Land of Heat and Clockwork – Alpha Session – Two days before the Meteor's Arrival
Wicked tunes wafted through the apartment unit, pumped out of the speakers in the bedroom; and Gamzee was loving every minute of it. He kept jamming to the beat as he rifled through everything that Dave owned, picking out what he liked and dumping what he didn't care for on the floor. Whole drawers being taken out of their slots. Everything in the house his for the taking.
In the midst of this brazen theft, the Troll-clown made sure to constantly peak out the window in order to keep track of the real reason he was there. Out in the distance one could hardly miss the massive stream of Grist flying skywards as it emptied from the planet's Denizen temple and into the distant orb of Skaia. He was three-for-three now, with only Jade's planet left after this one. Though LOFAF was sure to be a tough nut to crack, and as much as he was loath to admit it... he'd need backup on that one; what with the special objective he had there. But he'd get to it soon enough.
Until then, he continued to acquaint himself with the contents Dave's room; the same as he had Rose's and John's. There was quite the catch of loot to be gained in the process. Silly things, important things, things left sitting out, and things hidden away. It honestly astounded him what these Humans just left around uncaptchalogged. Their loss he supposed; his own sylladex appropriately looking like it belonged to a kleptomaniac.
But another look out the window told him that he'd have to bring the rummaging to an abrupt close. He saw the stream of Grist suddenly begin to peter-out, the last bits falling Skaia-wards. Breathing out a sigh of disappointment he looked around the room, studying the mounds of crap laying where he'd let it pile up. Not one to clean up his own mess he simply pulled the time-machines out from his sylladex, closed his eyes and rewound the timeline to a minute before he had arrived on LOHAC. Opening his eyes he found the room exactly as he had found it. With everything put away in its proper location and nothing left to trip over on his way out. Putting the time-machines away he exited the room and meandered his way out onto the wide-open roof.
Standing there in the planet's furnace-like, well... heat. He procured a rocket-pack from his inventory and put it on. Taking care to adjust the straps and make sure he was firmly attached to it. Once the preflight check was all done he simply gave a little hop and then lifted off. Rising through LOHAC's atmosphere before reaching space and then angling himself onto an intercept with Derse.
An hour later he was overflying the other planet's vast streets and avenues. Where even from such an extreme height he could see that things were a little busier than usual. Soldiers were patrolling put in force, and a number of Dersite workers out on the rooftops, replacing banners containing the typical Derse imagery with those that sported the Condesce's trident insignia. And the redecorating didn't stop there; with red stripes appearing on the sides of buildings with greater frequency as he drew closer to the palace district.
He just shook his head at the old girl's overblown ego. It was all to be expected of course. Even with two days having past and her having the totality of her victory reversed by Jack's sudden reappearance had done little to reduce the high of her triumph over Jade and the others.
What's more, once she realized Jack wasn't going to flay her alive, she'd been quick to flaunt and solidify her power. Doing so under the paper-thin pretext of preparing the Session for the arrival of the Meteor, so that she could better secure it and its occupants for Lord English. Though she wasn't fooling anyone, no matter how much she was currently getting away with. Jack, though showing uncharacteristic restraint, was making damn-sure to keep a sharp eye on her movements; looking for even the slightest sign of pure treachery that would give him the excuse he needed to end her.
But even with that looming threat hanging over her; the reality was that Prospit was still reeling from Jack's destruction of their moon; and all the players present in the Session were either under her sway or imprisoned. (Except for Aradia of course, who seemed content to avoid this part of the timeline; much to Gamzee's unending joy.) In the end, the Queen of Derse stood as the unopposed master of this Session. Purveyor of all she saw even if she still had to toe the party line for the time being.
Now overflying the palace complex, he angled towards the main square and descended, creating quite the spectacle as he forced the few Dersites milling about to scramble out of the way of the rocket exhaust in order to avoid getting burned. But aside from the yelping and death threats there was remarkably little fanfare to his arrival. All the citizenry too busy with the hustle-and-bustle to pay him much attention. Depositing the rocket-pack back into his sylladex, he made his way towards the palace's massive entry doors. Wandering all the while how little favors this was all going to do the Condesce in the long term. When she was finally brought to heel.
He walked through the entire length of the palace unchallenged. Only to get to the throne-room and find it nearly empty. The Condesce wasn't there lounging on her throne as he'd expected. Instead the only person present was Jade. Who simply floated off to the side of the throne in silence; gently bobbing up and down in the dim lighting, as if on an unseen breeze.
He smiled gently to himself. It was no matter that Condesce wasn't here; not when this was who he'd really wanted to talk to anyways.
He approached the floating girl and she swiveled her head to watch him. Clearly stiff in the freshly made uniform she wore. He wondered briefly if she and Jane even realized the significance of what they were wearing, the history behind it. But he brushed the thought aside, the digression of no real importance to him right now.
He stopped a few feet away, perfect distance for an indoor-voice sort of conversation; deciding to open with his preferred style of sarcastic barb. "Hey bark-beast girl. Where's Condy? I've got something to ask her." He said, smiling.
