Mobius Springheart was confused...

He'd been confused before - school, college, stuff like that...things that made the mental gears within turn hard and achieve no true grip, spinning freely as he just couldn't form a cognitive answer to a question or query - but this was a confusion steeped deep in the mystery, the riddle that was presenting itself before him.

" What the hell is wrong with this TV?! "

The Eagle muttered, getting up from the leather couch he sat in and kneeling down to inspect the frozen display.
Things just weren't adding up, and all of his senses were telling him that this was DISTINCTLY a situation that was not of the regular norm. Indeed, as he flicked his way through the channels, nothing but still images greeted him, and a distinctly bad feeling was beginning to creep within his mind - was he going to have to get this damn TV repaired?
Ugh, that sounded like an expensive idea...

Still, there was always the radio and his books - the Eagle never liked to rely on just one thing to amuse himself with and had accumulated a good number of books over the years...and it was for situations quite like this that he'd done so. Walking over to the bookshelf, his eyes rested on the window where he saw an odd sight outside...everyone was frozen in place!

What in the hell...???

Mobius studied the outside figures - grabbing a pair of binoculars from a drawer and scoping out a nearby group of people within eyesight from his window.
It was absolutely weird as hell...nobody was moving, not even breathing - it was as though they were all shop floor dummies.

" I don't like this...I don't like the feeling of this at all "
The Eagle pondered aloud, immediately realising that the uneasy feeling within him was growing at an alarming rate.
" there's nothing I know of that can cause something like this - and it's affected Electronic broadcasts too. " He concluded quietly to himself.

It was clear Somebody was packing some SERIOUSLY powerful mojo voodoo here, and it's messing things up somehow into weirdville. This was definately not good!

A sudden pang of urgency rushed through the eagle - if he was free to roam the city, then that meant there may be others out there who were also free of whatever sorcery this was. And what of those in charge? Were THEY free also, or were they subject to this weird statue mumbo jumbo as well?

So many damn questions to ask , Mobius thought to himself, and no time to wait!

He rushed for the door, grabbing himself his Jacket/hat, along with his trademark Pistols and Sawnoff...making sure to pocket at least 1 or 2 grenades before finally flinging himself out of the door. Stuffing his armaments into their normal pockets, Mobius scowled as he took to the streets amongst the statued figures outside.

It had been a while since Mobius had last felt the thrill of a true mystery...and he was going to fling himself head first into this one.

...No matter where it was likely to take him!

[Ammo count: Pistol - 17 x 3 clips | Shotun - 14 rounds | 2/2 Grenades.]
[Misc items: -None-]

"So you think you can just waltz in here as though you own the place, do you? Not a chance. Not as I live and breathe. I am drawing a line right here and now. This far and no further. I am the right arm of Justice, and you shall taste the steel of her blade."

The cockroach arched an antennae, unimpressed by the speech.

Srol lowered the barrel of the gun at the insect.

"Go ahead," he said. "Make my day."

Cognitive processes linked to ecolutionary survival kicked in and the cockroach scurried back under the door the way it came.

At the first sign of movement, Srol instinctively began tugging on the trigger. The sound of a water balloon deflating reminded him that he had run out of ammunition weeks ago when he caught the milipede behind the bathroom toilet. Still, that was one bug that would think twice before putting any par of its segmented body in his apartment again. Mostly because it was now a brownish smear on the wall.

He tossed the useless weapon on the a pile of pizza boxes, and cleared some soda cans off the couch so he could sit down. He rubbed the beard that he had grown in the weeks he'd sequeztered himself, although the wretched collection of facial hair would only be called a beard by someone who had only read about them

He had turned into a it of a homebody as of late mainly thanks to the mental issues he'd been having. Most people with head troubles saw a shrink. Srol was no doctor, but he was pretty sure lying on a couch and talking about his feelings wouldn't do much to surpress a megalomaniacal alternate personality.

The scritching noise that had irritated him earlier returned to the front door. With an instinctual ease he didn't understand, Srol rolled off the couch and in the same motion grabbed the empty pistol, coming up with the barrel focused again on the insect intruder.

"Back for more?" Srol began.

The cockroach failed to exhibit any reaction whatsoever.

For a moment, Srol was worried that the bug had called his bluff. He poked it with the barrel of the gun. The insect didn't budge. He put his foot over and lower it until it was just milimeters from crushing the roach. Still nothing.

"Okay, this is a sign I'm spending too much time inside," Srol said. "Also, I am talking to myself."

He grabbed his jacket, holstering the empty pistol, and headed out the door.

What waited for him the outside world chilled him to the bone,

"Teen paranormal romance?" He said incredulously as he passed a bookstore. "That is absolutely ridiculous."

"Wait, why isn't anyone moving?"

Hukos awoke himself one morning, surprised to feel a rather ominous chill in the air. He didn't know why he felt that way, it was quite intriguing, but he would hold things like that off for the moment. Hukos was a man, and as such it was critical for him to partake in such masculine rituals.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

He nodded, pointing out the box of masculine-drenched breakfast food for the gods. There was merely enough nourishment for one bowl, but that suited Hukos just fine. That was all that he needed. The last of the milk he had remaining was just good enough to fulfill his manly desires.

There it was, perfection. Food fit for the gods. In a few, quick moments the bowl of cereal was devoured before you could bat an eye. However, Hukos quickly realized he was now out of such delicious food. Something about this would have to have been done. Getting dressed into his usual attire, it was Hukos' day off, so nothing could go wrong on a day off, right? Well right out the door and off to find the nearest grocery store and - "Holy Mackerel!" He cried out loud, at the... winter wonderland that had been presented in front of them. What the hell was going on here? Hukos didn't like what he was seeing. But he really didn't have a choice or else he'd have no delicious food for lunch!

In Space Above Sega City:

Ramza's jet burst through the hyperspace envelope, using it as a sort of break, and hovered quietly for a moment. The onyx armored fox opened a small com device that was crudely taped to the HUD. "Can you hear me back there?" he said into the handheld device.

A sound crackled over the com, before a chirpy voice cried out, "It's so pretty!"

"Pretty!? Jade? How can you see it!? You're-"

"Haha, got you!" giggled Jade as she sat in the auxiliary seat pod attached to the jet's top.

"Yes... yes you did..." sighed the black fox as he pushed in the commands for the ship to land near the HQ Tower. Little did either of them know that behind them, they had left the warp buoy, frozen in space.

____________________________________________________________________________

MFW; HQ Tower:

The jet landed softly within the tower's parking lot. The hatch opened and Ramza jumped out, shivering as a sudden chill hit him. "Winter must be coming if it's gotten this cold. I should get a jacket for Jade. She'll freeze out here." contemplated the Hunter, turning to retrieve the portable com unit from it's crude holdings, "Can you wait in there, sis. I'm going to go and see if I can find some heavier cloths for you. It's a bit nippy out here."

"Ok, just don't take to long, please." With that, Ramza made his way into the confines of the tower, feeling a sense of dread the further he progressed.

"Somebody, please! Answer me! Is anyone here?"
The hedgehog's call was answered moments later by a lively-sounding voice. A voice he knew well.
"Aye, Rappy me lad!" This person's voice was soon accompanied by its owner - a tall, off-white coloured fox, who was now striding toward Jason with a smile on his face. "This is a new 'un on me, I'll admit." he continued as he approached his friend. "It's like someone just pressed pause on the cosmic video player of life." he added, coming to a halt close to the hedgehog and looking around. A moment or so passed before he looked round again and into Jason's face.

"Still. Good to see you, despite the circumstances!"

Mobius noticed the distinct chill - as soon as he'd reached floor level, he'd realised that the atmosphere resembled that of an ice rink, only with absolutely less ice and more chill. It was weird, and it was distinctly noticeable when he approached the figures he'd looked at earlier...giving one frozen male a light flick on the forehead. No response - frozen stiff, it seemed, and the Eagle was thrown into a sense of concern...a gnawing anxiety was brewing.

