Fantasy ~0= One Layer Beside =0~

[skwerl56767]

Interest Check Thread Link.

STATUS: Closed. On Standby.
Discord Link (OOC chat room). Sheets go in the respective channel here or are PMed.​

You and your friends frequently visited an abandoned shed in an isolated corner of the national park. No one knows why it's there, just that it was annexed in when the park was made. Not many knew about it, either, so you all thought it would make a proper hangout for the long summers. It had only one, off-center door, and two walls that are covered in mirrors somehow unscathed by time, which was weird to say the least, but it grew on you.
A couple of summers after you discovered the shed, your buddy breaks through a decrepit floorboard by accident, revealing a small cache hidden underneath. In the cache was a box, and in the box were smooth, grey stones, no bigger than your hand, with black stone covers to match. Even odder, there were the same amount of stones as people in your friend group. Completely benign otherwise, you all decide to leave the stones with the hut, occasionally using them as game pieces or paperweights, and put them back in the box whenever you leave. Then one night, you go to the hut and pick up a stone, and slide the cover on it. The hut is dark, as you didn't bring any lights since the moon was bright enough. You went there just to think about something, and look up at the mirror in thought.
A shimmering blue wall! There was no way it was a reflection. In curiosity, you try to touch it... and end up falling through.
The ground on the other side is layered with autumn leaves, just like the area outside the cabin, but the leaves are silver. There are trees and thickets too, with dark conifers mixed in, and the air is brisk. Pale sunlight filters in from the left horizon; it appears to be early morning. You move to pick yourself up, but pause.
This... was not the form you were in before! Yet, it feels natural... actually, it feels a bit urgent, like something called you here, intentionally; but what, and why?


Rules:

• The usual roleplaying etiquette applies.
• This is a linear/sandbox mix. The plot will have NPCs and events GMed by me. The plot doesn't have to be followed, and side quests are encouraged.
• Characters are intended to be self-inserts, but there's no requirement.
• The form you have in the alternate reality (where the mirror leads!) can be anything you wish. The more alien, the better!
  • Your form must be an original creation. Exceptions can be made for forms that are inspired by – but don't strongly resemble – canon creations.
  • I would very much prefer it if your alternate form is inhuman; it kind of defeats the purpose of the transformation to go from human to slightly less human.
  • There are no tech limits on your alternate form. You can be as mystical as a magical spirit pegasus, as science-grounded as a robot from a future century, or anything in between and beyond!
  • To have your alternate form as a shifter is allowed, but you must start with a lot of restrictions. What's acceptable is up to my discretion.
  • Think of your alternate form in the beginning as Level 1; you'll be able to power it up and change features here and there over the course of the RP.
• If you go inactive, your characters will disappear, literally. You won't be able to rejoin with any of them either until we reach a certain point far into the plot.

-Locations-
Starting Area:

• Boreal forest, like where the shed is located.
• Instead of the shed, you're in a small clearing with stone ruins poking out of the ground here and there, clearly ancient.
• The portal fills a stone frame still standing in the ruins. There are bits of other frames that have crumbled away around it.
• Thicket surrounds the area, making it quite private. There is a deliberately-cut path that winds through the thicket up ahead.

The Mystic's Home:

• A trail leads through the forest from the Starting Area. This is the first landmark along it, not far from the ruins.
• The trail passes through a clearing. To the left is a small home, built like a log cabin. The wood is dark, and the log mortar is a muddy white. Leaf litter dusts the round roof shingles. It is one room, with three windows and two doors, one in front and one in the back to access the garden there. The garden is full of plants, though most of them haven't leafed out yet. All of the "glass" is veined as if trimmed from giant leaves, and have an amber tint. It seems well cared for. The trail past this home is much clearer and wider than the part going to the ruins, more like a dirt road. The clearing is devoid of weeds, clearly part of the property.
• Above the treeline, one can glimpse mountain peaks, not too distant. They have a peach color from the low light.
• The forest here isn't quite so gnarly looking.

-Sheet-

Spoiler

Name:
Appearance: You can include your human appearance here, but this is mostly for your alternate form, as most our time will be spent in the other reality. Don't forget your height!
Resistances: For your alternate form. You must have a susceptibility for every resistance. These don't have to be elemental.
Abilities: For your alternate form. They can be anything you wish! Maximum of 4 at the start, excluding 1 passive. All abilities must expend some resource when used, excepting passives. Design these with the ability to modify or add more later in mind.
Class: What kind of character build you're going for. You don't have to stick with what you start with. This is just to help others balance the group.
Other: Anything else you want to include, like history or personality.

-Roster-
skwerl56767:
Heather "Icebreaker", our biomechanic sniper:

Spoiler

Image:

Name: Heather Larkracios, chose her codename as "Icebreaker"
Appearance: Started as a Caucasian girl, about 20 years old, with long, straight brown hair and faded blue eyes, with rounded features. She dresses in very modest skirts and shirts, disliking revealing cuts or needing to wear many layers. No jewelry or makeup, but does need glasses.
Her alternate form is a digitigrade, biomechanical biped that doesn't resemble any particular creature. Standing to about 6'7", she has a cylindrical head, with a stretch of glass on the front and down the sides a bit, which shields two cameras and reflectors. Combined, these are the eyes. Air intake grills sit behind the eyes. The jaw is mostly teeth, with two rows - the inner finer than the other - and is set deep like an eel's. Plates protect the top of the head and go down the neck, which is serpentine like a dragon's. Body is humanoid. The right arm is a long-range rifle of alien design, with hooks along the bottom of it for climbing. The left arm also has hooks, and the hand has large claws. A short sheathing blade sits on the top of it. The feet have a pyramidal shape that can expand slightly for better traction. She has a single tail with a blade at the end.
The entire form appears to be comprised of mechanical parts, yet they're capable of organic movement. The surface of the body is covered in a flexible carbon skin, providing waterproofing. She survives ideally on nonpotable heavy mineral water, which is used to power her hydrolics. The minerals are sorted out for self-repair or fabrication. She is predominately slate grey, with burnt-orange glass and black accents, and does have body heat.
Resistances: Extreme heat resist, susceptible to the cold as it freezes the skin and hydrolics.
Abilities:

• Passive: Fabrication
  • A small fabricator sits in the chest cavity. It takes in consumed minerals and essentially 3D prints small objects out of them. It is used both to “heal” over time and to supply her rifle.
• Rifle
  • Lethal long-range weapon, up to as far as she can see. Accuracy is pinpoint; hit chance changes inversely with target distance. Very loud when it fires, holds up to six rounds.
• Invisibility
  • The artificial skin lowers her visibility to a distortion effect. Does not reduce anything else. Can still be found with radar, heat, noise, etc., or applying a visual cue like dirt, powder, or damage to her armor.
• Blades
  • The sheathing one on her arm has a serrated edge, while the one on the tail doesn't. The tail one can be sharpened, making it a better slicer, while the sheathing one is better for close-range piercing. The tail one can also apply more force in order to pierce armor, but only downward. Both will dull over time.
• Vision
  • The apparent glow of the eyes is caused by the reflectors behind the same glass. These amplify the light level so that dark areas appear brighter. This makes bright lights more dangerous to look at, but also provides limited night vision. Total darkness still leaves her blind.

