People you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Vivica gently patted Sierra's arm.

"You can keep eating while we talk," she said, demonstrating this fact by popping the last bit of roll into her mouth and pulling another one off the tray. As she cut into it, she considered Sierra's question.

"Sometimes we look for a baseline," Vivica conceded. "But as I've never actually seen this effect before, I don't have a set of questions ready. Can you... perceive any new colors, perhaps? Do you see into my soul? Do you see Bennington?"

This last question brought her to the edge of her seat; the excitement of someone else being able to meet her friend would be remarkable!

@Shard of Thought

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Sierra shook her head. "Nothing looks that different," she said, still very subdued, on edge. "It just looks... off." 

@ZincAboutIt

[+Sorana she/her]

Quote

Would you be alright with changing threads for your next reply? I had Temeria suggest a different place, but in the end it doesn't really matter, as they aren't the alleys anymore and it would make it a lot easier for me.

@Voidus

===================

A dull pain at the back of his neck, a throbbing feeling, his hands raw and open, an iron taste in his mouth. Mike sighed when the world moved around him, when it felt as if he was on a boat. Obviously he had fought Norn again. The other boy was a lot taller than he was. Taller and by far stronger. His tutors tended to pair the two of them, mostly to ensure to stay on Lord Ark's good side. Nobody wanted to be caught helping Mike and in the end he had ended in an endless cirlce of pain and more pain. And assignments that were designed to get you killed.

With a groan he lifted a hand, touched his face to see if he had broken some bones, and when everything felt alright opened an eye. A grey void stared back and he froze, his body going rigid at the sight. He would never forget that grey void. His eyes darted to the windows and the shadows behind them and while he had probably caught a blow to his head, it hadn't been about training. He had been kidnapped, carried into an alley again. By an old one, so old that he'd claimed nobody would stop him. Fear seized his throat and a lump formed in his stomach when he tried to breathe, tried to form the thoughts tumbling around his head into something coherent enough to be helpful. Instead there was nothing apart from one single thing, occupying everything he was, everything he thought about, only one thought and nothing else.

Run. Run. Run. Run. RUN. RUN. RUN.

I can't. He was trapped again, chained again, unable to flee, unable to get away.

RUN.

But his body wouldn't move.

@18th Shard

Edited January 27, 2020 by Sorana

[18th Shard he/him]

Xanas moved through the Alleys, warping to one of the initial experiment rooms, Mike coming to behind him. Xanas didn't know where anyone who would know the important happenings, but here he would find newer researchers who probably would know where to look. Plus here he could get Mike some help.

Two Denizens in white coats stood in a room lit with gem lamps behind a one way mirror, observing a mistwraith who was being confronted with increasingly complex puzzles to receive food. The current one involved a lock with several large tumblers. Xanas strode into the lab with Mike following, who was trying to remain inconspicuous. 

"You, what is your name?" Xanas said, pointing at the first.

"Ttlarek. Who are you and what are you doing in the Alleys?" Ttlarek began to glow faintly, one of the Stormlight lamps on the wall dimming. "And why is -" he checked a tablet, "Experiment A-139115 with you? 

Xanas frowned. "I am Xanas, and Mike" - he stressed the name - "is accompanying me today. Please retrieve an unsealed aluminum medallion, as well as a nicrosil medallion granting Allomantic gold, immediately, Ttlarek. A mild sedative might be appropriate as well."

Ttlarek didn't move. His companion stood, tense, as if waiting for an attack. "This is the Dark Alley. We don't give out Invested objects to just anyone who claims to be a long-dead Denizen. We'd run out every week at that rate. I am going to need some positive identification."

Xanas tilted his head. "No respect for your elders, I see. Ttlarek, Thaylen, right? Hair indicates some Iriali blood, most likely. Rosharan, how is your knowledge of the history of the Final Empire?"

"Passable."

"Then, do you know Rashek came to power?"

"He Ascended when he took up the power of the Well of Ascension, and made himself into possibly the most powerful Metalborn of all time."

"Yes, but to be more precise, he had a knowledge of the workings of reality that others near him did not have, which gave him power." Xanas paused. "Do you know why he fell?"

"The Ascendant Warrior killed him by removing his atiumminds."

