ic QuirkVision (IC)

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As Iris cursing was bleeped out, the gathered teens heard the laugh track play again, followed by the voice of the blond man that had brought them here from somewhere out in the dark void above them. "Hmm, I don't remember Grandma Tilson using such colorful language."

 

Opening the door, Daniel was confronted with Wildcard standing on the other side. The Crime League member was still in his costume, but was wearing a pair of grey slacks and a cardigan over it. "Good day neighbor, it's your old pal Mr. McGillicuddy!" He said with a wide smile. "You know Greg, I have got the strangest urge to ask if you have a jaguar in this house." With that last line, the laugh track played again.
 

[Dracostern]

Cerebellum

 

Daniel smiled back at Mattie. "Thank you, that means a lot!" He seemed glad to have someone behind him. The young man opened the door and as soon as he saw Wildcard he was on guard. He did not know if the villain had his powers like them or not, but he didn't want to take any chances. Of course he had no actual idea what to do or say to that but would think something over quickly. He did enjoy acting after all! But he would rather have a script then go in blind. He would swallow before responding.

 

"Ah yes Mr McGillicubby, I can safely say that we have no jaguar in the house, though I guess we could have a look if you are missing yours!" 

[Jack]

Jack stood in the strange living room set, his massive frame feeling out of place among the pristine furniture and staged décor. The basketball jersey felt oddly light compared to his usual sleeveless hoodie. He flexed his fingers, trying once more to summon even a hint of frost, but nothing came.

 

Looking around at the others in their bizarre outfits, fragments of memories stirred in his mind. The setup, the fake props, the strange lighting - it reminded him of when Ms. Petrova had made their class perform "The Cherry Orchard" back in his old school in Siberia. He'd been cast as Lopakhin, mainly because he was the biggest kid in class.

 

The canned laughter echoing from nowhere made him think of those endless Saturday nights at his babushka's cabin. She'd watch ancient American sitcoms on that tiny TV with the bent antenna, laughing along even though she barely understood the English. The shows had always seemed so strange to him - too bright, too clean, everyone speaking in perfect timing.

 

When the doorbell rang and this "Mr. McGillicuddy" appeared wearing a cardigan over his supervillain costume, Jack couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. The absurdity of it all finally clicked into place.

 

"Da, no jaguars here," Jack rumbled, crossing his arms and giving his best sitcom neighbor smile. "Though ve do have bear." He paused for comedic timing, just like his drama teacher had taught him. "Is me."

 

Jack felt oddly proud of himself for playing along. Maybe all those forced drama classes weren't such a waste after all. Now to wait for the laugh track…

 

 

[RocketLord]

BOUNCE!

 

"Eep!" Mattie yelps at the voice of the blonde boy from above. "What was that?"

 

This is all seriously starting to creep her out. She has no idea what's even going on, and the others are just playing along and that's one of the bad guys with weird clothes like theirs, but on top of his costume? It's all very weird, and she can't even stretch or shift her body or do anything.

 

While Daniel calmly addresses Wildcard, she continues to hide behind him.

 

Jack is even making jokes. 

 

Is that what they're supposed to be doing? Making jokes? She has no idea what this show is even supposed to be!

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As the other Claremonters went to answer the door, Gookgak had been tearing through the various prop foodstuffs in frustration, looking for something that was real. When it was opened to revel that it was Wildcard on the other side, the Gobylen yelped and ducked out of site, crawling into one of the cupboards to hide.

 

"Hmm, this could get a bit old rather quick." Came Quirk’s voice from the darkness. "Maybe we need a slight recasting."

 

Suddenly Gookgak vanished with a faint *POP* and a new figure appeared in the middle of the kitchen (wearing the same brightly colored T-Shirt and jeans Gookgak had been wearing, only resized for a normal sized human) with another *POP*,

 

Meanwhile, at the front door, more of the canned laughter sounded at both Daniel and Jack's jokes in response to 'Mr. McGillicuddy.' Wildcard did not miss a beat, as he replied to Daniel. "I certainly have not misplaced a jaguar Greg, but I am certain I heard some sort of yowling all night that sounded like it was coming from your basement." He responded, trying to take a step forward into the entryway. "Something certainly has scared my poor pit bull, Ace." More canned laughter echoed from the darkness with both statements.