Class: Starts as a glass cannon. Quick, agile, and light, and deals lots of damage, but has low armor. Only form of defense is dodging and stealth.
Other:

• Laughs so much it's reflexive at this point. Nervous laughter, answering laughter, genuine laughter, embarrassed laughter, concerned laughter, even warning laughter. Half the time she's giggling at something and the majority of that time, it's at something going on in her head.
• Strong sense of justice, but also respects free will. The two like to clash a lot.
• What smidgen of self-esteem she has is largely due to feeling righteous about her principles. Never swearing, valuing chastity, honesty... though she turns indignant too easily when others don't hold the same values. This also doesn't keep her from judging or mocking anything, though she's lighthearted about it in hopes that people will see the joke and won't be offended.
• On the flip side of that coin, she brushes off insults like they're jokes too, though she's not oblivious to the intention behind the insults.
• Huge open mind, up to a fault. Believes in the potential of all sorts of supernatural, paranormal, and conspiratorial things. Thankfully it makes her more accepting of the wackiness that's to come.
• Very easy-going and optimistic, finding the silver lining in everything. You could bully her into becoming your friend, and she'd be fine with it as long as you're a fine person.
• Loves to make up stuff and listen to others (because then she'll feel less obliged to talk!)
• Has a decent sense of intuition, but too often ignores it.
• Loves exploring, but has always been afraid of getting lost or hurt, until now.

ArcaneDreamer:
Kendrick "Tabbris", our guardian seraphim:

Spoiler

Image: (from the web)

Name: Kendrick (Codename: Tabbris)
Appearance: As a human, Kendrick is a 19 year old Caucasian with hazel eyes and short, fluffy hair. He prefers clothing that involves sweaters and/or jackets, as he tends to get cold easily.
In the other world, he takes on the form of a mass of six pure white wings. Golden flames burn at the top where his head would approximately be, with a halo of light floating above. At the bottom, a pair of humanoid legs made entirely of light is manifested. Finally, every part of his body emits a soft light, making him incapable of any form of stealth.
Alternate Form Resistances: Resistant against extreme temperature and anything holy-related. Weak against infernal forces and anything capable of causing rot.
Abilities:

• Passive: Radiance
  • The light he gives off is both a constant source of light and a natural buff to his allies’ defensive abilities. His allies must be within 5 meters in order for the latter to take effect, though.
• Barrier
  • Conjures up a magical barrier wherever he chooses. Capable of withstanding a moderate amount of damage before dispersing. Cannot move while it is in effect.
• Staff
  • Simple melee weapon, in case he needs to fight off an enemy who has gotten to close. Deals blunt-type damage.
• Savior
  • Minor healing spell. Gives an ally a small amount of health in exchange for some of his own.
• Guardian
  • Takes up a defensive position near his targeted ally. Intercepts attacks directed towards said ally and counterattacks the enemy.

Class: Defense/Protection Based. Rather slow and doesn’t deal a lot of damage, but is very difficult to take down. Also capable of being the tank for his allies.
Other: He’s a genuinely kind and selfless person.

Windjammer:
Mike "Primal Terror", our flightless dragon:

Spoiler

Name: Mike, Codename: Primal Terror
Appearance: Human appearance: Black, shoulder length wavy hair, 5:00 shadow, and brown eyes. Mike is very tall, but thin.
He prefers clothes that cover well, as he is very shy about himself, although he almost always has some form of Pink Floyd shirt on.
Alternate Form: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...235679342526491/SPOILER_Flightless_Dragon.jpg
Alternate Form Resistances: Resistant to attacks that deal damage over time, weak to armor piercing attacks, or ice based attacks.
Alternate Form Abilities:

• Passive: Intimidating Stare. Deals no damage, Temporarily lowers an enemy's morale, thus temporarily lowers their attack speed.

1. Gashing Claws. Deals melee damage but has no lasting effect.
2. Festering Bite. Deals melee damage, then deals smaller amounts of decay damage over time.
3. Flaming Spit. Mixture of volatile compounds that ignite on atmospheric contact and sticks to the target. Can only be fired for half a second, and takes time to recharge. Deals fire damage over time.

Class: Timed Tank. Tanking that specializes in dealing damage over time.
Other: Usually kind and quiet, yet loud when he needs to be. Cold and calculating toward his enemies.

Xcelgamer:
Jezzi "Demonic Queen", our jack-o-lantern mage:

Spoiler

Name: Jezzi Luna, Codename: Demonic Queen
Appearance: (Inactive.)
Alternate Form Resistances: With being a jack o lantern she has a decent resistance to fire based things but is weak to anything holy based
Alternate Form Abilities:

• Headloss? No problem! - A passive ability, since her head is just a pumpkin she can lose it without much worry as she can easily replace it
• Now that's bad heart-burn - She is able to launch varying styles of fire from her body. An example of what she can do is launch a line of fire, spits of fire And cover herself in fire
• Its Murder time - Jezzi is able to summon a murder of demonic crows. Simply but effective
• Spooky, Scary Skeletons - Similar to the crows but skeletons instead, while they are less durable and can't fly she can summon a few more than the crows
• Burn to the Ground - turns the Ground around her to be suddenly consumed by flames

Class: A mix of a summoner and a Pyromancer
Other: She hides a gamer and jokester behind a real girly girl persona

SP3CT3R:
Jax, our plushy lion:

Spoiler

Name: Jax (refuses to use a codename)
Appearance: In the Human World, Jax is tanned with a tall and broad frame, caramel-brown eyes, and black hair usually poking out from a backwards baseball cap.
In the Other World, Jax appears as a baby-blue plush lion with an off-white stomach and paw pads. His face has no features other than a pink nose and a pair of buttons for eyes. His mane is made of dark blue yarn, his tail has a pom-pom at the end, and he has a pair of small white wings on his back.
Resistances: Pretty much immune to blunt attacks, but easy to slice open
Abilities:
•Pressurized (passive) - Occasionally shoots concentrated blasts of air from wounds inflicted on him, which can stun nearby enemies.
•Extreme Strength - Can lift and throw a car with ease. Being soft does not make him hit less hard, somehow.
•Pounce - Jax can jump really damn far with his wings, and land hard enough to create a shockwave.
•Roar - A cone-shaped blast of soundwaves.
•Patch Up - Defeated enemies drop fabric hearts, which he can use to heal himself or give to others.
Class: Berserker
Other:

Probably George:
Greg "Carrier", our eldritch tank:

Spoiler

Name: Greg
Codename: Carrier
Appearance:

Resistance/Susceptibility: When encased, immune to non-blunt attacks, but easily immobilized. When not encased, his backside is extremely durable, but still has a soft underbelly.
Abilities:
-(Passive) Patient Zero: Carrier is the host of a self replicating crystalline spores. Carrier's wounds heal much faster due to the crystalline spores quickly suturing his wounds.
1: The spread: Carrier can use his spores to spread across any surface, enveloping anything they cover.
2: Sculptor: Carrier can shape any crystalline structure into anything from a small knife, to a tower shield.
3: Cover me in Diamonds: Carrier can envelop himself in crystals, although his mobility is only partially hindered.
Class: Crowd Control Tank

SwiftPhoenix:
Tyra "Outlaw", our chimeric wolf:

Spoiler

Name: Tyra Maden (Codename: Outlaw)
Appearance:
Human —
Icy blue eyes, sharp features and short black hair with dark violet streaks in it (for hairstyle think Kate Kane; pic). Clothing/Apparel(as will be described in first post): Black leather jacket with a t-shirt, black ribbon choker, ripped jeans and red Converse sneakers. Height: approx. 1.78 m / 5’10”
Alt. form —
Chimera with the front half of her body as a grey wolf, back as a bay horse(brown coat, black mane/tail) and eagle wings, talons on the back of her limbs and wings. Has a horse mane and purple markings in the wolf fur under it, like her hair in original, human form.
Resistances:

• Resistant to bright light attacks | Susceptible to poison
• Resistant to ice and cold | Susceptible to intense heat and fire

Abilities:

• Passive: Wicked sharp claws and fangs
• Can shoot ice spears out of paws if cold enough
• Temporary enhanced speed, expends a lot of energy to use

Class: Outlaw
Other: Not a very friendly person but will work with others towards a common goal, only truly trusts people she has known for a long time, and once you’ve earned her trust, you’ve got a steadfast ally. Outspoken and can be hot-tempered when provoked, goes by the rule of ‘if the rules are wrong, break them’. Skilled in the art of sarcasm.

