Prologue
"Dying Light"
...
It all started when reality began to slow. Every single being across all of reality felt their lives suddenly stop. All matter ceased to stop living, becoming paused in time indefinitely. Absolutely everything was frozen.
No consciousness could perceive what happened next, not fully.
After the pause was something far more grand. As if all it took were the flipping of a switch, or perhaps the snap of one's fingers, all of reality ceased to be. It was more than just darkness, it was a cessation of matter and being. Everything became nothing.
It did not take long for that to change as well. As quickly as it disappeared, reality returned to being, though things were not the same as before. Lives were upturned and shifted around, placed into familiar places and roles that all the beings involved knew. Reality returned to being and to every individual across the multiverse, their lives became completely mundane. Every single day became "just a day like any other."
No one would recall what happened, at least not under normal circumstances.
For those who were chosen, their new mundane existences came to a sudden stop. A bright light entered their view and enveloped all that they knew, taking them somewhere too far away to truly measure. Sensations cascaded across their bodies as they felt memories pop back into their head. Before their mundane lives, reality itself had come to a stop, had it not?
With the question of one's reality on everyone's mind, the chosen found themselves appearing somewhere new. The bright light was replaced with a dull light, the source being a single street lamp. All around it was darkness. The chosen stood within a void, standing on darkness with only the street lamp and others like them standing among them.
A young man stood beside the lamp, bathed in its dull light. His eyes seemed to be glowing and he was looking over everyone in the vicinity.
"Hey there," he said, sounding halfway between nervous and apologetic. "I'm sure you guys are... confused. I'm Wiccan. Or, well, considering the circumstances, it might be better to tell you my real name. It's Billy Kaplan."
"What the--" One boy nearby was shaking his head, as if trying to clear it. He grunted and ran his hands down his body as if to check if everything was still intact.
"Bloody hell, where are we?"
Billy looked away as if embarrassed, rubbing the back of his head. "To be honest, I don't really know. I'm being led around a bit myself. There's a sort of future version of myself who--" Billy paused. "Okay, actually, let me just say some powerful being has possessed my body and is using me to save you guys. We're in a sort of null space in-between dimensions right now."
"Save us from what?" the boy with the shaved head asked, as if the parts about powerful beings and possession made complete sense.
Billy looked at him, examining him closer. "You're a Bloodstone, right? Cullen? That's cool. Um--" Billy closed his eyes, thinking. "Okay, listen, this is not something all of you might recall right away, but your world was erased. All worlds were erased." There was a foul outburst by Cullen, but Billy continued. "All universes-- the multiverse itself-- was erased by this really powerful guy, and he's working on remaking all of reality the way he wants it to be. So yeah, newsflash for anyone who wasn't already aware, there's just about an infinite amount of dimensions outside your own and now, somehow, they're all at risk."
"All worlds..." A certain boy mumbled out through a soft breaths as he rubbed his head. Just like the boy named Cullen, the spiky-haired teen felt... groggy. Weak. His mind a scrambled mess as it struggled to piece itself back together, like he was hit on the head. Or maybe a part of him didn't want to register what had just happened, but here he was now. And if he was here... that could only mean one thing. It was just as Billy said, after all. All worlds were erased.
Staggering to his feet, the boy clutched his arm uneasily as he attempted to slide into the exchange as well. "You two... were there too..." He murmured through bated breaths, recognizing the faces of Cullen and Billy a bit more clearly now. The battle on Ash, and the incident with Othinus, who...
"So, that's it. He really did it... All over again, just like Othinus did..." The boy said hopelessly, looking up at the black void where a sky would normally be, not even a sun to shine through the dark.
"I'm afraid this is different," Billy said. "You guys managed to talk Othinus into putting the multiverse back the way it was, but even if you hadn't, there would have been a chance of stopping her. Certain beings were resistant to her power, and the Great Spirits would have broken free of her control eventually. However, this time..." Billy gulped. "There is nothing stopping this. No way to reset things once it's complete. He killed the strongest beings in the multiverse and took some of their power for his own, giving him free reign."
"Bollocks," Cullen scoffed. "Literally every world has been remade by some cunt? And he's gone and killed anyone that could stop him? What are we doing here then?"
