Realistic or Modern Call of the Multiverse

[Snek]

The multiverse. It's huge. Like, really freaking huge. Like, no matter how large you try to imagine it being, it is always larger. Kind of like your moth...ah, never mind.


But as you can probably imagine, a multiverse of this size has a ton of things living in it. Trillions of trillions of trillions of organisms living together in this giant mass of reality we all call home. Much of it is tranquil and peaceful, but a very large amount of it is also hostile and threatening. And a multiverse with this many dangerous things living in it needs something-or perhaps someone-to defend it. Of course, only a small amount of those dangerous things have discovered ways to actually pose a threat to the multiverse as a whole. Things kill other things, that's just the way life works. But it takes a special breed of hero to stop foes that have the potential to warp reality itself. Special breed...yes, that's an understatement. A select few, like six or seven, out of a seemingly infinite number of other organisms, some of them alternate versions of those six or seven people. Dang. Makes my head spin.


This is the story of a man. A very, very, very tired, aging, battle-weathered, old-as-time man. A man who has protected the multiverse and watched over it since the moment he achieved sentience. The mind staggers at how many Nobel prizes he would have won if he lived on any of the various versions of Earth. But his time is slowly coming to a close, and as our story begins, he sends out a summons, a signal to beckon in a new generation of heroes to become defenders of all reality.


This is where you come in. You are all very similar to each other. You all feel like you were meant for greater things. You all are very unique, even by human standards.


And you all can hear, see, feel, smell, and taste your fate beckoning, and by god, you're ready to follow it.


You're more ready to follow your destiny than Michael Bay is to create another Transformers movie. When the whole of existence rings up tech support, you are that stereotypical Indian guy that answers.


It's time to answer the Call of the Multiverse.

• No bunnying, godmodding, auto-hitting, such things. Not cool. Zero tolerance for these things.
  
• Make characters that are engaging, unique, and realistic. Everyone has flaws, everyone has weaknesses, and no one is perfect. This makes the RP much more fun.
  
• Speaking of fun, this RP is going to have a hell of a lot of humor elements thrown in here and there by yours truly. It would be such a blast for you guys to play along and insert some humor of your own in there. Seriously, do it. I will love you forever.
  
• I am the largest grammar Nazi in the world. That being said, my grammar is not always perfect either, but I expect all of you to at least try your very best to use correct punctuation and spelling. The password is a statement of your character's worst fear.
  
• If your post directly involves another roleplayer, for example, if your character talks directly to theirs, it would behoove you to tag them so as to make sure they get notification that you are continuing conversation.
  
• I tend to dislike minimum post lengths, but I'm going to put up a solid one paragraph minimum (about six sentences or so). That being said, I expect everyone to type as much as is needed to further the plot, at the least.
  
• For the love of God and everything that is holy, have fun. Please. Just do it.
  

 

[Snek]

I was originally planning to have all of our characters be from the same universe, but after a very long one-sentence debate with Fall, I am here to clarify that each character can be, and in all probability, definitely will be, from different, separate universes. But they are all still human.

 

[Snek]

Bills352 has generously offered to be the one to change his character from a guy to a girl, so the guy/girl ratio has found relative balance. Once he has updated and modified his character sheet accordingly, we shall begin.


This roleplay will have short segments where instead of conventional storytelling, we will switch to a more "Dungeons and Dragons"-like approach, in terms of interacting with the environment and observing/inspecting your surroundings and objects. For example, the scene where everyone chooses their artifact will be one of these types of scenarios. An example of how this would play out is as follows:


Random Roleplayer person: "[insert character name] examines the artifact in his hand."


Me: "The artifact is a small metal crown, like a circlet. The metal is cool to the touch, and in the centerpiece of the crown sits a glimmering white gem."


Random Roleplayer person: "[yadda yadda] puts on the crown."


That's just an example of how it would play out, but that's the idea. To avoid having to individually post twelve different responses to the actions each of your characters make in these scenes, I will wait for a large group of people to post, and then respond to each of them in one large message.


In terms of setting, everyone begins the story in their own separate universes. None of the characters are familiar with any of the others. They have never met before in their lives, and will probably fight a lot. That is okay.


I will post a starter post, including the man sending out the Call of the Multiverse, and then all of you will respond as follows:


#1: Your post will begin with a description of what your character is doing at the time he/she receives the Call.


#2: Mention that your character is summoned. The summoning would take place in the form of a voice in their heads, calling them and leading them to some sort of remote and hidden place, where a glowing blue galaxy-like portal awaits them. You may mention them stepping into the portal, but cease from describing the summoning itself; I will do that part.


 
@Icefox11 @Bills352 @Yewchung @supercrunched @SkyFilms


The man rubbed the gray stubble that lined his jaw, resting his head back against the quality leather headrest of the chair. He'd been sitting in it so long that the fabric had essentially enveloped him and claimed him for its own. He thought for a moment about becoming a chair himself, just to see what it was like, until he decided against it. He'd already been a potted plant that morning, and damn, that was boring.


The gargantuan clock covering the east wall of the room rang out the relative hour. The shattering gong of the chiming clock shook the house, rattling every breakable object and causing the windows and glassware to resonate, causing an earsplitting hum that, combined with the gong of the clock, would cause any normal man to go insane.


But this was no normal man. He didn't even really consider himself a man, come to think of it. But the point is that he isn't normal, so I'll get back to the story.


He heard some shattering and 'ka-tsh' noises and a few 'plink' noises in the background, echoing from the hallway. The noises were crystal clear, yet distant.


"That'd be the trophy case..."


Another, heavier, more distant crashing sound came.


"...And that'd be the jade horrorterror statue collection...not again..."


The man slowly pried himself from the encompassing chair, a feat that, on any version of Earth, would have required the use of a blowtorch, a crowbar made of solid diamonds, a hadron collider, and a jar of mayonnaise. But, of course, this was not Earth.


The man walked to the wall and slid aside a small panel, revealing an array of buttons, dials, and switches. He fiddled with a few of them, some to fix the broken valuables on the other side of the house, and some just for the hell of it. Hey, what could he say? Fiddling with switches is fun. He was pretty sure that some of those switches and dials were there simply for the purpose of fiddling, but he couldn't seem to remember which ones. Well, when you've been alive this long, your memory just isn't what it was when the multiverse was nearly just born.


Ah, Multiverse! The thought reminds the man of what he was originally going to do before the fiddling distracted him.


"It's time..."


He strolled to the Inner Sanctum, a room that, ironically, was currently located on the complete outside of the house. That was okay, he needed it to be there. Didn't want to destroy his beautiful house while he performed the summoning. The obelisk was there waiting for him, positioned in the front of the room where the wall was replaced with a humongous transparent (and, thankfully, indestructible) window that overlooked the Heart. It was rather pretty today, as usual, but its primordial glitter seemed to permeate the cosmos around it, as if it knew what the man was getting ready to do. Which was ridiculous, of course. Multiverses can't think. Nope, definitely can't. Definitely. Cannot. Think. Nope.


