Reality's Worst Nightmare(s)

Ms. Elena Vexus had come a long way. Whether it be in success or failure was yet to be determined. The position she held at the moment was not something she enjoyed thinking about. In her eyes, she had fallen greatly. If not in her looks than in her achievements. Or lack there of. Ever since the mishap in Washington nothing has ever been the same. Her abilities especially, with her newfound regeneration she returned to the use of the Celestial Eye. With this almost everything evens out. Even with the new addition, Vexus has not seen much action. There was a little scrimmage with a blonde girl she had taken custody of, but that was of no significance. Elena now found herself at a corner Starbucks in the middle of LA. There were hordes of people in this city and she chose this location in order to blend in. With all the people came diversity like none other. People out here wouldn't even give her a second look. She was just another Silicone Valley Barbie Doll, and she was okay with that just so long as it meant she did not stand out.
She sat at small round table where there had been two chairs, a stranger had borrowed the other one for their group of friends. Elena had a Mac set up on the table as she slowly sipped her coffee with her customized Prada shades on in addition to her special Louis Vuitton clutch she had sitting on her lap. Everything else was pretty casual. V-Neck black T-Shirt and some tight fitting jeans. Her shoes were Louboutins, of course. She was searching the internet for information some recent disappearances. Of course they dealt with Meta-Humans and the general public was not concerned. Elena was looking into it because she could always use a couple more test subjects, so if their bodies had been dumped somewhere it would work in her favor to just pick them up. She was following all the more intricate steps she would have taken to hide the disappearance of someone, but any leads she got only fell short. All she could do was roll her eyes. Maybe they were just random deaths. Metas go blowing themselves up all the time nowadays. She let out a sigh and started to go through some old government files. Elena had bothered to set up an insanely secure and private connection through the Wi-Fi offered by the coffee shop so she figured she might as well put it to good use. It wasn't often that she had the free time to build up such impressive firewalls and untraceable signals. It just wasn't often that Elena was this bored.

Elena reentered the coffeeshop and refilled her fancy beverage only to return to see someone making off with her computer. Regardless of the money in this city, there were twice as many unfortunate souls to compensate. She rolled her eyes again and then walked behind the coffee shot so that she wouldn't be seen. Once the simple robber had though he managed to escape with the blonde woman's computer, she had appeared right in front of him.
"Sweetie, wrong person to steal from."
With a powerful back hand she knocked the man into the wall of the alley he had ran to, making him lose consciousness and fall to the ground. She cautiously stepped over him and made her way back to the coffee shop with her computer only for her nice spot to be taken anyways. If she rolled her eyes anymore they would roll out of her head. Instead of getting mean, she took her technology back to her Mercedes S-Class Coupe and went on a drive. It took a few hours from where she was, but she eventually made it to Rodeo Drive where she could do a little retail therapy. But even after everything that had happened so far today she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed.

Rules, regulations, red tape everywhere. To be linked to the existential energy of all things and yet he was still so powerless in so many ways. He limited himself when he first came to this power. He hindered himself, because he was Zell Atterrius and he was a Hero, he couldn't ever use his power in a way that was abusive. Sadly he wasn't prepared for all the things that he would need to do and face. There were some things that he couldn't do, because his old heroic virtues were limitations he pressed on himself. Not that this minded him at all. Zell, at heart, was truly the heroic being he once was...though many saw him as a villain. Hell he even saw himself as a villain at times, but he did what needed to be done. No intellectual could tell him otherwise either. They were limited. What they thought didn't matter. What he thought didn't matter either. As one of two Omniversal defenders it was his job to defend reality and ensure things were kept in order... an order which he now needed to violate. Of course he was violating this rule for several reasons. The first one being to return someone to this realm where they belonged, thusly it was acceptable. The second being a more...personal reason that violated his general code of action. He would not be denied and he would not be derailed though. He simply needed the right "approach" to things that would sanctify his cross-reality activity... and  he knew just how to approach it.

   The primary concern in his going-ons was his having to justify his actions to that nothing named Rozmer. He's not being mean, Rozmer is quite literally nothingness. His musing aside he found a way to justify his actions. Rozmer wouldn't like it and would probably call him a dick for it, but he was the "Villain" after all. It wouldn't be right to not dick someone over every now and again. His justification would be going to retrieve an old friend of his, one who actually belongs in this realm but was lost through a portal due to a very certain someone. How he will do it though is simple. He'll enlist someone else to do it for him. The first names that came to mind were Elena Marie and Elena Vexus. One was a stuck up bitch, the other one was a full of themself scourge. One was a terrible nuisance and the other was his mother in law. His mother in law was busy screwing over other realities for her own power because she's a heartless bitch. His "other" mother in law was busy being a dimensional jumping transvestite, albeit much more loved by Zell than the previous. So that leaves him with the one that he could actually stand... despite her.... strong personality.

   So he had decided that this is how it would be. In order to retrieve an old friend and return them to their rightful place in the omniverse, and give the proverbial "bird" to someone he would enlist the assistance of Elena Vexus to rip a hole in reality for him to use. Of course he will need her assistance once on the other side, but that was much simpler. Between her and him they would be able to easily overcome virtually any adversity...of course one could never be to careful with this friend of his....