" Okay, so initial analysis is Subjects are...frozen...complete with a lack of body heat. Are they alive still, though? They gotta be. "
The investigator mutters to himself quietly, a little distracted occasionally by the icey breath-mist that he exhaled.

Well, It was meant to be summer, afterall. .

" External Temperature is entirely inconsistant for the time of year, no doubt owing to a massive energy influence...Most likely some form of elemental magic or some kinda weirdass technology - but still, who in the world would do something like this? " He pauses for thought and gave a soft annoyed sigh.
" More importantly...Why am I still warm and walkin' around? This isn't making ANY sense to me right now. "

Mobius's apartment was located in a quiet and unassuming area in the middle of the city - close to his own little Investigative office in the Boredom district.

The MIA was, for the most part, a quiet line of defence for those with nowhere else to turn. There wasn't any real lack of business, and he'd had work from all over the MoFo when people felt they couldn't go to the normal authority with something...sure it wasn't exactly huge work most of the time, but he'd made a good deal of contacts and associates over the years. He was just thankful that the Admins and others in charge didn't take offence to his little operation - it was, for the most part, mutually beneficial to simply ignore one another afterall and let the other get on and do it's job - thankfully, Mobus had never incurred any strikes against himself...even if there was a little collateral damage sometimes.

" HELLO? " The eagle called out, apprehensive yet needing to know who else might be out here. " Yo, If anyones out there...it'd be nice to know! "

There had to be others out here - He couldn't be the only one moving, surely...

With that in firmly in mind, Mobius cleared his throat, thumbed his hat down firmly again and continued on his way to find any sign of life in the ghost town that Sega City had now become.

Near the bookstore, an arched door-shape of pure energy suddenly manifests, arcs of magic-infused lightning trailing their fingers along the nearby wall and ground, leaving smoking burns in their wake. Just as suddenly, the energy door vanishes, leaving a circular scorch mark where it had been. In the middle of the circle, a young girl staggers to regain her balance, pieces of what appear to be fabric attached to the back of her clothing flaring up, revealing that they are actually butterfly-like wings that collapse down when not in use.

She looks around frantically, drawing her shortsword when she hears what sounds like a spell. "Teen paranormal romance," the voice says, and Shylarah finds herself pointing her blade at a young man with a messy beard. "Sho vel-aet'in?" she demands of him. "Ayfo jha-l-aet'a?!"

The sun shined into a dark and rather dreary apartment, the walls of which had recently been painted black to help the owner "sleep better." Indeed it seemed he was sleeping much better, as the clock nearby the bed of the slumbering human revealed, it was 2 in the afternoon. For most people, by this time of day they are working or exercising, at least doing something productive. Not this man, but could you blame him? Well sure you could I guess, if you want to be a jerk about the whole thing, but you haven't heard the full story yet.

The man wakes up with a fright almost jumping out of the bed. Another nightmare, just like usual. Not of anything specific just random atrocities that he knows nothing about, in fact he can't really say that they ever happened, or maybe it's that they will happen? It's not important as the man, we'll call him Swanson, as most others do, quickly flips on his radio as he heads to the bathroom and gets ready for a fun day of...walking around town looking for work.

It appears not many people are looking for a hero these days, Swanson seems to have entered Sega City at a most inopportune time. Back in the day heroes were needed constantly to save the citizens from the general random craziness that used to encapsulate this town. Not anymore, for the most part this place has been peaceful. Good for the citizens, bad for our friend.

Swanson takes a look at him self in the mirror, messing with his shaggy brown hair to get it to the perfect point of "messy but not too messy." He's a rather slender young human, of good athletic shape. His piercing blue eyes portray a hint of sadness and his general demeanor showcases it. The man doesn't look too friendly.

Suddenly, as Swanson brushes his teeth he's annoyed to hear that the radio station has screwed up in the middle of one of his favorite songs. He rushes over to mess with the device only to discover that other stations were the same. Weird. Oh well, back to the daily routine stuff.

Then something else spots the man's eye, as he's getting changed. Everyone on the street is standing perfectly still. Either this is some feat they're trying to break for the latest "Book of Pointless Records" or they are actually frozen.

Putting on his boots and grabbing his swords and hilt, attaching it to his belt, he headed outside. The situation was exactly as it seemed inside. Everybody was frozen, as if time itself has stopped.

Then Swanson heard a voice coming from the opposite direction, "Yo if anyone's out there...it'd be nice to know!" Swanson walked towards the voice unsure what it might bring.

Within The HQ Tower:

The black fennec hadn't had to walk far before finding someone to talk to. One he recognized from his first visit to the MFW, one Jason Rapidfire, however, the other was a complete mystery to him. "Hmm... He's probably still sore about that dinner I ruined... maybe I should find someone else..."

"Hey, wait up!" shouted a voice from behind, making Ramza jump, "Seriously, you're such a bad older brother! You leave me all by myself in an unfamiliar place, and even when we're home, you overwork and pass out in the middle of the floor! Geez, big brothers are supposed to watch over their little sisters, silly." giggled Jade as she approached Ramza. He was about to return a comment, when he gazed at her face, at the silk blindfold that hid her scarred eyes. He sighed and turned to see the two from before staring in their direction.

"Long time, no see, Rapidfire." he greeted before turning back to his sister, "Just stick close, then."

"Ok." confirmed the red fennec, smiling, "But you don't go running off, either. Honestly, I can't really see where I'm going, you know."

HQ Tower, Webmaster's Office

On the uppermost storey of HQ Tower, Vector was just putting down the phone when a technician stuck his head in the office. With the cool composure of a Bond villain, the crocodile turned around in his chair and eyed the technician. Then, he gave a weak but toothy smile.

"Looks like everything's just got hung up from one end of town to the other," Vector said. "At least, that's what the Doctor tells me."

"The Doctor?" asked the technician. "Doctor who?"

"Lighty," Vector said matter-of-factly before rising from his seat. "This is a strange mess we're in. I'm not even sure where to begin researching."

The technician gave a shrug. "I'm more wondering why you, me, and Doctor Lighthead are all immune to whatever's happening."

Vector stood, facing a bookshelf on one wall with his hands clasped behind his back. The crocodile scanned the shelves, seemingly looking for something. Without looking at the technician, he said, "That's also a very good question. I wonder how many others are immune to this, and why. What is it that we have in common?"

He looked at the technician and posed a direct question. "Any ideas, Mister Selph...?"

The technician was a slender, soft-spoken man in his forties. He adjusted the suspenders attached to his belt and shook his head. "Not really."

A chime at the control panel made both of them turn their attention to the camera monitors on another wall in the office. Vector promptly returned to his seat and saw a handful, maybe four or so, people at the entrance to the Tower on the bottom level. The crocodile scratched the side of his head, turned to Selph, and requested, "Would you please let them in? I'm sure they're going to be coming up this way anyway. Better for them to come up directly rather than wander aimlessly."

"Sure thing," said Selph, ducking out of the office. Vector frowned slightly, placing his hand on his phone. There were some people whom he could contact, but that was a last resort. It would be reckless to be too hasty. Selph stuck his head in Vector's office again. With the cool composure of a Bond villain, the crocodile turned around in his chair and eyed the technician. Then, he gave a weak but toothy smile.

"Looks like everything's just got hung up from one end of town to the other," Vector said. "At least, that's what the Doctor tells me."

"The Doctor?" asked the technician. "Doctor who?"

"Lighty," Vector said matter-of-factly before rising from his seat. "This is a strange mess we're in. I'm not even sure where to begin researching."

The technician gave a shrug. "I'm more wondering why you, me, and Doctor Lighthead are all immune to whatever's happening."

Vector stood, facing a bookshelf on one wall with his hands clasped behind his back. The crocodile scanned the shelves, seemingly looking for something. Without looking at the technician, he said, "That's also a very good question. I wonder how many others are immune to this, and why. What is it that we have in common?"

