Hello there. Given how I'm reaching my self-imposed limit on my other post, I thought I would prepare in advance the next one. I feel like this thing is going to stretch out to 25-28 parts, but I feel like I'm 65% done with the story. Constructive criticism is appreciated and welcome.
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Fixing the Past, Pt. 21-28
- Thread starter Commander_12
- Start date
Fixing the Past, Pt. XXI (21)
Freyjia looked out over the city laid before her. She could hear the boots of her soldiers marching up and down the streets, looking for any rebels or anyone out past curfew. Anyone who was suspected was shot and killed immediately. But it was for the protection of all Lokans. They themselves had proven unable to govern themselves and handle their own affairs, so she had been forced to govern for them. Despite frequent protests, she always crushed them.
It was for the betterment of all. But was it really She often thought about this. But all that changed when Crypt was killed by him, along with the Guardians.
Commander 12.
It was the darkest day in their history. It was after the Battle of Preksak’s Lab, after such a bitter win. They won, at the cost of many lives. But Frejyia remembered what happened afterwards.
…
The fire was burning low, and most of the revellers were fast asleep, lying on the floor, on tables, or on anything they could find. Crypt was the only one awake. Sitting in a wooden chair facing the fire, Crypt rotated the wine in his cup back and forth.
Was Preksak, hopefully, gone for real this time? Was he always meant to return? To cause the end of an age? But today, they attacked preemptively. They stopped him before his plan came to fruition. But why did so many have to die?
Particularly Scooter. Someone so young didn’t deserve to die. Crypt took another sip of his wine and put his cup on a side table. He got up to attend to the fire. But a rustling noise from behind him caught his attention.
Crypt reached for his sword, ready for whatever foe was in the darkness. But Crypt wasn’t ready. Blood was pouring from his chest. A blade had pierced his heart from behind.
"Who are you?” he said as blood splattered from his mouth.
"It was me, Crypt. I was the one who killed you. Remember that as the last words you hear." Preksak said.
Crypt’s body collapsed to the ground, and Preksak couldn’t sense a pulse from him anymore. Soon, they would find him and all the other dead Guardians. Preksak opened his portal, stepped in, and disappeared. His work was done.
…
The next morning, screams rang throughout the dining hall. The Guardians had all been murdered. And most importantly, Crypt had been too. There was no one left to defend them.
Frejyia cradled the body of the Crypt, crying. Who could do such an evil and heinous act?
Freyjia breathed deeply and addressed the crowd that had gathered around. Two guards placed a blanket over Crypt so no one could see the horror behind her.
"We will find who committed these foul murders! They will be brought to justice!"
As Freyjia was speaking, guards rushed in and shoved someone onto the ground. A bloody blade clattered to the ground in front of the person who had shoved it.
Freyjia carefully picked up the sword and held it in her hands.
"The Sword of Hyrule. The only thing capable of harming a Guardian"
Frejyia put her fingers on it and used her powers. She felt the pain and anguish the Guardians felt, as if their lives had been taken away from them. And one person’s fingerprints were all over the sword.
"Commander 12. How could you betray the ones you were sworn to serve and protect?"
Commander looked up, bloody and bruised, and spoke as he coughed blood:
"It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! It was Preksak! Preksak, I tell you!" he screamed as the guards carried him away.
…
Commander was hanged the next day, with no trial or questions asked. The evidence was so damning, and with Freyjia’s godly powers, she knew Commander was lying and that he had truly murdered the Guardians and Crypt. But why was he so delusional, insisting he hadn’t done it despite the damning evidence? It did not matter. Justice had been served. Speaking from a balcony overlooking the crowd below, Freyjia knew what she had to do.
"Because our beloved Guardians were murdered in cold blood, I have no choice but to declare martial law. Until we know it is safe again, I must ask you to sacrifice your individual needs and desires and think for the greater good of all Lokans. We must come together to ride this storm! Preksak’s influence can be felt anywhere; his agents of chaos seek to destroy the lives we have built for ourselves! We must not allow anyone like Commander 12 to destroy our way of life! Anyone who knows him or is related to him is a danger to our society! We must root out Preksak’s influence!"
Cheers roared from the crowd, and chanting started, calling out Freyjia’s name. A small smile grew on Freyjia’s face.
"I henceforth declare the creation of the Terran Empire! A new system of government to protect all Lokans from harm and Preksak! Loka strong!" she yelled
The chanting grew louder. It echoed off the mountains nearby and caused a small avalanche. It was no danger to them. But Preksak was.
He would harm no one anymore. Lokans had proven themselves to be unable to decide their fate, and anyone except Freyjia and the Guardians could fall under the spell of Preksak. Therefore, Freyjia made the hardest choice she ever made: to save and protect all Lokans.
Taking away their freedom of choice and will.
…
Freyjia was brought back to the present. She thought about that evening and the day after and how everything had rapidly changed. Loka was safe and secure, and any dissident was seen as Preksak trying to destroy Loka as they knew it. But thanks to her godly powers and oversight, Loka had yet to fall. Preksak would never succeed. One of Freyjia’s assistants tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around to face them. It was Koi001.
"My empress. The ceremony is about to start. We need to get you ready for it."
"Thank you, my lady." I will be in the dressing room shortly."
Koi nodded and walked away. Freyjia turned around to face the window one more time.
Loka would be forever safe under her careful and watchful eye.
But he would always be out there, seeking to destroy it all.
Preksak.
…
Scooter and Commander returned to the group and explained what they had to do in order to seek entry into Freyjia’s castle.
"So we need to use dark magic to break into a vault to steal bits of a magical tree?" Sku said
"Yes, that’s the sweet and narrow of it." Commander said
"But won’t using dark magic put you more at risk, Scooter? The more you use it, the more likely it is that your destiny is going to come true. We have two freaking guardians with us. Can’t they use their power?"
Gallius and Mopb shook their heads.
"Not without Magpie and Diab. We can’t."
"It’s for the greater good. Using it in small doses is not going to turn me into a raging monster."
Preksak turned around to face the group.
"Hopefully, you prove fate wrong."
…
Freyjia looked out over the city laid before her. She could hear the boots of her soldiers marching up and down the streets, looking for any rebels or anyone out past curfew. Anyone who was suspected was shot and killed immediately. But it was for the protection of all Lokans. They themselves had proven unable to govern themselves and handle their own affairs, so she had been forced to govern for them. Despite frequent protests, she always crushed them.
It was for the betterment of all. But was it really She often thought about this. But all that changed when Crypt was killed by him, along with the Guardians.
Commander 12.
It was the darkest day in their history. It was after the Battle of Preksak’s Lab, after such a bitter win. They won, at the cost of many lives. But Frejyia remembered what happened afterwards.
…
The fire was burning low, and most of the revellers were fast asleep, lying on the floor, on tables, or on anything they could find. Crypt was the only one awake. Sitting in a wooden chair facing the fire, Crypt rotated the wine in his cup back and forth.
Was Preksak, hopefully, gone for real this time? Was he always meant to return? To cause the end of an age? But today, they attacked preemptively. They stopped him before his plan came to fruition. But why did so many have to die?
Particularly Scooter. Someone so young didn’t deserve to die. Crypt took another sip of his wine and put his cup on a side table. He got up to attend to the fire. But a rustling noise from behind him caught his attention.
Crypt reached for his sword, ready for whatever foe was in the darkness. But Crypt wasn’t ready. Blood was pouring from his chest. A blade had pierced his heart from behind.
"Who are you?” he said as blood splattered from his mouth.
"It was me, Crypt. I was the one who killed you. Remember that as the last words you hear." Preksak said.
Crypt’s body collapsed to the ground, and Preksak couldn’t sense a pulse from him anymore. Soon, they would find him and all the other dead Guardians. Preksak opened his portal, stepped in, and disappeared. His work was done.
…
The next morning, screams rang throughout the dining hall. The Guardians had all been murdered. And most importantly, Crypt had been too. There was no one left to defend them.
Frejyia cradled the body of the Crypt, crying. Who could do such an evil and heinous act?
Freyjia breathed deeply and addressed the crowd that had gathered around. Two guards placed a blanket over Crypt so no one could see the horror behind her.
"We will find who committed these foul murders! They will be brought to justice!"
As Freyjia was speaking, guards rushed in and shoved someone onto the ground. A bloody blade clattered to the ground in front of the person who had shoved it.
Freyjia carefully picked up the sword and held it in her hands.
"The Sword of Hyrule. The only thing capable of harming a Guardian"
Frejyia put her fingers on it and used her powers. She felt the pain and anguish the Guardians felt, as if their lives had been taken away from them. And one person’s fingerprints were all over the sword.
"Commander 12. How could you betray the ones you were sworn to serve and protect?"
Commander looked up, bloody and bruised, and spoke as he coughed blood:
"It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! It was Preksak! Preksak, I tell you!" he screamed as the guards carried him away.
…
Commander was hanged the next day, with no trial or questions asked. The evidence was so damning, and with Freyjia’s godly powers, she knew Commander was lying and that he had truly murdered the Guardians and Crypt. But why was he so delusional, insisting he hadn’t done it despite the damning evidence? It did not matter. Justice had been served. Speaking from a balcony overlooking the crowd below, Freyjia knew what she had to do.
"Because our beloved Guardians were murdered in cold blood, I have no choice but to declare martial law. Until we know it is safe again, I must ask you to sacrifice your individual needs and desires and think for the greater good of all Lokans. We must come together to ride this storm! Preksak’s influence can be felt anywhere; his agents of chaos seek to destroy the lives we have built for ourselves! We must not allow anyone like Commander 12 to destroy our way of life! Anyone who knows him or is related to him is a danger to our society! We must root out Preksak’s influence!"
Cheers roared from the crowd, and chanting started, calling out Freyjia’s name. A small smile grew on Freyjia’s face.
"I henceforth declare the creation of the Terran Empire! A new system of government to protect all Lokans from harm and Preksak! Loka strong!" she yelled
The chanting grew louder. It echoed off the mountains nearby and caused a small avalanche. It was no danger to them. But Preksak was.
He would harm no one anymore. Lokans had proven themselves to be unable to decide their fate, and anyone except Freyjia and the Guardians could fall under the spell of Preksak. Therefore, Freyjia made the hardest choice she ever made: to save and protect all Lokans.
Taking away their freedom of choice and will.
…
Freyjia was brought back to the present. She thought about that evening and the day after and how everything had rapidly changed. Loka was safe and secure, and any dissident was seen as Preksak trying to destroy Loka as they knew it. But thanks to her godly powers and oversight, Loka had yet to fall. Preksak would never succeed. One of Freyjia’s assistants tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around to face them. It was Koi001.
"My empress. The ceremony is about to start. We need to get you ready for it."
"Thank you, my lady." I will be in the dressing room shortly."
Koi nodded and walked away. Freyjia turned around to face the window one more time.
Loka would be forever safe under her careful and watchful eye.
But he would always be out there, seeking to destroy it all.
Preksak.
…
Scooter and Commander returned to the group and explained what they had to do in order to seek entry into Freyjia’s castle.
"So we need to use dark magic to break into a vault to steal bits of a magical tree?" Sku said
"Yes, that’s the sweet and narrow of it." Commander said
"But won’t using dark magic put you more at risk, Scooter? The more you use it, the more likely it is that your destiny is going to come true. We have two freaking guardians with us. Can’t they use their power?"
Gallius and Mopb shook their heads.
"Not without Magpie and Diab. We can’t."
"It’s for the greater good. Using it in small doses is not going to turn me into a raging monster."
Preksak turned around to face the group.
"Hopefully, you prove fate wrong."
…
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Fixing the Past, Pt. XXII(22)
Mem brought the group through the sewers, to the vault's location. He was carrying a shovel with him for some reason, even though he didn’t need it.
“What’s with the shovel?” Commander asked
“It’s the legendary death shovel,” Gallius said
“Death shov-“
But Commander was shushed by Mem who pointed to the water, flowing down a giant drain.
“In there, you will find an entry to the vault. Good luck.”
Mem then started digging away at the wall with the shovel and tons of dirt came flying out from behind him.
Sku was hit by something and he spit it out of his mouth.
“Weirdo,” Sku muttered
Scooter stood the closest to the edge and looked down into the drain.
“The vault is located 2000 feet below this drain.”
Commander and Sku looked at each other.
“We’re not freaking Guardians or dark magic practitioners like you three. How the hell do you expect us to swim?”
In the tunnel Mem dug, the dragging of his feet could be heard again but he also sounded like he was dragging something heavy and metal. He soon reappeared with two metal diving suits, like the ones they used to wear in the late 19th century.
“Surf’s up.” He said
…
After 15 minutes of wrangling around to get the suit on, the group prepared for the dive. Mem had also disappeared after he gave Commander and Sku the suits. He dug another tunnel off to god knows where. Commander couldn’t hear a thing in the suit beside his own heavy breathing and heartbeat. It was unnerving. But they could talk to the rest of the group via radio.
“Testing, 1,2,3. Testing” Sku said
Commander gave him a thumbs up and breathed in deeply. He’d never been one much for diving, let alone swimming. He had always been more of a fishing guy. He jumped off the ledge, followed by Sku and the others. Commander could feel the pull of the whirlpool pulling him around and around. Motion sickness and over him. It sped up faster and faster and then Commander heard a sucking sound and then blackness covered his view.
He felt himself sinking more and more rapidly—the light from above reflects into the drain above, giving Commander limited visibility. Soon, the rest of the group appeared and they all started slowly sinking. Scooter estimated it would take the group at least an hour back and forth to teach the bottom and get to the vault. So, Commander turned on his headlights and closed his eyes for a moment.
Might as well get some shut-eye in, he thought.
…
Lurking in the waters, many hundreds of feet below, Quetzalcóatl slept in her burrow peacefully. Quetzalcóatl was the last of her kind, a snake at least 600 feet long. She had been trapped in this watery pit for hundreds of years by Frejyia after transporting her from another universe. But in exchange for her children’s freedom, Quetzalcóatl was to serve as the Guardian of Freyjia’s vault. She was also promised to be freed after 1000 years in the service of Freyjia. For the first 100-200 years, Quetzalcóatl was filled with nothing but rage about Freyjia but she was a mother and a mother who did what was best for her children. Also, Freyjia would bring her very tasty victims to eat. She also told her to look out for one person in particular, if an alternate reality version of him or if he came back to life somehow.
Commander 12.
…
Preksak was back with the group reflecting upon what might happen to Commander and his friends. They would be strong enough to face Quetzalcóatl for sure, but was that true? Many had died in a vain attempt to reach the vault but Preksak was so tired of hearing about it. He didn’t even know if it was worth it. He closed his eyes and thought back to happier times before it all fell apart.
Back to Grimdale.
…
Preksak emerged from the lab below the bustling city of Grimdale. It worked! His new knife had allowed him to travel back in time and here he was, standing two hundred years in the past! He had only come here for one reason though.
To find the origin of the zombie plague that destroyed his future.
Rumours had said it started in the Thieve’s Den below Grimdale or came in via grain shipments. But Preksak knew the truth. It was from the graveyards themselves. Preksak pulled up his hood and walked towards the local market. What he had in mind would cause major disruptions to the timeline, but he had to do it to save everyone. He was about to blow up a graveyard.
…
Soon, Preksak stood in front of the local cemetery. Grimdale had been a well-planned city, but it was not ready for the major population it would come to host. It was expected at most to be able to grow to 500,000 people. The population was 3 million now. Slums had been built on the outskirts of the town and thanks to the constant political instability, many bodies piled up on the streets constantly. But nobody could afford to bury their loved ones in the cemetery. Only the very rich could.
Preksak had hard-wired a dozen TNT under the catacombs in the cemetery. It was a shame to see it all get blown to bits, but he didn’t care much for the stuffy rich people that were buried there. But he had to visit one tombstone. The one where the plague of the living dead originated from. He needed samples to study later. Entering into the graveyard, it was well maintained with trimmed lawns and the gravestones were kept in pristine condition. Giant tombs which contained multiple generations of families had been built and were well-guarded by armed guards to make sure rioters didn’t get in. Preksak had forged a fake ID to enter. Approaching the tomb he was looking for, he breathed in deeply.
It was the family tomb of Syris. Except he was the only one buried there. Preksak slowly opened up the gate and let it slam behind him. He hated what he was about to do. But given how evil a person, Syris was, defiling his grave was well deserved. Grabbing a shovel that was leaning against a wall nearby, Preksak started chipping away at the front of Syris’s tomb. Soon, he could see the black of his coffin sticking out. Shoving away the broken parts of the tomb, he pulled with all his strength. The coffin landed with a thud on the ground. Using the shovel, Preksak broke off the locks on the side of it and held his nose, trying not to breathe the smell of Syris’s dead body.
The lid of the coffin popped off and Preksak looked in at the body.
