Jack retakes control of his body and shakes himself awake, pushing off the ground with a grunt. 'Good job, everyone,' he thinks, 'Way to end the world in style.'
"Guys," Jack calls into his iWatch, "Anyone up? We need a plan."
"Silly human; where you're going, you won't NEED plans!" A rush of air behind him clues him in to the presence of another creature in the room with him. Without thinking, Jack runs for his closet and reaches for his plastic lightsaber. The collector barely has time to grab the faux-weapon and turn when a scrawny goblin charges towards him, slobbering and extending its claws. He swings, feels contact momentarily - and is shocked when it slices clean through his attacker with a furious flash, reducing it to ash in a single slash.
Jack twirls the hilt in his hands, retracting the now-dangerous edge. The pile of goblin ashes has reformed into a card on the floor, a reward for victory; he attempts to pocket it, then finds himself entering a game interface, the world around him pausing. "So this is what being an RPG character feels like," the stunned graduate whispers.
Three tabs make up his "pause screen": Spells, Stuff and Self. Jack opens the Spells tab and finds that his only spell is the Goblin Savage, which he cannot cast. Looking for his colors under the Self tab, he finds that his starting color is Orange, and that the game likes to keep secrets, giving him only his color and maximum Health. In the name of completion, Jack finds his Stuff includes, for the moment, a lightsaber, a school-suitable outfit, and a shiny armlet he'd gotten from his father before...whatever the hell had just happened. For the moment, in fact, the source of the apocalypse troubles Jack's mind the most - he can deal with goblins and planes, but killing his family? No way that was gonna fly. He wasn't always the most fun guy to be around, but he needed his family and friends...friends...
"Halloooo?" the orange planeswalker calls into his phone, "Anyone out there? Seriously, guys, don't leave a brother hanging-"
The screeching of high-energy particles answers Jack, along with a curse. "Son of a bitch goblins! At least Flashing works. Hi Jack; how're you?"
"I'm fine, thanks Louisa. I'm not sure how you fit White at all, but it's nice to hear your voice. You're at your house, right?"
"Yeah, me and Lisa are here. It's pretty crowded, though - bring something sharp."
Jack twirls his lightsaber, a wicked grin sprouting on his face. "Don't worry about that, good woman. I've got just the thing."
Laura climbs to her room as fast as her legs can carry her, still dazed from the sudden collapse. Behind her, Kyle and Judas are piled on top of a now-unarmed goblin, occasionally throwing punches to pass the time. Reaching the door of her bedroom, she quickly swings the door open and immediately shut, then stands before it to examine her choices.
Now, Judas' sister has a thing for knives and magic; the multitude of Wiccan books, Aztec sacrificial daggers and other occult resources/sharp things on her shelves doesn't leave much to infer. She grabs her Spellbinder's Almanac and a Celtic long knife from her shelf, then opens her Stuff tab and sticks the objects into a small "Alchemy" box. Laura fuses the two, naming her wicked weapon Hexenmesser (German for "witch knife"), and checks the rest of her tabs. She discovers her color affiliation is Purple, and that she knows a quick-to-cast spell called Flaw, which reduces its target's armor. Confidently, Laura exits her room, walks to the balcony and, her knife positioned to strike, expertly dives onto the goblin, crushing its larynx and destroying its heart simultaneously.
Kyle, wiping blood spatter from his face, grabs a fire iron from the nearby fireplace and twirls it like a cheerleader. "Incredible as always, sis," he claps her on the back.
"Could you do that before we came here?" Judas marvels, "Because if so, I should have been a lot more afraid of you."
"It definitely isn't new," Laura shrugs, a twinkle popping into place behind her eyes.
Feeling more secure in their abilities, the trio make their way to the kitchen - Kyle keeps his Magic cards in the bread box - and realize Jack had messaged them over their iWatches. A moment of embarrassment later, and some back and forth while Jack is walk-stab-walking his way towards the twins' house, they open up the bread box...and instead find a cluster of eight crystals, one for each of them and their friends.
"So we grab our color, right?" Laura asks, unsure.
"Yeah," Judas agrees, "It's safest that way."