   Zell walked through the lab of Gene-Tech back into the top secret research center. He moved his way to the far back and there before him stood a tree with a succulent fruit, black in color with a very coarse textured skin. Entering the chamber he plucked one of the fruits and then exited the chamber. There were protests from Sadrith about what happens when one eats "The Black Fruit". Zell smirked and took a bite anyway. He needed to find Vexus...and he needed to find her now. With the ingestion of the fruit his normal form completely deteriorated away on a whim, and he was projected out far, far away. When he finally "pulled himself together" he was in his same outfit. A unique spin on a Leonard Logsdail original, Zell was lucy enough for Silus to paint him this little suit. It was a bit of a surprise that Silus had such an intense fashion sense. Zell wasn't fashion ignorant, but Silus was far more knowledgeable and creative when it came to all forms of art....fashion included. Zell's cane still on hand, and a finely tailored wool coat over him as he appeared in the passenger seat, Miss Vexus checking the mirror.

   "Expecting someone?" Zell asked, loudly enough to announce his arrival. He remained calm as he looked around.

The trunk of her expensive luxury coupe had been filled with pointless material possessions and she was on her way again. After a little bit of annoying city driving she made her way to the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a colder day than usual on the coast, but it was better than a northeast winter. Every now and again she a passing car flew by, but the longer she drove the rarer they became. Eventually she reached a point where it seemed like she was the only one left. It was a calming feeling, not knowing of anyone around for any particular amount of distance. Her glasses even confirmed it. There were a couple of human life signs up in the mountains and further out on the ocean, but there would be no one approaching for quite some time.
And then instantly she was wrong. A stranger appeared right in her passenger seat, no doubt by some Houdini type shit. She glanced over slightly and rolled her eyes. Elena had been though far too much in her lifetime to be adequately surprised. The man spoke, asking if she had been expecting anyone. He sounded proud, but familiar. She kept her eyes on the road, but stole a glance every few moments to better place a face with the voice.
"Please give me one good reason why I should not throw this car into the sea and drown the both of us..."
This man was interrupting her precious alone time, not to mention invading her personal bubble. Vexus was positive that this man had every intention of eating up in her car. He no doubt needed an audience with her,  what he needed to speak with her about though was still unknown to her. Whoever he was he had better have good reason for intruding on her like this.

"Because I think we both know that would be like putting a band-aid on the Titanic to try and prevent it's sinking." Zell said, slightly amused by her reaction. If nothing else he could say Miss Vexus was one of his more amusing acquaintances. "We'd be right back here in this same situation...after we got your soul back into another body that is- that aside I'm here to make you a deal. So put your pride aside dearie, we've got work to do." Zell said, imagining the selfish arrogance she probably had. To be honest Zell was shocked that Ouroboros didn't try to marry this bitch, they could have been full of themselves together. The only thing they needed to settle in the divorce then was "Which one of us gets to live and rule the world and which one gets to die like a bitch?". Unfortunately for the world they both didn't seem to like staying dead. And while Zell wouldn't take credit for anything in theory Vexus never dying MAY have potentially been his fault, but that was a topic for later.

 "First, before I divulge all my secrets I'd like to ask you something Miss Vexus. Why is it that you can't seem to catch a break? Tell me what you believe it is."He said, as if he knew all about Elena and her exploits to truly answer s question like that. Unless he could...then someone had a fuck ton of information on Vexus she probably didn't want them having. Was Zell gonna get shanked? Zell had a feeling the bitch was gonna try and shank him. Luckily he came prepared for such an occasion. He looked oh so calm though, probably because he was. What was she going to do? Kill him? He'd just drag an Archon from one of those useless zombie realms he hates or whatever and stick them here in his place. Good as new. Back to the task at hand, however, he was eager to see where Miss Vexus intended on driving them, and how she answered his question.

She gave a slight chuckle at his answer. Neither of them could be offed so easily, even though his identity was unclear at the moment she knew crashing a car wouldn't do much if anything to him. And what was this nonsense about we. Who would be the other individual getting this soul into another body? This is why Elena did not dabble with the magical arts. Unnecessarily complicated and dependent on multiple parties. Science was at least absolute. He continued to talk, and she continued to listen. He knew who she was and that was prof enough that he was not just here to have tea. No one hat yet seen her with this appearance, meaning he found her through a different medium.
"Why can't I catch a break you ask? I've been around for quite some time, and I can only imagine that I have collected a bit of bad karma. Even though I sear I don't believe in the stuff, something or someone always comes back to haunt me."
She placed her elbow on the door where the class met the car, casually resting her head against her hand as she drove. If this man was able to find her despite her many appearances he also probably knew more than he was leading on.
"Sounds like you already know the answer to that question though. But in the way you're not one to divulge secrets, I'm not one to... Speak my heart? I think that would be an acceptable way of putting it."

