revivalproject | You can't hide from your problems

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You can't hide from your problems | Calibrations

WHO: Billy Kaplan, OPEN
WHERE: Billy's Calibration Room
WHAT: Calibrations
WHEN: 3 June - 10 June
WARNINGS: Potential Warnings for Violence, Depression, Death and Suicide, but also some happy things

The room you step into isn't all that different from Billy's actually room back home, for those that know it. It looks like the room of a typical nerdy teenager, walls adorned with posters of his favourite heroes, and a desk cluttered with unfinished homework. There's shelves with books, and assorted action figures, as well as a few old games- like operation, which don't seem to have gotten much attention lately, covered in a layer of dust.

Billy lays on his bed with an assortment of comics, reading through them, though when he glances up you might note that his eyes are wrong. All black with fields of stars, like you can see the depths of universe in them.

He curls a finger, and a box beneath the bed scoots further back into the darkness.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It doesn’t take Jon long to have a response for Billy.

“I originally hoped to learn more about the heroes of your world, but now I think I would rather hear about yourself. And your brother. You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal, but... You- You didn’t grow up together, if I understood Tommy correctly?”

"We didn't," Billy confirms, "We didn't really know about each other until we were sixteen." The exact details of that feel a little person to Tommy, but a small snippet of it plays out before them, the pair running face to face for the first time and the shocked reactions of all involved. The exact setting is purposefully kept vague, though it's clear Billy's in his superhero garb and Tommy is not.

"What were the people like you grew up with?" Jon keeps asking. He already knows a little about Tommy's background. Which isn't a very positive one. But Billy appears a lot more centered than his brother, so of course the Archivist is interested in what further differences are between these two - and where they stem from.

"Doctors. Mom's a psychologist, Dad's a cardiologist. They're...like picture perfect parents. It's-" He flushes, knowing how it sounds to dare to complain about that, "...it kind of makes for a lot of pressure? Not that they meant to...just- um...and I've got two little brothers...twins. They're annoying, but...sweet."

"And do you know why Tommy and you were separated as kids?" Obviously the people Billy grew up with could have afforded to take in both brothers.

Ooooh boy, this...is a complicated story.

"Um...okay, stick with me, 'cause this is kind of complicated. But um, the first time we were born, our mom- she was magic like me. She made us, using magic, and...um...soul fragments from-" Certain elements of the story play out, a silhouetted woman with red magic, twin babies, and then a terrifying figure that looks like some devil. "...-a demon," he finishes awkwardly, "He's kind of a big deal. Um...And so he...wanted those pieces back, and long story short, the kids were killed. But...we weren't destroyed. We were um...retroreincarnated. I was born with the Kaplans, and Tommy with the Shepherds. And we're older now, than we would have been, and it's whole...confusing mess. But...that's as much as we've been able to figure out.

Complicated, indeed. Jon simply stares at Billy, following his words and the pictures his tale summons into existence around them.

"...Jesus." He mutters once Billy explains their current existence. Having been created, then killed then... Billy's world certainly is a complicated one. And one where people don't stay dead.

"What- What do you mean by... Your mother was magic. Like you..." Billy is a person, isn't he?

"Like...all the stuff I do. She's got a similar sort of magic..." Billy answers, not quite getting Jon's real question in that moment. Billy's person-hood really depends on your definition of that makes someone a person. "And her brother's a speedster too...seems to be a family trait."

"N-no, I... I m-mean-" He sputters for a moment, trying to make that clearer.

"I don't understand how you can be magic. That's just not something a person is as far as I am aware. It's something you use..." Isn't it...?

"Oh um..." Billy flushes, "I meant like...as a description, but...I guess it's kind of true that way too..." That makes almost no sense. He knows. "Our mother is a nexus being...a fixed point between dimensions...I think. I don't know a whole lot about it. And I'm...um..." Those stars in his eyes seem to grow brighter, "...It's really complicated..." he avoids.

"I mean, it certainly sounds complicated!" What even is a nexus being? And how do they reproduce? And why?

"You mean you... You aren't even a little human?"

"We're human. Well- mutant...I think. But- well I mean, she is. I'm less sure about me. But I think I am...? I was born like anyone else, I just...I'm just different...I'll be different...in the future."

