Intro Log

[progressmods]

Who: Everyone!
What: Your first magical day
Where: Progress City Tranport Center
When: Right now
Warnings: None planned!



[Today you found a ticket to a theme park. It seems relatively normal, except that it reads: Lifetime Parkhopper Pass to Progress City. ”The Most Magical Pocket Dimension in the Multiverse!” This is not a theme park you have ever heard of, if you live in a world where theme parks are of the norm.

For some reason you’re drawn to the ticket. There’s something… magical in this piece of paper, and you can practically hear it calling out to you, and you feel compelled to pick it up. It’s strange, but it’s a piece of paper, what’s the worst that could happen?

However, the moment you pick it up, you feel yourself being pulled. There is nothing pulling you but there is an overwhelming sensation that something is pulling you by the chest into the ground. You don’t have time to process what’s going on before you suddenly fall over, the strange feeling going away the moment you hit the ground.

It takes a few moments for you to regain your bearings, but as you look up you are suddenly hit with the fact that, wherever you were before, you certainly aren’t there anymore. It appears to be a transport station of some sort, and a very sleek and new one at that. Monorails pass by the station every couple of minutes, with small, slower moving vehicles consistently move in and out of the center.

The innermost wall, right behind where you stand, is lined with portals. It appears that you came in through this portal, but if you try to go back the way you came in, you’ll find that you are unable to enter it, no matter how hard you try.

While the realization that you are now trapped in this strange place, you will soon find that you also have a strange band strapped to your dominant wrist. No matter how hard you try to take it off, it seems like it’s stuck on there.

At least you’re not alone, along with a bunch of other people who arrived around the same time you did, there are humanoid people who seemed to be intrigued by your arrival. They’re all generally nice, but get confused if you ask them why you’re here and why you can’t leave. They will, however, happily tell you the name of the place you’re in if you ask:

Progress City.]

Comments

[itsthecount]

If you’re planning on killing yourself doing that, you’d be foolish not to charge for admission.

[by which he means, where are you selling tickets so he can sneak past the usher and watch for free.]

[notasingleword]

[She isn't totally sure what Yui is talking about, but Ariel can't help but overhear her talking. She tries to approach her calmly even though she's on the verge of freaking out herself.]

It really isn't huh? It's kinda more trouble than it's worth sometimes.

[itsthecount]

Perhaps it’s not real, maybe it’s a nightmare. Have you considered that? That you’re consrantly sprawling down the slippery slope of lucid nightmares? Of sleep paralysis? Knowing you’ll never wake up.

[count olaf is already attempting to blend in, creeping over from a nearby barrier, and wearing an overbearing pair of mickey ears.]

[notasingleword]

[Oh cool! She just.... kinda stops walking and folds over to hug her legs and hide her face.]

I can't do this again Freddie I can't....

[itsthecount]

Sound theory. I’ve done that before.

[Count Olaf is just casually chewing on a fuckin oversized Disney turkey leg as he makes this observation. He speaks with his mouth full.]

[angelgoatdemon]

Something called 'Progress City'. I don't recall Elysium building a-- wait.

[He glances at the Star, then back to his own ticket. Back to Star, and then the ticket. Maybe three more times for good luck.]

Wha-

[marryapanther]

Hm. Odd. No, where I'm from, all animals live in the wild, and man lives in its man-villages. There's a little overlap[Mowgli, for instance], but that is how it is. Man creates its own inventions, and we live off our instincts and survive.

[He had noticed that this bird looked... strange, and wore human clothing and the like. Bagheera'd been a bit too distracted by the technology lesson to ask. But now that the question has been raised, it's managed to take his attention away from electricity. Be grateful, Della.]

What is your home like, then?

[hallotween]

Oh, cool! I mean, being a gladiator is super fun, but adventures are pretty cool, too!

[she glances over at the portals, a bit ruefully.]

I'd kinda been hoping my next adventure would be with my family. I guess that's out of the picture now.

b

[itsthecount]

Sorry? Sorry?

[Count Olaf scoffs, and dusts off his suit, unibrow narrowed.]