"No. That is how he fell, not why. He fell because he forgot that there were things he didn't know about, powers he didn't comprehend. Now, we could make a comparison between Rashek and you, here, today. You are here, in the Alleys, because you understand more of how reality works than others do. This gives you power. Beware lest you assume that your knowledge is the sum total of all there is to know. As the Survivor said, there is always another secret." Xanas tugged a glove off of one hand, and a darkness began to curl around his fingertips, twisting and warping in the air. He grasped for one of the lamps next to him, and the Stormlight vanished, the Void consuming the light like it was famished. The gem shattered, and the area around Xanas became dark. His white-gray robe silhouetted his figure amidst the darkness, and the Void swirling around his finger tips. Xanas smiled tightly. "Now, about those medallions."

Ttlarek fled for a storeroom.

@Sorana

Quote

Feel free to cut to Ttlarek giving Mike the medallions.

 

[Snipexe he/him]

“Hmm, off you say. I’m afraid you’ll need to be a little more specific Sierra. When you say off, do you mean dull? Do you feel uncomfortable? We need the deats!?”

@Shard of Thought @ZincAboutIt

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Sierra still felt off put by their friendly nature. It scared her. She wasn't quite used to people being nice to her. Theresa had been nice. 

And Sierra had killed her. 

"It's..." Sierra considered, looking at her hand sitting beside her plate and fork. "Like a mirror. A cracked one. But... there's a kind of glare. It's like... it's brighter than it should be."

@Snipexe @ZincAboutIt

[Voidus]

Voidus rested a hand against the silvery wall of light in front of him, recalling with a grimace the years that he had spent within this dome with no easy means of escape. What would have changed if someone hadn't decided to help release him? What would Sudiov have done if Voidus had never returned? Would that entire affair with PlasmaCore have happened at all? Or would it have been worse if he hadn't been there to help end it?

With a sigh he removed the hand and stepped slowly towards the centre of the barrier, to the large spike that rested there. He barely even payed attention to the hulking shadow that loomed over him as the Guardian continued its rounds. He allowed his shoulders to sag under the weight that they carried, allowed his upright posture to collapse and his expression to crumble as he reached the Worldspike itself.

"Hello again." He said quietly, resting a hand against the cold, hard metal as it thrummed with power. "Sorry its been a while, things have been busy again."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At a point in either the distant past or future, the wheel of time turns and so on.

"I'm going home." The Professor said coldly.

Voidus turned with an amused expression, staring calmly back at the enraged face before him.

"You think you'll find what we're looking for there?" Voidus asked.

The Professor met his stare, cold fury burning within him as he stared at Voidus' eyes, crinkled at the edges as if in good humour, but the cold black depths of those eyes held no joy, humour or anything else within them.

"I think I'll find what I'm looking for there." The Professor snarled back. "I have a family there, friends. Which I now realise does not include you."

"I'm hurt." Voidus said, still smiling just as easily as before. "You're possibly the only friend I have you know."

"Then what about Laurelai!" The Professor yelled back, face growing red. "What about your child! You said you're afraid to find out how you feel but I think you've answered that question yourself. No parent could so completely remove themselves from their child's life out of their own fear unless they were completely incapable of caring anymore."

The room fell into silence as the two stared towards each other, Voidus with the same expression he'd held the entire conversation, the Professor red faced and breathing heavily. The tension that had been building up over months finally snapping as he'd read a message that he'd received on his phone.

"Money." The Professor said, spitting the word out at Voidus. "You sent her money and a one-sided goodbye that she can't reply to."

"It's better that way." Voidus said, eyes breaking off as he was unable to maintain the stare any longer. "Better for-"

"It's better for you." The Professor said. "You wouldn't know what's better for them, because you won't ask. Won't know what she's going through, what they're going through."

He began rapidly clearing his bed of the items strewn over it, hurling them roughly in a bag and collecting his other belongings from around the room. Moving in a furious wind he quickly cleared everything up and closed his bag before throwing it over one shoulder as Voidus speechlessly watched.

"We can cover more ground this way anyway." The Professor said,. "After I go home to check up on things I'll keep looking, I know how well enough by now. So I'll handle my side, and you can handle yours. Alone. It seems like that's best for you."

Wrenching the door open he shot Voidus one last look filled with loathing before slamming the door and storming away. Voidus continued to stare at the door, the same quiet smile ever present as he watched the Professor leave with cold, empty eyes.

[AonEne he/him]

Quote

CRACKPOT THEORY ABOUT VOIDUS'S PAST #5,007: Mother!Laurelai is trapped inside the Worldspike. Or she was transformed into the Guardian and he's about to turn around and reveal that he was talking to her and they have a creepy conversation.