The man approached the metal obelisk, opening his hand wide with the palm facing the structure. The obelisk split open like a banana with a very stiff peel, revealing the barrel inside. The obelisk rose from the ground and rotated, facing the Heart, and a small holo-screen display opened up near the end of the barrel. The man approached it and began to confirm his action. Yes, he did want to send out the call. Yes, he was sure. Yes, he was definitely sure. No, he wasn't pressing these buttons by accident. Yes, he meant to press that button. Yes, he was sure.


God, why did he put so many security gates on this thing? He didn't get this old to be pressing these buttons by accident!


Yes, he was definitely, completely, and in all conscience of his actions, consequences of said actions, and of his own free will and awareness of reality, was universally certain that he meant to perform this action.


Sighing with relief after finally bypassing the security, he pulled up a section of the Map and located the Chosen. Their universes were startlingly close together. Not the same universe, but still rather close. As it happened, each universe was a different version of the "Earth universe", as the man called it.


"How odd. Must be a coincidence."


He aimed the obelisk-laser right at the Heart and fired. A cyan beam of energy shot from the machine, lancing out into the Multiverse as it travelled at an infinite speed until it reached the Heart. The Heart absorbed it and shone forth with light of the cosmos, processing the targeting information and splitting the beam into twelve separate, smaller beams that arced with pinpoint precision into their respective universes.


Pinpoint precision was an understatement. Try flying up to 10,000 feet on Earth, then, with a blowgun, make an attempt to shoot a very specific insect off a leaf without hitting the leaf itself, or any of the other plants or animals in the forest at all. Now that's pinpoint precision.


The man stared out into the multiverse with shiny eyes, as if everything in his life was going perfectly right. Which, of course, it was.


"The Call of the Multiverse has been made. The only question now is...will they answer it?"

 

[Vudukudu]

"Your MOM is getting cold!" Marcus shouted up the basement stairs, addressing his mother who stood at the top. Moments before, she had finished preparing dinner and told him to come upstairs, before "dinner gets cold". His mother, ever disappointed in her son, rolled her eyes and left the doorway to set the table.


"Huh. I guess her mom is getting cold, considering grandma died a year ago.." Marcus muttered to himself, then slowly trudged up the stairs. He took a seat at the table where a plateful of ham, mashed potatoes, and celery was waiting. He gave a curt nod to both of his parents, then shoveled the food into his mouth. The display probably rivaled the disgusting hunger of a pack of cannibals entering an old folk's home.


Moments after he had finished eating and cleaned his plate, he returned to his basement. The small TV he had down there in front of the couch he slept on was malfunctioning, judging from the crackling and static-y display. He stepped close to it, then loudly knocked his hand on the top of the TV. "Come on, you piece of crap. Turn on!" He said, a clear tone of annoyance ringing in his voice.


"No, YOU come on, piece of crap." For a split second, Marcus was convinced the TV had spoken to him. That hadn't happened since he ate those mushrooms in his backyard though, so this must be something new. "Just.. go to the bathroom, okay?"


That settled it for Marcus. The voice was clearly inside his head, as he had turned the TV off just before the voice spoke again. He reluctantly decided to listen, hoping that maybe it would go away if he did.


But.. the bathroom door was gone. In it's place was a blue portal, with stars glimmering in the distance. Of course, he hadn't noticed this until he had put a foot through, and the rest of him was promptly pulled inside.

 

[IceQueen]

Ari sat in front of her television, watching her nightly programming's. She lived in a regular building with sterol white walls and futuristic technology everywhere. Well, then again, everything here is either white or black. The women and children wear white, the men wear black. She dawned the only colorful piece she had, which she was only allowed to wear inside her house. She wore a tight short sleeved t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Her t-shit was a purple color, matching her irregular eyes. She was content watching her program's until the TV turned off for no reason. She thought that it was funny she turned around to go ask the manager. As she walked to her door, she saw a portal, that sucked her into an unknown void.

 

[SkyFilms]

Gentle gusts of wind brushed past Shalin cheek as she sat hunched over in her backyard, what she believed to be green grass slithered in and out of her toes nicely as she felt the smooth sleek surface of her metallic cane with her gloved fingertips. The suns soft rays heated her petite expression, her unseeing eyes looking upwards into what she imagined to be blue skies.


It was another quiet day in the town Tallow in the land of Ireland,


"I'm searching for a land beyond the skies, flying through the stars that pass me by..." She sang the slow lullaby beautifully in her delicate voice, her freckle spotted cheeks tinted with a soft hue of pink as she smiled sweetly along with the lyrics.


Shalin placed her cane before her criss crossed legs and slowly began to twirl small strands of her hair into a braid. She always yearned for adventure, to leave the town she had memorized like the back of her hand.


She'd like to go somewhere, anywhere.


"Do you truly wish to sore the skies?" An unrecognizable voice spoke to her from all directions, her heightened hearing hadn't heard any approaching steps or the quiet breaths any human took so she stood taking hold of her cane uneasily. Her gloved hand gripped the hilt of her cane tightly to the point that she believed her grey knuckles could have jumped up a shade.


"Who are you..." She murmured accent thick, the wind picking up as she searched for the voices origination. She held herself proudly, her shoulders back and her stance even.


"That is unimportant, enter your home." The female voice instructed, Shalin stepped forward a few strides and stabbed the tip of her cane into the dirt beside her right foot. Her orange eyebrows knitted together in irritation,


"It is a relevant question stranger." She shouted sternly in response though she may seem like the neighborhood loon. The girls bright curled locks swayed in the soft wind as she awaited an answer she readjusted her floral top hat.


"Please." Was the individuals only reply before she was sure it had disappeared as the wind slowed, Shalin bit her lip unsure but slowly turned around. The steps which led to her back door felt perhaps a yard in front of her, cautiously she met the stares stepping up them slowly before halting in front of the what she believed was an oak door.


With a hidden hand she reached forward and took hold of the iron handle and turned it slowly before tugging backwards. Shalin didn't know what she was expecting but being rushed inside by a sudden force hadn't crossed her imaginative mind.

 

[Nivrad00]

The front door opened, accompanied by a sharp gust of wind. Rain dripped onto the tiled floor. With a start, Alice straightened, taking her head off of her hand and her elbow off the counter. "Welcome to Maplin's!" she said, hurriedly, smoothing down her uniform.


The customer, a balding man folding up an umbrella, looked around the establishment before turning to her; "Excuse me, where are the vacuum cleaners?"


Alice blinked. She'd had to memorized the layout of the store of course, but - vacuum cleaners? Appliances - maybe kitchen appliances - no, that didn't make sense....


"You should step outside," said a voice. Alice blinked and looked at the customer, who was still gazing at her intently. It wasn't him. She looked behind her.


"Hello?" asked the man, looking a little cross.


"Oh, uh, excuse me," she forced a smile. Great, she was being an idiot. What was it - vacuum cleaners? Alice remembered learning where they were, but at that moment everything had slipped from her mind.


"Look outside," it suggested.


Alice peered through the rain-splattered window. She felt irritation rising, at herself, this voice, and this unremarkable man, who was currently tapping his feet. "Outside?" she muttered angrily.


