(Figured I'd get an intro RP for JB and Meiou to get a feel for the place and so they can introduce their characters)

A female raccoon (Katy) is in the middle of combing over the forest floor to check on traps; whether they have been set off or need maintenance or whatever. With her are a male coyote (Joe) and a small black dragon similar in size to most mobians (Pyrus).

Coming from the opposite direction is a red rabbit. Whenever the group sees him, they will recognize him as Meiou, the guy who left Channelwood years ago.*

Both groups see lights and lightning just 20 yards off. Katy rushes to check it out and anybody else rushing to check it out will see what looks a lot like when the Terminator arrives after time travel. But instead of a big, beefy human-looking robot of death, there is a mouse collapsing to the ground.

JB is awakening in the middle of some unfamiliar (to him) forest, a raccoon looking at him from a distance along with whoever else ran to the sight.

---

*According to Meiou's backstory, he got some Channelwood Freedom Fighters hurt during a mission, but it is kind of up in the air who, how, and whether it was his fault. Which works fine since it was years ago and different people can remember things differently.

In reply to Katy Coloflower (msg # 1):

The Mouse, over two feet tall, dressed in black and white, just huddled in a ball where he collapsed, shivering as if he's near frozen.  He had an expression of grief and horror on his face as he half-sobbed.  It would be easy for someone to assume that something terrible happened to him.

His head peeked out, revealing a field mouse-style face, with a black plum nose and ears of different color (Right Ear grey, Left Ear Black.) His green eyes were almost pinpricks with tears streaming down them, and his buck teeth chattered audibly.  His eyes stared ahead, not seeing much of anything.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:37, Sun 22 Apr 2018.

The rabbit was confused by the lightning in the middle of the woods. He reached down to his wasted to grip the handle of his shock pistol and dashed forward to see what in the world was going on.

  Joe really, really hopes there is not actual time travel involved.  That's almost as tiresome as learning you have a boring accountant with a goatee as your parallel dimension duplicate-

  Oh, right. Empathy for apparent suffering. You hooked up with Katy's group to be avoid the edgelord loner gutter Joe, work on that.  "Would you like a minute before we ask you what year you think it is?" What did we just say Joe?

  Then a bright pink rabbit runs in with a gun... Maybe they know angel?  "Hello. Please don't point that at anyone until we're sure they are an asshole first."

Pyrus is gradeschool age, but since he's a dragon he's already as tall at the teen racoon girl.  He hurries over to the poor mouse to help warm him up, assuming the guy is freezing to death.  To ensure the newcomer doesn't feel trapped, the lil dragon circles around him to snuggle up to Johnny from behind.  Pyrus' outside is about as warm to the touch as someone else's inside, so he's great for hypothermia patients.  Not so great for cuddles during summer heatwaves.

As the dragon boy reaches to give the mouse a hug and slowly blanket him under a wing, he tries to reassure him, "Good news, sir.  You're among good, helpful people.  We're going to make sure you get well."

(( I'm imagining this version of Pyrus with a scratchy, slightly growly voice.  Kinda like the original MLP Spike:  https://youtu.be/XImCzBD63Kw?t=38s ))

Seeing Pyrus has the comforting cuddles handled, Katy does a double-take upon seeing Meiou. "Meiou..."

Katy then registers what Joe said and speaks up. "Whether this new arrival got here via Robotnik or by himself, his means of arrival may have attracted attention. We need to get him out of here fast and cover our tracks while we're at it. Survival first, pleasantries later."

She goes to pick up JB and slump him onto Pyrus. "Joe, cover our tracks, please. Meiou, follow me."

When Katy reached over to the mouse, he flinched at the touch, and then looked right at the Racoon, his eyes all but pinpricks.  With a free hand, he reached out to her, grabbing her arm, then her shoulder, then her face.  "Are you real?  Are you Real?" he half-says, half-sobs, as he touches her face as if he was blind.

His teary eyes blinked a couple times, and they start going back to normal, revealing twin green pools.  "You are real, right?  Everything...back...real...excuse me here...everythin'...a blur...you probably...don't under-stand...don't know...how to...be...gin..."

He fell limp and fainted enough for Kathy to slump him over the dragon.  In spite of the weather, he was still shivering, as if the forest was the artic instead.  However, once he's under the dragon's wing his shivering subsides.  As much as he could, however, he couldn't keep himself from falling unconscious.  He looks exhausted.

(Note:  The mouse didn't have the chance to introduce himself, so nobody would know who he is yet.  Simple faux pas)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:45, Fri 27 Apr 2018.

The CRIMSON furred rabbit hearing joe as he arrived started to put away his pistol.
He jumped and almost fired it from its holster upon hearing Katy.

"Katy..h-hey. I was just on my way to see you actually.."

he noted the mouse and his reaction to waking up. He wasn't sure what he had been through
but Katy knew what she was doing so he quieted up and followed after her when she left.

  Look, Joe has trouble some mornings remembering if he's a Coyote or Jaguar in a given timeline.  So a narrative lapse of OC color coding is above par.

  He is quicker to pick up on how nearly trigger happy the rabbit is, though.  "If you were seeing her for reasons that will matter within the next half hour, might as well say it on the way." Joe comments as get gets to clearing their tracks.  Which is the easy part compared to traces of the lightning show.

Not everyone can boast they've rode on a dragon's back, but there are those who would say it is a rare honor.  (( https://dunbarcostumes.co.uk/w...s/2017/07/8712-1.jpg ))

The mouse yet to be introduced as Johnny babbling weirdness about who or what is real or not has Pyrus worried that there's more going on than just hypothermia.  Head injuries or mental illness are things a young dragon are not prepared to help with, but maybe one of the wise adults back home will know what to do.  At least the shivering stopped.

As for the apparently awkward reunion with the gun bunny, Pyrus wasn't there to witness why the guy left, and no one has brought it up since, so he's completely in the dark about what's going on there.

"Hi there, Mr. Meiou.  My name is Pyrus.  I'm a black dragon.  I don't change color like the marzlooplial kind.  Do you know how to fix a crazy person?"

She pulls out her slingshot and has a rock ready to fire at any sudden enemies that might pop up. "Thanks for handling the mouse, Pyrus."

This isn't the first time Katy has seen someone speak gibberish and sadly won't be the last. This world has driven its fair share of people crazy. But Katy suspects with the lightning and stuff that this guy had a direct encounter with Robotnik or one of his more insidious inventions...

Katy continues northward and then gives Meiou a quick glance and says, "Like Joe said, Meiou, feel free to tell me what's going on while you follow me."

The Mouse would've considered riding a dragon to be quite an honor...if he was conscious enough to enjoy it.  Unfortunately, he just slumped on Pyrus' back and kept being exhausted.  His gray ear twitched as it took in the voices around him, but the rest of him didn't notice.  He just gasped for air and for some reason, his white-gloved hand stroked Pyrus' back as he carried him...wherever.

He followed them along keeping a hand on his shock pistol .
 He blinked looking at pyrus "Uhhh no fraid i don't. Its nothing of major importance , katy ,I was just going to let you
know I was back and see if it was ok to rejoin. "
This message was last edited by the player at 23:57, Sun 29 Apr 2018.

  Joe isn't quite far gone enough to have preferred it to be simple mental illness rather than... Whatever plot hook the mouse is involved in.  "If I'm here Meiou, then unless you shot someone in the face you shouldn't have I expect you'll probably get back in."

Pyrus is super happy to be thanked by Katy.  THE Katy!  Whom even the grownups treat with deference!

"You bet!"  ^.^

His happy flappy wings might rock the mouse a little, but there's no danger of him being dropped.

"I'm going to nick-name him so we don't keep calling him, 'The Mouse.'"

Pyrus wasn't fond of being called, "The Dragon" by the mean robots that captured him, so clearly it must be rude.

"Um...  Real!  He kept saying 'real.'  So his name will be Mr. Real."

To Meiou he offers with an eager smile, "I can get you some faces you can shoot, Mr. Meiou!"

With a quick glance to Meiou, Katy says, "Welcome back, Meiou. I guess I'll hear your story whenever we're in private."

Katy doesn't know what Pyrus is thinking*, but she sure is happy to have someone so excited about helping.

Katy leads the bunch north to a cave. "Joe. I'm gonna leave some evidence we went inside the cave." and she does just that. Walks into the cave, motioning for the others to wait. Then walks backwards out of the cave, carefully following her own footsteps. Once she doubles back enough, she then goes around to be above the cave mouth and readies some large rocks. "Pyrus, lay Real here, next to me."

If Pyrus obeys, then Katy gets to work checking the mouse over for any real injuries.

---

*Fun fact! Sgt Jimmy P. Brown Jr, an old dog in Channelwood, used to be the leader of the CFF and taught most of the CFF everything they know about survival. But as Katy started leading people even before being the official leader, Jimmy opted to give the young, energetic girl the position. That was five years ago, when Katy was just 14. So for convenience, we'll say Meiou already knew Katy had recently become boss around when Meiou left.

With him lying on his back, everybody now got a good look at Mr. Real here.  The field mouse's clothes gave him a monochrome cartoon impression, with large white buttons on his black pants, white sneakers, and white gloves on his hands.  His white shirt with a black buttoned vest also had a small black bow tie tucked under his collar.  Very stylish, if not a bit weird for a local to wear.

The Mouse didn't have any physical injuries beyond the cold fur that eventually warmed back to normal.  Kathy would find a wallet in a pant pocket.  In said wallet would be an ID card from a place called Briston, Illinois.  Wherever that is.  The mouse's name is "Johnny Briz."

There was also a set of name cards:  Johnny Briz, Living Cartoon Character, Dream Train Animation Studio, Briston, Illinois.

Johnny groaned a bit and squirmed before opening his eyes again.  At first a flutter, but then it blinked wide.  He sat up, looking up at the combination of hillside and forest, his nose twitching as he sniffs the air.  At first, everything thought he'd just freak out again.

However, Johnny has calmed down somewhat.  He just takes in the air and looked over to see Katy sitting there.  "Oh, hi there," he said.  "You're probably wondering what happened."  He held his head in his hands.  "I'm wondering the same thing.  I don't know where to begin to explain things...just..."

He sighed and shook his head.

"You do not want to experience that I'd just gone through, believe me."

If Kathy was holding his ID card or name card, he would notice it.  "Well, you know my name.  I suppose I need to know who you are and where I am, probably."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:00, Tue 08 May 2018.

He looked over at Joe "What, you've done worse than almost get part of your team killed?" This was how he viewed it anyway and seemed to still be wracked by guilt over it. Though it seemed he was at least ready to try and push on now.
The rabbit looked over at the mouse. "I'd say from the last thing you remember before passing out perhaps?"

  Joe is glad for the heads up from Katy, and more still when she comes back shortly after.

  Hmm, yes. Openly admit you've done worse than that to Meiou, Joe. "Of course not, I'm here to be the one who almost dies, not the other way around." Yeah, didn't think so.

  He nods towards Johnny at the rabbit's comments.  "We have found it's easier to avoid things people would rather nobody else suffer, by actually explaining it rather than leaving it as a surprise.  Well, unless you would prefer the chance to beat yourself up about not telling us when you had the chance after the fact." a surprisingly popular pastime, unfortunately.

"I'm confused," Pyrus answered Katy as he obediently set Mr. Real down for her to check for injuries, "I thought the idea was to not be followed.  Why leave tracks on purpose?"

Since she's handling the first aid, Pyrus makes with the narratively assumed wallet stealing.  What?  He's going to give it back.  Mostly.  Shiny coins may be missing from it.

Pyrus reads the card aloud for the benefit of the group.  "Johnny Briz, Living Cartoon Character, Dream Train Animation Studio, Briston, Illinois."

