Backstage Pass [IC]

[Avenger Assembled]

Gah! 

 

Citizen hung back, letting Temperance take point in what was definitely a crisis in her wheelhouse. The bizarre uniform diversity of the crowd made the Tronikian, still deep in his bones used to a world where everyone looked and mostly acted the same, feel deeply uneasy even beyond the already bizarre circumstances they were all dealing with. "We already have a city," he told the figures in his best authoritative Miss Americana voice. "I have two, for that matter. Who are you, and what are you doing here?" He looked around, frowning. "Everything here looks strange. Is that your doing?" 

[trollthumper]

"All of what?" said the emissary of the neighborhood. He looked around the urban desolation, as if just noticing it for the first time, and cracked a smile. "Oh, this! This is nothing, trust me. Just routine renovations. Why, in no time, everything will be up and running as normal, and you'll have a bright and shining city!"

 

"Don't know if what he said went right through your ears without making any stops," said Eliza, "but we have a city. And it's working just fine without people barging in." 

 

"I don't know what you're talking about," said the leader of the group, that damn smile never leaving his face. It didn't help that the rest of the group was just shaking their heads, as if to back up his point. "This city is so disorganized. Everything moves on its own path, never truly knowing how to move properly. The accidents, the wounds to the infrastructure, the lack of purpose... it could all be so much brighter, couldn't it? Trust us. We are here to help."

[Avenger Assembled]

"That's creepy," Citizen pronounced, suddenly fed up with this weird situation and these weird creatures. "You're creepy, this whole thing is creepy," he said, pointing to the weird extra-dimensional creatures. "Listen, I don't know what you are, but trust me, as weird and wrong as a lot of things about this city are, the people here seem to like it and you can't just fly in and make them live the way you want." He threw up his hands. "Look, I know where you're coming from. It's weird how everyone dresses differently here, and it's confusing how everyone looks different, but it's really not that bad once you get to know it, and it's actually kind of cool. So anyway, she's the diplomatic one, so I'll just say you need to get out of this dimension and go back to whatever vibrational plane of conceptual conformity you came from. C'mon now," he said with a wave, "let's go." 

[trollthumper]

"But we can give this city a heart!" said the representative. "A beating heart of hopes and dreams! A song that runs through all mankind! A connection that's so lacking here. There is no unity, just loneliness in a number of guises." He stepped forward with all the determination of an evangelical preacher on amphetamines. "Why won't you let us in?"

 

"Because we've got a current occupant," Eliza said. "We've got a lot of 'em, in fact. And for some reason, your sales pitch doesn't seem to be drawing them in, given that this place looks like downtown Detroit at midnight. Don't suppose you've cleared this little real estate proposition with Doctor Metropolis, or else he'd --"

 

"Oh."

 

The second Eliza said his name, the representative's face turned to a mask of rage. "Him. He thinks he knows what a city should be. He thinks he knows what a community should be. All he does is play with his bricks and his girders and his toys, all while there are tears and suffering and desperation and hatred hatred hatred--"

 

The masses behind the representative were now reaching his height of fervor, turning towards Sharl and Eliza with hideous grins. "This is our community," he said, and everyone around him was starting to murmur along to the sentiment. "And if you won't fit in, you need to be cast out."

[trollthumper]

"You have to understand," said the representative, "this is for your good." The voice was no longer his, however - or at least, not his alone. Half the crowd was speaking the same words as he was, and the same voice was coming out of all them, echoing a dozen times. It was like watching a ventriloquist who didn't know how to keep his lips closed. The facade was falling, and as it was, Eliza could see blurs of light amongst the crowd. The lights - two of them - flickered out from within the mass of people, running through the others around them like a web. 

 

"Bunch of bodies," she said, "but one spirit in the driver's seat. Two, maybe. Just gotta take 'em out. But where --" 

 

One half of the crowd surged forward in a tide of fists, feet, and body checks. Eliza ducked underneath them quickly, rolling to the ground and missing the brunt of the assault. "Guess we've just gotta keep knocking down fools until we find the idiot in charge." 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hey, you leave my girl alone!" yelled Citizen, diving into the crowd and throwing body-blows at the weird creature that was targeting Eliza. Maybe she could handle herself, but they'd adventured together enough for him to know that he could generally take far more punishment than his all-too-human girlfriend. "You're just some weird freaks from another dimension who think you can show up here and ruin things for the rest of us!" he added as he landed a solid punch that knocked a whole row of the manifested creatures down. "I really hate that! Earth is weird enough without the likes of you causing problems!" He floated in the air, back to back with his sweetheart, and realized that as obnoxious as these jerks were he was almost enjoying himself. "You want to get to Temperance, you gotta go through me, jerks!" 

[trollthumper]

Sharl's fist managed to connect with one aspect of the crowd... and half of it reeled, as if all struck by the same fist. "Why do you strike?" said the leader, as if Sharl had been the aggressor in the first place. "We just wish to bring you a better city!"

"You're a bit late," Eliza said. "Already got the best on Earth." She raised her hands, trying to seek the nearest source of water. She'd been hoping to do something impressive with the hydrants, but of course, they weren't hooked up either. Then again, this was why she always carried her own, as the water slid down from the Camelback she kept under her coat. Shards of ice formed in her hands and soared forth towards the strange entity - but most of them flew harmlessly through copies of the core intelligence, not striking home at all.

"You," the spirits said in unison, "are such poor citizens." Eliza felt something catch her in the back of the head; she reeled on her feet, but managed to stay stable. A shallow blow, at best.