7223/Happy Harbor: Something Strange

Happy Harbor: Something Strange
Date of Scene:	26 August 2021
Location:	Central Plaza - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis:	A movie night at the school is interrupted by...technical issues?
Cast of Characters:	Morrigan MacIntyre, Billy Batson, J'onn J'onzz, Michael Hannigan, Friday, Bando George

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Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Some of the students had decided for an impromptu movie night and general hang out session at the school tonight. Teens that wouldn't normally be at the school this far after hours were seated and snacking and talking with others at the tables that have been moved together. Others aren't paying attention to the movies, but are having conversations and dinner with others.

Declan, Delia and Tyler are here, sitting with each other and chatting over some bit of weirdness that's been going on in the dorms the last few nights. Others may have heard the rumors of something not quite right. Items being misplaced, but no one moving them. Cold spots, weird misty shapes. Someone might be playing a prank on the freshmen that stay in some of the dorms.

Or there might be something that's wandered into the school and is now calling it home.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson was going to turn in early. He wasn't feeling great, skipped dinner in fact and fell out at 6. He woke up a little later with the worst sore throat of his life and decided to see about some cough drops or tea. No cough drops for sale but he did snag a tea from a vending machine and flopped over to a table to nurse it. Being sick sucked.

On a hunch he pulled his phone out to text Mike. <<Hello Mr. H. It's BB. I seem to have a really bad cold and I don't think I should. come in tomorrow. I would hate for you or Mr. Shaw to catch it. Sorry -Your Gopher. :D>> Yes a singer with a cold while touring constantly? Very bad. He does give a wave to the twins, Tyler and other people he recognizes but keeps his distance.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
Any time that there was a gathering of students, no matter the house, J'onn was there to help keep an eye on things. He had heard the students talking about the weirdness going on in the dorms, which lead him to sticking around a lot more. He was no expert on these sorts of things, but his gut was going with the concept of a poltergeist.

Standing now at the back of the room, out of the way of the kids collecting to watch the movie, he wears a pair of light slacks and a polo shirt, with a pair of slip on loafers. He looks casual and comfortable, which is what he was... even if he was attempting to listen for extra voices in his mind that shouldn't be there.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Several minutes roll by before a message is sent back in reply to Billy's. << Thanks for the heads up. I won't be in the studio tomorrow either because of other plans but I'll be sure to let Wade know. Rest up, hydrate and get some sleep. -Mike >>

Friday has posed:
The barely-there teacher of World History and Geography is...here. She'd taken many of her classes online due to the recent threats and various jazz going on, and had missed a few meetings and such. Ms Torres is walking out from the staff washrooms, and looking as if she regrets eating something that she's ingested.

To be fair, there were some questionable options in the food for sale today. However she sighs, looking about for anyone she's actually had a conversation with in person, and finds that she really needs to get out of her office more often.

She looks at Billy, the tea and the look on his face telling the entire story. Poor guy. But he's clearly toughing it out. Wonder if he needs help.

All of this is behind her eyes. She simply walks over to Billy instead of saying so and asks, "What kind of tea is that? It smells good."

Bando George has posed:
    Bando doesn't live near most of the studends, so he doesn't often have the chance to socialize after school. So when he heard about a movie night, he was all on board. He is by the snack bar, and he idly grabs far more pizza than is proper to allot to one student. He wanders back and forth for a moment before deciding that aliens are cool people to talk to. He wanders straight up to J'onn, as if he knew him for years. "So I heard there's weird stuff at the school," he says. "Is that real? Like somebody moving things around? People act like it's a ghost or silly stuff like that." Is that how he starts all conversations? Maybe.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Declan and the others give a wave to Billy and smiles, "Hey Billy!" he greets. "You probably should see the school nurse, you're looking rough!" Delia adds with a bit of a worried frown. Tyler gives a solemn nod of his head, agreeing with the redhead words. It was feeling like a normal school night and a normal school for once given there were no fires that needed to be put out.

There is a jovial air to the central plaza.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn had been watching the students, so as Bando approaches the Martian's eyes follow him... and bombarded. He doesn't seem to mind, his expression remains the same calm, neutral expression he always wears.

"The reality of the situation has yet to be discovered Mr. George," he offers with his calm, almost serene baritone voice. "The problem with things moving on their own, is that there could be someone moving them and saying they are not, but it is also possible it is something else. There is no evidence to suggest either just yet."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson looks up as Ms. De La Torres asks after him and gives a plucky smile. He managed only the tiniest sip of tea. He gats it down and answers, "I have a really bad cold thanks. I can live with it."

Except what comes out is, "I... i... i.. i..." his voice catching and not working at... ally. He grabs his throat and tries again.

"... ... .... .... " Billy's lips form words -'melon farmer' 'motor scooter'? It wasn't Holy Moley. Leave it at that. Batson gets agitated.

Friday has posed:
Billy's response, or lack of one, concerns Isabella. She leans down, then kneels slightly, and puts a hand on Billy's shoulder. "I hope you feel better soon," she says with wide eyes, and a deep honesty in every syllable.

