capeandcowllogs | of those blackholes & revelations

of those blackholes & revelations

WHO: All imPorts.
WHERE: Atropos.
WHEN: January 7th to January 14th.
WARNINGS: Death and destruction.
SUMMARY: Atropos has risen in the night, and the inevitable has come: with her jaws she shears away the City from Earth and swallows it whole.

But the City is not yet dead.
FORMAT: Whatever you please.

The formless mass of metal haunting above, hovering like a lunar tombstone, begins to take shape. Asteroids plummet into the cheeks, the eyes, carving out bone structure. Her features howl with fury, with triumph, as she stares down below, savoring her conquest. A cavity opens. Metal swoops to form jagged, angry shears. Her teeth are born.

She waits as the world rotates, its spin more wobbly than it used to be.

And then she leans down to feast, her bite vampiric. She takes the City and then some, and all that it encompasses, so that every single imPort is captured. She takes the time to drink in any stragglers, any imPorts elusive to the City's thrall.

She holds the City on her tongue as she draws back her fist to punch the world.

And then teeth close to the shuddering, glass shattering vibration of a cosmic laugh. The jaws close, and there is no light for about an hour -- until Atropos begins to siphon solar energy from the sun into her veins. She is dissatisfied with its dying tint, or perhaps she cannot stand the redness of color, so once she injects this energy into her her body (her most intimate domain), she turns it bright yellow again. The universe within her is illuminated.

The City is a floating chunk of broken skyscrapers and puckered asphalt streets. The trauma of consumption has wrecked the usual infrastructure: buildings are half collapses, or skeletal, vehicles are flipped and strewn across the layout. Whatever vegetation that is still clinging onto life has rejoiced under the return of normal sunlight.

You can breathe. It isn't too hot, or too cold -- it's unusually pleasant, in fact. The sunshine veins that light your world are not overwhelming. There is no blue sky to complement the atmosphere, and whatever water still in the City will be constrained to the bottled kind found in shops.

But there are other floating pieces of worlds, and they might have water. Or food.

If you live in the City, your possessions should still be in the City. While about 76% of the natives have fled the City (which had gotten the brunt of focus over the past week), there are still some natives who were too sick, too sentimental or too stubborn to leave.

You'll find that your powers work normally, though you can't teleport within Atropos. You probably wouldn't want to teleport outside of her, anyway.

She swallows, and the City gentle glides down a slick throat. Dust and particles create stunning visuals, like the aurora borealis, except in warmer colors. Light reflects so easily from solar veins and starstrewn flesh.

While you can breathe easily, gravity is fickle. Physics is often defied. Atropos was never one to play by the rules.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ kanaya just looks down into her cigarette, exhaling smoke in a long sigh. "what now" is really the question of the day, and one she's still wrapping her head around. waiting around to die seems most likely, if dissatisfying. finding what people they can is important, but nearly impossible in the circumstances. the city's too big, and everything's been thrown out of place.

this would be easier if their current space wasn't resisting kanaya just as much as it seems to be doing for jenny. ]

We could probably locate a store somewhere. There may be some intact there.

Sure. Why the fuck not. Beats standing around.

[ jenny's tone is nonchalant enough. it isn't as if she hasn't seen worlds on the brink of destruction before. still, it sucks that this world happens to have the only people she's ever called her friends on it. that would be her luck. nothing to do about it now though, except wait and maybe hope for some opportunity for intervention to present itself.

she starts walking, remarking aloud: ]

Should I not comment on how it took the end of the fucking world for us to talk to each other like normal people?

[ she gives cake a stroke and gets back to her feet, dusting off her skirt as she begins following after jenny, taking another thoughtful drag. ]

You probably shouldn't. [ even though she definitely already did. ] The world's come apart around us, obviously we have bigger problems at the moment than whatever personal conflicts we've been experiencing.

Guess impending doom is a pretty big fucking problem.

[ this isn't exactly how jenny imagined her first day being free again would go, but things rarely go how she expects them to lately.

she puts her hand out as if to borrow the cigarette from kanaya. nothing like a shared smoke to celebrate the end of the world. ]

So. Got a plan or something?

[ she hands the cigarette over. they've never had one between the two of them that didn't end up being shared, so it's almost expected at this point. ]

Regrouping is the best plan I can think of. If nothing else, we can spend our last moments with the people who were important to us.

