"Dat wus such an idiotic thin' ter do!" Rachel yelled to herself as she slammed a heavy fist into one of the nearby sandwiches. The result was as expected, hot sauce flew out of the sandwich splattering Rachel's face with fiery redness. For a second it seemed as if she too would become red with rage, but instead she burst out into laughter, enjoying the sound of her own laughter as she licked all around her face to get the spicy sauce off herself. She was suppose to enjoy herself today, not get angry over a small mistake, of course it was one that could've broken her cover, but it was also one that she was able to cover up.

She continued to laugh and once she stopped laughing she enjoyed some sandwiches for herself and was able to stop herself from leaving. She was going to do whatever she could in her power to avoid frustration and stress from overwhelming her. Once she had finished her sandwiches in the dark, secluded area away from the actual zone she began her walk back. She had decided to be a bit more careful, but to still have a fun time; it wasn't like anyone would believe that there was a real monster walking around, right? She might be suspected of owning a really convincing, frighteningly real costume, but hopefully nothing beyond that notion. With a sound mind and reasoning with her self she decided it was time to send some chills down some spines. If anyone got suspicious all she had to do was claim it was a costume. It would probably work, just as long as she didn't get too carried away, enough to inquire the validity of her claims.

Rachel admired the work spent into some of the costumes that people sported as she whipped her way through the crowd, but she was doing more than just admiring as she walked around. The main objective of the moment was looking for a victim, a victim to begin her night of Halloween mischief. She went around the zombie-infested zone shifting her lantern left and right alongside her glowing blue eyes. Of course it was just to start off the night and she would eventually go on to less childish forms of merriment, but for now it was the search for someone who looked as if they could quite easily be scared, but still coerced into believing it was a costume. It was difficult to find anyone alone and most people were traveling in groups or they were at least enjoying the party with a friend or two. Eventually Rachel just decided to scare some group, she wasn’t that frightening, but hey if it worked it’d be all the more exhilarating!

She scanned her nearby surroundings, but without her glasses she really couldn’t see anyone beyond those close to her location. She finally placed her eyes on a trio walking around, two troll-like figures and bingo, a slim guy in a green suit. “Me first victim,” she said in an excited little whisper. It was difficult for her to sneak up on anyone usually, but with this many people running around and their backs turned on her she felt it was all the more possible. The guy looked feeble and easily scared, maybe it would work. She slowly crept up behind the fellow dressed as John Egbert and quickly extended a large clawed finger to his shoulder and tapped it lightly, expecting him to turn around. Of course she didn’t know exactly how he’d respond, hopefully it wasn’t going to end up with her being kicked in the face, but she just went on with the plan. Immediately after tapping him she held a menacing open mouth with illuminating tongue outstretched and blue glowing saliva oozing. She held her arms of in a sort of attacking manner to add to the face and waited for a yelp of fear.

Verdigris had seen the posters for the Halloween ‘do’ in the park for weeks. For weeks she had walked past them. In fact, it wasn’t until she witnessed an accident where a child was knocked over by a taxi on a crosswalk did she really consider it. The children’s hospital was the nominated ‘charity’ receiving funds from the event, and it was an excuse, nay a demand, to dress up for the night and go out.

After all, why not?

With the money she had from working she was able to afford more than a paper-napkin hat, and she even splurged and bought an outfit which all matched. Seeing as it would quite likely be chilly she hunted through thrift stores and opportunity shops until she found a jacket to wear over the top once it got cold. Her side-bag, while it didn’t match, was quite suitable to carry everything, and as the night approached she felt an increasing sense of excitement building.

While she had abused the Halloween tradition for giving candy each year she had been on the streets, she had never really gotten into the spirit of things. Even when she lived at home the whole night of the dead had never appealed to her. It was high time she remedied that non-tradition.