Whatever this guy wanted she would probably help him with. Things were getting boring for her anyways. Her purse was on her lap, full of all different kinds of hazardous materials. Yes, things were boring but Elena was getting older. Stirring up trouble just because a stranger magically appeared in her car was not her style. Not anymore at least. Plus, this has been one of the best cars that she has driven so far. Not to mention her income has basically come to a halt. World domination plans and endless experiments were expensive and one could not always send a seven foot cyborg to get a day job. Vexus was too proud to get a real job, any sort of extra funds up until this point has been 'stolen' or rather 'accidentally rerouted'. Whatever the reason or explanation, Elena has been managing to keep herself comfortable while off the radar.

"Speaking of Karma, I always just assumed that everyone that I did bad things to had it coming. Never met anyone who told me otherwise, though I suppose there might be someone else out there who has the same philosophy. And the same twisted sense of humor. Ha! I would like to meet that person.. Ahh, I digress. So, what is it that you wanted again, kid?"

Karma? Well that is closer than she believed. But that was not the point he was trying to drive home. She casually leaned in the threoshold of the window and semeed to just sit there, as if she were as one might be able to say down in the dumps. It was depressing for him even. He wasn't going to puty her though, that's not what she would want. Too proud for something like that. He couldn't blame her. But the bottom line was that she was only human. Failure after failure after failure was bound to hit this point. She seemed unlike herself. This was a side to Miss Vexus he was sure very few if none other had seen before. She was sypathetic. If this were a book he'd feel like the biggwst dick for disliking her up to this point. The only thinge he was missing was her sob story of a childhood. She confessed then that she was not one to speak her heart. Thank God, the thought of him actually feeling bad for Vexus, or thereb being a side to Vexus he rooted for made him throw up in his mouth a little bit.

  "I want what you want...and what all villains want." Zell said before smirking as his eyes were forward. "Everything." But as to what he means by that could speak volumes. Did he want to rule the world? Or by "everything" did he mean everything he wanted? Perhaps it was something else entirely. "The bottom line. Sinking at the bottom of an ocean of failure, drowining really. Karma is one way of putting it, but I'm gonna propose a different reason... and I'm gonna prove I'm right, by saving you." Zell said as if it were oh so simple. Of course Vexus was probably already lost at this point. He over estimated her intelliegence ever so slightly, then again who knows hoe many powerful people she's pissed off.

  "You see Miss Vexus, look all over literature, look all over the media and the folklore. Why can't we cut a break? Because we're the Villains. The villains never win, they never get their desire. It's formula. The Villain's don't win... are you and the rest of the world foolish enough to believe that otu children's stories and out video games and out movies are all tailored the exact same way through stupid and simple chance?" He was perhaps onto something here.  It was indeed strange, the world all around was filled with literature where it was the same formula. "There's a villain, then there's a conflict, then a hero is born from the villain's actions, then the villain is defeated. Snow white? Villain poisons broad to become the most beautiful, Hero is born as he tries to save Snow White for love or whatever, then Villain get's killed.  Sleeping beauty? Villain, Hero, Villain loses. Hanzel and Grettle? Conflict, Heroes, Villain loses..... now is it just me or is this almost a... dare I say a formula of sorts?" he asked. It was true enough, look at almost every literary piece involving heroes and villains. Stephen King, screenplays, religions. The villains always lose in the end. Why? Who knows...but it appears so frequently it's almost too coincidental to be coincidence.

  "So Miss Vexus... We are in a unique situation. We both have the capacity to do what the other needs done. When two such people can assist one and other they make deals.  When I defeated you I did so utterly. Losing to me wasn't like losing to Marie... you didn't bounce back this time." Zell said with a sigh and a shrug. "You don't see heroes doing that... Heroes are organized...united. We sit here with a clear as day formula in front of our faces. We have the opportunity to rewrite a concept as old as existence itself. We have the chance to be the villains and still win." He said, explaining his stance to a degree, but he still didn't reveal what it was he wanted. He was provoking Vexus to think, to notice and accept the fact that he was right. Even if she denied it... he knew he was right. If he truly was right he very well may have he secrets to not only his own victory, but the victory of Elena Vexus as well. Like a starved man on the streets she would hear the words and it would likely sound like nothing less than a gourmet feast by now.

  "I know you won't believe me... but I, miss Vexus, am about to win." He said with a little chuckle, elated by his apparent success. "I only want the same for you... that said. If you are truly interested in my offer to reach the top once again I need something from you." Zell said, looking to her to see what she would have to say in response to all of this.

The label 'villain' was such a harsh term. She always pictured some sort of Dracula-esqu character. Now Elena was no saint, but strangely enough she did not view herself as the worst of the worse. She strongly believed that despite all that she had done and everything that she has been through, there was still someone with less of a moral compass than her. This one seems like he might be on the list though. After admitting to being the individual who defeated her at Washington, her opinion changed a little bit.
He went on about how its more than just endless coincidence that the 'bad guys' always lose. As if he were apexing of a higher power that always made it so that the bad guys never were victorious. Whatever he was talking about sounded exactly like a physical, omnipotent manifestation of karma. He was offering the chance to be  back on top, or to get her the spotlight she wanted. She did not doubt the probability of success here. The caliber of these two combined would be more than enough. It was more so the aspect of why he wanted her help.

