically confirmed."

"More like.. all of us are real, and you just forcibly pulled us here. That's going to go badly for you. I advise you put us back. Because that is the only way you get out of this without looking even stupider than you do already." calls out Heather.

Golden Girl nods to Bran. "Better not take chances. I suspect you're to person we need most of all the tell us what's happening here."

"Well, she's also protected," Phantom adds. "Might be hard to physically get through to her. But she hasn't hurt anyone...yet."

Bran nods to Golden Girl, "It would uh...also be bad if I do get knocked out. I kind of lose control of my powers."

The flying purple monkeys, the dozens of them, swoop down into the crowd, beams flashing from their eyes that pass over people. Some people seem unaffected (the PCs) and others suddenly fly up into the sky and into a large bird cage as the beams pass over them.

KT looks over Phantom a couple of good times before saying, "I don't think so- but give me a spin jsut to be sure." He's teasing of course.

He turns back to Maleficent and frowns.

"Do you know how long it took me to learn to keep my insides in? Too long to have some... " He snaps at Bran. "... shared mental hallucenation undo all my hard work."

He listens to the others while he speaks and then turns to them and sighs. "So- since she hasn't hurt anyone /yet/ we've got to tolerate all this? That guy over there is dressed like a Care-(Uni)Corn. This is inherently /in/tolerable."

"Well whatever she wants... she.." Heather begins... and the monkeys do their thing. "Well shit." she mutters. "Whatever she wants, she's basically a pint size magical bully. Only way to deal with bullies is to make -them- back down. To make sure they don't get what they want, and that they know that bullying you is a bad idea."

Phantom snerks and spins slowly, arms out and palms up as he humors Kid Tengu. "I guess I'm the same outside and in here. That's....something. And I'm learning a bit," he says as his head pans to the others."

Wild Thing' clothes may be unchanged, but she, on closer inspection, is not. Her canine teeth are clearly fangs, her nails are claws, her hair longer and wilder mane.

The man in the dark grey power armor strides over. "Well, boss?" he says with a slight Scots accent. "What's the plan?"

Phantom slides his hands into his pockets, oddly at ease in this dreamy illusion. It reminds him some of the Astral realm, a place he's been spending a lot of time with. He turns to the throne girl. "So why do you want to see all our inner selves? What's next?"

Helen nods, slow and cordial, to Phantom.

Golden Girl looks to the gray power armor, "Felix?" she asks.

Bran raises a brow as Kid Tengu raises his voice at him. "Maybe direct that anger at someone other than me." He points to the girl controlling the monkeys.

Wild Thing leaps into a crouch on the arm of then throne. "And what do you think of the inner me?" she says menacingly in her ear.

The power armor guy nods. "Yes, Golden Girl, it's me."

Or rather, Wild Thing ties to reach the arm of the throne. But an invisible wall stops her a few feet away.

Golden Girl smiles, "Nice look. I wonder if the Mansion fanricator could create that for you back home?"

Phantom smiles at Felix. "Maybe we can still talk to her and resolve this peacefully. Instead of, y'know, threatening and insulting first. But be prepared to protect any bystanders if things get a bit wild. Not sure I could dispel an illusion this big. Maybe I could free people one at a time..."

Helen's gaze shifts to power-armor-Felix, and her eyebrows lift. "For such a versatile mage ... well, no matter. Not inner self, but self-image. Critically different. And so far as I can tell, this is not in the least magical."

Wild Thing leaps up onto the arm of the throne and delivers her threat. And then the throne disappears along with the person in it. "No, no touching! Touching is bad!" says Maleficent with a cold look.

She then look around until she spots Phantom. Maleficent nods at the shepherds who remain. "I want to know why people lie about who they really are. Even you are liars pretending to be oh so normal when you're not! Why?"

"Could've just enjoyed the pizza, let her do her thing, gone on our way..." Tessa offers, lamenting some, "With to-go boxes, even..."

Wild Thing snarls. "Don't want to see the inner me *too* closely, then, huh?"

Phantom motions as Wild Thing hits the invisible wall. "Warned you. She's protected."

"I'll make you a deal." Calls out Heather as she steps forward, hands on her hips. "You tell me why you think it's okay to just grab folks and do what you want with them.... and you are wrong about that being okay for the record, and I'll tell you exactly why some of us conceal their faces and identities from the world."

Phantom considers the girl's question. "Safety."