The administrator was about to ask Selph if he had any ideas, but something stopped him. A sense of deja vu had overtaken him, and he could not help but wonder why.

"Any ideas, Mister Selph...?"
***
Outside HQ Tower

Jason relaxed. The sound of someone else's voice had initially sent adrenaline pouring through his system, but when he saw the face of his longtime friend Ash Fox, he no longer felt the need to be ready for a showdown. His exhale of relief made the exceptionally tall fox guffaw.

"Worried there?"

"I'm walking around in a city full of dummies and all of a sudden the tallest of them all starts talking back to me," Jason said defensively. Ash let out a sound that could only be described as a snerrk and replied, "You seem not to have lost that thing passing for a sense of humour even at a moment like this."

"How can you be so upbeat about this? This is well out of the realm of normal."

"Of course it is," Ash said, his tone and face immediately growing more solemn. "The whole city has stopped, just like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"That's precisely why--" Jason began when he heard his name called. He turned to look over his shoulder and saw a pair of foxes approaching.

"Oh, hello," Jason said, recalling the time he had wound up in a strange little adventure with this fellow. "Ramza Valentine, was it?"

Ramza nodded. "This is my younger sister, Jade."

Jason gestured to Ash, who was extending his hand. "This is my old friend, Ash Fox."

The foxes shook hands briefly before Jason said, "Well, I'm going up top. You lot coming?"

One by one, they filtered into the doors of HQ Tower, with Jason being the last to enter. As soon as he stepped through the doors, he found himself trotting out the main entrance to his apartment building, only to slow his pace once outside. The sky overhead was grey and the air was thick. A chilled silence was draped over the cityscape. Children playing ball in the park, lovers taking an evening stroll, cyclists in the middle of peddling; all were in suspended animation, frozen in a snapshot of time. To have seen it from a window was one thing; to behold it in its magnificently perfect horror up close was something utterly different. The bewildered hedgehog gently laid a hand on the shoulder of a petrified pedestrian. The body was unnaturally cold, like stone. Jason recoiled with a shudder.

"Hey! Anyone! Can anyone hear me?" he shouted. His voice echoed tauntingly in the streets.

"Somebody, please! Answer me! Is anyone here?"

The hedgehog's call was answered moments later by a lively-sounding voice. A voice he knew well.

"Aye, Rappy me lad!" This person's voice was soon accompanied by its owner - a tall, off-white coloured fox, who was now striding toward Jason with a smile on his face. "This is a new 'un on me, I'll admit." he continued as he approached his friend. "It's like someone just pressed pause on the cosmic video player of life." he added, coming to a halt close to the hedgehog and looking around. A moment or so passed before he looked round again and into Jason's face.

"Still. Good to see you, despite the circumstances!"

Jason relaxed. The sound of someone else's voice had initially sent adrenaline pouring through his system, but when he saw the face of his longtime friend Ash Fox, he no longer felt the need to be ready for a showdown. His exhale of relief made the exceptionally tall fox guffaw.

"Worried there?"

"I'm walking around in a city full of dummies and all of a sudden the tallest of them all starts talking back to me," Jason said defensively. Ash let out a sound that could only be described as a snerrk and replied, "You seem not to have lost that thing passing for a sense of humour even at a moment like this."

"How can you be so upbeat about this? This is well out of the realm of normal."

"Of course it is," Ash said, his tone and face immediately growing more solemn. "The whole city has stopped, just like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"That's precisely why--" Jason stopped and narrowed his eyes. Something about this seemed alarmingly familiar. He had seen something like this in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

"Captain," Jason said, using his familiar nickname for Ash, "didn't we just have this discussion?"

Ash scratched behind his ears, expressing a similar concern on his face. "I can't help but feel like we did, but that's too odd. How could we have done?"

Hedgehog and fox approached HQ Tower. Jason, deciding to set aside his confusion at the situation, resumed articulating his thoughts.

"That's precisely why--" Jason began when he heard his name called. He turned to look over his shoulder and saw a pair of foxes approaching.

"Oh, hello," Jason said, recalling the time he had wound up in a strange little adventure with this fellow. "Ramza Valentine, was it?"

Ramza nodded. "This is my younger sister, Jade."

Jason gestured to Ash, who was extending his hand. "This is my old friend, Ash Fox."

The foxes shook hands briefly before Jason said, "Well, I'm going up top. You lot coming?"

One by one, they filtered into the doors of HQ Tower, with Jason being the last to enter. This time, they stood inside the lobby of the Tower. Jason breathed easier, wondering if it had been his imagination, or if time had skipped and reset the past five minutes. Neither alternative seemed to bring much in the way of mental relief.

"Rather dark in here, isn't it?" Ash observed, looking about. Indeed, the spacious ground level of HQ Tower, built to let in light through its glass dome ceiling, was dim. The ground level had a vintage look about it, in contrast to the much more modern architecture defining the structure. It was hard to recognise that at the moment, however, since all the lights were off. None of the receptionists were present. Jason squinted at a large, framed portrait of someone on the far wall. A sound, like gears groaning, resonated from higher floors, making Jason and the foxes all look up at the central spire of the Tower.

"What was that?" Jason asked.

His face a picture of grim concern, Ash answered, "Let's go see."

-Kairus Robotics-

Kairus steepled his fingers, staring at the ceiling. "What the..." Blue light washed over him as a
passing...meteorite?...shot by the view he had of the city from his office. Blue and black wisps of light flared
off him in response. "So..." The flares coalesced and withdrew back into his body. "OK! WHAT was that?" He
held up a hand to the alien light as it passed. [Interesting. Today's going to be all kinds of fun, ain't it?]

-Factory Floor-

Walking among the statuelike figures in the assembly areas, Kairus inspected each one. Looking into the eyes of a
foreman, his own eyes lit up blue as he prodded into the surface thoughts. "Huh. Stopped mid-thought." He poked
the vending machine's keypad. The lights lit up as the circuits connected, but didn't switch off or spring back
out. "Right then. Don't leave the toaster running."

He looked up at the stairs. Walking along the catwalks, he noticed how odd it was that every machine, every
person, everything stopped. Waving a hand through the air, he noticed..."at least the dust still moves. WELL! I
know where to go next!"

Walking into the office lobby, the first thing most people saw upon entering the building of Kairus Robotics. Lots
of high-end fake plants with speakers built in and fountains. Kairus frowned. The lack of gushing water noises
seemed to put him off. "I could call the water department...buuuuuut..." He looked out onto the streets of the
green industry section of Sega City. "I'm going to go talk to the people in charge there. ALL RIGHT EVERYONE!"
He spread out his arms like an old-time announcer. "TAKE A BREAK, I'LL BE BACK BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!" [...If this
lasts, I may be meaning that literally.]

Testing the engine of his hover-car, a showcase for Kairus Robotics' line of various automotive gadgets, he noticed
the relays just would. Not. Connect! "Well...that's a bust. Guess I'm doing it the old-fashioned way." Walking
into the coat check, he pulled his cloak off the rack, leaving the ticket on the desk. He looked at the small
television the clerk was watching. "Heh."

Spinning around at all the statues on the street, he looked up at the giant, cyan K on the top of the glass-fronted
office building that was the face of the factory complex, then looked down the street...far down. All the way down
to HQ Tower.

That said...

Bolting down the street at a quasi-skate, a blue glow around his feet, Kairus made his way towards HQ Tower. The
street around him was like a street full of mannequins. Pumping more psi around him, Kairus boosted forward, from
a skate to a full-out low-to-the-ground fly, trails of blue light streaming out from his booted feet.

Then, ahead...movement?

Yes, movement! Hukos may have had his own "talents" but unfortunately none of them allowed for what Kairus was able to do (aka making movement through the current hell easier). He simply found it much easier to keep pressing onward without worrying about slipping onto the floor. Worrying about it only seemed to make it inevitable while focusing on moving straight ahead seemed to rectify that issue. Intriguing, the man thought to himself.