 

[Voidus]

Quote

Been a bit backlogged on these lately, so two for one backstory day as we approach the end of this arc.

Releasing a sigh that seemed to contain all the tension and worry that he'd been carrying, Voidus turned around, placing his back against the spike. He slid down until he was seated on the ground and stared out at the barrier, the bright silvery lines that obscured the outside from view. He watched the enormous figure of the Guardian as it looped back around, crossing in front of his vision once again.

"I found her. Did I tell you that already?" Voidus said, brow furrowing as he tried to recall. "Too much to remember, too much to keep track of."

He leaned his head back until it thudded against the cool metal of the spike, tilted upwards to let him see the top of the dome.

"She grew up without us, without me. Doesn't even know who I am to her, doesn't even know me at all anymore." Cold eyes stared at the light above, the deep inexpressible sadness within them seemed almost ready to swell into tears, but Voidus had none left to cry. "I wonder, do I even know who I am anymore?"

The skittering light overhead gave no response.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a time long ago, and I'm running out of new ways to do this now. But somewhere far away and long ago.

"It's been getting worse." The Professor said, frowning. "People vanishing without trace, meteorological disturbances from unexplained temperature drops. Astronomers reporting record numbers of black holes being created as stars vanish without a trace."

"I know you're worried." His wife said, placing a large chunk of meat onto his plate. "But not in front of the kids please."

"Sorry." He replied sheepishly, glancing over at a young boy and girl playing together by the lounge room as a young blonde woman watched over them.

Laurelai shot him the same look that his wife had, causing the professor to lower his head in apology before seeing her smile. She looked tired, worn out but the smile seemed to radiate out from her as she looked down at the two young ones playing together. It warmed the hearts of those who watch and seemed to lift the weariness from her face.

"It's fine." She said, waving a hand at the Professor. "They're too distracted to pay attention right now. Just happy to see you back again."

In the years since the Professor had stormed out of his trip with Voidus the children had grown, playing with each other and learning. During that time they'd heard barely anything from Voidus, just the brief message to the Professor of where he'd been and where he was going next, noting that wherever he went things seemed to be getting worse. The Professor had needed to travel as well, investigating strange events to see if they might be related to the looming end of the world, but when he could he made time to come home, to see his family, and Laurelai who had remained close friends with them even after everything that had happened.

"Mum." One of the children said, walking up to Laurelai and holding their arms aloft until she picked them up. "Is it time for dinner?"

"Just about." She replied, "We're just-"

The door swung unceremoniously open, clashing against the wall as it was forced inwards by a figure that waited outside. A tall man, a slight smile on his face as he stepped into the room, looking awkwardly, almost nervously downwards as he entered.

"I suppose this has been a long time coming." Voidus said.

All those inside the house froze, unable to process or understand what had happened. At almost the same time, the Professor and Laurelai lurched into motion, both wearing expressions of anger and confusion. But Laurelai took a step forward, cautiously, holding one hand up while the other held the child on her hip. The Professor glared furiously at Voidus, but his eyes jumped to Laurelai and he seemed unwilling to interrupt her.

"But I couldn't run forever. I needed to see." Voidus seemed to freeze mid-sentence, uncharacteristic uncertainty blooming on his face. "See if I can feel anything."

Laurelai paused, hand still held up but she looked at Voidus cautiously, confused and guarded at why he was here. Her eyes trailed down as he slowly lifted a hand in response, reaching out for her. The two took a step almost simultaneously towards each other, fingers outstretched. The Professor watched, fury subsiding to a slower rage. He would need answers, but for now he would let this play out. For Laurelai.

As the hands reached out, the Professor was too slow to see, too slow to react. He only felt a rush of foreboding as the room dimmed suddenly, darkness wreathing the tip of Voidus' hand as it touched Laurelai.

There was no sound, no explosion or dramatic flare. But both Laurelai and the child suddenly vanished into the darkness.

[Snipexe he/him]

"Does this mirror, these shards, do they change based on what you are viewing?"

@Shard of Thought

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Sierra looked from her fractured-looking hand to Grey to Vivica, to the cinnamon rolls, then back to her hand again. "Vivica looks... burnt at the edges. Some things are blurry. Others aren't..." She shook her head. "I'm hallucinating," she decided. "I have knives in my eyes, I shouldn't be able to see anything!"

