High school, a place where some considered to have spent their glory years at, is a formative experience. Some people can never let it go, having peaked during their time there and constantly yearn for a return to youth, structure, and fleeting schoolyard popularity. Those that attend high school either graduate and move onto different pastures, linger in their high school memories, or drop-out to be subjected to life's fickle whims.
High school, hell to some, heaven to others, and just a mere moment in time for most.
And yet, some unknown force is abducting individuals from across existences to force them into its own strange idea of high school. They are forced to pantomime as students and teachers, under the threat of being sent to Detention. As more and more are forcibly enrolled into this high school, de-aged and their powers reduced, cliques and clubs form with differing agendas on how to navigate this strange place.
Is there any hope to escape? Can the students graduate out of this high school purgatory, or will they forever be subjected to white picket fence homes, stale cafeteria food, and homework?
This is a rewrite of one of my earlier projects: The Infectious High School AU. And this is the index, where I sort the cast for each chapter.
One of the problems, I feel, with multi-crosses is that it becomes overly bloated. It's why I segmented my other big project into short, standalone stories. Because of this typical bloat, it becomes hard to find which characters and series take prominence when and where. Like you find a multiple crossover with a series you like, and they either don't matter till far in the story or they have a bit part. Unlike my other project, I can't simply segment everything into standalone stories. Hence me using this index to mark characters appearance in the chapters by prominence. It is a mitigating solution, but I hope it keeps everything nice and tidy. Of course, I'll also simply mark the cast for each chapter in the A/N. The index's main purpose is to showcase which chapters focus on who. I'll probably even sort by arc when it reaches that point.
Main Cast are basically the POVs, Major Cast is basically the important side cast, and Minor Cast is for characters that have small roles.
A/N: As always, special, special thanks to @Ziel for looking this over and continually tolerating my nonsense. Appreciate ya. And credit to ramenmom on Tumblr for her suggestion to use Trevor Belmont for the Detention POV scene, which I initially struggled with to find the right POV.
Main Cast
Max Caufield from Life is Strange
The Operator from Warframe
Trevor Belmont from Castlevania
Major Cast
The Fourteenth Doctor from Doctor Who
Dave Strider from Homestuck
Anby Demara from Zenless Zone Zero
Minor Cast
Klaus Heisler from American Dad!
Pyramid Head from Silent Hill
Existence snapped into Maxine — Max, never Maxine — Caulfield with all the suddenness of whiplash. Her sense of self jolted and drowned beneath her skin, as she was torn for one place to another. It was the time of shock that went beyond the merely spatial and into something soul-deep. At first, she thought time had finally pushed back. After so much trouble and pain, she just wanted to do the right thing. The nightmare she had fled from had deposited her into something far more stranger. Her stomach churned and her vision whirled, as her place in the world became defined. She blinked away the darkening spots of blurry and burning moments of time. Some part of her tried rewinding on instinct, but it wasn't like all the times her power fluctuated or otherwise failed. Those times were like brushing up against a brick wall; this was like nothing else existed beyond this present point in time. Time simply didn't exist and that single brush of nothing felt like annihilation.
Whatever happened, it might have not been her fault. The storm that was due to hit Arcadia Bay was a consequence of her meddling in time. Whether she liked it or not, that storm felt like an intimate disaster that only those involved could know. This very second in time felt like an alien world that she got stranded on. Max pressed a hand to her mouth and tried to swallow the bile coming back up. The urge to bolt was strong, but her legs refused to budge. No, that wasn't quite right. Something was puppeteering her legs, pistoning them one after another. Stiff muscles moved like rusted gears. The spots in her vision gave way to shadowy figures marching in step with her. Front and back, she was but another shadow. Something thrashed within her body, raging in the streams of her blood and building in her lungs. Yet, her body continued to move in unison with all the rest. Her eyes tried to dart around, to gather some semblance of information. That too was denied. She couldn't even move her eyes!
The lockstep continued, eyes focused entirely on the shadow figure in front of her. There was a split second, however, in which she got a glimpse of her arm: half-steeped in shadow. Anxiety reached its tipping point, spilling over. She could feel the gushing mess seize her heart, but it didn't stop there. Like crashing waves, it splashed onto the shores of her stomach, pushing it down until it was like a tense coiled spring. Stomach acid scaled her throat. She immediately locked onto a nearby trashcan, trying to hurl into a black plastic bag in the plastic maw. But there was nothing to expel.
She heaved once, twice, and then whipped away the tears. Max steeled herself, one hand lifting from the rim and fingers flexing slightly — ready to turn back time if need be. Whirling around, she threw out her hand as if to ward off any potential threats. The shadows paid her no mind, continuing their single-minded trek. Above, florescent lights buzzed over tiled floors and lines of lockers. The lockers stretched on and on, and looking to both the left and right, only broken up by the occasional door. Max watched the shadows, whose movements reminded her of ants except they were eerily close to being human.
Cautiously, she lowered her hand, but still kept her guard up. Side-eyeing the shadows, she began quickly examining the number plates.
No, numbers. All blank. It's like a ghost-town here. Max turned back to the line. With literal ghosts.
The sardonic thought didn't give her much joy. Come on, Mad Max. What are ghosts to a time traveler?
But the dead had a way of haunting the living, phantasms or no.
She cautiously stepped toward the line, hand first. Her fingers curled and uncurled, as if they couldn't decide whether to listen to her or not. The first brush of touch felt like nothing at all. The second time, the fingers dipped into the shade and past the skin, but they could go no further than her joints.
