metalogs | If madness overtakes us both [Open]

....

Okay, but I guess if there can be alien entities that were locked up in some dimension by otherwise inexplicable forces then sure, why not angels. So maybe...this production line just happened to have all the ideal conditions in which this actual "angel" could make use of? Because it sounds like it's still somehow operating on a similar level enough as what espers are.

[Donnie doesn't roll his eyes at Leo because that'd be the first reference he'd have pulled too, if he hadn't run into someone who claimed to be a god here who shared the same name as one from the Norse pantheons. His first excursion to the library had also included his looking up books on mythology.]

According to Egyptian mythos, Osiris is the god of the afterlife, death and resurrection. Horus is the god of healing and protection and associated with the sky, as well as Osiris's heir.

Admittedly, having an "angel" refer to figures of the Egyptian pantheon is kind of strange but I'm not so sure as to what it was getting at unless it was suggesting in a loftily roundabout way that you're old school and it's the new model.

[Accelerator shrugs vaguely. He definitely doesn't have the full story on the whole angel business, and it bothers him.]

AIM diffusion fields were involved, somehow. Those parameters may have been what I added to my Personal Reality to make my own wings. [It only partially explains it, since he doesn't have an explanation for that nun's song, but it's something.

He hauls himself to his feet, grabbing his ruined shirt to toss out and heading to the bedroom to get a new one.]

I don't know why it brought up the Egyptian pantheon. That's not something relevant to espers, so yeah, it might've been something like that. [Maybe it was mocking him. Maybe both? He clicks his tongue in irritation.] I guess it's something to ask Aleister Crowley if I ever get an audience with him, since I'm apparently so important to his fucking plans.

[AIM diffusion fields, Egyptian gods, personal realities... sure, okay. As usual Leo is only partly keeping up, until...]

Aleister Crowley!?

[He doesn't follow Accelerator into his bedroom, but he does move closer so he can be heard without having to shout (too loudly).]

Wait, like, a coincidentally named guy, or like, actual early 1900s magician Aleister Crowley? Oh, oh, wait!

[He smacks his forehead.]

Yeah! Aiwass the Aeon of Horus! I watched a Youtube video about this forever ago!

[Brb, he's digging into Wikipedia.]

[Donnie's about to ask, but Leo beats him to the punch- although by his tone, it's clear that his brother somehow is familiar with this name.

So naturally Donnie stares at him as though he's sprouted a second head.]

Wha-?

[He'd look it up himself but he's still baffled that these things aren't Accelerator-specific after all.]

[Grabbing another t-shirt from his closet, he yanks it over his head.]

What?

[He's just as clueless as Donnie is. Stage magic isn't his forte, so he doesn't recognize the name outside of Crowley's status as the head of Academy City.

Leaving his bedroom, he ducks into the bathroom to grab a bottle of painkillers before heading back towards the kitchen. Opening it up, he shakes out a handful of pills to swallow.]

What the hell are you talking about?

[He wasn't really the kind of magician Leo is actually a fan of, but he was still interesting enough for a late night internet rabbit hole. Leo remembers reading a little about it and then watching a half hour youtube video.

The details are a bit fuzzy, but he's pretty sure he remembers the basics.]

Aleister Crowley! ...Oh wait. [He looks up, and a grin spreads over his face.] Is this... something I know about that you guys don't?

[Is this how it feels to be Donnie on the verge of an infodump all the time? Man, he kinda gets it now.]

Anyway, in our world, he was a guy who was big into magic and occult stuff. He went to Egypt and said he met an angel there named Aiwass, who wanted him to guide humanity into the Aeon of Horus. Started a whole religion about it!

[Leo goes back to looking at his phone.] Personally I kinda assumed he met a yokai who was just messing with him, but... oh shoot, this world had a version of him, too!

[Leo holds up his phone to show them the Wikipedia page.]

But he died in the 40s so... he's probably pretty different in Accy's universe.

Edited (forgot accy is back in the room lol) 2023-08-20 01:13 (UTC)

[Now Donnie rolls his eyes. Okay, okay, Leo knows this one very specific thing! Get to the point already!]