With a nod, Kyle reaches for Green, and his Spells tab explodes with options. Laura and Judas, purple and Red respectively, are similarly blessed. Now, the only question is getting these to the others without-
Yellow, blue, white and orange flashes, along with a surge of black which quickly fades, bring the others into the room, their crystals already processed.
Jack is rather stunned, but manages to keep his composure. "That sure saved some time," he quips.
"Yeah, now we aren't waiting in a house for a couple hours for Your Royal Forceness," Louisa replies, taking the random teleporting in stride.
"At least we have spells now," Carson says, still glowing slightly Yellow, "What's our next move, guys?"
A paragon of her color, Laura's thoughts are instantly on the crystals. "We really ought to figure out what those were, guys."
"I agree," Sofia's Blue side quickly engaging, "It couldn't hurt to start digging into the story of this world now, while we aren't bogged down with quests."
"First things first, though," Kyle raises a hand, making his way out of the kitchen.
Lisa, still somewhat shadowed by Black's influence, brandishes an air rifle. "And what would that be, oh distinguished advisor?"
"We need to get our other stashes. Sure, none of y'all collected as much as me, but we ought to get something out of it, right?"
"That makes sense," Louisa agrees, "but where do we go first? Why our stuff and not a game shop, anyway?"
Jack's eyes make a round trip to the back of his skull. "Because that's where the droves of monsters are coming from, Miss Virtue. That still doesn't explain why you're already heading out the door, Kyle."
"I gotta take a shit; that so much to ask, brother?" He replies, clearly dying internally.
"While we're here, we can trick ourselves out anyway," Laura advises, "We all know how much stuff my brother and I've gotten over the years. Let's abuse it."
Carson cracks his knuckles. "Hell yeah, that's what I call proactivity. I call the basement!" In a mere instant, the Canadian is halfway across the house, showing off his lightning-quick Blink spell.
"Alright, then, guys, let's ROLL, " Judas declares, and the smash-and-grab begins.
Kyle, exiting the restroom after his pitstop with a goblin kill to his name, heads for his parents' room. He knows that there's something for him to find - probably green giving him some insight - and isn't at all surprised to find that Laura has a similar idea. A box at the top of the closet says "For Kyle and Laura"; seeing this as a good a time as any, Kyle retrieves it and places it on the bed. His sister pulls herself from under the bed at his askance, and the pair open the latch together. Each of them has a manilla envelope with their name on it, which they quickly tear open. Within moments, however, the world is turned upside down.
Laura begins mumbling to herself, her brain desperately working to follow. "They didn't tell him...why not? He has the right to-"
"She's adopted!?" her brother bursts, tearing through the rest of the letter, "'We knew how much you always wanted a little sibling, but when we went to the hospital that day, your mom had a miscarriage, and a young lady who was going to her put her daughter up for adoption heard about it...' Did they not trust me, Laura?"
"I don't know, Kyle - I can't even fathom what they were thinking to themselves to keep their conscience clean."
Jack came into the room, alerted by the noise. "Everything okay, Kyle?"
"...Jack, Laura's adopted. I'mmm not-t he-her b-broth-th-ther," he stammers, tear stains outlining the cracks in his cattail-brown skin.
"So does that mean," Lisa appears, without warning, "that you're going to have to redefine your relationship? Is there a better word than 'step-sibling' for such a thing?"
Laura throws her knife into the wall behind the black-hearted sorceress. "He's still my brother, even from another mother. That's all that matters, not how that came to be or any blood ties."
"But how long will that last?" the unfazed sniper finishes, leaving the room like a wisp of smoke.
"We'll work it out," Kyle whispers to himself, then more loudly, "We're alright; get back to work, Jack, it's cool."
A simple nod, and the Jedi complies. The witch is a little less certain, however. "Are you sure you're okay, bro?"
"...I will be," he lightly grins in response, his gut twisting like a pretzel with the words.
Meanwhile, underneath the house, Carson rips open a box of old computers. He calls Judas over, and the pair start shovelling parts into their Stuff tab.
"You know what's funny?" the carrot-topped Canadian casually inquires.
