Realistic or Modern Call of the Multiverse

[Fus ro dah]

Dorian pouted as someone beat him to the book, but he had been too busy being distracted by the apparent endless amount of things to look at in this room. His loss. A few had already made their choices and were making room at the table for the others to move forward, so forward he moved. His eyes scanned the remaining items on the top of the table and he allowed himself a few moments to decide what to grab. So many things to chose from... but which one?


He reached forward and plucked the gloves from the table, inspecting them closer.

 

[Ebonysdagger]

@The Villain King


"Now that is deliberate entrapment, my good man. Trying to say what it might or might not be is always a set up to get the curious little mortal to open the box and unleash hell or at least blow himself up. At least it always is in the books. Ah well, I do love to read so I think I'll take this one." He attempts to focus upon the book in the manner the multiversal guardian had mentioned earlier as best he can for a normal human.


"If this tells me how to serve man I'm going to ask for a refund by the way."

 

[Snek]

@Icefox11


The bands flash cyan, indicating that the choosing was complete, and they shimmered with golden light. A hot wind blew past Ari's face, blowing heat into her body, then the wind died down and the bracelets stopped glowing.


@TheHallowedGamer


The cloak enveloped Sam's body like the embrace of a protective mother, wrapping around him and holding him close. Its energy seeped into his body, inviting Sam to make his choice.


@Solitaire


The gloves look like a futuristic mixture between biker's gloves and hiking gloves, crafted from some sort of synthetic material similar to Underarmour in terms of texture. They're slim for freedom of finger movement, yet durable, and have small overlapping metal plates on the backs of the hands. Each fingertip also has an individual texture pad. Aside from that, they look just like regular gloves.


@Ebonysdagger


The book flashed with cyan light, and the title on the cover slowly cleared away and became readable. It read "Tome of the Occult". The pages ruffled , and the title's lettering glowed with a rich purple light.

 

[TheFallOfitAll]

Hicks had not yet focused his energy into the locket, although it seemed to want him to choose it. His eyes opened, and began to emit the same black mist as before, although it was only focused around his eyes, enveloping them. The locket was soon enveloped as well, and not even touching his hand. It was levitating, to those who weren't smart enough to see that Hicks was using his mind to hold the object into the air.


But he was still not focusing his energy into it.


And then he remembered a quote, played to him by one of scientists who had tried to help him escape, but was later killed.


Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless. Like water. Now, you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle, you put water into a teapot it becomes the teapot. Be water my friend.





And very slowly, his mind emptied, becoming formless, shapeless, until all that there was left was him and the locket, battling, struggling to let the other in, until he broke through, his energy and mind and his very soul entered the locket.


Now, the only question was, would they return to him? Or would he be a locket the rest of his life?

 

[Yewchung]

Victor frowned, processing the information. So there were eighteen objects, each of which supposedly would grant "magical powers" that allowed one to manipulate reality? More objects than there were people to use them anyways.


Victor didn't grin, as doing so would have taken more energy than he would have preferred to expend, but he walked over to the table, already knowing what he wanted. Picking up the diadem, Victor carefully placed the golden circlet upon his head, ready to pump his (admittedly low) supply of energy into it.


Followed by the ring, the sunglasses, and the yo-yo. Holding the four objects at once, Victor suddenly increased the energy output, knowing that, if he was going to have to be a Guardian of the Multiverse, he would at least do so with as much "supernatural" help as possible. One big burst of energy should do the trick, right? He'd been conserving energy for years, there must be some hidden supply of energy somewhere, right? One burst, and it would all be smooth sailing from there. And if not? Well, that was somebody else's problem. For now, Victor just concentrated on this one task, knowing that the fate of his low-energy existence was riding upon the results of this task.

 

[supercrunched]

Indira hesitantly set down her pitcher so she could pick up the dice. The dots somehow seemed different from normal, so she inspected them. Her energy supplies were low at the best of times, but she did her best to focus hers into the objects in her hands. It would be a bit like meditation, she assumed.


