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Knocking on Heaven's Door [MtG/Multicross/SI]

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Krazyfan1 said:
on those ships...
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There are girls on Arrakis.
Most of 'em are either sworn to celibacy and seen as a religious/authoritative figure or is spoken for (for one reason or another) though.
Either way, it'll be hazardous.

shadenight123 said:
Then again, nobody expects the Sliver Inquisition.
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For good reason! Those that do would immediately scorch the earth after all! :V

That said, I got no idea what he's planning and whatever I came up just make it seems.... petty.
 
*Facepalms* Dammit Shade, you know by now not to temp Murphy, even if you are a Planeswalker.
My guess is that a female Planeswalker shows up just in time for Rito to fall onto her.
 
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Does constantly slipping and faceplanting count as "walking without rhythm"? :V

Anyway, I'm just imagining Paul Atreides (or anyone with considerably greater future sight than the Guild navigators) getting a massive headache whenever Shade visits.
 
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Living forever is awesome
  • Threadmarks
    • Living forever is awesome
    ​
    Nothing good ever comes from two planeswalkers being in close proximity.

    Even if they were just eating a burger.

    "Hey, want to sling some spells?" one asked.

    The other just raised one eyebrow. He had to rise both when the other brought out two decks for Magic the Gathering.

    "What? You thought I was actually going to use magic? Please. That's too much work. Now c'mon. Start shuffling."

    And so they were eating and playing. Planeswalkers playing Magic the Gathering. What irony. The challenger had a red-blue deck, while the challenged was given a sliver deck.

    "You know, you fulfill the stereotype of cynical immortal pretty well, Mr. Shade. I just don't get it. Living forever has been awesome for me so far."

    The other Planeswalker said something about being everywhere and doing everything that this narrator couldn't even begin to predict with any accuracy, so he didn't even try. But he also asked how the first one did it. How after all this time and what he's seen and done didn't grow cynical.

    "Well, the way I see it, being a Planeswalker is like playing with Lego's. Oh don't give me that look, it's a perfectly accurate metaphor in my case. When I was a small child, even before I ever became a planewalker I promised myself that I would remain a child forever. Obviously, that didn't work, but I did what I could to keep that spark that I had in my childhood alive. The memories of the first years of my live will stay with me forever. When everything was still new and exciting. I keep that feeling and that's what keeps me going. That's why living forever is like Lego bricks. When I build something I can always tear it down and start again. It's so pointless, and I often end up making the same type of castle with only minor variations, but as long as the process is fun then that's what matters, even if I never make anything permanent."

    They talked some more, and inevitably the topic turned to death.

    "Don't be sad that it's gone, be happy that it happened. That's what I live by. You might've given up on love, but I haven't. Even after all these years it never gets old. I keep doing it, and I'll keep doing it. Again, and again, and again. Until I have run out of people to love, which thankfully won't happen because of the multiverse. And when they die? I'm not sad. I wasn't sad the first time it happened, and I wasn't sad when it happened for the thousandth. I don't think that means that I didn't love them, because grief is not a competition, I don't have anything to prove to anyone. You wanna know what I think your problem is? You don't live in the moment, every moment. You see too much of the bigger picture and it scares you. If the multiverse is so big, then what's the point of doing anything? Might as well just lay down and die. Except you forget that it's exactly the same for mortals and the scale doesn't matter. The fact that we will all die someday and that everything will be destroyed by entropy means that everything we do has no higher meaning. I choose to create the meaning for myself instead of not having it."

    While they were talking the state of the board game was changing. The optimistic walker lost to overpoweredness that was slivers, but that was okay.

    "You know, this game can be mathematically solved. Every board state, every shuffling configuration, but I keep playing it anyway. Hell, the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was the world where I've had the most fun since forever. I've found something that I love doing and I'll love doing no matter how much time passes. I've even became the King of Games fair and square. No bullshit 'draw the card I need then and there' necessary. After enough tries I succeeded. And when that dream was achieved, I just got myself another dream. And another and another. And when you've run out of things on your 'to do' list you just add 'think of things I can add to my list' to it, and that's what keeps me from just saying 'fuck it' like you have. I can only hope you'll find something like that as well. For now, how about we play another round?"

    In the restaurant a song was playing in the background.