"An interesting proposal. There are somethings I would like to clear up first. I do not believe that you fully understand the sacrifices that I endured, that I still endure, in order to simply use that ability. I know from experience that the minute you don't have an adequate method of defending yourself, someone or something will find you and kill you. Or at least attempt to kill you."
She put both hands on the wheel and changed the car into 'sport mode'. The road ahead was winding around and she wanted to go through little faster than might be safe. Even with the increased speed she continued the conversation on as normal.
"I'm not going to go into detail about this weakness, but no worries, I have compensated for it recently. Now, I also feel like there is this unspoken notion about me that I always have to be the 'Top Dog'. At one point I will say that was true, however now I don't need to be noticed as much. I'm much older than I appear, and I'm only human. Been around on this damn rock longer than I may have been welcome and I've had my fill of the infamous spotlight."

Vexus rolled her eyes again, hearing that she was getting sentimental again. She hit the throttle hard and threw her high-powered luxury coupe into a sharp bend coming up. The large engine roared up, filling in the temporary silence she had left off in.
"Expectedly I would say something alone the lines of 'you must be truly desperate to come to me for help', but just so long as you apologize for the damage you inflicted on me I'll help you with whatever ridiculous scheme you have cooked up. And after you say you're sorry, I have only one other condition... I don't want my name on any of it."
Getting him to apologize was mostly a joke, but a twisted sort of joke between the two of them. It gave her a little bit of satisfaction, after all it was the least he could do. In the recent past, Elena Vexus has been sought out before due to 'crimes against reality', since normal injustices simply will not do. It was that conflict that landed her into the body she's stuck with now. So that not happening again would be marvelous. As long as no trail of her is left at all through this madness, she may be able to continue life (or what's left of hers) in one piece.

"An apology? I'm afraid it would be quite hollow. You see Miss Vexus, to apologize for the "sufferings" I brought you in that defeat would be to cheat you of honor, integrity and the truth of my role in that battle. You see, There is but one teacher. The enemy. Only he or she can show you where you are weak, and where they are strong. It is through your enemy you receive the harshest judgement, an unbiased result and the most precious data anyone could ever ask for. In that sense... we should be thanking each other, not apologising. Aside, however, if the words alone are what you wanted to hear, then I shall say them readily." He inhaled before closing his eyes. Yes it was hard to say these three words. Just kidding, they were just as simple as any other words. "Miss Vexus. I'm sorry for the sufferings you've endured because of my actions." He said with a smile, and a heat cocking to the side slightly as if silently asking "There, are you happy?" to the woman. Demanding an apology was more like the Vexus he thought he'd encounter.

  Of course she complained about being on this "damn rock" longer than she was welcome. Zell couldn't help but smirk sheepishly as he contemplated the nature of that. Yeah well..that wasn't entirely true. His involvement in Vexus' being trapped on this "damn rock" may or may not have been by design, by cosmic plan or otherwise. Her having enough of the spotlight was absolutely perfect however, considering that her love of the spotlight was the thing Zell thought he'd need to wrestle with. That gone then this had become a beautiful and easy transition. All he needed to do now was pull a couple more strings and this would be game set and match for the villains. "As far as not having your name on anything I don't think you'll need to worry about that. The whole secrecy thing is what we're going for. You see, you call this plan ridiculous... but I think we both know that Elena Vexus doesn't do ridiculous . Save for those exploding knockers. That aside... Your conditions fit perfectly with the plan.... which I suppose it's time I filled you in on." Zell said before remembering the entire reason and proposition he had built up for this little mission.

  "First, I need you to help me go and convince an old friend to return to this realm. You don't know him, I assure you. No it's not Tranny Marie, the bottom line is I need you to tear a hole in reality. Twice actually. The device needs to be small enough to travel with us." Zell said, obviously he looked at Vexus upon saying about the device needing to be oh so big, thus it heavily indicated that this was her part in the plan. "I'd do it, but unfortunately my station prevents me from doing so. In return for this information I will give you two things. The first is invaluable. There is an organization that is hunting down metahumans, for reasons I will not disclose. I also happen to know that these people have a rather superfluous amount of intelligence on you and are closing in on you very quickly... help me and I will buy you time to better defend yourself and time to be elusive... I will perhaps even a VIP ticked to the winning team. The second thing I will do for you is more of... "hand up" than a hand out. I'm going to help get back on the top of your game, by giving you a means to kill a militian." Zell said before reaching into his coat and pulling out an old picture of Elena Marie, one he snuck from Sean. He scoffed before the picture rapidly began to decay and crumble into ash, symbolic of the promise he made to Vexus.

  "So. I'll let you think about this. You'll find absolutely everything you need to build this device in Canada. Excalibur city, Gene-Tech's main office. Scan this card and you'll get clearance." At this point he was almost certain he had her attention. He placed a key card on the dash before leaning back. "I'll see you when it's done. I'm off to buy you some time." Zell said as he suddenly vanished, removed from the area with not a single trace of himself left behind.

