[CHAR] Rogue Continuum: The Singularity Crisis (A DC and Marvel RP)

[Retired]

| Character Identity |

M'gann M'orzz, the Martian Manhunter

| Age |

37 Martian years; 70 Earth equivalent

| Character Differences |

This is a M'gann who never concealed her identity as a White Martian. She has always taken the visage of a humanoid with stark white skin and a bald head. Aside from a brief stint during her initial visits of Earth, she does not utilize the Megan Morse alias. This is also a M'gann who has never had a J'onn J'onzz, and thus has taken on a role similar to his on this Earth. She has never been timid, excitable, nor naive and instead is assertive, calm, and contemplative. Unlike the mainstream Martians whose physical strength rivals that of Kryptonians, her physical might and endurance, while extensive, is much more limited. Likewise, her psionic abilities are greatly reduced compared to other versions and this universe's M'gann is not one of the most powerful telepaths. Instead, both her telepathy and telekinetic powers are much more modest. This version's abilities are primarily her density and shapeshifting which she uses to incredible effect. I have also completely removed the Martian-brand heat vision and invisibility, as well as the vulnerability to fire.

| Brief World Background |

M'gann's reality is one where both Marvel and DC properties have blended together. In this universe, the Martians long ago aided the Guardians of the Universe in defeating a great threat known as Parallax. In this epic battle, the green Martians were completely wiped from existence, and the remaining white Martians banded together to drive back and eventually imprison this entity, the embodiment of fear, within the Guardian's central power battery on Oa. Following this event, the Guardians recruited the Martians as a universal strike force of sorts. They became known as the Manhunters. As Manhunters, the Martians were tasked with tracking down and apprehending the most dangerous of individuals. This arrangement lasted for centuries before the Guardians also realized the need for a peacekeeping task force and created the Oan power rings from their central power battery and formed the Lantern Corps. As the Corps expanded, this allowed the Martians to focus more on their specific tasks and less on the wider problems of the universe. As would later be noted by the Earthling Lantern Steve Rogers, the Corps acted like regular police enforcing the rule of law and maintaining peace, while the Manhunters had the role of detectives and S.W.A.T., handling the more gritty, specialized tasks while hunting down rogue forces.

On Earth, history developed similar to the real world. For the most part, aliens and enhanced individuals were not publicly known and did not rear their heads until the 20th century. During the Second World War, individuals that would come to be known as Wonder Woman, Namor, The Flash, and The Human Torch operated together as, first, the All-Winners Squad. Following the end of the war and the defeat of Nazi Germany and HYDRA, the four, joined by Miss America and Wildcat, formed the Justice Society. They were beloved by the majority of the world at large and, while following American ideals at the time, answered to no nation or government.

In the mid-50's, a result of American genetic tampering by Doctor Alexander Luthor resulted in the creation of a new species known as homo-superior; mutants. This sparked not only a debate on civil liberties as this newly created raced found themselves treated as less-than and looked at with fearful eyes, but also a Cold War between various world superpowers like America and Russia. This Cold War would last for years as all sides rushed to win what would be known as the Superhuman Arms Race. Following the assassination attempt of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, who was rescued by mutant activist Max Eisenhardt, American perception of mutants began to slowly shift towards the positive. And, by the early 70's, largely thanks to past initiatives pushed by JFK in his second term, various accords and bans were put into place globally to prevent further development of superhuman weapons and genetic tampering.

In the 90's, Earth came face-to-face with the realization that they were not alone in the universe when they were rapidly invaded by a race of conquerors known as The Dominion. These beings, referred to as Dominators by the people of Earth, sought to capture the homo-superior population in order to further manipulate and enhance their own genetics, and then wipe out the remaining inhabitants of the planet. The remnants of the Justice Society, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Namor, joined forces with other popular heroes across the world to defeat the invaders, though not before many cities and tens of millions of people had been annihilated. America's favorite protector, Max Eisenhardt AKA Magneto, and renowned geneticist and mutant telepath Charles Xavier were instrumental in putting an end to the Dominion's plans. Afterward, the Justice Society welcomed Magneto and Xavier, who took the name Doctor X, into their ranks.

