ic Shenanigans

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Early December 2019

Claremont Academy

Early Afternoon

 

It was still during the school day. Students at the Claremont Academy should really be in class. After all, they were all good little students that did as they were told, even in early December, before their break during Christmas. With most students in classes, the grounds were mostly quiet. A few students running late for their classes, some working on art projects. Yes, it was all very quiet, all very mundane and as normal as a day could be at Claremont Academy.

 

But we can't have that, can we now?

 

One Mia Mustafic-Markov had found a note suddenly in her pocket after she had passed a group of students just before. The message was simple, even as it was written with beautiful, flowing letters: Do you want to have some fun? Meet me outside in 10 minutes.

 

She could probably come up with an excuse to get away from the class. A bathroom break, having forgotten a book, a visit to the nurse of an emergency. After all, it had been a dreadfully boring day so far.

[Shofet]

Soliton

 

Mia stared down the note, wondering exactly what "having some fun" entailed. The thought that someone had noticed her crossed her mind, quickly followed by the thought that someone was messing with her. She mulled it over for a moment. If someone was messing with her, she could just teleport back to class... Yeah, sure, why not? Rather than make any sort of excuse, she just wouldn't show up. Students did it sometimes. She hadn't, yet, but she probably afford the "absent", right? It was harder at a boarding school, but... hey.

 

She was briefly stopped by the thought of her parents looking disappointed, but she pushed that aside. Hey, they were already disappointed by the whole 'thief' thing anyway. What more was there to lose at this point? Jeez, Mia, maybe you should visit the school counselor, she thought to herself.

 

Heading outside, she looked around, hands jammed in her pockets. "Hello? This better not be you messing with me, because I can totally teleport out of here, or like... summon a whole bunch of bear mace in your vicinity. So... you know. Don't be mean," she said.

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

"Mean? Never. There's no fun in that." The voice came from above, a laugh hidden in its tone. "You looked like you could use some fun, and as always, I aim to deliver!"

 

She would probably notice the golden dust softly falling near her, and if she looked up, she would see Pan flying upside down, his neck turned so he could look straight down at Mia, a wide grin on his lips. Mischief was on his mind, of course.

 

"So, what do you say? Want to find an adventure?"

[Shofet]

Soliton

 

Mia stared at the boy, trying to figure out what to make of him. She'd seen him in the halls before, but beyond that hadn't interacted with him in the slightest. Which made her a little bit wary, all things considered.

 

"So, like, I don't really know you at all, and just, uh... Not really inclined to just go off and do stuff when I don't even know your name, you know? Do you even know mine? What's going on here?"

 

She realized she might come off as rude here, but by the same token even Mia wasn't keen to run off somewhere without knowing what was going on, teleportation powers or not. 

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

Turning back around to a proper orientation, Pan descended to stand in front of Mia, where he still stood a few inches above the ground and made an exaggerated bow, leaning forward with his right arm in front of his chest, his left behind him, right leg bowed in front of his left. "I am Pan, the Forever Boy! A pleasure to meet you, Mia." It seemed he did know her name, after all. He stood up straight again, floating a foot back or so, the wide grin still on his lips.

 

"You looked bored, that was all. Thought I might try to help there. Life should be an adventure, and I was looking for something fun to do anyway!" There was a slight accent to his voice, hard to please. He spoke with no contractions, his voice sounding like English was not quite his language of choice, yet only barely so.

[Shofet]

"The ah, Forever Boy, gotcha," Mia said, tilting her head. She considered Pan for a moment, wondering what his angle could be. He kind of gave her a bit of a Pan's Labyrinth vibe, now that she thought about it. 'Follow me, little girl, I'll show you a bunch of horrifying stuff and also Spanish fascism yadda yadda yadda...' She probably should have paid more attention when she watched that movie. 

 

"Okay, sure, I'm down," Mia said with a shrug.

 

"Whatcha got planned?" She realized that this was potentially a terrible idea, but she could teleport on out at any moment, right? Also she could blast him with the force of a Howitzer on steroids. Lots of potential exit strategies. 

