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One Foot - Another Multiverse SI

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So, I spent most of the day working on college stuff and job stuff -- current plan is to get my degree in the next semester, graduate in May with everyone else, and find a job and place to live on campus so I'll have something stable when the school year starts. Meanwhile, I'll have something at home in the form of a job at Staples -- which is always nice, I think.

Naturally that left me with not a lot of time. So, have a spoiler for the next chapter.

-x-


That... that's not good.

-x-

No. No it isn't.

See you all tomorrow. :)
 
Ars Poetica said:
So, I spent most of the day working on college stuff and job stuff -- current plan is to get my degree in the next semester, graduate in May with everyone else, and find a job and place to live on campus so I'll have something stable when the school year starts. Meanwhile, I'll have something at home in the form of a job at Staples -- which is always nice, I think.

Naturally that left me with not a lot of time. So, have a spoiler for the next chapter.

-x-


That... that's not good.

-x-

No. No it isn't.

See you all tomorrow. :)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

No sarcastic comments on how much of a spoiler it is?

Who are you and what have you done with Ars!?
 
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Chapter 289
  • Threadmarks
    • Just when you think you know what's gonna happen... I get the fish.

    -x-

    From the embers of the sun from the deepest pits and chasms of eternity, the flames of this RIGHTEOUS and MIGHTY being rose and shattered the shackles of the forbidden nightmare. The blasphemous thing that dared take upon itself a form so similar, the warped kin of Mephistopheles – it was the highest sinner of all.

    "GUILTY."

    So stepped forth the walking inferno that scorched stone with each bare step and turned the rays of a newly shining sun to shadow with self-fulfilled radiance of prophecy – this was inevitable. What dark being could ever escape HIS wrath except one that could run and flee farther than could be sensed?

    Each motion was tumultuous, chaotically held back by brief bindings that broke with every motion until the emerald flames of HIS unwanted compatriot were forced to glow brighter. The sinner turned and smiled with skin that was not there. "I've gotta admit I'm curious; what the hell's gonna happen?"

    Foul thing – let no further words be wasted on the abomination.

    HE drew swords of dripping fire and struck swiftly, barely resisted by sturdier chains of black and green that emerged to surround the sinner in a feeble defense. They shattered with HIS forceful strike, only to be blocked by the heel of the aggressor.

    Striking down and pushing one sword away with a swipe of the left leg, the sinner altered his standing position and shifted that foot back, swinging the other foot up. In a single motion, he leapt with his descended foot, and struck with his other leg.

    His shin made impact – and HE caught the leg under one arm, spinning and throwing the twisted counterpart away. Chains emerged from the counterpart's arms to fly towards HIM, wrapping around HIS wrists. With a sharp tug, his momentum was arrested as he forced THE RADIANCE to slide towards him.

    The sinner landed then charged, emerald energy forming like serpents around his arms. He lashed out, each open palm swinging like knives as the phantasmal power around them bit and tore into HIM. But HE would have none of it, allowing only a single strike through that up and diagonally slashed HIS chest.

    It was then that the counterpart felt his moving feet stop as the melted stone beneath his feet caught his heel in place. Stumbling, his other hand was easily dodged as HE reached out and swung HIS mighty blade of VENGEANCE towards the exposed forearm of the monster.

    And the other Rider refused, deliberately falling backwards to let the sword strike air as an explosion of hellfire was unleashed that tore through the balcony. It crumbled, stone falling apart towards them and releasing the sinner's foot. But HE charged once more, chain tassels wrapping around HIS wrists as sound unfurled around gauntlets of blackened steel.

    With a single punch, HE aimed to blast the other Rider through so many floors of stone and steel and wood that certainly the damage would be severe. He rolled backwards, leaping up from his back off a piece of falling debris and lashing out with a chain to wrap around HIS waist and carry HIM off the side of the tower.

    From there, they fell.

    Broken wings were insufficient for flight as HE opened HIS eye and observed the twisted equations that guarded the entity before him. Conceptual healing? An entity that sustained itself on suffering deserved to have vengeance wrought upon it, not the other way around! What had transpired to allow this warped beast to stand on the level of JUSTICE?!

    Unthinkable, untenable, unallowable – HE acted with fire and brimstone as orange embers turned red, as lights shone around HIS form and black material changed to other colors. Liquid fire coated HIM to form fictitious flesh that bubbled, and burst gas to force motion as HE shifted to a more bestial, divine form.

    With the dead face of Anubis and the heels of Hermes, HE did not bother kicking off of falling stone to pursue the OTHER. Instead, air exploded in a vacuum behind HIS heels as sound and fire solidified and detonated to form propulsion. HE took these shattered wings of Horus and flew through churning air, past chains that formed from shadows cast by the falling rocks.

