Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 2.6.6
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
25/11/2010
Alchemist slipped back as M'gann and her parents properly reunited. He couldn't begin to guess how much she's needed this.
The girl was a social butterfly, quick to get along with anyone that wasn't outright hostile to her and just as quick to make amends among her friends when they would butt heads. Given that she was a victim of systemic racism that had, at the least, presented itself as social isolation, that was probably a learned defense mechanism for her.
His eyes sliding away from the girl who was communicating with her parents using... something that made Alchemist's head buzz unpleasantly, he settled his gaze on M'comm instead. The comparatively young man had gone in the other direction...
Or had he?
In the future, sometime over the next decade, M'comm would join ranks with an underground movement of White Martians seeking to break down the color barriers. By force, if need be, given that pacifism didn't often see much success.
Changing institutions was a monumental task on Earth, where the average person did not live for one-hundred years. Both of M'gann's parents had been born in the eighteen-hundreds and they were only considered middle-aged. So, if elderly Martians clung to political power like geriatric Humans did?
Pacifism and 'working towards a better future' would sound good but also, ultimately, fail. The sheer amount of momentum represented in a multi-centenarian society was honestly mind boggling.
Alchemist didn't exactly -want- to agree with a violent group of terrorists... but they did, actually, have a solid basis for their grievances.
What, then, was the alternative?
Working with Darkseid, M'comm would have gone on to perform a mass migration of White Martians that were loyal to him. In theory, it wasn't a bad idea, assuming it could be enacted without any radicalism, but then it turned into a case of ripping people away from their culture based on race.
Which would be worse, in a lot of ways.
Quite frankly, Alchemist knew there wouldn't be any 'good' options. As things stood, the situation was untenable. Any solutions he could offer would be terrible in their own ways for a whole host of reasons.
So, if obvious and immediate were unavailable, what of subtle and slow?
The dragon's eyes drifted away from the increasingly uncomfortable M'comm when he got a notification from his System.
His duplicate had finally expired and it had placed a number of items into the Inventory before dissolving. Raising one claw to tap at the window, staunchly ignoring the buzzing M'gann was sending into the back of his skull, Alchemist opened his inventory and took a look.
Partially dehydrated szill'ech, which looked like a bag stuffed full of brown balls roughly the size of pomegranate seeds. Yay. A variety of herbs and spices, or at least the Martian equivalent of such.
He had no idea what a toh'mu pit was or how he was supposed to use it. Or fer'l feathers? Ma'alefa'ak meat, though, did interest him. It was basically the equivalent to moose or bear. Or moose and bear. Moose-bear.
No Martian books, though. Just a little notebook that his duplicate had written in. Extracting that, Alchemist summoned his Mage Hand gauntlets to hold the book in front of his face so he could see what he'd written for himself.
'Couldn't find any cookbooks, sorry. Apparently Martians don't write much down? Guy I asked looked at me like I was crazy because everything is 'Kept in living memory' or something. No idea what that even means.'
Well. That was helpful.
'Saw maybe five w.martians while I was in the city. Only doing menial labor, too. Getting a real 'Cuban in New York' kind of vibe, here. Didn't actually go asking, though. Didn't want to draw any more attention to 'em than there already is.'
Alright. Fair. Surface level knowledge gleaned without upsetting the apple cart is actually worth a lot more than most adventurers ever seem to figure out.
The number of times he'd seen the big bad evil guy in a Pathfinder campaign who was able to perfectly counter and run circles around the party because they didn't understand 'subtlety' was... well, he didn't get to play too much but the answer had still been more than one.
Unfortunately, that was the end of what he'd written for himself. Stowing the booklet back in his inventory, Alchemist dismissed his gauntlets and brought one claw up to stroke his chin as he thought on the information.
"...How did you do that?" a young, masculine voice asked within Alchemist's mind.
Looking back up to M'comm, Alchemist momentarily debated offering a flippant answer, as he usually did, before getting the impulse under control.
"Magic," Alchemist offered as he re-summoned the Mage Hand gauntlets. "These, I crafted myself and then ensorcelled with a spell that allows them to respond to my will. When I'm not using them, they are stored in a sort of 'pocket' that exists adjacent to my soul, ensuring that I have access to them when needed."
The gauntlets did a brief 'Jazz Hands' motion in the air before clasping together, clanking audibly and drawing M'gann's and her parents eyes over as they began to twist and click to perform a series of hand symbols.
