I started to realize I was having a really bad day the moment I was attacked by a band of psychotic marble fawns in red bathrobes.
Not that I was having a good day before that, either. The thing with temporarily inhabiting the apparent only capital of a mediocre planet the size of the moon was, that, well, it wasn't particularly overcrowded.
I mentioned a mediocre planet, and it was mediocre. A ridiculous little world with only one country, far away from anything, whose only main attraction was the Overarching Museum.
Well, that and it being one of the most desired holiday settings for intergalactic overlords/conmen/crime barons. The tourist guides didn't really mention this last bit.
I, on the other hand, had travelled to Tarch for that exact reason.
The Museum was this tremendous structure in wood and stone and marble, with dozens of floors with thousands of rooms. Statues and gardens were seen on every nook and cranny* and grey skinned guides lead groups of odd tourists around.
I ducked under a semi-humanoid hammer shark in a business suit and walked up one of the many marble stairs, in the form of a grey coloured man in his mid fourties, with a slanted look and balding, disheveled hair.
Some minutes later, I closed the door softly, the three guards outside knocked unconscious. With not a soul to be seen in sight, with huge, imposing or not-so-imposing statues lined up in a not particularly flash pattern, the third Ball Room of the Museum was quite impressive. And empty.
Absently noticing the huge about of fake diamond chandeliers on the ceiling, I examined the statues, strolling through the room and waiting for the agent.
A door was opened. A door was closed. And footsteps were heard.
I turned around, facing the grey-skinned man with the gun.**
"Mr Anderson." I commented dryly, watching the bloke cautiously.
Brushing his greying hair from his face with his right hand, the man glanced at me, frowning confusedly for a moment. "Who?" He did not, however, linger on this.
"I want the chip. I want the code." The man ordered, his gun not that casually pointed at my face.
"Oh, come on now, Treevan. You know you're in denial. You really think a simple chip and a simple code will save your life?"
"Yes."
Gosh, he didn't speak much.
"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that if you get the drive and upload the content and send them the key, they'll give you the cure for your disease. It doesn't work that way. You're expendable, pal. You think you're the only one who's done this for the Security? Once you uplode the content, you're dead meat. Back away." I insisted, making use of the plank-like honesty of the form I was wearing.
His stony face wavered for half a second. Still, he rallied again, not lowering his arm, and raising his left hand.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sweared I had seen a statue inconspicuously turning its head to face me.
"Throw me the card." The man continued, struggling with the words. "And I will let you go in peace."
"And alive, to boot? Like you won't be?" I inquired, giving the man a little nervous smile, matching my form's little nervous face. "I don't know who you are. But I know who they are. You don't know them. You don't know what they do to keep their secrets safe..."
I rolled up my sleeve, showing him some appropriately gruesome scars that showed the fertility of my imagination.***
"I was one of their men, like you are. I found out too much. This is what they did to me!" I shouted, showing him some appropriately dramatic emotions. Hey, I even went red-eyed with all the feelings!
The man pursed his lips. He pursed them some more. Then he raised his hand again, his fingers trembling. And boy, they did tremble. So did the gun. Now that worried me a bit more.
The gun stopped trembling.
"Hand me the chip." There was no simple request in this voice. The effect was improved by the all of the suspiciously more active statues turning their heads to face me.
You know what? I did what he asked.
That's right! I threw him the chip.
To his credit, he caught it in the air.
And yet the ridiculous man quickly stabbed the small triangular thing on his right arm. It was pretty obvious what he wanted to do, of course. If his masters were plotting his demise once he handed them the chip, why not take the chances and take the information for himself?
Yeah. Why not indeed.
I might have exagerated a tiny bit on the general meanness of the Security.
The man fell to the marble floor with a soft thud, now matching it's complexion.
Right. Now, to get those files...
Then the very, very bad part of my day started.
Alarms blared. The defense mechanisms were commenced. And the statues left their pedestals.
The marble satyrs were a lot less ridiculous when they were wielding enormous stone flutes as a mace. Actually, they weren't, but the fact that they'd try to painfully beat me to death made up for it.
I was annoyed. I was angry. I was furious. All my careful planning ruined because those, those, those stuck-up, ridiculous, highclass, conniving little group of idiotic "agents of the law" decided to implement a new security measure!****
If I wasn't under attack by a band of psychotic eco-environamentalist statues, I'd probably have marched right up to their office to bloody well complain.
But since I was under by a band of psychotic eco-environamentalist statues, it was better to hurry up to get what I had come for. Running like hell towards the fallen agent, diving just in time to avoid a swing of a flute, I nabbed the small but so incredibly important computer-like device Treevan once had in his coat.
The statues were closing in on me. Row after row after row of instrument-wielding half donkey marble statues. I reassured myself knowing that I had the true of
...and disappeared, leaving a scent of sulphur and rotting flowers behind me.
I realized, too late, that I hadn't remembered to create a specific destination for the Crossing. And I realized, also too late, that one of the Fauns had grabbed my ankle as I Crossed.
____
*I saw a woman with a torch and a crown lying on top of a hedge once. Nobody cared. Neither did I, to be honest.
**There is always a man with a gun.
***I did have to set them up before entering the museum. Magic-slash-shapeshifting-slash-any-power-whatsowever would set off the alarms in no time.
****Apparently, if an agent died, the alarms went off. How frustrating.
Not that I was having a good day before that, either. The thing with temporarily inhabiting the apparent only capital of a mediocre planet the size of the moon was, that, well, it wasn't particularly overcrowded.
I mentioned a mediocre planet, and it was mediocre. A ridiculous little world with only one country, far away from anything, whose only main attraction was the Overarching Museum.
Well, that and it being one of the most desired holiday settings for intergalactic overlords/conmen/crime barons. The tourist guides didn't really mention this last bit.
I, on the other hand, had travelled to Tarch for that exact reason.
The Museum was this tremendous structure in wood and stone and marble, with dozens of floors with thousands of rooms. Statues and gardens were seen on every nook and cranny* and grey skinned guides lead groups of odd tourists around.
I ducked under a semi-humanoid hammer shark in a business suit and walked up one of the many marble stairs, in the form of a grey coloured man in his mid fourties, with a slanted look and balding, disheveled hair.
Some minutes later, I closed the door softly, the three guards outside knocked unconscious. With not a soul to be seen in sight, with huge, imposing or not-so-imposing statues lined up in a not particularly flash pattern, the third Ball Room of the Museum was quite impressive. And empty.
Absently noticing the huge about of fake diamond chandeliers on the ceiling, I examined the statues, strolling through the room and waiting for the agent.
A door was opened. A door was closed. And footsteps were heard.
I turned around, facing the grey-skinned man with the gun.**
"Mr Anderson." I commented dryly, watching the bloke cautiously.
Brushing his greying hair from his face with his right hand, the man glanced at me, frowning confusedly for a moment. "Who?" He did not, however, linger on this.
"I want the chip. I want the code." The man ordered, his gun not that casually pointed at my face.
"Oh, come on now, Treevan. You know you're in denial. You really think a simple chip and a simple code will save your life?"
"Yes."
Gosh, he didn't speak much.
"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that if you get the drive and upload the content and send them the key, they'll give you the cure for your disease. It doesn't work that way. You're expendable, pal. You think you're the only one who's done this for the Security? Once you uplode the content, you're dead meat. Back away." I insisted, making use of the plank-like honesty of the form I was wearing.
His stony face wavered for half a second. Still, he rallied again, not lowering his arm, and raising his left hand.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sweared I had seen a statue inconspicuously turning its head to face me.
"Throw me the card." The man continued, struggling with the words. "And I will let you go in peace."
"And alive, to boot? Like you won't be?" I inquired, giving the man a little nervous smile, matching my form's little nervous face. "I don't know who you are. But I know who they are. You don't know them. You don't know what they do to keep their secrets safe..."
I rolled up my sleeve, showing him some appropriately gruesome scars that showed the fertility of my imagination.***
"I was one of their men, like you are. I found out too much. This is what they did to me!" I shouted, showing him some appropriately dramatic emotions. Hey, I even went red-eyed with all the feelings!