The lil dragon sniffs at the card then stares at it in disbelief.  "Woah!  Never smelt anything like this before!"

Crisp card stock.  Not exactly commonplace in post-Robotnic world.  He gets to sniffing all the other exotic smells he can find in J.B.'s wallet.

"My name is Pyrus.  This is Channelwood Forest.  Most realest place you can be."

Katy continues talking in a hushed tone, "OK, Johnny. I'm Katy. You are in Channelwood Forest, close to the southeast corner of Northamer. And while I agree with Joe that you should tell us what happened, if you need a little time to get your head together first, that's understandable."

Katy looks over at Pyrus and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Yes, you are correct. That was the point, Pyrus. Just trust me, OK? I'll tell you more when we get back to town."

Katy then looks at Meiou. "Meiou, Joe, it's good to feel guilty for not being perfect. Just keep in mind nobody is perfect and mistakes happen."

In reply to Katy Coloflower (msg # 21):

"Channelwood Forest?" Johnny said, wondering where that is.  "Northamer? Definitely not anywhere I know of, but then again," He turns to Pyrus.  "Don't wrack your brain over where Briston is, it's probably not on this world, if I'm guessing right."

He then sighed, looking down.  "I don't think that place exists anymore.  I used to be in a world where I was set up to be a beloved mouse of a fledgling animated studio.  I don't know if you have long-term cartoon companies that end up running amusement parks in this world, but people thought I'd be a part of something great.  How I'd describe what happened is that everything was fine and normal one moment, white void.  I can still remember falling into oblivion, completely forgotten by anyone who would care if even known at all.  I probably will never understand what happened back then.  Or even before, if that world was even real or not."

To get a good picture of what Johnny experienced, think of what Thanos did with his finger snap in Avengers: Infinity Ward.  Only instead of Spiderman dissolving into nothing, everything except him disappeared.  Although the Mobians would never know what Avengers: Infinity War is, that's how Johnny'd describe it.

Johnny flopped back into the grass, his eyes shut tight and tearing.  His lip started to chatter again as if suddenly cold.  "Or if I was the one who wasn't real?"  He hugged himself as if trying to stay warm.  "It's something I don't think I'll be getting' over anytime soon."  He then looked over at Katy.  "That's why I was freaking out back there.  Sorry about that, Ma'am."

Meiou listened to all of this. It sounded to him like johnny had done some inter-dimensional travel but noone
could really prove that given it was all theory among some of the smarter ones of their own world. It was fascinating all the same though.

  "Knowing that is always the easier part than actually doing it, but it does get easier Katy."

  We've already mentioned that the reason Joe doesn't think Johnny is crazy is because that's the more convenient option, right?  It fits the usual theme of 'oh YEAH? Well MY apocalyptic life is worse than YOUR apocalyptic life!' after all.  A contest Joe is always more than happy to lose when given the option.

  "You are probably real enough that trying to stay alive a little longer isn't a bad idea."

Katy's so awesome!  With her complicated and cunning plans that would take too long to explain on the spot!  Pyrus smiles in fanboyish awe.  "You're so cool, Katy!"

Pyrus feels sorry for the poor mouse and offers to give him a warm hug.  Literally warm in the dragon's case.  Assuming the hug isn't rejected, Johnny will also get a cheek lick out of the deal.

"You feel real.  You sound real.  You taste real.  You're real, ok?"

He offers an assuring pet and comforting smile.  Still, Pyrus is worried Mr. Meiou must be in biiig trouble if people are telling him, "nobody's perfect."  That's what people tell you when you're crying because you accidentally set a hut on fire or something.  Not that Pyrus would have any experience with something like that...  *halo*
This message was last edited by the player at 21:57, Mon 21 May 2018.

Katy says, "Wherever you're from, it sounds nice. I hope your home still exists. But now you're here. Cartoons? I remember those from about 10 years ago. Before Robotnik took over. Friends and family? I have some friends now. But we all have something in common. All of us have lost family because Robotnik turned them into mindless robot slaves."

But Katy is not one to get into "my emo backstory is more emo than yours" contests. Heck, she just pointed out that ALL her friends have that emo backstory. But Katy always has a point to what she says. "While you are here, I'll be happy to have your help fighting to free our loved ones from Robotnik's grip. Whenever I'm able to, I'll do my best to help you get back home."

The distant sound of unnatural winds can be heard coming from the direction the group just came from. Followed by the creepy unnatural voices of the SWATbots that say, "Scanning perimeter."

"Whoa," JB said as Pyrus embraced him.  "Are you a dragon?"  He had to chuckle a near-melodic falsetto laugh as he was licked.  "Just don't eat me, pal, and we'll get along just fine."

But as Katy started her explanation, while Pyrus set him back down, he sighed.  Then Robotnik got mentioned.

"I don't think that there's a home for me to get back to, Katy," he said, "But before I jump into this fight of yours, I have to ask."  He raised an eyebrow.  "Who's this Robotnik?"

His ears twitched as he picked up the winds and the electronic voices.  It sounded to Johnny like Stephen Hawkings after a kegger.  He turned back in the given direction and even held up one of his ears to focus his hearing.

"I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm gonna find out."

Meiou listened to katy as he remained still.
That day was burned into mosts minds as a very traumatic event.
Upon hearing the swatbots he jammed the gun into its holster and drew his sword.
"now to let loose and have fun."
Meiou seemed abit different now than katy remembered him. instead of the goofball
who used to find ways to change face with a situation he seemed more serious and capable of fighting.

  "Fat mad scientist." Short, but technically accurate.

  Stabbing robots, a time honored tradition.  "It may be more than just Swats, otherwise I'd be out there already."

  Okay so Joe wouldn't be quite that reckless.  But he has found it useful phrasing when dealing with his fellow recovering broody loners on the road to learning the value of friendship and all that.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:47, Sun 27 May 2018.

While Pyrus is fanboying over the cool adults implying that deadly combat is fun, he feels that there needs to be more descriptive than, "fat mad scientist," for Mr Real's sake.

"Yeah.  I'm a dragon.  But I won't eat you.

"Full grown dragons are big and powerful.  But even the dragon army was no match for Robotnik!  He turned their flesh into circuits and now they're his robots.  Just like everyone else he catches.  He's a big evil ugly cyborg with red and black eyes and he laughs at people's misery!  Right now he rules the whole world, and he's turning it into a giant robot factory so he can conquer the whole universe!

"So if we don't stop him, we'll all eventually be turned into robots!  Or starve when Robotnik destroys the last of this world's plants."

...and then there's the crazy over-the-top stuff Pyrus hasn't heard about Robotnik.  Nukes.  Turning a god into a weapon.  Manipulating time and reality.  An evil pet bird.  The list goes on.

A SWATbot can be heard saying, "They covered their tracks. Spread out."

Katy seems slightly more relieved at the sound of that. With the SWATbots thinning their own numbers for her, Katy is a lot less nervous.

Two SWATbots enter the area, looking around and then spot the tracks Katy left on purpose. "They went into that cave." one says to the other.

Katy holds a hand up, as if to signal everyone to wait. The SWATbots begin walking below the group and into the cave. Katy throws her hand down and then drops her heavy rock onto one of the SWATbots heads! CRUNCH!

"Great," Johnny said as he listened to the others describing this Robotnik to him.  "First my own reality turned to dust, and now I'm in another reality with some villainous mastermind with a soft spot for machines.  Today just ain't my..."

He shut up when Katy held up her hand.  He patted his pants for anything he brought with him.  Just a Swiss Pocket Knife and the wristwatch under his white gloves.  He shook his head, knowing that he's ill-equipped for this.

But then again, nothing short of a precision strike from orbit would be the proper thing to do with this Robotnik guy.  Of course, he'll probably have an orbital killer satellite already.

'At least I'm wearing all black,' he thought as he kept close to Pyrus.  Regardless of how he'd rate against the Big Bad, he looks more than adequate against...whatever a Swat Bot is.

Meiou waited when Katy held her hand up. When the crash happened he was off into the trees quietly looking about for an opportunity to strike some of the bots down before they could give away his location.

  When 'I threw a rock at him!' actually is the best plan.

  Case in point, Joe putting one of the rocks Katy so kindly prepared to use, while Meiou zips off to deal with ones outside.

  Teamwork is OP.  "We'll get you a spear or something Johnny. Knives work out better when you are good at stabbing the important bits with tiny objects."

"Slings work pretty good too," Pyrus offers, "And you don't even have to get close."

He spreads his wings and puffs up his chest to try and look brave, readying his sling for if badniks should get past Katy, Joe, and Meiou.

There are four SWATbots.

Having a heavy rock smash it on the top of its head, the one SWATbot falls forward and electricity crackles along its body, indicating some damaged circuitry!

But even as the rock is falling, Katy leaps down at the second SWATbot, landing on its head, her foward momentum knocking the bot down onto its back with a clang.

Joe's rock hits another one on the chest, causing it to look at Joe.

The group is easily able to see an opening in both bots. It is clear that the bot who took a heavy rock to the head is almost done for and any of the others could finish it off. The second bot who has a Katy on its head is kind of distracted with a raccoon to the face, so the rest of it is vulnerable to attack. The bot Joe hit is currently looking in Joe's direction. As is the bot next to it.

For the moment, the bots have not had the chance to call for backup just yet.

JB scratches his chin as he sees the SWATbots.  'They look like they crossed an ED-209 with a bodybuilder with rocks for brains,' he thought.

Seeing the Heavy Rock scoring a major hit, dropping it, JB thought he should try to disable that one.  He does his best stealth attempt to scamper over to the fallen SWAT to get a closer look, and hopefully not be spotted by the others.  If he finds a panel that can be opened by screws or pried off with a knife, he'll pull out his multi-tool and get to work.

Meiou dashed forward from where Katy had left him towards a bot near the one katy
was wrapped around and jammed his sword through its chest "Don't worry too much bot brain. I'll be sure to put your parts to good use."

  Joe would offer a bigger knife, but picks up on the fact Johnny is trying to avoid attention.

  So to keep said attention off the mouse, he wastes a few extra seconds on pointless showboating.  Throwing one of said bigger knives into the chest of the SWAT brought down by Katy, only to jump down and stomp it clean through.

  "That would be impressive, except now have to dig that knife back out afterwards if I want it back, like an idiot."... Joe feels he's forgetting something.  Oh right, exaggerated shrug.

Pyrus is so wowed by the awesome grownups being all amazing and cool that he almost forgets his mission - protect Johnny.  And the others too, of course, but chances of their needing help from a kid are slim.  He trots after JB to stay close - sling still at the ready for any immediate threat to his friends.  Should any of the SWATs manage to catch one of the others unprepared, or try and radio for more, they'll get a swift rock to the face!

JB successfully removes a panel from the robot's back. There is a menagerie of wires and circuit boards.

Joe's knife has utterly disabled the downed SWATbot. But as Joe just mentioned, it is also thoroughly embedded in said bot.

The bot Meiou stabbed twitches and shakes with electricity dancing all over it before it stops moving entirely.

The last remaining bot says, "Mayday! Freedom Figh-URK!" rock to the face from Pyrus! And it goes down.

Katy says, "Good job, everyone, but I doubt we're out of trouble. If you can, remove the back panel of a bot like Johnny just did. Then connect the yellow wire to the red wire and hide."

In reply to Katy Coloflower (msg # 41):

"I haven't heard of this Robotnik for more than five minutes," Johnny Briz said, as he located the wires, "and I'm already disappointed in him.  I could've removed that panel with my tail.  And this rat's maze of wires and boards?  I've seen better organizing in nerd's bedrooms!"  He looked up to Kathy as he got up to join her in her hiding spot.  "When I do meet with this so-called evil scientist of yours, we're gonna have...words."

