Dane:
The punk initially looked like he was gonna dare Dane to do something, but an odd thing happens... he backs down. "...was just a stupid rock anyway." he walks away from Dane and back towards the rest of the gang.

The bum looks up towards Dane with a smile and says, "...thanks, mister. Hey... you want the rock?" he offers up the rock he was holding. If Dane knows his rocks, he would recognize it as a geode.

---

Mittens:
The girl punk says, "No problemo."

Antoinette looks up at Mittens from her seat and smiles. "I am the Antoinette that you know. I can join you."

---

Rodger:
Antoinette then looks back to Rodger. "This is Rodger." she then presents Mittens and says, "This is Mittens. She is my friend."

There is something odd about this girl. She moves slow. She seems spaced out. But she is able to converse, if still in a cute-yet-monotone voice. All the same, she stands up and offers her hand to Rodger.

Dane shook his head. "Nice geode. You keep it."

He watched the punk walk away, and then said to the bum, "Odd that he would want it so bad. Anything special about it?"

Then, "Maybe I should go talk to them. Tell them to stand down and leave you alone. They'll just come back once I'm gone."

Rodger accepts the hand, tucking his book under his arm, but looks puzzled. Something did not seem right here, and he could not put his finger on it. His eyes suddenly turned a clouded sapphire blue as he consciously reached for the resonance, trying to perceive the social relationships surrounding Antoinette from the music of the divine symphony that wove through the mundane, created world.

"Hello again, Mittens. Fancy meeting you... here." He greeted the magicat cordially while doing so.


OOC: The Mercurian resonance is his mother's angelic heritage, not part of his "evil" wizard spells or android nature.

In reply to Antoinette Rebeca Haze (msg # 20) and Rodger Eskin (msg # 22):

Mits jumps for joy!  "Hot dog!"

Eying Rodger she narrates, "At first Mittens was thinking, 'This version of Professor skirt-the-laws-of-taboo, it's-technically-not-cannibalism is sure acting very...  not weird.  So probably not the same one she met in Yokai Invasion Timeline, hereafter referred to as YIT.'  But then he says, 'Hello again.'  Implying that he too is from said familiar timeline.  But why so... not weird?  Oh no Mittens is being rude!"

She stands at attention and salutes!  "No wait.  Wrong formality.  Methinks Earth professors are greeted with a wave.  Yes."

Mits waves.  "Salutations, Professor Rodger.  Any idea when 'here' is?  Mittens has ascertained that the 'where' is Weston City, at least."

Dane:
The bum says, "That's... exactly why I figured you should have it, mister. They don't seem like they will bother you. But as soon as they don't see anyone strong around, they will bother me again. If I don't have the rock, I can simply say I gave it away..."

---

Rodger/Mittens:
Rodger can sense Antoinette is fully human, autistic, and one of the purest souls Rodger has seen. If he did the same thing with Lifelight when he saw her before, it wouldn't be hard to make the connection.

The punk girl has no idea and just assumes any friend of the magic user is welcome.

Antoinette turns to Mittens with a smile. She is ready to follow.

Antoinette says, "My watch says it is 12:15 A.M."

In reply to Mittens (msg # 23):

"When?" Rodger blinked, taken aback and surprised by that word. His eyes reverted to normal brown as he started to consider the implications. While not especially familiar with Mittens' powers, he was aware that she had much better perception of space-time than he did, as befit her portal powers.

"I don't know, Mittens. And it is a good question."

He briefly thought of checking clock synchronization with his henchclowns to see what time and date they were registering, but held off. That kind of updating could cause some problems for his normal vision until it completed, and he would rather be able to see right now. One eyebrow went up when Antoinette stated what her watch said.

Mits facepalms at Ant's answer.  But then huhs.  She leans in close to see if said watch has a date indicator.  And if said date matches up with the "current" time that her alien A.I. brain implant computer believes it to be.  There's a part of her that expects them to be slightly out of sync.  But that Ant's watch has a night time on it would mean there's a chance that it's somehow synced with the current environment instead of when she comes from.  Which would challenge everything she knows about time tra...  unless Ant is an inventor who made a watch that automatically syncs up with the environment without having to have a current wireless plan to do so like most smartphones would have to have.

"Th... thanks, Prof.  That thing with the eyes changing color.  Is neat-o!  What's it do besides look cool?"

(( OOC: Worried about leaving Dane behind. ))

In reply to Mittens (msg # 26):

"Oh, that? Just a hereditary gift. Nothing sorcerous. All I can use it for is an extra sense," Rodger answered, though he knew that was not entirely true. He could exert it strongly enough for his wings and halo to become visible, though that wasn't saying much. "My younger boy can do quite a bit more with it, as could my mother."

He wasn't sure why he as being so open with Mittens, but it seemed like the right thing to do for whatever reason.

If Mittens checks her own watch, it says the same as Ant's. And then it changes to 12:16. The date is the day Mittens would be waking up next. At least, according to her watch.

Antoinette squats down to pick a newspaper off the ground. It shows yesterday's date. She hands it to Mittens. "The newspaper is from yesterday." she gives an innocent smile.

