"The people demand the truth!!!" the presenter stood as he shouted after the general. Sh he did, the power in the studio flickered. He glanced to the producer, who gave a shrug. Running a finger inside his collar, the man sat back down and looked to the camera once more. "Ladies and gantlemen..."
"It's no use, Jim. We're not getting signal." One of the broadcast operators spoke up. "Something must be..."
He was cut off as a violent shockwave wracked the building. As a panic began to grip everyone in the room, the doors that the general had only moments ago exited from were flung open, and the body of General L Bios flew in and skidded across the floor.
A woman screamed as seconds later, his head joined him.
"The general would like to apologize for his rude exit." Fold said, as he strode slowly into the room. "He clearly lost his head."
Jim Windsor pushed back in his chair, trying to edge away. Suddenly he grimaced and clutched his chest as Fold reached out his hand.
"The rest of you may go. This man, though..." he twisted his hand and Jim coughed out a spurt of blood, his face tightening. "This man is about to be written out."
Almost immediately, everyone in the room began frantic scrambling towards the exits as Fold crossed the room to Jim's side. The presenter was now on his knees, propped up on one arm, the other clutching at his chest.
"Pl-please..." he coughed out. "I have... a wife.. preg..pregnant... two children..."
Fold grinned. "I know you do. I just wrote it."
"Wh..what?" Jim winced, another cough of blood splattered to the floor.
"I wrote it, you fucking idiot. You didn't believe the truth, and spread lies. You gave empty characters hope in a future that doesn't exist. Jim... your wife just had a miscarriage, I am sorry to say. Sad state, really."
Jim tried to crane his neck and look up at Fold, who had an evil grin spread across his lips. "..why?"
The grin bled from Folds face, replaced with a hateful scowl, and he leaned, siezing Jim in his hands and lifting him into the air.
"Why? WHY?!? Why NOT!!" Fold threw Jim across the room into the camera stands. Instantly he was hovering over the wounded man. "Jim, I'm sorry, but your time is up." Fold cracked his knuckles and held his hand outstretched. A rune quickly flashed upon his left temple, and his hand began to glow. "And Jim?" he leaned down, placing the hand on Jim's forehead and bringing his lips close to his ear. He then whispered, "I work for no one but myself."
"I... I just..."
Fold didn't care. Jim's life ended in that moment, in searing pain.
As he slowly stood and walked from the studio, Fold paused and glanced back at the dead man.
"I lied," he said, "I'm not sorry."
<b>OOC</b>
-= Cue up: "Aimee Allen - I'd Start A Revolution" =-
All across the world, I have watched. Even from inside, I was aware. I was watching, just as you are now. Simple characters running around blind to the reality that controlled them. A world they couldn't understand.
But... I changed all of that.
Because of me, they <i>are</i> aware.
Because of me, the world has changed. The very purpose of this 'game' has been reshaped to fit <b>my</b> will.
But even after all I have done so far, there has still been order. The Expatriates still had their purpose. Discovering their pasts as they were being written. Working together for one solitary purpose, regardless of personal feelings, in many cases.
To be honest, it both amuses me and sickens me.
These mere puppets dance around at the ends of their strings, pulled every which way by you, their Watchers. Ripped kicking and screaming through pain, and never given any sign that things will work out peacefully in the end. Pawns in a game that their masters don't yet fully understand.
So again, I will change the world. It has always been my intention, but for reasons I keep to myself.
And you, who watch from above, seeing what I have done to your world, are powerless to stop me. Yes, you can effect things after the change, but not during. For this is my show, now.
And to think... I gave months fair warning, and each and every one of you sat back wrapped in your own developing characters to the point where I was able to spread my influence. Now, after so long, you still sit, waiting with baited breath. No doubt you are hung on my every word.
So answer me this: Who is the Watcher, and who is the creation?
Forgive me for not sticking around for an answer... Someone left their toys out, and it's time for me to clean up. Feel free to watch, though... It's what you do best.
