Ragnarok was happily chewing candy while ignoring the world and keeping Crona safe as the pair were transported to some new 'home', aka: Lab without Medusa.
Which, sadly enough, was still like six steps up from where they were in the past.
But that was fine, because he ALSO got a lot of material to work with to stabilize and improve his partner!
At this point, he had fully rebuilt their sibling's body a few times, using the experience and attempts from each previous version as a tutorial for future modifications... And got to enjoy a snack at the same time!
Not… Not that the snacks were more important than Crona or anything, they were just appreciated.
Speaking of their new advantages, he had put a lot of effort into the new abilities and features of their new body! Their bones were now stronger than most metals, even had a few such things incorporated into them actually now that he had more esoteric metals to work with, and Crona's muscles had been restructured entirely.
Denser, resistant to tear and damage, able to pull more weight, etc.
Oh, they'd still be thin and fairly androgynous, at least for as long as their younger sibling didn't wish to alter their looks one way or the other, but now there were some fundamental improvements.
Aside from some deliberate exit points to allow future Black Blood access, he had managed to reinforce their skin and stuff to the point where most weapons wouldn't even make a cut now! At least, not if Crona was attacked by a standard human, anyway. Magic or an empowered Weapon or Meister would still be an issue, but it was still worth the effort to change this stuff.
After all, when bullets and knives did less or no damage, Crona could focus more on going to attack rather then having to pause so Ragnarok could patch them up!
He idly formed another empty mouth and shoved it full of candy.
And while it was frustrating to be heading to some crazy scientist's lab like this, to be honest? Ragnarok was out of his depth.
Sure, he knew how to hold a near corpse together while forming massive blades that screamed with Madness to hack open any foe… But wilderness survival? Finding civilization? NOT terrifying all animals and stuff in a twenty mile radius?
Basically, he had a few weak points.
Better to go with the mad scientist and get lots of high quality free food and stuff (And candy!) while hopefully learning more about life outside of a test tube.
Again, it was depressing as hell that going RIGHT BACK INTO A LAB would still increase the chances for Crona and Ragnarok to learn about the real world than what they had experienced under Medusa's loving care.
Plus, if everything goes REALLY wrong, he had at least learned how to tree.
Learning how to tree has been surprisingly rewarding!
Though it only seemed to work on plants. When Dr. Stein offered up a terrified Rabbit for Ragnarok to 'blend' with, it uh…
Well, it didn't go well.
But hey, free fresh meat and stuff! And since Crona was still in their coma/healing sleep/Nest of D̴̛̫͎̝̣͓̮̟̤̗͇̩̝̞͓̼̥̝́́͟ͅa̶̡̧̱̪̱͔̤͕͙̫͇͖̞̦͘r̛̦̱͕̟̜̼̰̣̖̳͈̕͜͠͝k͏̸̞͚̙̜̳̺̰̤̣̝́ṉ̶̵̬̙̣̗̯̱̫͉́͜e̵̵͖̜̹͍͕͍͇͕̜̲̼̝̝̕͜͡s̢͈̮̪̹͇̫̣̼̠͈̼̝̬̩͔͉̲ͅͅs̵̢̥͍̙̜̠̣͔͔̻̻̼, there was no issue about guilt this time!
.
.
Not that Ragnarok cared much about the life and death of tiny things (Or any thing that wasn't Crona), he just didn't want to hurt his sibling any more and THEY cared, so uh… Yeah.
Anyway, infusing any animal with Black Blood did NOT go well. At all.
But at least he could tree!
Even if the tree had started twisting and the roots had unearthed themselves and the Black Blood was sort of infesting the material and… Uh. Well?
Yeah, he might be converting the entire structure into a secondary or tertiary form for Crona to assume at a later point.
Which hopefully they would appreciate! Being a tree sometimes was awesome!
And if they hated the concept, he could just blend with another plant. A bush or something, maybe. Then Crona could convert entirely into Black Blood and shape shift into various vegetation and they could hide together forever!
Oh? You attempted to chase me and my host?
Well HA! I was a rose bush the whole time! It was ME, Ragnarok!
Heh heh heh heh…
Dr. Stein glanced at him. "Are you making the tree cackle on purpose, or is it a side effect of all the Madness you are collecting?"
Uh. He felt the Black Blood twist a bit to check. [[A bit of both? Something about being a tree finds being uprooted and moved somewhere else to be… Ticklish. And life threatening… But mostly ticklish.]]
The doctor hummed, pulling more notes out of one of his lab coat pockets. "True, I find myself quite amused when I begin losing limbs during a fight… Future tests, maybe… And it increases the likelihood that Madness is interpreted differently for plants compared to witch descendants."
The man paused, mid note. "Assuming your host, Crona, is the descendant of that witch I fought? Or are they some random test subject captured for the program?"
He winced, his black limbs and many branches twisting. [[She CALLED us her children, but… Well, genetically I'm pretty sure Crona is related to Medusa, or went through enough alterations that the connection was crafted.]]
After all, having all your blood replaced by a sentient and tortured Weapon wasn't something an unmodified child could live through.
The many faces that now grew on the tree scowled. [[Even if she gave birth to us in one form or another, she isn't a mother. Just a monster with magic.]]
The doctor shrugged. "Still, the interaction between Madness, you, and Crona is similar enough to what I expect and predict from a witch descendant that it gives me a base to work off of. Are your roots recovering? Need any other strange additives?"
The thinner bits snapped off when being released from the soil, but trees were hardy things. [[Roots are fine, although… If you have any more 3,5-dimethyl-1,2,4-trithiolanes available?]]
The man blinked and checked his pockets. "Honestly, you took the last of it along with all my 3-methyl-5-pentyl-1,2,4-trithiolane. I don't carry a huge supply of that kind of stuff."
Rats. [[Any more candy?]]
He shrugged. "I got some mints?"
Meh, they would do. [[Gimme!]] A new mouth over there… Woo! Omnomnom!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Spirit Albarn paced back and forth in the communications room, Lord Death watching with mild amusement to one side. "Stein might be the best Meister this academy ever trained, but he's MY old partner and he can NOT be left to handle kids! Or adults! Or a house plant!"
He chuckled. [[Oh, I'm sure he'll do fine… His students all seem to do very well, after all!]]
The man pointed at the Reaper! "A boy raised his hand to ask a question and Stein assumed he wanted to DONATE THE LIMB TO SCIENCE! If I hadn't been keeping an eye on him those first few months, half the school would be covered in scars and stitches by now!"
