Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 18:48:32 GMT
Shaw strode into Lord Naga’s court with a stiff pace. He was a busy man with many thoughts, but at present, he was curious.
“My lord, is there something wrong?” He called out as he came into sight of the throne. “I could not help but take notice in notice of your pets rush to get back to you.”
Naga was not on his throne, much to his disappointment. It was his singing minion.
“It’ about time you showed up.” Echo grumbled, shooting a glare at the timecaster.
Shaw scowled in reply. “Your’e hardly anyone to tell me about time Echo... where's Naga?
Impishly, Echo sprawled himself over the throne with a disdainful look. “The boss isn’t feeling too good.” He spouted nonchalantly. “He's actin like he's on his death bed. Been calling everyone in all day, somthin big is goin’ on.”
Shaw slowed for a moment, that curiosity holding sway. “And what,” he asked slowly, “prey tell, is going on? Or are you not high enough in the ranks to be privy to that information?
Echo sat up abruptly in response to the jab. “Hey, I’m just doin what I was told to do. Doc did say, ‘Zend zhem to ze maztur vhen zhey get here!’” Echo did a good impression of the character, Shaw though dryly to himself. “As far as i know, you’re the last one. Abruptly, Echo propelled himself in a mighty leap off the throne, landing near Shaw with a self-congratulatory grin on his face.
Shaw grunted in response to the theatrics. “Impressive move I have to admit,” Shaw said to humour the drake, “but please.” He gestured towards the darkness. “Lead the way.”
Yeah yeah yeah...” Echo mumbled as he began to lead Shaw through the halls. The journey ended with them in front of a large and heavily decorated door. “He's in here.”
The doors opened slowly, revealing a mighty chamber with a large circular bed in the middle; the walls were adorned with trophies and statues. In his truest form, Naga rested quietly there with Shuck and Grimm close by, licking at his claws as they dangle off the bed in hopes it would help.
Shaw paused as his eyebrows went up. “I see...” Lord Naga, You've called for us? Might I inquire as to why? ...Forgive me for saying so. But you don't look well.” Naga did not respond, and his tail continued to swing lethargically off the side of the bed.
Then the dogs spoke, their voices raspy and scattered. “Master's not.. feeling well. Something stolen. Something important. Bald woman did it.” The dogs growled to each other for a moment, before adding, “Hunt for… bald woman.”
“Zhe houndz are correct, Zhaw. Zomezing vas ztolen from zhe maztur. A part of hiz mind. Hiz vill.” Naga’s doctor added as he entered the room. From the doorway, Echo quipped in a few words.
“I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of a "vill" before. Is it anything like a "will" because THAT’S what's missing here.”
Shaw resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes, Thank you Echo... “ He looks over to the mechanized, multi armed drake. “Somethings stolen his will? ...hmm.” Shaw growled slowly under his breath. “A bald woman... Humph... Somehow, I don’t know how... the one that's been stalking my timeline. She's the one that did it. She's the one we're going to have to find...doctor, might I look over Naga for a moment?
The drake waved his many arms in a strange gesture. “You may…”
Shaw responded politely. “Thank you doctor.” He moved towards Naga, taking care not to get in the way of shuck and grimm. As he approached, he realized that the damage was still quite visible; the great drake’s throat was torn wide open, revealing far too much meat for anyone’s health.
“Hmm. Greetings my lord, We'll get what was stolen from you back.” He closed his eyes as he begins to read the timelines around Lord Naga, and how they intertwine and connect. “It's very complex, and very old most of it. I know to an extent what her timeline feels like... might take me a few moments to locate it amongst all the others...”
Naga lies motionless on his bed, but a small growl escapes him; offputtingly, it doesn’t come from his mouth, but the wide gashes in his throat.
“…hmm,So i see... oh wait. There she is, her route follows an earlier visit to some of my timelines. She's done a good job of hiding her trail, but tt's still there, faintly… there are gaps in it. Parts that have been wiped clean but it's there... she's only visited you once or twice in the past. Once while you were dormant. Another time, she wasn't even aware that it was you...” He pauses for a moment as he looks back at the doctor. “But she wasn't here recently enough to have caused this... *Looks down at Naga for a moment, his gaze lingering on the massive wound. “At least not in a traditional method...”
“Vell,” the doctor replied “of course the problem liez in hiz mind. Nothing physical iz missing. He haz no hope.”
Echo shot another quip in through the doorway. “So she made the big guy emo? Better hide the razor blades and black wigs....”
“No, you idiot!” The other drake hissed in response. “He haz no motivation, no vill, no dezire.” He reaches out and strikes Echo’s muzzle as well, causing Echo to cry out and rub the offended area.
Shaw chuckles softly as he continues to look over Naga. “Nice shot doctor... Well... if it’s in his mind, as your aware, it's highly likely that she might have done something elsewhere... from a distance. I'm going to need to track her location when he was affected, that should yield something at least. As he attempts to probe the timeline, faint images spool through the air around him; blurry things of a life he does not quite understand. “When did this happen?” Shaw asked.
Behind him, the drake responded. “Sometime last night.”
“Yeah, we knew there was something wrong when he wasn’t up and about barkin’ orders.” Echo added. “That and his mutts could tell something was off.”
Shaw mused quietly as he rubbed his chin. “Well that's good. At least we know roughly when that woman came to him... “ The timestreams above him shifted as he begins to search for where she was at the time. “I have to admit though, she's rather good. Her timelines up until that point show increased looping... she was practicing, rehearsing how to meet him.” He looks away from Naga towards the two drakes behind him. “She won't be easy to find. But I can locate her... and if she thinks that she's a good stalker…” he added with a grin, “wait until she meets a master of it. Question is, what do we do when we locate her?”
The doctor contributed his thoughts here. “Vell, if you could bring back her head, I might be able to fix zhe maztur myself. But zhe houndz dont vant to risk it. Ve must bring her back alive und let zhe maztur fix himself. Vhile zhe maztur's body est immobile, his zoulzhard ztill livez. It haz given zliver's to aide in our hunt.
Following this prompt, Echo reached down and showed Shaw a necklace with a sliver of naga's soulshard on it. “these are supposed to help us find her no matter where she is. The mutts have theirs built in.”
“Well, I'm glad to hear that he's at least still capable of providing assistance to this movement.” Shaw told the doctor. “I'll notify the Time-Breakers and the Children of Apophis about this new turn of events. If this woman is as capable and cautious as she's been up to this point, this won’t be easy. But It will be good to have eyes and ears throughout time. Just makes it harder for her to run.” Now he turned to Echo, and continued as he fingered Echo’s necklace. “Now these, these will come in handy. Tell me do we all get one of them? I would very much like to try something with it.”
Echo shrugged. “Well, I guess so. everyone else got one.”
The doctor inquired politely of Shaw at this point. “Vhat iz your plan, Zhaw?” He said with his thick accent.
Shaw looked at the doctor with a thoughtful gaze on his face as he considers the situation. “Well, if master Nagaetros managed to keep a part of her that we could use. Then I'm thinking that she has more of him in her then she would like as well. She does have his motivation after all, and as I’m sure you might know…that's a dark drive. No doubt she struggling a little bit to keep it in check... what's my plan? I can use the necklace shard to pinpoint where and when she is... then we don't let up trying to capture her. We won’t give her a chance to rest. Even if she manages to evade us, we'll run her ragged and into the ground. Then we let Naga’s will drive her slowly insane as she loses her grip on things... in short, we aim to either capture her, or break her.”
“Zomething tellz me shat vas hiz plan az vell.” The mechanized drake mused. “After all, zhe escaped hiz mind vithout zhe backlash splitting her skull in two. Even if she could zurvive a drake's mental backlash, Lord Naga is no zimple drake. either vay, he had a plan involving her...”
Confused, but denying it, Echo threw his two cents in. “I knew that... ok, so…hunt her down but don’t hunt her down? got it.”
So he did.
--oOo--
I left that high and dry town right as the rainy season hit; it was a stark and dark day on account of the density of the rain, and as the plates rotated around my arm I looked back at it with a strange sense of fondness. It was a very pleasant little town, and it would be a nice place to visit again if this was ever over. If this was ever over. You don’t quite know what that means like I do.
I hired a private investigator to gather information about Chassovo while I moved; truth be told I didn’t anticipate him having much success, but it was a move I could make. Either he would succeed without alerting Chassovo, or he would fail. There would be no memories to draw from his mind if they managed to hold him on any charges, so there wasn’t any risk there for me. The man’s eyes didn’t give away his excitement when I opened the briefcase containing his up front payment; but I could smell it anyway on his breath. He was likely worth the price-I know I paid him well, though how well I remain curious about-but his loyalty was assured by the sound of those chips rubbing together between his fingers.
Those chips. Chips were my new thing. I had found a very comfortable residence aboard a casino ship, and here I admit I was quite comfortable. New clothes, better room and board: it was an excellent base of operations for me. Always on the move, the ship was a well guarded thing operated by a tycoon I wasn’t familiar with. There were some difficulties, of course; the casino floor was well covered with security cameras on which I wouldn’t appear, and there were some Tenebreans on occasion who came to give money to the house. But I found my way around that simply enough; I wore a hologram emitter programmed to my physical appearance whenever I was outside my room, so the cameras still had something to look at, and I didn’t unsettle anyone in that regard. But beyond that, it was a fantastic base of operations: the ship could outrun those that could harm it, and the ship’s security staff were well equipped and immensely professional. It was very comfortable living.