"It's like jello..." she muttered to herself.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Max yelped, leaping back as though electrified by the new voice. Standing a little ways away was a teenage girl, standing half way in the line. She shambled in tune with the line, halfheartedly. Strange gray scars ran across both sides of her dark face, and she wore a white vest over a hard-plated material. It was like she was a cross between a high-school girl and something, well, bad-ass.
"Um..." Max hesitated, unable to decide if she should step closer or not. "Is it okay for me to ask why?"
"The place here likes its rules, and its consequences for breaking them." The girl blinked. "You seem familiar..."
Max seemed to sway toward her. "Yeah... feeling some deja vu but..."
But does that mean anything when you can turn back time?
She could hear something tapping, metal on metal. The girl seemed oblivious to the sound until Max turned to look at the alarm up on the wall. The circle of red metal remained absolutely still yet Max could clearly light tapping on it. The sound felt ominous, like a harbinger for something harder and louder.
"You should really get in line," the girl commented.
After a split second moment to make her choice, she took a large step back in line and moved along next to her.
"I'm, uh, Max." She held out her hand awkwardly.
"Call me Tenno. Or Operator. Either one works." Tenno returned the handshake.
Those are some weird names, but I guess I shouldn't judge.
"What is this place? What do you mean there are rules to this place? How did we get here?" Max took a breath. "Sorry for all the questions."
A soft chuckle. "Don't worry. But I'm afraid I won't have much answers for you. Just solutions on how to survive here."
"How long have you been here?"
"Maybe a day, but..." Tenno ran a hand through her hair. "It felt like forever. The deja vu feeling isn't helping out either. It's like I'm experiencing a fraction of what the Drifter did."
That last sentence was tossed as an quiet aside, loaded with history that Max was not privy to. Max could awkwardly spiral the conversation into nowhere in particular. Right now, she needed something relevant to her current situation. There were about four questions she could maybe ask, and only enough time to ask one. The line was quickening its pace and rounding a turn about fifty feet from their position.
"Where are we going?" she decided to ask.
"Cafeteria. We need to eat. You're not gonna get any other opportunity, as far as I know."
They started to round the corner, which felt like a point of no return. Like the moment she rounded the corner, it would be a point of no return. She barely managed to grasp the rules of her own powers, let alone this strange place until she realized something Max almost wanted to slam a hand on her forehead. She could reverse time and ask all the questions she needed to ask. Max reached out and started to tug at time, until it snapped back and smacked her in the face. It was so visceral that she actually stumbled back, coughing up blood and a trickle of red running down her nose. Tenno was by her side, holding her gently.
"You tried using your powers, huh?"
Max pressed her sleeve against her lips and wiped away the blood. Red stained the gray hoodie sleeve. "How did you know?"
"Because I suffered the same effect too."
"You're also a time traveler?"
Tenno looked at her and snorted. "In a way, in a way... but either way, there are conditions in which we can use our powers. I just haven't exactly figured out what they are."
The shadows shuffled on through a set of double doors and into a large, spacious cafeteria. Rows upon rows of tables filled out the room, far more than any typical school needed. Shadows gravitated toward the lunch line, grabbed a tray, got their food tossed haphazardly, and then plopped themselves onto the benches attached to the tables.
"The fish is new," Tenno commented.
"What do you mean fish..."
And then Max saw it — a goldfish, in a tiny cup of water, holding a ladle with one flipper and a cigarette in the other. And there was a little hairnet over its head. It made absolutely zero logistical sense, yet-
"What, you never seen a talking fish before?"
Max shook her head, trying to ward off the daze. "This can't be real."
"You guys are so unappreciative of this gruel!" The fish spoke with a faux-German accent. He punctuated this point by swinging the slop onto a shadow's tray. "It's like you're a bunch of zombies or something!"
Tenno was up first, handing a tray to Max before grabbing one for herself, and they were now in front of the fish. Behind the glass window, there was only gruel that seemed bottomless and bubbling.
"Now I can tell you two are ladies of taste! Please enjoy!" Unlike all the other times, he gently poured them a nice dollop of food.
Tenno nodded her thanks and Max tried not to stare.
"Get a move on! You're holding up the lunch line!" He took a drag of the cigarette and blew out smoke perilously close to the food.
Max took the hint and quickly skedaddled after Tenno. They took a seat near the window and Max stared out into the world. Whenever she stared through the lens of a camera, it was like the world was focused to its core pieces. A photographer knew when to snap a shot when those pieces aligned just right. A window was much the same… most of the time. Outside the window here was what should have been a normal courtyard, but the proportions were all wrong. Her own memories of high school and its size was one of modesty. Even so, even a large high school would have paled in comparison to the size on display here. As vast as the courtyard was —with a lawn twice the size of a football field— the buildings that lined around it were a different story.
Though they only had three floors, their length was almost comically absurd were it not for the fact that it just went on and on. After a certain point, it just became daunting that it just didn't stop. The grilled windows made this place out to be a prison. And just peaking over the roofs were hints of even more buildings. Above that were dark clouds, denying them even the hint of sunlight and casting everything under a sheen of darkness.
She expected there to be more of those shadows outside, but they were all inside and they seemed to avoid sitting at the same table as them. Tenno picked up a spoon and started eating. Max picked the plastic white spoon, poked at the colorless gruel, and scooped up a small bit. She stuck out her tongue and pressed it against the liquid. It didn't taste like anything at all. She took a bite, and only felt mildly nourished from it.
"So... uh, what do I need to know?"
Tenno answered in-between bites. "There are rules to this place. Chief of which is that you have to be in the right place at the right time. If you don't, then you get sent to Detention."
"That sounds bad."