That… That was true. [[He may be a tad… Enthusiastic at times…]]
At least the young professor was mostly stable and sane here, in Death City.
After all, the entire facility and the academy within were encapsulated by Death's Soul, and he had lived for a… A very long time. Repressing the sealed danger below, as was needed.
Still, the excess Madness and raw power that the powerful teachers and students of this world were not worth mentioning compared to his own abilities and durability, after all. It was an easy burden to bear.
Plus, there were (limited) signs of improvement! [[At least he called this time?]]
Spirit snorted. "Only because I threatened to get his lab budget cut the last time he had to butcher a town full of targets 'in self defense.' Enemy or not, there is a DIFFERENCE between fighting to kill or detain and fighting to capture and experiment!"
Well, yes, that was a good point. [[Point is, he DID call this time and he DIDN'T harvest a witch's young test subject in the wilderness! That is grand progress, you know?]]
The man paused… And gave a worried nod. "Good point. It feels out of character… Is he up to something?" He shook his head. "I better go to his labs to keep an eye on him when he get's here. And I best go now… It takes me time to avoid all the random traps and stuff he sets up and 'forgets' about, and I don't want to be knocked unconscious and have my toes swapped around again."
Death winced. [[He… He did fix that, yes?]]
Spirit snorted. "He SAYS he did, but now my left big toe always feels a bit 'right' to me and I just can't trust it anymore."
He blinked as he felt a familiar presence enter his Soul and the city… Along with two oddities half merged together… And a tree? [[Huh.]]
Spirit paused mid rant about the dangers of anonymous toe migration and caught onto his tone. "What happened?"
He shrugged his slightly too flexible body, his mask looking to the east. [[Professor Stein has returned with a tree.]]
His friend and Death Weapon blinked. "A tree?"
Yep. [[Feels like a 'Pinus Radiata', or a Monterey pine tree.]] Not too old, only around 60 years old or so.
Spirit seemed to have gone blank. "A tree."
One filled with madness that seems to be in the process of being subsumed into the two children with conjoined twin souls. [[Yes.]] Was the tree developing some sort of sapience? [[It seems to be a lovely tree?]] Certainly was stuffed full with Madness and what felt like Darkness.
The man crumbled. "Oh my god, my ex-partner is SO FREAKING WEIRD!"
Death hummed. [[I just find it impressive that he can strengthen his body so significantly with Soul Resonance to even carry the thing this far.]] He wore the roots like a vest or something, carrying the absurdly large tree like a backpack.
Spirit threw his hands up. "Nope! Not going to think about that or comment. Now if you excuse me, I am going to spend the next hour or so attempting to enter his labs through the front door without getting stabbed by medicated needles or caught in one of those traps filled with unknown fluid."
The tree was sort of blending with the other Souls? Death absently waved his friend off as he continued to study the situation. [[Don't forget it is Wednesday, so you need to jump three times to the left after the rope trap wires and two to the right once when you see the third false door.]]
Wednesdays were always rough days to visit the professor's lab.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Dr. Stein grinned at his new lab tree! "Let's begin!"
Wait. "Hang on! Hold that thought."
Sensors. ALL the sensors!
It had been so LONG since he had something worth studying with the good stuff, and he had idly dismantled a lot of the standardized and off the shelf equipment for parts or to improve random things he developed.
He needed to get the computers connected and networked, have the servers redirect some space and then get the spare equipment for the project, ensure everything works, tear it all apart, reconstruct the junk into something actually USEFUL, test if THAT works, and…
With a slow cackle of madness, he moved at near random from space to space around the 'Subject Containment Room 3' in his lab, deconstructing and rebuilding, moving and wiring, what few robots had managed to last long enough to help out being directed or dissected to provide a few extra parts…
Hee hee, data! Glorious, glorious data!
Oh. "Do you require soil, or can I set up some sort of hydroponic setup instead?
The tree blinked its many eyes. [[Some sort of what now?]]
Sigh. "Basically it is special water full of good stuff. I can even dose it with some of my best calcium nitrate! The altered one from earlier with the purple crystals that have tiny faces on them!"
The tree lit up! [[Ooh, those were tingly and tasted like blue! Yeah, I want that stuff!]]
Good, because moving lots of dirt around was frustrating and made a mess compared to some chemically treated water supply. "Stay there for now, I'll begin hooking up the various sensors and stuff once I get done establishing the environmental observation platforms and get the foundation of the network reestablished."
Tree or not, by the sample's very nature some blood related test equipment would be needed, and a different collection of hardware for the witch descendant Crona, plus some of the odder tools he had designed for inspecting bones the size of houses which SHOULD work on normal trees, and…
Bustling around in passionate Madness, he moved from area to area with frequent absences to find materials and hardware from other rooms and storage areas. This was going to be so informative! Hee hah ha ha! Ha H̷̛̱̙̥͚̱̩͍̜͓̖̝̖͜͟ͅa̴̵̗̻̳̺̫̠͉̙̻̪̼̜͇̣̫̫͍̤̕ ̸̷͙͉̘̹͝͡H̶̴̨̬͚̮̺̙͔̹͙̦͕̝̙̝̠͕̼͉̥͢͢ͅa̵͏͏̮͔̤͕̯͖͍͖́ ̛͟͞҉҉̜̮̰̘̼̤̬̱͈̭̦͔̞H̛̕͠҉͓̼͈̮̣͍̩͔̤̱̯̜̺̹͎A̸̢̰͔͈̯̝̘̜͙̟͢H҉̝͉̯̺͖͚̼̦̭͠ͅẠ̶̧̡̛̜̝̬̦͍̥̪̗̫͇͡ͅH̡̟̳̪͔͝͡À̷̷̪̩͙͔̹͓̣̮͎̠̳̩̘̠̬̭̻H̨̦̜̰̺͚̹͞Ą̧̮̣̙̠̮̲̜͙̠̯̣̖̺͔…
.
C̛̮̖̣̹͓͓͇̠̼̕͡͞ͅl͡҉̭̞̣͈̞̳͔̮̲͘͟͞i̶̷̛̤̩̜̱̥̩͡͝c͍͖͉̥̖͈̻̞͇̀̀k̗̥̮̬͎͖̙̟̥̟̞̠͘͜ͅ.̸̱̜̦͎̝͇͖͙̯̼̥̰͟
.
Slow and steady is the key. Don't get lost in the data.
