Outcast (MK)

GEAR

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#21
"There are actors from the outside invading our world - poking their way into tiny holes in the umbrella - with the intent of collapsing the boundary, and with it, I'sola."

Zivon folded his arms as he spoke, his tone serious. Perhaps he was referring to the DAMON that had been appearing - but it didn't seem to be the case, no. Rather, he seemed to be almost uncertain as to what the possible aberrations could be - but no less determined to deal with it.

"As I've said... I have my role. But, my ability to intervene is limited." - He winced.

"Purpose has its drawbacks."

Giving a sigh, he made his way back over to his seat, and flopped down. As the two spoke, shoots of green were already pushing their way back up across the land, as the grassy knoll slowly came back to life, sprinting ahead of the two in its own relative fashion.

"But what I can do..." He continued; "Is pull some strings."

Zivon leaned over, hands wrung together, affixing Derrick with a serious look.

"I need you to be out there, hunting these invaders down. Preserve the existing order. At the very least, it'll buy us some time until we can fully repair the system."

He gave another sigh, and scratched the back of his head.

"If we stomp out enough of them... The true mastermind should reveal themselves. That'll be our time to strike."
 

MKR

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#22
The Lunarian contemplated what was put before him, arguably the most interesting instance of watching grass grow on display as Zivon explained what the idea was. From the expression on his face it was clear he wasn't the greatest fan of this idea, but the situation wasn't one that he could refuse either, the destruction of the universe was something of a big deal.

Derrick sighed as he returned to his seat, removing his coat and dropping it over another free seat, rubbing his forehead in thought as he spoke up.

"And here I thought Gragios was the worst thing you'd do to me." He said with a sigh, for a change removing the two colored lenses from his eyes while digging for the box to keep them in from his coat.
"You drive one hell of a hard bargain, because the destruction of the universe isn't exactly something where I can say 'yeah that can happen, that's fine'. But at the same time you are throwing my whole life upside down." the Lunarian grumbled as he put the lenses in their box and looked up at Zivon, light blue eyes now staring back at the man with a serious gaze as there was a distinct clap of the box closing.

"So, I'll do it. On three conditions that is." The Lunarian put one leg over the other and crossed his arms "I'll be the Dimensional Bodyguard you need but you'll owe me one favor, second of all: no surprises like this one. I don't want to find out halfway down the line that my neighbor also was a part of your pantheon or something of the sort and lastly I finally want to hear why me specifically, even if it was just a random pick and I just so happened to be the short end of the stick."

The first two were clearly demands, the last however was simply a man wanting to know why it had to be him whose life was thrown to the wind for this. With that said Derrick sighed and relaxed somewhat, taking a more casual tone.

"Honestly, doubt I can make many demands given that you likely are the only one that can even bring me back to well. Anything resembling home." Derrick shook his head and chuckled a bit to himself. "And before you ask, as much as I would like to use that favor to learn more about the Astranagant I got the message, so no need to do that thing with your voice and eyes again."

"But despite that, and the fact this is the second time you're throwing my life upside down with entities beyond mortal comprehension in the past five years. It is nice to see you again, I was kind of worried when you up and vanished into thin air..." The Lunarian sat up straight, shaking his head slightly, and pulling his hair into place afterwards.

"And uh, maybe a bit late but sorry about the garden."
 

GEAR

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#23
"No."

Zivon's mouth smiled... but that was all.

"You want to know why you were picked, Derrick?" He asked, gesturing with his index finger as he did so;

"You were convenient. Young. Ambitious. Power hungry enough to fall in with the likes of Gragios, without understanding the consequences."

Zivon folded his arms again... and glared. His expression was humorless, and it was clear that the young man's attempt at bargaining had managed to rub him the wrong way. Voice full of faux generosity, he proclaimed:

"Here's what you get out of this: I'll consider sparing your soul from the claim Gragios has on it. That's all."

There was a heavy silence as the ramifications of Zivon's words settled in. To perish while in the service of Gragios, it was said, would add the worshipper to the God's essence - the final, binding aspect of their contract. Few understood the true implications of what that meant, and what it implied was the alternative. Gragios was the God of Hope, of Creation - but, in essence, it was no different from its two quarreling siblings, nothing more than a dark reflection of human essence, a lingering phantasm of long-held resentment.

What kind of influence did Zivon have to be able to make such a claim? There wasn't long to ponder it before he continued:

"I'm not your friend, Derrick." He said, slowly... and deliberately.

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't want you, or any other mortal involved at all. All your kind has ever done is fuck things up with your irresponsible, shortsighted, self-destructive behavior. If it weren't for you-"

The outside was cut off in mid rant, as a clear, clarion voice called out to the two of them.

