522/Dimensional energy, paradox, and other things

Dimensional energy, paradox, and other things
Date of Scene:	14 March 2020
Location:	Downtown Manhattan
Synopsis:	Zatanna shows up, nearly kills Gwen, tells her she can maybe get her home. There's flirting, jokes about Quantum leap, and hair pulling. NO CONTEXT FOR YOU. Fin.
Cast of Characters:	Gwen Stacy, Zatanna Zatara

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Gwen Stacy has posed:
It's just another lazy patrol day for our heroine Gwen Stacy, aka Ghost Spider. Swinging through Lower Manhattan, pressing the flash in her very flashy costume, the hooded spider leaps out of a webline with her arms back and knees bent, sucking up the last rays of the setting sun going down over the City that Never Sleeps.

"Are yoooou haaving a Gooooood tiiime... why yes I am." She sings to herself, music playing into one ear of her headset.

She lands in a run across the vertical wall of a brownstone dotting the corner of Chambers where it intersects 23rd street near the Brooklyn bridge. She smoothly sommersalts out and sends off another line of webbing to carry her around the corner.


Could it be a night without any crime?

Is that even possible for Ghost Spider?

There's certainly plenty of fans! Lookin' good Spider-girl, "Ugh.. that's definitely going to stick.. curse you gender based naming conventions slanted favorably towards male dominated vigilantism! CURSE YOU!"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Meanwhile, in Shadowcrest Manor, the Ancestrial Home of the Zatara Family...

Zatanna was awaken by the same dream. Not of flying. But of swinging -- swinging through the dimensional recesses. The images of herself in other periods, other worlds. Other Zatannas. Then the line snapped when a Zatanna grabbed her out of the air. "She's not yours!" she called out!

Snapped awake with a startled noise, the mage panted a few times before throwing off the blankets and heads to her crystal ball. Her hands start to move over it in a somatic gesture as she concentrates.

Finally, in the midsts of it all, Zatanna gains focus. A young woman swinging through the concrete, steel, and glass jungle of Manhattan. But she's impossible to focus on, as fast and agile as she is as she moves. So a different approach is needed.

A billboard near Gwen is advertising the Avengers on Broadway, and it shifts and changes - before become an advertisement for Zatanna Zatara, the mistress of magic.

Then the animated form moves and looks directly at Gwen. "Hey!" she greets. "We need to talk, can I join you?"

Talk about viral marketing.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Object lessons in Spider Senses:

They do not like magic.

As soon as the billboard changes, Gwen is gripping the sides of her head in both hands, releasing the thread of silk that was carrying her through a tight swing. There's a gutteral shout as that magic is focused on her, tumbling several stories in a slow, weightless tumble, until she throws her wrist out and just barely gets a line connected to the side of a building with enough time to keep from spattering on the ground at full velocity.

The recoil is enough to slow her, stretching the line until her hand comes free and she hits the top of a transport truck in a hard heap... It's a good thing it was just parked there. "What the hell was that?!" In the universe from which Gwen originates, there is no Magic... At least none that she's been exposed to. There are few super heroes besides her, even.. So when something new hits her like that? "What the..." Is that billboard looking at her.

"Hey, I know you.." Pointing up at Zatanna, "You were on Natural 20... Big fan..." Still splitting headache. Rubbing both sides of her noodle trying to make it stop. Can you join me. "I... uh.. maybe? So long as I don't have to answer in crazy riddles... I've seen Labrynth and while I think I could logic my way through that door with two knockers, I don't think I've got the fortitude to work through it tonight..."

Pause. "Where?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Ow." Zatanna winces sympathetically as the magic seems to trigger something in Gwen, and a worried moment as Zatanna was just about to throw a portal to rescue Gwen. But that line comes out, and she manages to right herself before she hits the ground, Zatanna lets out a breath and whews. "Other me woulda been pissed if I had let you splat. Even on accident." she admits.

Then at Gwen's question, she laughs. "Thanks. I kind of hoped that would have gone //better//, but what can you do, right?" she asks in chagrin. "Now, as far as joining you. Well, I can't swing... but..."

In Shadowcrest, Zatanna, still in her nightgown, gestures over the crystal ball, her hair rising as a blue glow absolves over her, illuminating her frame.

"Lartsa Mrof." she speaks the words.