It looked like he had just died yesterday. The body was still in perfect condition. But Preksak paid no attention to it. He pulled out a vial and a needle and stuck into his arm, drawing blood. Somehow, in about 200 years, Syris’s coffin would become exposed somehow and the blood from his body would leak into the soil surrounding his tomb. This would cause the living dead to rise. Preksak wasn’t sure how this would happen, but he theorized it had to do something with dark magic. His body just radiated it. Unlike other realities with zombies, the zombies from the world of Grimdale were more aggressive, and fast and there were rumours of giant ones existing in the far North.
Preksak had gotten the blood he needed. He took a moment to look at Syris’s body again. He spat on it and then closed the lid of the coffin, sending him back into the eternal darkness.
…
The local news channels in Grimdale were all ablaze. A massive explosion had gone off in the Masteron Ceteremy, where all the rich of the land were buried. There were no casualties or injuries, but many of the bodies buried there had been destroyed. No one came forward to claim why they did it or who did it. For days, months, years and decades afterwards, conspiracy theories would be spun all about it. Up until and after the living dead rose rumors and theories ran abound. But none of that mattered in the long run.
…
Preksak had returned to his lab in the future. Stepping out of the time portal created by the knife, he was shocked to see a figure standing there. A figure he hadn’t seen in hundreds of years.
“MagPieMan? What are you doing here?”
But before Preksak got an answer, MagPieMan walked up to him and grabbed him gently by the shoulders and said:
“Sleep.”
Preksak felt a very gentle but fast approaching darkness overcome him.
…
Preksak awoke again in his lab and was shocked. The Time Knife was gone. MagPieMan for some bizarre reason had stolen it.
“No! No! No!” Preksak said.
It would take him weeks again to be able to synthesize the elements needed to create another knife. And then months to recreate it. But he didn’t have time to do it. Preksak had travelled back in time so many times, to stop the living dead from rising. But it never worked. He had changed the timeline multiple times, but it always snapped back into place. Regardless of how he changed the timeline, the zombie apocalypse was destined to happen.
It was over. Any day now, Crowmere would fall and that would be the end of the world. Preksak had failed again. He had no choice. He would fly into the multiverse and hope to find the answer there. He had studied it for years, looking at alternate realities of Grimdale. There were a few where the living dead didn’t rise, but he never had the technology to visit these places. He would return at some prior point in the past of Grimdale, and attempt to stop everything from happening, once he found an answer out there. It broke his heart to leave everyone to die, but he had no choice if he wanted to save everyone.
He got to work analyzing Syris’s blood and creating the elements he needed for a knife. Sleeping was for the dead.
…
He had done it. He created a knife capable of multiversal travel. He had done it in record time, in only two months. Now, it was time to test it. Preksak tapped on the knife and a blue portal opened in front of him. He thought of the words of a general from a long-forgotten war when he was fleeing an invading force coming to a chain of islands.
“I will return.”
Preksak stepped into the portal and it closed behind him. Dirt started falling from the ceiling and moans could be heard.
…
Preksak found himself in a darkened hallway made of stone, lit by redstone torches. He had no idea where had ended up. He heard a dragging sound off in the distance. Preksak pulled out his sword, ready for whatever challenge lay in the dark. He soon put his sword back in his sheath when he recognized the figure that was approaching.
“Mem. I can’t believe it’s you.”
“Who are you? How did you find us?”
“It’s a long story…”
…
Preksak was stuck in this alternate version of Loka, as he soon learned what this mysterious universe was called. His knife had only enough juice for a one-way trip. He had hoped to find the elements he would need to get to the universes he needed to visit. But they didn’t exist here at least. Not yet.
Mem explained that he and a few others were hiding from a tyrannical goddess called Freyjia would have gone mad after the death of Cryptite and the Guardians. Preksak couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Alternate versions of the Guardians he knew from his reality existed in this universe. But he had never heard of this being called Cryptite. He sounded like a good man. It was a shame he was murdered in his prime.
Mem explained that they were the only resistance to this mad goddess. There were only four of them, not including Preksak himself. Well, Preksak figured if he was stuck here, he might as well put his talents towards something useful. If he wasn’t able to save his universe, he might as well help save another.
It was time to get to work.
…
Mem brought the group through the sewers, to the vault's location. He was carrying a shovel with him for some reason, even though he didn’t need it.
“What’s with the shovel?” Commander asked
“It’s the legendary death shovel,” Gallius said
“Death shov-“
But Commander was shushed by Mem who pointed to the water, flowing down a giant drain.
“In there, you will find an entry to the vault. Good luck.”
Mem then started digging away at the wall with the shovel and tons of dirt came flying out from behind him.
Sku was hit by something and he spit it out of his mouth.
“Weirdo,” Sku muttered
Scooter stood the closest to the edge and looked down into the drain.
“The vault is located 2000 feet below this drain.”
Commander and Sku looked at each other.
“We’re not freaking Guardians or dark magic practitioners like you three. How the hell do you expect us to swim?”
In the tunnel Mem dug, the dragging of his feet could be heard again but he also sounded like he was dragging something heavy and metal. He soon reappeared with two metal diving suits, like the ones they used to wear in the late 19th century.
“Surf’s up.” He said
…
After 15 minutes of wrangling around to get the suit on, the group prepared for the dive. Mem had also disappeared after he gave Commander and Sku the suits. He dug another tunnel off to god knows where. Commander couldn’t hear a thing in the suit beside his own heavy breathing and heartbeat. It was unnerving. But they could talk to the rest of the group via radio.
“Testing, 1,2,3. Testing” Sku said
Commander gave him a thumbs up and breathed in deeply. He’d never been one much for diving, let alone swimming. He had always been more of a fishing guy. He jumped off the ledge, followed by Sku and the others. Commander could feel the pull of the whirlpool pulling him around and around. Motion sickness and over him. It sped up faster and faster and then Commander heard a sucking sound and then blackness covered his view.
He felt himself sinking more and more rapidly—the light from above reflects into the drain above, giving Commander limited visibility. Soon, the rest of the group appeared and they all started slowly sinking. Scooter estimated it would take the group at least an hour back and forth to teach the bottom and get to the vault. So, Commander turned on his headlights and closed his eyes for a moment.
Might as well get some shut-eye in, he thought.
…
Lurking in the waters, many hundreds of feet below, Quetzalcóatl slept in her burrow peacefully. Quetzalcóatl was the last of her kind, a snake at least 600 feet long. She had been trapped in this watery pit for hundreds of years by Frejyia after transporting her from another universe. But in exchange for her children’s freedom, Quetzalcóatl was to serve as the Guardian of Freyjia’s vault. She was also promised to be freed after 1000 years in the service of Freyjia. For the first 100-200 years, Quetzalcóatl was filled with nothing but rage about Freyjia but she was a mother and a mother who did what was best for her children. Also, Freyjia would bring her very tasty victims to eat. She also told her to look out for one person in particular, if an alternate reality version of him or if he came back to life somehow.
Commander 12.
…
Preksak was back with the group reflecting upon what might happen to Commander and his friends. They would be strong enough to face Quetzalcóatl for sure, but was that true? Many had died in a vain attempt to reach the vault but Preksak was so tired of hearing about it. He didn’t even know if it was worth it. He closed his eyes and thought back to happier times before it all fell apart.
Back to Grimdale.
…
Preksak emerged from the lab below the bustling city of Grimdale. It worked! His new knife had allowed him to travel back in time and here he was, standing two hundred years in the past! He had only come here for one reason though.
To find the origin of the zombie plague that destroyed his future.
Rumours had said it started in the Thieve’s Den below Grimdale or came in via grain shipments. But Preksak knew the truth. It was from the graveyards themselves. Preksak pulled up his hood and walked towards the local market. What he had in mind would cause major disruptions to the timeline, but he had to do it to save everyone. He was about to blow up a graveyard.
…
Soon, Preksak stood in front of the local cemetery. Grimdale had been a well-planned city, but it was not ready for the major population it would come to host. It was expected at most to be able to grow to 500,000 people. The population was 3 million now. Slums had been built on the outskirts of the town and thanks to the constant political instability, many bodies piled up on the streets constantly. But nobody could afford to bury their loved ones in the cemetery. Only the very rich could.
Preksak had hard-wired a dozen TNT under the catacombs in the cemetery. It was a shame to see it all get blown to bits, but he didn’t care much for the stuffy rich people that were buried there. But he had to visit one tombstone. The one where the plague of the living dead originated from. He needed samples to study later. Entering into the graveyard, it was well maintained with trimmed lawns and the gravestones were kept in pristine condition. Giant tombs which contained multiple generations of families had been built and were well-guarded by armed guards to make sure rioters didn’t get in. Preksak had forged a fake ID to enter. Approaching the tomb he was looking for, he breathed in deeply.
It was the family tomb of Syris. Except he was the only one buried there. Preksak slowly opened up the gate and let it slam behind him. He hated what he was about to do. But given how evil a person, Syris was, defiling his grave was well deserved. Grabbing a shovel that was leaning against a wall nearby, Preksak started chipping away at the front of Syris’s tomb. Soon, he could see the black of his coffin sticking out. Shoving away the broken parts of the tomb, he pulled with all his strength. The coffin landed with a thud on the ground. Using the shovel, Preksak broke off the locks on the side of it and held his nose, trying not to breathe the smell of Syris’s dead body.
The lid of the coffin popped off and Preksak looked in at the body.
It looked like he had just died yesterday. The body was still in perfect condition. But Preksak paid no attention to it. He pulled out a vial and a needle and stuck into his arm, drawing blood. Somehow, in about 200 years, Syris’s coffin would become exposed somehow and the blood from his body would leak into the soil surrounding his tomb. This would cause the living dead to rise. Preksak wasn’t sure how this would happen, but he theorized it had to do something with dark magic. His body just radiated it. Unlike other realities with zombies, the zombies from the world of Grimdale were more aggressive, and fast and there were rumours of giant ones existing in the far North.
Preksak had gotten the blood he needed. He took a moment to look at Syris’s body again. He spat on it and then closed the lid of the coffin, sending him back into the eternal darkness.
…
The local news channels in Grimdale were all ablaze. A massive explosion had gone off in the Masteron Ceteremy, where all the rich of the land were buried. There were no casualties or injuries, but many of the bodies buried there had been destroyed. No one came forward to claim why they did it or who did it. For days, months, years and decades afterwards, conspiracy theories would be spun all about it. Up until and after the living dead rose rumors and theories ran abound. But none of that mattered in the long run.
…
Preksak had returned to his lab in the future. Stepping out of the time portal created by the knife, he was shocked to see a figure standing there. A figure he hadn’t seen in hundreds of years.
“MagPieMan? What are you doing here?”
But before Preksak got an answer, MagPieMan walked up to him and grabbed him gently by the shoulders and said:
“Sleep.”
Preksak felt a very gentle but fast approaching darkness overcome him.
…
Preksak awoke again in his lab and was shocked. The Time Knife was gone. MagPieMan for some bizarre reason had stolen it.
“No! No! No!” Preksak said.
It would take him weeks again to be able to synthesize the elements needed to create another knife. And then months to recreate it. But he didn’t have time to do it. Preksak had travelled back in time so many times, to stop the living dead from rising. But it never worked. He had changed the timeline multiple times, but it always snapped back into place. Regardless of how he changed the timeline, the zombie apocalypse was destined to happen.
It was over. Any day now, Crowmere would fall and that would be the end of the world. Preksak had failed again. He had no choice. He would fly into the multiverse and hope to find the answer there. He had studied it for years, looking at alternate realities of Grimdale. There were a few where the living dead didn’t rise, but he never had the technology to visit these places. He would return at some prior point in the past of Grimdale, and attempt to stop everything from happening, once he found an answer out there. It broke his heart to leave everyone to die, but he had no choice if he wanted to save everyone.
He got to work analyzing Syris’s blood and creating the elements he needed for a knife. Sleeping was for the dead.
…
He had done it. He created a knife capable of multiversal travel. He had done it in record time, in only two months. Now, it was time to test it. Preksak tapped on the knife and a blue portal opened in front of him. He thought of the words of a general from a long-forgotten war when he was fleeing an invading force coming to a chain of islands.
“I will return.”
Preksak stepped into the portal and it closed behind him. Dirt started falling from the ceiling and moans could be heard.
…
Preksak found himself in a darkened hallway made of stone, lit by redstone torches. He had no idea where had ended up. He heard a dragging sound off in the distance. Preksak pulled out his sword, ready for whatever challenge lay in the dark. He soon put his sword back in his sheath when he recognized the figure that was approaching.
“Mem. I can’t believe it’s you.”
“Who are you? How did you find us?”
“It’s a long story…”
…
Preksak was stuck in this alternate version of Loka, as he soon learned what this mysterious universe was called. His knife had only enough juice for a one-way trip. He had hoped to find the elements he would need to get to the universes he needed to visit. But they didn’t exist here at least. Not yet.
Mem explained that he and a few others were hiding from a tyrannical goddess called Freyjia would have gone mad after the death of Cryptite and the Guardians. Preksak couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Alternate versions of the Guardians he knew from his reality existed in this universe. But he had never heard of this being called Cryptite. He sounded like a good man. It was a shame he was murdered in his prime.
Mem explained that they were the only resistance to this mad goddess. There were only four of them, not including Preksak himself. Well, Preksak figured if he was stuck here, he might as well put his talents towards something useful. If he wasn’t able to save his universe, he might as well help save another.
It was time to get to work.
…
Fixing the Past, Pt. XXIII (23)
Commander awoke to the sound of a small thud. He had dozed off longer than he had planned to.
“Wha?” he said
Commander turned his helmet around to face the rest of the group. Everyone also landed on this strange surface. Commander activated his radio and said:
“Why is there a giant log blocking the way to the vault?”
Sku replied:
“I don’t know, poor interior designing?”
Mopb bent down and motioned for Sku to shine a light on the surface below. He put his hand to the surface.
“Why is it… covered in strange patterns… and it feels… glossy?”
Gallius’s eyes went huge when he realized what it was.
“That’s not a log… it’s a giant freaking snake!”
The surface underneath the group vanished and everyone was flown apart. Commander was left flying through the water and he crashed against the wall. The air left his lungs as he crashed into it, leaving him winded. He quickly activated his radio again.
“Mayday! Mayday! Can anyone hear me?”
Nobody replied but Commander saw Sku struggling to swim up, away from the snake.
“Sku! Sku! Swim towards me! Don’t swim up!”
But Sku was too panicked to listen. The snake’s giant jaws opened around him and went snap!
Commander could hear Scooter scream.
“No!”
But Sku was gone, eaten whole in one bit by the giant snake. They had no chance to rescue him. The snake turned around to face Commander and it seemed to have a devilish smile on its face. He swore he heard it say his name. The snake charged at incredible speeds toward Commander but suddenly it froze in its path. Its eyes went from a bright yellow to a deep black. Commander could see Scooter using dark magic to control it.
“Sleep,” she said.
The snake obliged and disappeared through a connecting tunnel. Everyone swam towards each other. Mopb, Gallius, Scooter and Commander all looked at each other with sadness on their faces.
“Why did it have to be snakes? I hate snakes.” Commander said.
Everyone floated down the rest of the way in silence.
…
After another hour of nothing but sullen silence, the group finally hit the bottom of the drain. It was a glass platform overlooking a vast open area below. Commander could see what looked like machines, designed to operate something. But he couldn’t determine the purpose of it.
“I sense no guards nearby,” said Mopb.
Mopb stomped down on the glass underneath and it smashed open underneath him. The group was sucked into the room below and they all landed on different sides. Mopb lifted the place of glass he had broken to get the group into the room, back into place, preventing more water from leaking into the room. The water slowly poured down the drain. Commander reached up and finally removed his helmet. Tears were slowly streaming down his face.
“Why Sku? Why him? Why did he deserve such a horrible death?”
Scooter walked over to Commander and helped him out of the diving suit.
“We can’t control fate… and besides you literally died yourself and came back to life. There’s always a chance he’s still alive. But we need to get the pieces of Yggdrasill. We’ll find Sku again, I promise.”
Commander wiped away at his face and breathed in deeply for a second.
“If I can survive being thrown into a freaking sun, Sku can survive being eaten by a giant snake I suppose.”
Dumping the diving suit aside, Commander joined the rest of the group, overlooking a big room below. It was made of mossy cobblestone and there were rotten wooden platforms above it. A semi-transparent black veil covered the area. Down below, Commander could see five saplings, placed in glass cases below.
“I thought it would just be pieces of bark. But my god, it’s five saplings from Yggdrasill itself. How is that possible?” Gallius said
“We’re in an alternate reality, remember?” Mopb said
“But imagine what we could do with five saplings…”
“We’ll worry about that after we’re done waking up Diab. Most importantly, how do we get past the dark magic barrier?” Commander said
“That’s up to me,” Scooter said
Scooter looked at the machines, laid out in front of her. She reached with her hands and started pulling various levers at inhuman speeds. Commander couldn’t keep an eye on her, that’s how fast she was moving.