    "Who's the man who stole fire for the people?
    Who causes trembling in the bones of evil?
    Who carved a mountain into a cathedral?    "


    A little omake I put together about a planewalker expressing my feelings on immortality that are completely opposite to Shade's SI. I'm a bit intimidated about portraying Shade-sempai so I didn't give him any dialogue. I bet if he reads this he could just imagine the lines he would use, but I just can't.

    Sorry if it's a low-quality omake, but the message was more important to me than the form it was presented in. Shade's an awesome writer and I actually like his Planeswalker SI, but I also know my views on Planeswalking would be a lot closer to Fuuka's and all the lessons he tried to teach her and all the speeches he gave her would be mocked for being very ridiculous.
     
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    • Rooster said:
    A little omake I put together about a planewalker expressing my feelings on immortality that are completely opposite to Shade's SI. I'm a bit intimidated about portraying Shade-sempai so I didn't give him any dialogue. I bet if he reads this he could just imagine the lines he would use, but I just can't.

    Sorry if it's a low-quality omake, but the message was more important to me than the form it was presented in. Shade's an awesome writer and I actually like his Planeswalker SI, but I also know my views on Planeswalking would be a lot closer to Fuuka's and all the lessons he tried to teach her and all the speeches he gave her would be mocked for being very ridiculous.
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    FWIW, I have the same views on immortality.
     
    shadenight123 said:
    Yuuki Rito was not expecting the Sliver Inquisition.
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    NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!!
    shadenight123 said:
    I needed a fuzzy cat, and then everything would be set for me to welcome mister Yuuki, Rito Yuuki. The shark tank was unnecessary, since I could make do with a Sliver tank. Though I had to warn them not to eat too much of him, or they'd get whatever sickness he had.
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    So much meta in this fic, Shade
    I challenged him to commit dishonorable acts of slipping and touching women in the middle of the desert of the planet Dune. I challenged him to do so!
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    Maximum Tsundere Engage!
    ​

    ​
     
    shadenight123 said:
    As I stepped inside, my presence remained hidden to the senses of the students, and the teachers.
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    students and the teachers.

    When you make a list that consists of only two things, you do not use commas.
    shadenight123 said:
    I'd make her fall gently and require medical assistance. Knowing Rito's luck, he'd be the one picked to bring him to the infirmary.
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    So… gender changing teacher?
    shadenight123 said:
    She had no idea that I could just as easily enter the shadows as she could, and that to me, her Dark Matter body meant absolutely nothing.
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    could and that to me, her Dark Matter

    The word and does not have a comma precede it as a rule—it's just really frequent because of the Oxford comma.
    Garner's Modern English Usage said:
    D. Comma [,]. This punctuation mark, the least emphatic of them all, is the one used in the greatest variety of circumstances. Two styles result in different treatments. The "close" style of punctuation results in fairly heavy uses of commas; the "open" style results in fairly light uses of commas. In the 20th​ century, the movement was very much toward the open style. The byword was, "When in doubt, leave it out." Indeed, some writers and editors went too far in omitting commas that would aid clarity. What follows is an explanation tending slightly toward the open style, but with a steady view toward enhancing clarity.

    Essentially, the comma has nine uses.

    First, the comma separates items (including the last from the next-to-last) in a list of more than two—e.g.: "The Joneses, the Smiths, and the Nelsons." In this position, it's called, variously, the serial comma, the Oxford comma, or the Harvard comma. Whether to include the serial comma has sparked many arguments. But it's easily answered in favor of inclusion because omitting the final comma may cause ambiguities, whereas including it never will—e.g.: "A and B, C and D, E and F[,] and G and H." When the members are compound, calling for and within themselves, clarity demands the final comma. (See ENUMERATIONS (B).) Although newspaper journalists typically omit the serial comma as a "space-saving" device, virtually all writing authorities outside that field recommend keeping it—e.g.:
    When you write a series of nouns with and or or before the last one, insert a comma before the and or or. "The location study covered labor, tax, freight, and communications costs, all in terms of 1972 prices." While this rule is not observed by all publishers, it is valid and helpful. Professional magazines follow it frequently, and such authorities as David Lambuth support it. The reason is that the comma before the and helps the reader to see instantly that the last two adjectives are not joined. In the example cited, suppose the last comma in the series is omitted; freight and communications costs could then be read as one category, though it is not meant to be.​
    David W. Ewing, Writing for Results in Business, Government, and the Professions 358 (1974).
    ​
    Examples abound. In the following sentence, for example, is Toby the terrier a gift, or is Toby the terrier getting a little plastic surgery? "Federal officials said that the Delle Donnas received $26,700 in cash and gifts from Ms. Medrano, including gift cards for Macy's, plastic surgery for Mrs. Delle Donna and a Yorkshire terrier named Toby valued at $2,300." Jonathan Miller, "Mayor Is Convicted in Extortion Case," N.Y. Times, 30 Apr. 2008, at B3. The serial comma would prevent the MISCUE.

