There are stories that are 1 million words long.
Broken Adventure
- Thread starter theaceoffire
- Start date
- Crossover
- Status
- Location
- Planet Earth
personally, I view 10k - 100k to be a short story, 100k - 500k a story, and then 500k or more to be a long story.
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I consider 20,000 words to be a good start for a story, just a start mind you. 100,000 I take to be the absolute minimum to actually telling a story; and that's with just focusing on telling the story, and not talking shit about the color of autumn leaves that has no impact on the story itself. IF a person can condense a story between 75,000 to 95,000 words, I'd consider it a short story. I take 250,000 to be the minimum for a novel. Somewhere around 450,000 to be a major novel, verging on an "Epic" length story. But it generally takes 500,000 to be considered a short "Epic" length story, 750,000 to be average, and 1,000,000+ to be a long Epic.
- Pronouns
- Anything’s fine
For a book? Relatively.
For a fanfic? Considering that I've seen some authors apologize for posting a "short" 10,000 word chapter, no.
For a fanfic? Considering that I've seen some authors apologize for posting a "short" 10,000 word chapter, no.
300k words is about the normal length of a novel.
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For me, when it comes to story length, anything under 20k counts as a very small story, 20k-60k counts as a short story, 60k-120k counts as medium-small, 120k-180k counts as medium, 180k-400k counts as medium-long, 400k-800k counts as long, and anything over that is Epic.
So 155k words only make a medium length story for me, but I also read a lot, so my viewpoint is a bit skewed compared to the average reader that doesn't read fanfics.
So 155k words only make a medium length story for me, but I also read a lot, so my viewpoint is a bit skewed compared to the average reader that doesn't read fanfics.
- Location
- Perth Australia
For a story you don't like its way to long.
For a story you like or love its way too short!
For a story you like or love its way too short!
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I think it really depends on if you're talking about online only novels or real books. Most paper books have about 275 words per page, and many smaller novels only get to 200-300 pages. On the other hand, online novels are a lot more like long running series then singular novels. So the way I see it is, 155k words is a solid length for a paper novel or a small online story, but very short for a series or online story they want to continue for a while. Also I tend not to read much below 100k words anyway. Anything below that takes me such little time to finish I can't really sink my teeth into it.
Small brag but my own story has recently passed 1 mil words after 700 chapters and I didn't really notice how long it's gotten until more recently. The number just kept slowly ticking up. I wouldn't have thought I was writing a long book but now who knows?
Small brag but my own story has recently passed 1 mil words after 700 chapters and I didn't really notice how long it's gotten until more recently. The number just kept slowly ticking up. I wouldn't have thought I was writing a long book but now who knows?
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Is that published anywhere, like Royal Road or something? You have no stories here on SV at least.
- Location
- Here
Hoo boy, uh... This escalated. Like, beyond expectations. WAY beyond.
It's logical though, and I can't help but feel it fits... Just really unexpected.
There will be an update today, as scheduled.
It's logical though, and I can't help but feel it fits... Just really unexpected.
There will be an update today, as scheduled.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
It can be how ever long you want it to be just make sure to have an end goal in mind and to pace yourself when writing it.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I write D.E.M.O.N.S on webnovel
Arc 4: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
- Location
- Here
In a space that didn't really exist, in a metaphysical context that wasn't accurate, a pool of Black Blood cradled a child and its Shadow while a hollow tree branched overhead.
The surrounding eyes and noses and ears had no impact on this situation, as expected.
But now, something different.
In every important and meaningful and actual way, it was not a stick.
But for the sake of certain less than advanced people, compromises could be made to call it a rod. Sort of.
The truth of the matter and the context of the situation all made the idea of calling this thing a rod or a stick laughably inaccurate, but only a child and blood and a tree and a Shadow existed here, and they had no opinion on the topic.
So, for the sake of it's operator and creator, it could charitably and inaccurately be considered a 'rod' to keep an insane scientist from sinking deeper into his own endless Madness.
It was strange, ghostly, torn apart by Madness and stitched together by Science… This rod's most distinguishing feature was the oversized Bolt-Screw that pierced the base of it as it approached the inhabitants of this place.
And it moved with purpose to the nearest entity that didn't exist here, the hollow tree that even now absorbed and soaked in raw Darkness and Madness, the structure that defended the pool.
The rod didn't 'poke' the tree.
But it metaphorically sort of did it, if you ignored all of the facts and logic and so forth.
The tree, being a tree despite also being an empty container for astonishing sources of power, was decidedly tree-like in many ways. And as a tree, it reacted as any tree would to being poked.
By standing still and tree-ing at it menacingly.
Time meant little here, and the actions from outside certainly didn't reflect or coordinate with the results in this strange place, so the poking continued for a few thousand years.
The tree won.
Eventually, more due to having more targets to poke than actually getting bored or being directed, the rod moved on to the pool.
Poke.
It made ripples, but nothing much else.
Still, the sensing shades detected the ripples as a non-tree response, and so the endless poking commenced!
Centuries passed. Eons. It wrapped back around to the past, it looped and splintered, and through it all the rod poked the pool.
Eventually, due to random chance more than anything, it almost poked Crona.
However, the Shadow that was cuddled in their arms was already there, in the way, willingly and unknowingly protecting the child.
So this not-a-rod in this not-a-place poked Shadow, the embodiment of Darkness, while he slumbered in the Black Blood pool wrapped in a little one's arms.
Yet Shadow, despite looking like himself, was not himself here.
He was ninety-nine of himselves.
And all of them dreamed in Darkness and Madness and with Crona and Ragnarok's Soul.
The rod was designed to prod for results. Not to damage, or harm, or heavily affect its target. After all, data needed to be collected first.
But this not-an-object WAS designed to get a reaction.
And it got one.
Annoyance.
Shadow didn't wake up, but his slumbering form had experienced something similar to this in the past when his active mind was drifting and something interacted with him in certain ways.
Gem nearly groaned in raw frustration as all ninety-nine Shadows split into sleeping Madness duplicates and Consumed Inwards, vanishing from this place, this world, everywhere.
She grew MORE concerned when she realized that all ninety-nine chose unrelated places to traverse towards.
And the poking rod, as it was designed to do, poked again.
And again.
And a̛gain.̨.
And á̡̛͘͞g҉̨͝҉̴ą̸̸͢i͜ņ́͞.
And a͔̣̣̬͖̕g҉̤̝͉͈ḁ̷͎i͙͖̗n̷̪̰̻.͍́
Gem's stunned concern grew to even greater heights once 99 pokes had occurred on her other half.
Because THIS time, when the rod poked…
Shadow's ninety-nine bodies didn't duplicate themselves.
Instead, each one generated nine siblings. All of whom Consumed Inwards and vanished, still sleeping.
It had only been a few seconds or less since the rod had begun poking, and she grew a bit shocked and stunned as actions continued.
Would… Would the number of Shadows generated increase again after the NEXT ninety-nine pokes!?