"...That's a little harsh, isn't it?"

There was the soft crunching of grass, as a figure made their way up the hill towards them. He was dressed casually, in a blue denim jacket with matching jeans, hands with their fingers hooked into the pockets, A soft breeze gently tousled short, thick waves of almost greenish-blonde hair, over a pair of blue eyes, which gazed out at the surroundings with what amounted to polite disinterest... before they settled on Zivon, locking onto his own.

"After all..." Said Gail, calmly:

"You're the one who needs his help, right?"
 

MKR

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#24
Upon hearing the explanation of why him Derrick finally had his answer, it was a hollow one to him though. The man who had all the time in the world, quite literally, had picked him out of convenience. It wasn't like he expected some dominoes falling kind of plan on why it had been his life that was thrown to the gutter but the remark about not understanding the consequences didn't sit well with him, not badly enough to object but it hadn't been that he didn't know the consequences, it had been a case where the consequences had been acceptable from the beginning.

A soul had not been something he'd believed in prior to dealing with Gragios, and an afterlife neither. So something that was quite literally not considered useful by Derrick was to be exchanged for everything he ever wanted. That was a deal if he ever saw one and now Zivon's only offer was to possibly get it back.

"Fine." Derrick replied to the 'deal', sitting himself straight as Zivon explained that they weren't friends. Derrick sighed in reply, it wasn't in frustration to the explanation, nor was it sadness it instead came closer to acceptance.

"No, I suppose you aren't. You do however look like the ghost of a man I once considered a friend and never got to say goodbye to." Derrick coolly replied before looking over to the newcomer.
At least this wasn't a face he knew, that was a much more welcome surprise with entities that could enter this place from the looks of it without even asking for the door to be unlocked.

Derrick slung his coat over his shoulder and stood up, getting out between the glare and looking at the newcomer for a moment. Hazarding to guess that this guy likely had more in common with Zivon than with him in regards to being entities that were understandable but at the very least his attitude was more likable.
"I'm guessing you're also part of keeping things running?" Derrick asked the green haired man.
 

GEAR

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#25
"Is that how he described it?"

Gail cocked his head to listen to the dejected Derrick as he spoke, and gave a warm laugh in response... Though at what, exactly, it was uncertain. He turned to look at the Lunarian, and at his question, seemed to ponder it for a moment - not, it seemed, with the intent to deceive, but simply... selecting the appropriate words. Given how Zivon had so neatly paraphrased earlier, it was a surprising change of pace.

"It's complicated." He explained, giving a sheepish grin;

"He's more like... My parole officer."

"You've got a lot of nerve to show your face here."

Zivon, who had previously remained silent, finally spoke - and the resulting reverberations made the very ground tremble beneath the two, as the burning, kaleidoscopic hues from earlier returned. Overhead, the skies... flickered, briefly. Not long, but... just barely enough for Derrick to make out the shape of something, a truly leviathan form that presided over the entire domain. Gail waved his hands energetically, his voice suddenly dropping into rushed, apologetic octaves as he spoke hurriedly:

"Easy! Easy. It's not like I came on purpose or anything."

The sheer audacity of this statement seemed to give Zivon pause for a moment, causing him to shake his head in disbelief before the young man continued, earnestly:

"Asclepius got dragged off course by something. I assume it must be... That?"

Two index fingers were pointed behind him, to where the Astranagant had crash landed - and Zivon's gaze widened in slow shock, as if overtaken by revelation. The two locked eyes - and Derrick would be suddenly aware that there was a silent battle going on between them, a war of unspoken words, tension hanging in the air so thick it was almost like a fog-

...But, surprisingly, it was Zivon who broke first, giving a derisive grunt as he turned away, as if so disgusted with the conversation he couldn't even bear to look at them.

"...Get the fuck out of here." He said, finally.

"The both of you."
 

MKR

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#26
The Lunarian suddenly felt as if he was in the middle of something he had not business being in, a kind of hurricane that wasn't seen but the sheer shaking at his feet indicated the powers that be enough, the stars only further clarifying the magnitude of the powers that be.

And here was this.. Man? Entity? Acting half like a court jester with his motions and actions but the reaction Zivon had indicated there was more at play. Derrick took the opportunity to inch himself away from both as they began their silent battle and even when they concluded it and frankly, Zivon's 'suggested' course of action sounded just fine right about now.

Making sure he had all his belongings still on him Derrick began walking towards the Astranagant, looking over to the man who had just nearly angered Zivon enough to bring the heavens themselves down on him by merely being here as he walked towards the downwards slope.

Before heading down though Derrick poised one question.
"How do we do that even?"

