Endgame Part 2 [log] [modplot]

[letsgolegion]

ENDGAME PART 2
SUMMARY

Armed with the Miracle Machine, and facing a universe that's starting to break down at the seams, the Legion must venture through Chronoblivion's outer shells - made up of the fragments of dead universes - to allow the Miracle Machine access to the dimensional space the Big C's core self exists in. Only when they're technically in the right reality can the device alter the reality in it to defeat him.

But Chronoblivion's shell is a dangerous place. Many of the individuals that have tried to look into its depths have gone mad, and every brave fool that's wandered in has never come out, nor have they broken through to the other side.

The only chance the Legion has of breaking through the shell - and also breaking it down enough to get a crack at the gooey center - is if they rely on each other on the journey through. Because if they get stuck there, the twisted pocket dimensions within will grind them away until they cease to exist.

THE MAZE

They have the Miracle Machine and there was enough hope in both galaxies to keep it from fading from existence. It's fully charged now, and influenced by Brainy's mind as he took it out of its pocket in the Bleed, the space between universes, it's taken the form of a round piece of metal with a Legion insignia, not unlike their Legion belt buckles.

But they still have one of the greatest challenges of their lives ahead of them. Even with the Penitent and her monsters gone, the Catastrophists have refused to quit. They've left every world as It summoned them all here.

But the Legion was able to move much faster. Shikari, the Legion's only Kwai member, is one of the most talented Wayfinders the Kwai have ever seen, one who's navigated starpaths beyond that of most other Kwai. Leading them through through a threshold gate, she found them the fastest way through D-space to the twisted section of space that Chronoblivion inhabits, beating the Catastrophists there.

Now, outside the twisting and folding dimensions before them, they ready themselves for the last leg of their adventure.

"Quantum Legion," Shikari says over the comms. "I have found us the Way! Brr! The insides are twisted and broken and I see no clear paths, but the way in through its outermost shell is straight and true."

"That's at least a start. Alright, Legion, we don't have much time," says Kid Quantum. "Brainy says due to the way Chronoblivion warps reality, we need to get the device close - so it's technically in the same dimensional space - to work. Some of us are going to have to stay outside to hold off the Catastrophists. Shikari only bought us a few minutes' head start. It's not exactly going to be a picnic for the people going inside, but for the people outside - it's going to be rough, too."

"It's pretty obvious who should stay behind," says Garth Ranzz, Livewire, his voice sounding moody. But if they think he's going to demand the displacees face chump duty...well, they'd be wrong. "We saw all of you working. The crystal was able to resonate with our galaxy, and it's all we could do, just...watch. And you were sprocking amazing. I mean, yeah, you had your growing pains but so did we when the team first started. The rest of us are a mess. We need to be on stupid mook duty for this one."

"He's right. You were incredible," says Imra Ardeen, aka Saturn Girl, the Legion's Titanian telepath, finishing his thought. Telepathically, she shares images of some of their greatest triumphs that they witnessed: the defeat of Galactus, the imprisoning of the Spectre, the capture of the Joker in a refrigerator, the defeat of War and the traitorous UP Council-members - and so many more. "And we're all rusty. We could barely move in that place, let alone practice. There's no way we can defeat Chronoblivion in our current state, we'd just trip over our own feet. But we can try to hold the Catastrophists off."

"I don't like the idea of leaving you out here alone," says Kid Quantum. "You're all really worn out by your time in there..."

"The day we can't pull mook duty," says Jo Nah, Ultra Boy, cracking his knuckles, "is the day we hand in our rings. We've got this. And you've all got this."

"Alright," says Kid Quantum. "I want all current active duty Legionnaires to head in for the final fight. All Legionnaires that were in the crystal dimension, you're outside, holding the line. Imra and Shikari, you're the only ones coming in with the rest of us. Shikari, wherever you can, we need you to guide us towards Chronoblivion's core self. Imra, I want you to connect all the Legionnaires heading in telepathically, to make it easier for us to find each other if we're split up."

"Livewire," says Imra. "As acting Legion leader of the group that was in the crystal dimension, I'm officially giving you command of the group outside. With Kid Quantum's permission, of course."

"Permission granted. Good luck, Garth," Kid Q says. "And good luck, team."

Kid Quantum steadies herself with a deep breath. In the distance, they start to see the popping lights of boom tubes opening. For just a moment, two Legions face each other, past and present, but it becomes immediately clear that they're not separate, not at all. As some of the Legionnaires turn to face the waves of enemies about to crash against the shore, and as others turn to face the impossible, twisting depths of a living nightmare, they're all clearly filled with the same resolve.