@Snipexe

[+Sorana she/her]

Mike stood, his back pressed against a wall and listened, not-listened to the exchange. He was pale, felt as if the whole room was shaking, as if it was spinning around him. Another lab, another place where they would rip him apart. He could nearly feel the scar in his chest where porcupine's spike had been, before he had ripped it out. He should have ripped them all out.

Run.

His limbs twitched when his brain tried to get them to move, to leave but instead he remained frozen in place, unable to leave, unable to move at all. He stared at Xanas, eyes wide open, the words tumbling out of the man's mouth making no sense to his fear ridden mind. He flinched, whimpered in fear when the grey something flickered around the man's fingers the crytal shattered on its own.

"Please." He begged, the word tumbling out of his mouth. "Please let me go. I know nothing, Ko'Tiel never explained." He fell to his knees, tears streaming over his face and he continued to go on, words tumbling out of him, unable to be contained. "I won't speak about you. I won't tell anybody." But it wasn't about speaking, about telling. It was about something else.

"I've got them under control." he added, hoped that this was what the man wanted to hear, that this was what he needed to hear to let Mike go. Salmon's cool scales touched his hands and jerked away from the slimy fish, immediatly disgusted. Scales formed on his skin, but he didn't notice. Nor did he notice when they vanished again after a few seconds.

"Let me go." he repeated, his voice slightly blurred by the sobs in his throat. "Please, use someone else, anybody else, but let me go."

The man, Ttlarek, returned, held something out to Mike, but he moved away, covered his head with his arm. They wouldn't stop. They never stopped.

@18th Shard

[Snipexe he/him]

"That's really interesting. Burnt you say. And what about when you look at me? Can you name some things that are blurry and some that aren't? We need to figure this out, it could be vital to something important in your future that neither me nor you know about, but considering what has happened in the last half hour, I expect you've definitely got some adventures upcoming."

@Shard of Thought

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Sierra looked up, noting the splotchy, yet vibrantly colored shapes that made up Grey's face. "I... I'm not thinking straight right now," she said. "All these colors make my head hurt; once this goes back to normal, maybe I'll be able to explain better, but now..." She looked away, unable to handle the bright colors for very long. Sierra felt strangely... weak. That in itself wasn't quite enough to describe it. She was weak. She only weighed about 60 pounds, one pound of which came from her long hair. Coming in at only barely five feet tall and with hardly any muscle on her sickly-thin frame she was practically the embodiment of frailty. Despite that however, she was often quite snappish, with a defiant, sarcastic, and often flat out vulgar personality. Often, her mind would keep her going far after her body had begun to yell at her that she needed to stop and rest. Now... now was different. She felt like she had been up for a week straight and wanted nothing more than something to get rid of her intrusive migraine. 

@Snipexe

[Voidus]

"Seventeen years I was trapped here." Voidus said, head still tilted back. "Is that a long time? The blink of an eye? Long enough for her to grow up. Long enough for her to forget about us. That's probably for the best isn't it?"

The heavy thud of footsteps echoed within the barrier.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Star wars crawl, a long time ago, etc.

The Professor stared blankly at the dwindling light as the unnatural darkness slowly lifted. Dead silence filled the room as all eyes were glued to the spot where two figures had just vanished, but then the silence was broken by a clatter of wood as the Professor hurled his chair backwards and rushed towards Voidus. Grasping him by the collar, he slammed the still-smiling Voidus into a wall, glaring at him with eyes of disbelief.

"What did you just do?" The Professor asked, voice a hoarse whisper.

"I answered the question." Voidus flatly replied, smile finally dropping from his expression to leave a blank mask in its wake. "You wondered whether or not I was capable of caring? Told me I wasn't brave enough to find out. Well, now you have your answer, is that enough for you to stop questioning my resolve?"

The Professor stared mutely back, grip loosening as he stared into Voidus' blank eyes, tried to understand. Finding no answers, he tightened his grip again and slammed Voidus back against the wall.

"I never told you to do this." The Professor said, voice growing louder. "This isn't bravery, this is insanity!"

"I've lived for an eternity" Voidus replied. "How could I possibly still be sane? How could you even begin to think that you might be able to understand what drives me? That it would make sense to you?"

Voidus' voice grew louder, matching the Professors as they both stared into each other, faces mere inches apart. The cold light of Voidus' eyes began to spark in rage as his voice climbed to a yell.

