progresscity | Intro Log

Entry tags:

Intro Log

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ the first thing keith does is try to step back inside. of course he does, because there is a mission to complete. the blade and the paladins are waiting for him. and even if they don't wait for him, he needs to catch up. there aren't any buttons to press, any levers to pull. this isn't the first time he has been pulled into an alternate dimension, but he had at least been with the others and they had found their way out. he can't finagle his way out of here and, even more distressingly, he doesn't have a single way to defend himself from any other attackers.

what he does have, however, is a bright red band on his right wrist. he can't figure out its functions just yet. you might find him attempting to tear off this new device.

other newcomers might find this boy slinking around, investigating these unusually bright and new surroundings. possibly... getting very upset with these smiling strangers who can't give him a straight answer about how the hell he can get off this planet. through gritted teeth: ]

This couldn't have been an accident. I just need answers.

[ someone stop this boy before he does something rash. ]

( okay so about the lack of familiar faces he might have mentioned to himself earlier —

of all the people that he might have expected to see in this sea ( … ha ) of people, keith isn't exactly at the top of his list, but his face is a welcome one just the same. because it means neither of them are alone here, and even if they don't have much of an idea of what they're supposed to do in the interim, it's nice to know that they'll at least have some moral support going for them.

well. sort of. ) Think you're barking up the wrong tree for that. ( he gives one of those tell-tale lopsided smiles, though it seems to waver, like he's trying to keep things positive but he might just be panicking a little on the inside.

at least he's trying. )

Lance –

[ could it be he's relieved? yes, he absolutely is. they're friends now and lance is supposed to be his right hand. of course he's relieved even if it doesn't show at all on his face, half obscured by hair, comprised mostly of a scowl that doesn't belong in a place as bright and shiny as this one happens to be. ]

What have you found? I tried going through that portal. [ one way in and no way out? that doesn't seem right. he gestures to the other boy's wrist. ] You've got one of the bands too.

( it might be a little weird if it showed on his face, because while they might be actual-real-life friends now, to see something like an actual smile on the other's face might catch him so off-guard that he wouldn't know what to do with himself. or keith.

so. yeah. it's totally fine that that deadpan-ness is still there. that's the keef he knows best. ) I haven't found anything. Yet. ( to elaborate: most of his interactions have been based off of mutual confusion, and he hasn't exactly thought to ask anyone that looks like they belong here for information. that is absolutely why he'll never lead voltron. he has no leadership skills.

but then he's looking down at his wrist, holding it up with a small shrug. ) Oh, yeah. What do you think they do? Mine will not come off. ( ask him how he knows. )

[ it's already weird. he won't make it weirder by smiling. ]

I tried to take it off too, [ he almost sounds resigned but that kind of word doesn't really exist in keith kogane's vocabulary. ] They took away my blade. [ he's really the most pissed off about that and not just because of protection. but he doesn't elaborate on it either because. well. he trusts that lance knows enough to assume how the rest of that sentence goes. ]

No blade, no bayard, no armor.

( sure is a good thing some things won't ever change.

there's. the tiniest shift in lance's expression as keith keeps on talking, because damn, he can't imagine how it feels to have something like his blade taken from him; sure, he's just as naked ( figuratively! ) as the other, but he likes to think he's gotten a little bit better about. well. not freaking out about everything but he still feels restless, and most of it comes from still having zero idea where they are, or why they are where they are, what they're supposed to do —

so. here they are, together, at a loss. ) Weird, isn't it? ( he hums, tone still conversational. ) The no-armor-no-bayard thing. Guess I hadn't realized how used to it I've gotten.

[ voltron is important to all of them and keith would never write that off for anyone. but they all have their homes, their families, something to return to or look for when they're ready to leave the battlefield. without any of that, without his blade, what does he have now?

keith, that's too much introspection for the time and place. ]

Where do you think we should start looking? [ with a gesture, he turns to lance, attempting to quell his own temper lest he destroy something here. ]

( is it too much introspection or just too many words for a single tag?

don't think too much about it, keith. at least you're not alone here — though uh, there might be a handful of other people you might prefer to be stuck in themeparkland with, but this is who you're getting, and someone somewhere is sure to ensure that it's at least a tolerable journey.