The man pursed his lips. He pursed them some more. Then he raised his hand again, his fingers trembling. And boy, they did tremble. So did the gun. Now that worried me a bit more.
The gun stopped trembling.
"Hand me the chip." There was no simple request in this voice. The effect was improved by the all of the suspiciously more active statues turning their heads to face me.
You know what? I did what he asked.
That's right! I threw him the chip.
To his credit, he caught it in the air.
And yet the ridiculous man quickly stabbed the small triangular thing on his right arm. It was pretty obvious what he wanted to do, of course. If his masters were plotting his demise once he handed them the chip, why not take the chances and take the information for himself?
Yeah. Why not indeed.
I might have exagerated a tiny bit on the general meanness of the Security.
The man fell to the marble floor with a soft thud, now matching it's complexion.
Right. Now, to get those files...
Then the very, very bad part of my day started.
Alarms blared. The defense mechanisms were commenced. And the statues left their pedestals.
The marble satyrs were a lot less ridiculous when they were wielding enormous stone flutes as a mace. Actually, they weren't, but the fact that they'd try to painfully beat me to death made up for it.
I was annoyed. I was angry. I was furious. All my careful planning ruined because those, those, those stuck-up, ridiculous, highclass, conniving little group of idiotic "agents of the law" decided to implement a new security measure!****
If I wasn't under attack by a band of psychotic eco-environamentalist statues, I'd probably have marched right up to their office to bloody well complain.
But since I was under by a band of psychotic eco-environamentalist statues, it was better to hurry up to get what I had come for. Running like hell towards the fallen agent, diving just in time to avoid a swing of a flute, I nabbed the small but so incredibly important computer-like device Treevan once had in his coat.
The statues were closing in on me. Row after row after row of instrument-wielding half donkey marble statues. I reassured myself knowing that I had the true of
...and disappeared, leaving a scent of sulphur and rotting flowers behind me.
I realized, too late, that I hadn't remembered to create a specific destination for the Crossing. And I realized, also too late, that one of the Fauns had grabbed my ankle as I Crossed.
____
*I saw a woman with a torch and a crown lying on top of a hedge once. Nobody cared. Neither did I, to be honest.
**There is always a man with a gun.
***I did have to set them up before entering the museum. Magic-slash-shapeshifting-slash-any-power-whatsowever would set off the alarms in no time.
****Apparently, if an agent died, the alarms went off. How frustrating.
There was darkness. There was always that darkness. But oddly enough very few actually saw its vastness when they first arrived. For no sooner did they did all the the shimmering possibilities appear, all that you need to do now was to choose one - and then you're off once again.
"I told you hermono, those ronin were not going to be happy if we too their things. All that work for a katana and some new arrows?" a large young man said to his shorter and skinnier companion.
"It was necessary for three reasons. One - you broke another sword..." the shorter one began.
"Brass isn't as tough as steel... And yes, I know, you don't need to remind me, iron based materials that are not being acted on by oxygen cannot successfully phase into different realities like other metals can. Please continue Eli." the taller one said.
"...Two - I needed new arrows, specifically the ones specially made for and used by that ronin Hachiro Maki. He was the only one from that time period that used brass tips, very rare..." Eli went on to explain.
"...We could've waited until he was no longer paying attention..."
"...Stop being contrary. Where was I Drake?" asked his companion.
"...Three?" Drake said in a defeatist tone.
"AH! Yes, thank you. ...And three - that action of ours opened up a new path for us to use that had been closed off beforehand." Eli concluded with a satisfied smile as he stared out into the vast expanse of shimmering stars all around them. As the two walked, seemingly in mid-ar, raw firmament solidified beneath them to form a floor for them to walk on.
Drake rubbed his temples as he reach back into his backpack and pulled from deep within it the new sword. It vibrated slightly like all metals did in the 'in-between', the area that separated all times, places, dimensions and realities. A limbo of sorts, it would allow anyone who dwelled there for too long to stop aging and start collecting knowledge about everything. "Its funny hermono..." Drake said after a long pause of silence.
"What is?" Eli inquired as he toyed with the gauntlet device on his wrist.
"The longer we are here the more we know right?" Drake reasoned.
"That is one of the first things we've learned..." Eli admitted.
"To some we are all knowing, while to others we are just slightly more advanced..." Drake continued.
"Where are you going with this?" Eli asked somewhat annoyed by Drake's prattling.
"Nothing really, just that... We know almost everything that has or will happen in any given place in any given reality we visit. Isn't that what some would call omniscience?" Drake said with a certain amount of uncertainty.
Eli sighed before answering, "Some, yes. But by no means are we omniscient, we may know all the answers but we can't know or answer all the questions." Eli said in a frustrated tone.
"Temper hermano... Be cool. Hey, what is that over there?" Drake asked as he pointed to a shimmering point on one of the many horizons they had chosen to walk towards. The point grew larger and larger, closer and closer until its form could be clearly described. It was a man who was like them, a traveler but he was being seized by what could only be described at a datum based appearance-wise robotic faun made of stone. "Very peculiar hermano, should we help him?" Drake asked. The point and those traveling within it were moving much more slowly in comparison to Drake and Eli.
Eli looked it over, even going so far as to walk around it as it moved in slow motion beside him, his face was that of intense concentration. As if he were trying to remember something he hadn't experienced yet. "Hm-No." Eli said as he carried on.
Drake stopped him though by lifting Eli by his C.L.O.A.K.S. collar, "But we were assisted in our times of need. What would that doctor or that professor or that guru say?" Drake asked as he tried to reason with the obstinate Eli.
Eli looked away as if he was not particularly fond of those mentioned times when they themselves had needed help from others like them. "Fine. We'll follow him to make sure he is alright." Eli said tersely.
Drake's face instantly lit up as he placed Eli down on solid firmament and rushed over to the traveler. Drake reached for the man's trail, dipping his hand into the spatial/temporal membrane and gave a firm yank to Eli's clothing. With an audible *POP* sound Eli and Drake were pulled into path that the man traveled and would be deposited onto the same destination as the man. Eli just watched with mild annoyance at what he knew was about to happen because he was starting to remember what would come next.
"I told you hermono, those ronin were not going to be happy if we too their things. All that work for a katana and some new arrows?" a large young man said to his shorter and skinnier companion.
"It was necessary for three reasons. One - you broke another sword..." the shorter one began.
"Brass isn't as tough as steel... And yes, I know, you don't need to remind me, iron based materials that are not being acted on by oxygen cannot successfully phase into different realities like other metals can. Please continue Eli." the taller one said.
"...Two - I needed new arrows, specifically the ones specially made for and used by that ronin Hachiro Maki. He was the only one from that time period that used brass tips, very rare..." Eli went on to explain.
"...We could've waited until he was no longer paying attention..."
"...Stop being contrary. Where was I Drake?" asked his companion.
"...Three?" Drake said in a defeatist tone.
"AH! Yes, thank you. ...And three - that action of ours opened up a new path for us to use that had been closed off beforehand." Eli concluded with a satisfied smile as he stared out into the vast expanse of shimmering stars all around them. As the two walked, seemingly in mid-ar, raw firmament solidified beneath them to form a floor for them to walk on.
Drake rubbed his temples as he reach back into his backpack and pulled from deep within it the new sword. It vibrated slightly like all metals did in the 'in-between', the area that separated all times, places, dimensions and realities. A limbo of sorts, it would allow anyone who dwelled there for too long to stop aging and start collecting knowledge about everything. "Its funny hermono..." Drake said after a long pause of silence.
"What is?" Eli inquired as he toyed with the gauntlet device on his wrist.
"The longer we are here the more we know right?" Drake reasoned.
"That is one of the first things we've learned..." Eli admitted.
"To some we are all knowing, while to others we are just slightly more advanced..." Drake continued.
"Where are you going with this?" Eli asked somewhat annoyed by Drake's prattling.
"Nothing really, just that... We know almost everything that has or will happen in any given place in any given reality we visit. Isn't that what some would call omniscience?" Drake said with a certain amount of uncertainty.
Eli sighed before answering, "Some, yes. But by no means are we omniscient, we may know all the answers but we can't know or answer all the questions." Eli said in a frustrated tone.