His grin was still too sharp and his eyes a bit too manic, but at least he was focused enough to not impact the tools he was working with now! A bit of Madness was expected, but he needed his equipment to be mostly stable for reliable information!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Spirit shifted to the left, avoiding the needles and spikes, while ducking under the applicator arms. "Stupid lab, stupid partner… No, EX-partner! Crazy bastard…"
Hit the blue button, ignore the green button, pull the red button, PUSH the orange lever WITHOUT pulling it… Finally! "I better not find body parts everywhere or… Whatever the hell you were planning to do… To a tree?"
Seriously, why a tree!?
Whatever, he'd find out when he got to the lab. "Stein! Stein, you better not be doing…" Anything really, ALL of his shit was crazy when he left the city for too long.
Not knowing how to finish his half gathered rant, he just opened the lab vault door, the 'official' and 'unlocked' one compared to the literal insanity of the other options, and paused looking at the chaos within.
It looked like a bomb had gone off.
The walls were full of holes and the framework that used to support equipment.
Parts and metal and plastic fragments covered the floor.
The lighting was flickering, as redundant (And some NOT so redundant) parts had clearly been harvested.
Small pools of what was hopefully oil haunted the scene, which felt cannibalized and empty.
He couldn't help but hesitate. "Damn it, Stein… What are you up to now?"
Spirit cautiously moved through the mess, not knowing if any bits of it was still dangerous (accidentally or otherwise) and attempted to head to one of the lab specimen containment rooms. Those were always kept near the center of this complex, to avoid easy escape/contamination/oversight/consequences.
Once he was mostly clear of the mess, he frowned. "STEIN!"
In the distance, a lazy drawl. "Not here! Please come inquire again within nominal business operating hours to be properly rejected according to policy!"
So the third ward hall, second cell.
Some twisted part of him was actually glad Stein wasn't using HIS personal medical room, even if the horrific 'recovery' procedures had given him nightmares for weeks and weeks.
Sure, it had healed him up and strengthened him and… But the memories…
Third ward hall, second cell. "Don't you do ANYTHING Stein! You hear me!?"
Bastard stayed silent this time, damn it.
By the time he actually got to the correct area and avoided the worst of the chaos and mess, he found himself confronted by a new obstacle.
A near solid wall of machinery, blocking everything.
Sensors, detectors, some sort of humidity amplifier? That bit over there manipulated some of the odder chemicals that Stein constantly requisitioned, but had clearly been modified with some sort of infusion machine and regulators and…
No idea what any of this did or was meant for.
As for what it was? It was in the way, that's what it was. "Stein!"
A distant sigh seemed to reverberate through the mess of wires and hardware. "Spirit, as much as I would love to give you a medical checkup or something, my schedule is quite full right now. Unless you changed your mind about…?"
His vision flickered R̨̧̨̤̻̲͎̘͎̹͍̙͙̼̰͉e̶̡̧̛͓̜̩̠̘̟̥͉̘͖̯͞d̡͏̙͕̼̻̣͜. "You are NEVER examining my sweet little Maka."
.
A distant snort. "You KNOW I am a better physician than any of those quacks you insist on going to, and I promised already to mostly keep any experimentation to a minimum…"
His body attempted to flicker into his deadlier Weapon form. "You will NOT be experimenting on MY DAUGHTER!"
A grumble. "Your loss. Her's too, honestly. There is good Science to be done there… But no matter, my project inbox is likely to be full for the next few months regardless. Leave a note and come back later, I need to continue recording the new specimen."
This ASSHOLE! "Stein, let me in there or I will let MYSELF in there. You know I will."
A pause… And a frustrated puff of an unseen cigarette. "I'll need four minutes or so to disconnect the pipes with radioactive material and clear enough sensors to let you through. Please do NOT smash my equipment, fragmenting a section of this city and poisoning the surrounding terrain would contaminate future samples."
Spirit felt his body freeze in caution as he noticed how many of the nearby devices seemed to GLOW with Madness and twitch slightly. "Oh… Oh dear."
The voice was closer now. "Oh don't sound so upset, most of my hardware managed to retain their functionality at this range. Only the stuff that was set up too closely was corrupted and… Well, this stuff is mostly non-violent AND gathering useful data! So just let me disconnect it safely so it doesn't try to eat you or something. At least, not until I can properly record that…"
He glanced to the side. Was that cord licking it's lips? Why did a cord HAVE lips!?
Something shifted from the mess in front. "Honestly I didn't realize how lax I've been with ensuring my spare equipment was properly being replenished. Oh, I had the spares and the backup spare parts and stuff, but after needing to upgrade and modify so many tools and machines it gets more and more complicated to find the needed parts that won't also begin to grow teeth and such when exposed to a bit more Soul Resonance soaked with Madness than expected."
Something GROWLED. "Oops… Watch your fingers! This seismograph seems pretty hungry… Or frustrated? Horny? It's hard to tell when they don't have a proper face for a human to analyze and the case keeps shifting shape due to the ambient energies."
…On second thought. "I'll move back further down the hallway until you can clear a path."
The equipment in front SHIFTED uncomfortably. "Yes, that may be for the best. If nothing else, not having your blood contaminate the mostly sane hardware will hopefully prevent issues from exponentially increasing so soon."
Nope.
Nope to all of that. "Just… Just work your way over here and answer my questions, alright Stein?"
An unseen huff. "I already told you I swapped your toes back, you big baby!"
FUCK YOU! "JUST DO IT!"
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Crona was half asleep and half awake.
They didn't know how to handle that.
But for now, they floated in a pool of the Blackest of Blood, in a place without Mr. Corner or his distant relatives, Mrs. Wall or Cousin Ceiling.
Just a lot of nothing in all directions.
They didn't know how to deal with that either.
At least here, in the Black Blood, they knew certainty. Clarity. Comfort.
Which was why it was so odd that something new was growing here, in this unrecognizable place that felt so safe and familiar.
It was a tree.
An odd sort of tree.
It grew in the Black Blood, but didn't sprout from a seed or expand like a sponge.
Instead the liquid crafted an empty shell of a leafless plant, then began crafting empty bubbles of leaves, tiny hollow roots and twigs and stuff.
As Crona watched, more and more Black continued to flow up those roots and slowly saturate the hollow tree that began to pulse with familiar power.
…It was a nice tree? Sort of? It felt that way at least.
They didn't know how to process friendly foliage.
