Cafas rounded a corner into a new corridor. Or had he been here before? He couldn't really tell. All he knew for certain was that his mother was nowhere he could find and that he was not at home. Maybe this was Melbourne?

People!

Shy reserved bullied kid mode activate! His socks had never been so interesting. Maybe he could scuttle by unnoticed? No, one of them was coming towards him, probably to say something nasty or hit him. That happened a lot.

I wish Sophie was here, I can always be brave with her.

No, today he was on his own, with weird kids, probably those mutants his mum told him he shouldn't talk to. Maybe though, new people didn't know him and were nice! Maybe they were like Sophie and their friends!

Be brave C.J. that's what Sophie would say.

He looked up and walked over to the group as straight backed and confident as he could, with a smile that was just goofy enough to convey how much of an awesome guy he was. He practiced it in the mirror all the time. He took care to give the obvious mutant a wide berth though. "G'day guys, any one of ya know where we are? I'm right lost, and could use some brekkie mate."

I feel like a right Galah...

Hopefully they wouldn't just beat him up. He did have a sword, though so did that other guy, and he already knew he couldn't pull the thing out of its sheath cos his arms were too short. And... Wait was that guy wearing a dress? "Why you dressed like a Shiela mate?" He couldn't help it, boys just didn't dress like that, it wasn't right, what if he got girl's germs?

"I'm C.J. By the way!" He added this with an oversized smile and a hand rested upon his sword's handle ball thingy, the other performing some form of awkward wave.

The mutants kept glaring at him. Or, in the case of the purple worms-under-skin hairless girl, glaring. From the way the purple and gray girls were standing, it was clear they were already forming into some sort of tight-nit mutant-only club. Not that Caleb cared: let them.

...He just wished that the human club had cooler candidates.

>> "Hannah Montana."

Said the dress girl, like the name and the state had some sort of meaning, when you put them together like that. She promptly followed up with:

>> "You're all nutty."

Which really just made Caleb wish he could return his Human Club card and edge a step closer to the mutants. The mutants, at least, were making—

>> "If there were adults, why aren't they here?"

Sense. That... made sense. If they were kidnapped, why weren't they being watched? Being kept locked up while all the ransoming stuff was arranged? Where were the adults? Dressy had a point.

>> "I was driving a car and I don't know where they are. We are in Hannah Montana's house and I think you ALL kidnapped HER!"

She had a point, and she lost it. The fist-in-air Power Rangers posing did not help. The term 'Epic Fail' had not yet been coined when Caleb was twelve, but the sentiment dated back from humanity's earliest days. Achilles and his ankles. Ye old Englishmen and baths. This girl, and life.

"You're a spaz," Caleb said flatly, firmly sliding another step towards the mutant camp. He would just... crash their club. For awhile. Grace them with his honorary membership. One step, then another, until he was sure he was about to bump into—

They weren't there anymore. With the purple girl in the lead, they'd already started walking down the hall.

"Wait up!" He shouted, running a few short steps to catch up. Without even thinking about it, he reached his hand out, grabbing the gray girl like he'd grab a normal kid by the shoulder. Grabbing her... wing. Her leathery-smooth, creepily warm to the touch, not at all fake, wing.

Before that had time to properly process, another boy turned into their hall, and started speaking Aussie at them. It sounded like a bad Crocodile Dundee imitation, but it looked human and had a sword. Not as cool as Caleb's sword—anyone could see that at a glance, because his was longer and the hilt was more fancy and it wasn't fat like that one—but still. Caleb wouldn't mind trading up to a Humans With Swords membership.

Therefore, he gave the new boy (finally, another boy), a resolute nod of welcome.

"Kids who want to find their parents are going this way. Kids who want to go to Montana are with Dressy. I'm... Calley. I'm Calley." He shuffled his sword back to his other shoulder, and stuck out his hand to the newcomer.

'Calley': not technically a lie. His mom did call him that all the time. In front of his friends. Loudly, and with embarrassing levels of affection. A habit he was trying to break her of: he was too old to be a Calley anymore. He was a Caleb.

But he didn't really trust these people, and Calley was much less real than Caleb. They could have it.