Noticing a man in close approximate of himself, Hukos slowed down to get a get view, however that caused him to fall flat on his ass, due to the physics of the ice. "Ouch. Who're you?" Hukos bluntly asked, getting up suddenly, stopping the man in his tracks. Hukos took a slightly defensive stance, just in case this guy was not a friend. He had no idea if he was or wasn't, but it was best to remain cautious just in case.

With his arms behind his head, Mobius sighed before whistling to himself idly - goddamn, this was going to be one of those days that was gonna seemingly last forever...or at least until whatever was causing this ridiculous situation to take place was resolved. Mobius didn't really know what to make of it so far but he knew that those of the city who could still move around freely would no doubt be heading to the spiralling and intimidating Sega City admin towers, and that's where he knew he had to go - except for one thing...

" Who the hell is that? " Mobius muttered to himself whilst watching a figure in the distance approaching slowly, which immediately set him on edge as his hand reached for the pistol in his holster and aimed it sharply at the silhouette in the near distance. - He wasn't going to take any unnecessary chances right now in personal safety.

" FREEZE! " Mobius said, a somewhat wry grin forming as he realises the irony of his words. " It'd be nice if you ID'd yourself there, pal - things around here are crazy enough as it is, and I'm not one to take a risk if I can avoid it. " The eagle continues, his grip on the pistol firm as he observes the figure.

" Have you got any idea what the hell is going on around here? "

A people. Worse than a people, a stranger. Even worse, she had a sword, wings and spoke some obscure dialect of crazy.

This was a stressful situation, and Srol's doctor had advised him to avoid them. At least he would've if Srol had a doctor rather than an internet connection and knowledge of the website Wikipedia. Stressful situations tended to cause either the eccentricities of his dominant personality to flare up, or the megalomaniacal tendencies of the dormant one to assert themselves. It was one of the reasons for his self-imposed exile from the rest of the city.

Not to mention, she was also a women (Srol had noticed this using his keen, soldierly powers of observation). Many men were bad around women, but most had encountered them at some point before their adult life.

Think back on your training, Srol thought to himself. This is a negotiation situation, and we handled them in the academy. He took a step back and raised his hands up in front of him to show that he was unarmed and held no weapon, and said something nonthreatening to try and defuse any potential conflict.

"I love you," he said.

Shylarah recognizes the gesture as one of appeasement and denial of threat, also noting that he appeared not to have any weapon. She lowers her sword, but does not let down her guard. Light glints off of metallic copper streaks in her wheat-brown hair as she tilts her head in confusion at his words. "Ayfo jha-l-aet'a?" she repeats, gesturing around with one hand. "Kwi cenn pao aet'en? J'h lo saf'h cenn pao. Y j'h lo saf'h kwi vel-vaire." She doesn't sound like she's making up the words -- the teen clearly is speaking some other language, and does not appear to understand what Srol says. Still, she seems willing to accept that he does not intend to harm her, at least for the moment, and her attentiveness would seem to indicate that she is trying to comprehend his words, or at least their general meaning. Something brushes ever-so-gently against his mind as she focuses her attention on his reply, and trying to decipher it.

The hallway led off in four directions. Patrick had been sitting at the center for what felt like an eternity, but he was determined not to let this prison defeat him, and that meant keeping an orderly matter of thinking. When a problem defeats you, it is necessary to re-examine its confines from the most basic level.

Patrick didn't hesitate. He ran forward and grabbed the hand by the wrist.

Srol stiffened at the psychic contact and seemed to become a different person. His shoulders seemed to square as he gathered more poise, and his voice grew hard with vicious confidence.

"Put down your weapon, you fool, and look around you," he said, gesturing around them. "I don't know what your problem is, but there are bigger ones at present."

Within The HQ Tower:

The air was stifling to the fox as he looked about. The features of this place were unfamiliar to him. Unusual, considering that he had spent at least a month within the confines of this very tower. Everything looked old and covered in a layer of dust that was older than the surroundings. That was odd in and of itself, without the fact that the building looked new from outside. It had looked new, right? Ramza wasn't so sure anymore. Something was blocking his recollection of the exterior of the HQ Tower.

Jade coughed, causing the onyx armored fox to jump, calling forth his shield. The thick metal formed from a dim greyish light around his left arm, appearing almost as if from a stream of data coding.

He sighed, shaking his head and looking out over the frozen lake that surrounded the strange old tower. This place always bewildered him. Such strange architecture, the building seeming to be more like a plant or possibly some strange construct. Possibly a combination of the two. Who knows. It didn't matter to him. His sister had gotten lost in there again. Jade was always one for exploring and seeing new things. This place in particular.

He stepped through the door, looking back at his companions and sister. "So where is Vector and Tergonaut? And Modesty for that matter." questioned the fox, "I thought you two were inseparable. I heard enough about it from the last time I was here. Sorry about that again." A sudden chill ran down his spine. "MFW winters sure do get a bit nippy, don't they? I'll need to purchase a coat for Jade while we're here."

Well, well, well - today was proving to be quite the event...and Caleb Springheart was currently enjoying his slow walk along the street in god knows what part of this forsaken little metropolis, whistling a small tune as he used his Life-leech staff as a rather large pretend cane, occasionally rapping it against the frozen figures in random places just for the sake of it.

Something had happened - he had woken up in his Nightmare citedal just off the northwestern parts of the city, located in mountainous regions that nobody dared ascend, to the sensation that something big and mean had come to town, and it was hungry...he wasn't really sure what it was, or why he felt this way, but he knew that the time to investigate had come upon him. As something of a self-confessed anti-hero, his interest was more a morbid curiosity to see just how bad it got and to see if he could benefit from it in some way...which had led to him making his way down to the city.

What he'd seen so far was a colder reception than he could have expected - frozen CitizenCicles everywhere, like a ghost town full of ice sculptures and a weird, unnatural atmosphere...

" I knew it could get cold here sometimes, but this...this is excessive! " Caleb muttered to himself, scratching the back of his head in mild bewilderment. " Still, this oughta draw 'Him' out at least...that little sparrow of an eagle'll be no doubt poking around out here. S'been a while since our last 'conversation' - maybe I should go see if he remembers that! "

And so, he adjusts his beaten hat...his battered trenchcoat trailing behind him as Caleb drew his own shotgun and resumes his slow pace...smirking to himself as the old familiar inner motivation, the one unbreakable urge to destroy that whom he had been a part of, swept over him once again.

As of now for the Grizzled human manifestation of the Eagles own dark side, it was kill his counterpart - or die trying.

Kairus stopped as though he had air brakes, blue light flaring out in front of him as he dropped to the ground. "Kairus. And drop the stance...I'm not going to fight you unless you're the one who caused this..." he vaguely waved his hand around at the frozen folk all around him. "...and no offense, but I doubt you are. I'm heading to HQ tower. I'd wager you want answers as much as I do...if I'm right, come on."

Again that shiver of mental contact, as she softly repeats a few of his words to herself. "Problem -- dah, j'h s'hrenni." She looks around a bit more for the first time, and her violet eyes widen. "Kyrsa jahri...k'ran'a dwin selann'u pao? Kwi fay'hn? Kwi...problem is?" She is trying to understand the foreign language that Srol speaks, She seems at least to get the idea of one of his sentences, for she sheathes her sword after another moment. However, Shylarah is still quite wary. She is stuck in a strange land of unusual buildings and smooth, stony ground, and the only person that seems to be alive does not understand her words, nor she the majority of his. She needs time to adapt to the new tongue, and it would seem time is not something that they have a lot of.

Hukos nodded, slowly lowering his stance, shaking his head. "Sorry, you never know who or what you'll meet... especially after this mess," he shrugged, effortlessly tossing his shoulders about. "Okay then, let's go," Hukos silently said, agreeing to Kairus' plan to get to the HQ tower. I mean, they'd find the answers very shortly and effortlessly, right? The solution to everything would be quick and painless, right?