 

[skwerl56767]

~0= The Silver Forest =0~​

...
Ugh...
What.... what??
Dirt. Not the dirt she was expecting. Heather groaned as her whole body ached, especially her lungs and her face, for some reason. She wasn't sure how she knew, but it felt like she was inhaling air that wasn't there and was completely fine at the same time. Her chest was pounding and she felt a bit too chilled. Part of her was marveling at how she went from casually watching Jezzi reach toward that wall of blue light to suddenly being outside, and the other part was indignant about how she had to be thrown face-first into the ground. The problem with those two clues is there was no in-between. She wasn't knocked out, that's for sure, but then how did she end up here?

Heather moved to pick herself up, hearing her arm scrape across leaf litter. Through slowly-focusing vision, she at first thought she was looking at hundreds of scraps of tin foil, like a kid had gone wild with excitement tearing it up for a craft project, but then she noticed that each scrap had the semblance of a leaf, and the silver carpet stretched on and on. Heaving herself up, she saw that the carpet terminated at a gnarly thicket of wiry black bushes, dark-barked leafless trees, and black conifers, all rising up like an immense wall all around her. The sky contrasted with an awe-striking canopy of bright blue and green nebula, freckled with millions of stars. Somehow, it made it as bright as twilight, especially the brightest mass shining through the eastern trees.

She tried to stand up to take in all the splendor, but tripped over herself back into the dirt.
"Mrmmrgh!" she protested. Thankfully it was the side of her face she landed on this time, but it sure gave her a good view of her hand when she was about to pick herself back up.
She lay there and stared at it. She stared at it for a long time. She heard movement, shifting, and upset groans to her right, and yet she still stared at it.

Well, for starters, she was missing a finger. She knew that just by the way it felt. The small, fragile structure of her hand, used to no rougher treatment than typing on a keyboard, had been blown up to a much larger, more angular design. The skin was grey and thick, and look more like rubber or a carbon finish. The joints were accentuated by black lines, and the claws were huge! As in, the-whole-end-segment-of-each-finger-is-now-claw huge! This was all discounting the serrated blade jutting from a sheathe on her arm, like a massive imposing hunting knife just waiting to sink into something squishy.
Again, her mind was in two camps: one was amazed and full of glee, as she's always drawn and dreamed of such frighteningly-cool designs. The second was trying to wrap her mind around how this thing felt like her.
Pushing herself back up with the freaky clawed hand, she turned and looked at her other arm, expecting the same thing, or maybe just the usual human arm, but it was neither.
Is that a frickin' gun?!

Heather just gaped at herself, stuck in her own head, examining the rest of her body. All of it had the carbon skin. All of it was divided into plates by the black lines. There were seams for flexibility everywhere, and her legs both looked short and felt long. Her shoulders felt big, and as she sat up straight, her head was way higher up than it should've been. Topping off the cake of weird? It all felt natural!
I'm a robot! I'm a robot! I'm a robot! her mind was chanting over and over. This has to be a dream! I'm a robot!
"Ohmygosh, guys!" she finally blurted out, barely processing at the same time the slight distortion her voice now had. Not that she had much time for it, because as she turned to her right, she... well, to be fair, what can you expect after that first realization? She wasn't sure what to expect, as she froze up like a hare that just caught a wolf's eye, staring at the collection of otherworldly beings in front of her.
W-What? Is that them? Or did things just turn REALLY hairy?

 

[SP3CT3R]

"No, Jezzi, back away from-WHAT ARE YOU DOING DON'T-" Jax was suddenly upside down, being tugged face-first towards the mirror by what felt like gravity. He shut his eyes against the irritatingly vibrant blue glow... and found himself getting launched several feet instead of slamming into the wall. Jax rolled, feeling himself hit the ground, hard, in several places. Once he came to a stop, he lay there, spread-eagle on his back, waiting for the pain of what would be at least ten bruises come tomorrow. Maybe more. It was just a matter of seconds...

...An unusually large amount of seconds. Jax's whole body felt numb, as if he'd slept on top of all of his limbs, and his torso, and his head at the same time. Am I paralyzed or something? Jax's eyes shot open at the possibility, and shut again immediately. Way too much light entered his pupils for the brief second they were open. Nope, not paralyzed, from the neck up, at least. Maybe I was concussed, he considered instead. Or I snapped my neck and died instantly, and all that light is because I'm in the afterlife.

Jax hauled himself up to a a sitting position, shielding his eyes from the light with one hand as they adjusted. He was pretty certain that he wasn't paralyzed at this point, although his fingers, toes, and face still felt pretty numb, and there were still no high notes from his nerves for getting launched like that. He could see well enough to make out his surroundings at this point, too. It was somehow daylight, the trees in the forest were suddenly silvery- Colorblindness, then?- and Jax could swear his now-blue nose was taking up more of his field of view than usual.

"Ohmygosh, guys!"

Jax instinctively twisted towards Heather's voice, barely registering the weird electronic noises. The shack was gone; in its place were five things that he didn't get a good look at, because across the clearing was what looked like a xenomorph, except with a glowing red eye and a gun for an arm. And he could swear, it was staring at him.

Jax rose to his feet. He'd always thought horror movie characters were complete morons for not running immediately when the monster revealed itself. But he found himself frozen to the spot, just like those characters he constantly roasted. Unable to call on fight nor flight. "Jezzi, if you're listening," he growled, "you'd better hope that I'm already dead. Because one of us will be."

 

[ArcaneDreamer]

~ The Forest...? ~​

Kendrick was.... confused. One second, he was reaching out to Jezzi to move her away from the odd wall, and then.... Nothing.
Well, no, maybe not 'nothing'. For example, he noticed that, bizarrely, he didn't feel cold at all. Though, he wasn't warm either - he just felt... neutral? Yeah, neutral was a good word for whatever this feeling was.
Another thing he noticed was that there was a distinct lack of old walls around where he was currently. That was equally as odd as his lack of coldness, considering he didn't remember leaving the shed. A bit disturbed by this, Ken started to take in his surroundings - as he did, his bewilderment at the situation caused him to miss the fact that his field of vision was much wider than it should be.

"What in the world? How'd I get outside...?"

... Hold on. That--- That couldn't possibly be his voice. It sounded bizarre, like it was overlapping with both a high-pitched woman's voice and a deep, masculine baritone. Furthermore, it was as if his words just reverberated through the air around his head, instead of being emitted from.... his...

'Wh-Why can't I feel my mouth..?'

Kendrick went to move a hand up to touch where his jaw was supposed to be, when he caught a glimpse of something decidedly not hand-shaped moving instead. Startled, he looked down at himself---

"Are these wings?!"

He couldn't help shouting in surprise at his surprise limb replacement. From what he could see, somehow, his entire body was replaced with six wings filled with glowing white feathers. Before he could fully process this bizarre event, he heard Heather's voice cut through the air. Relieved to hear a familiar voice, he disregarded the odd electronic tone accompanying her cry and turned to look over at his friend.
He was completely unprepared for what he saw instead: Six decidedly not human beings were scattered across the clearing, and standing where Heather's voice had originated, there was a terrifying mechanical... thing just standing there. Scared by this unexpected sight, Kendrick abruptly 'jumped' back - though, it was more like he floated up and backwards a bit - and unknowingly began to glow brighter, fear coursing through his entire being.