Elena couldn't help but chuckle at his apology. Sarcasm was an ability of hers seldom used, though maybe she might tap into these powers more often due to this sort of enjoyment. Whoever these people are that were coming after her, they no doubt had their cards in order as even she was unaware of their presence. Whether or not they were retrieving Elena Marie or someone of the sort was of no concern to her, from this man's warnings it sounded like her life was truly in danger. With being so low key lately she had not taken any appropriate precautions in the event that she would be done away with. It was not common for Elena, but right now she would accept all the help she could get.
He told her where she would be able to find all of the tools necessary and gave her a key card to a laboratory before vanishing again. Elena pulled her car over to the side of the road and pulled out her phone, she needed to check the location of some of her old files. Retrieving those would make this work much easier. In the past she had created a gauntlet that allowed her to punch holes in reality, however it was very barbaric in nature and ultimately resulted in the destruction of her robotic body. Now that she was in possession of a Celestial artifact, she may be in better standings to create a proper reality warping device.

Vexus closed her eyes an focused. Technomatter began to fill the cabin of her car. Within a few moments the entire car had been engulfed in the silver essence, it then morphed into a sphere that took off into the sky and the split into two different directions. The first was composed of her car which was taken safely back to her residence while the other was of Elena. This cloud of matter was taking her to another location where one of her laboratories remained where she needed to extract some information.
Not too long after departing from Malibu, she arrived in upstate-Utah. This lab was hidden in one of the National Forests. Due to the regulations place on forests and construction in this are it made a very good hiding spot. She put some of her more dangerous weapons here, but the worst of the worst she kept far away from civilization. The gauntlet she had created was destroyed upon its first use, however the information and research on it was still left behind in this location. After taking the time to bypass all of her security measures she got all of the information that she needed and was on her way again. Reverting back into the Technomatter form she made her way to the location Zell has specified. Traveling via Technomatter was a relatively exhausting task for her, but this was urgent. She could rest once she arrived in Excalibur City.

With her shades on and purse slung across her shoulder, she strut her way through Gene-Tech's main office. Her Louboutins clicked with ever step she took, the sound almost becoming a trademark for Vexus herself. She did has he said, swiping the card to gain access where she needed to go. The staff apparently seemed to understand the situation as they asked her no questions and did as they were instructed. Elena requested that she have the most secure floor cleared and left entirely for her and the construction of this device. She required no help as most would probably end up dead with the kind of tests she had to run. Vexus first started with removed the Celestial Eye and running various tests in hopes to find an origin of power or any sort of trail that she might be able to lock onto. With that she could reroute energy in order to have access to other dimensions. It was like finding the entrance to a highway, which has connecting roads that can go anywhere in the country.
She had summoned her bodyguard to the location, the only thing she could trust to do work for her. He began to fabricate the glove while she continued to run tests. Once she found what she was looking for, she proceeded to make a clone of the Eye to be implanted in the glove. This would act as a sort of guidance system in order to direct the energy properly. These processes were taking days at a time. This company had technology that was far past its time, which helped. If she had been dealing with 'state-of-the-art' tech, she would have to reprogram everything in order to just withstand the amount of data she would be pouring into them.

About a week had passed and Vexus has not left the building. There were facilities on the floor she was working on and she had food delivered to her frequently. It was times like these were her robotic form would have been the most helpful. It didn't need to take time to eat or sleep, which would be precious hours she could use to further this project. The inner sleeve of the gauntlet had ben completed, she was now working on the tedious task of accurately wiring everything. The amount of space-age technology that needed to be crammed into this was mind bending. The lining of the glove had to be supercooled so that the wearer's arm was not incinerated upon activation, and all the metals and various materials used needed to be able to withstand astronomical temperatures. On top of all of this, she wove in her Technomatter so that the wiring could properly channel the amounts of energy being pushed through them. Having gained possession of the Celestial Eye made her success rate much higher. Last time it wasn't even a 50/50 and she still went with it. At least now it's 50/50 if not more. But there would be some more tests before she would call it fully operational.
After a few days of microscopic construction it was time to fabricate the covering. Which also had to be able to withstand the heat, and stay relatively cool. It couldn't radiate too much heat or else it would harm the user. Vexus did incorporate a lot of energy recycling on this glove to that it did not rely so heavily on a power source. Which was her next obstacle. The gauntlet would be able to sustain itself once it got running, however it would need a jump start. In her studies with bio-science Elena had discovered that the human body produces a significant amount of power. Essentially it was what kept people ticking, pure life force. It was incredibly difficult to harness, but what was stopping her now? She had already produced another device to tear through reality itself.