Things were going well, until her advanced trouble-senses (honed by years of anticipating the hijinks of her siblings) alerted her of a boy trying to use four different items at once, breaking her concentration.

 

[Snek]

@Yewchung


Despite your most eager attempts to claim four objects at once, it seems your mediocre skills have thrown you under the bus. You manage to conjure a burst of methane gas, as well as a small horde of angry scorpions. Good job, idiot.


@supercrunched


The dots on the dice turn out to actually be small starburst symbols, like the kind used to indicate something impacting something else in a comic book. You do your best to focus your energy into the dice, but the idiot with the four objects kinda throws you off a bit. You fail to claim the dice, and instead summon a Bengal Tiger. Try again? 
@Fall


The locket accepts the energy you pour into it, and in turn pours energy back. The choosing is complete. The singing stopped, and in its place are strange voices, a multitude of them, floating around in your mind. They're all saying different things, and you can't quite make out what they are all saying over each other. Yep, you've finally lost it.

 

[supercrunched]

Indira dropped the dice, dropped the cup, and in her shock, also managed to upset the pitcher of tea on the table. She tried to scream, but the piping hot stuff splashing onto her bare feet turned the noise into a strangled wheeze.


In quick succession, she thought, "I never got to finish my drink", "I don't suppose this tiger would like some chai to calm its nerves", and "my feet really hurt, I should have chosen the boots".


She realised that she did not much like tigers. She chose to run away and hide behind Valeray.

 

[Snek]

Valeray sighed and snapped his fingers, creating a cyan flash. The tiger slowly began to shrink, until it was just a little tiger kitten. He walked over, picked up the kitten, and placed it into Indira's arms.


"When I was first learning to control these forces, I decided to keep every single product of my failures, so that in the future, they would serve as reminders of how far I'd come. I suggest you do the same. You'll have to name him, you know."


He winked at Indira, and returned his attention to the angry swarm of scorpions and cloud of methane.


"Oh dear..."

 

[Ebonysdagger]

"Kind of what I expected this to say. Good to know even here I'm right about everything." Turns to watch the debacle of one of the other rookies, he supposed they should consider themselves, try and use four objects at once and hurts himself falling over laughing at the mess. Even as he hits the floor he keeps a firm grip on his book and tries to make sure he rolls away from any scorpions while down there.


"Oh, I'm so glad I came along just for that alone." He continues to laugh to himself fully expecting his own chosen object to probably throw something in his face later simply as a result of the multiverse trying to balance things out.

 

[Riddle78]

Loki plucked up the athame as it was abandoned. The design,while incredibly ornate,was still practical enough to use in combat. The almost ethereal quality of the blade piqued Loki's interest even further. The knife was certainly a magnificent piece of craftsmanship. Deciding to test the knife's balance,he stepped away from his peers,and started swinging the knife,and thrusting at the air,before hurling it at the table. It struck the table blade-first,and dug in enough to stick. "Not sharp,then." Loki might be weak,for a Tenno,but he's still stronger than your average human.


He removed the athame from the table,and absently tossed it up and down,end over end,catching it by the tip of the blade. "Yes...This'll do quite nicely..." Loki tossed the blade again,this time higher in the air,and caught it by the hilt. He focused on the blade,on poring his energy into it. First,he Channeled,causing the weapon to glow a brilliant gold as his Warframe's energy surged through it. Then,he felt his own energy within him. Excellent. The blade alone... Loki focused on that,and the athame's golden glow became something in between golden and cyan.


Loki was quietly detached from the bedlam around him. He lowered the knife,and stopped pumping energy into it,causing it to cease glowing. Looking around,Loki noticed something. "Where's the scabbard?"

 

[Snek]

@Alad V


The blade pours its energy back into you, indicating the choosing is complete. The blame hums gently. The scabbard is nowhere to be seen.