"Temper hermano... Be cool. Hey, what is that over there?" Drake asked as he pointed to a shimmering point on one of the many horizons they had chosen to walk towards. The point grew larger and larger, closer and closer until its form could be clearly described. It was a man who was like them, a traveler but he was being seized by what could only be described at a datum based appearance-wise robotic faun made of stone. "Very peculiar hermano, should we help him?" Drake asked. The point and those traveling within it were moving much more slowly in comparison to Drake and Eli.
Eli looked it over, even going so far as to walk around it as it moved in slow motion beside him, his face was that of intense concentration. As if he were trying to remember something he hadn't experienced yet. "Hm-No." Eli said as he carried on.
Drake stopped him though by lifting Eli by his C.L.O.A.K.S. collar, "But we were assisted in our times of need. What would that doctor or that professor or that guru say?" Drake asked as he tried to reason with the obstinate Eli.
Eli looked away as if he was not particularly fond of those mentioned times when they themselves had needed help from others like them. "Fine. We'll follow him to make sure he is alright." Eli said tersely.
Drake's face instantly lit up as he placed Eli down on solid firmament and rushed over to the traveler. Drake reached for the man's trail, dipping his hand into the spatial/temporal membrane and gave a firm yank to Eli's clothing. With an audible *POP* sound Eli and Drake were pulled into path that the man traveled and would be deposited onto the same destination as the man. Eli just watched with mild annoyance at what he knew was about to happen because he was starting to remember what would come next.
I opened by eyes.
I looked up, and closed them.
A few seconds later, I opened them again.
"Ah," I said numbly, lying down on what I hoped was a patch of grass. I raised a hesitant finger, touching the unmoving statue that was crumpled on top of me in the middle of the forehead. The once pristine marble between the faun's horns cracked and fell off, and crumbled into dust.*
It was good enough for me, and I threw it off, sitting upright, unblinking. My form's reeceding hair was full of twigs, I had killed the agent, gotten the chip, and set off the alarms, and I was attacked by a band of psychotic killer marble fauns. In red bathrobes.
"Right." I said, struggling to get to my feet.
I had alerted the security.
Right.
I was now being hunted by yet another vicious group of dimensional jumping time "archeologists".
Right.
I had been attacked by robotic killer fauns. In red bathrobes. One of which, I noticed, still had a hand, if not his whole body.**
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" I screamed, picking up a nearby rock and smashing the marble hand with it. Nine, er, times.
Just to make sure, of course.
In the trees, peculiar red birds flew away hurriedly. "You keep robots! Who the hell keeps marble robots with red bathrobes!? Who the hell keeps faun robots? Who the hell keeps marble faun robots in a bleedin' museum?! Now seriously, why bathrobes?"
I was in a clearing, in a forest, in a world with an apparently smaller and redder than - if the sky was anything to go by- Earth's Sun. That, or it was setting. I couldn't exactly see the horizon with a whole lot of enormous trees in front of me, now could I?
I continued to beat the marble hand to it's metaphorical death. "Is it, say, a Cultural Difference? Maybe your masters think you'll look more astethically pleasing when you're BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF THE CRITICS WITH A GIANT BLOODY FLUTE!"
After this very therapeutical actions, I managed to calm down, inhaling deeply and absently throwing the rock away, before kneeling over to the torso of the fawn and inspecting it with some degree of care.
Oh, the eletronical plaques were obviously rotten and rusted or maybe even turned into dust, but maybe I could find some temporal markings of the elec-
A pair of humans, apparently, were entering the clearing.
I sensed something off.
*Those were the effects of following one of my kind into an unauthorized Crossing. Time catches up with everything. You really don't want to know what'd happen if there was a living thing in the place of the statue. You really, really wouldn't.
Personaly, I think it's marvellous.
**The one that came in contact with my form's ankle, that is.
I looked up, and closed them.
A few seconds later, I opened them again.
"Ah," I said numbly, lying down on what I hoped was a patch of grass. I raised a hesitant finger, touching the unmoving statue that was crumpled on top of me in the middle of the forehead. The once pristine marble between the faun's horns cracked and fell off, and crumbled into dust.*
It was good enough for me, and I threw it off, sitting upright, unblinking. My form's reeceding hair was full of twigs, I had killed the agent, gotten the chip, and set off the alarms, and I was attacked by a band of psychotic killer marble fauns. In red bathrobes.
"Right." I said, struggling to get to my feet.
I had alerted the security.
Right.
I was now being hunted by yet another vicious group of dimensional jumping time "archeologists".
Right.
I had been attacked by robotic killer fauns. In red bathrobes. One of which, I noticed, still had a hand, if not his whole body.**
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" I screamed, picking up a nearby rock and smashing the marble hand with it. Nine, er, times.
Just to make sure, of course.
In the trees, peculiar red birds flew away hurriedly. "You keep robots! Who the hell keeps marble robots with red bathrobes!? Who the hell keeps faun robots? Who the hell keeps marble faun robots in a bleedin' museum?! Now seriously, why bathrobes?"
I was in a clearing, in a forest, in a world with an apparently smaller and redder than - if the sky was anything to go by- Earth's Sun. That, or it was setting. I couldn't exactly see the horizon with a whole lot of enormous trees in front of me, now could I?
I continued to beat the marble hand to it's metaphorical death. "Is it, say, a Cultural Difference? Maybe your masters think you'll look more astethically pleasing when you're BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF THE CRITICS WITH A GIANT BLOODY FLUTE!"
After this very therapeutical actions, I managed to calm down, inhaling deeply and absently throwing the rock away, before kneeling over to the torso of the fawn and inspecting it with some degree of care.
Oh, the eletronical plaques were obviously rotten and rusted or maybe even turned into dust, but maybe I could find some temporal markings of the elec-
A pair of humans, apparently, were entering the clearing.
I sensed something off.
*Those were the effects of following one of my kind into an unauthorized Crossing. Time catches up with everything. You really don't want to know what'd happen if there was a living thing in the place of the statue. You really, really wouldn't.
Personaly, I think it's marvellous.
**The one that came in contact with my form's ankle, that is.
Eli and Drake had arrived at the same time to this new place as Lanthe had, albeit with a bit more class and without passing out. For them "traveling" was a lot like "stepping" but it was a bit trickier as it required knowledge of where and when you wanted to go instead of blindly going side to side. Drake was the first to step out into the clearing that was their exit, Eli grumbled as he dutifully followed after. "I wonder where we are now? This feels new to me..." Drake said as he looked around, the red sun above made the sky a nice amber color. Giant green trees were all around them amongst the other flora and fauna, immediate signs that where they were was livable.
"Not where he is. But since you asked so nicely..." Eli said tersely as he went to work on the device he wore on his hands. A hologram floated in air just in front him, it was running an algorithm to determine where on their map they were. The data condensed and formed an unreadable map to the average eye, "...We are in the fourth dimension ((time flows regularly here)), we are midway between the binary arc and the ethereal arc but far from the meta arc, still on an Earth but the solar system is vastly different from any other we have been to; red giant sun, distanced farther away, three moons and only 7 other planets. New territory for us indeed." Eli agreed with himself.
"Where do you suppose he went?" Drake asked as he plucked some nearby berries and scanned them with his own gloved device before becoming satisfied that the berries were edible. "These taste like strawberries but they look like raspberries. Fascinating!"
Eli rolled his eyes as he focused on his memories before pointing to a small path. "There." Eli said as the frustrated cries of Lanthe could be heard, several red colored birds around the noise flew up and away like a ripple in a pond. Both Eli and Drake took a "step" forward and appeared a few meters away from Lanthe.
"Its no use, too far gone." Eli said as he stepped out into the new clearing with Drake.
"Hm, no. It looks fine to me." Drake said. "You're looking at it wrong."
Eli tilted his head and then smiled "Ah yes, I see now. Thank you. But I think we should introduce ourselves don't you?" Eli said with a smirk.
"I agree. And you are...?" Drake said and then motioned for the grey coloured man in his mid forties, with a slanted look and balding disheveled hair to begin with his introduction. It was the polite thing to do amongst travelers.
