ya gotta wanna be a battering ram

[headandhand]

WHO: The entire dang city.
WHAT: Dualis Days, a week-long summer celebration.
WHERE: Central Square Park and the rest of the city.
WHEN: June 17-23.
WARNINGS: Terrorist violence, likely some blood and injuries. Please warn in individual threads!

June 17; Central Square Park.

Every year for as far back as anyone can remember, the start of summer is heralded by the week-long festival known as Dualis Days. This celebration officially kicks off at midday in the middle of Central Square Park with a commencement speech by the current mayor. This year marks Marcelina Dubanowski's third term as mayor of Dualis; she is an average-sized, middle-aged human-presenting woman with blonde hair styled in a short bob and a plastic, toothy smile that never seems to turn entirely off.

"Welcome, one and all!" she begins, with the practiced cadence of someone who is quite comfortable with public speaking. She invites all citizens, new and old, to spend the next week indulging in festivities in all districts of the city and getting to know their neighbors a little better. This is a joyous time of celebration, and the crowd responds with enthusiastic applause as the mayor finishes her speech and introduces this year's parade marshall, Peshtigo Tengfei.

Tengfei blows a whistle six times to signal the start of the parade - and this is where the celebration goes sideways.

A loud explosion tears through the air, and it's followed by panicked screams and the sharp screech of microphone feedback. A bomb has gone off at the platform where the mayor was standing, collapsing the wood and tearing it to splinters and dust. Chaos erupts in the gathered crowd, and as the people shift in all directions to get clear of any possible additional bombs, a loud siren cuts through the cacophony, calling attention to the sudden crackle of video feed present on all television screens throughout the city, including those set up in the park to broadcast the mayor's speech for those standing far from the stage. The picture is plain, a black background and bold white block letters filling the screen:

WAKE UP
WAKE UP
DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES

The final image is an anatomical graphic of a human heart, displayed for about three seconds, and then the feed goes black again.

Confused murmurs sweep through the crowd as citizens resume tending to the injured and evacuating the area until official first responders arrive.

June 17-23; aftermath around the city.

Dualis Days continues as scheduled, though Mayor Dubanowski is unable to enjoy the festival, as she is spending the week in the hospital recovering from her injuries. A team of Iterations guard her door - no visitors allowed - but the news media frequently report updates on her condition. Nothing to worry about, folks! Return to your celebrations, and don't mind the increased visible presence of the Hand as Iterations are stationed every few blocks throughout the city. It's only for your protection, after all.

Comments

aftermath

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim isn't exactly in amazing shape himself. He hadn't entirely made it through the explosion unscathed--flying shrapnel and debris had seen to that--but he's in enough of one piece that he hadn't hesitated before running in to help. He's been helping with crowd control and first aid, and he would have been happy to continue, except that another volunteer had put a bottle of water into his hands and pointed to a space clear of debris, telling him to take a break.

Oh, right. He came to this party with a lump on his head already.

He raises his own water bottle, returning Billy's salute.]

Well, we couldn't really expect it to last, could we?

[demiurgency]

Definitely not. I mean, it was nice to have a few days before everything went end-up, but still. This is...

[Well. Billy was a child in New York City in 2001. He remembers what this sort of thing looks like. What can happen. What has happened. It's not easy, even if you're used to running headfirst into danger, used to disaster and destruction.]

...Well, it might be business as usual, but still, I'm trying this whole optimism thing.

It's nice to at last have some familiar faces along, though.

[A gentle kind of feeling out of the territory. Is this the same Tim he'd known back in the Village? He's pretty sure it is, he sounds like he recognizes Billy, but you never know with these multidimensional things.]

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim grins wryly at the idea that stuff like this is business as usual because... it is. Big celebration disrupted by chaos? Explosions rocking the crowd? Shadowy conspiracy terrorizing the people? Must be Wednesday.]

I hear optimism is a good policy in situations like this.

[He nods a little at the remark about familiar faces. Tim went pretty much directly from the Village to here, and had basically only had a chance to change his clothes before being thrust into the action again. He recognizes Billy.]

Nice to see you again, too. What are the odds, huh?

[demiurgency]

[Right? Seriously, what's with these universes they keep ending up in? Where's the tropical island but with cute boys and frosty alcoholic drinks universe? It's just unfair.

The fact that Tim recognizes him is a visible relief, though, and his smile warms a little more as he shrugs, rubbing at the back of his neck.]

Honestly? Pretty good, at least in my experience. These things tend to happen to groups. Especially if all those people have been through something similar before. Maybe it's something like quantum entanglement? Physics wasn't my best subject, but someone should really ask Reed Richards that one.

I'm just glad you remember. It gets pretty awkward when someone you know's got no idea who you are. Like hugging a stranger in public, only when they turn around you realize you don't actually know them and it's just really awkward for everyone, you know?

[mrsarcastic003]

[A tropical vacation instead of yet another interdimensional kidnapping sounds pretty good right now actually. When's the last time he had a genuine vacation? It's been a while.]

I can't say I've ever hugged a stranger in public, but I think I get where you're coming from. Extremely awkward. At least one of us would be blushing.

I hadn't really considered the quantum entanglement angle. I'm not exactly a quantum physicist (at all), but that makes a certain amount of sense from a layman's perspective.

[demiurgency]

Take it from me, it's incredibly embarrassing. I nearly burst into literal flames, that is an actual and real thing that can happen from too much blushing.

[But hey, at least he's laughing about it, right?]

Right? I haven't even technically finished high school yet, I had another semester and a half to go before I, uh. [Fucked up the timestream? Unleashed a magic-devouring, parent-brainwashing parasite on the multiverse? Yeah, that.] Left home. But I mean, it seems like it would make sense. We start the trip together, it seems reasonable that we'd end it together, too.

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim laughs.] I'll keep that in mind, should such a situation arise. Spontaneous combustion should always be avoided.

And I haven't finished high school either. I still have another year, but I got swept up in the family business and... [Traveled the world, joined a League of Assassins, left a League of Assassins, stopped a League of Assassins from stealing his family's company... He shrugs.] I guess some things are just more important.

Anyway, I'm pretty glad to see some familiar faces.

[demiurgency]

I get you. It's hard to worry about SATs and college applications when you're out getting stuck places like this, or when there's a new villain rampaging through Central Park or delaying the D train again.

[It's not like he's got a secret identity to maintain out here in the multiverse...at least not too much of one. Especially considering how many places already seem to know about Demiurge.]

But yeah, me too. Good to have people around that I already know. Are you staying in the dorms, too?

[mrsarcastic003]

[He nods.]

Roommate and everything. Cissie--also from that village, if you remember her. It's almost like that college that neither of us have attended, except for... you know. Everything else that would go with it.

[demiurgency]

I think we met once or twice, yeah. And hey, if you really want, pretty sure this place has to have a library, we can always aim for the full experience and stay up all night cramming.

[He's only half-joking. There's a lot going on here, and he really does want to get up to speed fast if they're gonna be stuck here a while...]

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim laughs.]

Would you believe that hitting the history books and news archives actually sounds kind of appealing? Knowing more about the place we've landed in seems like a pretty good idea.

[demiurgency]

Right? Like, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm honestly kind of feeling the urge to dig out a notebook and pen and start taking notes. I mean, we supposedly aren't gonna be here that long, but it can't hurt.

[mrsarcastic003]

We've only been here a few hours and all of that history and current event stuff seems to matter a whole lot right now, so as far as I'm concerned, let's break out the color coded index cards and highlighters.