…

The big night finally arrived and donning her pirate gear, greatly approving of how high the boots reached and how low the hem of the shirt swung, she was ready to leave before the sun went down. Opting to walk, but take enough cash to taxi home if she needed to, she wandered her way to the park as the dying sun streaked across the sky like rivulets of mutant-orange blood. Was there a type of mutant that bled orange? Probably. She knew her own blood was still as vibrantly red as it had ever been, but that’s not to say someone else wouldn’t bleed a different colour.

Paying her money to enter she was pleased and at the same time disconcerted to see all the different types of things designed to scare the patrons. The costumes were good though, she spied another pirate, who dipped his hatted head in acknowledgement of her presence before turning to converse with what appeared to be (but surely couldn’t) a ninja. The absurdity of the pairing left her shrugging, and she continued to wander to and fro, admiring costumes and secretly wishing she had bought a disposable camera to record all the interesting things she saw, and possibly hang some on her wall.

One costume she glimpsed particularly caught her attention due to its size, and she wandered in its direction, arriving to one side of it, as it attempted to startle a trio of costumed people. She stared at the complexity of the costume, from the sheer size (surely one person alone couldn’t carry that much costume) to the details in the eyes and oozing slobber. Boy was that trio in for a shock. Two of the shapes looked almost familiar, but from this angle she couldn’t quite tell who they were or how she knew them. Perhaps once they turned around...

Guns, was it? Isabel had never really been one to be enthusiastic about using guns, preferring to utilize her own mutation in instances of violence. However, for the sake of a game it could be interesting. Surely they wouldn't be real guns, for fear of harming any actors or costumed guests, which was kind of a shame, but in any case the attraction would likely be well worth it anyhow.

"Guns," she replied agreeably in response to Lenna's offer. With everyone seemingly on board for such an attraction it was simply a matter of locating the thing, which shouldn't be a difficult task with all the signs that were stuck up everywhere directing the park-goers here and there to various areas of interest.

She couldn't help but grin as the group's youngest member, Kaitlyn, excitedly inquired about the potential use of her spear. It was always nice to see the younger Orderlings in action. The little ones tended to have fewer moral issues with violence, instead simply aiming to please those they'd allied themselves with. And she always preferred to see such things from kids at the Sanctuary, rather than watching the imbecilic X-Men ruining them with their silly coexistence nonsense.

"I don't see why not," she commented to the younger girl. "Why do you think I brought this thing along?" She grinned widely as she twirled the handle of the large mallet in her hand, causing the head of the prop to spin.

((OOC: Continued for Shin, Andrew, and Kealey in Cavern on the Spleen -- October 31st, fine troll dining, ahoy!))

Neither Andrew nor Kealey wanted to volunteer anything decisive, and so it was up to Shin.

There were a plethora of options to pick from. He'd eyed the listings for ideas before they'd arrived that day. He knew the park. There was a roller coaster, there were rides. A petting zoo had been converted into something macabre. There was a horror movie area, and there was a devilish playground. He decided they'd return to Zombie-ville once they were done in the next area. Close by was a good food place. That's where he ultimately decided they'd go. Fair food was fair, but good food was better.

"Cavern on the Spleen," Shin said. "Follow me."

((Replying here for Rachel and Verdy, then following Shin and Kealey to Cavern on the Spleen))

Shinkat decided food was the thing. That worked for Andrew. He made to follow Shinkat and Kealrezi but a tap on the shoulder called his attention to something behind him. As he turned around he noticed, for the briefest of moments, someone who looked like she might be familiar. However the sight to behold behind him quickly pushed any thoughts of the familiar female out of his mind.

It was huge, frightening, and possibly one of the most awesome and creative costumes he'd ever seen! Seriously! Part of him wanted to be scared but because he was in a party full of costumed people he just couldn't bring himself to be too scared. How did they get the tongue to light up and the saliva to glow like that? Man Shinkat and Kealrezi would totally love this costume!

"That is a really awesome costume!"

Then Andrew remembered that he was supposed to be following Shinkat.

"I gotta go! Nice meeting you!"

Just to be safe Andrew gave a wave to the familiar pirate female, turned, located Shinkat's back, and ran after him.

