The Return of Time

[cityship]

As the Clock was destroyed, all of the stolen time rushed back to it's original owners, causing them to rapidly age back to normal. But as the crew would soon notice, it seemed that the stolen time didn't always go back to exactly the right place...

[[ooc: Time to get back to normal guys! This is basically a case of very rapid ageing - they'll basically speed through the years through about a couple of minutes or so. Of course, everyone won't get back to exactly the right time - most will only be out by a pretty insignificant amount of time (such as a few minutes, or hours, or days, etc - depends how close significant events are to the point they're from.) For those who are using this to change canon point, they're going to end up at a different point, obviously]]

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Location: The Halls

[badassfreakingoverlord]

A kid!Zetta scampered merrily down a corridor, some mischief or another in mind --

Midbounce, the change hit.

Mana power roared outwards in a surge of purple energy, building from "significant" to "strongest in the cosmos" in one massive rush that seemed like it would threaten existence itself...

Then abruptly, with a sharp snap, the demonic form condensed into a book. The mana power cut off as the book spun down to the floor, landing face-down.

It did not move again.

[thewunderkind]

Speaking of one of the people Lash was looking for...or well in this situation, a demon. A book demon. A demon who did not have fingers and toes anymore and...well you get the picture.

The problem right now is the book did not look like it was moving at all.

"Zetta?" If you listened closely there was maybe a tiny bit of concern in her voice. Just a bit.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Nothing.

Then again, that was just one word, right?

[starbolts]

Some time later, Starfire encountered Lord Zetta, restored to his proper age. And re-bound to his proper pages. Not that she agreed with that at all, but at least he was no longer in danger of disappearing from existence! They would free him somehow.

But she knew he would not be very happy about his plight, so she floated up with a concerned expression.

"Lord Zetta?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Nothing.

Silence.

Immobile book. Might as well be just some random tome left lying out.

Location: The Medbay

[teethofneedles.livejournal.com]

One of the many, many kids who's popped up throughout this whole affair, has been hanging out in the medbay for most of it. A young girl with black hair is hunched over slightly, pointedly scratching out shaky letters onto a stylus - and then there's a brief moment where her back arches and her mouth opens in a silent scream, fingers convulsing as she grows larger, body aging rapidly. She becomes a teenager, a young woman on the cusp of adulthood and then for a very brief horrible moment, her body goes limp and pale, eyes sightless, expressionless - and then she decomposes. Not as rapidly as you'd expect. Bits of her are missing, parts of her are gone, but she's still very much identifiable. Her hair turns a strange blackish-purple and her eyes rot away, replaced with gleaming yellow lights, her fingers with bony claws.

Then Karis slumps back into the bed, eyes wide and staring up at the ceiling of the medical bay. Her mouth works and no sound comes out for a very long time.

/if this is okay?

[encourage]

Sakura was breathing a sigh of relief that so far nothing else catastrophic had happened on the minute ago heels of the total power-down that had happened for those throat-catching minutes. Working on finding Cassie clothing appropriate to her regained state had kept her busy as Howard had left Medical, while the rest of those down here while the dragons had taken to destroying the damnable clock that had gotten them into this situation were around.

Her shadow clone catches some of the tail end of Karis going through a process she recognizes, if not as well in someone who continued to live in the aftermath. Then again, that was part of un-death. More personal and literal for Karis than it had been on Sakura's world, where returning from death was by means that tied a soul to another's body.

She approached, tone even and collected as she asked her question. "Welcome back, Ms. Needleteeth. Is there anything I can get for you?" Sorry about the dead again thing. That had to have been incredibly disorienting to live through -- die through -- and decompose through on fast forward.

do eet

[teethofneedles.livejournal.com]

A clawed hand snapped out at Sakura and then Karis caught herself, the hand withdrawn, curled into a fist as she looked away. She didn't want to look at the young woman, so full of life, so reminiscent of herself years ago - weeks ago - that it almost made her sick. Well, she imagined she felt sick more than anything. Zombies usually didn't throw up or get nauseous.