But those chips became my new currency. I paid the private investigator with chips, and I gave him a data file with his objectives, a reminder of what he’d been paid, and instructions to return to me when he had them; as well as a gentle warning that running off without completing the job would be poor form on his part. It wasn’t that I was worried he would do that, but of how he would react to the revelation that he was carrying that much money and couldn’t remember who paid him.
Gambling was fun. It was exciting, incredibly so, and gradually I was learning to play without looking ahead to what the cards would be. I would still do that, on occasion, for those rare times when I needed chips immediately. But I was learning that I had a natural talent for things with random chance, and so I would sit there playing blackjack and enjoying the masses of species all around me. It was a fun game, beyond gambling. Watching the people interact with each other was a fine hobby; I could smell the scents of hopes and fear, highs and lows, all mingling amid the crowd. I blended right into this high society; a sleeveless dark green dress hung well upon my body, and I had set the hologram to provide me with a proper head of long dark hair. There’s a certain joy to blending into a crowd like that, and from that crowd I pulled strings across the galaxy.
I called in favours with traders who didn’t know they owed them yet; movements were tracked, stories spread and gathered, and chips rolled in and out. My greatest curiosity remained Shaw, but I slowly learned about the being who had compromised Capitol. I had decided to time my next move with the upcoming Battle of the Vortex; I appreciated being able to time my actions so that greater noises in the universe might mask them out, and that would do the trick nicely. Another thing I would wish to silence was Naga’s whisperings; the were neither louder nor quieter, but it was incredibly unsettling to realize you were contemplating decapitating the dealer as you reached out to grab more chips.
The sound of the P.A. system starting up silenced the crowds almost instantly. "Greetings fine people! I hope you’re all enjoying your stay upon the fine ship you rest your rich hind quarters on as you gamble your lives away: this is the 'music'-" a second voice interrupted immediately after the first "- and the 'laughter'!-" "-coming at you live with a special request made by a very important someone on this ship. just a little something from my latest album, 'nowhere to hide' please sit back, relax, and enjoy the show..."
The intercom began blaring music. "NIGHTMARE/Now your nightmare comes to life-" The song boomed. A scream could be heard somewhere in the room quickly followed by a horrifying roar.
It was a very loud sound, this song; a very ugly and disorienting thing. I looked up quite abruptly, as did nearly everyone else in the room I think. It was a sinister thing, and not at all subtle either; and among all those faces, mine might have been the most confused. None of the guests or dealers seemed too pleased by that great cacophony, and many stared with disgusted looks on their faces up towards the speakers. Some of the staff were rushing over to a discreet console assembly, presumably attempting to recover control of the apparently hijacked music system. I opened my mouth for a moment to say something to the dealer at my table, but I hesitated. There was something about this that was rather disconcerting, and my open mouth became a frown as I contemplated this. Someone hacking this ship? Perhaps a robbery, I mused privately, as I reached out with my mind to the near future of this ship. A robbery would be very entertaining, I had to admit.
The casino room floor was not a poorly lit thing; in fact normally it was quite well illuminated to help foster that festive atmosphere that fed the slot machines and the baccarat tables. But the lights were abruptly beginning to flicker, giving further credence to my initial theory that this might be a diversion for some other activity. I quietly reached out and tapped the top chip on my stack; the total sum of winnings automatically transferred into it, and I grabbed it silently before looking around. Most of the smells I was feeling were things of confusion, with some minor fear coming from the surprise of the thing; but I was rapidly looking through the crowd. If this was a robbery; hell, if this was anything at all, someone out there wouldn’t be looking up at those speakers, or otherwise attempting conversation with frustration over the chaotic din. It would be interesting to witness the robbery, assuming there was one, and assuming they were professional about it. I have sympathy with criminals, at least the clever ones; some deserve so much more than fate deals them. Those who are willing to take risks deserve luck.
A sudden sense of fear stuck the crowd near as rising screams of terror could be heard coming closer and closer to where I stood. Gamblers began running and stumbling towards the exits from an unseen force as I watched silently from the table. One of the staff was frantically issuing commands to the console in a desperate attempt to regain control; that attempt was cut short as he was tackled by a dark form moving too fast for me to see and quickly dragged away. The gamblers had stopped dead in their tracks looking at something in front of the exit, the crowd was too thick for me to see what it was, but they refused to go near it even if it meant escape. They were all being herded as the music continued to boom throughout the casino, making any cries for help almost pointless.
This wasn’t just a robbery, I realized quickly, shooting a final glare of irritation at the speakers. The song was admittedly making me uncomfortable, though at present it had more to do with the headache it was surely going to give me than the words. I could hardly make them out anymore above the chaotic din, but even then though, the song remained a grating thing, like fingernails on chalkboards. It was a very disgustingly unpleasant sound, and I grimaced slightly amongst all the turmoil that came with it.
People were crying and jostling each other rather horribly, and I paused for a moment as I finally viewed what they were running from. That’s not to say I saw it; not yet, anyway; but as I peered into the immediate future I sensed the thing’s shapes, and they weren’t pretty.
My minor comprehension sent ripples into the gauntlet I wore underneath the hologram, and the plates began spinning restlessly; it wasn’t the same steady movement that they’d make when I prepared for a jump, but they would all spin one direction before gradually slowing to a halt, then gradually building speed in the opposite direction, and repeating and alternating quite silently amongst the hordes of abruptly claustrophobic socialites. The music added an additional throbbing sense of apprehension to the scene, but oddly enough I didn’t feel like escaping it. Quite frankly, if they weren’t after money, it stood a fair chance that they were looking for me, and a good way to stand out would be to bolt for a door.
The crowd abruptly began to go silent as they move nervously backwards toward the center of the room, not taking their eyes off the creatures that lead them. The song continued to sound thoughout the casino but was nearing it's end. Another song could be heard just beyond the exit doors, slowly coming closer and getting louder as the seconds passed, the sound of laughter accompanying it.
As the crowd moved I caught a glimpse at one of the creatures. it was vaguely humanoid with digitigrade hoof-like feet, black skin with dark blue markings, sharp claws, no mouth to speak of, and glaring reptilian red eyes. Despite its monstrous appearance, I sensed it was human in some way, regardless of its unnatural form. The creatures lashed out with their claws at anyone who tried to move in an undesired direction.
The sudden silence from the crowd was alarming, and at last I was in the crowd. At that point, I could only assume it was Shaw's doing here; I didn't imagine Nagaetros' forces would be so quick to find me. But as I peered into events unfolding moments from now, I knew it was not Shaw who would come through that door. I was both at once relieved and dissapointed; relieved in that I didn't feel prepared to kill that fearsome Chaw, while dissapointed that he didn't have the courtesy to attempt to dispatch me personally.
This was mostly in error, in hindsight-Shaw had little direct relevance to what was about to unfold, though at a later point his indirect influence would be evident enough. As the song's final lines faded out, I stood in the crowd with a general sense of unease; the plates continuing to spin lazily around my wrist, disrupting the localized holograms and leaving a blur around my forearm like a wake through fog.
I could jump, I thought to myself in those moments. I would likely take parts of the people around me with me as I went, but I could jump out of here and avoid further inconvenience. But I couldn't quite bring myself to do it; I still had questions. I am well versed in the skills required to vanish; I have no name, and rarely if ever do I intervene in a memorable way. Yet somehow, if they had indeed come here looking for me, they had managed to find me in spite of those facts.
A voice could be heard amongst the music just outside the door. "She's in here! She's in here! I told you, Echo! Hahaha! I told you!" the voice cried joyfully.
"Huh, I guess you were right...well, let's introduce ourselves, shall we? " The other voice answered. The doors burst open with a violent gust of wind that almost knocked an entire row of onlookers off their feet. In the doorway stood two young men, one rather tall and one short, almost my height. The taller one was in well worn jeans, black boots, a sleaveless leather shirt and a spiked pauldron on his shoulder. He had long spikey black hair a spiked goatee, and an ugly smirk adorned his mouth with a glance at a row of perfect white teeth. The short one wore a black and white jester's uniform, bells and all. He had a wide grin and bright red hair, vertical scars lined his lips. "Greetings, one and all! My name is Echo! And my funny little protege here is Jester. Now that intro's are out of the way," Echo said points his hand out to the crowd, his thumb and pointer finger oriented to simulate a gun. "Put your hands in the air and no one gets hurt."
The crowd raised their hands immediately, and Jester laughed again. It was an annoying sound, but not as irritating as the song had been. There were probably close to two hundred people in that crowd, and I was not in a position with a good view of the apparent ringleaders. It was a strange scene; the lights were still flickering in spasms, and the shadows would abruptly leap into existence before being yet again banished by the light. Against this backdrop, the rows of casino tables and slot machines sat idle, their lights flashing with forlorn hopes that someone might try their luck with them.