    Second, the comma separates coordinated main clauses—e.g.: "Cars will turn here[,] and coaches will go straight." There are two exceptions: (1) when the main clauses are closely linked <Do as I tell you [no comma] and you won't regret it>; and (2) when the subject of the second independent clause, being the same as in the first, is not repeated <Policies that help prevent crime are often better for the public [no comma] and are closer to the ideal of effective public administration>. (Another way of referring to the construction in that sentence is that it contains a "compound predicate.") Omitting the comma before the and in a compound sentence often causes an ambiguity or MISCUE:
    • "I would love to see her and the baby and I will be here all day." (Insert a comma after baby; otherwise, it might appear that the baby and the writer will be there all day.)
    • "No one claimed responsibility for the attack nor for once were Chechen guerrillas seen as the prime suspects." Sander Thoenes, "Russia Rivals Trade Insults over Moscow Bombing," Fin. Times, 13 June 1996, at 2. (Insert a comma after attack; otherwise, it looks as if for once is parallel to for the attack.)    ​

    Third, the comma separates most introductory matter from the main clause, often to prevent misunderstanding. The introductory matter may be a word <Moreover,>, a phrase <In the meantime,>, or a subordinate clause <If everything goes as planned,>. Matter that is very short may not need this comma <On Friday we leave for Florida>, but phrases of three or more words usually do—and even the shortest of subordinate clauses always do <That said,>. On the other hand, a comma may prove helpful for clarity even with shorter phrases <For now, we must assume the worst>. It may even be imperative <Outside, the world goes on>.

    Fourth, the comma marks the beginning and end of a parenthetical word or phrase, an appositive, or a nonrestrictive clause—e.g.: "I am sure[,] however[,] that it will not happen."/ "Fred[,] who is bald[,] complained of the cold." Some writers mistakenly omit the second comma—e.g.: "After graduating from Rosemary Hall, an exclusive Greenwich girls' school in 1965, Ms. Close began touring with Up With People, the squeaky-clean pop group." Betsy Sharkey, "Glenn Close: So Visible a Star, So Distant," N.Y. Times, 27 Mar. 1994, at 2-1, 2-30. (Insert a comma after school or, better, put in 1965 after graduating.) Still others omit both commas, often creating a MISCUE: "Our customers must be at a minimum priority concerns of everyone." (Insert a comma after be and after minimum; otherwise, one might read at a minimum priority as a single phrase.)

    Fifth, the comma separates adjectives that each qualify a noun in the same way <a cautious[,] reserved person>. If you could use and between the adjectives, you'll need a comma—e.g.: "Is there to be one standard for the old, repulsive laws that preferred whites over blacks, and a different, more forgiving standard for new laws that give blacks special benefits in the name of historical redress?" Linda Greenhouse, "Signal on Job Rights," N.Y. Times, 25 Jan. 1989, at 1. But when adjectives qualify the noun in different ways, or when one adjective qualifies a noun phrase containing another adjective, no comma is used. In these situations, it would sound wrong to use and—e.g.: "a distinguished [no comma] foreign journalist"; "a bright [no comma] red tie." Writers often include the comma when it isn't necessary—e.g.: "The centerpiece of the Senate GOP package, which could be presented to the Senate Finance Committee for a vote as early as next week, is a permanent, $500-per-child [read permanent $500-per-child] tax credit for families. . . . Effective in 1996, families would be granted a new, $500 [read new $500] tax credit for each child." Jonathan Peterson, "Key GOP Senators OK $245 Billion in Tax Cuts," L.A. Times, 15 Oct. 1995, at A1. See ADJECTIVES (C).

    Sixth, the comma separates a direct quotation from its attribution <"Honey, I'm home," Desi said>, but it is not used to separate quoted speech that is woven into the syntax of the sentence <TV loves catchphrases such as "Honey, I'm home">.

