Candyland?

[themanoftomorrow]

Heavy footfalls resounded through the halls of the Fortress of Solitude, the cavernous halls of the building magnifying the sound. They sped up as Superman felt something was just a bit off, and when he entered the main hall he stopped and stared. The gigantic memorial of Krypton, supported by statues of Jor-El and Lara, his long dead parents, had been replaced…

By a gigantic jawbreaker being held aloft by peanut brittle likenesses of his parents.

“What,” he all but shouted, looking around the room for intruders. And it was then that it hit him. It wasn’t just the memorial, it was the entire fortress. The ice caverns had mysteriously changed into translucent rock candy, the chairs were constructed entirely out of solid peppermint, and there were boxes upon boxes of sweets of all shapes and sizes all over the floor, stacked neatly into every open space.

“…What’s going on here?”

He had to be dreaming. There really couldn’t be any other explanation, but then again maybe Mr. Mxyzptlk was up to his old tricks…

Comments

[waterfell]

Of course, dreaming didn't mean there were no intruders. A girl in blue, who looked very much like she'd have been at home in the ice cavern version of the fortress, nibbled on a blueberry candy cane. She was perched on the arm of one of the peppermint chairs, as if she owned the place instead of Superman.

"Want some?" she offered, nudging a box with her booted foot.

[braidstobows]

Most teenage girls would probably react to a literal cavern of sweets with more than a flat expression and a certain wariness. Most teenage girls are not Homura.

She turned sharply when Superman came in, and despite the obvious clue of the outfit, she treated him with a faint wariness as well. She was somewhere she didn't understand, and the overabundance of sweets... had associations in her mind. There'd been a witch's barrier like that.

Still, her note was cautionary rather than accusative. "This has the semblance of a rather sweet trap."

[themanoftomorrow]

Superman whirled, his expression cool but curious. He'd definitely never seen someone like her before, but her outfit definitely didn't strike him as particularly heroic. There was just something in her demeanor that said she might have something to do with this. The petulant look in her eye spoke volumes.

Of course, just how she was involved wasn't necessarily as important as why she was here and why she'd chosen to reveal herself.

"Who are you, and how did you get in here?"

[themanoftomorrow]

Superman eyed the girl dubiously as well, his own expression interested and not particularly worried. She was a kid, after all. But something in her tone...that accusation made him raise a brow.

"It does. How'd you get into my home, miss?"

[waterfell]

"The soldier of Water and Wisdom, Mercury." As if to emphasize this point, she added, "Call me by Mercury."

As for how she got in, "The way was open, so I came!" More truthfully, she had found herself here to begin with, and thinking back, she couldn't quite recall how she got here. She brushed that worrisome thought away for the time being.

The foot that had nudged the box of sweets was soon converted into a footstool, since the offer hadn't been taken.

[braidstobows]

If this was his home, then this barrier was his doing, if it was a barrier. However, first of all, he was male; and a witch would have been born from a magical girl. Besides that, a witch capable of this rationality and conversation would be rare indeed.

"I walked," she answered him, which was not a particularly thorough explanation, but she had no better one. "I did not intend to intrude."

[themanoftomorrow]

Clark made no visible reaction to the woman's petulant attitude and instead walked over to a nearby chair and leaned against the peppermint, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well Mercury, it's funny you should say that, because I certainly didn't leave the door open. So unless you swam a few miles in sub-zero seawater, I'm not sure what you mean by open. Why don't you enlighten me, and tell me why you're here since I'll wager you know where you are and who I am."

[themanoftomorrow]

"You walked? Young lady, do you know where you are at all?"

His tone was curious, but there was a hint of concern. If she was lost and ended up here...then that could mean a great many things. Dreams are so strange sometimes...

[waterfell]

More facetious than petulant, but there was still always something behind the light, airy tone and the outrageous comments that glittered darkly.

"I'll repeat the swim if you want," she offered lightly, with a little grin.

Was that how she came? She was sure she could make it - the water wouldn't be an obstacle to her. The question, and the fact she couldn't answer it, made her want to try.

[braidstobows]

"I do not." This did not seem to trouble her. It only earned Clark a serious, thoughtful look. "I wonder if perhaps you would be able to tell me."