I was oddly enough not thinking at all about escape at this point. Escape wouldn’t do here. It would be a poor solution, and at that time, I was still thinking about Shaw. He might be smart enough to some how locate me, but I would have to make sure he didn’t have anyone to report back with good news. On top of that, there was Naga’s hopes whispering in the back of my mind, strongly suggesting that I slaughter these fools where the stood. I opted instead to take a more moderate approach and see what they did; it would take a few minutes to search the crowd if they were looking for me in particular, and I was already thinking of tricks I could play with the hologram emitter I was wearing.
“Say, what’s this all about?” A man’s voice called out from the crowd. I sincerely hoped nothing stupid happened to him, but at least someone had asked.
"That is an excellent question, my foolish friend!" Echo laughed, quickly approaching the crowd and dragging the man by his hair with strength unseen in his form. "Someone stole something very important from our boss, and we've come to get it back! And, seeing that you have some hair on your ugly head, You’re not the one we're looking for!" Echo pointed his finger to the man's temple as he struggled in his grip. Suddenly the man froze, an idiotic gaze took over his face as he began foaming at the mouth. Echo dropped the man on his face where he laid motionless. "Now, unless there are any more questions, and you all cooperate with the scary looking shadow creatures-" echo stopped to violently kick the man in the gut. "-none of you will end up like this fool!" Echo yelled to the crowd as Jester watched, his laughter was almost un-ending. The shadow creatures were circling the crowd, their eyes almost focused on me but for some reason they did nothing else. They began herding the crowd in a more oval shape.
I was surprised when I realized these were Nagaetros’ men; I couldn’t begin to imagine how they’d managed to find me when I’d never even been there. It was mildly embarrassing, really, given how much I pride myself on my ephemeral presence in most places, but it was undeniable; I could faintly pick up their smells, and they had that peculiar salty tone that indicated a drake. Somehow, they’d managed to find me here. Naga was at this point quietly advising that I begin tearing out the throats of those in the crowd around me, but I hushed that thought and considered the situation. There were almost a dozen guards plus the two leaders, and those were high numbers; I might get six or seven quickly, but that would be problematic. I could see the reflection of the crowd in the vast window which covered one of the walls, and the shadow-men’s shapes could be seen there too.
I had watched the man fall foaming at Echo’s feet, and drew the quickest logical conclusion: some variety of lobotomy. I would know, after all; It was a brutish method, but yet I felt no real reassurance with the knowledge that it wouldn’t likely extract anything from me if attempted. As it was, it would likely leave me in a similar condition, and quite frankly I didn’t expect Echo would appreciate the difference.
So much for hiding, I thought to myself with a bit of disappointment. It would still take a while to find me as they went through that crowd, which they surely would do; they’d grab at the holographic hair and be rudely disappointed in time. At that point though, I could likely jump and take a part of whoever was nearest with me; it was the best solution I had going at the time. Then again, escape wasn’t really a satisfactory solution. This ship supposedly had a crack security division, but they hadn’t been seen since the music started.
“Please, if I may,” I said softly to a worried looking man next to me, and I began to move through the crowd. Without further words, the crowd parted; they seemed to sense my intents, and obliged them quite kindly. I moved slowly out of the crowd, till there was perhaps only six feet between me and one of the shadow-men. I kept my visual attention on him as I spoke; I didn’t intend to say much here. The shadow-men turned towards me with blank faces, and I looked beyond them at my reflection in that great glass wall.
“Do you believe in sacrifice, Chaw’Echo?” I asked softly, using the honorific of my people to address someone who I sincerely suspected did not deserve it. I could feel every muscle in my body at that moment; I do not know if he could see the strange blur around my left arm, but if he could I do not know then what he thought it was.
Echo looked at me with obvious suspicion. "So, another one wishes to speak out..." Echo said as he reached into his shirt to pull out a necklace and gave it a quick glance, he gave a wide, white grin at what he saw. Such a grin that went ear to ear in an inhuman fashion, revealing sharp, dog-like teeth behind his human ones. The crowd gasped at the sight.
"She's the one!" He cried aloud as his body began to shift into his true form, the crowd looked on in shock at what they were witnessing. Numerous black spikes took their places on Echo's arms and legs as his skin turned grey and a long, spiked tail grew from his back. His ears elongated and took the appearance of jagged bat ears as his mouth grew out to accomodate his teeth in a typical drake muzzle with two spikes on the end of his nose. His eye's turned a bright red and a large red ruby appeared on his chest in the shape of a 'w'.
"Finally! Now the fun can begin! Oh, the master will be happy once more!" Jester said with delight as he took his own true form. His skin turned orange and a long spiked and spaded tail grew from his back, and his feet became hooves and his snout elongated and ended in an upturned point, while long rabbit like ears twitched with excitement.
"Forget that! I just want to rub it in Vulcan's smug face that I won and he lost!" Echo said to Jester.
"That's good too!" jester replied with enthusiasm, as he jumped up and down in the air.
He reeked of confidence, though whether or not it was merited given the circumstances I did not know. The crowd no longer seemed content to remain herded by the shadow-men, and they bolted in an uncoordinated stampede in an effort to escape from Echo’s rapidly rising form. I could hear them screaming out with alarm, and I could hear the sound of tables being knocked over and chips scattering across the floor. I watched their shapes move in the glass, though I could not tell the specifics of their actions.
I did not hear Echo respond to my question, and while I wished for an answer to it, I could do without. The nearest shadowman remained standing motionlessly a mere six feet from me, and behind it lay a vision of the cosmos. Our futures were out there, I thought silently to myself, as I watched the panicking reflections of the people behind me. I could see Echo and Jester’s reflections in the panels too, and the whole vision flickered under those malfunctioning lights. I had watched without looking directly at them as they transformed, and I could make out the sounds of flesh stretching and bone contorting ever so slightly above the din of the horrified crowd.
He didn’t deem to answer me, rather unfortunately. I always try to be civil and dignified about my conduct, though I suppose this was lost on those two or their goons. I hadn’t attacked Nagaetros, after all, until he had tried to kill me. Then I was forced to resort to… incivilities. Ironically, Nagaetros’ hopes encouraged me to kill those who were attempting to recover that critical part of his mind. I suppose the monster would gladly bite the hand that fed him.
"Let's make this crowd useful, shall we?" Echo yelled over the noise. A new song began, but not from the speakers. This time, it came from eEho himself as he stood there watching me and the scared bystanders.
"LET'S START A RIOT!"
The music began, quickly filling the room before anyone could escape. As I watched, the other passengers had stopped their attempts to reach the exits and escape. Gradually, they turned away from the doors with ferocious looks in their eyes, as they became violent and destructive. Attacking one another and almost anything else around them like wild animals, they only avoided the shadow men, and the drakes, as well as myself. With horrific zeal, they destroyed the machines, slammed into the walls, and tore into their neighbors like rabid wolves.
"Ah! The wonderous smell of chaos fills the air! The big guy's going to like this, I know it!" Echo exclaimed. "Now, to collect our prize. Jester, would you do the honors?" Echo glanced at me with a wide smirk.
"With pleasure!" Jester yelled in excitement as he began to quickly move closer to me, giggling and laughing uncontrollably.
I do not know if the song coaxed anything out of me, though considering what I did next it remains to this day a distinct possibility in my mind. The song was roaring, and behind me I could see in that great glass wall scenes of utter brutality. It crossed the line for me, or so I thought at the time. I would be civil to them as long as they were civil in return, and that hadn’t lasted much longer than the second song’s beginning. I had that song pounding in my ears, and Nagaetros’ damnable hopes were encouraging me to slaughter, and in that moment I felt a line be crossed. In hindsight, I do not know if it had yet been, but in the blink of an eye I moved.
My gauntlet is not just a means of getting from one place to another. I had been inspired to craft it based off of that ancient Timecaster’s staff my father had given to me so many years ago-or in the future, if you view it from your perspective-and had incorporated that philosophy into the device. Like a staff for a timecaster, the gauntlet was for me not just a means of moving about, but a weapon.
I sent the first four plates through the nearest shadowmen’s head. The plates which spun around me arm were solid things, made of one of the strongest and most exotic materials that would ever be crafted in this galaxy; but they were immensely heavy. The gauntlet naturally compensated for this weight, but it would not do so for what I launched those plates at. They shot out of orbit around my arm like blades at nearly supersonic speeds, and the shadow-man likely never even saw it coming. They did not cut through his skull so much as they crushed it; in one moment his head was there, and the next a rain of grey flesh was beginning to extend out from where his head had been, falling sideways towards that vast glass wall.
I was shifting my arm towards the jester when they struck; the four thick plates embedded themselves in the glass and began sending out a cacophonous cracking sound as spider webs rapidly spread across the glass. It as a thick wall, after all, meant to survive gunfire and other physical assaults; but I had just thrown the equivalent of a larger truck into it, and it wasn’t engineered quite to those standards.
The fifth and final plate I launched into the jester that was approaching me. It cut through him right below the shoulder blades without hesitation and went sailing on into the far wall behind Echo. I do not know if the little drake ever felt it, but the kinetic force sent the jester in a similar trajectory towards the wall; not quite as far, as he fell onto his back and slid across the wood floor for several paces before coming to a halt, open eyes and staring into the ceiling. I was already turning back, summoning the four plates embedded in that thick glass sheet back into orbit around my gauntlet.