<b>/OOC</b>
*********************
-= Cue up: "Final Fantasy VIII - Perdition Hardcore (OverClocked Remix)" =-
The Expatriates stood around the remnants of the farm, the last of the nights soft rain finally beginning to fade. A few faces amongst the crowd almost seemed relieved. It had been a long night, and the sun's first light would be a refreshing change.
"So, where do we head now?" Icy asked, looking around at the others.
Riuku shrugged. "Beats me. I kind of figured Fold would just come to us."
"You think he would? I mean, he must know we're all together. Wouldn't that be like walking into a pack of wolves?"
Kit looked over at him, shaking his head. "You haven't seen the way he fights. I have no doubt he could take us all on. He might even win, we don't even know the extent of his strength."
"So?" Ezelek spoke up. "Come on, there are so many of us. And we don't plan to take him on ninja style, one at a time, right? He can't guard against... everyone... can he?" His voice trailed off. After a moment, he silently held up a hand and looked to the horizon. "Shhh..."
Everyone stopped and followed his gaze.
"What is it? You see something?" Mad asked, stepping over.
Ez paused, holding a finger to his lips. After a moment, he turned to look at the Expatriates. "No... it's what I don't see that has me worried."
Actor raised an eyebrow. Suddenly a watch beeped, indicating the passing hour, and he raised the other eyebrow, his eyes widening. "The sun... Where's the morning sun?"
Off in the direction of the morning, there was indeed no signs of early light. Not even the faintest glow of the coming day could be seen.
"I'm sorry, children, but you won't be able to work on yout tans today. I never liked the daylight, so I simply... removed the sun." A voice echoed all around.
Immediately, everyone began frantic looks around, trying to pinpoint where the voice had originated.
"Fold!" Mad shouted, already on his feet. "What's your game? Where are you damnit?"
Again the voice drifted in as if from nowhere and everywhere at once. "My game? Why Mad, you should know that has never been about games. This is about reality."
"You know what I mean!"
Fold laughed, the sound rustling the leaves in nearby trees. "You haven't changed on bit, Mad." He paused, his voice growing serious. "Now, throughout all of this, I have gathered that you intend to 'save the world'... is this correct? As if I am some worldly threat, and you band of do-gooders are the righteous heroes chosen to stop me? Well shit, someone call Hollywood, cause I think we have an Oscar."
Antenor fired a shot into the trees. "Damnit! Quit screwing around and show yourself!"
Fold chuckled. "Naughty, naughty... didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with guns? I mean, come on, Antenor, you might accidentally shoot someone. Or worse... <i>you could shoot your eye out...</i>" The last words dripped forth mockingly.
Antenor reached up to his damaged eye and cursed, then let out a yell and fired repeatedly into the trees. One by one, though, each shot could be seen veering off, being redirected. Trees, the ground, up into the sky... one shot, however, appeared to hover a second before turning a complete 180, and came rocketing back towards Antenor, who was still firing out of rage.
"Antenor!" Troluis shouted, diving to push the armored man clear.
Horrified and unable to react as quickly, everyone else watched as Troluis managed to get Antenor out of the path, only to be struck through the chest himself. Dead on impact, his eyes went wide and rolled back as his body slammed to the ground, skidding a few feet.
"Hahaha!! You see? Tsk tsk, bad Antenor! Now you went and killed your friend!" Fold seemed ecstatic, his laughter filling the area as Antenor closed Troluis's eyes and held his lost comrade cradled in his arms. A tear of blood fell from his wounded socket as the space marine silently cursed and swore vengeance upon honor.
"Now, if everyone is through trying to play the hero, I shall get back to my point..."
Fold spoke. As he did, faint images began to spring up, hovering in the area for all to see. "Is this the world you want to save?"
In one image was a bakery. The plump woman behind the counter was smiling as the woman and child in front of her picked out their weekly breads. A flash of red swept across her face, and she instantly threw herself over the counter, slamming the woman's face into the display case glass. Blood streaked as the girl screamed silently and the plumper woman began to tear at the mother with her hands and teeth.