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Dr. Stein maniacally cackled! "Oh, THAT got a response! I'm not sure what is drawing on the excess ambient Madness levels, but it seems to be some sort of self-reinforcing cycle or process…"
A few motions altered the programing. "Let's try to increase the frequency for a few hours."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
So, no.
The number of Shadow's didn't increase again after 99 more pokes.
But after a total of 9,801 pokes, or 99^2 number of annoyances, each Shadow began to spawn 9,801 siblings.
That all Consumed Inwards.
To different worlds and situations.
While asleep and consuming raw Madness.
Gem was now waiting for confirmation. Because after 970,299 pokes, theoretically, each of the ninety-nine shadows should spawn and send off 970,299 Shadow Ofadam's out into existence.
Each poke was five seconds apart, for what little amount that time mattered here.
That meant that per year, Shadow would be poked 6,311,385 times.
It would only take a month to poke her partner 525,000 times, and a month in here could take anywhere between a second 'outside' or LESS, not counting time loops or hard core acceleration or duplicate moments.
Even if this crazy thing was stopped externally RIGHT NOW, it could take millennia for the poking HERE to finish. If it ever bothered to stop.
Unaware and feeling protected, Crona continued to cuddle their Shadow as he slumbered and populated and spread through layers of symbolic networks that threaded realities.
Gem winced as she felt the growing connection with each new world's Darkness.
For in an exponentially increasing number of places, something slept within places without light.
And it slept full of Darkness and Madness.
…She was going to need a LOT of candy.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
As a scientist and professor and doctor and insane man prodded something he couldn't understand and only recorded the vague side effects of his actions, the ripples from these actions were spread elsewhere.
Almost everywhere, really.
Time didn't flow in stable or understandable ways, from Jump to Jump or Realm to Realm or Symbolic Connection to Symbolic Connection.
Some places had time run perpendicular, or in reverse, or at faster or slower rates.
When multiple Shadows arrived in the same places, their Madness synced and they slumbered together.
When individual Shadows found a new home, they slowly integrated with the Domain of Darkness directly… While possibly affecting reality to some small degree due to their Madness.
Some stayed as a simple Heartless Shadow, others transformed into Soul entities or incarnations or just melded directly to the local Darkness itself. A few found their slumber uncomfortable and ended up spawning more sleeping Shadows that sought better places to rest.
It caused changes.
Not necessarily negative ones, or only granting positive outcomes, just… Some Madness spread here, some absorbed from there, it altered things. Numerous things.
The illogical could become fact, or the reverse, or neither… But not all the time, and not everywhere.
At least it also grew the network that Gem connected to, as she kept her Shadows embraced and watched over in their slumber. Though if not for her innate nature, such massive and potentially infinite responsibilities would be cripplingly difficult or impossible.
But as Ragnarok continued to enjoy strange snacks of chemicals and Madness and sensors and Candy, and as the Tree slowly converted into another partner of the Black Blood, Crona happily slept in their pool of certainty with a level of comfort and safety that they didn't know how to deal with.
They would awaken, in time. With a body stronger than a Death Scythe, power that could crush any foe, and a growing number of alternate forms that they or Ragnarok could casually convert into.
And it would be a huge thing they wouldn't know how to deal with.
But for now, they slept, safe from a hurtful 'parent' and studied by the maddest of scientists in a city cradled by Lord Death himself as he watched over dangers threatening the world and those he protected.
So for now, things were good.
…Though if you would ask Gem's opinion, she would (politely) insist that Dr. Stein STOP POKING ALREADY!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
In one very odd location, not important or remarkable in any way, a small insect suddenly gained a darker Shadow.
He was a caterpillar, and he had just hatched… And he was very Hungry.
Thankfully, he managed to be quite lucky when it came to food!
First, he had stumbled upon a WHOLE apple! It was huge, a massive thing way taller than his small body!
He ate a hole through it, and something inside said he should be moving on… But something else was still a tad H̳̼̘̰̪u̡n̰̫̹̦͢ͅg̷ŗ̠̙͙͎y̯̠̯͍̖͡.
So a caterpillar and his Shadow Devoured the rest of the apple.
It was delicious! And he enjoyed exploring his new world and looking about until a few days later, when he found himself a bit peckish again.
Thankfully, his luck held true and he discovered TWO pears, big ones, fresh, and ready to eat!
Again, despite consuming a hole through the fruits… Well, he ended up eating them all.
After a few days though, on a Wednesday, he grew a bit concerned.
The other caterpillars had managed to eat a whole bunch and had already transformed into Butterflies.
But he was still Hungry.
After devouring three delicious plums entirely, he paused in thought before finishing the last of it.
With caution, he carefully maneuvered the three plumb seeds back to his small home he had Consumed out of a tree. Just in case.
A week or so later, on a Thursday, he carefully ate four strawberries, but only the insides. These seeds, too, he kept.
After a bit more than another week, on Friday, he saved the pips from five fresh Oranges that were quickly Devoured.
Yet despite eating so much, he wasn't changing form. And he felt different. Stronger.
After another week, a Saturday, he found so much food that he should have been overjoyed… But something about this stuff felt different. Artificial.
A slice of chocolate cake, a strawberry ice cream cone, a pickle, a slice of Swiss cheese, a slice of salami, a lollipop, a piece of cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, and a… A slice of watermelon!
THAT resonated with him! Carefully, he avoided the other hollow feeling foods and devoured the fruit, carefully collecting the black seeds and bringing them back to his growing tree home that had been chewed into a network.
These feelings… These seeds felt right.
Hidden inside a tree, the Darkness shifted slightly as a very Hungry Caterpillar began to artificially accelerate his own personal fruit farm by unconsciously tapping into the power of Darkness, filtered through his own Shadow.
And while he still ventured out now and then to enjoy a leaf on a Sunday or discover new fruits to grow, more and more time was spent learning how to be a gentleman farming bug than one who simply took from others.
Though, as the years began to pass…
He always made a point to carefully share some of his produce in the woods where he had been born.
A special feast for his future brothers and sisters.
One apple on a Monday, then two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and five oranges on Friday… And Saturday, he shocked each year's crowd with an endless feast.
For a moment, the immortal Caterpillar would feel pure satisfaction, watching his new friends grow big and fat and happy.
And when he watched them a day or two later flutter away after transforming, he considered attempting to do the same eventually...
But the call of his Hunger just made him emotionally shrug and return to his warm home inside his tree and the strange and impossible food being grown within.
As he enjoyed another fresh snack, he pondered the idea of joining the rest of the crowd…
Maybe next year.
Om nom nom.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Maria Augusta Kutschera had many plans when she was younger. Things she wished to do, things she wished to share.
After a harsh life and much effort, she had saved enough money to enter the State Teachers College for Progressive Education in Vienna, even earned a scholarship, and graduated from there at 18, young and full of ambition!
She was going to teach! Not just about facts and figures, but about something MORE important, something essential to her personal life!