"Wh-What's going on?! Where is everyone?!"

 

[Xcelgamer]

...
...Ow...
...Burning...
Jezzi blinked she could see the sky, not natural, she remembered being in the shack she remebered the blue, shimmering wall that everyone had been looking at and how she had despite Jax's attempt to stop her, she touched it and then as soon as she did she fell forwards and was swallowed by it, she instinctively squeaked and closed her eyes. After she landed on the floor there was a crunching sound under her, she looked at the ground although her head felt weird more spherical than usual. Her whole body felt lighter like there wasn't as much of her, as she got up she heard three different voices

Heather, Jax and Kendrick those three she heard, Heather and Kendrick were freaking out about something, could quite hear them but Jax's threat on her she heard quite clearly "I'm sorry Jax, I was curious" Her eyes widened it sounded partially like her voice yet it sounded like a demon or some form of evil creature. She quickly stood up the ground and was further from the ground then she usually was yet it still felt natural to her, she was curious as to how long she was out and instead of her normal hand, she saw what looked more like a three digit claw then a normal hand "AHHHHHH, WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY AM I MISSING TWO FINGERS?!" Jezzi yelled out as she started looking over herself, she had an exposed cavity burning brightly, her limbs were blackened like they were burnt and had only muscles and bones, then as she touched her head it didn't feel natural, almost like it was a pumpkin and then felt the inside of her mouth which felt really hot, like fire "Ok guys please tell me the truth but do I have a pumpkin for a head? Cause I'm really freaking put right now"

 

[Windjammer]

Mike was astonished to say the least. He found himself flat on his back, like a horse in its favorite dust patch. He could remember an unusual object in the shack they were just in, screaming, and a sudden change in location, as if they had traveled by some Hollywood magic. He felt strange about the new location. It was familiar, yet strange. It seemed extra spooky, almost cursed. He felt off balance as he tried to pick himself up. As he rolled over and stood up, he noticed he was built completely different, that he balanced differently. He then looked down at what he presumed were his hands.

"What the Hell?!"

Mike was surprised to find he had only three fingers with huge claws. They resembled those of a dinosaur. Just as surprising, was that he sounded different. He sounded like a certain gold hoarding dragon from a certain movie. He then looked behind himself, to see a body and long tail, also resembling a dinosaur's. His feet also fit the dinosaur motif.

"What am I? What have I become?!"

Mike looked over to where he heard the others, but saw a random collection figures. He began to cautiously call out for his friends hoping that they were somewhere here.

"Kendrick?... Jezzi?...Heather?!...Jax?!"

He started to sound worried, he had no clue what was going on, and he was not sure what anything was, or where anything was for that matter. He was having trouble sorting out the events that had just transpired, and was afraid he never would. He felt like a monster. He was nervous and had sense of dread that he couldn't shake as he started to pace in a circle, his head following his tail.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Before either Jax or that... thing replicating Heather's voice made a move, an unnatural, reverbating sound came from one of the other things in the clearing. Jax whipped around, fully aware that he was making the classic mistake of taking his eyes off of the robot monster. He couldn't figure out where in specific the noise came from because of the impossible pitch.

A large white mass stirred. Jax could see clearly that it was a pile of pure-white feathers, with a flame hovering by it, like a will-o-wisp, and a pair of glowing humanoid legs sticking out from beneath the feathers like the Wicked Witch of the East. Jax heard the noise again, coming more from the inside of his head than somewhere nearby. He put two and two together and realized he was dealing with one of those classic Biblical angels.

"Wh-What's going on?! Where is everyone?!" the voice said, clearly enough for Jax to understand, this time. Although it was more like several voices at once, with a distinct lack of one pitch. Like the opposite of someone's voice.

Now that they had his attention, Jax could see that the other objects in the clearing weren't objects, but living creatures. A jack-o-lantern on his other side rasped something Jax didn't quite catch; it sounded like English, but there was too much for him to process right then to pay attention. A pinkish velociraptor-looking creature stood up and studied itself, throwing some typical crisis lines around.

"Kendrick?... Jezzi?...Heather?!...Jax?!" It called the names of Jax's friends and then his own. That was definitely not normal. All of these monsters sounded confused and at least two acted like they were familiar with him and the group. He counted again, just to make sure. There were six, including himself.

That settled it. Jax said, holding back panic, "Guys, whatever Jezzi did to that mirror, I think it turned all of you into monsters."

 

[Windjammer]

Mike heard Jax's comment, and started carefully towards a blue lion that sounded like him.

"Im not sure if youre Jax or not, but if you are, you havent escaped the change."

Mike was still clearly shaken by the ordeal though, and was cautious in his aporoach. He swore the lion sounded like Jax, but he wasn't sure. He wanted make sure he identified himself, so he did.

"I...Its Mike. Well, supposed to be anyway."

Mike looked around at the others, and was very concerned by what he saw. He could hear his friends' voices, but wasn't sure if they where really his friends in new bodies or what the beings were. All he knew was that he wasn't dreaming, that this was real. He just had to make sure he was still with his friends.

 

[Probably George]

What is this? I can't see a damn thing, and it feels like I'm surrounded by... dirt? No, that's not exactly right. But it's the best guess I got. Did the shack collapse and now I'm buried alive? Oh fuck that! If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die in a fight!
Among the others, whom already started realizing a bit of the situation, was a large crystal peaking out of the ground. Not a moment after Greg went through his thoughts, he emerged from beneath the earth. Now above surface, he could see the others, and the monstrosities they had become. If it wasn't for their voices staying near contact with their otherworldly counter parts, Greg would have made a run for it.
"What the h-" He quickly stopped himself. Yes, he could speak, but it wasn't lips making his pronunciations. Rather, a complex system of tentacles and what felt like a ribbed like structure in his mouth vibrating as he spoke. As he went to reach for his new face-tentacles, he noticed not only the lack of a few didgets, but as well as the odd form of his fingers. "What the fuck?! Guys?!" With a pause, all he could muster was another "What the fuck?!"
Among his deformities was a tremendous weight on his back. Reaching towards it, Greg immediately caught on to the lack of an organic feel to it. Immediately assuming it to be something invasive, Greg began to panic. "Ah! Shit! Get this off me!" In an attempt to remove the weight, Greg begun to thrash around, breaking the few trees that were poor enough to be in the way. In a last ditch effort, Greg threw all his strength into his legs and landed straight on his back. This only caused his new crystalline tumor to get lodged into the ground. After nailing himself into the ground, Greg realized he was essentially a turtle on its back. "Hey, guys, I can't get up..."

 

[ArcaneDreamer]

Before Kendrick could spiral into an honest-to-god panic attack at the situation, he heard a mildly horrifying scream come from one of the other creatures. He flinched in response, and his feathers puffed out slightly, much like a bird does when it's afraid. In spite of his startled reaction, he had enough wits to notice something was a bit odd about the demonic being's voice.

'Why does that pumpkin creature kinda sound like Jezzi...?'

He had all of two seconds to puzzle over this until the demonic-looking pumpkin asked a rather odd question about its - her? - head. Still rather nervous, his wings drew themselves a bit closer together - as though they were hugging a central mass - before he decided to answer.

"Aahhh... Would you be upset if I said 'yes'? Because you definitely have a pumpkin head..."