Huh, so we had some psycho claiming all that? [He doesn't feel so bad about not knowing this sort of thing- it sounds pretty ridiculous. Unfortunately people took these things seriously if there were religions- cults most likely, that followed.]

Well, alternate realities and all that. What's the story on your version of Crowley? [Donnie glances at Accelerator then.]

.....

[Oh, cool. An evening is always improved with Leo being smug as hell. This is utterly ridiculous, and the only saving grace is that at least one of them might know what the fuck is going on.

Unfortunately, Leo's explanation sounds beyond ridiculous. So completely insane that he'd like to just dismiss all of it and go take a nap.

Instead he pops another tylenol and scroll down the Wikipedia page, frowning.]

I don't know. No one knows anything about the board chairman, except that his head office is in this huge windowless doorless building in the middle of the city. I wrecked a portion of the city throwing a wall at it once and it just bounced off like it was nothing.

[Accelerator pauses, knowing there's something he needs to add that is going to make Leo about ten times more aggravating. He takes a breath, mentally preparing himself for the I told you so, then goes.]

... Magic exists back home, so I'm not discounting anything right now.

[This does, in fact, make Leo more smug.]

Ah-ha! I knew it. [He smirks, folding his arms.] I'm literally always right and you guys just don't appreciate it.

[Listen to him more!]

If the Aleister Crowley in your universe knew real magic then maybe in your world, all that Angel Aiwass the Aeon of Horus stuff isn't total bunk! Maybe he had a real prophecy!

Ooor maybe he's still crazy. You can have magic and be wrong. [In fact a lot of people have magic and are wrong.] Either way, sounds like it's made itself your problem, so, bummer.

Great, now he's going to be insufferable. Can I sleep here tonight?

[It's fifty-fifty as to whether he's serious there or not.]

As aggravating as Leo's points are, they can't really be discounted. I'm not sure what more can be done about it anyway when you're here.

Should we be more concerned about the whole spontaneous memory upload? Because up until now, I had no idea that was a thing. I spoke with someone about such time syncs but that occurs when someone takes a trip back to their world and by using whatever means the Alliance has.

[He sighs.] Not a chance.

[Sorry Donnie, you're going to have to suffer through this alone. He's got enough on his plate with all these fresh memories and injuries.

They've got a point, though. As much as he hates it (Go to Russia), there isn't much he can do here. Maybe if he could get back to Academy City... or if Last Order was here... but he can't and she isn't.

He sighs again. It's one of those nights.]

... Tche.

Yeah, I didn't know it could happen, either. I don't know if this is some kind of new Confluence bullshit - [Seems unlikely given Chaos Gate] - or something else.

The better my portals become, the harder I am to escape.

[Leo can always bother them and they'll just have to deal with it.

He'll just listen to the confluence discussion though. He really doesn't like the implications of any of that part of this - that it can happen at any time, that they don't have to even leave for it to happen.

Is he going to get multiple weeks worth of memories beamed into his head one day? And injuries to match? If that happens...

Let's not think about it.]

Using your powers for evil, how dare you.

[That's not necessarily the incentive Donnie had expected for Leo to get back his mystic mojo. He's not at all surprised at Accelerator's answer either. Still, he musters up enough dramatics for the most put-upon sigh before getting his thoughts back to the real matter at hand.

Getting updated to a future timeframe without warning is troubling, to say the least. At least Accelerator was at home and not alone when his hit, and okay, what are the chances that someone's future experiences are going to include awful, traumatic and potentially life-threatening injuries?

....

Anyway.]

For all we know, it could a weirdly isolated event. Nothing crazy's come up on the news or anything, has it? It might be a good idea to keep an eye out for that sort of thing. I know the whole cult deal and the Alliance mess is in the process of trying to be resolved but it doesn't feel like anyone really won with that last big fight.

..... [He's very glad he doesn't have a brother. Yup. Definitely going to stay out of that as much as he can.

