Beyond Evolution

The school's evacuation drills had done their job. Even with a horde of monsters right outside, those not on the teams had made their way to their assigned evacuation points and been teleported out. They'd been frightened, panicky, but they'd known what to do. Within ten minutes, everyone was out of the building and secured in their safehouses.

Well, almost everyone. There were still one or two to be accounted for.

For those who'd made it out, though, the safehouses were quiet. They were far enough from the school that the sounds of fighting didn't reach them, although some of them still had a view of that eerie face in the sky. They would have been comfortable, in a rustic sort of way, if anybody had been able to forget why they were there and not at the school. But they were safe, at least so far, and that was all that really mattered right now. None of the Elder Gods or their followers seemed to care about tracking a few small groups of refugees away from the school.

(Open to safehouses!)

Another extended rapid-fire calendar! This time because Christmas is on Sunday and the end of Hannukah is on Monday, and we want everyone to have a chance to do whatever scenes they'd like for holiday stuff without having to actually be present during the busiest time of the year! A warning though, this rapid fire could fill up quickly, so pls don't forget to keep watching it during the week to see all of your lovely writing. Also the Admin office has sent out polite notices that a few happy surprises have been planned the week leading up to the holiday, so please don't be alarmed if things seem changed. It's not powers going wacky or the school under attack, it's something actually nice they're trying to do for you!

12/17 - Secret Santas get passed out! (pls see OOC header in this post). Last day of school before Winter Break -- classes resume on Jan 9! The only slightly-darker, curious note for this calendar: the book retrieved from Limbo suddenly is able to be read by members of the coven who went to retrieve it. Certain sections are still only translatable by Sapna, but others are as easy to read for them as English. What's revealed are largely spells, and while most aren't dark (spells for strength, prosperity, love, protection, etc), there are a few peppered without that cause harm, keep enemies away, and are made for active attacks. Once you start reading, it's...just a little hard to stop. And the spells are very tempting; not enough to cause concern though...yet.

12/19 -  The cafeteria for the rest of the week has transformed with a bit of Harry Potter-style magic; the ceiling looks open and clear, a pretty day/evening with pleasant drifts of snow falling. None of it reaches anyone, and it's not cold, but it's a nice atmosphere. Cafeteria workers begin routinely offering free candy canes, hot chocolate, cider, gingerbread, and so on as people pass through the lines. There are holiday decorations mixed throughout, in a sort of slapdash manner -- everything's all mixed together, but it all looks nice in a way that hints at the planning behind it.

12/20 - An official outing for the school gets underway -- anyone wanting to come is escorted into the city for a day of sight-seeing, ice-skating, toy-shopping, Santa-visiting, and so on.  Basically any fun Christmas thing going on is visited!

12/21 - A massive snowball fight/Capture the Flag is set up on the back lawn. Drifts have been moulded into barricades to hide behind, caches of pre-made snowballs are hidden around, etc. Camelot-ites are headed back to Otherworld for a week of festivities for Breki and Atashi's wedding! Brian is able to port anyone in and out that would like to stop by.

12/22 - The hedge maze is lit up with all sorts of light sculptures and decorations. There are speed races to get through while retrieving various hidden things -- ornaments, baubles, tiny stuffed snowmen, and so on. There is a promise that there is nothing creepy inside, and lowkey there are teams monitoring it from all angles, while staying out of sight. Nothing bad happens in there except for people maybe getting a bit lost!

12/23 - The Danger Room all day and evening is changed into what looks like a Grand Hall. Holiday snacks and drinks are set up, lots of comfortable couches, chairs, bean bags, and cushions are scattered about, and one wall is completely filled with holiday movies and shows being projected onto it. To get to the center with the best seats, you have to cross a small, icy moat by hopping across ice drifts. Kidding! ...Kind of. There is a tiny river flowing in a circle around the main area, and there are ice chunks in it, and there ARE pathways that look to be made of ice chunks leading to the center. But the water is actually quite warm in case anyone falls in, the ice floating by is an illusion, and the chunks to hop across are sturdy, unmoving, and not slippery.

12/24 - Per tradition, every door has stockings hanging from it in the evening, and tiny doll-sized trees sitting just to the side. There are boxes of chocolates (or treats of your choice!) addressed to everyone. Secret Santas exchange their gifts. There's a Christmas party throughout the ground level of the school, with (age-appropriate) drinks, games, hanging out, etc. The school is making its best effort this week -- but especially over the next three days -- to make the holidays as welcoming and nice as being at home, for those who don't have a home to go to.

12/25 - The stockings are filled with candy and treats, and the tiny trees have a present for each resident under them. As the elves weren't run out or exterminated, the large tree in the main hall is absolutely swamped by presents of all kinds for everyone there. Everyone receives something they've been wanting (within reason -- the elves aren't out there building you PS5s >>!)

12/26 - Throughout the duration, Hanukkah celebrations have been observed, and on the last night after the final lighting, there's another feast and party, filled with traditional food and games.