[ as they walk along, she finds a convenience store with the roof collapsed. probably little of use in the rubble, but it might be worth a look. the door's stuck, and she has to struggle to pry it open, but ultimately she ends up just ripping it off its hinges. she frowns at it as she lays it down on the broken sidewalk and slips inside. ]

[ jenny lifts the cigarette to her lips, inhaling a lungful of cancerous smoke as she follows kanaya into the ruined convenience store. she should probably be more concerned about supplies than she is-- especially with her powers as uncooperative as they have been-- but it all seems a little beside the point now.

the thought brings a twinge of annoyance at her own powerlessness. the point of escaping prison was to stop feeling that way. it makes her tone a little more callous than it might have otherwise been, when she responds a bit dryly: ]

Why, so we can watch them die?

[ kanaya climbs up on the counter, stepping carefully around the shards of the glass shield that used to guard it. it crackles under he feet as she hops down to pick through the cigarette boxes, pulling a few that haven't crushed and dropping them in her purse, but tosses a pack of marlboros to jenny. she tests a few lighters before dumping them in, too.

cake hangs by the door, reluctant. he can smell food within, but you don't need a dog's nose to tell that anything refrigerated has started to spoil. ]

We may not have to watch. Not because they'll outlast us, but because we'll all be wiped out at the same time. Thinking we'll simply die of exposure or starvation assumes these conditions will remain indefinitely. In a case like that, rebuilding is possible. [ she finally glances up from her rummaging to catch jenny's eye, but there's something empty in her gaze, resigned. ] But the progression hadn't ended prior to this point, why would it stop now?

[ she puts her purse back over her shoulder and hops over the counter, surveying the state of the shelves. most of them are buried under the collapsed roof, the light of atropos' veins bearing down on them through the opening. the rest of the job may involve some digging. ]

Take what food you can find, water will be vital. We might even stumble across some alcohol, if we're lucky. [ says the girl who's been six months sober. the apocalypse will do that. ]

[ honestly, she thinks it's neater that way-- everyone going out at once. if she were to be the one to end a world, she'd probably do it that way too. but she doesn't say that out loud. kanaya probably wouldn't appreciate it much. instead, she takes another drag off their joint cigarette before catching the pack that kanaya tosses her way. good timing. there isn't much left of the one she's smoking.

she snuffs her dwindling cigarette out under her boot, tapping the new pack against the counter before peeling off the cellophane to extract a fresh stick. snap, blue spark-- she lights up before coming over to join kanaya in scavenging. ]

If you find some water, I could always try and turn it into wine. [ it's a joke. maybe. ] Never did have a fucking birthday party.

[ kanaya wouldn't judge if she had said it, if there's one way she'd pick for it to end, that's the one she'd choose. surrounded by loved ones, no one knowing it's over until after the fact. no pain, no grief, just a flash and it's done.

she doesn't expect to be so lucky. ]

A miracle may be out of place in this setting. I hardly think anyone's in the mood for a wedding party.

[ her purse slips off her arm as she sets it on the ground and braces her shoulder against a thick chunk of plaster before giving it a good push upward with a grunt. she may be stronger than most people, but it still takes quite a strain to keep it up on her own. ]

Had I [ hmp! ] missed your birthday?

[ jenny exhales in a way that might have been scoffing, if she'd tried a little harder. ]

Everybody did. I was in jail. Not the best fucking place for a party.

[ birthdays mean a bit less when you can manipulate your own age anyway. besides, she'd given herself a big enough gift the year before, in a manner of speaking-- an entire country. that being said, maybe it would have been more fitting, given the circumstances, to celebrate the anniversary of her dictatorship (and her) meeting a fated end. better irony, that way.

a sentiment probably better not expressed to kanaya. not while they were getting along better than they had in almost a year. as she comes over to help kanaya lift that slab of plaster, she goes on: ]

Not a big deal. Technically, most people celebrate anyway. It is fucking New Years.

[ she's surprised she never knew that, but then she probably never thought to ask, never realized the correlation with...everything last winter.

between the two of them, lifting the slab is much easier, so kanaya has enough force to spare to push over the shelves. it comes down with a crush against the broken drink coolers, sending some of the dust covering the floor into the air. the middle aisles open now, but one shelves toppled over on its side, and there are still scattered pieces of the roof along the floor. kanaya steps in to start picking through what hadn't been looted already, what hasn't spoiled or broken. ]

Well, there's a considerable difference between people partying and the purpose of their party being you. [ she picks up a snickers bar and wipes the dust off the package, examining it for any tears or damage. eventually finding it satisfies her requirements, she offers it to jenny. ] Happy birthday. Pray it isn't your last.

