Sundown (Lucius vs. Knightfall)

Knightfall was extremely unamused with Rozmer's antics, instantly recognizing that the place he'd taken him not being where he had wanted to go. "Alright I get it you're a joker. But don't try to play me off as some idiot, because let me tell you something. This is not the place I was talking about and you know it." He said with his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched.

Rozmer let Red go on, knowing that he should hear the whole thing out. He wasn't going to get anywhere by interrupting, not with this one at least. There was a fire inside him, a passion for knowledge. Rozmer could respect that, but the things he said were dangerous, frightening to an existential being. And as Lucius rounded out his speech and proposed that Rozmer had not always been as he was today there was only one thing that he could say. You have no idea how right you are.

His eyes lifted from the table and met those of the man before him, a sunkeness could be seen in them that had not been there before. It was the sort of thousand yard stare that might be seen on a war veteran unable to talk about the things he'd seen overseas. Lifting the glass, he downed the rest of the alcohol wishing that he could feel its effects. His eyes now stared down into the empty glass in his hand. I wasn't like Zell or you when the Omniverse "introduced" itself to me. Zell, he made a choice, saw what was coming and made a choice. And you he motioned to Lucius with the glass his eyes still not rising. You've had a little taste of what the Omniverse can be and you want more. But the idea to seek out its secrets is again, your choice. You've weighed the options and seen that the knowledge it can provide is greater than the risk. And both of you are or were somebody. Zell was a king, you're similar. Rozmer chuckled a sort of defeated chuckle. Honestly I get why he's taken to you. Probably sees a a lot of himself, maybe a way to make up for a mistake, or do things right for a second go around...but I'm rambling and that's not the point. I didn't have a choice. I went from average joe to lost to all creation in the blink of an eye.

Rozmer sat forward more in his chair, elbows pushing his knees out on either side of the seat. Where you see higher purpose, opportunity, I see a fate worse than death. But I didn't always see it that way. He stood up quickly with that, slapping the empty glass down on the table. His usual cocky smile adorning his face. Lucius he was sure would now begin to see the pain behind it. But Rozmer wasn't giving him much time to think on it as he continued. Nope, it seems I get to see a lot of me in you as well. See when I was first unmade, I knew what I was gonna do. I had power, and I had a target and no matter how impossible that goal seemed I was going to achieve it. I even found love with the Omniverse, a beautiful woman with no equal. I was flying high, literally on top of everything. But the Omniverse does not let something like happiness last. My action in that world, in my home reality collapsed the realm, took Shelby from me along with everything else I had ever known.

A manic melancholy came into Rozmer's demeanor as he walked himself around the chair. He leaned forward, his elbows crossing over its back. As he spoke, a tone that said he regretfully knew what he was talking about came through. Ask Zell some time what the Omniverse took from him and if he's in a talking mood he'll tell you the same thing..everything. I see enough of Zell in you to know that you're not going to listen to me on this. The mistake has to be made by you for you to learn, honestly I'm sure it would have been the same for me. All I can say is that I've seen behind the curtain, seen the Omniverse in all of its terror and glory, experienced things so breathtaking that I could not describe for you if you had a thousand lifetimes. I would give up all of it to go back and see Shelby one more time, to turn away from the temptations that this sort of power brings. He lingered for a moment on the thought, a deep and sorrowful longing in his expression. Then he seemed to snap back, the goofiness that was his default emotion returning in an instant.

So that's me. Phew that was a lot more long winded than I intended.

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Hm Rozmer puzzled, stroking his chin mockingly as he listened to the man still stuck inside the wall speak. Well, you said you wanted to go to another reality. I took you to the closest thing I could think of on earth to another reality. I mean I could take you to the bottom of the ocean of maybe an underground sulfur lake, those are pretty out of this world but I don't think that would go well for you. A big ol' trollish smile kept on his face as he watched Knighfall's response. Even if I did have extradimensional abilities I would legitimately have no idea where you were referring to. The only info that you've given me is that its a parallel reality. You do understand that there could be an infinite number of those don't you? And I have been given a total of 0 specifics on what one we're looking for.

Turning away from the wall and Knightfall for a moment, Rozmer walked over to the cliff face and look out over the sea. Not that it really matters. It's not like I could take you to a different reality even if I wanted to. I'm just a gifted teleporting metahuman. It took all of his strength and composure to stop him from bursting out laughing.