12/10/22 - 12/16/22
12/3/22 - 12/9/22
November 22
October 22

11/5 - The light flurries last month give way to full fat flakes of snow. The ground is cold enough for it to stick, and the storm gets thicker and thicker as the day goes on.

11/6 - Still snowing, but light enough for people to go out and play in it. Lasts until about 5 the next morning, at which point it all melts and disappears suddenly.

11/8 - The doors all change where they open to, all day. None into walls, all just into other rooms.

11/10 - Heavy rain and thunder all day. Nothing sinister with any of these weather reports, although they do all seem to be centralized on the school.


11/1/22 - 11/4/22

As Minx and Emerson said their vows, a small group had remained sequestered inside, keeping the spell that would close the portals going. It couldn't stop once it had started, not even for a second. Not even for a wedding that had, against all odds for a special event at Xavier's, gone off without a hitch. They had kept the candles burning, continued the chant, not knowing when the spell would pay off but knowing they would recognize it when they saw it.

And as the wedding outside ended and the reception got into full swing, the moment came.

Magic moved in tandem, even when the spellcasters didn't know it, and at the same time the Hellfire Club's long ritual was finally ending. Their hired magicians had worked for weeks to bring the Phoenix into this world, and finally, finally it was paying off. Sebastian Shaw stood in the summoning circle, a fresh tattoo still sore on his wrist. The Phoenix's symbol. That tattoo had cost Leon Nunez his life, draining him to provide Shaw with a pale imitation of the Phoenix's powers -- and, more importantly, a way to draw it into himself and bind it there. A way to control it. Or at least, that was the theory. Shaw was serenely confident, unbothered by the enormity of what he was doing or by the innocent life it had cost to get him here. This was his moment.

As the spells completed, in perfect synchronicity, reality shifted. Every portal that had ever opened between worlds was opened again. At Xavier's, R&D moved quickly to shut off the device that had been keeping the portals closed until now, but the spell was more powerful than any mechanical device anyway. Portals reopened all over the grounds. Away from the school, the same thing was happening, although the portals had always been most densely concentrated at Xavier's.

Inside the spellcasters kept the ritual going. Soon, those who'd been pulled through the portals into other worlds would start to feel the pull toward the portal that would take them home again. Not just yet. But even without that pull, there were creatures in other worlds that would jump at any chance to go through a portal and wreak havoc, and they had been cut off from Xavier's for a long time.

(Fight rapid-fire! Everyone!)
[Magic users should head to the room where the ritual is being done to help keep it going. Everyone else, head for the Danger Room or start fighting monsters! The tentacle monsters and eye monsters are back, but also please feel free to invent something new and fun to fight, creatures have been traveling between worlds for a while now and anything is possible. This thread is for about the first 30 minutes of the fight, there will be more to come!]

A portal opened up mid-day on the lawn and multiple of these things came out. They are extremely dangerous (and very hard to kill!). They fire poisoned spikes, as well as their tentacles shooting fire. Once they're down to one left, it jumps back through the portal (which stays open during the fight), which closes right away.

WHO: Cal and Artie
WHERE/WHEN: Cal's room, (very) late night.
WHAT: RUN YOUR FLER, FOLKS

( I don’t know what happened but please, don’t go again, don’t go, okay? Stay with me. )

Cal didn’t go often to visit Artie’s small plaque. It didn’t feel like him, it felt final and sad and forgone. Just another number, another spot squared away by the school. Business-like. Effective.

Instead, he liked to go to Artie’s tree. The one that Cal had found him under who-knows-how-many times in the past. Reading, writing, smoking, playing guitar. Laying there with Cal’s head in his lap, drawing. Every now and then, Cal would take the sketchbook away from the man randomly, looking at what bad been drawn and then holding it just far enough that Artie couldn’t get to it. It’s cost now? A kiss. ...Maybe more than one.

The memory flashed before his eyes as he made his way to that spot, and under it he could even see Artie’s outline by it. He smiled a little, still able to feel the touch of Arite’s hand, the quiet chuff of his laugh. Familiar pictures, of wanting to kiss him, wanting to sleep more, wanting to draw.

He sighed, and reached out to where he’d left a blanket now lightly covered by snow. He picked it up and shook it off, before taking his seat beneath the branches. Everything was okay at the school. Most of the students were gone, the residents had been staying quiet with what had happened. A lot of it was shock, he knew. Whitman had been one of their own, and had risked his life in order to give the interview that he did. And now, with what came after, the article was getting hundreds of millions of hits. Back when he was a kid, when he was an angry, hostile person with a chip the size of the city on his shoulder, he would have been solidly with the ones that wanted payback, now, and as bloody as possible. Xavier’s message had taken years to actually get through to him, and now he was one of its strongest defendants. But Christ, it was hard to have the answers in times like these.

He felt the bark against his back and slid down to sitting on the grass, pulling some up some strands and watching them float away.

“Miss you, Artie.”

(Open to Mystery Guest)

( When Artie was twelve, his life changed. )