Soon, she came to a stop and shot beams of lightning out of her hand, breaking the glass window in from of her. The lightning hit the force field and soon it collapsed, allowing the saplings to be seen better. The group exited the machine room via an iron door and stood on a wooden platform overlooking the massive vault below. Commander motioned for everyone to follow him and he started making his way down a ladder attached to the platform. As everyone had finished coming down, the ladder broke behind them and fell below, further into the vault.
“Well, there goes our easy exit. Nothing can ever be simple, eh?” Scooter said.
The descent down to the bottom of the vault was a simple affair, besides a few rotten wood planks falling off the platforms. Soon, they were at the bottom, facing the saplings. Commander reached for one of them, but Scooter batted his hand away.
“Careful. If you were to touch it, you would be cursed.”
“Cursed with what?”
“ Cursed with shoes that keep you dancing until the day you die.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“Who’s the one who knows dark magic here?”
“Just get the freaking saplings so we can get out of here.”
Scooter reached for the door of the case containing the saplings, but she stopped in her tracks.
“Scooter?” Gallius said.
Scooter turned around to face Gallius but her eyes were nothing but black.
“Why do you call that foul name? I am Sryiana, the daughter of the forgotten Guardian, Syris. And you false one, will pay with your blood!”
Before Scooter could even raise a hand against him, her eyes went back to normal.
“The dark magic I’ve been using… if I use it anymore I might lose control.”
“ Can we just have a normal adventure, without someone getting thrown into the sun or eaten by a giant snake?” Mopb said
“I’m sorry guys but if I open up the doors, I might be lost to the dark magic. Mopb… Gallius… I’m afraid you’re going to have to open it. The curse won’t affect you… but it will weaken you temporarily.”
Gallius, without even thinking to ponder what Scooter had told him, reached for all the glass doors at the same time and opened them in rapid succession.
“I feel fin-”
Gallius fell to the floor and accidentally knocked over one of the cases. He reached out with his hand to try to use his powers, but he failed.
“I’ve been made mortal again… how?”
“By opening all the cases the way you did, you’ve negated your powers. You’ve been made mortal again, albeit temporarily.”
“You know, Gallius, I could have opened up like half the doors and you do the other half. Now, we’re in a shitty situation thanks to your dwarf brain thinking!”
Gallius got up and shoved Mopb away.
“How dare you to insult my dwarf hood! You will pay for that!”
“Shut up, guys. We got more important things to worry about. For one, how are we going to get out of here with the giant snake and with Gallius having no powers?”
‘I may know a way.” said a voice off in the distance.
Standing in a hole, looking down over the group, stood Mem holding the death shovel.
“I am a dwarf and I am digging a hole!”
…
Sku found himself in the worst situation ever. He had been swallowed whole by a giant snake. His diving suit was slowly being dissolved by its stomach acid and the limited protection he had from it would be gone in minutes. Also, his air was critically low. So, this was how he was finally going to die, in the belly of a great beast and not on the battlefield fighting Preksak. He had come so far and gone through so much, this wasn’t the way things were going to end right?
Right?
…
Tee and Alt Sku found themselves in a dark canyon, lightning was striking from above.
“Where are we?”
“We’re in one of the canyons outside Preksak’s Dark Spire.”
Alt Sku looked down at his body and was shocked.
His hands looked exactly like Preksak’s. He looked at Tee and saw a mirror image of Preksak looking at himself. He felt like screaming but all that came out was a mechanical screech.
“What the hell does Mag do to us?”
Tee also realized his body was not his original but something else. He had the same reaction as Sku, although he took it on, much more stoically than him.
“Mag has seemed to have placed us inside the body of an artifice. Perfect disguise if you don’t mind me saying.”
…
Preksak finished his daydreaming about the past. He was brought back to the present. People were running around, looking like they were getting ready for a fight.
“What’s going on?”
Aegon stopped and turned to look at Preksak and then pointed to the radar on the far side of the room.
“We’ve been found by Freyjia. We must prepare to go deeper into the tunnels where she can’t find us.”
But it was too late. The ceiling came falling and Freyjia floated downwards towards them.
“Where are they? And most importantly… Where is Commander 12?”
…
Commander awoke to the sound of a small thud. He had dozed off longer than he had planned to.
“Wha?” he said
Commander turned his helmet around to face the rest of the group. Everyone also landed on this strange surface. Commander activated his radio and said:
“Why is there a giant log blocking the way to the vault?”
Sku replied:
“I don’t know, poor interior designing?”
Mopb bent down and motioned for Sku to shine a light on the surface below. He put his hand to the surface.
“Why is it… covered in strange patterns… and it feels… glossy?”
Gallius’s eyes went huge when he realized what it was.
“That’s not a log… it’s a giant freaking snake!”
The surface underneath the group vanished and everyone was flown apart. Commander was left flying through the water and he crashed against the wall. The air left his lungs as he crashed into it, leaving him winded. He quickly activated his radio again.
“Mayday! Mayday! Can anyone hear me?”
Nobody replied but Commander saw Sku struggling to swim up, away from the snake.
“Sku! Sku! Swim towards me! Don’t swim up!”
But Sku was too panicked to listen. The snake’s giant jaws opened around him and went snap!
Commander could hear Scooter scream.
“No!”
But Sku was gone, eaten whole in one bit by the giant snake. They had no chance to rescue him. The snake turned around to face Commander and it seemed to have a devilish smile on its face. He swore he heard it say his name. The snake charged at incredible speeds toward Commander but suddenly it froze in its path. Its eyes went from a bright yellow to a deep black. Commander could see Scooter using dark magic to control it.
“Sleep,” she said.
The snake obliged and disappeared through a connecting tunnel. Everyone swam towards each other. Mopb, Gallius, Scooter and Commander all looked at each other with sadness on their faces.
“Why did it have to be snakes? I hate snakes.” Commander said.
Everyone floated down the rest of the way in silence.
…
After another hour of nothing but sullen silence, the group finally hit the bottom of the drain. It was a glass platform overlooking a vast open area below. Commander could see what looked like machines, designed to operate something. But he couldn’t determine the purpose of it.
“I sense no guards nearby,” said Mopb.
Mopb stomped down on the glass underneath and it smashed open underneath him. The group was sucked into the room below and they all landed on different sides. Mopb lifted the place of glass he had broken to get the group into the room, back into place, preventing more water from leaking into the room. The water slowly poured down the drain. Commander reached up and finally removed his helmet. Tears were slowly streaming down his face.
“Why Sku? Why him? Why did he deserve such a horrible death?”
Scooter walked over to Commander and helped him out of the diving suit.
“We can’t control fate… and besides you literally died yourself and came back to life. There’s always a chance he’s still alive. But we need to get the pieces of Yggdrasill. We’ll find Sku again, I promise.”
Commander wiped away at his face and breathed in deeply for a second.
“If I can survive being thrown into a freaking sun, Sku can survive being eaten by a giant snake I suppose.”
Dumping the diving suit aside, Commander joined the rest of the group, overlooking a big room below. It was made of mossy cobblestone and there were rotten wooden platforms above it. A semi-transparent black veil covered the area. Down below, Commander could see five saplings, placed in glass cases below.
“I thought it would just be pieces of bark. But my god, it’s five saplings from Yggdrasill itself. How is that possible?” Gallius said
“We’re in an alternate reality, remember?” Mopb said
“But imagine what we could do with five saplings…”
“We’ll worry about that after we’re done waking up Diab. Most importantly, how do we get past the dark magic barrier?” Commander said
“That’s up to me,” Scooter said
Scooter looked at the machines, laid out in front of her. She reached with her hands and started pulling various levers at inhuman speeds. Commander couldn’t keep an eye on her, that’s how fast she was moving.
Soon, she came to a stop and shot beams of lightning out of her hand, breaking the glass window in from of her. The lightning hit the force field and soon it collapsed, allowing the saplings to be seen better. The group exited the machine room via an iron door and stood on a wooden platform overlooking the massive vault below. Commander motioned for everyone to follow him and he started making his way down a ladder attached to the platform. As everyone had finished coming down, the ladder broke behind them and fell below, further into the vault.
“Well, there goes our easy exit. Nothing can ever be simple, eh?” Scooter said.
The descent down to the bottom of the vault was a simple affair, besides a few rotten wood planks falling off the platforms. Soon, they were at the bottom, facing the saplings. Commander reached for one of them, but Scooter batted his hand away.
“Careful. If you were to touch it, you would be cursed.”
“Cursed with what?”
“ Cursed with shoes that keep you dancing until the day you die.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“Who’s the one who knows dark magic here?”
“Just get the freaking saplings so we can get out of here.”
Scooter reached for the door of the case containing the saplings, but she stopped in her tracks.
“Scooter?” Gallius said.
Scooter turned around to face Gallius but her eyes were nothing but black.
“Why do you call that foul name? I am Sryiana, the daughter of the forgotten Guardian, Syris. And you false one, will pay with your blood!”
Before Scooter could even raise a hand against him, her eyes went back to normal.
“The dark magic I’ve been using… if I use it anymore I might lose control.”
“ Can we just have a normal adventure, without someone getting thrown into the sun or eaten by a giant snake?” Mopb said
“I’m sorry guys but if I open up the doors, I might be lost to the dark magic. Mopb… Gallius… I’m afraid you’re going to have to open it. The curse won’t affect you… but it will weaken you temporarily.”
Gallius, without even thinking to ponder what Scooter had told him, reached for all the glass doors at the same time and opened them in rapid succession.
“I feel fin-”
Gallius fell to the floor and accidentally knocked over one of the cases. He reached out with his hand to try to use his powers, but he failed.
“I’ve been made mortal again… how?”
“By opening all the cases the way you did, you’ve negated your powers. You’ve been made mortal again, albeit temporarily.”
“You know, Gallius, I could have opened up like half the doors and you do the other half. Now, we’re in a shitty situation thanks to your dwarf brain thinking!”
Gallius got up and shoved Mopb away.
“How dare you to insult my dwarf hood! You will pay for that!”
“Shut up, guys. We got more important things to worry about. For one, how are we going to get out of here with the giant snake and with Gallius having no powers?”
‘I may know a way.” said a voice off in the distance.
Standing in a hole, looking down over the group, stood Mem holding the death shovel.
“I am a dwarf and I am digging a hole!”
…
Sku found himself in the worst situation ever. He had been swallowed whole by a giant snake. His diving suit was slowly being dissolved by its stomach acid and the limited protection he had from it would be gone in minutes. Also, his air was critically low. So, this was how he was finally going to die, in the belly of a great beast and not on the battlefield fighting Preksak. He had come so far and gone through so much, this wasn’t the way things were going to end right?
Right?
…
Tee and Alt Sku found themselves in a dark canyon, lightning was striking from above.
“Where are we?”
“We’re in one of the canyons outside Preksak’s Dark Spire.”
Alt Sku looked down at his body and was shocked.
His hands looked exactly like Preksak’s. He looked at Tee and saw a mirror image of Preksak looking at himself. He felt like screaming but all that came out was a mechanical screech.
“What the hell does Mag do to us?”
Tee also realized his body was not his original but something else. He had the same reaction as Sku, although he took it on, much more stoically than him.
“Mag has seemed to have placed us inside the body of an artifice. Perfect disguise if you don’t mind me saying.”
…
Preksak finished his daydreaming about the past. He was brought back to the present. People were running around, looking like they were getting ready for a fight.
“What’s going on?”
Aegon stopped and turned to look at Preksak and then pointed to the radar on the far side of the room.
“We’ve been found by Freyjia. We must prepare to go deeper into the tunnels where she can’t find us.”
But it was too late. The ceiling came falling and Freyjia floated downwards towards them.
“Where are they? And most importantly… Where is Commander 12?”
…
This is the longest part so far I've written of my lore. This is why it's taken me so long. Forgive me for my tardiness.
Fixing the Past, Pt. XXIV
By the time Mem and the group had arrived back at base, no one was there. It was completely deserted. Loose bits of paper and other supplies were scattered around and there was a hole in the ceiling. The stone collapsed underneath and a thin cloud of dust hung in the air.
“This was Freyjia,” Mem said
Coming, running out of the corner was Asy.
“Asy! You disappeared the moment we started talking to Preksak, what happened?” Commander said
“ I’m sorry. I got distracted and lost. One of Mem’s commanders offered to show me their science lab and I couldn’t help but resist.”
Mopb placed a hand to his face and sighed.
“For someone who is supposedly the greatest scientist in all of the multiverse, you’re also its biggest idiot.”
“Hey! Don’t blame me! I’m a man of science! I need to push the boundaries of what is known!”
“Freyjia and her guards came in and captured everyone, including Preksak. Mem’s commander died, protecting me. I was able to hide in the lab until they were all gone.”
“You flea-bitten, yellow-bellied coward! How could you stand by as people were being kidnapped and killed!” Gallius yelled
“I’m a scientist, not a fighter. Besides, most of my power I spent trying to fight you morons and Commander. So I was totally weak against Freyjia. But I will remedy this situation… wait. Where’s Sku?”
Scooter was the one to speak up.
“He was killed… eaten by a giant snake when we broke into the vault.”
“No. It can’t be.”
“It is, and we don’t have time to deal with it. We need to rescue everyone and wake up Diab. We don’t have much longer. Freyjia knows why we are here and she will do her best to make sure we don’t get to him. So we need to strike now before she can amass more forces.” Commander said
Mem brought over what looked like a blueprint. Commander and Asy picked up a wooden table that had been knocked over and set it upright. Mem spread out the blueprint onto the table.
“Alright, so here is what we are going to…”
…
The diving gear had fully disappeared. Sku was no longer protected. He had closed his eyes and waited for the painful release of death to come. But instead of being in a giant snake’s belly, he found himself in an even more strange place. He was floating in an ocean. And he knew where he was.
A mushroom cloud hung over the landscape still.
He was back in Mimiga’s reality. But why and how?
It was best not to question these things, he figured. Maybe when the snake ate people, it acted as a portal to other universes and sent them there. Why he was back in Mimiga’s reality, he did not know.
As he turned around to see the rest of the ocean, he spotted an old wooden sailing ship. It contained massive white sails and looked like something a Royal or someone important would sail in. He could hear someone yelling at him from it.
“Man overboard! Man overboard! Toss him a rope!”
Someone tossed him a rope and Sku began to move up the rope and people on board started pulling the rope up. Soon, Sku was offered clean clothes and towels to dry off from the ocean. He saw a figure right away that he recognized.
“Benged?”
Benged turned around to look at Sku.
“You’re not my Sku, you must be from that alternate reality where Commander came from. Shouldn’t you be dead? The whole of Mimiga went up in a blaze!”
“It’s a long story and the story explaining how I got back here is even longer, but where is this ship going? Who is the captain?”
“I am.”
Jedoi the II walked down the galley towards Sku.
“I am the High King of Edgewind, bastion of the last civilization of this dying world. How may I be of service?”
Sku thought about how he was going to get back to Commander and the rest of them. But there was no way without the compass. Unless he had been sent here on purpose by MagPieMan. Why hadn’t he thought about that?
“I need men. Lots of men. There’s a war coming and we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
…
Commander and the group looked at Freyjia’s castle from a distance in an old apartment building. The castle was unlike anything Commander had ever seen before. It looked like an old castle you would find in the countryside of France but scaled up ten times. Why someone needed such a big castle was lost on Commander. It was made entirely of stone with massive spotlights, shining down on the city below. This was going to be hard, but Commander believed that they could do it.
“Alright, everyone. Let’s head out. It’s time to wake up Sleeping Beauty.”
…
Mem brought the group as close as possible so he could bring them to Freyjia’s castle. All the group except Mem held the saplings of Yggdrasill as tightly as they could.
“Get ready to scale the walls, via the construction. I will give you a distraction.”
“Wait, Mem. That wasn’t part of the plan!” Scooter said
But it was too late. Mem ran out screaming, holding the death shovel high in the air. The platoon of guards below was confused as to why a dirty and hairy man was running toward them with a shovel. One of the leading guards started laughing at Mem and then pointed his rifle at him.
But he couldn’t keep it together, as it was such a silly sight to behold. But this is where the element of surprise came in handy. Mem started whacking away savagely with the shovel at the guards and sent them flying through the air. Screams bounced off the walls of nearby houses.
“Come on, we need to keep going,” Commander said.
The group continued climbing up the scaffolding, on their way to awaken the last Guardian.
…
Diab was in the deepest of slumbers. Nobody had awoken him for centuries. He remained in this lucid dream state, but he chose just to be in a black void. As he had been meditating for hundreds of years, he felt the presence of something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
“The world tree?”