Still, in this place without ground or walls or distance or time or light, where Darkness slept and the Black Blood pooled, the tree was VERY noticeable. It stood tall and sturdy, and seemed to pull Darkness into the strange hollow leaves and feed the plant as the absorbed power mixed with the bubbling Black Blood absorbed from below.
Unlike their brother, Ragnarok, this felt more like… A bystander. No, less than that. An object? But one that felt like an outfit, a suit for when it was needed?
It was much nicer than any clothing Crona had ever worn before. And it could reach into reality and feed upon Sunlight and Madness and Darkness and…
And they didn't know how to handle that.
The speed of the hollow tree filling with power had increased though, in the last while.
Something was nurturing the Black Blood, more than the basic raw power of Darkness, and the new materials flowed within the ooze and soaked into Crona themself.
They felt… Stronger.
More sturdy.
Even a bit more stable, if they had any ability to judge such a thing.
They didn't know how to handle not being unstable. Being unstable was familiar, it was a lifetime of pain and terror, yes, but it was nostalgic and something they understood.
Not something they liked, of course.
But feeling stronger and healthier, how would one handle that? Impossible!
Crona absently pulled a Shadow into a cuddle as they both moved into the Black Blood. Here, there was certainty. This much they knew.
The presence of Shadow wasn't a surprise or shock. After all, didn't everyone have a Shadow? Even their brother, and 'mother', and those poor creatures they had… They had...
Crona hugged their Shadow tighter as they floated.
Floating under the limbs of the Black Blood tree, the child sought comfort and solace in the clawed arms of a familiar stranger… And found the pink pulse of acceptance and warmth never touched before in their life.
And despite not knowing how to deal with such a thing, it was wonderful nevertheless.
Over time, more and more oddities began to poke this strange place.
Tools and half creatures, eyes and noses and mouths, all were observing and recording and watching this conceptual situation… And most were being absently ignored due to the warm embrace of Darkness.
It didn't matter to them, because they didn't have to deal with that. They could just rest here, while their brother kept them safe and healed them and their Shadow comforted them while asleep in the Darkness.
At least, it didn't matter at first.
And if the observer had only observed, it probably wouldn't have ever mattered.
But sometimes Madness and Science don't decide to make the most logical of choices…
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Dr. Stein's wide grin glistened with Ş̶̧͎̤̯̹̲̭̟̰̤̟̯̪̟̝̩̝͕̝̬͜c̛̲̝͇͝ḭ̷̡̫̫̩͉̯̪̺͈̱͉̪̘̗̘̦́̕e̢̺̖̯͖͕̭̠͕͍̰͘n̛̘̪̪͇͢͡ͅc̷̛̹̻͉̭̟͉̲̙͙͔̥e̛̬̭̱̤͇̳͚͈̺̗͔̩̝͙̫̘̰͖͢!̷̷̡͙̫̳̭͙̤̯͖̱̠͙̀ͅ "Then I will irradiate the probe to ensure it doesn't corrode and…"
Spirit held up a hand.
He paused. "Yes?"
The man glared at him. "Dumb it down for me."
Franken Stein frowned. "I was." He knew his audience after all, big words were a bit too much to ask from such a mind.
The glare intensified. "Humor me and dumb it down further."
He huffed. "How much did you understand from my earlier discussion?" At least give him a starting point, was it about the dimensional resonance array or the exotic particle collectors?
Spirit shrugged. "You have a tree and it's half merged with a witch's kid and some sort of mutilated Weapon child."
Stein rolled his eyes and waved him to go on.
The other man shuffled in place.
Oh for the sake of Science! "That's it? Seriously? After my entire overview and synopsis?"
A more embarrassed look! "I'm not a NERD! Just… Just dumb it down, alright!?"
A damned CAVEMAN. "I am going to poke it."
Spirit blinked. "Huh?"
Smaller words. "I poke tree with stick."
Were ALL Weapons that became Death Scythes this dumb? Sheesh.
Seeing confusion still for some stupid damned reason AND having lost all confidence in his partner… In his ex-partner's intellect, he sighed. "The stick is a special stick and I'm going to poke it in a special way, but basically I'm going to poke it with a stick and see what happens."
Spirit frowned. "How HARD are you going to poke it!?"
For fucks sake. "It isn't a literal…" No, keep it simple. "It is not a normal stick, it won't physically interact with…" More simple. "It is a magic stick, the subjects will be fine AND unhurt."
Stein felt his mind begin to unwind and uncoil as the conversation began to spiral with Spirit asking about the 'stick' and how 'sticky' the 'stick' would 'stick' the 'stickee' and…
C̡͚̱͚͎̝͔̩͇̞͡l̵̯̯̟͈̗̹̪͠͠i̹̙̼̫̖̖̯̖͎̥̗͍̲͟͠c̶͓̫͔͎͉̹̩̼͍̠̗̪̫̻̣͘ḵ̢̠̱̘̖͔̩̺̝͘̕͡͡.̴̥̼͈̦̻͙̰̺̰͕̞͇̞͇̮̱͘͜
.
Oh yes.
Yes, he needed that.
Stein held up a hand. "No. Stop talking."
He pointed at himself. "I am going to do this. You are going to stay here, touch nothing, and NOT accidentally kill all of us AND this new form of life by trying to do anything 'smart' and getting in the way."
Spirit growled! "Hey now, if you…"
A Soul of torn Madness stitched together by Intellect and Science, a Bolt-Screw of Insanity that turned and clicked with the power of imagination, a man who was D̶͍͎͓̟̜̕͝ơ̢̤̥͙̣̮̰͙n̖̣̬̪͡é̥̳̺̻̦͙̠̹ ̸̸̦̙̯̬̦̣W͙͖̖̳͡i̛̯͕̖͟t̻̮h̵҉̸̬̱͇̫͖̺ ̴̨̟̟͙͈̮̼́Ţ̡̭̳͇h̷͓͎̜͍͔̜͍̞í̮͉̻̦̀s̷̬͢ ̶̭̣͔͟E͍͎̲̜̙͈͇̕͜͡n̛͚͕͞t̷͔̫̹̘̣ͅi̦͍r͓̲͔è̠̜̥̝̕͞ͅl̡͏͈̟̞̯̮͚͍̰̤y̶̢̭̤̰͇̙̫͞.̝͇͙̰̭͡͡
.
His Soul pulsed with Power. "I wasn't making a suggestion."
Spirit couldn't respond, as he was currently immobilized by numbing agent N322 and soon to be slumbering thanks to a beta batch of 'sleeper agent' S003.