Kairus shrugged. "All right. Come on then!" Hukos was suddenly enveloped in a blue glow as Kairus lifted off the ground. "I'd say hang on, but that'd be pointless, now wouldn't it?" Twin blue streaks of light rocketed towards HQ Tower now: one Kairus, one Hukos.

"Aye," He nodded, gaining his own balance and tagging along. Hukos wasn't exactly sure what was going on. First, all the people freeze up, inexplicably throughout Sega City. Next, he's tagging along with this man in search of answers as to why the bloody hell this happened in the first place. A million things ran through his head, all circling and swirling around him, but the pressing question remained persistent. Would he ever taste Cinnamon Toast Crunch ever again?

Inside the Sega City Public Library, a tall, thin man sat at a table piled high with a fortress of books. His figure could be best compared to a scarecrow, with long, gangly limbs and a pointed nose. He was able to hide most of his figure under the gently glittering blue cloak that hung from a golden collarplate and shoulder guards. His garb was otherwise tight and blue, with regularly-appointed straps up and down his bodysuit, and a pair of discs hung attached to his hips. His long white-gloved fingers ever so precisely turned the page of the book he perused, though to an outsider his eyes were hidden behind spectacles with circular white opaque lenses. Despite his outlandish garb, peculiar build - and the shock of blue forward-swept spikes on top of his head, collared around his ears and the back of his head with short-cut black hair - he didn't seem to be of the attitude of drawing attention to himself.

A ball of light blue energy materialized in the air in front of the man. "Master User Cobalt," it intoned quietly in a soft feminine voice, "we have a problem."

"Later, Periwinkle," dismissed Cobalt. "I am in the middle of an important breakthrough. If I could cross-reference this information to the Database in Kyanos..."

The man trailed off, and the sphere appeared to hesitate. "But sir, there is a-"

"I'm busy."

The Sphere gave a little sigh, sounding almost more human than its master. "Class Twelve Chronospatial Disturbance detected," it announced calmly, but deliberately.

Cobalt's entire body perked up as he sat straight up from his hunched-over position. "Class Twelve, you say?" He asked this not as one startled by fear or the unexpected, but as one who sensed a far greater discovery than what he had been working on before the interruption. "Save the reference data of this book so I can check it out later, Perry. It's time to investigate this disturbance."

"Certainly, sir," responded Periwinkle, somewhat relieved that the gamble worked as it projected a glow over the book that scanned the current pages. The light receded back into the sphere, which hovered around Cobalt's shoulder as he drew himself up to his full regal height, his cloak falling straight down around his body.

"Miss Librarian," he said in a raised voice as he glanced toward the front desk, "I will require you to keep this table undisturbed so that I may continue-oh dear."

The little squirrel librarian sat frozen in her chair at her desk. "Fascinating," was what Cobalt said as he approached, then pressed a finger into Periwinkle's sphere and dragged out a holographic screen that he used to overlay the squirrel. Various readings rattled across the screen as he noted her body's stats and unique peculiarities. A glance from the screen to the surrounding library patrons revealed similar cases of people frozen completely into place. "Perry, we must discover the cause of this, and why we remain unaffected. There may be a way to reverse this condition." He closed down the screen back into his faithful AI companion, and turned to leave, his cloak billowing around him as he left the library.

The streets of Sega City were similarly filled with frozen individuals...though, being in the Boredom District, this was difficult to ascertain even for the observant Cobalt, as it wasn't too unnatural to find people laying about listlessly in this area of the city. But even bored people still breathed, or gave off heat. "Very fascinating," muttered Cobalt in his nasal tones. "We must find other samples of individuals not affected by the current condition, and collaborate with them in finding out more. Can you connect to the local electronic network and extrapolate information about the present situation?"

"Connecting...connected. Sir, there is very little activity at present. It appears that there are only a few users connected at this moment, and they are all repeating messages along the lines of, quote, 'what happened to everyone please someone talk to me is anyone still alive out there,' unquote. It also appears that sections of the network have been cut off from the headquarters of Sega City's Administration. Evidence is unclear as to whether this was deliberate or accidental."

"Ominous, but not particularly descriptive of the present situation. If someone has disconnected the HQ Tower from remote communications, it is being isolated on purpose, perhaps by the perpetrator. Come, Perry, we must investigate in person."

And so the thin man strode down the streets, his curiosity piqued and his mind focused on the thrill of the chase.

OOC: Master User Cobalt has joined the Brawl!...err, the GM.

((the electronic network might have picked up a strong magical flare from when Shylarah appeared. Not sure, but I'd think it would register. Certainly not your average phenomenon.))

As Swanson strode towards the figure, who he soon realized was a eagle, he noticed his defenses rise upon noticing him.

"FREEZE!" The being shouted pointing it's pistol at the encroaching human. "It'd be nice if you ID'd yourself there, pal - things around here are crazy enough as it is, and I'm not one to take a risk if I can avoid it."

Swanson puts his hands in the air and remains silent for a few seconds before offering a short response devoid of much emotion. "My name is Swanson and I can assure you that I have nothing to do with this."

"Have you got any idea what the hell is going on around here?"

"Not the slightest, it seems to have happened at random. But I intend to find out what happened. What about you, do you have any idea what might have caused this?"

"Let's go see." the large fox said, heading cautiously toward a nearby lift. He tapped the lift call button a few times. "...I guess that was being a bit too optimistic, all things considered." he said. "But of course they're going to be out of action right now. Which means..." he continued, heading toward a set of double doors, "We'll just have to go the old-fashioned way."

Past the doors was a stairwell, leading up. "Might be a bit of a climb, guys."

Mobius raises an eyebrow as he put the pistol back away - he hadn't undone the safety...nice little bluff in order to get a quick answer. It worked well enough, most of the time...

" Well, Swanson - sorry about that, but a guy can't be too careful around here... " He says with a small frustrated sigh of annoyance. " Something around here has messed up, bigtime, and whatever caused it is probably lying in wait for...well, survivors, probably. " The eagle concluded, glancing around a moment.

" I don't have a freakin' single clue about whats going on myself. " Mobius said after a brief pause, taking in the quietness of where they stood...a little weirded out still at just how unearthly quiet the place was now that everyone was frozen solid. " I get the idea that something big is going on though...probably pretty dangerous for us all, methinks. "

Now that he thought about it, it didn't seem like a good idea to stay split up...not with some unknown danger ahead.

" Maybe we should look around together - tackling this alone could be pretty suicidal, and you never know when you need assistance in these situations. At least until we have a more solid idea as to what's going on! " Mobius offers up, looking back at Swanson. " I don't like the way this situation is reading right now...we should be cautious for the time being. "

The hand slipped through the rock, escaping Patrick's grip. He had come close to exerting control over the body he had been born into. To ejecting the interloper once and for all. To completing his mission and carrying out his orders. Still, it was closer than he had come in ages.

He rubbed his hands together and bean to scratch away at the rock.

Srol shook his head quickly and slapped his cheeks.

"Sorry, slipped away for a moment there, where was I?" he thought for a moment and then perked up. "Oh yes, that's right. I love you."

"No, not I love you. That's not right. What's the other one? I'm not going to hurt you! Yes! That's it! I'm not going to hurt you. Sorry, am I ramble, I tend to ramble when I'm stressed and I tend to get stressed around swords. By the way, that is a very nice sword. It's .. uh .. sharp."

He punctuated the stream of consciousness with a nervous laugh.

"You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?"

Shylarah frowns at him, having trouble following the rapid torrent of words, but she can make out a few. "Sordh?" she repeats carefully, indicating her sheathed blade. Apparently the response she picks up is the right one for she continues, in accented Common, "Sordh hurt? I am...noh hurt." She watches his reaction carefully. The girl is grasping at his words and trying to wrestle them into some form of coherent response. The delicate sense of another mind brushing his grows stronger for these moments as she attempts to hammer out a decent sentence. " Yhes undarh'stand?"