She regarded him with a stare, the dim light and the glare off her glasses hiding her eyes from his view, but the unconcealed venom in her voice telling him all he needed to know about what she thought of him and his question.
"Her Imperial Majesty is currently interrogating the new prisoner I captured, and you would do well to employ the proper deference when referring to her."
Gamzee rolled his eyes. Wondering what bargain-bin she'd gotten this personality picked out for her from. She'd used to have such a wonderful waif-like charm to her, with just a hint of simmering resentment underneath the surface. Now she was this "yes-ma'am, no-ma'am" automaton. It was just sad to be honest. But he did his best to push his dissatisfaction to the side and continued. "Yea, ok, whatever. I don't actually need her. I need you. So come on, up-an-attem. I've got a job for you… Chop-chop."
She continued to fix her steely gaze on him. Her hands curling into fists as she clearly contemplated violence. "I serve her Imperial Majesty alone. Not you, Land-Dweller." The unfamiliar insult catching on her tongue.
He had to resist the urge to laugh at this shtick, but decided to give an exasperated sigh instead. "Ok, let me explain something to you." He said, while motioning with his hands.
"You see, your boss works for my boss; and my boss has a pretty important task that he wants done by time he gets here. If it doesn't get done, he's going to be very angry with your boss. Something that might very well end up being a liability for her health. But you know what, fine, whatever. If you want to waste everyone's time and run this up the flag pole; go do that. Don't worry, I can wait… She can't." He crossed his arms and stood there expectantly, letting the implication hover as Jade did.
She glared at him a moment more before turning her head away, searching as if she was peering through the solid walls of the palace, which Gamzee was absolutely sure she was. Eventually her eyes must have caught sight of the Condesce because she stopped; floated silently as she communicated with her master through the telepathic link they now shared. It wasn't long before the shadow of a grimace passed over Jade's face; clearly unhappy with the response.
Looking back at him, she confirmed as much. "Her Imperial Majesty has authorized you to command me for this mission of yours. Whatever it may be." She grated out, the girl's displeasure bleeding through despite the brainwashing.
For his part Gamzee simply took it all in stride. Happy that he could finally get a move on. "Splendid!" He said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "Ok, our first stop is Echidna's temple on LOFAF, your planet."
He looked at her expectantly. "Whenever you're ready honey."
The transition was instantaneous. A flash of green and the two of them were deep in the bowels of the other planet.
The chamber was pitch-black, a fact that didn't last for long as a series of torches lit themselves spontaneously; revealing the massive form of Echidna uncoiling from her slumber to rise and loom over the two of them. Regarded them gravely and primed to strike in primordial fury.
Jade tensed, clearly ready for and expecting a fight. While Gamzee strode forwards, a cheerful smile plastered on his face.
"Hi-o. Me again." He said jovially. "We're ready for you to release the Genesis Frog. Now; I know what you're going to say, 'I'm unworthy', so here's Jade herself to tell you that it's ok to go do it." He turned his head towards the floating demon-dog girl and made a motion for her to speak up.
The Denizen's gaze drifted towards Jade. The girl staring right back and tersely saying. "Release the Frog to this cretin."
The Denizen narrowed their eyes at the command. Sniffing the air of the cavern and then winching as if there was a foul scent. The gaze whipped back to Gamzee. "I think not. I can smell the stench of mind-control surrounding the Witch of Space. I will do no such thing until she tells me to do so of her own free accord."
Gamzee closed his eyes and chuckled darkly at the response. Supposing that it figured his scheme wouldn't work that simply. But it was no matter, he had other methods.
"Ok…" He said, splaying his arms out in clear exasperation. "I tried it the easy way, but you clearly don't want to cooperate. That's fine. But you're forgetting one crucial detail. You see, I've already played this game before."
His twin clubs were in his hands before anyone could blink.
"And I've fried bigger fish than you."
He leapt suddenly, like lightning. Soaring into the air and striking Echidna down with a single blow. The Denizen barely managing a strangled gasp as it exploded into a cloud of grist which rained to the floor in a clatter like hailstones.
Gamzee stuck the landing and knelt there on the floor, panting from the sudden exertion; his body primed for flight or fight but belatedly realizing that it was already over. Recovering slowly, he stood himself back up straight. Rotating his arms and neck slowly to avoid the cramps that were sure to come up later otherwise. Turning back around he flashed Jade a wicked grin, shark-like, and said: "Well that was easy. Don't you think?"
Jade simply looked at him with perplexion, clearly unmoved and unimpressed by the display of brutal strength. Her eyes narrowing before she finally asked the question on her mind. "So… did you actually need me here for anything or…?"
The Troll's grin evaporated, saddened. It was always work, work, work with these people. There was no sense of showmanship, no flair. He belatedly found himself actually missing Aradia. For all the pain in the ass she'd been; she had at least known how to be a proper nuisance.
"Yes." He replied, drawing it out. "Can you release the Frog back into the main part of the Forge with your bark-beast powers? I'd do it myself but I'm not dressed for a swim in lava."