    The projectiles rose, a foolish artillery barrage of similar powers based on the same material – but though both lacked the power of a soul, this substance of black material was…

    A change in numbers.

    Atomic mass: 244u

    Radioactive black material? HE recognized this substance for what it was, a result of an apocalypse that could no longer stand, most likely a–

    The OTHER grew tired of HIS speculation and struck, using a falling stone as a platform to slide forward just as HE reached the same level. Balancing on one hand, the sinner struck with his knee – impacting an imaginary gut but stunning HIM however briefly.

    Just as he made to stand and strike again with black and green power from a zone that was not real, they landed. The street caved in with the force of their impact, debris and smoke only briefly hiding the sinner from HIS view. At least, that was what the OTHER probably thought.

    Fool.

    He rushed from the smoke with one hand out, aiming to strike through or push HIM back. Instead, given away by the sound of his footsteps and the angle of attack, HE already had a counter planned. Summoning a wall of sound beneath HIS legs, HE crouched and let the OTHER's hand fly above HIS glorious form.

    Then the platform tilted sharply, launching HIS RADIANCE up towards the false idol of revenge. A knee that rose from ground to face made impact, striking below the monster's chin and lifting him higher. Another strike against the air, a bid to push them out of the city, HE lifted them ever higher.

    HIS knee came down, then HIS opposite knee struck up just as the blast formed. Each powered launch eliciting another attack against HIS enemy, and another means of going higher. Until finally the entity's broken face was held level with HIS. Shattered wings flung out from behind HIM, their bones impaling and holding the form of the sinner in place as they fell in a parabola.

    Together, they became a meteorite that soared towards the rocks far, far from the city of the innocent. Fires of every color trailed behind them, eventually fading to white before their spiraling bodies impacted the ground. The false idol beneath HIM and held in place, they ground to a stop.

    Wings unfit for further flight shifted back just as HE reached up a closed fist and struck down. The earth quaked with every devastating strike, one punch after another falling rhythmically unto the face of the battered monster. Then the armored hand fell around the thing's neck.

    HE saw into the eyes of the sinner. "YOUR SOUL IS STAINED BY THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT." This was the end. "FEEL THEIR PAIN."

    [["PENANCE STARE!"]]​

    Then there was silence.

    Silence and nothing else as HE held the skeletal throat of the black and emerald nightmare that dared hold a similar visage to HIS glorious form. Yet he watched, still aware and still unharmed.

    "You call that a Penance Stare?" The OTHER considered his position, held by the neck and pinned to the ground. He seemed to nod. "Cute."

    He fell into the shadow cast by HIS body, emerging from behind with a yell. A single backhand threw HIS body away, but chains wrapped around HIS form swung HIM around through the air. Portals of black and green formed around HIM, and the sinner fell into one, and began leaping.

    The OTHER struck, chains and power slashing out to deliver blow after blow upon HIS body. Each strike cracking bone, each punch another splintered joint – and HE was forced to acknowledge a dark truth.

    Whoever this monster was, whatever their name… the thing that dared take upon itself the mantle of Ghost Rider…

    It was hopelessly insane.

    "Hyahahaha! And that's the truth of it!" Both of his heels struck HIS chest and knocked HIM through the air and towards the earth. HE tumbled, then stood. Broken bones slowly stitching themselves back together as the OTHER began stepping towards HIS burning form. "You can't burn someone without a soul, you can't burn a soul that's already burnt, and you can't burn someone who feels no guilt. I've got a soul, and it's never been touched by you. So guess which column I fall under! Go on! Do it! Hahahahaha!"

    Still HE stood, for vengeance needed to be wrought upon the twisted of every world. For the soul of the worst examples of thinking, breathing life needed to be torched and reforged into something new. That this monster was beyond salvation was of no worry to HIS righteous cause.

    HE would simply slay this other Rider.

    "Oh, but your host has a soul. And your host is a very guilty man…" He looked up, and stared into HIS eyes. "Lemme show you how it's done…"

    [["Penance Stare."]]​

    A building of people walking about, speaking, working, getting ready to head home after a hard day. Shattered glass exploding from behind them and in front of them. The building is burning, people are screaming.

    Hiding in trenches and preparing to charge forward, the feeling of bullets falling and flying through bodies left and right. Everyone is screaming and charging but nobody is going anywhere. Weapons unseen chatter into the air as casings decorate the earth with blood and grime.

