The more the mysterious voice spoke, the more angry Heather became. So, once again, some jackass with delusions of power decided to completely upend her life just for kicks?!
Dagger's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth in shock. Her kingdom was in danger of a civil war, just so whatever was speaking to them could... watch their reactions? As if it was kidnapping innocent people to put on its favorite play?
Both girls agreed that it had no right to do any of it, but didn't have time to speak before the button was revealed. Without hesitation, Heather turned to click it, but stopped when the voice explained that it was going to be reserved for one person.
"I- my kingdom needs me..." Dagger said, sounding unsure. Would it be fair to the rest of the group to take this chance to return home?
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
I think I'm a sofa
Our heroes tried to listen to eveeything, but...it was kinda hard. Riki didn't have a very large attention span, and Odin had listened to these kinds of speeches one too many times to care. The visual aid helped a lot, though.
But what caught their attention was the small pillar rising from the ground and the glowing red dot on top of it. According to their ominous captor (who Odin would have to name later), the duo who presses this button would get to go home and pretend this never happened. Odin looked around the room carefully and, with his hands behind his back, slowly approached the button. "Now, I know what you're all thinking," He said, his tone serious. "But I'm sure we can all come to a calm and rational solu—"
"Riki should press big red button!"
(holds pool noodle threateningly) Do you want to know what we do to artists?
A Squid
Rest Room
Maul and Doomguy listened to the voice attentively, or at least Maul did. Doomguy, well, he still had his shotgun out and seemed to be eyeing the other occupants at the room during the speech. The news that they could kill but the deaths would be temporary hot mixed reactions from the duo. The news that the two were 'bonded' didn't seem to sit well with Doomguy, who shifted his shotgun about, this time pointing it at the ceiling. Maul, on the other hand, lapsed into a moment of contemplation. He had always wanted an apprentice, and he could sense the hate and anger within the man he was 'bonded' with. Strong with the Force he was not, but this could be changed with certain ways. And if the man couldn't harm Maul...
He came out of his thoughts in time to hear about the button, which supposedly would return him and the other man to their homes. Maul's first thought was Why would I want to go back to a stranded existence on Malachor? Then his second thought answered the first one. Kenobi. The Jedi who had ruined his life, who had cut him in two, who had evaded revenge for far too long. Maul had to go back.
Doomguy, on the other hand, didn't even seem to pause. He took a step forward, then another, before Maul grabbed his shoulder.
"If we want to go to our worlds, we must work together," Maul muttered. "Follow my lead." Doomguy certainly didn't trust this demonic character, but they seemed to share the same goal - getting home - and if one got the button, so did the other, so...
Maul acted first, igniting his saberstaff and charging for the button. He willed the Force to move him faster, but, importantly, also to aide the speed of his partner. Doomguy moved second, charging behind Maul at surprising speeds. His shotgun was out, ready to blast anyone in his path. An unlikely pair, but one with a common goal - freedom.
edited 7th Jan '18 8:15:07 PM by Kepler-7
So that was it, huh? They just had to press a button and everything would be over. Of course they would have to do it before everyone else.
Isaac was understandably not happy with all of this. He had just destroyed the Marker he had been forced to build only to end up here with the exit literally at hand's reach. His world had a lot of things he really hated, including reanimated corpses but it was better than to keep playing this twisted game. He wasn't going to start a shootout but there was no reassurance that the other people there were going to politely discuss their situation. And after getting betrayed and back-stabbed so many times, Isaac wasn't going to let himself be caught unprepared.
"You stay right there where I can see you" he said, aiming his cutter at Odin.
Tali's viewpoint was a little different. Unlike Isaac, she loved her world but she was also much more willing to cooperate than to shoot somebody to escape. Sure, being in the same room of what looked like an AI was terrifying but no one there was actively hostile and they were all common victims of whatever had brought them there. They needed a voice of reason, and while Tali didn't see herself as much of a leader, she had been around Commander Shepard long enough that their problem-solving attitude stuck to her.
