Member
Spoopy ScaryArchie Davis
Brave Water Bridge
It was a good view of the city, from the bus Archie was seated in. The bridge they were riding along passed parallel to the horizon, letting everyone take in the sights before they threw themselves into it. Some of them were more curious about what, or who, was inside the bus rather than across the lake from it. Even the people that had been riding for longer than Archie were still passing glances at him - a man wearing a yellow bag with an orange X over his head was definitely a less than normal sight to see. For most, it was a very clear giveaway that he was a meta-human, and that put them off. The animosities of yesteryear still rang deep, evidently. But no one acted on their hostile suspicions, if there were any, and Archie was thankful for that.
He shifted his gaze of unclear origin from the window to the rather large, gray backpack lying on the seat next to him. It looked like something that someone ready to climb Mt. Everest would be hauling. Archie was checking it every few minutes out of habit, making sure its condition and placement weren't changing. What was in that backpack was more important than... well, a lot of things put together. At least, in Archie's non-existent eyes.
He turned back to the view of Baybridge. He'd be there in a matter minutes.
...
White Coast
The bus came to a stop, and everyone got up to get off. Archie picked up the backpack with his left hand and slung it over his shoulder. He walked and passed the driver along with the rest of the passengers, and stepped down onto the station sidewalk. And he stood there, looking ahead, above, and around him. He took in all the immediate sights that the city was showing to him. Some people passed by and wondered how he even was looking through the bag on his head, but it didn't matter much to them as they left the immediate area. Archie turned his attention towards a publicly available map on the side of a seating booth adjacent to the bus stop. Handy.
Archie ran his finger over the western area, landing on the name of his current location, affixed with a noticeable red dot saying you are here. White Coast, that's where he was. A taste of town, before the gates opened up to the real deal. Prince Ed-Field, as it was, lied right over yonder. He'd head there after he was done here. He had a bit of business to tend to at the moment.
Archie unloaded the backpack from upon his shoulder and unzipped it, and out he pulled something quite interesting. A bag, a very large bag, reinforced with various fabrics and padding, and absolutely covered in what appeared to be... signatures. Signatures, written in a myriad of differently colored inks, simple and elegant all, little hearts and peace signs, doodles of random things - more than one person had definitely drawn on this thing. It was folded down several times to fit in the backpack, and Archie went to work laying it out on the ground. The bag ended in an opening wrapped with several loops of elastic, jutting out into two interwoven handles. Like a hoodie meant for a giant of a man. Archie set the bag on the ground and reached into the backpack again, pulling out an assortment of collapsible metal rods - the sort you'd use to prop up a tent. He took a moment to extend the rods and run them through a series of loops along the bag's opening, connecting the rods as well. Within a minute, the bag was upright, positioned in such a way that the opening looked like a doorway.
And it was, in fact, a doorway.
Archie looked inside, seeing the fabric fade into a dark void. Just ahead of him was a rope with a weighted handle on it. He stepped forward and grabbed it, and gave it one good tug with all his strength. In the distance, bells could be heard ringing one after the other, like a signal. By now, people near the bus stop were watching with genuine curiosity. And mere moments later, they came. In a haphazard line, a few dozen or so people exited from within the unknown, out into the bright of day. Many of them had smiles on their faces, most were fairly young - in their twenties or so. As they walked out, each of them acknowledged Archie in some way - giving him a thumbs up, patting his shoulder, or even hugging him. Some extended heartfelt goodbyes and words of sincere gratitude.
One by one, some in pairs, they departed, walking towards the nearby information booth or further into the city, knowing where they were going. Archie stood and watched them leave. Some had been riding along for months, even years. He was a little sad to see them go. But the sadness was quickly superseded by satisfaction, that they'd all gotten what they wanted. Somewhere else to call home.
As some other folks stood by and watched the odd event unfold, Archie began packing up the doorway to wherever. Collapsing the rods, folding up the bag, and so forth. Once everything was back in order, Archie slung the backpack over his shoulder once again, and took out his phone with his right hand. He positioned himself in front of the station map and took a picture of it, seeing as the pamphlet container on the side was empty of copies and the information booth was much too crowded. He took a few more pictures of each district of the city, so he could make out names and whatnot. Afterwards, he put his phone away, turned in the direction of the sidewalk, and began marching forth.
He was gonna take some time and get a feel for this place before he retired for the afternoon.