There were just so many amazing costumes around, not only those of the people Amber was traveling with but also at the event itself. She was used to high school Halloween events, those in which a few people put in effort to come up with something amazing and everyone else just got a costume in a box. It was so refreshing to be somewhere in which everyone, or at least almost everyone, had tried to look amazing. No question about it, Halloween truly was the best holiday of them all.

There were relatively few people in Sanctuary that Amber had actually gotten to know since she had come to the place and that was something she decided she should change. Everyone in her small party she had seen around, of course, she just hadn't had the opportunity to really talk to them. Sometimes it was because of her age, the fact that not many respected a 15 year old even if she happened to be mature for her age and sometimes it was the simple fact that despite living at Sanctuary she wasn't there all that often. School at The Mansion took up a great deal of her time, but here she was now with some of Sanctuary's long standing residents and she was determined to make the best of it. Make a good impression, so to speak. Plus there was Lenna and she had an extra reason to try and speak to her. She needed to know more about the Kabal.

"I l-like roller coasters," Amber stated shyly. Guns she wasn't so sure about but if they were anything like the video games then they were ok by her also. Guns she might not have much experience with, but video games were a completely different matter. Maybe she hadn't had as much time as she would have liked to play video games in the recent past, but that didn't mean she didn't still love them!

"If K-Kaitlyn gets to stab zombies with her spear then I get to hit them over the h-head with my staff," Amber grinned down at her younger friend. She then nodded at Isabel, keeping her grin on her fact. That mallet of her looked really real and she hadn't yet quite decided if that was a good thing and the mark of an excellent costume or if that was slightly disturbing . With a mental shrug she decided it didn't really matter anyway.

Central Park – Angel at the Water Fountain

Christanna Addams, only twelve years old, with curly red hair and a pale face covered in freckles glowered as she slowly walked behind a slow moving older couple. One of them was dressed as the classic, Bela Lugosi Dracula while the other, a blonde woman was dressed as a Princess and seemed to have trouble keeping up with the man. Christianna was only too happy to be so far behind them. It was not as if they would notice anyway. After all, did they even care about the costume she chose for this evening? Did they even care that their twelve year old daughter was running around, dressed in a gauzy, midnight blue dress with a flowing train? Or that she wore her best gold jewelry and had a circlet of fake little blue jewels around her brow? No they paid no heed to the fact that she just spent weeks making her own costume based after Nyx, Goddess of the Night and Dreams! No, the only time they cared was when –

“Christianna!” the Dracula, also known as Gerald Addams shouted as he stood under the arch and glared at his daughter. “Pick up your feet! We’re already late!”

“Come on, don’t yell at her tonight,” the blonde pleaded as she stood under the arch and sighed with exasperation at her husband.

Gerald Addams only seemed to growl as he grabbed the woman by her arm and spun her hard. The man, the great contributor to the city, the whole corridinator for this event, in that moment, looked more demonic than the creature he attempted to portray. His teeth ground, fake fangs bared as he tightened his grip on the woman and then finally let her go.

“You don’t speak back to me,” he said and shot a dagger-like glare at the Christanna. “And you, keep up. We’re late enough as it is and I will not be embarrassed.”

Christanna sniffled a little as she wiped a tear from her cheek. There was nothing she could say so she merely followed them further into the park.

The park around was oppressive with the darkness. Around every corner, under every rock and behind every tree, was a choking darkness that seemed like an entity enticing them to come closer. They beckoned, whispered through the wind that rustled the leaves, that tonight was a night where they could be anyone, do anything, and act in any way that they pleased. But even as the music and flashing lights of the far away festivities drew closer with each step, the joy and imagination was lost on one particular girl. Christianna only wanted to go home now, lock herself in her room and fall asleep to the music on her ipod. Being here only meant one thing, listening to her father’s inane acceptance speech for putting on this charity.

It’s all a lie, she mumbled as he absently rubbed her arm where it had once been fractured. The cool October air must be making it sore.

