The Universe's Mixer

The City didn't wait for the overnight job to rebuild Blackgate. No - an exception was required. Even as the behemoths battled by Blackgate, the City restored the prison. It was always good to give its citizens something fun, but it seemed that the excitement was not worth the cost anymore.

As the City mended Blackgate, it collected all the dinosaurs and set them in a well-maintained preserve within the City Zoo. Here, they could roam free, the City citizens could still see them, and everyone would be safe. Plus, the City wouldn't have to keep on rebuilding.

A few prisoners had escaped from Blackgate. They were two that it had selected from elsewhere and set them in Blackgate because it thought that's where they belonged. But if the two were interested in leaving, as they had so quickly done, then the City would let them.

It was good for its citizens to do what they liked to do.

Lumbering from its normal hunting grounds, across a span of land over an ocean, and into a strange place with mountains of shininess, the tyrannosaur followed its instincts to find the next dinner. There were tiny creatures running here and there. One especially stood out. Perhaps it was the red in the hair or the way it screeched as it ran. Either way, the tyrannosaur decided that it would be its next meal.

After devouring what turned out to be Anna of Arendelle, the tyrannosaur lumbered through the main street of the City, its tail thrashing down small shops and damaging larger skyscrapers.

It ate a car, or tried to, but then found it unappealing and spat it out into a public fountain. By the time it was done with Anna and the car, the people had mostly scattered. It ate a few others that didn't seem to know to run, and kept looking for larger prey.

A great many things had gone wrong.

It had rescued people, yes. It had saved those who were doomed to die, bringing them here where they could live their lives, be happy, and serve the added purpose of helping it live and fight. But a great many things had gone wrong in the process. With the influx of bodies and the power that had come with them, The City had not been able to sort through the issues immediately. There was too much.

Never before had it attempted to alter time on such a level. Time was always fluid within it, just like the streets were fluid. But to go back as it had? To jump around as it had? It was exhausting. Exhilarating, sure. What creature alive wouldn't be amazed to discover the full breadth of its abilities? It didn't think it would attempt such a thing again anytime soon, which said nothing of other ideas it had brewing. It felt that it might be capable of so much more. So many bigger, more interesting experiences for the people living as its citizens.

Right now, though, it had to correct that which was wrong.

The corrections had begun with the doubles. It had never meant to bring doubles in. They could not sustain. It was too much power all in one place, there being two. This was a thing it had discovered to be the case when it had stolen people from the dying planet as a misguided retaliation when it thought the dying planet had been a living thing just like itself. Having two in one place was like putting a 120 watt bulb into a 40 watt socket, or shoving a D cell battery into a AAA cell space.

Some of the resolutions had not quite gone as anticipated. Were messier than it had wished them to be. But they had begun on their own, with deaths that had not been sanctioned. Panic had set in a bit and ...The thing with the Erics... well that was just gross. The Pams fighting it out? Unplanned. Entirely unplanned! What was done was done, though, it would not undo it. It had tried a cleaner resolution with the Eveys, and it had not quite gone as planned either, so it supposed nothing was perfect in this matter.

All of the doubles were gone now. That problem was in the past. The only big matter left was that of the time. While small time in the City was fluid and ever changing, there was a larger time that was out of whack that it generally liked to keep. Minutes, days, sometimes even weeks were okay to flow as they wished to. But months? Years? That had to be set right. The citizens had been living in a wrong time. All their calendars and watches - even the City News and newspaper - said that it was 2013. December now. November before. It had watched and known and was aware that it was wrong. The time, though, was a smaller issue than the doubles.

The City decided that those within should retain all their memories of all the events that took place. It just needed to correct itself. So overnight, it surged forward. Pushing itself through the time/space continuum until it felt it was in the right place. It would give them a starting moment, a day, an hour, in which to begin again. From there... well. From there time would move as it pleased again. May the First of 2015 seemed like the perfect spot. So The City found it, and once found, The City stayed there. Newspapers would reflect this change, watches, calendars. It decided against any kind of announcement about it.