In the following years, the people of Earth collectively chose to evolve. Brilliant minds like Reed Richards, Ted Kord, Tony Stark, Victor Von Doom, Anthony Ivo, and Hank Pym worked together on the Defender Initiative to better prepare the planet for future encounters with hostile extra-terrestrials. They created various ground and orbital defense stations, designs for a fleet of space ships capable of travel throughout the solar system, and rapidly brought the world into an age of technical marvel. By the 21st century, Earth was living in a futuristic society largely accepting of one another. Cancer had been cured, world-wide hunger had been solved, the energy crisis resolved, and impoverished societies raised up. In the wake of the devastating attack by the Dominion, Earth had largely unified under a collective, global government; the United Nations of Earth.

Today, in 2021, the Earth is protected by several hundred heroes of diverse background under the banner of the Justice Legion, the spiritual successor to the Justice Society. While still handling the few instances of superpowered crime across the world, their primary goal is to aid the U.N.E.'s space armada in the protection of Earth and their solar system from outside forces.

| Brief Character Background |

M'gann M'orzz, like all Martians in the past millennia, was raised from a young age to become one of the famed Manhunters. She received training from her fellow Martians as well as from the Guardians of the Universe's elite soldiers. From the former, she was instructed on tracking, infiltration, subterfuge, and tactics. From the latter, under the guidance of a man named Killowog, she trained in personal combat. Midway through her second Martian decade, she was officially made a Manhunter and participated in dozens of joint raids and several solo outings hunting dangerous criminal elements. After several years, she was tasked with aiding the now elderly Lantern Steve Rogers in his final assignment before retirement. This mission brought her back to her solar system where, for the first time, she visited Earth.

The assignment was quick, but M'gann fell in love with Earth culture. She stayed for several Earth months on the planet under the guise of Megan Morse and attended university to better learn of the planet's history and culture. Eventually, she was called back to active duty and had to leave. But, over the course of the next decade by Earth standards, she continually returned to Earth. On several of these ocassions she met and fell in love with a man, and, wishing to spend more time with him, resigned her position from the Manhunters. She would spend the last few Earth years living with her lover on his home and join him in his role as a member of the Justice Legion.

Two days before she was to be wed, she was assaulted in her home at night, and despite her attempts to combat her attacker, was abducted.

For the last seven months, she has been a captive of the interdimensional slavemaster Mojo.

[DocTachyon]

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

F L A S H

---

^{_{B A R R Y A L L E N ♦ 3 2 ♦ C E N T R A L C I T Y ♦ J U S T I C E L E A G U E}}

C H A R A C T E R B A C K G R O U N D:

---

^{"Don't worry, Barry. Zoom will teach you."}

Barry Allen has never been able to slow down -- and he's still not fast enough. Not fast enough to save his Mother, without the speed to be there for Iris, and not quick enough to save Pietro Maximoff from himself.

Barry has undergone much of the standard Flash origins, the death of his mother at the hands of the Reverse Flash, his life with the West family, and the lab accident that would transform him into the one and only scarlet speedster, The Flash.

In this iteration, The Flash is close friends with Pietro Maximoff, a fellow officer at CCPD who revealed his mutancy to Barry after deducing the fellow officer was, in fact, The Flash. Inspired by Barry's then-month of antics as Central City's red streak. The badge was hardly enough to contain Pietro's ambition, and he would join The Flash on the scene as the hero Quicksilver.

With the tutelage of the previous Flash, Jay Garrick, the speedsters scarlet and silver would battle all manner of metahumans, mutants, and madcap scientists across Central City. From Captains Cold and Boomerang to the dastardly pair of Weather Wizard and Whirlwind, Barry and Pietro kept the city safe and were, for a time, awarded with idyllic lives. Pietro rising in the ranks of CCPD, and Barry finding love with his childhood friend Iris West.

Things would change with the re-emergence of the Reverse Flash. Faster than Quicksilver and Flash put together, it would take weeks of training and the combined efforts of all three of Central City's speedsters and the local branch of STAR Labs to defeat the man in yellow, and send him back in the timestream from whence he came. But Barry's speed now sat differently in his body; as fast as he and Pietro had become in their training, Barry was only getting faster.

The faster Barry became, the harder and harder it was to slow down. Seconds long quips around the office water cooler stretched into minutes and hours; even Pietro was falling behind. At a point, the other speedster might as well have been as slow as anyone else.