…
The group managed to duck and hide from a couple of patrols of guards and so far, everything was going with the incident. Commander still felt very much on edge. Something was bound to go wrong at some point.
“How far are we from Diab’s tomb?”
“It’s at the very top of the castle in Freyjia’s chamber. But with Yggdrasill’s saplings, we shouldn’t be seen by her, at least in terms of magic. We still need to be careful.” Scooter said
“Well, the night is young. Let’s keep climbing.” Commander said
…
Freyjia was annoyed that she was summoned by her guards over such a minor problem as an angry man with a shovel. But as she approached the gates of her castle, she suddenly had a huge smile on her face.
“Mem.” She yelled.
Standing in front of piles of guards that had been knocked out by Mem, Mem had blood all over his body.
“Freyjia.”
“The leader of the so-called rebellion is right at my front doorstep. How convenient.”
Freyjia used her powers to pick him up and send him flying toward her. She grabbed him by the neck.
“Where is Commander 12? WHERE IS HE? I know you have him. I will spare you and your miserable comrades if you just give him to me.”
“I would rather die a free man, than a coward under your control. Fuck you.”
Mem spat blood in Freyjia’s face. Freyjia used her free hand to wipe it off her face.
“Fine. Death is then.”
Freyjia snapped Mem’s neck like it was a stick and let his body drop to the stone floor below. She motioned for her guards to tend to the wounded and to remove the dead.
“What should do with Mem’s body, sire?” One guard asked.
“Feed him to Quezatpical. She’s probably still hungry after the snack we gave her.”
Freyjia suddenly has her sixth sense going off. Someone was using a magical object to break into her private chamber.
“GUARDS! Forget the bodies. We must immediately go to my chambers.”
“I think I know where Commander 12 is.”
…
The group found themselves outside Freyjia’s chambers. A massive red wooden door stood in front of everyone. Mopb could feel the presence of Diab behind the door. They were so close to completing their goal and then they could save everyone.
“There’s a dark magic seal on this door. Everyone give me a leaf from their sapling.”
Everyone obliged and handed Scooter a leaf. Scooter then placed the leaves in front of different spots. The leaves glowed a bright gold and then disappeared. The door to Freyjia’s chamber opened up slowly.
Mopb suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.
“Mem is dead! Freyjia knows we’re here! Quickly everyone inside!”
Everyone rushed inside and the door closed behind them quickly. Scooter closed her eyes and cast a quick spell.
“How did you do that? I thought you could only do dark magic.” Asy said
“ I don’t know, I just felt like I suddenly could. That should stop Freyjia for a few minutes. But we don’t have long.”
Commander scanned Freyjia’s room, it was devoid of furniture and only a simple mat for sleeping. But the walls were covered in artifacts. Commander didn’t recognize half of them. But the main focus of Commander was on the giant stone tomb on the right side of the chamber. It was simple with no carvings and was smooth. It was elevated up in the air on the platform with at least ten steps leading up to it. Commander reluctantly walked up the steps and put his hand on the surface.
…
Diab sensed something, right outside his tomb. It wasn’t Freyjia.
It was something else.
…
Commander motioned for Gallius to help him push off the top of Diab’s tomb. Both of them pushed with all their strength and the stone slab fell to the ground. Commander peered into the tomb. Lying in front of him was a man with the longest brown beard he had ever seen on anyone, with it going down to his waist. His eyes were still closed and he wore a giant black hood that looked like it had a very long black cape. Asy also looked into the tomb.
“DiabolicalMech.” He whispered.
Diab’s eyes fluttered open and he slowly rose out of the tomb.
He reached up with his hands and cracked his neck and then stretched to crack his back.
“10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck!”
“Where am I… who are you? Gallius, Mopb3… and Asy?!? What the hell are you three doing together… wait a minute. Where’s Mag? And no…”
Scooter turned to look at him and swallowed with a big gulp.
“Scooter? But Mag told me… “
But before Diab could comprehend everything, the doors to Freyjia’s chamber burst open and guards came pouring in. Freyjia came walking out, right in the middle of all of them.
“Ah, three guardians, a mad scientist, someone who is supposed to be dead… and Commander 12.”
“What do you want with me, you witch?”
“Your head. Guards seize the Guardians and Scooter. Diab, you should have stayed asleep.”
Mopb raised his hands, but suddenly he found his powers not working.
“Remember that I’m more powerful than you all? I’m a goddess after all. Dark magic can have its many benefits when you truly understand the depths of its power.”
Scooter also tried to cast a spell, but it failed.
“Nice try, Sryiana. I’m known to be the greatest practitioner of dark magic across all of the multiverse. Your magic is ineffective against me.”
“My god, she’s truly gone off the deep end. The Freyjia I know wouldn’t turn to such evil and vile magic.” Asy said
“Well, I’m not your Freyjia. I have to sacrifice whatever good was in my heart to protect all Lokans from Preksak! He’s killed trillions of versions of yourselves! You should be thanking me, that I took away your powers to protect you all! Guards, round them up and put them in with the rebels.”
“And leave Commander with me.”
The guards came in and grabbed everyone. But instead of fighting, everyone was sullen and silent. There was no point in fighting someone so powerful. The guards roughhoused Diab as they forced him out of his tomb. He did not resist either.
Freyjia turned around to face Commander. Commander was left standing facing Freyjia. Freyjia walked closer to Commander.
“Do you want to know what your alternate counterpart was like here?”
“Not really, no. I’m assuming you killed him.”
“ I did, yes. But you represent something far worse to me, Andy. You are the reason why I became the monster I am. Your counterpart slaughtered the Guardians and Cryptite, while you were under the influence of Preksak. YOU CAUSED THE PERVERSION OF ME! The reason why everything is so horrible here is because of you! You are the reason why I became the monster I am! For that, you must truly suffer. But I am going to kill you. I’m going to torture you slowly. I want to keep you alive and torture you as many times as many people have been killed under my reign.”
“How many times was that?”
“Oh… 100,000.”
Commander suddenly found himself unable to breathe and he held his hands up to his neck. But no air came out or no sound. Commander’s eyes opened in shock. Not because of his lack of breath, but what he saw in Freyjia’s hands.
Freyjia was holding Commander’s lungs and Preksak’s compass.
“Welcome to your hell, Commander. You have a debt to pay.”
…
The group was brought down to a row of cells that seemed to stretch out to the horizon. Thousands of people were crammed into each one. The smell wasn’t very pleasant. Thankfully, they had been given a less crowded cell.
“What the hell do we do? Freyjia is going to kill Commander.”
“Freyjia’s spell that nullifies all our powers is limited to the castle barrier. We’re right on the edge of it if I can remember the blueprints of it. If I could somehow get just one of my hands out, I could summon help.” Scooter said.
“Who would you summon?” Mopb asked
“The giant snake that ate Sku of course. I have a connection to it now, because of my dark magic.”
“You want to summon the giant snake that killed one of our quest members? You have truly gone mad.” Asy said.
“How are we going to take down the most powerful version of Freyjia out there? With a giant freaking snake.”
Asy was standing at the other side of the cell, making his way through the crowd.
“I think I hear the wind. There’s an empty room behind this wall. If I can break the brick, you can stick your hand in and cast the spell you need.” he said
“Let’s get to work.”
…
Commander had pretty much all his major organs removed and put back into his body. The only ones she hadn’t touched were his brain and heart. She was onto his spleen now.
“Out of the organs to put back, you at least could have gotten rid of my appendix. It’s the least useful org-”
But Freyjia had heard enough. She picked him up and choked him and then repeatedly slammed him against the walls, causing artifacts to be knocked over. Commander slowly made his way out from underneath a pile of them.
“Still joking after all of that? I guess I’ll have to try to truly break you.”
Freyjia using his powers picked Commander up and brought him to a few inches in front of her face. She placed her thumb on his forehead.
Commander saw flashing images race through his mind and he started to scream once he realized what it was. It was trillions of versions of him, from across all time and space, dying horrific deaths.
The nightmare was only just starting.
…
Asy and a few prisoners using forks, managed to chip away at the wall, creating a small enough hole for Scooter to stick her hand in. Right as Asy was about to hit the last chunk away, he got shocked.
“Ow!” he yelled.
Suddenly, all the power went out and all the cell doors opened. Prisoners suddenly started pouring out, running down the halls and yelling. Asy quickly realized what he had done. He had accidentally broken the power grid that controlled all the jail cells.
“Oops.”
Loose electrical wires sent sparks off into the cell and the lights kept flickering on and off. All the prisoners besides the main group had left the cell, screaming bloody murder at the guards and demanding Freyjia’s head.
“I think now would be a good time to do your thing, Scooter,” Gallius said.
Scooter stepped forward and ignoring the sparks, started chanting away and waving her hand.
Wake up, you slimy bastard. Scooter thought. Wake up.
…
Quetzalcóatl awoke from her slumber. She only felt one emotion.
Rage. at Freyjia for taking away her children from her. She let out a hiss and charged headfirst into the water of her prison and burst through the whirlpool entrance.
A goddess was on the menu next.
…
Commander had fallen into a coma it seemed after what Freyjia had shown him. Snapping her fingers, Commander awoke in a flurry.
“Damn. Who knew I was still incredibly sexy in each dimension.” He said with a weak smile on his face.
Commander’s brain felt as if it had been lit on fire, run over by a car, then frozen and then everything in reverse.
“Is that the worst you have? Removing all my organs? Torturing me with the deaths of trillions of other versions of me? “
“Oh, I’ve been saving the best for last. This will truly break you.”
Right before Freyjia could do anything, a massive blur of scales and fangs came whizzing by. The floor underneath Commander started to crack and the window overlooking the city was broken.
“Oh god, not the giant snake again. Anything but the giant snake. Please, Freyjia! Torture me again!”
Freyjia waved her hand and made Commander’s mouth disappear. Commander's voice became muffled screams.
“Quetzalcóatl, why are you here? Your children are safe with me!”
“No, you evil bitch! You killed them all! To practice your perverted form of dark magic. Their blood is what you have to use to commit all these horrors! You kill them when they become too old for you.”
“Now, it’s my turn. You’re on the menu, bitch.”
Quetzalcóatl roared and her massive fangs came down upon Freyjia, eating her in one bite. Commander screamed in terror as he saw Freyjia being swallowed by the snake. He noticed that the snake’s eyes were black.
My god. Scooter is in control! He thought.
Scooter had saved him. Now, only if he could get back his mouth.
…
Gunfire could be heard throughout the city below. Buildings were being lit on fire. Freyjia’s reign of terror was over. Aegon found the group, at the bottom of Freyjia’s fallen tower.
‘You have freed us from the evil Goddess. How can we ever repay you?” he said
“By honouring Mem. He died so that we can succeed.” Scooter said.
“We must now depart for realms unknown. Our quest is nearly at an end.” Mopb said
Everyone turned out to hear muffled yelling.
“Oh! We forgot to give Commander his lips back.”
Freyjia waved her hand and Commander’s mouth returned to him.
“Thank you. Not having lips… is an experience.”
Commander handed Mopb the compass and he tapped it and the shard together three times. Preksak the White also came from around the corner.
“Is it too late to join you guys?” He asked
“We’re gonna need all the help we can get.” Commander said
A blue portal opened up in front of them. Everyone stepped through and it disappeared behind them.
Aegon was left standing over the city as the sun started to rise.
Where do we go from here?
…
Freyjia found herself in a dark and strange land. The sky was as black as the End and the ground was as dry as the desert. A dark spire was off in the distance.
“Preksak,” she said.
But this wasn’t her version of Preksak, the one that killed the Guardians. She sensed something different about him. With her goddess powers, she felt the raw anger and rage emanating far away from the spire. Something of his had been stolen.
By one Commander 12.
They would have a lot to talk about when they finally met.
…
Fixing the Past, Pt. XXIV
By the time Mem and the group had arrived back at base, no one was there. It was completely deserted. Loose bits of paper and other supplies were scattered around and there was a hole in the ceiling. The stone collapsed underneath and a thin cloud of dust hung in the air.
“This was Freyjia,” Mem said
Coming, running out of the corner was Asy.
“Asy! You disappeared the moment we started talking to Preksak, what happened?” Commander said
“ I’m sorry. I got distracted and lost. One of Mem’s commanders offered to show me their science lab and I couldn’t help but resist.”
Mopb placed a hand to his face and sighed.
“For someone who is supposedly the greatest scientist in all of the multiverse, you’re also its biggest idiot.”
“Hey! Don’t blame me! I’m a man of science! I need to push the boundaries of what is known!”
“Freyjia and her guards came in and captured everyone, including Preksak. Mem’s commander died, protecting me. I was able to hide in the lab until they were all gone.”
“You flea-bitten, yellow-bellied coward! How could you stand by as people were being kidnapped and killed!” Gallius yelled
“I’m a scientist, not a fighter. Besides, most of my power I spent trying to fight you morons and Commander. So I was totally weak against Freyjia. But I will remedy this situation… wait. Where’s Sku?”
Scooter was the one to speak up.
“He was killed… eaten by a giant snake when we broke into the vault.”
“No. It can’t be.”
“It is, and we don’t have time to deal with it. We need to rescue everyone and wake up Diab. We don’t have much longer. Freyjia knows why we are here and she will do her best to make sure we don’t get to him. So we need to strike now before she can amass more forces.” Commander said
Mem brought over what looked like a blueprint. Commander and Asy picked up a wooden table that had been knocked over and set it upright. Mem spread out the blueprint onto the table.
“Alright, so here is what we are going to…”
…
The diving gear had fully disappeared. Sku was no longer protected. He had closed his eyes and waited for the painful release of death to come. But instead of being in a giant snake’s belly, he found himself in an even more strange place. He was floating in an ocean. And he knew where he was.
A mushroom cloud hung over the landscape still.
He was back in Mimiga’s reality. But why and how?
It was best not to question these things, he figured. Maybe when the snake ate people, it acted as a portal to other universes and sent them there. Why he was back in Mimiga’s reality, he did not know.
As he turned around to see the rest of the ocean, he spotted an old wooden sailing ship. It contained massive white sails and looked like something a Royal or someone important would sail in. He could hear someone yelling at him from it.
“Man overboard! Man overboard! Toss him a rope!”
Someone tossed him a rope and Sku began to move up the rope and people on board started pulling the rope up. Soon, Sku was offered clean clothes and towels to dry off from the ocean. He saw a figure right away that he recognized.
“Benged?”
Benged turned around to look at Sku.
“You’re not my Sku, you must be from that alternate reality where Commander came from. Shouldn’t you be dead? The whole of Mimiga went up in a blaze!”
“It’s a long story and the story explaining how I got back here is even longer, but where is this ship going? Who is the captain?”
“I am.”
Jedoi the II walked down the galley towards Sku.
“I am the High King of Edgewind, bastion of the last civilization of this dying world. How may I be of service?”
Sku thought about how he was going to get back to Commander and the rest of them. But there was no way without the compass. Unless he had been sent here on purpose by MagPieMan. Why hadn’t he thought about that?
“I need men. Lots of men. There’s a war coming and we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
…
Commander and the group looked at Freyjia’s castle from a distance in an old apartment building. The castle was unlike anything Commander had ever seen before. It looked like an old castle you would find in the countryside of France but scaled up ten times. Why someone needed such a big castle was lost on Commander. It was made entirely of stone with massive spotlights, shining down on the city below. This was going to be hard, but Commander believed that they could do it.
“Alright, everyone. Let’s head out. It’s time to wake up Sleeping Beauty.”
…
Mem brought the group as close as possible so he could bring them to Freyjia’s castle. All the group except Mem held the saplings of Yggdrasill as tightly as they could.
“Get ready to scale the walls, via the construction. I will give you a distraction.”
“Wait, Mem. That wasn’t part of the plan!” Scooter said
But it was too late. Mem ran out screaming, holding the death shovel high in the air. The platoon of guards below was confused as to why a dirty and hairy man was running toward them with a shovel. One of the leading guards started laughing at Mem and then pointed his rifle at him.
But he couldn’t keep it together, as it was such a silly sight to behold. But this is where the element of surprise came in handy. Mem started whacking away savagely with the shovel at the guards and sent them flying through the air. Screams bounced off the walls of nearby houses.
“Come on, we need to keep going,” Commander said.
The group continued climbing up the scaffolding, on their way to awaken the last Guardian.
…
Diab was in the deepest of slumbers. Nobody had awoken him for centuries. He remained in this lucid dream state, but he chose just to be in a black void. As he had been meditating for hundreds of years, he felt the presence of something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
“The world tree?”
…
The group managed to duck and hide from a couple of patrols of guards and so far, everything was going with the incident. Commander still felt very much on edge. Something was bound to go wrong at some point.
“How far are we from Diab’s tomb?”
