09-21-2015, 11:21 PM
The group of survivors didn't know what to expect as they gathered their courage and plunged straight into the portal's shimmering surface. But whatever it was that some of them had anticipated as they allowed the gateway's mystical energies to wash over them, it certainly wasn't what ultimately greeted them on the other side.
Aside from the portal behind them, the scene of the thick jungle foliage they had left behind still framed within it, there was nothing but sleek darkness stretching out as far as the eye could see. Cold, inhuman darkness, thirsting to conquer any light that penetrated the lair of shadows. Those who traversed it were immediately reminded of the white expanses of the Nexus — but even the center of the Omniverse, with its vast stretches of nothing, contained landmarks which helped travelers navigate their way to their destination. The pocket of space in which the motley crew found itself in, however, was empty....Or at least appeared so at first glance. The only thing that provided any indication as to where they they had to go were the glowing white lines on the ground — not that they could really distinguish between the land and sky in such pitch blackness — which stretched into various directions, though even they only lasted a few feet before they disappeared into the shadows.
Now of clear mind and unyielding spirit, Christa spearheaded the group's advance into the literal void. But for all her focus and confidence, the leader was no less flummoxed by the situation that they now faced. Her companions were mostly wrapped in silence — some were still awe-struck by the scene before them while others thought about their encounter with the ghastly 'Katia' mere minutes ago. Yet, all of them had the same question lingering in their mind, one that the apparition chose not to address....one that it left Christa to answer. The blonde rebel was aware of this — she could see the curiosity shining, if not outright burning, in their eyes. Whether knowingly or not, she found herself averting their gazes, attempting to focus on the task at hand.
Without turning around, the female soldier spoke up: "Top Man, do you have a reading of this area's layout?"
The robot master had been way ahead of her, checking his data as soon as they passed through the entryway. But it didn't take long for the android to shake his head in response: "...No can do. Every time it finishes buffering and the map appears, it restarts anew and shows a completely different map." Much to the Dataverse celebrity's chagrin, the situation was even worse than in the swamp. Not only was the navigational program completely dysfunctional, even his stream and comment feed were only working with significant connection delays. The responses from his viewers were predictable, but he didn't even have the 'luxury' of reading most of their bile and vitriol they were throwing at him. The massive influx of comments only appeared in random and sudden bursts due to the lag, leaving him little time to read any of it even if he were inclined to do so. "Either the app is busted....."
"....Or the actual physical area keeps changing," Richtoffen added, a conclusion that would have seemed ridiculous in the past. The doctor grimaced, expressing his vexation by letting his native language slip: "Verdammt! Was sollen wir denn jetzt machen, wie ein kopfloses Hühner herumlaufen?!"
"Now, now, let's not lose our heads here," Abner interjected, trying to keep the situation under control. Rummaging through his pocket, he brought out his new lighter and opened it with an audible click. After a few flickers, he finally managed to light the fuse. Yet, contrary to what he had anticipated, the fire he started didn't illuminate the area around them — in fact, it didn't seem to project any sort of light, almost as if the small flame existed in a vacuum. The Captain scrunched his forehead in bemusement: "...Well, that's something." This prompted Top Man to try out his lights, but they did nothing to penetrate the darkness ahead of them either.
"A leap of faith, huh?" Isaac commented, his blue eyes focused on the point where the lines on the surface, or at least what they thought was the surface, gradually paled into nothingness. The veteran wasn't the least bit intimidated by the notion of traversing the area blindly — he had absolutely nothing to lose. Captain Crow, meanwhile, shook his head. As an experienced sailor, he knew that sailing into unknown waters without the help of any instruments was foolhardy. But they had little choice and the pirate certainly wasn't planning on turning around and crossing the wetland that had ravenously consumed some of their comrades again.