As they were closer to their destination, she spied a couple of more people in costume now scattered about. They were getting in the midst of the groups. She saw wolfmen, monsters, famous historical figures, fictional characters, even an appliance or food costume or two. Then she was nearly startled when a tall, thin man jumped out at her, grinning and laughing in a wheezing manner. The man was odd to say the least, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans with thick, coke bottle glasses. The shirt had some writing on it that looked like the letters, M-R-O flared it white across it. But the oddest thing came when the man laughed and held out what looked like a ball of string.

“Wanna thread?!”

Christanna, too shocked for words suddenly began to laugh hysterically. The man was so ridiculous looking that she could not help herself! But that joy was short lived. Before long her father reappeared and snatched her away roughly. He growled even more inhumanly as he glared down at the young girl.

“What is wrong with you?! I told you we were in a hurry! Stop wasting my time!!” With each sentence his grip tightened considerably on her already sore arm.

Christianna, unable to take it anymore, simply screamed out, tears flooding her face as a massive migraine set in. She yelled out as she shoved her father backward with her tiny hands and took a couple of weak steps backward, unable to contain her sobs and tears anymore. She gasped heavily as she raised her hand and pointed accusingly at him, running the sore spot on her arm with her free hand.

“You’re a lie! You’re nothing but a lie!!!!”

As she screamed the last word, a sudden glow began to emit from her forehead. Another massive headache struck her and this was more painful than the last, something which she could not contain anymore. Her emotions bubbled up to a frenzy, Christanna ground her teeth to the point that she could swear she heard one or two breaking then…as the beautiful white light around her forehead reached it’s apex…she screamed.

Her voice was dry and hoarse as it echoed out through the trees and struck the ears of any and all within range. She could not stop yelling, especially as the light from her forehead grew in intensity before it exploded, a burst of magnificent, spider-webbing white light that erupted from this single person like an all encompassing blanket. It spread out, farther and farther, growing whiter and bright as it enveloped any in its path. There was no escape, no running, it rolled over the green grass like a swift moving fog with only one thought in mind…expand…

Expand…

EXPAND…

And in an instant, as this fog of fast moving white light reached the edges of Central Park, having covered all of the festivities, it suddenly WHOOOOOSHED!!! backward and condensed into the single body of Christianna. The girl was thrown off her feet and fell backward. She groaned painfully as she stared up at the sky in shock, wondering what that pain she felt was and why…why did her head buzz like a honeycomb now? She shook as she stood up, weakly and feebly, and glanced around her.

“H-Hello?” she asked nervously. “M-Mom? Dad?”

She crept forward, unable to believe her eyes. Everyone she could see, everyone inside the park, including her parents, simply stood there. Unmoving, unresponsively, the people she could see seem to be staring there in a daze, staring wide-eyed up at the sky with the only movement being their shallow in and out take of breath. It looked like something from a horror movie…and just like any horror movie, Christanna screamed…and ran somewhere…anywhere as people continued to stare up in the sky blankly.

Kaitlyn could only stare as the fog of spider-web light swept towards her. The fog built up speed, engulfing more and more of the partygoers, only to crash against an invisible barrier around the Sanctuary group like a wave at the beach would crash against a rock. Curious, the girl reached past the edge of the invisible barrier to touch the strange fog. Her mind buzzed as the strange tendrils of light bent around her hand. Then, as quickly as it had come, the spider-silk light was gone.

There were a few moments of silence before the graveyards around them erupted in a cacophony of moaning. A deep voice could be heard laughing maniacally in the distance. "Yes!" the voice cried, "We have guests! Tonight, my minions, we shall feast on the flesh of the living!" At this, various zombies let out a groan of approval.

Athena wandered forward, looking at the sky. Not a single star could be seen. Not a single one of the constellations that she had helped make. What was the meaning of this?

Taking in the unfamiliar landscape around her, she spied a group of exceptionally tall, oddly-clad mortals standing behind her. The goddess gestured toward the shortest and least strange of them, the one with the black robes and the staff. "You, mortal!" she addressed him haughtily over the moans of unpleasant creatures in the fog. "What is this place?"

