trans_9 | All Hail the Maginificent Time Dragons

Before the start of the play, Billy had gathered the cast and crew behind the curtain for one last pep talk.

[[ooc: Cast and crew only here, obviously]]

The crew would find Billy preparing for the biggest performance of their lives. A major slip-up here could potentially cost them lives, so the pressure was undoubtedly on. He'd taken to setting up a large pitcher of water with enough glasses for everyone nearby, immediately taking one for himself and dipping a cloth in it. Maybe he wouldn't be so overheated if he wasn't wearing a bulky black vest over a black costume, but that was what he was told to wear. Black for backstage, right?

He needed to wipe his brow after the running around and checking he'd been doing all the previous night and day. Yes, Lash and Allenby's pyrotechnics were inspected for safety. Yes, Beastboy, Dick, and Mindy knew their sword routine. Yes, most everyone had gotten much better at pronouncing their lines. Even better, they were actually looking at each other and moving around the stage! No one had turned their back to the audience direction for a few hours, thankfully.

Everything was as comfortable as he could make it, complete as it could be. So now it was time to get the ball rolling.

"Okay, everyone. Curtain's due to open in ten minutes. Before we get out there and 'break a leg', as it's often said, I just wanted to thank you all again for doing this for me. For us. It means so much to our crew---if we succeed, they'll be restored and safe." He smiled sincerely at all of them.

"When we started, I wasn't sure that we were going to make it. I'm still not entirely certain, but you've all shown that you care about getting this right. We've come a long way in the past few days, haven't we? And maybe, just maybe I've learned to direct in a way that you all can understand.

Remember: the most important thing here is to show emotion, as sincere as you can make it. Don't worry so much about the lines being entirely perfect. What matters is getting the story across in a meaningful way. We've come too far for this, so...we can do it. I know we can."

Can't they?

Hell yes they could. Sakura had never worn more layers in her life than what she currently had on, and she could see no reason behind half of it other than allergies to sunlight, exposure, temperature, or movement.

Also, quite possibly sanity. "Billy's right," she said with a smile, adjusting the ridiculous headcovering one last time. "We'll get through this. Besides, it's kind of fun, right?"

For someone?

Aftran was sure she could do this. She had her lines memorized, she'd figured out how to pronounce all of those weird old-timey words, and Paris's... character, she supposed, wasn't that hard to get into. It was nothing like imitating a host at all, she'd found, but it wasn't difficult, either.

"I don't know about that," she replied, "but you're right that he's right. We've practiced enough that we should have no trouble."

Underneath her costume, Tenaya was wearing a special cooldown suit she'd picked up on XaXing--backup to keep from overheating since she still hadn't gotten the waterproofing on her body right.

And it wasn't like this was the fate of a bunch of people on the ship, including her friend and one-time husband Zetta. Nothing that would make her sweat if she could.

"Let's get this started," she decided, the picture of professionalism.

"Sure it'll be fun!" Jr. chimed in enthusiastically. "Being too serious about it can be stressful. And even though this is important, having fun'll ensure that we're not too stiff about it."

Jr. was still banking on the actors' enjoyment shining through enough to appease the dragon. Sure, he knew they had to do things right, but he figured that it would happen naturally if they weren't all serious business about getting it perfect.

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In the Sensoriums, the cast and crew of Stacy's first production of Romeo and Juliet were about to perform what would quite possibly be the most interesting rendition of the play yet...

[[ooc: Okay, easiest way to work this is probably to make sub threads for particular scenes, or for a bit of backstage shenanigans, etc etc. Basically, just play out the bits you want to for this]]

A play was nothing without an audience, of course - what would the Time Dragons and the rest of the crew think of this particular performance?

[[ooc: The rest of the crew can be in the audience as well for this, not just Time Dragons! So, feel free to tag in if your character would come watch]]

Metronome adjusted the monocle he'd had on since arriving, settling down for his second sensorium performance since Kang's devious bit of work. "Live performances have an air of possibility generated performances lack."

Condescending to the metal bones he might have, the great time dragon settled in to the place he decided was his -- consequently, if it was a giant marble lounger fit for exactly his size, so was the Sensorium responsive to his particular tastes -- awaiting fanfare, or possibly the play, to begin.

"Beastboy! Please do not break your leg, but you will succeed!"

Starfire crammed her cheers in shortly before curtain time, accompanied by a little sign that she'd put up again when the cast took their bows. It was a simple little sign, featuring 'We ♥ Beastboy!!' and a rather cute picture of his face.

...No, Starfire, this isn't a sports game.

In the Jedi Temple, four Time Dragons approached the Clock...

[[ooc: Time Dragons only here, please]]

Metronome took a last look around their surroundings before shuddering in distaste. Some people just couldn't understand how to preserve culture in the artful way it was meant to be showcased.

And then there was the clock. Really, things like that only deserved to be painted from memory, not actually out and about making a mockery of the idea of time management. "Ladies first," he said with a tiny percentage of sincerity, tipping his head to the female members of their little group.

Looking very pleased with themselves, the Time Dragons paraded through the City, clearly expecting to be lavished with praise and attention for their magnificent feat of destroying the Clock.

[[ooc: If you feel like threading with a Time Dragon, tag here!]]

Metronome was taking his sweet time moving around the city, given to poking his nose in and examining things some probably argued couldn't even be art while turning his head to the scent of any virgin female walking by. Not to say they were worth his notice, but really, one could smell who went better with thyme or not, and all time dragons did have a fondness for thyme...