The rest of them remained silent, too caught up in their own swirling thoughts. Prodded by her heartache again, Klaud barely paid any attention to the conversation that was going on. The heartbroken general was flanked on both sides by Lyra and Raw Onion, both of which were trying to support and comfort her as best as they could. Clayton and Grobdum continued to throw suspicious and hostile glances at one another, their hands firmly on their weapons. Subtle cues such as an eyebrow raise, a hardened glance over, or a crisply drawn scowl upon their lips, kept both warriors on their toes. Meanwhile, Pinocchio was caught up between feeling relieved that he survived the swamp and feeling slightly intimidated by the blackness ahead.
Seeing as how they weren't going to get anywhere by just standing there, Christa addressed her comrades: "Whatever the case, it's too late to turn back now. We'll just have to risk it. Let's go. And above all else, let’s stick together." With those words, she picked one of the glowing diagonal -but now perpendicular- lines to follow and proceeded in that direction. Some of the others exchanged nervous glances, but followed suit nonetheless. If nothing else, their leader was correct in that they had long passed the point of no return. Besides, this was it... They were on Omni's very real doorstep. Somewhere in the void, beyond what their eyes could perceive, and beyond what their thoughts could fathom, lay their final destination.
***
It didn't take long for the motley crew to get lost but that wasn't the only problem they faced. The group quickly came to discover that its monochrome appearance wasn't the sole unique feature of that place. At seemingly random spots, spacetime did not function the way they were accustomed to. Klaud stepped into a sudden gap that none of them could have seen, her fall only prevented by the quick intervention from others. Grobdum 'fell' upwards onto the 'ceiling' — the shaman quickly picked himself up and began jumping and shouting out of bewilderment, unable to understand why everyone was suddenly upside down. And Top Man had to politely request that people not moonwalk into him on more than one occasion.
Though it didn't intentionally wear down their spirit like the Swamp of Sorrows, the Void's seemingly chaotic and random nature and the inability to distinguish their environment still managed to unnerve them. Clayton in particular was at the absolute end of his patience, quietly walking onward as he resisted the urge to gnash his own teeth out of frustration. After months of fruitless searching, that bloody swamp and now this, he had simply had enough. He was tired of that place, tired of the journey, tired and utterly enervated by the fools and nitwits he had to keep enduring. Not only did it wear his patience, but it also wore at his conscience. It was taking him all his willpower not to put a bullet in a nearby person's head, especially since that 'orc man thing' kept staring at him, observing his every move. As itchy as his trigger finger was, he needed them... At least for a little while longer.
...
Having completely lost any sense of time, the secondaries remained ticking along for what seemed like hours. Fortunately for them, the lines they followed didn't disappear after a few feet like they had originally thought and those glowing stripes continued to help guide them through the darkness. After some time, the group eventually stumbled upon an area of the space that wasn't as empty.
Stretching before them was a large field of various physical objects — stone statues, bronze tools, grandfather clocks, steel cabinets, energy reactors, enchanted lights and much more, all swishing and swirling in the air. Their size, their function, their construction, all of it was entirely arbitrary and their presence had no rhyme or reason to it. It was as though some entity had traveled across countless worlds, took possession of whatever it could find and used the pocket of space as its own private stash. The way the items were placed was even more random than their nature — some stood or lied normally while others were attached to invisible walls or even floated in mid-air. A picture frame -nailed into nothingness- lingered a little too close to Christa’s nose. With some inspection, she would notice the face of a little girl with a shining smile facing right at her. Suspiciously, the leader’s eyes narrowed, as though she were tipped off by an entity more powerful than fate, and a stirring doubt swilled within her, stronger than she could control.
But as bizarre and outlandish as the environment was, there was something else that ended up quickly drawing their attention. Hovering in place in the midst of the chaotic mess was a large, luminescent creature, a being of pure white luminescence. Bird-like in shape, its small body was dwarfed by its massive wingspan, which possessed an unusual tree branch appearance. Though it had what appeared to be a claw-shaped mouth, whether it possessed any other details was impossible to discern — its radiance was too intense.
Awestricken by the mere sight of it, the group hesitantly waded through the field and came closer to the unknown entity. But the unnatural being didn't address them or react in any way — it didn't even acknowledge their existence. It merely continued to levitate in complete stillness, fluttering in its holy grace, and continuing to shine in all its glory.