Jade merely raised her hand and a soft green glow blinked across it. "It is done. The Frog is in the Forge proper." She said, possibly disappointed that she wasn't allowed to dunk him into the volcano. But; rules were rules. "What's next?" She inquired.
Gamzee pulled a ring out of his sylladex, taken off of Dirk during his capture. The ring Diamonds had used. "Well I have this. But I also need the one that the White Queen has on Prospit. Can you bring her to us or us to her so I can kill her and take it?"
Jade contemplated this for a moment, wondering whether to mess with him out of spite and waste his time. But she eventually decided against it; as doing so would also waste her, and therefore the Condesce's, time. So without word or fanfare, she simply opened up her own sylladex and produced the ring in question. Tossing it over to a clearly perplexed Gamzee, who nearly fumbled the catch. Eliciting a quiet smirk from her.
Holding it up to the light and noting that it was genuine, he flashed her a look, the question barely off his tongue before she explained. "How did…"
"It's simple really. Her Imperial Majesty had me dispatch the White Queen the day I was turned. It would hardly have done for her to leave such a potentially deadly rival alive on the playing field." She let the unspoken threat sink in before continuing. "After the deed was done, I took the ring for safe-keeping. We wouldn't want some fool vengeful Prospitian putting it on and attempting a half-cocked revenge scheme, now would we?"
She smiled at his dumbfounded expression and asked once again, this time mockingly. "Anything else?"
The question snapped him out of his funk. "Not much." He said, shaking it off. Catching the mockery but not really caring, not this close to success. "Just send me to the surface, get the Grist hoard off to Skaia, and you're free to go."
She nodded at that and with another flash he found himself on the surface, perched rather precariously on the rim of the Forge volcano. Jade having evidently figured out what it was he was seeking to accomplish. And deciding to have a little fun be cutting it a close on purpose.
He elected to skip watching the Grist soar upwards by using time-travel to skip ahead to when Skaia was fully laden with all the Grist from the Human Sessions.
Steeling himself, he tossed the two rings into the volcano, scampering away from the opening as fast as he could in order to avoid the worst of what was to come. As soon as the rings hit the lava they reacted violently with each other, creating a massive explosion that sent lava and ejecta shooting upwards. An erupting gyser of flaming material.
Shooting even further than that however, was the Genesis Frog. Which was launched on a ballistic trajectory towards Skaia.
After only a few minutes, which he watched in anticipation, the Frog finally impacted; and a light erupted from the center of the Session that seemed to last both forever and yet for only an instant. As the light faded, he saw again something that was just as amazing as the first time he'd seen it. Skaia was gone, in its place was a truly massive star-filled frog sitting inside a bubble. The new Universe having finally been birthed.
Content that he'd now gotten this far, he pulled back out the rocket pack and strapped on again; blasting off into the void between the planets and knowing exactly where he needed to go. A short while later he was there; a small platform floating in space, roughly the size of a theater stage. Empty save for a house-shaped wall with a door on it.
Landing, he just stared at the door. He was finally here, this was it. Thank the Mirthful Messiah.
Walking up to the door he gripped the glowing knob, ethereal energy tingling up his skin as he twisted it and pulled open.
The other side was starlight on a black canvas, the endless view of the new universe he'd created. The Universe where his god would be born. The universe where a reign of destruction would be started that no one would ever be able to stop. He was about to start crying.
But then suddenly a red flash occurred on the other side of the doorway, and he found himself face-to-face with another him. He started in surprise, not having expected this. The other Gamzee was clearly older; an adult and well worn down with time. Stubble adorned his face, poking through badly kept clown makeup and his eyes were hollow and tired. Taking advantage of the present Gamzee's stumble away from the door, the future Gamzee pulled himself through and back into the Session.
The two of them were silent, with the older Gamzee slowly sweeping his eyes across the session while the younger's heart beat loudly in his ears.
Finally the older one stopped his gazing and looked straight at the younger. A look of caution, or perhaps pity, distant in his eyes. Then he broke the silence.
"I'm going to skip to the end." He said. The voice horse and taunt. "Go to the final battle or whatever when Lord English gets here. I'd suggest you do the same when you end up as me, or don't; create a doomed timeline if you want, I don't really care."
Suddenly the time machines were at his side and without a single word more he disappeared as suddenly as he'd appeared.
Gamzee stood there, heart thumping in his chest. Eventually he shook himself out of the daze, stopping his staring at where the other had been. That had been entirely unexpected; he hadn't thought the passageway was two-way, and the look in his eyes…
No matter. He thought, shaking off the unease and pulling himself back to the task at hand. He'd deal with it when he was the other Gamzee. Might not even mean anything anyways, just some weird bootstrap crap he'd have to reenact later. For now there was only his destiny. He stepped through the door without another thought, boldly and decisively. Leaving behind everything he'd ever known as he crossed over to the other side and left the Game Session. The door closing behind him with a resounding click of the catch.
And then he met Lord English.