"Time to go. Stay as close as you can to each other, watch each other's backs, and fight hard. We have no idea what's in there." Kid Q's jaw sets. "But we've come this far and they still haven't stopped us. Chronoblivion wants to take a bite of out of us? Let's go show him that we bite back."

Space warps and twists as they descend into the depths, and there's a feeling like hitting a brick wall at a hundred miles an hour and then being split through a sieve. Reality rewrites itself time and time again. Their fears become manifest, painful memories reawaken, their imaginations are even plumbed for fears they didn't know to be afraid of.

But they instinctively feel a draw towards other Legionnaires thanks to Imra's telepathy. And there is a way out of every scenario, if they work together, if they confront their fears or their pasts, if they know themselves.

On the other side is...an ending. It's still up in the air whether it'll be a good one or not. But they have to get there first.

[ooc: You can set up your scenarios based on the info in infopost below. Please note if scenarios are open or closed.]

Comments

[unrecovered]

He sounds fragile because he feels fragile, teetering on a ledge, knowing he doesn't want to stay where he is but not certain he can survive the fall.

Pidge wraps him in a hug and he trembles in her grasp. He wants it to be real. He wants it all to be real - the Legion, Chronoblivion, her, all of it - because it means he hasn't completely fucked up his life. The universe might be in danger of ending, but at least he wouldn't be alone.

But if he believes it, and it's not true...his battered sanity can only handle so much, and having that much hope so thoroughly dashed would be well beyond its limits.

He wants this to be real- but he can't handle it if it's not- but he could gain so much- but he stands to lose everything-

And what the hell does he have left to lose? A life that's not worth living anyway?

I'm real! Focus on me!

And he does, squeezing his eyes shut and wrapping his arms tightly around her. She has to be real. He can't have dreamed her up. She has to be real.

When he dares to open his eyes again a few seconds later, the first thing he sees is his HUD. He's in his armor, still holding Pidge tightly against him. The cell has disappeared completely, leaving them in a void of seemingly endless white.

Chronoblivion. It's still fucking with him, somehow, but not nearly as badly as it had been before Pidge arrived.

"Huh," he says quietly, the faintest tinge of humor in his voice. "I guess you are real."

[isthisapidge]

Chronoblivion's influence was strong enough that she's only now feeling the armor she's hugging. But she's not about to let go until he does.

Actually, maybe they shouldn't let go at all. At least the jail cell was something solid to anchor them, but now there's no telling how lost anyone could get.

"I'm so glad that worked. Plan B was to shock you with my bayard!"

If there are tears pricking her eyes, they're tears of happiness. She's missed him terribly in the gaps of the Galra war.

"...Are you OK?"

[unrecovered]

Wash is spending the extra few seconds steadying his breathing and his mind. Chronoblivion had fucked with his memory. The Reds and Blues hadn't left him to die; they'd adopted him. He'd never gone back to jail; he'd made a home with them, chaotic as it was. Everything else that had followed - Carolina, Chorus, the Legion - was real.

It's a weight off his shoulders, even if he is still somewhere in the depths of space cthulu.

He snorts. "What, were you going to beat my existential crisis into submission?" Still, he doesn't let go - Pidge probably needs this as much as he does.

"Well, Chronoblivion had me convinced that everything good in my life was a lie, so no, but I'm getting better." He pauses, then gets to his feet, pulling her up along with him. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

[isthisapidge]

"That's a silly question. Of course I would!"

She did need it. But the need to escape the massive white void is growing stronger by the minute. She does pull away, but she keeps a hand on his arm to make sure he stays with her.

That's what she's here for.

"Yeah...I don't know about you, but I'm ready to end Chronobilivion once and for all."

[unrecovered]

He snorts and shakes his head a little, smiling in spite of himself. Of course Pidge would take a physical weapon to a philosophical problem. She's Pidge.

He'd missed her while she was gone.

He takes her hand in his and looks around. "You and me both." What they need is a way out-

No. What they need is a way in. A way in to his right mind, in to where the rest of the Legion is, in to the final battle, and he knows exactly what he needs.

An arch appears in front of them. It's plain, unadorned metal, all dull gray plating and flat steel. It's nothing special; it's also everything. It's the open doorway to Blue base in Valhalla, the same doorway that Tucker and Caboose had half-dragged him into when they'd taken him. It's his second chance in physical form, the one Chronoblivion had tried to convince him hadn't happened.

It's exactly what they needed.

"Let's go," he says, leading Pidge through the door.