"No. Just leave me alone."

She was a bit surprised to find herself in a hospital gown, but she remembered coming her - of her own free will. She dangled her legs over the edge of the bed and flexed her fingers open and shut.

"...just get me my damn armor back."

She felt naked, out of armor. The protective shell that kept blades, bullets and spells away from her fragile flesh, hid her body from everyone, was gone.

[thewunderkind]

A tiny little toddler was busy running in the streets of the city. She knew that after the play, clearly there wouldn't by much time left for her to enjoy this body. The day was won! Everything would be alright! And now she still had all this energy to go around everywhere, and my what a wonderful building this was and this place did seem pretty nice and...

[thewunderkind]

Return to normality certainly hurt.

Lash definitely had not been expecting the change to be so sudden, as the memories came flooding back with each new heartbeat. The freecaring child felt herself turning back into a much more rational adult and in horror she realized how little she had been planning this. This was normal, a child would not have known. But a growing teenager knew that the pain was terrible, and she was now in the middle of the city, right in the open air where anything could have attacked her.

Her hands instinctively had gone to the sides of her head as a massive headache from so much imagery forced her to fall on the ground to avoid harming herself any more. At first like a burning pain in her chest, she felt the tiny little toddler clothing being torn to pieces and only the plantsuit remained as she grew into her adult body once again. When everything is done, Lash breathed in and out in gasps, the pain finally leaving her body.

Location: Atori Teahouse

[darknight-ren.livejournal.com]

Ren had been walking down the stairs when the Clock was destroyed. Immediately, he grew out of his clothes, left in a few tattered shreds of cloth over the plantsuit he'd put on when he learned the Time Dragons had come. At some point between his teenage years and adulthood, he managed to grab the banister to keep from falling.

But there was a lot of extra time to return to him, and the constant loops of the Rider War left him on his knees, barely clinging to the banister as his lifeline. He blacked out a couple of times from injuries and deaths before finally it stopped. He was twenty-five again--a year on the ship after his last year in the Time Vent, having just gone into battle with Kido in the Mirror World against a swarm of Raydragoons that had begun invading.

But the other Time Vents were still there in his mind: the arrival of Femme and the battle against Ryuga; the coalition of Riders under Verde trying to kill him and Kido, and his death avenging Tezuka; a vague battle where he'd faked his own death against Ouja and then fought Kido to the death, though he couldn't seem to remember which of them won and wished the other back to life; and the loss of Eri and his time as Odin. More and more time loops, each less coherent than the last, the differences increasingly more subtle.

He finally let go of the railing and sat on the stairs, keeping his head down as he tried to breathe.

Location: Obs Deck

[bonnypiperlad]

When it happens, Jamie is playing at fighting, running around with a wooden sword turned up in the depths of the TARDIS and yelling 'Creag An Tuire' quite happily. One moment he is fine - and the next his eyes go quite wide and he drops to his knees. The sword falls from nerveless fingers and hits the ground next to him.

Like with so many other of the crew members, he begins to age, shifting from boy to teenager to young man in a very short time. The block on his memories of the ship and all his friends lifts as well - but it's not a pleasant process, and he cries out as they flood in. Soon enough, his mind overwhelmed by the combination of aging and his memories returning, he slumps to the floor, quite unconscious.

A short time later, however, there's a groan from where he's fallen, and Jamie reawakens. Groggily, he pushes himself up from the floor and brings a hand to his head, trying to focus on the room around him without much luck.

"Ooh, my head..."

[morphitudinous]

Billy's long search for familiar faces brings him to the Obs Deck next, where he hears a longed-for and pained voice. Jamie's. He's safe, but...is this normal? What if the memory alteration is permanent? It's a very, very small probability, but one that can't be entirely ignored.

"...Hey," calls a tentative voice from nearby. No matter who it is, it's not right to leave someone suffering. "I can't imagine how rough that has to be."

