Welcome home, ladies and gentlemen! You're in for a treat.

[demonicpenumbra]

Time: Day
Location: Anywhere in the city; though for new arrivals dropping in, it'll be somewhere near the frozen yogurt stand because life mocks you at every turn

Congratulations, young man/woman/abominable creature! Your day --and your life!-- is about to become much more entertaining, for you have been chosen at random by none other than the

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[sweet_ruffian]

An airport in Perth, Australia. Patrick Verona is boarding a plane from Australia back to the States after spending the holiday with family. He's very much looking forward to seeing Kat there waiting for him as soon as his plane touches down in Washington. But first the long, long flight over the Pacific. Afterward he'll have barely enough time to sleep off some of the jet lag but he won't miss New Years Eve with Kat for anything.

But as he steps on board, the sight hits him like a boot to the face. Patrick freezes. Instead of rows of airline seats and that weird airplane stink there are tables and wooden chairs and the sweet aroma of chocolate waffle cones. Against the wall there's a glass counter and where seat 18 A should be there's strawberry-banana frozen yogurt.

Was this a joke? Or did he just have some sort of bizarre brain malfunction? Because it isn't like he could've taken a wrong turn in that short corridor between the building and the plane. He whirls round to head back out and try this again but there is no corridor to speak of. Only a sidewalk and some cars going by.

What in the name of all that is holy and circumcised?

Leaning in the doorway, he looks into the frozen yogurt stand and then out at the street and then back again, repeating the same two motions until someone either tries to use the door or kicks him out of the shop.

[per_tinacious]

It apparently didn't matter to Babs-the-slave-driver that it was still technically the holidays. While Steph completely understood that crime doesn't take a holiday, Barbara didn't understand that regular people did! It was bad enough that her nights were filled with being batgirl instead of partying with her friends like normal college kids, now her days were filled with more work at the library getting things ready for the upcoming semester.

As usual, Stephanie was running late. She had a half eaten bagle in her mouth as she ran down the snowy sidewalks to Gotham U. She was flying over snowbanks and swerving through people dressed in parkas and mittens. The campus loomed not ten feet away. She mumbled apologies as she pushed past some people sitting on the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. She pushed through the heavy door at the front of the building and entered... the outside?

What should have been the glorious halls of Gotham's oldest educational institution was now a mostly empty street lined with shop windows and parked cars. She turned around to find the door she had just come through was also gone, in it's place a confused looking guy standing in a dooframe that was not part of her school. The bagel fell from her mouth.

"What ... the hell?"

[sweet_ruffian]

Still stricken, Patrick took in the sight of the girl but his mind was slow to process her presence. He was reluctant to move from his spot in the doorway for fear that it might somehow lead him more astray. But seeing her still standing there, he knew he had to do something.

"Um... oh, uh sorry," he apologized distractedly and slowly moved to unblock the doorway. A hand went to his forehead and he stared dazedly at a patch of floor. When it occurred to him that standing there staring at nothing wasn't going to get him any answers, Patrick looked up at the girl and noticed that she too wore a look of surprise.

"...Sorry, what ...just happened?"

[per_tinacious]

The strange accent snapped her out of her what-the-hell reverie and she shook her head.

"What just happened? I think I just went through a portal and ended up in a less-warm Australia. Or ... England. I'm not too good with accents." He hadn't mentioned koalas or blokes so she couldn't be sure.

"This is supposed to be my school. And you probably think I'm crazy..."

Great, now the locals were going to take her to the loony bin before she could find out where the hell she was. At least it wouldn't be Arkham. They'd tear her apart.

"Could you tell me where I am?"

[sweet_ruffian]

His attention hung on her words but he wasn't sure yet what to make of them.

"That's what I was going to ask you. This sure as hell isn't where I was a moment ago. I don't know how it happened," he looked to his watch expecting to see an unexplained lapse in time but found that only a few minutes had passed at most. "My flight's due to leave in 10 minutes, I was just about to board."