"Not where he is. But since you asked so nicely..." Eli said tersely as he went to work on the device he wore on his hands. A hologram floated in air just in front him, it was running an algorithm to determine where on their map they were. The data condensed and formed an unreadable map to the average eye, "...We are in the fourth dimension ((time flows regularly here)), we are midway between the binary arc and the ethereal arc but far from the meta arc, still on an Earth but the solar system is vastly different from any other we have been to; red giant sun, distanced farther away, three moons and only 7 other planets. New territory for us indeed." Eli agreed with himself.
"Where do you suppose he went?" Drake asked as he plucked some nearby berries and scanned them with his own gloved device before becoming satisfied that the berries were edible. "These taste like strawberries but they look like raspberries. Fascinating!"
Eli rolled his eyes as he focused on his memories before pointing to a small path. "There." Eli said as the frustrated cries of Lanthe could be heard, several red colored birds around the noise flew up and away like a ripple in a pond. Both Eli and Drake took a "step" forward and appeared a few meters away from Lanthe.
"Its no use, too far gone." Eli said as he stepped out into the new clearing with Drake.
"Hm, no. It looks fine to me." Drake said. "You're looking at it wrong."
Eli tilted his head and then smiled "Ah yes, I see now. Thank you. But I think we should introduce ourselves don't you?" Eli said with a smirk.
"I agree. And you are...?" Drake said and then motioned for the grey coloured man in his mid forties, with a slanted look and balding disheveled hair to begin with his introduction. It was the polite thing to do amongst travelers.
I didn't even bother to blink as the pair materialized close to me.
What I did bother to do, however, was throw a quick inspection over them in all the seven planes.
And saw the Mulkasi particles flying around them like a bottled sandstorm in a goldfish tank.
For god's sake, dimensional travellers.
And I was having such a good day...
Be it in the form of a cool car, cool gadget or cool blue box, any interdimensional wanderer had the self control of a baboon in a mango shop. Oh, lookey that, let's go and kill Tchaikovsky! Ooh, let's accidentally break Neil Armstrong's leg so that he can't go to the moon! Oh, could we by any chance help Guy Fawkes blow up the parliament?
And who had to feel the repercussions afterwards?
Yeah.*
Even worse, most -specially the ones with the wacky watches- had this huge messiah complex that they could see everyone and save everyone. Which was ridiculous.
I once met this chap with a blue moustache that tried to look into my timestream to find anything about me. He didn't find anything, of course,** but I was still forced to execute him.
On the other hand, this was not the reason I was so aggravated with the pair of individuals in front of me. I was kind of more worried about the whole enabled Travel of the Security's agents, which these too could pretty much belong to. I didn't know how quickly or how fast that lot could localize me. Not that it mattered, of course. Different dimensions, different times... They could take five years and catch me after five seconds .
The men looked somewhat related. I could sense that well enough. One had a stuck up, inseffurable snob type of look, while the big guy seemed less bright and more, ah, friendly. Maybe I could exploit that.
I held up a finger.
"Wait." I said, tapping my own odd watch on my left wrist and completely ignoring their advances. "Ah, oblige me in taking a step backward. The current appearance I am using is that of a very angry, very formal, very psychotic man. He will now commence to-" A frustrated look appeared on my grey face. "Who ever even says commence?"
I gritted my teeth in apparent pain and prodded the watch. A flash of light (nothing too fancy. Just a mild explosion) ensued, and there was a green haired woman in place of the man. Smoke started to come out of the watch, and the woman pursed her purple lips.
I rotated the mechanism, and pressed it.
There was no flash of light this time. One moment the woman was touching the mechanism. On the other, the dark haired young boy in the medieval clothing was dislodging the thing from his forearm and throwing it away with a small groan.
The supposed mechanism fell to the ground. It crackled and burned.
"Who," the boy asked, straightening up, "Are you?"
_
*Well, me and the whole universe. But me was the more important thing.
**Locked timestreams, a security measure of my kind. Quite, quite confusing. Let's say that if a time travelling lunatic tried to attack e moi in the past, he'd just be whirred backwards. And, er, have his intestines fried off.
What I did bother to do, however, was throw a quick inspection over them in all the seven planes.
And saw the Mulkasi particles flying around them like a bottled sandstorm in a goldfish tank.
For god's sake, dimensional travellers.
And I was having such a good day...
Be it in the form of a cool car, cool gadget or cool blue box, any interdimensional wanderer had the self control of a baboon in a mango shop. Oh, lookey that, let's go and kill Tchaikovsky! Ooh, let's accidentally break Neil Armstrong's leg so that he can't go to the moon! Oh, could we by any chance help Guy Fawkes blow up the parliament?
And who had to feel the repercussions afterwards?
Yeah.*
Even worse, most -specially the ones with the wacky watches- had this huge messiah complex that they could see everyone and save everyone. Which was ridiculous.
I once met this chap with a blue moustache that tried to look into my timestream to find anything about me. He didn't find anything, of course,** but I was still forced to execute him.
On the other hand, this was not the reason I was so aggravated with the pair of individuals in front of me. I was kind of more worried about the whole enabled Travel of the Security's agents, which these too could pretty much belong to. I didn't know how quickly or how fast that lot could localize me. Not that it mattered, of course. Different dimensions, different times... They could take five years and catch me after five seconds .
The men looked somewhat related. I could sense that well enough. One had a stuck up, inseffurable snob type of look, while the big guy seemed less bright and more, ah, friendly. Maybe I could exploit that.
I held up a finger.
"Wait." I said, tapping my own odd watch on my left wrist and completely ignoring their advances. "Ah, oblige me in taking a step backward. The current appearance I am using is that of a very angry, very formal, very psychotic man. He will now commence to-" A frustrated look appeared on my grey face. "Who ever even says commence?"
I gritted my teeth in apparent pain and prodded the watch. A flash of light (nothing too fancy. Just a mild explosion) ensued, and there was a green haired woman in place of the man. Smoke started to come out of the watch, and the woman pursed her purple lips.
I rotated the mechanism, and pressed it.
There was no flash of light this time. One moment the woman was touching the mechanism. On the other, the dark haired young boy in the medieval clothing was dislodging the thing from his forearm and throwing it away with a small groan.
The supposed mechanism fell to the ground. It crackled and burned.
"Who," the boy asked, straightening up, "Are you?"
_
*Well, me and the whole universe. But me was the more important thing.
**Locked timestreams, a security measure of my kind. Quite, quite confusing. Let's say that if a time travelling lunatic tried to attack e moi in the past, he'd just be whirred backwards. And, er, have his intestines fried off.
Eli and Drake both watched as Lanthe changed from the middle-aged man to a woman with green hair to a little kid. Eli was less than impressed, Drake however watched with amazement. Drake probably wouldn't notice it at first but Eli picked up on it almost instantly, Lanthe's personality had shifted somewhat during his transformation. He was now a little kid but had been an older man with a terrible attitude, Eli reasoned that this person was either a dedicated method actor - even travelers had to have a hobby he would surmise, or he was a mentally unstable shapeshifter. The thing with the watch was all for show but Eli would pretend to go along with things. For now.
When asked who they were Eli spoke, "You are being counter-productive. If I am perceiving the flow of this reality's time correctly I would say that it was us who insinuated that you needed to introduce yourself first." Eli said with a huff.
"Don't mind him," Drake said. "I am Drake and this is my cousin Eli. Pleased to make you acquaintance. Who, may I ask, are you?"
When asked who they were Eli spoke, "You are being counter-productive. If I am perceiving the flow of this reality's time correctly I would say that it was us who insinuated that you needed to introduce yourself first." Eli said with a huff.
"Don't mind him," Drake said. "I am Drake and this is my cousin Eli. Pleased to make you acquaintance. Who, may I ask, are you?"
((Aaand I'm switching to 3rd Person. I usually do this when Lanthe impersonates someone or exploits his shapeshifting tactics. Technically, it's both here. ))
The boy stared at the thinner traveller when he spoke. "I am Lucas. " The words were lightly tipped with an odd ringing accent, not quite as heavily pronounced as before. Still clearly some form of english, though. "And I am a voyageur." The eyes didn't leave the man's face as a finger pointed at the burning remains of the thing.