Everything settled at daybreak. Everything was fixed.

With such an exertion of power, a couple things went a little awry. Nothing too big. Like a baby's spit-up after too much excitement, a small blanket of snow plopped onto the park. And like a sigh after a good nap, the barrier that kept the dinosaurs on the new island flickered out.

"It's been ten days," Windy said as he came onto the screens of the televisions, computers, and phones of The City "since the devastating storm that crashed through our lives. People have spent that time cleaning up, and getting back to normal."

He walked past a map on a green screen, showing the general outline of the islands all lived, pointing with a special laser that showed up as an arrow on the television, but was just a light to him.

"We've certainly seen some whacky weather in this city of ours, but that was our biggest storm to date. There were reports of broken windows, roofs torn off, flooding, things ruined. Even our beloved library was hit. But thanks to one woman, it should be fixed in no time.

"The storm moved in an irregular pattern, and even left a few things alone completely. We've checked our radar from the day, and can't explain this phenomenon. There was no warning that a storm was even near us."

Windy smiled at the camera. "Certainly not as much fun as the snow storm we had a few years ago."

Pictures of storm damage flashed in a box to the left of Windy's face.

"As you can see, there were a lot of issues caused by this freak storm. But we've had many reports that things are pretty much back to normal out there." The smile faded "You can all rest easy. The City knows who did this, and The City won't let them go unpunished."

With an even bigger smile, a picture of a puppy popped up to cover the green screen where the map was. "And now for today's Adopt-A-Mutt!"

Anger fueled the storm. Probably one of the more powerful ways of fueling anything when it came to magic. Blood, death, sex were all good, but this was emotional and definitely magic. The City's power, what made streets and buildings move or put food in recently empty cupboards and refrigerators, was being used against it to wreck havoc. The dogs of war hadn't exactly been slipped, but a gauntlet was being thrown down. This was bigger than anything done against the City before.

For over forty-eight hours, the sky was dark, so dark that the only way of telling that it was actually morning was a simple bit of clockwork (or digital for those who can't read watches). The sun never came out from behind the broody, bulging clouds that let loose rain and hail, thunder and lightning. Tornadoes formed, ripping up the park, creating those freak of nature scenes of chickens through wooden light posts, or straws embedded into concrete. Windows burst from pressure and the painful rolling thunder. Lightning touched down, killing trees in flashes or turning once clean pavement into scorched cracked rubble.

Power went out for most of the night, leaving the Hospital, Library, and Police Station to work on limited generators' power. Loss of electricity wasn't all that hit these City landmarks. Areas of each were flooded from the onslaught of rain after windows were destroyed or simply from the lack of proper drainage. The City had never had this problem before.

Car alarms went off constantly, and what few animals were in the City cried for attention along with the children. Store fronts and the goods there were ruined or gone. Kiosks were torn apart or moved so far away that not even those used to the moving streets would find them. The world was coming undone.



( important for you to know )

The last few nights had been exhilarating. The crone couldn't remember the last time so much fun and mischief were to be had, and certainly couldn't remember having someone so interesting to share it with. It bothered the crone sometimes how much the Viking was becoming part of her world, or actually how much he was a part of it. There were no ridiculous school girl notions as the crone had no wish to change the Viking. Yet, when she, or he, had said that Eric's death would be a very bad thing, he, or she, had meant it.

The nights had been filled with extreme debauchery, as if there were any other kind, and the crone in the borrowed male form had enjoyed every moment of it with the Viking. They had taken a few to someone's bed. They had put the silly humans through so much turmoil, teasing them to the point of pleading. There was blood, lust, sex, and chaos. There might have been a little death in there, but Baba really didn't care. In the end, it had been a nice vacation and release for the crone.

The crone had gotten away during the day; while the crone was immortal, closer than even the Viking, he/she did need something more than what the small snacks Eric kept in his place. Perhaps the closest thing to domesticated either would ever be, save for Baba's cabin. So, the man had slipped out, careful that no one was watching, to eat some fruit and meat. A few large meals, none of which the crone paid for, and he was back before the sun was setting.

