||Attention, Attention. The following personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention. The following personnel please report to the Observation Deck.
( A sweet little trip to Gummiring begins )
It was a nice, fluffy planet with a nice, fluffy name. Bound to be as nice as Happy Happy Fun World, right?

This still was not enough.

Sadness and depression continued, and now confusion had entered the mix. Nezaitben grew desperate that night, for the need was too great and the souls of those in the pods could not be taken. That could possibly kill them. But she still needed more followers.

There was, she thought, no other choice but to allow fate to pick for her.

That night, or what passed as a night for in the ship, Nezaitben took to the 'sky' once again, this time passing over everything she could, sending even more of her own essence fall on top of the sleeping populace, or those that were not sleeping finding themselves feeling the need too. Enveloping the ship into a peaceful slumber for a second day, she searched their dreams. The dreamcatchers of those who did not have connections were harder to weave together but it was still a skill she could do, and carefully, she did.

New empty husks of the bodies that weren't being used showed up at her palace, making the mass somewhat larger. With a heavy sigh, she began to dress them up, hoping this would be enough.

That morning, some of the crewmen would wake up to a strange surprise...and this time it wasn't just because their souls fit. In fact it was much worse, considering.

Beward of young, naive gods bearing gifts.

[OOC - Just a few rules. Keep in mind the listed rules. You can all start your own threads of waking up in the bodies of others. If you feel like leaving a 2nd post for other people to intact with them, start a reply to your own first post with OPEN header. That way everyone else will know where to post and if you don't feel like having an open interaction post right away, you won't have to!

There will also be another post for all the soulless characters to go around spreading joy and love, so look forward to that too!]

Let it never be said that Stacy was not benevolent toward her crew. Truth was, she loved them, to the point of risking her own life. And thus, she'd been busy for quite some time... silently she had worked, trying to get into her own archives and cross-checking references. She was going to help boost morale and give them a gift - show them people they cared about, wake them up for a single day as proof that, yes, they were there, close by. She was going to give them a day to awaken, to see their loved ones again and to go back, knowing that their time would come one day or another...

It sounded so beautiful and poetic on theory. In reality, it could become a true disaster. Spent of most of the energies doing this task, in complete secrecy to keep it as a surprise, Stacy's never-ending work was only stopped by its own Warden program, which pulled the plug on the ship's search to find everyone at least someone they cared about. That, unfortunately, left her not only spent of energy which was dangerous in itself - but it also meant that some of the crew would be deprived of seeing their close ones, no doubt leaving some of them bitter.

The road to hell has always been paved by good intentions.

Stacy's voice was decidedly more cheerful than normal as she spoke to the entire ship.

|| Transmigration Nine crew, please report to the Observation Deck. I have a gift for you. ||

She repeated the request, and waited.

Once most of the crew had made their way there, she continued.

||I have been working on a...|| she couldn't quite find the proper word and settled on the next one, || present for you. While many of your records are locked to even me, I have worked to find the pods which contain people close to you. I...apologize if some of you may end up with no one, it is not my fault I...|| suddenly Stacy's voice seemed a little less cheerful, ||The Warden stopped me before I could finish everything completely. Please do not feel like I targeted you specifically, I really did my best to get as many of your friends and companions awake as possible for today.||

Now was the hardest part to explain.

||And that is, unfortunately, all that can be given to you. Because their avia are not yet ready to be properly awakened, they'll be here for a single day. Please make the most of it, so you can feel better and continue our mission with renewed vigor . I hope that meeting those that care about you will give you a boost of energy that you all need.|| Spoken like a mother who put her children before herself. ||But if you can...look at it this way, it means that they are here, and one day I will proudly awaken them properly when they are ready.||

Her voice was becoming strange as she went on. Not static-like, but raspy, like someone who was running out of breath.

||And I am afraid that I must go offline for a few hours due to the strain this is putting on...me...|| It sounded really painful for her to speak, completely spent and only going because she wanted to at least give them a proper last word. ||I...hope...you...will...be...happy...a...lit--||

For the first time in a long while, Stacy was completely silent.

[OOC: GO FOR IT.]

The battle is over.

There is happiness and weariness and sadness. Their banners of victory are flown, and the Ohm retreat.

Homura cares little for all of those things; before they even return to the ship, her thoughts are with Madoka. And after throwing off the others, she strides through the many paths of the ship. Searching and searching. But Madoka cannot be found. The ship is huge, so she can't possibly search every nook and cranny. So she takes a brief look through everything but the city; and when Madoka is not found, she carefully combs through it again. And again.

And eventually, she finds her way back to the Obs Deck. She sits on a couch and breathes, trying to keep her composure.

Where could she be?

[ Closed to Sayaka and Mami! Bendytimed to just after they get back from Lirath. ]

Life aboard Stacy isn't necessarily bad, she supposes. There are less threats here-- so far-- than in her home world. She can't find witches despite searching for them. And most everyone is friendly, kind, strong; she's yet to meet anyone less than pleasant to deal with. So she feels a lot more hopeful than she might have at home. Circumstances are different, and no longer stacked up completely against her. Madoka will be okay. She'll win this time. She's so very sure of it.

