Warren had been trying to place calls all day. Will had not only not been home when he'd called there, but The Commander had kind of taken him for some crazy prank caller. He'd never had a son? Or a Wife?
Hell, Warren had even tried to point out whose kid he was. And when he'd gotten a "Who?" in response, he'd promptly hung up the phone, retreating to his room to... think. He was in no way wallowing or sulking or freaking the heck out, thank you. If the entire damn world was falling apart, Warren Peace was going to hold it together. He just... he was.
Or, maybe, he was going to make one more phone call. Maybe he was losing his mind, or maybe there was something huge going on, but whatever the case, he wasn't going to give it up without telling someone who was far enough outside of it all to hopefully be safe.
Momoko glanced at the caller id, dropping the latest report to the table with a grin when she saw the name. "Warren!! You totally better be calling to invite me to Thanksgiving this year. I am just in the mood to skip out of here!" No she wasn't, but if he didn't have anything weird going on in his world, she could at least pretend nothing was wrong in hers.
Oh, Momoko. You had no idea how much of a relief it was to hear you sounding like your normal, bubbly self.
"I'm... actually not," he admitted, after a moment. "Not just because turkeys as a species apparently stopped totally existing sometime last week."
Which, normally, he'd blame on some disgruntled Thanksgiving-hating supervillain. He was pretty sure that Baron Battle had tried something like that at some point, actually. But nobody remembered who he was, so it was a moot point.
"Are you okay?"
... He had intended to ask how she was. Apparently his mouth had other ideas.
"I... I'm tired. Some totally weird and horrible things have been happening and I have been spending every minute I can on it." Momoko leaned back and crossed her fingers. "So, what do you mean about the turkeys? Is it a villain again? Or extinction?"
Yes, she was totally rooting for extinction. It would mean Warren was safe from this evil whatever!
"Considering my mom told me that 'turkey' was a stupid made-up word and that she thought I'd grown out of that sort of thing, I'm going with... no."
No to both. And Warren was pretty certain that his mother knew basic world geography better than to completely mark Turkey off the globe, so that was an extra tick in the 'big trouble' column. Right along with so many other things.
"Weird and horrible things?" He grit his teeth a little at that. No. Shit. This was not what he'd wanted to hear. "Things just... disappearing?"
"Oh no, Warren?!" A bit of Momoko's exhaustion came through as she ran a hand through her hair. "I was hoping... Things are disappearing here, but people too." She drew a ragged breath, trying NOT to cry.
"I can't find a connection anywhere, Warren. It's been weeks. And it's not just mine and yours. I've got friends in different universes and there's no real reason for any of it and no two universes are affected the same. Except that people don't remember what's missing."
Momoko was quiet. All people so very important to him. Gone. GONE gone.
"I remember them. Even your dad." It had made her feel totally better to know that Dinah had remembered her missing persons. She shuffled through some papers and pulled out the print she'd made of Priestly's attacker. "I wish it was just us going crazy? But even people from Fandom have disappeared. I have a photo of whatever this is but no one in two universes has figured out what it is."
It... kind of did help, actually. Just remembering his dad was a big deal. Warren had missed him before, when there was no hope of ever seeing him again. Now that nobody even acknowledged that he existed...
Warren sighed, looking out his bedroom window.
And he froze for a moment.
"This photo... doesn't look like the world just kind of... suddenly stops... does it?"
"That is totally what it looks like..." Momoko remembered that tone, Warren. "How do you know?"
Her heart skipped a beat and she reached for another of her phones. "Get your mom! I'm going to get you a portal; you can stay with me while we figure this out!" Pick up, Portalocity. Pick up pick up pick up! NO FAILING WHEN MOMOKO NEEDED YOU! "You owe me a birthday present anyway, right? You'll love Japan..."
"I hear Japan's great," Warren agreed, inching back from his bedroom window, making a break through the house. His mother had been in the kitchen. Okay. He could find her, and-
Momoko was probably likely to hear something smashing as Warren skidded into a small table at the end of the hallway, trying like hell to come to a stop before he could careen straight into nothing at all.
And then he was swearing under his breath in Chinese. He was swearing under his breath in Chinese a lot. Even if technically, China didn't exist anymore, either.
They would open it wherever Momoko said to, if she had her way.
And if she could GET THEM TO PICK UP!
"Can you get out of the house?" She was up and pacing, Portalocity and it's FAIL hold music on speaker while she tried to think. What to do, what to do?!
Warren was edging away from the void that was creeping up on him, step by step. It seemed to be taking its time, but then, it wasn't as if he had anywhere to get to even if he did make it outside.
"Not without burning it down around me."
The front door, was that way. Warren was now trapped in a house with no doors. Ducking into the bathroom wasn't going to do him any good. The room that his mom kept her costumes in...
There were no costumes in it. Going that way was not a great plan either.
He was back in his bedroom in a few more steps, trying not to breathe too heavily over the phone. Trying not to make it obvious to Momoko that he was terrified out of his wits, now.
"Long drop from my bedroom window. I'd be fine, if there was any ground."
He sounded really close to how he had just after the zombies, so Momoko had an inkling and it was totally feeding into her own growing panic.
"I am totally not caring about your house right now." She was shaking. This was not happening, right? She'd fallen asleep and was dreaming right? "If you can't jump... Can you burn down a wall? Get out through that? Or climb to the roof? Maybe a tree...?"