"It probably is. All I know is that if you're not in class or the cafeteria, you get taken. I saw a group try to fight back. It was not pretty." She shook her head sadly. "And since my powers are unreliable, I find it best not to risk it."
"How do you know where to go?"
"You should have a schedule in your backpack."
Max patted at her side, realizing that she no longer possessed her shoulder bag. Instead she suddenly became aware of the shoulder straps weighing down on her. She took it off and placed her backpack onto the table next to the food. There was a small twinge of nostalgia, looking back at her old high school pack. Her hands could feel the shape of her Polaroid camera and a sense of relief washed over her. But that wasn't important right now. Reaching in, she found a slip of paper nestled between two notebooks. Pulling it out, she saw the schedules that were given out at the start of a school year. Most of the information was blank, including the school, address, and other information. She was listed as Maxine Caulfield, her gender, birthday, but nothing else. No school ID number, no grade, or the name of the school. There was no personal address for herself.
There were only six classes, but the last one was the only one not blank.
Calendar:Variable
Course Title:H Chronometry
Teacher:Doctor
Room:DW1963
Tenno leaned forward and took a glance at the schedule. "Looks like we got the next class together."
"But isn't lunch right before the last two periods of school?"
Tenno spread out her hands in a 'what can you do' gesture. "Does any of this make sense?"
"I guess not."
The conversation lapped into silence, as the two ate the tasteless food. Max's thoughts turned to Chloe, and that nightmarish breakdown of reality that she had escaped from moments prior. How much of that other Max from the nightmare was right? That all of this might be her fault. All because she wanted to do the right thing. Yet all her good deeds started to feel selfish. She didn't want to hurt anyone and she wanted to save Chloe too. Choices were meant to be taken with the consequences, yet Max seemed to be stand outside that dynamic. With her power, she could change things and avoid the consequences of her actions.
All except the storm.
Frustration welled up wet and blurry in her eyes. She didn't want Chloe to die, yet if she were to let her to die... if that was to stop the storm and fix things... well, what did these last few days actually meant? Max already abandoned Chloe when her dad died, because of her own selfish feelings and anxiety prevented her from keeping in touch. If Chloe's death fixed things, then Max was left with only the memories of her choices and none of the consequences. She got to spend time that Chloe would never have, love her and never be loved back. Chloe would be dead, thinking she died alone. And that felt so extremely selfish. Not as much as choosing Chloe over the Bay... but it felt like all she did was take from Chloe and gave nothing back. As much as the other Max wanted to paint Chloe as selfish and just using her, Max was just desperately trying to make up for abandoning her.
"Are you okay?" Tenno asked, breaking her from the spiral.
"I feel like this might all be my fault," she blurted out, trying to hide the tears.
The confession didn't make things any lighter. If anything, the weight bore down on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
"How?"
"I broke time to save Chloe! I had gotten these powers and used them to undo her death... there were consequences for that. And maybe I even caused us to be trapped in this place."
Tenno gently put aside her tray and focused her attention onto Max. Not in an intense way, but something soft and gentle.
"I don't think this place was caused by you. It's more likely a place formed in the Void like Duviri."
That didn't mean anything to Max, and she shrunk just a bit into herself.
Tenno picked up on that and changed tracks. "Who's Chloe to you?"
"She's..." Max knew the safe answer was 'best friend' but that wasn't the honest answer. "I love her."
"Then you never stop fighting for her." Now there was the expected intensity. It was spoken with the fervor that only someone who knew love and loss could know. "When the world wants to take the people you love... never lose hope, never give into despair and indifference."
"I... don't want to hurt anyone trying to save her."
"Someone always gets hurt, but you can only act in accordance with your own honor. Always try to do the right thing."
"Sometimes that isn't enough." It came out in a pained whisper.
"Sometimes it isn't enough," Tenno echoed. She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you want a hug?"
Max tried to gather herself, but couldn't rally herself. She ended up giving a tight nod. Tenno moved around from her side of the table and sat next to Max, giving her a reassuring hug. Even though Tenno was a smaller girl than her, there was a sense of surety and age in the embrace. It was the type of hug that said 'things are gonna be okay, and if not, it'll be okay one day.' She breathed out the anxiety and fear, and let herself return the hug. At the very least she wasn't alone in this nightmare, and maybe she even made a new friend.
The two trudged down the halls. Luckily they didn't have to stay in formation like before. Apparently that was only applicable in going to the cafeteria. Tenno didn't exactly know the way, but there was maps posted near each corner which were equally as nonsensical as this entire situation. The paper the map was printed on was clearly pristine even as it was displayed behind dirty glass, except it didn't give any hint of the structure at large. Instead it only showed the current hallway, several doors that were unmarked, but at the end of the turns and twists was DW1963. It was like this place was guiding them to where they needed to go. The passing period was only six minutes long, but Tenno didn't seem concerned. It seemed that so long as they walked toward their destination, they would make it in time.
"Typically when I followed the schedule I was given," Tenno was saying, "There was nobody else in the room. Not even any shadows. We'll be able to collect ourselves, and maybe formulate a plan to escape."
"How?"
"Some of the classrooms allowed me to use my powers. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure something out."
"Well... what are your powers?"
The question was almost exhilarating. Max didn't know anyone else with powers, and it seemed that Tenno had something entirely different than her time travel powers. Even if it was out of the 'norm' — and the norm went out the window long ago — it was comforting to know that someone like her existed. It made her feel less alone, and in such an empty place, that meant leaps and bounds.
