The Universe's Mixer

Welcome to the rally for Jack Heart!

There is a stage decorated nicely in the candidate's colors, right at the edge of the park. There is a table with refreshments for free, and another where you can get signs supporting your candidate to hold, or put on your lawn or in your windows, they even have bumper stickers for your car. There are balloons tied everywhere to draw your attention. There is a podium on the stage where the candidate will stand.

In his speech, the candidate will speak about:

Family values.
Education.
Economics.
His platform.

And he will answer a few questions for you!

The City was slowly recovering from the stormy nights, but in the midst of the hustle and bustle of repairs and healing there was still more destruction to be had.

Not that it was that much, but as Rufio discarded the last of his spraypaint cans he couldn't help but be satisfied with his work.

(  He took out a pocket knife, carving his name into the lower corner of the most recently defaced poster, making sure that this ugly old blonde man knew exactly who had flown throughout the City and wrecked or painted over every poster he could find. )

The total lack of sunshine should have been a blessing for any vampire. Unfortunately for Nick, the raging storm had mostly kept him inside anyway. While the rain wasn't a bother, the high winds were a difficulty even for him. And there was no way he was taking any chances with a tornado. It couldn't harm him, very little could, but that didn't mean he wanted to experience the inside of one any time soon. So he waited it out in his new loft.

When at last things seemed to be calming down, Nick took to the sky. It was still clouded over enough that the sun was nothing to worry about, and night would be upon the City before the clouds were likely to clear. Just in case, Nick kept an eye on the clouds as he flew.

He wanted to see if there was anyone that needed help. From this vantage point, he could see and hear for great distances. The destruction was immense. Far fewer buildings seemed to have avoided the storm's wrath than succumbed, yet it didn't seem anyone was in serious danger or needed aid. Until he heard a boy's voice.

Let. Me. GO!

Turning, he flew in the direction of the shout. He forced himself to go faster, hoping he would be in time to stop whatever it was that was happening to the child. He arrived in time to see a boy, probably in his teens, sporting something of a punk rocker's hair and clothing, turn and run away from a man. Nick flew ahead of him, landing behind a tree and stepping out in time for the youth to run right into him.

"Whoa!" He reached out and gripped the boy's upper arms. "Are you alright?" Nick looked behind the kid to see if the man had followed, but could see no one.

"Don't you think you should be inside somewhere? It's kind of dangerous out here right now."

Rufio jogged through the trees that had survived the storm, leaping from branch to branch and kicking a soccer ball between his knees as he went. He was playing with the stolen item mostly to kill time, but it was also keeping his mind off the storm that had ravaged the City for so long. Rufio had been thoroughly frightened by the natural disaster, though he’d never admit it as long as there was breath in his body. It had been unnerving enough when the electricity had been knocked out and plunged him into utter and completely darkness in his warehouse, the howling wind and storming keeping him up all night. When Rufio had been convinced that it couldn’t get worse a section of the roof had been ripped off and the interior of his fortress had been decimated. Rufio had never lived through a storm like that, and then even when there had been thunderstorms in Neverland, he and others had been too focused on making the youngest boys feel better to be afraid themselves. This was the first time it had just been him, alone in the dark, at the mercy of the weather.

But now it was over, and causing some low key chaos was helping him put the unnerving feeling of the past nights behind him. And he was able to practice his flying as he dodged branches and trunks. He was getting pretty good at moving through the air faster and with more grace, he hadn’t slammed into a branch yet tonight, even when the men he’d stolen the ball from had thrown their bottles at him.

Rufio smirked at the thought, jumping onto another branch and kicking up the ball higher than ever, blinking as the white and black toy soared up.... and then out of sight. He darted to the next tree, but the ball was already too far down for him to catch in time, and he grunted in agitation as it hit the ground and bounced out into a clearing, disappearing in some large bushes.

Oh well. Nothing like a quick acrobatic dismount to quicken the blood when you got complacent flying. Aerial ability or no, Rufio couldn’t resist the rush of leaping forward and letting himself free fall, catching a branch and swinging around the limb before sending himself soaring out into the center of the clearing, landing heavily and laughing at the rush. Now he just needed to find the ball. Rufio looked around, starting to dig through the thick brush.

( This got boring quickly, of course, and soon anybody entering the clearing would find a much more irritated boy hacking at the plant life with his sword. )

Jack might not have known what he was getting himself into when it came to elections. Nearly as soon as he'd signed his name up for the mayoral race, a campaign manager had descended upon him. He hadn't really known to look to hire one and yet one had found him anyway. He didn't know if it was the City's doing or honestly, he didn't quite know these things worked.

After all, there had never been an election or a vote of any kind in Wonderland. Rulers were born, not chosen. Or, in his case, they were overthrown and replaced by the next in line.

He'd spent the past few weeks reading up on politics and elections and everything else he could find on democracy. He certainly had a better idea now than he had when he'd first put his name in the ring for this. All the same, reading about something was nowhere near as educational as actually experiencing it.

Jack stood to the side of the stage, waiting for the signal from his campaign manager to approach the podium and start his speech. He'd told Fred about entering the mayoral race on their last date and he'd invited her to attend the rally. He scanned the crowd for some sign of her, hoping that she would be there. His campaign staff had already been instructed to escort her to the front if she did show up. But of course he didn't expect her to just throw him her support because they'd been on two dates. All the same, it would be nice to have her here.

Jack didn't pace. Giving speeches wasn't anything new to him, even if the reason for the speech tonight was. He'd certainly addressed his subjects often enough and he didn't see why this shoudl be all that different.