And where Gwen is, the astral avatar of Zatanna appears, dressed in her fishnets and unitard/tuxedo combonation, complete with top hat. It's the way she was on the show -- and the easiest form to project to Gwen. "I can try to keep up while you're swinging or something if you're on partol, but it's easier to do this while stationary."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"If wishes were fishes, you'd definitely not be anywhere near the Hudson..." Gwen says of the best of all possible worlds outcome to anything down in New York City, "I hear there's a podcast set out of Gotham though, I'm sure that's super normal." There's a lot of dry sarcasm there, hidden beneath her white/black/pink mask.

Laying on her back catching her breath. Once she's caught it, she hops up into a three pointer, knees bent, hand out infront. Just as the astral form projects infront of her. "Don't lie, you've definitely stood behind people while they were brushing their teeth just to spook them in the mirror..." Head tilt and turning to take in the familiar accoutrements and vestments of station.

"Up there." Jutting her chin out and up towards a building from which she'd just plumpet nearly to her DEATH.

THANKS OBAMA.

No seriously, he's a national treature.

Gwen leaps up in an absurd vertical and fires off both webs from her wrist to yank her all the way to the roof of said building. Landing in a rolling lean up against a stairwell. Arms crossed, toe down against the gravel. "So... how does this work? Do you have a fee you have to pay for astral projection service charges? What kind of coverage network is it? I'm thinking of switching carriers..."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The astral Zatanna grins. "I'd offer to race you, but that would be cheating." With that, she follows Gwen to the top of the 35 Hudson Yards. When they arrive of the roof, the avatar just floats there, hands to her side - she's almost, almost opaque, but Gwen can make out the city skyline behind her. She laughs lightly at the comment and shakes her head. "It's a secret to everybody..."

That is said in a teasing fashion, though the next words are a little bit more to the point. "...it's got multidimensional coverage though." comes the offer as she folds her legs underneath her.

"I knew something had been niggling at me, but it's been a long time since there's been an interdimensional incursion of any type around here." she admits.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks curiously, a tilt of raven locks in thought.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Well that certainly catches Gwen's attention...

The eyes of her mask widen dramatically, arms remain across her chest though, loosely.. super cash. Just two ladies kicking it on a roof. A spider and a ghost. Ghost Spider... try not to think about that coincident too hard Gwen.

She inclines her hooded head at the admission of interdimensional coverage, "That must be one hell of a monthly sercharge." Murmured, scratching, with a hand uncoiled from beneath her elbow, at the base of her skull.

"I don't know what to say about it.. I've been kind of telling anyone who asks.. So.. why not tell they pretty lady in fishnets and astral form." Both hands motion out to Zatanna, "I was running around for completely legal reasons, that just so happened to involve police chasing me, details of which I don't want to get into... when a security guard took a shot at a dimensional portal bridge.. Physics really aren't my fortee, though, so don't ask how it works. Genetics? All day we could talk about that, but physics... that's all Greek to me." Waving her hand dismissively, totally in a get outta heah way.

"Then I woke up on the roof of OsCorp in a lightning storm. I'm sort of like Doctor Sam beckett, but I got to keep my awesome figure."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"And I don't have a hologram companion." Gwen adds, managing to sound extremely disappointed about that... "Unless /you/ are my hologram companion..." The eyes of her mask narrow dramatically at Zee.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Nope, sorry, I don't make a good Ziggy." Zatanna laughs playfully as she sets her hands on her knees and looks thoughtful as she closes her eyes as she considers the whole scenario. "So, here's the deal. I can try to send you back. Not sure it's going to work. But right now, you're bleeding dimensional energies. Not a lot. But you're going to keep bleeding it and it's eventually going to start attracting the wrong type of attentions."

"You know. Like a Grue." she points out as the young woman opens her eyes again.

"If I can't send you home, I can try to see about stabalizing the energy around you. But it will make it much harder to send you home if we do that." She lays out the options, and waits for Gwen to decide what she wants to do.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Well there's a thing Gwen never thought she'd hear... Dimensional travel is still, at least scientifically, years away and there's no garantee that there will even be a stable wormhole to her own universe. Hell, she could wind up in some crazy place where they elected a guy who got chokeslammed by the Undertaker as President. What a crazy world that must be amirite?

Gwen sits there staring at Zatanna for a long time... quiet. Considering. Leaning against the stairwell with her big white eyes big and wide.

"I don't know what a Grue is, but I'm going to assume that since you're saying one might come after me, that it's not a cute fussy creature that wants to befriend me and eat out of my palm."

There's also that horrible cautionary tale: May screw shit up and then you're stuck.

"You don't sound convinced." She points out, actually pointing to Zee when saying it. "I'm going to need a bit more confidence that you can pull this off... even if it's fake. I'm a firm believer in fake it til you make it."