Dr. Stein paused to just… Revel in the sheer silence in the room and the sudden jump in average IQ levels.
Finally.
Now to go test his theory and… Sigh, 'Poke it with a stick.'
God damn it, Spirit.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
In a space that didn't really exist, in a metaphysical context that wasn't accurate, a pool of Black Blood cradled a child and its Shadow while a hollow tree branched overhead.
The surrounding eyes and noses and ears had no impact on this situation, as expected.
But now, something different.
In every important and meaningful and actual way, it was not a stick.
But for the sake of certain less than advanced people, compromises could be made to call it a rod. Sort of.
The truth of the matter and the context of the situation all made the idea of calling this thing a rod or a stick laughably inaccurate, but only a child and blood and a tree and a Shadow existed here, and they had no opinion on the topic.
So, for the sake of it's operator and creator, it could charitably and inaccurately be considered a 'rod' to keep an insane scientist from sinking deeper into his own endless Madness.
It was strange, ghostly, torn apart by Madness and stitched together by Science… This rod's most distinguishing feature was the oversized Bolt-Screw that pierced the base of it as it approached the inhabitants of this place.
And it moved with purpose to the nearest entity that didn't exist here, the hollow tree that even now absorbed and soaked in raw Darkness and Madness, the structure that defended the pool.
The rod didn't 'poke' the tree.
But it metaphorically sort of did it, if you ignored all of the facts and logic and so forth.
The tree, being a tree despite also being an empty container for astonishing sources of power, was decidedly tree-like in many ways. And as a tree, it reacted as any tree would to being poked.
By standing still and tree-ing at it menacingly.
Time meant little here, and the actions from outside certainly didn't reflect or coordinate with the results in this strange place, so the poking continued for a few thousand years.
The tree won.
Eventually, more due to having more targets to poke than actually getting bored or being directed, the rod moved on to the pool.
Poke.
It made ripples, but nothing much else.
Still, the sensing shades detected the ripples as a non-tree response, and so the endless poking commenced!
Centuries passed. Eons. It wrapped back around to the past, it looped and splintered, and through it all the rod poked the pool.
Eventually, due to random chance more than anything, it almost poked Crona.
However, the Shadow that was cuddled in their arms was already there, in the way, willingly and unknowingly protecting the child.
So this not-a-rod in this not-a-place poked Shadow, the embodiment of Darkness, while he slumbered in the Black Blood pool wrapped in a little one's arms.
Yet Shadow, despite looking like himself, was not himself here.
He was ninety-nine of himselves.
And all of them dreamed in Darkness and Madness and with Crona and Ragnarok's Soul.
The rod was designed to prod for results. Not to damage, or harm, or heavily affect its target. After all, data needed to be collected first.
But this not-an-object WAS designed to get a reaction.
And it got one.
Annoyance.
Shadow didn't wake up, but his slumbering form had experienced something similar to this in the past when his active mind was drifting and something interacted with him in certain ways.
Gem nearly groaned in raw frustration as all ninety-nine Shadows split into sleeping Madness duplicates and Consumed Inwards, vanishing from this place, this world, everywhere.
She grew MORE concerned when she realized that all ninety-nine chose unrelated places to traverse towards.
And the poking rod, as it was designed to do, poked again.
And again.
And a̛gain.̨.
And á̡̛͘͞g҉̨͝҉̴ą̸̸͢i͜ņ́͞.
And a͔̣̣̬͖̕g҉̤̝͉͈ḁ̷͎i͙͖̗n̷̪̰̻.͍́
Gem's stunned concern grew to even greater heights once 99 pokes had occurred on her other half.
Because THIS time, when the rod poked…
Shadow's ninety-nine bodies didn't duplicate themselves.
Instead, each one generated nine siblings. All of whom Consumed Inwards and vanished, still sleeping.
It had only been a few seconds or less since the rod had begun poking, and she grew a bit shocked and stunned as actions continued.
Would… Would the number of Shadows generated increase again after the NEXT ninety-nine pokes!?
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Dr. Stein maniacally cackled! "Oh, THAT got a response! I'm not sure what is drawing on the excess ambient Madness levels, but it seems to be some sort of self-reinforcing cycle or process…"
A few motions altered the programing. "Let's try to increase the frequency for a few hours."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
So, no.
The number of Shadow's didn't increase again after 99 more pokes.
But after a total of 9,801 pokes, or 99^2 number of annoyances, each Shadow began to spawn 9,801 siblings.
That all Consumed Inwards.
To different worlds and situations.
While asleep and consuming raw Madness.
Gem was now waiting for confirmation. Because after 970,299 pokes, theoretically, each of the ninety-nine shadows should spawn and send off 970,299 Shadow Ofadam's out into existence.
Each poke was five seconds apart, for what little time mattered here.
That meant that per year, Shadow would be poked 6,311,385 times.
It would only take a month to poke her partner 525,000 times, and a month in here could take anywhere between a second 'outside' or LESS, not counting time loops or hard core acceleration or duplicate moments.
Even if this crazy thing was stopped externally RIGHT NOW, it could take millennia for the poking HERE to finish. If it ever bothered to stop.
Unaware and feeling protected, Crona continued to cuddle their Shadow as he slumbered and populated and spread through layers of symbolic networks that threaded realities.
Gem winced as she felt the growing connection with each new world's Darkness.
For in an exponentially increasing number of places, something slept within places without light.
And it slept full of Darkness and Madness.
…She was going to need a LOT of candy.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
As a scientist and professor and doctor and insane man prodded something he couldn't understand and only recorded the vague side effects of his actions, the ripples from these actions were spread elsewhere.
Almost everywhere, really.
Time didn't flow in stable or understandable ways, from Jump to Jump or Realm to Realm or Symbolic Connection to Symbolic Connection.
Some places had time run perpendicular, or in reverse, or at faster or slower rates.
When multiple Shadows arrived in the same places, their Madness synced and they slumbered together.
When individual Shadows found a new home, they slowly integrated with the Domain of Darkness directly… While possibly affecting reality to some small degree due to their Madness.
Some stayed as a simple Heartless Shadow, others transformed into Soul entities or incarnations or just melded directly to the local Darkness itself. A few found their slumber uncomfortable and ended up spawning more sleeping Shadows that sought better places to rest.
It caused changes.
Not necessarily negative ones, or only granting positive outcomes, just… Some Madness spread here, some absorbed from there, it altered things. Numerous things.