And now that he thought of it, hadn't she mentioned she was supposed to be at school? Maybe what had happened to him happened to her, too. The longer he stared at his watch, the closer the minute hand crawled toward his plane's departure time. Suddenly, the dazed state gave way to a thrill of panic.

"Here, maybe we can find out," he dashed hurriedly down the steps of the frozen yogurt stand, turned about on his heel, then chose a direction to start moving in. "Look for anything that might tell you where we are."

If they could find out that much, then maybe there was still a chance he could catch his flight and never look back on this day again.

[per_tinacious]

"Your flight? The airport is on the other end of the city! I mean... the other end of my city." She stared at him like he was an alien. How could they both be here and not be from here? Wherever here is.

She immediately ran through the long list of known whack-jobs in Gotham with the ability or technology to transport people. But why would they need this guy? And who knew of her identity other than the Black Mask, the Riddler and the Joker?

Steph watched as the stranger rushed off and started running around frantically. It took a second for her to realize what he was doing.

"Oh, I get it!" She dashed off in the opposite direction looking for street signs, phone booths, or another person. "Yell if you see something, 'Kay?!"

It was like searching through a ghost town.

[sweet_ruffian]

"I will," Patrick called over a shoulder.

He jogged further up the sidewalk, pace slowing every few steps as street signs and storefronts caught his attention. One thing was certain, this wasn't Perth. It looked completely different and the weather was too cold. But there was also something else, a darkness along the edges of the sky. It was hard to see because of all the buildings surrounding him, but it didn't go unnoticed. Another strange thing: there were hardly any other people around. Only a handful of cars rolled up and down the street and a delivery truck pulled away across the street but that was it.

Spotting a newspaper dispenser, Patrick skidded up to it and leaned down to read through the glass. Hudson Reporter, the paper was called.

"Hudson? What?" His eyes scanned further down the folded page, brow creased in a deep furrow. It soon became vital to buy this paper and Patrick dug out his wallet. The machine wanted American currency, a big clue that sent a shiver down his spine.

Once he had the strange newspaper tucked beneath an arm, Patrick made his way back at a brisk pace to where he'd last seen the girl--what was her name? Shit. He didn't catch it--heading off in the opposite direction he'd taken.

"Hey, um, Girlie?" He began to search around for her with a weary glance toward the sky every now and then and a sinking feeling in his stomach.

[per_tinacious]

"Yeah?" She called back from a payphone not far from the yogurt stand. The phone book was located under the phone, attached by a cable. It was a New Jersey phone book. Hoboken area. Not far from home.

Leaving the pay phone, she jogged back to meet him half way with a small smirk. "I think I know where we are. I just don't know how we got here."

Her smirk gave way to a bright smile now that she wasn't so pessimistic about their situation. "Also, My name is Steph. Not Girlie."

[sweet_ruffian]

The smile she gave him and the new sense of confidence about her was enough to bring him a bit of solace. In return he gave her a small grin. Later, when he had time to think on it, he would realize just how grateful he was for bumping into her under these bizarre circumstances.

"Patrick Verona," he offered a hand to shake in proper greeting. "So what is this place, Steph? You've been here before?"

[per_tinacious]

Steph took the hand offered to her and shook it in a firm but gentle way. So this strange man from Australia was Patrick. She knew one thing about him and one thing about where they were. A few more pieces and this puzzle would be solved.

"I'm pretty sure this is Hoboken. It's not far from my hometown, Gotham, New Jersey. Maybe an hour away or so. I just have no idea how we got here or why it isn't totally crowded. Usually the traffic is murder." Maybe it was a holiday.

She looked around her as if people would magically come flooding out of the stores around them and the colour would get brighter instead of all these grey, dingy buildings and the foreboding sky. At least her temporary partner in crime had a nice smile.

"You have no idea how you got here either? It's kind of far from the Outback. I think you would have noticed being drugged and kidnapped." She laughed. He would probably think she had some weird hobbies, which was a better than guessing her secret life as a super hero.

