shatterverse | (no subject)

Billy's flying home -- which, okay, he shouldn't be doing no matter how late he is, but he's in costume and he's high enough that no one will see him (even in New York). It should be fine, right?

Right, until something happens. For a moment, he's not entirely sure what -- he'd expected a warning shout from a SHIELD operative, maybe, or even Iron Man himself. What he gets is a flash, a bang, and something that isn't New York heading very quickly up towards him.

Well, first things first--

"iwanttolandsafelyiwanttolandsafelyiwanttoland--"

Hey, have you ever seen one of those giant blue crash mats appear in the middle of the desert? Well, now you have. Along with a teenage boy hitting it a few seconds later. It's not quite the entrance Billy would have hoped for, but mostly, he's just happy it hasn't resulted in any broken bones. More than a couple bruises, though, and he rubs at his arm as he stumbles off the crash mat to see where (and when) the hell he is.

Desert: check. Sunset: check. ...weird inactive Doombots with wolf masks: check?

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The spontaneously appearing desert crash mat draws Sam's attention.

If Billy is feeling observant, he may notice a gold mist floating about, before his doppelganger (identical right down to the clothes) speaks, from a spot just behind Billy, body pointed perpendicularly to Billy's.
"Hey there." His voice, at least, isn't like Billy's, unless Billy happens to have a London accent.

Billy's feeling very observant; while most of this observant-ness is focused on the things that aren't quite Doombots, some is spared for the mist and the sensation that there is magic around.

He whirls around at the voice, electricity starting to spark in his hand -- then it dies as he gives the apparent clone an exasperated look.

"What the hell, Tommy? Did you dye your hair?"

Well at least this sight won't look entirely weird to Billy, but the lack of costume might be curious. Namely there was a man in his late thirties flying over ahead, who came around and landed near the teenager.

"You all right?"

"Yeah," Billy replied, eyeing the man thoughtfully. He didn't recognise him at all, which seemed odd when the guy was apparently fine with flying in public.

Then again, he thought with a glance around, this probably doesn't count as public.

"I'll be sore in the morning," he added with a small smile, "but uh, right now? I'm more concerned with what the hell just happened. I was in New York just a second ago."

Nathan grinned at that, "Fellow New Yorker huh? Me too, but we're nowhere near it. Somewhere in the southwest, probably New Mexico or Arizona. And this is a different world too."

"I figured the first part out," with a nod. "And the southwest makes sense -- guess I'm lucky it's the same continent. Wait--"

His face fell. 'A different world' wasn't too weird a concept for him, but--

"It's not Earth A (http://en.marveldatabase.com/Earth-721), is it?"

"Only if that one went through an apocalypse and now has random portals releasing god knows what all over the world."

Billy considered for a brief second -- then shook his head.

"This place has seen an apocalypse?" Well, that explained ... not a whole lot, actually, but possibly some. "I take it that's how I got here. This is still beyond weird, though. Is there a way to get back?"

"Steve's working on it, maybe some others. Nobody's got anything yet though. A lot of people are either gathering back at Cooper Farm in Kansas, or Metropolis that's about a few hours drive away."

Wryly, "Well, if we can't go home properly, at least there's a Kansas to flock to."

(Maybe it was the Kansas mention. Maybe it was Billy's magic. But on one of the Doombots, still lying inert and face-down in the sand, a thing once referred to as a 'thinking cap' started to turn, slowly, and silently for now.)

"How many people are there? Were they all brought here like -- well, like me? With the bang and the portal?"

Nathan nodded, "Kansas seems to be the safest place to go right now. Got monsters, dinosaurs and everything else elsewhere."

He shook his head, "Not everybody, but there's not a lot of native population left. Just pockets here and there like in Metropolis. That didn't get affected as badly as New York or Washington DC. A lot have been getting dropped in randomly though."

Shortly, drawn by his spell, there is a Willow. Don't worry, it's the nice one. "That's... an interesting use of your magic." She comments as she floats down out of the sky.

That's reassuring. Well, it would be if Billy knew; he'd appreciate it!

"Thanks," he says wryly, glancing at the mat before focusing on Willow. "My spells are usually a little saner than that. The weirdness just happens when I don't know exactly what I want."

Well, if the spells work at all, in such instances.

She tilts her head to one side, studying him carefully, still smiling. There's a calming presence to her, a sort of 'everything's going to be all right' field. "What kind of magic DO you do?"