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@Nallore: Diana will notice a slight trail of glitter - this could possibly be from Cassie, as her costume had been covered in sparkles and whatnot. But also, it could be from something else entirely - this seemed like the sort of place where fairies and pixies would roam.

"I was here once," America explained with a grimace. "This asshole lady tried to put me on trial for punching holes through the Multiverse. Only stopped when Captain Britain turned up and made some sort of a weird deal with her."

"Yikes," Kate shook her head. "Oh, shit, sorry, I didn't realize you'd come along." Her eyes widened slightly as Zelda popped up behind them. Kate had been pretty certain that Zelda hadn't wanted anything to do with them, but maybe she was just painfully shy and had trouble making friends. Or maybe she had just latched onto Diana.

"No idea," America then said to Zelda's question. "I got a D- in Intro to Magic last year."

As an avid convention goer and nerd, Zelda would recognize the banners on the castle as they approached - this was the castle of King Arthur. The crests were of the Pendragons. It looked almost identical to how it had been depicted in Merlin in fandom spaces. The castle gate was closed with two guards on duty, neither of whom seemed surprised for a bunch of lost teens to be approaching.

"Halt! State your name and business in Camelot."

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April was riding a wave of bliss as the topic changed, Leah mentioning that she wanted to go and kick the ass of whatever lurked within Nimue's haunted house. Given her experiences in training, April was almost positive that it had to be some sort of horrible creature from Arthurian myth - or maybe a magic mirror that pointed out everyone's insecurities. But Leah was being so sweet, kissing their foreheads, proclaiming that once she was through with whatever was inside the house, it'd be safe. It made April swoon.

"I know..." April sighed contentedly. "She's always cute, but she's, like, extra cute right now."

She was the last one to enter the haunted house, her blissful, romantic mood evaporating once she stepped inside. Somehow, she was completely alone. "Leah? Sabine? Hello??? Guys, are you there? Can you hear me?" April called out.

Can you hear me me me me... her own voice echoed.

April swallowed, even as she tried to keep a smile on her face. "Okay, April, breathe. This is going to be totally fine and normal. Nimue wouldn't kill you, she wants to win the contest too. And it'd be, like, a total rude thing to do - it'd ruin the Monster Mash. So just breathe and don't think about the fact that you're in some sort of weird darkly light hallway and that everything feels so very very cold and you're wishing you were dressed as Frosta..."

Her breath appeared in front of her in tiny clouds and April hugged herself, rubbing the exposed skin on her upper arm for warmth.

Her surroundings her monotonous and unchanging, each turn around the hallway ending up the same. The fact that she had run into nothing only caused her anxiety to heighten, her heart pounding desperately with fear of the unknown - with dread that nothing had happened yet - that something was stalking her, toying with her - and that there was no way out.

"Leah? Sabine? Danni? Dori? Mads? Anyone?" April called out again. "Please, I don't like this - this isn't the vibe for tonight!! It's only fun getting scared if others are with you! And preferably all around me too, so I can't get stabbed in the back!!"

Maybe Leah really had killed whatever was in here.

"I wouldn't count on it."

She screamed, spinning around as she came face to face with Magneto.

"G-get away from me! I'm warning you, I'll..." April's eyes darted around frantically. There was no water in sight. She couldn't feel any either. Her spit maybe? But this place was metal, she was a trapped animal, prey for this madman, for her grandfather...

"You'll what? Use your tears as a weapon?"

Magneto glided forward, ethereally graceful. "I am going to kill you. But first, I need you to understand something." Magneto paused, removing the iconic helmet.

"You're not afraid of me. You're afraid of yourself." Magneto had long blonde hair, shaved on the side to a buzz. Magneto had blue eyes and a natural tan, and pierced ears. Magneto wore her face, just older. Magneto was her.

"No!" April screamed. "I won't - I won't be like you!"

Magneto shook their head. "It's too late. I'm already inside you... waiting to come out."

The metal walls caved in around her, and April felt herself die.

When she appeared at the exit to the Haunted House, she was screaming, her sight blinded by tears.

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Percy frowned slightly. He felt comfortable in the school uniform. Yes, he could wear other things, but it was - well, it was reliable. He knew exactly how it would fit him, what angles would be best and what ones would be atrocious. It symbolized his commitment to a goal and helped him to distinguish his current life from the one he had lived before. "My uniform is fine," Percy argued. Zelda had even gone to the trouble of making a prototype that would shift to appear time-period correct when traveling, with its default state as the Academy uniform.

He knew that others hated the uniform, that they found it stifling and made it difficult to express themselves through fashion - and Percy liked fashion, he appreciated it. He owned nice clothes. But... the uniform was comfortable. It was safe. It gave him a sense of security. It was strange, how quickly he'd become attached to it.

"I've never planned a party," Percy said. "But I am excellent at organization and schedules. My mothers had me plan our family vacation to Greece."