'W.O.U.L.D. Y.O.U. L.I.K.E. T.O. L.E.A.R.N.' was slowly spelled out in American Sign Language.
Alchemist had, once upon a time in his now-distant childhood, memorized the alphabet. Unfortunately, that was the limit of his current knowledge on silent communication.
"This specific application is a bit advanced," Alchemist admitted as the gauntlets relaxed and returned to hovering near his elbows. "But I can teach you part of the spellwork, if you're interested?"
He'd actually enchanted both of the gauntlets while using a scroll of Mage Hand to apply the spell but, being a cantrip, Alchemist was sure he could learn it right alongside M'comm if the younger man was interested.
"...I'm not some Y'ellonn," M'comm argued, crossing his arms over his chest.
Alchemist tilted his head to the side slightly, not unlike a dog or cat that was observing something they weren't quite sure of.
"...Well, if you change your mind, it would probably only take an hour or two." If even that long, Alchemist didn't include. Lois Lane had picked up Mending with a kind of furious determination after maybe half an hour.
"Okay. Not to change the subject or anything?" M'gann cut in as her parents left the room. "But we're going to start calling the rest of the family. Should we start getting everything set up?"
"...Yeah, we should probably get moving," Alchemist agreed as he raised a claw and snapped his fingers, opening a Gate against a nearby stretch of wall in the kitchen. Standing up and stretching out, the mage calmly led the remaining two martians into his den. "So, who all should we expect to come?"
"...I'm not really sure," M'gann admitted as she followed him in. M'comm, Alchemist could tell, was following her but much more cautiously. "My parents are going to call all of my siblings but, aside from D'a'aan and Jur'din, the others have their own lives now. And while my dad's an only child, my mom doesn't talk to most of her family..."
"She's J'onn's sister, right?" Alchemist turned around and looked to M'gann as he asked and got a good look at M'comm staring at -everything- in naked wonder. "You think we should see about his wife and their kid? I know it's been a while since he's had a chance to meet with 'em."
"But Uncle J'onn's busy," M'gann argued and reached up to scratch at the side of her head in a very human gesture of uncertainty. "We can't just go and grab him, can we?"
"...Yes," Alchemist told the girl, shifting out of his draconic form so a wide, vicious smile could spread across his face. "Yes, we can."
-----
J'onn J'onzz of Mars was not enjoying his day.
"You have to know something!" a red faced man screamed at him through a computer monitor on the Watchtower. "That thing interrupted the first manned moon mission we've sent up in forty years!"
And that was why J'onn J'onzz of Mars was not enjoying his day.
"As I have told you, your underlings and a multitude of scientists operating under you, 'No'. I am unaware of any extra-terrestrial entities matching the image you have supplied me." An image of Alchemist in his draconic form.
The audio recording from the astronauts had played involved a clear reference to Bugs Bunny and his delightfully iconic 'Albuquerque' joke, though obviously tuned towards space.
Unfortunately, it seemed quite likely that the general and his immediate followers were sorely lacking in having a thoroughly well-read sense of humor, such as J'onn's own.
A pity.
As far as J'onn could tell, Alchemist's presence on the moon coincided with Player One's report on her personal training activities with Tigress and Shrike. What, specifically, the man had been doing on the moon was unknown but it did not seem to have actually been related to the moon mission the government had performed.
As such, his actions were those of a private citizen and, at current, there were no laws banning an individual from traveling to outer space or the moon in particular. And J'onn had not lied when he told them that he knew of no extra-terrestrial creatures matching Alchemist's description.
Alchemist was quite terrestrial, after all.
"Perhaps you would be better suited in requesting aid from one of the Green Lanterns?" J'onn offered diplomatically. "Their database would be far more complete than-"
"We already tried that!" the general shouted, interrupting the Martian and proving yet again that he had more metal on his chest than brains in his head. "They're telling us that they can't disclose anything without a clear and present threat to the Earth!"
"Then, unfortunately, my ability to further aid you has-"
"What the Hell?!" the general shouted, several scientists in the background turning to look at his screen. The man was pointing at the screen, somewhere to J'onn's left. Turning, the Martian Manhunter saw...
A teardrop-shaped rift in space, filled with eyes, stared at him from a mere few feet away. Not at all far from him. And, now aware of the strange phenomenon, he could also feel a multitude of minds within it.
Minds he knew. Minds he was familiar with.
Minds he hadn't felt in... years, at least.