The illogical could become fact, or the reverse, or neither… But not all the time, and not everywhere.
At least it also grew the network that Gem connected to, as she kept her Shadows embraced and watched over in their slumber. Though if not for her innate nature, such massive and potentially infinite responsibilities would be cripplingly difficult or impossible.
But as Ragnarok continued to enjoy strange snacks of chemicals and Madness and sensors and Candy, and as the Tree slowly converted into another partner of the Black Blood, Crona happily slept in their pool of certainty with a level of comfort and safety that they didn't know how to deal with.
They would awaken, in time. With a body stronger than a Death Scythe, power that could crush any foe, and a growing number of alternate forms that they or Ragnarok could casually convert into.
And it would be a huge thing they wouldn't know how to deal with.
But for now, they slept, safe from a hurtful 'parent' and studied by the maddest of scientists in a city cradled by Lord Death himself as he watched over dangers threatening the world and those he protected.
So for now, things were good.
…Though if you would ask Gem's opinion, she would (politely) insist that Dr. Stein STOP POKING ALREADY!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
In one very odd location, not important or remarkable in any way, a small insect suddenly gained a darker Shadow.
He was a caterpillar, and he had just hatched… And he was very Hungry.
Thankfully, he managed to be quite lucky when it came to food!
First, he had stumbled upon a WHOLE apple! It was huge, a massive thing way taller than his small body!
He ate a hole through it, and something inside said he should be moving on… But something else was still a tad H̳̼̘̰̪u̡n̰̫̹̦͢ͅg̷ŗ̠̙͙͎y̯̠̯͍̖͡.
So a caterpillar and his Shadow Devoured the rest of the apple.
It was delicious! And he enjoyed exploring his new world and looking about until a few days later, when he found himself a bit peckish again.
Thankfully, his luck held true and he discovered TWO pears, big ones, fresh, and ready to eat!
Again, despite consuming a hole through the fruits… Well, he ended up eating them all.
After a few days though, on a Wednesday, he grew a bit concerned.
The other caterpillars had managed to eat a whole bunch and had already transformed into Butterflies.
But he was still Hungry.
After devouring three delicious plums entirely, he paused in thought before finishing the last of it.
With caution, he carefully maneuvered the three plumb seeds back to his small home he had Consumed out of a tree. Just in case.
A week or so later, on a Thursday, he carefully ate four strawberries, but only the insides. These seeds, too, he kept.
After a bit more than another week, on Friday, he saved the pips from five fresh Oranges that were quickly Devoured.
Yet despite eating so much, he wasn't changing form. And he felt different. Stronger.
After another week, a Saturday, he found so much food that he should have been overjoyed… But something about this stuff felt different. Artificial.
A slice of chocolate cake, a strawberry ice cream cone, a pickle, a slice of Swiss cheese, a slice of salami, a lollipop, a piece of cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, and a… A slice of watermelon!
THAT resonated with him! Carefully, he avoided the other hollow feeling foods and devoured the fruit, carefully collecting the black seeds and bringing them back to his growing tree home that had been chewed into a network.
These feelings… These seeds felt right.
Hidden inside a tree, the Darkness shifted slightly as a very Hungry Caterpillar began to artificially accelerate his own personal fruit farm by unconsciously tapping into the power of Darkness, filtered through his own Shadow.
And while he still ventured out now and then to enjoy a leaf on a Sunday or discover new fruits to grow, more and more time was spent learning how to be a gentleman farming bug than one who simply took from others.
Though, as the years began to pass…
He always made a point to carefully share some of his produce in the woods where he had been born.
A special feast for his future brothers and sisters.
One apple on a Monday, then two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and five oranges on Friday… And Saturday, he shocked each year's crowd with an endless feast.
For a moment, the immortal Caterpillar would feel pure satisfaction, watching his new friends grow big and fat and happy.
And when he watched them a day or two later flutter away after transforming, he considered attempting to do the same eventually...
But the call of his Hunger just made him emotionally shrug and return to his warm home inside his tree and the strange and impossible food being grown within.
As he enjoyed another fresh snack, he pondered the idea of joining the rest of the crowd…
Maybe next year.
Om nom nom.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Maria Augusta Kutschera had many plans when she was younger. Things she wished to do, things she wished to share.
After a harsh life and much effort, she had saved enough money to enter the State Teachers College for Progressive Education in Vienna, even earned a scholarship, and graduated from there at 18, young and full of ambition!
She was going to teach! Not just about facts and figures, but about something MORE important, something essential to her personal life!
MUSIC!
Yet, life was not always so easy to handle. Eventually, a few years later, she entered Nonnberg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg, as a postulant. She fully intended to become a nun, after feeling so disheartened by her own setbacks.
But even then, even when trying to devote herself to a higher calling… She also couldn't help but hear the music of nature. Of life! The hills were ALIVE with it, and she couldn't help but dream once more about sharing this gift with the younger generation… Sharing this joy with others.
Now, things felt like they were changing too swiftly.
Recently, she had been asked to teach one of the seven children, little Maria Franziska, of widowed naval commander Georg von Trapp.
The man was a hero and a hard worker, but his wife, Agathe Whitehead, had died four years ago from scarlet fever and the children had been lost without her.
It had been easy to roll up her sleeves and try to help these dear ones. To help them like she wished she had been helped so long ago.
Eventually, Maria began to look after the other children as her own… Rupert, Agathe, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina, each as bright and special as little Maria.
On it's own, that wasn't an issue. Loving God's children was a natural act, one joyfully done.
Yet when Captain von Trapp saw how much she cared about his children, he was decisive as always and asked her to marry him, even though he was 25 years her senior.
She had felt ambushed! Shocked! She was to be a nun, dedicated to the Lord, not… Not…
But the children.
She was frightened and felt lost, and had fled back to Nonnberg Abbey to seek guidance from the mother abbess. Comfort, and a direction…
The woman advised her that it was God's will that she should marry him.
And… Sigh. If he willed it, he must have a plan.
Her thoughts moved once more to the little ones… And she felt something resolve inside. Her Shadow firmed up, no longer shaking from fear and doubt, and her worries faded away to some degree.
It was confidence. Confidence in herself, and her ability, and the Lord. Maybe a touch of Madness as well, this daring to take unorthodox actions to benefit the ones who needed it most.
She now returned to the family and accepted the proposal, but it wasn't for that man. Nor, honestly, was it purely due to God's will.