Bendytimed to a little bit later!

[makeherblue]

It's over. The Time Dragons have dealt with the clock, whether it's out of boredom, greed or just because they can, and the end result is the same: the infected are safe and...

Well, he's happy for that.

But Jamie McCrimmon is a special case and if there's anything that wants to do him in through old fashioned regular death or regressing into non-existence, it's that paradox of his. So the Doctor runs. He legs it to the Medbay, but there's no sign of Jamie, nor his kilt, nor anyone seeing particularly worried about a rogue paradox stalking one of the crew. The Doctor's glad right there that he's been gifted with a young body again, running up and down the levels and finding that either no one's seen Jamie or they might have and he's barely sitting still to listen to the directions. The Doctor's hearts are in his throat as he circles back to the Hanger. What if he regressed back anyway, clock or no clock?

The Doctor wouldn't put it past that paradox. It's had it out for Jamie since day one.

He sees a human with his back to him, a head of dark hair and...okay, so there's no kilt but he thinks the height matches and even if the walk is a bit wobbly, it still looks McCrimmonish.

"Jamie!" The Doctor jogs toward him, hoping rising.

Winchester House

[notadamnangel.livejournal.com]

Dean was in the living room making 'vroom vroom' sounds quietly while he played. He liked the Cars movie, and insisted Sam do repeat showings of it.

He then doubled over, trying to keep down the pain he was feeling as his body shifted and abruptly grew from his four year old self to his thirty year old form. His clothes shredded around him and he started to curl up on himself.

At the same time, memories were flashing in his brain. Seventy years of memories crashed in within minutes. His body then seized on him, his limbs stiffening before he shook, and eventually lapsed into unconsciousness.

[chosenfamily]

Four years old seemed to be stable. It gave Sam more days of not having to worry about visions as they pertained to Dean. Though by this time, he could just about recite the lines in Cars without it being on.

He'd heard that they were getting ready to get rid of the clock, but Sam didn't know when, nor did he know how long it would take for things to revert. Which was why he was blindsided by the vision, the pain knocking him to his knees.

When it passed, he pushed himself up, stumbling to the main room. He grabbed a blanket from the couch, throwing it over his brother's still form on the floor, reaching out to check that he even still had a pulse and the aging hadn't stopped sometime during his four months of being dead.

Location: The Bathhouse

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

Despite her shyness at her younger age, Cagalli had always has a knack for going wherever she wanted to. As a child she'd nearly gotten herself hurt quite a few times with improbable jaunts through government or even military facilities, her continued survival a testament to either luck or mad skills.

She'd managed to avoid any adults trying to keep an eye on her, and sneaked off to the bathhouse all on her own. Even at a young age, she had taken a liking to them, and she had memories from her time here as well. A lot of memories, I think like half her freaking threads here have been in the bathhouse. This is now a running joke. So she'd slipped into the mildest coed pool in a child's swimsuit...

Then she found herself... feeling very funny. She knew it was happening, but hadn't really been able to comprehend the sudden rush of intense pain as everything began stretching and growing improbably fast, all of her memories from before Stacy rushing in a whirlwind; all the people she'd lost, both close friends and the citizens of Orb. Cagalli grit her teeth, biting back a scream that wouldn't come out of her expanding lungs properly anyways. The swimsuit stretched briefly as she pushed towards teen years, tugging painfully at her before it finally tore.

In retrospect, this was not her worst idea. She was in the shallow end of the pool, so when she passed out, she simply slumped against the rocks in the tepid, relaxing water.

The one noteworthy downside: now she was naked and unconscious in a mixed bathing area.

[a_mere_human]

Speaking of running jokes...

And some time after she passed out (a few minutes or few hours, who knows?), water was splashed on her face.

"Wake up."

Location: The City

[brustriese.livejournal.com]

Signum wasn't even aware of the Melting Clock in principle. Still in hiding in a disused part of the city, the only things left on her mind were letting her wounds heal and heading out to try and complete...the...

