The Outbreak
The war. The multiverse war. The fight against Apocalypse the Destroyer. Yes, the war. That is the story you know. You know it because of the danger it proposed, you know it because there were survivors. However, what you don't know is that…there was never just one war.
Corruption, you've heard of it, you know what it can do. You've seen it ruin lives, corrupt minds. You think it's dangerous, the one you've seen. Well, you've never seen the corruption that I've seen. You've never seen "the plague".
I was an Obsidian, a bat-winged genius male that was working on Homeworld's 'Multiverse Project'. I was the one who built that device and, of course, I was the one who tested it. It was a marvel for them, even in comparison with Homeworld's current feats, one that would surely be forever remembered throughout history. When I did test it though, the device…messed up.
I was ejected from my timeline, sending to one of these other timelines. When I first arrived, I thought that this wouldn't be a problem and that I should have a rather easy time constructing another one. Oh how little I knew. This world, this timeline, an anomaly as they were commonly called, was hell coming to earth.
The Homeworld I was on was nothing like the one I left behind. The great planet was ruined, in shambles, nothing good in its place. That wasn't the worst of it though. When I arrived, what I found were…them, the corrupted. Oh yes, I had seen plenty of corrupted gems in my day, I was the one who built the machine that would cause it, in my timeline at least. But, no matter who made this or how much I understand it, I was never prepared for what I was met with.
The first gem I came across, a Peridot who claimed to be a member of some group called the 'Crystal Gems', I didn't see for anymore than ten minutes before they came. They weren't like most corrupted gems, some of these creatures held something akin to their original form, but all of their bodies were coated in some sort of melting black substance with yellow glowing eyes and mouths. These creatures swarmed us in an instant, taking the Peridot before I had a chance to save her. Then, I saw the real terror of these gems. When they held her, they didn't attack or try to crack her, they held her there, and I watched in pure horror as this Peridot writhed in pain before the black covered her, a new monster emerging from the black cocoon. And I hadn't even seen the half of it.
When I flew away, all I could see from the sky were those things. Everywhere, roaming the streets and buildings, burrowing through the ground, even flying through the air. They were everywhere, and they were hunting for normal gems, which I just so happened to be. I spent who knows how long there, along the way learning that these things were not only more dangerous than the counterparts I knew, but these were organized, the had a system of command that the higher intellect would claim. Above them all, shockingly, was some small boy, his entire body the same black as the rest. I saw him when I had followed the now corrupted Peridot, finding that she was brought to him, joining a circle of five others that were gathered around him. He appeared to lead these things, like some sort of queen to her hive. Even the Diamonds, leaders of Homeworld, became pawns to the creature.
To call this place a living nightmare…would've been an understatement. Calling it like hell would have been an understatement. This place was hell.
I can remember every single day I spent in the wretched timeline, no planet safe from swarms of gems. Even Earth, the planet that so boldly protected itself from Homeworld, had fallen. There were no humans or any type of organic life on it anymore. All that was left were the gems, the plague. Even space became a cesspool of activity, any with wings swarming the skies.
Finally, one day, when I had returned to the corrupted Homeworld with the intention of accepting my fate and joining this otherworldly army, I remembered something. That something I remembered was the very device that brought me here. So, of course I thought, why can't it take me away. Of course, the one I made was gone, left behind in the timeline I came from, but this universe was still one with a Homeworld, and it surely had the parts I needed to leave the place. Now, I could drone on about how I was wrong, or some epic journey or adventure I took while learning some life lessons along the way, but then I would be lying. I wasn't wrong. I didn't have to travel far. It was so simple I finished overnight. Exact same way I made the first. I didn't worry about fixing it anymore than I had the other one, my mind simply wanted to escape, to leave this place. So, I did. I activated it, the portal dragged me through, I was free. My home timeline wasn't on the other side, but I didn't care, I wasn't in that horrifying place anymore. And there was nothing that would happen to change that.
…What a fool I was. I didn't worry after I was free. I didn't think about the sane gems still there suffering, if I had seen them I would've helped them, but since I didn't I had a clean conscience. I didn't think about what I had done there, the little orb I left on the ground. I didn't think about the smart little brat leading the corrupted troops. I didn't think about what would happen. I didn't connect the dots. I didn't think that I would be the one who singlehandedly let the monsters out.
Author's note: Hello readers. So, I just wanted to go on and say that this is not a story I am actually making. I'm hoping this will be a story that we will be making. And not just across one story, I would like to see this across multiple stories by multiple people, if you want to that is. While the 'Infinite Skies' story is something that I have to be careful with because of all the characters within it and how I can't have anything contradicting anything else in the story (because then it would be an AU of the multiverse, blah, blah, blah, science that I won't bore you with). However, I intentionally put as few characters as I could in this intro, simply showing the one who started the whole mess and the monster's leaders, that way there was nothing to contradict anything else. So, now we can build this side of the multiverse together. Of course, there will have to be some rules of you do decide to join the Plague.
So, first things first, in order for this to work, there will need to be some sort of communication between the authors so as to not have contradicting storylines. Do your research, look to see if what you're doing would contradict what anyone else is doing. If you're doing a survival story of someone from the Plague's origins, make sure that the actions and/or events taken will not contradict that of someone who came first (first come, first serve on that front, sorry). And not just on this site. Fanfiction, Archive of Our Own, Wattpad, Deviantart, Tumblr, everyone participating on any site will have to interact to make this possible. As such, to make your Plague story easy to find among others, please put 'SUPlague' in your story's summary (or tags if you're doing it on Archive of Our Own or Wattpad).
Next, no war changers…yet. We can't have a widespread cure, a way to instantaneously kill off every one in a timeline, we just can't have a way to end it all yet. It's simply not something that we can do. You can have a person or group of people keeping them from swarming a particular timeline and succeeding, but you can't just have your character be overpowered and have no challenge in it or have the timeline completely overrun by them one moment and the next have a single character just wipe every one of them out without any struggle. You can even give your characters a happy ending by finding a way to seal off your timeline from the rest, keeping them out indefinitely (we should probably all communicate as to the science behind such a device), but we can't give the ultimate happy ending for the entire multiverse, otherwise you've ended the story for everyone else. Essentially, no god mode (Did I say that right?).
On a side note, don't kill the Obsidian here, the circle of six, or the leader. In fact, don't include them or this Obsidian yet until I actually come up with a set design for them. Because they are very important.
No real backstory as to why the Plague gems are the way they are. I'm currently working on it all and it's probably going to be one of the things talked about in this work. (PLUS I CALL DIBS! XP)
Next, no interactions with any of the characters in 'Infinite Skies' or anything that would effect storyline of that story in any way. Yes, Infinite Skies exists in the multiverse too, but the story for that is already set and is a project that sadly can not be included in this. Infinite Skies has too many characters and too much story already in it, they just can't interact. Explanation for this, their sectors in the multiverse are extremely far from each other.
No ship discrimination. Sure, if you only had one timeline or a few others involved, it would make sense you would probably only see one of a certain type of relationship. However, if you have a really large group of timelines, you're bound to have a few differences. Not going to be really strict about this, but just something I would like you to think about. No shipscrimination.
Permission. It doesn't matter if it's just a timeline that is the same type as one that appears in another timeline, if it came from them, you need to ask their permission. Same goes for if you plan to have something happen in your story that effects or was effected by the actions of someone else's character.
Please check this 'story' periodically. There will probably be some sort of update to it and maybe another monologue from the Obsidian who released the plague.
Respect. Seriously, please respect everyone.
Remember, communication is key if this is going to work. Please talk to one one another and tell me. Have fun!