“It’s at the very top of the castle in Freyjia’s chamber. But with Yggdrasill’s saplings, we shouldn’t be seen by her, at least in terms of magic. We still need to be careful.” Scooter said
“Well, the night is young. Let’s keep climbing.” Commander said
…
Freyjia was annoyed that she was summoned by her guards over such a minor problem as an angry man with a shovel. But as she approached the gates of her castle, she suddenly had a huge smile on her face.
“Mem.” She yelled.
Standing in front of piles of guards that had been knocked out by Mem, Mem had blood all over his body.
“Freyjia.”
“The leader of the so-called rebellion is right at my front doorstep. How convenient.”
Freyjia used her powers to pick him up and send him flying toward her. She grabbed him by the neck.
“Where is Commander 12? WHERE IS HE? I know you have him. I will spare you and your miserable comrades if you just give him to me.”
“I would rather die a free man, than a coward under your control. Fuck you.”
Mem spat blood in Freyjia’s face. Freyjia used her free hand to wipe it off her face.
“Fine. Death is then.”
Freyjia snapped Mem’s neck like it was a stick and let his body drop to the stone floor below. She motioned for her guards to tend to the wounded and to remove the dead.
“What should do with Mem’s body, sire?” One guard asked.
“Feed him to Quezatpical. She’s probably still hungry after the snack we gave her.”
Freyjia suddenly has her sixth sense going off. Someone was using a magical object to break into her private chamber.
“GUARDS! Forget the bodies. We must immediately go to my chambers.”
“I think I know where Commander 12 is.”
…
The group found themselves outside Freyjia’s chambers. A massive red wooden door stood in front of everyone. Mopb could feel the presence of Diab behind the door. They were so close to completing their goal and then they could save everyone.
“There’s a dark magic seal on this door. Everyone give me a leaf from their sapling.”
Everyone obliged and handed Scooter a leaf. Scooter then placed the leaves in front of different spots. The leaves glowed a bright gold and then disappeared. The door to Freyjia’s chamber opened up slowly.
Mopb suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.
“Mem is dead! Freyjia knows we’re here! Quickly everyone inside!”
Everyone rushed inside and the door closed behind them quickly. Scooter closed her eyes and cast a quick spell.
“How did you do that? I thought you could only do dark magic.” Asy said
“ I don’t know, I just felt like I suddenly could. That should stop Freyjia for a few minutes. But we don’t have long.”
Commander scanned Freyjia’s room, it was devoid of furniture and only a simple mat for sleeping. But the walls were covered in artifacts. Commander didn’t recognize half of them. But the main focus of Commander was on the giant stone tomb on the right side of the chamber. It was simple with no carvings and was smooth. It was elevated up in the air on the platform with at least ten steps leading up to it. Commander reluctantly walked up the steps and put his hand on the surface.
…
Diab sensed something, right outside his tomb. It wasn’t Freyjia.
It was something else.
…
Commander motioned for Gallius to help him push off the top of Diab’s tomb. Both of them pushed with all their strength and the stone slab fell to the ground. Commander peered into the tomb. Lying in front of him was a man with the longest brown beard he had ever seen on anyone, with it going down to his waist. His eyes were still closed and he wore a giant black hood that looked like it had a very long black cape. Asy also looked into the tomb.
“DiabolicalMech.” He whispered.
Diab’s eyes fluttered open and he slowly rose out of the tomb.
He reached up with his hands and cracked his neck and then stretched to crack his back.
“10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck!”
“Where am I… who are you? Gallius, Mopb3… and Asy?!? What the hell are you three doing together… wait a minute. Where’s Mag? And no…”
Scooter turned to look at him and swallowed with a big gulp.
“Scooter? But Mag told me… “
But before Diab could comprehend everything, the doors to Freyjia’s chamber burst open and guards came pouring in. Freyjia came walking out, right in the middle of all of them.
“Ah, three guardians, a mad scientist, someone who is supposed to be dead… and Commander 12.”
“What do you want with me, you witch?”
“Your head. Guards seize the Guardians and Scooter. Diab, you should have stayed asleep.”
Mopb raised his hands, but suddenly he found his powers not working.
“Remember that I’m more powerful than you all? I’m a goddess after all. Dark magic can have its many benefits when you truly understand the depths of its power.”
Scooter also tried to cast a spell, but it failed.
“Nice try, Sryiana. I’m known to be the greatest practitioner of dark magic across all of the multiverse. Your magic is ineffective against me.”
“My god, she’s truly gone off the deep end. The Freyjia I know wouldn’t turn to such evil and vile magic.” Asy said
“Well, I’m not your Freyjia. I have to sacrifice whatever good was in my heart to protect all Lokans from Preksak! He’s killed trillions of versions of yourselves! You should be thanking me, that I took away your powers to protect you all! Guards, round them up and put them in with the rebels.”
“And leave Commander with me.”
The guards came in and grabbed everyone. But instead of fighting, everyone was sullen and silent. There was no point in fighting someone so powerful. The guards roughhoused Diab as they forced him out of his tomb. He did not resist either.
Freyjia turned around to face Commander. Commander was left standing facing Freyjia. Freyjia walked closer to Commander.
“Do you want to know what your alternate counterpart was like here?”
“Not really, no. I’m assuming you killed him.”
“ I did, yes. But you represent something far worse to me, Andy. You are the reason why I became the monster I am. Your counterpart slaughtered the Guardians and Cryptite, while you were under the influence of Preksak. YOU CAUSED THE PERVERSION OF ME! The reason why everything is so horrible here is because of you! You are the reason why I became the monster I am! For that, you must truly suffer. But I am going to kill you. I’m going to torture you slowly. I want to keep you alive and torture you as many times as many people have been killed under my reign.”
“How many times was that?”
“Oh… 100,000.”
Commander suddenly found himself unable to breathe and he held his hands up to his neck. But no air came out or no sound. Commander’s eyes opened in shock. Not because of his lack of breath, but what he saw in Freyjia’s hands.
Freyjia was holding Commander’s lungs and Preksak’s compass.
“Welcome to your hell, Commander. You have a debt to pay.”
…
The group was brought down to a row of cells that seemed to stretch out to the horizon. Thousands of people were crammed into each one. The smell wasn’t very pleasant. Thankfully, they had been given a less crowded cell.
“What the hell do we do? Freyjia is going to kill Commander.”
“Freyjia’s spell that nullifies all our powers is limited to the castle barrier. We’re right on the edge of it if I can remember the blueprints of it. If I could somehow get just one of my hands out, I could summon help.” Scooter said.
“Who would you summon?” Mopb asked
“The giant snake that ate Sku of course. I have a connection to it now, because of my dark magic.”
“You want to summon the giant snake that killed one of our quest members? You have truly gone mad.” Asy said.
“How are we going to take down the most powerful version of Freyjia out there? With a giant freaking snake.”
Asy was standing at the other side of the cell, making his way through the crowd.
“I think I hear the wind. There’s an empty room behind this wall. If I can break the brick, you can stick your hand in and cast the spell you need.” he said
“Let’s get to work.”
…
Commander had pretty much all his major organs removed and put back into his body. The only ones she hadn’t touched were his brain and heart. She was onto his spleen now.
“Out of the organs to put back, you at least could have gotten rid of my appendix. It’s the least useful org-”
But Freyjia had heard enough. She picked him up and choked him and then repeatedly slammed him against the walls, causing artifacts to be knocked over. Commander slowly made his way out from underneath a pile of them.
“Still joking after all of that? I guess I’ll have to try to truly break you.”
Freyjia using his powers picked Commander up and brought him to a few inches in front of her face. She placed her thumb on his forehead.
Commander saw flashing images race through his mind and he started to scream once he realized what it was. It was trillions of versions of him, from across all time and space, dying horrific deaths.
The nightmare was only just starting.
…
Asy and a few prisoners using forks, managed to chip away at the wall, creating a small enough hole for Scooter to stick her hand in. Right as Asy was about to hit the last chunk away, he got shocked.
“Ow!” he yelled.
Suddenly, all the power went out and all the cell doors opened. Prisoners suddenly started pouring out, running down the halls and yelling. Asy quickly realized what he had done. He had accidentally broken the power grid that controlled all the jail cells.
“Oops.”
Loose electrical wires sent sparks off into the cell and the lights kept flickering on and off. All the prisoners besides the main group had left the cell, screaming bloody murder at the guards and demanding Freyjia’s head.
“I think now would be a good time to do your thing, Scooter,” Gallius said.
Scooter stepped forward and ignoring the sparks, started chanting away and waving her hand.
Wake up, you slimy bastard. Scooter thought. Wake up.
…
Quetzalcóatl awoke from her slumber. She only felt one emotion.
Rage. at Freyjia for taking away her children from her. She let out a hiss and charged headfirst into the water of her prison and burst through the whirlpool entrance.
A goddess was on the menu next.
…
Commander had fallen into a coma it seemed after what Freyjia had shown him. Snapping her fingers, Commander awoke in a flurry.
“Damn. Who knew I was still incredibly sexy in each dimension.” He said with a weak smile on his face.
Commander’s brain felt as if it had been lit on fire, run over by a car, then frozen and then everything in reverse.
“Is that the worst you have? Removing all my organs? Torturing me with the deaths of trillions of other versions of me? “
“Oh, I’ve been saving the best for last. This will truly break you.”
Right before Freyjia could do anything, a massive blur of scales and fangs came whizzing by. The floor underneath Commander started to crack and the window overlooking the city was broken.
“Oh god, not the giant snake again. Anything but the giant snake. Please, Freyjia! Torture me again!”
Freyjia waved her hand and made Commander’s mouth disappear. Commander's voice became muffled screams.
“Quetzalcóatl, why are you here? Your children are safe with me!”
“No, you evil bitch! You killed them all! To practice your perverted form of dark magic. Their blood is what you have to use to commit all these horrors! You kill them when they become too old for you.”
“Now, it’s my turn. You’re on the menu, bitch.”
Quetzalcóatl roared and her massive fangs came down upon Freyjia, eating her in one bite. Commander screamed in terror as he saw Freyjia being swallowed by the snake. He noticed that the snake’s eyes were black.
My god. Scooter is in control! He thought.
Scooter had saved him. Now, only if he could get back his mouth.
…
Gunfire could be heard throughout the city below. Buildings were being lit on fire. Freyjia’s reign of terror was over. Aegon found the group, at the bottom of Freyjia’s fallen tower.
‘You have freed us from the evil Goddess. How can we ever repay you?” he said
“By honouring Mem. He died so that we can succeed.” Scooter said.
“We must now depart for realms unknown. Our quest is nearly at an end.” Mopb said
Everyone turned out to hear muffled yelling.
“Oh! We forgot to give Commander his lips back.”
Freyjia waved her hand and Commander’s mouth returned to him.
“Thank you. Not having lips… is an experience.”
Commander handed Mopb the compass and he tapped it and the shard together three times. Preksak the White also came from around the corner.
“Is it too late to join you guys?” He asked
“We’re gonna need all the help we can get.” Commander said
A blue portal opened up in front of them. Everyone stepped through and it disappeared behind them.
Aegon was left standing over the city as the sun started to rise.
Where do we go from here?
…
Freyjia found herself in a dark and strange land. The sky was as black as the End and the ground was as dry as the desert. A dark spire was off in the distance.
“Preksak,” she said.
But this wasn’t her version of Preksak, the one that killed the Guardians. She sensed something different about him. With her goddess powers, she felt the raw anger and rage emanating far away from the spire. Something of his had been stolen.
By one Commander 12.
They would have a lot to talk about when they finally met.
…
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Fixing the Past Part XXV
Finally, after five months, I have returned to finish this tale. More to come. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this.
The group found themselves on top of a pyramid of some sort. The landscape was thick and full of dense jungle trees. Commander saw intricate designs carved into the walls around them. They were sheltered above from the sky by another platform. Commander could see people milling about below.
“Where are we?” Preksak the White asked
“We’re in a reality where instead of Norse Gods like Freyjia existing, it’s Aztec ones instead,” Mopb said
“Please tell me they didn’t become evil as a result of me supposedly murdering them ?” Commander said
“This is one of the more peaceful realities out there in the multiverse actually,” Mopb said
An eagle flew up high in the sky above them, watching them.
“Don’t worry. They don’t know we’re here. We still have the saplings from Yyrardsil protecting us.”
“Why did you wake me?”
Everyone turned to face Diab. Diab looked like he was still going to fall asleep and he nearly fell over but Scooter walked up and helped prop him up.
“Because Preksak is out to destroy all of reality in order to bring his son back and to seize the power of the One Who Sits,” Gallius said
“I said… Why did you wake me?”
“Because we need you,” Gallius said
“Why… Did you wake me?”
“Mag knew the only way for us to be able to defeat Preksak is if he thinks he’s winning. Also, as Guardians we have neglected our duties, grown complacent with the relative peace of the Fifth Age and Char.”
“That slimy old bastard. I knew he would hatch an insane scheme like this. But most importantly… How is Scooter alive?”
“Because Preksak needs her for the same purpose he needs all of us to power his human battery; the life force of a Guardian is the only thing capable of piercing the veil of the Big Bang. And Commander here is the only one capable of getting through it.”
“But why did you wake me?”
“Why do you keep asking that?”
“Because what’s the point? Preksak is correcting something that was broken, to begin with.”
Diab pointed right at Commander
“And Drixan is dead because of you, Commander.”
…
Tee and Alt Sku pretended to fly like normal artifices on patrol, shining beams of light across the various canyons.
“What the hell are we going to do? How can we free people?” Sku said
“We have to start somewhere, I guess,” Tee said
Alt Sku and Tee landed on top of a lookout point, looking out among the various canyons. Cries of pain and suffering could still be heard. Tee did his best not to wince, but he realized he couldn’t express emotion as he was an android.
“There has to be a central control point. Somewhere where they process and round up the slaves.” Tee said
“If anything, it’s inside the Dark Spire.” Alt Sku said.
They turned to face back to the Spire, lightning bolts reflecting off the tower.
“ I have an idea. I know how to potentially access Preksak’s central system.”
“How?”
“PartayArc.”
…
PartayArc was busy processing data given to her by the Observer and dealing with the processing of new slaves. But this was the robotic PartayArc. The real PartayArc had been buried deep inside, ever since that fateful day. It was buried so deep inside her subconscious, that she had even forgotten about the existence of it. That day Sku finally broke free and attempted to lead a slave revolt but failed. Adzy had been maimed the previous day and he had decided that he had enough.
Thousands were killed that day, but it had been the start of the resistance against Preksak. They had a few successes in the beginning, but the sheer overwhelming might of Preskak and his resources. And out on a raid to get supplies, they captured her. And turned into the being she was today.
But that day, not so long ago, when she saw him again. That part of her, she had forgotten existed, came back up to the surface in the form of a single tear. The entry to the Dark Tower was being opened. She didn’t bother to look up as his programming instructed her to focus exclusively on her data processing. Unless it was Preksak himself, a fellow cyborg or an artifice, she was to give it no attention. The security system would have detected a threat and dealt with it immediately.
The power Preskak held was all-knowing, all-seeing and all-encompassing. But she felt an alert go off in her head. Two artifices were approaching. She immediately stopped her data entry and looked up at the two approaching artifices. But something felt different. Some part of her twitched in the back of her head. She sensed the presence of Sku, but not her Sku. His temporal aura was different. There was also another aura she recognized, but it was an old and ancient one. Suddenly memories came flooding back to her in fragments. One name stuck out.
Tee.
That part of her she had forgotten existed, came surging back to life. It was impossible. Her programming should have stopped her. But it was happening.
…
They approached PartayArc sitting at her terminal but something was off about her. She looked like she had a look of confusion on her face. But then it switched to recognition. She suddenly started twitching.
“S-k-U-h-o-o?” She said out in broken fragments
“Wait, how do you know it’s me?” Alt Sku said
Tee sensed an inner struggle in her.
“It’s her programming. Somehow, she’s fighting it.”
PartayArc’s twitching got worse.
“Quickly… you must access my terminal… you can free them all…”
Tee leaped over the counter and faced the computer.
“How do I access it?” he said
“You… know… how to… save them all…” she said
Her twitching suddenly stopped.
Alt Sku walked around to the back and placed his hands on her neck to check for a pulse.
“She’s gone.”
Tee breathed in deeply, internally.
“ Let’s make sure, her sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
Tee turned to face the terminal. As he raised his hand to it, his hand transformed and attached itself to the slots on the machine.
“We’re in.”
…
Throughout the valleys and canyons, the slaves were mining away under the always-watching eye of Preksak. They had not known another life, nor did they ever think they would. They were destined to mine obsidian for some unknown reason for the rest of eternity. The sweet release of death would never come to them. They would ever tortured back into compliance or turned into cyborgs. This was the only Gabrosen had known. Those who had tried to fight, were killed or sent into hiding.