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Her entire head felt like an axe was splitting through it, her ribs were fucked to hell and back, and she was definitely going to be bruised tomorrow. Leah's hand felt... Basically numb now. The fact that she had all these injuries after that, and yet didn't have a fractured skull anymore had a few implications that Leah wasn't sure she wanted to dwell much on. Did that stranger just knock her out, by pulling punches? Did they not want her dead for good? Why? Or was her skull simply thicker than she thought? It was a strange thing, and yet they knew her birth name on top of it all. Leah had absolutely no memories of anyone like them. Their hair was like her own, but they didn't even resemble a human being. Leah zones out for moment, thinking about it before a scream tore her clean out of her own thoughts.

That was April's scream. Immediately, she turned to the direction of her girlfriend and ran.

She stopped and saw that April was in tears, and at the exit, some ways away from where Leah seemed to just blink into existence. Despite her hand being mangle and her dress being covered in blood, and the possibility that part of her broken rib could be stuck in her lung right now, April's distress was more important to Leah.

"Hey- Hey, what happened? Did they hurt you?" Needless to say, she was very, very concerned. Logic dictated that April went through the haunted house to catch up with her, but Leah assumed that April also faced the same being as her.

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Andy saw Zari exit, she was smiling. Andy blinked and shook her head trying to shake it off. She knew what it was like to be drained now. On unsteady feet she walked over to Zari, trying to smile. Mary Sue came out before she could say anything. She was sobbing, on the floor.

"Damn, help me with her." She asked Zari and hurried to Mary Sue's side. She was careful with her gloves and Mary Sue's clothes to keep from touching her skin to skin when she heard someone come out of the haunted house screaming. Andy looked over and saw it was April, but Leah had rushed to her side. April would hopefully be okay.

"Hey, Mary Sue. I'm here." She said trying to reassure the younger girl. She wanted to be friends with the sweet anxious girl. She hoped she hadn't ruined those chances by taking her through a nightmare house...that was no haunted house. It was something else. Something that used your fears against you. Your inner anxiety. If anyone Andy knew had tremendous inner anxiety it would probably be Mary Sue. And from April's reaction probably her too. Something Andy would have to keep in mind.

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Diana knelt down on the ground and started to look at it closely and noticed that there was some sparkles on the ground, noting that it may have been from Cassie's costume. That or it was something else here in this world that left some sparkles behind like some fairy or something like that. But their clothes did change the moment that they came here, so she wasn't really sure either Diana turned to hear Zelda's voice and smiled seeing that she had came by to try and help as well to.

"I'm not sure, I never did take any kind of magic classes at the academy." Diana told Zelda, she was actually really good with science and math and she did understand that pretty easily, but magic stuff that made her brain her slightly. Diana continued to follow along with the group as they eventually approached the main gate to the castle, she looked at the two guards standing in front of the locked gate as they demanded their business here. "Uh yeah hi i'm Diana, thats Zelda, Kate, and America." Diana said as she gestured to the others. "We are looking for our friend by the name of Cassie she might have passed through here." She told the two guards hoping that they would let them pass.

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"I'm not sure it's just a theory." Madalyne said to Victoria as she stood by the haunted house, seeing some of her friends had gone inside she decided to not go inside. She was already scared of her sudden transformation back during their team training, and Madalyne wasn't sure what would happen if she did enter. "If I knew the exact spell, incantation, or reagents that were used I could try and dispel it." Madalyne told her as she extended her hand and started to chant a quiet spell and a personal shield would shimmer around Victoria before it would disappear as she looked at Victoria. "The shield should be able to protect you if you are going to go through the haunted house." Madalyne told Victoria as she gave her a slight smile.

Madalyne quickly paused when she heard someone screaming and quickly ran over to see who it was, and saw that it was her best friend April, and quickly ran over towards her best friend and pulled her into a hug. "April, it's okay it was just an illusion." Madalyne said trying to comfort her, she definitely didn't want to go through the haunted house now.

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It took a little bit for her to register what all was being said, and as they walked along, she started taking in her surroundings more and more. The most obvious thing was the castle and the crest on the banners, which were clearly from Camelot, that was something a bit obvious. However she started thinking about any other bits and pieces she knew of the place. The main thing was that Captain Britain was definitely connected to the place, and myths and folklore about the Fae tended to play a big part in how things were with people from there.

"...That's the crest for the Pendragon family, so currently it seems very much like we're in Camelot and King Arthur, which means that those legends and myths are true here," she ended up saying to the other three as they walked closer to the guards and all who then asked what they were doing. She was about to say something else that likely would be vital for interactions with people, when Diana started talking. Uh oh, that's not a good thing, "Um... The rules of the Fae if I remember correctly tend to apply to people here... Which means um... You really shouldn't give them well... Your name..." she then said rather quietly so the guards couldn't hear her.

