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

[derring_do]

[Della, personally, is having a great time. Sure, it'd been kind of confusing for the first thirty seconds or so, but a quick survey of the surroundings had proven that it was all a real, actual place and not some sort of weird illusion (something that she's so used to by now that it's boring).

By 'survey', of course, she means she went around trying to shove everything over and tossing herself into walls in an attempt to pass through them. As one does.

But none of that had helped any, which means she gets to come up with new answers for a new situation instead and that's great! That's exciting! She should've brought one of her bags along, she could use a journal to write this all down in... as it is, she'll just rush right up to one of the other new arrivals (at least they look new) to see if they have any theories instead. She's never had this many people to discuss things like this with before.]

Hey! You found one of those tickets too, right? How do you think that worked?

[hallotween]

Magic, duh. [said with absurd confidence and certainty] What else would it be?

[derring_do]

I dunno, some kind of tech from some sort of advanced civilization? Like robots. Or aliens.

[On second thought that's kind of an absurd explanation. Not that magic is much better, in terms of having proof around to support it...]

All the magic I've seen usually involves ghosts or curses, and I haven't really noticed signs of either of those. But I guess the day is still young!

[hallotween]

[dryly] Well, it might still be robots. It's just also probably gonna be magic. It's not the two are mutually exclusive, right?

[derring_do]

Aren't they?

What, have you met magic robots before? Because I gotta say, that's a new one. [even for her]

[hallotween]

[nods solemnly] A bunch of evil robots abducted me and my friends and forced us to kill each other. We defeated them, though!

[none of this is true]

[derring_do]

Oh! Uhh, that's... [yeah even Della thinks that sounds fake] ...well, I'm glad you defeated them? But hopefully this isn't like that.

[hallotween]

I'm... kinda thinking it might not be? The last ones were all in little houses. This place is pretty... [waves her hands expansively] I mean, where do those weird trains go? You can't keep track of people in a place so big it needs trains.

[kindaruledatit]

[Oh, you're a talking duck. Wendy's used to stuff like that.]

My guess? Magic. I've seen a lot of magic, and this definitely feels like it, unfortunately.

[derring_do]

Guess I'm not as used to magic as I thought I was.

[Then again it's not like she's gotten to fully test every magical artifact they've run into. Clearly she just has to put more time into it.]

I've never seen anything that fancy before, especially not disguised as something like a ticket!

[kindaruledatit]

Oh trust me, magic stuff comes in all kinds of looks. Like, gloves? Or hats? Those can be magic. Or a crystal- heck, even a pen. [Just listing off the top of her head.]

[derring_do]

Fair point! We have run into some pretty weird cursed objects before. It's just the portals are new, is all. Wish we could learn more about how those work.

[She probably already gleaned as much information as she could from slamming into them repeatedly.]

[kindaruledatit]

Yeah. Sorry, but I'm not exactly feeling up to sticking my hands or face anywhere near those portals.

[Wendy, on the other hand, is trying to be cautious. For once.]

Too bad they don't look like scissor portals.

[derring_do]

Oh, don't worry, I've already tried it. Haven't lost a limb yet!

[it's fine.]

What's a scissor portal? Never heard of those!

[drawntodream]

Well... I'm not an expert, but if I had to guess, taking the ticket opened. Something? Something under us, and made those work. I wonder if they're just one way, or if they aren't set up to stay open...?

[Her tone is that of someone not confident, but willing to put stock in a theory until proven wrong. This may or may not be a good thing.]

[derring_do]

I guess they've gotta be one-way! The portal I tried over there just acts like a wall, no getting through it from this side. There might be another way out, but I haven't really looked around for anything that might work.

[Like another ticket or something. Maybe that's the gimmick here.]

[drawntodream]

Are there even enough portals for all of us? I think it has to be something else. They'd have to be aimed at the right place first, right? Otherwise I could end up going back to your home instead of mine.

Or maybe they just need time to recharge.

[She looks less sure of herself with each passing theory; her volume is similarly decreasing.]

[derring_do]

I... don't really know much about portals. Maybe the tickets have to do with sending us to the right place?

I guess we can ask someone, but right now it looks like everybody's just as confused as we are.

[drawntodream]

I don't either, honestly, but it seemed like a good idea at the time? They could use the tickets, but then what issues a ticket home? I don't know anywhere at my academy that gives me a ticket to cross dimensions. [No, her friends just did that of their own accord when needed...]

I have a feeling we'll have to wait for someone that knows more than we do. All of us will just be grasping at straws until then.

[derring_do]

Yeah, I think you're right. We can come up with theories all day, but it probably won't get us anywhere until somebody shows up who actually knows what's going on.

Oh, sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name's Della!

[drawntodream]

Mm. That's what it'll have to be. We'll figure something out and we'll get home eventually. There really isn't anything else for it.

Oh, yes, sorry! I'm Yui. Pleased to meet you, Della!

[unclemoneybags]

Some sort of magic or whatsits, I don't know. Now go on, I don't have time...to..

[well well well, look who it is! and he was about to blow her off too. he was inspecting the band around his wrist and was about to test its durability when he heard someone run up to him, but he isn't in the mingling mood. He was about to give that person a piece of his mind before he turned his head around and saw a strangely familiar face in a strange, unfamiliar place.]

[derring_do]

Aw, c'mon, Uncle Scrooge, you know that's not a real answer!

[Where's your sense of adventure, old man! She's only chastising for a minute, though, because then she's grinning again. She knew he and Donald would've somehow followed her here. That's what the Duck family is good at.]

But I sure am glad to see you. I knew you'd show up sooner or later!

[unclemoneybags]

[he's just, stupefied. here she is making light of the situation and he's tongue-tied. oh he's so thrilled to finally see her again but every time he tries to say something, he just can't. it's been so many years. he eventually gets his mouth to work again.]

.... And ye didn't think to write letters, or call, or-or-- Donald was worried sick about you! [and so was he but fuck if he'll say anything about that. can't catch him emotions.]

[derring_do]

[That... just gets some confused blinking from her. What on earth is he even talking about?]

Write letters? Why would I write letters, I was just with you guys! Donald was there, too, don't you-- you didn't forget, did you? Did you hit your head or something on the way here?