For this she left the building in order to get some test subjects. A few animals here, and orphan or two there, another homeless person. She discretely brought them into the testing room and started to see how to better access the life force of humans. The gauntlet would fuse to whoever wore it, so she hooked it up with wires to the different subjects. The animals instantly perished. None of them had the mental capacity to withstand the draining forces of the device. An elderly gentleman was next and he seemed to withstand for quite sometime. However when she turned off the device his entire being was instantly converted into Technomatter and fell to the floor. The Matter soon dissipating. All of this was progress and she was learning very valuable information. Of course the other subjects were not witnessing the results of the experiments. Most of them were being kept unconscious in a stasis chamber.
Next were the children. It pained her to do so, but she needed to finish her experiments. She was so very close to a breakthrough. The young boy was hooked up to the machine and it was flicked on. Elena could see the fear in the little boy's eyes and something instinctive kicked in telling her to try and calm the boy down.
"Think of what you want the most. Think happy things and what you want to do. Remember what I promised you. Anything you want..."
Of course it was a bit of a lie, Vexus sadly could not give the child anything he wanted. Most things, yes, but not anything. As the experiment continued she could see the boy going through changes. His hair color, eye color, skin color, facial features. This thing was tapping into his DNA, his mind, searching for something to use as fuel. It seemed like this glove was almost sentient. It was searching for a power source, a will. The stronger the will the more powerful the glove. An animal wouldn't know what was going on. An old homeless man had nothing to live for and the device overtook him. But a child. A young boy had so much potential, so much to live for. This sort of technology was far beyond what she had originally engineered. It was dangerous and would be immediately destroyed upon completion of its use.

In the end, the child survived. He was unconscious, but alive. A clean bill of health too. Him and the rest of the children were released, none of them to remember what happened. Little did that boy know he not only saved the lives of the other children, but possibly the whole of reality. Depends on how big this entire ordeal turned out to be. After finding out how to initially power the device she turned it on herself to see if she would be capable. It was all a mental thing. If she was insecure or unsure about her result, then it would fail. This was strange to her, technology that could tap into the mind of the user, and read their very DNA in order to determine their will to live, and in turn use that as fuel. It was revolutionary, only emphasizing on the fact that this technology need never reach the wrong hands. Not that it wasn't already there.
Elena slipped the gauntlet on and cringed as it fused with her arm. As it began to activate, it molded more to her arm's shape becoming much more form fitting. Less like a piece of armored technology and more like a glove. She took in a deep breath, savoring it as it may be her last. Elena activated her Celestial Eye which quickly synced up with the artificial one in the gauntlet. As she exhaled it all began. She let out a grunt from the sudden rush of pain she was experiencing. Elena clenched her teeth to help better cope. Of the other tests she ran, there was not this high of a pain rating so it was very unexpected. She needed to focus. Focus on anything but the pain. Her bodyguard was monitoring her vitals, and within the first few moments they began to show very strange readings. Some were dropping below that of someone dead and others were skyrocketing. He moved to stop the process, but Vexus waved him to stop. A bit of blood ran from her nose and she clung to consciousness. If Elena let go, she knew it would be the end. She extended her arm forward so that the next step could occur.

From the five fingers came thin streams of Technomatter. It was a glowing bright sliver versus its semi-sparkly dark silver original form. These five streams started out about an inch in diameter, but as the extended forward they began to shrink down and narrow to a point where it seemed they disappeared. From the five points where the shining Technomatter stopped ripples in that space began to move outward. Soon after, small holes appeared in the center of the ripples that slowly grew in size until they all joined with each other. Vexus had engineered her gauntlet to supercharge her Technomatter to condense down to a point past that of the atomic level. In this limbo of the space between atoms, it was able to pierce through the thin fabric that remained and converted the walls of reality themselves into Technomatter. Once the hole between dimension was open the glove would sustain itself. Deactivation of the glove would close the tear in reality as the Technomatter assimilated with surrounding matter simply patching the hole back up. To open up the portal again she would have to go through this again, though if it was from the other side it might prove to be more difficult. Different dimension, different laws of physics.
She deactivated her eye which in turn deactivated the gauntlet and nearly collapsed in a chair. Tearing holes in reality was incredibly draining. The portal closed itself up slowly, and her next surprise came soon after. Looking in the mirror she could see that her skin was still repairing itself. Apparently using this glove dramatically revealed her true age. From what she could tell it was only in appearance and she did not feel her age, which was the main factor. As long as she was not utilizing her Celestial Eye, her body would reverse the aging process.

She had done it. Successfully torn another hole in reality, but this time she managed to fix it without having some ginger witch bitch commit suicide. There was no doubt that her client was already aware of the success and was on his way. All that was left to do was get ready for his arrival. A cloud of Technomatter swirled around Vexus, and as it descended revealed her hair and makeup done perfectly, wearing a Chanel evening gown, matching jewelry, her Louis over the shoulder clutch, and finally Christian Louboutin heels. The gauntlet fused to her right arm kind of clashed with her outfit, but she assumed that where they were going fashion would not be the focus.

The Reality Gauntlet

Spoiler:

Zell groaned as he doubled over in the middle of the conference. Silus sat there, in his two year old form, little indigo eyes fixated on his father who was writhing in pain. This pain was so familiar that the Archon already knew what this was. Miss Vexus had succeeded. He knew because this pain was like no other. It was worse than childbirth. Yes, he fully remembered THAT pain, as much as he would rather not have. Silus sat there, staring at him, unable to help him as the other men and women of the board all stood up with gasps and murmurs. One man even said to call an ambulance. Zell just laughed and waved his hand. The laughter alone earned nothing less than a shocked and slightly concerned face from everyone in the room.

