[The video pops on and the girl looking into the feed seems more than just alarmed, she's a bit distressed. She's newly arrived to this place and normally, she might just roll with it. Normally, she might just exit this building and try to figure out what's going on, but instead -- something is definitely wrong. Shockingly wrong and she can't really ignore this one.]

Right, so this whole thing I just got explained to me -- fine, that's ... that's whatever it is, but I need to see a doctor.

Right now - as in, this is not something to wait around about. I'm not bleeding or anything, but I definitely need a doctor.

You're going to have to come to me, because I have no clue where I am right now.

[He's not going to say anything about his present. It's not that he doesn't appreciate it; just the thought behind it would be enough for him. But items from mysterious benefactors hits a little too close to 'sponsor'.

Instead, he's leaning against a most colorful table, with bowls of frosting and candies of all shapes and colors. There's a large sheet pan of cookie dough, baked golden brown and cooling beside him.]

I've been reading up a little on holiday traditions, and I came across the idea of gingerbread houses. I thought it might be fun to make some. Only why stop at houses, maybe we could make an entire city. An Asgard that we can eat.

So who wants to help me decorate? Prim? Rue? I hope I can count on you guys. And Effie, you sure could make everything tasteful as well as tasty.

[Or at least get her in the same room with Rue, and hopefully enjoying herself until she gets over the weirdness of a little dead girl.]

I even made mahogany colored frosting.

[He tips the bowl up, brows lifted. Just look at how shiny it is!]

I'll handle the heavy lifting and the baking, so no one else has to worry about burns. So who's in?

[ There's a few seconds of awkward silence as Bobby starts the feed and scratches the back of his neck. ]

Uh, hey. Bobby here. It's been a while. And it looks like I missed... a lot. Including the tacky sweater thing. [ Which is probably for the best, at least on that count. ]

Sorry I was gone. Lost my bracelet again. I've been caught up, I think, but lemme know if I'm needed anywhere.

Oh. [ A pause. ] And happy holidays to everyone.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but mister traveling god is right. The city needs a little cheering up. How come the only cool one is kidnapped and we get the leftovers? Geez.

Sooooo. Since I don't have my fun magic anymore, I'll leave you a little gift instead. I call it "this is how dumb travelers look when trying to be fancy", starring the Vanaheim roadtrippers.

[As soon as Jack finishes talking, a bunch of pictures start showing up on the screen. The first ones are pretty harmless, a few landscapes from the train, and the buildings that make the beautiful city of Vanaheim.

But the dinner hall comes next. And just like Jack said, everything looks fancy as hell. There are lots of natives, both human and elves, but there are travelers too. You can play "where is Waldo?" with this thing, seriously.

And now it's time for the individual pictures! The initial bunch isn't very funny, so they pass by quickly. Jack surrounded by children, wearing the clothes certain pair of girls chose for him. Tardis and Alice being cute together. Ninian being her usual gentle self, Akihiko being a dork in a white jacket.

The photos that follow those are left more time on the screen. You know, until your eyes are burning with their fabulous.

Let's start with Equius and his suit.

Plus Elphaba failing to grasp the meaning of fancy.

That's Uther in all his frowning glory.

Ninian had an extra outfit for the night.

And so did Akihiko, who thought speedos were a good idea.

Wait, we can't forget about about Jamie's adorable kilt!

Jack comes back on audio to chuckle at that one.] It seems our travelers like some air around their legs. And that's why I left the best for last, since obviously our skirts wearers must stick together.

[And there is Pyro in red robes. Jack's chuckle becomes actual laughing.] Watch out, Bobby, don't let your Juliet break so many hearts with those clothes.

[He should make an announcement about him moving out from the halls... but like hell he's letting everyone know where he is living right now after this post. Enjoy the pics?]



((ooc: If your chara went to Vanaheim and you want me to add them to the list, drop a comment here!))

[The attack is over. The city is quietly, sadly rebuilding.

Meanwhile, there are two teenage boys walking through the park toward the lake, their bodies quite close together - in fact, a more careful look will reveal that they’re holding hands. Not that shocking for Asgard, unless you recognise the broad shoulders and curly blonde hair of one or the small stature and swaggering walk of the other. Or, heaven forbid, you recognise both.

With their arms entwined as they are, their bracelets knock together frequently, so it’s inevitable that they end up with the Asgard equivalent of a butt-dial - except that it’s broadcasting to everyone, nothing but a video of two male hands until they reach the lake and a strange voice speaks up.]

Cocksuckers! Fucking assholes!

Dude - did the lake just swear at us? [There’s a more familiar voice for anyone who frequents the network. It’s surprised, but also unusually gentle.]