Amber didn't immediately notice the bizarre fog-like light that was starting to engulf the amusement park. There were simply too many things to see, so many things to capture her attention. It wasn't until she saw her young friend staring that she noticed what was going on? There was just enough time to wonder if this was all part of the show (which of course it must be because what else could it possibly be?) before the light was upon her.

The moment the fog touched Raistlin's body her mind went blank but a moment later, clarity returned to her. She shook her head, trying to dispell the cobwebs before looking down at her golden arms and heavy black robes. She raised her eyes, looking at those around her. All around her she saw the signs of decay and rot even if every face she spotted was from that of an unfamiliar stranger.

"You, mortal! What is this place?"

Raistlin turned her eyes to the voice to spot the one among them who's flesh did not wither and die before her eyes. She called him mortal and there could only be one explanation. Clearly she was his queen and goddess Takhasis and thus required proper respect and obesience. For now.

A look around the place in which Raisltin currently resided enlightened him to the fact that he truly did not know where he was at all. The place was strange and ominous, filled with all manner of hidden threats. "I am sorry, my queen," she bowed deeply, clutching her staff for support, "but I am unsure where we currently reside." Her voice was little more than a raspy whisper. "I suggest we proceed with caution."

The question was, why was his queen Takhasis even asking? Had her power somehow been comprimised? Was now his time to strike and take her kingdom from her? She would remain weary and the moment opportunity presented itself, she would strike. Godhood would be hers.

The shift in the atmosphere was more sudden than could be expected. One moment Isabel was voicing her agreement for rollercoaster gunman-ship, and the next moment a beautiful web of light stretched over the sky and drew everyone's attention, hers included.

What on earth could that have been? Why had it appeared, and then vanish so quickly? It couldn't have been part of some show in the Park. She couldn't connect any horror movies in her memory with spiderwebs of light stretching across the sky. Besides, people had only just begun arriving. Shouldn't something like that be saved for some sort of grand finale?

Everyone except those in their little group seemed to be mesmerized by the sky. Even after the strange light had dissipated, those around them just standing there and staring, as if stuck in place. Like they'd turned into the creatures their section of the park had been named for.

And then slowly, gradually people began to move, blinking heavily and looking around like they were completely lost. Those in zombie getups seemed to cause the biggest uproar as people began falling back into action.

They moaned and groaned with renewed vigor and shuffled after the nearest living beings. She swore some of them were actually attacking guests, but in a horror-themed park at night, it was sometimes hard to tell the difference between real and staged attacks.

However, it was a wonderful opportunity to show off for little Athena and give her an example to follow. If these people were going to play their zombie parts with such enthusiasm, she'd do her part to thwart their attempts. No one was going to make lunch out of her brains.

Twirling the handle of her mallet in her hands again, she followed the action by hefting it up off her shoulders and landing a grip further up the shaft with her free hand, prepared to swing it around at anyone foolish enough to get in her way.

The little princess with the cotton candy was a prime victim, and if she hit the young woman hard enough and drew blood, she could say it was the blood of an unlucky victim claimed by Princess Zombiepants. However, she moment she unwittingly stepped out of Lenna's range, she froze, as had so many just moments ago.

For a moment everything went white as the invading mutation that still lingered throughout the park assaulted her mind and locked away all of her memories, leaving her dazed and confused as the cogs in her mind slowly began turning again and she struggled to recall something, anything about what she was doing or who she was.

As her sight returned she took in the brilliant red and sleek black that clung to her skin, a diamond pattern tastefully decorating the suit here and there. The weight of the giant mallet still in her hands attracted her attention. The head of the weapon thumped to the ground as a free hand wandered, fingers tracing over the lines separating the red and black across her torso. She felt along the hood of her outfit and the shape of her mask, feeling what she could through the glove she wore.

And then it hit her. Of course! How could she have forgotten? She was Harley Quinn, famous villainess, ex-psychiatric doctor working at Arkham, and beloved of the Joker. Speaking of which, where was Mister J? Nevermind him, where was she?