MUSIC!
Yet, life was not always so easy to handle. Eventually, a few years later, she entered Nonnberg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg, as a postulant. She fully intended to become a nun, after feeling so disheartened by her own setbacks.
But even then, even when trying to devote herself to a higher calling… She also couldn't help but hear the music of nature. Of life! The hills were ALIVE with it, and she couldn't help but dream once more about sharing this gift with the younger generation… Sharing this joy with others.
Now, things felt like they were changing too swiftly.
Recently, she had been asked to teach one of the seven children, little Maria Franziska, of widowed naval commander Georg von Trapp.
The man was a hero and a hard worker, but his wife, Agathe Whitehead, had died four years ago from scarlet fever and the children had been lost without her.
It had been easy to roll up her sleeves and try to help these dear ones. To help them like she wished she had been helped so long ago.
Eventually, Maria began to look after the other children as her own… Rupert, Agathe, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina, each as bright and special as little Maria that shared her own name.
On it's own, that wasn't an issue. Loving God's children was a natural act, one joyfully done.
Yet when Captain von Trapp saw how much she cared about his children, he was decisive as always and asked her to marry him, even though he was 25 years her senior.
She had felt ambushed! Shocked! She was to be a nun, dedicated to the Lord, not… Not…
But the children.
She was frightened and felt lost, and had fled back to Nonnberg Abbey to seek guidance from the mother abbess. Comfort, and a direction…
The woman advised her that it was God's will that she should marry him.
And… Sigh. If he willed it, he must have a plan.
Her thoughts moved once more to the little ones… And she felt something resolve inside. Her Shadow firmed up, no longer shaking from fear and doubt, and her worries faded away to some degree.
It was confidence. Confidence in herself, and her ability, and the Lord. Maybe a touch of Madness as well, this daring to take unorthodox actions to benefit the ones who needed it most.
She now returned to the family and accepted the proposal, but it wasn't for that man. Nor, honestly, was it purely due to God's will.
It was for those little ones who needed her.
Oh, she liked the Captain… But she didn't love him.
However, she deeply loved the children… In a way, this marriage would be for them.
She would learn to love him eventually, most likely… But more than anything else, and unlike her own history, these children would come first.
They would be loved, they would be cared for, and they would learn of her Joy, of Music.
As she walked with conviction towards an uncertain future, the Darkness sang along side her.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Daniel 'Danny' Fenton flinched. "What the HEY now!?"
This had BETTER not be another Ghost Attack, he was freaking TIRED! If that Box Ghost was moving stuff in the attic again, he was going to punch him right in the snoz!
He winced, now half awake.
Ha. The Half-Ghost being half awake. Heh.
Wait, he hadn't FELT anything like usual…
The ghost human hybrid carefully sat up in his bed, and began feeling with his less normal senses.
Nothing. "I should just check… [[Going Ghost!]]"
He felt his body shift half out of Life itself as he twisted into his other natural state… And blinked in confusion as he floated over his bed.
He could see.
No, more than that… He could S̶̛̰̫̙͕̲̰̪̞͚͚̮̦̘̱̜̻͕̕e̴҉̭̬̱̫̮͚̣͉͙͕ͅẹ̣͎͔̟͉̭͉͓̥̕͢!̷̨̛͈̬͚̦̫̘͍̩̖̩͜
.
His dark room was fully visible, sure, but not like usual, not with the blue glow of his ghostly energy.
No, he was able to see the Darkness…
He paused, feeling something Ș̵ẖ̛͉i̠͔͍̩͍̤f̦̖̤̮t̺͉̬͚ inside.
No.
He could see THROUGH the Darkness.
Danny felt his senses pulse through the absence of light as a network, a carrier, a passageway or other land… And reach endlessly outward.
A grasp of a hand easily allowed him to grab a book from his locker…
His locker, which was closed and locked miles away at SCHOOL.
Because he could do that now, apparently.
He could also feel a headache coming on. "I swear, if this is more ghost puberty crap I'm going to lose my damned mind."
At least Sam would be all into this, she was ALL about the Darkness and creepy stuff. And something about his most recent changes felt like affected him on a VERY deep level. Like Ghost Soul level deep.
Crap, he was going to have to deal with this, wasn't he? Damn it.
He flinched as he felt something inside the Darkness… Snore?
And then something ELSE in the Darkness pulsed Pink reassurance that it was nothing to worry about and he could just go back to sleep, she'd help if he needed anything later when he got ready for school.
…Great.
Just great.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Timmy Turner blinked. "Uh… Did I wish for that?"
Wanda was busy elsewhere, but Cosmo was ready to help! "Uh... I don't know! Maybe? DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, I CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE!"
Timmy sighed, and gently poked the strange black thing that was sleeping in his bed. "It doesn't SEEM to be scary or dangerous…"
Cosmo floated over for a better look, also confused. Which was a normal state for him. "Huh, he's weird looking, ain't he? Got bug-like things on his head too! We should be friends!"
The kid was used to his Fairy godparent by now though. "Can you get Wanda to come back so we can ask her about this?"
The floating magical creature waved it off. "It's fine, and she's busy going to that boring spa anyway. What's the worst that can happen?"
Well, that was a good point. "What should we do then?"
Cosmo scratched his head with a blank look. "Uh…" And did it some more. "Uh…" And some more. "Uh… Poke it?"
His godchild blinked. "Huh?"
But Cosmo was on a roll! "YEAH! Let's poke it! With a stick!"
Timmy blinked… And shrugged. "I mean, okay I guess? [[I wish for a stick!]]"
Cosmo grinned, waved his magic wand… And a green stick with some tiny twigs and leaves on it came into being, the color matching his awesome hair style! "Here ya go! The best stick that has ever sticked, Sir Stickerton the Sixth!"
Timmy caught the limb with confusion. "What happened to Sir Stickerton the Fifth?"
The fairy shuddered. "Those were dark times." But first! "Now poke it with Sir Stickerton the Sixth! For REASONS!"
Timmy grinned too, caught up in the moment! "Yeah! Let's do it!"
[[Poke.]]
The black thing suddenly duplicated… And then one sort of ate itself and vanished.
The young boy and the ancient idiot both were stunned. ""Oooooh!""
Cosmo grinned! "Do it again! Do it again!"
So they did.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
A small dog with pink fur was FREAKING OUT! "Oooooh nooooo!"
There was a thing! A scary thing that was being scary and sleeping in a scary way!
Worst of all, it was in HIS basement! "What do I do, what do I do!?"
The voice of his loving owner, Muriel Bagge, drifted down. "Are you alright, Courage? I thought I heard a shout."
Eeeeh!? Don't come down, don't come…
The basement light flicked on, and he could finally see the box of christmas lights he had been sent down here to bring up.
And the small black THING that was sleeping on TOP of it!
IT WAS STILL THERE! "AWWOOO!"