The customer gave a start. "What the hell are you on about?"


"Oh! Uh -"


"Aisle 6," interrupted a man who Alice hadn't noticed approach. Her coworker. "Keep going down this way," he pointed, "and take a right."


"Thank you," said the balding man. The worker responded that it was no problem, sir, then gave Alice an irritated, disappointed look. He didn't say anything, though; he knew it would be pointless. Alice hated that look. She clenched her fists under the counter.


"Go outside," the voice insisted. With an exasperated sigh, Alice turned in a circle, trying to find the source. It occurred to her that no one else had acknowledged the voice, but she dismissed the fact. Making sure that her coworker wasn't watching, she ducked out the shop.


"Now to your left." Alice squinted through the rain, then hesitated, looking back at the building and its bland exterior. Leaving like this would probably get her fired. Oh, well. Good riddance. She dashed down the street, splashing up puddles.


The voice, an enigma Alice couldn't and didn't care to understand, led her several blocks until she appeared (soaking wet) at the opening to an old brick alleyway. Here, it fell silent, leaving the patter of rain and the distant rumble of thunder as the only noises. She looked in all directions before venturing in cautiously; this was a sleazy neighborhood. Between the boarded-up windows and the rusty doors, there was something glowing on the wall. The sight of it set her on edge. Tensed to run, or yell, or punch something, she walked closer.


It sort of reminded her of stars in the sky, which were currently obscured by storm clouds. She acted on instinct, curious. Her arm passed right through, and the rest of her body followed after.

 

[Fus ro dah]

"Dorian?"


No response.


"Dorian..."


No response.


"Dorian!"


The brunette raised a brow at the yelling and lowered the novel he'd been reading for almost the entire day. He only lowered it so he could look over the top of it, his gaze meeting that of his older brother who was standing no more than ten feet away. Aiden raised a hand and pointed back towards the house.


"It's lunch time, come on, dad's made spaghetti."


"No thanks." Dorian shook his head. "I hate dad's spaghetti."


Aiden sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "You hate everything that dad cooks."


"Because he can't cook."


"Then why don't you cook?"


"Because I can't cook."


"I..." Aiden groaned. "I can't always be doing the cooking, little bro. Just, come on."


"What's in it for me?" Dorian smirked, slipping his bookmark into the novel and snapping it closed.


The older sibling shuffled uncomfortably for a moment. "I'll do your chores for the next two weeks. Every single one."


The brunette was quiet for a long time, contemplating this offer. "Done."


It wasn't until he stepped into the house that he realised something was wrong. There was an extra voice in their quiet two story home, and it was a woman's. A small frown settled on the teenager's lips as he stepped into the kitchen. His father was sitting in his chair at the table, right next to a black-haired woman who Dorian didn't know, who was being... sickly sweet with him.


"Oh, Dorian. Good to see your brother finally got you. This is..."


"Nope." Dorian raised a hand and turned away. "Nope, nope, nope, nope."


He may be over the death of his mother, it didn't mean he was ready to see his father being cutesy with some woman. He was pretty sure his appetite was gone now.


"Dorian. Stop being so rude." His father's voice darkened slightly. "You can't expect me to not date."


Dorian didn't reply, he just made his way to his room. There was no way he was going to eat his father's terrible cooking and watch him snuggle with some woman. He slammed his door behind him, like the petulant child he was being, and grabbed his satchel from it's place on his desk. He opened slid the novel he'd been reading inside with one hand and opened the top drawer of the desk with his other. His snack drawer had bags of nuts, dried fruits and of course some chocolate. He shoved the bags into his satchel, deciding he was going to go camp in the woods for a day or two... or until that woman went home.


He heard his father's feet coming up the stairs, they sounded heavier than normal. Probably because he was angry. Dorian didn't have a lock on his door, but he did have a butterknife. Jamming the knife into the doorframe, it served as a temporary lock unless too much force was placed on the door. Depending on the force, it might just drop to the floor, or ping loose and become a dangerous projectile. He slung his satchel over his shoulder, buckled his pillow onto his camping set and wrenched his window open.


"Dorian?" He father was knocking at the door. "We need to talk. Now."


The door handle turned and there was a distinct sound of resistance as the knife stopped the door from opening. Dorian was halfway out the window by now and only once he was completely out did he respond.


"I'm not in the mood. I'm going camping. Call me when she's gone."


He pulled the window closed, muffling the shouts of his father who started to try and open the door with more force. The knife dropped to the floor and in a moment of panic that he'd somehow be stopped, Dorian rushed down the roof. A sudden strong gust of wind, made him loose his balance on the sharp incline and he slipped, fell and tumbled over the guttering. His eyes crushed closed as he fell toward the pool, which seemed to glow a strange blue colour.


He never hit the water.

 

[October Falls]

"Andrea..." Olivia muttered from Andy's doorway. Andy didn't look up from her notepad, and simply continued doodling, waiting for her mother to continue and leave her... yet again. "I'm leaving.... don't know when i'll get back. If you need anything, Donny the bartender .... from the pub across the street .... He can help. Just.... stay safe okay?"


Andy didn't acknowledge her mother's attempts at communication, not even with a nod. Although, Olivia knew Andy heard, even through the extremely loud hard rock/heavy metal music Andy had practically glued to her ears via earpods. The music helped her keep calm. She had grown so annoyed with her life.


Andy didn't understand why her mother continued to try to talk to her. It was hard enough to watch your only living parent leave for months at a time, and never know if she'll even come back at all, and when she does come back it's only for a week at most. And she had the audacity to offer a complete stranger (Not for Olivia... being her friend with benefit in a way... they used to date too...) to ask for help. Uh, NO! She could handle herself, and has been for quite sometime, even before her father's death.


Right... death. Don't get her started on the amount of Death's she's convinced herself was her fault. It was as if she called Bloody Mary, Mary wouldn't be able to kill her because of the amount of secret's she had concerning people dying that she knew or had at least talked too. What bad luck huh? You wouldn't be able to describe it.





"You should at least say something." Andy heard. She frowned and stopped drawing. She looked up and shook her head. That wasn't her mother's voice. "This may be the last time you see her..." It, no She continued.





"Well... I'm going...." Olivia announced, and after a long gaze over toward Andy, she left with a sigh. Andy didn't look back, and didn't listen to the voice in her head. Ignore it, and it'll go away. Her demon's were trying to torture her again. As if it was hard enough as it is. Being left alone.. again. From the amount of times people have walked out, or died in her life, Andy learned to become numb to it all. Not internally, no it still hurt every time. Most people didn't know, but secretly Andy was a very sensitive person, but her stubbornness had helped create walls to protect her. Although, every day the demons from the shadows find a way to penetrate her walls, and every time they fall it's that much harder to create again. She was falling at the seams, and no one would be their to help her.


She took a deep breath and released in a long, heartfelt sigh as she heard the front door close and the old run down beetle exit the street and onto the highway toward the airport. Just as Asking Alexandria - The Death Of Me started on her phone, she lost it. She threw her notebook across the room and screamed as loud as she could.


