World Tree MUSH

A few hours ago, there had been a disturbance at a hospital in the nearby city. Some green insectoid creature had blasted his way out of the topp floor of a hospital. No injuries beyond a coupl eof pushed guards and sprained limbs. But in all the most damage had been done to a bed utterly destroyed. and a wall which had been blown out.

After it got outside it flew off into the City.

There had also been a couple break ins at closed department stores. A few sets of clothes had been stolen. boots, socks, jeans underwear, shirts, and of course a jean jacket.

Other items included what amounted to a backpack and survival supplies. Like a first aid kit, some high energy protien bars, etc. And right now outside the city near an old mansion this robber, had been sighted. As the green being will start to set down. after flying through the tree tops. It's isolated far away, and to him seems secure as he allows his armor to remove and starts actually getting dressed in the clothes he has stolen.

Luigi actually knows nothing about these break-ins, the damage at the hospital, or the reports of the bug-thing. He's in these woods for a totally different reason. It's been a while since he's checked up on that old place in Evershade Valley, and he wanted to make sure the Boos there aren't causing more trouble.

So of course, he's in the darker branches of the World Tree. And when he hears rustling... well, yeah, he goes into 'scared Luigi' mode. He hunkers down, but still heads for the source of the sound. "...W-wh-who's-a t-th-there...?" he calls out, his voice clearly trembling.

And if David looks? There's just a short middle-aged guy with a big nose over there, wearing a green shirt, blue denim overalls, and a green 'poof boy' cap with a white 'L' on it. Hardly anything threatening, right?

As he was attempting to get dressed David has on a pair of jeans on. As he was sitting on a fallen tree as pulls on a fresh pair of socks and boots. he's still coming off that panic of his. Still looking around he is not entirely sure where he is, or how this is possible. But by the Time this fellow in green is in the area David is pulling a shirt on. The sound of his knees knocking keep him from actually being surprised.

So David seeking to Hide will grab his pack and yank it with him as he pulls behind a large tree to hide. His heart pounding in his chest. Emotions of anger, fear, rage, dispair, pain. Radiate from him. He's in agony, and so violitile he might just go insane if the wrong thing is done.

As he listens to the scared voice calling out he has to resist the urge to screw with him. But he doesn't want to give himself away.... yet.

Of course he has left some of his energy bars on the rocks. having fallen out of his back pack. So someone was here... and recently.

    Unlike Luigi, Justine knew exactly what had happened. The comatose victim from earlier had busted out. She didn't actually care too much about the damage or the like, but curiosity was a thing, and she had something that most didn't.

    A tracking spell.

    So being in the general area - wingless, this time - is actually pretty reasonable for her! Though why a simply-dressed teenage girl is wandering around is another question ALTOGETHER!

    The fact that Luigi, an unknown but obviously terrified person is here, is odd though. Well, whatever. He didn't seem like he meant anyone harm, least of all her. "Evening." That's to Luigi though. David has to be around here somewhere, not that she knows his name yet, but...

Luigi's scared, yes. But he's not going to run away yet. It's quiet over there now... But he knows he heard some rustling... From over there, wasn't it? Trying to be stealthy isn't his thing at all, given the teeth chattering and the knees knocking together.

He's concentrating so much on that area over there that he doesn't see Justine at first. Not until she speaks. Which of course startles him.

"WAAAH!" He jumps in fright. Not just a few inches either. He'll easily clear his own head-height with that simple, reflexive jump. And weirdly, he'll sort of scuttle his feet in the air, and in response his fall seems to slow down a little. Though as he lands, he'll turn to look at Justine. And then he seems to sigh in relief. "S-sorry, you startled me," he explains, one gloved hand over his chest.

David instantly when he hears the two people now, his emotions ramped up several degrees. The fight or flight instinct hits him strong. But in the end his aggression wins out. And he drops his back pack and steps out of the cover. Stepping into the shadowy light as he stands there. He's not the skin and bone young man from the other day. He's fully recovered. While maybe 17 at the oldest. His eyes shine with a blue glow.

Right now he is directing his aggression and controlling it but he is as stable as Nitroglycerine. "Who the fuck are you, where the fuck am I?" He demands.

    Luigi's feet moving get a stare from Justine, and he's upgraded from 'harmless dude' to 'offworlder' from the locals. Still not really a concern, because he seems pleasant enough. The girl shrugs, clockwork arms clicking and whrring, "Sorry, looking for someone-"

    And about then David gets confrontational. "... and that would be him." Mechanical fingers wiggle in a wave. "Justine Lawson, high school student, and you're several miles outside of the hospital that a few people dropped you off at. You should be lucky they didn't toss you in a medical jail or something, but I guess they're soft-hearted. Made quite a mess busting out, I hear."

    She looks at Luigi, again, as if to see if he'll introduce himself.

Justine is suddenly a proper hiding place, since when David comes busting out all RAAAAR, Luigi quickly ducks behind her. It's not like he's going to be able to HIDE back there, because he does have a little bit of a belly. And he's just built... strangely in comparison to a typical human. But yes. He's ducked back behind Justine.