"We don't need to resort to violence" she explained, hoping that someone would listen or at the very least back her up "Everyone here wants to go home. We can discus—" ...right as the red alien and his armored companion rushed to the button "Bosh'tet"
"You are not going anywhere" Isaac said, shooting his stasis module at Darth Maul.
Calamity is a housewife
Rest Room
The disembodied voice claimed to have answers to their questions, and it seemed to have complete control of the room they were in. Claims were made of the inhabitants being brought out of their own universes, and the more he listened, the less Sol liked it.
Truth was, he already knew that another world existed; the Backyard. Though he wasn't feeling any pressure like he had the last time he stepped into that realm, it was theoretically possible for an enclosed space to have been made inside the Backyard, one that would shield its inhabitants from information density, like a submarine deep beneath the ocean.
("Scratch theoretical, it's definitely possible.")
Remembering the charm That Man had placed on him before, the one that let him withstand the effects of the Backyard long enough to go in and pursue Valentine, he knew it was possible. In fact, it would explain where That Man had been hiding from the world this entire time.
This 'Bond' that the entity spoke of, however, struck Sol's curiosity.
He looked at the young blonde girl seated apart from him, Noel, kneeling next to Heather and Dagger, her eyes wide in disbelief, typically enough.
"No way..."
Sol, the scientist, saw the nameless entity's proposal for what it was; a twisted experiment.
And just like that, the first experiment was on. A button appeared, and the nameless entity declared that the first pair to push the button would be sent home. Sol didn't believe a lick of it. All the nameless entity wanted was to see its kidnapees fight each other over it. And it was for that reason he sat back and let the others fight. Whether it was speaking the truth or not, he didn't feel up to kowtowing to this entity's whims.
Noel, for her part, seemed less sure. She wanted to go home, that was for sure, but what if the others here needed it more? Looking at their faces, she knew Heather and Dagger thought the same. Dagger spoke of a kingdom, that already seemed justification enough to want to be returned. But as a few other inhabitants proposed discussing things between each other rationally, and a few others seemed more than eager to get hostile over the button, Noel kept her hands on the guns holstered on her back, just in case.
"Shake the dust." - Anis Mojgani
Over on Komachi's end...weeeeell, she's seen stranger things, and bored gods are often the ones that end up using the most to alleviate that boredom. Usually they at least have the simple hospitality to inform her before she gets involved, however. Though that apology might have been his early notice...
When the button presented itself, and all hell broke loose...surprisingly, they both had much the same reaction.
"HEY! You can't just make us fight like that, you piece of shit!" No, getting home was not first on his list of things to do! It's not like he had anyone waiting for him there besides Josuke, and that man was patient! His first goal was to kick this guy's ass so he would bother nobody ever again; man, woman or gorilla! "You ain't gonna fool me with some low-effort trap!"
Komachi was surprised by the punk's choice, considering far more sensible-sounding people were about to kill each other over it, and said "He won't be able to fool anyone if I can have a—"
"Lady, you're gonna have to speak louder! This is—"
"Yeah, okay!"
There wasn't any spectacular move from her, or sick glowing effect or anything like that. Simply, as everyone looking at the button could tell, the space around it seemed to suddenly stretch and lengthen. Now the room was considerably larger, as the space around the objective had grown by a hole 300 feet.
throwback
Cucumber's brow furrowed as he listened to the mysterious voice's explanation. The visual aids helped, honestly. Tuning Riki out, he listened without comment until—
"Wait, do not hesitate to harm and kill?! WHAT?!"
He turned on Niko. "Y-you don't trust this guy, do you?!
"Um..." said Niko. They were staring at the button as it rose from the ground. It seemed like they were a little stunned.
"...Niko?"
"Ah! I'm sorry. Would...would that button really send us back to our own worlds?"
"I don't know," Cucumber said helplessly. Both of them looked at their bigger, scarier competition, specifically Darth Maul, who was pretty much the most intimidating, and stayed well away.
"I keep wanting to trust this voice," Niko said finally, "because they remind me a lot of my...friend, from the other world."
"Didn't you hear it, though?! It doesn't care if we kill each other!"