Still, that was no matter. The crew had invited Metronome up for the things that were his due, and now he was going to get all his time's worth out of this very interaction. After all, waste not, want not, and their little problem with the clock was finally handled.

Sakura frowned, guiding them both back toward the observation deck in a bid to find at least one of the four time dragons who had come on board to destroy the clock. Marco had been brought in when it became apparent that the destruction of the clock hadn't returned all of his missing time to him. Luck had this happen after most the MedBay had calmed down, at least to a level where the rest on staff were able to handle what was going on. People leaving in the aftermath of reaging to their proper timeframes, updated records, checking in on the ones who hadn't been in the bay, yet others tracking down how the power outage had happened -- and now, trying to find one of the experts on time to suck up and ask about the very thing they'd just destroyed.

She hoped they'd find any one of the dragons outside of Analog. The time she'd had to spend in that old dragon's company was already enough to be written off as too much and never to be repeated. "Just to reiterate, what was the oldest you ever remembered yourself to be on ship?"

Edited 2011-06-13 07:33 (UTC)

"I don't know!" Marco said, frustrated. And well, also somewhat annoyed at the fact that he'd apparently lost three whole years. "It's not like I can go by the number of candles on my last birthday cake."

He found himself wondering, not for the first time, exactly why Sakura had felt the need to suddenly drag him through the ship. "Who exactly is this 'time expert' anyway?" he asked, suspicious.

"Who are they," she corrected absently, still frowning. "They're the ones who destroyed the clock. Once we bribed them into it," she added, "Though I think officially it was a diplomatic mission. They should be gathering on the observation deck at some point so the ship can set them back down on Era."

Hence their current travel path and proposed destination. "It's possible something happened when they were destroying the clock that changed how time was redistributed back to everyone. The only way to know that for sure is to go asking. And since it's your time that's missing, it's possible that in looking at you, they can figure out where it went."

"And if you had to bribe them just to destroy the Clock, what makes you think they'll answer anything you ask without you bribing them more?" Marco asked, dubious. "Not to mention that if these guys screwed up? I seriously doubt they'll admit it."

He half wondered if he should be angrier, about the fact that he'd apparently lost three whole years. Three years of no war, no fighting, no Yeerks. Except...well, he couldn't even remember it. And it was hard to be angry about missing something he still felt like he'd never had. If anything, he was more pissed about the fact that his timeline was being jerked around by other people than by the fact that he wasn't nineteen.

"Assuming it's a screw up," she said, if she didn't comment on the rest. Sakura didn't expect answers out of the time dragons, and not just because of what it had taken to bring them on ship. Still, it was worth a try. Doing nothing was a course of action in its own right.

She wasn't ready to accept nothing. Not yet, maybe not ever.

"They like talking about how great they are. It's possible we can get one going and get an explanation out just because they can't help themselves in affirming just how thorough their control over anything time related is. Pandering to them like before isn't strictly necessary..."

Sakura shook her head. "Least they probably won't eat us."

"You think they might have messed up on purpose?" Marco said, narrowing his eyes. Even though he didn't know who she was talking about at all, he could still believe it. Assume the worst, always. And oh, great, apparently these guys just thought they were so goddamn fantastic...

...wait.

"Excuse me? Probably wont' eat us?!" he spluttered.

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At least they had an explanation.

It was the only silver lining next to not losing members of the crew and not spontaneously combusting and not being eaten by a Time Dragon that she currently felt like focusing on while she went over what kind of report to give to Faiza -- and Samuel, now that he was back to usual (presumably) -- to pass on up the line to Magical and whoever else needed to know.

Maybe the whole ship.

... Again.

"Despite just about everything, at least we know why you've got such a noticeable time discrepancy. Knowing everyone has one to an extent is... good." Good being relative. Knowing more was nice, at least in theory.

"Yes, good. Sure, I've lost three years of my life and there's no way to get the back, but hey! At least we know why. Obviously this is a cause for us to get out the party streamers and have a celebration."

Marco? Sarcastic? No.

"Is it the memories you're worried about? Because I'm sure if you ask Stacy nicely enough she might be able to dig those up for you."

Creepy, because it might be true. "I'm sorry, and I can't imagine losing that much time and being force to live forward through it all again, let alone outside of where you did last time, but in the face of what we were looking at?" She looked over at him. "A moment of celebration sounds nice. Really nice. Just five minutes of, 'Oh, look, we're all right!' We can get back to the pessimistic estimations for staying that way afterward."

Or being stuck in worry central. It wasn't enough to have to worry about the people who built this ship, the ship itself, the Ohm, the GIA, anything else hidden on this ship, anything else obvious on this ship, or, you know, the potential for things to go horribly wrong on missions the ship assigned people to, but even shore leave couldn't be free of disastrous complications that permanently altered people here.

Yes. Five minutes thinking about something else would be nice.

"Sure, let's just go ask Stacy to stuck a bunch of memories in my brain, and hope that she doesn't decide to give me the wrong ones," Marco said, rolling his eyes. "And you can never have enough pessimistic estimations. Especially since the moment you don't have them is probably the moment when you should have."

But celebrations...sure, he didn't feel much like celebrating recent events, but Sakura had reminded he of something. A glint creeped into his eyes when he looked at her. "Although you do still owe me that date..."