...Yeah. I think it just did, man. [Not quite as familiar of a voice, but it's equally as gentle. The hands disentwine, and as the owner of the broadcasting bracelet lifts his arm to deliver a middle finger to the lake, Pyro and Bobby’s faces finally become visible.]

Fuck you too, lake! [He can’t take it seriously though, just more weird Asgard bullshit, so he quickly dissolves into laughter. Bright, cheerful laughter. It’s almost eerie for those who haven’t heard it before.]

You sure showed it. [There's chuckling from the other boy as well.] A cussing lake, huh. Just when you thought this place couldn't be weirder.

You love it when I defend your honor. [... okay, they tease one another when they’re getting along, but that’s as strange as the intertwined hands. And speaking of hands, Pyro will be running one lightly over Bobby’s hair, toying with a stray curl.]

[A laugh.] My knight in shining armor. [His smile brightens when Pyro touches his hair, and he leans in slightly. And that is when John Allerdyce and Bobby Drake kiss for all of Asgard to see.

Euri’s fanfiction come to life? Or just a really, really bad curse? Only one way to find out.]

((ooc: open to network or in-person interaction; network will be separate responses from Bobby and Pyro, in-person threaded in a (your character) - Bobby - Pyro order. yeah, they are cursed right out of their minds.))

[ It's not often that the Doctor is angry.

Or, well. He's often angry, but he doesn't often show it. This time, he is. It's incredibly confusing to disappear for a while, and then come back and have all these new memories flood into you. He was fine, he was better, Clara made him better, and then.

Then he had a bad day, then he came back here, and he remembered again, remembered Amy, and losing her. Again. Losing Oswin. Clara, except not. Again.

And that's all that matters.

So he's angry. Furious. There's a fire in his eyes that would strike fear into those that could have entire galaxies tremble in their shadow.

Doesn't mean much here, won't mean much back home now that hardly anyone even remembers him, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care what it means, doesn't even think that it doesn't mean anything. Because Amy and Oswin are gone, and that is all that matters. ]

Bring them back.

[ That's it. And he will not take silence for an answer. ]

((OOC: This is more on the placeholder-y side because I'll be pretty busy until tomorrow sometime, but I wanted to bring him back today. So shoot me.))

No. No. NO!

[The video is an absolute blur, but there is definitely destruction happening. The tinkle of broken glass, loud thumps and cracks that sound a lot like furniture being hit with blunt objects - anything you'd associate with a house being utterly totalled from the inside can be heard through the maelstrom.

Then it stills, and one red-faced, absolutely apoplectic Pyro is visible in the middle of his path of destruction.]

You assholes. You stupid fucking assholes. If you were so almighty, we wouldn't be any threat to you, would we? So why the hell take them away? Curse me. Make me think I'm Stryker, I don't care. Just bring them back, and do it now.

[It doesn't matter how many times he's told others that people come back. That's it's random. That they're better off. This is his fucking leader and second-in-command, two of the mutants he admires above all others, and they're both gone. If someone doesn't talk him down soon, he'll be paying off the damages on a burnt-down paid residence for the rest of his time in Asgard.]

((ooc: backtags are coming, but this huge of a drop had to be referenced. also, if any gods want to garnish his wages for the damage or anything, consequences are obviously expected for this.))

How's everyone feeling?

[Pyro is covered in blood: mostly on his hands and up his arms, but there are sprays of it across his shirt and pants as well. Hard to say if it's someone else's or his, given his ability, but there are no tears or holes in his clothing. He wears a false smile, which drops as quickly as it appeared.]

Some of you got exactly what you deserved, and you know damn well who you are. But once the water's clean, there won't be any more trouble for now. The spy's done. [His hands flex and clench, as though he's still got some punching he'd like to do.] You're fucking welcome.

Guys? Anything you wanna add?

[Altair shakes his head and remains silent, but Thor does have something to add. He looks much in the same way as Pyro, though he doesn't take time by giving false pleasantries or greetings. He's mad and it shows, but there's something else that lingers in the depths of his hard gaze. ]

The threat is, indeed, gone. For now. However, it would be wise to assume this will likely not be the last of such an event. [ He shifts, frowning as he glances off screen for a moment. ] It would be wise to upkeep your guard as it is clear we shall have to take justice into our own hands.

[And with that, Pyro shuts off the feed with a glare. Time for the shitstorm.]

((ooc: this is going to be a huge, beautiful mess. tags could come from Altair, either of the Thors, Pyro, or any number of NPCs who decide to hop on. i'll likely turn off notifications and track any threads i get into for that reason, so if i seem to miss something, please PM me!))

[Hello, Asgard. Look who is finally making his first post to the network? Jack is sitting on a roof and enjoying a blue popsicle. It seems their little trip to the cold lands wasn't enough ice for him.]