"You're not from this world." It wasn't a question.
The boy stared at the thinner traveller when he spoke. "I am Lucas. " The words were lightly tipped with an odd ringing accent, not quite as heavily pronounced as before. Still clearly some form of english, though. "And I am a voyageur." The eyes didn't leave the man's face as a finger pointed at the burning remains of the thing.
"You're not from this world." It wasn't a question.
Eli didn't react too much to what Lucas said or did as he considered the kid to be a brat and inconsequential, he also had an annoying accent that he couldn't quite place. 'Right, voyager... nice crash landing.' Eli thought to himself but gave a somewhat amused smirk at the robot remains that Lucas was pointing out, a cute attempt to evade pursuers, he'd need to learn mid-travel brawling if he didn't want to be followed all the way to his destinations. Doing so would protect his exit location for the most part and would send the pursuers into a random time/place/reality with some nasty mid-travel splinching.
"You're not from this world." Lucas said in a matter-of-factly way.
Eli huffed in a unimpressed way and grumbled to himself "Obviously...". Drake was quick to cover for his 'cousin'.
"Yes, that's right. We are like you. Only ...a bit different." Drake replied with some forced kindness this kid was reminding him a lot of what he would imagine a younger Eli would be like. "Is there any way that we can be of assistance?" Drake offered with a genuine smile.
"You're not from this world." Lucas said in a matter-of-factly way.
Eli huffed in a unimpressed way and grumbled to himself "Obviously...". Drake was quick to cover for his 'cousin'.
"Yes, that's right. We are like you. Only ...a bit different." Drake replied with some forced kindness this kid was reminding him a lot of what he would imagine a younger Eli would be like. "Is there any way that we can be of assistance?" Drake offered with a genuine smile.
"Really?" The kid didn't smile, per se, but there was a twinge of mirth in those three syllables. He casually shrug as he took a small step backwards, lowering his cloak's hood, his eyes still not leaving the thinner man's face.
"Is that brass?" He inquired, tilting his head, while absently kicking a twitching marble hand away from his feet and placing his hands in his cloak's pockets. It really just looked like the boy was cold, but he was actually touching the small machine that took so long to steal. Scanning for disturbances.
The shapeshifter really didn't believe these two were of the Security. They'd be trying to kill him by now. No, these were something else. But they could be helpful. Even if used as a simple distraction, when the Guardsmen came.
And they would come. Ineviteably.
"Is that brass?" He inquired, tilting his head, while absently kicking a twitching marble hand away from his feet and placing his hands in his cloak's pockets. It really just looked like the boy was cold, but he was actually touching the small machine that took so long to steal. Scanning for disturbances.
The shapeshifter really didn't believe these two were of the Security. They'd be trying to kill him by now. No, these were something else. But they could be helpful. Even if used as a simple distraction, when the Guardsmen came.
And they would come. Ineviteably.
Eli held his gaze on Lucas, he didn't trust the little brat - not one bit. He just couldn't place why yet. Then it hit him, they - that is to say the three of them - would excepting company soon, and not the pleasant kind either.
"Is that brass?", Lanthe asked. Eli noticed that out of Drake's P.A.Q.U.E. one of the sword handles was sticking out. "No, its broooonze..." Eli said in an overly sarcastic manner, he was feeling particularly sardonic and persnickety at that moment because of the shapeshifting kid. "Of course its brass, its the best material we have found to serve our needs..." Eli said dismissively.
"Eli! Be kinder please, this kid's probably in dang- OH, now I'm remembering..." Drake said suddenly distracted by a fleeting memory, he reached back for his sword sticking out from his P.A.Q.U.E. "Eli...?" Drake asked suddenly unsure of himself and what they had gotten themselves into.
"I know. I've been remembering for a while now..." Eli said as he reached into his own P.A.Q.U.E. and pulled from it his brass bow and an arrow. He nocked his bow and began to survey his surroundings, he felt faint ripples in space-time approaching quickly. "Remember, they can't harm us but that doesn't mean that we'll be of any use protecting him with our physical forms. So hit them first..." Eli said.
"Is that brass?", Lanthe asked. Eli noticed that out of Drake's P.A.Q.U.E. one of the sword handles was sticking out. "No, its broooonze..." Eli said in an overly sarcastic manner, he was feeling particularly sardonic and persnickety at that moment because of the shapeshifting kid. "Of course its brass, its the best material we have found to serve our needs..." Eli said dismissively.
"Eli! Be kinder please, this kid's probably in dang- OH, now I'm remembering..." Drake said suddenly distracted by a fleeting memory, he reached back for his sword sticking out from his P.A.Q.U.E. "Eli...?" Drake asked suddenly unsure of himself and what they had gotten themselves into.
"I know. I've been remembering for a while now..." Eli said as he reached into his own P.A.Q.U.E. and pulled from it his brass bow and an arrow. He nocked his bow and began to survey his surroundings, he felt faint ripples in space-time approaching quickly. "Remember, they can't harm us but that doesn't mean that we'll be of any use protecting him with our physical forms. So hit them first..." Eli said.
The boy's eyes finally left the thinner man as he gave both of them a withering look. "What needs? Brass breaks easily." The boy protested, and heard the rest of their conversation.
"They can harm you. They can harm anyone. That's their point." The blue eyed kid informed them matter of factly as he peeled off a thin layer of wires. "And you're rude. " He gave an inntake of breath. "Look, I don't know who or what you are, or how can you remember things from the future, but if you're here to help, help. If you're not here to help, then don't be here. It's not like they won't get to you after me." He stared upwards, towards the skies.
"They're butchering us. The ones who can cross through time and space and worlds. They're butchering us, and they're probably going to kill me in a few minutes, so I really, really don't need you to make things even worse!" His voice rose as he spoke, and cracked by the end. It accompanied his growing agitation. "You think your copper swords make a difference against those guys!? "
The agitation stopped abruptly, and his face returned to the frosty serenity of minutes ago. "I've gotta change the signal. Throw them off track." The boy glanced at the duo meaningfully.
"They can harm you. They can harm anyone. That's their point." The blue eyed kid informed them matter of factly as he peeled off a thin layer of wires. "And you're rude. " He gave an inntake of breath. "Look, I don't know who or what you are, or how can you remember things from the future, but if you're here to help, help. If you're not here to help, then don't be here. It's not like they won't get to you after me." He stared upwards, towards the skies.
"They're butchering us. The ones who can cross through time and space and worlds. They're butchering us, and they're probably going to kill me in a few minutes, so I really, really don't need you to make things even worse!" His voice rose as he spoke, and cracked by the end. It accompanied his growing agitation. "You think your copper swords make a difference against those guys!? "
The agitation stopped abruptly, and his face returned to the frosty serenity of minutes ago. "I've gotta change the signal. Throw them off track." The boy glanced at the duo meaningfully.
"What needs? Brass breaks easily." Lucas protested.
Eli purposely ignored him with a smirk, Drake would've answered if he was preoccupied in waiting for Eli's signal of where the inbound enemies would be coming from.
"They can harm you. They can harm anyone. That's their point." Lucas went on.
"Oh, you think you know and have seen everything do you?" Eli said with a smug grin as he peered over to Lucas. "Just watch..."
"I've gotta change the signal. Throw them off track." Lucas said coolly.
"Not a good idea if I remember right... Whoever they are, can't remember that part yet, have already set up a trap. Its best if you stick with us for a little bit longer." Drake said with a nod and a wink to Lucas. They were right on top of Lucas, Eli and Drake now... Only a handful of realities, locations and times left.
With a blink of an eye both Eli and Drake vanished leaving Lucas all alone in the middle of the empty forest clearing.
Eli purposely ignored him with a smirk, Drake would've answered if he was preoccupied in waiting for Eli's signal of where the inbound enemies would be coming from.
"They can harm you. They can harm anyone. That's their point." Lucas went on.
"Oh, you think you know and have seen everything do you?" Eli said with a smug grin as he peered over to Lucas. "Just watch..."
"I've gotta change the signal. Throw them off track." Lucas said coolly.