The brawler shrugs. "I dunno, what're you referring to exactly?"
"You and Sofia are opposite colors - so are Louisa and Jack. Do you think that'll have any effect on your relationships?"
"That's actually a good question; I don't really know yet, but it could make things a bit more interesting."
They collect the box itself and move on to one filled with voodoo supplies. "You know, Lisa and I are kind of allies."
"Really?" Judas raises an eyebrow, "I thought Yellow and Black were neutral?"
Carson smirks. "There's no such thing as a neutral combination; besides, both of our colors are willing to ignore moral boundaries to get things done. Of course, I'm about progress, and she wants all the power, but those aren't mutually exclusive."
"Are you trying to tell me something, Carson?"
The labor pauses. The speedster breathes heavily, then silently bursts.
"Lisa and I have been sleeping together for the past three months."
"...Why are you telling me?" Judas whispers
Carson responds in kind. "I need it off my chest - keeping it a secret has been murder on my spirit."
"That would explain the tension in your back...you know something, though?"
"What's that?"
"Sometimes, Lisa won't want to do things the fast way, she'll want them her way. You might find yourself stopping to let her catch up, if you're sure you wanna do this."
The yellow magus instantly responds. "I'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now, what's in this next box?"
Louisa, who'd always wanted to see Laura's room for herself, finds Sofia already digging around - specifically, helping herself to a canned Double Shot Espresso from the mini-fridge. After grabbing one herself, the white cleric sits at the computer desk and pokes around on the laptop, violating perhaps every social protocol a normal house guest could.
"So, Louisa, any plans now that the world's gone to hell?" Sofia asks, swinging her legs while sitting on Laura's springy bed.
"Besides single-handedly repopulating the earth?" the questioned replies, spinning her frying pan on a finger, "I want to go on a date with Jack before things get too crazy. He's a nice guy, and for all the crap we've given him about staying single his whole life, someone ought to give him a chance."
The blue mage's eyes cloud. "Yeah, nice for an ignorant autarkist who doesn't know how to isolate himself completely and takes it out on us."
"He's not that bad, Sofia; you just didn't know Judas when he was like that, the traitorous bastard he's never been to you."
"You sure are confident about this. I wish you luck."
The princess flashes a smile. "Thanks, you too. Now, let's see if we can find her stash."
"Stash? Laura's stash of what?"
"Weed, duh," Louisa rolls her eyes, "She's a witch; if there's no weed here, it's a crime against nature."
Sofia cocks her head. "But owning it would be a crime against the federal government, Louisa. I'm pretty sure you won't find any-"
"Right bookshelf, hollow Geometry textbook," Laura calls from her parents' room.
"See, Sofia? Simple as that," the white mage smirks, taking several bottles out of a tenth grade math book.
She stares at the pills inside, a discomfortingly hungry look in her eye - and then the drugs are thrust back into the book, which slams shut and returns to its seat on the shelf.
"What the hell was that for!" Louisa exclaims, frying pan in battle-ready position.
"Not now, not ever," Sofia mutters to herself, "Not now, not ever, not again..."
Laura, Messer drawn, sticks her head through the door - and watches a large door swing open from the same wall as the bed. A door, which had never been there before, opening to a staircase that sure as hell hadn't been there. "Girls, I think you've scared the house into evolution."
"That's just swell," Jack chimes, "Alright, guys, weapons drawn; let's see what we can take from this brand new structure."
"First, though, time to break down my room," the purple witch inserts, smashing her shelves and picking up mini-fridge and laptop in a single motion.
Kyle enters in after the quartet. "It's nice to see you're renovating this place after ten years, sis."
"No time for this, SMASHY SMASHY!" Carson screeches, barreling over the others with gymnastic grace and hurtling through the door.
"Well, don't just stand there," Judas calls from inside the hall, breathing somewhat heavily, "go after him! Who knows what trouble he'll get into."
And so, in a madcap dash for stuff, the seven remaining planeswalkers charge up a spiral staircase to reach their friend. A distance back, however, a shadow looms in Laura's room, a wicked grin materializing on the wall...