"I am a god. Do you understand that? Your entire world could be destroyed and I'd barely bat an eye, I was here before this world and I'll be here long after. Everything you do here, everything anyone who lives on this rock does is ultimately meaningless. One day you will be gone, and I will remain. Alone, until I find something else to occupy me again."

"You were the one who came to me" The Professor roared back. "You asked me to help you save the world, the universe. Tell yourself you don't care all you want but your actions say otherwise."

Dark light began to gather around the two, an intense pressure that warped reality as it wrestled against itself. Two invisble forces vying for dominance. Within the darkness, Voidus began to push the Professor back, pulling himself away from the wall and straightening to his full height.

"I was bored." He said, spitting the last word out in a laugh. "Did you think it was real? That you were special? That you would be the hero of your world, saving it from certain destruction? What do you think could be the source that draws this universe into the Void? The source that seemed to show up wherever we travelled but we never quite found?"

The Professor staggered back a step, sagging under the weight of the thick darkness that enveloped the two. He stared at Voidus with growing horror, losing all strength in his grip, in his legs.

"It was you." The Professor said, voice dropping to a whisper once more. "You're destroying the world. Because you're bored?"

Sneering down at the figure before him, Voidus gave a single condescending nod.

"And now the time has come for this game to end." Voidus said. "And you and your world along with it."

The Professor turned slowly around, looking at his wife standing horrified behind him. And then both the Professor and Voidus were engulfed completely in impenetrable darkness.

[AonEne he/him]

Quote

I just want to say that I called it  I was wrong about Voidus’s motivations but right about the fact that he was the one doing it  everyone bow down  

 

[18th Shard he/him]

On 1/29/2020 at 0:22 AM, Sorana said:

Mike stood, his back pressed against a wall and listened, not-listened to the exchange. He was pale, felt as if the whole room was shaking, as if it was spinning around him. Another lab, another place where they would rip him apart. He could nearly feel the scar in his chest where porcupine's spike had been, before he had ripped it out. He should have ripped them all out.

Run.

His limbs twitched when his brain tried to get them to move, to leave but instead he remained frozen in place, unable to leave, unable to move at all. He stared at Xanas, eyes wide open, the words tumbling out of the man's mouth making no sense to his fear ridden mind. He flinched, whimpered in fear when the grey something flickered around the man's fingers the crytal shattered on its own.

"Please." He begged, the word tumbling out of his mouth. "Please let me go. I know nothing, Ko'Tiel never explained." He fell to his knees, tears streaming over his face and he continued to go on, words tumbling out of him, unable to be contained. "I won't speak about you. I won't tell anybody." But it wasn't about speaking, about telling. It was about something else.

"I've got them under control." he added, hoped that this was what the man wanted to hear, that this was what he needed to hear to let Mike go. Salmon's cool scales touched his hands and jerked away from the slimy fish, immediatly disgusted. Scales formed on his skin, but he didn't notice. Nor did he notice when they vanished again after a few seconds.

"Let me go." he repeated, his voice slightly blurred by the sobs in his throat. "Please, use someone else, anybody else, but let me go."

The man, Ttlarek, returned, held something out to Mike, but he moved away, covered his head with his arm. They wouldn't stop. They never stopped.

@18th Shard

Xanas looked at Mike with a steady eye, but inside he felt worry blossoming. Mike hadn't been this bad when they first met. He was growing more unstable at an alarming rate. Xanas carefully placed his hand on Mike's arm, palming the sub-dermal sedative carefully. It was a carefully crafted device which used a toxin from an animal on the Eelakin islands. The toxin was a depressant which generally rendered subjects more amenable to suggestion - some reports noted an almost Soothing-like effect as well, though Xanas personally doubted it used any non-physiological components, as he had been unable to detect any Investiture coming from it. He placed the sedative on Mike's arm, and it gently attached itself to the skin, where it would eventually begin to become more firmly lodged.

Xanas turned to Ttlarek. "I can't touch the medallions without destroying their Feruchemical charge. Please place them around Mike's neck, in contact with the skin, such that he is able to tap them." 

Xanas looked back at the monitor. Mike's adrenaline levels were still far above what they should be, and his brain waves were far more erratic than Xanas would have liked, but his heart rate appeared to be slowing.

