PARADISA LOST

[Enjoying your sleep tonight, Paradisa? Not for long. In the still of the night, there's a faint blue glow visible from one of the taller buildings in town as a young man who's had just about enough of playing by the rules decides to cut loose a bit. He's been in town all day, handing out sudden and unexplainable bouts of gastrointestinal unhappiness to anyone fooling enough to come close enough for him to hit them with a brown note or two. It's all in harmless fun, really....or is it? Could it be that by causing a ruckus in town, that Jono...no...that Top Hat is hoping to arouse the ire of the do-gooders in Castle Paradisa? As if causing civic unrest wasn't enough, he's going to flip open his journal now, a dry laugh escaping him as he bends down to speak in it...]

Been a while since I put on a show, hasn't it?

Hey Mark? Whaddya think o' this?

[With that, Jono and his just-as-fight happy clones launch into a rather loud and obnoxious music set, in the middle of the night, in town. Hope you enjoyed what little sleep you got, because Jono's gonna make sure everyone's as sleep-deprived and grouchy as he is if it's the last thing he does.]



((OOC: Obviously, Jono's made pals with a Dark Shard. He's really not all that different than before, except he's a little more willing to make an ass of himself, and piss people off. Have at him!))

[There is a clattering sound as Jono's journal falls open, jarred open by his waking up somewhat...changed.]

What th' hell...? Why'm I...? Oh God, not this again... why th' hell can I even talk like this?

[Jono clumsily rolls himself out of bed, being unused to walking around on hooves. Anyone who's spent any time around the Ponies will recognize the sound of hooves on carpet. When he reaches his door, a problem arises.]

Great. How'm I supposed to open th' bloody door without fingers?

[That's when inspiration strikes, and he turns so his hindquarters are facing the door, and with a mighty kick, the gray-furred adult pony sends his bedroom door flying across the hall. Noticing his journal is open, Jono trots back over, seizing the thing with his teeth so it'll land on his back face-up, and quickly dictates a filter before trotting back out of his room.]


[Filtered to Fluttershy]

Oi, Fluttershy, I've got a favor t'ask ya, if yer not busy. Seems th' castle decided t'turn me inta one o' yer lot. I'm not exactly sure what'm supposed t'do with all o' this...an' it seems I've got wings, too. Mind helpin' me out?

[/Filter]

[Now Jono is going to attempt to head downstairs, and figure out how to eat without hands. Feel free to bump into him at any point down to the kitchen, or wtf at another pony in the castle, one with a much less sunny disposition than most XD]

[So, with as much music-playing as Jono has been doing, he figured he would have heard from his favorite blue-haired, bass-playing buddy Shin'ichi. Now that things have calmed down a bit, Jono goes looking for the only other professional musician in the castle, checking all of his familiar haunts, before making the dreaded trip to his room. He finds the nameplate missing, and his journal, which has conveniently followed him here, catches him swearing rather rudely in german, before striking the wood of the door with the unmistakable sound of wood splintering.]


Don' know how many folks knew 'im, but the blue-haired bassist, Shin'ichi Okazaki's gone home.


[He sighs heavily. How many more friends was he going to lose before the castle was satisfied?]


Guess that means I'm re-openin' auditions. If you've got any musical talent at all; guitar, bass, piano, vocals or whatever, lemme know. Name's Jono Starsmore, fer those who don' know me. Me an' Shin used t'play gigs at Caritas, that bar in town. I'd rather not let "the band" such as it was, die. Meant too much t'both of us.


[With that, Jono's gonna head to the music room, to give his only real musician friend in the castle a fitting send-off. The energy clone playing the bass guitar has an uncanny resemblence to his departed friend.]

[He's been working on it for quite a while in secret, but today Jono wanted to bring the results of his secret project to his friend Nina, the dancer who he'd shared a few private moments with. Unfortunately, when he reaches her door, he finds the nameplate missing. Opening the door, he doesn't find what he'd been hoping for, the stark white sterility of Nina's room. There's an angry door slam as Jono stalks away, heading for the music room. He opens his journal, his voice thick with anger and concealed grief.]

Fer those who knew her, Nina Sayers's gone home. Maybe now she can finally finish Swan Lake.

[A little while later, those who venture into the music room will find Jono with several clones, one of whom looks suspiciously like Nina. He's playing a song, while the Nina clone dances to the ballet he'd composed for her, that the real Nina never got to see.]

[So, it's been over a fortnight since Jono has been able to speak, walk on two legs,, or really do anything human. Folks on Route C probably didn't notice, but there was a seal gamboling about the beaches with red eyes, which naturally, was Jono. Now that he's been returned to his humanity, he's made a beeline straight to the Music Room, having had the maddening itch to play guitar for at least two weeks now. Anyone who stops by will see him surrounded by a small garrison of identical energy clones, each bearing a music instrument of some sort.]

( Filtered to Chopper... )

[Jono instructs his clones to gather in a loose stage-style setting, and they proceed to play this song, with one lonely clone off in the corner manning the bell, another waiting patiently with a flamenco guitar in his lap. After they finish that song, Jono nods, and the immediately launch into another, Jono's face -and by extension the faces of the clones- bears a rather dour expression. Finally, they play this song, sans lyrics.]

( Filtered to Tony Stark )

( Filtered to the X-Men, and his friends (Delirium, Galadriel, Marian, Shin, Lois Lane, Mark, and Nora )

[Indeed, some time later, Jono can be found in the Danger Room, blasting away at simulated robots with his tech, doing a much better job of not being knocked out, thanks to the hard light shield that's surrounding his body. Have at him!]

[Good morning, Paradisa! Did you enjoy your Jono-free week? He's stirring awake in the clinic now, looking quite a bit different than he did when he got knocked out. There's the sound of a sharp intake of breath, and a rustlng of bedsheets as Jono sharply sits up. He's not quite sure where he is or how he got here, but he knows his tech is missing, and he seems to be similarly lacking a shirt. He swings his legs over the side of the bed, and puts his head into his hands, trying to remember...well...the last thing he can remember.

He remembers climbing out of the time portal with his teammates, he remembers Night Thrasher telling him that he and the others had helped give him purpose, and he specifically remembers being told he could keep his tech. Now? He found himself in a strange bed in a strange place, with no memory of how he got there. His journal lays open nearby, and all of the gifts his friends have left him over the past week are similarly nearby, but Jono doesn't notice any of that just yet. The voice that comes over the journal should sound familiar to some of you, but noticeably audible, rather than a soft voice in your head.]


Uhh...hello? Someone wanna tell me where in the blazes I am?


((OPEN! Bother him over the journals or in the clinic!))