"We lie becuase everyone lies. Even good people. Even heroes- especially heroes when there's something worth protecting, like the people we care about. Haven't you ever read a comic before?" KT replies flippantly as he stretches an arm out and begins sniffing for a pizza with toppings he'd pick.

It doesn't take long considering anchovies, gummies & chocolate covered expresso beans with extra sauce isn't one most humans would pick.

He glares at Maleficent.

Bran thinks about the words Maleficent says...and frowns to himself. He gets very quiet. . o O (...because I hurt people I didn't mean to. By accident. That's why I want to feel 'normal'.)

Phantom sounds very calm and conversational, not letting this get to him. There's no anger in him yet. It's all very zen. Dealing with Anna-Marie's ghost has given him a lot of practice.

"Because I've got the power for once! Because I can change things for once! Because all this is just a dream, just like everything else!" She points up at the cage. "Because someone in there made me this way AND I WANT TO KNOW WHY!! All I had was my private dreams and now all of YOU are in them!"

Maleficent then falls quiet and runs her hands over her face. "But," she says in a calmer tone, "I belive I asked a question?"

Wild Thing, finding herself unable to threaten and/or hit the girl, is now also troubled by her thoughts. . o O ( So it is what I thought. The wild part of me is the reality now, and Pam is more and more just an act... )

Phantom says softly, "If this is a dream, you pulled waking people into it. Real people, not figments. Not astral shadows. Real people."

"So, we are asleep then? In your dream?" asks Heather. "Okay then. So we're not actually -here-... we're just here inside our own minds. Got it."

And she steps forward, "To be honest, there is no one reason for anything. Every human being is unique and different. Thus every one of them has their own deeply personal reasons for being whom they are, and doing what they do. However, for the most part... there are those out there who would harm a hero's loved ones if they can't reach the hero. So hiding one's identity keeps one's family and friends safe. Then there are those, like myself, who never had that choice."

Phantom turns his head to the cage. "But if someone in there did this to you...huh." He focuses more on the caged people, trying to sort through the minds in there for one that feels guilty...or anything but scared.

Helen pushes back from the table, and eyes the wands in her lap. Here, would she need crutches? It -is- a fact of her life ... She looks up at the young girl. "If you will, please, will you grace us with the honor of knowing your name, my Lady? In a conversation about truth, it is best to be able to rely on that simple fact of identity and commonality."

[To Heather] Wild Thing says, "All my senses tell me this is real..."

Golden Girl looks around, and smiles, "You say this is our inner selves?" she asks the girl on the throne. She looks at the 'real' people. "Then I say I am gla dto know you all. For all here are those of light and not the dark, as my father would say."

KT looks pleased with his discovery of pizza and retracts the arm with a slice in tow.

He chomps into the pizza, letting Phantom and Bran take the lead since they seem to have some kind of grasp on what's happening here. He isn't so keen with bein gplayed with mentally so he idly waits for an opportunity to punch something or protect someone.

The flying purple monkeys have returned to circling the above the throne, except for one that now rests on Maleficent's shoulder, and is stroking her hair. "I am Maleficent, Mistress of Darkness and Dreams!...You may call me Mal," states the woman on the throne.

Phantom studies for a bit. "I can sense two people in there are mentally shielded...so I think I can pick out the one or ones behind this." His head turns to Golden Girl. Given that he's fully black, he quips, "Yeesh, I'm right here. Are you blind?"

"Mal. Awesome name." remarks Heather. Then she mutters under her breath, 'and I'm a leaf on the wind'. But she shakes her head and looks back to the hostess. "Do you have any other questions?" And she glances to the others, "One of these others asked a valid question. Did somebody do this to you? Make you stuck in a dream realm?"

Wild Thing starts stalking about, in a low, quadrupedal crouch, trying to sneak behind Mal. Maybe it's because this place has brought out the animal side in her even more, or maybe she's just given up trying to suppress the animal now it's all the more clear for people to see, but she doesn't seem inclined to take the talking approach.

Golden Girl grins at Heather's comment. Somone else is also a fan of classic cult TV.

"I...I think so," says Mal after a moment in response to Heather. "I don't know why they brought me here. It's not like I can /do/ anything anymore," she says in an angry tone.

She then looks at Phantom again. "Oh, really? Which ones? I can have my monkeys take them out? We can make them talk! Monkeys, get something sharp and something hot!"

A few of the monkeys fly away, two of them towards where Wild Thing was.

Helen is merely of the normal. "If someone did this to you," she says to 'Mal', "then that is not your name, only what you wish you were -- or what you have been made to be. I am Helen," she introduces herself.

