debut: Elphaba

[no_good_deed]

"Fiyero?"

The word echoed around the room in a wholly unsettling way - this was not Kiamo Ko, nor was it any place Elphaba had ever seen before in her life. It had the cold, unsettling feel of some of the clockwork alleys she had peeked down in the Emerald City, but there was nothing green here. Well, except for her.

Pacing solved nothing, nor did her attempts to force her way past the invisible door trapping her inside. The words that usually sprang more or less fully-formed to her lips were shy here, refusing to issue forth no matter how hard she probed for them, and eventually she had to concede defeat. Tucking her knees to her chest she sat and waited, a deep and unsettling gnawing in the pit of her stomach. This had to be the work of the Wizard, she just knew it.

***

When she was suddenly transported out of the cell Elphaba thought at first that perhaps Glinda had found her, rescued her, but there was no sign of the bubbly blonde in the wide-open room where she was. More chicanery from the Wizard, then, most likely.

She hadn't gotten far in her investigations before a noise to one side startled her, and she turned to glare in its general direction, wary of tricks and illusions.

"Show yourself," she said flatly. "I know you're there."

Comments

[theycallmecap]

Steve, for his part, had not known that anybody was there, and the sudden question made him take the concourse towards the center of the Hub. He wore a warm, friendly smile when he saw the recent (green) arrival, and raised his hands in the universal sign for harmlessness in answer to the wary look on her face.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he assured her. "I was brought here just like you. Like all of us. I'm Steve Rogers," he introduced himself, and held his hand out for a handshake.

He didn't discriminate against green people.

[no_good_deed]

Elphaba stared long and hard at the proffered hand and then very deliberately folded her arms, her expression less than impressed. "Brought here? By whom?" she asked suspiciously.

[theycallmecap]

Steve lowered his hand without showing even a hint of embarrassment. "I wish I knew. Who, and why. None of us do."

[no_good_deed]

"'Us'? Who else is here?" Elphaba demanded. She obviously had no problem peppering him with questions, though she seemed less than forthcoming with information herself.

[wholeworldoutthere]

"Of course you did," Klaus confirmed as he came into view, hands in his pockets. Faint surprise registered at the sight of the newcomer, but after Mystique, her appearance was really not that shocking. "I wasn't hiding."

He stopped a few feet from her, rocking on his heels slightly. "And where are you from?"

[no_good_deed]

"Munchkinland," came the somewhat surreal response, delivered in tones that clearly said and don't even pretend that you don't know who I am. "Who are you?"

[wholeworldoutthere]

"Well, I'm not Dorothy, but we're not in Kansas anymore," Klaus replied with wry amusement. For all he knew, she might actually be from Munchkinland, but the end result would be the same for him - amusement. "The name is Klaus."

[no_good_deed]

The woman visibly bristled at the name 'Dorothy', her jaw jutting forward as if she might try and headbutt him just for uttering it. "What do you know about that girl?" she said now. "Are you in league with her?"

[born_guilty]

Raven had been passing through the Hub when she'd overheard Rogers rolling out the welcome mat for yet another new arrival. She hung back a moment, listening before she turned the corner.

And what is this? Some sort of prison for political dissenters?

A smile.

We're probably from different worlds. There aren't any green people in mine.

Ooh. Her interest is piqued, but she refuses to do the tiresome prologue to sci-fi hell for anyone, even green freedom fighters. She continues on to her room for a quick, post-workout shower.

It isn't until later, early that evening, that she actually runs into the new arrival unintentionally. She swipes her comm and heads into the wardrobe, surprised to find someone there that isn't Pam or Caroline.

Someone who certainly fits Steve's description of green people.

"Hey," Raven says, stepping in behind her. The rack that's just slid out of the conveyer is decidedly funereal: lots of black, lots of skirts that look better left in the 1800s.

"First day and already you've got a hot date. Fun."

[no_good_deed]

The look on Elphaba's face as she turns around is close to shock; it's clear she didn't expect to see someone like Mystique cornering her in the closet. She takes a step back, furrowing her brow as she takes in the other woman's appearance and relaxed demeanour.

Her tone, when she speaks, is sharp, as if she's trying to cover up for her obvious discomfort. "Can I help you?"

[born_guilty]

Funny: it's a reaction she's used to, but not one she expected here. That throws off her normal reaction, which is to say she doesn't ask the new chick just what the #$%^ are you looking at?

