Rifts : Chaos Chronicles

[Kristev]

He goes to the shard without speaking to anyone first, and takes it. Only after he holds it does he begin to come to his senses.

"This shard is calling to me. It wants me to have it."

He puts it in his pocket.

"I am going to put this on, but I'll wait until I'm away from everyone else. There's something very strange with these shards, you see. I had the wildest dream. See, I was back home in England. On Brighton Beach, setting up a picnic while waiting for Kathleen. Next thing I know, Kathleen came to see me, except that she was made of water . . ."

Luigi then goes on to explain the entire story. However, it is still obvious he is under the effect of some kind of medication. Otherwise he'd be as wild as one of his hurricanes.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Simon turns as Luigi enters his lab, which is where the Water Shard, at least, was still being kept. "I... wouldn't take that if I were you," he trails off as Luigi doesn't listen to him, and sighs. "Something strange is going on, I had this dream--" but he stops as Luigi describes his dream.

"Now something is definitely going on," he says more firmly. "I had a dream as well. I was in a forest, surrounded by fire, and this woman came out of it, made out of the fire, and..." He shakes his head. "The Fire Shard calls to me, as well, but I wouldn't claim it just yet. We don't know what is causing these dreams to come, because that two of us would have the same kind of dream and compulsion is NOT coincidental."

[Kristev]

"Or of opposing elements," Luigi answered. "My mother once told me water counters fire, just as earth neutralizes air."

Realizing Simon is probably not following him at all, he whips his head back and shrugs.

"What? She was Romany. That's what they do. She said it came from astrology or something."

[Jay 2K Winger]

Simon nods. "I'm not discounting anything your mother may have said. I'd be a fool to not consider any theories, since I still don't have one that fits everything yet. But I'm just saying there are still too many unknowns to risk claiming these Shards."

He paces a bit as he goes from whiteboard to map to whiteboard to cork board, tabulating formulae and equations as he goes. "Think about it. So far, we've only seen one Shard to a dreamer, right? What happens if someone claims a second Shard?" He turns and looks at Luigi. "Remember-- Griffin said that his brother is trying to claim these and if he does, it could unmake the last 250 years of history. Worse than that-- it could have the potential to unravel the fabric of space-time."

He grimaces, rubbing his temple. "I know all about those kinds of worries; I'm a theoretical physicist. My accident could just as easily have been at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, not at the RHIC in Long Island. We know all about the worries people have about particle colliders of that size."

Simon finally stops moving, taking a deep breath. "We should just exercise caution, is all I'm saying. While I doubt either of us have the capability of unraveling space-time if we were to claim these other Shards, we still don't know what'll happen. Give me some time to see if the new data I got from Griffin will give us any insights."

[Mytical]

About that time, they here a familiar voice. "You are wise to exercise caution my friends." It is 'Shadow Tiger'. "Though I may point out, hopefully without you taking it as an insult, us four combined are not as powerful as my Master or his brother." He steps from the shadows ((always assume he is SOMEWHERE in the shadows )). "I have brought a computer tablet that has access to all my Master's research, per his request."

The tablet is .. advanced to say the least. It is YEARS ahead of anything Simon has ever seen ((Though it is easy for him to use/access/etc)). It is already keyed up to a file called Atlantis. ((When you get a chance to read the file)) which states that the last time the 'cycle' happened..the second planetary wide rift happened .. the very advanced civilization of Atlantis was destroyed and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Simon turns as Shadow Tiger appears, taking the tablet with a gracious bow. "Thank you. My eternal gratitude to your master for this." He marvels at the technology-- advanced, even by Company standards-- and quickly starts to skim through it. "Atlantis? Oh, how that would shake up so many stuffy professors at so many universities," he chuckles.

Time passes as Simon updates the data he has and collates it and analyzes it. A couple of sleepless days pass for him-- not that he needs the sleep, thanks to the changes that happened with his Shard-- while he works.

Soon, however, he is able to present some of his findings.

((Assuming that Luigi and Chris are present-- and Shadow Tiger, of course-- and maybe someone from the Company.))

Simon addresses the assembled people in his lab, which is still a complicated mess to see, but he's cleared off the mobile white-board at least and has made some notes on this.