The old grandmotherly woman slowly bustled her way down. "What's all this now? Oh! Did you find a little friend down here? He must have come in to escape the cold. Christmas does tend to surprise people here in Nowhere."
Oh no, it looked like SHE was going to touch IT!
Courage whimpered… But felt his spine harden.
Protecting her came first. Always. 'The things I do for love…'
He moved forward and… Gently touched the black WHATEVER it was.
Something touched his MIND!
[[Zzzzz.]]
…Though it was a bit of a let down, terror wise.
Muriel blinked as she moved closer. "Oh, the little darling looks all tuckered out."
Before Courage could do anything, the woman just… Just lifted the tiny creature into her arms, ignoring the black claws and odd antennae and tuff, and began climbing the stairs. "Come Courage, let's get this sleepy little guy into the guest room. It can't be healthy to sleep down here in this old basement!"
What was he going to do, what was he going to DO!?
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Dee Dee twirled as she absently pushed the fifty character lab passcode and moved on to the lever puzzle and dial patterns. "Oh Dexter!"
She couldn't see him, but the echo's were obvious enough. "The subject ignores heat variances and sound modulations… Repeating procedure [[Poke P332]]."
Huh, that was odd… Her brother normally had a good rant going by now about her 'staying out of his secret laboratory'. Then they'd play a bit, she'd find anything he was building that was about to go catastrophically wrong and break it early so he can fix it safely without it going critical and melting half the state and irradiating the city…
And maybe she'd convince him to come out and watch tv or something! He needed more time with people and stuff, otherwise he'd miss the best parts of childhood like SHE had! "Dexter, I got this awesome show I want to watch with you!"
No, he isn't in the chemical processing wing, and the echo didn't seem to resonate with the assembly plant, so probably south by southwest, and down two floors. "Dexter?"
The distant commentary continued. "Subject self replicates at constant rate, despite the lack of duration for the duplicated entity, no effect from recent attempts noticed at this time. Attempting vibrational setting B3, but returning to procedure [[Poke P318]]... That one seemed to have a bigger impact, at least."
Huh, what was he… "Dexter?"
Her shorter younger brother blinked and looked up, his eyes covered by complex goggles and his normally pristine lab coat a bit crumpled from frantic Research. "Dee Dee? What are…" He YAWNED! "What are YOU doing here!? You normally don't bother me until 16:33 on Saturdays!"
She blinked. "It's Sunday morning."
He didn't react for a moment. "Oh."
Then shrugged and turned back to the testing chamber. "Still no effect, escalating vibration by three settings to B6, repeating [[Poke P318]]."
Her intellectual curiosity couldn't handle any more. "Oooh, what's THAT!?"
He huffed, still distracted by the many sensors he had set up. "The specimen arrived at 0915 this… Yesterday morning, and has no detected traces of entering or traversing through my systems or facility. I'm currently suspecting teleportation, potentially time travel, or dimensional traversal."
No, her own secret lab and security measures prevented any unauthorized attempts at the first two at least. Otherwise her little brother would have been swamped by some of those jerks who used to try to raid HER labs, back when she did this kind of thing as a kid.
Not that she could tell him directly, her brother was still in that 'Eww Cuties' stage. Might as well give him a hint. "What's Dye Men Seen All Travesty?"
The boy huffed! "The term is Dimensional Traversal, you STUUPID girl! And it's when multiple layers of reality gets…"
Heh, there he goes. Another few minutes and he should 'stumble' in the right direction to look into this thing, whatever it was.
She grinned as he continued to explain stuff that theoretically she shouldn't understand, her hidden cameras recording it all to tease him with when he got older. Oh his face was going to be PRICELESS when he's old enough to clear the security clearances!
Stupid laws and mom and dad making her hide all the cool stuff from their labs until he's 'Mature Enough' to get into the REAL crazy science. She'd been fine with a bit of reality manipulation, as a young girl and she wasn't crazy now at ALL! NOT AT ALL! "So… Come watch my new show with me!?"
He sighed, but it was more exasperation than actual dislike or hate. They were siblings, after all. "Will you leave me to my work until it starts?"
She nodded!
He waved her off. "Very well, we have an accord… Now LEAVE me to my science."
She started to skip away… But not quite yet… "AND STAY OUT OF MY SECRET LABORATORY!"
There it was! Ha!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam 'Adventure' Burns blinked as the data feed began to fracture and multiply and duplicate and… Oh dear. "That… That might have issues."
The girls were off doing many things, and his friends were busy too, so right now he was alone reviewing the ongoing data feed from the adventures of his Soul Shard.
While Gem was adapting and growing to ensure that all the Shadows remained connected to her guidance, and didn't SEEM to be hitting any kind of limit or restriction… The chances of them reuniting or rejoining with him directly was basically zero now.
Not that such an issue came as a shock.
After all, his other selves were ALSO basically new people now, even if they continued to share information with each other.
Sigh. "Hey Squishy? Could you do me a favor?"
The strange eldritch Jellyfish of his Soul focused.
He prepared himself for… Anything, really. "Could you reach into my Soul and… Poke the Darkness?"
When he felt something slumbering inside himself, another Shadow of the multitude, and a familiar if amused connection directly to Gem… He realized something important.
Gem's connection was THE SAME connection he had been using to monitor his Shard's adventure from the BEGINNING of this mess!
Adam sighed in frustration as he felt a fragment of lost memory flash through his mind… Of an entity of pure evil and maliciousness being chased and pursued and torn by a relentless and formless hunter.
A hunter constructed from the built up negative feelings, concepts, and fractured moments from the creature's victims… Hunted by the Darkness. By the Shadow of his own actions.
By Adam's Shadow, in a way… Even if 'Adam' hadn't existed yet!
Yep, too far out of control for even logic to help now. What a mess.
Time shenanigans SUCKED!
With a mild headache as his existence began to adjust to a growing and uncensored data connection to Gem's network and the endless symbolic connections to Shadow in the Darkness, Adam began to collect enough information to try and write up a report about… ALL this mess.
And he was going to have to document it all or something at some point. He just knew it. Some of these memory feeds didn't even exist yet and pointed to places that hadn't happened in the past in locations that wouldn't ever spawn!
That was a lot of paperwork!
At least this explained why he kept gaining 'recovered' memories when traveling to a new reality via traversing the Abyss or Jumping or Consuming Inwards… The information gathering effect was caused by his Shadow in the Darkness merging back into his existence, from him coming home.
Great.
And while his Origin continued to grumble and work under ever extended paperwork and obligations, an endless number of Shadows slumbered in Darkness and Madness as they were poked into the ocean of possibilities, off to influence or experience even more Adventures out in the realm of imagination.
Adam shrugged it off.
.
