1st Prank (or is it) Video | Action.

[thewindything]

[So the feed on the Warp Band is a little fuzzy. There's a loud, obnoxious KROW and then some muffled shushing while the camera tries to adjust itself. Eventually what can be seen is a bespectacled teenager with a huge obnoxious bird sitting on his shoulder looking into the band skeptically.]

[He blinks after a moment and then gives a toothy grin.]

Oh man, I think it's working. I can't believe I missed so much. How long have we had video on these things? I'm so mad, I've been gone for practically a million years.

[His grin fades, as does his excitement.]

So uh. Hey, Union. None of you probably remember me but my name's John Egbert. I'm an actor at the Union Divine Theater and I've been out travelling for a while so I missed practically everything. Anyone wanna catch me up?

It's nice to be-- [And he's abruptly cut off by the Murkrow cawing loudly into the feed. John shoves him off his shoulder.] Holy shit, can you not do that for like four seconds!? Ugghh.

[The feed ends with him being comically put out while the bird seems to be flying around him cawing JUST TO BE OBNOXIOUS.]

[Locked to the Union Divine Theater]

[It's been a few days since he's been in town, but honestly? When he got back he went straight home, got crushed into a hug from his dad for three whole hours, went to sleep and THEN decided to come by the theater. It's been a long year and he's glad to be back honestly.]

[He pushes open the doors and looks around. He wonders who all is here now? How many new members have they gotten? He wondered if the Commander was going to chew him out for being like. seven months late with his report. Ah, well.]

[He's left Sprite- his Murkrow- with the habitat so trailing in after him is his Goomy. Anyone walking the theater will see a familiar (or unfamiliar) kid going through the papers and fliers sitting at the ticket counter.]

Oh no, I can't believe I missed that one! Augh. Wait, who did they get for the second lead....

[He seems very interested in what plays had gone on while he was gone.]

Comments

action - theater

[actsmagnificent]

You're late.

[ This is that kid....Egbert. Yeah, John Egbert. Haruka hadn't seen much of him previously, and he'd fallen off the map while she and Michiru were off defeating a mad scientist over a year ago (for all the good that did the world, as the Enhanced had still been developed, but oh well). When he'd left, Ogami had been in command. Sakura had been a newbie.

The costume room had been much emptier, and also not covered in leaves.

Haruka points out none of this. Just crosses her arms, relaxes in the doorway, and waits. ]

action - theater

[thewindything]

[He looks up at that, blinking.]

No kidding.

[...Haruka. That was it. They'd only met a few times before he left for the wilds.]

A scouting mission that went about as wrong as you could possibly imagine. Would you believe I've been stuck in Sanctuary all this time? Let me tell you, I have had a hell of a year.

[actsmagnificent]

[ Sanctuary? Haruka's eyes narrow. ] Let's talk inside.

[ If those mages did anything to a member of the Divine Defense Force, she needs to try and figure that out sooner rather than later. And preferably not somewhere her more carefree colleagues might stumble upon them talking. So she'd like to find a nice, remote room in the dormitories.

Preferably one with a lock. If she leads, will he follow? ]

[thewindything]

[He nods. He will definitely follow. He'd like to talk anyway. He has a lot of catching up to do with the Force.]

[He will definitely follow her to wherever she'd like to talk. He'll quietly take in everything, pinpointing any changes as he does.]

[actsmagnificent]

[ One thing he'll notice are the leaves. The place is otherwise impeccable - there's a Mr. Mime who does the cleaning now - but for some reason, artfully-arranged leaves and flowers have been placed on the walls at strategic intervals. Occupied dormitory rooms have custom greenery arrangements on the doors. There's no sign of the former Commander.

Haruka finally leads John into a sitting room, looking around. Any Pokémon....not that she can see. She'll hold the door for him, then shut it behind her and turn around. ] Ogami was transferred. Anything you'd say to him, you say to me now.

[ She'd rather he tell her what he wants to first, and she can ask her questions afterwards. It'll give her a sense of what he's like, since they didn't know each other that well. ]

[thewindything]

[That sure is something. Huh.]

[His Goomy was trailing slower behind so at some point he's reached down to carry him.]

[Once they make it to the sitting room he'll head in and wait for her to close the door.]

Transferred, huh? [That ...seemed kind of odd to him after what a huge deal they made out of making him the leader. Ah, well.]

Sure, thing. So, I'm pretty sure you were still out on a mission when I was sent off into the wilds. There was some odd sighting out past the forest and they wanted me to go check it out. I wound up out of range of the warp bands and lost as hell.

[actsmagnificent]

[ Haruka nods: that makes sense. ] Did you find anything?

[ Besides, um. Sanctuary. Which is slowly making her realize just how much he's missed if he's been out of Warp Band range, too - he missed the gods' revealing themselves (if what limited contact they've had counts as such). This is going to be quite the conversation.

But right now it's John's stage, so she'll wait her turn. ]

[thewindything]

Not really. I thought I'd caught something- and I followed it. I think maybe getting lost was intentional, if I'd found what I was sent out to find.

[He remembers how frustrating that was. Whatever it was. He barely even saw it for all that trouble.]

I went north hoping to either find Verdant Forest again or something else and wouldn't you know it- I stumbled ass-first into Sanctuary. It is a lot harder to leave that place than it is to get in.

[actsmagnificent]

[ Haruka nods: from what little experience she's had with Sanctuary thus far, she can imagine. Especially with Gigas hanging around. ] You don't look too worse for wear, though.