So much info all at once. With a mind like Red's, he was of course trying to dissect every word, but even he needed a moment for it to seep in. He got out of his chair, arms crossed behind him, then lingered to the left. He touched a bare part of the wall, the clear outline to where a large portrait used to be was visible. He ran his gloved hand over where the edges would be, remaining silent for a grand total of about thirty seconds. He sighed, then let out a soft chuckle.

"I already feel like I'm in the same boat, so why not get the benefit for the cost, right?" Lucius said, not turning to Rozmer. The dictator instead kept his eyes locked on the wall, apparently contemplating something. He cleared his throat, then turned his head a bit to look at Roz, but his body remained where it was.

"There used to be a painting here. I only wish i could take credit for the master work that was put into it. A wonderful piece of art that greeted me every morning since i moved into this place." Lucius said, now moving his hand from the wall back into his cross behind his back. That's when he fully pivoted to Rozmer.

"So, you may be wondering, why isn't it here? The simple answer is that i removed it, but the why is far more complicated........" Lucius now moved back to his desk, taking his previous seat. He briefly rubbed his face, preparing to tell his tale. After all, Roz had shared, so it was only fair.

"I moved it because i didn't want her seeing me like this. It was of my beloved, my Isabella. I've done so much in the name of our vision, far beyond what she would have considered appropriate, and as a result I'm what you see now. I am what they say, a monster, a devil, and the worst part is i can't bring myself to care. This isn't about being a good person anymore. This isn't about me. I've been stripped of all that i ever loved, broken down to a fraction of the man that i was. I lost everything, just like you." Lucius said. He topped his glass off, then took a sip before setting it back down. You could see the subject was taking him off balance. That cold, controlled demeanor was showing it's cracks.

"Yes, I've picked up the pieces just fine, even have a few kids, but they will never love me as their father. Nobody will ever respect Lucius Alba as the brilliant scientist, or even a decent individual, again. I am too far into the corruption, too set on what i want this world to be. I will do absolutely anything if it means finishing what i started. It is our great design, and now i sit here, painting it myself." Red said. He was getting to his point, but he felt a little back story might make this make more sense.

"So what am i saying? I'm saying i didn't just lose the love of my life, i lost who i was. I will never get that person back, just like i will never get her back. The only thing that matters to me now is this world, this universe. The man that lost everything, who tried to end his life with the same thing that ended up improving him, masters all there is to master. And who are the beneficiaries? The people who called me a tyrant, a villain, and a criminal. Funny how that works." Lucius said, that smirk playing on his face again. This could have all seemed crazy to Roz, or maybe he understood, but regardless, it's how Red felt.

"I'm already like you Rozmer, i just can't put people in walls, at least in the same way you can. This is not my choice. If it were up to me I'd end it right here, but i made a pledge, and a promise. Learning about the omniverse would be a mere extension of that." Lucius said, finally getting to the punchline. Rozmer probably disagreed with it, but to Red he really was no different from Rozmer or the Archon. He was a soul tormented by reality, driven to the point of snapping, and then clued back together by a higher duty.

Knightfall shook his head as he had expected this sort of response from Rozmer. He didn't have the time to dawdle here as it was getting well past the time he'd allotted for this outing. Maybe this guy was telling the truth and maybe he wasn't. He didn't want to deal with this right now but there was one more thing he had to know. "Look, I don't know if what you say is true. But I beg of you, tell me this. Do you know of anyone by the name of Lance Guinevere? Please give me an honest answer." Knightfall stared as Rozmer turned his back to him, searching for some form of recognition. "If you are what I hoped you were then you'll tell me you know of him surely." This was his last-ditch effort to make this entire endeavor worthwhile, to hear mention of his father that he'd longed to see again for years. Part of him still resented his father for leaving him all those years ago, but that didn't get rid of the memories of the time they'd had together. And deep down he knew that all of this, everything he'd done since his father left, was just so he could see him one last time.

Rozmer listened helplessly as Lucius spoke to him. He knew his pain, could just about feel what he was going through. He also knew what losing someone could motivate a person to do, drive an otherwise irrational and hellbent soul like his to take up impossible challenges as their own. But what Lucius didn't realize was that he was not at the point of the story that he thought. Waiting, patiently hearing out the dictator's explanations he breathed a heavy sigh at the end. Just like Zell... he thought, shaking his head lightly from side to side. Just like me too, like looking in a damn mirror.