Before anyone could do as Katy asks he speaks up "Just give me a few moments if you will first please" the rabbit put away his sword and started to remove parts from his swatbot and then started to do the same on the others. once finished he looked to everyone "Alright all done. Carry on."

  Joe in fact, did not spend two minutes standing around doing nothing on request.  "You know Meiou, it's faster to loot things with help."  MMOs have been gone for years, but old habits die hard for people who smash the need button on everything?

  But if the rabbit wants to do all the work, Joe lets him save for getting his knife back.  "Glad you're already into cover, though In case it wasn't clear Johnny, Katy is saying to take cover after because then they will explode." People not yet familiar with taken for granted destruction is the bigger reason Joe delayed his wire crossing until everyone was good and ready.

"Yea-heah!" Pyrus cheers when the last of the SWATs goes down.

He then proceeds to claw off a panel from the back of one of the SWATs as Katy instructed, but then hesitates.  He's not sure if he's allowed to do wiring 'cause that's always grown-up stuff.  But Katy told him to so he then goes ahead and begins stripping the wires with his teeth, enjoying the zap he gets out of it.

"I'm glad you don't like Robotnick, Mr. Johnny.  It's everybody's favorite thing to insult him!"

With the wires twisted together, Pyrus flies to a safe distance.

Katy takes cover and says, "We are fortunate his SWATbots are easy to take down. But Robotnik makes his SWATbots cheaply so he can mass-produce them and overwhelm his enemies with numbers. It's one of the reasons he took over this entire planet. Insult him? Yes. By all means. But do not underestimate him or you will find yourself another one of his robot slaves and witness yourself do atrocities while you helplessly stare out your own cold, robotic eyes." The tone in her voice suggests having either experienced this first hand, or knowing others who have. There is a mix of terror and anger in her voice.

Katy quiets down and more robots can be heard coming. Katy looks at her watch, timing the approach.

This time, when the SWATbots enter the area, there are twice as many. Katy keeps her hand held up to indicate to the others to hold off any attacks. She gives Joe a hand-signal to fetch backup.

In reply to Katy Coloflower (msg # 46):

"...aaaaaand we get to the Mad Scientist portion of our antagonist," Johny muttered as he heard what Katy said, listening more to the tone of her voice than the words.

"Just great, Johnny.  This is just great," his inner muttering continued as he saw the other Cheep As Bleep robots arriving, his voice turning to his thinking.  'Is this supposed to be what happens to us after we get forgotten?  To be sent to this whatever this place is to be hunted down by machines?  To have to wait with all-encroaching dread for our eventual eternal punishment?'

Katy heard Johnny sigh.  She could sense that he still is struggling to grasp what happened to him, how he came here, and just what in the Heavens did he do to get all of this.

'What I wouldn't give for an orbital cannon right about now,' he thought.  'Reduce this Robotnik to giblets and be done with it.  Maybe after that, I can actually enjoy whatever this place is.'

With Joe's help he finished just before the other bots were heard. Moving back he hid in some bushes nearby. As much as more parts would be nice he had rather get to a safe place so he could begin his work.

  While technically easier, avoiding killer robots seems to always stress people our more than fighting killer robots.  Funny how that works.

  At Katy's request, Joe sneaks off to make some rather generic bird calls.

  What, you were expecting roadrunner sounds?  Johnny's the cartoon character of the group.

Pyrus freezes up and gulps from Katy's nightmarish warning.  But he's still got a job to do: Keep Mr. Real safe.  So while he may be shivering with eyes darting about every which way, Pyrus is keeping close to Johnny like an overprotective pet dog.

Joe can hear a familiar bird call soon after his own that accomplishes two things: it confirms that Joe's signal was heard but it also passes the signal on to the next person.

Meanwhile, more SWATbots arrive. About six more, with sounds of others in the distance coming. Katy was not kidding about the numbers. She readies her attack.

The SWATbots pause at the sight of fallen comrades. They say nothing, paused for a moment, and then look like they are about to search the area when the fallen bots EXPLODE from overloaded circuitry!

"Mass Produced, Check,"  JB muttered under his breath.  "Cheap as bleep, Check."

Then the explosion.

"Easy to blow up, Double Check."

However, he still has his own problems processing it all in.  He has a sneaky suspicion that this world is worse than he thought thus far and started feeling cold all over again.

"What in Hades did I do to deserve this,  What the bleep did I do?"

Meiou remained still and silent even after the explosions waiting on Katy's signal to move.
Oh one never knows what they did to deserve anything Johnny but maybe just maybe you pissed off some omnipotent deity or in some alternate universe pushed you luck a tad too much with an in love rabbit. The universes work in mysterious ways after all.

  Sorry Johnny, turns out global suffering is because your jokes are terrible... Wait, that can't be right, Joe's jokes are often worse.

  He refrains from coming back into sight just yet, as it would be best to be sure how many robots were destroyed by previously destroyed robots first.

Pyrus winces from the explosion, even knowing it was going to happen and covering his ear holes.

"'Bleep?'" Pyrus asks in a hushed voice, trying not to sound rattled.  He reaches to comfort Johnny again, "Is that a measure of cost from where you come from?  And what's that got to do with your deserving something bad?  Around here it's just a sound that some gizmos make."

At his age, Pyrus has never seen prime time TV.

When the smoke clears, the SWATbots who recently arrived are quite damaged. Two are prone and not moving. The rest are wandering around at random like they are blind and running into trees.

The sounds of explosions cause the other SWATbots that were lagging behind to pick up the pace towards the scene, however. Katy keeps her hand up, but the moment the other SWATbots arrive, she gives the signal to attack while attacking one herself, using her slingshot!

Johnny just ducks back to Pyrus when the battle is joined, but then he heard what the dragon said.

"There are some things, my friend, that does not exist in your philosophy.  Don't ever change."

The rabbit leapt from his hiding spot towards a bot wildly swinging his sword before landing replacing the sword into its sheath. The bot would fall to pieces in a neat little pile. After this he drew his shock pistol and fired at another that was near Pyrus and Johnnys location to stop it in its tracks.

  Joe could certainly get used to treating flashy combat as a distraction for himself, instead of being a flashy distraction.

  This means a metal claw drops from the treetops, and tears a SWAT head off to reel it back up out of sight while Raygun Rabbit and explosion induced sensor errors take all the attention.

  Isn't teamwork wonderful?

Pyrus grins to Johnny's affirmation then waits obediently for Katy's signal.  But his own slingshot attack misses the mark.  He's not the marksman the grownups are, and then there's nearly jumping out of his skin from Meiou's shot whizzing so closely by.  Pyrus soon discovers why he was being shot at and gives Meiou a frightened but grateful smile.  "Thanks!  Nice shot!"

Three SWATbots down! Three more attacking! Keeping distance seems to be the thing to do, though, as the SWATbots open fire with their arm-mounted lasers! They seem to be more cover fire than anything; to prevent the freedom fighters from closing in.

However, a paintball gets splatted on one of the SWATbots and Katy yells, "Stay away from the painted bot!"

A rock about the size of the SWATbot's head comes flying out of nowhere and slams the bot into a tree, utterly crushing the SWATbot's torso and leaving it a pile of scrap.

Another SWATbot seems to collapse on its own as if it just died of shock.

The last remaining SWATbot suddenly finds Katy rushing between its legs, delivering a kick to behind the knees to force it to fall, and then side-flipping to land on top of the bot before ripping out the wiring that connects the head to the torso, effectively looking like Katy is ripping the bot's throat out.

Shortly after, a gorilla walks into the area alongside a hamster with a paint gun. To which, Katy says, "Backup has arrived."

At the same time, multiple SWATbots can be heard in the distance suddenly firing off lasers that then quickly turn into the sound of smashed metal and the lasers stopping.

"Ah, the cavalry," Johnny muttered, "Always arriving some time later than they're needed.  Some things never change."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:24, Mon 13 Aug 2018.

Meiou holstered his shock pistol and looked over at katy
"A welcome home party for me? You shouldn't have. and here I didnt get anything for you" he joked for abit then went about gathering up scrap from the bots. Just what did he have in mind that he needed all these parts and materials for anyway.

  Joe comments from the trees "Katy, is this the point we leave or the point we murder robots harder? It seems to wildly vary from day to day."

  He also makes a note to dig out a party hat for Meiou later.  Yes, party hats have survived the apocalypse.  Even if the people wearing them often don't.

The backup arrived at a perfectly good time.  So Pyrus concludes that the mouse must be experiencing some delerium from his ordeal.

"You've got awesome combat skill you can lend, Mr. Meiou!  That counts."

He smiles at the new arrivals.  "Thanks for the help, guys!"

(For Meiou's convenience, character names in bold letters will be characters Meiou remembers from when he was in Channelwood years ago. All other characters will be new faces to Meiou.)

Katy's serious demeanor changes to a smile as she sits up on her downed SWATbot's chest and looks over at Meiou. "No, Meiou... you did bring me something: Yourself. It's good to have you back."

She looks at Joe and says, "Sounds like the robots are all finished. So we're leaving."

Katy then says, "Johnny, it's OK! You can come out of hiding! Allow me to introduce more of my friends! The big guy here is Valin. And the one with him is Benji."

Valin and Benji turn their attention to the direction Katy is calling to JB and both give a nod. Both of them, however, look back at Meiou with surprised expressions and Benji starts smiling with watery eyes. "Meiou... I thought you were... dead."

Valin isn't getting teary eyed, but he does smile at seeing he was right to believe Meiou was OK.

Katy then stands up from her position and says, "C'mon out, Maverick."

A human boy, not yet even a decade old, walks out from behind a tree. Noticeably, the tree is right next to the bot that seemed to just collapse on its own.

https://www.deviantart.com/tim...s-new-hand-141916598

Katy introduces the boy. "Meiou, this is Maverick. He joined us about a year ago. Maverick, this is Meiou. He was with our group five years ago."

Right about then, four other freedom fighters walk to the group, coming from the direction where the other laserfire was heard and then quenched.

A vixen (Emerald), a doe (Autumn), a male husky (Marble) and a male mink (Thomas). Last time Meiou saw Autumn, she was just 12 years old.

Katy continues introductions, pointing at the individuals as she names them. Katy then explains to the assembly. "Johnny just appeared out of thin air, literally. He believes himself from another world and believes it gone. With the threat currently nullified, we need to get to Channelwood and cover our tracks while we're at it."

Thomas says, "I'll bring up the rear, then."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:03, Tue 14 Aug 2018.

All of the newcomers see a gray-furred field mouse with his ears different colors (One grey, one black) and dressed in a black outfit with buttons on his pants, white gloves, and white shoes.  He nods when he's introduced and go "Hiya everyone," he tried to keep some sort of a smile, but the mixture of several emotions (fear, sadness, loss, and his own mortality) is still shown in his face.

the rabbit rubbed the back of his head at the mention of them thinking he was dead
"You have no idea how close to accurate that was at one time. But as you can plainly see I am perfectly fine. " Well for now anyway. When you've played lone wanderer enough you tend to get almost killed alot and even sometimes left for dead. Though never as a zombie.

  If anything, killer robots should be a step up from claiming Johnny's entire world disintegrated.  But that's not exactly the sort of silver lining one can really be happy about now is it?

  "Well Meiou, always better to have people pleasantly surprised you are alive than disappointed you just won't die."

Pyrus smiles to see the warm welcome the two awesome new guys are getting.  But he'll let the weepy-eyed grownups handle their own hugs.  Well...  It's looking like Johnny could use another cheering up.  So Pyrus goes for another face-lick.

"Maverick's the coolest!  He's my best buddie!"

With a crouch, growl, and tail wag, Pyrus coils up then pounces Mav for a welcoming face-licking!

Standing at 4'1" tall, Maverick is taller than most of the freedom fighters present (though still dwarfed by Valin). Still, it is clear he is also one of the second youngest ones present (Pyrus being the other).