"Different...? And you... You already know that?" A pause. "...doesn't is scare you?"

"..." Billy pauses, and climbs of the bed to retrieve the box stashed away under it, hesitantly offering it up to Jon. "Of course it scares me."

Jon blinks at Billy's silence, then watches him retrieve the box and just giving a silent nod of understanding at the boy's admission while accepting the box. He doesn't word his question about what it is he is holding. Given where they are, he assumes he is about to find out any moment now.

The box seems to open of it's own accord, letting loose the memories Billy would have preferred to keep hidden.

The room is gone and Billy stands on an unfamiliar plane with a group of young adult heroes. He's dressed in a red cloak, and a black and gray unitard with panel that seems to show the universe, star moving and twinkling in real time.

The only other familiar face among them may be Teddy, though he's in his Hulkling form, large and green, though still with that blonde hair.

The group is panting, as though they've been running from something. They're discussing something when their attention is caught by a herd of small alien creatures crowding happily around them, all exclaiming- "Demiurge!".

Two among them have a hushed discussion before abruptly trying to get the group to move on.

"Let's be moving swiftly on!" Loki suddenly exclaims, waving his hands in a distracting manner, not exactly subtle. "Here we go, America. Kick, kick, kickity- kick, eh?" he insists.

David leans close to Billy with a frown. "Billy. The sky-" he starts.

"No!" Loki interrupts frantically, "Tra-la-la, look at me! Look at Loki doing a dance! Isn't it ammmmmmmusing?" he tries, doing an awkward jug before hurrying forward and pushing Teddy and Billy's faces towards one another. "In Odin's name! Why don't you two stare hopelessly into each other's eyes like normal, eh?"

"Knock it off, Loki...," Billy insists, waving him off with a confused look before finally looking to the sky and freezing in disbelieve.

There, in the stars, in his face. A shining portrait made of stars and celestial bodies, and he stares in wonder.

"Wh-" he manages, as America and Loki drag him away, and through a star shaped portal into the next dimension, Loki muttering, "You probably shouldn't have seen that."

And then Jon and Billy are alone in that field the star portal waiting for them to follow, Billy crouched down to play with the strange worshipers, stealing a glance up at Jon to see what he was thinking so far.

The Archivist's attention remains turned to the sky above and to Billy's face recreated by the stars and he can't help but mutter "Now that's remotely unsettling."

He looks down to Billy at last, then over to the portal where the group has vanished through. He hasn't met Teddy in person yet, so he doesn't recognize him. Neither does he recognize any of the others. What he notices is the absence of Tommy.

"You and your friends... I mean. Wow. And a- all of this is normal to you?" He gestures at their surroundings, the portal, the little creatures, the sky. None of all of this is normal to Jon.

"Not really," he mumbles, "This is the only time I've been to this place. We were chasing after someone...through the multiverse. It's...complicated." A lot of Billy's life seems to be complicated. "...Home's not like this...Come on," he nods for Jon to follow, jumping through the portal and into the next section of memory.

The group are gather round a table in what looks to be a restaurant, beat up and bruised, eating noodles.

"The Mother and the Patriot of Infinite Annoyance and/or Evil...are they actually together?" Loki asks.

"Hmm. He led us there. Then left. It strikes me as more of an alliance than a partnership," David guesses.

"I'd agree," Loki says, "This whole situation brings together the strangest bedfellows."

"What about the bad dimensions? The mayfly worlds? The possibilities? Could they kill mother?" Kate asks.

"No, we're just not that lucky," Loki counters.

Billy finally speaks up, long scratches across his face, costume torn. "Okay. What's going on with this Demiurge stuff. I mean-"

"You're a singular multidimensional messiah," Loki interrupts casually, "You're going to rewrite the rules of magic and all the implications of that decision are going to echo forward and backward across all realities."

He takes a bite of his noodles and shrugs. "It's no biggie."

Billy seems to disagree with that statement, blinking in shock. "What?"

"Why do you think Mother is so interested in you? It's not because of that adorable floppy fringe." Loki counters.

"Don't read into it too much," America assures, "You could be the most important person in reality. So could a lot of people."