"Griffin was right," he explains. "There is a sort of cycle to the Rifts. Many smaller ones, and eventually a big planet-spanning one that has the potential to change the world. These... Paradigm Shifts, I suppose you could call them, can be good or bad. Griffin's information seems to indicate that the second Paradigm Shift on record devastated a highly advanced civilization and destroyed it. Legends call that civilization Atlantis." He pauses to let that sink in.

"All this data does seem to point to another Paradigm Shift potentially approaching, so we definitely need to work on collecting more data to see if we can stall or even stop it." He rubs his temple a bit and then adds: "There's something else my analysis has uncovered that also bears concern.

"For all the lack of constants the Rifts and Shards throw out, there have been definite indications of one thing. For each Rift, there is a Shard, and for each Shard, there is a Dreamer. One to one, always." He raises a finger. "Except that's not the case. There are exceptions, and invariably, those exceptions turn out to be people who play a significant role in the course of history."

He indicates a series of pictures stuck on the board. "They tend to be either conquerors or spiritual or intellectual figures. Alexander the Great. Napoleon. Genghis Khan. Buddha. The Dalai Lama. Mother Teresa." He pauses, adding, "Nothing in Griffin's data indicates that Jesus was one of these exceptions, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was."

Simon spreads his hands. "There's still a lot of data to sift through, but this needed to be brought to everyone's attention. Especially since I think I have found out who some of the exceptions are this time." He looks to Luigi and Chris. "It's us. Me, Luigi, and Chris."

[Kristev]

"Atlantis," Luigi commented. "Knowledge long lost to man. It makes perfect sense."

Luigi will assist Simon as best as he can. After all, Luigi is a scientist himself, albeit a medical one.

"There has also been some connection to high-functioning forms of autism to great artists and some great people. Aspergers is one possibility. Autistic people tend to live in their heads, daydreaming and obsessing only on single concepts. Could that play a factor in the shards?"

[Chanlin]

(Feel free to add to this scene if you want, sorry for the long hiatus. Took me a bit to decide how I wanted to do this post)

During the meeting Chris had been completely silent. Anyone paying attention to him would note that he has the look of a person contemplating deep thoughts.
Afterward he heads off to his room to get some rest. A rest it seems that is impossible to wake him from. (Anyone going to find him will find it is impossible to wake him)

He dreams. He stands in the heart of a jungle, a giant man .. clad in jaguar pelts waits for him. "Our power is great..Fire it burns with passion and strength. Water..it soothes but is vast and endless. Air..directionless..but when focused none may stand against it. As powerful as they are, I am more powerful still. Yet, unlike their power..mine must be earned. No dreams of some female embracing you, and be done with it. No..you must defeat me in combat, and that is just the start. Your power will not be as great as theirs at first, but toward the end..they shall seem like children. They will have but one dream, you shall dream for the rest of your days. IF you accept my challenge. My road will be a harsh one, and there will be much pain and sorrow by the end. Do you accept?"

Chris gives him an odd smile and says, "Sure why the hell not."

The pelt-clad man responds, "Then defeat me in battle." And without warning charges Chris. Before he has any idea what is going on the man has Chris in a bear hug lifting him off the ground. A vicious suplex later Chris goes out... or at least as out as one can go in a dream.

In the real world Chris groans. A full day has passed. In the dream it takes him that day to recover.

The man approaches him again as Chris is just getting up and stretching out his sore joints. "Do you wish to yield?"

Chris eyes him and settles in a wrestler's pose, "Hell no, you blitzed me last time. It won't be so easy this time."

The two charge simultaneously and meet in a clash of sinew and grunting. Each is pushing as hard as he can, searching for a way to gain leverage over his foe. To the outside observer it would be clear that they are evenly matched. The two go on like this for the whole day fighting through the night like two warriors in the Epics of old.

As the sun rises on the third day the two break apart exhausted. In the real world Chris has been asleep without waking for 48 hours. His vitals are slightly elevated, but otherwise normal. He lets out another weak groan.

In the dream the two rest until nightfall and then both rise at the same time. This time the giant man does not need to speak. He can sense his opponents will. Without any need for formality the two clash again. Almost immediately the giant man's eyes go wide as Chris begins pushing him back. Seizing upon the advantage he steps inside the giant man's guard and twisting his hips levers the man up and throws him to the ground. Before he can react Chris leaps atop him and locks the mans arms. He struggles for a moment and then sighs, and for a moment Chris would swear he smiles, "You have the heart of a warrior. I yield."