"Well, I get my powers from the Void —"
"You mentioned that before. What's the Void—"
There was a grinding sound that cut the conversation short. Tenno stepped in front of Max, instinctively and protectively. Her small frame didn't cover much, but that didn't matter when her presence loomed larger than her physical form.
"It'll be okay. Just don't draw its attention," she whispered.
Max saw the tip of its mask first as the thing rounded the corner. The metal material was marked by rust, scratches, and dried blood. A strong figure wearing a giant pyramid-shaped helmet lumbered toward them. Max clung close to the wall, Tenno moving in tune with her. A palatable sense of dread dripped onto her, bit by bit. Her heart thrummed in her chest, beating so loudly that she could feel it thundering in her ears. The figure inched closer and closer, slow yet purposeful. Behind him — it — was a large blade, being dragged along. Sickly red barbed wire traced behind the tip of the blade like paint being left behind by the brush. It faded just as quickly, as if it was never there at all.
"It's not gonna attack us... right? We haven't done anything wrong..."
"I think..." Tenno said slowly, eyes honed in as it moved past them. "If it's out and about, it's tracking someone down. Someone that broke the rules."
"What is it?" Max swallowed down some of the fear, as it continued past them.
"I have no idea. I think it's a conceptual embodiment of some terrible emotion, but that's just speculation."
"Should we follow? Try to help whoever it's tracking?"
"If our powers would work, I'd say most definitely. But as it stands, we'll just get sent to Detention along with whatever poor soul that broke the rules. I don't know if I can't help them. But I know I can help you. In time... maybe we can help everyone else."
The notion that they were leaving someone in trouble made her feel ill, but what could the two of them possibly do? At the very least, Tenno was right about needing to make a plan. This whole place was a nightmare that could ensnare them possibly even deeper. She followed after Tenno, glancing back every now and again. The pyramid-headed figure grew smaller and smaller as the distance grew and grew.
Max hoped that whoever was in trouble would be alright in the end.
He was young again. Roughly around teenager age, just on the cusp of finishing his training. That much was a surprise, even as the environment around him was unfamiliar. Strange settings and sinister shadows, however, were nothing new to Trevor Belmont. On instinct, he reached for his whip — the Vampire Killer, but his fingers grasped nothing. He exhaled, frustrated, and his fist clenched. A few swears ran through his mind, but he otherwise remained stoic. Was this Dracula's work? The Dark Lord had been defeated by his hand and the subsequent attempt at resurrection foiled by Hector.
As he continued to search for anything of use on his person, Trevor found that his outfit had been modified. The white coat he had been wearing was changed. Different material. Smaller. It didn't reach past his waist, and there was a hood attached to it. It was nothing less than some obscure foreign fashion. But outfits were inconsequential. Trevor wore what he wore.
What mattered was that there was no dagger, no Sacred Water, Banshee Boomerang, or Pocket Watch. Though he had a fancy sack strapped to his back, it was devoid of anything useful. It didn't mean he was completely helpless. And unless there was some powerful force suppressing his will to fight, he would remain the stalwart fighter that he always was. Trevor couldn't recall how he arrived at this place. He could only assume that he was in enemy territory and the forces of darkness had swept him up in some unseen plot.
He strode forth, making sure his fists were ready to swing at the first swing of trouble. Metal cabinets with locks lined the walls, broken up by locked doors. He tried opening them, but every one he encountered was locked. Each attempt, he could hear a metallic tapping sound in the back of his head increase in its intensity. It started as the beat of a hummingbird's wings to distant war drums.
It provoked an urgency within him. The next door he smashed his elbow through the window to peak through, and he found nothing but blackness. Just sheer darkness. Bleak and never-ending. This practically confirmed that some vile magics were at work. Urgency was thrumming inside his chest, like the thrill of battle was about to be upon him. Then he heard the sound stepping over the line from mental abstraction to physical vibrancy. The sound was coming from a small metal circle high on the wall, rattling with a fury that determined to make him deaf.
Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and he practically bounced off the walls looking for something to give him an edge. And then he found it. A weapon encased behind a box with a glass cover upon the wall. Behind it was a wooden handle topped off with a blunt piece of metal on one side. It was no battle axe, but an axe all the same.
He smashed through the box and pulled out the axe, testing it out with a few hefts from side to side.
It'll do.
Then he heard a new sound lacing through the pounding of the miniature bell. The grating of metal on metal, and rounding the corner was a monster in the shape of a man. A large pyramid mask, stained with rust and blood, lumbered around the corner. Dragged behind the muscular form of the beast was a large blade. Unwieldy in the hands of a normal man, perhaps, but if the creature possessed incredible strength then it could do a terrible amount of damage.
The axe was at his feet he kicked up, letting it spin through the air before letting it rest on his shoulder.
"Whatever vile master you work for, they won't defend you from my righteous wrath. Have at you!"
He charged forward, hands wrapped around tight around the axe. The creature continued to move without urgency, ponderous and slow. Trevor ducked under the first heavy-handed swing, weaving around to the creature's blindspot. The first swing struck behind the knee. The axe head dug in deep, but the impact didn't feel like a normal blow. It should have felt more like hitting a slab of meat instead of trying to break down a wall. It took him a second longer than it should have to pull it out, and that left him open. The creature spun around with a backhand, sending Trevor flying into a wall. He bounced off it and left a sizable dent behind him.
He rolled back onto his feet, letting the weapon fall to his side.
"Hrgh..." He wiped away the blood from his mouth. Red stained the glove. With how weakened he was, Trevor was surprised that he wasn't bisected in half. But there was still some damage down inside. It didn't feel fatal, but the pain was something else. "I'm slower than I usually am. That won't help you."