    Seventh, the comma separates a participial phrase, a verbless phrase, or a vocative—e.g.: "Having had breakfast[,] I went for a walk."/ "The sermon over [or being over], the congregation filed out."/ "Fellow priests[,] the clergy must unite in reforming the system of electing bishops." Note, however, that no comma is needed within an absolute construction—e.g.: "The sermon [no comma] being over, we all left." (See ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS.) Nor is a comma needed with restrictive expressions such as "my friend Professor Wright" or "my son John" (assuming that the writer has at least one other son—see APPOSITIVES).

    Eighth, in informal letters the comma marks the end of the salutation <Dear Mr. Crosthwaite[,]> <Dear Rebecca[,]> and the complimentary close <Very truly yours[,]> <Yours sincerely[,]>. In formal letters, the salutation is separated from the body by a colon <Dear Sir[:]> <Dear Madam[:]>.

    Finally, the comma separates parts of an address <#8 Country Club Dr., Amherst, Massachusetts> or a date <March 2, 1998>. Note that in these examples, the state in the address and the year in the date are parenthetical, so each would ordinarily take a comma or some other punctuation after it (unless the place name or date were used as an adjective—see ADJECTIVES (D) & DATES (C)). Note also that no comma is needed between the month and year in dates written "December 1984" or "18 December 1984"; a comma is required only when the date is written "December 18, 1984." See DATES (B).

    Writers cause needless confusion or distraction for their readers when they insert commas erroneously. This typically occurs in one of four ways.

    (1) Some writers insert a comma before the verb—something that was once standard. But the practice has been out of fashion since the early 20th​ century, and today it's considered incorrect—e.g.: "Whether or not the shoes were bought at our store, [omit the comma] is not something we have yet been able to ascertain."/ "Only if this were true, [omit the comma] could it be said that John F. Kennedy was a great president." Even those who understand this principle are sometimes tempted to place a comma after a compound element that doesn't require one. Avoid the temptation—e.g.: "Teachers who do not have a Ph.D., a D.M.A., or an M.A., [omit the comma] do not qualify for the pay raise."

    (2) Commas frequently set off an adverb that doesn't need setting off. The result is a misplaced emphasis—e.g.: "We, therefore, [read therefore without the embracing commas] conclude that the mummy could not be authentic." Note that if the emphasis in that sentence is intended for some reason to fall on We—as clearly separated from some other group and its thinking—the commas should stand; but if the emphasis is to fall on therefore as a simple consequence of reasoning from the evidence, then the commas should be omitted. See therefore (A).

    (3) In compound sentences, an unnecessary comma is sometimes inserted before a second independent clause when the subject is the same as in the first clause. (As some grammarians put it, a comma shouldn't appear before the second part of a "compound predicate.") As explained above in the second rationale for using this mark, no comma appears before the conjunction when the second clause has an understood subject—e.g.: "They did their spring cleaning, and then had a picnic." (Delete the comma.) Sometimes, though, a comma is needed for clarity—e.g.: "We like to have wine and ham it up on weekends." (Insert a comma after wine.)

    (4) Some writers (even some otherwise excellent ones) mistakenly use a comma as if it were a stronger mark—a semicolon or a period. The result is a comma splice—e.g.: "He said he didn't want to look, he wanted to remember her as she was in life." (Replace the comma with a semicolon; see RUN-ON SENTENCES.) This also occurs in series of phrases or clauses that themselves contain commas. Semicolons rather than commas are often needed to separate the elements in complex series—e.g.: "We celebrate the Fourth by flying the red, white, and blue; honoring baseball, Mom, and apple pie; and shouting hip, hip, hooray as the fireworks burst."

    […]

    RUN-ON SENTENCES do not stop where they should. The problem usually occurs when the writer is uncertain how to handle PUNCTUATION or how to handle such adverbs as however and otherwise, which are often mistakenly treated as conjunctions.

    Some grammarians distinguish between a "run-on sentence" (or "fused sentence") and a "comma splice" (or "run-together sentence"). In a run-on sentence, two independent clauses—not joined by a conjunction such as and, but, for, or, or nor—are incorrectly written with no punctuation between them. Hence a run-on sentence might read: "I need to go to the store the baby needs some diapers." Correctly, it might read: "I need to go to the store; the baby needs some diapers."