Finding themselves in an unusual conundrum, the group exchanged hushed whispers, discussing how to proceed. Some thought that they should attempt to address it while others thought it wise to just avoid it. But whatever ideas they had, they never got the chance to reach a consensus, for a member of the group decided to act on his own initiative.
As he ignored the chatter of his companions, Clayton took a step or two closer to the creature. Grinning widely, he thought to himself how this horrid journey might have been worth it after all. If he could claim possession of such a magnificent specimen, the rewards he would reap would be great indeed. There was only a moment or two during which he hesitated to raise his firearm, wondering if he was being a bit too careless about this, wondering if he should continue to feign care and caution. But after such a wretched trek, he was fed up with all of it, both his insufferable 'comrades' and the act he was putting up. Clayton was without compromise. He didn't care anymore....NO ONE was going to get in the way of his prize. The group scrambled around, softly bickering, others pointing, and Top Man continued to try and film it all, only to find the feed of his camera had stopped working.
As the hunter aimed his rifle, Christa caught sight of his reckless actions. Alarmed by his intentions, she shouted: "Wait....Clayton, STOP!" But even if Clayton had cared even the slightest bit about her commands at that moment, it was already too late. A single shot rang out in the darkness, startling the rest of the group. A swished lunge motion and her fair fell as the reality dawned on her. It had been too late.
The bullet hit its mark.... And bounced harmlessly off of a force-field barrier, bright orange hexagonal ripples spreading out from the point where the projectile hit. As the hunter stared in disbelief at his apparent failure, Christa delivered a steamrolling punch into Clayton’s jaw. He was still stupefied by his failure and his body could only swing with reaction to her hardened fist. In the time Christa had taken to sucker punch her favorite hunter, the massive creature slowly shifted, turning around its own axis to face them. Power emanated from its gait, and its powerful stance would send a shrill coil of fear into Christa, as she shook out the pang of pain from her fist. The group, terrified by the prospect of having to face this mysterious -albeit almighty- being, drew out their own weapons, prepared to defend themselves, and ready to put up one hell of a fight.
In a moment, Christa suddenly realized that she now stared at one of Omni’s rumored angels.
Without warning, the secondaries were showered by a beam of yellow light, utterly overwhelming their senses. Screams of terror and agony flooded the void as the group collectively felt something, or someone, penetrating and tearing through their minds, devouring all their knowledge and memories — even those lying within the deepest, darkest depths. As they continued to resist in vain, their bodies contorted in unnatural ways, gruesome crackling accompanying the twisting and turning of their bones. The non-organic Pinocchio and Top Man were no less affected — as their minds went blank, their appendages began to rapidly rotate, almost as if someone was trying to unscrew all of their individual parts. As the star robot tried to screen and analyze the impossible, a disorderly mass of data and images rapidly flooded his imagery receptors as this mental assault transpired.
A few flickers of light, and the vibrance expired. Like a flashbang, everyone was left in a daze. Ears rang, minds jolted, and memories disturbed.
Christa came to and had found herself splat against the ‘floor’ of the Void. The secondary took a breath, as she tried to recover from it all. And looked up only to seem the madness incur on her companions.
And the creature still remained.
[spoiler]
Aside from the portal behind them, the scene of the thick jungle foliage they had left behind still framed within it, there was nothing but sleek darkness stretching out as far as the eye could see. Cold, inhuman darkness, thirsting to conquer any light that penetrated the lair of shadows. Those who traversed it were immediately reminded of the white expanses of the Nexus — but even the center of the Omniverse, with its vast stretches of nothing, contained landmarks which helped travelers navigate their way to their destination. The pocket of space in which the motley crew found itself in, however, was empty....Or at least appeared so at first glance. The only thing that provided any indication as to where they they had to go were the glowing white lines on the ground — not that they could really distinguish between the land and sky in such pitch blackness — which stretched into various directions, though even they only lasted a few feet before they disappeared into the shadows.