"I'm naming them Pancake."
"....what?"
"They said they needed a name." Niko addressed the voice again: "You said you needed a name? Is Pancake okay? I wanted to differentiate you from the, uh, other voice, and I like pancakes a lot. Hey, Pancake...is there any way to get out of here without using the button?"
"why"
Currently writing something. Currently procrastinating.
A Squid
Rest Room
Maul and Doomguy suddenly found themselves stopping as a humongous field of space presented itself rather suddenly in front of the button. Maul was shocked; he had sensed nothing in the Force, yet clearly the one who did this has to have some Force power. Or, perhaps, magic, like the Nightsisters his mother had belonged to...
So distracted was Maul that the stasis module hit him head on, and suddenly he found himself moving incredibly slowly. Doomguy, knowing that only one of them had to press the button, charged towards the button, now unaided by Maul's Force powers.
edited 9th Jan '18 10:11:11 AM by Kepler-7
I think I'm a sofa
Well, so much for that.
Odin froze when Isaac pointed his weapon at him. He wasn't scared of being killed (well, not as much as before), but he stopped to show Isaac that he was working in everyone's good interest.
But before he could try to rationalize, the man with horns and the man in armor made a run for the button. Odin, now inspired by his heroic instinct (with the added benefit of no longer being threatened by a machine(?)) quickly brandished his Thunder tome and pointed a finger at the Doomguy. "Not so fast!" He yelled, and a single bolt of lightning erupted from his hands and jumped in Doomguy's direction. The warped space disoriented him, so the attack probably wouldn't connect anyway. But with Odin's knowledge of tomes, such a heavily armored man must've had a terrible resistance to magic, right?
...He was awfully fast, though...
"Ooh, this not good!" Riki trembled, holding the Hunter Biter in one wing. "Childpon get behind Riki! Let Riki handle this!" He waved his weapon around in an attempt to look intimidating, but actually...it was pretty cute.
(holds pool noodle threateningly) Do you want to know what we do to artists?
Heather and Dagger watched as Maul and Doomguy charged the button, furious but unsure if they had any power over the situation. Those two were selfish enough to try and steal the way home from everyone?
As soon as both men seemed to be slowed by their fellow kidnappees, Dagger pulled out her rod. "How dare you!" she yelled before starting to chant under her breath. Luckily, someone else moved the button enough that she almost certainly had time to summon Shiva to stop Doomguy.
edited 13th Jan '18 5:41:14 PM by Skooter910
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
Transcender of Gender
Rest Room
It was a lot of information to process. What immediately stood out to Archie was that the voice knew his name- it made sense, though, if it had been observing them previously. The 'different dimensions' revelation was less of a surprise, since he had been the one to bring it up. So did this being know about the Rayquaza Incident? What about all the Pokémon rumoured to have inter-dimensional power? A lesser man may have been intimidated by the being's omnipresence, but Archie simply found himself interested.
Next to him, Tetra was watching Maul and Doomguy's mad race to the button, an annoyed frown on her face. "What's eatin' ya, kid?" Archie asked, following her line of sight to where a lightning bolt suddenly arched out of one of the other occupants. Not something that Archie saw every day, that's for sure. "Have a need to get home yerself?"
"Well, yeah, those idiots won't survive a day without me..." She crossed her arms, raising her voice to reach beyond just the two of them. "But what are the chances that that button is our way back? This weirdo kidnaps us, explains his big plan, and then immediately offers us a chance to get back if we can run fast enough? I'm not gonna ask 'how high' if some freak tells me to jump!"
She tutted, irked by what she saw as incompetence on the part of her new group. After a moment, however, her attention switched over to Archie, intrigued by something else that the voice had made mention of. "Oi, gramps... you're normal, right? Not crazy strong or anything?"
Archie peered down at the girl curiously. "...'S far as I know. Pretty strong, to toot my own horn, but jus' a regular ol' man otherwi-"
Tetra whipped out her gun and shot him in the face. The concentrated blast of water exploded against Archie's beard, drenching him and anyone unfortunate enough to be in proximity of the duo. He recoiled, eyes wide with surprise, but didn't appear to have been harmed at all from the blast.