She then turns to Rodger with that same smile. "You have a son. What is his name?"

Mittens is stunned speechless.  This can't be the right guy!  Talking about having a family all normal-sounding and stuff.  Or maybe... acting like a normal person to throw her off.  Must be.  Well...  As "normal" as having color-changing eyes run in the family is.

"Wowzers.  Extra senses are awesome!  Your kid a superhero?  Or maybe mommy is?"

Mits jaw-drops at the newspaper.  "This date is from our yesterday!  That confirms it: alternate timeline, current time.  This is sooo not my fault this time!  You two being with me is proof of that.  But how the heck'r we supposed to get back to the proper YIT reality?"

The Alien A.I. blips at Mits' brain, ~The probability of using your teleportation power to return three people to their proper universe and time is...~

"Slim to none.  Yes, I know."

Mits blushes and glances at the other two.  "I was... talking to my... telepathic smartphone...  Out loud.  Like an idiot.  Ohwait!  If I were to..."

Mits stops herself mid thought.  Deliberately committing a time crime in order to lure continuum cops to their location so that she can hijack one of their navigators is a terrible TERRIBLE idea.

"Nevermind.  "

In reply to Antoinette Rebeca Haze (msg # 28):

"Two of them, actually. Harold and John," Rodger answered Antoinette's question politely before giving Mittens a mildly dirty look.

"I would hope not, Mittens! That would be quite the parental headache."

OOC: His answer to Mittens was in regard to the suggestion that his son might be a superhero.

Dane looked down at him, and then nodded. "Yeah, they will. Fine. I will hold it for you.. but you can have it back any time you want."

He took the rock, and stuck it into the pocket of his jacket. Then he looked down at the bum again, and then around the area where they were, looking for some place to get food. "Be right back."

Dane walked around the area, looking for a place to get a burger for the man; it looked like he hadn't eaten in a while.

One minute she was home, on the sofa with a bag of popcorn, a big bottle of water, and "John Wick" playing on the telly and next she was...not.

"What the..?" She said, looking around at the decidedly not-Weston area she found herself in, sitting on a park bench that was not in her house just as she was not in her house. She was, however, still wearing her oversize Black Widow t-shirt, pajama bottoms, and yellow, fluffy, Pikachu slippers (the ones with the black tail that said "Pika-Pika, Pikachu!" whenever she took a step).

"What in the bloody hell is going on?" She said to herself, sitting up and taking in the rather futuristic look at the place she was suddenly in which, she was quite sure now, was most definitely not Weston.

And that is when she saw Antoinette and a few other familiar faces. Faces attached to people she knew and some she didn't, both of which she made her over to, somewhat hastily, in the hopes one of them knew what the bloody hell was going on.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:15, Sat 07 Aug 2021.

As Serena rushes over to the group, her slippers make their sound! "Pikapikapikapika!"

Antoinette sees Serena, smiles, and opens her arms to her. In her soft tone, she says aloud, "This is my friend Serena."

Dane is easily able to find a restaurant as well as a generic ma&pop grocery store. The prices are normal, despite the apparent future setting.

Assuming Dane enters either place to buy food for the bum:
While Dane is away at the store or restaurant, the punk from earlier immediately swoops in like a vulture to check the bum. And since Dane was the only one who looked intimidating (and despite her magic, the punks already believe Mittens to be on THEIR side), the punk begins antagonizing the bum. But seeing the rock isn't there and knowing that Dane might come back and find a beaten body, the punk stands down. He has a mission... he isn't going to let something trivial like taking his anger out on a bum get in the way of it.

He even straightens the bum's collar, pats his chest, hands him a $5 bill, and goes his merry way.

Serena gave Antoinette a big hug. "Hello, pretty lady." She turned, one arm still around Antoinette and gave the others a small smile. "Hello, Mittens. Serena is sure happy to see you and was thinking, 'maybe Mittens did this with some of her inter-dimensional powers but decided Mittens wouldn't do that and isn't sure she could do so on a scale that would affect all of Weston' so she's not thinking that any longer."

She stopped and waved at Rodger who she's fairly sure she has never met before. "G'day," she said in a quite pronounced Australian accent. "I'm Serena, good to meetcha."

She turned back to Mittens. "Now Serena is just wondering what the bloody hell is going on and why she is standing here, wherever here is, dressed like she was whilst watching telly, eating popcorn and getting ready for bed!"

(Important note I forgot to mention: All of you can decide what was happening before you got here, whether you were asleep and woke up here or were up late like Serena. But it would have been about midnight that you were in one place and now are here.)

Dane walked back into the area, and handed a bag with a sandwich to the homeless man. "Here. Meat, bread, veggies, condiments, salt, pepper and water. That should keep you for a bit." He smiled a bit then, suddenly seeming less intimidating. "Be well."

He nodded his goodbye, and turned and walked over toward the main group of folks he knew, giving Serena a smile, because, well, she was fierce, and beautiful, and they made a great team, tearing up enemy spacecraft.

"Serena. You too, eh?"