As he was mining away, he suddenly felt something come loose. There was no way. His chains were seared into his flesh. But he looked down and saw they had come off. Looking around at his fellow slaves, he noticed that they all had the same shocked reaction. They were free all of a sudden.
An announcement came blaring over the P.A system.
“Attention slaves… in the words of a dear old friend of mine… it’s time to fuck shit up.”
Cheers erupted from the valleys. Joy for the first time ever was being expressed in Preksak’s world.
…
In Preksak’s tower, he was shocked by what he saw. Slaves were coming, pouring out of the valley. They were coming for him. And they wanted blood. But Preksak saw that something was bound to happen.
He motioned to one of his artifices.
“Employ countermeasures. Find the infected artifices. MagPieMan sent them.”
The artifice nodded and flew away.
Preksak turned around to face his desk and reached into a drawer. He pulled out a simple remote.
“Since Commander_12 and his annoying band of rogues and old fogeys seek to be a continuing problem, it’s time we finally got rid of them.” He said to one of his cyborgs.
“It’s time to finally find them and destroy them. Prepare the multiversal engines. It’s time to prune timelines.”
“Does that work for you, Jed of Nine?”
Jed nodded. She existed for no other reason but to serve her master, Preksak.
She couldn’t possibly imagine doing anything else.
Finally, after five months, I have returned to finish this tale. More to come. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this.
The group found themselves on top of a pyramid of some sort. The landscape was thick and full of dense jungle trees. Commander saw intricate designs carved into the walls around them. They were sheltered above from the sky by another platform. Commander could see people milling about below.
“Where are we?” Preksak the White asked
“We’re in a reality where instead of Norse Gods like Freyjia existing, it’s Aztec ones instead,” Mopb said
“Please tell me they didn’t become evil as a result of me supposedly murdering them ?” Commander said
“This is one of the more peaceful realities out there in the multiverse actually,” Mopb said
An eagle flew up high in the sky above them, watching them.
“Don’t worry. They don’t know we’re here. We still have the saplings from Yyrardsil protecting us.”
“Why did you wake me?”
Everyone turned to face Diab. Diab looked like he was still going to fall asleep and he nearly fell over but Scooter walked up and helped prop him up.
“Because Preksak is out to destroy all of reality in order to bring his son back and to seize the power of the One Who Sits,” Gallius said
“I said… Why did you wake me?”
“Because we need you,” Gallius said
“Why… Did you wake me?”
“Mag knew the only way for us to be able to defeat Preksak is if he thinks he’s winning. Also, as Guardians we have neglected our duties, grown complacent with the relative peace of the Fifth Age and Char.”
“That slimy old bastard. I knew he would hatch an insane scheme like this. But most importantly… How is Scooter alive?”
“Because Preksak needs her for the same purpose he needs all of us to power his human battery; the life force of a Guardian is the only thing capable of piercing the veil of the Big Bang. And Commander here is the only one capable of getting through it.”
“But why did you wake me?”
“Why do you keep asking that?”
“Because what’s the point? Preksak is correcting something that was broken, to begin with.”
Diab pointed right at Commander
“And Drixan is dead because of you, Commander.”
…
Tee and Alt Sku pretended to fly like normal artifices on patrol, shining beams of light across the various canyons.
“What the hell are we going to do? How can we free people?” Sku said
“We have to start somewhere, I guess,” Tee said
Alt Sku and Tee landed on top of a lookout point, looking out among the various canyons. Cries of pain and suffering could still be heard. Tee did his best not to wince, but he realized he couldn’t express emotion as he was an android.
“There has to be a central control point. Somewhere where they process and round up the slaves.” Tee said
“If anything, it’s inside the Dark Spire.” Alt Sku said.
They turned to face back to the Spire, lightning bolts reflecting off the tower.
“ I have an idea. I know how to potentially access Preksak’s central system.”
“How?”
“PartayArc.”
…
PartayArc was busy processing data given to her by the Observer and dealing with the processing of new slaves. But this was the robotic PartayArc. The real PartayArc had been buried deep inside, ever since that fateful day. It was buried so deep inside her subconscious, that she had even forgotten about the existence of it. That day Sku finally broke free and attempted to lead a slave revolt but failed. Adzy had been maimed the previous day and he had decided that he had enough.
Thousands were killed that day, but it had been the start of the resistance against Preksak. They had a few successes in the beginning, but the sheer overwhelming might of Preskak and his resources. And out on a raid to get supplies, they captured her. And turned into the being she was today.
But that day, not so long ago, when she saw him again. That part of her, she had forgotten existed, came back up to the surface in the form of a single tear. The entry to the Dark Tower was being opened. She didn’t bother to look up as his programming instructed her to focus exclusively on her data processing. Unless it was Preksak himself, a fellow cyborg or an artifice, she was to give it no attention. The security system would have detected a threat and dealt with it immediately.
The power Preskak held was all-knowing, all-seeing and all-encompassing. But she felt an alert go off in her head. Two artifices were approaching. She immediately stopped her data entry and looked up at the two approaching artifices. But something felt different. Some part of her twitched in the back of her head. She sensed the presence of Sku, but not her Sku. His temporal aura was different. There was also another aura she recognized, but it was an old and ancient one. Suddenly memories came flooding back to her in fragments. One name stuck out.
Tee.
That part of her she had forgotten existed, came surging back to life. It was impossible. Her programming should have stopped her. But it was happening.
…
They approached PartayArc sitting at her terminal but something was off about her. She looked like she had a look of confusion on her face. But then it switched to recognition. She suddenly started twitching.
“S-k-U-h-o-o?” She said out in broken fragments
“Wait, how do you know it’s me?” Alt Sku said
Tee sensed an inner struggle in her.
“It’s her programming. Somehow, she’s fighting it.”
PartayArc’s twitching got worse.
“Quickly… you must access my terminal… you can free them all…”
Tee leaped over the counter and faced the computer.
“How do I access it?” he said
“You… know… how to… save them all…” she said
Her twitching suddenly stopped.
Alt Sku walked around to the back and placed his hands on her neck to check for a pulse.
“She’s gone.”
Tee breathed in deeply, internally.
“ Let’s make sure, her sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
Tee turned to face the terminal. As he raised his hand to it, his hand transformed and attached itself to the slots on the machine.
“We’re in.”
…
Throughout the valleys and canyons, the slaves were mining away under the always-watching eye of Preksak. They had not known another life, nor did they ever think they would. They were destined to mine obsidian for some unknown reason for the rest of eternity. The sweet release of death would never come to them. They would ever tortured back into compliance or turned into cyborgs. This was the only Gabrosen had known. Those who had tried to fight, were killed or sent into hiding.
As he was mining away, he suddenly felt something come loose. There was no way. His chains were seared into his flesh. But he looked down and saw they had come off. Looking around at his fellow slaves, he noticed that they all had the same shocked reaction. They were free all of a sudden.
An announcement came blaring over the P.A system.
“Attention slaves… in the words of a dear old friend of mine… it’s time to fuck shit up.”
Cheers erupted from the valleys. Joy for the first time ever was being expressed in Preksak’s world.
…
In Preksak’s tower, he was shocked by what he saw. Slaves were coming, pouring out of the valley. They were coming for him. And they wanted blood. But Preksak saw that something was bound to happen.
He motioned to one of his artifices.
“Employ countermeasures. Find the infected artifices. MagPieMan sent them.”
The artifice nodded and flew away.
Preksak turned around to face his desk and reached into a drawer. He pulled out a simple remote.
“Since Commander_12 and his annoying band of rogues and old fogeys seek to be a continuing problem, it’s time we finally got rid of them.” He said to one of his cyborgs.
“It’s time to finally find them and destroy them. Prepare the multiversal engines. It’s time to prune timelines.”
“Does that work for you, Jed of Nine?”
Jed nodded. She existed for no other reason but to serve her master, Preksak.
She couldn’t possibly imagine doing anything else.
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Jed nodded. She existed for no other reason but to serve her master, Preksak.
Rip wiztpot
Rip wiztpot
Fixing the Past, Part XXVI (26)
“Drixan is dead because of you, Commander.”
“But how? I only came to Loka during the reign of Char. I’m pretty sure in the grand scheme of history, I didn’t have an impact until I arrived.”
“ As far as I was concerned, as of three days ago, I was in New Auru, maybe a little hungover from drinking too much mead. Instead, I’ve been pivoted across multiple alternate realities, faced an evil version of myself and literally died and came back. So, explain to me, how this is all of my fault.”
“ History was never ever meant to go this way.”
…
Andy teleported to the edge of the battlefield. His beloved master had left him to die in a god-forsaken world. He would have his revenge.
His master believed that he controlled Andy. But he was wrong. Given Andy's growing power in the Blight, slowly allowed him to be able to resist Preksak more and more. Preksak had control of him temporarily after the massacre at Raptor City, but Preksak teleported away, believing he had Andy under control. Given Andy's sheer force of will, he was able to overcome his master. Now, he was 100% free of Preksak's influence.
He knew his target. He knew who he was going to kill. He had his army of dinosaurs, but he decided to give this mission a personal touch. Having studied the compass and the knife his younger counterpart had given him, he had created a rudimentary time travel device. He had travelled back to where everything had started.
The Battle of the Spire. But he wasn’t here to stop Preksak or kill him. No, one was here to take away the one thing he cared about in the entirety of the multiverse.
Preksak’s son, Drixian.
Andy spotted Drixian overlooking the battle from afar. He was watching from a secluded spot up upon a hill, being guarded by two artifices. Andy could see the lightning bolts going off in the distance and saw the faint outlines of Preksak and Cryptite fighting.
He walked up slowly and quietly. Tapping into the powers given to him by the Blight, he disabled them by crunching them up. Drixian turned around to face him.
“Who the devil are you? Do you know who my father is?”
“ I know who your accursed father is. He is responsible for the person and monster I have become. Therefore, I have come to destroy the one thing he loves.”
Drixian reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a portable bacon. He was about to press down on it, alerting his father. But Andy was having none of that. Moving at rapid speed, Andy chopped off Drixian’s hand, clean with the ax he had on him.
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
Andy brought up his ax high above Drixian, who raised his only remaining hand for protection. But it was too late.
Andy’s ax came slamming down as hard as it could.
…
“So, wait because I traveled to the reality where my evil counterpart was and gave him the technology to travel back in time, he killed Drixian?”
“Yes, it’s a paradox. As a result of Preksak’s own actions traveling back in time, he sent forth the events that would lead to the death of his son, ironically.”
“All of this… is predetermined… we are destined to lose. Because your evil self is so determined to get revenge on him, it leads Preksak to get to the One Who Sits.”
“How do you know all this information?” Asy asked
“Because I’ve been through this… thousands of times. We are having the same conversation, I’ve had thousands of times with you. That’s why I asked why you woke me. I want nothing to do with this, as I know what’s going to happen.”
“Show me proof,” Commander asked.
“ If you insist.”
“Please, also show me,” Scooter said
Diab reached out with his hands and motioned for both Commander and Scooter to grab them.
Everything went black.
…
Commander saw visions of the most horrifying things. Hundreds of thousands of bodies were littered all over the canyons. He saw visions of himself, Tee and the others fighting to the death against Preksak. He even saw Cryptite and Mag fighting fiercely against Preksak on top of the Dark Spire. Asy and Preksak the White looked like they were hunched over some equipment, but it exploded in their faces, killing them instantly.
Commander was also shocked to see the mad version of Freyja, charging for both Commander and Andy at the same time, shooting off dark bolts of lightning.
Commander saw thousands of velociraptors pouring in, being led by Andy. Andy’s eyes were dark purple and his hair was standing up on end. He was roaring out at commands at his army. He saw yet another army, made up of soldiers dressed in Netherite armour trimmed with gold, charging at the dinosaurs and Preksak’s forces. They all came merging of blue portals, like the ones the compass created. It was a massacre. He realized in shock as he saw the bodies of Jedoi the II and Skuhoo. Preksak stood on top of a pile of bodies, laughing maniacally as he banged the shard and the compass together and everything turned to white.
Standing below the pile of bodies, was Commander looking bloodied and beaten.
…
Diab let go of their hands. Commander and Scooter were covered with sweat. It was nighttime now. The rest of the group stood up, as they realized Diab was done.
“You see? Do you see why this is all pointless? It’s all just variations of the same, over and over again. Sometimes, there are different armies and different versions of you. But it always ends the same. Preksak is on top of a pile of bodies, with Commander being the last one alive.”
“And it all repeats, because of you Scooter. Because you refuse to let us move on. I have been trapped in this cycle for MILLIONS OF YEARS. Let me die, you witch.”
‘But how?”
“Because you erase your memory every time. Along with everyone else. You do it because you think you'll do it differently this time. Or what if I add this random factor? Or what if… and what if… and what if… and so on! Your power is one of the most terrifying things imaginable! Your power allows you to alter reality and time on a scale never dreamt of! You just don’t want to acknowledge the pain! Your abysmal failure! But guess what! I REMEMBER EVERY TIME!”
“Because I am the original Guardian, your memory erasing and reality warping doesn’t affect me. Now, for the love of god, take me back to where you found me and let me sleep, damn it. I don’t have time for this horseshit.”
Asy, Gallius and Mopb all tried to approach Diab but he just shooed them away and lay down on the temple floor below him. He closed his eyes and turned over, trying to fall asleep.
“So… Mopb… any ideas?” Preksak the White asked.
“ I-I-I don’t know…” Mopb replied
Suddenly, a black portal opened up and several figures stepped out. It was Mag, Crypt, Tee… and the version of Sku with hair.
Commander was left dumbfounded. How the hell is this alternate version of Sku still alive? But he pushed that thought and he ran over and gave Tee a massive hug.
“ I thought I lost you forever.”
“ You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Tee said, winking.
Commander shook Cryptite and Alt Sku’s hands.
“You look alot better with a head, Crypt.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Crypt said
Diab turned his body around and opened up one eye.
“Forget it, Mag. No matter what speech you give, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to lose. You know this.”
“Get up, you old fool. You’ve napped for too long.” Mag said
Diab breathed in deeply and stood up.
“May I have a moment with Diab please?” Mag said.
Everyone nodded and said yes, and turned around, chatting amongst each other.
Mag grabbed Diab by the arm and brought him away from the group.
“ I know how to end the cycle,” Mag said
Mag whispered into Diab’s ear and his eyes went wide.
“ He has to…? Any way to end the millions of years of struggle is fine by me. It’s ironic, as Commander himself is responsible for all of this starting. It’s ironic that he’s the one who can actually end this.”
“ I hardly blame him for the actions of his evil self. How is he responsible?”
“ Trust me, Mag. After having witnessed Commander lose over and over again, I have a pretty strong dislike for the guy. I don’t care if it’s an alternate version, they are all one and the same to me. The one who doomed us all.”
“ You are blind and a sleepy old man. Preksak is the one responsible for all of this, not Commander. He set into motion the events that led to the death of his son and everything. But I know how to finally break the loop now. Come, we must rally the troops.”
Diab grabbed Mag’s hand in a tight grip and the two nodded at each other and walked back to the group. Everyone stopped talking and turned to face Mag and Diab.
“Ladies and gentlemen. It’s time we took the fight to Preksak. It is time for us to win and finally break the cycle.”
“But how?” Gallius asked.
“ We know how, but we can’t tell you. It could prevent us from winning and force us to repeat this cycle again for eternity. But it is up to the actions of you, Commander.”
Everyone turned to look at Commander.
He gulped and said:
“No pressure.
…
Preksak’s multiversal engines were roaring faster and faster than before. Overlooking strands of different universes in front of him, floating in the void, Preksak smiled. Soon, he would be able to re-create reality at his own whim. Everyone would worship him.
Jed of Nine walked up to him and held a tablet up to his face.
“Master, we have successfully destroyed Earth 9997, Earth 1610, and the other timelines Commander and his crew visited. We are closing in on his signal.”
“Good. Put the engines up to full speed. Let’s wrap this up even quicker.”
Preksak turned back to face the window looking out into the void. Down below him, were his loyal cyborgs and artifices, working away at their individual stations. He could hear the screams and cries of his former slaves down below, trying to breach his tower. But they would not succeed.
Soon, victory would be at hand.
…
“Drixan is dead because of you, Commander.”
“But how? I only came to Loka during the reign of Char. I’m pretty sure in the grand scheme of history, I didn’t have an impact until I arrived.”
“ As far as I was concerned, as of three days ago, I was in New Auru, maybe a little hungover from drinking too much mead. Instead, I’ve been pivoted across multiple alternate realities, faced an evil version of myself and literally died and came back. So, explain to me, how this is all of my fault.”
“ History was never ever meant to go this way.”
…
Andy teleported to the edge of the battlefield. His beloved master had left him to die in a god-forsaken world. He would have his revenge.