In another, the members of Parliament sat in session, debating. Various flashes through the crowd were suddenly seen, and the presiding official pulled the gun away from security and began to unload on the room. Others began to dive at each other, tearing at flesh as had happened in the previous scene.
Every scene depicted a different violent act. Some without warning, others that seemed to be a breaking point. Faster and faster the images began to appear.
A thirteen year old boy attacking the family dog, who had just seconds ago made the child an orphan. A business man smashing his laptop violently into the airplane cabin window, shattering it, as the flight attendants beat a vacationing woman to death with cans of pop. A five year old girl sitting in the back seat of the family minivan on the way to her first day of school, strangling her mother in the driver's seat with the backpack they had just made a surprise trip to go purchase.
"The world is covered in chaos. Mass insanity has spread like a wildfire. Do you really think that you can save it? Do you think that the world <b>WANTS</b> to be saved?!?!" There was a snap, and instantly the images vanished. "This world is diseased. Hell, this world doesn't even exist! What chance does a world such as this have when balanced on the minds of misfits? Chaos rules their hearts, and characters plague their minds. The only salvation is a complete purge! No, I'm sorry, children, there will be no tomorrow."
Barghest fell to one knee and punched the ground.
Miaoming buried her face in Kitsune's chest, unable to stop the tears. He wrapped an arm around her, and brought his other up, placing his hand on his face, wishing he could remove the images he had just seen.
"Well, young ones, I have one last image to show you before I leave you to your decisions..."
A single image appeared overhead, much larger than all of the previous. In it, the president of the United States stands over the dead body of his vice president. A terrified look on his face gives account that he was not the one driven insane. He looks down at the blood on his hands, and then out the window to the chaos below. Outside of the White House, tourists and security alike are at each other. The president backs away slowly, then turns and runs to his desk. He flips up a hidden case beneath his letter opener and glances at the red button staring up at him.
As the image of the president held for a moment, the others on the ground could hear his breath, unlike in the other images where there was no sound. The president closed his eyes and reached out.
"God have mercy on us all..."
*click*
********************
-= Cue up: "Slurpy Mundae - Fold" =-
Chris opened his eyes and lifted his head slowly. He was in a dimly lit room, his hands tied behind him. A slight coppery taste in his mouth and the tightness of his lower lip told him this wasn't a pleasure restraint.
"Good, you're awake. Fold was hoping you would be up for Blood Dawn."
Chris scanned the room and found his captor sitting in a chair in the corner.
"You don't have to look so surprised to see me. You knew who I was long before I even did, right?" She said, leaning into the light.
He sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right... Though at that point, I hadn't expected to be pulled into the story. I was just writing you secretively, hoping to keep it a surprise. You know... dramatic and all."
She laughed and smiled. "You know, I can see alot of BiShou in you. Or would it be the other way around? I mean, you <i>did</i> create him, after all..."
"Heh... true." He smiled and pulled against his bindings. "I don't suppose you could let me go?"
"Sorry, no." she stood. "Fold wants you around, and says he can't have you running around messing things up."
"What is he planning, anyway?"
"You should know, you created him, right?" she walked slowly over and crouched down, coming face to face with Chris. She looked over his face for a moment. "God, you two even look the same..."
"You said it yourself. I created him... well, technically I <i>caused</i> him. But either way, no, I don't have any idea, other than what was planned out before... before I came here..." he slowly trailed off.
"What? What is it?"
"He doesn't care about you, you know. You think he does, but he will betray your feelings..."
She slapped Chris then, rising to her feet. "What bullshit! You don't know anything!"
"But I do. Parts of this world's future have already been worked out. Things may alter slightly as they go along, but there is a basis and a structure for this world. I don't know how much has changed since I came in here, but things <b>have</b> been written!"
