Once Upon a Time...

[morethanmyth]

They likely felt the world shift, a fragmentation of all they thought they knew. It was the way a fictional character might feel if they could feel every page turn in the book they lived in. It was the beginning of a new story and that meant an end to an old one and they would each feel that.

To some it would feel like they had just died. To others, it would feel like they had just been born. To many, it would feel like both at the same time. It all really depended on who they were and what they were leaving behind.

In any case, this world had something New appear in it. After lightning crackled in the evening sky without any storm fueling it, they would find themselves waking up in the streets of a small town called Burgess. It was a perfectly ordinary Pennsylvania town, a place where the modern mixed with the old, American suburbia at its finest, making it all the stranger that something extraordinary would happen somewhere so ordinary.

[ooc: Make a subthread for each character and those of you that would like to toss your character at someone else before Bunny and Jack show up, tag a subthread already there.]

Comments

[letskicksomeice]

The corner of Jack's mouth twitched at "Harvey," just a bit.

"It's not like Man in the Moon was the one that pulled you, though," Jack clarified. "The world's so broken that people's belief is changing it more than it should. The kids here are afraid, they're looking for heroes - that's why you got pulled in and changed. The belief is making you into what they need. They don't mean to do it but it is what it is. We're just trying to clean up the mess - make sure you're all safe until we figure out how to undo it and send you all home. Man in the Moon thinks you should all become Guardians like us, and we could use the help, sure, but the more important thing is getting everyone where they'd rather be."

[mywarrenmyrules]

Meanwhile, Bunny just glanced around looking for this "Harvey" fellow.

[fromfryingpantofire]

Which confused Sam. There was no reason at all that something in his own head should be so confused about a reference that he knew himself. Especially when the reference was to a sixty-plus year old movie.

Then the kid was talking and Sam focused on him. And that...sort of made more sense. If he could accept that this was real--and the rabbit not knowing what he was talking about was a big hint--then he knew he could accept it.

Sam took a breath, letting it out slowly. "Okay. So, basically, you need help and the belief of children is pulling people from...I'm going to assume our own worlds?" If he hadn't gone through time and had the past rewritten around him before, it probably would have been harder to accept all of this. But his world was full of the weird. This he could probably accept. At least for the moment. "What does this whole Guardian thing entail?"

[letskicksomeice]

"Protecting the children of the world from things that would hurt them. Like the Bogeyman."

Who is, yes, real.

[mywarrenmyrules]

"And, currently, everything else that ever went bump in the night. At least - everything that ever did in our world. And a couple more from outside it."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam considered that for a moment, rubbing his hand across his chin. "All right," he said after a moment. "That's okay. I actually know how to deal with that sort of thing. That's what I do, back in my world. Fighting the stuff that goes after people, the supernatural stuff that, back in my world, people don't actually believe in."

He shrugged, dropping his hands to his pockets. "So, you know. If you want help? I'm willing to put myself out there."

[letskicksomeice]

That was almost too easy, but Jack wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"We're having everyone meet over near a pond across town. We need to make sure there aren't any stragglers that Man in the Moon didn't show us but then we'll come and talk to everyone and figure out where to go from here."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Maybe too easy, but Sam was telling the truth. This sort of thing was his life back home. He wasn't about to stand by when he could help.

He nodded. "Just point me in the right direction," he said, then paused. "Oh. Ah, you might want to keep an eye out for an African-American kid. Real skinny, clothes are way too big for him. We met earlier but we split up. He's got the same 'walking through things' thing I've got going on, so he's probably another one that got pulled in."