Now of clear mind and unyielding spirit, Christa spearheaded the group's advance into the literal void. But for all her focus and confidence, the leader was no less flummoxed by the situation that they now faced. Her companions were mostly wrapped in silence — some were still awe-struck by the scene before them while others thought about their encounter with the ghastly 'Katia' mere minutes ago. Yet, all of them had the same question lingering in their mind, one that the apparition chose not to address....one that it left Christa to answer. The blonde rebel was aware of this — she could see the curiosity shining, if not outright burning, in their eyes. Whether knowingly or not, she found herself averting their gazes, attempting to focus on the task at hand.
Without turning around, the female soldier spoke up: "Top Man, do you have a reading of this area's layout?"
The robot master had been way ahead of her, checking his data as soon as they passed through the entryway. But it didn't take long for the android to shake his head in response: "...No can do. Every time it finishes buffering and the map appears, it restarts anew and shows a completely different map." Much to the Dataverse celebrity's chagrin, the situation was even worse than in the swamp. Not only was the navigational program completely dysfunctional, even his stream and comment feed were only working with significant connection delays. The responses from his viewers were predictable, but he didn't even have the 'luxury' of reading most of their bile and vitriol they were throwing at him. The massive influx of comments only appeared in random and sudden bursts due to the lag, leaving him little time to read any of it even if he were inclined to do so. "Either the app is busted....."
"....Or the actual physical area keeps changing," Richtoffen added, a conclusion that would have seemed ridiculous in the past. The doctor grimaced, expressing his vexation by letting his native language slip: "Verdammt! Was sollen wir denn jetzt machen, wie ein kopfloses Hühner herumlaufen?!"
"Now, now, let's not lose our heads here," Abner interjected, trying to keep the situation under control. Rummaging through his pocket, he brought out his new lighter and opened it with an audible click. After a few flickers, he finally managed to light the fuse. Yet, contrary to what he had anticipated, the fire he started didn't illuminate the area around them — in fact, it didn't seem to project any sort of light, almost as if the small flame existed in a vacuum. The Captain scrunched his forehead in bemusement: "...Well, that's something." This prompted Top Man to try out his lights, but they did nothing to penetrate the darkness ahead of them either.
"A leap of faith, huh?" Isaac commented, his blue eyes focused on the point where the lines on the surface, or at least what they thought was the surface, gradually paled into nothingness. The veteran wasn't the least bit intimidated by the notion of traversing the area blindly — he had absolutely nothing to lose. Captain Crow, meanwhile, shook his head. As an experienced sailor, he knew that sailing into unknown waters without the help of any instruments was foolhardy. But they had little choice and the pirate certainly wasn't planning on turning around and crossing the wetland that had ravenously consumed some of their comrades again.
The rest of them remained silent, too caught up in their own swirling thoughts. Prodded by her heartache again, Klaud barely paid any attention to the conversation that was going on. The heartbroken general was flanked on both sides by Lyra and Raw Onion, both of which were trying to support and comfort her as best as they could. Clayton and Grobdum continued to throw suspicious and hostile glances at one another, their hands firmly on their weapons. Subtle cues such as an eyebrow raise, a hardened glance over, or a crisply drawn scowl upon their lips, kept both warriors on their toes. Meanwhile, Pinocchio was caught up between feeling relieved that he survived the swamp and feeling slightly intimidated by the blackness ahead.
Seeing as how they weren't going to get anywhere by just standing there, Christa addressed her comrades: "Whatever the case, it's too late to turn back now. We'll just have to risk it. Let's go. And above all else, let’s stick together." With those words, she picked one of the glowing diagonal -but now perpendicular- lines to follow and proceeded in that direction. Some of the others exchanged nervous glances, but followed suit nonetheless. If nothing else, their leader was correct in that they had long passed the point of no return. Besides, this was it... They were on Omni's very real doorstep. Somewhere in the void, beyond what their eyes could perceive, and beyond what their thoughts could fathom, lay their final destination.