Trailing off at the end, Kendrick awkwardly shifted his gaze elsewhere, still trying to understand the situation before him. He ended up settling his sight on two particular creatures - one was some sort of dinosaur, while the other was a.... plushy lion? - having a conversation with each other. Upon hearing their familiar sounding voices, as well as the dinosaur call himself 'Mike', understanding swept through Kendrick and his wings abruptly turned into a far more neutral state. As this was happening, he tilted his head in thought - though to the outside viewer, the golden flames that made up his 'head' seemed to abruptly slant slightly and burn at far more sedated rate.

'If that's Mike, and that's Jax, then does that mean that this whole thing is real...?'

He sighed shakily to himself, attempting to stay calm. Whatever the case may be, panicking would only make things worse, nevermind the fact that was what he almost did a few moments ago. He turned towards the two beings he was staring at earlier and began to speak to them, his words obviously tinted with nervous energy.

"Umm, if you guys really are who I think you are, then this really isn't just some weird dream, then...?"

He hesitated for a moment before quickly adding another statement.

"O-Oh! And I'm not sure if you could tell at all, but I'm Kendrick."

As soon as he finished with his introduction, there was a loud THUD that had Kendrick's wings puffing up once again, and he whipped his gaze over to the source. As soon as he saw a prone form awkwardly draped over a large crystal - and heard a voice that sounded a lot like Greg's call for some assistance - he put two and two together and quickly rushed over. Despite quite clearly owning a pair of 'legs', it was rather clear that they were redundant, as the mass of wings and light merely hovered/flew to his destination, calling out in worry as he did.

"Oh-- Uh, Greg - I mean, you're Greg, right? Are you okay?"

As he came to a stop, he looked at the actually somewhat comical sight in front of him, trying to figure out the best course of action, before abruptly remembering his own situation. Golden flames seemed to glance down at the wings it was attached to, then back up at Greg, before an awkward - yet somehow melodious - laugh reverberated through the air.

"I... Don't have any hands. I'll still try to figure out how to help, though!"

With that, he awkwardly hovered around Greg for a few seconds, trying to figure out the best angle to push, before coming to a conclusion. With a clearly sheepish ruffle of feathers, he turned towards the others.

"Ahhh... Could someone with actual arms and hands come over and help...?"

 

[Swift_Phoenix]

Tyra was frozen, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Okay, let’s take this one fast, crazy thing at a time.

First, she had followed Jezzi, Heather and the others to an old shed in the woods. Then they had found a glowy blue thing. And of course Jezzi just had to touch it. And as a result, she was buried in dirt.

Great. Really freaking great.

Breaking through the dirt on top of her, she started to get to her feet... only to find that they weren’t really feet anymore. Okay, what the heck?!

Shocked beyond words, she shot up with a yelp, tottering on four paws.

“What the... what the...?! Jezzi!!!!” she yelled. In her frantic shouts she fell over, scrambling upright again like a puppy, though there was a strange weight on her back that made it harder.

Panicked, she looked around at the others, and the sight of some of them was just a little amusing, calming her down.

Heather was some sort of mechanical robot sniperish creature. Jax was what seemed to be a plushy lion? Kendrick was a mass of white feathers with a flaming, bright not-head. Mike was a dinosaur looking creature, Greg was a crystally tentacled monster, and Jezzi herself was a demonic pumpkin thing.

Okay, Ty, just chill out right now. Kill Jezzi later. She was... in a different shape, she could tell that much. Now she paused to study her new form, slightly curious as to what she herself was.

What she saw was a furry grey body and front legs, shortly followed by brown equine hindquarters and a cascading black horse tail. The weight on her back turned out to be two white, eagle-like wings with sharp talons on the backs of them as well as her legs. Not totally foreign, like Jezzi or Heather or Greg’s, but not so familiar, either. Well, it isn’t too bad, is it? At least you’re not a slime blob, she told herself. Now let’s sort this out with the others and everything will be fine.

Just then she heard Kendrick’s voice. "Ahhh... Could someone with actual arms and hands come over and help...?" Tyra wasn’t sure what she could do for Greg but she was determined to try. ... I just need to figure out how to, well, walk. “Here goes,” she muttered, then attempted to push herself up.

It was, of course, a complete failure. The useless, dead weight of her wings toppled her over onto her side, head smacking against the ground.

After a few more tries and ridiculous, undignified poses, she managed to make it to her feet.

How long’s it going to take me to actually get over to Greg? She let out a growl of frustration.

“Um, I’ll be right there, guys. Just hold on a sec.” Flattening her pointed ears she glanced up at the two (creatures formerly known as) boys sheepishly. Slowly, with many more falls and embarrassment, she staggered forward towards her friends and finally, finally stood where Greg lay stuck. Then it hit her that Kendrick had asked for someone with hands and arms. Neither of which she had anymore.

“Frak,” she said out loud, voicing her thoughts. “I don’t even have hands anymore.” Near her wit’s end, she flopped over onto the grass yet again. “Sorry, Greg.“ She sighed and tried to chew her nails as she did in human form, but ended up with a mouthful of paw.

“Frak. Frak frak freaking frak,” she muttered under her breath. This whole thing was just ticking her off.
“Now what do we do?”

 

[SP3CT3R]

"Very funny, Mike. If I'd turned into something, I would've noti..." Jax glanced at his hand. It was light blue and had no fingers, like a mitten. On his palm was a cream-colored heart. He uttered, "Whoa, what the shit," and touched it with his other hand. It felt like velvet. And it was definitely his skin, not a costume.

Jax picked up one of the metallic leaves on the ground, which was slightly more difficult without fingers. His reflection in it looked like a plush lion, with buttons for eyes and no mouth. The buttons morphed and deformed to match Jax's expression as he obsessively felt his face to make absolutely sure the reflection in the leaf was completely accurate. It was his real face, no doubt about it.

"Ugh, hold on, let me handle it," Jax said, as a Cthulhuoid creature that was apparently Greg unearthed himself from beneath a large pink crystal and promptly turtled over. Jax was irate over being magically transformed into a stuffed toy instead of something more kickass like the others, but at the very least, he still had opposable thumbs.

There was a tentacle wrapped around the crystal spire jutting around Greg's back. It made Jax a little squeamish, but he tried to ignore it while wrapping his arms around the crystal to get a good grip. Luckily, Greg was deceptively light. Jax turned him the right way, careful to avoid cutting himself on the sharp points. "And there. You're actually pretty damn light, Greg."

Tyra was the last to get up, and was clearly not as acclimated to her wolf-horse-bird body as everyone else was to theirs. Although, to be fair, she was a quadruped. Jax was already sure the remixed chimera was her by process of elimination, but her wolf head had a horse's mane with streaks of a very specific shade of violet. Apparently, Tyra's hair dye was a universal constant, like death or taxes. Jax made no attempt to answer her question, though.

 

[Windjammer]

Once he had figured out who was who, Mike decided that there must be a reason for the events that had transpired. There had to be a reason why they were there. There must be a purpose to their new bodies, else why would they be given them in the first place. After all, they were practically pulled into whatever was in the shed, almost as if they were needed, at least it felt that way. They were each given a new form, different for each of them, and presumably for different purposes. Mike felt they needed to figure out why they were really there, and what purposes they were to serve.

Mike wasn't the leader type by any means, but none the less, he made his way to a nearby rock sticking up from the ground and perched himself on top. He intended to get the group's attention in order to pose his questions in such a way they could think about them as a group. He hoped that he'd be loud enough to hear, and that he wouldn't embarrass himself. Then again, hes now a dinosaur or something of that sort, so what did he have left to lose. And with that, he let out a loud call sounding like a mix between a mountain lion's scream, and an alligator's growl.

"Guys, guys guys. There's a reason for this!"