She kicked and thrashed and let all her anger out. She even punched the wall a few times. But she did whatever she could do not to run to the bathroom and grab a razor. Anything but that. She had enough scars to compete against a burn survivor. After about 10 minutes of her just letting the music seep into her pores and help release all her pent up anger, she finally sighed and calmed down as Ed Sheeran's song, The A Team started.





"You feel better with that out of your system?" Any heard again. She frowned and shoved her earpods out of her ears and listened to the quiet of her small poster and CD filled room.

"You should have said goodbye at least." The female voice spoke again. Andy frowned, and spun around her room. "Who's there?" She asked. She didn't care if she was going insane. She just wanted to know who was bothering her. Have her demons finally found a way to torture her? "Show yourself!" She demanded. "Tsk Tsk Tsk. Jesh. Bossy much?" The voice asked. Andy sighed and ran her right hand through her silver/white hair, her phone in her left hand. "Stop shitting me." The voice sighed and continued. "Okay Okay. Want me gone? Step through your doorway."





Andy frowned and glanced at her doorway. There wasn't anything abnormal about it. Just a closed white wooden door with posters of random bands covering the back and her name on the other side. "What the hell?" She muttered. "Oh just do it. No harm in walking through a doorway right?" Andy shrugged and sighed. Yeah no harm.


Just as she walked toward the door, from the corners (Like, bottom top and sides where the door doesn't close all the way) there came an illuminating blueish greenish light. Andy frowned and opened the door to an same coloured portal that looked like the milky way. Before she had any say in the matter, her body moved on it's own and stepped into the universe, with a lingering thought, "The Fuck?"

 

[Yewchung]

"I still don't see why you don't study."


Victor sighed, frowning at the girl walking next to him. Layla was a friend, but sometimes she asked the dumbest questions.


"I don't study because there's no point," said Victor, continuing his walk down the hall. School was over, and since he never participated in any clubs, Victor saw no point in sticking around any longer than absolutely necessary.


"But there is a point," said Layla, giving him that mind-bogglingly innocent look of confusion. "You need good grades to get into a good college!"


"And why should I care about getting into a good college?" said Victor, sighing. He didn't really want to have this conversation again, especially after having it with his aunt so many times already.


"Don't you have any plans for the future?"


Victor stopped, not so much because the question stumped him, but because they were about to enter a portion of the hallway that had been recently mopped by the Janitor, and he was trying to find the easiest way to bypass the obstacle without slipping.


"No," he finally said, continuing down the hallway with one hand propped against the wall. "I don't."


Layla went silent, and the two of them continued down the wet hall. It was as they approached the stairs down that Victor first heard the voice.


"Hello, boy. Do you desire a life of adventure? A life of fun? A life to take you away from this dull, dreary, everyday existence?"


"Not particularly, no."


"If so, just step through the portal, to realms unknown!"


Victor looked down the staircase, and true to the voice's word, there sat a glowing blue portal at the foot of the stairs.


"Yeah, no. I'm perfectly fine with my dull dreary existence, thank you very much. Why don't you try some other schmuck who actually cares?"


"Um, Victor?" Victor turned to see Layla still standing next to him. "Who are you talking to?"


"A voice in my head. I may or may not have finally gone crazy. About time anyways," said Victor, frowning. "You can see that glowing blue portal, right?"


"Yeah?"


An idea formed in Victor's head. "Well then, do you desire a life of adventure?"


"Yeah, I do!" said Layla, smiling.


"Do you desire a life of fun? A life to take you away from this dull, dreary, everyday existence?"


"Yes, yes I do!" said Layla, a grin across her face.


"Then go into that portal." Victor said, jerking a thumb towards the portal. "It probably goes to some magical world where you'll be the only one who can save the universe or something. I'm going home."


Turning on his heel in preparation to take the other staircase, Victor suddenly remembered one key fact. The hallway was still wet. As he turned on his heel, the water caused him to slip and fall, tumbling down the stairs. He sighed, already knowing exactly what was about to happen.


"Oh, bye Victor! Have fun!" called Layla as he tumbled past her on the staircase.


Victor only raised an eyebrow, his only response as he bounced off the final step, flying directly towards the gaping maw of the blue portal.


"Yeah, not likely."

 

[supercrunched]

[stealthily emerges from under the cover of darkness]


Indira stared forlornly into her cup of chai, frustration condensing into a thrumming cloud of pain behind her eyeballs. Mentally estimating how many painkillers she'd need to ingest in a day before she overdosed, she decided this time to take a gamble, and popped one into her mouth.


Her brothers had, blast them, managed to find a monkey and take it home with them. A puppy or a kitten Indira could handle, but monkeys were vicious, conniving and had opposable thumbs and a knack for locating the most breakable things in the house. She'd spent the better part of two hours chasing the damned thing out, and another convincing her brothers not to go out and bring it back in. Now her mother was in one of her moods again, her father wasn't about to help, there was still a long list of household necessities to be done and, cherry on the cake, she'd run out of Avadol.


Looks like it's going to be a long day, eh? said a voice in her head.


She blinked. Maybe taking that last pill hadn't been a good idea.


Look down.


She did.


Her tea had, up until a moment ago, been a murky brown from when she'd thrown a few leaves and splashed some milk into a mug without paying much attention. Now, the bottom of her cup had disappeared, giving way to...something blue and eye-wateringly bright. If she looked hard enough, she fancied she could make out tiny sparkling stars and colourful planets. Had this been in any other setting, she might have stopped to admire the sight. Instead, she stared at it for all of two minutes before setting the cup down and pushing away from the counter to make herself something else to drink.


No, wait- come back!


She turned her back to the counter, resolutely ignoring the disembodied voice trying to convince her to do otherwise. She didn't have to listen to someone who didn't have the decency to introduce themselves before wasting a whole mug of perfectly good tea. Who even communicated straight into somebody else's head like that? It was, quite frankly, an invasion of privacy, and Indira much preferred to keep her thoughts to herself, thank you very much. The portal-looking thing in her favourite mug may not even wash out. The thought sent a bristle of irritation through her, interrupting the foreign consciousness telling her to go back to the portal.


"Go away," she whispered savagely, in case somebody came downstairs and found her arguing with a teacup. "Whatever you're doing, I don't want to be a part of it." She picked up her ruined mug, ready to wash the magic out of it with some elbow grease and turbo-strength dish soap.


Chance of a lifetime, you know. Adventure awaits. I'm not bluffing. It's not every day you hear a stranger's voice in your head.


"Just because I can hear it doesn't mean I have to believe in it," Indira muttered darkly. Still, the Voice had a point. Perhaps it would be nice to break away from everyday chaos and start getting involved in some rather more interesting chaos instead.


No, she still had too many responsibilities. Four children to take care of (including her parents, naturally), and who was going to handle matters if her brothers decided to bring home something more destructive than a monkey? It'd be unethical to get up and leave like that. She couldn't do it. Besides, she was smart enough not to get involved with shady headless voices trying to sell her adventure. It'd be far more sensible to pretend the whole thing had never happened.