ALSO, "The holograms name was Al. The computers name was Ziggy."

"And you have to admit you're sounding a /whole lot/ like my hologram companion right now... so give us some statistics precious."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"You want statistics?" Zatanna asks as she gives a little smirk. "You're not the first example I've seen of this. And from what I can tell, this is a dimensional roach motel. People come in - they don't go out." she admits with a thoughtful frown that purses her lips in thought. "As far as a Grue goes... well, there's a reason people shoot magic missiles into the darkness."

"So yeah, am I ready to cast a spell and send you back to your home dimension right now?" she asks and then lets out a breath, shoulders slumping. "No. No I'm not. I just met you after all, and that's a big step to take on a first date." she teases. "At least offer a girl a drink first."

But then she sobers, while in Shadowcrest the real Zatanna looks pensive. "This could take some time. But. Do you have something on you from your home? Phone? Article of clothing? Something I can practice with." she explains. "And focus on to see if I can dial you in."

"But if this doesn't work..." she trails off and lifts her finger to her lips, tapping a manicured nail against it in thought. "...I could try to fix things so you fit more into this plane so that you're not so --" she waves her hands. "-- out of place?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Listen, if you want to go on a date, I'm down, but I don't do so well with the weeby jeeby stuff..." Gwen wiggles her fingers, both hands, at Zatanna, "Not that I don't think you're the cats meow, you definitely, probably, are.. but call me crazy, I just like my weird to come in the form of super powered robots designed to hunt my specific genetic code for the purpose of cloning me into an army of super soldier spider warrior people..."

She's being sarcastic.

Also speaking from experience.

"Only thing I've got with me from my own place of origin is what I have on..." Motioning down at her costume. "I could ... oh wait, I have an idea." She nods and turns around, reaching up to grab the front of her mask to pull it forward off her head.

"No peeking."

As blonde, pink tipped hair falls out of the undercut. The mask is tucked into her belt and several strands of her hair twisted around her finger. With a sharp tug, she yanks it out and holds it there... frown... "One... OUCH... two.. I really wish I hadn't done that while you're in astral form and can't take it."

Whatever, spilt milk. The hairs are put in a small pocket on her waist, the mask is slide back in place with a single glance over her shoulder. "Yeah? I doubt anything is going to make me be out of place here... Until you've sat at your own grave, it's kind of hard to appreciate the depth of you don't belong can come from interdimensional travel."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
There's a warming of Zatanna's cheeks and a laugh. "I mean, as far as I know, you may be a mutated spider face under there. That could be someone's kink. Probably is. But I'm seeing someone. Totally flattered, but taken." Laughing lightly, she listens the rest and arches a brow. "Well, I bet you look even better in the right genes." She may be taken, but that doesn't mean she can't flirt with Gwen.

"Wait, you don't want to do that..." And too late, Gwen's yanked out her hair. And yeah. Astral form issues, am I right?

"No, I can't really relate to that one, you win."

And what does Gwen win? Above Zatanna's head is a map that leads to Shadowcrest. "I hope your memory is as good as your figure." Smirking playfully, she waits for Gwen to say she has the information before she dismisses it. "I'm going to let you get back on patrol, and will be expecting you when you've had some time to think about it."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Yeah, yeah." Gwen waves a hand backwards, then rubs her palms across her face to get the mask sitting just right else the built in sensors will go ape shit trying to duplicate her cheek movements as eye movements and it scares children.. nobody needs that.

"Oops." She's taken, "I would feel bad, but I don't." She doesn't, grinning despite it being hidden beneath her mask when she turns back to face Zee, arms once again crossed over her chest. "This figure is interdimensional. Like I'm Miss Interdimensional twenty twenty over here." Joking makes the embarassment of being shot down, even if she was playing, a little easier to swallow.

Thankfully, the mask has recording tech, so she's got video footage of the map after a glance up above Zee's head, "Got it. Think about whether I want to go home to /my/ girlfriend... or stay here where everyone thinks I'm dead.." She glances down at her wrist, where there is no watch, "I'll be there in like fifty minutes." She wont, there's still a patrol to finish.

Damn workaholics.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
There's an easy laugh from Zatanna before she pulls herself from floaing to standing nce the map's gone. "It's okay, I'll feel a little bad for shooting you down. Except not really. You're cute." With that, she stretches out. "Alright. Patrol. Girlfriend. Got it." Smirking slightly, she dusts off her hands.

"I'll see you soon, Ghost Spider."

Women unite, right?

With that, she starts to fade out.