Was there to be another hole in reality to jump into, or was there some other method. Maybe the third person here had his own method of getting out but as far as Derrick knew the only way for him to leave would be another one of those portals like the one the scumbag that threw him here in the first place made.
 

GEAR

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#27
As Zivon turned, the newcomer gave a barely-noticeable sigh of relief. Even he, it seemed, wasn't all that intent on bringing Zivon's wrath down upon their heads. As the two began walking down towards the Astranagant, Derrick would have immediately noticed another machine, crouched down beside it.

Compared to the Astranagant, it couldn't have been more different - where one was blocky and angular, the smaller one was white, with red and green trim, its face concealed with a slit-eyed visor, its body decorated with all manner of delicate looking points that terminated in small blades. A pair of winglike binders jutted from its back, and a long, edged tail snaked out from its lower back, coiling about its crouched form, bringing to mind a waiting serpent.

...When had it arrived? And, without any kind of noise?

"Asclepius."

Were Derrick to glance sideways, he might have seen the other man had caught up to him, and was giving him a winning grin, clearly grateful to be out of Zivon's sight. He gave a wave of his hand as they walked, as if trying to clear the air of the tension left over from the previous encounter, gesturing back to the rapidly fading form of Zivon.

"Don't mind him," He explained, with a tepid laugh "He's... Not a bad guy. Just... Difficult."

At Derrick's question, he scratched his chin thoughtfully, as though he didn't quite know the answer.

"Can't say it's any of my business to know why you're here, but..."

A palm was energetically thrust in his direction, as the young man beamed at him. It was a stark contrast from Zivon's perpetual glare and faux-comfortable demeanor - no, by comparison, he practically glowed with warmth.

"...Gail. Gail O'Brennan. Nice to meet you."
 

MKR

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#28
The Scientist paused to look at the new mech, a design more in line with Everglory's than his own yet completely foreign to him. Somehow this machine had arrived and landed without either him or Zivon noticing, but his gaze would wander away from the unknown mech to its owner when Gail called out the machine's name.

The blonde man that now looked like he won the lottery, now waving at him. The Lunarian shook his head slightly at the 'difficult' remark, not in a dismissive way but rather an acknowledgement that it was quite the understatement. Still, after his extended talk with Zivon having someone more, human, to talk to. Someone that showed genuine emotion rather than feigned.
He felt that the only glimpses into the real Zivon, in perhaps more ways than one, were right after Gail arrived. But that didn't matter.

Derrick extended his hand to shake Gail's, bringing his mind off the matter of their host.
"Derrick Oswald Vance. Likewise and frankly, the reason why I was brought here is probably something that's better left unknown." he stated, looking at the Black Angel for a moment before turning back to Gail.

"So, I can't help but be curious at your remark, that the Astranagant dragged you off course and to here. How do you travel around that something like that can even happen?" Derrick asked, no doubt Zivon had a way out for them but honestly everything about this man and his mech intrigued the Lunarian.
 

GEAR

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#29
"Not really sure myself, to be honest."

Gail gave an apologetic shrug, and folded his arms as he regarded the white and red machine, thoughtfully. Unlike Zivon, Gail at least appeared to be something of an open book, giving his earnest answers as best as he could.

"Asclepius has quite a few black boxes... One of which allows it to pass between dimensional barriers. Handy for long distance travel, but... That's how I wound up here. I'm kind of figuring it out as I go, but I can get us out of here, at least." He explained matter of factly... and then, paused.

The wind rustled gently over the ethereal plains, still carrying grains of the ash from earlier, as Gail lapsed into thought. He was looking at the Astrangant, in the fashion of someone trying to remember something - or perhaps, who was nursing some kind of curiosity.

"Do you mind if I ask a question first?" He said suddenly, somehow ungluing his eyes from the wings of the Black Angel to look into Derricks' own.

"...That machine. Does it have some kind of... Special system?"
 

MKR

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#30
Derrick sat on the Astranagant's arm as Gail spoke, the crystal was smooth and showed no signs of previous damage. Such was its regenerative power, but yet it lay hidden in some uncanny valley for the Scientist that put it together, its stark contrast to the typical Lunarian designs making it more similar to a beast then a mech to him especially considering what it had done and the weight Zivon had put behind it.

Gail's whimsical travel methods didn't exactly give much confidence in his methods, but one does not look a gift horse in the mouth. The system question stood out but frankly if any time was justified to ask such a thing, it would be now.

"Yeah. I don't understand most of it because 'it is not for me to understand'. Nevertheless it feeds me info I need to know on how to pilot the Astranagant and just general information about the world it also fueled the weapon that led me here."