Trevor needed to pivot to a different strategy. It seemed like the creature followed suit, slamming that huge blade down to the ground. He seized upon that opening and threw the axe, aiming for the shoulder. Trevor charged after it. His intent was to disarm the creature of the weapon so they could fight on more even grounds. But the creature stepped back, painting the ground with a bloody river with squirming sharp lines.
Trevor hopped over it, just as the axe slammed atop the creature's shoulder. Mid-leap, Trevor made a grab for it and prepared to let gravity do most of the work. He needed to wrench the creature away from the blade. He managed to swing around the creature, using the handle as leverage. The swirling dance between the two was a pitiful maneuver in this weakened body of his. He would have wrenched the creature to its knees and delivered a devastating blow.
Instead he planted his feet back down and smashed his foot into the creature's chest. The axe came loose, still in Trevor's grip, and he stumbled back a single step. Just the one. The very edge of his heel touched that red river. Instantly something started to bite in and out from his body, like worms infesting a rotten apple. It gnawed at his focus, but he still managed to duck under another swing. Then came the blunt ram of a kick, which Trevor met in kind. The sheer power in the creature's simple attack caused Trevor to trip. The creature loomed over him, raising the blade underhanded. Even if it was a matter of inches, the stabbing motion would cut deep.
Trevor moved. The blade didn't plunge into his chest, but it touched his ankle. That was enough. The squirming sensation that dipped in and out of his skin intensified, now devouring, and he fell into darkness. He slammed onto his shoulder hard. Trevor groaned, rolling onto his back, unseeing. Even as the shadows swam over everything, he could feel his strength return. He hissed with a bitter mix of pain and pleasure. His shoulder was dislocated, but that didn't matter. Here in the dark, for whatever reason, he felt somewhat close to his old self. He laughed to himself as he relocated his shoulder, rolling it around to feel for any damage. Standing back up, he wobbled as he couldn't even be sure of the ground beneath his feet. The ground didn't feel particularly solid. The darkness continued to assail his vision, determined to make him blinder than he already was. There was a strange pressure too, like his heart might pop out of his chest.
That was when the screams and howls and other beastly noises started up. No... the more he dwelt in the darkness, the more he could tell that it was always there. The pressure nearly drove him to his knees, but it seemed to fall away in an uneasy equilibrium when he took a step. Then one after another. The pressure didn't go away, but it became manageable with movement. Whatever this was, it seemed to whittle away at his soul. Though his strength had returned, but the exhaustion remained. The noises were moving closer. What a cruel mechanism.
He needed to escape. The more he started to move, the more everything took an ethereal and abstract shaping. Corridors formed, wispy and smoke-like. He pressed a hand against it, and the solidity contrasted with the utter nothingness behind it. It was clear that this was a maze of sorts.
"More games..." He grunted with frustration.
Trevor took a deep breath, before sprinting forward into the darkness. The animal sounds didn't abate, but the pressure was easily manageable. It just felt good to move. Not as good as not being in the situation, and that soothing feeling was only due to the contrast against the pressure. Running and moving was a good but temporary solution. He needed to do something more.
The corridor lengthened and he increased his pace. Light started to lick the smoke away, defining a perceptible edge. Before he could reach it something intercepted him, smashing him away from his current trajectory. He grabbed the shoulders of the assailant and threw them off him. The figure slammed down their sword into the ground to halt their momentum.
"You should be more careful," she said, in a deadpan voice.
"Says who? In this strange realm, I have no way to discern friend from foe."
"Sensible. But if you attract the gaze of those lights, you'll bring the hammer down on everyone in the immediate area."
"What hell have we ended up in then?"
"I do not know." The woman stepped closer and was illuminated in umbra fashion.
There was no light source, but he could see her clearly. A pale face with dark orange eyes greeted him. She was clearly a warrior of sorts, in her strange garment, and oversized sheath behind her. There was a large device strapped to her back and ear-muffs over her ears.
"The pressure here feels like it's battering us into submission. Beyond that? It's so hard to remember, the more you lose down here... the harder it gets to remember why you got sent here."
"I refuse to give in. And the only solution I see is to fight against this madness."
"I can help with that. Follow me."
With no other recourse, he followed but prepared for a possible fight. She led him to a large wooden desk. He could tell it was locked on first glance and smashed through it with a heavy fist. And there it was, in a nest of splinters and wood fragments.... the mystical whip — the Vampire Killer. He let it loose, letting it come alive with magic and power. The glow from the whip gave him a sense of surety.
"How did you know it was there?"
"These desks seem to contain weaponry related to their owners. Sorta like a personalized gacha."
He didn't quite understand, but nodded anyway. Even in this madness, allies could be found. "I am Trevor Belmont of House Belmont."
"Anby..." She hesitated briefly. "Demara."
"Then do we have an accord to stand against the darkness and find the source of this evil?"
"Ah, I see. This is the classic team-up, just like a buddy-cop movie."
Move... e? The nuance of foreign slang was lost on him. It felt like they were only just barely speaking the same language.
"It's a good one-liner." The girl's tone, through deadpan, had a hint of amusement. "And I do accept this accord."
The sounds were getting closer and closer, now crackling with thunder.
"We got a fight on our hands." Anby stepped next to Trevor, drawing her sword. Sparks and arcs danced along the blade, contrasting the glowing hue of Trevor's whip.
"Then we shall meet them head-on," he replied.
"Prepare for a fight montage."
A strange ally Anby was, but a welcomed one.
"Why high school?" Max wondered aloud.
"You mean this whole place? The education here does seem fairly archaic."