"Aha, so you do speak English," Srol said, making a conscious effort to slow down his mile-a-minute pace to be more understandable. "Must be French."

"Well, welcome to Sega City, winged French sword girl," he gestured at the skyline behind him. "You may have noticed we're in a little bit of a crisis now -- and it's not a city-wide game of Red Light, Green Light. I gave the green light signal several times with no reaction."

Srol glanced down toward HQ Tower in the distance.

"I was just heading to check things out with the boss, you should probably come with and get registered."

%So this place is called "Sega City",% she thinks to herself, one of her initial questions answered. "Reg-es-ter'd?" she asks, confused. But she follows Srol willingly enough, eyeing the still forms that occupy the city warily. She doesn't actually speak English -- every word she has used she obtained from Srol himself as he spoke. But her mental abilities allowed her to learn quickly, using the resonances of pure meaning behind words to help her understand. And now...to identify herself. "Am Shy," she informs the man, keeping up with him without too much trouble, bare feet making soft fwshhing sounds against the sidewalk.

Fine time for a vacation. Jamie had come to Sega City to relax after a particular rough assignment in Southtown but so far, she had seen enough to make her wish she was back home. She had just left the hotel to go visit the beach when she was greeted by the strangest thing. Everything seemed frozen in time. People stood around, frozen in whatever activity they were doing at the time. Even the birds in the air had been affected and yet they didn't fall to the ground but stayed suspended in the air. The silence was even more weird. Some silence she could get used to but out in the open, like this? It sent a chill down her spine...probably didn't help she was wearing a miniskirt.

As she walked through the statue filled streets, she thought she could hear voices. Raised voices, perhaps in an argument but voices nonetheless. Perhaps they could explain to her just what was going on or even direct her to the nearest authorities. Why she was able to move around while nearly everyone else was frozen was a question that would have to wait. And she hated waiting.

She soon came across of two figures. One a human guy with a head full of messy brown hair and in serious need of a combing compared to her short but well combed brown hair. The other was a gray eagle, wearing a jacket and a hat. Definitely something she still hadn't gotten used to seeing. She knew Sega City was populated by a lot of talking animals and anthros but it still garnered shocks from her. They seemed to be just as confused as her about the situation which was just peachy. The eagle seemed armed but didn't appear to be hostile, which was good because all she had on her was a weak pistol. That and whatever pitiful magic she knew. She cleared her throat. "How about we make it a party of three? I'm kind of tired of walking these desolate streets and I could use some background noise to keep me sane. Name's Jamie. Jamie Maverick."

Kayla was sitting at a table outside of one of Sega City's many cafes. She was accompanied by her four Minicons.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" said Jolt.

"Yes, it is," said Kayla.

"Where's the food?" asked Six-Speed, "We ordered half an hour ago."

Kayla frowned.

"It should have been here by now," she said.

"I'll go check," said Reverb.

He entered the cafe. A few minutes later, he came back out, a worried look on his faceplate.

"Um, guys," he said, "You might better check this out."

"What's wrong?" said Jolt.

"Everyone's frozen," the white Minicon replied.

"Frozen?" said Dead End.

Reverb nodded.

"See for yourselves."

The three entered the cafe. At first glance, it looked normal with patrons and waiters. What threw the scene off, though, was that no one was moving.

"Odd," said Jolt, "What do you think happened?"

"No idea," said Kayla, "But I've got a bad feeling about this. We should head to the HQ Tower. Vector and the other admins may know what's going on."

Kayla pulled her fusion cannon out of subspace just in case.

"Let's go."

The four started out for the HQ Tower.

Within the HQ Tower:

Jade made a mad dash for the stairs, but was instantly pulled back by her older brother. "Jade... there are stairs there." he informed.

"So?" asked the red and black fennec quizzically, tilting her head to the side.

"Because you're... well, you... Because I... Oh, never-mind." sighed the fox, exasperated, "But you can't make it up those stairs on your own. I'll have to carry you."

Jade was silent for a moment. "You need a girlfriend." she stated, bluntly.

"Wha!?" shouted Ramza is a bit of shock, "How do you know I don't already have one?"

"Because you spend far to much time with your little sister." quipped the girl.

"Er... So why weren't you expecting the elevator to work? Seems like something a mechanic should be working on?" The fox sighed and shrugged, turning back to the iron wrought staircase. It clanged and groaned under his weight, seeming to be of some ancient make. The detail was astounding for a simple set of stairs that weren't often used. He couldn't help but wonder if the whole tower was like that. Regardless, he would need to find his sister and take her home before nightfall or the townspeople might come looking. He reached back and took Jade's hand. "Watch your step."

As the eagle puts away his weapons Swanson also lowers his hands putting them in the pockets of his hoodie while listening to the eagle speak. Although it's hard to tell if he's actually listening given his lack of expression. He eventually speaks up once the eagle offers to team up.

"I suppose that would be wise." Is his quick and easy response, that is of course until another figure makes their presence known.

This one is female, however, which is a change of pace I suppose. Swanson stares at her for a few seconds, not in a creepy way mind you, more in a "Who the hell are you?" sort of way.

Soon he responds. "Well...looks like things are getting...interesting." He doesn't really say for sure whether she can come along or not, although there is a tone of approval in his voice. He looks back to Mobius and awaits his response.

"Ah, yes, well ... I tend to be fairly introverted myself," said Srol, completely missing the sound of the point sailing over his head.

As the HQ Tower began to rise more prominently before them, he stopped for a moment and looked over at the younger girl. When she had first arrived, his attention had immediately been drawn to some of the more odd parts of her anatomy, such as the wings. Now he knew that she was French, and this was perfectly normal, which gave him time to notice that she was in fact walking down the hard asphalt of the street completely barefoot.

"Umm ... how are your feet feeling?" he posed the question. "I'm just going to throw this out there, we're surrounded by frozen people who don't look like they're going to be doing any walking anytime soon. If you choose to commandeer some footwear, I would not question the morality of such a course of action."

She glances down at her feet, then back up at Srol. "Feet am noh hurt," she answers. She is quite used to walking around barefoot, though she doesn't have the words to explain this to her companion. However, she is not about to let the matter of names go unaddressed. "Am Shy," the girl repeats, indicating herself. "Shylarah. Shy. You arh...?"

Well - all things considered, Mobius could call that a better moment than he would initially have anticipated...

With the figure in front of him deciding to follow with his suggestion, and the sudden arrival of the female also doing the same...which confused the eagle even more since he honestly had no idea who this person even was...which could present some rather odd moments, given that there was no way of knowing if she was even trustworthy - let alone Swanson himself.

" Alright, I guess we should probably resume the investigation then. " The eagle says, nodding as he turned sharply on his heels - smirking as he did so.
" To the Admin Tower...maybe answers await us there! "

He then gestures for the Duo to follow behind as he starts to head off once again.

OOC: Long post ahoy! Also, note that, from time to time, soundtrack links will appear to give scenes a little ambience.

Ash, Jade, and Ramza were already beginning their ascent. Jason was still at the base of the stairs, staring at the framed portrait on the far wall.

"Just out of curiosity," the crimson hedgehog posited to Ash while still fixated on the portrait, "how many flights is it to the top?"

Ash stopped for a moment before turning to look down at Jason. "That's sort of a difficult question to answer. No one's ever really quite sure, between magic and some tweaking of physics, and the fact that the architects were probably rubbish at maths when this place was built. Nobody's ever really asked."

"I just know that it's a lot, judging from the outside," Ramza plainly stated. Jason nodded.

"I was afraid of that."

Wondering what was captivating Jason, Ash followed the hedgehog's gaze to the portrait. "I see you've noticed the legendary image of the White Tux."