[ jenny eyes the offering a moment before finally, she reaches out to accept it, her fingertips brushing kanaya's as she takes the snickers bar from her. ]

Thanks. [ dryly, but without any real bite: ] For the present and the morbid fucking sentiment.

[ she hops up onto a piece of rubble, unwrapping the chocolate before she takes a bite. it's surprisingly good-- she hadn't noticed how hungry she'd become or how long it'd been since she'd had something this indulgent until the sugar is melting on her tongue. jenny takes a second to savor it before glancing at kanaya, patting the spot next to herself and waving the candy bar at her in invitation. ]

C'mon. Sit for a sec.

[ she continues picking her way through, taking up a few packs of sandwich crackers and frowning at how most of them are crushed. she doesn't know what else she might've expected in he circumstances.

she considers opening one for a snack as she takes her seat, but knows it won't do much for her, so she just dumps them in her bag again and digs out a bottle of thick red fluid. she's down to two, and she knows they'll spoil before long without refrigeration. it's just the struggle between rationing and letting them go bad now, so she takes a good swig. ]

Well, you know I've never been one to look to for sunshine and rainbows. My definition of either is distinctly outside cheerier expectations.

[ jenny makes an amused exhale of a noise, taking another bite of the snickers bar before folding the wrapper over what's left of it, tucking it into her breast pocket for later. hopefully, it won't melt. that would be a waste of a good candy bar. ]

Is that blood? [ she inquires idly, gesturing at the bottle of red stuff. ] How much you got left?

Not enough to last me long. [ she sits there staring at the wall for a moment, still holding the cap in her hand, doing the math on how long she can stretch this.

finally, she decides to take another swig before screwing the cap back on. ] But the odds are against it having to, either way.

[ jenny's response comes dryly, after a moment: ]

So why even bother saving it?

Because there isn't much point in binging on it, either. We know there probably isn't long, but no clue as to how long there won't be.

[ too much would make her lightheaded and incoherent, too blooddrunk for her own good. it's too much like giving up and waiting for fate to do as it will. letting go of the self control she clings to so tightly.

plus, she'd probably be sick after. and she doesn't know how long they've got to be sure when there won't be an after. ]

[ jenny glances at her, arching an eyebrow like she can't decide whether to judge or be amused. at length, she shakes her head a little, responding with mild wryness: ]

You're way too fucking uptight for it being the end of the world, Naya.

What can I say? I suppose I'm not ready to die with more finality than I have before.

[ she starts fidgeting with one of the cracker packets, tearing it open and sorting the chunks through the crumbs. ]

Giving up isn't strong suit. [ not entirely true. it's that it's too easy, a battle she has to fight constantly. ]

I noticed.

[ her responds a bit dryly-- a dig, maybe, at how long they butted heads. it felt like forever. it's actually kind of nice, to be sitting with her here like this, just hanging out like friends at the end of the world.

at length, somewhere between wry and quiet: ]

You'd think between the fucking two of us, we'd be able to save them.

How is that?

[ she asks but the knows the answer. she's supposed to be a sylph, a healer, and space her domain. it's almost tailored for this exact sort of situation. but she was never worth much in that role. it always felt like some great big cosmic joke that she was chosen to be a healer, at least in retrospect. ]

Maybe you, but in normal circumstances the best I could do is move people elsewhere. Escaping would be one thing, but it wouldn't end this.

[ jenny was never much of a messiah either. they carry heavy burdens for being so young. between the two of them, there's more baggage than anyone should ever have. ]

Yeah, right. Me? This universe is out of my fucking hands. Should've kept sitting on my ass in jail for all the good I'm doing.

[ there's a self-depreciating disdain in her voice, but it passes. ]

It's not like there's anywhere to run anyway.

Well, sitting about waiting for the end never did any good for anyone in all of history.

[ not that this isn't part of her own baggage, the only thing she hates more than being idle is being useless. like hell she's going to die being both. ]

At least this way, if doom is in the cards, you'll get to stretch your legs first.

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of those blackholes & revelations

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