Then she stands up and turns to walk away. She walks past J'onn and Bando, her eyes touching on the teacher, then dips her head respectfully. One acts with courtesy.

She pauses then, a small smile touching her lips, and turns back. "May I buy you a drink sometime, Mr J'onzz?" she asks. The worst thing she could possibly do, so of course totally have to do it.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
The movie that's playing on the projector that's been set up is just getting to the good part. The heroes are about to save the day. That's when the projector starts to slow to a snails pace. The voices of the actors getting drug out like some weird chant or ghostly sound. Above, the lights in their fixtures flicker. Bando's question of ghosts is very well timed it would appear.

There is a group of teens that nearly spill their drinks when it happens, showing that if any of them had anything to do with it they were REALLY good actors.

Declan, Delia and another seem to be staring at the projector and television, waiting to see if something is going to crawl out of it.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
There's another message that pops up on Billy's phone. << Oh and don't talk too much, that's just asking for trouble with the pipes. >>

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
That was completely and totally unexpected in every way, shape and form, but it does't show on J'onn's face. In fact if anything, he looks more stoic as he says to Isabella, "A drink? Of course, if you would like." It is entirely possible the Martian does not get the context of the offer, or perhaps he does, or maybe there is no context at all, either way he sees no reason to refuse, it will give him a chance to speak with another teacher and perhaps make a new friend.

"Also, young mister Baston... he did not mouth, or say, holey moley. Whatever that is. He is projecting unintentionally," he then adds, then promptly pushes his shields to a higher level.

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson forgets his tea. Shazam has the Courage of Achilles but Billy is no slouch. He goes over to stand by Declan and Deliah. Safety in numbers. He thought Irie would be here. Now would be nice. He puts a hand on Deliah's shoulder and tries to give her a thumbs up. this could be bad wiring. When his phone goes off he texts back to Mike <<Mr. H! I thinj wegot aothergost at the school!>> Then he adds a scared emoji.

Bando George has posed:
    "Well, things don't move by themselves," Bando points out the most obvious. "So /somebody/ is moving them, right?" He shoves the pizza in his mouth, taking a larger than healthy bite. He stares at the strange slowing of the movie. He doesn't seem bothered by it other than the inconvenience of having it not properly play. "Ugh!" he grunts, "Can't the school afford good internet?" He glances at Billy, and his trouble speaking. "Hey, Billy," he says, "You could just type out on your phone what you want to say, and say it. You can use one of those text to speech apps. I had one a few months ago that talked like Darth Vader." He pulls his own phone out and starts to search for it. "I can share it with you and you can use it." Scroll scroll scroll.

Friday has posed:
Ms Torres smiles, her dark cheeks shining. "I'll be in touch then," she says, then there's a bit of a pause. She turns and looks at the film, her smile turning upside-down nicely.

"Did someone play around with the projector?" she asks the room, allowing her voice to rise slightly. She nods to both Bando and J'onn both, excusing herself, then begins to approach the projector.

Oh no, has she not heard the rumours? She could be in danger from a ghost!

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Over at the condo, Mike stares at his phone for a few moment. Considering the length of the previous message, the amount of typos in the more recent one does take a bit more time to decipher. What's an Aothergost? Highlighting the term, he places it into a browser and hits search to look up the definition.

'It looks like there aren't many great matches for your search'

Mike expression darkens at the suggested text

'Another ghost'

Sliding the phone into his pocket, the musician runs over to the newly replaced window and hops through it.

But unlike a certain ghost, he actually opts to become intangible before going through it.

The form of a raven pops out of the window, flying in the direction of Happy Harbor before vanishing from view.

Time to take a short cut.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
When Isabella asks if anyone messed with the projector there's a chorus of 'Not us, Miss De La Torres!' and others that are moving from the table where the projector was settled by itself. It's still on and running, but the film has apparently lost connection with the projector. It was weird, but couldn't electronics have failures at weird times? Probably nothing to worry about.

Mister Herol, one of the teachers brought on this year gives a bit of a quizzical look over the central plaza and then shakes his head, "I think it's good to get people on their way home if they need to be heading out to other destinations. Driver can pull the bus around and get people on their way since it's getting late. We'll try movie night again next week." he states with a smile.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn eyes move to the screen, then to the projector. That was clearly another sign that something was in fact up. Again, he's no expert in electronics, but the movie does not slow down like that due to internet. They stutter, they lag, they stop, but they don't slow down.

Stepping away from his usual back of the room position, he opens his mind just a little, enough to count the minds in the room. There should be a certain number, obviously, and if there is something else here, it might show up as another presence, another mind.

Billy Batson has posed:
Do you feel it? When he has the Wisdom of Solomon, he can sense magical forces and presences. Mary told him that she could tell what her other self knew. Maybe that would work here. He had magical lightning lighting him up for almost two years know. He could be developing a feel for it. He tries to push all the noises and sights away, get some focus, look for what everyone is missing. Magic was subtle, like a tiny leak in your roof you can never quite find. Billy looks around, tries to sense something.