Rufio was out, floating around the City after dark. He'd always enjoyed the night, the younger Lost Boys all went to bed when dark fell completely but he and a few of the older boys stayed up, enjoying the time to themselves to do things that some of the others were just too small to do.

Smallness had its uses, but baiting alligators and hunting with the Indians was something for longer legs.

Here in the City, on his own, he found there was more to do at night. More mystery, and the people were more interesting. There were fewer suits and a lot more people who looked closer to the types Rufio was familiar with around.

( Hopskipping from rooftop to rooftop the young Pan flew through the area )

Robin leapt down from the tree branch atop the horse-drawn wagon carrying the Sheriff's most recent tax collections. The two wagon guards momentarily lost control of the reins as Robin whacked them upside the back of their heads with his bow. The one guard reached down to grab the reins, redirecting the horses back onto the the dusty trail towards Nottingham. The other climbed onto the back of the wagon, throwing punches without aim.

"I believe you have something that belongs to the people of Nottingham!" Robin cried out as he kicked the punching guard off the wagon.

It was a game to him. A tag between himself and the dishonorable Sheriff that pillaged and plundered the few pennies the poor people of the outlying villages had to their names. A game that Robin had no doubt he would win, provided the Sheriff continued to employ such thick-skulled twits to do his bidding.
( A trail of gold coins left in his wake. )

Ted had decided that he was going to stay inside until the whole werewolf thing was over. Once he heard the news about the big escaped animal from the news and the following joke about the naked guy running around, he'd put two and two together and it equaled not stepping a single toe out the door.

He didn't want to be bitten, he didn't want to become anything else. He had a hard enough time being Ted and getting used to the weird new life that he had here in The City. He didn't want to add becoming an animal on top of that.

A day after the reports of animals stopped appearing in the newspapers and on the television, Ted wondered if it was all over. If somebody had found a way to stop the spread, or if everyone had been cured, or maybe they were all in the zoo now. Any of those meant that it was okay to leave the house again. The outside would be safe.

Carefully, he peeked out the door and edged himself onto the walkway. It was a long journey to the sidewalk, and he made it slowly. Stopping at every noise. Inspecting any wildlife and trying to determine if it was actual wildlife, or if it was werewildlife. Nothing big came near him. Just birds and butterflies. One little wayward snail. Nothing threatening.

He made it all the way to a coffee shop before he even saw a person. They all looked normal. Ted slid into the shop and found himself a seat in the way back where he could see everybody.

(After This)

Rufio strolled through the park, sword over his shoulder, looking around as he patrolled for anything that might be harming the trees.

Of course, after a while he was distracted, and flicking at some of the branches, wondering if the fairy would come back if he hurt another one. Not that he really wanted to anger her, but he had felt better once he'd seen her. Even if she was awfully big for a bug.

Still, as he lashed out at animals that were chewing or peeing on the trees he felt the need to see her again slipping out and his attention on his task wavering. He still didn't think anything of the powerful need to please the fairy he'd felt after she'd touched him, nor did he question why he was feeling so loyal to a woman, even a fairy, who he didn't know. Rufio's mind was just sedated and working on instinct, for the moment, swinging his golden weapon at anything he felt like and enjoying watching most of the furry things running for their lives. And those that didn't… well, a quick slash across their nose convinced them that it was better to leave.

Rufio hadn't been able to rebuild his landsurfer. Not yet, but he wasn't letting that get to him. Instead he'd gone out, late at night, found a store that had skateboards in it, then taken one. It hadn't been hard, a rock through the glass and grabbing his and leaving, running out and leaping on the special design and taking off, one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other stretched forward to knock things out of his way as he laughed. He rolled through the streets of the City, knocking people and things over and doing the occasional trick. He'd pioneered the boards with the Lost Boys, even if he moved on later to the landsurfer. Nobody topped Rufio on four wheels and a plank of wood.

Soon, though, he found what he was really looking for in this maze of rock and concrete. Some semblance of a forest, though it was pretty pathetic. Sparce, small trees, only barely enough to hide in.

Rufio plunged into the foliage, looking around for signs of anything familiar, but especially fairies. "Tink?" he tried. If she'd left him in this world this is where she'd probably be found. "Tinkerbell, get over here!"

He moved into the deepest brush he could find, pants swishing and board clapping against his side as he held it, looking around. No, this wood was all wrong, and not one sign of a fairy, or any other magic folk. Angry and disappointed, Rufio tossed up the board, grabbing on end and turning, slamming it into the nearest tree. The thin little thing snapped, but he didn't feel any better, moving backwards and hitting a bigger tree with his back, sliding down until he was sitting.

He'd thought it would be easy to find something to give him a clue, but after all these days, still nothing was like it should be. There weren't even the stars like Peter had told them, that constellation that showed how to get to the Neverland, even if he could fly. But no. Didn't seem it was to be.

Rufio woke….. not in his bunk in the tree. He was flat on his back on a hard, cold surface…. like stone, but not. The boy sprang instantly to his feet, the golden sword appearing in a flash in his hand. He was in a room… gigantic, and dark. Too big to be a prison, and filled with old boxes and crates. Rufio looked around cautiously, crouching as he moved backward, sword still at the ready as he blew out a soft bird call, reaching out to see if any other Lost Boys were here.

Nothing. Nothing but the echo of his own signal.

The boy turned and jumped up onto a crate, trying to get a better view of where he was.

"HOOK!" he bellowed, lifting his sword in challenge. It had to be him, the pirate. This had to be something he concocted. "HOOK! Show yourself, you slobber filled flea bag!"

( Again…. no answer. He was alone. )