The portrait was of a gentleman wearing a pure, white tuxedo. Jason nodded. Ramza tilted his head. "Who is that?"

"That's Dubs, one of our previous Administrators," Ash explained. "There's a story behind the White Tux, but now's probably not the best time to tell it."

"Hang on," Jason said, his ears twitching. He craned his neck to peer out the glass doors and saw two blue streaks rocketing toward the doors. Jason's heart jumped to his throat, but the two blue streaks suddenly seemingly evaporated, leaving two young men standing outside. The hedgehog puzzled over this as they entered the Tower and stopped, seeing that they were not alone.

"Didn't expect to see more people than us walking around," said one of them. Jason shrugged.

"The same. I guess you're here looking for answers too, then."

"Only one answer," said the other young man, "and that's: will I ever enjoy the sweet taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch again?"

Jason and the foxes all cast questioning stairs on the cereal aficionado. The other man said, with the slightest note of apology in his tone, "I'm Kairus. I think we may have met before. And this is...uh...actually, what is your name?"

"Just call me Hukos," answered the other man.

Jason's head was cocked to one side, like a chicken's. Hukos and Kairus turned around to stare blankly at someone approaching from the outside. Certainly there were strange characters that roaming the less reputable districts of Sega City; things went on in some parts of the SPA that ought not to be seen by mortal man. This...individual (for indeed, it seemed too premature to call it a person) was striding along as if there were absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about his appearance, when in fact everything about his appearance was out of the ordinary. Tall, lanky, dressed so gaudily as to offend even the fashion senses of an Unseen University faculty member, bespectacled, and sporting a bizarre mane of spikes and hair, this character strolled into the Tower without fanfare or comment.

"Who is this joker?" Kairus muttered quietly.

"Not the Joker. More like the Scarecrow," Ash responded.

"Who is it?" Jade asked, tugging her brother's hand. Ramza stared at the individual before asking, "Well met, Mister...?"

The individual stopped as it approached the stairs and turned its attention to the fox. Several seconds of cringe-inducing silence passed before the individual declared, "Intriguing. It seems there are sentient life forms still animated. Perry?"

"No ready explanation available, sir," answered the Sphere. Hukos tapped a finger against his pursed lips.

"That's totally like the computer that TOM had on Toonami," Hukos eventually observed. "So, who are you?"

The individual turned to inspect Hukos. Eventually, it answered, "Master User Cobalt, Librarian for the Database at the city of Kyranos."

Everyone let that title sink in for a bit. Then, a whole troupe poured in through the doors and stopped to regard the strange assortment of people already gathered.

"This is strange. There are a lot of people who seem to be unaffected by whatever happened to everyone else," Jason said. Kayla and her Minicons were probably thinking the same thing, given the expressions they wore.

"What's going on?" Kayla inquired.

"We were on our way to find that out. Unfortunately, the lifts are out, so we're taking a little hike," replied Ash.

"Well now, this is just weird," Kairus said, glancing outside. A barefoot, teenaged girl and a young man who looked like he would never cut it as a vagrant with the sad and forlorn excuse for facial hair he had were approaching the Tower.

"I come in peace," Srol announced to the gathered group in a loud and slow voice. "You may call me Srol."

"Dude, what's with the way you're talking?" Kairus asked.

"Oh, sorry. I'm used to talking that way to her," Srol answered, turning to Shylarah. She, in turn, responded, "Am Shy."

"She's French, you see. Trust me, I've seen them before," Srol added, prompting Jason to make an incredulous face. The young woman cut a rather strange figure herself, sporting butterfly wings folded down over her back. After seeing Cobalt, though, nothing was all that strange.

"Well, I hope we aren't late for the party!" called Mobius Springheart, entering behind Srol and Shylarah. Behind him were Swanson and Jamie Maverick. Jason wandered outside, looked around, and then turned to the group.

"I dare say that I hope that's all of us. I'm going to get lost remembering all these names. Um, let's count off."

In unison, everyone shouted, "One!" with the exception of Srol, whose response was, "One and two!" Jason sighed.

"Excuse me," said a voice above Ash. Everyone turned to look up at the technician standing on the stairs.

"Vector sent me down here to collect all of you. I'm Mister Selph."

"How far is it to the top?" Jason asked. Selph rubbed his forehead.

"I think the best answer is not to answer that at all," he replied.

One ascent upon an undisclosed number of floors later...

"Glad you could all make it," Vector said as the group poured into the Webmaster's Office. He was leaning against his control panels and staring at the screens that had still frames, much like the televisions in the city.

"We need to find a better way of getting up and down," panted Selph, exhausted from the trip downstairs and upstairs.

"Alright, what's happening here, Vec?" Ash voiced the question for everyone. The crocodile turned around in his chair and shrugged.

"No idea. This isn't a routine occurrence, you know."

"That's it?" Kairus said.

"I have no electronic resources to work with. None of my books mention anything about time freezing. Contrary to what you might expect, I don't always have all the answers."

"Of course you don't," said a voice that seemed to have a crackling, almost electronic ring to it. Everyone began looking around for the source. Kayla was the first to spot the irregularities on Vector's monitors. Each one of them now featured the same thing: the face of a man with a mop of thick, red hair. He was grinning widely.

"Who's that clown?" Hukos asked. "Did you do this to control the world's supply of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?"

The man on the monitors looked down his nose at Hukos and the others. "How anyone so mind-bendingly limited in his faculties could have resisted my powers is fascinating. The answer to your question, though, is no, that is not why I did it."

"What did you do?" demanded Mobius. "'Cos I'll be honest with you: I don't like what you've gone and done around here. I'd appreciate it if you straighten this all up, unless you'd prefer me to make you."

The man on the monitors appeared unimpressed. "You really have no idea who you're dealing with, do you? I'm not the sort of person you can make idle threats to and expect to buckle. I have more power at my fingertips than the whole messy lot of you together."

"That's rich," Kairus snapped. "But, I really doubt it. I've seen a lot of powerful people in my time. What makes you so special?"

The smirk on the face of the man on the monitors was perfectly insufferable. He raised his hands into view, revealing seven unusual objects in his grasp. They bore a slight resemblance to jigsaw puzzle pieces, but had a crystalline look. At the sight of them, Vector gasped.

"That can't be! Where are you?" the crocodile growled.

"Where else would I be? HQ Tower, of course."

Vector's jaw hung slack in horror. The man's smirk widened.

"Fear not, though. I'm in HQ Tower in the future, long past your expiration dates. Things are much better here than they ever were in your day. I've overseen the reconstruction of Sega City from a backwards blight on this plane of existence into a proper capital as I envisioned it. All people answer to only one authority: mine, and it is supreme."

"Fascist," Vector spat. The man now seemed amused.

"Go ahead and spit your venom. History has forgotten about you, the last Administrator of Sega City."

"Is this supposed to sound bad?" Hukos asked. "Like, just listening to what you're saying sounds mildly unpleasant, but I've heard worse to be quite honest."

"Did I mention there is no Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the future?"

"Scum!" thundered Hukos.

"Don't worry. As I've already suggested, none of you will live to see this day. I had fun systematically destroying each and every one of you. Now Sega City is the perfect paradise as I always wanted it to be."

"So this is the beginning of your take-over, is it?" Ash harrumphed. "If you're so high and mighty, why are we still moving when everyone else is stopped?"

The man laid aside the crystal jigsaw pieces and formed a conspiratorial steeple with his hands. "That is a question even I myself don't know the answer to. I'm not too concerned, though; your future will be very short. Trust me on that."

"Who are you?" Jason insisted.

"All in good time. For now, I think it's important that you know yourselves better. Your time is up."

The screens went blank. Vector stood there, looking pale. Ramza looked at the Administrator.

"Vector, what were those items he was holding?"

"The Figment Keys," said Vector weakly. "I wouldn't be surprised if I went downstairs right now and they were already all gone."