    With a comma splice, two independent clauses have merely a comma between them, again without a conjunction—e.g.: "I need to go to the store, the baby needs some diapers."

    The presence or absence of a comma—and therefore the distinction between a run-on sentence and a comma splice—isn't usually noteworthy. So most writers class the two problems together as run-on sentences.

    But the distinction can be helpful in differentiating between the wholly unacceptable (true run-on sentences) and the usually-but-not-always unacceptable (comma splices). That is, most usage authorities accept comma splices when (1) the clauses are short and closely related, (2) there is no danger of a MISCUE, and (3) the context is informal. Thus: "Jane likes him, I don't." But even when all three criteria are met, some readers are likely to object. And in any event, a dash or a semicolon seems preferable to a comma in a sentence like that one.

    Unjustified comma splices are uncommon in non-fiction writing, but they do sometimes occur—e.g.: "The remnants of Hurricane Opal will move north through the Tennessee Valley as a tropical storm this morning. Winds near the center of the storm will diminish rapidly, however, wind gusts over 60 miles an hour will persist around the storm center." "Weather Report," N.Y. Times, 5 Oct. 1995, at B8. In that sentence, the mispunctuation makes for an ambiguous modifier because however could go with either the clause before or the clause after. The context suggests that the reading should be with a semicolon after rapidly. The best edit would be to replace however with but—and to delete the comma after it. See HOWEVER (D).

    […]

    APPOSITIVES. An appositive points out the same person or thing by a different name, usually in the form of an explanatory phrase that narrows an earlier, more general phrase. So in the sentence "My brother Brad is a musician," Brad is the appositive of brother. Typically, in phrases less succinct than my brother Brad (in which Brad is restrictive), the appositive is set off by commas or parentheses:
    • " 'Gotta watch what I do,' joked the darkhaired 18-year-old, the youngest child of Councilwoman Domenique Thornton and her husband, Richard Thornton." "In the Running for First Daughter," Hartford Courant, 11 Sept. 1997, at B7. (Richard Thornton is an appositive of her husband. And the entire phrase the youngest child . . . Thornton is an appositive of 18-year-old.)
    • "In that community, individual farming compounds were spaced between the complex of the community leader, the caddi, and the complex of the xinesi, the paramount religious authority." Timothy K. Perttula, Southwest Hist. Q. (Book Rev.), Apr. 2001, at 616. (The caddi is an appositive of the community leader, and the paramount religious authority is an appositive of the xinesi.)    ​

    Generally, a pair of commas (or, less frequently, parentheses or dashes) must frame an appositive unless the appositive is restrictive. So a person might write my brother Blair to distinguish Blair from another brother (say, Brad). But if Blair were the only brother, the reference should be to my brother, Blair. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, and many publications ignore commas with a name as a short appositive of relationship, for two reasons. The first is stylistic: the written comma <my husband, Bob> does not reflect any audible pause in the spoken sentence <"my husband Bob">. The second is practical: enforcing the rule would require finding out how many brothers the subject has before deciding between his brother Blair or his brother, Blair, and that can be a lot of effort for a small payoff.

    One telltale signal that an appositive is restrictive is the definite article the preceding the noun—e.g.: The grammarian Henry Sweet provided Shaw a model for Henry Higgins. (But reverse the order and it comes out differently: Henry Sweet, the grammarian, provided Shaw a model for Henry Higgins.) The signal is not infallible, however. Consider: My favorite restaurant is Abacus. The chef, Kent Rathbun, trained at . . . . Here, the chef is the main information and the name adds to it but could be omitted. In the previous example, though, the grammarian could not stand alone.

    Emphatic appositives (also termed "intensive pronouns") are never set off by commas—e.g.: "He himself flunked the test." See PRONOUNS (E).