Then the blink of an eye ended. Immediately, an alarm was ringing, rivaling the sound of Echo’s song: PLEASE EVACUATE THIS ROOM IN AN ORDERLY MANNER. A DANGER EXISTS OF EXPLOSIVE DECOMPRESSION. PLEASE EVACUATE THIS ROOM IN AN ORDERLY MANNER. A DANGER EXISTS…
Echo paused singing abruptly on account of the surprise of the move. I don’t think he had anticipated me being able to move so quickly, nor had he understood I was armed. He looked at that strange blur around my arm where the hologram failed to fully conceal the gauntlet with a strange expression on his face, as I repeated my question, minus the honorific he no longer deserved.
“Do you believe in sacrifices?” I asked again, doing my best to capitalize on the force of the moment.
A sick sort of smile ran accross echo's face as he glanced at jester's body, his spilled blood was beginning to return to his limp corpse like ants to an ant hill. "It pays to have a guy like that around." He said before turning back to me. "There are many sacrifices on the path to success and the road to fame. I’ve made many." He said as the sounds caused by the chaos around us began to fade into silence at the snap of echo's long black claws. A sword appeared in his hand with a forked blade that reminded me of a tuning fork. "In fact, I've lost count. But, if Iwere to bring you back to the big guy 'und ze doctur', Echo mused with a wry look on his face, “I shouldn’t have to make anymore for quite a long, long time. As is appropriate for Nagaetros' second in command." He added, as if he wanted to hear his own title again. Echo motioned for the remaining shadowbreed to circle me as the chaos continued to go on, silently but still there.
"Fool…" I heard a voice speak quietly in my head amongst my thoughts, it was almost unnoticable and definitely not my voice.
The voice startled me more than the sword did; it didn’t sound like Nagaetros’ silent suggestions, but now was not the time to pause and reflect on such matters. Lovely. The drake was also a telepath. At least, that’s what I had thought at the time.Now was the time to avoid things, and I locked eyes with the drake as I summoned back the fifth plate from its home in the wall; sparks shot from it as the metal released the intruding component, and it slipped back into orbit around my forearm. The voice continued to warn of the danger of an explosive decompression as I silently prepared the gauntlet for a leap of faith. I extended my arm out towards that glass wall while the gauntlet hummed with anticipation.
The dozen or so Shadow-men had distance between themselves and I; it was a solid perimeter regardless, but I wondered if they were nervous.
“I do too.” I believed in sacrifices. I was about to sacrifice two hundred people so that I could escape. If Echo was indeed a telepath, then he knew how deadly serious I was at that moment. Perhaps it was the music; perhaps it was Naga’s hopes…perhaps it was just me.
I hope you understand where I am coming from with this. The chaw I am stalking across the cosmos will cause more deaths and suffering than I can imagine. I have seen the future, and I still can’t fully imagine the malice in that chaw’s lifeless heart. If I stop him, my sacrifices will not have been in vain. So if Echo could read my mind, he would have to know at that moment just what I was willing to do to accomplish my goal.
“When these people die, they will be sacrifices I have made...” The words come smoothly off my tongue, as I glance back at my reflection in the cracked wall. A DANGER EXISTS, the voice repeated again with no real fervor. PLEASE EVACUATE. “…and when I have dealt with Shaw, I will come after you for their deaths. I have heard that he weeps so bitterly that he hasn’t the strength to heal himself. Can you imagine that? Salty tears in an open throat?” I shake my head slightly as I look at the woman reflected in the glass. Her face is shattered, and the dark green dress that hangs on her seems to hang from a body full of broken bones. Such is the nature of cracked glass.
Echo stopped and looked on at me, his red eyes watched closely at every movement i made, every muscle's twitch. He gripped his sword tightly but showed no signs of preparing to use it. he pulled his necklace from his shirt once more and gave it a glance. "Do it." the voice in my head spoke silently as a chill ran down my back. Echo nodded, looking down at the necklace, a look of dissapointment on his face.
In the blink of an eye, Echo had dashed over to Jester's body, picked up the corpse and returned to where he once stood before I could act, carrying Jester over his spiked shoulders. Echo dropped the corpse on the ground and placed his spiked foot upon it like a raptor about to carry off it's prey. he then took his sword in one arm and pointed it at me. The space between Echo and the cracking wall began to shift and bend like the air on a hot summer's day or ripples in a puddle. The blades of his sword began to vibrate as wind began to become visible between them in the needle-like vortex.
A smirk appeared once more on the drake's muzzle.
"Go ahead, make my day!"
I skipped a beat in confusion, leaving us in an awkward standoff. The crowds had stilled behind us, and were watching with a great degree of curiosity as we stood there moments away from a climactic event. The drake seemed prepared to escape, yet to do so was to let me go. The glee on his face didn’t match his actions, and I resisted the urge to lower my arm from its orientation towards the glass panel. He wasn’t trying to stop me leaving, and this confused me. I repeated the thought again in my mind, not caring if the drake could hear my thoughts.
He’s not trying to stop me leaving.
He saw the confusion flitter across my face, I think, and the smirk grew wider still. We stood there with eyes locked, the dozen or so shadow-men still surrounding me in a wide circle. It was a strange sort of standoff, for it wasn’t that we were threatening each other. Echo could leave without trouble, as could I…
Inside, Nagaetros helpfully suggested I aim for the drake’s gut, and make sure I make him feel it. It was an annoying thought, and I shoved it aside.
"It appears we're at an impasse" Echo placed his left arm under his right one, opening his palm towards the glass while his right arm held the sword. "Allow me to fix that!" with a click of his tongue the sound in the room came back with an ear shattering boom of sirens and screams. I was unprepared for this blast of sound.
The noise was earthshaking, and with it Echo committed the act which I was preparing to do. This surprise of Echo blowing out the window was intense, as was the rush of wind that carried me out of that ship, and the wind carried the passengers and the slot machines with me. I closed my eyes instinctively and blew the air out of my lungs as anyone who knows anything about explosive decompression would; but in those brief moments as I was thrown out of the ship, I could see him grinning wildly, his claws digging into the wooden floor and anchoring him where he stood. It's an image that will stick with me for some time, I think. I did not have time to think about those other passengers, but I would imagine they tried to hold their breath. I was losing consciousness when I triggered the jump.
--oOo--
I woke up in a back alley puddle. Eyes opened wide, and instantly, and I gasped lungs full of fresh air into my body as I realized how deathly cold and wet I was. The dress felt cold, and the stone beneath the fabric was cold, and the water was cold, and my gauntlet was freezing. Space, after all, is cold, and even a mere ten or fifteen seconds of it is devastating when you're not wearing proper gear for that sort of temperature. My teeth were chattering, and I shakily pulled myself up from the ground, pausing for a moment as I realized a thin layer of frost covered my skin. I was thinking about frostbite, but if anything it would only be on the upper layers of the skin; the cold would not hit that fast, if at all, thank the gods.
The water rolled off that dark green dress as I pulled myself off the ground, and it clung to my body like slick, clammy hands. I was trembling, and in the puddle I could see the hologram flickering imperceptibly over my body. The device didn't realize I was soaked,so the hair seemed dry and otherwise unmussed, but its shimmering instability gave away the illusion, assuming the fact that the rest of me was soaked and covered in frost didn't.
I looked curiously at my other hand after I flexed the fingers in it; the chip remained there, miraculously holding on, though quite likely it was no miracle. A thin layer of skin left my hand as I flipped the chip over, drifting into the puddle, where in moments it began to turn grey courtesy of strange genetics. My breathing was stabilizing now, but I was cold and shivering and it was a dark night.
But with that chip, I was able to get a room and some fresh clothes for the night; I began gambling again in the morning, and by afternoon I had enough to travel with. It was good I was so fast, for that evening the shadow-men set the block on fire. They didn't say much, and neither did I.
I didn't know how they're following me; I had anticipated that they'd be looking for me of course, but not that they'd have this degree of efficiency. I had spent almost a month wandering the galaxy before Echo raided the casino ship, and then they tracked me down within twenty four hours. It was only logical that someone or something was aiding them now; Shaw came to mind, and I hesitated over the notion as I looked back at the towering flames that were leaping across the city streets. I stood in sillouette against that dark night, and I looked away only as I began to vanish into the darkness.
If anyone could track me, it would be Shaw; but if he could track me, he wouldn't have given me that first month. He was just starting, I reckoned, as I ducked into a back ally as police cars raced down the street towards the conflagration; and if he was just starting it meant that he wasn't using my timeline to track me. He would have been waiting for me the moment I came out of Nagaetros' mind if that was the case.
But in a sense, if anyone was to survive this sort of a pursuit, it would be a Flux. We like to say that we live on the razor's edge, and this is true; our lives hinge on the divine obscenity of fate and prophecy and chance, and we balance atop blades each and every moment of our lives...and I have excellent balance.
--
Scene 1 is a collaboration by LordNagaetros and TenebraesRising, with minor tweaks for style. Scene 2 is LordNageotros and myself, and Scene 3 bookends the bit.