Perhaps to awaken the sleeping prince, or simply because the damn thing felt so good, the crone in the more manly shape he/she'd been wearing the last few days took to the shower. The sensations were so very different from one body to the next; a small curious notion had settled into the crone's mind - maybe she'd have to see how Eric felt it next, or someone else....

Evening had fallen, and things were picking up at a particular club in the City. The night suggested mischief, which was exactly what a certain member of the City's more aware citizens was creating. The tall man didn't look as if he belonged in the club with its blood drinkers and fangbangers. He didn't look as if he didn't belong there either. The jeans were fitted without being too tight; the button up shirt hinted at the toned physique underneath. His hair was longer than the more conservative types running around, and his green eyes held a hint of the mischief he was after.

He moved through the club, giving faint smiles and slight nods to anyone who noticed him. He wasn't a vampire, that much was obvious, but there was something different about him. He certainly wasn't one of the tourists, here to see a vampire and get a picture with one, not that pictures were allowed really. He gave a quick glance to the throne to see if it was occupied before he turned to the bar and ordered a beer, bottle.

He didn't ask for who he had come. He didn't say anything more than chat quietly with the young thing that was sidling up to him now. His accent was English, and his voice soft and smooth. He watched the woman bat her lashes at him, and he even leaned in ever so slightly to show that, yes, he was flirting back in return. Only, he wasn't there for her. Now and then he would glance around to see if his true target was in. Would the great Viking king even know what was happening?

It was time to play, and not even the newcomer knew all the rules of the game.

The giant wolf seemed uncaring of the havoc it had wrecked over the City proper. One bite was all it had taken, and its curse, its disease, was spread over the whole place. Those untouched were lucky. Or skilled in keeping themselves safe. But the wolf didn't care. It didn't think of any of those who had turned as its children. Or its responsibility. It didn't seek them out, or even acknowledge them when it saw them.

It stuck to itself. Being out of the zoo had been scary at first, but then it had discovered the park and the rest of the places that it could go. It roamed in both its wolf from, and that of the man. Having stolen and stashed clothing in its cave made it a lot less noticeable to the people who encountered the man. They didn't stare and point and giggle when there were clothes involved, and that had been a lesson learned very quickly.

Mostly, it was a wolf at night. Because it could get away with moving around a lot better in the darkness. There were less people about, and less brightness to give away its position. Its dark coat hid it very well. Night was when it hunted, but during the day it managed to find other food. None meat foods. Things that it wouldn't have thought of trying before escaping the zoo and its keepers. Apples. Vegetables. Oranges. It stole these things, as it didn't have the paper or metal things that the humans exchanged to get them.

Observation taught the wolf much in its short time out. It liked to learn. It liked to try new things. It liked this world outside of a cage, on the other side of the bars from the ridiculous fake environments. It didn't want to go back. It knew that they were looking, though. It knew that it had to be careful.

This night, it left its cave only after smelling the breeze that came in from the outside for a long while. Making sure that there was nothing out there to see where it came from. It didn't want anybody or anything to know about this cave. It was pretty sure it could take out any rivals, but it knew the people from the zoo would have other ways of bringing it down. Things that it wasn't used to having to fight against. It didn't want to face those things.

Once out in the park proper, the wolf stopped to smell the air again, deciding which way to go to hunt tonight.

The zoo had been a problem. Inside of the zoo, he'd not been able to do much of anything. The cage they had given him had been large, but very open. Not a whole lot to hide behind. Still, they'd fed him and kept him clean. Given him toys and companions. Not that the companions had wanted to have much to do with him. He was too big. They thought he would hurt them.

When the cage door had been left open, there was no way he could possibly let that pass by without at least trying to get out. It had worked, to his amazement. He slipped out of the cage and straight out of the zoo without anybody seeing him. His heart had been hammering against his chest, he'd been panting. He'd been so sure that somebody would not only spot him, but try to take him down with something a little rougher than tranquilizers.