 

As Jack made his joke, 'Mr. McGillicuddy' looked back at him, grinning as he chuckled at the large teen's joke. "You certainly are getting as big as a bear Joshua." He replied with more of the hollow canned laughter echoing about them. "Looking forward to your basketball game against South Central tomorrow night." Wildcard looked past Daniel and Jack to Mattie as he called out. "How are you doing Smantha?"

 

As she watched from in the living room, Iris had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that it would be perfectly acceptable for her to go over and slam the door in 'Mr. McGillicuddy's' face.

____________________________________________________
Owen Akerlund had been on campus, finishing up some homework and thinking about looking to see who was around that wanted to head down to the cafeteria for dinner when sudden everything around him shifted to static like you used to see on old TVs and then he was suddenly some place completely different. 

 

He was standing in what looked like a kitchen with a long island between it and a huge living room containing outdated furniture (an overstuff couch, some chairs and a glass television built into a wooden cabinet). Nerby was a dining area, with set dining table and a doily covered credenza. There was an exit behind him out of the kitchen, and another across the way in the living room, and a small hallway to one side of the living room as well.

 

But even as he was adjusting to the situation, he realized that there was no ceiling overhead, just what looked like studio lights and then a black void beyond.

 

Standing in the living room, he saw Iris, one of the Juniors at Claremont and the twin sister of Daniel Miller, one of the Juniors on the same dorm floor as Owen. However, for some reason, Iris was wearing a dress and sweater that reminded Owen of something one of his grandmothers would wear.

 

Standing near the opening to the hallway to one side of the living room was Mattie, who was also not dressed as she normally was, instead wearing a pair of jeans and a forest green sweatshirt. Owen heard voices coming from the hallway and thought he recognized Daniel's voice, as well as that of Jack, one of the other sophomores at Claremont. There was another voice that was talking with them that Owen did not recognize.
 

[Lone_Star]

Prime Mover

 

"Wait, what" was all Owen could say as he suddenly found himself transported out of his dorm room. He looked down at his clothes and saw he was wearing a brightly colored T-shirt and jeans, and holding several green army men. Owen stood up suddenly, dropping the toys all over the table. This is not my dorm room...

 

He took a moment to assess his situation, and looked around the interior of the house he suddenly found himself in. It looked like an old house, like one from a sitcom long forgotten. Still, it hadn't quite set in what was going on. He didn't know who the guy in the cardigan was, but he recognized his fellow classmates, all of them wearing strange clothing they wouldn't be caught dead in. He didn't speak, but his mouth opened like he wanted to. As he tried to get the words out, there was really only one thing he could say that would sum up his situation, a well-worn phrase in his vocabulary that encapsulated the confusion and terror he found himself in: 

 

"OH GEEZ," Owen said, inadvertently looking directly into an invisible camera.

 

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

Iris would hear Owen's comment and turn in surprise to look at him. What was going on? Why was Own here? And where was Gookgak? She was worried about the Goblin but hopefully he was in good hands. She had to focus on the here and now. She also felt the urge to slam the door and while she did want Wildcard gone, that was still a random thought.

 

Daniel was surprised as his sister pushed past him and slammed the door shut in the criminal's face. "Huh? Iris?" He asked curiously. His sister would shake his head. "We can’t get distracted by him. We need to focus." 

 

She then looked over at Owen and moved towards him, she would briefly fill him in on what happened.

Edited December 22, 2024 by Dracostern

[RocketLord]

BOUNCE!

 

Oh no, the bad guy's talking to her Mattie and calling her Samantha and asking how she's doing and not really acting like a bad guy at all and it's all so confusing and what should she say and oh thank god Iris came up and shut the door in his face.