"Not a good idea if I remember right... Whoever they are, can't remember that part yet, have already set up a trap. Its best if you stick with us for a little bit longer." Drake said with a nod and a wink to Lucas. They were right on top of Lucas, Eli and Drake now... Only a handful of realities, locations and times left.
With a blink of an eye both Eli and Drake vanished leaving Lucas all alone in the middle of the empty forest clearing.
"You'd be suprised." The being murmured, gazing at the empty spaces the men were in seconds ago. He didn't know if they were truly gone or had went to fight the security. He didn't think it was a very good idea, considering the "Security"'s forces consisted of about fifty actual motherships carrying nuclear weapons capable of destroying a whole planet in a blink of an eye.
He may have forgotten to mention that part.
Throwing in some defenses around the clearing, just to make sure they hadn't remained in the place, or "remembered" what happened afterwards, the creature took the item from his pocket. The item. The chip. The password. The intented victims.
Oh, this was brilliant.
He tossed the item into the air, and smirked. It wasn't a very nice smirk. It had all these little unpleaseant parts scattered across it that, if the smirk's owner wasn't currently in the form of a ten year old child, would look positively devious.
The item -the scanner, the radar- was, er, beeping. Quite fast.
On the screen, it told of two humanoids.
Locate. Intercept. Destroy.
Lanthe snorted as he placed the scanner in his cloak's pocket again. A trap, was it? Well, wasn't that fascinating.
Then he was gone. Around him, a circle of once fresh flowers wilted away and died.
He may have forgotten to mention that part.
Throwing in some defenses around the clearing, just to make sure they hadn't remained in the place, or "remembered" what happened afterwards, the creature took the item from his pocket. The item. The chip. The password. The intented victims.
Oh, this was brilliant.
He tossed the item into the air, and smirked. It wasn't a very nice smirk. It had all these little unpleaseant parts scattered across it that, if the smirk's owner wasn't currently in the form of a ten year old child, would look positively devious.
The item -the scanner, the radar- was, er, beeping. Quite fast.
On the screen, it told of two humanoids.
Locate. Intercept. Destroy.
Lanthe snorted as he placed the scanner in his cloak's pocket again. A trap, was it? Well, wasn't that fascinating.
Then he was gone. Around him, a circle of once fresh flowers wilted away and died.
Drake and Eli had decided to "half step" into a slip space that acted like a parallel world that existed exactly alongside the one they had arrived in but was inaccessible through normal means. Where they were they were essentially ghosts, unable to directly interact with the world they dwelled in - no one could hear, see, touch, smell or taste their presence. At least not for very long, tears to this phase of existence were fleeting, people trapped here appeared like spectres, there one moment and gone the next when the tear sealed itself up again.
But Drake and Eli were not alone, there were two agents next to them, they wore business suits and looked in every sense of the word "grey". They were neither here nor there but were their own thing and they wanted that thing to belong exclusively to them - by whatever means necessary. The agents took a step towards Drake and Eli as Drake and Eli took another "half step" away. The agents gave chase.
Drake and Eli were literally running from place to place, timestream to timestream and reality to reality. But for all they did to evade the agent the grey men followed with similar ease. "We've-" Drake said as they appeared on a distant planet in a solar system next to the Sol system, the world was col and dark and the people there on had bright neon hair with rabbit ears and skull masks. "-gotta-" Drake continued as they bounced from all over the place with Eli right beside him. "-lose-" he said as he pulled up his map on his gauntlet device he wore on his hand. "-them!" he finished as they appeared momentarily in a desert wasteland only to vanish with a puff of sand from where they had stood mid-stride a millisecond previously.
Eli who had been looking on at the map they had been making for what seemed like years though it could have been days if it wasn't really centuries all along. Eli grinned and pointed at world on their map and adjusted the filters on it. The world know had a clock symbol floating within the world that had a ring of arrows circling it. "We'll- lose- them- there!" Eli said as he and Drake picked up speed. They were not just running at this point it was an all out sprint, but there had been a pattern to it. Place, time, reality, place, time, reality, place, time, reality. They would continue doing this but before they completed another iteration of the pattern they changed the last step, instead of "place, time, reality" they mixed it around. It was now reality, place, time that they did, after that they pulled themselves from existence entirely and watched as two dumbfounded agents fell right into a trap that had almost trapped Eli and Drake when they first started out on their journeys.
The agents had noticed that the pattern had changed and reacted accordingly, they had gone to where Drake and Eli had exited into but couldn't find where they they had gone next. It was as if they no longer existed, they would scour this place for a whole day. And then that whole day would repeat when they tried to leave, but no matter how they traveled they could never leave. This and they would forget what they were doing there after time, they would forget much more as the years went on. Soon they themselves would be forgotten entirely as time rotted away around them...
Drake and Eli then began to make their way back to Lucas by retracing their steps from the safety of the "In-between."
But Drake and Eli were not alone, there were two agents next to them, they wore business suits and looked in every sense of the word "grey". They were neither here nor there but were their own thing and they wanted that thing to belong exclusively to them - by whatever means necessary. The agents took a step towards Drake and Eli as Drake and Eli took another "half step" away. The agents gave chase.
Drake and Eli were literally running from place to place, timestream to timestream and reality to reality. But for all they did to evade the agent the grey men followed with similar ease. "We've-" Drake said as they appeared on a distant planet in a solar system next to the Sol system, the world was col and dark and the people there on had bright neon hair with rabbit ears and skull masks. "-gotta-" Drake continued as they bounced from all over the place with Eli right beside him. "-lose-" he said as he pulled up his map on his gauntlet device he wore on his hand. "-them!" he finished as they appeared momentarily in a desert wasteland only to vanish with a puff of sand from where they had stood mid-stride a millisecond previously.
Eli who had been looking on at the map they had been making for what seemed like years though it could have been days if it wasn't really centuries all along. Eli grinned and pointed at world on their map and adjusted the filters on it. The world know had a clock symbol floating within the world that had a ring of arrows circling it. "We'll- lose- them- there!" Eli said as he and Drake picked up speed. They were not just running at this point it was an all out sprint, but there had been a pattern to it. Place, time, reality, place, time, reality, place, time, reality. They would continue doing this but before they completed another iteration of the pattern they changed the last step, instead of "place, time, reality" they mixed it around. It was now reality, place, time that they did, after that they pulled themselves from existence entirely and watched as two dumbfounded agents fell right into a trap that had almost trapped Eli and Drake when they first started out on their journeys.
The agents had noticed that the pattern had changed and reacted accordingly, they had gone to where Drake and Eli had exited into but couldn't find where they they had gone next. It was as if they no longer existed, they would scour this place for a whole day. And then that whole day would repeat when they tried to leave, but no matter how they traveled they could never leave. This and they would forget what they were doing there after time, they would forget much more as the years went on. Soon they themselves would be forgotten entirely as time rotted away around them...
Drake and Eli then began to make their way back to Lucas by retracing their steps from the safety of the "In-between."
You'd think that all of the gang of grey skinned sociopaths had gone after the two lunatics wielding the japanese bronze katanas, but no, apparently, one of them thought it was a good idea to stay back and check the dimensional signals.
Well, it was a good idea, but that didn't annoy Lanthe any less.
Rock music blared into the night as the woman ran through the crowd, pushing or throwing to the ground anyone that got in her way.
"Yo, be careful, ma man! What're you doi-" The man didn't finish his sentence as another person barrelled into him.
The woman ran forward, and suddenly the spaceship she was in trembled under the conflagration of the other faction's missiles.
"Everybody on board 8, to the second deck! Shoot the bastards! Now! " A man in a yellow shirt was yelling to a microfone-esque cubic item he had on his right hand, and not noticing the woman, nor the man that appeared to her left.
He was impecably dressed, grey of skin, with slick, long black hair and a gun in his right hand.
The woman with the pink hair snorted, giving a jump and a cartwheeling forward, dodging the odd-looking bullets as she changed into a cat.
The cat landed in a wooden surface, a lone raft in the middle of an ocean of deep water. It glanced backwards, growling as it took a hurried step backward and grew in size.
The man arrived to be greeted by a massive black panther, and sadly got a claw stuck in his eye and another one in his hand.
That didn't stop him, I'm afraid, as he faded back a few seconds after.