Maverick is able to brace himself enough that dragon-to-the-face doesn't knock him back and he hugs Pyrus, giggling from the licks. "Love you too, Pyrus..." the boy responds before rubbing muzzles.

He looks in Meiou's direction and gives a nod upon being introduced. Then looks at JB. That look on JB's face is sadly all too familiar in this world. But Maverick says, "Welcome to your new family, Johnny... and welcome back to your old family, Meiou. Thanks for staying alive."

He isn't sure if giving either of those two hugs is the appropriate action at the moment, but he hopes his words were enough.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:40, Tue 21 Aug 2018.

Unlike Maverick, Emerald sees deeper into Meiou's expression since she makes it her business to understand people. His hurt feels slightly different from normal, but still familiar.

Emerald has dealt with some really messed up stuff before and we'll leave it at that for now.

Emerald looks at JB and Meiou and says, "Pleased to meet you both." then looks at Meiou. "I joined the Channelwood Freedom Fighters only a month after you left. I heard about you. I too am relieved to see one of our own back from the dead. Regaining what was lost is rather rare. That makes you quite the gem, Meiou. A hole in the heart of Channelwood can finally begin to close again."

She looks at Benji and nudges her head in Meiou's direction. As if Benji had barely contained himself, he rushes over to give Meiou a hug, welcoming him back.

Emerald takes that moment to go put an arm around JB and speaks softly to him. "Whatever your hurt, we are here for you. As Maverick just said, we are your new family. You are safe now."

Emerald comes up beside Katy, bringing JB with her, and begins filling Katy in, "There were six SWATbots at the other site. I didn't spot a craft. I suspect they were dropped off and the craft is long gone."

Valin is quiet, but his towering form imposes quite the presence. Both intimidating, but comforting, the gentle giant is truly happy for Meiou's return. But his face hardens a little as he concentrates on keeping his senses sharp to make sure his friends remain safe. He scoops up another oversized rock as he walks, ready to launch it with devastating force at the first enemy unfortunate enough to provoke the ape's power.

Autumn comes up on Meiou's other side to flank him with Benji and hugs his other side. She doesn't say anything, just smiling brightly.

Marble stays around the front, sniffing at the air and giving signals to Thomas. Thomas seems to understand what Marble is communicating and occasionally pulls out a spraycan and sprays the air before going back to covering tracks. Neither Marble nor Thomas seem to show much reaction to Meiou or JB for the time being, looking too focused on their own tasks.

Katy, meanwhile, nods to Emerald. "I thought I heard the vehicle leaving. This probably means whoever or whatever was driving the vehicle will return and find the destroyed bots. We can only hope they don't figure out that we deliberately led them in the opposite direction of Channelwood."

She looks at JB. "Until we get to Channelwood, I want you to stay close to Emerald, OK?"

Katy then looks up to check on Joe and see if he spotted anything. Since he has seen nothing but clear trails so far, Katy gives him a smile and a thumbs-up to let him know she is paying attention to him and hasn't lost track.

That grappling hook of Joe's actually makes him quite the handy aerial spotter.

After Pryus gave him another dragon lick that would knock him down to the ground, he looked up to see the greenest eyes he's ever seen, even more so than his.

He couldn't help but give Emerald a smile, through his own pain, that is.

When Emerald brought him back to Katy, who told her to stay by the fox, he nodded agreeable enough.  After all, they pretty much took him in, sight unseen.  It was a bit too soon for his nerves, but nevertheless, it ensured that he won't have to be chased around by this Robotnik all by himself.

Who knows what he'd do in the mindset he's in.

The rabbit cringed trying hard to not let them know
about the wounds but the longer they held the harder it became.
"I-I think thats enough n-now." he stuttered slightly
though he had not sustained any during the current fights
he had some that were still healing from before he met up with
the gang.

  "Yeah, I expect you'll do just fine making sure arrivals old and new make it home safe."

  Flight is more convenient, but it's amazing what you can do with alternatives some days... Today is not that day for amazing, because it's just a bunch of trees.

Unlike Emerald, Pyrus simply thinks the JB is lost and confused about teleporting.  Everybody knows about Robotnick, so this guy must have had a head injury or something.

But... Maverick cuddles!  So... tail wags!

"Just wait till you hear Emerald sing!  She has the voice of an angel!"
Pyrus grins to see Benji glomping Meiou.  Not often you get to see grownups do that!  But in any case, he follows along, trying to herd his best buddy to be close to JB as he does.  Just 'cause Emmy's been volunteered to be the mouse's shrink doesn't mean Pyrus feels off the hook for keeping him safe.

Katy, Emerald and Maverick all take note of Meiou's comment.

Maverick briefly makes a mental note that Meiou might need time adjusting just like he did. Then winds up distracted from it due to the adorable dragon and decides to play a traveling game or two with him.

At first, Katy considers that maybe Meiou needs to adjust, but her keen senses pick up legit pain in his voice. She considers maybe he picked up a minor injury during the fight just now and needs to walk it off.

Emerald noticed the pain too, but only subconsciously to where she has a general worry for Meiou. After all, she is currently focused on JB's inner turmoil and trying to figure out if he really is from another world. And if he is... well she'll cross that bridge later.

The group is generally quiet, keeping sharp and attentive. But within half an hour, they come upon a spot where Katy says, "We're here." and she points up.

The group can see a village up in the trees. Meiou, of course, recognizes the place and would already have known he had arrived back home before even looking up. But to JB, this is brand new:

https://dabuschckah.files.word...com/2013/12/3099.png

Even as the group is looking up, an elevator is being lowered to them. Valin, however, begins climbing one of the trees no problem because he is naturally good at climbing.

JB was quiet during the trip, not wishing to complicate things during the traveling. He glanced over to Emerald on occasion who was the closest to him.

In time, they reached wherever they wanted to go, and he saw what was above him.  "A village full of treehouses?" he said as he watched the elevator lower in front of him.  "I never seen so many of them connected to each other where I'm from."

It was nice to be home and during the trip up he smiled sheepishly to Katy whom
he was sure had picked up on his pain. He didnt worry anyone so made a quiet sign
of medic to her in hopes she could find an excuse to help him away to get some treatment.
He felt the air about the place had changed and was more relaxing than before he had left
but that could just be from how much he changed during his time away.

  Joe thinks Meiou will be fine because it would be a waste of a dramatic death to have any significant pre-existing injury.  But as former brooding loner, can also understands it can take a while to learn to just outright admit you got hurt.

  "Nice thing about tree houses. If your old room is taken Meiou, we can just add a new one.  Wventually." Well okay that goes for most places people live, but 'eh just slap a room over there' tends to happen more often with above ground projects.

OOC: "He's already not wearing a black trenchcoat, he's making swift progress. What? No that can't have been me wearing one. As you can clearly see it's a Jaguar in this picture anyways."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:16, Sat 15 Sept 2018.

Pyrus hangs onto the outside of the elevator 'cause it's fun to ride and that'll leave more room for the others.  He smiles and nods to JB.

"Yeah.  And if a patrol of robots comes by, they don't see any signs of anyone living here!"

Because they never look up unless you attack them from above.  That and the villagers can cammo the place in a hurry when the lookouts warn them of approaching bots.

Katy gives Meiou a nod and then looks to JB. "Hopefully, you mean that as a good thing. For me, this is home."

Once everyone is up in the village, it looks like the entire population is gathered at the largest structure already, some even hanging out on the bridges just outside the structure, as if they are waiting for a report.

Katy goes to the center of the structure, stands on a table and says, "Bad news first: There were no less than a dozen SWATbots scouting Pine Way. Thankfully, the rest is good news: We have rescued another from being caught in the clutches of Robotnik. His name is Johnny." she motions to JB, who many were already eyeing anyway.

Katy then motions to Meiou and continues, "More good news: Our long-lost freedom fighter Meiou is back." many had also already been eyeing Meiou. "Our side just gained two allies. Robotnik's side just lost a dozen. A celebration is in order. That said, anyone wanting to speak with Meiou will need to wait. He and I have an important matter to discuss privately before he is ready for anyone else. I expect everyone to pitch in for tonight's celebration. That is everything, folks! I'll see you all in an hour or less."

She hops off the table and looks at Meiou. "This way." and motions in a direction.

Emerald looks to JB and says quietly to him, "Johnny, for now, I would like you to just tell people you have amnesia, OK? Trust me, it will be simpler that way."

Emerald finds a chair for JB to sit in and then looks to Joe. "Joe, you can contribute to the celebration later. For now, stay with Johnny and I?"

Maverick looks over at Pyrus and nudges his head in the direction Katy and Meiou went before he lurks off, expecting the dragon to follow.

Johnny looked over to Emerald and nodded.  "Yeah, I can so that.  Claim I've lost my memory, that is.  Things are pretty much insane enough as it is."  He then put on a smile and waved at the gawkers.  The smile was genuine enough as he found his seat, but his eyes still had that haunted look.  More perspective folk around him could tell he's been through something that Robotnik would go, "Hey hey hey!  Knock that off!  Don't you got standards or something?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:53, Wed 19 Sept 2018.

He waved and smiled to everyone not quite used to getting so much attention without having done something other than look out of place to garner it. He looked around to see how things had changed till Katy grabbed his attention then he followed her to wherever it was they were going hoping it some med clinic or private place.

  Joe nods, "Sure thing Emerald."  Being resigned to metaphysical idiocy is 50% of the qualifications for dealing with such things after all.

  "Wanting to avoid awkward conversations is a good chunk of people who have 'amnesia' anyways.  Just try keep from getting actual amnesia later out of some dramatic irony."   Only so many ways to ask 'so how did everyone YOU know and love die or worse?' before everyone gets tired of it, so little wonder it works so well these days.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:39, Fri 21 Sept 2018.

Pyrus dances in excitement when invited by Maverick to go on a commando mission!  He gives JB a quick goodbye glomp before following after his buddy.

(( The dance of excitement! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-8v-_kaZ38 ))

A black cat teen approaches JB after the announcement is made and offers his hand.

"Welcome, Johnny!  I'm Lucky.  If no one else has offered already, you can bunk with me till you've got your own place."

Katy guides Meiou to a private location (but she doesn't bother taking the elevator to her cabin). As soon as she is alone with Meiou, she looks around to make sure nobody is nearby, her ears perked to show her attentiveness, then turns to Meiou and says in a quiet tone, "Alright. Lemme see your injury."

Emerald shows visible relief at both Joe's willingness to stick around, and JB's willingness to play amnesiac.

Emerald nods to JB. "Good. Good. Glad you are willing and able. And if you don't like being dishonest, you can honestly say you don't remember a thing on Mobius before today."

She scoots her chair to sit right up next to JB, puts an arm around him and says in a softer tone (Though easily heard by Joe), "I know what happened is jarring. But what Maverick said earlier rings true. This is your new home. People here will jump on the chance to help. For the first day or so, you're staying with me. We'll find you a place of your own, but until we do and until you are feeling a little better, you'll be sleeping in someone else's hutt."

She points at Joe. "Joe here is one of our quickest messengers, and is a very capable warrior. He is never far and always ready to kick butt or just help out."

When Lucky introduces himself, Emerald lets go of JB so he can shake hands. "Looks like the guy you'll be bunking with has just presented himself. Lucky is one of our most welcoming members, always ready to offer a hand or hug of friendship."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:20, Thu 27 Sept 2018.

Maverick follows Katy and Meiou from a distance. He recognizes where Katy is taking Meiou, so he takes a different route to the same spot, rushing ahead. To anyone watching him, it looks like Maverick and Pyrus are just playing tag or something.