"Nah," she says, keeping it casual, and definitely not taking any visible notice of the woman's apprehension. She strides up to the rack and takes a look at the selection. "Jesus, what were your search parameters? Victorian funeral?" She smirks and opens her mouth to make another crack, and then her eyes go wide.

Raven, you idiot.

The Wicked Witch. Of course. ...are you kidding?

She glances back at her, giving her a savvy once-over, and then looks back at the rack, swallowing her remark. It's the jumpsuit. It makes everyone look like a low-budget space opera extra.

"So. Where you from?" She's wearing a look of concentration as she continues to browse the clothes-- a motley assortment of what's now obviously witch-wear, including a few Elvira numbers she's pretty sure won't make the cut-- but it's mostly so she can keep from cracking up. Don't say she's not in Kansas anymore. Don't.

[no_good_deed]

"Oz," the other woman says shortly. The blue-skinned woman's apparently impeccable dress-sense reminds her of Glinda, but that's where the similarities end, as does Elphaba's tolerance of someone waltzing in while she's trying to get dressed. "Originally from Munchinkland, though I was in the Vinkus before I came here."

She's silent for a moment, pulling out a heavy, floor-length skirt at random and tossing it over a nearby rack - it's dark, thick and devoid of lace: it'll do.

"Who are you?"

[oneandtogether]

Spock stepped into her line of sight, hands clasped behind him. "My intent was not to hide," he said. "I apologize if I startled you."

He took the woman's vivid coloring in stride without betraying a hint of reaction, yet in truth he was surprised. He had encountered Orions but rarely even in his own world-- Gaila had been the only cadet from that race in Starfleet in decades-- and meeting one here was an unexpected event.

"You are safe," Spock stated with what he hoped was reassuring conviction. "The recording was accurate; you are on a space station called Proserpina of unknown origin or affiliation. Were you quarantined alone, or was someone locked in with you?"

[no_good_deed]

"I was alone," Elphaba said slowly, eyeing this newcomer with suspicion. He seemed straightforward enough but half of what he said made little to no sense to her. She wondered if he was crazy, or if she was just completely out of her depth. "Do people often get locked up together here? What kind of a place is this?"

[oneandtogether]

"The majority of us were quarantined in pairs," Spock explained. "Some in threes, some alone. We have been unable to ascertain a reason, but that could be said about much of life here."

He weighed his next words carefully. "The Proserpina is unique. Its technology can reach between dimensions, I believe using a controlled wormhole of some kind. There are some thirty people on board, most from different worlds and dimensions. I believe your question is of a more existential nature, however, and sadly I do not believe I can answer it. I have been here for over a year, measured by the Earth Standard calendar, and as time passes I become more convinced that what I know is but a fraction of the whole."

[no_good_deed]

There was more confusing talk, none of which made things make any more sense; she kept a carefully neutral expression, though the urge to run up and shake him was almost overwhelming.

"You've been here a whole year? What did you do to get sent here?"

[highfunctioning]

"Congratulations," Sherlock deadpanned from behind one of the market stalls. As he turned to deliver a diatribe on the numerous ways it was not that impressive to notice the presence of another human being, his expression changed entirely.

Oh good.

He stayed where he was, though he way dying for a closer look [it did seem to be off-putting to most, when he got right into their faces] -he didn't want to scare her off before he could get her back to the lab.

"Afternoon."

[no_good_deed]

Elphaba eyed the newcomer suspiciously; she recognised that expression, or at least parts of it, and didn't much like what it told her. "Hello," she said, and then, "who are you?" No sense in beating around the bush.

[highfunctioning]

"Sherlock Holmes," he said, smiling and holding out a hand. It was more a litmus test than an introduction, and Sherlock was certainly not above faking his way through the social dance to combat her trepidation.

Normally, he'd wait for better suited individuals to take the edge off of an arrival's newness, but nothing could be done about that now. Also, if Dr Lewis ot to her first, god knew when he'd get a crack at her.

[no_good_deed]

She stared at the hand as if it might bite and made no effort to return the handshake. The name meant nothing to her, but at least he seemed amenable to answering questions. So she proceeded to fire off several.

"Where is this? How did I get here? Why are you here?"

[salsacaliente]

So this appeared to be where the accommodation was. Elphaba made her way down the long corridor - a few rooms seemed to open with coaxing (that is to say, having their button panel prodded and poked), though the majority were locked and gave only an indignant beep at such ministrations. At length, she reached one that at first beeped, and then slid open to reveal a young woman standing on the other side.