I̳̋̏ͤ̄̆̌͐t̫͕͈̹̩̐ͯ̅ͧ̏ ̩̹̞ͦ͒w̲͙͇͓̭ͬͣ͑͊͋o͎͐̀ͭͩu͗͆ͪͩ͒l̦͉͉̞̩̖̊ͫͪ͒ͅd̯͒͑̌ͤ͑̌ͫ ̮̗̳̲̉̑͌ͮ̈́p̼̻̬͎̐̄ͫͣr͈̰̟̹o͕̖̬̮ͯ̒͊̾͆̚b̙͓̼̻͔̦ͯ͗̈́a̹̘̟̬̘̯̻̋b̫͉̯̝̟̮ly̜̲̞͗ͤ́ ̤̟̱̜̥̝̒́̄b̥̺͕̓̓̐ͪͯe̝͓ͪͧ ̯̳̪̫͛ͮ̊f͎͔̭̟̗͔̠̋̂͗̓i͙̪̅ͦ̾̃̏̈ͅn̗̦̪͙̠̖͒ͬ̇͐̾ͯe̝̠.̜͙̞̫̣̲͈ͫ͗ ̮͎̹̖͑ͬ̉̎̄̉
.
.
~~~Adventure Broken~~~
.
The surrounding eyes and noses and ears had no impact on this situation, as expected.
But now, something different.
In every important and meaningful and actual way, it was not a stick.
But for the sake of certain less than advanced people, compromises could be made to call it a rod. Sort of.
The truth of the matter and the context of the situation all made the idea of calling this thing a rod or a stick laughably inaccurate, but only a child and blood and a tree and a Shadow existed here, and they had no opinion on the topic.
So, for the sake of it's operator and creator, it could charitably and inaccurately be considered a 'rod' to keep an insane scientist from sinking deeper into his own endless Madness.
It was strange, ghostly, torn apart by Madness and stitched together by Science… This rod's most distinguishing feature was the oversized Bolt-Screw that pierced the base of it as it approached the inhabitants of this place.
And it moved with purpose to the nearest entity that didn't exist here, the hollow tree that even now absorbed and soaked in raw Darkness and Madness, the structure that defended the pool.
The rod didn't 'poke' the tree.
But it metaphorically sort of did it, if you ignored all of the facts and logic and so forth.
The tree, being a tree despite also being an empty container for astonishing sources of power, was decidedly tree-like in many ways. And as a tree, it reacted as any tree would to being poked.
By standing still and tree-ing at it menacingly.
Time meant little here, and the actions from outside certainly didn't reflect or coordinate with the results in this strange place, so the poking continued for a few thousand years.
The tree won.
Eventually, more due to having more targets to poke than actually getting bored or being directed, the rod moved on to the pool.
Poke.
It made ripples, but nothing much else.
Still, the sensing shades detected the ripples as a non-tree response, and so the endless poking commenced!
Centuries passed. Eons. It wrapped back around to the past, it looped and splintered, and through it all the rod poked the pool.
Eventually, due to random chance more than anything, it almost poked Crona.
However, the Shadow that was cuddled in their arms was already there, in the way, willingly and unknowingly protecting the child.
So this not-a-rod in this not-a-place poked Shadow, the embodiment of Darkness, while he slumbered in the Black Blood pool wrapped in a little one's arms.
Yet Shadow, despite looking like himself, was not himself here.
He was ninety-nine of himselves.
And all of them dreamed in Darkness and Madness and with Crona and Ragnarok's Soul.
The rod was designed to prod for results. Not to damage, or harm, or heavily affect its target. After all, data needed to be collected first.
But this not-an-object WAS designed to get a reaction.
And it got one.
Annoyance.
Shadow didn't wake up, but his slumbering form had experienced something similar to this in the past when his active mind was drifting and something interacted with him in certain ways.
Gem nearly groaned in raw frustration as all ninety-nine Shadows split into sleeping Madness duplicates and Consumed Inwards, vanishing from this place, this world, everywhere.
She grew MORE concerned when she realized that all ninety-nine chose unrelated places to traverse towards.
And the poking rod, as it was designed to do, poked again.
And again.
And a̛gain.̨.
And á̡̛͘͞g҉̨͝҉̴ą̸̸͢i͜ņ́͞.
And a͔̣̣̬͖̕g҉̤̝͉͈ḁ̷͎i͙͖̗n̷̪̰̻.͍́
Gem's stunned concern grew to even greater heights once 99 pokes had occurred on her other half.
Because THIS time, when the rod poked…
Shadow's ninety-nine bodies didn't duplicate themselves.
Instead, each one generated nine siblings. All of whom Consumed Inwards and vanished, still sleeping.
It had only been a few seconds or less since the rod had begun poking, and she grew a bit shocked and stunned as actions continued.
Would… Would the number of Shadows generated increase again after the NEXT ninety-nine pokes!?
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Dr. Stein maniacally cackled! "Oh, THAT got a response! I'm not sure what is drawing on the excess ambient Madness levels, but it seems to be some sort of self-reinforcing cycle or process…"
A few motions altered the programing. "Let's try to increase the frequency for a few hours."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
So, no.
The number of Shadow's didn't increase again after 99 more pokes.
But after a total of 9,801 pokes, or 99^2 number of annoyances, each Shadow began to spawn 9,801 siblings.
That all Consumed Inwards.
To different worlds and situations.
While asleep and consuming raw Madness.
Gem was now waiting for confirmation. Because after 970,299 pokes, theoretically, each of the ninety-nine shadows should spawn and send off 970,299 Shadow Ofadam's out into existence.
Each poke was five seconds apart, for what little amount that time mattered here.
That meant that per year, Shadow would be poked 6,311,385 times.
It would only take a month to poke her partner 525,000 times, and a month in here could take anywhere between a second 'outside' or LESS, not counting time loops or hard core acceleration or duplicate moments.
Even if this crazy thing was stopped externally RIGHT NOW, it could take millennia for the poking HERE to finish. If it ever bothered to stop.
Unaware and feeling protected, Crona continued to cuddle their Shadow as he slumbered and populated and spread through layers of symbolic networks that threaded realities.
Gem winced as she felt the growing connection with each new world's Darkness.
For in an exponentially increasing number of places, something slept within places without light.
And it slept full of Darkness and Madness.
…She was going to need a LOT of candy.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
As a scientist and professor and doctor and insane man prodded something he couldn't understand and only recorded the vague side effects of his actions, the ripples from these actions were spread elsewhere.
Almost everywhere, really.
Time didn't flow in stable or understandable ways, from Jump to Jump or Realm to Realm or Symbolic Connection to Symbolic Connection.
Some places had time run perpendicular, or in reverse, or at faster or slower rates.
When multiple Shadows arrived in the same places, their Madness synced and they slumbered together.
When individual Shadows found a new home, they slowly integrated with the Domain of Darkness directly… While possibly affecting reality to some small degree due to their Madness.
Some stayed as a simple Heartless Shadow, others transformed into Soul entities or incarnations or just melded directly to the local Darkness itself. A few found their slumber uncomfortable and ended up spawning more sleeping Shadows that sought better places to rest.
It caused changes.