“My lord, is there something wrong?” He called out as he came into sight of the throne. “I could not help but take notice in notice of your pets rush to get back to you.”
Naga was not on his throne, much to his disappointment. It was his singing minion.
“It’ about time you showed up.” Echo grumbled, shooting a glare at the timecaster.
Shaw scowled in reply. “Your’e hardly anyone to tell me about time Echo... where's Naga?
Impishly, Echo sprawled himself over the throne with a disdainful look. “The boss isn’t feeling too good.” He spouted nonchalantly. “He's actin like he's on his death bed. Been calling everyone in all day, somthin big is goin’ on.”
Shaw slowed for a moment, that curiosity holding sway. “And what,” he asked slowly, “prey tell, is going on? Or are you not high enough in the ranks to be privy to that information?
Echo sat up abruptly in response to the jab. “Hey, I’m just doin what I was told to do. Doc did say, ‘Zend zhem to ze maztur vhen zhey get here!’” Echo did a good impression of the character, Shaw though dryly to himself. “As far as i know, you’re the last one. Abruptly, Echo propelled himself in a mighty leap off the throne, landing near Shaw with a self-congratulatory grin on his face.
Shaw grunted in response to the theatrics. “Impressive move I have to admit,” Shaw said to humour the drake, “but please.” He gestured towards the darkness. “Lead the way.”
Yeah yeah yeah...” Echo mumbled as he began to lead Shaw through the halls. The journey ended with them in front of a large and heavily decorated door. “He's in here.”
The doors opened slowly, revealing a mighty chamber with a large circular bed in the middle; the walls were adorned with trophies and statues. In his truest form, Naga rested quietly there with Shuck and Grimm close by, licking at his claws as they dangle off the bed in hopes it would help.
Shaw paused as his eyebrows went up. “I see...” Lord Naga, You've called for us? Might I inquire as to why? ...Forgive me for saying so. But you don't look well.” Naga did not respond, and his tail continued to swing lethargically off the side of the bed.
Then the dogs spoke, their voices raspy and scattered. “Master's not.. feeling well. Something stolen. Something important. Bald woman did it.” The dogs growled to each other for a moment, before adding, “Hunt for… bald woman.”
“Zhe houndz are correct, Zhaw. Zomezing vas ztolen from zhe maztur. A part of hiz mind. Hiz vill.” Naga’s doctor added as he entered the room. From the doorway, Echo quipped in a few words.
“I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of a "vill" before. Is it anything like a "will" because THAT’S what's missing here.”
Shaw resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes, Thank you Echo... “ He looks over to the mechanized, multi armed drake. “Somethings stolen his will? ...hmm.” Shaw growled slowly under his breath. “A bald woman... Humph... Somehow, I don’t know how... the one that's been stalking my timeline. She's the one that did it. She's the one we're going to have to find...doctor, might I look over Naga for a moment?
The drake waved his many arms in a strange gesture. “You may…”
Shaw responded politely. “Thank you doctor.” He moved towards Naga, taking care not to get in the way of shuck and grimm. As he approached, he realized that the damage was still quite visible; the great drake’s throat was torn wide open, revealing far too much meat for anyone’s health.
“Hmm. Greetings my lord, We'll get what was stolen from you back.” He closed his eyes as he begins to read the timelines around Lord Naga, and how they intertwine and connect. “It's very complex, and very old most of it. I know to an extent what her timeline feels like... might take me a few moments to locate it amongst all the others...”
Naga lies motionless on his bed, but a small growl escapes him; offputtingly, it doesn’t come from his mouth, but the wide gashes in his throat.
“…hmm,So i see... oh wait. There she is, her route follows an earlier visit to some of my timelines. She's done a good job of hiding her trail, but tt's still there, faintly… there are gaps in it. Parts that have been wiped clean but it's there... she's only visited you once or twice in the past. Once while you were dormant. Another time, she wasn't even aware that it was you...” He pauses for a moment as he looks back at the doctor. “But she wasn't here recently enough to have caused this... *Looks down at Naga for a moment, his gaze lingering on the massive wound. “At least not in a traditional method...”
“Vell,” the doctor replied “of course the problem liez in hiz mind. Nothing physical iz missing. He haz no hope.”
Echo shot another quip in through the doorway. “So she made the big guy emo? Better hide the razor blades and black wigs....”
“No, you idiot!” The other drake hissed in response. “He haz no motivation, no vill, no dezire.” He reaches out and strikes Echo’s muzzle as well, causing Echo to cry out and rub the offended area.
Shaw chuckles softly as he continues to look over Naga. “Nice shot doctor... Well... if it’s in his mind, as your aware, it's highly likely that she might have done something elsewhere... from a distance. I'm going to need to track her location when he was affected, that should yield something at least. As he attempts to probe the timeline, faint images spool through the air around him; blurry things of a life he does not quite understand. “When did this happen?” Shaw asked.
Behind him, the drake responded. “Sometime last night.”
“Yeah, we knew there was something wrong when he wasn’t up and about barkin’ orders.” Echo added. “That and his mutts could tell something was off.”
Shaw mused quietly as he rubbed his chin. “Well that's good. At least we know roughly when that woman came to him... “ The timestreams above him shifted as he begins to search for where she was at the time. “I have to admit though, she's rather good. Her timelines up until that point show increased looping... she was practicing, rehearsing how to meet him.” He looks away from Naga towards the two drakes behind him. “She won't be easy to find. But I can locate her... and if she thinks that she's a good stalker…” he added with a grin, “wait until she meets a master of it. Question is, what do we do when we locate her?”
The doctor contributed his thoughts here. “Vell, if you could bring back her head, I might be able to fix zhe maztur myself. But zhe houndz dont vant to risk it. Ve must bring her back alive und let zhe maztur fix himself. Vhile zhe maztur's body est immobile, his zoulzhard ztill livez. It haz given zliver's to aide in our hunt.
Following this prompt, Echo reached down and showed Shaw a necklace with a sliver of naga's soulshard on it. “these are supposed to help us find her no matter where she is. The mutts have theirs built in.”
“Well, I'm glad to hear that he's at least still capable of providing assistance to this movement.” Shaw told the doctor. “I'll notify the Time-Breakers and the Children of Apophis about this new turn of events. If this woman is as capable and cautious as she's been up to this point, this won’t be easy. But It will be good to have eyes and ears throughout time. Just makes it harder for her to run.” Now he turned to Echo, and continued as he fingered Echo’s necklace. “Now these, these will come in handy. Tell me do we all get one of them? I would very much like to try something with it.”
Echo shrugged. “Well, I guess so. everyone else got one.”
The doctor inquired politely of Shaw at this point. “Vhat iz your plan, Zhaw?” He said with his thick accent.
Shaw looked at the doctor with a thoughtful gaze on his face as he considers the situation. “Well, if master Nagaetros managed to keep a part of her that we could use. Then I'm thinking that she has more of him in her then she would like as well. She does have his motivation after all, and as I’m sure you might know…that's a dark drive. No doubt she struggling a little bit to keep it in check... what's my plan? I can use the necklace shard to pinpoint where and when she is... then we don't let up trying to capture her. We won’t give her a chance to rest. Even if she manages to evade us, we'll run her ragged and into the ground. Then we let Naga’s will drive her slowly insane as she loses her grip on things... in short, we aim to either capture her, or break her.”
“Zomething tellz me shat vas hiz plan az vell.” The mechanized drake mused. “After all, zhe escaped hiz mind vithout zhe backlash splitting her skull in two. Even if she could zurvive a drake's mental backlash, Lord Naga is no zimple drake. either vay, he had a plan involving her...”
Confused, but denying it, Echo threw his two cents in. “I knew that... ok, so…hunt her down but don’t hunt her down? got it.”
So he did.
--oOo--
I left that high and dry town right as the rainy season hit; it was a stark and dark day on account of the density of the rain, and as the plates rotated around my arm I looked back at it with a strange sense of fondness. It was a very pleasant little town, and it would be a nice place to visit again if this was ever over. If this was ever over. You don’t quite know what that means like I do.
I hired a private investigator to gather information about Chassovo while I moved; truth be told I didn’t anticipate him having much success, but it was a move I could make. Either he would succeed without alerting Chassovo, or he would fail. There would be no memories to draw from his mind if they managed to hold him on any charges, so there wasn’t any risk there for me. The man’s eyes didn’t give away his excitement when I opened the briefcase containing his up front payment; but I could smell it anyway on his breath. He was likely worth the price-I know I paid him well, though how well I remain curious about-but his loyalty was assured by the sound of those chips rubbing together between his fingers.
Those chips. Chips were my new thing. I had found a very comfortable residence aboard a casino ship, and here I admit I was quite comfortable. New clothes, better room and board: it was an excellent base of operations for me. Always on the move, the ship was a well guarded thing operated by a tycoon I wasn’t familiar with. There were some difficulties, of course; the casino floor was well covered with security cameras on which I wouldn’t appear, and there were some Tenebreans on occasion who came to give money to the house. But I found my way around that simply enough; I wore a hologram emitter programmed to my physical appearance whenever I was outside my room, so the cameras still had something to look at, and I didn’t unsettle anyone in that regard. But beyond that, it was a fantastic base of operations: the ship could outrun those that could harm it, and the ship’s security staff were well equipped and immensely professional. It was very comfortable living.