She decided to stop entertaining the Voice until they got bored and left. Satisfied that this was, in the end, the best course of action, she tried to take a self-assured gulp of tea.


It was only when she felt herself being sucked face-first into a swirling vortex of disorder that she realised, regretably, that she'd got the wrong cup.

 

[TheHallowedGamer]

Looking around at the trees around him, Sam was enjoying the new path that he’d taken for his afternoon walk. His beagle, Max, was straining at the leash as Sam practically held on for dear life. It’s not every day that your dog has the strength of a bear, especially one that only weighs 13 pounds. Max was anxious to sniff every tree, rock and dog butt in the park and he would stop at nothing to make that happen. Sam was purely along for the ride.


He looked down at his watch only to discover that half an hour had gone by. If he was going to have a valid excuse for not doing his homework, he’d have to be out for much more than that. He was thinking about how he could tell his History teacher that he was sorry he didn’t get to his homework but his dog has a urinary tract infection so he needs to go on really long walks to make sure he doesn’t pee in the house.


Except maybe that was too gross. Maybe he’ll save that one for his biology teacher…


We both know that’s not true, Sam.


Sam jerked around, causing Max to be pulled away from an oak that he had been sniffing for about five seconds, very intently. He looked around for someone nearby but to no avail. Not even a homeless person was nearby asking for change, which Sam found quite odd as he lived in a lower class neighbor hood.


“Woah, who’s there? Who said that?” he said, still looking for the mystery voice. Max simply looked up at him with, if at all possible, concern in his little beagle eyes.


Sam looked at him and pointed, “I know I heard a voice. Don’t look at me like that.”


Max still stared up with what was now confusion, and barked loudly, wagging his tail.


“What do you want? We still have another, two or so hours…” Sam said scratching the dog’s head.


I want you to come to me for an adventure!


Max stood straight and rigid once more shouting to no one, except maybe a group of pigeons, “I was talking to my dog!”


And I was talking to you.


Sam was a little frightened now. Okay, more than a little, but his overwhelming sense of curiosity got the better of him and said, “Okay, disembodied voice, where is this adventure?”


Go to the blue trashcan, my boy


Making a face of disgust and wonder, Sam walked over, leading the reluctant Max along with him, towards a steel blue trashcan found around the park.


“I don’t see how this is an adven---“


Sam stopped at the blue trash can and looked inside. To his wonder and amazement , he saw a swirling blue galaxy shimmering in the bottom of the can. Not wanting to touch it quite yet, Sam grabbed a rock nearby and tossed it in to the trashcan, only to see it disappear into the puddle of light with a ripple. Curious as to what the bottom was made of (and not fearing for his life whatsoever, because who wouldn't be frightened of a glowing galaxy portal?), Sam reached down to poke the bottom, but found himself unable to reach. He lifted himself up onto the edge and tilted his full weight down to face the bottom and reached for it.


As he did this, he lost his balance and slid face first into the puddle of unknown substance and felt his whole body go numb. The last thing he could remember was the fact that he no longer felt Max's leash in his hand, and that he could hear the distinct sound of the disembodied voice chuckling softly.

 

[Ebonysdagger]

"Go to college they said. That was all I was told to do. Make good grades and get into college." Raleigh can be found muttering to himself in complaint as he walked down the hall of his local private collage waiting the three hours for his lab class to open. When one does not have money to waste driving home while waiting out the period between last class of the day and your obligatory chemistry lab is not a choice. "Bugger to that. Making good grades was so easy it was sad. No one told me though I was supposed to have a plan beyond getting good enough grades so as to earn scholarships."


He was complaining once more out of the fact that he had never even remotely planned what to major in in college since he figured that was an issue for later in the college career not here at the start. He had never had much luck in planning for the future thanks to his ability to calculate the variables he saw too many paths to make a choice. If you choose path a it rules out events on path c and path d might still be possible but only if your great grandparent who happens to own a small company dies while choosing path b might lead to everyone being happy and healthy however it would require he actually worked rather than taking it easy as he preferred. "Why didn't anyone explain that it was just a gatekeeper transition. Also, why did they let on like this stuff was hard?" And now he is complaining about how easy his classes in college were. "I mean proportionally the hardest school ever gets is during third and fourth grade when they introduce multiplication and the like."


'Oi. You, the one complaining about life being too easy and too hard. Got a second?'


"The voices in my head are back. Listen, if you want me to kill anyone I have to warn you that I'm not allowed to play with sharp pointy things anymore. My mom found out about the time I almost threw a knife at both my younger siblings." Raleigh says aloud not even shocked at hearing a disembodied voice. He had read too much fiction to be shocked by such things and really felt it was about time reality got its act together.


'Well... probably not. At least no normal people at any rate. You want something that is a bit more of a challenge and yet at the same time will not require you make overly nebulous decisions?'


"Doesn't everyone? So I suppose this is the situation where Zordon requires 'teens with attitude' or the like, yeah? I don't think I have attitude and the only martial arts I know are how to fake fake movie style martial art poses. I doubt I can save the world with my wickedly awesome false crane style."


'Perhaps listening to me might help with that?'


"Ooh... lure me by one of the few temptations I will fall for eh? Bah, why fight it anyway, right? Destiny and all that. I'm more than familiar enough with the hero's journey to know when I'm already screwed. Might as well go with the flow. At least this way I can take out my pent up aggression at everything out of someone."


'Classroom 402 on the left in this hall.'


"Danke." Raleigh walks down the hall to the appropriate door and opens it up. He steps right on in without even bothering to take note of how the portal looks. "To adventure and violence. And hopefully really cool powers." As he slides through the limbo space of the portal he thinks of something. "I really hope this doesn't lead to me sitting on a loading screen waiting while the disk loads to the hard drive."

 

[TheFallOfitAll]

((this is only part 1 of the two posts I will be making)))


A form lay limp against a wall, both wrists chained up, and the chain raising high above the form, meeting at a point above the form, causing the forms arms to raise above it. The form was a man, a prisoner of his own personal Hell, brought onto him by who he had thought would be his friends. It seemed as if the man was asleep, as his eyes were closed. But he wasn't. And only the real tormenter would know that.


The room he was in was dark, and quiet. He was trapped in there with only his thoughts, and his thoughts alone. To most men, being trapped alone with your own thoughts for as long as he had would have been maddening. Maybe he was mad, maybe he was hallucinating. Maybe he was, he'd believe it, and he really started to once he felt a strange pull, a soundless and wordless beckoning.


Maybe it was his instincts telling him to try to get out one more time, maybe it was his own hopeless self trying to give him something to hope for, and maybe he was just mad.


Maybe this entire ordeal was some strange hallucination brought upon him by some strange mystery drug he had tried in college, but everything was too real. Each pain, each scar, each wound and emotional scar he had. All the tests, all the crap they had performed on his mind, each and every thing they had him do. He remembered it all. He was not angry, he was not sad, he felt nothing other than the pain on his body. He felt regret that he had trusted the very man looking through the glass window that was on the left side of his cell.