Bando George has posed:
    Bando, for whatever rumors of ghosts might be going around, looks remarkably undisturbed about the idea. Perhaps he also hasn't heard the rumors. Or, more likely, he just doesn't believe in ghosts. Or, more likely still, he's completely unafraid of even the possibility of it being a ghost.

    "Rip," he quirks his mouth to one side. "Try again?" He glances back at J'onn. "Mr. Jazz, we don't gotta stop, we just restart it, it'll be fine right? It's only got like thirty minutes left." He watches as J'onn moves away from the wall. "Oh come on, you're not gettin' spooked, too, are you?" he asks. He's not really investigating, but as everyone drifts in the direction of the monitor, he kinda lemmings in that direction himself.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a-

Oh wait. Yes, it is a bird appearing out of nowhere. The purplish black raven's wings are stretched out, contributing to the relatively impressive three foot wingspan. But what might be more impressive are the more human like thoughts coming from it. In particular, a very Mike like thought process that involves looking for a certain texter and a (not so) Gentlemanly figure in white and a top hat. Also the words 'Going','to', 'Beat', 'Ever-lovin', and a variant of the term 'poop' are very much tied to the faceless man in white.

Friday has posed:
This is when Isabella de la Torres proves two things to everyone present, now and forever. The first thing is that she has no special senses at all, because she nods to the students and then starts to fiddle with the projector with the aim of getting it going again.

The second is that she didn't read up on how projectors work. "I'll do what I can. If we can't get it going again, please consider other options. We do have a library with actual books."

Woo, sarcasm to hide the fact that she's not sure how to restart a projector. Go Issy.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Nothing else happens with the projector and it is easy to turn it off and on again to get it working. The golden rule of IT, Turn It Off and Turn It Back On. Powercycle. There are no ghostly light flickers or things to go along with it.

Most of the teens that were here needed to head home. Some of the older kids have cars so can drive themselves. Mister Herol gives a chuckle to Bando, "It's almost ten at night, Mister George." he points out. "Unless you're wanting to stay in one of the dorm rooms this evening. I'm sure someone can set you up in one." he comments. "Miss De La Torres, even if we get it working we are probably done for the night, but I appreciate your looking at it." the older man states to that.

With that he moves to help guide the teens that need help with getting going and starting to clean up for the night.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
Sometimes the act of opening his mind was a mistake, and J'onn always tried very hard not to invade the privacy of human's thoughts... they really hated that... but the raven, those thoughts were inescapable. He picks up every single one of them, and it creates to many questions in the Martians mind. Gentlemanly figure in white and a top hat? Who is he beating the ever lovin... out of? Why is the raven thinking like a person? Then all those questions are answered by the images that come with the thoughts. Indeed it was time to close his mind back off.

He has sensed nothing else, no other mind in the room, but that didn't mean there wasn't something there. Shifting his eyes to Miss. De La Torres with the projector for a moment, he then shifts them to the raven and finally a look around the room. Nothing else seemed to have happened, the movie just slowed down.

"Alright, time to call it a night," he then offers. "If anyone needs an escort home, please speak up now."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson is left wondering whether he could sense magic. He shrugs. Hard to focus with that weird bird that showed up. He goes back to his table to retrieve his tea. Tomorrow will be better, he hopes, after he gets out of Urgent Care. Hopefully he'll be able to speak a few words, or at least one. He waves good night to all.

Bando George has posed:
    Bando groans. "Ugh! Seriously?" Apparently he's not happy. "Is this because people are bein' superstitious? I mean, we only lost a couple minutes," he says. Though he knows the decision is made, he still felt the need to complain about it, apparently. "I can ask about staying, if they say yes can we finish the movie?" His thoughts? Well, if J'onn dares to follow them, they are all over the place. Why does the movie have to be stopped? Ghosts aren't real. Who is pranking us? That's lame, save it for class time not movie time. Do classes start at the same time tomorrow? That's a dumb question of course they do. Oh, a top hat!

    Finally, he just takes in a deep breath, letting out a sigh of defeat. He already knows the answer to the questions. "Nah, I can get home," he says. "Subway runs all night." Besides that, he can teleport if he needs to.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Seeing no ghost causing chaos, Mike's left to assume that Billy got things wrong when he texted him about there being ghosts nearby. But he's here now. Spotting Billy in the mix, the raven's flight adjusts, following after him. Well. Might as well make sure the kid gets home ok at least.

Friday has posed:
If Isabella's thoughts were read, they'd show a dedicated interest in figuring out how the projector went screwy. She does look up, and with a smile for Mr Herol she acquiesces. "Yawning students outweigh the need to find out how the hero saves the day, yes. Thank you Mr Herol. Another night, everyone."

Well, to be fair it is quite late. She glances at her watch, and wonders idly if she has time to research Peru for next week.

Oddly, not entirely for class. Still, two birds, one stone as they say.

She'll send Bando a link to watch the rest of the movie with an anonymous address. Least she can do. And then, she smiles to Billy.

Decent kid. Too bad he's nothing special, he'd make a good hero one day.