Gina fastened onto Devyn’s arm as the two of them turned to leave, shooting the boy and the girl in the dress a thinned gaze and a stuck-out tongue. She was more courageous, now that they were departing. Devyn was confident, which gave Gina confidence They began to leave, without including the other girl or the weapon-wielding boy. They could follow if they wanted to, but Gina wasn’t going to actually invite them. Anything was better than standing there, talking, and being stared at. And the weird girl in the dress was loudly proclaiming that he was there for Hannah Montana, before going off about how there couldn’t be adults and how all of them were kidnappers of Hannah Montana.

Gina paused, eyes widening, and her face fell in alarm. She released Devyn’s arm, but kept pace with her, glancing at the girl and the boy behind her.

“They kidnapped Hannah Montana?!” Gina gasped, tilting her gaze towards Devyn for affirmation, before glancing back at the humans once more, “Why would someone do something like that?”

They kept walking when the boy with the sword latched onto her wing and grabbed at it, earning a yelp of pain from the little girl.

“Ow, what’s that for?” she demanded indignantly, jerking away from the sword-wielding boy, “First you stare at me an’ my friend like we’re some sorta freaks, an’ then you try an’ rip my wings clear outta my shoulders! What’s a’matter with you?”

She frowned at the sword-toting boy, eyebrows furrowed and arms laced crossly over her chest. She might have been uneasy about them, but she wasn’t afraid. He could join them, or he could stay, but the young gargoyle would not tolerate wing-pulling under any circumstances, and expected an explanation, if not an apology.

A pink-haired kid closed-in on them, and Gina stared at him as he spoke. She was a sheltered kid, and hadn’t ever met someone with a noticeable accent before. The boy called himself CJ and called dressy-girl Shiela. He talked so funny. The first sword-toting boy introduced himself as Calley, and gave them the offer of either joining him, or joining dressy. Well, neither of them seemed very keen on her or Devyn, so...

“Gina,” she replied. Her pants began to slide, with her arms being folded, so one hand went to hold the pants up, while the other sat akimbo upon her hip, “And no thank you.”

To both of them. Gina would follow Devyn and only her. It was obvious that "Calley" didn't like them, and thereby Gina didn't like them. It was immature, but hey-- she was only ten.

Hannah Montana? Devyn took the time to look back at dress girl and give her the best disdainful look she could muster. "Don't you know Hannah Montana isn't real?" Some children were just so stupid it was a wonder they could do anything, really. Next she would start talking about going to meet Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Really, how was it possible to be so ignorant of the world? She turned back to Gina and rolled her eyes. At least her new mutant friend was smart, surely she didn't believe in fairy tales. And dress girl had the gall to call them nutty? Perhaps she really ought to take a look at herself first, before she started judging everyone else.

"G'day guys, any one of ya know where we are? I'm right lost, and could use some brekkie mate."

The voice of the newcomer made Devyn turn around one more time. Her plan to walk away and investigate their situation really wasn't happening very swiftly, now was it. And the new boy, also with a sword she noticed, sure did talk funny. Of course, she was used to some of the trainers and athletes that came to her competitions talking with accents as well, but this wasn't one she was familiar with.

"What's a Sheila?" It seemed like a good question to ask, as Devyn turned to take another glance at stupid dress girl. "And I'm Devyn." What was with all the guys having swords anyway? Whoever their kidnappers were, it didn't seem very smart for them to leave some of their kidnappeees with swords.

"Kids who want to find their parents are going this way. Kids who want to go to Montana are with Dressy. I'm... Calley. I'm Calley."

Devyn wasn't entirely sure that she wanted a boy who obviously didn't appreciate mutants, but given the situation she didn't think she could afford to be picky. "Ya, those trying to find your parents, come with me. Those trying to find imaginary people, go with her." She pointed towards dress girl and spoke in her best authoritative voice.

“They kidnapped Hannah Montana?! Why would someone do something like that?”

OK, so maybe her new mutant friend wasn't quite as smart as she had first given her credit for. She glared at her, hoping her eyes alone would shock her out of her idiotic Hannah Montana belief. "Forget Hannah Montana, we've got a mission ahead of us." She turned back around and beckoned Gina and whoever else was willing, to follow her. Even if she was a little slow, Gina was still a mutant and mutants should stick together.