Valeray walks over with a worried expression on his face.


"I hoped that no one would choose the athame, as it is very dangerous, but I trust you to learn how to wield its power responsibly. As for a scabbard, there is none. The owner will have to learn how to keep the blade away from things he doesn't intend on cutting, eh?"


The old man winked and turned around to attend to the scorpion problem. With a cyan flash, they were bottled up inside a large glass container, which Valeray handed to the boy that had conjured them.


"For you."

 

[October Falls]

((Sorry for my absence))


Valeray continued to drone on about the multiverses and the art of manipulating reality through common less than normal items. Are you full of shit? Fuck... things were getting more and more weirder. If this was a dream, Andy wondered if she had gotten high before hand. That would explain her lack of energy and memory. How did this guy expect her to 'pure her soul' into these random items by using their 'inner energy' if she didn't even think she had any?


Did it have something to do with believing in ones self? If so, might as well opt Andy out. For most of her life, she's had a low self esteem. This also kept her from approaching the table where other's had already gone to 'claim' their items. She just watched and waited for them to subsequently finish choosing and once they all leave, then she'll take a peak. Her curiousness kept her from abruptly leaving. She wanted to know what all the cyan light meant. She knew it was the power of the old man, Valeray because she'd seen his eyes shine the very same colour and how he'd managed to use his own powers with that same colour light. Did it symbolise the higher power and authority over the multiverses?


After most of her companions... no ... fellow chosen freaks, Andy's curiosity took the better of her and willed her forward to the old wooden table where most of the items had already been plucked off of. With her precious iphone and earpods resting tightly in her left hand, Andy let her right gently glide over the remaining objects.


The Gloves were being examined, the Yo-Yo didn't fancy her; it reminded her of the childhood she didn't have, the dark aura'd young man was and may have chosen the locket, which somewhat confused her; why would a man of his ... stature go for something do innocent and pure? The boots had already been claimed by what seemed to be a blind ranga (Ginger), the cloak, dual bracelets, Dice, Anthame, Book and Ring had already been respectively claimed and/or being expected.


Andy sighed. As her hand floated over the objects, she couldn't seem to feel 'connected' or 'drawn' toward any of them. What a waste of her time. Although, a boy beside her picked up a few items and tried claiming them all at once. She frowned and backed away, not wanting to get in the middle of his mischievousness. Andy wouldn't be surprised if they exploded.


Just in that instant, the air erupted in a flash of cyan light and methane. Andy groaned of the smell, and the scorpions that had also been produced seemed poisones. The dark skinned girl jumped in surprise, which resulted in the conduring of a tiger. Thankfully, Valeray took control of the situation and turned the tigar into a kitten. Andy sighed. What a day... With all this commotion, at this rate she'd never be able to chose.

 

[Yewchung]

Pouring energy into the four objects, Victor braced himself and...


Nothing happened?


"Hmmmm."


Wait, sniffing the air, Victor noticed a smell. Methane?





"Hmmmm?"


Then, hearing a clicking noise, Victor looked down to see a small horde of utterly deadly scorpions.


"HMMMMMMMMMMM!?"


Shit.


Shit shit shit shit shit oh my god that was a terrible idea why did I even consider that idea oh god I'm going to die by scorpions in some space mansion at the end of the universe and my mom won't even know oh god oh...





Then, before Victor could do anything, the old man had bottled up the scorpions and handed them to him. "For you."


"Uhhh, thanks." Victor took the scorpions, examining the bottle and the creatures within. "Hey, can I claim this bottle of scorpions instead?"

 

[Nivrad00]

Alice paid attention this time, determined not to keep being left behind. Focus. Energy. She ran it over in her head, staring at Valeray's blender trick.


She trailed after the others, small puddles of water dripping from her clothes. Crossing her arms, she drew her eyes over the objects and examined the others interacting with them. It wasn't like her to be so quiet, but she still wasn't sure what was going on. The tiger and scorpions were startling, though they were dealt with quickly. Alice muttered a choice swear under her breath.


