The First Wall [Chapter IX]

[Clash]

A crack of lightning marked the changing of the times. A black maelstrom of rolling clouds masked the sky of Utopia. The endless expanse of this world was unlike anything Clash had ever seen before, as it was Genesis, the world vaguely visible as though a distant illusion, only solid part of the Genesis Mirage was the Downward Spiral connected with its paralel, the Inverse Mirror.

"Get everyone back to the palace, that's where this beast will go."

The hefty mole nodded, Axtel Sturnclaw had come to this world from the Spiral like many, many others and had become a second in command of sorts to Clash, an aid who often spoke for him.

"Olroit Hurr, Oi'll Gurt Der Beasties ta Der Ploice."

His thick accented mole-speak was something Clash had taken a good long time to finally figure out and get used to, and now it was a final reassurance as he submerged himself and rocketed under the ground. Monsters and Myths alike, Gods and Gardeners, all manner of beings both native to Utopia and refugees from the far reaches of creations, all began to move back towards the palace. Axtel knew Clash's strategies and plans, and should the shark's current gambit fail, he'll be the one directing the war against Veran, for now, Clash had his own battle...

---

Listen to THIS for best effect.

---

"Here it is... This is his only access point."

The top of the Downward Spiral was a strange place, a churning ball of glass with endless beams of light flickering with it and casting their prismatic glow in all directions. The sky was a single plane expanding in both directions, and all around was the borders between realities. the white stone roof of the Inverse Mirror was the floor and the black stone roof of the downward Spiral was the ceiling, but these rolls can change as you shift between the two worlds...

Clash held Shark and Awe in one hand, waiting at attention. Veran would enter this world, and Veran was a predator that fed on minds. Only one mind awaited him, the toll for passage was death, a coin on both eyes. "Come to me you stupid animal, this land is guarded by a watchdog fiercer than this masked wolf..."

[Veran]

The wretched abyss that spanned beyond Clash’s vision offered no response: The image of the Downward Spiral – in all of its primal beauty and uniquely desolated aspects – giving no clue as to when the Arashi would eventually manifest itself. Maricul had made certain of that after the Crystal Expanse had been swallowed by the darkness of Veran’s power: Using magic not unlike what had used in creating Utopia, the Seductress had spawned an entire realm between the monster and its goal. Even beyond the gates of reality however, the approach of the beast could be felt like a distant tremor.

On the other side of the portal, the hollow eyes of the First Aspect stared at the form of the sole defender of Utopia – an action that Veran knew could not be reciprocated. The image of the Arashi was simply not reflected into the gateway. It was free to observe its prey, not two feet away from Clash, and so it did. Thinking was a luxury seldom allowed to the divine, but the opportunity to look at something Veran had never seen before was unprecedented; to gaze beyond an archway to a world far from the sight of the maker – there lingered something of wonder and sacrilege. Prophecy had been set into motion… the signs clear. Regardless, humanity had acted against the Arashi behest by taking refuge in the bastard realm of Utopia; home to one whom had dedicated her existence – and that of those with her – in defying the divine word of Yahweh. The herald had seen the First Aspect. The warnings had not been heard. The prophet had felt the Will. It had been resisted. And now? Now came the End. The First Aspect’s hand rose through the gate to reach towards the hero as a final thought passed through its mind.

It would not be denied.

[Clash]

It appeared. Clash shuddered, there was a coldness from within him. Like all that was good and kind inside him had vanished, like a candle had been blown out within his chest. He saw it, the mask that signified the First, the icon of entropy, the last thing reality was meant to see.

Good thing sharks don't believe in the end of the universe.

The air had grown cold and the battlefield was set. things seemed bleak. Clash could feel what this being offered, radiating power that threatened to consume all, a void that Clash had only seen once within the tower. He was reminded of the One Who Sought The Void, the Chaos Bringer, The Great Destroyer from the dawn of time. Veran reminded Clash of Unicron, the World Eater. "well that's just prime..." The man, for he was in his human form, grabbed an amulet around his neck, one made out of an almost-blue metal on a silvery chain. His sword raised then moved into a fencing stance. The amulet would protect Clash's mind from Veran's attacks, one of the many gifts bestowed upon him by Maricul. Her paradoxical nature of Schrodinger's Godhood had allowed her to bestow many new powers and advantages on her champions.

She was also a pretty dang good lay.

