beneath the black, the sky looks dead

[couldbeavoided]

WHO: THE VOID and YOU?
WHERE: Around the City and the Brooklyn Bridge
WHEN: Sunday, 8/2
WARNINGS: Violence, death, chaos
SUMMARY: The Sentry loses control.
FORMAT: Quick.


[ There was no abrupt revelation, no struggle; when Robert Reynolds had opened his eyes that day, the Sentry was simply nowhere to be found. He'd flown from the mansion into the sky, a poisonous oily creature wearing Bob's skin and the Sentry's clothes until even that began to shed. Red eyes and an aura like fire and toxic ash, sharp tendrils coiling out behind and around him like sentient shadows.

Years. Years here, trapped, ignored, denied. Bob was done fighting, and hurting; his mind went blank so that someone else could use his body to fight back. But it was his body, too -- the Void celebrated his freedom by flying into the sky, raising his arms and calling upon the sky to darken in deep reds and purples. Clouds collected and rain started pouring; he raised his face to the rain and smiled, before he dropped from the sky and flew cleanly through the Brooklyn Bridge. ]

Comments

[centurybaby]

[ With a similar sort of tension, Jenny digs into her pocket for her cigarettes, tapping one out and lifting it to her lips. She can't keep one lit, not in this fucking weather, but she likes having it. Not that she's nervous-- she's never nervous-- but there's a restlessness in her, some kind of uncertainty, maybe because she's still not sure how her powers hold up in this universe, or maybe because she's just got the feeling that something bad's coming.

Around her cigarette, she responds: ]

I guess someone's gotta fucking babysit. [ A beat. ] Stay here, T. We'll be back.

[ And just like that, she steps off the ground and almost effortlessly into the air, giving a half-wave over her shoulder. ]

[couldbeavoided]

[ The City is so big, so full of people it's impossible to concentrate on every one, yet the Void can hear them all. Breathing, pleading, speaking, challenging, dying; whatever they're doing, he hears it, and he enjoys it. He circles in the sky above the teenagers, thunder and rain bearing down harder wherever he is, and the light vanishes almost completely as he flies down, tendrils shooting out like arrows to a target. Or multiple targets. ]

Looking for something?

see, winging it. and putting stuff in the wrong place. i'm awesome

[hellionated]

[ Julian glances down, seeing the Jenny's coming with him, and frowns at her. He says something that's completely lost in the maelstrom around them, and curses when he realizes the wind is taking his voice away. That's just perfect.

Annoyed, he floats to Jenny's side. ]

You want to leave him alone down there? I don't know what the fuck any of this crap is, and it's everywhere.

[ To him, Terry looks surrounded by the black stuff, the tentacles. But then, maybe they all are. He can feel it around him, cloying on his skin. His shields are helping, but he's on edge anyway, more nervous of these things than he had any right to be.

Then one shears a slice along his cheek, and his agitation goes up several hundred notches. ]

Damn it! What are they?! We have to get above them!

[ He's gone even as he says it, his powers reacting instinctively to the desire to get out of this mess and break through the clouds.

The only problem is, he can't. He can't find the top, and the higher he goes, the darker it seems to get.

And then he realizes his mistake, because the tentacles aren't the only thing attacking them. He shouts to Terry. ]

Trauma, above you!

you guys can skip me after dis one!

[demonspawn]

[ Terry's already drifted off from where they told him to stay put. Down below, on the ground, it looks like he's literally run into someone he knows well enough to stop for. Julian's voice catches his attention, and it looks like he's pulling the other boy to his feet, trying to get the two of them out of there so the kids with powers that'll actually work on the Void can handle things.

Immortal or not, dying is no picnic, and he's dodging that bullet if he can. Otherwise it'll be the Hulk and him all over again. ]

okeydokey!

[centurybaby]

[ Well, they came looking for a fight-- and it looks like they found one. Jenny instinctively brings a forcefield of electric blue light up in front of her, deflecting the first few tendrils that dart towards her. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Terry moving-- with someone else. She can't tell if the other person is injured or not, but if they need to, she and Julian can hold the Void off.