Well, right up until she looks in his direction. Hospital? So this angry fellow was hurt? That... might explain it. Especially if he doesn't know where he is. So he edges out from behind Justine, looking in David's direction.

"Uh... I-I'm-a Luigi..." he offers, still visibly a little scared, but not seeming as much so. Since Justine already told him where, he doesn't speak up on that. Besides, he doesn't want to point them right to Evershade Valley, right? But he does offer a small wave. "H-hello?"

Standing there David has a vein actually throbbing in the side of his forehead. But it takes a while as he wrestles with the emotions he feels getting them under control. But he could be easilly provoked into a Killing rage. He Eyes Luigi's fright and it seems to break the tension he feels. "Chill out shorty. I don't kill unless I have a vailid reason to."

His eyes home in on Justine. "I recall you.... The wings... you were there when that eruption happened that brough me to the forest with the Zoanoids."

    Luigi is now hiding behind Justine. If only he knew. The girl blinks, glances over her shoulder, and then chuckles. "Well, at least someone here has a reasonable head on their shoulders." She is not the sort of villain to chide someone for not wanting to engage a killer symbiont.

    David recognizes her! The girl with the clockwork arms shrugs again, spreading her hands. "Yes, that was me. I don't know what a Zoanoid is, I presume those monster-like things. You're somewhere else now, and... well I won't say /safe/ but probably don't need to worry about the Zoanoids."

David's response, despite being geared to soothe, doesn't really do much for that. Particularly since he mentions killing so easily. Luigi hunkers down a little at that, but he's not going to be giving David any reason to attack him.

Though as David and Justine speak, he looks between them. "Oh, you know each other?" he inquires, seeming to relax a little more now that he knows that. But there's talk of monsters, and Luigi looks worried. Not scared, to note. Just worried, because he doesn't see them HERE.

"Zoanoids are shapeshifting killing machines. Created from normal humans, the transformation takes less than a day to start and complete. Once done grants a number of powers or abilities. Also renders them a total slave to the Zoalords who command them. Zoalord orders you to kill someone. You do so. Orders you to murder your parents. And there is no way to reverse the process. As when captured Zoanoids are ordered to commit suicide to avoid capture. If you find them, kill them quickly before they kill you."

His voice is filled with some vile hate. "Now where am I? This doesn't look like my world... considering it's not on fire and burning due to asteroid impacts the Zoalords caused...."

    "I'm not sure I'd say we know one another," Justine says, wryly. "Just... know OF one another. I've seen a little of what he can do, and it's good he doesn't want to fight. I'm just a girl who would have a hard time staying alive even with my tricks."

    David's reply makes Justine pay more attention. "Mind-controlled killing machines, got it." She taps her finger on her chin. "Well, at least that matches the story of what happened. I'll believe you for now. Welcome to the World Tree. A collection of different worlds, some of them... vastly different. I have no idea where Luigi here is from, but my world is technically several worlds because we're spacefaring. Sounds like yours is too."

Luigi definitely looks worried about that! Zoanoids, Zoalords... It all sounds horrible for that world. Not to mention the words of burning and asteroids hitting the Earth. Luigi emotes quite strongly, and here it's pretty obvious that he finds these thoughts horrible. "Th-that's terrible!" he exclaims. Softhearted Luigi hearing about the misfortune of others!

Of course, Justine's mention of David being a deadly combatant has him scooting back a little. Eep! Though he does offer, "I'm from the Mushroom Kingdom." He doesn't offer anything else about the place, since he doesn't really know either of these people.

As he looks to Justine. His eyes actually contract as he can feel his emotions well up inside of him. "When the zoalords found out I had this suit of armor." and right now his mind is boiling with anger, rage and of course pain. Staring her right in the eye he says, "They evenutally captured two of my brothers, and several of my friends. Transformed them into Zoanoids designed to kill a guyver, in the hopes I wouldn't be able to fight back... I listened to their scream for me not to hurt...." and he stops short of actually attacking Justine. But that pain that rage...to any empath. Opening his eyes he says. "I don't give a shit what you choose to believe."

It is at this point David steps back and leans against a Tree. Tears run down his face as he wants to break down as the waves of despair and anguish crash at his sanity. It takes awhile but he contains himself. After several deep breaths he will manage to compose himself... "World... Tree. Some sort of Pocket dimension?" h asks having recomposed himself.

    Mushroom Kingdom? Justine tilts her head, but she has no real desire to go mess with the place or anything, so it's more brief curiosity. "That's an odd name for a place," she admits, stepping aside just to let Luigi talk to David... and demonstrating that she isn't worried about David attacking him. Or maybe she thinks it would be funny, but that's doubtful.

    "I can tell you're angry," she replies. "No offense, I've just seen a lot of fights start because of anger over little stuff. Vengeance I can understand." She gestures lightly toward the air, then to Luigi. "Pocket dimension? No. I know the term, even if it's not my field. Your entire world is just a tiny part of the Tree. His World over there is probably just as huge. The scale here is massive." She looks toward Luigi. "He just had a huge fight for his life, he's a little skittish I think. I don't think he'll hurt you. But if you see him suddenly wearing weird armor, better duck just to be safe, right?"