"...Scamp, you could've killed me." His surprise shifted to... a sort of concern, for the apparent trigger-happiness of his 'companion'.
"Relax, worst it would've done is give you a headache. Least this weirdo's telling the truth about one thing..." Tetra nonchalantly holstered the weapon, unsheathing her cutlass in its place. "This would've killed you. Care to test it out too?"
Staring at her for a few seconds longer, rivulets of water still streaming from his face, Archie abruptly cracked up, his laughter loud and booming "Y' got guts, scamps. I like you!" He reached down and gave her a hearty clap on the shoulder- which, if it hadn't been for the 'no hitting' rule, would've been strong enough to nearly knock her to the ground.
Tetra glared back, unsure yet whether she liked or hated him. "...Well, whatever." She sheathed the cutlass once more. "Even if the weirdo's right and the button lets us go back home... I'm not in that much of a hurry." More than that, there were probably others who needed to get home more desperately than she did... Not that she'd ever cop to feeling that way, of course.
Instead, she put her pinkies in her mouth and wolf-whistled, attempting to catch everyone's (particularly Doomguy's) attention. "OI! You gonna act like toddlers fighting over your favourite toy... " She jerked her head over at Niko, having overheard their query about other ways back home. "Or are you gonna let the actual toddler be smarter than all of you?! Don't just obey this voice without question, idiots!"
edited 9th Jan '18 4:38:50 PM by whizzerd
they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob
A hulking blur resolved itself into the shape of Winston, who immediately tried to place himself between their path and the button. "There's a solution here that does not involve violence," he rumbled, sternly looking down his glasses at the array of individuals who had drawn their weapons or were in the act of doing so.
"Clearly," he announced, sitting down on his haunches and stretching his toes, "our...." the gorilla struggled to search for the right word; "captor" didn't quite fit, but this being was definitely anything but a "benefactor," he reminded himself, "our... host clearly intended this button to-"
"It could be a trap," said the other gorilla, looking over at Tetra as she beat him to the punch. "For all we know, pushing that button could do anything. It's not we know that our -"
"host?" suggested Winston offhandedly again
"our host has our best interest at Spark."
throwback
"Thanks??" Niko said to Tetra hesitantly. "But I'm not—I'm not a toddler...and also Pancake's not answering"
"Hey, Riki, uh...are you sure you're not going to get hurt?" Cucumber asked him. He was not getting behind Riki. In fact, he was frozen, caught between sticking with Riki and pulling Niko back over—the kid had started wandering over to Tetra and Archie, clearly seeking more help.
The weird, warped space was surprising enough. He'd never seen magic like that before. In fact, it intimidated him enough that he reached into his backpack and pulled out his magic wand: it was, absolutely, the most pathetic-looking weapon out of anyone here right now.
"I don't want to fight..." he muttered, half to himself, half to Riki, "but if it means protecting you and that kid—I mean, Niko—I have a few tricks I can try."
Currently writing something. Currently procrastinating.
A Squid
‘’’Rest Room’’’
Maul, suddenly unfrozen from the stasis module, slinked back, now that eyes were on his bond partner as opposed to Maul himself. He knew that the voice was most likely lying, but for any chance to get Kenobi, he would kill. Or, in this case, his partner would. This... armored man reminded him of Savage in his own way; filled with rage and power, just needing direction and an outlet to become truly powerful.
Doomguy, meanwhile, suddenly found himself apparently struck by a lightning bolt. The runes on his armor glowed as they absorbed the brunt of the damage, but he was still shocked and flew to the side, jumping into a roll and coming up with his shotgun in one hand, pistol in the other. As he came up, he found a....gorilla in his path. Huh. He lowered his weapons momentarily. When the child wolf-whistled, he glanced over for a second before ignoring them. Doomguy had a way of solving problems, and that was usually with violence. However, he made no attempt to move or fire (something Maul, from the back, found irritating). Apparently he was willing to be persuaded.
edited 11th Jan '18 6:53:38 PM by Kepler-7
While Isaac was too busy brandishing his weapon and making sure the red bald guy didn't get to the button, Tali just looked exasperated. This scenario seemed built to breed conflict but thankfully at least a few people were trying to bring some logic into this mess.