His master believed that he controlled Andy. But he was wrong. Given Andy's growing power in the Blight, slowly allowed him to be able to resist Preksak more and more. Preksak had control of him temporarily after the massacre at Raptor City, but Preksak teleported away, believing he had Andy under control. Given Andy's sheer force of will, he was able to overcome his master. Now, he was 100% free of Preksak's influence.
He knew his target. He knew who he was going to kill. He had his army of dinosaurs, but he decided to give this mission a personal touch. Having studied the compass and the knife his younger counterpart had given him, he had created a rudimentary time travel device. He had travelled back to where everything had started.
The Battle of the Spire. But he wasn’t here to stop Preksak or kill him. No, one was here to take away the one thing he cared about in the entirety of the multiverse.
Preksak’s son, Drixian.
Andy spotted Drixian overlooking the battle from afar. He was watching from a secluded spot up upon a hill, being guarded by two artifices. Andy could see the lightning bolts going off in the distance and saw the faint outlines of Preksak and Cryptite fighting.
He walked up slowly and quietly. Tapping into the powers given to him by the Blight, he disabled them by crunching them up. Drixian turned around to face him.
“Who the devil are you? Do you know who my father is?”
“ I know who your accursed father is. He is responsible for the person and monster I have become. Therefore, I have come to destroy the one thing he loves.”
Drixian reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a portable bacon. He was about to press down on it, alerting his father. But Andy was having none of that. Moving at rapid speed, Andy chopped off Drixian’s hand, clean with the ax he had on him.
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
Andy brought up his ax high above Drixian, who raised his only remaining hand for protection. But it was too late.
Andy’s ax came slamming down as hard as it could.
…
“So, wait because I traveled to the reality where my evil counterpart was and gave him the technology to travel back in time, he killed Drixian?”
“Yes, it’s a paradox. As a result of Preksak’s own actions traveling back in time, he sent forth the events that would lead to the death of his son, ironically.”
“All of this… is predetermined… we are destined to lose. Because your evil self is so determined to get revenge on him, it leads Preksak to get to the One Who Sits.”
“How do you know all this information?” Asy asked
“Because I’ve been through this… thousands of times. We are having the same conversation, I’ve had thousands of times with you. That’s why I asked why you woke me. I want nothing to do with this, as I know what’s going to happen.”
“Show me proof,” Commander asked.
“ If you insist.”
“Please, also show me,” Scooter said
Diab reached out with his hands and motioned for both Commander and Scooter to grab them.
Everything went black.
…
Commander saw visions of the most horrifying things. Hundreds of thousands of bodies were littered all over the canyons. He saw visions of himself, Tee and the others fighting to the death against Preksak. He even saw Cryptite and Mag fighting fiercely against Preksak on top of the Dark Spire. Asy and Preksak the White looked like they were hunched over some equipment, but it exploded in their faces, killing them instantly.
Commander was also shocked to see the mad version of Freyja, charging for both Commander and Andy at the same time, shooting off dark bolts of lightning.
Commander saw thousands of velociraptors pouring in, being led by Andy. Andy’s eyes were dark purple and his hair was standing up on end. He was roaring out at commands at his army. He saw yet another army, made up of soldiers dressed in Netherite armour trimmed with gold, charging at the dinosaurs and Preksak’s forces. They all came merging of blue portals, like the ones the compass created. It was a massacre. He realized in shock as he saw the bodies of Jedoi the II and Skuhoo. Preksak stood on top of a pile of bodies, laughing maniacally as he banged the shard and the compass together and everything turned to white.
Standing below the pile of bodies, was Commander looking bloodied and beaten.
…
Diab let go of their hands. Commander and Scooter were covered with sweat. It was nighttime now. The rest of the group stood up, as they realized Diab was done.
“You see? Do you see why this is all pointless? It’s all just variations of the same, over and over again. Sometimes, there are different armies and different versions of you. But it always ends the same. Preksak is on top of a pile of bodies, with Commander being the last one alive.”
“And it all repeats, because of you Scooter. Because you refuse to let us move on. I have been trapped in this cycle for MILLIONS OF YEARS. Let me die, you witch.”
‘But how?”
“Because you erase your memory every time. Along with everyone else. You do it because you think you'll do it differently this time. Or what if I add this random factor? Or what if… and what if… and what if… and so on! Your power is one of the most terrifying things imaginable! Your power allows you to alter reality and time on a scale never dreamt of! You just don’t want to acknowledge the pain! Your abysmal failure! But guess what! I REMEMBER EVERY TIME!”
“Because I am the original Guardian, your memory erasing and reality warping doesn’t affect me. Now, for the love of god, take me back to where you found me and let me sleep, damn it. I don’t have time for this horseshit.”
Asy, Gallius and Mopb all tried to approach Diab but he just shooed them away and lay down on the temple floor below him. He closed his eyes and turned over, trying to fall asleep.
“So… Mopb… any ideas?” Preksak the White asked.
“ I-I-I don’t know…” Mopb replied
Suddenly, a black portal opened up and several figures stepped out. It was Mag, Crypt, Tee… and the version of Sku with hair.
Commander was left dumbfounded. How the hell is this alternate version of Sku still alive? But he pushed that thought and he ran over and gave Tee a massive hug.
“ I thought I lost you forever.”
“ You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Tee said, winking.
Commander shook Cryptite and Alt Sku’s hands.
“You look alot better with a head, Crypt.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Crypt said
Diab turned his body around and opened up one eye.
“Forget it, Mag. No matter what speech you give, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to lose. You know this.”
“Get up, you old fool. You’ve napped for too long.” Mag said
Diab breathed in deeply and stood up.
“May I have a moment with Diab please?” Mag said.
Everyone nodded and said yes, and turned around, chatting amongst each other.
Mag grabbed Diab by the arm and brought him away from the group.
“ I know how to end the cycle,” Mag said
Mag whispered into Diab’s ear and his eyes went wide.
“ He has to…? Any way to end the millions of years of struggle is fine by me. It’s ironic, as Commander himself is responsible for all of this starting. It’s ironic that he’s the one who can actually end this.”
“ I hardly blame him for the actions of his evil self. How is he responsible?”
“ Trust me, Mag. After having witnessed Commander lose over and over again, I have a pretty strong dislike for the guy. I don’t care if it’s an alternate version, they are all one and the same to me. The one who doomed us all.”
“ You are blind and a sleepy old man. Preksak is the one responsible for all of this, not Commander. He set into motion the events that led to the death of his son and everything. But I know how to finally break the loop now. Come, we must rally the troops.”
Diab grabbed Mag’s hand in a tight grip and the two nodded at each other and walked back to the group. Everyone stopped talking and turned to face Mag and Diab.
“Ladies and gentlemen. It’s time we took the fight to Preksak. It is time for us to win and finally break the cycle.”
“But how?” Gallius asked.
“ We know how, but we can’t tell you. It could prevent us from winning and force us to repeat this cycle again for eternity. But it is up to the actions of you, Commander.”
Everyone turned to look at Commander.
He gulped and said:
“No pressure.
…
Preksak’s multiversal engines were roaring faster and faster than before. Overlooking strands of different universes in front of him, floating in the void, Preksak smiled. Soon, he would be able to re-create reality at his own whim. Everyone would worship him.
Jed of Nine walked up to him and held a tablet up to his face.
“Master, we have successfully destroyed Earth 9997, Earth 1610, and the other timelines Commander and his crew visited. We are closing in on his signal.”
“Good. Put the engines up to full speed. Let’s wrap this up even quicker.”
Preksak turned back to face the window looking out into the void. Down below him, were his loyal cyborgs and artifices, working away at their individual stations. He could hear the screams and cries of his former slaves down below, trying to breach his tower. But they would not succeed.
Soon, victory would be at hand.
…
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Fixing the Past, Part 26.5
Sort of view this a tie in issue for the series. I wrote this in to develop Diab's character as each Guardian before got a chance to develop their character. Given how I'm approaching the end of the story, I figured this would be fair for Diab as I felt he didn't get a chance to develop as a character. Please let me know what you think.
In his dreams, Diab in his tomb in Freyjia’s fortress, dreamt of carnage.
He had been woken up at least 5,337 times by Commander and his motley crew. He had lived through that many repeats. And it was because of one person. Scooter. And her absolute belief in Commander 12 and her ability to hold her dark magic at bay.
But Diab knew how she broke into Freyjia’s vault and how she was slowly losing control. Because of her inability to give up and accept the inevitable, she was dooming everyone in Loka to relive the same fate repeatedly. Preksak was going to win, no matter how many times she changed the factors. One slight adjustment here, one slight adjustment there. It was the same struggle over and over again. It would play out differently in the start and the middle but not the end.
It always ended with Preksak on top of a pile of bodies, laughing and slamming the compass and knife together and everything going purple.
And Commander 12 would be there, bloodied and beaten. The last one always standing. Diab hated Commander with all his being. He was the root cause of all of this. It was always him at the end and he was the reason they kept losing. Commander’s sheer force of will and inability to give up was what ultimately cost them in the end. His stubborn pride doomed everything that existed and would exist. Despite all of this, this wasn’t what Diab dreamed the most about.
What Diab dreamt most of all, was the final meeting of the Guardians after the death of Cryptite.
…
The sky was completely black. The plant life was slowly dying due to the lack of the sun. The funeral for Cryptite was short and bitter. All the Guardians gave speeches and Freyjia even briefly showed up. But she watched from a distance, not wanting to get too involved in the affairs of mortals. This was ironic, given how the Guardians were fellow immortals themselves.
Shortly afterwards, Asy gathered the Guardians together. He informed them of a shocking discovery he made. As a result of Preksak activating the Terradestoryer, the energy around it pierced the veil of reality; meaning it allowed Asy to observe other universes. Asy said he made some simple modifications to his knife that would allow travel to other realities. He said he found a reality that was so obscure, so far off the beaten track, Preksak would never find them there.
He designated it Earth 3. It was a supposedly peaceful world called Grimsdale. The Guardians had existed there but had disappeared millions of years ago by that world’s standards. They were long forgotten. Plus, it had something no one would ever suspect.
A version of Preksak that was good. Preksak would avoid this reality at all costs because of that. Someone who had a moral compass that was the complete opposite of him was his worst nightmare.
Shortly afterwards, Asy created a portal, allowing the few thousand Lokans that were in existence still to escape to this reality. Asy had been in contact with that version of Preksak from that reality to ensure the safety of the refugees. But they couldn’t hide the portal forever. Preksak would find it eventually.
Asy broke the most earth-shattering and devastating news that Diab had heard in his long life;
The Guardians had to go into exile or die. Because of their unique energy signatures, Preksak could follow them anywhere. They had to go to the farthest corners of the multiverse, Asy himself included. Effectively, the Guardians had to abandon the people of Loka to their own fate. They couldn’t help them and their trust lay in a version of their worst enemy.
“You can’t seriously be considering this, Mag! You are leaving our people to their own devices! They haven’t lived without our guidance before.”
“Diab, we lost. We lost the trust of the people of Loka. We failed to protect them from their worst enemy. If we truly love and care for these people, we need to go our separate ways. It’s the only way to protect those we care about.”
Asy opened up a portal for Mag to walk through.
“Don’t you fu-”
But it was too late. Mag had walked through the portal without, so much as a second thought. Gallius and Mopb looked at Diab and both shook their heads. Tears were coming up in both their eyes.
“Mopb3…. Gallius… please. Please…. Please….please.”
“I’m sorry, Diab. We don’t deserve the love of Lokans after what we lost.” Gallius said.
Both stepped through the portals and disappeared.
Soon it was just Asy and Diab standing on the cliffside. Diab looked out on the ocean, the dark waves crashing up against the cliffs.
“You son of a bitch. We are Guardians, we never give up. We are not mortal! As long as the people of Loka live, so do we! The belief they have in us strengthens us.”
“Diab… that’s gone. The people of Loka no longer see you as Gods. They see the same way they see themselves; human. Failure is a natural part of human existence. Learning from failure is a cornerstone of human existence. The illusion is shattered. You know what will happen if you stay with them. They will all die and you and your friends will simply cease to exist.”
“ I will keep an eye on Gallius myself. I ask you to watch after Mag and Mopb. But do it from a distance.”
Asy opened up a portal and stepped through and he was gone. His knife cluttered to the ground.
Diab didn’t know what to do. The people of Loka had seen him as their leader, Cryptite his heir apparent. But it was all gone now.
He was just a man, like the rest of them. He wasn’t their greatest god. Diab picked up the knife and looked at it.
He knew what he had to do, but he didn’t know if he had the courage to do it. The eldest and bravest Guardian, feeling fear and uncertainty.
But if he was a mortal man now in the eyes of Lokans, didn’t he deserve the same thing as them? To write his story? In a dark twist of fate, he was freed from what was expected of him. He had been given free will. He was now the author of his own story. He would not give up. Somehow, some way he would fix all of this.
He was the original Guardian after all. He activated the knife and stepped in the portal.
He was the master of his own fate now.
Sort of view this a tie in issue for the series. I wrote this in to develop Diab's character as each Guardian before got a chance to develop their character. Given how I'm approaching the end of the story, I figured this would be fair for Diab as I felt he didn't get a chance to develop as a character. Please let me know what you think.
In his dreams, Diab in his tomb in Freyjia’s fortress, dreamt of carnage.
He had been woken up at least 5,337 times by Commander and his motley crew. He had lived through that many repeats. And it was because of one person. Scooter. And her absolute belief in Commander 12 and her ability to hold her dark magic at bay.
But Diab knew how she broke into Freyjia’s vault and how she was slowly losing control. Because of her inability to give up and accept the inevitable, she was dooming everyone in Loka to relive the same fate repeatedly. Preksak was going to win, no matter how many times she changed the factors. One slight adjustment here, one slight adjustment there. It was the same struggle over and over again. It would play out differently in the start and the middle but not the end.
It always ended with Preksak on top of a pile of bodies, laughing and slamming the compass and knife together and everything going purple.
And Commander 12 would be there, bloodied and beaten. The last one always standing. Diab hated Commander with all his being. He was the root cause of all of this. It was always him at the end and he was the reason they kept losing. Commander’s sheer force of will and inability to give up was what ultimately cost them in the end. His stubborn pride doomed everything that existed and would exist. Despite all of this, this wasn’t what Diab dreamed the most about.
What Diab dreamt most of all, was the final meeting of the Guardians after the death of Cryptite.
…
The sky was completely black. The plant life was slowly dying due to the lack of the sun. The funeral for Cryptite was short and bitter. All the Guardians gave speeches and Freyjia even briefly showed up. But she watched from a distance, not wanting to get too involved in the affairs of mortals. This was ironic, given how the Guardians were fellow immortals themselves.
Shortly afterwards, Asy gathered the Guardians together. He informed them of a shocking discovery he made. As a result of Preksak activating the Terradestoryer, the energy around it pierced the veil of reality; meaning it allowed Asy to observe other universes. Asy said he made some simple modifications to his knife that would allow travel to other realities. He said he found a reality that was so obscure, so far off the beaten track, Preksak would never find them there.
He designated it Earth 3. It was a supposedly peaceful world called Grimsdale. The Guardians had existed there but had disappeared millions of years ago by that world’s standards. They were long forgotten. Plus, it had something no one would ever suspect.
A version of Preksak that was good. Preksak would avoid this reality at all costs because of that. Someone who had a moral compass that was the complete opposite of him was his worst nightmare.
Shortly afterwards, Asy created a portal, allowing the few thousand Lokans that were in existence still to escape to this reality. Asy had been in contact with that version of Preksak from that reality to ensure the safety of the refugees. But they couldn’t hide the portal forever. Preksak would find it eventually.
Asy broke the most earth-shattering and devastating news that Diab had heard in his long life;
The Guardians had to go into exile or die. Because of their unique energy signatures, Preksak could follow them anywhere. They had to go to the farthest corners of the multiverse, Asy himself included. Effectively, the Guardians had to abandon the people of Loka to their own fate. They couldn’t help them and their trust lay in a version of their worst enemy.
“You can’t seriously be considering this, Mag! You are leaving our people to their own devices! They haven’t lived without our guidance before.”
“Diab, we lost. We lost the trust of the people of Loka. We failed to protect them from their worst enemy. If we truly love and care for these people, we need to go our separate ways. It’s the only way to protect those we care about.”
Asy opened up a portal for Mag to walk through.
“Don’t you fu-”
But it was too late. Mag had walked through the portal without, so much as a second thought. Gallius and Mopb looked at Diab and both shook their heads. Tears were coming up in both their eyes.
“Mopb3…. Gallius… please. Please…. Please….please.”
“I’m sorry, Diab. We don’t deserve the love of Lokans after what we lost.” Gallius said.
Both stepped through the portals and disappeared.
