Taking Ogre the Omniverse

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Other dimensions. A strange concept to be sure, but Shrek had come across them a few times before, what with racing in Madagascar Kartz and Super Star Kartz. But this place was different. There were no people, no buildings. It wasn't even ruin. It was pure blackness.

Shrek was tragically sucked in through a window in space-time when he least expected it, taking an evening stroll alone.

The ogre could still see himself, though, in this strange land. He tried calling out for Fiona and the kids. While his mouth moved, his vocal cords would not comply. A strange luminescent man that was radiating light also came out of a portal to this strange place.

He talked to Shrek about a place called the Omniverse, and how he, Omni, was responsible for Shrek's current plight.

Shrek was supposed to be the scariest thing in the land, but he was afraid of this... this... spirit or god that was controlling his body so Shrek would'not attack. Omni handed him an orb that felt like glass, but shimmered like neon. All the colors of the light spectrum shone on it.

“This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most.

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn.

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Shrek felt himself lose conciousness, as the strange apparition that was Omni disappeared.

He awoke in front of a metal drinking fountain. Shrek's jaw dropped as he saw the startling opposite of the void he was just in: a landscape of pure white, somehow receiving light, even though there was no sun.

[Leonardo Watch]

The darkness surrounding Zuko was vast and endless. There was nothing visible, save for his own body floating in the empty space. Did he died? Was this what dead felt like? Was he going to be here forever? Time didn't seem to pass, but it wouldn't matter anyways if it did.

He couldn't capture the Avatar. He couldn't regain his honor. He couldn't get back home. Ever since he had to sail across the world, he never actually felt fear. But it seemed the only living nightmare he had had become real, and now he was trapped in a place devoid even from the most basic defining caracteristics of space itself.

He failed. And now it was over. But did it matter? Even if dying would bring disgrace to his memory of everyone in the Fire Nation, he wouldn't be there to feel the shame of his failures. But getting comfortable with this idea wasn't something Zuko would do, he couldn't let his image get stained by all his mistakes. A second chance to still prove he's worthy of glory wasn't something possible though, or at least not be remembered by his failures.

After who knows how much time (if that was something that existed here), a white silhouette appeared in front of him. It was a sudden entrance, but he couldn't move to respond to it.

The white figure took an humanoid shape. Was he a spirit? Maybe he wasn't dead after all, just floating around in who knows where in the spirit world. That'll be convenient, or at least better than dying.

The white spirit spoke to him:

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.”

“This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most.

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn.

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

If this figure was telling the truth, then this wasn't the spirit wolrd, but instead some place called Omniverse.

But what captured his attention the most in the speech was the “he interested him” part. What had he that was interesting? Zuko never was someone you'd call “spiritual”, and he himself wasn't interested in spirits that much. Kind of frustrated with them actually. The only thing they ever did was ensure the Avatar would get away from him, like in Roku's Temple. The Avatar himself was someone attuned with the spirits, not him.

Maybe he was a plaything by them, and that's why he was “interesting”. And now they'll make it not harder, but impossible to end his quest. Yeah, that'll be more “interesting”, if somewhat saddistic. He didn't understand spirits.

Zuko didn't know how to feel about all this “omni-” things. Confusion was a given, as he still had no idea what this place actually was or what to do here. Fear was another: from what Omni said, it didn't seem he would be leaving this place soon, for as long as he was “interesting”. He was starting to hate that word.

His blood was boiling inside of him. He wanted to scream to the spirit, and tell him how much he wasn't “interested” in this. He wanted to reach to his fire withing him, but for some reasson he could't even feel his inner flame. Trying to move was futile, let alone attack. Or run away.

The darkess faded. Zuko was now in a white landscape, with no visible floor, sky, or horizon. The only thing here was a fountain made of metal, with water flowing.

Zuko just stood there, gazing at the fountain, but not actually watching it. He tried to recall what happened, before and after his encounter with the white spirit. It was a lot, but his memory was kind of fuzzy. He couldn't remember exactly what happened before the darkness surrounded him, but he did remember the things Omni said.

He was still angry about the situation. Now that he could move, his breathing started getting a bit erratic and hotter with each breath. When he couldn't take it anymore, the fire and frustration exploded away in a fireball at the fountain, destroying most of it.

Water was running in the floor. He looked at it, then at the broken fountain, and then... To a green monster?

He didn't knew someone (or something) was here, with all the introspection and confusion about the situation, but he didn't care. Zuko changed to a combat position.

“Who's there?!” called Zuko, with a defiant voice, ready to throw more fire if necessary.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Shrek fearfully spoke, "take it easy. I was sent here just like you.

"Who exactly are you, anyway?"

[Leonardo Watch]

The green monster's reaction kind of surprised Zuko. He looked like something that would attack at first sight, yet the way he talked was more of someone surprised by him. This whole situation was really confusing.

Zuko changed to a less aggressive pose, and exhaled out the fire he was charging for the supposed follow up of his previous attack, leaving out some smoke from his mouth. He was still aware to what the green monster could do though.

“I'm Zuko...”. Was it necessary to mention he was a prince? For now he'll leave it at that.

“So you've been thrown here too? With the whole 'Omni' thing and all?”. The white spirit did mention other people was here, right?

“And what are you exactly?”. Zuko watched him carefully. He still couldn't make sense of what this thing was, but at least it wasn't being aggressive. For now.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

"Yes," Shrek replied, "I was taken by this Omni, too. (He felt like not mentioning his family for now.) I'm an ogre.

"You must come from a universe where there are no ogres."

[Leonardo Watch]

"Certainly, no... I don't think I ever heard of them"

By now, Zuko already calmed down, and started looking more carefully his surroundings. In the horizon, there was what looked to be gates, but he couldn't tell exactly how far they were. Were them big doors far away or small doors relatively near? Perspective was hard to discern when everything was a shapeless, dull white landscape, and having one eye nearly blind didn't help.

He looked back to the ogre. "Do you have a name?"

[Asriel Dreemurr]

"It's Shrek."

[Leonardo Watch]

"Okay, Shrek...". Zuko gave another look to the distant gates in the horizon. "Do you think we should go and ckeck those doors? I don't think there's too much else to do here"

"Also, where do you come from?". Zuko was starting to get bored of this place, but was somewhat intrigued by the ogre. Meeting someone like him wasn't precisely an everyday occurence. But, again, none that happened to him lately had been.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

"I think we should go through one of those arches," Shrek concured, "Before this whole Omni thing, I lived in a swamp with my family.

"I would like to get out of this place as soon as possible so I can get back to them.

"Where do you come from?"

[Leonardo Watch]

"I come from the Fire Nation, a powerfull empire at war with the rest of the world.. Although I, personally, had been living on a ship for some time, looking for a specific someone". Mentioning the Avatar would probably lead to a long conversation about the history of his world, and Zuko wasn't up for that. Neither for explaining he was a banished prince on an almost impossible quest so he could return home.

"I'll head to that door", said Zuko, pointing at the archway made of stone in the distance (the east gate).

He started walking towards that point. After a few steps, he looked back at the ogre, and made a little gesture with his head, almost imperceptible.

"You can follow me if you want"

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Shrek walked along with Zuko to the east gate of Camelot.