Not necessarily negative ones, or only granting positive outcomes, just… Some Madness spread here, some absorbed from there, it altered things. Numerous things.
The illogical could become fact, or the reverse, or neither… But not all the time, and not everywhere.
At least it also grew the network that Gem connected to, as she kept her Shadows embraced and watched over in their slumber. Though if not for her innate nature, such massive and potentially infinite responsibilities would be cripplingly difficult or impossible.
But as Ragnarok continued to enjoy strange snacks of chemicals and Madness and sensors and Candy, and as the Tree slowly converted into another partner of the Black Blood, Crona happily slept in their pool of certainty with a level of comfort and safety that they didn't know how to deal with.
They would awaken, in time. With a body stronger than a Death Scythe, power that could crush any foe, and a growing number of alternate forms that they or Ragnarok could casually convert into.
And it would be a huge thing they wouldn't know how to deal with.
But for now, they slept, safe from a hurtful 'parent' and studied by the maddest of scientists in a city cradled by Lord Death himself as he watched over dangers threatening the world and those he protected.
So for now, things were good.
…Though if you would ask Gem's opinion, she would (politely) insist that Dr. Stein STOP POKING ALREADY!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
In one very odd location, not important or remarkable in any way, a small insect suddenly gained a darker Shadow.
He was a caterpillar, and he had just hatched… And he was very Hungry.
Thankfully, he managed to be quite lucky when it came to food!
First, he had stumbled upon a WHOLE apple! It was huge, a massive thing way taller than his small body!
He ate a hole through it, and something inside said he should be moving on… But something else was still a tad H̳̼̘̰̪u̡n̰̫̹̦͢ͅg̷ŗ̠̙͙͎y̯̠̯͍̖͡.
So a caterpillar and his Shadow Devoured the rest of the apple.
It was delicious! And he enjoyed exploring his new world and looking about until a few days later, when he found himself a bit peckish again.
Thankfully, his luck held true and he discovered TWO pears, big ones, fresh, and ready to eat!
Again, despite consuming a hole through the fruits… Well, he ended up eating them all.
After a few days though, on a Wednesday, he grew a bit concerned.
The other caterpillars had managed to eat a whole bunch and had already transformed into Butterflies.
But he was still Hungry.
After devouring three delicious plums entirely, he paused in thought before finishing the last of it.
With caution, he carefully maneuvered the three plumb seeds back to his small home he had Consumed out of a tree. Just in case.
A week or so later, on a Thursday, he carefully ate four strawberries, but only the insides. These seeds, too, he kept.
After a bit more than another week, on Friday, he saved the pips from five fresh Oranges that were quickly Devoured.
Yet despite eating so much, he wasn't changing form. And he felt different. Stronger.
After another week, a Saturday, he found so much food that he should have been overjoyed… But something about this stuff felt different. Artificial.
A slice of chocolate cake, a strawberry ice cream cone, a pickle, a slice of Swiss cheese, a slice of salami, a lollipop, a piece of cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, and a… A slice of watermelon!
THAT resonated with him! Carefully, he avoided the other hollow feeling foods and devoured the fruit, carefully collecting the black seeds and bringing them back to his growing tree home that had been chewed into a network.
These feelings… These seeds felt right.
Hidden inside a tree, the Darkness shifted slightly as a very Hungry Caterpillar began to artificially accelerate his own personal fruit farm by unconsciously tapping into the power of Darkness, filtered through his own Shadow.
And while he still ventured out now and then to enjoy a leaf on a Sunday or discover new fruits to grow, more and more time was spent learning how to be a gentleman farming bug than one who simply took from others.
Though, as the years began to pass…
He always made a point to carefully share some of his produce in the woods where he had been born.
A special feast for his future brothers and sisters.
One apple on a Monday, then two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and five oranges on Friday… And Saturday, he shocked each year's crowd with an endless feast.
For a moment, the immortal Caterpillar would feel pure satisfaction, watching his new friends grow big and fat and happy.
And when he watched them a day or two later flutter away after transforming, he considered attempting to do the same eventually...
But the call of his Hunger just made him emotionally shrug and return to his warm home inside his tree and the strange and impossible food being grown within.
As he enjoyed another fresh snack, he pondered the idea of joining the rest of the crowd…
Maybe next year.
Om nom nom.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Maria Augusta Kutschera had many plans when she was younger. Things she wished to do, things she wished to share.
After a harsh life and much effort, she had saved enough money to enter the State Teachers College for Progressive Education in Vienna, even earned a scholarship, and graduated from there at 18, young and full of ambition!
She was going to teach! Not just about facts and figures, but about something MORE important, something essential to her personal life!
MUSIC!
Yet, life was not always so easy to handle. Eventually, a few years later, she entered Nonnberg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg, as a postulant. She fully intended to become a nun, after feeling so disheartened by her own setbacks.
But even then, even when trying to devote herself to a higher calling… She also couldn't help but hear the music of nature. Of life! The hills were ALIVE with it, and she couldn't help but dream once more about sharing this gift with the younger generation… Sharing this joy with others.
Now, things felt like they were changing too swiftly.
Recently, she had been asked to teach one of the seven children, little Maria Franziska, of widowed naval commander Georg von Trapp.
The man was a hero and a hard worker, but his wife, Agathe Whitehead, had died four years ago from scarlet fever and the children had been lost without her.
It had been easy to roll up her sleeves and try to help these dear ones. To help them like she wished she had been helped so long ago.
Eventually, Maria began to look after the other children as her own… Rupert, Agathe, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina, each as bright and special as little Maria that shared her own name.
On it's own, that wasn't an issue. Loving God's children was a natural act, one joyfully done.
Yet when Captain von Trapp saw how much she cared about his children, he was decisive as always and asked her to marry him, even though he was 25 years her senior.
She had felt ambushed! Shocked! She was to be a nun, dedicated to the Lord, not… Not…
But the children.
She was frightened and felt lost, and had fled back to Nonnberg Abbey to seek guidance from the mother abbess. Comfort, and a direction…
The woman advised her that it was God's will that she should marry him.
And… Sigh. If he willed it, he must have a plan.
Her thoughts moved once more to the little ones… And she felt something resolve inside. Her Shadow firmed up, no longer shaking from fear and doubt, and her worries faded away to some degree.
It was confidence. Confidence in herself, and her ability, and the Lord. Maybe a touch of Madness as well, this daring to take unorthodox actions to benefit the ones who needed it most.
She now returned to the family and accepted the proposal, but it wasn't for that man. Nor, honestly, was it purely due to God's will.
It was for those little ones who needed her.
Oh, she liked the Captain… But she didn't love him.
However, she deeply loved the children… In a way, this marriage would be for them.
She would learn to love him eventually, most likely… But more than anything else, and unlike her own history, these children would come first.
They would be loved, they would be cared for, and they would learn of her Joy, of Music.
As she walked with conviction towards an uncertain future, the Darkness sang along side her.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Daniel 'Danny' Fenton flinched. "What the HEY now!?"