Yes he was wearing a dress, no he was not a girl. It wasn't his fault the only thing he could find to wear was a dress. It wasn't his fault his body naturally looked more feminine then masculine. Genetics was something he didn't have control over. Sure he could have chopped off his hair, but he never cut it before and frankly liked it that way. It was cool having long hair, just stunk when people thought he was a girl though. Great rock stars had long hair, one day he might turn into one of them.

Getting called a Shela was the last straw. Pulling the dress off from up and over his head, he didn't care if he was standing in the hallway stark nude. It was the only way he could prove he was a guy. Explaining why he was in a dress was not something he wanted to think about. After exposing himself, he wasn't exactly sure this was what he should have done. Great. Now he put himself in a pickle. Throwing the dress at the fleeing party, he turned around to grab something to throw. Picking up a random shoe hanging out in the hall, he tossed it high above them all. His aim was a bit off, seeing he was trying to hit their heads. Instead the sound of a light bulb breaking sent him cringing.

Bright move...very bright move. Frustrated with it all, he did the second best thing. RUN! Pushing his way through the group of freaks and geeks, the long haired boy disappeared. He didn't want anything to do with their mission, they were a bunch of stupid kids who didn't care about stuff he did. Unreliable! His age group was useless. Maybe he should go back to that car and hide in there for a bit. Running and hiding seemed like a great thing to do.

Woah woah woah, those accents! His poor ears! Last he remembered there were 5 vowels, not like, 3. Then they didn't know what a Sheila was? Who comes to Australia and doesn't know what a Sheila is? Only Americans; According to T.V. and his mum anyway. "You know mate, a Sheila, a girl." He'd let it fly, no worries, just a few roos short of a mob he guessed.

Ah okay it was called Devyn was it? He didn't know they got names. The first crack appeared in the xenophobia instilled by long years of mutants being demonised by the media. "Nice to meet ya." Cafas shook the offered hand and nodded to Calley in a manly way "I dunno if my parents would let me go to America mate, so I guess I'll go with you."

Gina? So they all have names? But mum said they don't.

Somewhere above him a light smashed, and he felt someone push past him in the dark that engulfed the hallway in that moment, though he could have sworn he only saw a shadow moving. There was a window at the end of the hall behind them offering some light from outside, and the kid in the dress was gone.

Maybe I hurt his feelings...

"Geez what's his problem right? G'day Gina, it's a pleasure." He threw in a wink. Guys winked at girls right? Well at the very lest he had to establish a chain of command with this Calley guy, that he, Cafas, was the one the girls liked. Did it work the same if the girls were mutants? Were they even girls? His parents hadn't been really clear about that.

They seem just like me and everyone else...

Cafas felt sort of bad for the guy that had run off but the group were moving, and he wanted to follow them, and they seemed like they didn't hate him. "So what brings you all down under?" Cafas was secretly eyeing off Calley's sword in the half light. Pfft, it had a girly handle and looked light for weaklings, plus his was definitely wider, which he bet made his better. No way girls liked a guy with a sword with, what was that, a rose on the handle?

Girls are weird though, maybe they do...

Much as he hated to admit it, Cafas really did like girls, despite the cooties. Sophie was great, he liked her, he felt different about her, not that he could ever tell her, she'd laugh at him for it, that was how she dealt with boys that told her they liked her, that they LIKE liked her.

"Sorry sorry sorry," Caleb said, as the gray girl went all what's a'matter with you? on him. Hand. Retracted. And sort of wiggled in the air, as if to get something off of it.

What's a'matter, not what's a'madda. So... Gina wasn't from Jersey, was she? And the purple one—the one otherwise known as Devyn, other-otherwise known as the person making the most sense—sounded a little like her. Definitely more like her than like him, or like... CJ? Yeah, CJ. The boy with the video-game looking sword. It was probably plastic, inside that sheath. CJ was either as fake as his sword, or an actual Australian.

>> "I dunno if my parents would let me go to America mate, so I guess I'll go with you."

CJ, who thought he was still in Aus—

Oh god the girl was flashing them and she was a he not that Caleb wanted to see.