But burning down the house was starting to seem like a better option than ending up in whatever that was. He made a fist with his free hand, letting fire creep up his arm, and flung a fireball at his bedroom wall. Hopefully there'd be ground out that way, if nothing else.
Another fireball. And another. And- the fourth flew for a few feet, and then stopped short, like it had been strangled out completely.
"No walls." And now it was starting to get really apparent in his voice. He was backed into a corner, though there weren't any corners to speak of. Just this wall of void, creeping in on all sides. "Momoko, whatever you do, don't come here looking for me."
The fire that had been rippling in waves over as much of his body as he could afford to burn without damaging the phone just... stopped. There wasn't any point. Not like this.
"NO! No no no! Warren, I will find you! I totally will! You are not doing this to me again!" She was crying now, sorry, and pounding on the Lab's keyboard to try to bring up the Portalocity website. "Just stay on the phone okay? Stay with me!"
Hell, Warren had even tried to point out whose kid he was. And when he'd gotten a "Who?" in response, he'd promptly hung up the phone, retreating to his room to... think. He was in no way wallowing or sulking or freaking the heck out, thank you. If the entire damn world was falling apart, Warren Peace was going to hold it together. He just... he was.
Or, maybe, he was going to make one more phone call. Maybe he was losing his mind, or maybe there was something huge going on, but whatever the case, he wasn't going to give it up without telling someone who was far enough outside of it all to hopefully be safe.
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"I'm... actually not," he admitted, after a moment. "Not just because turkeys as a species apparently stopped totally existing sometime last week."
Which, normally, he'd blame on some disgruntled Thanksgiving-hating supervillain. He was pretty sure that Baron Battle had tried something like that at some point, actually. But nobody remembered who he was, so it was a moot point.
"Are you okay?"
... He had intended to ask how she was. Apparently his mouth had other ideas.
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Yes, she was totally rooting for extinction. It would mean Warren was safe from this evil whatever!
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No to both. And Warren was pretty certain that his mother knew basic world geography better than to completely mark Turkey off the globe, so that was an extra tick in the 'big trouble' column. Right along with so many other things.
"Weird and horrible things?" He grit his teeth a little at that. No. Shit. This was not what he'd wanted to hear. "Things just... disappearing?"
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"I can't find a connection anywhere, Warren. It's been weeks. And it's not just mine and yours. I've got friends in different universes and there's no real reason for any of it and no two universes are affected the same. Except that people don't remember what's missing."
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Which had been cause for concern too, yes.
Warren hesitated for a moment before adding, "Nobody remembers my dad, either. I was... kind of hoping it was just me going crazy."
Was it too late for him to realize that it was just him going crazy? Please?
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"I remember them. Even your dad." It had made her feel totally better to know that Dinah had remembered her missing persons. She shuffled through some papers and pulled out the print she'd made of Priestly's attacker. "I wish it was just us going crazy? But even people from Fandom have disappeared. I have a photo of whatever this is but no one in two universes has figured out what it is."
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Warren sighed, looking out his bedroom window.
And he froze for a moment.
"This photo... doesn't look like the world just kind of... suddenly stops... does it?"
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Her heart skipped a beat and she reached for another of her phones. "Get your mom! I'm going to get you a portal; you can stay with me while we figure this out!" Pick up, Portalocity. Pick up pick up pick up! NO FAILING WHEN MOMOKO NEEDED YOU! "You owe me a birthday present anyway, right? You'll love Japan..."
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Momoko was probably likely to hear something smashing as Warren skidded into a small table at the end of the hallway, trying like hell to come to a stop before he could careen straight into nothing at all.
And then he was swearing under his breath in Chinese. He was swearing under his breath in Chinese a lot. Even if technically, China didn't exist anymore, either.
"They don't open portals in hallways, do they?"
Just back away, Warren. Back. Away.
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And if she could GET THEM TO PICK UP!
"Can you get out of the house?" She was up and pacing, Portalocity and it's FAIL hold music on speaker while she tried to think. What to do, what to do?!
WHY WASN'T SHE THERE?
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"Not without burning it down around me."
The front door, was that way. Warren was now trapped in a house with no doors. Ducking into the bathroom wasn't going to do him any good. The room that his mom kept her costumes in...
There were no costumes in it. Going that way was not a great plan either.
He was back in his bedroom in a few more steps, trying not to breathe too heavily over the phone. Trying not to make it obvious to Momoko that he was terrified out of his wits, now.
"Long drop from my bedroom window. I'd be fine, if there was any ground."
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"I am totally not caring about your house right now." She was shaking. This was not happening, right? She'd fallen asleep and was dreaming right? "If you can't jump... Can you burn down a wall? Get out through that? Or climb to the roof? Maybe a tree...?"
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But burning down the house was starting to seem like a better option than ending up in whatever that was. He made a fist with his free hand, letting fire creep up his arm, and flung a fireball at his bedroom wall. Hopefully there'd be ground out that way, if nothing else.
Another fireball. And another. And- the fourth flew for a few feet, and then stopped short, like it had been strangled out completely.
"No walls." And now it was starting to get really apparent in his voice. He was backed into a corner, though there weren't any corners to speak of. Just this wall of void, creeping in on all sides. "Momoko, whatever you do, don't come here looking for me."
The fire that had been rippling in waves over as much of his body as he could afford to burn without damaging the phone just... stopped. There wasn't any point. Not like this.
"Pretty sure you won't find me here."
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