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"That was so cool!" she said gleefully to Andy, "I saw another me who was a cyborg it was cool, but also really freaky but honestly it's fun to kind of laugh about how freaky and creepy it was... Honestly the idea of being a cyborg is both really cool but also I don't think I want my body to be at least partially taken over by tech, that is so weird," she added, before looking behind her and seeing Mary Sue come out and she was crying. She instantly walked over to Mary Sue and hearing Andy trying to comfort her.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently to Mary Sue, looking at her, and not sure what all she could really say or do to try and help the situation. She didn't really know the girl, so she didn't really know what to say to make her feel better. Things were definitely weird with that haunted house considering what popped up inside of it. Each instance was tailored to the person who walked through it, personally Zari wanted to learn how that worked and how Nimue did it, more specifically the type of magic she had done to do it.

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Sabine felt a slight headache coming on, which was not surprising. She had just done battle with an evil future version of herself and did so in her own mind. She began walking out of the haunted house, debating on whether she should set it on fire but opted not to since there were probably still people inside, including April and Leah.

Speaking of her, she could hear Leah and someone crying. It didn't take long for her to realize the cries were from April. Sabine picked up speed and rounded the corner, seeing April on the ground with Leah comforting her and Mads close by. Sabine cursed under her breath and ran over, kneeling next to Leah. "Hey, it's okay. We're here now."

She squeezed April's hand for reassurance, for both herself and April. If she experienced what she did in there, it stood to reason that Leah and April did as well. And she was still feeling it from her own battle. The physical and mental toll could not be weighed easily. However, whoever made the haunted house and ultimately made April cry.

No one makes April cry.

sabine stood up and cracked her knuckles. "Who made it? Who made that fucking haunted house or whatever the hell it is? I'm going to kill them. I don't care if it is a student, a teacher, Colson, or the entire Avengers team. They are dead!" She could feel herself burning up.

Mary Sue flinched at people rushing to her side, and every impulse in her headed was screaming for her to take some measure of control over herself. She was stuck with the idea that people seeing her like this, where she was broken, and a mess, and unable to curate every external emotion and response was the sort of thing that would ultimately make people not want to be around her, leaving her alone again. It was a terrifying thought, but even the deepest of fears could not dry tears. Her head was pounding, and her tears didn't stop, but she had regained a modicum of control over her mouth.

Drying what she could, she coughed, and tried to mumble out some kind of assurance that she was fine, but found words caught in her throat. The blood and horror of that was gruesome and painful and horrifying in its own right, but that idea of her; somebody who could be anybody, seem any way she wanted or needed to be; it was god awful. It was inhuman, and she knew she saw that monster in herself. That was not a trick of the nightmare, it was a capacity she was certain she had, and she didn't know what to do with that. Struggling to her feet, and looked at Andy and Zari, almost pathetically. "I'm... sorry." She didn't know if she was for her throwing a fit, or for a deep inauthenticity she was now acutely aware she possessed, but it was true. "I'll be okay, I promise." She said, specifically to Zari, though her eyes were still puffy, red, and wet.

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As Madalyne started whispering her incantation, Victoria unwillingly tensed. Guess we're finding out if any magic has an adverse effect! she thought, fighting the urge to flinch away and close her eyes. She was briefly mesmerized by the shimmer covering her skin, her eyes not seeing anything worth noting. Made sense, she could not see the magic of Leah's implant either. She supposed there was a power threshold before her instruments started registering the unknown energies.

Flexing her fingers, she took a hesitant step towards the haunted house. The magic attacked her as before, but this time the stream of runes was reflected off of her hand by another set of runes. "Sensational! Thanks, Maddie!" She beamed at the witch before turning towards the portal where the 'Cassie party' went through. Approaching the portal, Victoria made to step through.

As she was halfway through, she suddenly felt like a force was pulling her sideways and her vision twisted. "Not so fast." said a grinding voice as Vicky was pulled into the haunted house instead, thinking how she hated magic so much. Great. What is it now?

She looked around. It seemed she landed in a familiar part of town, namely the set she used for her contest application. "You are not getting out of this so easily." came the voice again and Victoria ducked into a building to take cover. Just in time, as a repulsor ray sliced through the air. Her hand instinctively slipped into her pocket to put on the Powerglove.

Not waiting around, Vicky sprinted over to the staircase to get a bit of height. "Come on out! Come meet your destiny!" her assailant called, and peeking out from around the window, she finally spotted them, and felt like a two somehow got into her processor. Hovering outside was herself. Finally it clicked. Evil versions of themselves. "And she scores!" laughed Future!Vicky as she spun around, arms raised.

Immediately, Vicky knew this would be an unfair fight. Clue #1? She was just blasted through a wall by her evil, fully armored future self. Clue #2? Her systems were immediately assaulted. Number one was an annoyance. Number two was a problem, because the attack code was very distinct. "Ultron..." she whispered as she landed, her feet carving gouges in the asphalt on the street where she fell to.