 

Standing still a moment, she looks at the door, before following Iris back into the main room, while the voices all around them just keep laughing. It's seriously starting to creep her out!

 

"Owen!" she exclaims when she sees him, all but throwing herself towards him, taking hold of his shoulders and looking up at him to make sure he's really there. "How the heck did you get here?"

[Jack]

Jack couldn't help but grin as the laugh track played right on cue after his bear comment. The familiar sound reminded him of those endless winter nights watching American shows with his babushka. She'd always nudge him during the funny parts, even when neither of them fully got the jokes.

 

"Da, basketball game vill be wery interesting," Jack rumbled, playing up his accent just a bit more than usual. "I try to shoot ball, but keep forgetting I am not supposed to freeze it first!" He paused, letting the timing land just right. "Makes very slippery dribble."

 

Jack found himself oddly comfortable with the rhythm of it all - maybe because it felt less threatening than their usual encounters with villains. At least here, the worst thing that could happen was a bad joke falling flat. At least…he hoped so.

 

He flexed his massive shoulders, making the basketball jersey shift. "Coach say I need to work on my jump shot. I tell him, in Russia, shot jumps you!" Another pause for the laugh track. "Is old country joke. Very funny in Siberia." He hadn't realized the door had slammed long before, making all this a bit pointless. He rubbed the back of his neck in awkward silence.

 

 Jack had to admit, there was something almost fun about this bizarre situation. Without his ice powers, without the constant struggle to contain his bear spirit, he could just... play along. Be the big funny neighbor in whatever strange show they'd found themselves in.

 

Jack's face broke into a wide grin as he spotted Owen among the bizarre sitcom setting. Finally, a familiar face that made sense! The cold around him dissipated slightly as his mood lifted.

 

"Owen! My friend!" Jack's voice boomed across the staged living room. He strode over, his basketball jersey swishing with each step, and held out his massive fist for their usual greeting. "Vas vondering vhen you vould show up. Almost had to start party vithout you!"

 

He let out a deep belly laugh that would have normally frosted the windows, but in this strange powerless place, it just echoed naturally. 

 

"Perfect timing as always," Jack said, giving Owen a playful nudge that, without his enhanced strength, was just a regular friendly gesture. "Ve vere just getting to good part. Though," he gestured at their strange surroundings and outfits, "maybe not kind of interesting you expect, da?"

 

 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

At Owen's exclamation about suddenly finding himself in this strange place there was another round of soulless canned laughter from the darkness.

 

There was more laughter to Jack's jokes, though Quirk's voice could be heard from the darkness. "I don't recall Joshua being from Russia. Oh well."

 

When Iris walked up to the door, Wildcard smiled as he turned to her. "Oh, hello there Angus, how are…" 

 

*WHAM*

 

The door slammed shut in the supervillain's face to more of the canned laughter.

 

Just as Iris finished filling Owen in on the situation, the five teens heard a voice from the hallway that led out of the kitchen. Stepping through the doorway was a three-foot-tall cartoon jaguar wearing a large baseball jersey, high-top sneakers and a baseball cap that was turned around on his head. Thunderous applause erupted from the darkness above at the cartoon character’s appearance while he walked toward where the Claremont students were standing in the living room.

 

The cartoon jaguar was nodding his head enthusiastically as he spoke into a large cordless phone with a long antenna. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He was assuring someone on the phone. "It's 144 Maple Street. See you this afternoon! And don't forget them beautiful little fishes!"

 

Hanging up the phone and retracting the antenna, the cartoon character tossed the phone aside (leading to more canned laughter) as he focused on the gathered teens, a wide smile coming to his face. "Hey there Tilson family you won't believe what just happened! I was the 100th caller in a contest by local radio station KROK, 'The Crocodile!,' and won a year's supply of anchovy pizza!"

 

As he mentioned anchovies, the Jaguar rubbed his tummy and the pupils of his eyes turned into little swimming fish (which triggered more canned laughter). 