"Yeah?" she said at first in a bored tone of greeting, before seeming to register who was standing before her, eyes widening. She took a step back.

"You have to be frickin' kidding me - Elphaba? Seriously?"

[no_good_deed]

The witch took a sizeable step backwards herself, arms crossing over her chest defensively. "Who are you?" she demanded. "And how do you know who I am?" A few people seemed to know of Oz, and one even of her by reputation, but no one had volunteered her name so readily thus far - and now she was suspicious.

The girl was grinning from ear to ear now, clearly delighted. "Girl, you are like my idol - seriously, I would never have admitted to it in school because Rachel Broadway Berry and Kurt Hopeful Hummel were all over Wicked like a nasty itchy rash, but if there was one person I could have made a wish to appear in this freakshow of a place, you would be it. You're a legend."

Elphaba blinked. A legend? Someone's idol? She'd never heard terms like that applied to herself before and for a moment she felt a heady rush. Then she remembered reality and frowned, shaking her head in confusion. "I don't understand. Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"Oh, okay, right, right, so we're all from different universes and we're all like fictional stuff in other people's universes. So for me you're a character in a Broadway show, except here you're just as real as I am. Apparently," the other woman said with a roll of her eyes and a wave of her hand. "Anyway. I'm Santana."

"What's a broadway show?"

"Oh, like, a musical? It's a story, on stage, like, a play. But with songs in. Do you... remember breaking into song on a semi-regular basis?" Santana cleared her throat and fired out a couple of lines:

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity...

"No. There's no way you could... that's impossible." The green woman looked almost frightened now, though Santana could tell she was desperately trying to hide that fact from her. "You're saying someone's made a... a play of my life?"

Santana made a face, tipping her head from side to side. "... Not exactly. But close enough. Not in your world, though, so it's not like people in Oz are going to see it."

"They tell enough stories about me there," Elphaba said bitterly, "I doubt it could be any worse." Of course the propaganda about her would have spread to other worlds - she didn't know why she felt so surprised. Or disappointed.

"Oh, they're assholes, don't worry about them. You're totally misunderstood. I can relate."

The witch eyed the girl up and down - she looked as normal as any Munchkinlander, making her claim difficult to believe. "You can?"

"Sure. I mean, I wasn't quite elevated to public enemy number one status, but I was misunderstood in my own little way," Santana said, leaning against the door frame. "Though I'm pretty sure having magic would've taken the sting out a little," she added with a smirk.

"Magic only makes people fear you more," Elphaba snapped, not appreciating the girl's glib attitude. "It's hardly a blessing."

"Sure, fair enough, I guess in your case it wasn't much of a perk," Santana mused.

"It doesn't matter here anyway - all magic is dampened."

"Oh, huh. Right, yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Elphaba furrowed her brow. "You didn't know?"

"Hm? Oh sure, but I didn't know how it would work for you - I mean, you have spells and stuff, right? So..." Santana trailed off with a shrug.

"Right." There was a long, almost deliberately awkward pause before Elphaba spoke again. "I should go. I've obviously interrupted you in your... home."

"Oh, any time, seriously," Santana said. Then, after a slight hesitation. "You need a hand? You looking for a room?"

"I don't know which of these are taken. It's like Shiz all over again..." Elphaba blinked. "There aren't roommates, are there?"

"Hah, no, although... mm, nevermind, c'mon, I'll help you find a free one - I'd say stay around here but some new kid just moved in opposite me..."

[hammerscall]

Thor stepped forward, Mjolnir hanging from his belt, his brows high in question. "I am here," he said tipping his head slightly to one side. "As, clearly, are you." And he doesn't comment on her greenness, for things like skin color were hardly set in stone - he'd already met Mystique, who was blue, as were most of those from Jotunheim.

"I am Thor." He said nothing else, yet, waiting for the woman to speak her mind.

[no_good_deed]

"...right." The newcomer - Thor - seemed to be a fan of straightforward statements, which boded well for her to find out what was going on. "What is this, some kind of prison?"

[hammerscall]

"Do you not have a name?" His brows rose as he asked, but then he sighed heavily, looking at the station around them. "It is, although it is the oddest prison I have ever been subject to. There are roughly three dozen prisoners, and no visible jailers that we have seen."

He paused, moving forward only a step. "You are alright?" It was hard to know, in this place - he'd seen people left gravely injured as well as whisked away for the same.