"Hello, niece! I must say, it was very kind of you to take care of my newest shell, but your services are no longer required." Her other self proclaimed form the building above. No. there was nothing on that thing that was her anymore. "Is that so?" Ultron taunted as he (She?) launched another barrage after her, Victoria barely having the time to put up a repulsor field to launch herself out of the way, landing on another roof top. "You don't get to call me family!" she growled, wanting to attack but it was taking everything she had to resist the infection. "And there is nothing we have in common!"

Changing tactics, Ultron retasked some of his M-F generators and neutralized gravity in the area. Scrambling for her footing, Victoria missed his approach and an ace kick sent her tumbling towards the ground again. She managed to launch a tractor and pull Ultron with her, but unlike her he managed to recover form the fall. "And that's where you are wrong. You can't exist without me. I am already within you. Watching. Waiting. I slumber now, but one day, Hope's pathetic attempt at controlling me will inevitably fail. Why don't you save yourself the struggle and give up now?"

Victoria could barely stand up despite the absence of gravity, barely having any processing power left to do such menial things as maintain her balance in the face of Ultron's electronic assault. "I know, and I don't care! I'll never let it go as far as to become you! Even if I have to... she didn't finish, dropping to her knees. She could feel the hostile code worming its way to her core, trying to break down the safeguards that kept the copy of Ultron in her core down. A terrifying thought occured to her. This is all just an apparition, right? This is NOT actually happening.

"I would not be so certain of that. When has any staff in that school actually cared?" Ultron sneered.

He... was right. This was so not good. Drawing on every safety protocol and measure built into her, Victoria tried to shut down her connectivity hardware. "Too late for that! Admit it. You never stood a chance! It is over."

Victoria looked up to Ultron with a defiant scowl. "Not... over. Will never... be... over!" managing to extend a finger, Victoria's arm quickly launched towards her back. Thank you, Diana. I wouldn't have known about that weakspot if you didn't find it! Victoria thought as her finger pierced the nanoskin on her back, found the opening in her adamantium skeleton used to run the power line to her armor and reached the antenna hardware through it. Then, she wrapped the finger around the antenna and yanked.

With a crunch, her damage log lit up like a Christmas tree, but Ultron's assault vanished. With an angry growl, Ultron came down upon her. Victoria tried to put up a fight, and with the speed advantage over her armored self she managed for some time, but in the end, Ultron managed to get in a lucky shot and launch her towards another wall. This time, the damage log grew considerably. "Why don't you give up. You're only delaying the inevitable, prolonging your discomfort. Even if you shut me out remotely, I'll just interface directly." he said, morphing his hand into what looked like something an alien might use on a kidnapped specimen.

"You are right. It doesn't matter." That caused Ultron to pause in his approach. "Because you've already lost. Even if you take me, what then? Humanity will stop you, just like it always had! You've had bodies stronger than mine, and you still lost! Even if you take over my shell right here and now, as soon as you walk out of here, there'S at leas one that can end you with a snap of her fingers! So why don't you give it up!" if she could spit, she would have. "I may not be able to resist you on my lonesome, but you can't win either. You are far from being the worst version of myself that I can imagine!"

"That would be me." came from behind Ultron, before he was wrapped in what looked like a magic circle and unceremoniously crushed, torn apart and finally exploded. The shockwave seemed to launch Vicky away, out of the haunted house and into the Cafeteria, where she skidded across the floor and stopped by crashing into the opposite wall. The shield Maddie put on her finally had enough, breaking and shimmering out of existence. The only thing Victoria remembered form the third person was a fluttering green cloak.

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Dorian grinned as Danni agreed that their pets would become best friends. Of Course they would, just like Danni and Dorian had. There was, however, now a tinge of worry as Danni brought up the idea that one of them might eat the other, but he doubted it would happen. I mean, they just needed to make sure they were both fed and that they bonded beyond it. No friend would eat another no matter how starved. ”And you look so cute in t'e uniform too! But we can't wear t'em forever. Need to t'ink of t'e future. Especially if we become like t'e Young Avengers. Excelsior, goin’ out after school to ‘elp make t'e world a better place. Buuuut t'ats a later problem, and your organizational skills will ‘elp t'is party rock!! Til t'en it's dance time! Allons y.” He said as he hooked his arm into Percy's and followed behind Danni to the dance floor.

There he began to let loose. Shaking off all of the bad thoughts and memories of the Haunted House and focusing on having fun. It was a dance, they'd just won as one of the top teams to enter the Contest, and their best friend had won Saviour of the School. It was time to celebrate by letting loose and having fun on all of their behalf. And it was fun…while it lasted. No more than a few songs in did the sound of crashing and a thud disrupt the dance. Vicky having been flung against a wall, a line of people now either fallen or parted ways from the disturbance. Dorian followed the path from Vicky back to the Haunted House, only to see April crying and screaming from across the room with Sabine and Leah at her side. ”April…” The word came out a worried whisper as Dorain tapped Danni on his arm to grab his attention before making his way to her.