The Tippler Cylinder was versatile, and did more than he spoke of that much he knew too, weaponizing time itself was one hell of a thing especially when the guardian of time himself forced it into his hands. But he didn't know Gail beyond that Zivon disliked him and he stumbled in here silently so keeping some secrets seemed wise.

The man's naturally blue eyes stared back at Gail, the man might catch onto the fact that he knew more than he let on, frankly Derrick didn't care a lot. Worst case he'd need to walk back up the hill and ask for the door out to be opened.
 

GEAR

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#31
"Beyond human comprehension, huh?"

Gail gave a wry, somewhat disbelieving smile, as though he were used to Zivon saying such things, but with the tone of one who didn't seem to regard it with any degree of seriousness. It didn't appear as though his line of questioning was ill intended - so much that he was seeking to learn something about the Astrangant, perhaps something Derrick himself wasn't privy too. He walked over to the machine's chest, examining its dark curvature leisurely, and gave the scientist a playful shrug as he reached out to touch its surface.

"Let's just see about-"

...And stopped, his fingertips almost touching the surface, giving a sharp intake of breath as he did so, eyes widening. For a moment like that, he simply stood, frozen, as if rooted to the spot, paralyzed. A single droplet of sweat trickled down his forehead, to fall gently from his chin.

"...!"

Slowly, carefully, Gail withdraw his hand, cradling his palm, before it had even touched the surface of the Black Angel. Across the surface of his fingertips were bright red, criss-crossed lines - as though he had been scalded, and then cut by a thousand tiny daggers, droplets of crimson blood plip-plopping onto the ground.

"Not for mine either, looks like." He breathed.
 

MKR

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#32
Derrick calmly watched Gail reach down, expecting nothing to happen as the man touched the surface. But it seemed he wouldn't even get that far as much to his surprise Gail paused before even touching the surface of the Black Angel causing the Lunarian to raise an eyebrow.
With an air of uncertainty as to what stopped the man Derrick looked on and when the blonde revealed the marks on his fingers the only immediate reply was Derrick cringing. After pausing for a second Derrick stood up, looking up the body of the Astranagant to the cockpit entrance and then back to Gail.

"We should probably save the rest of the talking for until we're out of here." Changing the subject for both his and Gail's betterment seemed like a wise idea, as Astranagant didn't scald or hurt people for simply trying to touch it, at least. Not before now at least and Derrick took it as a hint that both of them should be out of here. So while he phrased it like a suggestion it really wasn't.

"Provided of course that whatever method you use to travel won't just throw me to the last place where I was and drags you with me again. Because in that case you may need to get ready for a fight." The Lunarian commented as he climbed up the exterior of the Black Angel and up to the cockpit.

Once at the entrance Derrick opened the cockpit and carefully let himself drop into it, the Astranagant coming to life as he did so, the lines all over the machine flaring up before dimming again. Not much later the machine pushed itself up from its half buried state. Dirt falling off of it as it rose to a standing position.
With a final glance it looked back to the hill where Zivon was before looking towards the Asclepius a second later.
 

GEAR

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#33
Gail gave only a nod in response to Derrick as he spoke, his mind seeming... elsewhere. Perhaps the shock had rattled him more than he was willing to admit? Regardless, no further explanation seemed to be forthcoming, the blonde now seeming to be at a loss for words.

Following suite, he made his way back to the Asclepius as well, flopping into the seat with a sigh, and closing his eyes as the machine came to life around him without prompting, a bright green glow. He savored it, that brief moment of quiet. It allowed him to gather his thoughts, and try to piece together what had just happened.

The silver serpent rose to its feet, and with one hand, pointed straight up.

"Follow me." Gail instructed - and with that, the Asclepius shot into the air, its speed remarkable even compared to those of Luna, the tiny green flecks surging forth from its wing like binders bringing to mind Dimensional Energy. As it rose into the horizon, towards Zivon's artificial sky, it seemed to cross an invisible threshold of sorts - and vanished. Ripples pulsed out from where it had been across the sky, as if it had vanished into a pond.

The myriad lights of "between places" reflected off the Asclepius' surface as it dropped into the slipstream, a tunnel of possibility, a surge of thought and action that was neither here, nor there - but that he, and by extension Derrick, would paddle through on their way back.

He was trying very hard not to think of what he'd just experienced. This was, to say the least, discomforting for a man so traveled, who had seen everything that I'sola had to offer, and so much more... but, at the very least, what he had felt seemed very much real.

No, perhaps a better term might be what he had seen as he had reached out to touch the Astranagant.

A presence of sorts, something... Lurking, just beneath the surface, peering back at him as he had brushed against the soul of the machine.

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Something... ancient.​