"Figment Keys?" Srol repeated. "Could you explain in five words or less? I'm nearing my exposition capacity."

"Mister Selph, please run down and see if the Keys are still where they should be. If they are, bring them here at once," Vector ordered, handing the technician a ring of keys. Selph sighed and trudged downstairs. Vector approached the blinds in front of the windows, through which dim streaks of pale sunlight filtered into the office.

"How shall I put this? They're magical artifacts of fey origin. You might compare them to the DNA of this world. They are the building blocks of everything around us. They are the source of power for Administrators and Moderators. Without the Figment Keys, the stability of this world is deeply threatened."

"Well, all we have to do is prevent that guy from getting his hands on the Figment Keys, and then none of what he said will happen, right?" suggested Swanson.

"I'm not sure it's that simple. The Figment Keys aren't indiscriminate about where they bestow their power."

"You're saying the Figment Keys chose that guy to be their owner?" Jamie pressed. "How do hunks of rock even do that?"

"It's never been clear. Like I said, there are things I don't know the answers to."

"This is most interesting," Cobalt interrupted. "If I may note, however, the person speaking to us earlier seemed to have a degree of familiarity with us, and especially you. Do you suspect anyone in particular who might have cause to want to overthrow the central authority here?"

Vector shook his head. "I try to keep crazy people out of government. I've worked very hard to make this city what it is. Now, just look at it."

GM: Paradox Soundtrack #1 - Solitude

The stillness of Sega City was striking to more than just the ocular perception. It was disturbing to the very core of everyone standing there, each one accustomed to his or her own routine in the lively, active metropolis. To see all that vitality terminated and reduced to no more than a freeze frame was creepy. Perhaps the forumers bearing witness to this mute horror had not encountered each other or always gotten on with one another, but at that moment, their hearts were closer together than any one of them would ever have expected.

"What do?" asked Shylarah simply.

"I have a suggestion," Cobalt stated. "Having researched your archives, I have noticed that there is one source of power that resonates with these Figment Keys and is stronger. The Cosmic Icky Sticks have nearly untold power at their disposal. Perhaps if they could be utilized..."

"The Sticks are mere fragments of the power they used to be," Vector cut in quickly. "It is a big gamble, especially considering we may already be in a destabilizing world."

"Perhaps that is so, but is there not a way to reunite them and restore their power?" asked Cobalt thoughtfully. Vector pondered quietly. Jason scoffed.

"Right, like there are time machines just lying about here."

Vector clapped his hands together. "There you have it! Travelling to the past when the Cosmic Icky Stick was one and its power was at its zenith!"

"Hold it!" Jason objected. "Time travel? Really? First of all, you cannot be serious. Talk about a big gamble; there are so many things hazardous about time travel, and our current situation only makes it worse. Second, how can you activate a time machine with no power?"

"When you came in, my cameras were still working. I did have a limited access to the Internet as well. I'm going on a hunch that some of my Administrator powers were keeping things going. If that's true..."

"Here they are," Selph wheezed, emerging into the room again. In his hands was a simple, iron box. Vector nodded and relieved Selph of the box.

"Pardon my rudeness. Mister Selph is one of my new technicians. He's quite handy with all kinds of telecommunications," the Administrator offered by way of introduction. He then peered in the iron box and nodded in approbation.

"I don't get it," Selph said between deep breaths. "What made all of us so special that we weren't affected by this spell or whatever? Were we all wearing tinfoil hats?"

Vector, who was removing the glowing Figment Keys from the box, commented, "Enough words. If we are to have a future, we must secure our past. Before something happens that permanently changes the course of time, we should use what Administrator powers I still retain and the Figment Keys to activate our time machine. From there, we will go back in time, reclaim the Cosmic Icky Stick in its original form, and use it to defeat our mysterious nemesis in the future. What do you guys say? Are you with me?"

((Beautifully done, Rappy!))

By now everyone has likely felt the gentle brush of another mind against their own, as the strange girl does her best to comprehend what each says. Cosmic Icky Sticks? Figment keys? Shylarah doesn't understand much about what was going on, but she can tell one thing. Something is horribly wrong, and this world is being threatened. There is only one choice available to her. "Am with," she answers, with only enough hesitation to understand the question. She might not understand the plan completely, but she would help as best she could.

A large grin began to crease the tall white fox's features, which in turn caused Jason to groan quietly and shake his head. He knew that look - it was one his friend tended to put on right before saying or doing something stupid, dangerous, outlandish or all three. And now was no exception.
"You're asking if we wanna take a massive gamble with about a million to one chance of working in order to try saving the world?" he said. "Sounds awesome! I am totally in!"

"We're in," said Kayla.

"Us too," said Dead End.

Ramza looked to his sister, a look of dread and concern upon his face. He hadn't told anyone here what had happened to her. That she couldn't see them, or anything. However, the silk blindfold around her eyes might have been proof enough that she was in fact, blind. He, himself, still didn't quite know what was going on. He remembered the Figment Keys from his first... unexpected visit to the MFW. His brother, Adahn, and one Georgia Stahlmansche had stolen them in order to revive something within a set of Segan ruins on the moon. However, the Cosmic Icky Sticks were new to him. He also noted the mention of time having stopped. He hadn't yet seen anyone that wasn't moving, but he had walked straight to the tower from a lot outside.

He looked back to his sister, before turning back to Vector. "My shield is yours. I can not let something like this stand... But I ask that you watch over my sister."

"Huh? Why? I'm going with you!" shouted the red and black fennec.

"This is going to be dangerous. And you... can't see... You can't come with me. That's final."

"There are plenty of rooms free. Selph and I can keep her safe." commented Vector, motioning for Selph to find an empty room. The mechanic sighed and trudged out of the room. Jade turned to Ramza's general direction, a frown gracing her features. Ramza didn't look at her, knowing that she would likely be angry about him for a while after everything was fixed.

((Ramza reminds me of Lelouch from Code Geass.))

She felt like giggling just a bit at the mere mention of the Cosmic Icky Sticks. She knew Sega City was a bit unique but THAT unique. From what she had learned though, if that was the only possible way of restoring this world back to normal and getting back home, well there wasn't much choice in that matter, right? The idea of time travel made her feel a bit antsy but from the sounds of it, it didn't seem like a very painful process. "So, just how far into the past are we going and what should we expect?" She asked. She was unsure if even the croc knew but it never hurt to ask, right?

Kairus was probably one of the "older" ones here, actual age nonwithstanding. He had heard of the Cosmic Icky Stick, the Figment Keys and other such lore of this world. And now, he happened to be looking at fragments of lore. "Always wondered if those were real. SO! I'm in, but I have to ask. A point was raised earlier. Does anyone here HAVE a working time machine?"

Internally, he was wondering the same thing as the man in the screen. [How DID we dodge...block...whatever the time freeze?]

Mobius couldn't summon the words to even begin to describe the bubbling anger that he felt at having this whole situation thrust at him from some moron in the distant future, a corrupted echo of a time that had stained the past with a diabolical machination that had placed everything the world of the current knew into danger.

After the small outburst from the fennec had died down, he glances at Vector, then around at the rest of the team before smirking darkly, clearing his throat as his mind made itself up - there wasn't any way in heaven or hell that the eagle was turning back now.

" There's no easier choice for me here, Vec'... " He said calmly, with a dangerous edge. " I'm going with you guys to shut this operation down...whatever it takes! "

He wasn't sure what to expect from the coming mission, but he sure as heck knew that he couldn't just sit around and do nothing either!

Swanson was unsure how to feel. This had all happened so fast, first he meets this crazy eagle and now he's in a room with some of the more...well known faces of Sega City, and to top it off they want him to go with them on a mission, a HEROIC mission! Swanson was filled to the brim with excitement.

Of course, he didn't actually show any of this, he simply smirked and gave his short, emotionless answer. "Sounds like one hell of an idea. I'm in."