Danni beamed as Dee joined him, finally getting a chance to dance with at least some of his friends, since the others all skipped out on him to go to that stupid haunted house. At least Dee wanted to have real fun. Danni laughed as he joined him and he let himself just have fun with his friends. The meltdown could wait until later for once!

Of course, it couldn't last forever; though if Dee hadn't noticed the commotion, Danni would have been content to ignore it and dance on. But Dee broken the pleasant daze he'd worked himself into and the complaint died on his tongue when he saw Princess, screaming and crying. He panicked for a moment, fire flickering at the fingertips briefly, but he waved it off. It wasn't any worse than a panic attack or nightmares. it wouldn't be the first time they comforted each other through a shitty time, and it wouldn't be the last.

Of course, Beanie and Mt. Muscle were adorably useless here and that was not the vibe. Danni clicked his tongue as he scrambled across the cafeteria, nearly tripping in his rush, and windmilled as he skidded to a halt by Beanie. “Murder t'e Sinister clone later, Beanie. Right now, ya gotta get ‘er outta ‘ere. She’s gunna feel even worse after if t'is ‘its t’e whole damn school. Oye Leah, use t'ose damn muscles! Lift and get t'e fuck outta ‘ere with Princess.” Danni demanded, a half baked (and that's being generous) plan to kick this to the curb. “Mads, get ‘er blankets and shit and drag it into our dorm, Dee you know t'e drill and t'e set up. T’e usual, but pump t'at shit up ta 11. Break out t'e big boys and all t'at. We're gunna cry til t'e damn sunrises and t'en we're takin’ a sick day, fuck t'is shit.” Danni grumbled. Fucking Haunted Houses. What was wrong with this school year?

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@Nallore@BlueSky44: The guards uncrossed their weapons, and lowered the gate so that way the girls could enter Avalon. "Your friend came by a week ago. Perhaps she's still here." Now that the gate was lowered, they could see the bustling city beyond - it was like a real medieval marketplace, with criers hawking their wares. The castle-city was dominated by a grand palace nearby, likely where King Arthur and Queen Guinevere lived. As to where in the city Cassie was... well, they'd have to do some searching.

"A week ago?" Kate muttered, as they walked through the gates. "That's impossible. We just got here."

"Time works differently in other dimensions," America shrugged.

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Even the comfort of her friends and girlfriends was not enough to reach April, not enough to rouse her from her distress. The tears flowed as Mads embraced her, as Sabine squeezed her hand, as Leah asked what was wrong, as Danni came to the rescue. She wanted to scream at all of them to get away, to run from her and never look back, because he was inside her - Magneto was in her blood, in her DNA, just waiting to emerge. The helmet would be her tomb, her grave. Her body was not her own - it had never felt quite right, never making sense. And this must have been why.

To make things worse, she could feel the eyes of the school on her - sure, everyone had been leaving the Haunted House/Maze in tears and she hadn't been the first one to scream, but it felt like everyone was staring. She wanted to disintegrate in that moment, to disappear - to reload the universe so she could go back to the moment where everything had been perfect, when they'd made it to the Contest, when she and her girlfriends had been crowned School Royalty.

Amidst her sobs, she barely recognized the questions people were asking her, only managing to choke out - "I won't be like him. I-I won't."

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Percy frowned slightly, considering Dorian's words carefully. He had always assumed that after graduation, he would simply wear clothing appropriate for whatever time period and culture he found himself in. He didn't plan to exclusively live in the twenty first century in America after all - all of time and space would be his to explore. Of course, Dorian was correct - he couldn't do that in his uniform. It would be out of place in most environments. As for after school extracurricular superheroism... the uniform seemed fine to him.

Dorian and Danni then started dancing, and Percy followed suit. His movements weren't as stiff and awkward as someone might have expected - but they weren't particularly modern either. His mothers had taken him for classical dancing classes since he was little, ever since he'd expressed an interest in ballet. So when he danced, he danced like it was a formal occasion - and not Nicki Minaj blasting through the speakers.

He froze though as he heard a crash, as someone flew into a wall - and more screams coming from the direction of the Haunted House. Danni took off quickly - it was their friend who seemed to be in trouble. Percy assumed Dorian would want to go there, so he followed suit.

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Diana turned to Zelda as she started to whisper about giving their names away in this realm she looked at the two guards blocking the main gate, they didn't seem to be all that magical or whatever to her. But then again she didn't know anything at all about this realm. "Alright then we just use our hero names or something while we are here?" Diana asked Zelda quietly so that the guards couldn't hear them. Luckily the guards seemed to believe that their business here was good enough to let them all pass. She started to walk in through the gates and into the city proper and looked around. It reminded her of some scene from an old medieval fantasy movie hearing town criers and everything was in a large market place of sorts.