He opened his eyes, and looked up. His grey eyes looked around the darkened room. It was kept dark, to ensure he'd not know a passage of time. But he had felt it. He'd been there for roughly twelve very long years. Twelve long years of tests, experiments, all round Hell. And those twelve years did something to him, maybe it had messed him up mentally, as he'd closed off his emotions. He wasn't sure if he would ever feel emotions again, even if he were to escape, he'd likely be on the run and wouldn't be able to grow close to anyone.


But now was not the time to dwell on an impossible future, now was the time to do something about the state he was in.


He closed his eyes again, and focused. He felt part of his mind disembark, searching the chain, finding the weakest link, and focusing in on it. Oddly and ironically enough, the weakest link was the very one in the middle. Opening his eyes, a mist, black as night, started to appear about his eyes, and the link. He also started to pull with his arms, and soon enough, the link broke.

 

[Snek]

The Villain King updated Call of the Multiverse with a new update entry:


Sorry for the waiting...

Sorry if it's taking a while to get moving, guys, but Fall hasn't posted the second part of his post yet. We can move on as soon as Alad makes his opening post. So, fear not! The super exciting fun parts are coming very, very soon.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Riddle78]

Loki was kneeling in his Clan Dojo's Observatory. He was alone. Contemplating. As the Sol system drifted past the massive viewport,Loki was lost in thought. The holographic map behind him was the room's only source of artificial light,displaying Sol in imperfect detail,red and blue blips signifying Grineer and Corpus invasion attempts. Aah,yes. The war. Part of the final step in the Lotus' grand plan. Let the dogs and machines fight,and snuff out the last man standing. Only then,said the Lotus,will Sol be free.


But then what?


The Tenno wouldn't be needed. Again. Just like the Old War. The Tenno are warriors. It's what they were created for. War. Without war,the Tenno are useless. And so,they'll retreat to the Void once more,and go into stasis,to await another call to action. As a small ship flew past the viewport,containing one of his clanmates,Loki continued to contemplate. What if,after the Grineer and Corpus are gone,there won't be another war? Peace,until the end of time? It disturbed Loki. Above all,he needed to feel useful. What is a man,if not useful? What is a man without purpose?


Loki knew the answer. Without purpose,a man was dead.


He shook his head,and stood up. Thought had it's place,but in excess,it was destructive. He needed to unwind. Get his mind off things. He left the Observatory,and proceeded through the Dojo. At this hour,the rest of the Clan was likely asleep,down on the lower level. The Obstacle Course sounds good... Loki broke into a sprint as the Observatory's door closed behind him. He vaulted over the raised floor and guardrail before him,and continued across the gathering hall,and into the next room,an intersection. Without missing a beat,he turned right,and the door opened before him,revealing a massive room.


The Obstacle Course. A place where the Tenno of the Clan could practice their agility in a controlled environment. To his surprise,the Clan's least agile member was completing the course as he came in,soaring through the finish gate foot-first. The flying kick,a maneuver all Tenno use to get a little extra distance out of a leap. The huge Tenno landed,and slid across the floor in a shower of sparks. "Rhino. Didn't expect to see you awake right now." Rhino turned his forward momentum into a frontflip,and landed in front of Loki. "Likewise. Just trying to get faster." Loki chuckled. "Trying to outpace me?" Loki and Rhino shared a guffaw at that. They were polar opposites. Rhino could laugh off dozens of anti-shipping missiles and not give a damn,but was slower than frozen molasses. Loki was more fragile than sugar glass,but could outrun a laser. "Nah. Just trying to improve,is all. Beat my record,though! Minute forty!" Loki nodded. Everyone else still had him beat,but it's an improvement.


"You'll get there,big guy. Hey,weren't you planning on killing Hek,today?" Loki Switch Teleported with Rhino,causing the much larger Tenno a moment of confusion,before turning around and laughing. "You're right. I should get on that." He began to walk backwards out of the room,and continued, "Lemme know if you get any faster. I want to see if you really can outrun a laser." Loki chuckled and waved him off. The trickster approached the terminal that signified the start of the course. All it was there for was to start the timer. No other settings. Just a "Go" button. He pressed it.


As per usual,Loki was teleported to the other side of a viewport. He exploded into motion the moment he rematerialized,vaulting over a low obstacle,and sliding under another,before frontflipping over the pit and onto the platform opposite,colliding with a nanomachine swarm,which proceeded to inject him with adrenaline,just in case that little run exhausted the Tenno. He turned on a dime to the left,and went into the slalom. The platforms rose from the ground at random,but this time,Loki's path was more convoluted than usual. Still,he rocketed through with ease,leaping to a wall spanning the next pit.


He ran across the wall,and launched off to another wall,this one blocking his way. He ran up a good few meters,and launched off of it,landing on the platform behind him with a graceful backflip. As he landed,he turned around on his toe.and,without missing a beat,ran up that wall,too,and backflipping onto the platform above. He turned around,and sprinted towards the edge,and leapt,going into the flying kick,to get the extra distance he needed. He soared gracefully over the pit,and landed smack dab in the middle of the platform below,in another nanobot swarm. He planted his hands to stop himself from sliding off,and jumped to his feet before turning left to behold the most infuriating obstacle on the course.


Tiny platforms,moving side to side. They all moved at different speeds,making it a challenge to cross in one go. Rhino calls them "The Pegs",Nova calls them "Impossible". Loki calls them "A Welcome Change". After a brief moment observing the plaftorms,Loki hopped onto the first one as it passed,and leapt to the next ones,seemingly without effort. This was mobility. It was Loki's element. He reached the end of the platforms Within moments,and went down to an open,seemingly empty expanse of the course. The collapsing floors.


Without hesitation,Loki sprinted to the floors,knowing that he'll only know which ones will fall when he reaches them. As he approached,many of the tiles nearest to him fell. He didn't care. He hopped to the right,onto one of the few that didn't fall,and traversed the Swiss cheese maze as effortlessly as the rest of the course. And Nova thinks she can match my time? She can't beat the platforms. He left the falling platforms behind,and found himself in the laser hall. They didn't hurt,but they did slow whoever strikes them down. Loki leapt,slid,rolled,and otherwise avoided every single one.


Loki checked the timer on his HUD. Looks like he'll make 35 seconds,this time. Two seconds better than last time. Excellent.


What is a man,without purpose?





The sudden thought surprised Loki. Surprised him enough to cause him to trip over his own two feet,and land in a heap.


It wasn't his own thoughts. He knew this. He was focused on the course. Then,who?


Without purpose,a man is dead.





Or...Was it his own thoughts? Loki often found himself thinking the exact same things.


You will have a purpose.





That didn't sound shady at all... The whispers in his head reminded him of the Stalker. Wordless. But,understandable. Loki shivered. The Stalker was the only thing that he encountered that could see him when he didn't want to be seen. Hell,he can even disrupt the invisibility system. Another unique aspect to him. Loki got up,and shook his head. Great. I'm going to make forty seconds,now. Loki ran to the end of the course,and took the final leap to the finish line. And it was only then that he noticed something amiss.