At that exact moment the dream breaks and Chris sits bolt upright. It has been exactly 72 hours in the real world since he went to sleep. In the back of his mind Chris feels something luring him. He gets out of bed and follows it... just in time to arrive for Simon's explanation of his findings...

[Mytical]

The group is awaken really early by a siren. "Rift is forming in New York Time Square. This is a priority one alert, ALL agents are to report to New York immediately!"

[Kristev]

During the lull, Luigi immediately returned back to England and checked on Kathleen and her latest lover. He searches for the person that threatened he and Kathi in his home . . .

Also during the lull, he claimed the water shard, but doesn't seem to really be able to master it. Every time he tries, he gets frustrated or depressed.

Still, when the alarms go off, Luigi quickly gets ready to join the others and deal with the situation.

[Mytical]

There is no sign of the person who threatened him, until one day he hears a news broadcast. The search for a missing person has ended in tragedy when the person's body was found. It appears to have been the victim of some type of beast attack, but they are baffled as to what kind of beast. When they show the victims face..it is the person who threatened him.

While he is unable to master the water shard, he finds he has access to two very useful abilities right off the bat. One involves his tarot cards. When he uses them, they become see through...and sometimes gives him glimpses of knowledge. Sometimes it is random, but sometimes very specific to what he seeks.

The other ability is a bit more .. direct in nature. He is able to form ice shards, razor sharp, at will.

As he is teleported to New York a very .. odd sight greets him. A tall green monster of a man fighting a tall blond guy. The green monster has to be around 10' tall at least and built like a brick wall. His muscles has muscles that have muscles. The odd purple shorts that are in tatters around his waist seem more comical then anything, however. The blond guy is wearing some crazy outfit, complete with helmet and red cape, and wielding a hammer that seems charged with electricity.

There is a zone of destruction around them, buildings have chunks missing out of them, cars are totaled or badly damaged, people are dead/dying/or injured.

[Chanlin]

Chris after hearing all he has heard excuses himself home, after having claimed the Earth shard, which doesn't seem too difficult for him to use most of the time (there are still moments when he can't quite make it work exactly the way he wants).

He takes care of some little details catching up on any course work he's missed, making amends with professors and generally just being normal for a little while. When he gets the information about the Rift in NY he just sighs.

Upon arriving in New York and seeing the two foes combating each other he raises an eyebrow and just says, "Didn't I just see these two in a movie?"

[Kristev]

Luigi's first move is to use his healing rain in as wide an area as possible. No one will be injured or dying any longer once the rain touches them.

[Mytical]

When it starts to rain, the big green creature seems to get .. more angry. He looks at Luigi. "Puny man make Hulk wet! Hulk smash puny man!" He connects with a mighty blow to Luigi, one that by all rights should have killed him. Luigi doesn't feel any pain as he flies through the air. The rain most certainly helps, but there was .. something between the blow and him that absorbed the impact. Nobody is able to see where he flies off too.

He crashes through building after building, each time something absorbs the blow. He knows it is not his water shard..it is still not active. He should be dead. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. He's not even tickled though.

He comes crashing down finally, tumbling end over end..still feeling not a bit of pain. He lands at somebody's feet, and hears the most beautiful music he has ever heard. It is soulful, it is haunting, it is lonely...and it is coming from a very familiar form. Standing above him is Griffin's brother, the vampire, playing a violin. He stops playing, reaches out his hand..and a mist flies from Luigi to him. Luigi is absolutely positive it is that mist that saved his life....

"You might want to get up, your friends will need you. Just .. do not expect me to save your life next time. After all..eventually I will come for your shard..." he pauses, laughs. "Shards I mean."

He turns and begins to walk away. Without turning around he states. "Ask yourself this however. The man who came to threaten you..my brothers lackey told you he had been dealt with yes? Do you think it a coincidence he was found mauled by what could only be an animal? Maybe, just maybe..you are on the wrong side."

[Kristev]

"Curiouser and curiouser," Luigi said. "Thank you for saving my life."

He stands up, awed by the mist. Politely, he bows to the other person, and runs back to the group. When he gets there, he pulls Simon aside and informs him of the entire conversation.