But by the time Katy and Meiou get to the location, Maverick and Pyrus are already there, around the corner. Maverick carefully peeks through a peep hole he made some time ago just for this spot and lets Pyrus peek while Mav listens.

Katy and Meiou arrive and the two are able to hear Katy ask Meiou to show his injury.

While Maverick is easily too quiet to be heard normally, Channelwood is filled with creeky wood panels. Maverick knows this well, which is why he wanted to get here before Katy and Meiou did. Score one for the sneak and his buddy.

JB nods to that.  "Thank you, ma'am."









JB shook Lucky's name.  "Lucky, eh?  Great name."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:41, Fri 28 Sept 2018.

He followed his raccoon friend to a private spot and nodded to her request.
He opened his cloak up and winced as he peeled his shirt up showing bandages in a few different places on his torso. most were just red in the middle likely where the wound was but one of the lower ones was almost all red with very little white. if one was perceptive enough they might be able to tell the wounds were alot like what a swatbot might do if it shot you only larger and more precise on his body where they were like someone or something had purposely aimed for these spots.

"I may of done something extremely stupid before I got to the meet up..."
he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head trying to not show how much it hurt

  "Not having to wait for elevators does speed up life in tree town, it is true."  At the confirmation of Lucky roommates, he comments "His name is probably because everyone he meets is lucky to have done so."

  There is also the value of how much more awkward it feels to bother going on an emo spiral around the caring kitty, but that's a sales pitch that doesn't exactly work for most people.  Even if it's really, really useful.

Pyrus' eyes go wide when he sees all the injuries.  He's not experienced enough to realize this isn't the work of an ordinary group of robots, and he can't figure out why Meiou would be calling himself stupid.  Much as he wants to tell Meiou that he shouldn't blame himself for what bad people do, he's gotta keep quiet.  But the look on Pyrus' face is enough for Maverick to know that he's thinking, "Poor Meiou!"

Lucky blushes from all the compliments.  "Wow, thanks, everyone.  But do please make yourself at home.  You don't have to ask to borrow anything, and just help yourself to any snacks.  Your pick if you want the bed, hammock, or whatever else looks comfy to you."

In a tree village, all the furniture is pretty much the same level of comfy... (( http://briarpatchoutdoors.educ...y/primitive_bed1.JPG ))

Lucky knows better than to ask JB his story.  Nobody likes recalling how they wound up homeless.  So instead he'll just focus on judging the Mouse's level of personal space by offering an arm-around while he brags some about his friends.

"Joe here is aptly named because he's so cool.  And Emerald's a real gem with a heart of gold.  Katy of course is a spitfire and quite the mother hen.  You're gunna love it here."

JB gives lucky a bit of a smile.  "Well, since this is pretty much the only home I'd know, I'm sure I'll find a way to enjoy myself."

He checks out the furniture.  Bring that everything's made of branches. sticks and various other kinds of free-range wood, there isn't much give, but the padding everywhere, usually folded blankets and various soft and thick coverings, assured the mouse that staying here will not be too taxing to his back.  (He had to sleep in worse conditions.)
This message was last edited by the player at 14:31, Tue 02 Oct 2018.

Katy looks Meiou over, and says, "Alright, just relax. I'll take you to my hutt and we can get you patched up there without anyone else having to know. If anyone asks, I was just showing off to you that I have a special hutt up above everyone else's. But first, lemme peak under that big one to make sure you'll be good to go a few more minutes."

She peels the bandage swiftly so she can take a look at the actual wound that is bleeding so bad so she can see if this is more the kind of thing where Meiou might collapse in the next few minutes or not. "What did you do, Meiou?"

Emerald gives Joe a loving smile when he comments about Lucky's name.

Having gone with Lucky to his place, Emerald nods to what is shown and looks at JB. "Also, if you are feeling overwhelmed, don't be afraid to ask for alone time. But just so you know, at least one person will always be with you until you are oriented."

She looks at Lucky with a smile. "Home sweet home..." she looks at JB. "As the saying goes, home is where the heart is. And we hope you will find a home with us."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:02, Tue 02 Oct 2018.

Maverick has a similar expression, but reaches over to gently pet Pyrus in a reassuring way, as if to reestablish that the duo should remain quiet and stay put. For now.

"I think i should be good. I think i just reopened it some with my showing off. "

He winces abit as she peels the bandage off. the wound was big and looked like some stitching had been done to it but not only had the bunny popped his stitches but pulled the wound back open.

 " I uhm challenged Ra. I thought I could take him and free the town. Learned the hard way hes out of my league. "

In reply to Emerald Haynsworth (msg # 101):

Since I sneaked up between Lucky and Emerald, I'll add one of his lines here, then wait til their turns comes back up.

"I hope so too," JB said as he flopped down on the padding and sighed.  He looked up to the sky, lost in thought, and grateful that, at the very least, he's not by himself in this strange place.

  "It takes so very, very long splinter proofing the furniture." Oh my god, he learned out to maintain devices of questionable scientific accuracy faster than he did proper carpentry.

  Joe's up to proper wooden planks these days, but why throw out functional furniture in the apocalypse-  "Oh, wait. I didn't make THAT bed." Guilt free!

Challenged Ra?!

No wait, no no no.  He didn't just say...

CHALLENGED RA?!!!

(( https://media.giphy.com/media/...84HlMbtAsw/giphy.gif ))

That's insane!  It's a miracle he survived!  A full-grown dragon is dangerous to begin with, let alone when he's been turned into an dual-artillery war machine!  (( Tim's pic of Ra:  https://www.deviantart.com/timothius/art/Ra-6709100 ))  Pyrus tries to excuse it away with some logical explanation.  Like Meiou wanted to pull Ra's attention away from someone else then try to escape.  That must be what happened.  To recklessly risk your life for anything less would be crazy!
This message was last edited by the player at 05:51, Fri 05 Oct 2018.

Lucky is a happy cat.  He's caught himself a mouse!  =^.^=  He pulls up a chair to be next to JB but resists his instinct to pet the poor guy.  Lucky's learned that there's too many guys who don't appreciate his levels of doting to risk comforting Johnny that way.  But if he knew he could get away with it he'd be cuddling to mouse like a plushie.

"Valin's good to spend alone time with.  You could spend an entire morning weeding the garden with him without a single exchange of words."

Lucky smiles and nods to Joe then looks back to Johnny.  "There's always plenty that needs done around town.  Skilled or unskilled, an extra pair of hands are always welcome when you're feeling up to pitching in.  But don't feel like you gotta slave away right after getting here just to earn your spot at the cafeteria.  Everyone understands that it takes time to adjust to a new home."

JB gives Lucky a coy smile, as if he knew what the cat was thinking (Hee!  I caught a mousie!) But the pain that JB has gone through, even though Lucky wasn't privy to everything (since JB is playing amnesiac,) showed in his eyes, as well as the way he was hugging himself, as if trying to fend off an unknown cold.  A Good Insight roll from Lucky could tell him that this mouse really could use a hug.  Or a pet.  Or a snuggle.  Or anything.

'Is all this real?' Johnny thought to himself.  'I can't really tell anymore.'

"Yeah, anything that'll keep my mind off things," He said out loud.  "Once I get my nerves back in place, I'd show you what I can do."

Katy pauses a moment. Then looks at Meiou. "Wow." another pause. "Really?" but as soon as she sees Meiou isn't kidding, Katy says, "I'm proud of you, Meiou. That takes guts. As you found out." she points at the wound. Then offers him a stick. "Bite on this." and gets to re-stitching the wound.

Katy stares at Meiou's wound, sewing it closed as she speaks, "I've done the same thing. But I did it knowing I had a team to back me up or carry me home. Good thing too, 'cause I wound up with some broken bones, bed-ridden for four days and unable to go on missions for six weeks."

She turns her eyes back to him with an intense look in her eyes. "Meiou, don't forget. We are in this fight together. With every freedom fighter we lose, all of us lose something. Your heart's in the right place, but we can't afford to lose you. You are going to heal up first before you attend any missions. But I have good news on that.. we met another freedom fighter group not too long ago. They have someone who can get you healed faster than you can say Robuttnik is a gas planet."

In D&D 4e, Emerald got a bonus to her insight equal to the number of languages she knew. Which was all of them.

In Struggle for Hope, her insight score is similar. But she isn't about to say anything about JB's feelings. If Lucky picks up on it? Great. But if not, Emerald would rather not say it aloud. But what she will do is lean over to Lucky's ear and whisper, "It's OK. He wants a hug."

She then looks at Joe. Then to JB. "Most of the stuff in Channelwood was either created by, designed by, or overseen by Valin. But many of us have learned most of the basics from him. It's like that for any of the necessities around here."

Maverick peeps through the peep hole. When he sees Katy is closing up the wound, Mav points so Pyrus can see Meiou is being treated... and lectured in the gentlest way he'll ever hear Katy lecture someone. But then, Katy always appreciated and admired courage.

he nodded to her as she asked questions then took the stick wincing as she started
stitching him back up having placed it in his mouth.
He listened to her and let her work. After letting her talk he pulled the stick out
"Trust it was way worse than this when he was done with me. This is just the result of spending about a week in a prototype healing tank. Your message arrived and i had the doc stitch me up before i headed to the meet up. again as i said it was stupid. I really should of known better, mom ." he teased her friendly like given how she was treating him.

  "I'm sure you'll do fine Johnny.  Robot stabbing gets a lot of attention, but most of getting by involves being out of harms way."  Well, as far as harms way as it gets these days.

  The mouse probably isn't afraid hugs will ruin their image either, so will he expects them to cope better than most.

(( 22:03, Wed 10 Oct 2018: Lucky rolled -100 using 1d20-99 ((-1)) to resist the temptation to glomp the shivering mouse.  Lucky can get some very "unlucky" dice when he wants to. ))

Lucky can't help himself and immediately reaches to snatch up Johnny into a big snuggle!  (( https://theawesomedaily.com/wp...-mouse-friends-1.jpg ))  His purr motor revs up, and tears well up in his eyes as if he's so sensitive his heart's breaking for this perfect stranger's misfortune.  Truth be told he is that sensitive.

And then it registers that Emerald gave him the go-ahead.  *n.n*

"No hurry.  Take as much time as you need."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:12, Thu 11 Oct 2018.

Pyrus turns an unbelieving and grossed out look to Maverick then continues to watch.

(( https://media.giphy.com/media/zkSFsZpQMZuG4/giphy.gif ))

Ew!  Stitching up skin is so gross!  And cool!  And to think that Meiou was in even worse shape...  Well it makes sense, but it's not a pleasant thought to think about.

And Meiou's such a manly man!  He's not even crying!  ;.;  Wow!  Pyrus won't admit it, but he'd cry if he were even half that hurt, let alone being sewed back together afterward.  Just watching is making him wince and grit his teeth.  >.<
This message was last edited by the player at 02:23, Thu 11 Oct 2018.

In reply to Lucky (msg # 114):

JB eeped at first when he was grabbed from behind and just plain embraced as if he was a body pillow.  For the briefest of instants, he hoped that this Lucky has already eaten.

But then the cat started to purr, and every inch of Johnny's being, right down to his insides, felt the vibration go right through him.

It proved as comforting to Johnny as it does to Lucky, and soon he fell asleep, his body limp like a stuffed animal for Lucky to snuggle.

Emerald gives a smile. "His ordeal was clearly exhausting. Alright, Joe. I guess Lucky's got this now. Lucky? Make sure he makes it to the party tonight. I got the distinct feeling he is lonely and needs lots of people."

Once she gets an OK from Lucky, she'll head off with Joe to prepare for the party.

(I'll time skip here shortly to bring everyone back together.)

Katy gives Meiou a smirk for the "mom" comment. Finished stitching Meiou, Katy looks up. "I'm going to call the Aquarius Freedom Fighters and invite them to tonight's party. For now, if you want to keep your encounter with Ra a secret, I won't tell anyone."