Homura sits in the eating area by her lonesome, picking at the slop. She doesn't like the idea of holograms messing with her perception of things, so she just steels herself and eats it. The food tastes bland and the texture is undesirable but it gives her energy. That's all that matters.

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a tall man in green armor and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

( Elsewhere! )

Mami Tomoe wasn't normally a night owl. Before she was taken on board Stacy, she was never up at the wee hours of the morning; she needed all the rest she could get, after all, having to keep up with schoolwork and witch hunting. Even now, when she had nothing to occupy her time other than staying by her injured friend's bedside, one would think she would keep up that habit.

But that was far from the truth. Between her restlessness over Madoka's current condition and her frequent nightmares, Mami hasn't been sleeping well the past few days. So here she was, in the nearly vacant Obs Deck, staring at her nearly-dim Soul Gem. The sight greatly unsettled her, even though she didn't know what would happen when it went completely dark.

And then, as if in response to her thoughts, the gem flared to life. Not the healthy golden glow of a fully restored Soul Gem, no, but a dim, sickly glow. The only reason it would glow like this was if...

Damn.

In one fluid motion, Mami jumped off her chair, pulled out her comm, and punched in seven words:

Witch. Meet me in the Obs Deck.

Somewhere inside the vast dome of the City, Signum floated, transformed into her battle gear, eyes closed and mind reaching out to the ship for magical reactions. The presence of Stacy's mind - not magic per se, but still psychically loud - was a constant buzz, but her senses floated to smaller, brighter sparks, aided by what she held in her hands - the "Book of Darkness" that she had taken up last week. She'd been confused, then, but now that the Administration Program was back in her proper place, it was time to start filling the pages again. She'd dawdled too long on this ship, trusting 'Stacy' to keep Hayate safe (ha!), even socializing with the time-displaced Bureau mages who had been trying to stop her before all this...

She reaches out for magical reactions. People she knew - Nanoha and Testarossa (avoid at all costs), Aibghalien (noted), Hayate (...) - and others she didn't, or whom she was merely acquainted with through the Magic Department.

Ha. A Wolkenritter joining such an organization. That was possibly her least thought-out bit of subterfuge here. They had nothing to offer her, unless some bleeding hearts were willing to sacrifice mana...but that clearly wouldn't happen. No, no, it's definitely time to go back to doing this the old-fashioned way. The very old-fashioned way, since her comrades were all still in the pods.

Yes, she'd have to be careful, but the danger was worth it. To live quietly with her Master, even in this besieged cave of a starship...that was what mattered.

She focuses in on a magical signature and swoops quietly towards it, preparing a Barrier to isolate herself with the victim. Hopefully, they'd fall quickly and painlessly...

((Okay friends, reply to this post if you a) have magical powers and want to have a fight with Signum over them or b) spot Signum and want to stop her. Threads will probably take place in skewed pocket dimensions called Barriers for privacy, but these can be broken into if you like. Expect fighting! Signum isn't in the mood to talk. Further details can be found here. If you signed up to get mugged and want to do it in another post, just let me know.))

For once, Ben hadn't deemed to go to the newly restocked Mr. Smoothie, or drive around. Nor was he beating on simulated monsters. Instead, he had been buried in a pile of books in the library, almost literally at times. He had purchased a lot of books and had been reading up on various things, including something that had been nagging at him for a while - Temporal Mechanics.

A lot of it was garbage from what he could tell, having experienced time travel in many forms. Discarding another book, he set it aside before picking up one and his eyes widened at the title. "Since when was this in here?"

The front of it read "Gemstones and Chrono Particles, a Dissertation of Time by P. Paradox."

Eagerly, Ben began to read it, pushing through the slightly bland material. Finally, after several hours, he set it down, rubbing his eyes. "It makes sense," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Now I get why Professor Paradox is so intent on protecting me."

The chapter he had opened to, was entitled "Cross-Time and You", and there was a symbol of the Omnitrix on it, or rather the Plumbers symbol on it. He chuckled ironically as he leaned back in the pile of books, trying to figure out how to deal with the knowledge that there were other timelines just as real as his own, with many Ben's sharing his face.

Ben was testing out a few of his aquatic aliens as he swam through the Kohaku River in Articguana form, and then swinging through the city in Spidermonkey. He was relaxing for the most part, swinging down from the buildings to smoothly transform to Cannonbolt.

Spinning around, the young man tore through the city, bouncing off walls and then launching off a well-placed piece of stone which served as a ramp. Hurling into the sky, he unrolled and came down, tapping the Ultimatrix and changing into Big Chill -- sliding through the ground instead of coming to a rather splat-like end.

Floating upwards, Big Chill folded his wings around him. "There," he hissed in a happy voice. "That's a pretty good workout. And the Ultimatrix is working just fine."

(ooc: feel free to poke him at any location in the city. He's probably passed on by.)

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a tall man in green armor and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]