Pietro grew envious of Barry's speed, and sought out the X-Men for further, specialized training as a mutant. During this time, Barry became Central City's sole protector, with the occasional assist from Garrick or other heroes. His work as The Flash was the one thing keeping him sane, zipping to punch bank robbers and save cats from trees in-between the beats of conversations wherever he could, sparing his undivided attention almost exclusively for Iris. As long as it took for Barry to understand even her simplest words, he hung on them, an anchor to a less tumultuous time in his life.

Everything changed on Pietro's last mission with the X-Men, learning of his true parentage: he was the spawn of Magneto, leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Believing Magneto could lead him to the speed he desired, Pietro turned on the X-Men, becoming a zealous believer in Magneto's cause. In his father's world, Pietro could be the fastest mutant alive.

Despite Pietro's dreams, his hopes were dashed by Barry's intervention. Alongside the X-Men, The Flash defeated The Brotherhood, putting Magneto behind bars as Pietro disappeared to the four winds.

Barry would grow faster still, now able to approach lightspeed, he had all the time in the world; yet, still, less and less for Iris. Barry abandoned his job at the CCPD at dedicated himself to full time crimefighting, never slowing for an instant, zipping across the the country to solve problems wherever he was needed.

Achieving such phenomenal speeds, Barry learned of the Speed Force, as well as its self-appointed expert and guardian, Professor Zoom. Under Zoom, Barry would break the barriers of light and time, becoming one of Earth's most powerful heroes, and facing off once more against Eobard Thawne, this time within the confines of the speedforce. Barry emerged victorious, but his challenges were far from over.

Zoom had another pupil. The Rival, a black clad speedster spoken of only in rumor. The Flash would clash with The Rival in his now worldwide sprints, in sparks of black and red too fast for even Superman to follow -- The Rival was, in all Barry's years, the only man to ever truly keep up with him. Everything fell to the wayside in Barry's life. There was no Justice League, no X-Men, no Iris: only the threat of The Rival, approaching over the horizon.

In their final battle, The Rival unmasked himself: he was Pietro. Using a combination of the experimental drug Velocity 9, his personal notes on Barry's accident, a mysterious benefactor, and the blood of countless other speedsters, Pietro had finally achieved the speed he so desired.

In their pitched battle, Pietro was able to leverage his newfound command over the Speedforce to sever Barry's connection to it -- before the other speedster disappeared, without a trace.

Barry now finds himself on Mojoworld, significantly slower than he should be, relying exclusively on his biological speed. For the first time in his ten years as The Flash, Barry has been forced to slow down and reflect. Through each of Mojo's trials, barry reflects on what he's lost in his pursuit of the speedforce: his career, his allies, his closest friend, and the love of his life.

W O R L D B A C K G R O U N D:

---

Not a lot to say on the world background here: this is a pretty standard Marvel/DC One Universe setting that integrates the two universes quite closely with one another. The most major change is Pietro's inclusion, both as Flash's ally and as his enemy.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

---

-Leaving current his speed limit pretty unspecific for the time being. Figure it'll just scale appropriately to the strength of the accepted party.

-In case its not clear completely from the bio, I'd like to make it crystal that this version of Barry cannot slow down his perspective once he begins tapping into the Speedforce. To access it is, fundamentally, to tie himself to a life in the fast lane.

-There's an implication in there that The Rival is working with Mojo -- I leave it up to the GM to decide whether this is actually the case.

[Bounce]

- tt -

| Character Identity |

"Six" / Damian al Ghul (clone) / Spawn

| Age |

6 months at time of death (physically 10)

| Character Differences |

This character is one of the failed clones of Damian Wayne that were introduced as a plot device in Batman & Robin and subsequently Death of the Family and Robin, Son of Batman. From that origin as a genesis, the basic plot of Todd McFarlane's Spawn provides the evolution of the character. Thus, this is a DC-Image Comics hybrid concept.

| Brief World Background |

Inspired by Spawn/Batman and Batman/Spawn: War Devil, Six hails from a variant of the Young Justice universe in which both Batman and Spawn co-exist (in Gotham and New York respectively). All the events of Young Justice, Young Justice: Invasion, and Young Justice: Outsiders form the significant events of 2010-2019, with Six being an addition to the Outsiders' line-up in this universe.