    Some writers erroneously omit the comma that should follow an appositive introduced with a comma—e.g.:
    • "In the lawsuit, Douglas Hartman, an Illinois air traffic controller[,] says he was forced to walk through a Tailhook-style gantlet during a workshop designed by Eberhardt to combat sexual harassment." Jean Marbella, "Daring Tailhook-Style Gantlet Stirs Up Debate," Detroit News, 12 Oct. 1994, at A12.
    • "Barry Popik, an etymologist[,] has found the earliest use so far in a Dec. 1, 1883, Washington weekly called The Hatchet." William Safire, "On Language," N.Y. Times, 15 Dec. 2002, at 48, 49 (assuredly a copyediting error—as inside information has confirmed).    ​

    As a matter of CONCORD, an appositive should match its noun in part of speech and number. For example, it's wrong to use a noun appositive after a possessive—e.g.: "Merton W. Starnes's (Starnes) claim arrived in this office after the deadline had passed." The better strategy would be to avoid the shorthand definition altogether; on a second reference, Merton W. Starnes becomes Starnes—and no reasonable person would be confused. Likewise, it's wrong to use a singular noun with a plural appositive—e.g.: "The spelling 'kinda' and 'coupla' probably reflects [read spellings 'kinda' and 'coupla' probably reflect] the writer's feeling about the special status of these 'words.' " Dwight Bolinger, "Couple: An English Dual," in Studies in English Linguistics 30, 40 n.5 (Sidney Greenbaum et al. eds., 1979).

    For the problem of the "disjointed" appositive, see ILLOGIC (D).

    […]

    D. The Disjointed Appositive. Phrases intended to be in apposition shouldn't be separated—e.g.:
    • "A respected English legal authority on the common law, the view of William Blackstone permeated much of the early thinking on freedom of expression." John Murray, The Media Law Dictionary11 (1978). (Blackstone himself, not Blackstone's view, is the respected authority.)
    • "As the editor of Godey's Lady's Book from 1837 to 1877—years in which this widely read magazine almost never mentioned the Civil War because war was not the business of ladies—Hale was regarded as one of America's most influential women." Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History 305 (2002). (The author's assertion for the years 1837 to 1860 is illogical—the Civil War didn't begin until 1861, so of course it wasn't mentioned before then.)    ​

    See APPOSITIVES.
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    If you feel this one is not understandable, there is also this: Rules for Comma Usage

    EDIT: Okay, 3,075 words is a bit much, even for me. I'm not sure how to break this up in chunks. ^^;
     
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    So, do Slivers have any individual self-determination? Because I can't help but imagine that this debacle will end with and addition to his harem...
     
    cupcakeviolater said:
    A few, the leaders of the hive. But they're few and far between. In MTG canon, there were only 3 or 4 of them.
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    3 types of them, if you count the Sliver Queen, who was more akin to an insect queen than anything else. There's nothing suggesting that Sliver Overlord is actually unique, given that we have something along the lines of nothing about it outside of the card effects. All we have to go on there is that it's a Legendary Creature, but Sliver Legion shows that that doesn't mean it is unique. Seriously, Sliver Legion represents the Hivemind turning into a coherent entity.

    Speaking of Legendary Slivers, will Planeswalker!Shade be going to Shandalar to kindnap the Sliver Hivelord? Or has he already done that? Sliver Hivelord is specifically a unique individual on Shandalar, the Sliver that got the Sliver Hives started there. 'All Slivers you control gain Indestructible' is the sort of thing that the Queen would love to have. It's also the only 'classic' Sliver body type representation on Shandalar, and is smart enough to recognize and destroy artifact Slivers.
     
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    Morphic Tide said:
    Speaking of Legendary Slivers, will Planeswalker!Shade be going to Shandalar to kindnap the Sliver Hivelord? Or has he already done that? Sliver Hivelord is specifically a unique individual on Shandalar, the Sliver that got the Sliver Hives started there. 'All Slivers you control gain Indestructible' is the sort of thing that the Queen would love to have.
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    Or Shade is the Angst Hive's Hivelord.
    :V
     
    Chapter Twenty-One (Dune)
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    • Chapter Twenty-One (Dune)

    He who controls the Spice controls the Universe. He who controls Arrakis controls the Universe. He who controls the Worms controls Arrakis. And among it all, he who controls space and time, bends wills to his own and holds the strongest psionic net holds absolute command over every single living being in his surroundings. It was for that reason that the Worms did not bother us.

    "This isn't a planet I know of," Nemesis spoke as she appeared from within Rito's form, the boy sitting on the dune with coarse sand all around him. The stifling heat around us was doused by my presence, "Where are we?"

    "This is Arrakis," I said. "It's a planet of no importance for us, if not for the fact that anywhere you go, you will meet death." I sat down on the sand next to Rito. "So do not run." I conjured forth a bottle of water, uncorked it, and took a sip out of it. "It wouldn't help you anyway."