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

An apt vibe, perhaps. Or perhaps not? Who could tell? For his part, Pan offered his right hand to Mia. Everything around them seemed to shimmer light, as if a bubble formed around them with a light golden shimmer. "First to hide from prying eyes," he started, "And then try to look for some adventure!"

 

Everyone around them started to ignore them. It was like they didn't even see Mia and the Forever Boy. 

 

"I heard a rumor. A little place, a curious boutique that moves about, full of all manner of interesting things. Maybe magic, maybe not? Sounded like it might be fun! Should be somewhere in Bayview now!" 

[Shofet]

Mia considered it, but the description did not sound promising to her at all. "...Well, I mean, moving buildings... Ah... I don't know if you know this but like, Orange Squad and I did a thing this Halloween with a moving building and it ended up with a lot of trauma for everyone involved... But uh... You know what? Sure. I survived the last one, what's another chance at the roulette wheel of death."

 

"Okay, so... If you can gimme a location, I can probably just teleport us both there. You know. Save some time for both of us, like... Y'know. Better than walking, and I get the feeling you're about to say the walking is an adventure but I'm gonna go ahead and preemptively disagree. Not really feeling the whole wandering thing right now."

 

"...Work for you?"

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

Pan frowned, and pointed at his feet, a good foot or so above the ground. "Why walk, when you can fly?" he asked, a slightly puzzled tone to his voice. He made a quick movement with his hand, a small paper slipping out from his sleeve, which he dropped into Mia's hand. When she unfolded it, it showed an address a few blocks South of the Bayview Mall.

 

"I guess bad things tend to happen on Halloween," he mused, while Mia read the note. He looked somber at the thought. "The year before a group of students tried to summon a demon. Some were hurt, lots of trouble, but we tricked the thing into leaving. This should be less traumatic, in any event. Nothing scary, as far as I have heard."

[Shofet]

Soliton

 

Mia looked down at the scrap of paper, and nodded. "Well, you know what's better than flying? Teleportation," she said as she took Pan by the arm and suddenly, they were in two places at once. One consciousness share between both locations. Then, as quickly as it happened, they were where they were meant to be. She turned to Pan, smirking. 

 

"See, that's way better," Mia said. "Can go anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds. Anywhere in the Americas if I'm bringing someone with me. Like you."

 

She thought about the story, though. "Yeah, seems like Halloween just sucks in Freedom City. Too much actual magic and stuff going on, you could totally die doing something pretty normal because it turns out the jack'o'lantern has been possessed by a dybbuk or the candies turn you into your costume or something."

 

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by Shofet

[RocketLord]

Forever Boy

 

"Let us agree to disagree." Pan did not seem entirely pleased with the effect of being in two places at once, however brief it might have been. He shook his head to regain his wits, then made another quick shake in response to Mia's statement. "No, I do not believe that magic is the issue. It has more to do with the ones that use it." He shook his left hand, some Pixie Dust spinning around it. "Of course, some would probably have issues with the way I use mine." His lips split into a wide smile as he closed his hand, dispelling the swirling dust.

 

"Now then, on to some fun!"

[RocketLord]

GM

 

That fun stood before them. They were on an all but empty city street, about a third of a block from the nearest crossroads. The building before them was like most of the buildings in Bayview, but on the ground floor, a single shop stood out. It seemed almost sandwiched in between a pair of apartment entrances, like it wasn't really supposed to be there.

 

The door was old and wooden, rather out of place on the otherwise modern builing. The door had a small sign at eye height that said "Antiques" in a somewhat gothic font, golden letters on black background. 

[Shofet]

Soliton

 

Mia side-eyed Pan for a moment, already getting a weird vibe from the store. She realized, on some level, that a lot of this had to do with her bad experiences at the haunted house. But by the same token, an out of place building with a magical air about it inevitably would draw comparisons, wouldn't it? She hoped, at least, that this wouldn't be some Needful Things sort of business.

 

Just don't accept anything you've always wanted for free. And also probably blast the shop owner if that is the case. Because he's probably Satan or Nyarlathotep or something. 

 

Inhaling through her nose, she took a step into the shop, looking around herself. She had already prepared an image in her mind. Cramped, full of weird baubles, an owner who was probably some hunched old man who seemed friendly but off. Normal evil antique shop stuff.

 

Time to see how right she was.