"Mike, we aren't going to give you anymore spikes. I need you to tap those medallions. One contains stored Identity, the other will allow you to burn Allomantic gold temporarily. We are trying to help you. This won't hurt, there won't be any permanent side-effects of this. This isn't an experiment, this is meant to help you. Please hear me, with whatever part of your mind necessary."

He was not going to let Mike keep deteriorating. This was what science was for - to fix people. He would make sure Mike was fixed before he moved on. It was important, to Xanas if no one else.

@Sorana

[Voidus]

"I should get back soon/" Voidus said, making no motion to leave. "The chaos continues to pile up, and I've been getting this feeling. Something... off."

He closed his eyes, inhaling the cool air and taking a moment to simply rest against the spike.

"Do I make the chaos worse? Or better?" He asked the air, eyes still closed. "I'm never sure. Is the world on the edge of destruction so frequently because I intervene? Or would it just have been destroyed long ago if I didn't?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Penultimate backstory post for this arc.

Floating in endless darkness, the Professor held onto the only other thing that seemed real in this void. He held onto the arm of Voidus in front of him, the professors own arm trembling in either rage of fear, even he wasn't sure anymore.

"You're really just bored." The Professor said, surprised at how clear and calm his voice was. "You're going to destroy a world out of boredom."

"Yes." Voidus replied, holding loosely onto the Professor's arm. "I've done everything, experienced everything. A god with no purpose, I've travelled and searched, I've helped and I've destroyed. Raised civilisations up and torn them to the ground. I've been burned, beheaded, poisoned, shot, blown up and stabbed. And still an eternity of existence lies before me."

The Professor stared into Voidus, stared into his eyes and saw the endless pits that dwelt there. An eternity of darkness with no end, no light. A reflection of the darkness that surrounded them, a boundless void.

"And nothing is going to stop you from doing this." He said. Not a question, just an acknowledgement of the truth.

"Nothing." Voidus agreed. "Everything you are, everything that exists in your world, your home, your family, your friends. They will meet with the oblivion that is denied to me."

The Professor nodded, with his free hand he brushed a lock of blonde hair from his eyes and then met Voidus' gaze in understanding. But beneath that understanding was a fierce spark of opposition.

"I still have to try." The Professor said.

His eyes became pitch black as he pulled at the empty void that surrounded them, tried to pull it into them, to crush them both beneath the weight of nonexistence and extinguish both of their lives before either of them could harm the world any more.

Voidus smiled as the pressure around them grew, he gave the Professor a pitying look and gripped his arm tighter. The darkness in his iris spread until it encompassed his eyes entirely, forming two dark pits that seemed to suck in even the darkness surrounding them with inexorable force.

"You want to try to Voidmake me?" Voidus asked incredulously. "The one who taught you how to in the first place? You still don't understand, even after all of this."

The Professor staggered as the darkness pressed in around him, struggling to hold it back his leg buckled underneath him and he fell to one knee. He stared defiantly back at Voidus but a thick sheen of sweat had developed at his brow.

"I am god." Voidus said, voice cold as ice and pinning the Professor with the weight of his stare. "And you can't kill god."

"No, you're not." The Professor stammered out through gritted teeth. "You're just a bored, lonely man."

"Then try it." Voidus hissed. "Keep pulling at the void until we're both consumed by it. Void us."

[AonEne he/him]

Quote

1 hour ago, Voidus said:

His eyes became pitch black as he pulled at the empty void that surrounded them... 

Wait, it can change your eye color? 

1 hour ago, Voidus said:

“Void us." 

That pun is questionable  

Edit: Then again, you are a dad  

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by AonEne

[Voidus]

29 minutes ago, AonEne said:

Wait, it can change your eye color? 

Quote

If you're pulling in universe-ending amounts then yes.

Final Voidus backstory for this arc

The Professor felt his muscles strain as he struggled to keep from being torn apart, felt the tension permeate every part of his being as he struggled to maintain his existence against the crushing pressure of the void that surrounded him. His jaw creaked as it clenched in determination and his gaze did not move at all from Voidus' face above him. He stared at that face and summoned every last bit of concentration he could, all of his anger and hatred of the man who claimed to be a god.

The man who would destroy the universe if he wasn't stopped.

The man who would destroy the Professor's wife and daughter.

While feeling as though he were being simultaneously crushed and torn to pieces, the Professor struggled back to his feet. He hissed out a breath between clenched teeth as he rose from his knee, leg shaking under the pressure before firming and allowing him to stand at his full height once more, matching Voidus' gaze with his own.