A blue portal,swirling like the Milky Way. Already in the air,Loki couldn't do anything to avoid it. But,he felt that he wouldn't have avoided it,even if he had a choice in the matter. He couldn't put his finger on it,but Loki felt that this portal was the key to a purpose. He flew through,arms first,ready to roll,his sword at his hip.


Two minutes and twenty seconds later,in the Dojo,an announcement rang out. "Obstacle Course Time Limit Expired. Participant: Loki."

 

[TheFallOfitAll]

He stood, the chains falling by his side. He closed his eyes and breathed in, and then out, reopening his eyes. Alarms were already starting to go off.


"Subject 76 is making a breakout attempt, beware, Subject highly hostile and dangerous!" They blared, loudly. As if meaning to make him the monster. Maybe he was a monster, maybe he wasn't.


He didn't bother to rid himself of the chains, in fact, he'd make use of them. He searched the room with his mind, finding the door, and then focusing on it. The door flew away, slamming into a scientist and crushing him. And then he walked out of the room, chains in hand, and eyes cold as ice.


"Surround the Subject! Do not kill him!" He heard one of the guards yell.


They wanted him alive, the thought would have made him laugh, if he were to show emotions, or laugh at all. With how many times he's tried to escape, and how many guards he left dead or dying, he was surprised they hadn't simply gassed his chambers one day.


He tilted his neck from left to right, cracking it, and began to whirl the chain around his right wrist around, holding a piece of it in his hand. When he launched the chain, it struck fast and hard, slamming the breath out of the lungs of the man who's chest it impacted. The next victim wasn't as lucky as to live, as the heavy chain slammed into his neck, and there was a loud snapping audible.


Three guards charged him, and those three fell, respectively. And he felt it again, the urge to move, the need to move. It was clear to him, something was calling to him. He wasn't sure what, if it was a test, or some weird destiny.


As he rounded a corner, he ducked down and rolled, barely avoiding the very sharp blade that would have taken his head off. He stood, and looked back.


"I've had it with you and your many escape attempts, I've had it with how many friends of mine you've killed, this time I'm going to kill you!" The man with the sword yelled. He knew who he was. The son of the Overseer of the facility in which he was located.


He just grabbed up one of the chains, and swung it, and then twirled around, as if he was a tornado, attempting to hit the man. The chain caught the sword, and ripped it from his grip, as well as being entangled by the chain, and swinging around again to take the man's head off.


The Subject then caught the sword, and ran again, turning a corner. Before him was a something strange, something odd. Something he knew he had to reach, and so he walked forward, sword in hand, and would never be able to look back.


(and done)

 

[Snek]

@Alad V @Icefox11 @Ebonysdagger @Nivrad00


The man waited. He waited some more. A little more.


God, what was taking them so long? He didn't think they could be oblivious enough not to notice a sparking blue portal. And he was 100% sure that each of them would feel the need to enter the portal as well. Oh well. Perhaps if he sent the Call a second time, they'd get the message and enter the-


His stream of consciousness was interrupted by an immense cyan glow in the center of the room, brighter than a thousand stars exploding at once. Of course, the man had no trouble at all staring straight into the sphere of light. He could make out the portals opening, the voices calling out to verify that they had done their job, and successfully led the chosen ones to their destiny. About time, too. The man figured he could at least made a batch of Hot Pockets in the time it took. Perhaps even two. Hell, he could have just thrown his freezer into the microwave and it would have already been- ah, never mind. As it so happened, the man had evidently already done so, and the smell of Hot Pockets reached his nose like a nuclear mushroom cloud of marinara sauce. Damn. He'd have to clean that up after he was done talking to the youngsters.


He squinted his eyes and peered farther into the glow, watching each of the humans emerge from their respective portals and collapse out onto the floor of the immense mansion, their bodies fatigued by the incredibly long-distance trip. A small tear came to the man's eye. It was like watching twelve births, one after another. A strange fatherly feeling welled up inside him. In a way, these twelve had indeed been reborn- born anew as future guardians of the multiverse.


He waited a bit until the kids were slightly less dizzy and disoriented.


"Hello. How was your trip?"

 

[SkyFilms]

Shalin yelped when she was swept through the doorway, the ground had disappeared from under her boots. The wind had increased exponentially her free hand pressing her top hat forcefully as her other kept hold of her cane. A movie she had watched as a child came to mind, one in which a young girl had been sucked into a tornado to be spat out into a land of magic.


Why the old tale came to mind in such a situation Shalin didn't quite understand but as her unseeing eyes searched her surroundings uselessly. She attempted to think of what she had gotten herself into, it frightened her. She wouldn't lie and say she wasn't yearning for the feeling of a hard surface below her shoes, or for the wind to cease and the silence of the world to be surrounding her.


The red heads heart pounded hectically, the strong thump echoing within her mind and rocking into her rib cage. She imagined the small cartoons she was able to watch when young, the small creatures hearts visibly would appear from their chest, if there where to be a feeling matching it, it seemed she was experiencing it.


It felt like the millionth time she had pleaded for the nightmare to end, for it to be just like in the small movie. Then it was answered her dream of a solid surface appearing under her feet occurring. But the sudden pressure change and gravity made it difficult to stand and she crumpled to the ground her mouth opening and closing like a fish searching for water in a world of air.


Shalin took in many breaths but her lungs need of air seemed to never be fulfilled even with the mass amount she tried to feed into herself. As she finally pushed herself up onto her knees taking hold of her cane before standing, she heard other individuals breaths. They each took it differently some where more scarce and small as others took large heaps constantly this making it a simple task to estimate the amount of people in the room. One of her hands swept her bangs downwards fixing them silently so they covered her bright eyes as she stepped away from the ground a small bit, her legs slow from the stressing adventure.


Just as a voice finally spoke up, she looked in the direction in which she believed it originated. She didn't quite recognize it only knowing it was owned by someone of an elderly aged man. She took a small hesitant breath before holding herself more naturally, her body giving off her small bit of confidence.


"It was rather unsettling," she replied truthfully before continuing, "Now I'd hate to be rude but where are um...We?" Her thick Irish accent was evident in her tone her fingers drumming on the hilt of her cane.

 

[Ebonysdagger]

"It wasn't the worst one I've had. I personally always expected crossing the infinite to take longer than a trip to the capital." Raleigh chuckled to himself as he gets his body under control and stands. "And now I'm hungry. Is that because of the journey or due to whatever you nuked before we got here?" Having said his piece he looks around to note the likely benefactor/instigator of this event as well as the other 'blessed' individuals that had arrived as he had. It had to be a collection of other young people which meant this could only end in either drama or all of them becoming fodder for another Power Rangers rip off show.


"If this means I'm going to have to wear spandex and pilot a giant robot I'm going to have to turn right back around and step through the gate. Hm... on the other hand a giant robot would let me unleash bloody vengeance on my enemies..."

 

[TheHallowedGamer]

Sam felt himself tossing and turning through the vortex he had fallen through. He felt like he was a loose piece of spaghetti, slipping and sliding between things. He felt like he was being separated and reattached and squished and pinched and--- well, you get the idea.