"I guess..." Max rubbed her arm. "But I mean why high school? I know some people think it's like the glory years, but I was basically on my way out. Yet this whole nightmare drags me into some pastiche parody of one."
"I wouldn't know. My schooling was a little atypical. So I'll defer all the nuance to you."
"I don't know how much help that's gonna be." Case in point, the door to DW1963 was a bright blue. The wooden door was structured different to all the other door. It was almost off-putting, but there was something warm about its hues and the light behind the phone booth-like window. "I mean, this wasn't part of my high school experience."
"Well, I doubt there is gonna be anyone behind this door. It's just another oddity we'll have to deal with."
A man in a navy blue trench coat was hopped onto one of a table, running a beeping device over the ceiling line of the room. The buzzing hum emitted from a little metal wand in his hand. Tenno took the lead, again sheltering Max. She raised her hand and an ethereal light started to swirl around the palm. Max watched with fascination.
"Oh hello!" The man hopped down from the table, with a spring in his step. "I thought I was the only one here. But I suppose if this place is patterning itself after a high school, there'd be students taken too."
He was an older man, middle-aged, and he looked tired. Even as he strut up to face them with excited and eager movements, he seemed... tired.
"Who are you?" Tenno barked out.
"Me? Oh well I'm the Doctor. And I guess I'm in the same boat as you."
Tenno's brows furrowed. "How can we trust you?"
"I get it. Strange man in a strange place in front of some kids... I'll admit. Not a good look."
"Try me. I'm older than I look."
"And yet this place decided to slot you into the role of a student."
Tenno huffed, and crossed her arms. "I'm not going to get into a debate about mapping my experiences to age. Anyway! What's that device you're using? How do we know it isn't a weapon?"
"This?" He gave it a proud waggle, pinched between index and thumb. "It's a sonic screwdriver. Nonlethal. It's a tool."
"You use sonics? That's just so... niche."
"Oi! I'll have you know that it's very reliable."
"Yeah? And what did it tell you then?"
"Well..." He tossed the strange screwdriver in the air, caught it, and then pocketed it into his coat. "Not much."
"Of course." Tenno hesitated, arm wavering before it lowered. The strange light snuffed out. She stepped into the classroom with Max following behind her.
"Wait, wait!" The man suddenly sprinted toward them. "Don't let that door close!"
On instinctive response to the man's sudden movement, Tenno thrust out both her hands and an intense, brief blast of energy threw the man back. The door slammed shut in tune to the man breaking the table in twain. Everything was squeezed into a single second of pandemonium. Hard to think, hard to hear, but Max acted in the face of all this sudden chaos.
"Wait!" Max's own arm snapped up, time responding to urgent need to rewind away the consequences. Time stuttered, sputtering like a broken down car before it finally responded. Tenno rewound back to their, but as the man reversed his steps back, his eyes seem to focus in on her. She ceased the tugging of time, as everyone but her was reset to their previous positions.
Tenno was by the door again, and Max was a few feet ahead. Closer to the man, who lapsed into silence instead of continuing his previous dialogue.
Max looked away, instead focusing on her friend. "Can you make sure the door doesn't close? It's important."
Tenno glanced from Max's previous position, and then to her current one. She seemed to roll with the punches better than Max could, whose heart pounded in her chest. But Tenno obeyed, holding the door open.
"You rewound time, didn't you?" the man asked, in a serious tone. It was less of a question and more of a statement.
The man's eyes was locked in on her , laser focused with an intensity. Like she was dangerous. Not like she was a predatory animal, but like a ticking time-bomb. She shied away into herself, recoiling deep into her own skin. Only Chloe really knew she could turn back time, and met it with an infectious enthusiasm. The gaze softened somewhat, as if realizing she was just a teenage girl... albeit one with a cosmic power at her fingertips. Now the look was more like she was a rookie sea-diver to his veteran experience of exploring depths she could only scratch.
"Yes, well, thank you. I haven't been able to open the door all day. I could only examine the walls for so long."
"Yeah, well, the doors lock for a set period at a time. Roughly an hour and fifteen minutes. Then it unlocks for six minutes... mostly. Some doors were unlocked, others weren't. All empty," Tenno interjected.
"And yet, it was locked all the time for me. What could it mean?" he whispered under his breath. "More mysteries. Always with the mysteries. Old face, new place..."
He strode past Tenno and looked on the exterior form of the door, with the two standing outside with him. His hands ran down the wooden blue texture with a longing ache.
"Oh... what did they do to you..."
The man's eyes closed and he rested his forehead against the glass. After a very deep breath, he examined the door like he examined the walls. His expression was inscrutable. Just set lines that could have meant anything. He then whirled around, pointing the sonic screwdriver all around. But when it fell onto the bell, the intense buzzing turned into something more alarming.
He lowered his arm. "I do think we have to get inside now."
Max looked over to Tenno, who nodded.
Tenno took up a front seat, and Max followed suit, sitting right next to her. The man went up to the front desk, leaning back against it. His hands flapped and tapped the edge before he picked up a large planner. He skimmed the pages before going right back to the first page.
"Says here in the planner that we're supposed to be doing introductions. Well, I'm the Doctor. Not a doctor, but apparently, your teacher." He hummed to himself. "This isn't my first time being one. First time with this face, it was undercover to investigate an evil plot to use children to solve a forbidden equation. Second time, when I was an old Scottish man, I just had a class where I rambled on whatever I liked. Mind you, that was all in England and this high school feels distinctively... American."
"Is this... rambling supposed to be disarming?"
His smile was small. "Just a bit."
Tenno rolled her eyes and slammed her palms down. "Well, this was all well and good, but how do we get out? I have... responsibilities. People to fight for."