( we say that now. )

lance hums, stays quiet for a second as he tries to come up with an answer that might actually get them somewhere. ) Hard to say, since we uh … don't exactly know our way around yet. ( good job there buddy! you're being an amazing help here! )

Maybe if we just start walking around we'll figure something out?

( this right here is why you'll never be anyone's go-to for tactical strategies. )

[ ( you say that now but we believe there will be regerts in the near future. but that is just the way of these two idiots. )

keith shifts his weight from his usual arms crossed-and-hip jut stance. he doesn't look anymore relaxed than he did a second ago but an attempt was made. ]

So, they say that there are different lands or whatever. Maybe we should head to that EPCOT place. It sounds like a hub. Maybe there'll be more information then. [ keith, when it puts his mind to it, isn't a bad leader. he's just not a great one. at least there's some strategy involved here. ]

We can take one of these trains.

( ( well. perhaps there will be regerts —

but for now. )

heeeey, good leadership thinking there, pal! it's a line of thought that this one here might have gotten to eventually, but he's never been that kind of forward-thinker, and. probably part of the reason the black lion had literally refused to acknowledge his presence. and will likely never acknowledge his presence. but that's neither here nor there.

at least keith is trying to relax, even if it's just a little bit, and at least narration can say that an attempt was made. that's the point. ) Weird name for a place. ( he says like they haven't been to weirder sounding places. ) But it's as good a place to start as anywhere, I guess. ( a shrug! he's easy. especially when it means he isn't making any sort of decisions himself.

he grins, though. ) Lead on, leader.

[ hey, he's at least. trying to do something productive even though his base instincts want him to act first without thinking, potentially getting them both into trouble. ]

I think it stands for something. Experimental Prototype – something. [ should have been looking closer at the map. he doesn't put more thought or energy into worrying about that because the sign at the nearest train station spells it out for them both anyway.

( he does, however, wince a bit at being called leader and hopefully lance doesn't see that as keith hurries ahead of him. ) ]

( neither of these idiots need to be caught acting first and thinking later, especially since they both have a tendency to be a liiiiiittle hotheaded at the best of times, especially when there isn't any sort of space dad to play referee and keep everyone out of trouble.

so. yeah. good job, keef. you're doin' it right. ) Prototypes? The heck kind of place is this, anyway — ( shut up, lance.

and thankfully, due to his lack of peripheral awareness he does just miss the way the other winces, though if he had seen it, he would have felt. guilty is one way of putting it. perpetual-case-of-foot-in-mouth-syndrome is another, especially at the worst of times —

sheesh. off to a great start, there, sharpshooter. but he's trailing off after keith anyway, just so he doesn't lose him in the crowd. )

Maybe they're scientists.

[ he stops once to check that lance is still within sight before moving to the nearest platform, aiming for the thinner part of the crowd. they're surrounded by confused murmurs and equally concerned looks, so at least they're all... together in this madness. not that keith is any sort of optimist here.

the flashing signs tell them that the train is two stops away so he at least can return to his usual state of standing with his arms crossed over his torso. two stops. he can wait that long. right?

come on, keith, don't start foot-tapping. ]

Sounds creepy. ( he's stuck on prototypes, keef. good luck getting him off of the weird train of thought that has now sent him spiraling into a whole handful of what-ifs that probably don't even exist, but since that's just how his brain tends to work, he's. stuck with it.

but at least they really aren't alone in all of this weirdness, even if he doesn't so much notice the others' confused looks around him as he barely manages to keep within visual range of keith, and it's really anyone's damned guess how he does manage in the first place.

two stops. we're waiting on that foot-tapping, buddy. and expect a nudge and a you're doing it again if you do. )