It was for those little ones who needed her.
Oh, she liked the Captain… But she didn't love him.
However, she deeply loved the children… In a way, this marriage would be for them.
She would learn to love him eventually, most likely… But more than anything else, and unlike her own history, these children would come first.
They would be loved, they would be cared for, and they would learn of her Joy, of Music.
As she walked with conviction towards an uncertain future, the Darkness sang along side her.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Daniel 'Danny' Fenton flinched. "What the HEY now!?"
This had BETTER not be another Ghost Attack, he was freaking TIRED! If that Box Ghost was moving stuff in the attic again, he was going to punch him right in the snoz!
He winced, now half awake.
Ha. The Half-Ghost being half awake. Heh.
Wait, he hadn't FELT anything like usual…
The ghost human hybrid carefully sat up in his bed, and began feeling with his less normal senses.
Nothing. "I should just check… [[Going Ghost!]]"
He felt his body shift half out of Life itself as he twisted into his other natural state… And blinked in confusion as he floated over his bed.
He could see.
No, more than that… He could S̶̛̰̫̙͕̲̰̪̞͚͚̮̦̘̱̜̻͕̕e̴҉̭̬̱̫̮͚̣͉͙͕ͅẹ̣͎͔̟͉̭͉͓̥̕͢!̷̨̛͈̬͚̦̫̘͍̩̖̩͜
.
His dark room was fully visible, sure, but not like usual, not with the blue glow of his ghostly energy.
No, he was able to see the Darkness…
He paused, feeling something Ș̵ẖ̛͉i̠͔͍̩͍̤f̦̖̤̮t̺͉̬͚ inside.
No.
He could see THROUGH the Darkness.
Danny felt his senses pulse through the absence of light as a network, a carrier, a passageway or other land… And reach endlessly outward.
A grasp of a hand easily allowed him to grab a book from his locker…
His locker, which was closed and locked miles away at SCHOOL.
Because he could do that now, apparently.
He could also feel a headache coming on. "I swear, if this is more ghost puberty crap I'm going to lose my damned mind."
At least Sam would be all into this, she was ALL about the Darkness and creepy stuff. And something about his most recent changes felt like affected him on a VERY deep level. Like Ghost Soul level deep.
Crap, he was going to have to deal with this, wasn't he? Damn it.
He flinched as he felt something inside the Darkness… Snore?
And then something ELSE in the Darkness pulsed Pink reassurance that it was nothing to worry about and he could just go back to sleep, she'd help if he needed anything later when he got ready for school.
…Great.
Just great.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Timmy Turner blinked. "Uh… Did I wish for that?"
Wanda was busy elsewhere, but Cosmo was ready to help! "I don't know! Maybe? DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, I CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE!"
Timmy sighed, and gently poked the strange black thing that was sleeping in his bed. "It doesn't SEEM to be scary or dangerous…"
Cosmo floated over for a better look, also confused. Which was a normal state for him. "Huh, he's weird looking, ain't he? Got bug-like things on his head too! We should be friends!"
The kid was used to his Fairy godparent by now though. "Can you get Wanda to come back so we can ask her about this?"
The floating magical creature waved it off. "It's fine, and she's busy going to that boring spa anyway. What's the worst that can happen?"
Well, that was a good point. "What should we do then?"
Cosmo scratched his head with a blank look. "Uh…" And did it some more. "Uh…" And some more. "Uh… Poke it?"
His godchild blinked. "Huh?"
But Cosmo was on a roll! "YEAH! Let's poke it! With a stick!"
Timmy blinked… And shrugged. "I mean, okay I guess? [[I wish for a stick!]]"
Cosmo grinned, waved his magic wand… And a green stick with some tiny twigs and leaves on it came into being, the color matching his awesome hair style! "Here ya go! The best stick that has ever sticked, Sir Stickerton the Sixth!"
Timmy caught the limb with confusion. "What happened to Sir Stickerton the Fifth?"
The fairy shuddered. "Those were dark times." But first! "Now poke it with Sir Stickerton the Sixth! For REASONS!"
Timmy grinned too, caught up in the moment! "Yeah! Let's do it!"
[[Poke.]]
The black thing suddenly duplicated… And then one sort of ate itself and vanished.
The young boy and the ancient idiot both were stunned. ""Oooooh!""
Cosmo grinned! "Do it again! Do it again!"
So they did.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
A small dog with pink fur was FREAKING OUT! "Oooooh nooooo!"
There was a thing! A scary thing that was being scary and sleeping in a scary way!
Worst of all, it was in HIS basement! "What do I do, what do I do!?"
The voice of his loving owner, Muriel Bagge, drifted down. "Are you alright, Courage? I thought I heard a shout."
Eeeeh!? Don't come down, don't come…
The basement light flicked on, and he could finally see the box of Christmas lights he had been sent down here to bring up.
And the small black THING that was sleeping on TOP of it!
IT WAS STILL THERE! "AWWOOO!"
The old grandmotherly woman slowly bustled her way down. "What's all this now? Oh! Did you find a little friend down here? He must have come in to escape the cold. Christmas does tend to surprise people here in Nowhere."
Oh no, it looked like SHE was going to touch IT!
Courage whimpered… But felt his spine harden.
Protecting her came first. Always. 'The things I do for love…'
He moved forward and… Gently touched the black WHATEVER it was.
Something touched his MIND!
[[Zzzzz.]]
…Though it was a bit of a let down, terror wise.
Muriel blinked as she moved closer. "Oh, the little darling looks all tuckered out."
Before Courage could do anything, the woman just… Just lifted the tiny creature into her arms, ignoring the black claws and odd antennae and tuff, and began climbing the stairs. "Come Courage, let's get this sleepy little guy into the guest room. It can't be healthy to sleep down here in this old basement!"
What was he going to do, what was he going to DO!?
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Dee Dee twirled as she absently pushed the fifty character lab passcode and moved on to the lever puzzle and dial patterns. "Oh Dexter!"
She couldn't see him, but the echo's were obvious enough. "The subject ignores heat variances and sound modulations… Repeating procedure [[Poke P332]]."
Huh, that was odd… Her brother normally had a good rant going by now about her 'staying out of his secret laboratory'. Then they'd play a bit, she'd find anything he was building that was about to go catastrophically wrong and break it early so he can fix it safely without it going critical and melting half the state and irradiating the city…
And maybe she'd convince him to come out and watch tv or something! He needed more time with people and stuff, otherwise he'd miss the best parts of childhood like SHE had! "Dexter, I got this awesome show I want to watch with you!"