| Brief Character Background |

In total, Six lived for six months and believed it to have been ten years. Implanted with artificial memories, the clone underwent a grueling physical and mental conditioning program. He was wielded as a weapon and a tool by Mother, the only name by which he knew the woman Talia al Ghul. In return, she was stern and direct in her tasking of him, admonishing each mistake and tolerating no failure. At the time of his termination, Six was brought to Gotham City as a sniper on a League contract that was seen as an ideal training scenario, the murder of the son of a media mogul named Adam Grant -- a boy who was the same age as Six. When the clone hesitated on the trigger, he was rewarded by a bullet through the neck that had been fired by Talia al Ghul herself. Disposed of in a dumpster, the killing was ruled as gang-related, the case closed, and the body buried with a nameless headstone outside of Gotham.

Six descended into Hell, where he found himself in the midst of a war. The Lord of the Seventh Circle, Mammon, coveted the power and position of Malebolgia and wanted a champion of his own bid for supremacy. Their bargain struck, Six was returned to the world with no memories of his life or his time in Hell. Wandering Metropolis' Suicide Slum, Six stumbled into being a vigilante through mere coincidence or circumstance, before finding a mentor in the form of Father Daniel De Paulo. A priest he would later learn went by a different name: Deathangel.

Six's activities in Metropolis eventually attracted the attention of the Justice League and the Team, which eventually led to conflict against Deathangel that introduced a different perspective on the role of heroes or vigilantism to the hellspawn. Though struggling against his League training and infernal nature, Six worked alongside the other young heroes of the Outsiders following the meta-human trafficking crisis. It was during a mission to track a shipment of weapons that the hellspawn found himself taken captive. He awoke to find his symbiote removed and his body powerless. Except for the games. He had his suit and powers for the games. Because that's what people wanted. They cheered for blood.

It was an attitude that Six knew well.

And if the only choice given him was to do or die, Six knows he has his self-awareness and free will on the line for when his counter ticks down to zero and he returns to hell. So he will fight. And he will keep on fighting. And, if he survives long enough, the last head he'll take will be whoever is responsible for this...

| Notes |

- Six's symbiote is C'thu of the 9th House of K, or K-9 C'Thu.

- As necroplasm is denser than human tissue, Six weighs around 200 pounds.

- As Six is the hellspawn of Mammon, greed and avarice are the sins that Six is most closely attuned toward.

- Owing to the manner of his death, Six has a permanent wound in the form of a bullet entry wound at the base of his throat and back of the neck. As his body is composed of necroplasm, and thus supernatural in origin, this does not affect his ability to speak or move.

[Supermaxx]

| Character Identity |

Steve Rogers, AKA Nomad

| Age |

40

| Character Differences |
The primary difference between this version of Steve Rogers and most others is what he's experienced. His life has been characterized by a constant, unwinnable battle against fascism, and that has shaped his worldview considerably. Steve still holds true to all his beliefs about liberty, equality and justice- but he finds his faith in man waning. Can his country ever truly get better? Can they really overcome this dark period of their history, or are they forever damned to ignorance and hate? In his lowest moments Rogers oft thinks the answer no, and wonders if he might put the shield down and live out the rest of his days in peace with the woman he loves. The heavy guilt and sense of responsibility keeps him from pulling the trigger, but its always there, gnawing at the back of his mind.

In terms of power levels Nomad is a few steps above peak human. He's able to perform incredible feats of speed and strength, and seems remarkably able to shrug off punishment, but he's not going toe to toe with the big boys anytime soon. Much of his strength lies less in physical might and more in quick, tactical thinking and decades of leadership experience under his belt. He's led both a military unit and partisans to great success back on earth, and he'll bring it to bear out here as well.


| Brief World Background |
Steve comes from a world trapped under the jackboot of the Großgermanisches Reich. His timeline diverged at the Battle of Dunkirk, where the evacuation attempts were halted by HYDRA built super weapons, and the British Expeditionary Force was completely and utterly destroyed. This defeat laid the groundwork for Operation Sea Lion: the German army landed along the southern beaches of Great Britain and began their push toward London, only for FDR to unilaterally declare war on the Axis Powers- without the approval of congress and against the Neutrality Acts he had signed himself just a few years earlier.