He nodded in understanding. "The only common denomination between all of us, I presume, is some experience with time travel."
The Doctor nodded at Max, before looking at Tenno with a prompting look.
She propped up her chin with a hand. "Only on a technicality. First trip was brief, and mostly through a proxy. My counterpart is the one with the proper experience. I know about Eternalism through some old studies of mine. And I guess, I rewind time in a localized area through a frame I use on occasion."
The man's hands pressed together and pressed it against his mouth. "A theory is starting to form, and I don't think it looks pretty."
The conversation was quickly slipping away from her, and before she knew it, she raised her hand. The Doctor looked amused at the action.
"Uh... I'm sorry. But I feel like I'm about to be lost about all these revelations. It feels very..." Max bit her lip. Now she was really embarrassed. She could typically rewind conversations if it turned awkward, but the man would notice. Still, all the confidence she gained from the past few days just didn't go away. "It feels very sci-fi. Like hardcore to the max sci-fi."
"Well, I guess we should have proper introductions then. I don't mind."
"I guess I'll go first." Max tried to keep a straight face. It was one thing to confess stuff like time travel to your friend, and another in front of a crowd. (Even if two barely counted as one.) "My name is Max Caufield. I'm from Arcadia Bay, Oregon. And one day, after I saw my friend get... hurt, I found out I could rewind time."
The Doctor folded his hands together. "I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I like to explore through all of time and space, see the sights, and try to do right when and where I can."
He watched for a reaction on Tenno's face, but there was no recognition. Just befuddlement. She took a breath.
"Guess I'm up. I'm a Tenno, from the Origin System. A veteran of the Old War. I try to keep the peace between all the various factions that want to dominate the system."
"And I'm guessing we don't recognize anything from each of our introductions. Does anyone thinking what I'm thinking?"
Max shook her head, while Tenno nodded.
"We're from—"
Both of them exclaimed two different things at the same time.
"Different universes!"
"Conceptually embodied timelines!"
The Doctor looked at Tenno. "What's manifesting these timelines? Something has to facilitate the interactions."
"Strands of Khra. The Void."
"I suppose, that might make sense in a roundabout way, but the Void is the space between dimensions and universes. It would need something external to get something through absolute nothing and even then, imposing impression onto current reality... that requires so many hoops to jump through."
"But that's not conceptual embodiment. The Void facilitates the embodiment."
"Things from the Void, well, not-things from that not-place can mimic attributes but you're describing creation with concepts as a blueprint —" Mid-sentence, he pressed a finger to his lips in thought. After a moment of tapping, he pointed at the Tenno. "I think I know what's going on."
He bolted to a nearby bookcase that was knee-high and quickly started to look for something.
"You mentioned Eternalism. Hmmm..." he murmured.
"Hardcore sci-fi," Max commented.
Tenno looked over to her, apologetically. "I just realized something. You're from the past. Or well, a past in any case. Can't be too sure at this point. When are you from?"
"2013. Ah, you?"
"Timekeeping is ever in flux. The Orokin, that is the former empire of the system, defined chronology by their own personal measure. Before that, the various radiation wars aren't marked so much by date as by the sequence of events. Post-Collapse gets even fuzzier, and the fact that two dominant factions have their own calendars doesn't help. Suffice to say, all I know is that it is a long, long way from the 2000s."
"This all feels a bit much. I mean... I was just a student. Time travel powers is one thing, but this... purgatory with people that seem to be so much... more than what I know? It makes me feel small."
"I don't even think you had the plague in your past." Tenno opened and closed her hand. "But I'm glad that somewhere, even if its not my past, knows peace. I promise you, you'll get back there."
Back to the decision that was starting to form, the consequences of all her choices... the inability to save Chloe and the oncoming storm.
It was such a selfish, yet benign thought. It felt like these two dealt with matters that transcended such simple concerns. Again, that feeling of smallness started to sequester in her soul.
The Doctor approached and placed down a tome in front of Tenno. "You recognize either the book or the author?"
"Yep. Temporal Axioms, by Euleria Entrati. Though she goes by a different name nowadays."
"When I first read this when I was bouncing off the walls, I thought it was either a fictional account or one of those incomplete understandings of time. But if you're holding true to what's inside... then that means one of two things. One, either the Void has different and localized phenomena to your universe. Or two, you're from an entirely different paradigm from the one I'm just barely familiar with. I'm a time-traveler. Not a multiverse traveler. I can't say with any amount of certainty."
"So, ah, how does that help us?" Max asked.
The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "No idea. But it's starting to sketch out the scope of things here. It's one thing to steal people from time and space, and bring them to a single place. It's been done before. But it's entirely different thing to steal people from different universes. And I don't even want to consider the other possibility I mentioned. We need more data on how people are taken before we can say for certain."
As if triggered by that comment, the door swung open and a shadow stepped into the classroom. Tenno stood up, hand burning with energy. The Doctor waved at her to lower her arm. Max found herself standing up as well, ready to turn back time if anything went wrong.
"Don't touch it!" Tenno said.
"If something bad happens when a student touches these shadows, it might be because you're a student. Maybe it will be different since I'm a teacher. But I will tread with caution."
He approached the shadow, scanning it with his screwdriver. He waved a hand in front of the face as it continued to move. Then, of all things, the Doctor put on 3D-glasses and stared at the shadow.
"Some Void stuff clinging to him, along with other particles I can't quite identify. It's like all different types of background radiation." He glanced over at Tenno, and a quick grimace passed over his face. He slipped the glasses off and offered them to Max. "You wanna take a look?"
