Log:Apostate's Redemption, Scene 5

Apostate's Redemption 2019/01/08 	 Amelia Apostate Moonshadow Timewarp Grimm Radical Revenant Jak

5

A series of floating flat-topped asteroids, orbiting in what appears to be a somewhat regular pattern. The rocks are spinning on individual axes in addition to moving around a central point. The surrounding area is black, with no discernable stars or features.

Each asteroid appears to be a room, like rooms in a house. There's a bedroom, a library, a study, a kitchen, and several others...

After dealing with the incursion by Topaz and her world's SG Delta shock troops, the heroes decided to try to take care of at least one of the two fugitives that were being chased: Apostate, an alternate-dimensional version of Connor Duran (known to the heroes of Colonial Bay currently as Radical). Connor helped them track down Apostate by creating a device allowing him to follow the dimensional signature. The bad news? He would have to use his harness to operate the device to maintain the connection, taking him out of any combat action after the fact.

Revenant, Topaz's former commander, appeared during the planning session and asked for help returning to his world. This was agreed to, as long as he helped out with Apostate. He's currently guarding Connor, making sure the way home is a viable one.

The heroes were transported to a pocket dimension where the 'rooms' float around like asteroids, each with their own gravity. Given Radical's abilities (and likely Apostate's as well), it doesn't pose much of a problem to them. But Jak wasn fooled by the distances. While the heroes were cloaked, he tried to teleport everyone to where Apostate was...and fell just short, causing them to float.

Several seconds of combat have passed, and the heroes have finally gotten to the 'room' in question. Tali has taken the time to take apart one of Apostate's many devices: a time platform.

Moonshadow calls forth the Blue Moon again upon Apostate.

Apostate blinks a few times as Moonshadow tried to affect his emotions. The motion is barely visible through his tinted goggles. "I have seen things your mind could not comprehend! You will not influence Apostate as easily as that!"

Jak ,The Wandering Gunslinger unholsters his weapon as quick as lightning and fights the urge to teleport into a more favorable position.

Instead he shifts subtly causing his Outrider Rig to launch him off to the side so he can strafe around Apostate.

Once in positon he brings the thunder.

Apostate is knocked off his feet, near the edge of the 'room' in question...but not off into the void.

Grimm floats and lands on the ground of the room, but her hair still floats like she's underwater, shifting with the air currents slowly. "You think -you've- seen things?" she asks with a 'tell me about it' attitude. "Trust me. You have so much more to see," she says in a haunting tone as she gives the Apostate a look.

Apostate cringes as he's hit by Grimm's attack, "Why are you making me watch that AGAIN?! WHY?" Whatever it was...it wasn't new. But still...it must be pretty awful.

Timewarp says, "What are you showing him? I haven't reacted like that since seeing the fashions of the 2630s!"

Amelia moves closer to Apostate. "You're obviously intelligent enough to realize this is a losing proposition for you. You're outnumbered and outgunned. So surrender and talk to us. You're driven by a need for revenge? Why? Tell us and maybe we can help. Fight on and you'll lose." She speaks in a unemotional flat tone, as if what she's saying is so obvious it doesn't need empathizes.

Apostate gets to his feet, and shakes off the effect of Moonshadow's power. "Yes...you've come to talk. Obviously. That's clear by the way I've been attacked in my home...and being shown my universe dying. Again. If I lose...I'll take you all with me...know this." And he raises both hands...and a singularity starts to form in the 'room'. The gravity of it isn't that strong...yet. But it will be in short order.

Amelia interjects, "I - haven't - attacked you."

Timewarp says, "Me neither, though I was maybe about to get around to it. What's this about your universe dying? Is there anything we can do to help?"

Apostate doesn't seem to be listening to Amelia. Perhaps the singularity requires too much concentration? Or he's just completely decided?

Timewarp runs about the asteroid, collecting everything that isn't nailed down, and placing it all so that Apostate is directly between it and the singularity. Then runs as far away as she can on the asteroid. "Look, if you're trying to save your world or something, we'll help! But you've got to stop destroying stuff!"

Timewarp crosses her arms, inspecting her handiwork and hoping Apostate will be sensible.

Moonshadow holds action

Jak keeps moving laterally, circling around Apostate just in case things pop off again. His weapon never waivers from his target as he moves.

Grimm grumbles as people try to reason with the madman. "I could shut you off like a light if I have to. I'm going to give you a brief benefit of the doubt that you're going about this all wrong, but for the right reasons. Stand down and let us help, or I'll shut you down," Gabrielle warns.

Apostate's hands waver....and then he drops the singularity while shouting...mostly to himself in rage. "Rrraaaaagh!" He's breathing heavily and he looks at the assembled heroes. "WHY are you here, then?!"

Timewarp says, "Mostly because you came to our Earth and started destroying things with black holes. And looked kind of like you might do that sort of thing some more, somewhere. Or somewhen. What were you building the time machine for?"

Moonshadow says, "Because as you travel, you're tearing all the universes apart."

Apostate looks to Timewarp, "I have something I NEED to fix in the past. Exactly what this one showed me!" He points at Grimm. "That event...is what I need to change!"

"According to brains on both sides of a universal divide, you're weakening the fabric of spacetime. If you do enough damage it all comes down. No one has any issue with you stopping some... 'event' in your head buddy. None." Jak says, his pistol as steady as ever.

"But we have a problem with you destroying reality to do it." Jak adds.

Timewarp says, "Oh yeah, that too. And that's really not good. Especially if you start tearing things apart back in time.... Oh! Ok. Well, I can do time travel. I've even saved a world from destruction before, with my friends! So, let's see if we can fix your world, without destroying the multiverse. Deal?"