After making sure no other animals were bursting into existence, the sopping girl returned her attention to the table. She picked up the ring, turning it around to examine it.

 

[Snek]

@Yewchung


Valeray laughed a bit. "No, this jar of scorpions isn't a true Conduit, but it might come in handy someday. You can look back and it will remind you how far you've come. In any case, I'd recommend only choosing one item, eh?"


He winked at Victor and looked around to check who still needed to choose their objects.


@Nivrad00


The ring is cool to the touch. The band is made of a durable silver material, set in with a brilliant sparkling amethyst gem that glitters beautifully in the light. It seems to pulse with power.

 

[supercrunched]

The tiger cub, although fairly cute, still seemed to be very angry. It expressed this by chomping down hard onto Indira's fingers, making her wince.


She figured it would be a good idea to name it Camina, loosely translating to You Bastard.


Realising that she'd made a mess (not strictly her fault, of course, the tiger and the scorpions had thrown her off), Indira warred with herself. Yes, she'd been dragged here by Valeray, but that didn't mean it was alright to spill tea all over the floor. In front of everyone, too. She may be suspicious of the man, but that didn't mean she didn't have to be a good house guest. And he'd gone through the trouble of rescuing her from a fully grown Bengal tiger. Thanks to him, she only had to deal with a miniature Bengal tiger.


Damn it all.


She rifled through the cupboards for something to use as a rag. Setting down the cub, she began the arduous task of mopping up the mess.


Now, this felt familiar. Nothing said home like cacophony and spilled food, with the added bonus of an irate wild kitten attacking your feet. Completely zoning out while her body continued to work almost mechanically, her mind drifted to the dice she'd dropped earlier. They'd had little starbursts on them. How cute.


The combination of blankness and routine meant that she barely noticed herself centering her energy on them even as they were a small distance away from her.

 

[Keo Major]

Somewhere on the outskirts of a large urban city, where the asphalt roads and concrete sidewalk gave way to hiking trails and forestry, there was an old abandoned observatory. The huge telescope once being its main attraction was now battered and broken. Wiring, mirrors, and other strange internal mechanisms hung out haphazardly. To some, if they had the proper influences to notice it, the scenery reminded them of Mojo Jojo's hideout after a particularly tough battle against Buttercup during her first menstrual cycle. A strange, cyan light illuminated the area.


A tan skinned figure, the sole resident human being within a few miles radius, slept lazily on the rooftop. Arms sprawled across the shingles, his snores echoed throughout the natural surroundings. "Hmm, yes, Fran Drescher." He mumbled somniloquous with a lecherous smile. The cyan light flashed in irritation. It had been waiting for hours.


"Seriously? Would you WAKE UP ALREADY!" Kaius stirred. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"


"Yes, Nanny!" Kaius sprung up, eyes wide. It took him a moment to gain his bearings and realize, sadly, that he'd just been having a dream. "Ahh, darn, right when the good part was starting to happen." He yawned, grabbing up his glasses from beside him. He sat up in lotus position on the observatory's rooftop. His notebook was sitting in his lap, abandoned to an open page with a few scribbles here and there. He often came out here to sit alone and write, escaping the pressuring banalities of the mundane world. Today, like most, had been uneventful as he'd fallen asleep pondering where to take his latest story. Inspired by his dream, he seeked out his pen, finally realizing that it was far too bright to be nighttime. Not to mention that the moon wasn't really known for it's azure coloration.


"Hmm," He pondered to himself, the faint hints of a grin crossing his face. He wanted to be excited. There was a mystery afoot after all. But, through the many hard lessons of learning that magic wasn't real, he couldn't get himself to let go completely. Still, he searched for the source of the strange light. "Whoa." He found it, just over the edge of the rooftop.


