Reality Shift - Origins

by Atomspliter

The story of Destruction continues far into the past, far further than any history records. And yet, there was a group before the ones known today who defeated him. These Origin Shifters are the original 5, the ones who laid the clues for if Destruction would ever return. The past is speaking, and who knows when it'll stop?

This is the story of five unique individuals. Humble beginnings, powerful endings. With their powers combined, they were unbeatable. Yet, their strength derived from something incomprehensible, something unimaginable. Something beyond their understanding of Reality. It all starts with one young child, born to an early human tribe. His name has been lost to time, but his accomplishments live on. One day, while exploring just beyond his tribe's boundaries, he stumbled upon a strange stone. Being a curious young lad, he grabbed the stone and studied it for a bit. It was a pure white, almost blindingly so. Looking deep into it, something appeared under him. He looked down, then vanished. His mom came looking for him, only to find the small stone. None from his tribe knew where he had gone, but most assumed that their gods had taken him. His mother was distraught, but understanding. Life continued on normally for the tribe. However, the boy was not going to live normally for the rest of his life. He had been sucked into a portal, not kidnapped by the gods. Unbeknownst to him, he was travelling to a new Reality. Also unknown to him was the negative energy bombarding his body. His body was mutating as he travelled, producing the first of many mutations; an Origin Reality Gene. The boy looked ahead of himself to see a pulsating line. He began flailing about, but that didn't stop him. He continued on, and entered the line. Moments later, he exited the line, only to travel to another one. However, he seemed to have aged. No longer was the boy young, but he now had the appearance of a young man. He continued ricocheting around the lines, gaining more and more knowledge, yet his age always changed. Sometimes younger, sometimes older. He did not know it at the time, but his age was no longer set in stone. He looked towards the next line, which he now knew was a Reality, and noticed something wrong. Instead of showing a bright light, it showed a dark shadow. He was deposited just in front of it. The shadow responded to his presence, and promptly attacked. He was whipped backwards, but knew something must be done. He gazed upon the shadow, and summoned his strength. It is said he glowed with a godly light, and slowly burned the shadow away. But this is where all knowledge of him fades. No further legends speak of him, yet the past is never one to be silent. While legends might not speak of him, the past does. The story that it tells is one of triumph and disdain, of friendships and enemies. The past will not wait to tell the story, so the question is such: will you wait to hear it?

After burning away the shadow, the boy took a moment to realize what he had just done. He looked at his hand, which now bore a symbol unlike any he had ever seen before. Yet, even as he gazed at it, he had a sense of familiarity. Of knowledge. However, he was unaware that he was being brought elsewhere. As he looked away from the symbol, he realized he was facing another shadow trying to consume a Reality. He called upon the power he now knew he had, and once again glowed with the godly light. However, the shadow was unaffected. The boy summoned more of his strength, yet the shadow still did not abate. Realizing now that he could not stop it, he watched it consume the Reality, slowly destroying its purpose. He knew it could not allow it to achieve its task, yet he was powerless against it. He looked again at the symbol, which began to glow. A spark of light rose out of it, and went into the Reality before him. Where it touched, a new light rose. The shadow went around it, not daring to approach. It continued its attempt, yet the light grew brighter. Suddenly, it pulled away from the Reality, and took a new form. As the boy watched, another boy turned towards him as he finished emerging. He seemed confused and dazed, yet as the boy showed him the shadow, he realized what must be done. He charged it, trying to peel it away. It pushed back, the same way it did to the boy, yet the new boy was unrelenting. Before either knew what was actually happening, his hand began to glow. Another symbol appeared on it, unfamiliar to the new boy yet known to the other. He glowed with the same godly light the boy was capable of, and the shadow began to peel away. It was soon stopped and vanished. The two looked at each other in a mutual understanding, but they were whisked away to another place with yet another shadow. Both of them summoned their godly glow, but nothing occurred. The shadow did not abate. However, the boy's hand glowed yet again, and another light came out of it. It shot into the Reality, similarly to before, and another form rose out. The shadow again avoided it, but it was already too late. Another figure emerged, This new being was girl. She glanced around, afraid. She took notice of the shadow, and her godly light began to glow, but sputtered out. The boy who was first went to her, and calmed her down. The shadow took notice, and attacked. However, the girl's eyes glowed, followed by her hand. A wall appeared in front of her and the first, topping the attack. She rose up and began glowing anew. The shadow again abated, but fought back, dealing a blow to the second boy before it vanished. The other two went to him quickly to see him dissolving into shadow. The girl placed her hands on him, and the darkness was slowly drawn into her. The first looked at her with worry, but she smiled back. The shadow left the boy, completely contained by the girl. It is here that the past dubs them with their names to be remembered by. The first boy was to be known as the First Shifter, the second by the Second Shifter and the girl by the Third Shifter. All three were taken away again, but the First Shifter still worried about the Third. They approached another Reality, not encased by darkness. However, there was a being there. It seemed to be made of shadow, and emanated a sense of foreboding. The being launched itself at the Shifters, but the battle was lost to time. In the end, the three were victorious, yet danger still lurked. The First's hand glowed, and another being appeared from the Reality. He appeared to be not but a child, no older than being able to walk, yet carried a sense of confidence. He was dubbed the Fourth Shifter. The first three introduced themselves, followed by the Fourth. They were yet again whisked away, but remained by the Reality. The shadow was upon it. The first three summoned their strengths, but were outshined by the Fourth, who created his own godly glow. The shadow fled his blinding light, raising jealousy in the Second and Third. The First was just glad to have defeated it quickly. However, the Second and Third turned on the Fourth, thinking themselves to be more powerful, and began a fight. All three glowed with their godly light, but the First got in the way. It did not deter them, and they still attacked. The First took the brunt of the damage, stopping the other three from destroying each other. It was then that he knew both the Second and Third were still tainted by the shadow. The fight gave him an idea of what to call it. However, the attacks proved too much for him to withstand, and he fainted. The other three, horrified by what they had done, quickly went to his aid. However, the being from before was watching them. It swooped in, attempting to destroy the First, but the other three blocked him. The First slowly woke up, and saw his three friends defending him. That brought a smile to his face as he realized what must be done. He summoned his godly glow, and rushed the being, uttering one phrase that is roughly translated to the following words: "We must destroy the Destruction!" The other three charged alongside him, but the Destruction, as it was now called, was too powerful. It cackled as it took their attacks and returned them twofold. The four Shifters, beaten, were sent to another Reality while the Destruction was free to continue its work. The Reality began to be consumed by its shadow. The First Shifter saw it collapse as he vanished with his friends. They reappeared at another untouched Reality, and one that the First Shifter knew. He smiled and approached it, only to be stopped by a kind of shield. He pressed his hands upon it, trying to return home, but he was unable to reach it. His friends pulled him back, only to be whisked away again. The First weeped, unable to understand why he was blocked from his home. His friends calmed him as they approached their final stop. The Reality before them was completely covered by the shadow of Destruction, and the First attempted to summon his light, yet failed to. The others tried as well, with the same effect. Their powers were blocked. But the First, disdained by his earlier failure, would not give in. He focused ever more, and reached for his power. His hand glowed, then he did. But the godly light did not extend as far as it usually did. The others fought their way to their power, but could not reach it. The First continued to dig deeper, and the glow slowly grew in power. Before the others eyes, he split into six. His glow extended along all of his forms, but each was of a different color. The yellow light stayed with him. The purple light spread to the Second Shifter, while the red light spread to the Third. The blue light went to the Fourth while the green light went into the Reality. The brown light remained, unused. A light erupted from the Reality, peeling back the shadow, and the final form emerged. The Fifth Shifter had been brought to them. She looked around, taking notice of all the others, then looked towards the Reality. She glowed with a green light, and something formed before her. She grasped it, and took aim at the Reality. Light spewed out of it, halting the shadow. Her glow spread, encompassing the device. The light grew brighter, and dissolved the shadow. The five looked amongst each other, and knew what had to be done. The first four relayed to the Fifth what had happened before, and she began working on a plan. After giving the details, all five were whisked away again. They approached the Reality the first four saw before, and saw the being yet again. It smiled.