He'd run to the shadows, first, and then followed his nose to trees. Trees, and grass, flowers, nature. It had turned out to be the park. Not exactly what he'd been hoping for. He'd wanted to make it all the way out of the city and into the forest, where he knew he'd be safe. But once in the park, he couldn't seem to find his way out of it. Scared, lost, angry, he'd shifted.

The form he had as a man was dark like his fur. The hair a rich black, the eyes pools of deep brown. He hadn't had any clothes, of course. He'd not worn clothes in a good long time. Since before the zoo. And certainly not in the zoo. He'd never even transformed there. Didn't want to risk somebody seeing what he was. Making a bigger spectacle of him. He hardly remembered clothes at all.

There had been some running around in the park, trying to find things to eat. Stealing from picnics and rooting through the trash can. He'd been gone from human civilization for far too long, words stuck in his mind and he couldn't make his throat form them. He grunted at the people he saw and ran away. He'd found a small cave in the heart of the park and made his home there, lining it with grass and a stolen picnic blanket. He became a wolf again to sleep, it was safer for everybody.

This morning he was just coming out, stretching and enjoying the warmth of the sun on his dark fur. Yesterday, he had seen the people on the television talking about him. They had not put the nude human and the wolf together yet. Which made him smile. Almost puppy like, he grinned at the world, his tongue lolling out. He needed to seek out food.

Boyd had left the relative safety of the ER and ventured into other parts of the hospital. Which was to say that he ripped out the IV in his arm after the attending informed him that they knew he was a drug seeker and weren't going to do anything to help him out. Aside from informing the police. Then he'd turned the wrong way, gone through the wrong door, and instead of finding himself out in the night like he'd wanted to be, he'd found himself in a hallway.

A very clean hallway.

It wasn't Boyd's fault that he was an idiot or that he lost his sense of direction all the time. It was because he didn't have the drugs he needed. The drugs helped. They centered him. Made him feel things. He needed them to function. The doctors just didn't understand that.

So it couldn't really be blamed on him that he found himself standing near a door, on his way out (so he thought, it was roof access actually) when he heard voices. At first he thought they were in his head. Then he realized he wasn't smart enough to have voices like that inside. They used words that he didn't know the meaning of. Or how to pronounce. Boyd hid quickly out of sight, but somewhere he could still hear. Curiosity had gotten the best of him, and he wanted to know what the secretive tones were for.

His heart was beating so hard that he couldn't hear everything that they were saying.

".... found it? What do you mean? You couldn't..."

"Had to.... in order to complete the .... discovered the compound...."

"Remarkable... think it could be.... amazingly dangerous...."

"I have the.... see? It's also only ..... in the case of it .... and only if it falls into the wrong hands...."

"Wrong hands.... City dripping with...."

"Not like.... nobody is going to..... it's .... heroine or anything..."

Boyd's ears perked up at that. He became intensely more interested in what was going on. They'd said the magic word. Or one of them had. The drug of all drugs. The golden ticket. Far better than anything he'd put into his body thus far, that was for sure. He'd heard stories about it.

Just his luck, a nurse ran down the hall past him, right to the door. He heard her frantic voice inside now, too.

"Needed, right now!" She was much clearer. Probably because she was yelling.

"Stand right here." One of the male voices insisted as they both burst out from the room. "Don't move. Don't let anybody in."

Boyd's heart sank. He wasn't going to get his hands on it. He almost turned and left before his luck struck once more. The nurse cursed herself. Muttered something about Mr Ling's medication, then how she was sure she could get back before anybody even noticed. She took off, and that's when Boyd struck. He went through the door as fast as he could manage. The sight that greeted him was certainly nothing he'd expected. Two needles sat on the tray in the middle of the room. Both full. And a monkey. In a cage.