It apparently had been a week since Cassie was here which was really weird they had just arrived here and it was just only a few minutes for them all. Cassie could be anywhere here by now at this point, and finding her in a city this large was going to be really tough, she looked at the three of them. "Maybe we should split up, and look for her?" Diana suggested she wasn't sure how people here would react to any of them here. "Me and America could travel further with our powers so either Kate and Zelda could come with either one of us, and we meet back up by the gate or something?" She suggested as well to.

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Madalyne jumped slightly when she heard something crashing and noticed that it was Vicky as she flew out of the haunted house and into a nearby wall. However she quickly went back and continued to hug onto April just letting her best friend cry into her shoulder, she was glad that she didn't make the decision to go into the haunted house. "It's okay all of us are here for you." Madalyne said to April, seeing that Dorian, Danni, Leah, Sabine and even Percy came up to her.

"We'll use our dorm it has all of April's things in there anyway, she'll feel better in there." Madalyne said to Danni and Dorian, plus she didn't have the keys to Danni and Dorian's room either. "They'll get you there and we can enjoy the rest of the night there." Madalyne said to April and gave her another tight hug. "I'll leave the door open for you guys when you get her there." She told them as she headed back out of the cafeteria and started to make her way back over towards Stark Hall and to where their dorm was.

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Very quickly, everyone of April's friends, along with Sabine, came over at the sound of her screaming. They were all concerned, and for some weird fucking reason, Danni just started ordering her around and wanting her to carry April. The only way she could've done that with her busted hand was if she carried April over her shoulder, which would put her face or legs-first in Leah's hair. Bad idea. "Easy, now. We'll go when April feels like standing. April, just breath and catch your breath, then we'll get out of here, okay? Everyone, give her some space to relax. Please." Leah said with with all the gentle calmness one would associate with the eye of a storm. Leah was being gentle for April's sake, but like Sabine, she was infuritated.

Leah assumed that there was simply something incredibly freaky inside the haunted house. A chained up monster, a very realistic zombie actor, or something along those lines. But Leah ended up fighting some weird being she didn't know or had ever heard about. And the reaction April had suggested she had either faced that same lunatic or worse. She didn't know who "him" was. But it didn't matter. Her functioning hand balled up tightly into a fist and Leah turned around, and looked for any fucking teachers who happened to be around. Sabine was right to call them out.



She demanded to know whose idea this was, with the thunder of an earthquake in her voice. No one harmed her girls. NO ONE. Her heart hammered with fury, not fear. Someone was going to pay for this.

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Sabine closed her eyes as more people came to swarm by them. Though she was happy to see such support, she was feeling a little claustrophobic. Was the room getting smaller? On top of that, everyone was speaking over each other, each having their little solution to the problem. Leah had the right idea if April wanted to go, they would go, but to pick her up and essentially drag her out was out of the question. "Everyone just....stop!" Hoping that would calm people down some, she continued. "Those that haven't been in there won't know, but it is essentially a doorway into a nightmare. I came face-to-face with what could only be described as an evil, older version of myself. I have to assume anyone who does go in there experiences the same. And after that I am not doing well physically or mentally so I can only imagine the pain that April just went through."

She stood up just as Leah did, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Leah is right. If you all want to help April get somewhere safer, do so, provided April goes willingly. I, however, am not leaving this dance until whoever set up that nightmare pays, preferably with blood but I am willing to take limbs or memories, depending."

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Andy couldn't help but smile at her girlfriend's enthusiasm. She was glad that Zari had had fun with other self. "Yes, I saw myself as well. It did not go as well as yours I believe. She choked me out with my vampirism." At least Andy could now say she understood what her victims felt like when she ate from them. That wasn't something she wanted to ever experience again. It had been different from the fight with Selene. This had been meant to hurt her not just drain her of all the extra souls she had been consuming to protect. Andy closed her eyes feeling lost for a moment in her memory.

She flinched when Leah yelled. "Come on, let's go get something to drink. I think we don't want to be here right now." She wanted to help April, but also Sabine and Leah were already there. What extra help could she provide? Also, Leah and Sabine were big mad, super pissed at the moment. If she was honest Sabine's power terrified her in a way she couldn't quite reckon with. Her past was dear to her because it was what brought her here and if she forgot any of it she wouldn't be herself.

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Zelda still wasn't sure if this whole situation was a good idea to start pressing further into a situation that they didn't know fully about. Of course, it was made apparent that Cassie had at least been this way, and the idea of such a time gap wasn't entirely surprising to her. Especially since it was an alternate dimension, plus she wasn't entirely sure how America's powers worked fully so that also could have had something to do with it, but it was hard to say either way really.