    "Then let's start with why we are here," Nemesis said, crossing her arms. "If you wanted to talk, you could have done so without forcing us to follow you here. This place must have some significance."

    "It does," I acquiesced, "But not for the reasons you might think," I added. "I must begin with citing the obvious. You have awoken as a Planeswalker," I looked at them both, "Though whether the one who awoke was Rito or you, Nemesis, I am unable to discern it just yet. Your state of being makes it hard to understand whether the Spark lies within one of your souls, or both." I took another sip of water. "What this means, in the short term, is that you have incredible powers at your disposal. Immortality, immunity to sicknesses that aren't of a magical nature, natural phenomenons...the list goes on, but those are the key points."

    Nemesis whistled, humming with a content smile, "Is that why I'm feeling so charged up?" she chuckled, "It explains how I'm reforming faster than normal. Whatever this Spark is, it must be made of Dark Matter."

    "On the negative side, the Spark cannot be shared. Only one of you actually has it," I acquiesced. "So the one who will claim it shall rip it out of the other, killing him, or her." I glanced at my nails, "Which is why we are here on Arrakis, I guess. Eventually the Spark's energy will be enough to restore you fully to your body, Nemesis, and when that happens, well, you'll pull yourself free I reckon." I glanced at Yuuki Rito, "and then you'll die. On the other hand, if she doesn't, eventually your body will grow strong enough that you will simply absorb her, thus killing her instead." I shrugged. "Either way, one of you is going to die within the next few days."

    Silence met my words, so I simply pressed on. "Also, I chose this world for another reason." I looked up, and as the shimmering ethereal lights linked themselves to a close, the whole plane was abruptly cut off from the Multiverse's net in its entirety. The sudden shift was like a heavy pressure, which was mitigated by the thousand of glittering glowing gems that burst from my skin, shining and embedding mana deep within my frame. "In here, should you both decide to live and fight against one another, the casualties will be kept to a minimum."

    Nemesis' eyes narrowed. "You closed off our escape."

    I smiled. "Of course I did," I acquiesced. "I cannot risk you leaving this place without a resolution. Since I know it's the only way to actually have one, please pick whatever choice you prefer. I'll be impartial through this," I added. "Ask any question you wish, I'll answer as best as I can. Or just kill one another and I'll answer the questions of the one that survives."

    "Is there another way?" Rito asked. "Whatever happened, can it be removed?"

    I hummed, and then shrugged. "It fits that you would ask for a mean that isn't a resolution, but no. You do not fully possess the Spark, so it can't be removed." I clenched my right hand, shivers and tremors rippling across it. "It is merely a matter of choice. One lives, one dies. The worlds keep spinning. Nobody is going to miss a transformation weapon. Nobody is going to miss Yuuki Rito."

    I morphed the sands beneath me into a pillow, and then altered the water into a cup of cold ice coffee.

    "How do you know of us?" Nemesis asked, "You aren't a transformation weapon, that much is clear. Yet you didn't even let us present ourselves. Can you read minds?"

    "If I wished for it," I acquiesced, nodding. "As said before, a Planeswalker has a lot of powers and reading minds is among them."

    The sands shimmered as slowly the Slivers began to encroach closer to us. The skies had already been covered, the Psionic net blocking passage as the thundering energies of the atmosphere were being redirected and morphed into power for the interdimensional weave that would have ensnared anyone trying to leave.

    "The way you word it..." Nemesis said, thoughtful. "Well, it appears the time has come." She sighed and shook her head, plopping her feet on the sand even though a thin strip of Dark Matter still connected her to Rito's body. "I would have died after the fight with Gid anyway, so the extra time was simply a gift." She turned to smile sadly at Rito, both of her hands touching his cheeks. "It's been nice watching Yami and Mea gain some form of humanity, and it's all thanks to you. It was amusing while it lasted, but this appears to be that special something you always had. I can't take that away from you."

    Rito tried to speak, and in that moment, Nemesis gave him a deep kiss silencing him on the spot. "Don't say anything," Nemesis said with a chuckle. She turned to look up at me, "Whatever you need to do, I'm ready."