Oh, Mister J wouldn't be happy if she'd botched an errand he'd sent her on by getting all turned around. Of course, he'd sent her out on missions by herself before, but since she could recall no such assignment, and she appeared to be in the park, then she must have been out for a stroll that night.

She couldn't stand seeing her puddin' all cooped up in their hideout as he riddled out plans for the Bat and Gotham's citizens. A stroll would have been just the ticket to clear his head and get the ol' creative juices flowing. And maybe get him to stop staring at his diagrams and pay attention to his Harley.

So, that just left locating her one and only. Where on earth had she left him? "Mistah J!" Her Brooklyn-accented voice rang against every surface around her. "Outta my way! Lady with a mallet comin' through!" She swung the weapon this way and that at anyone who didn't get out of her way fast enough. "Mistah J! Puddin'! Where'd ya run off to?"

Mouth still agape, Rachel just stood there with a frozen face after the fellow had commented on how great her costume was. She just stood there and watched as he ran after the two others who had went off without even turning around. She slumped to the ground in disappointment a frown painted on her face as she just laid there unhappily. Maybe she wasn't so good at reading people, then again she only got a quick look at his back before deciding he would be easily scared. It wasn't a total loss though, at least she could now infer that her appearance was believable as a costume, and that her costume was admirable in how great it was. At least it seemed that way in how he expressed his words as he left.

"Scarin' people, nope..." were the words she said as she made a X in mid-air with her front index fingers. She was still laying on the ground as she said this, but soon threw herself up as she saw a large fog cloud moving around at intensely quick speeds, if anything it seemed to be covering the whole park. It didn't seem normal in anyway and bothered her, as if it wasn't just something cooked up by the party staff. The fog began to cover those in front of her and eventually it enveloped her as well. After a instant though it seemed to go back to its origin and just vanished.

She certainly was confused as to what had happened, her mind was a total blank starting from the moment that the fog clouds had rushed back away from her and the rest of the park. She had completely forgotten who she was. She looked at her own two hands then at the rest of her body and in just as swift an instant she suddenly recovered all of who she was, her memories, her personality, and thoughts rushed back in a flash. She felt disoriented at first wondering what had happened, but then looked at everyone else in the near vicinity to notice that they were just standing there like blank slates.

Within mere moments though several of them began to walk around like mindless potatoes, groaning unintelligently and dragging along the ground, dragging their bodies towards her's. Was this some sort of joke? She could obviously tell they were still in costume, but for some reason there seemed an air of hostility and seriousness around all of this. As they began to circle her, closing in slowly, but surely she ran, finding an opening within the oncoming horde of party goers. She looked at those who weren't dressed as zombies and began to notice odd conversations and actions occurring between them. Had everyone gone totally mad? The whole park felt all funned out, as if this wasn't a Halloween party anymore, but rather a large gathering of various figures from different backgrounds, sort of like an international conference of some sort. Rachel had no idea what to expect, nor any idea as to what to do, she just stood there in the middle of the pathway, thinking, watching as a horde of costumed brain eating potatoes came her way.

A nervous wave matched that of who she thought might have been Andrew, maybe. Maybe-Andrew dashed away and she was left pondering the perhapsity of his identity. The oversized costume seemed disappointed in the reaction it received. Surely he could have at least pretended to be scared. Or maybe it was an offshoot of his mutation, if it had been Andrew, that he had to tell the truth, as well as keep his promises.

A chill dampened the air, and a shiver went down her spine as a mysterious white fog (perhaps caused by dry-ice?) swirled towards her. Rummaging in her side-bag she located her jacket and slipped one arm into it. She would have to remember to put a-



--A flash of blinding light, inside her head? Or out?--



She shook her head blankly for a second and looked down at herself. What had that been? The captain shrugged the other sleeve of her coat over her bare shoulder and looked around. Come to think of it, where was she? Marooned on some strange island by a mutinous crew?

“Bloody pirates.”