This whole situation sucks, though he's at least glad it happened to him and not either of them. Despite being sliced open by a supposed angel he's fairly confident he'll be fine. As long as he uses his ability efficiently this won't kill him, it'll just be a pain in the ass. Honestly, the injury is kind of nothing compared to everything else he's dealing with back home. It's worrying, and he'd be breaking down the Alliance's doors to use their technology if it wasn't for the knowledge that there's some temporal distortion going on. He had been dropped back home the exact same time as when he had left, no time had passed back in Academy City. So if that's the norm, then he isn't on any kind of time limit. Last Order's condition won't deteriorate again while he's stuck here.

Small miracles!]

It feels like we stepped on the ant but still have the fucking anthill to deal with.

[You guys love him and you know it.]

Yeah, well, that's how it always is. Winning one fight doesn't mean you won the war.

[Even a fight as big as that one was. It's not like it really had an ending, after all. It was just sort of over.]

We'll have to stay on our toes. Who knows what could happen from here? Especially with Chaos Gate MIA.

[He sighs, then turns his attention to Accelerator.]

By the way, Accy, how do you feel about a sleepover?

[Donnie nods.]

I'd be surprised if no one was looking for her, especially with that kind of a mic drop.

[He'd have thought that with the whole Alliance-cult thing being more or less taken care of, they could relax a bit, but he supposes he should've known better.

Leo however brings up a considerably fair solution to what was supposed to be a nice relaxing movie night.]

Food's still there too. We can save the movie for another night if no one's up for it.

[He hasn't heard from Chaos Gate, though he did see that his message to her was read. It's likely people are looking for her... he isn't, he thought she could use some space.

... Was that a good idea? He doesn't know.

He sets the bottle of tylenol down on the counter, shaking his head. Watching the movie is definitely out. If he has a choice in the matter (he figures he probably doesn't), then he just wants to curl up somewhere alone, be moody, and try to sort through all the shit in his head.]

You two go home.

[Leo looks at him critically.]

You sure, dude? You just went through two weeks of whatever happened, and you're still swiss cheese. You really think you should be alone after all that?

[He gestures at the couch.] We can stay out here! We'll be quiet - we're ninjas, remember?

[Never mind that they're basically never quiet outside missions.]

[Accelerator's response isn't surprising, but then neither is Leo's. Donnie doubles down with his brother, nodding.]

Yeah, I know there's a lot there you're probably wanting to process, but that wasn't like a quick dip into a vacation.

Like Leo said, we'll just hang out here.

[He isn't really surprised they're pushing back. These jerks, being kind and all, it's so annoying.]

I'm fine. I'm not about to die or anything. [Even when he turns his choker back to normal mode.] You two don't need to waste your entire fucking night.

[Leo doesn't like it, leaving Accelerator alone like this, but he's not sure pushing him will accomplish anything. They'll just have to call it here, and check on him later.

It's not like they can't just break in again if he doesn't answer.]

Alright, well, guess we aren't welcome here anymore. [He drapes his arm over Donnie's shoulders and puts a hand to his forehead in a "woe is me" gesture. He may be willing to leave, but that doesn't mean he won't be dramatic about it.]

Come on, Donnie, let's go...

[Donnie's a little surprised Leo doesn't insist they stay, hesitating despite his brother's melodrama. He forces out a sigh.]

Well, if you say so...

[Just going to drag Leo along then since he's decided to go for the theatrical farewell.]

[The melodramatics makes Accelerator sigh, too. Should he feel bad he's kicking them out? He feels a little bad he's doing it, but the guilt isn't enough to outweigh his need to be alone.

Still.]

You might as well leave the fucking movie and food. I'll stick it in the fridge for tomorrow night.

[God, he's making sure to say that in the kind of exasperated tone that screams because you're both probably going to break in tomorrow regardless of what I say.

(And because he doesn't want to completely kill the idea of movie night.)]

[That gets Leo to smile.]

Deal.

[They will be back tomorrow, he better be ready!]

[A compromise! It's definitely progress, coming from Accelerator.

The effect is almost instantaneous, Donnie's own expression brightening along with Leo's. He nods as Leo seals the esper's fate with a word.

Oh, they will definitely be back tomorrow.]

If madness overtakes us both [Open]

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