 

The cartoon character's pupils returned to normal as he continued, "so two of the station DJs, Magic Max and the Belch are going to be delivering my prize certificate this afternoon, along with a photographer to take a few publicity shots." With that, the jaguar pulled a comb seemingly out of nowhere and took of his baseball cap to start brushing the fur on his head back.
 

[Lone_Star]

On 12/20/2024 at 9:26 PM, Dracostern said:

Daniel was surprised as his sister pushed past him and slammed the door shut in the criminal's face. "Huh? Iris?" He asked curiously. His sister would shake his head. "We can’t get distracted by him. We need to focus." 

 

She then looked over at Owen and moved towards him, she would briefly fill him in on what happened.

 

Prime Mover

 

"Oh. Umm. Mmkay." He hadn't gotten the chance to know Daniel and Iris much yet, but he recognized Daniel from move-in day. Owen was slowly getting used to the fact that the strange was to be expected, so he just slowly nodded as she explained what was going on. 

 

On 12/29/2024 at 8:45 AM, RocketLord said:

"Owen!" she exclaims when she sees him, all but throwing herself towards him, taking hold of his shoulders and looking up at him to make sure he's really there. "How the heck did you get here?"

 

"Hi, Mattie - woah!" he exclaimed, surprised at her grabbing him. "No, this isn't a dream, but I sure as heck wish I could wake up now. I was just in my dorm, when, poof, I'm here all of a sudden. Probably know as much as you all do, thanks for the info, Iris," he said, nodding at her. "Can't say I've watched enough sitcoms to play along though." 

 

On 1/1/2025 at 12:42 PM, Jack said:

"Owen! My friend!" Jack's voice boomed across the staged living room. He strode over, his basketball jersey swishing with each step, and held out his massive fist for their usual greeting. "Vas vondering vhen you vould show up. Almost had to start party vithout you!"

 

He let out a deep belly laugh that would have normally frosted the windows, but in this strange powerless place, it just echoed naturally. 

 

"Perfect timing as always," Jack said, giving Owen a playful nudge that, without his enhanced strength, was just a regular friendly gesture. "Ve vere just getting to good part. Though," he gestured at their strange surroundings and outfits, "maybe not kind of interesting you expect, da?"

 

"Party? Oh, uh, yeah! Of course, the big party you've been talking about all week at..." He looked down at his clothes and the army men, then at Jack's athletic clothes. "Schooool?" Owen figured he would have to play along if he ever wanted to get out of here. "Everyone in my class has been talking about it! After all, you are the most popular kid in school, and captain of the basketball team to boot!" 

 

On 1/1/2025 at 7:26 PM, Thevshi said:

Just as Iris finished filling Owen in on the situation, the five teens heard a voice from the hallway that led out of the kitchen. Stepping through the doorway was a three-foot-tall cartoon jaguar wearing a large baseball jersey, high-top sneakers and a baseball cap that was turned around on his head. Thunderous applause erupted from the darkness above at the cartoon character’s appearance while he walked toward where the Claremont students were standing in the living room.

 

Hanging up the phone and retracting the antenna, the cartoon character tossed the phone aside (leading to more canned laughter) as he focused on the gathered teens, a wide smile coming to his face. "Hey there Tilson family you won't believe what just happened! I was the 100th caller in a contest by local radio station KROK, 'The Crocodile!,' and won a year's supply of anchovy pizza!"

 

As he mentioned anchovies, the Jaguar rubbed his tummy and the pupils of his eyes turned into little swimming fish (which triggered more canned laughter). 

 

The cartoon character's pupils returned to normal as he continued, "so two of the station DJs, Magic Max and the Belch are going to be delivering my prize certificate this afternoon, along with a photographer to take a few publicity shots." With that, the jaguar pulled a comb seemingly out of nowhere and took of his baseball cap to start brushing the fur on his head back.
 

