[Coulson is having an odd day. A very, very odd day. Never mind the whole being... under the sea... thing. For a while there, he was quite sure that he was dead. But then. Not so dead. Instead, under the sea. Sure, yeah. This makes perfect sense.

His chest aches, and the blood on his clothes is quite the sign that he wasn't just dreaming. Coulson has been listening for a while, fiddling with the little starfish communicator, reading the pamphlet.

He's still confused.]

I think I'm using this right. Not really trained in use of starfish-shaped... gadgetry. But, if anyone is out there and can hear this, I have a question or twelve.

The pamphlet was very helpful. Map especially. But still, I was hoping someone could direct me to a hospital. Or a clinic. Or someone with a band-aid or two. I'm not picky.

[Beggars cannot be choosers. Coulson is intimately familiar with this concept.] Additionally, I'm agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD. I have an overabundance of questions and a lack of answers. If anyone feels like elaborating on just... how... I'm suddenly in a bubble under the sea and why this isn't some elaborate hallucination, I'd love to hear it.

[The screen turns on to nothing at first, just a view of a ceiling and a little chittering sound.

A tiny black leg, chitinous, waves over the camera, followed by an extreme closeup of a yellow maggot-shaped body with multiple legs that trundles itself over, briefly blacking out the view.

Then, very slowly, a face peeeeeeeers over the screen, mouth open with amazement]

EEEEE!

[To anyone watching their SFC, they might catch a glimpse of a familiar, albeit much smaller face of a certain resident half demon. His blue eyes are huge, hair messy, in clothes far too big for his tiny tiny body. It's there for a flash, as in his frantic state he knocks it right off the end table, turning it in to a view of the ceiling of the room he normally shares with Maka.

Not that he remembers that. Tiny Rin unfortunately has no idea what Vatheon is, or who anyone in this house is. As far as he knows, he was in his bunk at the church last, Yukio sleeping peacefully near by, and dad somewhere down the hall. So this new room, new surroundings, are all together frightening and confusing.]

Yuki... ? ... tou-san? ... TOU-SAN?! YUKIO?!

[When calling out doesn't get any answers, his feet thump to the floor and he starts trying to run out of the room, only to trip on his clothes and fall face first on the floor next to the SFC. He picks it up, tears in his wide, scared blue eyes, and fiddles with a few buttons before--...

Oops. He just turned it off.]

( Action for Villa )

( Action for around the bubble )

((ooc: replies will come from hellspawned ))

[Waking up in an unfamiliar room had been a nasty shock for Dirk. Even more disconcerting was that it almost looked like his. There were pieces of robots and posters of the things he liked. The clothes looked like his, and there was even a pair of shades- but the clothes were too big, and the light was all wrong for his room. He'd only just found something that fit him, kind of, when there had been a sound on the side of one wall of his room- a side where there wasn't supposed to be anything.

He'd bolted.

Only, when he got outside, it was even more strange than before, because he was underwater, and there were so many houses, and he'd never seen anything like this in the ocean around his house. He'd wandered until he was lost, then wandered more until he found the elevator. He'd taken it up, because surely he would be able to see his apartment once he got up there, wouldn't he?

Only there was a blizzard, and he'd lost sight of the elevator before he got five feet from it, and now, hours later, he's crouched down under a tree somewhere, and he's shivering and cold and can't feel his feet. He's too exhausted by now to be scared of the city under the ocean.]

H-h-how do I get to the elevator?

[The face of a boy about 7 years old appears on the SFC; the blond hairstyle and clear blue eyes make him pretty recognizable-- at least to others. He's still in his pajamas, the T-shirt now especially oversized, but his pants at least have a drawstring! Roxas himself looks lost and confused, but not really frightened.]

Is this a walky-talky? Hello?

[He frowns a little at the unfamiliar sound of his own voice and tries clearing his throat to no avail.]

I think I'm on another world. There's all these tall buildings out the window. Riku, are you here, too?

[Another pause as he notices his bangs and pulls them farther down in front of his eyes.]

Someone did something funny to my hair...