But those chips became my new currency. I paid the private investigator with chips, and I gave him a data file with his objectives, a reminder of what he’d been paid, and instructions to return to me when he had them; as well as a gentle warning that running off without completing the job would be poor form on his part. It wasn’t that I was worried he would do that, but of how he would react to the revelation that he was carrying that much money and couldn’t remember who paid him.
Gambling was fun. It was exciting, incredibly so, and gradually I was learning to play without looking ahead to what the cards would be. I would still do that, on occasion, for those rare times when I needed chips immediately. But I was learning that I had a natural talent for things with random chance, and so I would sit there playing blackjack and enjoying the masses of species all around me. It was a fun game, beyond gambling. Watching the people interact with each other was a fine hobby; I could smell the scents of hopes and fear, highs and lows, all mingling amid the crowd. I blended right into this high society; a sleeveless dark green dress hung well upon my body, and I had set the hologram to provide me with a proper head of long dark hair. There’s a certain joy to blending into a crowd like that, and from that crowd I pulled strings across the galaxy.
I called in favours with traders who didn’t know they owed them yet; movements were tracked, stories spread and gathered, and chips rolled in and out. My greatest curiosity remained Shaw, but I slowly learned about the being who had compromised Capitol. I had decided to time my next move with the upcoming Battle of the Vortex; I appreciated being able to time my actions so that greater noises in the universe might mask them out, and that would do the trick nicely. Another thing I would wish to silence was Naga’s whisperings; the were neither louder nor quieter, but it was incredibly unsettling to realize you were contemplating decapitating the dealer as you reached out to grab more chips.
The sound of the P.A. system starting up silenced the crowds almost instantly. "Greetings fine people! I hope you’re all enjoying your stay upon the fine ship you rest your rich hind quarters on as you gamble your lives away: this is the 'music'-" a second voice interrupted immediately after the first "- and the 'laughter'!-" "-coming at you live with a special request made by a very important someone on this ship. just a little something from my latest album, 'nowhere to hide' please sit back, relax, and enjoy the show..."
The intercom began blaring music. "NIGHTMARE/Now your nightmare comes to life-" The song boomed. A scream could be heard somewhere in the room quickly followed by a horrifying roar.
It was a very loud sound, this song; a very ugly and disorienting thing. I looked up quite abruptly, as did nearly everyone else in the room I think. It was a sinister thing, and not at all subtle either; and among all those faces, mine might have been the most confused. None of the guests or dealers seemed too pleased by that great cacophony, and many stared with disgusted looks on their faces up towards the speakers. Some of the staff were rushing over to a discreet console assembly, presumably attempting to recover control of the apparently hijacked music system. I opened my mouth for a moment to say something to the dealer at my table, but I hesitated. There was something about this that was rather disconcerting, and my open mouth became a frown as I contemplated this. Someone hacking this ship? Perhaps a robbery, I mused privately, as I reached out with my mind to the near future of this ship. A robbery would be very entertaining, I had to admit.
The casino room floor was not a poorly lit thing; in fact normally it was quite well illuminated to help foster that festive atmosphere that fed the slot machines and the baccarat tables. But the lights were abruptly beginning to flicker, giving further credence to my initial theory that this might be a diversion for some other activity. I quietly reached out and tapped the top chip on my stack; the total sum of winnings automatically transferred into it, and I grabbed it silently before looking around. Most of the smells I was feeling were things of confusion, with some minor fear coming from the surprise of the thing; but I was rapidly looking through the crowd. If this was a robbery; hell, if this was anything at all, someone out there wouldn’t be looking up at those speakers, or otherwise attempting conversation with frustration over the chaotic din. It would be interesting to witness the robbery, assuming there was one, and assuming they were professional about it. I have sympathy with criminals, at least the clever ones; some deserve so much more than fate deals them. Those who are willing to take risks deserve luck.
A sudden sense of fear stuck the crowd near as rising screams of terror could be heard coming closer and closer to where I stood. Gamblers began running and stumbling towards the exits from an unseen force as I watched silently from the table. One of the staff was frantically issuing commands to the console in a desperate attempt to regain control; that attempt was cut short as he was tackled by a dark form moving too fast for me to see and quickly dragged away. The gamblers had stopped dead in their tracks looking at something in front of the exit, the crowd was too thick for me to see what it was, but they refused to go near it even if it meant escape. They were all being herded as the music continued to boom throughout the casino, making any cries for help almost pointless.
This wasn’t just a robbery, I realized quickly, shooting a final glare of irritation at the speakers. The song was admittedly making me uncomfortable, though at present it had more to do with the headache it was surely going to give me than the words. I could hardly make them out anymore above the chaotic din, but even then though, the song remained a grating thing, like fingernails on chalkboards. It was a very disgustingly unpleasant sound, and I grimaced slightly amongst all the turmoil that came with it.
People were crying and jostling each other rather horribly, and I paused for a moment as I finally viewed what they were running from. That’s not to say I saw it; not yet, anyway; but as I peered into the immediate future I sensed the thing’s shapes, and they weren’t pretty.
My minor comprehension sent ripples into the gauntlet I wore underneath the hologram, and the plates began spinning restlessly; it wasn’t the same steady movement that they’d make when I prepared for a jump, but they would all spin one direction before gradually slowing to a halt, then gradually building speed in the opposite direction, and repeating and alternating quite silently amongst the hordes of abruptly claustrophobic socialites. The music added an additional throbbing sense of apprehension to the scene, but oddly enough I didn’t feel like escaping it. Quite frankly, if they weren’t after money, it stood a fair chance that they were looking for me, and a good way to stand out would be to bolt for a door.
The crowd abruptly began to go silent as they move nervously backwards toward the center of the room, not taking their eyes off the creatures that lead them. The song continued to sound thoughout the casino but was nearing it's end. Another song could be heard just beyond the exit doors, slowly coming closer and getting louder as the seconds passed, the sound of laughter accompanying it.
As the crowd moved I caught a glimpse at one of the creatures. it was vaguely humanoid with digitigrade hoof-like feet, black skin with dark blue markings, sharp claws, no mouth to speak of, and glaring reptilian red eyes. Despite its monstrous appearance, I sensed it was human in some way, regardless of its unnatural form. The creatures lashed out with their claws at anyone who tried to move in an undesired direction.
The sudden silence from the crowd was alarming, and at last I was in the crowd. At that point, I could only assume it was Shaw's doing here; I didn't imagine Nagaetros' forces would be so quick to find me. But as I peered into events unfolding moments from now, I knew it was not Shaw who would come through that door. I was both at once relieved and dissapointed; relieved in that I didn't feel prepared to kill that fearsome Chaw, while dissapointed that he didn't have the courtesy to attempt to dispatch me personally.
This was mostly in error, in hindsight-Shaw had little direct relevance to what was about to unfold, though at a later point his indirect influence would be evident enough. As the song's final lines faded out, I stood in the crowd with a general sense of unease; the plates continuing to spin lazily around my wrist, disrupting the localized holograms and leaving a blur around my forearm like a wake through fog.
I could jump, I thought to myself in those moments. I would likely take parts of the people around me with me as I went, but I could jump out of here and avoid further inconvenience. But I couldn't quite bring myself to do it; I still had questions. I am well versed in the skills required to vanish; I have no name, and rarely if ever do I intervene in a memorable way. Yet somehow, if they had indeed come here looking for me, they had managed to find me in spite of those facts.
A voice could be heard amongst the music just outside the door. "She's in here! She's in here! I told you, Echo! Hahaha! I told you!" the voice cried joyfully.
"Huh, I guess you were right...well, let's introduce ourselves, shall we? " The other voice answered. The doors burst open with a violent gust of wind that almost knocked an entire row of onlookers off their feet. In the doorway stood two young men, one rather tall and one short, almost my height. The taller one was in well worn jeans, black boots, a sleaveless leather shirt and a spiked pauldron on his shoulder. He had long spikey black hair a spiked goatee, and an ugly smirk adorned his mouth with a glance at a row of perfect white teeth. The short one wore a black and white jester's uniform, bells and all. He had a wide grin and bright red hair, vertical scars lined his lips. "Greetings, one and all! My name is Echo! And my funny little protege here is Jester. Now that intro's are out of the way," Echo said points his hand out to the crowd, his thumb and pointer finger oriented to simulate a gun. "Put your hands in the air and no one gets hurt."
The crowd raised their hands immediately, and Jester laughed again. It was an annoying sound, but not as irritating as the song had been. There were probably close to two hundred people in that crowd, and I was not in a position with a good view of the apparent ringleaders. It was a strange scene; the lights were still flickering in spasms, and the shadows would abruptly leap into existence before being yet again banished by the light. Against this backdrop, the rows of casino tables and slot machines sat idle, their lights flashing with forlorn hopes that someone might try their luck with them.