"There are girls!" The brown-haired boy shouted after her him. "You don't do that in front of girls!" Or above diaper-wearing age. The young Italian blushed, mortified on behalf of his entire gender.

"Uck," he shuddered, firmly in the 'going with the purple mutant, not the crazy dress flasher kid' group.

"Hey, ah," he said, when they got in motion again, "is it possible for, you know, someone to have kidnapped us without meaning to? Like a mutant. Who can... teleport people." He glanced out a window as they passed, taking in the rolling estate lawn. Definitely not a Newark backyard.

" 'Cause, ah, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

Or Australia. Or New Jersey. Or Montana.

>> "Forget Hannah Montana, we've got a mission ahead of us."

Gina nodded to Devyn mutedly, shrugging her shoulders. Mission, got it. She glanced at the other kids, when the child she’d previously believed to be another girl turned out to actually be a boy. Gina gasped, hands flying to her face and shielding her eyes. Why on Earth was a boy wearing a dress? Gina dared to drop her hands from her face.

>> "Geez what's his problem right? G'day Gina, it's a pleasure."

CJ winked at Gina and smiled winningly. Gina smiled back, her gaze dropping shyly. At least CJ was nice.

>> "So what brings you all down under?"

“Down under?” Gina echoed. She knew enough to know that was code for “Australia”. Is that where they were? Australia? Gina had never been to Australia before.

“Well, we were kind-of kidnapped,” Gina offered matter-of-factly, yet with an air of uncertainty.

Caleb then began to contemplate the possibility of being kidnapped accidentally. Did it really matter? Either way, they were wherever-they-were, and they should really get out of there, find some policemen or something. They could figure the rest out later, like how or why they were kidnapped.

“It’s entirely possible,” Gina mumbled, “I mean, I’m from California, but if you guys are from… a lot of other places, we’d have to get here fast to be here all at the same time.”

Or, a lot of people would have had to kidnapped them. Yeah, that made sense.

The girl in the dress was definitely not a girl at all and Devyn thought she'd never recover from the mortification of that rather rude discovery. Boys did not wear dresses and they definitely did not flash girls. It wasn't right and, well, it just wasn't polite either. It took an effort to tear her mind from that potentially traumatizing experience and back to the matter at hand. Which had something to do with being kidnapped and Australians. Or something.

"Wait, down under? What are you talking about?" Devyn had definitely missed something in dealing with the whole mental trauma thing. "Surely you'd have to realize we're not anywhere down under anything, right?" Was he stupid or something? Was that it? Then again, there were a number of funny accents flying about and this definitely wasn't a place she was familiar with so maybe Australia was as good a place to be as any. Now that was a terrifying thought, not only to be kidnapped but to be kidnapped half way across the world as well. She would not break down, however close she actually felt to doing so because people were relying on her.

"Teleporting mutant," Devyn nodded. "That makes perfect sense." At first her voice was unsure but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Obviously that was the only way to explain how someone from Australia had gotten to here, where "here" was, not to mention all the other accents. "And if it was an accident, that would explain why there aren't any guards." Ya, that made perfect sense didn't it? Aside from the fact that it made their kidnappers seem extremely incompetent, but that could only serve to make their escape all the easier. They'd figure out how to get back home after the escape itself was accomplished.

"I'm from California too," Devyn grinned at Gina before her expression turned serious again. They were from the same place so that just served to reinforce their alliance, right? Or something. "So, first things's first. We get out of here, wherever that happens to be, then we figure out how to get back home right?" It sounded almost easy when put like that.

((ooc: Cafas and me flip-flopping are our turn orders starting this round, because someone wants to get in the last word after Calley.))

Devyn was agreeing with him, and Caleb Calley was nodding at her agreeability. Yes, her words did make sense. As a fellow sense-making person, he appreciated this. He might be normal, and she might be purple and tubey, but making sense was common ground that they seemed to share. Calley slid a step closer to her side, making sure to give Gina a wide berth. There were going to be no more wing-touching accidents, and no more what's a'matters in his face.

"I'm from Jersey. New Jersey," the brown-haired Italian said. "So. Yeah. Figuring out how to get home from here would be good."

Also, figuring out where 'here' was.