Apparently the monkeys are not very bright as the something hot they grab is the nearest pizza: Kid Tengus to be precise.

Mal then looks over at Bran. "And why are you the /same/? What makes you different for thne others.

Wild Thing creeps round silently, aiming to get to where she can leap to deliver a boot to the head to Mal from ambush. After all, if this is some sort of psychic affect then that might be effective. And even if not it might be satisfying.

Phantom folds his arms over his chest and frowns as Wild Thing tries to ambush Mal.

KT doesn't look llike he's planning on broaching the subject of some ape decendant swiping his pizza- real or otherwise.

He frowns and bares a mouth full of needlelike teeth to the monkey.

The pair of purple monkeys that were looking for Wild Thing's sharp claws instead bring Mal what look like some syringes with needles. "Oh, perfect, Mr Plum!"

Bran shrugs, "I...don't have a costume. I'm just...'me'. I've had to accept that I have powers. Some people know I have powers. I don't have a hero identity as of yet. I mean...I have no idea what codename I'd use. My sister suggested 'Flake'."

Phantom thinks to Felix << Is there anything magical here, or is it all just psychic?>>

Wild Thing leaps suddenly tigerlike from hiding, attempting to blindside Mal with a massive kick!

Evan thinks back to Phantom <> He thumps his chest.

Phantom grins a bit at the change in Evan. << I might be able to free you or someone to work this from the outside. Not sure if that'd be helpful--oh boy...>>

Helen smiles slightly as her Amish dress is considered abnormal.

The attack hits Maleficent sqaurely in the back of the head. Her head bows under the force of the blow then she shatters with a shriek of breaking glass.

As the bits of her fall to the floor, she says from another throne in another part of the restaurant. "Ouch! I almost felt that," in a deadpan CB accented teenage girl's voice. "I'm not brain dead you know, just trapped." She waits while the monkeys bring her the syringes. "Oh, pretty! And it's marked with...words. I think."

Golden Girl echoes, "Trapped? You don't have any more idea how to get free of this place than we do, do you?"

Phantom frowns deeper at Wild Thing's attack.

Phantom says to Mal after his frown smooths away, "Who hurt you? I sense the trauma."

Helen considers what Golden Girl has just said. "Do you -know- your real name?"

"So we're really not 'against' her?" KT asks with a new mouth as his original one is full of imaginary pizza. "She's jsut a vic too?" He sounds incredulous.

Wild Thing howls as her attack proves ineffective: this is frustrating to the animal in her, even as her senses are insisting here that the animal is what she really is.

"Well, I know enough to know my enemies are here." She glares over at Wild Thing. "You are /not/ one of them. Yet. Stop trying to hurt me. You wouldn't like it when I get mad!...I drool. It's gross."

Phantom nods to Kid Tengu. "She's a victim. Doesn't mean she isn't misguided or potentially dangerous if we, y'know, attack her or insult her. She needs help, not an assault."

"I am Mal. I told you that," says Mal to Helen then she turns her attention back to Heather. "

Golden Girl nods, "Of course I do. Linda Petersen. I wear this costume. Well not this one, but one much like it. I wear a costume so in a crisis I can be identified as a hero and people know I will try to help."

KT feels less aggressive hearing that and his form dissolves a bit into something decidedly less dangerous looking.

Wild Thing gets herself back under control: the effort shows in her face. "Sorry," she growls. "Seems wild-me is not helping here..." And she turns and stalks away from Mal, planning to let the others try to help without her interference.

She then turns her attention to Golden Girl. "Well, no. But then, I'm not convinced I'm not just dreaming. I do that a lot. Not much else to do."

Phantom tries to enhance his calm. "Mal...can we help you somehow? You were hurt. I think some of us can help. If you can't tell us and don't fully remember...maybe I can help you find out."

Golden Girl goes to Wild Thing and offers a comforting hug.

Phantom starts to piece together things. "Mal...I'm...I'm sorry. Are you at the hospital?" Maybe he can help. Maybe he can wake her up.

Wild Thing welcomes the hug: that's something that speaks also to the animal in her.

"This isn't just a dream," Phantom says out loud to Mal after he's forced out of Mal's mind. "We're real. We can help you in the real world. We can help you wake up if you want. I promise," he implores her.

One of the people up in the cage calls out, "Save us! Stop her!" while another one snaps, "Leave them alone, they're just kids!" and yet another shouts, "She's gone Omega! She'll blow soon!"