 

[skwerl56767]

Heather gaped as the first one to notice her was, most ironically, the cuddliest-looking thing here. It stood up on two legs, and looked over at her. For a second she was reminded of the teddy bear enemies in Diablo III's bonus level, and wondered if she needed to attack it before it went for her throat, but she was distracted by the fabric fringe around its head that also reminded her of a cat plush she had as a toddler. A lion? That's blue?
Then its mouth started moving despite being a stuffed animal. Audibly, it was no human, so it wasn't a guy in a lion suit. It was also talking like... Jax?
"D-Dead?" Heather echoed quietly. This couldn't be happening!
"What in the world? How did I get outside...? Are these wings?!" Heather started at what sounded like two people talking at once, and spun around. Light, and wings! The mass abruptly floated up and she scooted back in the leaves with what sounded like a startled beep.
"Uh! Uh!" she exclaimed uselessly, over and over. A pumpkin stood up and screamed. A dinosaur stood up on the other side of the clearing. A crystal unearthed itself, showering black earth over her. Some canine thing dug itself out of the soil the crystal flew everywhere. Heather just sat there, gaping, breathing hard. WHAT IS HAPPENING?! Should I run?! Do I need to fight these things?!

Then, once the crystal creature flopped onto its back and became stuck, suddenly, thankfully, the initial freakout stopped.
"Ok guys please tell me the truth but do I have a pumpkin for a head? Cause I'm really freaking put right now !" the pumpkin yelled. Heather sat dumbly as she took a double take of the sentence.
The... pumpkin creature is... surprised it's a pumpkin?
The brightly glowing mass of wings dimmed a bit, and said "Aahhh... Would you be upset if I said 'yes'? Because you definitely have a pumpkin head... "
They're not fighting, she noted. Granted, monsters in films and games didn't usually target each other, but they weren't know for conversation, either. She shifted her head slightly to the left as the dinosaur began talking to the stuffed lion, and while she was half-checked-out, she could tell by the way its button eyes creased that pure, familiar sarcasm was coming from the lion's mouth. The wolf creature was having trouble standing. The crystal - or rather, its eldritch carrier, asked for help, still struggling to flip over. This wasn't exactly your typical posse of murderous beasts. Which means... this is them!

Heather stood up shakily. Her whole frame rattled with the slightest clinking, and she sucked in air through what felt like her cheeks. Okay. Okay. I'm a robot, and they're not human either. Makes sense, right? She watched as the many-winged light and the wolf - with hooves and wings? - both attempted to help the eldritch one, but ultimately couldn't do anything. She hobbled farther into the clearing, her shock spiking into amazement as the stuffed lion casually turned over the huge creature as though he was the one filled with cotton! Yet if the heavy thuds of his feet hitting the ground were anything to go by, he was not light!
"H-Ho-How did you do that?" she stammered out, drawing into herself. "J-Jax??" She looked, clueless, over the others. Her scattered focus failed her again, as usual. The previous chatter had been just noise as she had tried to process what was going on, but logic dictated... well honestly, all she could do was the process of elimination. The wolf had a horse mane that matched Tyra's striped hair, and she knew, sort of, that the pumpkin ghoul was a girl, and Greg was burly so maybe he was the eldritch one, or the dinosaur...?

The red, saurian creature did a quick scan of the clearing, before splitting off and heading toward a boulder at the edge of it. Heather's single eye followed up as it hopped up, turned, and let out a hoarse bark or roar of some kind that made her jump as well. "Guys, guys guys. There's a reason for this!"
"A reason? For the portal?" Heather said before she even processed the unusual suggestion. A portal? Yet what else could it be? Unless Jezzi touching that blue wall somehow injected them all with LSD, but this seemed really stable for a drug trip. Not that she really knew what that was like... was it like in the shows, where it was all wavy and colorful? Because that's definitely not what this was. She looked down at her gun-arm and grazed her claws along its casing, and it neither rippled nor warped into anything else. It was as solid as it looked and felt. She considered the saurian's words.
"I do feel like I'm Heather, but I'm not Heather... but I am," she said aloud in complete confusion, "And... I don't know, like I need to run through the forest to... someplace." She flushed with embarrassment and habitually raised the gun barrels to her face to hide it, only to feel sillier by the fact that it was a gun and shielded nothing.

 

[Swift_Phoenix]

At a comment near her, she looked over to Jax, who was helping Greg the crystal carrier up.
"Ugh, hold on, let me handle it.”
Tyra burst out laughing; the sight of a blue plush lion speaking as Jax was just pure hilarity. “Sorry, sorry,” she gasped, almost rolling around in her merriment. ”Just... it’s just too funny.” She had to take a moment to regain her composure before getting back onto her four feet, wobbling slightly but getting more used to being a wolf. Mike (the dinosaur was Mike, wasn’t it?) jumped up onto a rock and let out a sound that sounded like a roar.

"Guys, guys guys. There's a reason for this!" "A reason? For the portal?" She heard Heather reply and did the same.

She snorted. ”Right, because the portal and this sudden transformation is totally random,” she huffed sarcastically, then paused.
Mike was obviously just trying to help, and that might’ve come across as condescending or snappish.

”Sorry. Mike’s right. If there’s a mystery, I’m going to solve it. Also, this is way more exciting than a usual, run-of-the-mill day.” She offered the others a grin and a shrug, trying to make up for it. “Now, who’s got any ideas?”
She heard Heather’s confused remark, "I do feel like I'm Heather, but I'm not Heather... but I am," she said. "And... I don't know, like I need to run through the forest to... someplace." Tyra considered that. ”Well, that’s a start. Anyone else?”

 

[ArcaneDreamer]

Kendrick wasn't sure what he was expecting when he asked for help, but a wolf-horse-bird creature stumbling over towards him wasn't it. However, unlike earlier, he wasn't too scared by its appearance - he had finally caught onto the fact that these were his friends, despite their new... monstrous looks. Therefore, as his fellow winged being approached and he saw a very distinct shade of purple in its mane, he concluded that this must be Tyra.
As soon as she got close to Greg, though, he noticed a certain problem - and she seemed to realize it at the same time, muttering to herself before apologizing for not being to help after all. Kendrick turned towards Tyra and subconsciously fluffed his wings as he tried to encourage her.

"Well, I mean, you tried, at least!"

After then hearing her murmured question, his wings froze a bit before once again withdrawing against themselves, accompanied with the slight dimming of his light.

"I-- I don't know... This whole thing's pretty surreal, to be honest..."

His somber mood almost immediately evaporated, though, when Jax decided to try his hand at moving Greg. To the general shock of everyone, apparently, the now-plushy-lion didn't have any problems whatsoever. The mass of wings seemed to 'stare' incomprehensibly at Jax for a beat or two as Tyra began cackling in the background, before finally speaking in a bewildered tone.

"... H-How? You're in a plush animal form, don't you need muscles...?"

Kendrick trailed off at the end, deciding to not continue down that line of questioning. Everyone was turned into a bunch of creatures - some more fantastical-looking than others - so why shouldn't Jax have super strength?

'Though, now that makes me wonder if I have any other special abilities...'

He snapped out of his thoughts when an abrupt roar rang out through the clearing. Startled, and feathers puffed out once again, the seraphim whipped his gaze over to the source, before quickly calming down after realizing who was speaking. Though, after hearing what Mike had to say, he couldn't help but tilt his 'head' once again in confusion as he began to muse out loud.

"A reason...? I mean, I'm sure there's an explanation why we're all here... Though, I really wouldn't know what that explanation would be."

He paused when the mechanical creature - apparently that was Heather, after all, not an imitation - spoke her mind. He quickly 'nodded' - which manifested as his head flames bobbing up and down for a moment - in agreement, becoming aware that he was feeling a similar impulse.