Moral of the story: 'frost giants' aren't as cool as they sound.

[...it's a joke, ok, don't judge him much. He needs to deal somehow with the fact the trip pretty much sucked. Jokes are also his way of trying to break the ice see what I did. Answering to people's silly thoughts? No problem. Starting conversation by his own? That's gonna need more practice.]

Someone mentioned weapons when I arrived, and how I should I ask the network about it. Maybe you do have an idea of what to do about--

[He uses telekinesis to make the two halves of a shepherd crook float next to him.]

--this. Because without my original powers, my staff is now just... a piece of wood, I guess.

[Brilliant deduction, Jack. All these changes are sure bothering you, huh?]

[The feed starts to show a teenage girl staring down at the feed. Her bottom lip is between her teeth, before she lets out a little huff, sending strands of white and brown hair fluttering away from her face.] Okay. [A slight drawl to that, as a gloved hand pushes her hair back behind her ear.] I've seen and heard some crazy things, but Ah gotta admit, this? I think this takes the blue ribbon.

[Not to mention the fact that the faceless maid was a touch- or a lot- creepy.] Ah get what was said. I'm not stupid, but... Well, I mean, it's a bit hard to accept this. That guide- [The tone of her voice really says it all about the guide. But, if what it says is true... It is a lot to take in, and a lot that really doesn't seem right or real.

Of course that leads to a lot of other questions, such as who, and why, and how.] Is it true though? Any of it? Gods, and giants, and powers lost-

[And that part she hesitates on. It's not like she's going to run around touching everyone to see, on some slim chance.] Or, or is this just someone's idea of a stupid joke. [A stupid joke.] 'cause it's not funny, if it is.

[There's nothing amiss in Pyro's life at all as he walks toward his room, turning on the video to discuss his little scrap with the gods. He wants to find out exactly who was threatening him and what kind of authority he has in the city.

There's a flash of a door opening, a familiar room full of candles, and then a piercing scream as Pyro slams the door shut again and collapses against it. When his face reappears, it's chalk-white and drenched in sweat.]

Who the fuck put all the c-candles in my room?!

((ooc: since Pyro pissed off pretty much everyone, not just gods, in Sigyn's post, he's been cursed with pyrophobia. He has no memory of ever controlling fire, only that he was a mutant who lost his abilities, and fire now scares him shitless. Enjoy!))

[ the feed comes to life showing a woman who hadn't shown her face much until now. There is a small smile on her lips, honest and solemn. ]

Now that it is over, you will hear our words, for you deserve them.

The curse you experienced was not our doing as I know many of you have guessed. None of us wanted this and none of us schemed to bring it into fruition.

It was not the doing of the giants either; for no giant, not even Thiazi is able to wield such power. It is thankfully entirely beyond their abilities.

[ she releases a breath and then continues. ]

We think it was Freya. She is the only one strong enough to formulate such a plan. We heard her screams, we know her heart is full of anger. We believe that in her anger, she had struck the city with this curse without much prior thought and so the results were as grave as they were.

[ a moment of silence. ]

I must ask you, find the strength in your heart and do not think of her too harshly. Whatever Freya did, she did out of grief, out of despair and out of a terrible loss. She is mad with grief and in her madness, she had done a deed that is cruel and reckless.

But I will ask you to show her compassion all the same.



[ ooc; curse closure! Q&A round with Sigyn and the others. If you want Sigyn, or any God in particular, simply address them in your comment. ]

[Charles has spent most of the past few days in the library. One because he was attempting to discover as much as he could about his current situation; he hadn't found much but had gotten distracted by the sheer number of books. Second because his suitemate was an insomniac with a penchant for making weird noises at all hours and third because the library was familiar, in a very unfamiliar situation.

However, he had finally come to the conclusion that he needed to explore other options in an effort to discover what he could about this land and their situation. One of those options being, talk to the other people equally trapped.

Took a little bit of time to figure out how best to work the communication system but by his second cup of tea, he had it in hand and the video came on, showing one Charles Xavier, sitting in the library with tea, a pile of papers and books at hand.]

Did that turn ... yes, yes right then it did.

Ah good [pause to check a window] good evening it would appear, too easy to lose days in this library. My name, is Charles Xavier and I have recently arrived here. While the delightful guide I was given appears to have covered the basics and a few kind souls have assisted me, to date with some of my questions I still appear to have more questions than answers.

[He had a notebook full of questions actually but he was going to try to keep this brief.]

To whit I was wondering if any of you, who have been here for some time, would be willing to talk with me about your experiences? It can be as little or as much as you're interested in sharing, I am merely curious to gain an understand of what has been going on here, what you have seen as being our contributions to or resistance against the circumstances described in this guide.