[sweet_ruffian]

"New Jersey," he repeated and then again but quieter, "So, New Jersey..." This was never going to make sense.

One good thing at least: he was already in the States which meant nine hours were cut from his flight time. Now to find himself an airport that would put him on a plane to Washington today. His mind was still hopelessly jarred from what had happened and he was leery of a repeat experience but he couldn't just sit and do nothing. The sooner he was home, the better.

"Guess you're going to be late for class then. We should probably start trying to find our ways out of here..." The newspaper itched at his side but Patrick was reluctant to look at it again or show Steph. He'd read something there that left his blood chilled.

[per_tinacious]

"Late for work, actually. Class is out for another week. Babs is going to kill me but she's used to being mad at me." A shrug. Steph was very easy going, especially in potentially stressful situations. It was just part of her charm.

She laughed, "I'm pretty sure that the subway or a highway will get us out of here safely. Maybe a bus. It's not like we're trapped here with only frozen yogurt to sustain us." This guy was adorable in a paranoid way.

"Just keep your eye out for any evil looking people in spandex. Hey, what's that?" She asked as she grabbed the paper out of his hand without botering to ask for it. She scanned the front page for the date first.

"At least the date is the same..."

[sweet_ruffian]

"Make that a jetliner for me. I'm supposed to be on the opposite coast of the country by midnight," Patrick was saying when Steph swiped his newspaper.

At the top was the headline MAN DISAPPEARS INTO SHADOWS. PRESUMED DEAD. The article told a chilling account: Martin Nomak, 32, disappeared yesterday morning while walking his dog. He was last seen along the western perimeter where witnesses say Nomak's dog, Misty, broke free of her leash and charged into the shadow barking. Nomak then followed in an attempt to rescue his pet. Several hours passed but neither man nor animal returned.

Talk about the bearer of bad news. "...Yeah. That. I bought it a moment ago, I'm not sure what to make of it." His gaze shifted away from her and eventually toward the ominous darkness along the edges of the sky. Was that stuff the "shadows" the article was going on about?

[per_tinacious]

Steph's smile melted and was replaced with knitted eyebrows and a frown. News of this hadn't gotten to Gotham yet. It was abnormal, mysterious, kind of Stephen King-like. Bruce would have be all over this if he were still...

She'd have to let Dick and Damian know when she got back. They'd never let her pursue it by herself and the Batcave has way better tech than Oracle's place, believe it or not.

"Mind if I hold onto this? I have a friend that would find it pretty interesting." She tried to plaster the smile back on her face. Realizing he wasn't looking at her, she followed his gaze to the dark horizon.

"...Storm coming in? Let's hope the flights are still going out. You're best shot is the Newark airport. A cab could take you, it's not far."

[sweet_ruffian]

That was some friend she must have there. Patrick would let her have the paper if she wanted it. He really didn't want to know what else was in it. Maybe she was right about the darkness, maybe it was only a storm gathering. Or some unusually dense smog. Whatever it was he didn't want to be caught in it.

"Great, thanks. Better hurry then. I'll go call us one," he said heading to the phone booth Steph had just checked out where he started flipping through the phone book, cellphone flipped open in his other hand. Glancing at it, he saw that he'd received a new message roughly an hour ago before turning up here, probably from Kat. A part of him wanted to call her, to hear her voice, for the sake of his sanity. His fingers moved faster now, turning pages, eyes scanning, until he found a number for the cab.

After the call was made, Patrick stepped out onto the sidewalk again to join Steph for the wait and tried to avoid looking at the sky. "It's on it's way."

[per_tinacious]

He had no idea. With the paper folded safely under her arm, Steph leaned against the side of a building. She occasionally glanced up at the sky but for the most part, she was scanning the street for suspicious persons and activities.

When he returned, she greeted him with smirk "Cool. I'll make sure to get you safely on your plane, Patrick. Where you headed to, anyway?"

She was trying to keep the conversation steered as far away from how and why they were here as possible. She didn't want to scare him with the possibilities of costumed villains with top hats or face paint.