I was oddly enough not thinking at all about escape at this point. Escape wouldn’t do here. It would be a poor solution, and at that time, I was still thinking about Shaw. He might be smart enough to some how locate me, but I would have to make sure he didn’t have anyone to report back with good news. On top of that, there was Naga’s hopes whispering in the back of my mind, strongly suggesting that I slaughter these fools where the stood. I opted instead to take a more moderate approach and see what they did; it would take a few minutes to search the crowd if they were looking for me in particular, and I was already thinking of tricks I could play with the hologram emitter I was wearing.
“Say, what’s this all about?” A man’s voice called out from the crowd. I sincerely hoped nothing stupid happened to him, but at least someone had asked.
"That is an excellent question, my foolish friend!" Echo laughed, quickly approaching the crowd and dragging the man by his hair with strength unseen in his form. "Someone stole something very important from our boss, and we've come to get it back! And, seeing that you have some hair on your ugly head, You’re not the one we're looking for!" Echo pointed his finger to the man's temple as he struggled in his grip. Suddenly the man froze, an idiotic gaze took over his face as he began foaming at the mouth. Echo dropped the man on his face where he laid motionless. "Now, unless there are any more questions, and you all cooperate with the scary looking shadow creatures-" echo stopped to violently kick the man in the gut. "-none of you will end up like this fool!" Echo yelled to the crowd as Jester watched, his laughter was almost un-ending. The shadow creatures were circling the crowd, their eyes almost focused on me but for some reason they did nothing else. They began herding the crowd in a more oval shape.
I was surprised when I realized these were Nagaetros’ men; I couldn’t begin to imagine how they’d managed to find me when I’d never even been there. It was mildly embarrassing, really, given how much I pride myself on my ephemeral presence in most places, but it was undeniable; I could faintly pick up their smells, and they had that peculiar salty tone that indicated a drake. Somehow, they’d managed to find me here. Naga was at this point quietly advising that I begin tearing out the throats of those in the crowd around me, but I hushed that thought and considered the situation. There were almost a dozen guards plus the two leaders, and those were high numbers; I might get six or seven quickly, but that would be problematic. I could see the reflection of the crowd in the vast window which covered one of the walls, and the shadow-men’s shapes could be seen there too.
I had watched the man fall foaming at Echo’s feet, and drew the quickest logical conclusion: some variety of lobotomy. I would know, after all; It was a brutish method, but yet I felt no real reassurance with the knowledge that it wouldn’t likely extract anything from me if attempted. As it was, it would likely leave me in a similar condition, and quite frankly I didn’t expect Echo would appreciate the difference.
So much for hiding, I thought to myself with a bit of disappointment. It would still take a while to find me as they went through that crowd, which they surely would do; they’d grab at the holographic hair and be rudely disappointed in time. At that point though, I could likely jump and take a part of whoever was nearest with me; it was the best solution I had going at the time. Then again, escape wasn’t really a satisfactory solution. This ship supposedly had a crack security division, but they hadn’t been seen since the music started.
“Please, if I may,” I said softly to a worried looking man next to me, and I began to move through the crowd. Without further words, the crowd parted; they seemed to sense my intents, and obliged them quite kindly. I moved slowly out of the crowd, till there was perhaps only six feet between me and one of the shadow-men. I kept my visual attention on him as I spoke; I didn’t intend to say much here. The shadow-men turned towards me with blank faces, and I looked beyond them at my reflection in that great glass wall.
“Do you believe in sacrifice, Chaw’Echo?” I asked softly, using the honorific of my people to address someone who I sincerely suspected did not deserve it. I could feel every muscle in my body at that moment; I do not know if he could see the strange blur around my left arm, but if he could I do not know then what he thought it was.
Echo looked at me with obvious suspicion. "So, another one wishes to speak out..." Echo said as he reached into his shirt to pull out a necklace and gave it a quick glance, he gave a wide, white grin at what he saw. Such a grin that went ear to ear in an inhuman fashion, revealing sharp, dog-like teeth behind his human ones. The crowd gasped at the sight.
"She's the one!" He cried aloud as his body began to shift into his true form, the crowd looked on in shock at what they were witnessing. Numerous black spikes took their places on Echo's arms and legs as his skin turned grey and a long, spiked tail grew from his back. His ears elongated and took the appearance of jagged bat ears as his mouth grew out to accomodate his teeth in a typical drake muzzle with two spikes on the end of his nose. His eye's turned a bright red and a large red ruby appeared on his chest in the shape of a 'w'.
"Finally! Now the fun can begin! Oh, the master will be happy once more!" Jester said with delight as he took his own true form. His skin turned orange and a long spiked and spaded tail grew from his back, and his feet became hooves and his snout elongated and ended in an upturned point, while long rabbit like ears twitched with excitement.
"Forget that! I just want to rub it in Vulcan's smug face that I won and he lost!" Echo said to Jester.
"That's good too!" jester replied with enthusiasm, as he jumped up and down in the air.
He reeked of confidence, though whether or not it was merited given the circumstances I did not know. The crowd no longer seemed content to remain herded by the shadow-men, and they bolted in an uncoordinated stampede in an effort to escape from Echo’s rapidly rising form. I could hear them screaming out with alarm, and I could hear the sound of tables being knocked over and chips scattering across the floor. I watched their shapes move in the glass, though I could not tell the specifics of their actions.
I did not hear Echo respond to my question, and while I wished for an answer to it, I could do without. The nearest shadowman remained standing motionlessly a mere six feet from me, and behind it lay a vision of the cosmos. Our futures were out there, I thought silently to myself, as I watched the panicking reflections of the people behind me. I could see Echo and Jester’s reflections in the panels too, and the whole vision flickered under those malfunctioning lights. I had watched without looking directly at them as they transformed, and I could make out the sounds of flesh stretching and bone contorting ever so slightly above the din of the horrified crowd.
He didn’t deem to answer me, rather unfortunately. I always try to be civil and dignified about my conduct, though I suppose this was lost on those two or their goons. I hadn’t attacked Nagaetros, after all, until he had tried to kill me. Then I was forced to resort to… incivilities. Ironically, Nagaetros’ hopes encouraged me to kill those who were attempting to recover that critical part of his mind. I suppose the monster would gladly bite the hand that fed him.
"Let's make this crowd useful, shall we?" Echo yelled over the noise. A new song began, but not from the speakers. This time, it came from eEho himself as he stood there watching me and the scared bystanders.
"LET'S START A RIOT!"
The music began, quickly filling the room before anyone could escape. As I watched, the other passengers had stopped their attempts to reach the exits and escape. Gradually, they turned away from the doors with ferocious looks in their eyes, as they became violent and destructive. Attacking one another and almost anything else around them like wild animals, they only avoided the shadow men, and the drakes, as well as myself. With horrific zeal, they destroyed the machines, slammed into the walls, and tore into their neighbors like rabid wolves.
"Ah! The wonderous smell of chaos fills the air! The big guy's going to like this, I know it!" Echo exclaimed. "Now, to collect our prize. Jester, would you do the honors?" Echo glanced at me with a wide smirk.
"With pleasure!" Jester yelled in excitement as he began to quickly move closer to me, giggling and laughing uncontrollably.
I do not know if the song coaxed anything out of me, though considering what I did next it remains to this day a distinct possibility in my mind. The song was roaring, and behind me I could see in that great glass wall scenes of utter brutality. It crossed the line for me, or so I thought at the time. I would be civil to them as long as they were civil in return, and that hadn’t lasted much longer than the second song’s beginning. I had that song pounding in my ears, and Nagaetros’ damnable hopes were encouraging me to slaughter, and in that moment I felt a line be crossed. In hindsight, I do not know if it had yet been, but in the blink of an eye I moved.
My gauntlet is not just a means of getting from one place to another. I had been inspired to craft it based off of that ancient Timecaster’s staff my father had given to me so many years ago-or in the future, if you view it from your perspective-and had incorporated that philosophy into the device. Like a staff for a timecaster, the gauntlet was for me not just a means of moving about, but a weapon.
I sent the first four plates through the nearest shadowmen’s head. The plates which spun around me arm were solid things, made of one of the strongest and most exotic materials that would ever be crafted in this galaxy; but they were immensely heavy. The gauntlet naturally compensated for this weight, but it would not do so for what I launched those plates at. They shot out of orbit around my arm like blades at nearly supersonic speeds, and the shadow-man likely never even saw it coming. They did not cut through his skull so much as they crushed it; in one moment his head was there, and the next a rain of grey flesh was beginning to extend out from where his head had been, falling sideways towards that vast glass wall.
I was shifting my arm towards the jester when they struck; the four thick plates embedded themselves in the glass and began sending out a cacophonous cracking sound as spider webs rapidly spread across the glass. It as a thick wall, after all, meant to survive gunfire and other physical assaults; but I had just thrown the equivalent of a larger truck into it, and it wasn’t engineered quite to those standards.
The fifth and final plate I launched into the jester that was approaching me. It cut through him right below the shoulder blades without hesitation and went sailing on into the far wall behind Echo. I do not know if the little drake ever felt it, but the kinetic force sent the jester in a similar trajectory towards the wall; not quite as far, as he fell onto his back and slid across the wood floor for several paces before coming to a halt, open eyes and staring into the ceiling. I was already turning back, summoning the four plates embedded in that thick glass sheet back into orbit around my gauntlet.