Billy crossed his arms. His eyes were still glowing, implying that they seemed to be permanent. "You've got one thing wrong: he still hasn't remade anything. He's still in the middle of it. It's such a huge process that he had to do something with everyone while our new reality was being created. So, now every being that exists sits in stasis, essentially put to sleep while they are forced to live out snippets of their lives."
The look on Cullen's face was incredulous. "... Snippets of their lives?"
"Yes. They loop the same days over and over."
"A perpetual time loop... Now that, I do have experience with," Touma murmured as he attempted to calm his breath. It was shockingly easy to keep from breaking down in front of everyone, but the boy had to wonder if it was because he was used to the fate of the multiverse tipping to different sides on a whim for a while now, or if it just hadn't set in yet that this is what became of the multiverse in light of the team's failure. His brow scrunched up as he thought of the others who were right beside him what felt like mere moments ago, united against Revan and his forces.
He thought of Severa, feeling an emptiness in his heart as he already missed her nagging and badgering in his ear. He thought of Rinato, that girl who gave her to put Revan down, yet tragically was too little and too late. He thought of the many who also gave their life defending against the Revanchist, and how all their sacrifices were in vain... and then he clenched his fist. No, that wasn't going to be how he'd let it end.
Maybe it was insanity, especially at this point, but it had been done once before after all. And if that was the case, then certainly, the one God of the Multiverse could be defeated.
"So... What you're saying is, considering the fact that we're still here, and the fact that pieces of the multiverse are still intact, at least for now, there's still a chance we can fix this. Right?!" he exclaimed intently, taking a restless step toward Billy.
Billy's eyes met Touma's as the other boy took a step forward. A smile appeared on Billy's face for a moment but he quickly shook his head and adopted a frown. "Yes... and no. I don't know the exact details, but this is a complicated matter. The being that's possessing me, he exists outside time and space. He's a cosmic deity, one who has existed across all of reality, having seeded life force into the multiverse. Thing is, he doesn't technically exist yet, so... I'm his conduit, but not only is his power limited thanks to my own limitations, his power was also supported by the Great Spirits. Their death means he can't just undo all this."
"Complicated sounds like it's putting it pretty lightly, mate," Cullen said, shooting Billy a wary look. "How are we supposed to help then, huh? Why us? Aren't you in good with all sorts of Avengers?"
"This isn't just about our universe, Cullen," Billy said pointedly. He looked around at the gathered group. "Honestly, most of you guys were gathered randomly. Some of you are close to me or to each other tangentially, but there was no means of picking and choosing the best team. Whatever your previous allegiences were, it means nothing now. You are all that's left, for better or for worse, and... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know this is a lot to take in, especially for some of you. I-I don't even know how best to explain this..."
Billy let out a rough exhale and slowly sat down with his legs crossed. He gripped at his head, his gloved hands tangled in his hair. His hood fell down, revealing his boyish looks and making it quite clear he was really just a young adult.
"I need a moment to think, everyone."
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Final Chapter
Epilogue
Character List
@Takumi as Azura [Fire Emblem]
@mintyy as Azure Kite [.hack]
@Jeremi as Biscuit Krueger [Hunter x Hunter]
@Gummi Bunnies as Blake Dormi [OC]
@Josh as Clark Kent [Smallville]
@Atomic Knight as Cullen Bloodstone [Marvel Comics]
@Indigo Al as Doctor Langa [OC]
@York as Emily Hayes [Amulet]
@Capri as Gentaro Kisaragi [Kamen Rider]
@Crunch as Giorno Giovanna [JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]
@Yun Lee as Jianyu [Street Fighter]
@Lucky as Lucifer Morningstar [Lucifer]
@Alex Azure as Mason Moretti [OC]
@Kaykay as Mebuki Kusunoki [Kusunoki Mebuki is a Hero]
@Neko Shogun as Senna [Bleach]
@Ottonomous Ghost as Siegward of Catarina [Dark Souls]
@Krieg as Spike Spiegel [Cowboy Bebop]
@Sark as Thaal Sinestro [DC Comics]
@Minerva as Triss Merigold [The Witcher]
@Ver as Touma Kamijou [A Certain Magical Index]
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