The American intervention in the United Kingdom saw the first deployment of Captain America, the one and only successful subject of Project: Rebirth and the singular superhuman in that timeline. His presence was celebrated by the men on the ground, as well as by the civilian population of the United Kingdom, yet he was oddly controversial back home. Many powerful people opposed the war, and they saw Captain America as an easy target for their propaganda: soon half the rags in the U.S were claiming the man behind the shield was a secret communist, or that his unnatural abilities were the creation of 'Jewish science.' Of particular controversy were the men he chose for the Howling Commandos, including a number of black and Japanese soldiers in a time where segregation was still army policy.

Instead of opening up the western front in the Mediterranean and North Africa as advised by the British, the less experienced American command staff opted to go with Operation Sledgehammer: an ill-advised invasion of the Cotentin Peninsula in Northern France, where the Germans would have numerical superiority. Major General Walker Price, a young and inexperienced leader, lost nearly half his entire division after pressing ahead into German lines and getting himself surrounded; the only reason his unit survived at all was due to the timely arrival of Captain America and a commandeered armored column, who held open the line long enough for a full rout back to the coast. Price was stripped of his command and shipped back to the States. Angry, humiliated, and heart beating with a desire for revenge, Price was the perfect candidate for what came next...

A coalition of businessmen, politicians and other officials formed a plot to unseat Franklin Roosevelt as president and end hostilities with the Axis powers. Their reasons were their own: ranging from those who wanted to reverse Roosevelt's economic policies to full-blown Nazi sympathizers. This plot had all the money and manpower it needed, but they wanted someone with the charisma, reputation and pull to ensure their plans would succeed, and Walker Price was that man. Since coming home he'd waged his own war in the press against Captain America and the U.S government, blaming them for the failure at Cotentin- and making allusions to unknown persons who were sabotaging the war effort to ensure the fighting went on longer for the sake of their own profits and power. He was all too happy to join in on this coup.

Walker arrived in Washington, D.C with a veritable army of demonstrators, many of them armed former veterans or soldiers who had abandoned their posts to join in the march; also among their number were anti-war protesters, fascists and Nazi sympathizers, and a slew of other folk who took issue with the current administration. Undercover HYDRA agents assured that the gathering was large, the presence of American fascists was undersold by the papers, and agitated against capitol police and the national guard wherever possible. What followed was several weeks of protesting and rioting, running street battles between all manner of factions and the government, and the eventual arrest of the president- ending with Major General Price instituting martial law across the nation.

An armistice was signed with the Axis powers, and America was drowned in civil unrest. The country was divided sharply on the events of that year. There was widespread violence along all sorts of lines: political, racial religious. Insurrections against the new government popped up across the nation but were quickly stomped out. These acts were used as justification for an extension of military rule, and the violence was blamed on communist agitators.

Its been twenty years since the war ended in an Axis victory: the Greater German Reich is a bloated slave empire suffering under the weight of constant civil strife and international pressure, Spain and Italy have formed a political bloc in opposition to the Reich and its puppet states, and the Co-Prosperity Sphere seeks to oust its former allies and their colonies from the eastern hemisphere.

The United States has developed its own strand of fascism, characterized by a faux democracy, intense racial segregation, and the merging of business, church and state into one, cumbersome behemoth. They collaborate openly with the Reich, and ‘National Socialist’ is as common a political identity as Democrat or Republican.

| Brief Character Background |
Much of Steve Rogers' history remains unaltered: he was just a kid from Brooklyn who wanted to make a difference. After a dozen failed attempts at enlisting in the U.S Army he was picked as a candidate for Project: Rebirth, America's super soldier program. Doctor Erskine's serum was successful in transforming Rogers into Captain America, the first superhuman in mankind's history. Erskine's death at the hands of HYDRA assassins would ensure Steve was the only superhuman as well. Handed a shield made of rare, vibration-absorbing metal and an appropriately patriotic costume, Rogers would begin his training: both as America's greatest soldier and its poster boy.

Then he was off to Europe to fight the Nazis with his own handpicked team, starting with the liberation of the United Kingdom where he met the love of his life. His role as Captain America proved far more complicated than he'd expected it to be, receiving just as much hate as he did admiration. A frightening number of Americans didn't see him as the symbol of justice and liberty that Rogers had been told he'd be- they saw him as a radical, a tool of warmongers, and even a race traitor. But Steve always believed in people. Always had hope that his country's flaws could be overcome. Most people were, in his mind, fundamentally decent.