    Countless people starving, wondering where all the gold disappeared to – there is no money, there are no funds. How can they survive on so little, where did it all go? Who committed the sin of theft, and who allowed the theft to happen?

    Knights in armor fight desperately against a foe as some are saved, but many must die in wars – for the master is complicit in the directed actions of his slaves.

    For accidental sins are still sins, and to feel guilt for an action implies wrongdoing…

    This is the truth. All evil actions are only evil when one regrets them, and to act without regretting anything is as much the mark of madness… as it is the mark of one immune to the Penance Stare.

    The OTHER stood above HIS blazing form, they were surrounded in black and green energy. "Well, it's been fun! But my job's done here. Now get back on track, and do what you did before… you goddamn puppet."

    HE refused… and was denied.

    -x-

    My eye adjusted to the train almost immediately as I focused on the walls again. They were definitely more transparent, and as I tried to stare outside what few windows there were into the tunnel between worlds, I caught a glimpse of golden light. Train tracks, the River of Light was shaped like train tracks.

    I was riding on the River of Light, which meant that whatever this train was, it was covered in – "Would you like a drink, sir?"

    "No. Thanks."

    "Hm, perhaps one day, then."

    I saw no man standing there beside me, except myself who wasn't there. I blinked, and opened my eyes to see screaming faces glued to the outside looking in. They were… trapped outside the train…? They were hit by the train, and they couldn't move.

    Just stuck there. Forever.

    How much of it was my understanding of what this was, and how much of it was this place inserting the knowledge into my brain as I stepped through confetti that wasn't confetti. The train bounced, the chandelier finally fell behind me and shattered into a million pieces.

    Well, not a million, but a lot.

    There was a high pitched ringing sound as I stumbled towards the door, and fell through – I was on my belly in front of a broken building, covered in wide scratches and scars that reached up to the top. There was a lot of grass, and the sky was red – an unnatural shade, as though something cataclysmic had happened.

    I tried to breathe, and I almost gagged at the smell of something awful and raw in the air. I tried again, and my nostrils burned as I rolled over onto my knees and threw up in a nearby bush. I didn't eat a lot, so it eventually devolved into dry heaving.

    …Eventually, the smell disappeared. It was like ozone.

    Like lightning had struck this place too many times.

    I slowly stood up and began walking away from my mess, through a thin mist that barely covered the ground. I kept walking. The road was long and winding, occasionally it looked unmaintained. Other times, it blended in with rocks and natural formations that built archways out.

    Each step I took left an echo that went out so far, I thought I was going mad as my ears twitched. One of my gauntleted hands came up, and I stopped to rub my face. My body ached all over, and I barely recalled what happened. I… I felt like I did something wrong.

    So I took a deep breath and considered what had happened. I didn't know where I was, but I knew my kingdom was left behind in good hands. I knew that, because otherwise I wouldn't have considered leaving in the first place… but now, who was going to take down Isley? Who was going to destroy the Organization?

    …I didn't know.

    My eyes rolled around me as I carefully observed each building I could see, and as I continued walking I stopped paying attention. I slipped, and with a yelp almost fell as the ground abruptly halted. I forced myself to stumble back, falling on my ass and letting my legs dangle as I recovered my balance.

    Looking down, I tried to see the bottom from… wherever I was.

    Nothing.

    This city was high up in the sky, and it didn't look like falling was a good idea.

    Context clues – city in the sky, the sky is red, the city is broken and destitute… I wasn't getting anything. "Hello!" I called, hoping for a response from someone I just couldn't hear or see.

    Nobody responded.

    "Okay," I nodded to myself, "Let's see… is the mist a hint, then?" I stepped back, and I felt my heel impact a sheet of paper. "Huh?" I exhaled, "What's this?" It was an advertisement for canned food. The whole thing was written in Russian. I knew it was Russian, because at least Urahara's blue squares were doing their job.

    So I was probably in Russia, then?

    Okay, that was neat. I was in a Russian city in the sky, the sky was red and weird, and I was alone… What else?

    The memory punched me in the skull hard enough to make me flinch.

    Inhale, exhale… Okay. Alright. Cool… no, not cool. Some asshole fucked me over. Someone came to my kingdom and fucked me up the ass, no lube involved, and threw me into another world… and they did it after the Rider showed up. It was another Ghost Rider – someone who had a better idea of how to use their Rider's powers.

    And I was probably in their home turf, or somewhere that they knew better than I did. So I was in enemy territory, I didn't know what world this was, and a Ghost Rider was coming for me.

    That's… that's not good.