Right? ]

Julian! [ They need to stick together. She flies closer, dodging and deflecting tentacles as she goes. One rips the sleeve of her jacket-- fuck, she loves that stupid jacket. ] We can take him. Come on!

[couldbeavoided]

[ The Void's eyes narrow to burning red pinpricks in the growing darkness, flying at Jenny and reaching for her with both his tentacles and his hands. She's small, he doesn't think he'd even need both hands to break her. While he flies toward her, more tendrils still seek out Julian, stabbing through the air. ]

Does your daddy know you're out here all alone?

[centurybaby]

I'm a big girl, asshole. I don't need a fucking babysitter.

[ A burst of blue quantum energy emphasizes her last word, like a manifestation of her temper, deflecting those tentacles-- but not his hands. When she's grabbed, she bares her teeth, eyes glowing bright, before she latches onto his wrists with stubborn little hands. ]

Fuck off.

[ Sparks dance from her eyes before more electric blue energy explodes from her under her palms. ]

[hellionated]

[ Fighting with Jenny is kind of like fighting with Nori. That's weird.

Whatever. He'll think about that later, when nightmare tentacles aren't trying to burn their way through his shield. They're a hell of a lot more powerful than they look, and the sheer amount of them makes it difficult for him to shield.

Not to mention, Terry's gone. Julian has no fucking idea where he's gone, but he's gone and now it's just the two of them. ]

Yeah, thing about this is? She's not alone.

Jenny, I'll shield! You focus on bringing him down!

[ Then he extends his shield to cover both of them, and focuses on keeping it up. He doesn't know exactly how strong she is, but the chick can alter reality. That has to help. He stays focused on the tentacles and tries to keep them away - but the more of them there are, the the weaker he gets. ]

[couldbeavoided]

[ The Void snarls with a mouth full of needle-teeth, his eyes glowing brighter as he whips her in his arms, trying to get her to let go. It's a defiance, and he doesn't like it anymore than he's ever liked any of Bob's. He swerves, flying straight down with the intent to smash her against a building, or the ground; whatever got in his way first. His eyes flick to Julian, still narrowed. ]

What do you think two children are going to accomplish against me?

[ He slams another tentacle Julian's way, then more to grab him and hold him still. ]

[centurybaby]

[ It's a bad situation-- Spirit of the Century or no, her physical strength is still only at the level of a fifteen year old girl. If she'd been Jenny Sparks, maybe this wouldn't even have been such a risky situation, but she's a young century baby in a foreign universe facing down an incredible power. It's good that, at least, she's not the type to get nervous-- even when it looks like she's about to get smashed into the nearest building.

Her quantum bursts just aren't going to cut it now. But maybe she can still save herself this one time. She squeezes her eyes tight, tries to focus past the sensation of air rushing by, the sense of impending impact, and wills a shift in the reality around her. She can feel it, the way this universe resists her, how it doesn't quite fit right, and then-- suddenly, it yields.

The second the first fiber of her leather jacket touches that building wall, a hole just large enough for her to pass through unharmed opens up as concrete and plaster dissolves into hundreds of butterflies, flocking up towards the dark sky, rushing past them until they've passed through almost the entire building this way, and then, at the ground floor--

Impact. Jenny feels the crushing pain when the universe shoves back, rights itself, and everything is just solid, abruptly. ]

Ah, fuck--

[hellionated]

[ Suddenly Jenny’s gone and Julian’s not even sure how it happened. There’d been tentacles everywhere, another big one sent directly at him that he has to fend off. It breaks through his shield, burrowing with dark energy, and burns its way towards his chest. Instantly panicking, he drags his jacket off and lets it drop, while threads of darkness burn through it and reduce it to shreds.

And then there’s no more Jenny. ]

No, Jenny! What the hell did you do to her?! I’ll kill you!