((Roxas has been a victim of the mental change as well... which means he has the memories of a seven-year-old Sora. Oops.))

Aaaassssssbeeeeelll!

[ There's a call of someone's name here, and the sound of a girl breathing heavily. Obviously she's been looking for someone for a while, and running around all over the place to do so. ]

Huuuuuberrrrt?

[ She stops, and though the rest of the world can't see it, she's looking around again for the people she's called out for. ]

S-Sophie? Asbel--

[ And, without any prior warning, she suddenly breaks down into a fit of coughing. It lasts for quite some time, but when she comes out of it, it's pretty obvious she's crying. She's lived with this illness all her life, so she's used to the random coughing fits by now (though they are no less easy to deal with regardless) ... but she hasn't ever been in a situation before where she didn't know where she was at all. She's a scared, sick little girl now. ]

G-Gram ... pa ...

[ She manages to choke out that last name while crying. ]


( ooc: I'm on hiatus, so I'll be extremely slow ... but I've been waiting for this curse to happen for a while, so I had to take advantage of it to have Cheria be a heartbreaker. She's in the Plaza, so feel free to come help a little sickly girl if your character is so inclined to do so. )

[Davesprite's having a bit of a freak out. He's five years old and he's pretty sure he isn't supposed to be orange. He's also pretty sure he shouldn't be part crow and have a ghost tail. And these are definitely not the sunglasses Bro gave him! This isn't even the apartment he lives in!

Speaking of his big brother, looking around his apartment has told him nothing about his whereabouts. Dave is about ready to cry from all this overwhelming strangeness, but he doesn't because he's a Strider and Striders don't cry.

So, he turns to the thing that looks like a starfish walkie-talkie and flips it on to whatever setting. Maybe someone can help him find Bro. As long as he has his big brother around, he'll be fine.]

H-hello? Has anyone seen my big brother?

[So what happens when you take a very energetic 23 year old man and age him down to about nine years old?

You get what you're about to see.

Upon having awakened in an unfamiliar place, Zack was... wary, of course. He called out to his parents, but when he got no response, he began to look around. After all, if he was gonna be in SOLDIER someday, he had to learn how to take care of himself! And during those explorations, he found his SFC. Of course, he had no idea what it was really. But easily excited, he unknowingly flipped on video.

]

Whoa! This is so cool! Is this like one of those phone thingies SOLDIER uses?

[Grinning widely, he holds it up, giving it a thorough childlike scrutiny.]

Dunno why they're shaped like stars though. But it's still cool!

[Now, being a kid, Zack's first instinct is to take it and play with it.]

SOLDIER First Class Zack to base! I'm gonna explore the area!

[He takes off, SFC in hand as he zooms through his apartment, barely doing any actual exploring and more like full on sprinting through the place. Unfortunately, anyone watching is treated to an SFC shaking and the scenery flying by as Zack bursts out the door and heads outside.

The bubble and the ocean beyond makes him stop in his tracks, staring wide-eyed.]

Uh... how did I get underwater? Is this my new home?

....

THIS IS SO COOL!

[Aaaaand he's tearing off again to "explore". Once he's wound down a bit, he might notice if anyone's replied...]

Like hey everyone. [Bitty Denzel smiles and waves to the camera]

My friend Dave and I have come up with a rigthous motion for all us kids. Since we're all in this strange new world together. Let's do what we kids do best play games.

A game of Red Rover.

Everyone's welcome to join and hope to see you all there.

And if you totally can't find your way, totally will find you man.




^{(The game will be handwaved but everyone is encouraged to threadjump here :) If anyone wants to know why it's to give familiar to an unfamiliar place and to get all the kids in one place so that they can be found :) Bitty Crocker is trying to do what he does best helping others ^^)}

[The voice is girlish yet masculine in tone, likely belonging to a young boy.]

—ello. My . . . That is, I—

[He's quiet at first, and gaining volume with every word he utters as the direct result of rising confidence, though there's a smidgen of looming awkwardness. It is, after all, a genuine question. This is an unfamiliar environment (with some admittedly . . . different people); it doesn't mean his words mean nothing.]