Clash knew the amulet wouldn't hold, he knew that he wouldn't either. He had to be careful but quick, this being was sent to return all reality to the emptiness it was spawned from. He needed every little trick and every happy thought he could get. Shark and Awe would keep him safe from even the powers of this Avatar of Armageddon, but the mind-games, the mental warping, that might be a bit more tricky...

"Make your move, shadow. For that is all you are, you are but the shadow of creation, crawling after and spiting all that is."

---

"This will never work..."

"You doubt my words, sirrah?"

The man in the turban turned his head to the bearded man in the feathered cloak, grinning a massive smile of dirty teeth. He clutched a massive tome in his hands, his filthy clothes and grubby skin reeking to high heaven and offending the aged wizard. A man with a calm but knowing face, with black hair and wizened eyes, walked up to them, followed by a seven foot man in a black robe with long hair and a powerful stare.

"Both of you, we need to work together. We have our orders though this will surely damn us all. We have as much protection as we can afford, our job is to open the way, make the call, then leave, praying to whoever we think will still want us when we're done."

Aleister Crowley turned the dirty man next to him.

"Begin the ritual, Abdul."

Abdul Alhazred, the Mad Arab, placed his copy of the Necronomicon upon the stone floor and opened it, the pages written in ink, blood, and an unidentifiable substance. The pages were in mangled and mixed languages, but Crowley pulled his own leather-bound black book from a bag and put it down across from Alhazred's. All four of the men. Medivh the Fallen Guardian, Aleister Crowley, Abdul Alhazred the Mad Arab, and Grigory Rasputin all started a low chant in a dialect too blasphemic and ancient to recount. Their words shifting stars and changing the alignment of the heavens themselves.

[Veran]

The portal was swallowed in darkness as the Arashi slowly stepped through it; the image of the Downward Spiral of Genesis soon becoming a distant memory in face of the First Aspect’s form. Each movement from the beast was carried with such weight it was as though it walked through water – until it finally emerged. Standing before the champion within the inner-most chamber of the tower, an uncharacteristic lack of strain would be put on the Shark’s mind… as neither words nor the pain associated with them sought him, and in that he had the amulet to thank. Instead an echo reached his ears, like a voiceless and unintelligible whisper spoken across centuries.

Still, there lingered the same hollow gaze that had murdered countless men through nothing more than a simple glance. And those eyes were set on him this very instant. It was like a great vacuum had filled the room and left no air to breathe. Like the blood beneath one’s skin threatened to boil and sought to fill the emptiness that had claimed the chamber. All because of the simple presence of the hand of fate. The tale-tale, burning tingle would immediately alert Clash of a cruel fact.

The sensation was real.

[Clash]

Sharks...
in...
SPAAAAAAAACE!

[/b][/center]

Clash felt his body shuddering as the airless void started to work its effect. The shark should've suspected as much... He thought quickly. His first instinct was to strike, he couldn't reach the Arashi, as gravity was removed along with the atmosphere and the ground beneath his feet. The sensation within him, a furnace burning out of control... furnace... His body was an atomic furnace! Not his mortal body... There came a sudden rush of movement. Clash rocketed towards Veran as, within milliseconds, his body seemed to explode. The shower of black-blue was not the end, Metal plates moved faster than ever before, Clash's sword seemed to glow as the pendant once around his neck became a crest on his forehead. The blade of Shark and Awe moved like liquid, lacing over Clash's body like veins and coating his once-more robotic shark form.

Maricul's gifts were like her makeout sessions, they were many and fantastic.

Clash had achieved a state that pushed him beyond the normal limits of what he was capable of. Normally only enjoying the protection of Shark and Awe while just a human and heir to the million shocks of mortal folly. Now his sword and Maricul's amulet affected his terrifying sharky visage, something even the end of all might balk at. Clash felt his body changing, he needed to adapt himself. There was nothing solid for him to swim through, his Remoraz detached first as his gills opened, re-purposing themselves. Jets pushed Clash through the void, burning a fuel from within him to send him on a direct course. He had to stop Veran, and figured the best way to start would be to battering ram into the fiendish thing. Had to start somewhere...