She stands up straight again and faces Meiou. "Glad you're alive, Meiou. And glad to have you back."

Katy then pulls out what looks like a walkie-talkie. "This is Katy calling Shelly. We have a party and one wounded. Please bring Timothius. Bring as many others as you like, but bring food please."

A cute, squeaky voice can be heard responding, "Hi, Katy! This is Shelly! I'll be there and I'll bring Timothius and some others! Likely gonna bring Mittens; she would never miss out on a par-TAY! See you in a couple hours!"

Katy has a smile on her face as she watches Meiou's expression.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Sun 14 Oct 2018.

Maverick nods to Pyrus, putting an arm around his buddy, then listens to Katy contacting Shelly and smiles some. That is good news all around. Timothius should be able to help heal Meiou's wounds, and Mav always welcomes an excuse to visit with the Aquarius Freedom Fighters.

He waits to see if Meiou and Katy are going to go back to the others soon or not, remaining quiet and motionless for the time being.

He smiled sheepishly at her "Well for now lets keep it a secret. I think itd just worry some and get me scolded by others. " he reached over to his bag and dug out some fresh bandages and tape starting to change them out. When she looks back to him after having her conversation he shook his head "I guess i'm not gonna get any work done tonight" he chuckled and winced abit.

  "Well, that is certainly a lot less screaming than I expected." Even if they wake up screaming, Johnny will remain below the expected screaming threshold.   "Having said that, thank you for having proper social skills, Lucky." Joe still needs work there, even if he's left behind his embarrassing edgelord past.

  See also, following after Emerald to help get a party ready.

(Hate to splice in this response, but I did get permission)

Lucky could sense Johnny just collapse into a deep sleep in his arms.  As expected for the ordeal he was in.  Equally expected was the squirms and moans he gave as the ordeal replayed itself in his dreams.  He didn't as much as screamed as he gasped as his eyes open, waking up in a cold sweat.

"Might also need alone time if he's an introvert.  But I get the feeling you're right about him being the kind to like a crowd."

Lucky had plenty to do while his new friend slept.  Write poetry, purr while petting the restless mouse, read some, hum a soothing tune to calm the bad dreams, do some tidying, cuddle the frightened guy when he wakes.

"You're safe, Johnny.  Never let you out of my sight.  Here... have a towel."

Without releasing the cuddles, Lucky opens a nearby chest of drawers and pulls out a towel for JB to deal with the cold sweat.

"Party soon.  Emerald asked me to make sure you attend.  But obviously it's not mandatory."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:45, Tue 23 Oct 2018.

Pyrus perks up when he hears the squeaky voice.  Oh boy!  New friends to meet!  Is Mittens a boy name or a girl name?  Either way, a party animal, which is great in Pyrus' book.  He gives Maverick an impish grin, eager to prepare some surprises for the visitors.

Johnny dives his face into that towel, his face a mix of emotions but eventually it settled on irritation.  "Blasted trama keeping me from a good night's sleep."

His left ear twitched a bit when Lucky mentioned a party.  "Party, eh?  Nothing like a good distraction to take my mind off things."

Katy nods to Meiou. "But when Timothius arrives, you'll let him heal you."

(Fast forward!)

The town is gathered at the Mess Hall, a large central building (where Katy brought Meiou and JB earlier). Emerald has party favors like those things that unroll when you blow into them. And kazoos. And other such like. There is the smell of pizza in the air. It's going to be a fun time. :)

Over at the elevator, about 50 feet away, four forms can be seen exiting the elevator to make their way to the mess hall. Leading them is a female white-furred teddybear with something that resembles a dolphin tail. She has some jewelry on her; a gold necklace with a ruby in the middle, some gold armbands, and a gold tiara with a shell fixed in the center. Next to her is what looks like a male of her race, but wearing some kind of light, techy armor (like this: http://torf.mmo-fashion.com/wp...awler-Male-Close.png ). Behind the teddybears is a female brown cat, also wearing armor that looks like it was made of SWATbot parts. Especially her shield, which is a hollowed-out SWATbot head. Next to her is a white cat with a fluffy tail and... wings. Yeah, it's a weird group.

Shelly, Timothius and Mittens are seen in this group pic:
https://www.deviantart.com/tim...m-Fighters-112013750

Katy rushes to greet the group that just arrived and escorts them to the mess hall. "Meiou. Johnny." she says as she waves her hand to them while speaking their names. "I'd like you to meet some of our neighbors from the Aquarius Freedom Fighters. Shelly, Crucible, Mittens, and Timothius."

Katy looks at the Aquarius group. "Meiou is someone who used to live here years ago. He has returned. Johnny kinda of... appeared out of thin air out in the woods. Possibly some teleportation tech or even magic. Not sure."

Katy then looks back to JB and Meiou. "Shelly is the leader of the Aquarius Freedom Fighters and is the surviving princess of an underwater kingdom. Crucible is one of her royal guards. Mittens is an adventure-seeker who wandered before finding the AFF. And Timothius is from a city in the sky that for the most part, wants to stay out of the war entirely."

"As Katy used to tell me our correspondence letters , we all must come home sometime. Even we don't feel ready. As you can tell she got me to come home eventually"

the rabbit said teasingly to the new company and Katy. He smiled softly to them before turning towards the winged cat "I'm sorry to interupt your welcome but I beleive theres something we need your help with real quick. It can wait if your tired though."
he said politely to Tim he wasn't in a big hurry to get healed but Katy was insisting and when she insists one usually listens unless they want their ear pulled.

  "Always nice to see you all in casual circumstances, even if I know Mittens loves the robot smashing just as much"

  Joe knows the usual implications of awkwardly asking Tim for help.  But expects Meiou to be better off than that one guy who was shot in the butt by arrows.

  Everything may be terrible, but at least there is still pizza... He takes a moment to step aside and request they save some slices for Johnny, because the mouse may not survive the disappointment at this stage.

OOC: Post apocalypse cooking reminds me. That new Fist of the North star game, some places serve "Shoulder Pad Fried" style foods. I guess the logic being if you are out of pots and pans, there are plenty of armored shoulder pads to go around!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:22, Thu 01 Nov 2018.

Timothius turns his attention to Meiou and gives a concerned look before nodding.

But he and Shelly (and even Crucible) smile to Joe in response to his comment.

Timothius says, "Pleased to meet you two. It is always good to see more faces."

More faces. Not just "new" faces. Every person is precious in this world...

Shelly squeaks with excitement at the new people! Well... Meiou counts as new to her, anyway. "Hi! Pleased to meet ya! And just so you know, this party is for you two! I'm gonna make my rounds, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask!"

She offers a vigorous handshake and gentle hug to JB and Meiou.

No matter what state of mind anyone's in, there's always time for pizza, and Johnny Briz is no exception.  He made sure that he grabbed a slice or two.

He did manage to smile at the others in the party, but people can see in his eyes that there is something haunting him.  And outside of some small talk, he keeps somewhat quiet.

A bit too quiet, he thinks.  'I can't believe that I could end up this way,' he thinks to himself.  'This isn't what I am...'

"Mmmhmm!" Lucky agreed with a smile, "And when there's a party, there's delicious food.  But of course my fave is the nice company.  There's such good people here, I'm just bursting for you to meet them."

Lucky guided JB to the party, careful to keep a close eye on how well he handles being on rope bridges.  Not everyone is OK with heights, and the bridges are the swingingest part of the village.  So Lucky will be perfectly fine with taking the long way there for Johnny's sake if need be.

When Katy intros the AFF, Lucky opens his arms to Timothius, inviting a welcoming hug.  "Johnny, this is by fluffiest friend, Timothius.  He's like the brother I never had for as much as we share in common."

But of course he'll understand if Timothius prioritizes Meiou over the intro.

Pyrus stuck with Mav till party time, then went all ADHD and flitted about, trying to take in all the exciting games and yummy treats all at once.  When Katy made her announcement of the arrival of the AFF, Pyrus had a mouth full of cupcake and hurried up to them with a tray of desserts.  He offers the tray with a tail-wag and a smile to the interesting people he's never met before, starting with the one with the fancy crown since she's obviously the boss of the others.

Mits perks up an her ears wiggle when she hears about Johnny's magical teleportation mystery!

"Woah, epic!  Where were you before the mysterious teleportation, Johnny?"

She smiles and accepts the offered desert from the cute young dragon.  Wait.

"Dragon?!  First magical teleportation mystery party guests, and now a dragon!  This is turning out to be a super fantastic day!"

Sorry, Meiou.  You'd have to do something epic, like, fight Ra or something, to compete at this point.

At first, Johnny wondered if he could relate what happened without him turning into a shivering wreck like earlier, but then he remembered that he's supposed to play amnesiac.  Of course, Mittens would've noticed this pause and the cautious expression in his eyes.

Johnny sighed.  "I wish I knew, Mittens.  Whatever happened during my falling between worlds and all that, the rough landing was enough to jostle my head a bit."

'Whoa,' he thought, 'three cats already...one of them with wings...and none of them are looking at me and thinking they're gonna...'

He didn't say this thought out loud, but people would notice that he was trying to find the right word for something, looking up and pointing to his chin.

'feed the world, I guess.'

The rabbit rubbed the back of his head apologizing again for taking Tim from the party
before leading the cat to the place had katy designated and once all were inside spoke "Yeah I kind of did something stupid and Katy insisted since you were coming I see you about getting my wounds healed."

He said before removing his top to reveal the bandaged wounds smiling sheepishly as he did still feeling embarrassed and abit bad about pulling him from the party to heal him up.

  "Oh I'm sure Mittens isn't disappointed Johnny.  After all, now it's a mysterious background." To go with the mysterious teleportation, duh.

Timothius does return Lucky's hug and gives him a "thanks for understanding" apologetic smile when heading off with Meiou.

Timothius gives a nod to Meiou with an understanding smile. "It's no big deal. And don't worry, I won't ask. We've all done stupid stuff before..."

He knows he doesn't have to add that in this world, stupid has often meant the difference between life and death. Or freedom and roboticization.

Timothius looks over the wounds and takes his gloves off. "I'm going to touch your wounds, OK? Take a few deep breathes and close your eyes. This won't hurt, but it might feel strange."

Assuming Meiou concedes, he can feel Timothius touch his wounds and the wounds immediately begin feeling less and less painful, as if days of recovery were happening in just seconds. Because that is what just happened.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:25, Tue 27 Nov 2018.

Maverick sees Meiou take off with Timothius and glances at Pyrus. "Check this out..." and sneaks off to the same spot to watch with Pyrus as Timothius miraculously heals Meiou.

Emerald rushes to give Mittens a hug and try to rescue JB from curious kitty prodding. "Welcome, Mittens! Hey, I was gonna do some silly songs! Wanna do some silly dances for the party? I can try to keep up..."

She was also kind of running interference for Meiou, hoping nobody else noticed him and Tim head off, but figuring most are distracted by the party for now.

Katy seems busy with trying to make sure most people are doing their part for the party, and occasionally checks on JB. She saw Meiou head off, but that was supposed to happen, so she just continues being a busy body.

Shelly goes to give Lucky a hug. With a tiny squeak to her voice, she says, "Oh the sweet hugging kitty! I know I can always count on you for hugs!"

Nearby, Autumn says, "Hey Shelly! The sun is going down soon! Wanna show the new guys your light tricks when it's dark?"

"You bet! And maybe Joe can combine my light show with his grappling hook!" Shelly squeaks happily before turning to JB. "So how do you like Channelwood? Nice place, huh? Sweet-as-candy people, neat-o treehouses..."

"I'd say," Johnny says, as he gets a reprieve from being cat pounced en masse.  "I've never seen several dozen treehouses connected together, and after what I've gone through, I'm glad to find some friendly faces."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:27, Tue 27 Nov 2018.