"Yes! The child and the..." Winston didn't look like any alien Tali had met but if she had to take a guess, he was a weird combination of a hunched-over krogan and a very hairy human "...man are right. This feels like a trap"
"I'm personally tired of following orders from voices in my head. What do you have in mind?" said Isaac.
"I'm glad you asked. I suggest starting with checking what the button is even connected to" Tali then turned on her omni-tool's holographic interface and analyzing the button.
edited 11th Jan '18 8:01:33 PM by DeisTheAlcano
I think I'm a sofa
"Woah, that worked? I mean, uh, of course it worked!" Odin put his hands on his hips triumphantly. "I am an expert mage, after all!"
"Yay, Din-Din did it!" Riki cheered, oblivious to what the others had to say about the situation (whether or not they contributed more than Odin did). "And Riki didn't have to lift a finger!" He turned to Cucumber and grinned. "Riki won't get hurt! Riki isn't afraid of big, scary Hom-Hom! Good that childpon can use magic, though."
Man, that Riki guy is weird, Odin thought, adjusting his bright yellow hero cape.
(holds pool noodle threateningly) Do you want to know what we do to artists?
As the fight seemed to wind down, Dagger stopped chanting. It was fortunate that everything was calmed down in time, as Shiva was close to being unleashed. Instead, Dagger simply put her rod away and waited for the discussion to start.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
"Or," Komachi interrupted, "not. We shouldn't do anything until we understand this better."
"What, as long as someone doesn't press it while they're doing it! I don't think our host or whatever we're..."
Hold on, the person who brought out that term, he was a...no way, he couldn't be...
"Hey, you there," he said, walking over to Winston, "you're not just wearin' a costume or somethin', right? You look pretty real to me."
Komachi raised her hand towards the button, just to make it clear who was pulling this off, and started to slowly close the distance between it and everyone else. "This kind of thing's what voting was made for. Do we try to dismantle it, or leave it alone?" she asked the rest of the group.
Calamity is a housewife
Rest Room
With the eager combatants in the room finally calming, and the entire situation simmering down, Noel let go of her guns. The brief respite gave her a moment to think on what the entity said earlier... something about a 'bond' she'd be sharing with someone else. She looked to Sol, the bounty hunter leaning on a wall not too far from her. She wasn't certain, but she remembered him being the closest distance to her when she awoke, and when she'd moved away from him and towards Heather and Dagger, the pulling sensation in her stomach had returned.
Back to the present, a woman put a question up to vote; investigate the button, or leave it alone entirely?
Noel, upon realizing that everyone else was probably right and that the button was a test (and likely wouldn't send anyone home anyway), grew a bit cautious. Anything could happen when that button was pushed... or tampered with.
"U-uh... I think I'll vote for leaving it alone... we don't know what it could do."
Sol, still on his wall, shrugged. A part of him sort of wanted to know what the button did. Maybe it'd give him some sort of profile on who they were dealing with.
"If you people wanna mess with it, by all means."
As he put up his vote to let Tali dismantle the thing, he scootched slightly away from the button, while Noel looked at him in disapproval.
"Shake the dust." - Anis Mojgani
Rest Room
The light emanating from the walls pulsed in time with the mysterious voice as it continued.
I WILL TRY TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS AS SIMPLEST AS I CAN. TO BEGIN: WHERE YOU ARE. YOU ARE ALL PERHAPS THE FARTHEST FROM YOUR HOMES AS YOU HAVE BEEN OR WILL EVER BE. IT IS AS ARCHIE SAID. YOU ARE ALL IN A UNIVERSE DIFFERENT FROM YOUR OWN.
