They'd been played, utterly, and yet somehow, they'd managed to survive. Not without scars, both physical and mental, but they'd survived.

All because of a cheap bet made between two god-like beings.

They hadn't even gotten the chance to thank the townspeople that had stood up for them. No, the townspeople wouldn't even remember the crew; it'd be as if they'd never been there. The last thing they saw before appearing out of thin air on the Observation Deck aboard Stacy was a dismissive wave of a hand, and a bright flash of light.

[OOC: They're back! Multiple threads here, and thread-jacking is encouraged, since everyone is going to be trying to process wtf just happened.]

They had all changed back. They had their memories again, although they still remember most of their fake lives, but those memories now seemed as hazy and false as they were.

They were themselves again. The problem with that is that it meant much of the group transformed back into draconians, Vikings, mutants, and other people that just generally did not fit into Fairplay at all. Even those that looked normal, their families and the people they interacted with every day now realized their minds have been altered by something and that the meatcrew hadn't always been there.

While some of their fake families still wanted to help, others recoiled in horror, and the townspeople had started to turn against them, terrified of the strangers in their midst. These people were something other, something that had been planted in the town right under their noses, obviously aliens or some other horrifying thing. Shot guns were being grabbed out of cabinets, people were snagging flashlights, and the night air around the town rang with cries of anger and panic.

The authorities had been called and the police were amassing the entire town police force to try to control the situation while they waited for the National Guard to come in--yes, the National Guard.

All the while, the group was almost drawn by instinct to a place in the woods, that could be reached by crossing some fields, a clearing, that somehow they knew would lead the way home. They might straggle in by themselves, or paired up with others, but in any case, somehow they all knew that was where they were supposed to go...

And then they got there, they found a fire burning right in the middle of the clearing, ringed with blue, and with no source of fuel, just floating the in the air, spreading a glow through the clearing. On the one hand, it was a horrible floating, deadly fire. On the other hand, some instinct they all shared, some indistinct notion was telling them this was somehow the way home.

Whatever they decided to do, they had to do it soon, because the angry voices were getting closer.

[ooc: More subthreads will be added, but since the reaction of the townspeople kinda depends on what the group is like when they arrive, I'm letting those subthreads happen first.]

It was inevitable for all of them. Something would push them, there would be cracks, and then the truth would find its way in.

How it changed for each of them would be different, but the end result would be the same.

The world would change.

Because they would change.

[ooc: I figured out a really good way to organize this with help from chat rather than a big messy communal post or spamming the comm with individual posts. Post each character with a blank tag with just the character's name in the subject. Underneath it, run as many subthreads for events as you need to set up for your specific character's change back. Hiccup's will be up as an example.]

This was Alison Truesdale's shot at popularity glory. She had invited, like, the entire school to her parent's giant house while they were away in Aspen for Christmas, leaving the entire house to her. (She'd purposefully wanted to stay home to throw a party, because they'd left all her presents and stuff, right? And beyond that, it's not like she wanted to hang out with her parents over the holidays. Booo-ring).

Okay, so maybe she hadn't invited the entire school, but most of the people in the junior and senior class and the invite was in turn, open to anyone they knew. She'd even discreetly made it seem like the nerdier kids could come, too, but, like, that was sort of a joke, you know, that they'd show up and think they were welcome, and then everyone else could pretend to like them and have a good laugh about it.

There was tons of food, good music, she'd even managed to get a ton of liquor and a keg thanks to her friend Ashley's older brother, and everything was just...perfect.

This was going to be, like, the party of the year, omg. Even the nerds there nerding it up could be part of the fun, especially since all the popular kids were totally in on the joke, and it seemed like none of them were.

[ooc: This is sheerly for teen mingling, though I am going to tag into various conversations with the weird reality bendy hallucinations and all, so get to tagging so I can!]

Ah, the Fairplay Christmas Pageant. It took place in the Fairplay VFW Hall every year, which, due to the regular needs of the town had received enough money to expand the hall to use it for most community events. People filtered in and out all night so that most families in the town made an appearance at some point. There was punch, egg nog, Christmas snacks, a guy who dressed up as Santa, little kids doing the Nativity play, the mayor's speech, Christmas raffles...

Everyone was expected to attend. Everyone. Parents dragged their kids and teenagers sulked in the corners, presents were exchanged among members of the town, people who did business together used it as a time to talk shop and be a little social, and parents talked about how great their kid's grades were or how little Johnny was doing on the football field.

What a wonderful celebration of townish togetherness, right? People talking about gifts they'd gotten their family members as the status symbols they were, people trying to compete with others in a competition of "Who has the most impressive child?," people sniping each other because of what happened at the last PTA meeting or because they were jealous of another person's success with their business. Funtimes, funtimes.

And as sad before, everyone was expected to attend. Everyone.

[ooc: Follow the rules for each subthread that are in the ooc notes.]

Just another day on Main Street...

Just another day at Fairplay High School...

It had been the usual mission briefing, not that any of them remembered it. The crew knew they were gone and had no idea when they'd be back, and likely wouldn't attempt rescue for quite some time, especially with Stacy considering the mission "ongoing."

They had no idea when they'd be back, either, namely because they never remembered being on the ship in the first place.

It was home. It had always been home.

Welcome to Fairplay, Iowa, folks, happiest little town in the Midwest.

[ooc: Read this before tagging.]