No Way Home

[ixis]

He seeps in through the imperceptible seams around the crystal window. The oily purple smoke he currently inhabits the form of swirling in agitation around the second floor of his tower, unable to bring himself into cohesive physical form from sheer anger.

That anger manifests outwards when the form of air changes to that of fire. Ixis Naugus screams his fury and frustration, flames flowing over his room in waves, consuming everything in the room that isn't stone. Books, parchment, blankets all catch fire, collateral damage in the mage's supreme outrage.

But the flames soon weaken, gutter, die. Everything is scorched black all around him but he couldn't care less. He is left defeated, falling to his knees, his staff slipping from his hand and clattering to the ground.

There is no way home. His Mobius is gone. He doesn't know how, but the doctor's done it. Reality is rewritten and he is locked out of it. Trapped. Exiled.

His anger has dissipated with the flames and Ixis Naugus just slumps further to the floor in despair.

Comments

[ixis]

"Hah. You're surrounding yourself with a regular rogue's gallery." That offered hand is taken gently. He'd forgotten what this sort of gesture felt like and while it makes him feel a little awkward, it's nice. It's an honest, kind gesture.

"What did they warn you about when it came to your Loki?" Anything for a different subject right now.

[brave_heart_verity]

"I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints." It's shameless plagiarism to steal a line, but she's not too worried about that at the moment.

"Loki... well... the one who was my friend was the third incarnation. The first one was, frankly, evil. Truly evil. He hurt a lot of people, he tried to end the world a few times. Not everyone believed that my Loki was different. Most people assumed every Loki would be evil and wouldn't even be able to try to be anything else." It's still a little hard to talk about, but talking this time makes it easier for next time.

"It's weird, but I've met the second incarnation here in the Nexus a few times. He's a little kid. Sweet, but really nosy."

[ixis]

"Did the version you grew close to show any inclination toward being as wicked? At least I can attest I've never sought world destruction. What good would that be? I just wanted the kingdom that was owed me and the power to keep it." That's reasonable, right?

[brave_heart_verity]

She's not sure anyone's owed a kingdom, but a leader looking for ways to protect their people she can understand.

"It... could have happened, someday." She looks down, and suddenly she's holding his hand in a bit more of a clinging manner. King Loki is very low on her list of things she wants to talk about.

"Let me preface this with the fact that time travel makes things complicated. A version of my Loki from an alternate future came back in time to try and turn my Loki into him sooner. He'd never managed to convince the other Asgardians that he'd changed, and eventually he decided to be evil again. He conquered Midgard, er, the planet I'm from, and burnt everything. It was a sea of ashes when he left..." Her voice has been trailing off the further she got into the story.

[ixis]

"All the more reason for him to befriend a girl who knows the lies from the truths the moment they're uttered." Her hold on his hand tightening prompts the mage to give her fingers a small squeeze in return. "And I cannot blame him for that frustration. If everyone believes the worst of you, why not be it? There's no convincing them otherwise, so save yourself the heartache."

And that's the story of how Verity would have saved the world.

[brave_heart_verity]

The squeeze gets a flicker of a smile from her. He's a surprisingly good listener sometimes and she's grateful for it. "I wouldn't want to give them the satisfaction of being right. King Loki--that's what the one from the future called himself--he never met me. He must have been so lonely."

This is how much she loves Loki: she even has compassion for the one who ruined her life.

Thanks to the power of LOVE

[ixis]

"You know, ever since finding the Nexus, I've been asked that more than once. 'Are you lonely?' Either for lack of confidants or companions around me or by merit of there being so few Mobians. And then none that are like me. I've brushed it off as I did with you before, but where would I be now if you weren't present? Torching a great deal more things, most likely."

He smiles slightly. "Uma would have liked you."

Platonic and somewhat toxic love, but yes

[brave_heart_verity]

"You'd probably have made it up to your lab by now," she agrees with a little smile. "And ranting about how hard it's going to be to put your enemy back together so you can kill him or something." Please don't let him take this as a suggestion.

"Uma?" She doesn't think he's mentioned that name before today.

[ixis]

"Wouldn't that be a novel solution? Perhaps I will still construct monitors to see-...Maybe the world will come back together again someday and I will witness some manner of rebirth. Hopefully with a version of the doctor so I can properly thank him for this particular headache." And heartache. But he's not going to admit that so readily.

Especially now that he's on the subject of someone else in particular. "She was my right hand man. A ninja of exceptional ability and strength. Clever, quiet, powerful...loyal. As I said, she is no longer among us. She didn't even get the dignity of an end in battle, as she deserved. She died a lingering, painful death by radiation poisoning. I was still exiled at the time, so...I did not hear of it until it was long past."

[brave_heart_verity]

She needs to keep her mouth shut. The idea gets a disapproving look from her. They can discuss the ethical implications of that plan later. When he's in his right mind again.

"I'm sorry. She sounds amazing." She gives his hand a squeeze after a moment and offers, "Maybe look at it this way: she didn't die in battle because nothing else could take her. That's pretty impressive."

[ixis]

He 'hmmphs' a small huff of a laugh. "That is one way to look at it. I'm not sure she would have agreed. A proper warrior's death would have befitted her a great deal more than wasting away like she must have."