    Large talons emerged from my back, psychic energies lashing out as ghostly and pale flames ruptured into reality around my eyes and face. The apex of creation, the true power of ascension, the thundering that accompanied the conjuring of energies that only the greatest, the oldest, or the Hive could ever fathom to hold merged together. It was quick, and it was painless.

    Nemesis closed her eyes with a smile, while Rito's own instead remained open, his fists trembling. The large talon burned with flames lacking color, and as it descended from my back to slam into the young girl's body, Rito suddenly lunged forward.

    I watched dispassionately as the talon burned through him, making him gasp and gag as blood splattered out of his mouth, his body twitching in pain. Energies beyond the comprehension of mortals rushed out of the Spark, igniting abruptly as it was from the shock and trying, and failing at that, to escape into another plane. My Slivers hissed and howled as one, the Psionic net clutching upon this world fiercely, holding in everything that dared to try to escape.

    Once it was done, Nemesis stood on her own two feet, ensnared by a dozen of my talons as I surrounded her frame and that of Rito, bringing them both back to their home-plane, if by the city's outskirts.

    Nemesis looked down at her hands, and then back up at me. "I-" she growled, "I said I was the one-"

    "And that is what happened," I remarked with a shrug, letting my talons go off her frame, the wound on Rito's body snapping shut as the Spark within him proceeded to heal the grievous damage. "He'll wake up in a few hours at most, a fully awakened Planeswalker, and by my standards you have died," I shrugged. "As a potential Planeswalker, that is," I quipped with a dry smile, the talons surrounding Rito a bit more, as if afraid he'd slip away and end up in the breasts of some random girl down the street. "I won't tell him that though," I continued. "Perhaps a death on his hands will be enough to make him take what happens next seriously, I wonder."

    "What sort of alien creature are you Planeswalkers?" Nemesis asked, "to have your young merge with humans so easily-or perhaps, with other alien races...is that how you are born?"

    "That is for us to know," I remarked. "Though you may think whatever you wish, I won't stop you from doing that, since I won't be around to stop you. He'll be back, though," I pointed at Rito. "Perhaps in a matter of days, or weeks at most. Once he's learned the dangers of the Multiverse, then I'll let him go back home."

    Nemesis raised an eyebrow. "There are things out there so powerful they scare even a so proclaimed immortal?"

    I smiled. "Oh no, they don't scare me," I said with a bitter smile.

    I slowly began to disappear, dragging Rito through the Blind Eternities with me.

    "They make me wish I had never learned of their existence to begin with."
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Morphic Tide said:
    Actually, to a meta-savvy Oldwaker, the Eldrazi are an annoyance at best. All it takes to kill them is colorless fire. Not many would bother trying that, because it's such a strange weakness.
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    But the meta only works if it's happens to be true. It's the author's choice whether our glorious meta is actually false.
     
    Older-than-Time said:
    But the meta only works if it's happens to be true. It's the author's choice whether our glorious meta is actually false.
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    The official canon death of two of the Eldrazi Titans was from Chandra using a massive surge of colorless fire. Simply put, canon requires that to be the case, and given that Slivers and Phyrexians both exist in this, it can be assumed that . Presumably, colorless versions of other types of damage could have the same effect.
     
    What about that transformers devil? God I can't remember his name

    Edit: Unicron that's it. He's eaten multiverses
     
    Last edited:
    Morphic Tide said:
    The official canon death of two of the Eldrazi Titans was from Chandra using a massive surge of colorless fire. Simply put, canon requires that to be the case, and given that Slivers and Phyrexians both exist in this, it can be assumed that . Presumably, colorless versions of other types of damage could have the same effect.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    And in the limitless existence of the Blind Eternities, that means that there exists Eldrazi Titans that don't have that weakness.

    You assume that one instance of weakness is shared by the whole species and also that Shade is limiting himself to one setting's canon
     
    Older-than-Time said:
    And in the limitless existence of the Blind Eternities, that means that there exists Eldrazi Titans that don't have that weakness.

    You assume that one instance of weakness is shared by the whole species and also that Shade is limiting himself to one setting's canon
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    Click to shrink...
    If they lack that weakness, that weakness can be forced upon them. Of important note is that the Eldrazi's traits are a result of the nature of the Blind Eternities themselves, so the Eldrazi would only have different traits if they came out of an area of the Blind Eternities that had different rules. Which, given the differences between how 'Walking is described here and how it works in canon, may well be the case.
     
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