When he finally came home from the front, however, Rogers was met with a starkly different nation from the one he'd left. He and his fellow veterans were spat on, assaulted. Called all sorts of nasty things. Segregation had intensified, there was widespread sectarian violence, and hatred and bigotry was everywhere he looked. It disheartened him, but he wasn't a man to give up when things got difficult. He resolved to do his part to fix his country: interviews, rallies, and peaceful demonstrations; get connected with other influential folks who believed in the dream.

Things only got worse.

It wasn't long before he was denounced as a dissident, stripped of his rank, and declared a 'person of interest' in unspecific criminal activity. HYDRA agents helped federal agents track Rogers, his friends, and even those he loved. Anyone who wasn't willing to give him up got prison time or worse. Again and again his faith was tested as he was forced to go underground, to continue his activities under a different name. It'd become obvious that this was a war he couldn't win with ballots and speeches, but bullets. He would lead a prominent resistance organization for the next fifteen years as Nomad, the man without a country. Every single day would see his hope for change tested, would show him evidence that all he did was for naught; it was as if the universe conspired to tell him mankind was fundamentally anything but good.

[BangoSkank]

| Character Identity |

Jonah Hex, Weapon Hex

| Age |

Older Than Dirt

| Character Differences |

Jonah Hex lived once long ago during the Civil War of the United States. Raised in the South he may well have ended up fighting for the Confederacy were it not for the positive influence of his father, Woodson Hex. Fleeing the war (and potential charges regarding the sudden disappearance of his wife) himself Woodson took his son with him and exchanged him in New Mexico for safe passage through tribal lands.

Raised there among the tribe until as a young man he got into a violent confrontation with the natural born son of his adoptive father, the Chieftain of the tribe. Exiled from the tribe he went on to live a long rough life in the Wild West as a bounty hunter and all around rough customer. His story departs here from his traditional treatment in D.C. Comics.

After a hard brutal life he found a swift violent end and his body became a curiosity for some time before being acquired by a government run private museum of just such curiosities as well as any usable biological material. As the world developed and the United States government became aware of and involved in superhumans, mutants, and in time the supernatural several government operations opened up. Some operating officially and openly but many operating under more than one level of cover. One such program, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Development, came into possession of Hex's body and one of their number with a particular affinity for speaking with the deceased talked him back from the abyss.

Classified as a Weapon for some time, perhaps correctly, Jonah Hex walks again. Now officially designated as Weapon Hex he came to become a major part of the B.P.R.D. in this reality. Largely filling in the large mean bastard with a big gun role that Hellboy plays in most realities. He is dispatched to help solve mysteries and put down threats of a supernatural and particularly dangerous nature.

As part of B.P.R.D.'s weaponizing Hex now has a substantial healing factor and as a consequence of his long visit in the lands of the dead he now has a connection to the underworld. A sixth sense essentially. Beyond that he is simply a large, mean, sharp shooting, dirty fighting, hard drinking son of a bitch.

| Brief World Background |

The world Jonah Hex/Weapon Hex comes from is a more violent and more magical iteration of the DC and Marvel Worlds. One without the big hitters that could likely solve many of the problems quickly. Without a Superman or his rogue's gallery the government had to, or chose to, get more involved in matters. Some agencies monitor the superheroes of the world, others monitor the more mundane but still perfectly sinister machinations of the unpowered criminals that litter the world, the B.P.R.D. keeps an eye out for the magical, spiritual and just generally freaky happenings.

At times the B.P.R.D. comes in to conflict with the spheres of other existing heroes. Daredevil and The Hand, The X-Men and their stranger foes, and often with many of the more street level heroes when B.P.R.D. is called in and collateral damage occurs.

| Brief Character Background |

Dispatched on just another mission Hex found himself inside a decades old parking structure which had been torn down and bulldozed twelve years ago investigating an anomaly. Strange happenings but that was par for the course. Hackles raised, massive revolver loaded up and ready for bear, he moved slowly up the levels of the parking structure. Winds blowing up small dirt devils despite the parking structures immaculate keeping. Top to bottom, parking spots, security booth, all four stairwells, nothing supernatural. Nothing amiss. Except a moment later the sky changed colors and he was all at once in an entirely new world. Some powerful mojo at work.