Lucky accepted the tasty dessert offered by Pyrus and gave him a friendly nudge as thanks.  He chuckles from Mits' enthusiasm for the new faces and wonders how long it'll take her to figure out Pyrus is just a kid.

As for Johnny, Lucky doesn't know about the poor guy's cannibalism phobia or he'd make more of an effort to assure him.  "Timothius is a healer," he explains to Johnny so he doesn't feel like his buddy was being rude or anything, "Like, actual healing superpower.  So he can help with the bump on the head if not the confusion."

When hugged and complimented by Shelly, Lucky blushes and smiles, returning the hug.  "Aw shucks, Shelly.  Thank you!  Looking forward to your light show."

Lucky reaches to arm-around Johnny and gives him a friendly smile.  "So glad you like it here."

Pyrus smiled when given recognition for distributing dessert and grins proudly that the excitable cat girl thinks just seeing a dragon is super fantastic.  He still doesn't get why Emmy would tell Johnny to pretend to not remember, but he's not gunna spill the beans just for the curiosity of his new fan.

But Pyrus can't help but stagger and shake his head when Meiou admits to doing, "something stupid."  Yeesh.  If they only knew!

Yay!  Silly dances and music and light show!  How fun!

First thing's first, though.  After following after Mav, Pyrus' eyes go wide when he witnesses Timothius heal Meiou.  Woah!  He turns that amazed look to Maverick again before turning back to watch Meiou's reaction.

Mits would raise her shield to block any hug attempts from flirt-face Lucky, who was conveniently attacked by Shelly first, but is defenseless against Emmy hugs.  She returns the hug and smiles at the suggestion.

"Yay!  Silly dances and music and light show!  How fun!  But Sir Grappling Hook is right.  Let's not forget that this is a welcome party for Sir Falls-Between-Worlds.  So I'm going have to insist that he tell us what it's like to slip-n-slide through space-time at some point tonight!  Especially after Sir Heals-A-Lot gets done patching up the bunny.  Who'll have to tell us what epicly dangerous thing it was he survived!  You know... for the kids.  So they know to not do the thing.  Because it's dangerous."

Meiou shivered abit as Tim's healing patched him up . He smiled to the cat nodding his thanks to him. Hopefully after a little mingling he would get some free time to work on his experiment. He was eager to make it and improve upon its design.

"Magical Healing, eh?" JB said, and then thought to himself, 'He'd have a field day with me.  I'm only pretending to be amnesiac.'

  "I suppose we could convince people they are haunted if I dangle you past windows. That's probably not what the girls had in mind, Joe.

The party goes great!

For JB, the people here are considerate, understanding, and patient, while still very much curious and excited to befriend a new face. In general, Emerald protects him from being overly questioned or prodded. And JB quickly gets the idea that this girl is some kind of super young matriarch where people bend over backwards for her. But then... JB quickly finds out there really isn't anyone older than 30 around here.

To Meiou, it feels like a number of people seem to be carrying guilt with them as if they blame themselves for Meiou's actions. Most people are trying to be as welcoming as possible without invading his space (because of his earlier actions causing people to believe he just isn't ready for space invaders yet). A select few, such as the more bully personalities, give him unforgiving glares. But one look from Katy usually makes them suddenly act laid back or joyful.

https://youtu.be/JInJlQpBf4U?t=692

When it's dark, Shelly does wind up glowing in the dark while swinging from grappling lines and doing some mid-air dance. She's no pro, but she makes it look like she is because she is graceful and turns mistakes into looking like they were part of the act.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Thu 21 Feb 2019.

Johnny's was friendly enough, eager to find out more about the world he fell into.  And most people knew the haunted look of someone who's been through some bad things (thanks to Robotnik) enough not to press the new and strange mouse that much.  Most assumed that he just saw his whole village get roboticized en masse and his mind had to block out the memory just so he could function.  Wouldn't be the first time that happened.

While watching Shelly swinging through the ropes glowing like a firefly, he happened to catch Emerald's eye.  "From what I could see, you're probably the oldest one here.  Let me guess, this Robotnik guy.  He took out all the adults?"

The rabbit didn't try to make anyone talk to him nor did he go out of his way to talk to many aside katy. around the time dark came he watched katy for a little before going to a place he could make use of for a workshop. he had had a spark of genius during the fight with the bots earlier and intended to upgrade his weapon of choice to help in the coming fights.

  Glow in the dark princesses who fight robots on ziplines.  In case you didn't think the apocalyptic future based on a 90s game was 80s enough.

  Just another reason why Joe quit the brooding loner club, and it seems Meiou is already looking into one of the more practical reasons if past experience is anything to go by.

OOC: Combination of 'Technically just annoying' health RL and "Everyone I know has it so much worse" makes for one heck of a distraction.

Mittens can tell the difference between "actual amnesiac" and "stonewalling due to emotional trauma," so she tends to be the one Emerald has to stiff-arm the most.

"So what was it like in the place you come from?  Was there a team of unlikely sports stars who teamed up to fight crime?  What happened before you got here?  Were you zapped by the ray gun of an earthworm wearing an alien power suit?  Was it more zany than the time I had to team up with a meerkat to rescue his warthog buddy from island natives who mistook him for their god?  Hey Timothius!  I think he needs you to heal his brain!"

Many of her questions are punctuated with swings and thrusts with the sword she crafted from an old lawnmower blade.  Regardless of whether she gets any real answers, she questions Meiou in much the same way.

"So why are they giving you dirty looks?  They jealous of your epic vampire powers?  You the kind that only sucks the juice out of veggies?  Or maybe they're mad because the beautiful red-head overlander everyone was crazy for chose you over them then winds up captured by a villain who wants to dip her in a vat of terpentine?  Maybe you should transform into robot form and put them in their place."

Shelly's acrobatic light show of course draws many an enthusiastic cheer from Mits.  She of course insists on joining in.  There's no way in this world she's going to pass up on a chance to trapeze dance with a glowing princess.

Lucky of course is protective of JB as well.  And knowing full well that Mits doesn't like his flirts, he'll resort to paying her compliments to shoo her off if need be.  But that depends on if JB considers the crazy cat endearing or annoying.

He loves Shelly's performance of course, and applauds her enthusiastically.

Lucky cringes when JB accuses Emerald of being the oldest.  So he tries to smooth things over by adding, "Heh.  Hear that, Emmy?  You're so young looking he doesn't think you're even an adult yet."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:55, Wed 20 Mar 2019.

Pyrus thinks Mittens is hilarious and spends a lot of time rolling on the floor laughing.

During Shelly's performance, he was happy to play along by flying around and puffing his itty bitty flame breath in such a way as to make it appear to onlookers Shelly and Mittens are death defying daredevils...  without ever coming anywhere near their actual flight paths.

In any other scenario, Johnny would be more than happy to tell Mittens more about himself.  About the world being made around himself, this variable magical kingdom all his own...before something took it all away from him, friends, family, and everything else.

He shuddered, which gave Mittens the idea that maybe Timothius should heal his brain.

Emerald smiles at Lucky and winks at him before she turns to JB and says, "Robotnik took most adults away from us, that is true. Tanner, Janet, Michael and I are in our thirties. The oldest is Jimmy, though. He's in his fifties. Most of our adults are under thirty. Consider... Robotnik's takeover happened about 10 years ago. So what few adults got away, tried to take as many children with them as they could. So most Freedom Fighter settlements, like this one, are mostly people in their twenties or younger."

To Mittens, she goes to the kitty and whispers in her ear, "He doesn't have amnesia, sweetheart. He just has a lot of pain to process and talking about it hurts very much. Amnesia was just something quick to keep people from prying much."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:25, Tue 26 Mar 2019.

However, while Emerald is distracted with telling Mittens what's up, Timothius approaches JB and sits next to him and says quietly, "I can heal you, Johnny. I have a healing touch."

He reaches to give JB a pet, but gives JB plenty of time to object. If he doesn't object, JB is soon getting pet by Timothius and starting to feel amazing. Like eating cheesecake while getting a foot massage. Or putting on pajamas fresh out of the dryer.

After the performance, Maverick gives Pyrus a paw-bump, "That was super cool!" then hugs Shelly (because he knows he can get away with it) "And beautiful!" He is sure to fist-bump Joe and Mittens for their contributions.

Shelly rubs behind her head, then pets the boy who is taller than her. "Thanks!" then turns to Joe, Pyrus and Mittens. "Thanks for spicing things up!"

Katy goes about making sure everyone is being treated fairly or having fun. Then makes her way to Meiou when she is able.

he blinked when he was stopped by mittens for questioning. these were really random odd questions "well no it wasnt any of that. its just back in the day I wasn't the most popular furre around. I used to get into all kinds of trouble with my skillset. Funnily enough folks dont like it when you butt into their life as them." and as he was about to continue explaining he did a double take "wait what? who did what now?" he asked confusedly before shaking his head. questions could wait he needed to finish this before anything else happened.

after the performance it wouldn't be hard for Katy to find the rabbit fussing about with his new toy. His sword blade was white hot and he was testing its power by chopping up robot pieces with it like they were some kind of vegetable he was slicing up for a stew.

JB first blinked as Tim reaches over to him, but after a bit of a flinch, JB feels the effect, and he starts to relax under the hold.  He even started to murr and close his eyes and then Timothius began to hear some tapping from Johnathan as he started to brux.

  Thankfully for Mittens, Joe delves in redundant grappling hook technology for a reason.  The wonders of living in a place where swinging around bioluminescent royalty (and adventurous cats) is probably the least absurd subject of conversation today.

  For example. Stunt coordinator dragon.

  "It's fine" he says while providing the required hand to hand collisions.  "Though I'm sure you would have figured out something, it's nice to help out."

"Ohmygosh you can breathe FIRE?!" Mittens exclaims to Pyrus after the performance is over, "And fly too!  Awesome!"

The little dragon returns Maverick's fist bump and blushes and slides his foot bashfully at being praised by a grownup.

"Its a thing.  Dragons.  Do."

Mits grins and returns Mav's fist bump and answers Shelly.  "You know I'm always up for spicing things up!  Especially if it means I get to use a super-cool Joe grappling hook!"

She oooohs at Emmy's explanation and turns to Johnny to give him an extreme bow, making her pigtails flip up and stand on end.  "Apologies for the foolish foot in mouth cat!"

To Meiou she explains, "A story I heard as a kid.  Or was it a cartoon I watched?  So you can disguise yourself to look like other people?  That sounds fun!  I'd love to get some pointers!  Woah awesome weapon!  Can I have one?!"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:12, Mon 15 Apr 2019.

"Yes, thank you everyone for making this a wonderful night to remember."

Lucky thinks Johnny's the cutest thing!  He can't help himself and cuddles the mouse.  He'd scoop up Pyrus too, but thinks that maybe the little dragon might not be comfortable with being cuddled by someone who hasn't been introduced to him yet.

Pyrus is eyeing Meiou's white-hot blade hungrily and licks his lips.  But it'll probably be many years before he can make a chew toy out of something quite that hot.

And unfortunately he can't find an excuse to try out Timothius' healing power for himself.  Because he's not willing to get deliberately hurt.  Unlike someone who Challenged Ra!  Bunny did get healed, didn't he?  Pyrus approaches Meiou to check if he's still wounded.

Katy grins as she sees the demo of Meiou's new "toys". "This'll be really handy in our fight against Robotnik. Just be careful. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between robots and roboticized mobians."

Timothius joins Lucky in cuddling the mouse. Since JB seems to enjoy Tim's touch, and the poor guy has been through a bad experience recently, Timothius figures he'll linger for as long as JB needs. He's also super grateful that if he is, in fact, healing JB's memories, JB hasn't shown any signs of that being a bad thing.