Mittens bursts out laughing at the sound!  And the sight of Serena in her PJs.  And then things get all adorable with Ant cuddles and Mittens mimicry.  So she squeals gleefully with her fists to her mouth!

"Welcome to the bewilderment party, Serena!  Mittens is only slightly less confuzzled than you.  We've determined that this is an alternate timeline:  One where Weston wound up a cyberpunk setting.  For the local date and time is about the same as we remember it being from our version of the world.  There.  Now that you know that, you can be equally confuzzled as Mittens.  Should I go borrow you something to change into?"

Punk being rude to a bum barely registers with so much going on.  But then suddenly changing his tune to being nice tweaks Mits' kitty curiosity.  What was that all about?!  Surrendering to her curiosity, she opens her customery very small portal and has it follow the punk from ever so slightly behind and way up so she can keep an eye on him with little risk of her flying eye being spotted.

Mittens double-takes.  "R-Rampage?!  Wowzers!  Welcome to the weirdness...  Don't suppose you've got a better idea of what's going on than, '5 random people from our world just ZOOPED over to an alternate timeline where Weston's all cyberpunky...  Punky punky CHU!"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:32, Fri 06 Aug 2021.

"Me too," Serena said, holding a hand out to Dane. "Good to see you again, circumstances and all, not that we know what said circumstances are."

She looked around again. "Cyberpunk indeed. I feel like I'm on the Bladerunner set. If we see Harrison Ford chasing Rutger Hauer then Hauer is mine. You can all share Ford. If you wouldn't mind getting me something that screams less 'I'm about to get some kip' and more "I belong here in this Cyberpunk future Weston' I would be most grateful."

She reached down and pinched Atoinette then pinched herself. "I've heard that wakes you up if you're dreaming. Since we're all still here it's either a lie or we're not dreaming."

Rodger ran the fingers of one hand through his beard thoughtfully. While the sound of Serena's footwear was bringing up some unpleasant memories, they were not anything to do with the lady herself. And both Mittens and Antoinette expressing friendship towards Serena gave him a quite positive first impression of her.

He raised an eyebrow Mittens' way when she started going on about cyberpunk. A questioning eyebrow, not a disapproving one.

The bum gave a grateful smile and nod to Dane. "Bless you, sir..." and savored his sandwich.

When Dane approaches the group, Antoinette smiles and says softly, "Hi, Dane." Ant then presents Rodger to Dane and says, "This is Rodger."

The pinch made Ant squeak and she looked down where she was pinched. Upon hearing Serena's explanation, she ohs and nods at Serena. "I hope we can be friends with whoever we see. Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, or cyber punks." Then looks at Mittens. "Can I have a cyberpunk outfit too?"

She looks back to Serena and says softly, "...your slippers are cute."

Meanwhile, the punk Mitts is keeping an eye on returns to the main group of punks, whispers in an ear, and the one being whispered to just nods.

The girl punk Mitts befriended is looking around at all the faces. "Woah! What a Motley crew! Well hey... we going to the robot battle arena or what?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:00, Tue 10 Aug 2021.

Dane nodded to Rodger, taking the man in at a glance. "Rodger."

He turned back to Serena, and said, "We've seen worse. This seems like a walk in the park... so far. Any theories on how we got here, where here is, who did it, or what they want? Clearly, they want something from us."

Mits grins from the Harrison Ford reference, remembering a scene from Thumb Wars where he goes on a lengthy boast of all the movies he's been in.  Why is Chocolate Rodger giving me The Spock Eye?!

And of course Dane's the one person out of the group being an actual hero at the moment, feeding a homeless person.  Inward self-kicking for shrugging off the plight of fellow man.  Person.  Mittens not a man.  Aaand there goes Ant being all candy sweet as usual.

"Excellent questions!  Mittens would love to bring friends to Robot Battle Arena!  Any chance those who want wardrobe change can get such along the way?  Mittens suspects that the interdimentional being who winked us here without explanation did so without understanding the importance of appearances.  And we're more likely to pick up clues to answer Mr. Dane's questions reconnoitering a venue of violence than standing around a bench."

She then leans in close to her new punk friend's ear and whispers, "The suspicious guy suspiciously whispering to another suspicious guy...  Either of them familiar to you?  Why would they be mean to a homeless guy then suddenly be polite and give him money?"

(( OOC: The Spock Eye https://media.tenor.com/images...971e8a416c/tenor.gif

Ham Duo https://youtu.be/MyDehO1IuG4?t=744 ))
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:31, Tue 10 Aug 2021.

Dane pondered matters for a moment, and then pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against, and went to speak with the young men hanging about.

He walked up to the kid who had tried to take the geode from the old man, and he said, "I need a few answers, starting with, where are we, and what year is it?"

The punk looks at Dane like he's from Mars. "...you're lost, gramps? Alright. This is Center Square... Main Street.. in Weston City." He has that look like he is concerned that Dane might actually be needing a hospital or something. "The year is 2021."

Meanwhile, Antoinette has been thinking ever since Dane asked theories on what anyone would want with the group. She costumes up, her normal clothing shifting into that familiar white and pink costume. She then looks around, the HUD on her visor giving her a bunch of information.