"What-?" J'onn got out as numerous tentacles, covered in teeth and milky, eye-like tumors, shot out of the rift and wrapped around him, ripping him out of the chair.
Or, at least, that is what it certainly looked like. The tentacles wrapped around his form should have had their teeth digging into his flesh, yet J'onn could not feel them doing so.
Rather, he recognized the feeling of being held in someone's telekinetic grip. The grip of someone that he had come to grow incredibly familiar with over the course of the last year.
"J'onzz!" the general shouted, alerts going off inside the Watchtower at the dimensional intrusion. "J'onzz! What's going-"
"J'onn J'onzz of Mars!" a dozen voices screeched, screamed and hissed from the abyss. "There is much determination within you! You will make an acceptable addition among us!"
J'onn made an effort to pretend he was fighting the grip as the 'tentacles' retracted, pulling him into the abyss as the general, whose name J'onn had honestly never learned, continued to shout after him.
Once he was within the rip, however? The 'eyes hovering within a black abyss' gave way to a most unusual scene. Martians, mostly G'arrunn except for a trio of A'ashenn were idling around a number of cheap, white party tables set up upon a flat, grassy plain and absolutely covered in steaming food. A pair of black dogs were running around, shoving their noses into places they certainly had no place being and J'onn could see a small, white dragon glaring out from underneath of one of the tables, a pair of turkey legs on a plate in front of it. There were other people. One tall, powerful young man with an empty baby carrier strapped to his chest was standing next to a much frailer man. A giant beast of a man had a small blue wyvern wrapped around his legs, the creature happily crunching through bones while, similar to the previous duo, a much smaller man stood next to him with a plate loaded with pie. And at least a dozen snake-like appendages waving in the air that popped out from under his robes.
There was more to see, so much more, but J'onn was quickly feeling overwhelmed by the raw, alien power that clung to the very air of the place he found himself.
The grip around him let go and J'onn descended to the ground under his own power.
He'd never been in Alchemist's demi-plane but that was the only location that he could imagine matching what he currently saw.
A part of the man was genuinely irritated. The stunt that the wizard had pulled off would leave behind many, many questions that needed to be answered. He had no doubt that the League would be panicking and he was half expecting a green portal to open up at any time, a number of Green Lanterns pouring out and ready for battle.
"Dad!"
But? As J'onn relaxed and let his form shift into his true self while a young, Martian girl ran up and wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug?
"K'hym!" J'onn responded, reciprocating his daughter's hug.
He... hadn't seen her in years.
When did she get so big?
Out of the corner of his eye, J'onn did see Alchemist turn away from him, a small smile on his face.
Yes, the wizard certainly left quite a lot to be desired between his methods and behaviors...
"We've missed you so much!" K'hym told him, her voice a balm for his tired soul. "Mom and Aunt J'ann were so excited when they found out that we could come and visit!"
J'onn held on to his daughter for a long moment, relishing the feeling of truly holding her in his arms again after so, so long. He wanted to see his sister, he... had some words that she needed to hear, especially about M'gann but... not today.
Alchemist's prank was going to cause J'onn no end of problems, but...
This.
This was worth it.
-----
Having her mother call her from the farm was never an especially pleasant surprise for Em'ree Jonzz, now M'rin. She wanted to put that part of her life firmly into her past and move on, move forward without the weight of her parents' choices holding her back.
It had already ruined her first marriage, the boy she'd fallen for during her early studies. Her second was struggling, too.
But her mom had been insistent, something about trying to get everyone in the family together. She'd felt warm and happy, albeit with a strange under-layer of confusion, and Em'ree... well, part of her didn't want to go.
But... just because she wasn't proud of her parents didn't mean she didn't love them.
She hadn't had to make any excuses to head out, didn't have to tell her husband where she was going.
D'ni was... working late. Again. Directly under the current Director of Science. Again.
Secrets were hard to keep in Martian society. In a way, they were all so very keenly open and honest with each other that outright falsehoods simply failed. Something all children learned before they were even twenty years old.
But... while falsehoods told to others may not work? Telling one to yourself and then simply refusing to pursue the truth was wonderfully sufficient.
The irony was not lost on her, especially given her current position as a scientist herself.
So, Em'ree had left her empty house in the city and made the trek to her family home. She saw a fair few familiar faces and exchanged some brief greetings with a few familiar but distant minds as she went...
And noticed that there was only one member of her family at her old home. Her mother. Exuding a sense of calm patience that was, in itself, actually rather unsettling.