Cyan light reflected off the lenses of his black, thick framed glasses. A strange portal floated in front of him. Nebulous, yet fluidic, like a blackhole. It practically screamed 'I AM NOT OF THIS DIMENSION'. The portal shone with the strange cyan blue that lit up the area; looking into it he saw the cosmos. Galaxies, planets, and nebulae all swirling by as if just casually traveling. An intergalactic highway. Kaius, for what seemed like the first time in years, smiled widely.


"Greetings, chosen one. The portal that you see before you leads to a path of mystery and adventure. Danger lurks ominously inside, yet if you choose to follow your destiny-"


"Yeah, yeah, aphonic head voice. I get it. A typical choose certain teens to defend the world, thrusting them into dangerous situations story. Of course, completely ignoring the maturity level most of them lack, bypassing picking adults just for the drama of it all, I expect." Kaius paused, tapping a finger on his chin. "Ahh, Captain Planet gone cosmic." He chuckled.


"Umm..." The strange feminine voice seemed... confused. A curious thing as you'd imagine that mysterious, embodied voices often were the ones causing the confusion. She, the voice that is, made a sound that closely resembled sighing. Telepathic nature of it aside, Kaius could tell the sigh of a frustrated women. He'd heard it all his life. "Listen, you're already late enough. I gave the whole spiel earlier before I realized you were asleep the entire time. I don't feel like wasting more energy on your idiocy, I have things to do." Kaius pondered what exactly strange voices spent doing with their free time. Perhaps knitting together frequency yawn? "Are you going to enter or not?"


"Haha! HAHAHA! HA!" Kaius laughed maniacally. He couldn't exactly see it, but he could feel the strange voice staring at him. A sensation much like hearing a whisper tickle your neck. This resemblance, of course, being the fact that only slightly mentally unstable people experienced them. "Are you kidding me? Of course I am. This is only the prologue. Do you think I'd miss out on the great story awaiting me inside?"


"Just go then. Eternity can't wait on your forever, you know." She said, rather oxymoronically to a mortal's mind.


"Finally," Kaius smiled, no regrets on his mind whatsoever as he happily jumped over the edge. "Bye bye boring reality." He waved to the sky, and his body was sucked up by a strange force. His vision went blurry, strange lights that adhered to no particular known laws of electromagnetism flew by him. He saw worlds pass. He watched with glee as stars were born. In an instance he saw the universe. Then, it vanished.


Suddenly, he found himself in a strange large hall. A group of others surrounded him, a varying mix of confusion, panic and fear splayed across their faces. Obviously, by nature of what he imagined as this story's genre, they were the other destined ones. A large table full of strange items called to his attention first. Then, just as attention grabbing, he noticed an odd old man standing by the table, looming over a boy holding a jar of what appeared to be scorpions. Of course, he was quite confused. But, even in confusion he knew the old man had to be the mentor, sage archetype here. He grinned. Oh, he couldn't wait to hear the ambiguous wisdom he'd impart. "Heya, sorry I'm late for the character introduction scene. But, I guess no good protagonist truly arrives on time.... So, what's the prophecy?"

 

[Snek]

@supercrunched


The dice begin to faintly glow cyan, the light growing in intensity until they finally flash cyan, indicating that the (accidental) choosing is complete. The dice begin to feed energy into your body, filling you with power.


Congratulations. You managed to accidentally choose a Conduit. That's got to be a record or something. First person to choose a Conduit by accident: Indira


@Keo Major


Valeray raised an eyebrow. "Late are we? Very well, I'll give you the short version. This is my home, where I watch over the Multiverse and protect the fabric of reality from harm. I'm obviously growing old, so I summoned all of you to begin your training as multiverse guardians so you can one day take over my job and defend reality. These objects are called Conduits, artifacts imbued with reality-warping abilities that can become yours. Each artifact gives a different power, and you may choose only one. To choose, you focus your energy into the object, building up power until it flashes cyan.


"That's basically it. Any questions?"