She felt for her cutlass, not there. The mutinous crew hadn’t even graced her with a pistol with a single shot. Looking around it seemed she may have needed more than just one. Spying a promising looking keg she swaggered towards it, hips swaying, fingers flicking to the time of a soundless ocean. Rummaging in her satchel for a flagon, a chalice, something with which to fill with rum she was disappointed by its fruitlessness. A multitude of small things, but no fillable container.

Swinging around, with another elaborate flick, she approached what appeared to be possibly a vessel which might carry her off in search of her ship. Said vessel was not really in the water, however, and something about the glowing eyes and size made the captain hesitate.

“Kraken?”

The moans of those poor souls approaching were ignored for now, if she were seeing the kraken then in Davy-Jones’ locker she must be. Dead and tortured souls aplenty in the locker under the sea.

“I say, you are far less… tentacly than I expected.”

For in absence of both cutlass and pistol, what more can be done to a kraken than minor conversation. Who knew, perhaps it could enlighten her as to the villainy committed that had sent her to the depths. After all, surely she could barter her way out of it. If only she could remember where she buried her treasure.

Gotham this was not, there was no smoke, no smog and the familiar stench of death and decay was entirely lacking. Where in Chaplins good name was he and why was he here? Who were these tasteless cretins who dared disgrace the great night of Halloween by failing to mimic a single Marx brother?

It was a travesty plain and simple! No wonder nobody was having any fun; they were little more than sheep, each one of them standing around in their own little pathetic daze. This simply would not do! Now more than ever was a time which called for his own special brand of humour and excitement!

Toxic emerald eyes swept back and forth as surveyed the surrounding scene with a critical air of observation as both hands were placed the ebony cane allowing the purple suited mountebank to swivel his figure to and fro. "Hmm, tough crowd, tough crowd, half of them seem dead. Still that's never stopped me before HAHAHAHAHA!"

Pushing off with a jaunty step the pale faced villain strode through the mismatched crowd of the living and those who were simply without a life. What he really needed at this point was an attention grabber; something which screamed, preferably more than once but, given the circumstances, he'd take what he could get.

...speaking of what he could get, was that that a bag of skittles?

The silver tipped cane flashed outwards once again and the polished ebony connected solidly with an unwitting soul decked from head to toe in the futuristic chrome coloured armor of Robocop, complete with helmet which, as always, left jaw and throat bare. The upside of this was that the patch of bare flesh provided the perfect target for anyone wishing to practice their baseball swing.

"Nothing personal you understand cop can." The manic jester spoke idly as he crouched down and relieved the fallen figure of its saccharine spoils. "I'm simply trying to practice a more equal opportunity form of larceny, after all there's no reason for the neonates to have a monopoly on misery now is there?"

Straightening, the Joker brushed nonexistent dust from his arms before treating himself to handful of recently acquired multicolored confectionary and began walking away with a content smirk stretched across his demented features... only to be brought up short when a gauntlet clad hand grasped his ankle, followed by a somewhat strained voice emanating from the skittles original owner.

"Release your weapon and surrender, you have 20 seconds to com-"[/color]

A polished, and rather pointed shoe caught the fallen figure in the throat. There was brief, strangled gasp and then silence as the faux officer released the clown kings leg and instead clutched at his own neck leaving the joker to sniff before continuing on his way.

"Hpmh, long arm of the law my foot... oh, oh that was good! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Harley was beginning to pout. She'd gotten bored with smacking around the oddly dressed individuals in what seemed to be a park. Was it just her, or had the whole city gone costume crazy? What was this, some kind of boom in super heroes and villains?

What kinda nutsoes all went out on the same night anyhow? And boy were they stupid. The mean ol' Bat would be out in full force if these amateurs kept it up. And Mistah J wouldn't be too happy either, with these kids stealing his thunder and getting all of the B-man's attention. This was her puddin's city. They'd figure that out eventually.

Speaking of her angel's city, where had the thing gone? This wasn't any Gotham she remembered. Was Mistah J messin' with her again? It wouldn't be the first time she'd been subjected to a nasty bump on the head that put her out for a few hours, or any number of knock-out gasses. Her puddin' sure had a twisted sense of humor.