This had BETTER not be another Ghost Attack, he was freaking TIRED! If that Box Ghost was moving stuff in the attic again, he was going to punch him right in the snoz!
He winced, now half awake.
Ha. The Half-Ghost being half awake. Heh.
Wait, he hadn't FELT anything like usual…
The ghost human hybrid carefully sat up in his bed, and began feeling with his less normal senses.
Nothing. "I should just check… [[Going Ghost!]]"
He felt his body shift half out of Life itself as he twisted into his other natural state… And blinked in confusion as he floated over his bed.
He could see.
No, more than that… He could S̶̛̰̫̙͕̲̰̪̞͚͚̮̦̘̱̜̻͕̕e̴҉̭̬̱̫̮͚̣͉͙͕ͅẹ̣͎͔̟͉̭͉͓̥̕͢!̷̨̛͈̬͚̦̫̘͍̩̖̩͜
.
His dark room was fully visible, sure, but not like usual, not with the blue glow of his ghostly energy.
No, he was able to see the Darkness…
He paused, feeling something Ș̵ẖ̛͉i̠͔͍̩͍̤f̦̖̤̮t̺͉̬͚ inside.
No.
He could see THROUGH the Darkness.
Danny felt his senses pulse through the absence of light as a network, a carrier, a passageway or other land… And reach endlessly outward.
A grasp of a hand easily allowed him to grab a book from his locker…
His locker, which was closed and locked miles away at SCHOOL.
Because he could do that now, apparently.
He could also feel a headache coming on. "I swear, if this is more ghost puberty crap I'm going to lose my damned mind."
At least Sam would be all into this, she was ALL about the Darkness and creepy stuff. And something about his most recent changes felt like affected him on a VERY deep level. Like Ghost Soul level deep.
Crap, he was going to have to deal with this, wasn't he? Damn it.
He flinched as he felt something inside the Darkness… Snore?
And then something ELSE in the Darkness pulsed Pink reassurance that it was nothing to worry about and he could just go back to sleep, she'd help if he needed anything later when he got ready for school.
…Great.
Just great.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Timmy Turner blinked. "Uh… Did I wish for that?"
Wanda was busy elsewhere, but Cosmo was ready to help! "Uh... I don't know! Maybe? DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, I CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE!"
Timmy sighed, and gently poked the strange black thing that was sleeping in his bed. "It doesn't SEEM to be scary or dangerous…"
Cosmo floated over for a better look, also confused. Which was a normal state for him. "Huh, he's weird looking, ain't he? Got bug-like things on his head too! We should be friends!"
The kid was used to his Fairy godparent by now though. "Can you get Wanda to come back so we can ask her about this?"
The floating magical creature waved it off. "It's fine, and she's busy going to that boring spa anyway. What's the worst that can happen?"
Well, that was a good point. "What should we do then?"
Cosmo scratched his head with a blank look. "Uh…" And did it some more. "Uh…" And some more. "Uh… Poke it?"
His godchild blinked. "Huh?"
But Cosmo was on a roll! "YEAH! Let's poke it! With a stick!"
Timmy blinked… And shrugged. "I mean, okay I guess? [[I wish for a stick!]]"
Cosmo grinned, waved his magic wand… And a green stick with some tiny twigs and leaves on it came into being, the color matching his awesome hair style! "Here ya go! The best stick that has ever sticked, Sir Stickerton the Sixth!"
Timmy caught the limb with confusion. "What happened to Sir Stickerton the Fifth?"
The fairy shuddered. "Those were dark times." But first! "Now poke it with Sir Stickerton the Sixth! For REASONS!"
Timmy grinned too, caught up in the moment! "Yeah! Let's do it!"
[[Poke.]]
The black thing suddenly duplicated… And then one sort of ate itself and vanished.
The young boy and the ancient idiot both were stunned. ""Oooooh!""
Cosmo grinned! "Do it again! Do it again!"
So they did.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
A small dog with pink fur was FREAKING OUT! "Oooooh nooooo!"
There was a thing! A scary thing that was being scary and sleeping in a scary way!
Worst of all, it was in HIS basement! "What do I do, what do I do!?"
The voice of his loving owner, Muriel Bagge, drifted down. "Are you alright, Courage? I thought I heard a shout."
Eeeeh!? Don't come down, don't come…
The basement light flicked on, and he could finally see the box of christmas lights he had been sent down here to bring up.
And the small black THING that was sleeping on TOP of it!
IT WAS STILL THERE! "AWWOOO!"
The old grandmotherly woman slowly bustled her way down. "What's all this now? Oh! Did you find a little friend down here? He must have come in to escape the cold. Christmas does tend to surprise people here in Nowhere."
Oh no, it looked like SHE was going to touch IT!
Courage whimpered… But felt his spine harden.
Protecting her came first. Always. 'The things I do for love…'
He moved forward and… Gently touched the black WHATEVER it was.
Something touched his MIND!
[[Zzzzz.]]
…Though it was a bit of a let down, terror wise.
Muriel blinked as she moved closer. "Oh, the little darling looks all tuckered out."
Before Courage could do anything, the woman just… Just lifted the tiny creature into her arms, ignoring the black claws and odd antennae and tuff, and began climbing the stairs. "Come Courage, let's get this sleepy little guy into the guest room. It can't be healthy to sleep down here in this old basement!"
What was he going to do, what was he going to DO!?
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Dee Dee twirled as she absently pushed the fifty character lab passcode and moved on to the lever puzzle and dial patterns. "Oh Dexter!"
She couldn't see him, but the echo's were obvious enough. "The subject ignores heat variances and sound modulations… Repeating procedure [[Poke P332]]."
Huh, that was odd… Her brother normally had a good rant going by now about her 'staying out of his secret laboratory'. Then they'd play a bit, she'd find anything he was building that was about to go catastrophically wrong and break it early so he can fix it safely without it going critical and melting half the state and irradiating the city…
And maybe she'd convince him to come out and watch tv or something! He needed more time with people and stuff, otherwise he'd miss the best parts of childhood like SHE had! "Dexter, I got this awesome show I want to watch with you!"
No, he isn't in the chemical processing wing, and the echo didn't seem to resonate with the assembly plant, so probably south by southwest, and down two floors. "Dexter?"
The distant commentary continued. "Subject self replicates at constant rate, despite the lack of duration for the duplicated entity, no effect from recent attempts noticed at this time. Attempting vibrational setting B3, but returning to procedure [[Poke P318]]... That one seemed to have a bigger impact, at least."
Huh, what was he… "Dexter?"
Her shorter younger brother blinked and looked up, his eyes covered by complex goggles and his normally pristine lab coat a bit crumpled from frantic Research. "Dee Dee? What are…" He YAWNED! "What are YOU doing here!? You normally don't bother me until 16:33 on Saturdays!"
She blinked. "It's Sunday morning."
He didn't react for a moment. "Oh."