Is there a church here? It's fine if there isn't. [And as if he's nodding along to the statement:] Any is a place of prayer. However, I'd like to know if there's somewhere more appropriate.

[A beat.]

I have heard that we're all in the same predicament. It should be better this way: the power of teamwork is strong! In times of need, therefore, we should come together as one. There are probably others that know more about this than I do, but . . . [He had to say it. Partly for his own reassurance.]

Thank you. May there be much light and many bonds within your Spiria.

[The new curse has resulted in the Villa gaining one (1) formidable-looking resident Responsible Adult(TM), a nine-foot tall being shrouded in a full-length black cloak and cowl, his face obliterated by mask in the shape of a characature of a skull (as depicted).

Behold, Vatheon, the visage of your new Death Personified, the identity of whom is only revealed when he at last speaks, raising two hands out of his cloak to clap them, twice.]

All right, children! It's the beginning of a new week, and I trust you all know what that means--

[For those who know him, this is Death the Kid, all "grown up". By his recollection, he's been kicking around for hundreds of years, and Death City, the place of his birth, is a distant and fond memory.]

--It's time for our field trip to the coral!

[And it seems he's taken to caring for a Villa full of young children like a fish to water. The apple, it appears, didn't fall far from his father's proverbial tree.]

Line up single file in the foyer, please. If we're done early, we can all have hot chocolate in the Plaza. Don't be late, punctuality is a virtue second only to cleanliness!

[ooc; open to action threads, too, both in the villa and around the bubble.]

[Dirt and cloth cover the SFC's view, darkening it almost to black, until whatever it is moves off the screen - a small sock-clad foot, probably the reason the SFC turned on when its owner stepped on the device.]

Daaaddy... Mommyyyy...

[A young voice, sounding lost and afraid, and a skewed view of a boy who might be three who, judging by his twig- and leaf-covered clothes and hair, looks like he just spent the night sleeping in a bush. He obviously hasn't noticed the SFC yet.]

Daddy, where are you? Mommy, come back! I p'omise I'll be good!

[The screen shows a very young troll with her face obscured by the hood of Terezi's red dragon cape. Seeing as tiny Terezi doesn't exactly know what she's doing, the image itself is rather crooked.]

RAWR. I AM A DRAGON.

And the dragon demands that she be shown back to her hive immediately!

[Cower in fear of this terrible beast.]

[Electricity crackles across the screen -- no, wait, the electricity is actually flowing around the twelve-year-old boy standing some distance away. This may be the first time most of Vatheon has seen Ky out of his uniform. It's sitting neatly folded on the desk. Ky isn't sure why he woke up in it, but he knows he hasn't earned it yet.

He frowns and shuts his eyes in concentration, muttering under his breath.]

Come on...

[The electricity concentrates around his hands, and he opens his eyes and starts to smile before it goes shooting out, some towards the ceiling but most disappearing into the air. There's a reason he picked as empty of a space to practice in as he could.

He closes his eyes to try to concentrate again, but gets only a very weak crackle that soon fizzles out for his efforts.]

I'll have to try again later.

[He pads over to study the SFC, obvious confusion on his face at the fact that it's on. He's only used it for texts, and he doesn't seem to have an incoming message.]

What are you doing now?

[The video shows a much happier, more content Sufferer than the network has seen lately. In fact, he almost looks like Signless again. Over his shoulder, the video catches a cat-troll, one who could easily be mistaken for Disciple except for her shorter hair and blue kitty hat, sitting on a couch and cuddling something, with two kittens bounding around her. The audio catches the occasional giggle, purr, or squeak.]

Hello! It seems we're under another curse. I'm unaffected by this one, but many of my friends are not. If anyone finds someone who looks like this, please bring them to me.

[He holds up a picture of a... well, it looks like a giant, smiling maggot baby. Which is basically what it is. This is an Alternian grub, everyone.]

My assistant Nepeta and I will take charge of him or her for the week, if you aren't interested in caring for them.

[OOC: answers can come from Sufferer or Nepeta or both!]