House of M - The Beginning

[selfhelp]

Who: Billy Kaplan + Anyone who wants to be involved in the House of M Plot + Related CR + Anyone Really
What: Um. The House of M Plot.
When: October 1st-7th
Where: Literally anywhere in Luceti, yo
Summary: Billy returns from a kidnapping feeling a bit, er, different. A white light envelops the village for just a moment, and when it fades... well. All kinds of things are different, actually.
Rating: Varies, anything above R take it elsewhere!

Still accepting last minute sign-ups, if anyone is interested.


It starts off so innocently, early on the morning of October 1st. A burst of light, a warm rush of energy that consumes everything it touches, and it's gentle enough to feel like stepping out into sunlight from the shade. It's so brief that some people might not even notice it happened. But there are certainly... differences. Some subtle, some not. And those changed won't even understand the problem.

After all, why would perfection be a problem?

The truth is, there are no problems. There can't be. It's perfect, Billy thinks. Believes it. His belief is his reality, and now, it's their reality. It all has to be perfect; they deserve it, all of them, for one reason or another. And he'll do whatever he has to protect that perfection from being tainted, ruined, taken away from them.

Teddy died so this could happen, after all.

So what is your new reality?


((first two threads reserved for the intro thread and billy's status; after that consider this log a free-for-all.))

Comments

[alloys]

What? He gave Pepper an innocent look, which, of course, was pointless, even if she didn't know what parts he had authored and which ones their daughter had. Great minds thought alike.

"You're welcome. mommy! I mean - Princess Mommy." The correction was an important one, and Susie dutifully sipped her imaginary tea. "Okay, now it's Princess Unicorn's time to talk."

And then she gave her dad a Look. It was a double-sided one, encouraging him to speak for Princess Unicorn, but also one of warning. He better not mess it up on purpose. Or else.

[handing]

Tony's so-called innocent look had become pointless years ago, to such an extend that she considered any attempts at it an automatic confession of guilt. However, if anything could have pulled her attention away from the cover-up, it was the adorable girl who played the role of host at their gathering. She got a smile of approval at the show of manners (incorrect address or not), then a more amused grin at the silent warning issued to Princess Daddy.

Not one to deny her child, Pepper also looked expectantly at Tony. Would he incur the wrath of Iron Princess?

[alloys]

Not without good reason - and whether or not he had good reason remained to be seen. He had to see where this speech of Princess Unicorn's went, which he prepared to give by clearing his throat and speaking in a high Doubtfire-esque falsetto.

The things he will do for his daughter.

"Thank you all for meeting me here today for tea. I'm sure you're all wondering how I defeated the zombie unicorns with the help of the -" He paused a moment, just enough time for Susanna to whisper 'moon warriors' to him. "-Moon Warriors using our rainbow powers. It's a great story - but first, let's give Princess Daddy a round of applause for translating for me today."

Tony paused, dutifully waiting for his applause.

[handing]

Pepper paid rapt attention, as was appropriate for an event of such magnitude. Of course she also took the occasional sip from her tea cup, not wanting the "drink" to get cold. It promised to be quite a tale, complete with embellishes provided by the translator--the first of which came shortly into the speech.

She exchanged a brief look with Susanna, knowing this was very typical of Princess Daddy. But Pepper set down her cup, politely clapping her hands.

"Wow. If Princess Daddy gets applause for translating, imagine the ovation Princess Unicorn, Iron Princess, and the Moon Warriors will get for saving the world."

[alloys]

Susanna huffed but applauded when her mother did, willing to let dad have that one so he would get on with the story.

She had her eye on him, though.

Applause received, Tony went on. "As you all know, the Zombie Unicorn Crisis began when there was a shortage of rainbow crystals in the...unicorn kingdom." Did the unicorn kingdom have a name? Hell if he knew. Susanna didn't interject to offer one, so he kept going. "With less rainbow crystals in the land, more unicorns were turning into zombies, and I, Princess Unicorn, appealed to only the best heroes in the whole world, Iron Princess and the Moon Warriors."

[handing]

Pepper wondered if one round of applause would be enough to satisfy Tony’s ego, but she also knew better than to actually ask that out loud. More important at this moment was to take her own cues from Susanna: looking afraid when the crisis of rainbow crystals was mentioned, then hopeful as the names of their valiant heroes came up. She’d learned long ago that the storyteller wasn’t the only one who had a role to play when it came to tea parties and bedtime stories.

[alloys]

"Iron Princess and the Moon Warriors were just what we needed to defend against the zombie hordes and solve the crisis of the rainbow crystals. Iron Princess herself discovered a new cave full of crystals, beneath a boiling lake of lava guarded by a robot dragon." He glanced at Susanna with a grin. How were the details so far? "Once we shipped them out, the zombie unicorns turned back into normal unicorns, and the day way saved."

[handing]

Uh uh, Princess Daddy.  Susie wasn’t about to let him skip over the best part.  “Daddy!  Princess Unicorn has to talk about how Iron Princess beat the evil dragon with science.”
 
Which had Pepper stifling a laugh; of course it had been with science as opposed to magic or pixie dust.  She really proved herself to be Tony’s child with those demands, and Pepper met Tony’s gaze from her place at the table.  “It sounds like it must have been quite the battle.”

[alloys]

"Oh - right. How could I skip over that?" He grinned at Susanna before meeting Pepper's gaze with a glint in his eye. "Let me see...the robot dragon was an ancient machine that had been brought to life by magic. He could breathe fire, and - oh, flew with rocket jets, obviously. Iron Princess had her work cut out for her, because there was only weapon that could defeat the dragon: a solid gold sword."

Okay, so technically speaking, that didn't make any sense, but whatever. Magic. He'd learned to roll with it.

"But she came prepared, having cunningly won the gold sword from a cave troll in a game of riddles."

[handing]

“Obviously.”  Because what else would ancient evil robot dragons reanimated by magic use to fly?  Pepper leaned forward, listening with interest as Tony detailed the concoction he, Susanna, and Princess Unicorn had come up with.  Of course she wasn’t the only one watching, and Pepper could see Susie beaming with pride as the story went on.
 
“Because Iron Princess is a genius!”  Who clearly thought the tales of her exploits had come to the best part; Susie practically bounced in her chair, and Pepper wondered just how long it would be before Princess Daddy lost the right to give the grand speech in favor of their daughter taking over the tale.