 

[Fus ro dah]

Dorian had somehow managed to get from the table, to the furthest side of the room as both scorpions AND a tiger seemed to appear out of nowhere. His eyes were wide, his fingers splayed out against the wall behind him. What the hell was going on? Why were people so calm?! Before he could open his mouth to say anything, Valeray had dealt with them as if it was absolutely nothing. Once he'd regained his composure, he returned his gaze to the table, the gloves hadn't seemed interesting enough to pick up.


He notices the coin and picks it up.

 

[Keo Major]

Kaius listened to the old man's speech, nodding his head in response. He waved away the man's concerns. "Nah, no questions at the moment. I get the basics of it. Pretty typical really." He said. Although, being as he was a typical Earthling male, no one would ever understand how exactly it sounded typical.


He walked over to the table, and although he distinctly took note of the items a few of them had chosen, he decidedly ignored the other few around him at the moment. Alas, any young boy who dreamed of such a moment his entire life would obviously go straight for the free superpower. Interactions with other humans could always be left for later. He frowned, looking over the items at the table. It was a paltry sort really. The book would've better suited his taste. But, ehh, that's what happens when you're late to an interdimesional saving the world party.


His eyes hovered over the spinning top and coin.

 

[Yewchung]

Victor sighed. It looked like the rules of whatever sub-universe they were in wouldn't allow him to claim more than one artifact.


For now at least.


Sticking the scorpions into his school bag, and taking off the diadem, ring, and sunglasses, Victor decided to give the three artifacts a closer look, to see if there was anything he could figure out for now. The yo-yo Victor tucked into a side pocket of his backpack, though he glanced over it as well.

 

[October Falls]

After the current chaos receded, Andy realised she was loosing time to chose. With a sigh she looked over the mischievous boy with the scorpions shoulder to examine the remaining objects.


(Sorry if it's so short. Kinda brain dead at the moment.)

 

[Riddle78]

Loki listened to Valeray's explanation of the athame,as well as his concerns regarding it. Loki nodded,and replied, "Then it's best that I have it. I'm a soldier. It's the safest place for it,if not a vault in the heart of a star." Loki reversed his grip on the weapon so the blade pointed up his forearm. If anyone were to get hurt from upsetting his arm,Loki would be the sole victim...If the athame could penetrate both his shields and armour. Even though the knife held supernatural powers,he felt that it wouldn't be able to penetrate his defenses from a simple bump of the elbow.


Loki remembered the explanation of the powers of the Conduits,and the people who train off of them. I wonder... "You said we can change reality with these items,correct? Would I be able to,say,turn the table into a scabbard for the athame? Or switch locations with someone? And all it takes is focus,correct?" Knowledge is power. Besides,a good prank is one that's built upon solid intel. The world's finest tacticians and strategists were likely magnificent pranksters,in their youth.

 

[Snek]

@Alad V


Valeray nods knowingly, deciding that the athame would indeed be safest in the hands of a soldier. His eyebrows furrow at the suggestion by Loki.


"The artifacts allow beginners to learn to manipulate reality, yes, but only in very specific ways, and every artifact has different strengths and weaknesses. In time, you will learn to control the power of the multiverse free-form, without need for an artifact, but until then, you have the Conduits as training wheels to guide you along.


"Another purpose for the artifacts is to teach you all how to handle power responsibly. You have seen what misuse can bring: poisonous scorpions, flammable gases, a Bengal tiger. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that can take place if one were to truly misuse their power. With the artifacts, you all learn discipline and control, as well as becoming in-touch with the upsides and downsides that your artifact comes with. Learning control always comes first, especially when you're bending reality itself to your will."


Valeray looks down at the athame.


"Besides, trying to make a scabbard for the athame would probably be fruitless..." 
((This segment is taking a bit longer than I expected it to, but I promise we will be moving on very soon. The holdup is mostly attributed to certain people taking forever to choose their artifact *coughYewchungcough* ))