It was more power than he'd ever felt before, orders of magnitude beyond what he'd used to disintegrate objects. With both he and Voidus pulling so much on the void, the concept of existence itself seemed a very precarious thing. As though with just a little more strain they could obliterate even that, and reduce this universe and all others to nonexistence once more.

Voidus' expression remained flat, but a small droplet of sweat slowly beaded on his forehead before beginning to trickle down. God or not, it did not seem to be as easy for him to end this as he had claimed. He was straining too, perhaps not as hard or desperately as the Professor but it was not a one-sided contest. The Professor latched onto that thought, dredged up even more hatred for Voidus to fuel his focus, his will to deny Voidus' existence in this world.

He recalled Voidus' smiling expression as he'd ignored the mother of his child. Remembered the way he had stretched that hand out towards Laurelai to annihilate her and the son that she was holding. Remembered his words when he had threatened to destroy the Professor's wife and child in the same way.

"I hate you." The Professor hissed, not sure if he was reminding himself or trying to distract Voidus' concentration.

Voidus blinked in response, but said nothing. A vein at his temple began to bulge and his jaw was beginning to clench in the same way as the Professors as he slowly lost ground. More sweat flowed down his brow until his dark hair was as sweat drenched as the pale golden hair of the Professor.

The two stood facing one another, breathing heavily. Their gazes flickering as they invisibly struggled back and forth to gain an upper hand in their conflict.

"The end has already started." Voidus whispered. "Do what you want but you can't stop it, they will die. Your world will be unmade. Even I couldn't prevent that now. Everything that is in this universe, anything that is even Connected to it will vanish."

The Professor faltered, just for an instant, the slightest breaking of the stare off that the two had been engaged in. But Voidus saw the gap and exploited it, watching the Professor begin to shake under the pressure once again as Voidus gained the upper hand.

"-that-" A faint whisper emanated from the Professor, tension began to leave his body. His jaw loosened, his shoulders drooped.

The condescending smile returned as Voidusstared at the Professor, a touch of respect that he had made it this far, but Voidus had never doubted who would be the victor of this conflict. He prepared a final surge, one more pull on the void to destroy the Professor entirely, but he hesitated a moment before releasing it. Curiosity overcoming him as he wondered what the Professor had said.

The Professors eyes locked with Voidus' once more, but there was none of the defeat that Voidus expected in them. He wasn't straining anymore, but Voidus was still unable to overpower him.

"Then that Connection." The Professor said. "What binds them to this universe, I'll destroy that too."

Voidus' final expression was one of surprise, before the void reduced him to nothing and he vanished without a trace.

----------------------------------------------------

Laurelai stared at the place where the two men had vanished, her dad and someone else she didn't know. She had wanted to ask who he was but the darkness had scared her as her auntie Laurelai, the woman with the same name as her had vanished along with her friend. She didn't know where they had gone, but the darkness scared her. it scared her even more when it surrounded her dad as well.

The room had begun making strange sounds, creaking and cracking sounds as everything began to break apart. Laurelai had run to her mother crying, seeking some comfort. But her mother seemed just as scared as Laurelai was. She had scared at the sphere of darkness that the two had been engulfed in with a hand over her mouth, eyes roaming in search of something, some way to help. Finally she had picked Laurelai up, holding her close and stroking her hair. Laurelai had held her back, nestling her face in her mothers collarbone.

The sounds in the room suddenly stopped, and when Laurelai noticed, she looked up, turning around and casting fearful eyes at the spot where the sphere of darkness had been. But the sphere had vanished, leaving one figure to collapse to the ground from within it, just barely managing to catch themselves with their hands. Laurelai's mother ran towards the figure, throwing her arm around Laurelai's father. She pulled both of them in closely, and Laurelai threw her arms around them both as well, sitting there quietly for a moment and trying to understand what had happened.

"Almost nothing left." Her father had whispered, looking at them both with a mixture of relief and terrible sadness. "I don't know if I can."

The creaking resumed in a sudden burst, the entire building groaning in protest and on the verge of collapse. The timber boards began vanishing one by one, disappearing into pockets of darkness that had begun opening up all around them. Laurelai screamed again, clinging tightly to both of her parents.

"Her!" Laurelai's mother screamed. "You know what to do, we talked about this."

Laurelai looked up with a tear streaked face into the exhausted and mournful eyes of her father. Tears began spilling out of his eyes as well as he placed one hand against her head, a hand wreathed in darkness. 