Soon it was just Asy and Diab standing on the cliffside. Diab looked out on the ocean, the dark waves crashing up against the cliffs.
“You son of a bitch. We are Guardians, we never give up. We are not mortal! As long as the people of Loka live, so do we! The belief they have in us strengthens us.”
“Diab… that’s gone. The people of Loka no longer see you as Gods. They see the same way they see themselves; human. Failure is a natural part of human existence. Learning from failure is a cornerstone of human existence. The illusion is shattered. You know what will happen if you stay with them. They will all die and you and your friends will simply cease to exist.”
“ I will keep an eye on Gallius myself. I ask you to watch after Mag and Mopb. But do it from a distance.”
Asy opened up a portal and stepped through and he was gone. His knife cluttered to the ground.
Diab didn’t know what to do. The people of Loka had seen him as their leader, Cryptite his heir apparent. But it was all gone now.
He was just a man, like the rest of them. He wasn’t their greatest god. Diab picked up the knife and looked at it.
He knew what he had to do, but he didn’t know if he had the courage to do it. The eldest and bravest Guardian, feeling fear and uncertainty.
But if he was a mortal man now in the eyes of Lokans, didn’t he deserve the same thing as them? To write his story? In a dark twist of fate, he was freed from what was expected of him. He had been given free will. He was now the author of his own story. He would not give up. Somehow, some way he would fix all of this.
He was the original Guardian after all. He activated the knife and stepped in the portal.
He was the master of his own fate now.
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Fixing the Past, Part 27
Freyjia was left aghast by what she was seeing. Hundreds of thousands of people were pouring out of the canyons and massive explosions were going off constantly. There was Preksak’s artifices and cyborgs trying to fight off the masses, but they were quickly taken down. The mob stripped their bodies of any weapons and began storming for the bottom of the Dark Spire.
Freyjia watched this from a distance, looking up from a cliff, over a dried up seabed. Freyjia jumped off the cliff and starting flying for the top of the Spire, watching still as the chaos unfolded.
She hated what she was about to and teaming up with her worst enemy seemed illogical. Her version of Commander after all had killed the Guardians and Cryptite under his influence. But Commander and his friends defeated her and took away her kingdom. And most of all, turned her most beloved possession, Quetzalcóatl, against her
Commander was far more evil in her opinion. Therefore, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Soon, Freyjia was flying above the dome. She could see Preksak but he seemed distracted. Wasting no time, she smashed through the glass and came up right behind Preksak. Preksak turned around and brushed some fallen glass off his shoulder.
“My oh my, the great goddess Freyjia. What do I owe the pleasure for?”
Freyjia cut right to the chase.
“ I hate your guts and everything you represent as you ruined my world. But Commander has taken away everything from me. I believe we have a mutual enemy in him then.”
“ As a wise man once said the enemy of my-“
“ I know the god damm quote. I help you defeat Commander and you give me back my reality, before you fucked it up. Deal?”
Freyjia couldn’t tell if Preksak was smiling underneath his dark hood, but he reached out his hand.
“Deal.”
Freyjia grabbed his hand, despite her entire being telling her not to.
Preksak may be a demon, but Commander was the devil.
…
Andy had rallied his forces outside the city of Sandeste. The ongoing siege has been going on for 13 days at this point.
McDanky was consulting with Oypc on what to do. They could hold out indefinitely for at least a year, but Andy’s assaults were getting worse and worse. After that, Sandeste would fall.
“What do we do?” McDanky asked
“Well, we’re very limited in options. We have no way to route Andy’s forces as more and more keeping showing up. Even if we were to try to flee to Vantis, it’s impossible for us to get out. Andy has the city surrounded.”
“We can’t let 500,000 people starve to death.”
“I don’t know what options we have, sir.”
“There’s one.”
Ever since Mopb had given McDanky some of his abilities as a Guardian, he realized he has developed limited omniscience.
He couldn’t see Commander and his friends in the multiverse anymore as they had travelled too far away. But he saw one person.
“Sku.”
…
Sku had been brought to Edgewind after traveling for a month, at least in this reality’s time. In that time, Sku had brought up all the remaining Mimiga survivors and Jedoi the II on the situation with Preksak.
They were still reluctant to support him. Sku was standing in the great hall, being overlooked by the Council of Edgewind.
“Despite what you say, and although the testimony of those from Mimiga back up your claims, we simply don’t have the resources. With Mimiga’s numbers, we’ll be able to grow a bit, but our civilization is still dying. We can’t give you the army you need.” Jedoi the II said
“But we’re facing something far worse than the Blight. Trillions of people will die.”
Jedoi the II looked around at the council. They were all sympathetic to Sku, but there was still that air of recultantance.
“ We don’t even have the means of multiversal travel he-“
A blue portal suddenly formed behind Sku and a familiar figure came out.
Sku smiled. It was McDanky.
“Sku. Your Royal Highness.” he said.
Nodding to both.
“ I believe we can help each other. And Commander at the same time.”
…
The inner worlds of the Federation were in chaos. The heart and capital of the Federation had been destroyed when their sun went supernova. 25 billion people were killed in an instant, along with 95% of the people running the government. The Minister of Agriculture was now the President. Reports from Vulcan, Andor and even as far away from Bajor were reporting the aftermath of the supernova. Asy was assumed dead.
Sparky had no idea what he was going to do. He was just the Minister of Agriculture just after all. DecitfulPear was now his acting Vice President. He hasn’t slept the past two days and he was being constantly bombarded by the heads of member states sending condolences, but also asking him what to do.
Sparky had no damn clue at all. He was stationed at the moment, in the orbiting transit hub, above Cestus III. It had become the de facto capital of the Federation since the Sanyian supernova.
Putting down his PADD, and enjoying a moment of peace and a chance to grieve, he felt tears welling up on his face. As he was about to put his head down to cry even more, a blue light appeared in front of him. He raised his head again and saw a portal had formed in his office. He reached for the panic button under his desk, but he stopped when he saw who the figures were.
“Sku! McDanky… and who are you?”
Standing behind Sku and McDanky was someone who he had never seen, but they were dressed in regal clothing. Clearly some sort of monarch, he thought.
“ Hello, Sparky. We have a proposal for you.” McDanky said.
“ We need guns. Lots of guns.” Sku said
…
Andy’s forces had successfully surrounded Sandeste and were laying siege to it. It would take a long time, but Andy’s first goal of conquering this reality for his own had started. But he had two goals at the moment. This was the first one.
The second one was wiping Preksak off the face of the Earth. And then killing the younger version of himself who stopped his plans in the first place. He had traveled back in time and killed Drixian, fulfilling part one of his plan. He would slowly chip away at Preksak and drive him to the brink of insanity by messing with his history.
Watching from a crudely built hut, Andy directed his velociraptors on where to attack. A map the velociraptors had drawn of Sandeste years ago laid on a table in front of Andy.
Right as Andy was about to order his troops to do something, huge explosions were suddenly echoing across the battlefield.
“Impossible. They couldn’t have launched a counterattack so soon.”
But Andy’s eyes opened even more. Futuristic ships flew over the battlefield, demicating his army below.
“No! No!” He yelled
Forget it, he thought. Killing Preksak and Commander were more important.
“Issue an order to retreat. We are going to fight Preksak instead. This is a waste of resources.”
Andy opened up multiple portals and his army started pouring in, fleeing the battlefield.
He would return. And put McDanky’s head on a pike.
…
Sku, Jedoi the II, McDanky and Sparky watched as Andy’s army retreated into the portals. Thanks to the tech and weaponry, Sparky had given them they were able to end the siege. Laid down before them were massive craters, the bodies of dead velociraptors and siege weapons left behind by the retreat. The wall outside Sandeste was massively damaged, but the inside of the torn was fairly intact and undamaged.
They were aboard one of the shuttles provided by Sparky. It contained loads of unique tech such as a matter transporter and could achieve faster then light travel. Sku marveled at this fact, but he turned to face the group.
“Thank you, Sparky for this. Now we have dealt with this immediate threat, it’s time to face the big one.”
“Preksak.” Sparky said
“But we still need more men. My men won’t be enough ” Jedoi the II said.
“Oh I know someone who could help.” Sku said.
…
Aegon was overseeing a court case at the moment. Ever since the death of Freyjia, any remaining resistance had been driven out of the city, and onto the next continent over. Fretyjia’s loyalists were still there, but they stood no chance as Freyjia was their rallying point. Now, since the death of Mem, he was the defacto head of state. Mem put on his glasses and looked down at the accused.
The courtroom was in the former main hall of Freyjia’s castle. The room was full of banners that had been cut down and guards stood by each one. A few tables had been set up as an impromptu court room.
Xovious, his second in command whispered something in his ear.
“Lottiane, you stand accused of treason against your fellow Lokans. How do you plead?”
Lottiane looked up at Aegon with a smirk and said:
“ I don’t regret anything.”
Before, Aegon was about to render his judgment, a blue portal opened.
“Guards! Preksak’s back!” Aegon yelled.
But Aegon was absolutely shocked to see the figure that came through the portal.
“Skuhoo!”
“Aegon, I don’t have time to explain how I survived. But I need your help. And your men.”
…
Freyjia was left aghast by what she was seeing. Hundreds of thousands of people were pouring out of the canyons and massive explosions were going off constantly. There was Preksak’s artifices and cyborgs trying to fight off the masses, but they were quickly taken down. The mob stripped their bodies of any weapons and began storming for the bottom of the Dark Spire.
Freyjia watched this from a distance, looking up from a cliff, over a dried up seabed. Freyjia jumped off the cliff and starting flying for the top of the Spire, watching still as the chaos unfolded.
She hated what she was about to and teaming up with her worst enemy seemed illogical. Her version of Commander after all had killed the Guardians and Cryptite under his influence. But Commander and his friends defeated her and took away her kingdom. And most of all, turned her most beloved possession, Quetzalcóatl, against her
Commander was far more evil in her opinion. Therefore, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Soon, Freyjia was flying above the dome. She could see Preksak but he seemed distracted. Wasting no time, she smashed through the glass and came up right behind Preksak. Preksak turned around and brushed some fallen glass off his shoulder.
“My oh my, the great goddess Freyjia. What do I owe the pleasure for?”
Freyjia cut right to the chase.
“ I hate your guts and everything you represent as you ruined my world. But Commander has taken away everything from me. I believe we have a mutual enemy in him then.”
“ As a wise man once said the enemy of my-“
“ I know the god damm quote. I help you defeat Commander and you give me back my reality, before you fucked it up. Deal?”
Freyjia couldn’t tell if Preksak was smiling underneath his dark hood, but he reached out his hand.
“Deal.”
Freyjia grabbed his hand, despite her entire being telling her not to.
Preksak may be a demon, but Commander was the devil.
…
Andy had rallied his forces outside the city of Sandeste. The ongoing siege has been going on for 13 days at this point.
McDanky was consulting with Oypc on what to do. They could hold out indefinitely for at least a year, but Andy’s assaults were getting worse and worse. After that, Sandeste would fall.
“What do we do?” McDanky asked
“Well, we’re very limited in options. We have no way to route Andy’s forces as more and more keeping showing up. Even if we were to try to flee to Vantis, it’s impossible for us to get out. Andy has the city surrounded.”
“We can’t let 500,000 people starve to death.”
“I don’t know what options we have, sir.”
“There’s one.”
Ever since Mopb had given McDanky some of his abilities as a Guardian, he realized he has developed limited omniscience.
He couldn’t see Commander and his friends in the multiverse anymore as they had travelled too far away. But he saw one person.
“Sku.”
…
Sku had been brought to Edgewind after traveling for a month, at least in this reality’s time. In that time, Sku had brought up all the remaining Mimiga survivors and Jedoi the II on the situation with Preksak.
They were still reluctant to support him. Sku was standing in the great hall, being overlooked by the Council of Edgewind.
“Despite what you say, and although the testimony of those from Mimiga back up your claims, we simply don’t have the resources. With Mimiga’s numbers, we’ll be able to grow a bit, but our civilization is still dying. We can’t give you the army you need.” Jedoi the II said
“But we’re facing something far worse than the Blight. Trillions of people will die.”
Jedoi the II looked around at the council. They were all sympathetic to Sku, but there was still that air of recultantance.
“ We don’t even have the means of multiversal travel he-“
A blue portal suddenly formed behind Sku and a familiar figure came out.
Sku smiled. It was McDanky.
“Sku. Your Royal Highness.” he said.
Nodding to both.
“ I believe we can help each other. And Commander at the same time.”
…
The inner worlds of the Federation were in chaos. The heart and capital of the Federation had been destroyed when their sun went supernova. 25 billion people were killed in an instant, along with 95% of the people running the government. The Minister of Agriculture was now the President. Reports from Vulcan, Andor and even as far away from Bajor were reporting the aftermath of the supernova. Asy was assumed dead.
Sparky had no idea what he was going to do. He was just the Minister of Agriculture just after all. DecitfulPear was now his acting Vice President. He hasn’t slept the past two days and he was being constantly bombarded by the heads of member states sending condolences, but also asking him what to do.
Sparky had no damn clue at all. He was stationed at the moment, in the orbiting transit hub, above Cestus III. It had become the de facto capital of the Federation since the Sanyian supernova.
Putting down his PADD, and enjoying a moment of peace and a chance to grieve, he felt tears welling up on his face. As he was about to put his head down to cry even more, a blue light appeared in front of him. He raised his head again and saw a portal had formed in his office. He reached for the panic button under his desk, but he stopped when he saw who the figures were.
“Sku! McDanky… and who are you?”
Standing behind Sku and McDanky was someone who he had never seen, but they were dressed in regal clothing. Clearly some sort of monarch, he thought.
“ Hello, Sparky. We have a proposal for you.” McDanky said.
“ We need guns. Lots of guns.” Sku said
…
Andy’s forces had successfully surrounded Sandeste and were laying siege to it. It would take a long time, but Andy’s first goal of conquering this reality for his own had started. But he had two goals at the moment. This was the first one.
The second one was wiping Preksak off the face of the Earth. And then killing the younger version of himself who stopped his plans in the first place. He had traveled back in time and killed Drixian, fulfilling part one of his plan. He would slowly chip away at Preksak and drive him to the brink of insanity by messing with his history.
Watching from a crudely built hut, Andy directed his velociraptors on where to attack. A map the velociraptors had drawn of Sandeste years ago laid on a table in front of Andy.
Right as Andy was about to order his troops to do something, huge explosions were suddenly echoing across the battlefield.
“Impossible. They couldn’t have launched a counterattack so soon.”
But Andy’s eyes opened even more. Futuristic ships flew over the battlefield, demicating his army below.
“No! No!” He yelled
Forget it, he thought. Killing Preksak and Commander were more important.
“Issue an order to retreat. We are going to fight Preksak instead. This is a waste of resources.”
Andy opened up multiple portals and his army started pouring in, fleeing the battlefield.
He would return. And put McDanky’s head on a pike.
…
Sku, Jedoi the II, McDanky and Sparky watched as Andy’s army retreated into the portals. Thanks to the tech and weaponry, Sparky had given them they were able to end the siege. Laid down before them were massive craters, the bodies of dead velociraptors and siege weapons left behind by the retreat. The wall outside Sandeste was massively damaged, but the inside of the torn was fairly intact and undamaged.
They were aboard one of the shuttles provided by Sparky. It contained loads of unique tech such as a matter transporter and could achieve faster then light travel. Sku marveled at this fact, but he turned to face the group.
“Thank you, Sparky for this. Now we have dealt with this immediate threat, it’s time to face the big one.”
“Preksak.” Sparky said
“But we still need more men. My men won’t be enough ” Jedoi the II said.
“Oh I know someone who could help.” Sku said.
…
Aegon was overseeing a court case at the moment. Ever since the death of Freyjia, any remaining resistance had been driven out of the city, and onto the next continent over. Fretyjia’s loyalists were still there, but they stood no chance as Freyjia was their rallying point. Now, since the death of Mem, he was the defacto head of state. Mem put on his glasses and looked down at the accused.
The courtroom was in the former main hall of Freyjia’s castle. The room was full of banners that had been cut down and guards stood by each one. A few tables had been set up as an impromptu court room.
Xovious, his second in command whispered something in his ear.
“Lottiane, you stand accused of treason against your fellow Lokans. How do you plead?”
Lottiane looked up at Aegon with a smirk and said:
“ I don’t regret anything.”
Before, Aegon was about to render his judgment, a blue portal opened.
“Guards! Preksak’s back!” Aegon yelled.
But Aegon was absolutely shocked to see the figure that came through the portal.
“Skuhoo!”
“Aegon, I don’t have time to explain how I survived. But I need your help. And your men.”
…
Stuff happens. Read it yoursslf bub.
Hello everyone. I am going to try and finally finish this. After two years