Apostate's voice loses its anger. "My universe died." There's a long pause and he says quietly, "...because of me. I need to fix it."

Moonshadow says, "As long as we're talking, what's your name?"

Timewarp says, "Ok. So let's fix it. Just - don't break anyone else's universe while you're doing it. That makes a lot of people mad."

Moonshadow lowers her hood.

Apostate takes a deep breath. "My name...isn't important. I've been going by Apostate. What I am is more important than who I was."

Apostate pull his hood off, and he's clearly a spitting image of Connor. But with...well, an extra scar or two on his face. And he looks...a little older.

Timewarp thinks. o O (I can't remember what Apostate means, but it sounds painful.)

Amelia far reaches, partly to see if it works here, aiming for a large glass of fae wine to offer the guy to help him clam down.

Timewarp goes up to Apostate. "Hey! I'm Tali. Or Timewarp. Time manipulation's my thing. And I don't break things as much as that machine of yours would have."

Timewarp thinks. o O (Mostly, anyway.)

Moonshadow says, "Apostate. Ok. Do I look like anyone you've known?"

Amelia hands Apostate the wineglass without a word.

Timewarp says, "Also, pro tip: usually the last person who should be fixing mistakes in time is the person who made them. Crossing your own time line and all that stuff. It's the sort of thing that makes fate want to drop a metaphorical anvil on you. Or occasionally maybe even a real one."

Apostate shakes his head, "I'm afraid not, miss." He nods to Tali, in acknowledgement of her introduction...and then takes the glass from Amelia. He looks at it for a long moment, without drinking from it.

Apostate quirks a smile. "I have naught to lose, Tali. A metaphorical or real anvil would just...be the end of it."

Moonshadow says, "Because you resemble a someone from our universe - a teacher and a good man."

Apostate takes a deep breath again. "I see. He wouldn't happen to be that person over that way, would it?" He motions toward where Radical and Revenant are. "I noticed the similarity in the costume design."

Timewarp says, "I think you do have more to lose. To judge by how you feel about your world, I don't think you want to be hurting any others. You still care, or you wouldn't feel so bad. Please let us try to help in a way that won't do even more you'll regret."

Grimm folds her arms over her chest. "So how did you do it?" she asks bluntly. "Destroy your universe?"

Jak spins his weapon on his finger before holstering it. He's pretty quick on the draw anyway, so he has more to lose by remaining overtly hostile.

Apostate nods to Tali, "I am...not sure if involving you will help or not. But...I am willing to accept the help. Thank you." He turns to Grimm, and thinks about how to describe what happened.

Timewarp nods. "I can't promise anything. But I think I can promise that you have a much better shot with our help than without - and with fewer putrid side effects."

Moonshadow says, "We have been successful before."

Apostate takes a drink from the glass that Amelia had handed him, finally. He then says, "I...am from a long line of heroes. I turned away from that legacy, to try to forge my own path. I was unhappy with how my ancestors had done things. I was unhappy with the methods used. The corners cut. The dangers presented. In my attempts to...stop the evil that had taken root, my technologically based powers clashed with the mystic powers I would have inherited but were wielded by another. The conflagration turned into an all-consuming, ever-growing singularity that destroyed Earth. And then...eventually...everything else."

Moonshadow says, "Did you clash directly with the wielder of these mystic powers?"

Apostate nods. "I did. They are...long gone now. Consumed by the void."

Timewarp says to Amelia, "I think maybe it would be a good thing to bring Renegade in on this? If just to so *he* learns about what went wrong."

Amelia says, "So, you were building a time platform. What did you intend to use it for?"

Amelia nods to Tali.

Apostate looks to Amelia, "I hadn't decided that yet. I needed to go back to prior to the conflict and keep the event from happening. Somehow. But I was unsure about the best plan to do so."

Timewarp says, "The plan is the important thing. We need to find points in your life where something, perhaps something little, will change things in a big way."

Apostate blinks a couple of times. "I was thinking of just maybe...killing either myself or the other people in question before the conflict. But that sounds more reasonable?"

Yes, his plan would have caused a major paradox.

"Not sure that's the way to go about things." Jak says as he saunters over, still not willing to teleport here in this weird place.

"I think small little nudges are better than a blowout." JAk adds, with air quotes around blowout.

Timewarp says, "Yeah, exactly. But at the same time - it's best if they're things that make the old path impossible. Like diverting a river. Chuck in a rock and the river just goes around. You've got to get it to leave its bed to cut a new course. So little, but critical, nudges."

Apostate nods slowly. "I...see. Incremental?"

Timewarp says, "Incremental is good, yes. Changing history is seldom a one-action job."

Timewarp thinks. o O (If indeed it's even really possible - still, saving a branch of a timeline is better than losing the whole tree....)

"Luckily, we're just the team for the job." Jak says confidently, not at all concerned with meddling in the timestream despite his Ridderfolk blood. Their aversion to such must be a cultural thing he missed out on the mainland.

Apostate looks from face to face, "So, you have changed the past before, then?"

Timewarp says, "We saved a world from nuclear annihilation. The whole universe is a much bigger job, but the principle should be the same."

Moonshadow says, "We have also prevented the past from being changed."

Jak just settles into his 'relaxed' stance, leaving his blackout shades to do the talking for him on the subject.

Timewarp does her best to sound confident. Convincing Apostate there's a decent chance of success matters maybe even more than the mission itself, given what he might do in his grief.

Apostate thinks about it for a long moment, and then finally says, "Very well. It sounds like you are...at least knowledgeable in the matter. And you did get yourselves here, which speaks highly of you. I'm willing to hear what you might come up with for a plan."

Timewarp smiles. "Great! Ok.... so the first thing we need to do is to sit down with you and work out those key points in time we need to target...."