Phantom looks to the one warning she's gone Omega. "You definitely know something. And I can sense your shielding. So talk. Your friend better talk, too."

"Omega? Oh, that sounds like fun! 'I am the Alpha and the Omega' The beginning and the..." Mal's voice trails off as she says softer, "...and the end...Is that what this is?" The monkeys seems to be on the verge of panic now.

"It's a..a reaction. To the PSI serum! It's...urk..." says the voice before his voice gets cut off.

Phantom looks to Felix. "Are you able to do any speedy research to see if we can find Mal int he real world?" he asks urgently.

Bran furrows his brow and looks up toward the cages. "Hrm."

(Everyone who makes it by 5 or more sees the following)

You spot a woman dressed like a, well, dominatrix, pointing her hand at a guy dressed as a dark clad avenger of the night/or maybe metavil. A red blade of energy exctends from her hand into the back of his neck, which is now bleeding.

Golden Girl has no idea if this will work, but intends to entangle the woman in ice and seperate the two so the energy blade is no longer in the guy's head.

Wild Thing ironically doesn't leap instantly to the attack. She doesn't trust herself, now, after having wrestled the animal back under control with such effort. "What should I do?" she whispers to Linda.

Kid Tengu moves to defend Phantom, Felix & Tessa- but also tries to take a position that might serve if had to leap to the aid of someone who isn't a member of #CodeDark.

Golden Girl says, "Let's see what happens. They have a better idea what's going on than us I think," she tells Wild Thing. And decides to stayt with Wild Thing unless she's obviously needed."

Phantom looks towards the domina in surprise as she attempts to kill or silence her partner. He was the one who could tell them what they need to know. And since he can't talk, he stands there in shock and tries to get into the person's mind to find out what to do to stop Mal from blowing.

Golden Girl stays with Wild Thing for the moment.

Phantom says outloud to the others, "Shick, that guy's dying. Can somebody help him? I...I don't even know if that'll work here. We need to find out what he knows." He sorted through some scary thoughts. The man's dying. He's never been in the mind of a dying person. Just the dreams of one dying girl, and somehow Mal reminds him of her. Some of the man's fear is bleeding over to him. He tries to dig for information about Mal in the real world.

Mal looks at everything that's going on then says, "Mr. Plum? What's happening? This isn't like the other dreams. I didn't do that, did I?" She seems off balance.

Bran grimaces...and lashes out with his mind at the woman with the apparent energy blade. He grunts with exertion as his mental strike reaches out to her. He then says, "That mental construct she's carrying can kill. Be cautious."

The dominatrix with the energy blade cries out in pain. She then shouts, "Let me out, Mallory! Or I'll kill your parents next!

Golden Girl memories those names.

Bran's mental blast does have a visible component here...like a dark purple beam from his head to that of the woman. It's ragged looking and spikey...

Wild Thing takes Bran's attack as an indication that the woman should be attacked. She springs across the room to do just that, hard!

Wild Thing strikes at Domi through the bars, stunning her, even as she grabs the bars of the big bird cage with her toes to hold herself in place!

Helen looks up into the morass of the caged 'sheep', then back down at Maleficent -- Mallory. "Mal, he would assist you. Will you allow us to assist him, saving his life so that he may help you? And ..." she trails off for a moment, then says, "we may be able to assist you as well."

Mal looks down and over at Helen. "Oh, I thought you were one of my old dolls. Help who now?"

As Mal speaks, Felix leaps up to the bird cage and grabs hold of it. As he does, a series of panels opens on his free arm and golden light starts to gather, but nothing happens quite yet.

Golden Girl flies up to the cage after Wild Thing and tries to bend the bars so helpers can get to the dying Mallory.

Golden Girl grabs adjacent bars and uses all her strength to try and bend them outwards to make a passable opening into the cage. There's a squeal of tortured metal as the bars bend outwardsa.

Helen smiles a little. "Him," she gestures with her head towards the injured man, up by where Felix is generating his golden light. "And you," she adds. "I may be able to help you stabilize."

"Oh," Mal says in a quite voice. "Oh, he's dying. I can /feel/ it. Um..." She gestures with one hand and the giant bird cage comes down at a fast clip. People scream but at the end it slows and lands with a gentle 'clink'/

Wild Thing doesn't take any chances, given this woman allegedly has a lethal blade. Holding with her toes onto the cage (even through the fall), she once again strikes her with all her strength!