 

Suddenly, everything clicked for him. The oddly 80s-styled clothing, the house, everything. He remembered watching reruns of the sitcom that this scenario was based on, Stay Tooned!, as a kid. He especially liked this character, Jaxxer Jaguar, and all the hijinx that the Tilson family had trying to keep his existence a secret. Okay, I can roll with this!

 

Owen shook his head comically, his hands on his hips. "But Jaxxer, you know you can't eat all that pizza by yourself!" In character, he put his finger to his chin, taking a moment to think about it. "Oh. Well, and they'd probably freak out too. Man, I'm such a goober!" he said, punctuating the last word by smacking his forehead.

 

 

 

 

[Jack]

Jack watched Owen's interaction with the cartoon jaguar with growing understanding. If Owen was playing along so naturally, there must be more to this strange situation than just random chaos. His friend clearly recognized this setup.

 

The canned laughter echoed through the room again as Owen dramatically smacked his forehead. Jack fought back a grin - the timing was perfect, like his babushka's favorite shows.

 

"Is simple solution!" Jack boomed, stepping forward and gesturing at his massive frame. "I help eat pizza! In Russia, ve have saying - 'anchovy shared is anchovy doubled.'" He paused, scratching his head through the basketball jersey. "Maybe lost something in translation, da?"

 

Jack was starting to feel like he was getting the rhythm of this place - it was like a dance, each movement timed to invisible music.

 

"Besides," Jack continued, warming to his role as he clapped a friendly hand on Jaxxer's shoulder, careful not to tower too intimidatingly over the cartoon cat, "vhat kind of team captain vould I be if I let friend eat whole year of pizza alone? Is not healthy training diet!"

 

He shot a quick glance at Owen, hoping he was playing this right. The sitcom setup felt oddly comfortable - no powers to control, no real danger, just silly problems that could be solved with friendship and terrible puns. It was almost relaxing, in a bizarre way.

 

 

[RocketLord]

BOUNCE!

 

Mattie almost jumps when the cartoon jaguar and then... Owen starts playing along, like they're old friends?

 

She looks back and forth for a moment. Jack is doing it too.

 

Do they know something that she doesn't?

 

Is... is that what they're supposed to do? Play their parts?

 

So, what's she supposed to be? Some kind of quarterback or all-star athlete or something like that? She's got a car, at least. Or maybe Jack's the all star sports person?

 

Should she... should she try to see if Owen knows anything about her role?

 

"C'mon, Jaxxer, you know you have to keep hidden," she begins, before continuing with a much lower voice that hopefully only Owen hears, "which is something I hope that I would say but I got no idea who I'm supposed to be..."

[Dracostern]

Cerebral and Cerebellum

 

Daniel seemed to take to this role in stride, though he wasn't at all familiar with what that role was exactly, as he was not familiar at all with the show they were referencing. He did glance at Mattie in concern though, she seemed a bit confused at first before getting into it. His eyes darted to Jack and Owen who just naturally flowed into their parts which Daniel was a little jealous of since he was a bit more awkward with his transition it seemed. Still he would put on a grin, the cartoon character's appearence did surprise him at first.

 

But everyone else seemed ok with it so he would play along. "Well if we need to keep him hidden, and we don't want him devour all the pizza by himself, maybe can do this photo shoot in animal contumes! That way no one will know~." 

 

While Daniel slipped into this, Iris was a completely different story. She just stared at the cartoon character then everyone else in disbelief. Her mind was trying to process how they could get out of there. She knew they were dealing with a reality warper, but what did he want them to do? What was the goal here? 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As Owen began to play the part of a cast member of the Stay Tooned! sitcom, more memories from watching old reruns began coming back into mind. Glancing around at the others, he began to place who they were supposed to be. Daniel was Greg Tilson, the father of the family and a high-school science teacher, who's tinkering with his new satellite dish had lead to Jaxxer begin brought to life in the first place. He was pretty sure Mattie was Samatha Tilson, the oldest child who had just finished high school and was soon headed off to college, he recalled her being the most level-headed of the family members. Jack was Joshua Tilson, the middle child and oldest son, a fifteen year old and member of the varsity basketball team and always worried about his reputation at school and how his strange family (and Jaxxer) could impact that. Iris was Grandma Tilson, the non-nonsense and always ready to speak her mind member of the family. Glancing at his clothes, Owen realized that made him Timmy Tilson, the youngest son at eight-years-old who considered Jaxxer his best friend. The other regular cast member Owen recalled was the nosey neighbor, Mr. McGillicuddy, who was always convinced there was something strange going on at the Tilson house and seemingly just one step away from discovering Jaxxer.