You haven't lost everything Lucius, not yet anyway. Rozmer stood up straight now, his body passing partway into the chair in front of him as he stepped calmly forward. I know what you're feeling right now, what I'm sure you've been feeling since whoever she was passed. I feel it every day, in very single existence I inhabit. He took another step forward, his body now seeming to materialize at about the knee from the seat of the chair.

The thing is Lucius, I can see in you sureness that was once in me. I cannot possibly lose more nothing could bring me lower. I know that's what the world looks like to you and that nothing is going to shatter that view. Another step, now he was inside the desk, gone from the waist down. And that knowledge drives you, gives you purpose, a singular goal. You can risk everything because nothing can be taken from you. Taking another step he was face to face with Lucius, standing now on the same side of the desk as the man.

But you're gonna find something Lucius, I don't know what, I don't know when. Maybe its in your life right now, right under your nose and you don't even realize it. But when the Omniverse consumes you like it does everyone that it touches, you will look on that thing and it will kill you inside. Rozmer's eyes shifted to the spot on the wall, his mind swimming in memories of Shelby.

My bet, is on whoever that was. You haven't lost her yet. You can't see her, can't feel her touch, or hear or voice, but you haven't lost her. Not yet. His eyes turned back to Lucius, unblinking, pleading with him for his own sake. The likelihood is, she's still out there somewhere in the Omniverse, not some alternate version of her, no illusion or construct, just her. What he was saying was against every rule he kept for himself. You don't talk about the Omniverse, you don't let people know this sort of thing. But he had to, this was the knowledge he wished he'd had. This was the warning he never got. I can't guarantee that you'd see her again, but what I can guarantee is that the Omniverse lashes back when entities delve into its secrets. If you stay this course, she'll be lost, not just to this world, but o all of them...its...its what happened to Shelby.

Rozmer's head hung as he spoke the last words, his hands reaching up and tightening around Lucius' lapels. He was admitting something now to Lucius that he had been terrified of for a long time but never let cross his lips. The thought terrified him, brought a giant painful knot into his chest and choked his words. A tear dropped from his face and onto the floor. I brought Shelby along with me into the Void, recruited her to my cause against the Reapers. But when my home reality collapsed, Shelby didn't survive. I've been searching for her ever since, but in all of reality I've seen her only one other time. and that reality collapsed soon after. I know how the Omniverse works, we've all go alternate versions out there in countless realities. But Shelby doesn't...that's not a fluke. Rozmer's teeth gritted as he looked back to Lucius' eyes, his hands lifting and trembling around the lapels in his hands as he spoke. Do you understand what I'm saying?! Her interaction with me erased her from reality. She is gone forever, not so much as an alternate version of her remains. And its my fault! THAT'S what's at stake here! THAT'S what you have to lose! THAT is what I'm trying to save you from! Each "that" brought Rozmer to shake Lucius, emphasizing his point.

He lingered for a moment on the man's eyes as he finished speaking and his hands dropped back to his sides. His stare was pained, intense. Maybe telling Lucius his story could dissuade him. In all likelihood it would not, but it was the only thing left that he could think of that might dissuade him.

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Meanwhile, Rozmer had a very different situation with Knightfall. This guy just wouldn't give up. There was defeat in his voice sure but he was nothing if not persistent. And the name he threw out, well it was definitely one Roz had heard before. He wasn't sure where or when, or in what reality, but it rang a bell. Which meant one of two things. Either this was someone from he'd met that had some sort of impact on him which was unlikely seeing as then he should probably remember them. Or this was someone who had at some time or another represented a problem for some reality or another but hadn't been a big enough threat to allocate time and effort towards, a bigger fish to fry sort of situation. It was probably option two.

Turning back to Knightfall, Rozmer would look him up and down as if trying to get some further information from the sight of him alone. His hands went to his hips and a sort of cross, puzzled look came to his face. We're at a bit of an impasse here Knightfall he said, his foot tapping in mild frustration. I really don't want to leave you in that wall. You've got a life to live and I don't want to come back here to feed and water you a few times every day. But at the same time, I don't know that I can trust that once you're out of there, you won't go looking for this sort of shit you're talking about on your own. SO help me help you. I need some sort of indication from you that I'm not releasing you into the world to get yourself killed by some existential horror because you poked around somewhere you didn't belong. Was it the answer Knightfall was looking for? Of course not. But Rozmer knew it was at least a step in the direction of what the kid was looking for, even if it didn't tell him anything of his nature or tell him whether or not he knew Mr. Guinevere.