Then shrugged and turned back to the testing chamber. "Still no effect, escalating vibration by three settings to B6, repeating [[Poke P318]]."
Her intellectual curiosity couldn't handle any more. "Oooh, what's THAT!?"
He huffed, still distracted by the many sensors he had set up. "The specimen arrived at 0915 this… Yesterday morning, and has no detected traces of entering or traversing through my systems or facility. I'm currently suspecting teleportation, potentially time travel, or dimensional traversal."
No, her own secret lab and security measures prevented any unauthorized attempts at the first two at least. Otherwise her little brother would have been swamped by some of those jerks who used to try to raid HER labs, back when she did this kind of thing as a kid.
Not that she could tell him directly, her brother was still in that 'Eww Cuties' stage. Might as well give him a hint. "What's Dye Men Seen All Travesty?"
The boy huffed! "The term is Dimensional Traversal, you STUUPID girl! And it's when multiple layers of reality gets…"
Heh, there he goes. Another few minutes and he should 'stumble' in the right direction to look into this thing, whatever it was.
She grinned as he continued to explain stuff that theoretically she shouldn't understand, her hidden cameras recording it all to tease him with when he got older. Oh his face was going to be PRICELESS when he's old enough to clear the security clearances!
Stupid laws and mom and dad making her hide all the cool stuff from their labs until he's 'Mature Enough' to get into the REAL crazy science. She'd been fine with a bit of reality manipulation, as a young girl and she wasn't crazy now at ALL! NOT AT ALL! "So… Come watch my new show with me!?"
He sighed, but it was more exasperation than actual dislike or hate. They were siblings, after all. "Will you leave me to my work until it starts?"
She nodded!
He waved her off. "Very well, we have an accord… Now LEAVE me to my science."
She started to skip away… But not quite yet… "AND STAY OUT OF MY SECRET LABORATORY!"
There it was! Ha!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam 'Adventure' Burns blinked as the data feed began to fracture and multiply and duplicate and… Oh dear. "That… That might have issues."
The girls were off doing many things, and his friends were busy too, so right now he was alone reviewing the ongoing data feed from the adventures of his Soul Shard.
While Gem was adapting and growing to ensure that all the Shadows remained connected to her guidance, and didn't SEEM to be hitting any kind of limit or restriction… The chances of them reuniting or rejoining with him directly was basically zero now.
Not that such an issue came as a shock.
After all, his other selves were ALSO basically new people now, even if they continued to share information with each other.
Sigh. "Hey Squishy? Could you do me a favor?"
The strange eldritch Jellyfish of his Soul focused.
He prepared himself for… Anything, really. "Could you reach into my Soul and… Poke the Darkness?"
When he felt something slumbering inside himself, another Shadow of the multitude, and a familiar if amused connection directly to Gem… He realized something important.
Gem's connection was THE SAME connection he had been using to monitor his Shard's adventure from the BEGINNING of this mess!
Adam sighed in frustration as he felt a fragment of lost memory flash through his mind… Of an entity of pure evil and maliciousness being chased and pursued and torn by a relentless and formless hunter.
A hunter constructed from the built up negative feelings, concepts, and fractured moments from the creature's victims… Hunted by the Darkness. By the Shadow of his own actions.
By Adam's Shadow, in a way… Even if 'Adam' hadn't existed yet!
Yep, too far out of control for even logic to help now. What a mess.
Time shenanigans SUCKED!
With a mild headache as his existence began to adjust to a growing and uncensored data connection to Gem's network and the endless symbolic connections to Shadow in the Darkness, Adam began to collect enough information to try and write up a report about… ALL this mess.
And he was going to have to document it all or something at some point. He just knew it. Some of these memory feeds didn't even exist yet and pointed to places that hadn't happened in the past in locations that wouldn't ever spawn!
That was a lot of paperwork!
At least this explained why he kept gaining 'recovered' memories when traveling to a new reality via traversing the Abyss or Jumping or Consuming Inwards… The information gathering effect was caused by his Shadow in the Darkness merging back into his existence, from him coming home.
Great.
And while his Origin continued to grumble and work under ever extended paperwork and obligations, an endless number of Shadows slumbered in Darkness and Madness as they were poked into the ocean of possibilities, off to influence or experience even more Adventures out in the realm of imagination.
Adam shrugged it off.
.
I̳̋̏ͤ̄̆̌͐t̫͕͈̹̩̐ͯ̅ͧ̏ ̩̹̞ͦ͒w̲͙͇͓̭ͬͣ͑͊͋o͎͐̀ͭͩu͗͆ͪͩ͒l̦͉͉̞̩̖̊ͫͪ͒ͅd̯͒͑̌ͤ͑̌ͫ ̮̗̳̲̉̑͌ͮ̈́p̼̻̬͎̐̄ͫͣr͈̰̟̹o͕̖̬̮ͯ̒͊̾͆̚b̙͓̼̻͔̦ͯ͗̈́a̹̘̟̬̘̯̻̋b̫͉̯̝̟̮ly̜̲̞͗ͤ́ ̤̟̱̜̥̝̒́̄b̥̺͕̓̓̐ͪͯe̝͓ͪͧ ̯̳̪̫͛ͮ̊f͎͔̭̟̗͔̠̋̂͗̓i͙̪̅ͦ̾̃̏̈ͅn̗̦̪͙̠̖͒ͬ̇͐̾ͯe̝̠.̜͙̞̫̣̲͈ͫ͗ ̮͎̹̖͑ͬ̉̎̄̉
.
.
~~~Adventure Broken~~~
.
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oh wow... that just went beyond crazy xD poor multiverse getting twisted into a pretzel xD
For once i legit have no clue where you are going to go next Ace.
any hints on the next arc?
For once i legit have no clue where you are going to go next Ace.
any hints on the next arc?
- Location
- Earth U.S.
their pool? or that might be Gems pool can't tell. if this is the end it was a pleasure reading.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh…. Oh no… we have hit a different level/form of recursion… this is going to have some weird (and fun) effects.
verycoolname
Not actually cool
I've never known what was happening next, and I've really enjoyed my ignorance.
... *sighs* AceofFire. We, the reading audience of Sufficient Velocity, do hereby thank you fully, whole heartedly for your efforts with producing, and completing a story that you have written. And congratulate you on obtaining membership in that rarified ranks of authors that completed their sh... *ahem* that have successfully finished their written works.
And thus we humbly ask... Will there be a sequel?
And thus we humbly ask... Will there be a sequel?
Hidden One
Not the Boss, possibly a Playa
- Location
- Sol;Terra;EU;D;NRW
Thanks for all the candy!
Also, nice CN speedrun.
Also, darn thats a lot of paperwork....
and on to something completly different, one more thing, basically... if you want to talk about ideas and bounce them of someone, feel free to pm me.
PyroTechno
The Procrastination Pokemon
I FUCKING CALLED IT!
(nice story btw, glad to have read it to the end even though I mostly skimmed over the Soul Eater stuff)
- Status