And she knew that's what it was. He was always pulling those kinds on her. And they were just jokes. She knew without a doubt that Mistah J loved her just as much as she loved him and always would, even if he was a little rough on her.

But where was her puddin'? Her posture was beginning to fall into a slump and her mallet dragged across the ground, now only held in one hand. Her lower lip protruded comically as her gaze swept left and right looking for her Clown Prince.

"Mistah Jaaaay! Puuuudiiin'!" He wouldn't just leave her there, would he? No, of course not. She just had to find him. He was around here somewhere, she just knew it. He'd just left her behind in order to wake up and get comfortable in her skin once her senses had come back to her, rather than dragging her along behind him and risk her getting sick or something. He was so considerate. She smiled at the thought, a dreamy little sigh escaping her.

And then she heard it. While the tone sounded a little off, it was, without a doubt, the musical cackle of her dearly beloved. "Puddin'!" And excited squeal escaped her as she headed in the direction of the fading laughter. Knowing him, there'd be plenty more chuckling to follow after without fear of losing him completely.

Finally, after what seemed to her to have been ages, she rounded a corner and caught a glimpse of that heavenly purple suit, the angelic white face, and the endearing grin spread across it as the Clown Prince of Crime strolled amiably along.

"Puddin'!" Her mallet fell to the ground as she jumped and threw her arms excitedly into the air, another squeal escaping her. Without the slightest amount of hesitation she all but sprinted toward her beloved, aiming to wrap her arms around his neck and cuddle up. "Puddin'! Sweetie! Oh, Mistah J! I looked everywhere for ya! Ya didn't forget about me, didja? I knew I'd find ya! Oooh, I missed ya!"

Raistlin didn't understand what was going on. Now that she had attended to his queen's (for now) question, a closer inspection of the world around her revealed what could only be described as animated corpses shambling around intermixed with people dressed in all manner of baffling and bizarre garb. Nowhere did she see the robes of the magi or the clerics nor the riding leathers he was used to seeing, nor even barbarian furs of the plains people. Instead there were a variety of colourful outfits in materials he had never before seen. Perhaps some powerful mage had created such outfits for these people? But then why were they here in this place amidst the walking dead? It just didn't make any sense, unless they were here on some quest to find some powerful magical artifact? Yes, that must be it. The strange garb must have some kind of power of protection, perhaps a ward against the dead, and they must be here to find some sort of powerful and ancient artifact. An artifact that he would find first. Its power would be his and he would finally be able to defeat Takhisis and take his throne and his godhood. Especially given his queen's clearly weakened state.

"My queen," Raistlin bowed to Takhasis, gripping her staff tightly. It would never do to have her suspect her intentions, not until she was completely ready for the battle to come. "I believe it would be prudent for us to depart this place. The dead walk and it would not be to our advantage to have their attentions turned upon us." Clearly the only reasons they had not yet turned upon them is because Raistlin herself had cast a spell of ward against undead. But there was no telling how long such a spell would last for and in addition to her newly discovered quest to find the arcane magical artifact, it was true enough that he did not want the undead attempted to feast upon his flesh.

Raistlin turned from her dark queen and set off down a path, in a direction away from the majority of the walking dead. If worse came to worse he could deal with a couple of them. She was, after all, the greatest Magi on Krynn, what were a few corpses to him? But if what she suspected was corrected and the artifact was as powerful as it must be to have so many people going after it, then it was surely guarded by powerful forces and he needed to conserve her powers for that inevitable confrontation. Not to mention any potential confrontations with the other seekers all around her.

Raistlin didn't stop to see if her tiny queen Takhisis was following her. Either the goddess would do so or she would not, it was of no real concern. She certainly didn't need any divine help in taking what was rightfully hers and if the goddess did decide to follow, well, that could only mean that he was right about just how bereft of power she currently was. Raistlin would deal with the reasons why that might be the case later, but for now she had a quest to complete. Ultimate power would be hers!