"Even for me, a place such as this is a rarity." Especially now that it increasingly seems to be real and not some warped dimension.

[themanoftomorrow]

"That doesn't answer the other question. Why are you here, Mercury?"

He wasn't amused and his tone was flat, masking his obvious discomfort that someone had just intruded on his home uninvited. It wasn't exactly public knowledge that the place even existed.

[themanoftomorrow]

"You're in my home, the Fortress of Solitude. And it's not really the sort of place you can just...walk into." He gestured to the ceiling, "and...it's usually ice, not rock candy."

He shakes his head and unfolds his arms, walking a little closer.

"Where do you usually live?"

[waterfell]

"I wanted to visit for awhile!" she chirped. "Besides, your hospitality is delicious." The blueberry candy cane, and a particularly tall stack of candy crates, were given a pointed look.

"It's pretty rude not to invite me in now that I'm here, isn't it?" she observed.

[braidstobows]

This certainly seemed far out of the way, so Homura was more specific than she might have been another time. "I live in Mitakihara, in Japan."

"Since this is not the season for this type of cold yet, I believe we are somewhere else." For someone saying she essentially had no idea where she was, she was remarkably calm.

[themanoftomorrow]

"Did you really? I'm not sure we've ever met, but coming here alone is pretty dangerous. Krypto doesn't really like strangers much."

Superman gestured to a seat, and nodded. It wasn't like she was particularly menacing, after all. She didn't really strike him as Justice League material, but it took a lot of darkness to really get him into a more than mild mood.

"You can sit, if you want. Are you behind the candy, or is it just coincidence that a strange young woman turns up in my home the same day it becomes a lot sweeter than I remember?"

[themanoftomorrow]

"Yea, you're at the North Pole. Would you like a ride home?" Superman asked gently. Intruder or not, she was a teenage girl removed from home. He gave her his most congenial smiles and offered one large hand.

"And what's your name, miss?"

[waterfell]

"A coincidence," she answered truthfully - though she had once been responsible for an outbreak of candy hair in Econtra. That had been accomplished by convincing a bored magician that it would be amusing, though, not by her own doing. And this time, she hadn't even done that much.

She also couldn't help a mild curiosity now. "What should be here normally?"

[braidstobows]

There was a part of her that had trouble accepting that unless she desperately needed it.

Stranded at the North Pole with no clear idea of how she got there might just count as desperate need.

"A ride home?" she asked. "That would take quite some. There shouldn't be any airports near here."

[themanoftomorrow]

He eyed her dubiously, but said nothing further for the moment. However, he'd asked a lot of questions, so it only seemed fair. He gestured at the walls and the statues.

"Ice, and a hologram statue of my parents, and my home planet."

[themanoftomorrow]

Clark shook his head and smiled, his hand still extended.

"Not really. I can have you home in no time at all."

[waterfell]

Ice? Her lips curved upward, and Mercury looked towards the wall. As if in response, there was an audible crackling - and a wave of ice began to replace the rock candy it had become, changing back to normal.

She glanced back to Superman, clearly pleased with herself, as the ice made its rapid way around the cavern. almost in an instant.

[braidstobows]

"That would be kind of you." She wasn't stepping closer just yet, though. Instead, Homura fixed Clark with a long look. "What do you require in return?"

Nothing comes without its price. People are not altruistic or kind-hearted. Not without bringing troubles on themselves.

[themanoftomorrow]

He eyed it, and eyed her and shrugged. It didn't solve the peanut brittle and jawbreaker problem, but clearly he was just having a very, very strange dream. Nevermind that he could have fixed the ice himself.

"Well thank you. Now, where are you from? I'll be happy to take you home."

[themanoftomorrow]

"Your name, for starters. Beyond that? A thank you is always nice, but it's not really necessary. It's my job. Helping people that is."

[waterfell]

"I can return on my own." Mercury said, before she even answered the first question, as if asserting that independence was the more important point.

"I live in Japan," she added belatedly. This was as specific as she intended to become, with no mention of her city, or district, or the points with easiest access to the former Dark Kingdom dimension.