Planar Chaos
One Shots: For Science!
Upon arriving on Segovia, Odom was intensely aware of the fact that he had been shrunk down to about one one-hundredth his normal size. He felt squeezed, almost like he would burst at the seams. It wasn't a feeling he particularly liked, but at the same time the creatures on this plane were unique in their smallness. The largest of leviathans was, compared to the fauna of other planes, the size of an elephant.
He had a small break scheduled during his research so he could take part in the most famous of Segovian customs, a visit to the Hippodrome. They watched all sorts of spectacles from gladiators to chariot races. Odom had front row seats and a perfect view of all the beasts that would be present in the arena.
Soon, however, his attention was fixed on one of the combatants. A bald man in blue and yellow robes that fought using only his fists and magic was steadily advancing in the tournament being held that day. Odom grew curious about this man. A warrior this powerful couldn't just be trained. He had to have been born with some innate abilities present in his genetic makeup. He wanted, no, needed, a biological sample from the combatant.
"Excuse me," Odom called out after the tournament was over and the combatants were free to mingle with the rest of the crowd for the remainder of the day. The bald man glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, pointing to himself.
"Yes, sir, I'm speaking to you."
The warrior strode over and stood in front of Odom. "What do you want, an autograph?"
"Of sorts," Odom said, smiling.
"Of sorts?"
"Well, I'll get to that later. I wanted to compliment you on your performance in that tournament. I've never seen a warrior with such skill. Where did you study? Who did you train under?"
"My masters live very far away."
"What are they masters of? Magic? Combat? You engage in both with a tenacity and grace I haven't found in anyone else in this world."
"You must have studied a lot then."
"Oh no. Only the last few days. But I know something unique when I see it. I'm sort of unique myself." He gestured to the mismatched half of his face. "So, about that autograph, may I take a sample of your skin for study? Some blood as well?"
"My... what?" The bald man took a step back.
"Sorry. I should have introduced myself first. I'm Odom." Odom extended his hand. "I'm something of a wandering scientist, specializing in the biological sciences."
"Brock," the warrior said, giving Odom a very quick handshake. He examined his palm until he was satisfied with its appearance.
"I was thinking, you have to have been born with some of those abilities because nobody gets this good from training. I didn't get as good as I am from training, of course that was mostly an experiment that went horribly wrong and turned out okay in the end."
"And what exactly do you want to do with my skin?" Brock crossed his arms.
Odom scratched his head. Brock took a second glance at the scientist's hair. It seemed to be a different shade. "Well," Odom began, "I mostly collect samples of biomass and mutate them in order to create new and interesting creatures."
"Abominations, you mean."
"You sound like my study buddy," Odom laughed. "She thinks they're abominations too, but at the same time she can't deny that studying created life gives her a new insight into natural life."
Brock let out a sigh. This scientist, mage, whatever he was, had no sense of order or balance. His creations could become massive threats to the world around him, but Brock hadn't seen anything out of place on Segovia since he arrived. "I suppose I'll have to come back to your lab?"
"Oh, no," Odom said. "My lab is much too far for anyone here to travel to. I'd imagine it's about as far away as your masters." He rolled up one of his sleeves and winked. Brock was shocked to see that one of Odom's arms was made of wood and wrapped in vines.
"That's not an illusion, is it?" Brock reached out a hand and touched the bark, finding it rough and cool to the touch.
"Nope. The experiment that went wrong resulted in a spectacular explosion that ripped apart most of my torso and tore off this part of my face." He gestured to the mismatched half. "I was put back together by an incredibly chaotic magical force I can't quite explain."
"What are you?"
"I think you'll find my answer in this question: What are you?" Odom chuckled.
"That said, I think I at least need to check it out." Brock extended his hand. "I'd like you to take me there."
They planeswalked. Brock found himself standing on a landing in a spacious apartment in one of Ravnica's residential districts. He followed the staircase down to what he assumed had once been a living room but was now a laboratory/incubation chamber. Inside a tub being heated by a series of steam tubes was a bubbling pile of biomass.