"I'm sorry." The Professor whispered as his daughter vanished.

He collapsed to the ground, eyes struggling to stay open. He had meant to promise something to her, what had it been? Everything was blurry, difficult to focus on. He could only make out one face, framed in blonde ringlets and looking down at him. His wife smiled at him, whispered something that he could no longer hear, and then vanished into the darkness.

It was difficult to think, difficult to even summon the effort to try. But he would have time later, the empty void within his chest assured him that now he would always have time. The rest of the world collapsed around him, leaving him floating in the darkness. As he floated without direction even the sun and the stars were slowly consumed, one by one, until all that remained was an empty universe.

He drifted through it aimlessly, with no way to note the passage of time. Was it a thousand years? Or only a day? He struggled to remember. Struggled to remember anything other than the endless void that surrounded him. People, places, names. Time erased everything from memory. Or at least, almost everything. He remembered a promise. A promise and two names.

He turned one of the names over in his mind, was it his? Had it always been? It seemed fitting at least, for some reason he could no longer recall. But he could recall the promise.

Voidus had to get his daughter Laurelai back.

[Voidus]

Quote

I was considering doing this later, but given that the backstory wrapped up I may as well get the final scene up.

"How do I keep her safe now? It was so easy, just find an answer. I could devote myself to that. But now she's here again, with all the danger that entails.She's out there, exploring, facing the dangers of the world. Should I tell her? Explain? Bring her back here, safe within the barrier?"

Voidus slowly opened his eyes again, staring once more at the silvery light dancing across the barrier.

"If not, then what should I do?" He asked quietly, eyes wandering in search of something. "I managed everything else because I had to, had to keep things running to find an answer. But now it's answered, and everything else just feels so tiring."

He sagged in place, allowing himself once again to feel the bone-aching weariness that plagued him of late. The apathy towards everything and the difficulty in finding the energy to solve the problems that continued to arise.

"Mac left." He said after a moment of silence. "I don't think he plans to come back. Should I feel relieved or upset? He was progressing well, very well. The most talented with the Void that I've seen in a long time. The Stranger was always a big hope for me as well, but I doubt he'd ever be able to bring himself to do what needs to be done. Mac though, Mac might have managed, with the right pressure."

With a sigh, he slowly picked himself up from the ground, straightening his shoulders. He'd spent enough time here, it had helped a little but the rest of the world would not wait while he spent his time here, time would always move forwards.

"I'll have to find someone else now." Voidus said, giving the spike one final look before turning around and heading back towards the barrier.

[+Sorana she/her]

Frozen Mike stared at the decive on his arm, stared and stared while the Man approched and place the amulets around his neck and stuffed them beneath his shirt. They were cool on his hot skin and he waited, waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Instead he relaxed slowly, his thoughts turning slightly sluggish when the toxin spread through his body.

Tap the medallions. The words slowly registered and he wondered what he was suppossed to do. This was meant to help him. Help him? There was no way to help him. He looked up at Xanas, his fear slightly subsiding for the moment. Trapped, he was still trapped but for now, he might even be safe. Snake wrapped herself around him and peeked out at Xanas. She could test him, ask for something, see if the man meant what said. If he really wanted to help, maybe this was her chance. She could get rid of fox and of Mike at the same time. Squirrel might make a nice next meal and that fish, she didn't need to worry about a fish.

"Could you contact Wes?" she asked, because that was, what Mike would have done, cold calculation slightly coloring her voice. "He will worry about me." Me not us. She wouldn't make squirrel's mistakes. She would trick that man. Her tongue darted out of Mike's mouths slightly longer than before when she tasted the air. "And how do I tap the amulets?" She added another question to keep him distracted. If things worked out as planned, this body would finally be hers and hers alone.

@18th Shard

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Quote

So, this is super random, but I was roasting marshmallows the other day with my friends and I got a pretty good char on mine. My friend turned to me and said, "Geez, what happened to that marshmallow?" and I said, super dramatically, "There was a fire...."  Anyway, I looked down at the burnt marshmallow and I realized that if Vivica's soul was an object, it would be that sugary, burnt marshmallow right there.  I got a good laugh out of that. 

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

2 hours ago, Shard of Thought said:

@ZincAboutIt

Quote

Highly accurate, I approve.

 

[AonEne he/him]

Quote

So you’re saying this is Vivica’s soul colorized 2020?