[ He’s all anger now, and there’s no rational planning in what he does next. He launches himself forward, uncaring about tentacles or darkness or danger or anything else. He just has to get to the Void. His powers flare around him, looking for something solid to grasp. Then they look for something to hurt. He sends wave after wave of concussive energy at the Void, trying to knock him out of the sky. ]

[couldbeavoided]

[ The Void flings her body without ceremony, letting Jenny fall. His face is tight with anger at that last push of hers, dissolving the building around them before the impact had come. He was fed up with the fighting back; he hated them all, he hated Jenny and he hated Julian while Bob made the weak effort in his head to take control again. ]

Of course you couldn't save her. Get over yourself.

[ He hisses again, whipping his tendrils at Julian and flying backwards away from the whirling energy in the air, trying to keep a distance. ]

[hellionated]

[ The tentacles connect again, sending a fizzing, cloying reverberation through his shield. Under their pressure, it falls away again. It's too much to try and shield himself and send energy at the Void at the same time, and right now neither of those were working - the tentacles had lanced through, and the Void was still fine.

Fuck. What the hell is he supposed to do?

He feels tentacles at his ribs, surrounding him. They're crushing, and it's hard to breathe. He has to fucking stop this. ]

If you've killed her, I swear to God, you're about to follow her on her way. Go to hell!

[ He focuses on another wave of energy, this one attempting to crush the Void. His concentration breaks halfway through as a tentacle pierces his shoulder. This fight is way too big for him.

[couldbeavoided]

[ When a tentacle connects, the Void doesn't waste the opportunity. He stabs it deeper, wanting to plunge Julian deep into the depths of his own painful memories. He wants him to realize how very alone he is, how small Jenny's body was against the world that ended up crushing her. Hopelessness. Futility. ]

Why don't you? This whole world will be hell once I'm through.

[ He twists the tendrils before he wrenches backward, snarling and preparing to go on his way. ]

[centurybaby]

[ She has this vague thought that she's going to probably bleed to death and it feels like she's broken at least two or three major bones in her body. It hurts. A lot. But the funny thing is, she can't bring herself to be afraid to die-- just pissed the fuck off, that her powers failed her, and worse, that she was about to fail Julian and Terry.

That's what she gets, for pushing at a universe that wasn't hers. For thinking she was that strong. She remembers the Doctor, and his butterflies, and how he'd died too and the irony of having godlike powers but still getting fucked over.

Her last thought before the world goes black is that she wishes her dad was there. ]

sorry for the delay!

[hellionated]

[ The tentacle pierces his shoulder and seems to burrow inside. At this stage Julian can't tell if that's his imagination or not, since the effect it has on him is far more than physical. He can feel it cloying, burning, seeming to spread under his skin and send out tendrils of damage in its wake.

At the same time, his vision seems to cloud and darken, and his focus flickers in and out of reality. ]

No...shit, what are you...doing...

[ His voice trails away as the darkness takes over again, making him falter. He's only kept aloft because of his powers, and if he loses focus on them he has a long way to fall.

But this time the darkness wins. It drags him somewhere else, makes him picture things that aren't here and shouldn't be on his mind. He can't stop thinking of Jenny. He needs to find her, and then they both need to find Terry, and then...

He remembers others, other friends who have fallen, names that he tells himself don't matter anymore. Names that will always matter, like Brian. People who are lost to him, like Sofia. He can't lose these friends the way he lost those others. He has to stop this. He has to not think about it.

But he can't. Because he's so alone, and this fight is too big. And the last time he was in a fight that was far too big, he woke up with two less hands. Suddenly, for all that he hates this, for all that he wants to knock the Void out of the sky, fear grips him and he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know where to go, and the one thing he's sure of is that there's no one to ask for help. Somewhere, from very far away, he can feel the tendril of darkness burning its way through his shoulder. He can feel its brothers clawing at him, attacking his chest and his other shoulder. But it feels like a long way away.

By the time he starts falling, he doesn't even realize it. He thinks he's in another world, in another fight. He doesn't see the Void in front of him. All he sees is the Nimrod that almost killed him before. He's aware of trying to pull his powers back, of trying to shield himself again. It flickers in and out. And then he's crashing towards the ground. ]