***
It didn't take long for the motley crew to get lost but that wasn't the only problem they faced. The group quickly came to discover that its monochrome appearance wasn't the sole unique feature of that place. At seemingly random spots, spacetime did not function the way they were accustomed to. Klaud stepped into a sudden gap that none of them could have seen, her fall only prevented by the quick intervention from others. Grobdum 'fell' upwards onto the 'ceiling' — the shaman quickly picked himself up and began jumping and shouting out of bewilderment, unable to understand why everyone was suddenly upside down. And Top Man had to politely request that people not moonwalk into him on more than one occasion.
Though it didn't intentionally wear down their spirit like the Swamp of Sorrows, the Void's seemingly chaotic and random nature and the inability to distinguish their environment still managed to unnerve them. Clayton in particular was at the absolute end of his patience, quietly walking onward as he resisted the urge to gnash his own teeth out of frustration. After months of fruitless searching, that bloody swamp and now this, he had simply had enough. He was tired of that place, tired of the journey, tired and utterly enervated by the fools and nitwits he had to keep enduring. Not only did it wear his patience, but it also wore at his conscience. It was taking him all his willpower not to put a bullet in a nearby person's head, especially since that 'orc man thing' kept staring at him, observing his every move. As itchy as his trigger finger was, he needed them... At least for a little while longer.
...
Having completely lost any sense of time, the secondaries remained ticking along for what seemed like hours. Fortunately for them, the lines they followed didn't disappear after a few feet like they had originally thought and those glowing stripes continued to help guide them through the darkness. After some time, the group eventually stumbled upon an area of the space that wasn't as empty.
Stretching before them was a large field of various physical objects — stone statues, bronze tools, grandfather clocks, steel cabinets, energy reactors, enchanted lights and much more, all swishing and swirling in the air. Their size, their function, their construction, all of it was entirely arbitrary and their presence had no rhyme or reason to it. It was as though some entity had traveled across countless worlds, took possession of whatever it could find and used the pocket of space as its own private stash. The way the items were placed was even more random than their nature — some stood or lied normally while others were attached to invisible walls or even floated in mid-air. A picture frame -nailed into nothingness- lingered a little too close to Christa’s nose. With some inspection, she would notice the face of a little girl with a shining smile facing right at her. Suspiciously, the leader’s eyes narrowed, as though she were tipped off by an entity more powerful than fate, and a stirring doubt swilled within her, stronger than she could control.
But as bizarre and outlandish as the environment was, there was something else that ended up quickly drawing their attention. Hovering in place in the midst of the chaotic mess was a large, luminescent creature, a being of pure white luminescence. Bird-like in shape, its small body was dwarfed by its massive wingspan, which possessed an unusual tree branch appearance. Though it had what appeared to be a claw-shaped mouth, whether it possessed any other details was impossible to discern — its radiance was too intense.
Awestricken by the mere sight of it, the group hesitantly waded through the field and came closer to the unknown entity. But the unnatural being didn't address them or react in any way — it didn't even acknowledge their existence. It merely continued to levitate in complete stillness, fluttering in its holy grace, and continuing to shine in all its glory.
Finding themselves in an unusual conundrum, the group exchanged hushed whispers, discussing how to proceed. Some thought that they should attempt to address it while others thought it wise to just avoid it. But whatever ideas they had, they never got the chance to reach a consensus, for a member of the group decided to act on his own initiative.
As he ignored the chatter of his companions, Clayton took a step or two closer to the creature. Grinning widely, he thought to himself how this horrid journey might have been worth it after all. If he could claim possession of such a magnificent specimen, the rewards he would reap would be great indeed. There was only a moment or two during which he hesitated to raise his firearm, wondering if he was being a bit too careless about this, wondering if he should continue to feign care and caution. But after such a wretched trek, he was fed up with all of it, both his insufferable 'comrades' and the act he was putting up. Clayton was without compromise. He didn't care anymore....NO ONE was going to get in the way of his prize. The group scrambled around, softly bickering, others pointing, and Top Man continued to try and film it all, only to find the feed of his camera had stopped working.