No, he isn't in the chemical processing wing, and the echo didn't seem to resonate with the assembly plant, so probably south by southwest, and down two floors. "Dexter?"
The distant commentary continued. "Subject self replicates at constant rate, despite the lack of duration for the duplicated entity, no effect from recent attempts noticed at this time. Attempting vibrational setting B3, but returning to procedure [[Poke P318]]... That one seemed to have a bigger impact, at least."
Huh, what was he… "Dexter?"
Her shorter younger brother blinked and looked up, his eyes covered by complex goggles and his normally pristine lab coat a bit crumpled from frantic Research. "Dee Dee? What are…" He YAWNED! "What are YOU doing here!? You normally don't bother me until 16:33 on Saturdays!"
She blinked. "It's Sunday morning."
He didn't react for a moment. "Oh."
Then shrugged and turned back to the testing chamber. "Still no effect, escalating vibration by three settings to B6, repeating [[Poke P318]]."
Her intellectual curiosity couldn't handle any more. "Oooh, what's THAT!?"
He huffed, still distracted by the many sensors he had set up. "The specimen arrived at 0915 this… Yesterday morning, and has no detected traces of entering or traversing through my systems or facility. I'm currently suspecting teleportation, potentially time travel, or dimensional traversal."
No, her own secret lab and security measures prevented any unauthorized attempts at the first two at least. Otherwise her little brother would have been swamped by some of those jerks who used to try to raid HER labs, back when she did this kind of thing as a kid.
Not that she could tell him directly, her brother was still in that 'Eww Cuties' stage. Might as well give a hint. "What's Dye Men Seen All Travesty?"
The boy huffed! "The term is Dimensional Traversal, you STUUPID girl! And it's when multiple layers of reality gets…"
Heh, there he goes. Another few minutes and he should 'stumble' in the right direction to look into this thing, whatever it was.
She grinned as he continued to explain stuff that theoretically she shouldn't understand, her hidden cameras recording it all to tease him with when he got older. Oh his face was going to be PRICELESS when he's old enough to clear the security clearances!
Stupid laws and mom and dad making her hide all the cool stuff from their labs until he's 'Mature Enough' to get into the REAL crazy science. She'd been fine with a bit of reality manipulation, as a young girl and she wasn't crazy now at ALL! NOT AT ALL! "So… Come watch my new show with me!?"
He sighed, but it was more exasperation than actual dislike or hate. They were siblings, after all. "Will you leave me to my work until it starts?"
She nodded!
He waved her off. "Very well, we have an accord… Now LEAVE me to my science."
She started to skip away… But not quite yet… "AND STAY OUT OF MY SECRET LABORATORY!"
There it was! Ha!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam 'Adventure' Burns blinked as the data feed began to fracture and multiply and duplicate and… Oh dear. "That… That might have issues."
The girls were off doing many things, and his friends were busy too, so right now he was alone reviewing the ongoing data feed from the adventures of his Soul Shard.
While Gem was adapting and growing to ensure that all the Shadows remained connected to her guidance, and didn't SEEM to be hitting any kind of limit or restriction… The chances of them reuniting or rejoining with him directly was basically zero now.
Not that such an issue came as a shock.
After all, his other selves were ALSO basically new people now, even if they continued to share information with each other.
Sigh. "Hey Squishy? Could you do me a favor?"
The strange eldritch Jellyfish of his Soul focused.
He prepared himself for… Anything, really. "Could you reach into my Soul and… Poke the Darkness?"
When he felt something slumbering inside himself, another Shadow of the multitude, and a familiar if amused connection directly to Gem… He realized something important.
Gem's connection was THE SAME connection he had been using to monitor his Shard's adventure from the BEGINNING of this mess!
Adam sighed in frustration as he felt a fragment of lost memory flash through his mind… Of an entity of pure evil and maliciousness being chased and pursued and torn by a relentless and formless hunter.
A hunter constructed from the built up negative feelings, concepts, and fractured moments from the creature's victims… Hunted by the Darkness. By the Shadow of his own actions.
By Adam's Shadow, in a way… Even if 'Adam' hadn't existed yet!
Yep, too far out of control for even logic to help now. What a mess.
Time shenanigans SUCKED!
With a mild headache as his existence began to adjust to a growing and uncensored data connection to Gem's network and the endless symbolic connections to Shadow in the Darkness, Adam began to collect enough information to try and write up a report about… ALL this mess.
And he was going to have to document it all or something at some point. He just knew it. Some of these memory feeds didn't even exist yet and pointed to places that hadn't happened in the past in locations that wouldn't ever spawn!
That was a lot of paperwork!
At least this explained why he kept gaining 'recovered' memories when traveling to a new reality via traversing the Abyss or Jumping or Consuming Inwards… The information gathering effect was caused by his Shadow in the Darkness merging back into his existence, from him coming home.
Great.
And while his Origin continued to grumble and work under ever extended paperwork and obligations, an endless number of Shadows slumbered in Darkness and Madness as they were poked into the ocean of possibilities, off to influence or experience even more Adventures out in the realm of imagination.
Adam shrugged it off.
.
I̳̋̏ͤ̄̆̌͐t̫͕͈̹̩̐ͯ̅ͧ̏ ̩̹̞ͦ͒w̲͙͇͓̭ͬͣ͑͊͋o͎͐̀ͭͩu͗͆ͪͩ͒l̦͉͉̞̩̖̊ͫͪ͒ͅd̯͒͑̌ͤ͑̌ͫ ̮̗̳̲̉̑͌ͮ̈́p̼̻̬͎̐̄ͫͣr͈̰̟̹o͕̖̬̮ͯ̒͊̾͆̚b̙͓̼̻͔̦ͯ͗̈́a̹̘̟̬̘̯̻̋b̫͉̯̝̟̮ly̜̲̞͗ͤ́ ̤̟̱̜̥̝̒́̄b̥̺͕̓̓̐ͪͯe̝͓ͪͧ ̯̳̪̫͛ͮ̊f͎͔̭̟̗͔̠̋̂͗̓i͙̪̅ͦ̾̃̏̈ͅn̗̦̪͙̠̖͒ͬ̇͐̾ͯe̝̠.̜͙̞̫̣̲͈ͫ͗ ̮͎̹̖͑ͬ̉̎̄̉
.
~~~Adventure Broken~~~
.