To Jon, it's mostly how utterly normal this seems to everyone involved that baffles him most. Just the usual life of superheroes and gods. Chasing the villain at nine and having a snack in the afternoon.

"...Jesus." Jon simply mutters, then grimaces briefly and quickly turns to Billy, "S-so you're a god. A powerful one. One that's... Altering reality. Or even... All realities." He gestures with one hand and the question is more in his face than his words. "Can't you simply... Fix Temba?" And maybe a few other worlds as well?

Billy palms at the back of his neck, looking flustered and giving a short of shrug. "...I might be. Eventually. Not yet. I-" He looks guilty then, "...I've been trying, but I can't...my powers aren't whole here. And even if they were, I'm not-...I'm that yet. Not really. I have limits...I want to help...but I can't."

"..." That's a very audible loss of words the Archivist finds himself facing. Now he really isn't sure if he should be amazed or feel intimidated. And how on Earth has he been able to stop someone as powerful as Billy?

"...I... I'm not sure what to say, Billy." Jon tries. "But- I- I think I'm glad you want to help?"

"...I can show you...Demiurge stuff...if you want," he offers tentatively, "I...I tapped into it once. Sort of. I wasn't really ready for that kind of...power."

It's a lot of responsibility.

"...I know this is a lot."

"Demiurge..." Jon repeats the name, then gives a little nod. "S-sure. Let's see it."

It is a lot, yes. But this is Jon, the Archivist. Of course he wants to see everything.

He smiles a bit uncertainly, muttering a spell under his breath and the scene shifts. Below, a battle is breaking out between Billy's friends from before and what seems like hordes of evil versions of them. Billy floats above them, his magic surrounding him in a pentagram shape. He speaks with purpose, invoking "Dem--iurg--" the rest becomes obscured, speaking in some language of pure magic, eyes opening to reveal the same stars and view of the galaxy that's in Billy's eyes beside him. The magic of his pentagram seems to take on those same stars, expanding around him.

The creature they've been fighting, 'Mother', looks up at him with an impressed expression.
"You are growing up," she remarks, "Growing up tasty." She rises up through the air to meet him and the two pit their powers against one another.

Billy motions for Jon to follow, bringing them down to his friends, and looking up it's clear Billy of the memory is losing.

This is confirmed by David's worried observation. "From my acquired occultist knowledge I can confirm Billy is in what I can only describe as 'deep crap'. Plans, people? Who has a plan?"

Above, Billy seems to take on a strange, twisted shape.

"Billy's trapped. Mother's going to get everything she wants... And devour it." Loki laments, "He didn't go full Demiurge. Semi-Demiurge, I guess. Or Semiurge, maybe? Probably not the time for word play."

"You should go to him," David says, turning to Teddy.

"What difference would it make, David?" Teddy worries, "What he needs, I can't give him. I can't comfort him. I've too many doubts. I could make it worse..."

"Listen. Yes he could have accidentally wished you into existence. Existential nonsense. Who cares? It doesn't matter. You're you. He's him. Your love is as real as anything I've ever seen."

"But-"

"Teddy, listen. A magical power someone else has over you for no reason you can really justify but cascade through you until every cell calls out for his touch? What do you think love is?"

Billy shoots David a grateful look before taking Jon's wrist, and the appear in a white void.

Inside the void sits Billy, sitting defeated inside a magic circle, hood raised and arms folded around his knees.

"Almost there," he promises Jon.

If this memory make one thing abundantly clear, it's that Billy wields some very powerful magic - And that he is surrounded by equally remarkable friends.

And yet the Archivist can't help but feel that he understands Billy's language of magic. Not in a way that allows him to translate words, but he understands...

"...Mother..." Jon mutters the monster's name with a frown while following the battle taking place above and around them. It sure is a lot. A lot that these kids had to deal with before having a chance to grow up. Jon casts Billy a sympathetic, yet silent look before he is pulled further into the memory.

And again, they find Billy.

"...a- are you alright...?" Jon asks, worry edged into his voice and he looks back and forth between the Billy leading him and the one from the memory. It's not entirely clear which one he's asking, but the Billy from the memory may not be able to hear them to begin with. It's a memory after all. This... This has already happened.

You can't hide from your problems | Calibrations

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