To be or not to be (Young Justice Quest)

It was at this instant, you knew you had screwed up. Somehow. You don't know how, but you just do. You could feel it in your gut.

Or maybe it's your rumbling stomach. You are feeling peckish indeed.

Refraining from rubbing your nape under the odd circumstances, you instead choose to soothe your tummy with a few pats as you take in your surroundings, and… well…

You find yourself in a pickle. There's…

[] An underground laboratory?
[] Ships within reach?
[] A vast desert?
[] A mysterious house?
[] A sooted sky?
[] An invisible tower?

…nothing remotely familiar. You are left clueless, despite the area being anything but inconspicuous.

To think your day was off to a great start… Why, mere moments ago, you were… hm?

You crossed your arms with eyes closed in concentration.

[] Swimming in the sandy beaches!
+ While applying jinxes…?
[] Fluently speaking many tongues!
+ After locking lips…?
[] Training with slender yet muscular-built women!
+ And given a pair of wristbands…?
[] Navigating through a phantom-like zone!
+ With lasers coming out of your eyes…?
[] Improving social skills and fun!
+ By applying chaotic vibes?
[] Mastering deadly weapons!
+ From the shadows…?
[] Dreaming old to new!
+ While living near the Source...?
[] Shape-shifting in front of a mirror!
+ And changing skin pigmentation…?

Hmm…

HMMMMMM!

...

My! Perhaps today is not your day?

Shaking your head, you peek an eye open and place your hands behind your neck at the imbroglio you're in.

At least you still remember you are… whoever you are. Huh.

A titter escapes you. You take that back.

You are rather forgetful nowadays!

[] A known character in DC.
+ Transition depends on previous choice.
[] An original character to incorporate in this universe.
[]- Write in name. ​

Despite the unfamiliarity, the surroundings tickle your fancy.

Moisture, oxygen, combustion, metal is there as well. Ribcage cases… sleeping somebodies inside? Moving somebodies behind shiny scaled walls, glittering, sturdy walls—many partitions alike.

You open your eyes.

"Zzzzzz-zik-zik," somebody uttered a neighboring sound.

Sleep brings you the sensations and visual images necessary to gleam upon the outer plane, but you use your physical capacities instead.

Pressing your temple against the solid structure, you listen in.

Strides, taps, fusses... "tink." Buzzes—whispery, intense buzzes. Sibilant buzzing, smooth without vibrato. Rough buzzing, vibrato. Voices… Bugs?

Leaning back, you descry squiggly symbols written on the walls.

R-E-A-C-H…?

…Bug somebodies! You deduce on your first try. Definitely. You nod proudly.

Identyfying a somebody is an accomplishment! None, or rather, nobody, lived in your homeworld, you think.

Your fizzy form droops.

You hope you're wrong, that sounds… lonely. You shake your head.

This isn't your home. You instantly understood you were actually very far away. Home is neither solid nor a Reach ship. It's… somewhere.

Your home is somewhere.

You perk up at your eloquence, but then immediately grab your head.

In contrast, your memories weren't so instantaneous. Drats! Try as you might, most slip from your grasp.

This is why we don't play with wibbly, wobbly space stuff alongside the… purply red?

Sometimes green, sometimes yellow. Pink here, brown there. Hazy yet tangible. Seas and skies, flames and ash. Lots of calm, obscured beaches. Puffy clouds, dark undergrounds. Imaginary and fantasy with reality… Usually abundant during the… night? So too at midday, albeit on fewer occasions. Somebody, nobody, appeared and disappeared by sleeping and waking. Unlike the… crimson and golden loadstars, different from constellations, bugging you next to the purply red domain and–

Oh! Your fist hits against your palm at the realization.

You recall now! Somewhat!

You dwelled near the wibbly, wobbly stuff where a cluster of stars and galaxies pooled. Endless creation… living… thingamajigs, and what you had assumed back then to be a normal, if somewhat humongous, twinkling barrier.

Therefore, you did the obvious thing, and…

[] ...Jumped over the Wall!
+Ideals, ego, velleity. You gain the Path of Fantasy.
[] ...Napped on the Wall!
+Ambitions, aspirations, predilection. You gain the Path of Desire.
[] ...Talked to the Wall!
+Aspirations, purpose, loss. You gain the Path of Harmony.

You wiggle your fingers.

Colorful yet achromatic wisps exude.

Ultimate concepts containing all duality… That explained the half-light, half-darkness appearance the Source sported on.

Alas, nearly everybody isn't immune to the cosmic energy, but you must be mildly resistant by now! Slowly, but surely! Because that's life—realms of wonder and the Source of All Things in-between. For you, at least.

You lived for… you're not sure? For as long as creatures possessed the ability to dream across these… cycles? Multiple worlds?

You snap your fingers. Multiverse, that's the word. When they made and remade, created and reshaped, breathed and destroyed, from beginning to end... It helped you gain resistance in that regard.

Your eyes comically open wide at the rush of recollections.

Woah… the multiverse faced destruction unceasingly. This universe you were born into is no exception. You remember somebody who heard it from somebody, who was told by somebody calling it an… iteration?

A lot of iterations had occurred from darkness—a screaming abyss, the icy darkness. Next is light—a bright horizon, the burning light. Then there's the cosmos—an infinite space, a churning cosmos, and… what followed? Countless…

You spread your arms for emphasis.

…somethings followed. Everybody did. Each one of them is known. They are named and titled, including you!

…Maybe. Big maybe…

You shake your head and pump your fists.

Stay positive! You are also somebody, right? You must have one as well! Albeit different from theirs.

Silly enough, many of them—the somethings and everybody—repeated or paralleled one another throughout this process.

You put your hand under your chin, ruminating.

Perhaps neither the beginning nor the end matters. The old pave the way, the new find rest in their roots. As long as there is a source, dreams can exist.

Despite being unaware of your individuality and whisked away from home… there's no doubt, you have existed since a coon's age! You'll continue to exist furthermore, witnessing many great things.

Heavenly, terrible; equally great.

Leaping from the ship's insides, you extend your arms up in the air and twirl around in joy.

Ideals, ambitions, aspirations…! There are only those capable of dreaming because, as long as there is life, there will always be dreams—whether in light or darkness.

You float and dance with the grace of a renewed dream, giddy and effervescent as the conscious experiences, fantasies, and desires brim abundantly around you. For you are someone, and you alone will don a name. An identity. That which is you.

Mm! From new to old and old to new, regardless of what you turn out to be or who you may become moving forward, you will always be yourself.

Thus, you dream, Anu.


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