[ She doesn't sound dismissive. Mostly she's just hoping they didn't experiment on someone her organization was responsible for turning loose in the wilds. Someone under her responsibility. ]

[thewindything]

Despite what everyone might think, I'm not that awful at laying low. I helped out where I could but mostly just on a civilian level. My head was still kind of spinning from all this Gigas tomfoolery. I mean, it didn't seem that odd that we weren't the only ones out there but holy crap.

[Going from not knowing of civilization outside of Union to being brought face to face with GIGAS was. well. The entire thing had been an experience.]

I had a few close calls but very few people found out who I was or where I was from. I passed myself off as an amnesiac stumbling in the wilds. Which ...wasn't really all that hard. Or wrong either. Actually people just kind of assumed that and I rolled with it.

[actsmagnificent]

Smart move.

[ Yeah, catching him up with this past year is going to be a lot for John. Haruka thinks she has the gist of what happened, though, and is glad he got out okay - something good came of the last operation. ] Were you able to learn any of their legends?

[ Since that is (was?) their Mission, and all. Survival does take precedence, but even if he just picked up little things here and there - better than nothing. ]

[thewindything]

[He nods a little.]

They have a few. The biggest one is about the seer that foretold the cataclysm and led the city to safety. They don't view the gods the same way we do at all. They really just see them as beings of destruction rather than the more complicated story we have with the Savior.

[actsmagnificent]

I see.

[ This also means they have no fear of divine punishment floating over their heads. Which....explains a lot, frankly. Haruka stands up a bit straighter. That's what she wanted to hear from John, pretty much, so. ] Write down everything you can about Sanctuary later. No one's going in blind again.

[ Assuming anyone from the Force returns to Sanctuary, period. No legends to hunt = not their business. ]

[thewindything]

[He gives a mock salute.] I'll have it on your desk by morning.

[Joking aside, John frowns again.]

So. Who do we still have? What have I missed? Besides basically everything.

[actsmagnificent]

[ "Basically everything" is a good summary. Haruka skips right to the important part, running a hand through her bangs. ] The gods are back.

[ Pause for dramatic effect. She may be more of a thespian than she thought. ]

[thewindything]

[Your dramatic effect is met with blatant disbelief. He blinks at her like he didn't even hear her.]

Come again?

[actsmagnificent]

They've been experimenting. [ No, more than that. She brings out the Theater's latest script - a romantic comedy starring two unusual Pokémon called "Darkrai" and "Cresselia" - and tosses it at John in case he hadn't seen it yet. From the way Darkrai and Cresselia are described, they are nigh-invincible beings, and while Cresselia seems kindly disposed towards all, Darkrai is...not. And they seem to have power over a world of dreams. ] So far the city seems to be passing, but...

[ Sanctuary was already looming ominously over this conversation, so she just lets that trail off. ] In any case, establishing contact has never been more important.

[thewindything]

[He saw some ads about the new play but he didn't know what any of it meant. He takes the script and flips through it. His eyebrow quirks and slowly rises north of his bangs.]

The gods are back. The gods are here? Wha- how the hell did I miss the return of the gods!? This is such bullshit!

[Pause.]

Who's playing who? Actually, who even lives here anymore?

[actsmagnificent]

Sakura and Ogami were transferred. We have Michiru [ duh ], Rise, and three new recruits.

[ Her opinion of those can be inferred by the fact they do not get names. But this is a lot for John ,so: ]

There's records in the library once you're settled in.

[ Records that, as of last April or so, have leaves artfully glued to the covers. ]

[thewindything]

Three rookies, huh? [That grin would be terrifying to anyone who didn't know him. John, being as he had some hella seniority took it upon himself to test the new recruits when they got them. Ogami probably got it the worst when he joined.] I am kind of surprised they transferred Ogami, though. That was pretty quick after becoming leader.

[Ah well. He shrugs a little and then nods.]

Paperwork, just what I missed about being home. [That's sarcasm, but it's very fond sarcasm. He's smiling as he says it because he's really glad to be back.]

Looks like you've been running the show just fine.

[actsmagnificent]

We're alive. [ And that's what matters, really. They've met the gods and walked away. They haven't figured out how to prove their significance to beings that could crush them without even noticing, let alone make a case for all of humanity's worthiness when things like - well, the Sanctuary debacle - still happen, but they're alive. That means they still have a chance.

....and this is the point where she says something leaderly about the prodigal agent returning, huh. ] Rest up for today.

[ That'll have to do. Especially since she hears a scraping against the door. Someone - or somemon, more likely - is trying to find out what's going on in here.

She'll let them wait. ]

[thewindything]

[Alive is good. He's glad for that- glad for them and glad that he made it back. If they're alive it means they can keep moving forward.]

[He nods.]

Aye, aye, Captain. Tomorrow I'll bug you about the parts left in the play.

[actsmagnificent]

[ Haruka nods. He can have any part he wants, really. (Does he want her part? She does not want her part.) ] You do that.

[ The scraping turns into a thud. This tells Haruka who's outside the door.

You best not have problems with static cling, John. ]

[thewindything]

[Not at all! He's pretty sure, anyway. He peers over by the door.]

What was that?

[actsmagnificent]

[ Instead of replying, Haruka just waits. The door should be giving way in three...two....one.... ]

Jolt!

[ The door hits the wall the exact same moment the Jolteon who'd been leaning against it hits the floor. Behind his prostrate form, a Leavanny stands a few paces back, hands over its mouth in horror. Oh, dear! He knew eavesdropping was bad, but it turns out it's dangerous, too... ] Leavanny...

[ Haruka turns away from the door. Meet the new welcoming committee, John. She conveniently didn't mention them. ]