"Gun or sword? Time or Dimensions? World or Unworld?" The grey skinned man asked thoughtfully, smiling almost shyly, balancing imaginary scales as he dodged a blow from a three meter tall giant.
"Why..." The giant hit him through the torso, throwing him meters out of the raft and into the purple tinted water. "...won't..." The woman picked up his gun and shot him through the head. Thrice." you..." The gargoyle dug its long stone nails on the man's shoulders, pulling them out and spilling blood all over the raft... "DIE?"
The man faded back again, grinning, with yet another gun in hand. "Come on, now, we have all day!"
Lanthe had had enough. He was already having a very bad day without this stunner killer greasy psychopaths with an apparently unendless supply of lives and wapons.
The gargoyle extended its wings, and from stone to flesh and from claws to tentacles, the thing latched itself on the man, shredding and tearing and breaking and crunching, but never blowing off the flame of life.
A tentacle wipped away the gun from the man's sulked, broken fingers, throwing it into the water. And another tentacle flew forwards, touching the man's head and curling around his face.
The raft caught fire and exploded, and the fish around it died. The pair had travelled, and the man had gone by.
(Now, Lanthe once had refused to elaborate on what happened after a human or variation thereof followed, unauthorized, into an Other's Crossing. For reasons of politeness and ethicalness, for the readers who are weaker of heart, there shall be no description here too. But alas.)
They landed on a desert, wind being heard in the all around backround as Lanthe shifted into his favourite form, exhaling heavily.
The man faded back again, rather smugly. Then, as the parts of his last rotten and bulbous body that were still preserved, and very much alive were thrown at him in an offhanded fashion, he started to scream.
And the grey skinned agent screamed very well.
If the agent and his designated victim hadn't been travelling through time and dimensions for so long already, the paradox of the man touching his past or alternate self shortly after it died, and yet lived, could have endured. But they had. And it didn't.
(Because of similar reasons, we shall also not elaborate on what happened here. Let us just say that time did catch up with our dear Agent, and that thousands of dimensions' worth of paradoxes crashing on a person can be quite unpleasant.)
Lanthe kicked the body he had thrown at the newest self of the agent, watching as his foot easily cracked the bloody patches that were the thing's external skin. And yet, and yet, some parts of it still moved. The parts that Lanthe had been grabbing when he had travelled were there. Preserved. Unable to die, wasn't it? Unable to live, too.
A quick nudge separated the thing that could have once been called a neck from it's screaming, and very much alive, head.
Lanthe picked it up, slowly. The man's colourless eyes stared at him in mock horror as the boy heard the screaming.
"Okay, that went a little too far." The boy muttered, but decided to make the most of it. Joining the carcass and the...other carcass, the final one that was befallen by the paradoxes, in a small bunch, the boy threw the head into the bodies.
Humming softly, he took a small piece of paper from his cloak's pocket, took a pen from the man's fallen suit - which had miraculously survived- and scribbled some words into the paper. Then he placed it on top of the bodies, and made the appropriate preparations, creating yet another crossing.
In a matter of seconds, any traces of the agent were gone with its carcass(es).
Lanthe exhaled again, deeply, and then he, too, was also gone.
_
And thus the paper said:
Well, it was a good idea, but that didn't annoy Lanthe any less.
Rock music blared into the night as the woman ran through the crowd, pushing or throwing to the ground anyone that got in her way.
"Yo, be careful, ma man! What're you doi-" The man didn't finish his sentence as another person barrelled into him.
The woman ran forward, and suddenly the spaceship she was in trembled under the conflagration of the other faction's missiles.
"Everybody on board 8, to the second deck! Shoot the bastards! Now! " A man in a yellow shirt was yelling to a microfone-esque cubic item he had on his right hand, and not noticing the woman, nor the man that appeared to her left.
He was impecably dressed, grey of skin, with slick, long black hair and a gun in his right hand.
The woman with the pink hair snorted, giving a jump and a cartwheeling forward, dodging the odd-looking bullets as she changed into a cat.
The cat landed in a wooden surface, a lone raft in the middle of an ocean of deep water. It glanced backwards, growling as it took a hurried step backward and grew in size.
The man arrived to be greeted by a massive black panther, and sadly got a claw stuck in his eye and another one in his hand.
That didn't stop him, I'm afraid, as he faded back a few seconds after.
"Gun or sword? Time or Dimensions? World or Unworld?" The grey skinned man asked thoughtfully, smiling almost shyly, balancing imaginary scales as he dodged a blow from a three meter tall giant.
"Why..." The giant hit him through the torso, throwing him meters out of the raft and into the purple tinted water. "...won't..." The woman picked up his gun and shot him through the head. Thrice." you..." The gargoyle dug its long stone nails on the man's shoulders, pulling them out and spilling blood all over the raft... "DIE?"
The man faded back again, grinning, with yet another gun in hand. "Come on, now, we have all day!"
Lanthe had had enough. He was already having a very bad day without this stunner killer greasy psychopaths with an apparently unendless supply of lives and wapons.
The gargoyle extended its wings, and from stone to flesh and from claws to tentacles, the thing latched itself on the man, shredding and tearing and breaking and crunching, but never blowing off the flame of life.
A tentacle wipped away the gun from the man's sulked, broken fingers, throwing it into the water. And another tentacle flew forwards, touching the man's head and curling around his face.
The raft caught fire and exploded, and the fish around it died. The pair had travelled, and the man had gone by.
(Now, Lanthe once had refused to elaborate on what happened after a human or variation thereof followed, unauthorized, into an Other's Crossing. For reasons of politeness and ethicalness, for the readers who are weaker of heart, there shall be no description here too. But alas.)
They landed on a desert, wind being heard in the all around backround as Lanthe shifted into his favourite form, exhaling heavily.
The man faded back again, rather smugly. Then, as the parts of his last rotten and bulbous body that were still preserved, and very much alive were thrown at him in an offhanded fashion, he started to scream.
And the grey skinned agent screamed very well.
If the agent and his designated victim hadn't been travelling through time and dimensions for so long already, the paradox of the man touching his past or alternate self shortly after it died, and yet lived, could have endured. But they had. And it didn't.
(Because of similar reasons, we shall also not elaborate on what happened here. Let us just say that time did catch up with our dear Agent, and that thousands of dimensions' worth of paradoxes crashing on a person can be quite unpleasant.)
Lanthe kicked the body he had thrown at the newest self of the agent, watching as his foot easily cracked the bloody patches that were the thing's external skin. And yet, and yet, some parts of it still moved. The parts that Lanthe had been grabbing when he had travelled were there. Preserved. Unable to die, wasn't it? Unable to live, too.
A quick nudge separated the thing that could have once been called a neck from it's screaming, and very much alive, head.
Lanthe picked it up, slowly. The man's colourless eyes stared at him in mock horror as the boy heard the screaming.
"Okay, that went a little too far." The boy muttered, but decided to make the most of it. Joining the carcass and the...other carcass, the final one that was befallen by the paradoxes, in a small bunch, the boy threw the head into the bodies.
Humming softly, he took a small piece of paper from his cloak's pocket, took a pen from the man's fallen suit - which had miraculously survived- and scribbled some words into the paper. Then he placed it on top of the bodies, and made the appropriate preparations, creating yet another crossing.
In a matter of seconds, any traces of the agent were gone with its carcass(es).
Lanthe exhaled again, deeply, and then he, too, was also gone.
_
And thus the paper said:
FOR THE SECURITY AND ITS MEMBERS,
WITH LOVE.
WITH LOVE.
Eli and Drake walked along the tether that showed where they had been in their impromptu traveling, "We certainly made a mess..." Eli said as he ran his hand along the ethereal thread that had been left over from all the energy used to traverse across almost 250 different realities, 30 separate time periods and nearly 1,000 different locations. Of course most of that involved shortcuts and taking "leaps" instead of "jumps", "rushing" versus "stepping" and "warping" when they usually just "bridged".
As Eli ran his hand along the thread it began to unfurl and evanesce away into untraceable diverging paths. "We certainly did..." Drake replied back. Both of them put away their weapons and exited where they had begun with Lucas into the field. They would wait for the kid to return.