Though skeptical, there was a sort of childish giddiness that accompanied the innocent yearning. She took it up and placed them over her eyes. The shadow was sparkling across an entire spectrum, pushing and pulling, ebbing and flowing against the tenebrous surface. Some of it looked like dust, others were like cresting blue waves of an impossible sea. The way it ran through the body made it a bundle of skein, intersected and barely stitched together. It looked like it could fall apart at the seams.
"Keep a close eye on how my hand interacts with it, Max."
He gently pressed his hand on the shadow's shoulder and she took a careful look at the interaction. The shadow seemed to flee from his touch, revealing something more solid underneath. But the lights were gone, snuffed out as though they were never there.
"I think those lights and stuff disappear when you touch it."
"And now?" He pulled his hand back, and the lights returned alongside the shadowy cover.
"They're back in place."
"Very interesting." The Doctor hopped back, as the shadow started taking a nearby seat. She handed him back the glasses. Tenno and Max were at the ready, hands resting at their side as though they were deadly weapons.
"What do you think is gonna happen?" Max asked.
"I think we're gonna get another piece of the puzzle, and a whole lot more questions."
Then, as if there was never any shadow, there was suddenly another person in the seat.
A very pale person, with skin and hair the color of alabaster, stared back at them. He wore a strange red garb with a cape, and his eyes were covered by an old pair of shades. He looked at each of them, a cool expression greeting each and everyone of them.
"Ain't this dandy. You win a game to get a universe, and you end back at school of all things." He looked at each of them. "With how you eyein' me up like some houndin' paparazzi, I half-expected there to be cameras. Kinda letting me down on that front. Am I not pretty enough?" He propped his chin up on the crook of his palm, in an exaggerated mimicry of male modeling.
Max didn't realize — that on pure instinct — she had reached into her backpack, found her Polaroid camera and snapped a shot. There was a stunned silence at her own audacity.
"Uh... sorry?" she offered.
"Oh man, you went really old school there. Respect, girl." He pressed his knuckles forward, clearly asking for a fistbump.
Was this a test of sorts? It felt like a really important choice. She probably could rewind if he had a negative reaction, but rewinding time might hold some more immediate consequences now. The Doctor could tell, and maybe this new kid could too. Max still bumped knuckles with this clear cool kid.
"Ha. I like you hipster girl. I wanna see that photo when it develops." There was a slight relaxation in his posture as he folded his arms back and rested his head against it. "So, whatcha ya'll want to know?"
"How did you get here?" the Doctor asked.
"Told you. My friends and I won a game, after a whole bunch of fucked-up shenanigans, and we were supposed to get a brand-spankin' new universe. And I can tell this ain't it."
"Well..." The Doctor clapped his hands. "We can definitely confirm that these shadows are incoming students. And judging by, Mr...?"
"Strider. Dave Strider." He had put on an exaggerated British accent for that reference.
"Mr. Strider's comment, that the scope is unfathomable and no overall pattern, given the range of personalities and background on display."
"What are we supposed to do?" Max asked.
"Keep to the pattern till we figure out how to break it."
Dave cleared his throat. "So, I'm sorta new to this dealio, but are we in some high school purgatory?"
"We're all new to this," Tenno replied, a touch annoyed. "But yes."
"Alright, tensions are high. But as far as we can all tell, this is the first day and this is supposed to be the last period. Perhaps we'll have more freedom in exploring as more areas open up. How things unfold from here will tell us more about this place's nature," the Doctor said.
"And what? The alternative possibility being that we repeat the same six classes until we lose our minds?" Tenno asked.
"I won't let that happen. And if it comes to it, I'll take on that burden myself." The next sentence came out as a quiet, pained whisper. "I've done it before."
At that declaration, the bell rang. It rang with such a mundanity that Max almost really thought she was back at high school.
"Looks like we get to see how after-school is different," the Doctor said, "if at all."
The deja vu between Max and Tenno is just a cheeky reference to the previous iteration of this story. Don't expect anything to really come about this.
During the scene with Klaus, Tenno mentions this isn't the first talking fish she's seen. She is referring to Fibonacci of the Cavia syndicate.
The room number for the Doctor's classroom is simply the show abbreviated and the year it started airing.
Trevor going "have at you!" is a reference to Dracula's line from the game Symphony of the Night. Just a small bit. Anything else, like the miserable pile of secrets line, would have been a stretch and ill-fitting for Trevor's character, I feel.
Pyramid Head is more inspired by its depication in the game Dead by Daylight than anything else. The way it sent Trevor to Detention is based off its ability to cage the survivors instead of hooking them.
Anby was sort of a late addition to the chapter, but I found her really fitting in the end. Zenless Zone Zero has a good cast of characters to draw from.
The line "It felt like they were only just barely speaking the same language." is me hand-waving the language barriers that should be present.
When the Doctor talks about when he was a teacher before is referring to the 10th Doctor episode — School Reunion — and when he was the 12th Doctor, where he first met the companion Bill Pots as a university lecturer.
When Tenno talks about Temporal Axioms and its author, the different name can apply both to her title of "Mother" or her new name of Gomaitru.
The talk about the Void is mainly to demonstrate how different and unreliable their sources of knowledge end up being. No one system takes prominence over the other. Side-tangent, I won't ever dwell too deep into the multiverse mechanics. Or, at the very least, start talking about omniverses or whatever. I find that fics that bring up that term get kinda... unfocused? Or at least, focusing on the least interesting stuff. The point about them being from different paradigms, i.e. different multiverses, is mostly to supplement the first point I made about their knowledge and the systems used in their source series. Character interactions are paramount, in my opinion.