Luigi visibly cowers when it looks like David's approaching with intent to hurt them. Fortunately he's not an empath. Then again he doesn't NEED to be, to see that David is very angry. But also very upset, and when he looks up David's... crying? Luigi winces, standing straight again. He looks like he wants to go over and try to pat him on the shoulder or something, but he doesn't want to startle him.

Justine's explanation of what happened gets a nod. "Oh, I see..." To David, "I'm sorry that happened..." There isn't a lot he can say otherwise. But he can offer an explanation, on the line of Justine's, about the World Tree. "I think your world is connected to the World Tree like ours are. So you can leave it if you want to..." Unsaid is, of course 'and you don't have to go back'.

Finally as his energy seems to crash some as he is still in recovery phaser and leaning against the tree breathing deeply he will pull out an energy bar and after a bite swallows it down. "Anger is not the word..." he says. "mushroom kingdom.... Who left the door to the Twilight Zone Open?" he says with him leaning against that tree on the ground he should be less indimidating. "Yes... "I don't mean to intimidate or scare you."

Still he has tears in his eyes as he tries to be a touch more friendly. "David... Guyver four. The last of twenty-four." he says meaning there could have been at least 23 others.

    "Hmm." Justine is an empath, but SYMPATHY is different. She does feel some, though. "I'm a clockwork cyborg orphan, so I'm not going to be the one to lie to you and say it'll all be fine now, but let's just call it a chance for a fresh start," she finally decides.

    Luigi has another good perspective. "Like he said it isn't like they're right next to one another. There's a way of travelling between worlds that aren't fully merged, and I doubt yours will be any time soon. I don't know the details, you'd have to ask a Gardener or Keeper." She sighs, "You should calm down though. Attacking everything in sight will get someone hurt."

"Twilight Zone? I don't think the Mushroom Kingdom is close to there..." Luigi comments, scratching his head. But when David gives his name, Luigi smiles. "Good to meet you, David!" he offers brightly. And he also nods to Justine's words. "You'll be OK here, for a while at least, I'm sure!" Luigi encourages. "Long enough to rest. You said you were in a fight? Then you probably should rest and try to get better."

As David looks to the pair he says, "The Zoanoids that escaped... If we could arrive here. the Zoalords might have escaped here... it could start all over again." he says sounding dead serious and finally he stands up slowly pushing himself to his feet after vinishing that energy bar and swallows. "There is some old manor close here. I was going to hang there to finish recovering my strength."

"And... I haven't attacked anyone yet Justine. Just escaped what I thougth was a Chronos laboratory." he says inhaling and exhaling deeply.

    "Never heard of it," Justine agrees with Luigi. "But you did blast your way out of a hospital. Not my problem, but I'm betting a lot of people are scared out of their wits now. Or maybe it was a superhero hospital, I don't know."

    She frowns then, looking more serious. "Luigi is right, you should rest. Even if you're feeling okay, I can tell you have a lot to sort through in here." She taps her chest. "Too much fighting and anger. But you're a survivor. I get that. I like that." She holds up her mechanical hands, as if to point that out. "I didn't get these willingly, either."

    She sighs, "I'll let you eat though. I'd rather not hang around where the authorities or Gardeners might peek in." She smiles lightly to Luigi. "It was nice to meet you, sir." Hey, he's way older than she is! Looks like she's just heading out though.

With a nod David says. "Thank you, And Justine... if you see my armor with blood red eyes. Run, because I am not in control of it. And it can't tell friend from foe like that."

Luigi looks very upset at the thought of those horrible people coming out of David's world. "But there are more people who can help fight against them!" he encourages. "So you don't have to fight alone!" Maybe that'll make David feel a little better?

There are just so many people he wants to hug and make feel better! Both of these people here, for instance! Particularly when Justine mentions she was changed against her will. He frowns, looking not happy about that. Why do people have to have such bad things happen to them? Though as Justine's leaving, he offers a merry wave in her direction. "Take care!"

As he gets up he gave Justine the warning she needed. "Maybe, maybe not." Right now David is very tired as he looks around the area inhaling. "Now... which was was that mansion." he asks more to himself. Looking down to the guy in green, "You know about a mansion in the area? From what I coudl see through it it is deserted. " he asks Luigi.

Mansion? "Oh!" Luigi intones. "That must be the mansion in Evershade. It's not abandoned. It's, uh... haunted, though. So be careful, the ghosts like to jump out and scare you. Oh, and watch out for the Polterpup, he likes to run off with small shiny things, like keys."

Pause. "I mean... if you want to go there. It's safe, even if it's haunted, and the ghosts are pretty well harmless," he replies.

As he listens to the talk of Ghosts, David turns to look at the itallian in green as he lifts an Eyebrow. He doesn't believe it, but he will learn the hard way. Of course he does have the pressure cannon he coudl try to use on the spirits to drive home the fact to leav ehim alone. "Ghosts..." he doesn't sound very impressed witht hat tale. He's not easilly scared or frightened. nor likely he would be annoyed at not being allowed to rest.