As Eli ran his hand along the thread it began to unfurl and evanesce away into untraceable diverging paths. "We certainly did..." Drake replied back. Both of them put away their weapons and exited where they had begun with Lucas into the field. They would wait for the kid to return.
The boy was waiting for them, sitting on top of a large boulder, brick-red blood splattered against his face and hair. Still wearing his usual medieval clothing, his shirt also didn't escape from the bloody mess that had happened.
"You," Lanthe declared, jumping down from the rock and adjusting the leafen brooch that held his cloak together, "are late."
"You know, I'd nearly given up on you." The boy said, tilting his head. His former attitude had disappeared completely, replaced by something rather very different. A light smile haunted his lips, and his once dark blue eyes were no longer of the frightened variety. They were the color of light glass now, and calm, and haunting.
"Drake and Eli. Eli and Drake. Have you ever been to Japan, Drake and Eli?"
"You," Lanthe declared, jumping down from the rock and adjusting the leafen brooch that held his cloak together, "are late."
"You know, I'd nearly given up on you." The boy said, tilting his head. His former attitude had disappeared completely, replaced by something rather very different. A light smile haunted his lips, and his once dark blue eyes were no longer of the frightened variety. They were the color of light glass now, and calm, and haunting.
"Drake and Eli. Eli and Drake. Have you ever been to Japan, Drake and Eli?"
Eli rolled his eyes upon hearing Lucas's comment about their tardiness as they exited a portal. The doorway closed as soon as they stepped out, "Sorry about that, we tried our best to get here as close to the time we had left." Drake explained.
"Given up on us?" Eli repeated, "Of all the impertinence..." Eli grumbled, he kept what he wanted to say next to himself. If he didn't it would surely escalate into something less than verbal.
Drake stepped in to answer Lucas's question, "Yes, we have been to Japan and at many different times in its history and future."
"If the katana and arrows weren't proof enough..." Eli snorted, he was disgusted with the kid and wanted to get away from him before anything else happened.
Drake looked back with a pleading look for Eli to mind his manners, "Why do you ask?" Drake said when he turned back to face Lucas.
"Given up on us?" Eli repeated, "Of all the impertinence..." Eli grumbled, he kept what he wanted to say next to himself. If he didn't it would surely escalate into something less than verbal.
Drake stepped in to answer Lucas's question, "Yes, we have been to Japan and at many different times in its history and future."
"If the katana and arrows weren't proof enough..." Eli snorted, he was disgusted with the kid and wanted to get away from him before anything else happened.
Drake looked back with a pleading look for Eli to mind his manners, "Why do you ask?" Drake said when he turned back to face Lucas.
((I'm going back to 1st person now 
It'll probably continue like this till the end of the roleplay.))
Oh, yes. I wondered if Eli ever heard about shopping, museums, or importation, for the matter. He probably hadn't, considering his all around attitude. Snobbish demeanor? Check. Expensive face? Check. Hair that would give Snape a run for his money in the grease department? Check.
"Well, you were just attacked by a gang of psychotic dimensional travellers who were and are really hard to kill." I drawled, giving him a disdainful look as I cleaned patches of blood off my face with my cloak, my whole "innocent victim" masquerade falling apart to let way to my irritation.
"Anyways, I really hope you had a good time, Eli and Drake, because I certainly did not."
What the hell were they thinking? To leave an innocent child alone to go kill his possible attackers is a really bad idea. I mean, it wasn't implausible that there wouldn't be another agent sneaking around through time rifts waiting for them to leave to slit the defenseless kid's throat.
The fact that I was neither innocent, nor a child, nor harmless didn't matter. It was the principle of the thing that was at fault, here.
"But you can tell me all about your rendezvous later. While I waited, I looked around. Japan. In another dimension, we'd be in it. Except that the only living beings in a thousand miles, apart from us and plants, are birds. Birds, birds, birds." I spit out the words, resisting the urge to mention the headache I was feeling coming, and not just because of hearing temporal timelines readjusting themselves to whatever mess the duo caused.
It'll probably continue like this till the end of the roleplay.))Oh, yes. I wondered if Eli ever heard about shopping, museums, or importation, for the matter. He probably hadn't, considering his all around attitude. Snobbish demeanor? Check. Expensive face? Check. Hair that would give Snape a run for his money in the grease department? Check.
"Well, you were just attacked by a gang of psychotic dimensional travellers who were and are really hard to kill." I drawled, giving him a disdainful look as I cleaned patches of blood off my face with my cloak, my whole "innocent victim" masquerade falling apart to let way to my irritation.
"Anyways, I really hope you had a good time, Eli and Drake, because I certainly did not."
What the hell were they thinking? To leave an innocent child alone to go kill his possible attackers is a really bad idea. I mean, it wasn't implausible that there wouldn't be another agent sneaking around through time rifts waiting for them to leave to slit the defenseless kid's throat.
The fact that I was neither innocent, nor a child, nor harmless didn't matter. It was the principle of the thing that was at fault, here.
"But you can tell me all about your rendezvous later. While I waited, I looked around. Japan. In another dimension, we'd be in it. Except that the only living beings in a thousand miles, apart from us and plants, are birds. Birds, birds, birds." I spit out the words, resisting the urge to mention the headache I was feeling coming, and not just because of hearing temporal timelines readjusting themselves to whatever mess the duo caused.
Drake and Eli just looked at each other and then back to Lucas as the kid went on and on about this that and whatever seemed to pop into his addled head. Drake resisted the urge to laugh at this spectacle while Eli rolled his eyes.
"There is no need to fuss. You are fine, yes? Then that is all that matters." Drake said with a pat on Lucas's head before tousling his hair a bit.
"We'd be in it? I believe the contraction you are looking for is "we're"." Eli said as he passed the kid to look around some, the autumn leaves dancing through the air as a slight breeze picked up. The red birds flying ever higher into the skies above. "Besides, we followed you here. Remember? If it is anyone's fault about where and when and what reality we are in... It would be entirely your own fault, so either take responsibility for your own carelessness or stop your infernal mewling." Eli said with a huff.
Drake rolled his eyes as he observed the temporal and spatial distortions they had made begin to smoothe back into place as if nothing had happened. "We should be safe here for a while, our repairs are beginning to even things out. Shall we look around cousin? The closest settlement is to the North Northeast." Drake said as he put his gauntlet device on standby.
"Yes, a good idea. Best I've heard all day..." Eli replied while simultaneously sending a dirty look to Lucas, Eli still didn't like the kid too much. At the very least the way that Eli remembered this individual was beginning to line up, only time would tell when he would reveal his true nature and intentions. Eli just had to watch as Lucas made more and more choices, the more choices he made the clearer the future was to Eli.
Drake faced back to Lucas, "Do you know how to 'bridge'? Some people call it spatial shifting, distance shortening or teleporting." Drake asked with a kind smile.
"There is no need to fuss. You are fine, yes? Then that is all that matters." Drake said with a pat on Lucas's head before tousling his hair a bit.
"We'd be in it? I believe the contraction you are looking for is "we're"." Eli said as he passed the kid to look around some, the autumn leaves dancing through the air as a slight breeze picked up. The red birds flying ever higher into the skies above. "Besides, we followed you here. Remember? If it is anyone's fault about where and when and what reality we are in... It would be entirely your own fault, so either take responsibility for your own carelessness or stop your infernal mewling." Eli said with a huff.
Drake rolled his eyes as he observed the temporal and spatial distortions they had made begin to smoothe back into place as if nothing had happened. "We should be safe here for a while, our repairs are beginning to even things out. Shall we look around cousin? The closest settlement is to the North Northeast." Drake said as he put his gauntlet device on standby.
"Yes, a good idea. Best I've heard all day..." Eli replied while simultaneously sending a dirty look to Lucas, Eli still didn't like the kid too much. At the very least the way that Eli remembered this individual was beginning to line up, only time would tell when he would reveal his true nature and intentions. Eli just had to watch as Lucas made more and more choices, the more choices he made the clearer the future was to Eli.
Drake faced back to Lucas, "Do you know how to 'bridge'? Some people call it spatial shifting, distance shortening or teleporting." Drake asked with a kind smile.
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