He's quiet a moment.

"...I suppose now is as good a time as any to admit I miss her. Were she by my side, none of this would seem so...chaotic."

[brave_heart_verity]

At least she got a little laugh out of him. That's a good sign.

"It's easier to deal with things with a friend around." Were they more than friends? It's not really her place to ask, and now is really not the time to bring up his children either. "What do you think she would do, if she were here?"

[ixis]

"...Probably what you're doing. While talking about where we could go from here. She's probably the only other person who's seen me in such a state." Uma Arachnis, professional ninja and Naugus tantrum/breakdown wrangler. "She was unflappable. Took everything in quiet stride.

"She was quite incredible and I don't know if I ever properly told her that." This loss of all of Mobius and the life he's known is sort of bringing things back to the surface. Other instances of loss.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Sounds like she was a true friend." Anyone who can take everything Naugus does in stride is someone Verity's going to respect. That takes true bravery and an epic poker face.

"She knew. I'm sure she knew, because she knew you. She'd seen you at your worst and at your best. And if I can tell, being notoriously bad at this 'feelings' stuff, I have no doubt she'd figured it out."

[ixis]

"The Nexus is infuriating because now it seeds hope that people who you never thought you'd see again may show up. What if some version of her found her way here? What if some portal opened for the Arachne before they were drained of life by the doctor..."

A darkness passes over Naugus' face as he slips his hand free of Verity's and curls it into a tight fist. That fist soon bangs hard enough on the table that it makes his teacup rattle.

"He's taken everything from me! Uma died because of his toxic city! The Arachne died in the same prison capsules that drove me mad! And now this! I cannot express how much I hate him!"

[brave_heart_verity]

She keeps quiet during the rhetorical questions, but the table-pounding makes her jump. Temper temper, Naugus. She sets the teacup to rights with a slow and deliberate motion before looking over at him again.

"So don't let him win. Get them back."

[ixis]

Poor teacup has to put up with so much. Maybe this is why Naugus makes all his glassware out of that unbreakable crystal of his.

The mage looks over at Verity slowly, his ears doing a few confused twists and twitches as he tries to piece together what she's saying.

"What do you mean?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"We're sitting in a place connected throughout time and space. You can open portals. Who says the portals can only open from place to place?"

Time travel of varying kinds beyond the normal isn't unheard of where she's from. People go backward, forward, diagonally, weaving through forgotten pasts and dead futures and sometimes even on purpose. Why couldn't he?

"If you could open a portal through time, you could bring them here."

[ixis]

"I could-..."

You can nearly see his mind racing in that moment, eyes darting slightly, ears doing more of those thoughtful twitches.

"No, no. I don't know a thing about time. My realm is the elements. To hazard this would be foolishness." He sounds more like he's trying to convince himself of that notion than actually stating it, though.

[brave_heart_verity]

"It's never too late to learn something new," she points out quietly. Then she picks up the teacup and takes it to the sink. With her back turned and her busy washing up, he can have an illusion of privacy while he thinks about it.

[ixis]

He stares at that neglected muffin while she's away, his mind back to racing. Opening portals in time...He could find Uma. Get rid of Warlord Kodos while he's at it, for all the good he did the two of them. He could break the Arachne free, he could leave Mogul in their place to rot. That would also require waylaying that Finitivus fellow while he was at it, but he'd be a pushover, wouldn't he? All he has going for him is portal magic and Naugus has so much more! He would have time to plan, time to map it all out, all the intricacies, the dominoes.

He could stop Eggman before he ruined it all.

"...How could I do this? And wouldn't I meet with myself? Paradoxes and the like."

[brave_heart_verity]

His thinking quietly and not attacking the furniture is a decided improvement in her opinion. Time travel opens up so many options. It needs careful consideration.

The questions make her smile, but she puts on a more serious expression before she turns to face him. "It would be tricky. I don't know magic, you know that, but there might be someone or something around here that could help with that part. As for the planning... that'll take a lot of time. The more things you try to change, the less likely you are to be successful. There's no way to predict how a single change will affect other events you want to influence. I have some books about time travel and alternate dimensions if you'd like to borrow them. They're mostly theoretical, but the principles are generally sound."

[ixis]

"Well, the thing about time magicks is you always have time, isn't it? Books on the matter would be good. I would need the perspective on how to harness it and utilize it at all first to see if this is even viable." What a thrill it'd be if it was, really.

"I feel this is also something prudent to keep under your hat, Verity. I don't need people knowing a personal undertaking like this. Or like your Loki, assume the worst that I would ever consider chronomancy combined with Nexus and portal magicks."

[brave_heart_verity]

"I think having all the time in the world is half the reason people invented time travel," she agrees with a little smile to go with the little joke.

"Of course I won't tell anyone. Why would I?"

[ixis]

"I just have to be careful. I trust you, I do, but i just wanted to ensure this wasn't some new hobby I would be taking up that you could inform the likes of, ugh, that man in blue. Vale's bones, but he did have a problem with me, didn't he? I thought I was being helpful and he simply looked to take a bite out of me at every turn!" He's referring to Hughes, if it isn't obvious.