Then the blink of an eye ended. Immediately, an alarm was ringing, rivaling the sound of Echo’s song: PLEASE EVACUATE THIS ROOM IN AN ORDERLY MANNER. A DANGER EXISTS OF EXPLOSIVE DECOMPRESSION. PLEASE EVACUATE THIS ROOM IN AN ORDERLY MANNER. A DANGER EXISTS…
Echo paused singing abruptly on account of the surprise of the move. I don’t think he had anticipated me being able to move so quickly, nor had he understood I was armed. He looked at that strange blur around my arm where the hologram failed to fully conceal the gauntlet with a strange expression on his face, as I repeated my question, minus the honorific he no longer deserved.
“Do you believe in sacrifices?” I asked again, doing my best to capitalize on the force of the moment.
A sick sort of smile ran accross echo's face as he glanced at jester's body, his spilled blood was beginning to return to his limp corpse like ants to an ant hill. "It pays to have a guy like that around." He said before turning back to me. "There are many sacrifices on the path to success and the road to fame. I’ve made many." He said as the sounds caused by the chaos around us began to fade into silence at the snap of echo's long black claws. A sword appeared in his hand with a forked blade that reminded me of a tuning fork. "In fact, I've lost count. But, if Iwere to bring you back to the big guy 'und ze doctur', Echo mused with a wry look on his face, “I shouldn’t have to make anymore for quite a long, long time. As is appropriate for Nagaetros' second in command." He added, as if he wanted to hear his own title again. Echo motioned for the remaining shadowbreed to circle me as the chaos continued to go on, silently but still there.
"Fool…" I heard a voice speak quietly in my head amongst my thoughts, it was almost unnoticable and definitely not my voice.
The voice startled me more than the sword did; it didn’t sound like Nagaetros’ silent suggestions, but now was not the time to pause and reflect on such matters. Lovely. The drake was also a telepath. At least, that’s what I had thought at the time.Now was the time to avoid things, and I locked eyes with the drake as I summoned back the fifth plate from its home in the wall; sparks shot from it as the metal released the intruding component, and it slipped back into orbit around my forearm. The voice continued to warn of the danger of an explosive decompression as I silently prepared the gauntlet for a leap of faith. I extended my arm out towards that glass wall while the gauntlet hummed with anticipation.
The dozen or so Shadow-men had distance between themselves and I; it was a solid perimeter regardless, but I wondered if they were nervous.
“I do too.” I believed in sacrifices. I was about to sacrifice two hundred people so that I could escape. If Echo was indeed a telepath, then he knew how deadly serious I was at that moment. Perhaps it was the music; perhaps it was Naga’s hopes…perhaps it was just me.
I hope you understand where I am coming from with this. The chaw I am stalking across the cosmos will cause more deaths and suffering than I can imagine. I have seen the future, and I still can’t fully imagine the malice in that chaw’s lifeless heart. If I stop him, my sacrifices will not have been in vain. So if Echo could read my mind, he would have to know at that moment just what I was willing to do to accomplish my goal.
“When these people die, they will be sacrifices I have made...” The words come smoothly off my tongue, as I glance back at my reflection in the cracked wall. A DANGER EXISTS, the voice repeated again with no real fervor. PLEASE EVACUATE. “…and when I have dealt with Shaw, I will come after you for their deaths. I have heard that he weeps so bitterly that he hasn’t the strength to heal himself. Can you imagine that? Salty tears in an open throat?” I shake my head slightly as I look at the woman reflected in the glass. Her face is shattered, and the dark green dress that hangs on her seems to hang from a body full of broken bones. Such is the nature of cracked glass.
Echo stopped and looked on at me, his red eyes watched closely at every movement i made, every muscle's twitch. He gripped his sword tightly but showed no signs of preparing to use it. he pulled his necklace from his shirt once more and gave it a glance. "Do it." the voice in my head spoke silently as a chill ran down my back. Echo nodded, looking down at the necklace, a look of dissapointment on his face.
In the blink of an eye, Echo had dashed over to Jester's body, picked up the corpse and returned to where he once stood before I could act, carrying Jester over his spiked shoulders. Echo dropped the corpse on the ground and placed his spiked foot upon it like a raptor about to carry off it's prey. he then took his sword in one arm and pointed it at me. The space between Echo and the cracking wall began to shift and bend like the air on a hot summer's day or ripples in a puddle. The blades of his sword began to vibrate as wind began to become visible between them in the needle-like vortex.
A smirk appeared once more on the drake's muzzle.
"Go ahead, make my day!"
I skipped a beat in confusion, leaving us in an awkward standoff. The crowds had stilled behind us, and were watching with a great degree of curiosity as we stood there moments away from a climactic event. The drake seemed prepared to escape, yet to do so was to let me go. The glee on his face didn’t match his actions, and I resisted the urge to lower my arm from its orientation towards the glass panel. He wasn’t trying to stop me leaving, and this confused me. I repeated the thought again in my mind, not caring if the drake could hear my thoughts.
He’s not trying to stop me leaving.
He saw the confusion flitter across my face, I think, and the smirk grew wider still. We stood there with eyes locked, the dozen or so shadow-men still surrounding me in a wide circle. It was a strange sort of standoff, for it wasn’t that we were threatening each other. Echo could leave without trouble, as could I…
Inside, Nagaetros helpfully suggested I aim for the drake’s gut, and make sure I make him feel it. It was an annoying thought, and I shoved it aside.
"It appears we're at an impasse" Echo placed his left arm under his right one, opening his palm towards the glass while his right arm held the sword. "Allow me to fix that!" with a click of his tongue the sound in the room came back with an ear shattering boom of sirens and screams. I was unprepared for this blast of sound.
The noise was earthshaking, and with it Echo committed the act which I was preparing to do. This surprise of Echo blowing out the window was intense, as was the rush of wind that carried me out of that ship, and the wind carried the passengers and the slot machines with me. I closed my eyes instinctively and blew the air out of my lungs as anyone who knows anything about explosive decompression would; but in those brief moments as I was thrown out of the ship, I could see him grinning wildly, his claws digging into the wooden floor and anchoring him where he stood. It's an image that will stick with me for some time, I think. I did not have time to think about those other passengers, but I would imagine they tried to hold their breath. I was losing consciousness when I triggered the jump.
--oOo--
I woke up in a back alley puddle. Eyes opened wide, and instantly, and I gasped lungs full of fresh air into my body as I realized how deathly cold and wet I was. The dress felt cold, and the stone beneath the fabric was cold, and the water was cold, and my gauntlet was freezing. Space, after all, is cold, and even a mere ten or fifteen seconds of it is devastating when you're not wearing proper gear for that sort of temperature. My teeth were chattering, and I shakily pulled myself up from the ground, pausing for a moment as I realized a thin layer of frost covered my skin. I was thinking about frostbite, but if anything it would only be on the upper layers of the skin; the cold would not hit that fast, if at all, thank the gods.
The water rolled off that dark green dress as I pulled myself off the ground, and it clung to my body like slick, clammy hands. I was trembling, and in the puddle I could see the hologram flickering imperceptibly over my body. The device didn't realize I was soaked,so the hair seemed dry and otherwise unmussed, but its shimmering instability gave away the illusion, assuming the fact that the rest of me was soaked and covered in frost didn't.
I looked curiously at my other hand after I flexed the fingers in it; the chip remained there, miraculously holding on, though quite likely it was no miracle. A thin layer of skin left my hand as I flipped the chip over, drifting into the puddle, where in moments it began to turn grey courtesy of strange genetics. My breathing was stabilizing now, but I was cold and shivering and it was a dark night.
But with that chip, I was able to get a room and some fresh clothes for the night; I began gambling again in the morning, and by afternoon I had enough to travel with. It was good I was so fast, for that evening the shadow-men set the block on fire. They didn't say much, and neither did I.
I didn't know how they're following me; I had anticipated that they'd be looking for me of course, but not that they'd have this degree of efficiency. I had spent almost a month wandering the galaxy before Echo raided the casino ship, and then they tracked me down within twenty four hours. It was only logical that someone or something was aiding them now; Shaw came to mind, and I hesitated over the notion as I looked back at the towering flames that were leaping across the city streets. I stood in sillouette against that dark night, and I looked away only as I began to vanish into the darkness.
If anyone could track me, it would be Shaw; but if he could track me, he wouldn't have given me that first month. He was just starting, I reckoned, as I ducked into a back ally as police cars raced down the street towards the conflagration; and if he was just starting it meant that he wasn't using my timeline to track me. He would have been waiting for me the moment I came out of Nagaetros' mind if that was the case.
But in a sense, if anyone was to survive this sort of a pursuit, it would be a Flux. We like to say that we live on the razor's edge, and this is true; our lives hinge on the divine obscenity of fate and prophecy and chance, and we balance atop blades each and every moment of our lives...and I have excellent balance.
--
Scene 1 is a collaboration by LordNagaetros and TenebraesRising, with minor tweaks for style. Scene 2 is LordNageotros and myself, and Scene 3 bookends the bit.