That’s all you have to say for yourself, bookworm? You were so invested with your book to take heed of my incredibly-handsome-suit and your best excuse is [in a terribly high-pitched girly voice that sounds nothing like her:] “Sorry! I was too distracted by the books and reading and Language Arts to care about your luxurious outfit!”

[derring_do]

I guess it's not that different for us! We've got regular animals-- uh, I mean, animals like you, who don't wear clothes and... well, they don't talk to us, and they just do their own thing. But then there's us! [She just gestures to herself.] A different kind of animal. We have villages and inventions and stuff, too.

[She pauses to consider something.] ...I don't think 'man' exists in Duckburg. Or anywhere, really, I've never seen them before I came here. They're the furless guys, right? They're not that different from the people in Duckburg otherwise, they just look kinda weird.

[itsthecount]

An incredibly handsome actor. You can commence your worship of me now.

[you're talking to him, right, lance?]

[hallotween]

It'll take more than a severe concussion to kill me! [shrugs] Besides, what would I need money for?

[marryapanther]

[You're one to talk, you nudist copepod.] I know that if you wanted to take over this place, you ought to at least have the support or fear of the masses. And you have neither. You're just a sad little animal screaming for attention. [Bagheera's a little on edge from the whole "kidnapping" thing, so he's a bit ruder than usual. Still, he gets the feeling this guy probably deserves to be taken down a peg.]

[itsthecount]

So I can pilfer it off your corpse. Duh.

[derring_do]

Sounds like you have experience with both.

[who lets a child become a gladiator

Della follows her gaze towards the portals, though, and her expression drops a bit, even if she doesn't let it trouble her for long. she can understand the feeling.]

...Yeah. Me, too. The three of us usually always go together... it's gonna be weird without them. But there's probably a way back, anyways! We just have to find it.

[mister_mystery]

'Again'? You go portal hopping often? I thought there was only one in town. ['And look how that turned out,' he was about to add, but Stan just sorta grumbles.]

[hallotween]

Fair.

[eh. she stops the slamming, leaning against the portal.]

It's not working, anyways. You'll have to steal from my corpse later.

[marryapanther]

Interesting! I was wondering how you came to obtain man's clothing. But you can only communicate with some of your fellow animals? The furless creatures, yes. They're... usually, they're to be avoided. They create weapons and can control the red flower- the fire- and strike down any animal they can hunt or who they believe could be a threat. But these ones seem... tamer. Of course, it could just be from the shared confusion over what's going on here. [Bagheera's tail lashes a little. He still doesn't really... Trust the humans, and he's not letting his guard down any time soon, but for now no one's hurt him or any of the other animals he sees. And as long as that continues, he'll keep his peace.]

[andbegone]

[don't call him out like this]

I have neither at the moment. But sooner or later I will have their respect, one way or another. Besides, you're one to talk about-- about sad little animals! [Takes one to know one and all that.]

[itsthecount]

Oh, no, no, no. I’m sure you can keep going with it and it’ll break eventually. Trust me, in addition to being an incredibly talented and attractive man. I’m also an expert.

[hallotween]

[she gives him a long, hard look. and then starts counting on her fingers. one, two...]

If you're that totally wrong about those two things, you're probably wrong about the third, too. I think I'll trust my own judgement.

[itsthecount]

That’s me you’re looking for. The one in charge. How can I help you out, Fair Pirate Cosplayer?

[here he is, the mayor]

[itsthecount]

Oh, I get it.

[he leans uncomfortably forward.]

You think that because you can do fancy things like counting, it makes you better than me.

[derring_do]

That's about right, yeah! When you say it like that I guess it might sound weird.

[She does notice that he seems a bit uncomfortable with the topic, and imagines that humans are a touchy subject. Understandable, she figures, from that point of view.]

Well... we can all communicate with each other, so I don't think any fighting's going to start any time soon. Nobody has any reason to make weapons or start fires, either. I mean, I don't think anyone needs to hunt here or anything.

[faciliheir]

[OH JEEZ]

Ariel, it's fine! Look, we're not even trapped in one place like last time! How are they gonna keep track of us if we can just jump on a train?