[It was a polite way of trying to ask what measures have been taken towards trying to regain the ability to go back home. Charles was not against attempting to aid people however, he was decidedly against forced entrapment.]

Thank you, in advance, for your time.

[Giving the video a smile, he reached and shifted it off transmit and over to receive.]

Okay -

[Here's a slightly pale, unsteady looking Pyro in his usual fortress of fire, except that the candles are significantly taller and look brand new. It's hard to tell in the usual flickering light, but there are other signs of change in the apartment: surfaces dusted, hardened puddles and sprays of wax scraped from all manner of places (he's thrown the odd candle or two in his rages), a neatly made bed...]

- either there's a "sorry you're monochrome" maid service in these boarding houses that I didn't know about, or someone - broke into my room and cleaned for me while I was grey.

[It's clear by his expression that he wants to be angry, but he's too confused. What the hell kind of break-in is that?]

((ooc: John has returned from greyness, and mun is still working on getting back to speed! I'm borrowing a computer for the long weekend, so I won't always be around, but I'll get back to everything when I can.))

[ Hello, Asgard. This is going to be an utterly useless post that screams pity meeee, but it may or may not also be a way for the Doctor to further distract whoever has been all concerned about him taking off to Utgard for a day and a half. Meaning, he’s finally been persuaded to rest some. Not in bed, but on the couch, with a blanket over him, and curled up for ultimate sulking.

So why is he sulking? Well, the sniffling and his somewhat flushed face might be a bit of a clue. He’s not used to being human and, thus, not used to getting sick with regular colds and the like, so he never considered that spending all that time around a sick Oswin would lash back at him. So here he is now, resting. Chances are you’ll never see that again. ]

I’m sick. I never get sick, it’s awful, how do you people do it without going mad? It’s only been a couple of days and I’m sick-- tired of it.

[Speaking of Oswin, she is sitting on the couch next time in the same condition (though looking less peaky than she had before the flower festival) with her face flushed and wrapped in a blanket, curled up in her corner of the couch and reading a book.. At the sound of the Doctor's voice she raises her head to stare at him, eyebrows raised and lips quirking into a smirk. She sniffles.]

Come on, Chin Boy. Stop whinging. It doesn't become you at all. And also it's really just painful to listen to. Spare us the drama.

[ She gets an affronted look for that one because, rude, cutting into his dramatic cry for attention and making false accusations. ]

I don’t do whining. And this is your fault, you don’t have a say.

[ So there. ]

My fault? I warned you that I was ill. But no, you insisted that you don’t get sick and decided to hang about. And then you kissed me.

[NOPE. Not having any of that. Looking at him like he’s a child throwing a tantrum over something minor. What a baby.]

[ Excuse you, he's not a baby. ]

I didn’t insist anything, and neither did you. You could have warned me again.

I warned you plenty. It’s not my fault you can’t keep your hands, or lips, to yourself despite warnings and then whinge about it when it goes wrong for you. You just had to kiss the sick girl upon your return and are now getting the sniffles. It’s only a minor cold. Think of it as an exciting new experience. [With a dramatic roll of her eyes, Oswin grabs his wrist and pulls it towards her so she can directly address his audience.] Seriously, don’t anyone pity him or indulge him. It will just encourage him to think he’s justified in sulking here.

Oi!

[ Yanking his hand back thank you. ]

I am completely justified, and none of you listen to her.

[ With a sniff and a sharp puff of breath, he cuts the feed so she can’t sabotage any more of it. ]

((OOC: The Doctor is black, Oswin is red. There will probably be tags from both of them?))

So, this network thing's pretty cool, I have to admit. Like MySpace, only... bigger.

[ Yes, he's still from the days of MySpace. However, compared to the technology at school, Asgard's lacking.

He scratches the back of his head, unsure of what to say before he continues. ]

And I've learned a lot in the past day. [ Many terrible things to look forward to at home. However, he won't mention that now. ] Curses, gods, different worlds... Am I leaving anything out?

And, uh, I want to check something I heard. I know we get a new power while we're here.

[ It's still strange, being able to talk casually about having an ability. In his world, he was hated for being a mutant, but here... He could actually be himself. Out of everything he's experienced at Asgard, that was probably the most unbelievable. ]

But any power we might've had before... It's really true that it's gone? No way to get it back?

[ He's not asking for himself. Not really. He knows his cyrokinesis is gone, and it's a shame. He doesn't mind healing, but he misses his old ability. He'd trade back in a heartbeat.

But if Rogue arrived, she'd have a new power. He cared about her no matter what, of course, but to think that they wouldn't have to be so cautious whenever they hold hands, hug, or kiss... It's selfish to think about. He should want to return home as soon as possible, and he does. Still, he can't help but realize how nice that sounds. ]