"N-no no. No hospital. I just need a moment. " He said with a chuckle before taking a few deep breaths. Oh, good she fixed it herself. That was an unusually...intense pain from that rift. Whatever the Hell she did it was far more painful than anything he'd felt in this world. Granted he immediately knew why as the words Betrayal were whispered into his ear, a faint draft taking the words past. Zell turned and looked about before his heart began to skip beats. This was a most undesirable outcome. "Ladies and Gentleman, excuse me at this time. C'mon buddy." Zell said as he quickly lifted Silus and carried him out the door.

"Why are you hurt?" Silus asked. Okay beneath that innocent little voice and those beautiful indigo eyes was the mind of a genius, and Zell needed to remember that.

"I needed to get out of that meeting. I need to go see someone very soon. Be a good boy and go bother Sean or Ryan?" Zell asked. Silus cocked an eyebrow and had a little smirk that assured Zell he could manage that somehow. Silus then vanished into nothingness as Zell emerged from the elevator and found himself inside the very place he needed to be. Being a nigh-omnipresent individual had it's advantages. Immediately seeing Vexus he noted the gauntlet on her arm. The brilliant bitch had done it. No kidding...

"Well, it doesn't match but somehow you manage to pull it off. Maybe just because I know your personality. That wasn't very long either." Zell said as he rubbed his forehead, taking the pain-sweat away from it as he scoffed, the scoff turning into a chuckle before shaking his head, folding his arms over his chest, as if he couldn't believe it. He'd have taken the time to rejoice, but unfortunately with his previous revelation he found himself on borrowed time. "Right well. I've gone ahead and gotten in contact with my ally within the new up and coming organization. I've bought you some time under their radar, I still have everything else I promised you AFTER we retrieve the last piece to this little puzzle.... When can you be ready?"

She had been impressed with herself on how quickly she did manage to complete her project. Her General was of course a huge help, there would have been many more casualties if she had employed actual humans to help her and not just be experiments. The large mechanical assistant stood by as they were preparing to depart soon. Vexus took in a deep breath as the gauntlet began to come to life.
"I appreciate the window of opportunity you've created. I trust that you know better than to cross me. So yes, after we retrieve your butt buddy, or whomever, I will expect the other parts of our agreement."
The Reality Gauntlet went through the charging phases and was ready to be fired at command.
"I am ready whenever you are, my friend. Just say the word and we shall be on out way." she said with a confident smirk. Hopefully whatever, or whoever, they were dragging bag did not put up too much of a fight. As powerful as she liked to think that she was, ripping holes in reality with a handheld device is not a walk in the park. The sooner they did this the sooner it would be over though. There were many plans that she needed to put into place. This organization was apparently no joke and she had to be adequately prepared for whatever they may have collaborated on against her.

"You're certainly welcome, and why would I cross you? Other than the utter assumption that we're rescuing my "Butt-buddy" as you've so crudely named it." Zell said, a slight contempt in his thought process. "My "Butt-buddy" just so happens to be the other biological father of my son... who also shot you in the head and is the child of the woman i'm likely going to help you kill.... the person we're going for is actually an Angel that was lost across the omniverse, I'm simply in need of another person to bring him here, you'll see why when we get there. Where we're headed there is no internet, cell phone towers or anything of the like. Make sure you don't bring devices of those nature with you because they won't work. Or bring them, doesn't matter much." Zell said as he quickly punched a few buttons into his phone. This wasn't going to be an easy feat for either of them truth be told, but it wasn't as if he needed to fill Vexus in on ALL the specifics.

"It is quite possible that we're about to usher in a whole new era of victory... I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Zell said with a nod to Vexus as he watched her. There was truly nothing he could do at this moment in time to betray Vexus, even if he wanted to. Which he didn't, surprisingly enough. The sooner she could rip open the hole, the sooner he could funnel his own existential force through it and direct the hole to exactly where he needed it to go. After that it was as simple as stepping through and revealing their new location.

The world they were in was most certainly a more "ancient" one. It appeared to be more medieval at best as the people wandering the streets stopped and gasped at them. There were whispers before Zell looked to Vexus with a sigh and a face that practically said "whoops" he dropped the ball it would seem. Some people cried "Angels" while others cried "Witch!". "If you only knew the half of it." Zell said as he turned and began to walk on the cobblestone path that lead out of town.

Vexus couldn't help but grin at the explanation of his actual 'butt-buddy'. It was strange remembering getting shot in the head by Sean. Strange to just remember herself dying. Sean was a prick for doing that, but that was besides the point. Elena continued to do her job and tore a hole in reality as she had been commissioned. Zell had his hand in appropriately directing this hole in reality to where they needed to go, and as soon as it was open they stepped through. Her General remained on the other side in order to guard the lab in case of anything. Unfortunately there was no scientific way for her to communicate with him through dimensions. If anything came up Zell may have an answer for that.
Once on the other side Vexus immediately had a disgusted look on her face. The tear slowly began to stitch itself back up as she surveyed the area.
"Ugh, you have got to be kidding me."
She followed behind Zell as they two of them began to make their way through this town. She was holding her dress up so that it didn't touch the ground here. She would have just simply levitated herself, but they were already shouting profanities at them so no need to fan the fire there. Looking at the gauntlet, it indicated that they had definitely left their home dimension. Or at least their time line. Wouldn't have ben a treat if these two were the reason for witches and ages. That would be a new chapter in Elena's book for sure.
"Where the hell, or when the hell are we... This looks like Salem circa 1692... My hair color hasn't been invited yet. I'm sure if we stay too long I'll definitely be buried at the stake." she said with a little bit of a sarcastic wit.
Though it was partially true, it seemed like that townspeople were taking to arms as they made their way out of their tiny little town. If this was another dimension, then it might not be a big deal if they leveled a small village. However if they had only traveled back in time then destroying something might alter the future one way or another. And as much fun as that sounds, she didn't really feel like making too much of a mess while she was here on the other side.