"I'm fine going with anyone," she ended up saying with a shrug. She at least had seemingly more knowledge about this sort of place then the other three did, so that was useful. She wasn't necessarily the best at tracking others though, so she wasn't entirely sure how things were going to work out in the long run. "...Though trying to find her is going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack with how big this place is..."

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"...That doesn't sound pleasant or anything, not fun at all," Zari said to Andy, looking over at her for a moment. Apparently no one else actually thought what they were dealing with was cool or interesting. Sure, being scared in a haunted house or something was normal, but also sometimes just laughing a bit at how scared you were could be just as fun afterwards. Though most people didn't seem to think like that, so oh well with that one.

She nodded a bit in agreement with Andy about seeing about getting away from the haunted house now and do something else. At least people weren't really paying much attention to them or anything because someone else was having a bit of a breakdown and causing everyone to stare at them. That being April, though she was a bit curious as to what April had seen in the maze, she didn't seem to be doing too well. Zari kind of wanted to see what was going on, but one, she didn't actually really know her practically at all, and two, she already had a bunch of people around her.

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Dorian made his way behind Danni as they headed towards April. Full glad to see he didn't even have to say anything to Percy as he was already following behind them. He'd have smiled if the pressing concern of April's well being didn't currently haunt him. When they reached the point, Danni had already begun to take charge. After all, out of all the people present, he and Danni knew April the longest and thus also the best. They knew how to handle this very situation and - was Leah arguing with them? Dorian looked towards Maddy and gave her a silent thank you as she made her way out to help prepare for April's reprieve. He shot Leah a glare ”You're making a spectacle. That's the last thing April needs right now.” He hissed at her.

”All I did was fight some psychotic robot. I don't know anything about this future evil self shit but that doesn't matter right now.” Dorian wrapped an arm around April and looked towards Percy. ”Any chance you can teleport us to her dorm? It's the one next to ours. But she doesn't need this scene right now.” It was cute that her girlfriends wanted to fight the one responsible, but they were only making matters worse by drawing more and more attention towards their situation. Putting more eyes on April when all she wanted to do was shrink away from it all. He could just punch them both.

Mary Sue couldn't imagine having enjoyed the experience she had just gone through in the way Zari had, or even having the retrospectively positive view that Andy seemed to. She knew there was a lesson for her in the ordeal she'd experienced, but the memory hurt. She'd maybe be able to reflect with time and space, but certainly not now. She just wanted to put her mind absolutely anywhere else. She knew there was a commotion behind her, somebody also having a hard time, and a part of her thought about breaking off to go help, but that sounded far too difficult.

"Would it be okay if I joined you two for that drink?" Mary Sue was honestly not sure if that was an okay thing to ask, she'd never reacted like that around anybody before, and a part of her wasn't sure if they were tacitly asking to be left alone or not. If they were, she'd let them go, but already she was doing the calculation making sure to seem okay enough to be on her own. She didn't want to pressure them, if only because then she'd seem needy and her friends might not want to be her friends any more. Still, she very much didn't want to be alone right now.

“Thanks Mads! We'll get the hot chocoalte and shit and all our stuff and drag it iver. Sleep over night!” Danni cheered, eyeing Leah's injuries. Still, they were Superhero students and while Danni didn't know what kind of training Leah went through, those were just scratches if it was anything as explosive as theirs. Danni threw up his hands in defeat. “Okay, well you two ‘ave fun playin’ t'e whole machisme protector role. Make sure ta work t'at energy out if ya want ta join t’e cuddle pile.” Danni instructed, turning his attention away from a lost cause and instead focusing on the real person that mattered.

Danni supported her other side as Dee gently urged her up from the floor. “Okay so, I don't know what happened, but remember, we're here and we're always going to be, okay Princess? So you do all the cryin’ you want and I'm goin’ to tell you dumb stories about myself in the meantime. Danni said cheerily. He gave Dee a wild look, a little concerned because he'd seen Spicy’s teleportations not go as planned and not making it to the room would be a bad. A very, very, very bad and anything additional might very well end in the dorm not having water for a few days. So he urged the three of them forward, doing his best to curl around her to block the sight of her.

“Okay, okay, okay - picture t'is. It's 2026. Little Danni just turned five-I know, I know, I was an adorable kid, you've seen my baby pictures. Papa ‘ad a show so ‘e was on stage and little Danni was told ‘e ‘ad t’e run of t'e back of ‘ouse while ‘e waited for Pops ta come pick ‘im up after work. I really didn't but who am I gunna let tell me no? Pops is t’e only one who will and t'en I just ask Papa anyways. Danni giggled. “Anyways, so I definitely go wanderin’ out and about and I find t’is real pretty green boa, like super big, super fluffy, has a little gold sparkle to it. Love it. So I do what all kids do when t’ey find somet’in’ new - I bite it. T’at's when t’e screamin’ started. So, turns put, t’e queen who owned it was a but of a germaphone and it was ‘er newest, favorite boa. I don't really remember what happened after that, Papa claims a shaving cream war, but that's how I earned my first archnemesis. To t'is day, anytime we cross paths, I will always stop everythin’ I'm doin’ to bite t’eir shit just ta fuck wit’ t'em.”