Once Wild Thing acts, she acts. Her target falls to the ground, unconscious, without ever having had the chance to to respond to the savage onslaught.

Felix moves through the hole in the cage Golden Girl made. The golden light shines on the man Domi stabbed in the back of the neck. "Ah, I can heal but not restore full function." The man relaxes as the golden light sinks into him but he doesn't regain consciousness.

Bran blinks, "What happens if someone's...'dream self' is killed?" He looks over to Phantom, "Any idea?"

"They die," says Doll Girl Helen. "So I have been told. As the flatvid said, 'The body cannot live without the mind.'"

KT looks around frantically but holds his place in front of #CD. He is thoroughly confused- but mindscapes of the dying & grossly unbalanced aren't his usual haunts. It doesn't help that the rules don't bend to his will the same way it does for some other people. He's fine with that. If something comes near #CD or their affiliated meta-powered teen allies he's going to rip it in half. Easy.

"I sure hope you guys know what you're doing." He says as he gets bigger again- his arms thickening up the most to better block any on-coming attacks.

By the end his upper body is massive and he has thick chitin plates growing from his forearms, shoulders, torso & head. He clearly doesn't trust the situation at all- though he isn't sure if being bulked up even matters here. He tries not to think about it.

He grows an extra pair of arms and grabs a couple of slices of pizza to help take his mind off of things until he know who he's suppsoed to dismember and/or spike like a football.

He looks to Helen with surprise. "For real? We die for real if we die here?" He asks for clairification.

Wild Thing backflips from the cage, satisfied at finally having had a chance to cut loose. "In that case, anyone good at making people not die?" she growls.

"That's if they die on the astral plane. I...think it's different, since this isn't that. This is a mental illusion," Phantom states. "And...those can still hurt. Maybe they can kill? You guys should go."

Wild Thing says, "I'm all for going, but how do we do that?"

Helen shrugs slightly. "The rules in this mindscape may be different; do you truly wish to find out?" she asks, perhaps a little acerbicly.

Shifting her gaze back to Mal, Helen says, "You are trapped. He will -- most probably -- live, so he /may/ help you. On the other hand, the one who has threatened your family will /also/ live, and likely remember. And then, of course, follow through on her threat. Will you allow us to help you?"

"We got to get out of here if we're going to actually help Mal," Phantom says. He turns his head to Felix. "Felix, you might be able to track her down in the real world with some research, but I don't know if we have time. *Wake. Up.*".

Mal, Mallory, Maleficent, looks around at the chaos. "Well, this is...messy. I never liked messy." She reaches up and takes Mr. Plum in her hands.

When she does so, the plying purple monkey becomes a stuffed plushy of a purple monkey. And the throne becomes a fancy wheelchair with various attachments including an IV which leads to... the emaciataed body of a teenaged boy who has faded green streaks in his lank blonde hair. His eyes are heavily shadowed with pain.

"I...I think I'll sleep now...But far away..." he whispers in a soft tenor voice before his chair rolls backwards into a suddenly rising mist.

And BOOM. But thiwhout the boom. You all are scattered back in your parties in the various parts of the restaurant. All of you feel like you're waking up.

And all of you hear a woman scream, "WHere's Jake? Where'd he go?"

Wild Thing looks in the direction of the scream, distracted from the distraction of the sudden change of setting.

KT frowns, finding himself once again in front of much more humanly conventional toppings.

He'd lament but the woman's scream tears him away from his own woes.

He tries to find the wielder of the scream.

Phantom is reliving the death of that other girl all over again. Only there's no one to shepherd them. Phantom reaches out toward the Mal, the boy in the wheelchair, before with a sudden moment, there's just darkness for him. Travis Morgan finds himself sitting up straight at his pizza booth, unable to see as normal. The darkness is familiar. He takes a moment to take a breath, then puts his face in his hands and rests his elbows on his table.

Golden Girl pulls out a PDA. Calls Bran. "Bran, did you just experience a wierd dream like event?"

Helen blinks at the jarring scream, then frowns. She hopes she'll recognize Mal again, but isn't certain if it was her -- his? -- soul she saw, or just an idea of it. "Well. That was ... unexpected." She looks down into her lap, at her hands, her wands -- her dress. An old doll.

Tyson looks over to Travis and then to Evan & Tessa. He looks much more concerned, seeing Travis' response.

"So that was 'real-ish'? What the heck, man?" He asks, looking to Travis since brainstuff- well this brainstuff is his territory.