The monkey didn't look right somehow, but Boyd didn't care. His eyes were for the needles only. He picked one up and put it in his mouth, immediately working his veins so they would pop to the surface. The drug went in, and he felt none of the burning he'd expected to. After a moment, there was still nothing, so he picked up the second needle and did the same thing. Perhaps it was actually something, or perhaps it was just Boyd hoping for something, but he would have sworn to anybody that it was finally working.

Satisfied, Boyd dropped the needles. The monkey made a noise at him. He went to inspect the cage, sticking his fingers through to pet the thing. It turned on him, bit him. Almost bit one of his fingers off. Angrily, Boyd smacked the cage, not quite feeling the pain yet. It was time to leave. He'd gotten what he wanted, and gotten bitten by some monkey on top of it. That was what he'd call the end of his day. He needed to find a bed to sleep in so he could continue his search tomorrow. More drugs. More high. Never ending.

Boyd wasn't feeling too hot by the time he found his way back downstairs. He felt sick. Feverish. He felt cold, but knew he was sweating. The ER docs tried to stop him at first until the one who had worked on him told them he was just a junkie drug seeker. Then they let him go without a word. Boyd stumbled into the night, his wound throbbing now. Maybe he should have stopped to get it checked out.

He collapsed near the alley on the side of the hospital. Breath stopped. Heart stopped.

A woman ran over to him to see if he was okay. Boyd looked up at her. Grabbed the hand checking his pulse, and bit down.

It had let the citizens take care of the mess, as usual, instead of just reversing it's poor decision. They had done fine, The City thought. They had taken care of it. Made sure that everybody was safe. Solidifying the idea that The City had chosen them well.

It looked at the dead flesh of the giant monster, mourning it only a little bit. Wishing that things had turned out better, but only momentarily.

The City repaired itself, cleaning up the flesh and the mess of the once great Godzilla, fixing the streets and the buildings that the monster destroyed or left it's mark on. Soon, it was as if none of it had ever happened. Only the memories of those involved would remain as proof.

As it walked away, The City thought to itself. Considering the zoo and the animals it had wanted to put into it.

Perhaps dinosaurs weren't such a great idea after all.

It had only recently become aware of the concept of monster movies. In this new body, this new form, it had taken to doing some more human things. One of them had to been to visit something called a video store, rent some videos and find some place to watch them. Since it was The City itself, it just made a house with everything it needed.

One of those videos happened to be Godzilla, featuring a giant angry lizard. It sat intrigued through the whole thing and bolted to it's feet at the end, fresh with a new idea.

There would be a zoo in The City. It would collect animals to put them on display. The City didn't currently have a zoo of it's own, which was sort of sad for the children. But they'd grown up here so they didn't really have a concept of what a zoo was. They would love this.

It would get Godzilla. The monster couldn't be that big, could it? After all, it had ransacked and Japan was a small place to begin with. Just an island. Sort of like The City, only ... different. Plus it had stayed mostly in Tokyo. One city.

After Godzilla, it would get some dinosaurs maybe. A unicorn. A phoenix. Dodo birds. Things that people would know but had never seen in their lives. It would be fantastic. Everybody would be filled with wonder. They would be pleased by what The City had given them.

Retrieving Godzilla as it had everybody else, The City suddenly realized that it had not only misjudged the creature's size, but also it's intelligence and determination. The cage that had been constructed turned out to be rather flimsy.

Just as one of the lesser writers for The City Voice was receiving information about the zoo for an article, Godzilla broke loose.

( OOC )

Buildings suddenly vanished, people followed closely behind. Everything was very suddenly gone from view. Darkness consumed everything and everybody.

Slowly, very slowly, the City started to rebuild itself.

Those who had just gone through the horrors of the massive chess game between the City and Death might have seen this as a fit thrown by the City due to it's massive loss to the reaper. Those who had no idea what was going on would just continue to be confused.

Buildings slowly reappeared on streets that were fresh and clean. People began to reinhabit them, the City born citizens appeared first, as if nothing had gone on at all. As if it was all just another day.

Holes remained in some places, the City taking time to heal itself. To repair. To fix. To reset.

Life would return to normal.

Eventually.