Timothius looks over to Lucky with a smile, then back to JB. "Feeling better?" he asks softly.

Emerald rejoins Joe and Mittens and says, "Thanks for the help, Joe. Are you two willing to help me with cleanup?"

Shelly hangs out with various Channelwood Freedom Fighters, taking advantage of being here.

Maverick disappears with Pyrus to go spy on Meiou again and grins as he sees the blades chopping through metal.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:44, Tue 16 Apr 2019.

Johnny never expected a couple of cats to just sandwich cuddle him, but then again, he did get the thought that he needed this.

He just stood there surrounded by Tim and Lucky with a sheepish grin on his face and rhythmic tapping of his bruxing.  He even found himself hugging back.

"Y-yeah.  A bit," JB said when Tim asked him if he was feeling better.  "I hope you can understand that it's hard for me to talk about what happened to me," he said, a voice a bit of a whisper.  "As bad as this Robotnik seems to be, at least he didn't just erase the entire reality you're in, leaving you in a white void.  That's the 'too long didn't read' version of what happened to me."

He gave a worried expression to Timothy. "If that sounds strange to you, I won't blame you."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Thu 18 Apr 2019.

He looked to Mittens and blushed abit not used to someone taking a such interest
in his hobbies. To anyone watching he seemed to move more fluid and nothing
seemed to be hindering him "Well for pointers you'd first need what i use for disguising. I haven't had a chance to find the stuff neccessary to craft new ones yet. Though i think i still have one of a younger Katy somewhere. I'd have to check. As for my sword well i mean i'd need more parts to create the mechanism that makes it heat up. "

When katy spoke up he returned his attention to her "I'll be careful i Promise to not harm them. If i can get the right parts I could make an upgrade that would jus give a shock to their systems and shut them down harmlessly to reboot later."

  "Sure Emerald, might as well" Thankfully Joe is boring enough to be willing to help with chores!... We could have phrased that better.

  He is hardly surprised the recent emo arrivals are having their PG-13 world views effected by the rated G antics surrounding them.  Shame that doesn't work out so hot against the rated PG villain.

Lucky thinks the mouse's bruxing is the cutest thing!  And is very happy that not only is Johnny hugging back but he's also opening up about his troubles.  What progress!  Maybe Timothius' healing really does help his emotional hurts.

"Goodness.  I can't even begin to imagine how you must feel.  I can only assure you that you're with friends now.  And you needn't worry yourself about sounding weird or anything.  Our world is full of strange things, so we're kinda used to the idea of what you say being a possibility."

Pyrus is thankful for the invitation to disappear with Maverick.  He feels really unqualified to help cheer up poor Johnny, and just as unprepared to do any checkups on Meiou.  So Mav gets a cheek-lick.

OMG cat!  http://awesomegifs.com/wp-content/uploads/omg-cat.gif



Shocked monkey!  https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vi2...-trick-to-baboon.gif

"Epic reality deletion endboss-waitwhat you're so amazing at disguise people mistook you for Katy?!  Mittens must learn your secrets!"

And on top of that, que Legend of Zelda colored text...


"A gather quest!  Mittens is up to the task!  But Emerald requested help with cleanup.  So Mittens will help with that first real quick.  Then will take that shopping list and go forth to gather said parts!"

Her idea of helping Emerald with cleanup is to hop up onto a table and shout to the party goers, "Emerald song for anyone who pitches in with cleanup!!"

In all honesty, that'll probably help Emerald a whole lot more than Mittens attempting doing any actual cleaning.  Chores are one of the things she's not capable of accomplishing responsibly without risk of turning it into a disaster.  Like the time she figured cooking would go way more epicly fast if you double the size of the fire.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:50, Sun 28 Apr 2019.

If Emerald were in an anime, she would fall over from Mitts' shenanigans. But SatAM was before American cartoons started adopting anime antics.

However, the people of Channelwood seem to have had their fill of Emerald songs because the response is for people to look at Mittens like she's crazy and try heading home quicker. Two or three children might have offered if it weren't for their parents insisting it is long past bedtime (and most kids are already in bed).

Maverick shoulder-shrugs from the cheek-lick. Then looks over to crazy cat. Then back to Pyrus. "I don't think we're going to get a song from Emerald for it, despite what Mittens just said, but all the same it sounds like Emerald could use our help." Maverick being a nightowl and all that, he isn't terribly tired yet.

Emerald just rubs behind her head. "Thanks for the rallying call, but I guess it's just you, me and Joe for n-"

Maverick walks up to Emerald. "How may I help?"

Katy nods to Meiou. "Hey Meiou... since you're feeling better, how about you and I help poor Emerald and Joe with cleanup?"

If it had just been Emerald and Joe, cleanup would have taken 60 or so minutes. With just Mav and Pyrus, it becomes more like 35 minutes. With Katy and Meiou, it will widdle down to 20 minutes. If Mittens pitches in, well that could potentially knock it down to 10 minutes, or punch it back up to 60 depending on whether she decides playing frisbee with the dishes is a good idea.

Meanwhile, Timothius and Lucky are still kinda on comfort duty. Timothius nods to JB. Many Freedom Fighters would just as soon say what happened to JB's reality was because of Robotnik. But now is not the time to speculate how bad Robotnik is. He pets JB and says, "Lucky's right. You don't need to feel embarrassed or think that we'll call you crazy."

Shelly heads to bed. The princess isn't about to make the many-miles walk back to Aquarius this late. This potentially means Mittens and Timothius are spending the night too.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:28, Mon 06 May 2019.

He chuckles seeing how excited Mitts was to gather the parts.
He turned when emerald approached him "sure thing. let me put this up first."
he said pressing on the bottom of the pommel as the blade began rapidly cooling down to
normal. After which he tapped it again and then put the blade away and went to help out Emerald with anything she needed him to handle.

  Joe does not whistle while he works, if only because that would interrupt the montage background music.

  Still, he does appreciate the help from recent bunny arrivals, even if he doesn't blame the mouse still in full 'mah backstory!' mode from sitting it out.

In reply to Joe Darkthorne (msg # 176):

Nevertheless, when JB sees people cleaning up, he does get up to pitch in the best he could under the circumstances.  He thinks that a little busywork might clear his head.

Someone could hear him mutter 'What am I supposed to do now?' to himself, and with the way he looks around, he's looking for what he's supposed to do in this new and strange world.

Lucky smiles to see Johnny pitching in and gives a knowing nod to Timothius.  Both because it's a good sign of a man with a golden heart, and because it means the kittys won't have to feel torn about comforting the new guy vs. helping Emmy cleanup.

"Thanks for helping, Johnny.  These tables fold up.  Would you be so kind as to help me collapse them and stow them?"

By now Lucky's used to Mittens' silliness, so her outburst didn't really phase him.  But he does have to wonder how the AFF survive living with that day in and day out.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:48, Thu 27 June 2019.

Pyrus grins from Mittens' shenanigans and is glad Mav decided to answer the call.

"I'll get the high up decorations," he offers.

He flies up to recover the hanging decorations that only Valin could reach without a ladder.

"You're doing it, Mr. Helpful," Pyrus comments to J.B. with a smile.

In reaction to the villagers being indifferent to the prospect of Emmy music, Mittens facepalms herself flat onto her back!

"Whaaat.  Passing up on Emmy music is the most unbelievable thing that's happened all day!  VERY WELL!  Then you shall have Mittens music instead!"

She chases the unhelpful ones with cat song.  "^{Meow meow meow} _meoooow!  ^{Meow meow meow} _meoooow!"

By the time Mits gets back from punishing the insolent ones for daring to turn their noses up at Emmy, most of the work has been done.  So she tries to make up for it by attempting to carry out all the trash bags at once and winds up looking like the old hoarder lady from The Labyrinth.

Emerald giggles musically from Mitts' antics.

Thanks to all the help, the cleanup is done quickly and Emerald gathers those who helped to sing them a song of friendship and love, giving all of them lovey eyes. Mittens may have volunteered Emerald for this reward, but not only is Emerald happy to give it, she would hate to let down such an avid fan. Besides? Who would want to make Mittens sad?

During the song, Mav grins at Pyrus and offers fist-bumps to Pyrus's paw and Joe's fist.

Timothius returns to flanking JB with Lucky so the mouse can get pets.

Katy has Meiou sit with her to enjoy the singing, tail swishing happily to the music.

Shelly hugs Mittens from behind and sways with her to the songs.

With the ending of the song, Emerald goes around to give people hugs (kisses for the kids), and soon, people are shown to their guest rooms.

In the case of Meiou, his old room is now Thomas' room (Thomas being one of the newer faces to Meiou). Katy says, "You're clear to room with him in your old room for tonight if you like. But if you prefer to be alone tonight, you could take my room for tonight and I'll sleep at Amy's." (Not the pink hedgehog, this Amy is a mouse and has been with Channelwood since the beginning, but she was just a little kid when Meiou left. She's 14 now.)

JB is, of course, allowed to bunk with Timothius and Lucky, but it is also offered he could bunk with the orphan children (such as Maverick and Pyrus).

Shelly will be going with Mittens, regardless of where Mitts chooses to sleep. But Emerald does offer Mittens to bunk with her.

  People being more eccentric than you is a gift, it lets you pretend to be normal by comparison.

  Maverick gets the requested fist bumpage, as Joe continues on his way to make sure Mittens can be dug if she trips or something.  Handy that never happened!

Johnny (JB) grew so tired after helping out cleaning up--with all the events of his day catching up with him, that when he was led by Tim and Lucky to their room and offered him a spare bunk, the mouse just flops down on the bed asleep before he hit the bedding.  Whatever or not this sleep was dream free or that the events that brought him here replayed to his head remained to be seen.  But his eyes were twitching behind the lids and he occasionally moaned and whimpered.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:27, Tue 23 July 2019.

Meiou stretched out as he stood up and blinked blushing abit embarrassingly at the mention of Amy's name . He kinda hope she didn't hate him for just up and vanishing like he did. "Alone would be nice if it's not too much trouble."

Lucky smiles at Timothius tag-teaming with him in keeping JB company.  He of course applauds Emmy's performance and returns the hug with a big smile.

"Your music warms my heart, Emmy."

Later, when JB crashes, he tucks the mouse in.  Concerned for the guy's troubled sleep, he glances at Timothius.  "On the one hand, I worry about crowding him.  On the other, he didn't seem to mind that he woke up in my arms earlier...  Maybe waking up in yours will mean he had a much more restful sleep tonight."

Pyrus of course returns Mav's fist-bump and tail-wags to the Emmy music.  The goodnight kiss makes him smile brightly and cheek-rub the fluffy fox.

"G'nite Music Fox!"

Soo proud of himself for coming up with a nickname for Emmy that rhymes with "Music Box."

When time comes to sleep, he enjoys cuddling with his BFF Mav.

Mittens appreciates Joe keeping an eye on her safety, but even her compulsion to entertain him with some sort of antics has to give in to the fact that there's just NO way she can juggle stuffed trash bags.  So she has to settle for merely skipping to the compost and recycle drop-off.

When sneak-attack hugged by Shelly, Mits squeaks and flails.  But why escape from a Shelly hug?  She hugs Shelly's arms and sways along.

Hearing Emmy's offer to sleep over, Mits pumps her fist in triumph!  "YES!  A Shelly-Emmy sleepover!  Like drinking liquid musical revivification!  Epic!"

Mits apparently shares one thing in common with Meiou.  When it's time to crash, she crashes hard.

Timothius agrees with Lucky, gives him a goodnight hug and keeps JB company for the night.

Emerald blushes from the many positive comments.

Mav cuddles the sleeping dragon. That sounds somehow badass even though it doesn't. O.o

(Starting new thread)