The scream comes from a careworn looking woman sitting at a booth near the stage that's sometimes used in the restaurant. There's a banner that says, "Happy 16th Birthday, Jake!" The only people at the table are the woman, an equally careworn looking man, and two people dressed in suits. One of the, the man, is slumped back in his seat, eyes wide open, while the suited woman lies face down in her plate of pizza.

Golden Girl then conference calls Phantom and Felix, asks them the same question."

Pamela is perhaps more confused than she should be. As someone very much grounded in her senses, it's hard for her to correlate what she sees her with what she saw in the other place, when appearance differ.

Travis's phone is on silent and vibrates in his pocket. << It was real. I think...I think that kid...>> he trails off, still in shock. Slowly, optic sensory information filters into his mind and he can 'see' in his own odd way. << Those two people who are out. I think they were the ones who knew. Was this Jake Mal all along?>>

Evan blinks slowly, his eyes golden for a moment, before he says, "Um, just a sec, Tyson." He opens his PDA and just texts back to Golden Girl. "Yes. Meet later at mansion?"

Tyson sighs and gets up from his seat. He goes to talk to the people who's son is missing and get a scent trail they can follow. He uses the excuse to get napkins and casually saunters up to Jake's family unit. There he asks, "Hi- I don't know who Jake is. I was gabbing it up over there but if you told me what he looked liek I could maybe help look for him around here?" He offers kindly.

As the careworn woman rises, she says, "Has anyone seen my boy? He's in a wheelchair! He was right...here..."

Several staff rush over to her table to render aid.

Golden Girl nods, also it won't be seen. "I think I have eyes on The Domi and the man who was attacked. I'm in the Flying Saucer. The man is down. I think he needs medical assistance. Calling for ambulance. I'll head to the Mansion or keep eyes on, whatever you suggest."

Golden Girl also activates her x-ray vision and searches for a boy in a wheelchair.

Pamela goes over too - she's just pretending to be generally concerned, but actually she's trying to pick up a scent trail or other sign of where the boy in the wheelchair may have gone.

Helen blows out a sigh, then gives a familiar flick with her wands. Sometimes, getting to her feet is like stepping a mast, she feels, but when it has to be done, well ... it has to be done. She starts to clump towards the panicked woman and the collapsed suits. "Hello, Doma," she murmurs, checking to see exactly how 'out' the woman is -- alas, only the basics of pulse and such.

Travis turns his head towards the unconscious woman. He wants to know what she knows. He's going to get answers from her vulmerable mind.

To those with sensitive noses, you can easily catch the scent of a chronically ill person. It's all aorund the table but centered in front of an empty area set up for someone with a 'Birthday Boy' place setting at it. It then goes back a few feet from the table and just ends in a scent of...ozone?

 Tyson says, "I can smell him- but then it jsut fades out to ozone. I'm going to head outside and see if I can find anything. Someone get the tab!"

Pamela goes over to Linda, and says quietly, "The boys's smell ends in ozone."

Tyson nods to the woman and says, "I'll take a look around and see if I can find him, ma'am."

He turns and jogs out the door to switch into Kid Tengu & see if he cna spot Jake from the air!

'Domi' is deeply unsconscious like someone cleaned her clock, but with no bruises. She'll probably wake up if given medical aid.

Golden Girl nods as she continues looking for a boy in a wheelchair, but with less hope. "I just hope that's some kind of teleport or the like." She doesn't mention the vapourized option.

Between checking her pulse and feeling her forehead, Helen has already pretty much reached the limits of her own first aid knowledge. She shifts, turning to the desperate woman. "Where did he feel safest?"

Pamela says, "I think I'd smell more if he'd been burnt up or something..."

Pamela says, "I'll look around for him outside!" and goes to do so, hoping that she can pick up his smell if he's teleported to somewhere not too distant.

"Why with us!" says the woman. "Did that Maleficent take him? Why would she take my boy? Hadn't he been through enough!" She breaks down into tears and the careworn man takes her in his arms.

Golden Girl tells Phantom/Felix via PDA, "I do an aerial search. I can cover a large area quickly. I'll let you know if I find anything."

Helen skates a glance at the suited woman and man. "No," she says with brutal simplicity -- and, in typical Helen manner, answering at least three questions/statements with the same single word. Her gaze shifts to the man. "Safest. Or most favorite."

As usual, the nups show up in force and take over things. Paramedics, cops, managers. Everyone is given their food for free and a coupon for money off more pizzas then shuffled out the doors.