"It's nowhere near ready yet," Odom said when he saw Brock inspecting the tub. "I haven't figured out what I want to do with it yet."
"Seems harmless enough," Brock said.
"Yeah. The last thing the Simic guild made that was actually dangerous on a large scale was Experiment One. I had a small part in that, mostly worked on the tentacles." Odom wiggled his fingers.
A low rumbling came from the next room. Brock's eyes widened as a large, bark covered nose poked through the doorway.
"Oops," Odom looked sheepish. "Feeding time. Very well. Back home with you." The creature beyond the doorway was unsummoned from whatever plane it came from.
"What... was that?" Brock asked. Blood was slowly returning to his face.
"That was Maelstrom Wanderer, or as I sometimes call him, Broseidon. My Broster Strudel. The Bro-est of Bros. He's the best."
"What exactly is Maelstrom Wanderer?"
"That explosion I mentioned was in an Izzet artifice lab. I woke up in the Maelstrom of Alara to that giant elemental puppy dog looking at me and thought I was dead. So I did what anyone who believed they were already dead would do. I climbed on his back and together we wandered around for a few years just being bros."
A new voice that was shockingly familiar to Brock called out, "Honey? I'm back!"
Ashleigh descended the stairs carrying an armful of jars. She was continuing to talk to Odom, unaware that Brock was there. "You know, I was wondering, have you ever thought about being parents?"
"Ashleigh, that's just silly. You know planeswalkers can't have kids. If they could it would have happened by now."
"I know. I was thinking about that ball of biomass, though. We could create something truly fantastic together."
"You'd make something that would destroy the world," Brock said bitterly. He'd already adopted a fighting stance, much to Odom's confusion.
"You!" Ashleigh snarled, almost dropping her jars. Brock noted she'd traded her impractical dress for robes similar to Odom's but in blue and red instead of blue and green.
"Whoa whoa whoa." Odom stepped between them. "Ash, give me those jars. You know the rules. No fighting in the lab. We have too many delicate experiments going on in here. Take it upstairs or outside."
"I won't make the same mistake as last time," Brock growled. He watched every motion of Ashleigh handing off the jars to Odom. "I will rid the multiverse of your stain."
"I'd rather you not," Odom said, arranging the jars on a shelf. "She's kind of sort of my girlfriend."
"Kind of sort of?" Brock was both confused and incredulous.
"Well what he means is we hang out sometimes," Ashleigh said. "Sometimes we do what he wants to do. Sometimes we do what I want to do. It's a very balanced relationship."
"Except I keep almost dying, Ash." Odom turned around and crossed his arms. "I swear you're nothing but bad luck."
"She probably does it on purpose." Brock narrowed his eyes and looked over at Odom. "Odom you're a fool if you let her live any longer. She's a threat to the multiverse."
"So are the eldrazi and I don't see you trying to destroy them. Right, Ash?" Odom looked over to the space where Ashleigh once was. "Ash?"
"Dammit!" Brock slammed his fist onto a nearby table. "Why don't you see? Why don't you care?"
Odom shrugged. "I just know how to deal with her. She may want to destroy the world, but if I can dangle enough shiny things in front of her or get her wrapped up in one of my projects she forgets about it for a while."
"But she's pure evil."
"There's no such thing," Odom thoughtfully stroked the bubbling biomass. "She just thinks differently than you do."
"Destroying the world is evil."
"See, you see this nebulous concept you call evil. I see a curiosity about the building blocks of the world and how they fit together. You'll never know unless you tear it apart." A flash of insight flickered in Odom's eyes.
"Ojutai preserve me..." Brock sighed. "I'll be keeping an eye on both of you."
Odom was left alone with his biomass and a whirlwind of thoughts. He didn't know if Brock's ideas about evil and good were right. He didn't know what category Ashleigh fit into. He did know one thing, though. He needed some samples from a two headed dragon.