"Yeah.. now that you mention it, I feel like I need to run off somewhere too. Though, it's less 'running' and more 'flying', for me..."

As soon as he said this, his wings abruptly stiffened in realization. A moment later, his golden flames practically erupted into excited inferno as his wings flared in an apparent display of joy. An elated laugh rang through the clearing before he spoke again, his excitement somehow adding a few more 'voices' into his words.

"Wait a second, I-- I'm flying! I can fly!! Oh my god, guys, this-- this is awesome!!"

Kendrick was so caught up in his delighted realization that he accidentally ignored Tyra's question about idea, too enamored with his brand new way of moving.

 

[Windjammer]

Mike watched as Kendrick flew around above the clearing, it was quite the spectacle, the aerobatics matched only by the best of birds, but in Mike's eyes, it didn't provide any answers, but did provide a clue. Mike turned toward Tyra to answer her question.

"I don't have a single definitive answer, but I do know this, is almost certain we all have abilities that likely match our forms. What those are however, i do not know."

Mike then began to scout his surroundings. He was looking for something, something that the group could test their abilities on. He first looked at the rock he was just on, but decided against it. He then walked to the tree line, and began looking at each tree one at a time. After looking at a good dozen trees, he came across an oak with a very large, but dead limb that had begun to decay.


Hmmm, that will work. He thought to himself.

He then turned to Heather.

"Hey Heather? Could you do me a favor?"

 

[skwerl56767]

"Oh sure, rub it in," Heather teased as she observed the winged one's realization that he could fly. If the tone - or many tones, in this case - of the being were anything to go by, this must be Kendrick. She couldn't hide her smile as he zipped around the clearing. Part of her was jealous that she couldn't fly, or at least, she didn't think so, but surely there were other cool things she could do? It'd be interesting to see what abilities had come with these new bodies! She looked around at the others, tail held up in a more optimistic S-shape, her mind already running away with the possibilities.

"Well... the entertainment part of me is thinking that the urge to go somewhere is because something called us here, for some reason. But we didn't feel that way before Jezzi touched the mirror, so it doesn't make sense. I mean, if something needed us, wouldn't we have been cued in on it before ending up here? And why did we transform on the way in? Why into so many different things?" Another question came to mind, and the biomecha looked back at where she thought they came in, but all she saw was a tall, stone frame, with nothing in it. It was made of a silvery rock that was deliberately carved, and other rocks like it jutted from the soil, forming a short wall here or a broken pillar there, but aside from being conspicuous there was nothing to suggest it had anything to do with their arrival. What did they do to get the mirror to glow? The rocks and their covers on the other side? Those were pretty innocuous though. "Why us? Would it have happened to anyone else? Did we change because it's dangerous to be here?" she quietly asked, half to herself. Sure, this new experience was seriously cool, but nothing happened for no reason.

"Hey Heather? Could you do me a favor?"
"Hm?" She was roused from her thoughts and turned back to the red saurian. If the winged light was Kendrick, and the stuffie was Jax, then he must be Greg or Mike? He was standing beside one the large, gnarled deciduous trees. The thickness of the trunk and boughs suggested it was pretty old, and one of the largest branches was a discolored grey, contrasting with the black bark. Despite already feeling comfortable in her new body - at least, until she started thinking about the weird way she had to walk and the noodly tail sticking off her butt - it took her a good few moments of staring to finally approach her friend. They were still friends, right? She didn't feel any other sort of consciousness coming in, like if she had mentally changed too, so logically the others hadn't either?
Still, she stopped about a yard away from the saurian, keeping a wary eye on his massive jaws. "What- uh, what do you need?"

 

[Probably George]

Greg was pretty disappointed in the lack of strength from his allies. Just like in the real world... He thought. Suddenly though, he was flipped over with ease. "Oh yea! There we go!" He then turned to see that the only new hand was that of the small... stuffed animal? "How- What? I'm atleast 300 kilos, how the fuck?" There wasn't much time to talk further about the incident before everyone else started going off on their own. Further listening to Kendrick, Greg put 2 and 2 together. "If you want, I can throw Build-A-Bear up really high so he can scout the area. I'm a good catch too!"

 

[Windjammer]

"Heather. Its me, Mike."

Mike could see she was being cautious, which was understandable, considering he now had a mouth full of what were essentially daggers. Mike had the idea of somehow knocking the dead tree limb out of the old oak. He thought, if they had abilities, they'd need something to test them on, and see who had what. His logic was that the dead wood of the branch would show clearly any damage done. This, in turn, would show who had a certain ability. The problem was that Mike, even though he was quite large, he could not reach the tree limb, and needed someone's help, and since Kendrick was having too much fun, he decided to ask Heather if she could shoot it down.

"Any way, Is it possible you could knock that tree limb down by shooting it? If not, i can see if Kendrick can break it off with his weight, assuming he has any, and I can get his attention."

Mike chuckled a bit at the thought Kendrick was having so much fun. He looked at his friends as a group, and though they were as mismatched as ever, he knew they were still his friends, and that they were in this together, no matter what. He truly believed that they could make it through this odd time in their lives, and that it may lead to something greater. What that was, he didn't know. Where they'd go, he didn't know. But what he did know is that trials lay ahead, and he also knew they could face them all, but they'd face them together, as a mismatched, but wonderful group of friends. Mike then told Heather he had one more thing he felt he needed to say to everyone.

"Also, I feel like once we have all settled a bit, there's something that needs said to everyone. Its about our predicament."

 

[SP3CT3R]

"I didn't do anything-"

"I just said, Greg is just-"

"Technically-"

"You're not 300- try that and I'll-"

Jax tried to get a word in, to no avail. De-turtling Greg was just not as difficult as it looked, yet his friends were awed as if he'd pulled a sword from stone. I literally just said that Greg is just much lighter than he looks. Try lifting him yourselves and you'll see, Jax thought to himself. Unfortunately, the topic of conversation changed before he could say anything. And Kendrick had discovered he could fly before Jax had the chance to point out that a living thing would need muscles to move at all and that Kendrick himself didn't have any, either. Jax had no choice but to let him have his fun.

"Not much point in trying to connect the dots, if you ask me," Jax said, weighing in on the topic at hand. "Whatever happened to us is way too much of an outside-context problem to make an educated guesses. We should probably worry more about our first course of action than why we're here. That said, I think we should try heading back into town and seeing what state it's in, if it's still there. Maybe this happened everywhere."

 

[skwerl56767]

"Oh my gosh, please be careful," Heather laughed at the eldritch one's suggestion to throw Jax into the air. The reasonable part of her was worried about the obvious consequences. The curious part of her didn't care, and made her sort of suggest that it might be okay. Jax certainly looked like he was that durable. Plus, if it worked, it might actually lend some useful information!
Jax didn't look so amused. "Try that and I'll-"
"Heather. It's me, Mike." Distracted again, the android turned back to the saurian, jaws open slightly in half-disbelief and half-relief.
"O-Oh!" She chuckled nervously, looking him up and down again. "Sorry, I sort of.... spaced it when we came here. You're like, a dragon dinosaur." She felt so awkward, and stating the obvious didn't help. She looked back up at the tree limb - glancing at Kendrick in between at the mention of him possibly breaking the branch - and smiled. "Sure, I can try it! I doubt Kendrick would do anything though - probably phase through it," she lowered her voice for the joke. A bit of confidence returned now that she at least thought she knew who everyone was now, and despite their unusual transformations, they certainly still acted like the same ol' friends. "And yeah, our situation..." considering it for a moment, she agreed again, "Yeah, but I'll do the branch first. I'm pretty sure I can get it." Heather walked back into the clearing a bit, switching between forward and backward so she could line herself up with the branch, then stared at it, thinking about how she would actually shoot a gun that was her arm... assuming it even was a gun...