"I think you need to be more worried about being better dressed than the nobles. They'll kill you here for that." Zell said as he continued to walk, though he couldn't stifle the chuckle when he heard her state about the hair color not even having been invented yet. He continued to walk before listening to the clicks of Vexus' shoes. Was she seriously in heels? Granted if he had warned her where they were headed she might have done something about it. He sighed and shook his head as they were obviously headed into the woods. "Heavily wooded area. Obviously this means those heels are going to get annoying." he said as the woods around him became dense, the distance looked so far...yet somehow they had closed it in a manner of moments, Zell quickly explained this.

  "As you can see, distance is a thing of little meaning to you. You are what I call "A universal Outsider". Lovecratian horrors? Elderitch beings? All of them have the ability to influence reality and all those around them. That's because they are all form other dimensions...so they are able to do... well...Outworldish things. These are called Universal visitors...or better known as "Outsiders." concepts such as distance, life and death and all things in between hold no meaning to them. You can traverse the globe in seconds if you desired. You could transmit your mind into others in order to drive them mad." Zell said, and if what he was saying was true then even the Elderitch entities of the other worlds and the most magical of beings had a scientific rationalism to them. "This world is quite literally one you could learn much from. Because this world is the world adjacent to the genesis of my existence...and subsequently my power. This is where magic and science are to their very core, and fundamentally the same." He said before he sighed and smirked. "Well, congratulations on becoming an elderitch horror...please try not to wreck this reality too much." He replied before thinking to himself that she had the appearance of an elderitch horror down. Make a couple techno matter tendrils and she'd be good.

  No sooner had they taken to walking did Zell find that they were now surrounded by a sight he found to be most familiar. He stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes widened. "WE GOTTA KILL THEM! THEY'RE ARCHOUNDS!" Zell called out. (Imagine the glowing red and orange areas are greenish colors). The wolves snarled at him but then they immediately turned their eyes to Vexus. From all around them, the entire area began to rend and splinter as reality warped and these hounds tore through like bats outta hell. Oh boy...

Elena listened to the man's words since they had arrived at the forest in no time at all. It was an interesting concept, one that seemed if you focused too hard to understand it it would only confuse you further. As he continued on, he mentioned that science and magic were one here. A sort of genesis point. This was all quite interesting to her, from her purse she put on her special glasses in order to better examine her surroundings. She picked up a couple of random things such as a rock, or some dirt, or a leaf from a tree that she might be able to analyze later. They may prove to be the same as everything in her home dimension, but it didn't hurt to check.
As she was flipping through the different settings on her glasses, she picked up some fast moving life forms. Before she could say anything Zell was already quick on the 411 letting her know that they were Archounds. Judging by the tone of his voice this was a very serious matter, and there would be no problem will killing these beasts. Some action could do her some good. She closed her left eye to active her Celestial Eye, though it did not react instantly as she initially hoped. Elena could only assume that this had to do with being in a different dimension, so she kept her left eye shut until it decided to kick in. Even without her eye she still had quite a few tricks up here sleeve still. Vexus put her hands in a specific formation and inhaled deeply. From her mouth she released a massive volume of water. It had enough concussive force to keep the larger demon dogs at bay and even knock over the smaller ones. She was breathing heavily after this attack due to the damage it dud to her internally. Now that the area and Archounds had been adequately drenched she put her hands in another form and electricity began to flow around them. Using Zell's explanation of this reality she hovered herself above the soaking wet ground. What she was planning to do next should be quite obvious hoping to signal her coworker to also elevate himself.
Elena let out a powerful grunt as the lightning rocketed from her hands. It surged through the ground and all over the beasts. She rotated herself around so that the electric attack would reach all of them. Vexus gritted her teeth as she kept the attack going, a bead of sweat rolling down her face as she was clearly in an immense amount of pain. The lightning ceased and her arms fell to her side as the heavy burns along them had made them completely useless. It seemed that She managed to cripple most of them, and she was not getting any readings of life from the smaller ones. The larger ones had lost their footing for a moment but seemed to be coming around. She was only now starting to get feeling back in her arms and the internal bleeding had stopped from the water attack. These things were tough and she could see now why he was so concerned at their appearance. Hopefully Zell had something because she was tapped out for the time being, or at least until her hands heal and she could perform another attack. Still yet she waited for her Celestial Eye to kick in, once she had that activated then Vexus would easily be able to deal with these otherworldly animals. That is, if Zell hasn't managed to do them in.