One of the walls - the on Okuyasu had tried to destroy earlier - grew lighter until it was plain white. A VISUAL AID MIGHT HELP YOU TO UNDERSTAND. A shape was drawn on the wall, the squeaking of markers on a whiteboard accompanying it. A large blue circle was drawn in the center of the wall, followed by a larger black circle surrounding it. THE SHAPE IN THE CENTER REPRESENTS THIS CURRENT UNIVERSE. THE SHAPE IT IS INSIDE OF REPRESENTS THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN IT AND EVERY OTHER UNIVERSE. As the voice spoke, several dots of various colors were drawn into existence, peppering the space outside the black circle.
AS YOU HAVE SEEN I HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THIS UNIVERSE. I CAN ONLY OBSERVE THOSE THAT EXIST OUTSIDE OF THIS ONE HOWEVER. I AND THIS UNIVERSE HAS EXISTED FOR AN INDEFINITE AMOUNT OF TIME.
More lines were drawn on the wall, connecting the various outer dots together, one to another, crossing over the blue circle.
WHILE OBSERVING ALL OF THESE OTHER UNIVERSES I DISCOVERED THAT FOR AS MUCH AS THEY ARE DIFFERENT THEY ARE THE SAME. I DISCOVERED THAT I COULD CONNECT THESE UNIVERSES TOGETHER THROUGH THESE SIMILARITIES. THIS CONNECTION OFTEN RESULTED IN SOMETHING FROM ONE UNIVERSE BEING BROUGHT TO THE OTHER OR THE CONNECTIONS THEMSELVES PHYSICALLY MERGING BOTH UNIVERSES TOGETHER. FURTHER EXPERIMENTS LED ME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT CONNECTING TWO INDIVIDUALS TOGETHER - THAT IS ALL OF YOU - THE RESULT WOULD BE THAT THEY WOULD EFFECTIVELY MEET IN THE MIDDLE. THE MIDDLE BEING HERE.
The wall turned back to its normal glowing blue. AS FOR WHY YOU ARE HERE: I COULD ONLY INTERACT WITH OTHER UNIVERSES IN AN OBSERVATIONAL WAY. AS SUCH MY KNOWLEDGE WAS LIMITED. I COULD NOT BE SATED WITH THE LIMITED POSSIBILITIES I COULD MAKE MYSELF. I BROUGHT YOU ALL HERE TO OBSERVE YOU PERSONALLY. TO LEARN FROM YOU. YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT YOU ARRIVED WITH ONE OTHER BEING. THIS IS WHO YOU ARE CONNECTED TO. I HAVE NAMED THIS CONNECTION AS A 'BOND'. I AM NOT CERTAIN HOW THIS 'BOND' WILL AFFECT YOU. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE 'BOND' PREVENTS YOU FROM HARMING YOUR OTHER. PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO HARM AND KILL SOMEONE ELSE HOWEVER. WHILE DEATH MIGHT NOT BE PLEASANT I ASSURE YOU IT WILL NOT BE PERMANENT.
AS FOR WHO I AM: OUTSIDE OF CONTROLLING THIS UNIVERSE I DO NOT KNOW. I HAVE EXISTED FOR SO LONG YET CANNOT FATHOM MY OWN EXISTENCE. IF YOU WISH FOR A NAME I DO NOT HAVE ONE. YOU ARE FREE TO NAME ME YOURSELVES IF YOU WISH.
NOW THEN.
In the center of the room, a pillar started to rise from the floor. It was small and narrow, only rising a few feet up before it stopped. The carpet that was still on the pillar puffed up, growing red and shiny. It started to blink. Every other second it flashed red.
TO THOSE WHO WISH TO RETURN TO THEIR HOME: SIMPLY PRESS THE BUTTON IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM. YOU - AND YOUR OTHER - SHALL BE RETURNED TO YOUR OWN UNIVERSE FROM THE MOMENT YOU WERE TAKEN.
ONLY ONE PERSON WILL BE ABLE TO PRESS THE BUTTON. THE REST SHALL REMAIN.
YOU MAY COME TO THE CONCLUSION OF WHO WILL PRESS THE BUTTON THROUGH YOUR OWN MERITS. I WILL NOT INTERFERE.