Sam had no idea how much time had passed, but as he was twisting and turning he could make out something in the distance. It was big, and black, and coming right towards him. As he hurdled towards it he was somewhat relieved to see it wasn’t a giant death machine, but the exit from this weird cosmic portal as he saw a normal room beyond it. The exit was getting closer and closer and soon it dawned on Sam that he might want to brace himself for impact as he realized how fast he was actually going. Sam waved his arms, trying to slow down, but to no avail.


It was like swimming in gelatin, which Sam totally wouldn’t know about…


Soon he was within arm’s reach of the portal and he flew through it, feeling his body weight return and his body land on cool, marble tiles, quite painfully. His head was spinning and he got to his knees and closed his eyes for a moment to remember what the heck had just happened.


There was a voice. And a portal, and Max… Where was Max?


Sam, shook his head and placed his hands on the ground to stand upright, only to find the rock he had thrown in before him. Quickly, he picked it up and placed it in his pocket, not knowing when he would find something of familiarity again. Then Sam stood up, brushing himself off.


As he looked around the room, he was In awe. He saw a variety of amazing gadgets and thing-a-ma-bobs and things he couldn’t even put a name too. It was like being a kid in a candy store. He just wanted to touch it all.


He heard an old man voice himself from an area to Sam’s left and he turned to look at the seriously old man. The guy had so many wrinkles…


Sam barely heard what the old man was saying, and instead, asked a question of his own, grinning like a three year old “So where’s the adventure at?”

 

[Fus ro dah]

Had he died? Was he drowning? Which way was up? The vortex was sucking Dorian through it and the youth was tumbling along it like tumbleweed in a storm. He had to be dead. See, he hadn't heard any voices like the others had. It seemed he'd fallen into the vortex by accident before they could get a word in edgeways. With a thud, he was spat from the vortex and onto the floor. Apparently, he wasn't the only one, unless he was hearing things. He got to his feet and dusted himself off, so glad his bag was still on his back. No doubt his snacks were crushed.


"Hello. How was your trip?"





The question was asked so simply, as if the guy was expecting them. Like one expects a friend to turn up for movie night. He had to admit, this room they were in was amazing. Dorian didn't know what any of these things did, but he wanted to. It was like something in a book, in fact, he'd read a book with this sort of premise not even two weeks ago. These two kids had been pulled into an alternate dimension and had a huge, massive task thrust onto their shoulders. It was a good book.


Right, the question. He probably should be polite and answer the guy. He was distracted by the fact that the others in the room were asking him about adventure. Adventure? In an alternate dimension accessed via a magical vortex?


"I have to be dead." Were the first words out of his mouth. "Or unconscious or something... There's no way this is real."

 

[IceQueen]

Ari floated in this distant space place. She floated around, looking at the stars and wandering. Suddenly she felt like she was being pulled to somewhere in the distance. She watched helplessly as she was sucked to a new place, throwing her on the floor on impact. She groaned and rolled over onto her back. She stood from the ground, wobbling a bit. She heard someone ask how her trip was. Ari smiled. "Would have been better if I hadn't face planted." She commented, shaking her head.

 

[Yewchung]

Victor fell out of the portal head first, his arms and legs crossed, before impacting the ground. He didn't even bother to get up, simply lying there, upside down.


He gave his surroundings a quick look over. A mansion full of stuff huh? "Well, it's not a grassy field, at least." He looked up at the wrinkled man who was giving them all a look. "Hey, old man, I'm guessing you're the one who called us here, since you're the only one I can see who isn't about my age." He paused for a moment. "Well, except that guy in the white suit. He could be a million years old, for all I know."

 

[Snek]

The man smiled warmly at the teens, the wisdom of his many, many years glowing off his face like radiant sunbeams of....I dunno, radiance? He looked around at each of them, taking mental notes of their current size, strength, and body types, as well as disabilities and the objects they had brought with them. A couple had swords, the blind Irish girl had a cane, and an average-looking teen had brought a rock.


"Excellent choice," said the man, nodding to the kid who had just stuffed the stone into his pocket. "Bringing a rock was very wise of you. You can't really go wrong with rocks. Yes, blades may be too unwieldy sometimes and firearms aren't always reliable, but you can always count on a rock. And no, I didn't bring you here to gallivant around in jumpsuits and giant robots, although that does sound like a good bit of fun, that does. Gonna have to write that down for the future generations..."


He snapped his fingers, and with a cyan flash of light, a notepad and pen appeared in his hands. He scribbled down something hastily and chucked the notepad casually over his shoulder, the arc bringing the small stack of paper to rest gently atop one of the large piles of random objects that seemed to fill the room's many corners. Upon landing, the notepad's impact disturbed the perfect balance of the pile, dislodging eighteen objects that skittered and slid down the side of the stack until they rolled out to rest on the floor near the feet of the group. The man seemed not to notice.


"But as for adventure, you will find that right here in my home. My name is Valeray, and I have brought you here for a very important purpose."


Upon saying the last word, he winked at the lad in the mechanical suit. Valeray then turned and frowned quizzically at the teen who was questioning the reality of it all.


"Reality is a funny thing...always shifting, always changing, always surprising you in ways you never imagined. But I assure you, everything that takes place in this house of mine is very, very real. And every single one of you is very special. You see, this place is my home, but it also serves as my watchtower. It is located in its own separate pocket of space, isolated from the continuity of the multiverse around it.


"From here I watch over the Multiverse, keeping balance and restoring order when tyrants, ascended beings, or monstrous potted plants of death threaten to take control or change reality for nefarious purposes. However, as you may have guessed, I'm not exactly getting any older. I decided long ago that I would prepare this course of events to summon, and recruit, a group of trainees to study under my tutelage to grow and become guardians of the Multiverse yourselves. You had to be exactly as I needed you to be. Each of my trainees needed to be flawed, yet powerful and headstrong, and each of my trainees would have a valuable unique quality of your own. Each of these qualities would be indicated by a special Mark that set each of you apart from your kind. It would be a unique hair color, or an unnaturally detailed birthmark."


The man stopped to cough for a couple seconds. He cleared his throat, then swallowed and continued.


"So I began preparations. I built that machine over there,"


At this, he pointed to the obelisk that had returned to its normal, un-opened state. It sat upright, gently humming.


"As well as other events that had to be set in motion. The beam had to be fired exactly right, and any obstacles the beam might have found in its way needed to be scoped out and taken care of ahead of time. For instance, if I hadn't gotten rid of the fragments of a planet that died while the beam was being shot beforehand, then it never would have reached one of you. Everything had to be absolutely perfect, which, unfortunately, rarely happens. Today, I got very, very lucky."


Valeray walked over to an elaborate steampunk-esque chair nearby, slowly leaning over and sitting down in it, groaning as he did so.


"Do excuse me, these old bones have seen a lot of wear and tear. In any case, make yourselves at home. This place is now as much your house as it is mine, and when I'm dead and gone the responsibility of taking care of it will pass on to you. Until then, you have much to learn. Yes, very much to learn...so tell me, are you all soaking this in well? Do you have any questions?"