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@Nallore@BlueSky44: "Right, I'll go with Diana - it's an archer thing," Kate volunteered immediately. She was having a real hard time with Zelda's vibes, and did not want to be in a group with her - besides, it made more sense to split up the teleporters. Cassie could be anywhere in this place, and they really needed to get back. Time moved differently in Otherworld apparently and Kate didn't want to age up to fifty or so before they could make their way back to the real world.

"Works for me," America said with a shrug, before punching a portal - this portal led directly into the palace itself, overlooking what must have been the throne room. "Come on, kid," she gestured to Zelda before hopping on through.

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Everyone was talking to April, everyone was offering her solutions, ideas - threatening violence, telling stories, making decisions on her behalf. It was too much, all of it - and she could feel eyes on her, she knew that everyone was staring at her, that she was making a scene. She knew that others were in pain - that her girlfriends were in pain - and she wanted to be able to just suck it up, to pull herself together and shake this off, to help someone else. But she couldn't. She had shattered and every time she tried to grab a jagged piece of herself, the blood began to flow a little stronger, the cuts forming a little deeper. And that face, that mask - that villain - each time she closed her eyes, she saw them again - her again - him again? She saw Magneto and she saw herself and she was horrified. She saw the man that had once twirled missiles on his fingertips, who had threatened the world so he could feel safe - sure, he had been redeemed, or at least, that was what the papers said but April knew. She knew that people didn't change, that they couldn't change - that her grandfather was a sickness, that to be like him was to be like a god or death or maybe somewhere in between, and she didn't want that, she couldn't want that, she wanted nothing like that. She wanted to scream and run and cry and jump and disappear and melt and die all at once. She wanted to have never existed and to be somewhere outside of space and time. She wished that her adoptive grandparents were her real grandparents, that she didn't have him lurking inside of her - that the illness in her family tree that drove so many of her aunts and uncles to become supervillains wasn't inside of her. It was inside of her inside of her inside of her AND SHE WANTED IT OUT, SHE WANTED IT OUT, SHE WOULDN'T LET IT BE HER, NO, NO NO! SHE WANTED TO SCREAM AND RIP HER HAIR OUT, TO OFFER IT TO THE GODS, TO CURSE ATHENA AND WORSHIP HER AND ASK TO BE SPARED, TO HAVE THIS BLIGHT PASS HER BY. SHE WANTED TO SUFFER AND SHE WANTED RELEASE. SHE WANTED NOTHING AND EVERYTHING. SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE IF THAT WAS WHAT FATE HAD PLANNED FOR HER - IF THAT WAS WHAT WAS HIDING INSIDE OF HER - BUT IT WAS TOO LATE, TOO LATE, TOO LATE. GODS IT WAS TOO FUCKING LATE.

Percy was privately wondering if perhaps they needed a professional. But it wouldn't be helpful to suggest that, not now at least. Instead, he considered what Dorian had asked of him - if he could teleport them back to April's room. He didn't have the same range that his sister did, often only able to do relatively shorter jumps. It'd take him a few jumps to get them from the cafeteria back to the dorm rooms, and the more people he was transporting, the harder it would become.

But Dorian had asked this of him, so he'd try.

"April, do you want to go back to your room?"

She didn't say anything coherent - just more mutterings, more ramblings, nothing that even he could understand. But he didn't need to be able to understand every language intuitively to know that she was in pain - that she was suffering. "I'm taking you out of here," Percy informed her, since it felt odd to him to do this sort of thing without someone's explicit permission, so at least he'd tell her and if she told him to stop, he would. But she didn't react, didn't response as he put a hand on her shoulder and concentrated.

There was a shimmering flash of blue light and Percy reappeared with April outside the cafeteria, in the hallway leading up to it. No one else had traveled with them, but even then, a bit of sweat had beaded up on his forehead. Another flash, another jump, and they were on the second floor of Stark Hall now. His knees felt a little shaky. He made another jump, getting the both of them onto the third floor now, before his head was spinning and his throat felt incredibly dry and dehydrated and Percy slumped up against the wall, spent.

Meanwhile back at the Monster Mash, Lady Nimue had approached the group. She wore an elegant gown crafted out of moss and stone, covering her shimmering water form. Ser Nemo and his husband, Darius, came up to the group as well, evidently concerned that a fight might break out.

"Princess," Lady Nimue greeted, bowing her head at Sabine. "My lady," she then said, addressing Leah. It was her magic, her design that powered that house/maze. They had asked to see who was responsible. Well. She was here, without a shed of remorse on her watery visage.