As the hunter aimed his rifle, Christa caught sight of his reckless actions. Alarmed by his intentions, she shouted: "Wait....Clayton, STOP!" But even if Clayton had cared even the slightest bit about her commands at that moment, it was already too late. A single shot rang out in the darkness, startling the rest of the group. A swished lunge motion and her fair fell as the reality dawned on her. It had been too late.
The bullet hit its mark.... And bounced harmlessly off of a force-field barrier, bright orange hexagonal ripples spreading out from the point where the projectile hit. As the hunter stared in disbelief at his apparent failure, Christa delivered a steamrolling punch into Clayton’s jaw. He was still stupefied by his failure and his body could only swing with reaction to her hardened fist. In the time Christa had taken to sucker punch her favorite hunter, the massive creature slowly shifted, turning around its own axis to face them. Power emanated from its gait, and its powerful stance would send a shrill coil of fear into Christa, as she shook out the pang of pain from her fist. The group, terrified by the prospect of having to face this mysterious -albeit almighty- being, drew out their own weapons, prepared to defend themselves, and ready to put up one hell of a fight.
In a moment, Christa suddenly realized that she now stared at one of Omni’s rumored angels.
Without warning, the secondaries were showered by a beam of yellow light, utterly overwhelming their senses. Screams of terror and agony flooded the void as the group collectively felt something, or someone, penetrating and tearing through their minds, devouring all their knowledge and memories — even those lying within the deepest, darkest depths. As they continued to resist in vain, their bodies contorted in unnatural ways, gruesome crackling accompanying the twisting and turning of their bones. The non-organic Pinocchio and Top Man were no less affected — as their minds went blank, their appendages began to rapidly rotate, almost as if someone was trying to unscrew all of their individual parts. As the star robot tried to screen and analyze the impossible, a disorderly mass of data and images rapidly flooded his imagery receptors as this mental assault transpired.
A few flickers of light, and the vibrance expired. Like a flashbang, everyone was left in a daze. Ears rang, minds jolted, and memories disturbed.
Christa came to and had found herself splat against the ‘floor’ of the Void. The secondary took a breath, as she tried to recover from it all. And looked up only to seem the madness incur on her companions.
And the creature still remained.
[spoiler]
Quote: Hey my favorite secondaries! Time to give you the run down for OOC clarification!!!![/spoiler]
Affected parties: Raw Onion
Abner
Grobdum
Isaac
Lyra
Pinocchio
YOU’RE ALL THE CHOSEN ONES!
Well, that, and you’ve been mind controlled by an angel. Guess you pissed off the wrong deity! But some of the consequences your character will endure are: insanity, hostility, hallucinations, illusions. The works of any brain / memory alterations you see fit.
What’ll happen you say?
Each of the affected party members is individually fighting against a battle in their minds. So, there isn’t a ‘team up’ going on. However, the effected members WILL be trying to harm the rest of the group. You may have moments of clarity and resistance in your struggle.
NOT CHOSEN! That’s us - the rest -
Our job is to defend ourselves, or find some way to stop the others without killing them, though Clayton will probably go one shot - one kill, mode. Try your best to convince your friends, or, if you can, save them.
You may attempt to attack the angel, but any such attempt will be deflected by its force field. The angel itself will not attack anyone, it will remain still and continue to mentally manipulate the mind controlled members of the group.
THE BEST PART: (YES I WAS SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST) - A FREE BONUS
You can use the miscellaneous objects of the Void as fodder/improv stuff. I know I will be. Most interesting object gets a cool item, which can fodder, or I may just add it to your overall score as a bonus!
SUPER IMPORTANT READIN'
CAUTION: Your character MAY die this round, so give it your best shot! The deadline is Thursday midnight PDT.
As always, have fun everyone! Write the best you can, make your friends smile, and most of all, KICK ASS.
Thank you everyone!
GIL ;D