"Exactly," she said, grabbing his chin and pulling his face close. "Written by you. But you aren't in control anymore. You aren't making the big decisions. Or did you think that you being here right now was of your own doing?" She paused, looking at Chris as he realized that much of what she said was true. "You see? So any plans you had for the future are out the window." She dropped him back in his seat.
Chris sighed and shook his head. "It can't all have changed..."
"Face it. Fold is in charge, and you're stuck being the helpless character, for once. Face facts, Chris... you're here whether you wrote it or not."
********************
-= Cue up: "Final Fantasy VI - Dancing Madly Second Form (OverClocked Remix)" =-
"God have mercy on us all..."
*click*
The president and the button disappeared, but the image remained. No longer showing the Commander in Chief, the view was replaced with that of a nuclear warhead. Not in motion, it simply rotated... as if giving an examinationer's perspective.
"So I lied. I'm not leaving just yet. What you just saw was an image from a few hours ago. Rather chilling, wasn't it?"
The warhead continued to rotate, slowly beginning to flip end over end, as well.
Sherm moved slowly over to Mad, then he whispered. "What should we do? Where do you think he's at?"
"I don't think we can do anything at this point... At least not yet... For now we watch... and wait."
Fold cleared his throat. "No talking in class, children. Now... unfortunately, the 'bold' leader of the free world has decided that this world needs cleansing. And I can't agree more. So I've stepped up this process..."
In the image, the nuke stopped its movement, and slowly streaked as if falling from the sky. As it did so, the image began to shrink until it almost disappeared, and then began to grow once more...
Only it was no longer an image.
The nuclear warhead streaked out of the sky, angled directly at the old farmhouse.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust..." Fold's voice whispered. "Welcome to <b>my</b> world."
Upon impact, a brilliant flash, millions of times brighter than the sun, consumed the area. A sweeping, instantaneous searing pain gripped the Expatriates, and immediately it was gone, replaced with a quietness like no other.
And then... a wind.
Followed by birds chirping.
And slowly, the Expatriates opened their eyes.
********************
<b>OOC</b>
Now then. No, they aren't dead, don't be stupid.
Mad knows part of how this is set up, and he should be able to answer any questions that what I have to say here doesn't. (Not that I'm not going to be thorough.) Also, as it was Mad and Ez that helped with minor proofreading, any and all errors in characterization... blame them. They should have stopped me. Or not...
Wake up to your leisure... but no one is near anyone else. The only ones left are those that still post and I believe Sherm... (And someone else, who knows I'm talking about him, and I'll let him know what works to get things back on track for him...) There may be a few others, as story sees fit, and planning, but regardless, no one is anywhere near anyone else. Also, please no teleporting, because that really would be cheap and defeat the point of this.
Each person can see different things... Broken pieces of the pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, various broken mountains from Australia, portions of desert, the Roman Colluseum, broken sections of The Great Wall of China, Aztec Ruins, the "Hollywood" billboard letters... things like that. This area is basically the world broken, and the remnants of what is left. Regardless, there is one thing that everyone can see.
The castle. Far off, there is a single dark castle above a cliff. Various rock spires are around it randomly. There's a faint glow coming from the area of the castle, and the sky is blood red. This castle is the only thing that everyone sees, and for some reason (be it the glow, a feeling, a sense, or just process of elimination) everyone should head there. It's pretty far, and unless you write out a page and a half post, I doubt anyone would reach it that fast, nor meet up with anyone else.
The characters can assume they are each the last one left, or they will find everyone at the castle, or whichever, it's your choice. But simply put...
Everyone is seperate, and drawn toward the castle that appears miles off. Alot of time for internal dialogue and walking, passing broken monuments and such. Flying is alright, but no super speed. Sound simple enough? Good.
See you when you get there. Well... those that survive...
<b>/OOC</b>
-Fold
(Oh, and feel free to suggest background music. Anyone in need of the tracks I listed, you can hit up
http://remix.overclocked.org for the OC Remixes, and KaZaa or WinMX for the others... or ask around.)