Even after most had moved out, leaving behind her parents, Jur'din, M'comm and D'a'ann, there had always been enough people to maintain a small gestalt. For her mother to be alone felt... wrong. It left the caves of their home feeling empty, the only things lingering were dead memories, haunting the corners.
Em'ree caught herself staring down the corridor she used to share with M'gann, her old G-Link, a handheld device that could connect a Martian to the planetary gestalt was still sitting on the shelf where she'd left it.
The poor thing would be dead, now. She hadn't meant to forget it, she really hadn't, but... she'd been so caught up in her first marriage. Caught up in going to get a higher education in the sciences. Caught up in...
Em'ree shook her head, forcing the memories back into the dark corners they'd crawled out of. Instead she turned towards the kitchens where she thought her mother was and got moving.
Still... the emptiness of a home that had housed, though not all at once, more than thirty children was... disquieting.
In part because Em'ree had been present when about half of her siblings had been conceived and she hadn't learned how to step back from the gestalt until she was nearly fifteen.
In part because this was how about half the horror stories on Mars got started. And she used to think those were just stories but her Uncle was a Manhunter and now she worked in the Bureau of Science and she knew they weren't just stories and now she was working herself up and if her mom in the kitchen wasn't actually her mom then M'ree was just going to scream and run and-
"M'ree?" her mother's voice cut through the girl's growing panic like a sharpened claw through v'ril milk fats. "Sweetheart, have you been getting into the Fear memories again?"
"Mom?" Em'ree called as she cautiously stepped into the kitchen. She saw a Martian that was just calmly sitting at one of the tables, a mug of something in front of her.
There was also a hole against the wall in the back of the room. Not a normal hole in the wall, either. This one had light coming out of it and Em'ree could see several of her siblings through the strange, impossible window. Some of her siblings and three A'ashenn.
Her dad, M'comm and... was that M'gann?
"Mom?" Em'ree called again, now able to feel the minds that were through the window. It was a strange thing but, until she saw it? It was as though they just... didn't exist? She had no idea how to explain it! "What's going on? I thought M'gann ran away?"
"Your sister made some... interesting friends. On Earth." On Earth?! "One of whom is a sorceror capable of doing things I... M'ree, I have no idea what it can do. It's nice, pleasant, even, but M'ree, her friend terrifies me."
J'ann stood up to approach her and Em'ree realized, by the subtle tremors in her mother's frame, that the woman meant what she said. The younger girl wasted no time in reaching out to wrap her mother in a hug.
"It's like someone ripped a patch of the stars out of the sky above, M'ree. They used it to make something huge, and powerful, and filled it with magic! And its voice..." J'ann shuddered in Em'ree's arms. "The emptiest thing you can imagine, and it was giving M'gann advice about her love life! She actually asked it for help to come and visit us! And... and they made food, human food, like from those shows you used to watch with M'gann and B'ly."
"...Was it good advice?" Em'ree found herself wondering, her sharp mind struggling to adjust to the very sudden and unwanted paradigm shift.
"...Better than that trash you girls used to watch from Earth," J'ann admitted, her emotions stabilizing as she pulled away from her daughter. "That show M'gann loves so much? 'Hello Megan'? It's downright terrible!"
"...Okay, mom," Em'ree relaxed as her mom started to grumble, complaining about the television. That, at least, was familiar territory. Turning to fully face the strange, oval window set into the wall of the kitchen, Em'ree brought a hand to her chin and tried to make sense of what she was seeing. "You said that M'gann's... friend made this? With magic? Like a-"
"Y'ellonn, yes. Or a high-ranking member of the B'lahdenn clergy."
Em'ree exhaled slowly, deflating as she processed that.
She was a woman of science, blast it all. Magic, ugh, magic just made a mockery of everything she stood for.
"...M'gann says that the creature..." J'ann hesitated, looking between the rift and Em'ree for a long moment before the woman could bring herself to complete her thought. "M'gann claims that the creature met Lord L'zoril, M'ree."
M'ree scoffed, doubt filling the sound.
"Wonderful," the woman muttered as she poked one finger into the rift, much to the amusement of her siblings watching from inside of it. "M'gann's joined up with a cultist. I wish I could be surprised."
She'd always known her younger sister was... simple. But this?
This was just absurd.
AN/ So, thanks to how I write my chapters, I actually ended up overwriting this with the next chapter which is... about half done? Right around there.
So I spent the last forty or so minutes piecing it back together off of Caer, then re-implementing the corrections and changes I put into it.