 

There was more of the canned laughter as Owen interacted with Jaxxer, and when he suggested the cartoon jaguar couldn’t eat and entire pizza by himself, the anthropomorphic cartoon cat shot back, "Sure I can, especially when it is covered in anchovies! After all…I'm the Cat's Meow!" As he spoke the last bit of the line, Jaxxer posed as if for a closeup, a pair of sunglasses suddenly over his eyes seemingly out of nowhere. This resulted in a particularly loud round of canned laughter.

 

When Jack interjected, making his jokes, there was more of the canned laughter, but the teens could hear Quirk's voice from the darkness. "Yeah, I am pretty sure Joshua wasn't from Russia."

 

When Mattie and Daniel both talked about needing to keep Jaxxer hidden, the cartoon Jaguar paused his combing and looked at the pair, his eyes going wide. "Oh….your right, taking photos means they'll see me! Uh-oh!" Then Jaxxer's lower jaw dropped, literally to the floor in shock.

 

And then everything froze.

 

"Yeah, Josha wasn't from Russia." They heard Quirk say from the darkness. "Well, maybe changing the channel for a bit will help things." And then everything went to static again like it had in the bank.

 

When the static faded, the Claremont teens found they were no longer in the faux suburban home studio setting, but instead a sleek, futuristic room with swooping lines and ramps. Through out the room were various black control panels on nearly every surface, chirping quietly as they displayed nonsense symbols that glowed soft blue and orange on various screens. Throughout the room were several comfortable chairs that turned but arranged toward a wide view screen at one end of the room. On that screen they could see a reddish-brown planet slowly rotating.

 

Each of the teens were now wearing a one-piece unisex jumpsuit of various colors, each with a name stitched on the chest. Iris was sitting in the largest chair in the center of the room, several switches and buttons on the arms rests to either side, her jumpsuit was black and blue, and her name tag read "Steele."

 

Mattie was seated at a console covered with screens and controls in front of Iris' seat and just in front of the large screen. Her uniform was black and green, with "Okar" on the name tag.

 

Jack was seated off to Iris' right, in an extra large chair to fit his massive frame. Next to him were various control panels and his jumpsuit was black and red, "Li" appearing on his name tag.

 

Owen was standing toward the back of the room, near some doors, wearing a black and green uniform. His name tag read "O'Dooley."

 

Daniel was seated at a control panel to the left side, wearing a black and grey uniform with a single yellow stripe at the shoulders, with a name tag reading "Whitefeather."

As they take in their new surroundings, the Claremont students realize there are others in the room, all dressed in similar unisex jumpsuits of various colors (in addition to the common black all had). The teens also could feel their powers again, Iris and Daniel aware there mental link was active again.

 

"Captain, we're approaching the class-7 planet we picked up on long-range scanners." One of the other people in the room said, turning from the control panel they were standing near to look to Iris.

 

Suddenly a loud klaxon sounded as several screens at various stations flashed with red letters "Alert: Condition Red."

 

"Captain! Sensors are picking up a cloud of EM interference that came out of nowhere!" Exclaimed another individual seated at a station to the left of Mattie.

 

The klaxon continued to sound as the other people in the room began to stagger about or shake in their otherwise steady seats. None of the Claremont teens felt anything different as they heard Quirk quietly sigh from the darkness and suddenly the entire room began to rattle and heave!