Well, if I was a robot - which I guess I am now - I would stiffen my arm out, because the dampeners would be in the shoulders and click into place, she told herself, despite not actually knowing how ballistics - nevertheless whatever this fired - even worked. She tried the movement, lifting her right arm and pointing it at the branch. It sighted in just like a real weapon, and it brought back memories of her brother teaching her how to use a pellet gun. Although... she didn't feel like her arm was any different. Nervously, Heather shifted her stance so her body was more in-line with the weapon than perpendicular to it, but there weren't any clicks, or any stability in the elbow, anything like that to make her feel safer. If she still had skin she would've broken into a nervous sweat. All right, don't think about how silly you look! Just focus on what you would do. The curls in her tail posture tightened as she tried spreading her feet further apart, only to feel more awkward. She tried to calm down by listening to Kendrick's whooping in the background, and Jax talking about how visiting the town should be next on the list. Should she warn them? Maybe she should warn them.

"I-I think I'm gonna shoot! Maybe!" she said aloud. Her chest felt tight and it was hard not to twitch the rifle barrel one way or another. She thought about how an arm-gun fired. Imagine the muscles tensing, maybe? She tried to feel something she could move in her arm, and attempted to pull or squeeze anything, but it felt like a dead object glued to her shoulder. "Um, hold on, how does this thing work...?" She brought it in, examined it, and couldn't get a bead on it. "Oh, gosh... okay, screw it." Getting back into position and lining up the branch again, Heather shouted "FIRE!", expecting something to happen.
Nothing.
"Oh, come on!" Another examination, a flick, sighting in again - whoa, what was-?
BOOOOM!
"AAH!" Heather shrieked as her arm was thrown back with socket-wrenching force! The tip of the barrel gouged the ground as she fell backward, totally unprepared for the blast. A great crack sounded as the branch was severed from the tree and crashed into the ground. She wasn't sure what she fired, but it was bright, and loud, and the base of that branch wasn't there anymore with a good chunk of that tree trunk! Also... some of the tree behind it.... and... the one behind that..... and a bit of that one. Whatever came out, it must've been hot, because the edges of the holes were all smoldering just a touch. Somehow nothing was on fire though, and the branch was on the ground now! Somehow intact!
Heather just lay there for a good five seconds, mouth agape. Finally, the first noise from her throat was a weak laugh. "Ah hah, I, I-I got it! I got the branch!" she announced. Her whole right side felt hot, like fire had traveled from her forearm into her shoulder, but it didn't feel uncomfortable; it was exhilarating! "Everyone's okay, right?"

 

[ArcaneDreamer]

During his excited exploration of his newfound flying abilities, Kendrick ended up accidentally tuning out most of what his friends were saying. He did catch a bit of Heather's teasing about his antics, though, but come on! He's flying! It's something that everyone has wished they could do at some point in their lives! Why wouldn't he be like a kid in a candy store? Honestly, if he ignored the fact that he and the others were all turned into a bunch of bizarre creatures, he'd say that this was the best day ev----

BOOOOM!

Scratch that, explosion noises are never a good thing. Startled out of his reverie, the mass of wings and light immediately stopped where he was and swung his gaze over to the source of the noise, his feathers once again puffed out.

"What the heck was---"

Kendrick's question died almost immediately as he took in the scene before him - a bunch of trees that were the obvious causality of a powerful blast, and Heather on her back with a trail of smoke coming out of her gun-arm.

'Ohh, okay, I think I know what happened now...'

From what he could tell, the others had decided to check out whatever special abilities they must've gotten with their new forms. And apparently, Heather had received the ability to shoot a very powerful rifle that's quite capable of knocking her back. In fact... she hasn't gotten up for a while... Suddenly anxious about her condition, Kendrick began to hover closer to the mechanical being.

"Uh, Heather? Are you---"

Before he could complete his question, Heather's announcement to everyone rang out. Kendrick's wings abruptly relaxed as relief swept through him, glad that she was at least conscious - before immediately folding themselves into an equivalent of an arm fold as he automatically went into what others have dubbed his 'Mother-Hen Mode' at Heather's question.

"I should be asking you that! That must've been a really nasty kickback! Are you hurting anywhere?"

As he moved over to check over his friend's form, unbeknownst to him, one pair of his wings began to behave differently - it took on a sort of blue-green sheen and seemed to abruptly begin shedding a couple feathers.

 

[Swift_Phoenix]

The chimera watched, amused, as Kendrick came to the realisation that he could fly. The guy was made of wings, though, she assented, the situation wasn’t exactly the peaceful choose-a-new-form-and-get-used-to-it video game scenario. Then she glanced over to Mike as he calmly gave an remark in reply to her question.

"I don't have a single definitive answer, but I do know this, is almost certain we all have abilities that likely match our forms. What those are however, i do not know."

Abilities? That was interesting, to say the least. Maybe this was a video game scene. What are my abilities? was her first thought, and sat down to think it through. She had claws, that was basic, being half wolf. And she had hooves, for the horse part. And wings, for the apparently eagle part.

Hold on. Wings. Birds.
I can fly!!!!

Suddenly she felt like the dumbest entity in the universe. Sorry, Kendrick, you’re a genius.

”How dumb am I, guys. I just realised I can fly!” She gave a bark of laughter at herself. Then she stopped. ”How do I start, though?” she wondered aloud. Maybe she could do a run and jump while flapping and hope that she didn’t slam her face into the ground.
This is utterly ridiculous.

Hearing a voice yelling out loudly, "I-I think I'm gonna shoot! Maybe!" she started to turn—
Suddenly, a gigantic crack shook the air and pierced Tyra’s ears painfully.

BOOOOM!

”Ow!” she yelped, rubbing at her pointed ears with a paw, then looked up to see Heather on the ground, gun-arm smoking. Her friend was laughing slightly. "Ah hah, I, I-I got it! I got the branch! Everyone's okay, right?"

“Yeah,” she growled. “Other than not being able to hear anything for now, I’m great.” There was a sharp ringing in her ears, and even if anyone replied to her, she wouldn’t be able to hear them. Sigh. She trotted over to Mike, scowling, and sat down, still deaf.

 

[Windjammer]

"Good lord! Nice shot! I had no idea that would do that much damage though. Anyway, thanks for getting that down for us, It will be perfect for seeing what kind of marks will be left by our potential abilities."

Mike thought it would be a good idea for everyone to know what they might be capable of before wandering from their current location. He felt this way because he had no idea what they might face in this alternate realm in which he and his friends were seemingly thrown into by force. He didn't want to face this new world with no idea of how to survive in it, or even if they needed to at all. He simply wanted to be prepared, just in case something were to happen. After all, he had played enough video games to know that these kind of worlds are awfully dangerous, at least in the games he's played.

"Just so everyone knows, i wanted this tree branch down on the ground was to have an object to test our abilities on, just to be prepared, there's no telling what eldritch horrors this place may or may not hold."

Mike wasn't sure of what his own abilities were, but he knew he had to have them, just as he knew the others had to. Now that he had the the setup he wanted, he felt that they could take turns seeing what they could do. If he was right, and that this world was like a game, Mike knew that their abilities would be low tier at first, but would still be useful to be aware of. He also knew that if there are things in this world to be wary of, those things probably know that he and is friends are there, especially after the loud sound generated by Heather's rifle.

"So, who wants to go first?"