Signum collapses from her sitting position as her memories come flooding back, her body's condition deteriorating slightly as her connection to the accursed thing she had so recently been enslaved to was severed in an instant of rushed time. Crouched on her hands and knees on the floor, her face is practically paralyzed into a horrified expression.

She had...she'd...she'd done it again. Her most horrifying of all her horrifying dishonors, and she'd blithely repeated it. Hurt people. Stolen. Attacked her best friends.

All for absolutely nothing.

Signum, alone in her hideout, collapses to the floor sobbing as much as she feels she can allow herself.

Re: Location: The City

[notsaintkaiser.livejournal.com]

It had been just sheer luck that Vivio had passed by where Signum was hiding. She wasn't aware that the Clock had been destroyed, just that she had attacked a lot of people - Einhart included - and she wanted answers.

Entering the room, she stops nearby, an even expression on her face. "Why? Why did you attack Einhart-chan?!"

Location: Cassie's House

[livestoannoy]

Marco and Rachel had been mucking about in Cassie's barn (hay was so much fun to jump around in!), when the returning time hit. In a matter of moments, Marco went from being five, to eight, to eleven, to thirteen and then finally settling on sixteen years old.

For a moment he didn't say anything. He just tried to breathe.

Re: Location: Cassie's House

[livestoannoy]

Once he'd manage to collect himself, he looked up at Rachel. Even though he'd just been talking to her moments ago, been living in the same house as her for months, somehow seeing her hit him like a kick to the gut.

He'd seen her die, but here she was still alive.

[[ooc: closed to Rachel, for when Cait eventually gets back!]]

Re: Location: Cassie's House

[livestoannoy]

After returning back to normal, Marco hovered outside the front door to Cassie's house. He wasn't sure how to feel. He wanted to see his mom again, and let her know that he was alright. That he wasn't going to deage out of existence.

But he also knew that he'd screwed up. He'd screwed up big time. And he wasn't sure if he'd ever forget the look on her face, after he'd gone and acted like she was Visser One.

Taking a deep breath, he quietly slid inside. "Hey Mom," he said, plastering on a grin.

[[closed to Eva]]

Location: Hilde's House

[hellraiser02.livejournal.com]

Duo hadn't recognized this house the last time he'd snuck into it, planning on swiping food. He hadn't expected to meet someone who recognized him, either, but that was the only reason he hadn't come back here after that. He was too spooked by all these people who seemed to know him, and with the uneasy memories that had come with this particular encounter, he'd avoided this place the most, after that.

It was weird as an orphan, sneaking into a place that somewhere in the back of your mind registered as 'home'.

When Duo started reaging, the first few moments brought such a shock of pain to his system that he had doubled over where he'd been rooting around in an abandoned part of the City, gasping, tears streaming down his face.

Father... Sister...

When he finally was to his senses enough to stumble back to Hilde's house (a good 7-8 years added to his stature), he was a moody mess, dark glower being tossed every which way as he stalked through the living room towards the back bedroom hall, heading for his room. There were still days, weeks tacking themselves on to him, now, but the worst of it had passed by then. He didn't bother calling out to learn if Hilde was home; he assumed without a care that she'd probably hear his thrashing, anyway.

Re: Location: Hilde's House

[goodenuff2kill.livejournal.com]

Hilde had been worried about Duo ever since he had ran off. She had caught a kid sneaking into the house before, but he ran as soon as she called out to him. There wasn't a need to steal food from here, it was his as well. She knew that the kid she had seen had been him, he had the same hair and eyes.

"Duo?" she called out quietly as she looked out into the hall from her own room. She really didn't know what was going on, but she was there for him, like she had been before when he ran off. She knew that he would come back eventually.

Either that or she'd find him in the hangar with Deathscythe. She was going to give him a little bit more time before she went looking for him, but now he was home.