"I like the name you gave me. I think it fits quite well. But I must get back to business." It turned back to the Reality. "I've destroyed the Realities protecting this place. The time is now!" A white glow resounded across the Reality, and the protective barrier that First Shifter hit before vanished. The Destruction rushed forward, and started spreading its shadow. The First Shifter charged, but was stopped by another form. As if looking into a mirror, the First Shifter saw himself, but cloaked in darkness. He glowed yellow and brown, but the other glowed a deep black. The light collided, blinding the First. The other attacked him, forcing him back,

"None attack the master!" The First Shifter charged again, but bounced off the other Shifter. The First got an idea, and focused on the brown glow around him. The others watched as it went towards the other Shifter, who tried to fight it back with his own glow. However, the brown light entered his body and burned away the black light. The other Shifter glowed with the brown light as his darkness was burned away. He looked at the First in disbelief, then smiled. All six turned to the Destruction, who had begun to cloak the Reality in his shadow. All six charged in, trying to stop him. The fight that ensued was said to be a massive battle, but no history was ever recorded for it, even by the past. The end result, however, is still felt to this day. They won, and stopped the Destruction. Beaten, the Fifth Shifter was able to trap him in a powerful cage that couldn't be broken. All of them, including the converted Shifter, took grasp of the cage and began following the Reality before them, travelling further and further into the past. They soon came upon the beginning of time, and gazed beyond it to see a dark Reality. All six of them combined their power, and opened a gate beyond the beginning and further into the past beyond. They drew the Destruction into it, and shoved it in. The gate began to close and the Destruction laughed.

"You are all fools. I can never be contained forever! I will break free one day and complete my quest!" The gate closed, silencing the Destruction. The six Shifters looked amongst each other and knew they had to plant warnings for the future. They separated, and began planting their clues. And that is where their story ends. They were victorious against the Destruction, and prevailed against its plight. But the story of the Destruction goes on further, for its threat will not go unanswered. But that story is of the next generation of Shifters, descendants of the originals. However, none are descendants by relationships. All Shifters after the firsts were created by the Reality Genes the originals spread. The Fifth created many objects and placed them in dozens of locations throughout the infinite Realities. Then, she began to transcribe riddles and clues into the five Realities of which they came from, to try and prepare the future for what was coming. And that is where their story ends. Their deeds done, they were each able to return to their homes to live out their lives. But the sense of adventure elsewhere prompted them to leave and discover. Who knows? Maybe one of you are direct descendants of them. And if you discover your gene, where will you go?