    -x-

    One Foot on the Platform
    OR: One Foot on the Train

    End-289
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Never expected the green rider to be immune to penance stare, nor have the ability to force Poe's Rider onto the train. Unexpected!

    We sure it's enemy territory, though? I got the impression the green Rider just forced Poe onto his next train stop, rather than change trains to greenie's own.
     
    Mizu said:
    Never expected the green rider to be immune to penance stare, nor have the ability to force Poe's Rider onto the train. Unexpected!

    We sure it's enemy territory, though? I got the impression the green Rider just forced Poe onto his next train stop, rather than change trains to greenie's own.
    Click to expand...
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    I think it's still Poe's train. Look here:

    Ars Poetica said:
    I was riding on the River of Light, which meant that whatever this train was, it was covered in – "Would you like a drink, sir?"

    "No. Thanks."

    "Hm, perhaps one day, then."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Poe never accepts a drink and whatever runs the train expected that response.

    Now back to reading about Anderson rampage through Yharnam.
     
    Last edited:
    I just had had a horrible thought. Could the green Ghost Rider actually be Ghost Face from Metal Gear. The obscuring fedora, burnt skin, sadism towards little girls, attacks from the shadows, evil without regret, radiation, and even the green coloring could indicate a chemical fire.
     
    so whats Poes Spirits thoughts on this?
    will it and Poe come to an agreement, to both train, perhaps helping to train each other?
     
    A friend just asked me to summarize the entire plot of this story so far.

    ...Anyone wanna contribute? Feel free to be as concise or as convoluted as you'd like. :)
     
    Ars Poetica said:
    A friend just asked me to summarize the entire plot of this story so far.

    ...Anyone wanna contribute? Feel free to be as concise or as convoluted as you'd like. :)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Dying man makes a deal with the devil to become the new host of the Ghost Rider. He embarks on a journey to deliver a package and deliver justice and prosperity to all of the worlds he visits, no matter the cost.
     
    A story where the main character is pushed in front of a train and makes a deal with the devil. He becomes host to the Ghost Rider and travels to different universes like Bleach or Avatar. After staying in a universe for a random number of months he is pushed into the next. On occasion, the people he beats up go live inside his brain and give him powers and someone to talk to. For the first few worlds, he is quite incompetent, growing in power and ruining the lives of many until he starts to get a hang of things with some really good advice thrown his way which takes awhile. The worlds he visits are not exactly canon, even before the main character jumps in, with some of them having minor details changed with others being crossovers with another work.
     
    Ars Poetica said:
    Anyone wanna contribute? Feel free to be as concise or as convoluted as you'd like.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    What kind of deal would you make to survive? For Poe, apparently a literal deal with the devil himself. The agreed upon task was supposed to be simple. Deliver a package. What Poe R. R. Acti wasn't told, was that he'd be traveling not just one world, but several. He doesn't know what the destination is. He doesn't know how long the journey will be. He doesn't even know what the package is. All he knows is that he's now the host of a spirit of vengeance, The Ghost Rider. Imbued with powers he doesn't understand, operating under seemingly arbitrary rules, Poe must learn to survive in the worlds his passenger pulls him through. This particular train has no breaks, and Poe is forced to adapt to increasingly desperate circumstances. The friends he makes and the powers he masters along the way will be crucial to his survival. That, and the flaming van of JUSTICE he claims as his ride.

    In fact, what are we still doing here?

    Get in the fucking van.
     
    spencer1519 said:
    What kind of deal would you make to survive? For Poe, apparently a literal deal with the devil himself. The agreed upon task was supposed to be simple. Deliver a package. What Poe R. R. Acti wasn't told, was that he'd be traveling not just one world, but several. He doesn't know what the destination is. He doesn't know how long the journey will be. He doesn't even know what the package is. All he knows is that he's now the host of a spirit of vengeance, The Ghost Rider. Imbued with powers he doesn't understand, operating under seemingly arbitrary rules, Poe must learn to survive in the worlds his passenger pulls him through. This particular train has no breaks, and Poe is forced to adapt to increasingly desperate circumstances. The friends he makes and the powers he masters along the way will be crucial to his survival. That, and the flaming van of JUSTICE he claims as his ride.

    In fact, what are we still doing here?

    Get in the fucking van.
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    I'd expect this one on a book blurb :V
     
    Death is no end when the Devil has work for you. What do you do?

    You fall into every story you ever loved and fuck shit up, pressed forward into a redemption you may never deserve. And also get more powerful in the most fanfictional of ways!

    You pick up some crazy characters, but who doesn't when The Spirit of Vengeance is your driver? All aboard the Grand King!

    ..... Seriously, get in the fucking van.
     
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