---

Rasputin closed his eyes. "They're gone." Crowley gave him an "Are you sure" look, still chanting with the others. Rasputin resumed the chant after a nod, Alhazred began to chant more loudly, the books starting to glow as a complex and ornate visage akin to a pentagram started to appear under the four of them, Medivh changing his own words to a different language and pattern, seeking with his words for the two combatants. The spell was set into motion, but the target had to be found again. Medivh was powerful enough to bring an entire race into his homeworld, and could just as easily ensure that Clash and Veran were where they needed to be for when the way was open.

[Veran]

The Arashi remained firmly on the ground even as its adversary was lifted by the void that had taken hold of the environment, the only sign of movement coming from the portal that still ominously swirled behind it like an obscure, gaping maw. It was not difficult to discern the patterns going through the shark as both mind and body acted to prevent an immediate and violent death. In an explosive display, the mortal coil was dispensed for the more robust, cybernetic form. His body sharp like a razor and serrated like the teeth of an ancient predator, the brutal charge was all but impossible to avoid. The First Aspect stood prey to Clash’s assault – and so the champion cut through the sinister figure. Shadowy wisps rose from every side, enveloping the room in complete darkness.

Whether it was the shredded cloth of the black cloak or the haze-like blood of the beast was difficult to tell, as all spread out like tendrils of ink in water. A singular ray of light from the rotating crystal of the tower provided for a semblance of vision within the gloom. Following it, one puzzling image would present itself to the shark; that of an oval doorway peering into the very same room he stood in. Through the rippling veil, a solitary shrouded silhouette blotted out the light. The realization would come like a sense of elation and utter horrifying vertigo…

He had passed through his enemy and into the portal to Genesis!

A flicker passed through the reflection like the rush of a river beneath a bed of ice. Low, distant growls surrounded Clash – Veran eclipsing any hope of seeing what matter of creatures laid waiting beyond the shade. A distant chime came from even farther like the faint tinkling of bones.

‘‘Tesnum e ashkharhin, vor du davachanel.’’

Those hollow eyes were still onto him. The stench of blood filled the air as the distinct sound of the clawing dead got louder and louder. And the archway disappeared. The light vanished. All that remained was the certainty of death.

[Clash]

"تصمت مختومة من!"

And with that the portal opened by Veran snapped shut, and it would seem any that the being tried to open would not be able to, not without great effort. Forces beyond even the comprehension of Veran, beyond even the Creator itself, had stirred. The power to leave that room, that area between the downward spiral and its Utopian twin was sealed and Veran was barred. Abdul Alhazred had moved the stars, they were now right...

"ندفع, هم! لإثارة أثناء القيادة. وهي طريقة واضحة! الطريق مرة! المكفوفون والتي والله! سلطان شيطان! واضح!"

"Alhazred has him! Continue!"

---

Clash was completely surrounded by darkness and the sounds of what could only be the angriest old folks home in existence. He turned his sharky form back towards the portal and watched it snap shut. Then it hit him... And then it hit Veran.

With precision eyes and an almost mechanical targeting precision, the eyes of the Remoraz took everything into account. Any darkness, any haze, any obstacle, their eyes pierced. From the Remoraz came those hyperaccelerated particles, the Laz0r Blasts. They came in triangulated groups of three from the six quickly moving attack drones, the symbiotic life forms attached to Clash. He had left them behind before he charged and now Veran was left to deal with them. It seemed trivial but each of those blasts could shatter a tank and they came in barrages towards what could be the only physical part of Veran: his masked face.

Clash thrashed wildly in the dark, feeling his body slamming against things, feeling his fins and his tail rip through flesh... he felt things grabbing him, groaning in pain as his plates started to get peeled back and pulled away, he dove deep into the ground beneath him as his mind worked fast, calling on one of the final gifts Maricul had bestowed upon him...

The walls of the room shuddered slightly as, from their ornate carvings, thing stirred. Glowing eyes appeared as the walls started to peel away, indents left as the stone cracked and more of Clash's Remoraz emerged and took to the air. Soon a flurry of dozens of them, easily over a hundred and maybe pushing a hundred more, joined the original six, the room filled with them swirling, darting in and out, firing their blasts with unceasing regularity, aiming for every shred and wisp of his shadowy form as well as any hint of a physical body...

as well as that mask.

---

"Мы призываем вас! Мы проявить один! Мы проявить хранитель! Мы призываем к одной! Мы проявить истинный Бог!"

"เราเรียกว่าเจ้านาย! คนรับใช้ของเขาสอนให้เรา! เราเรียกว่าพระราชามาร! ราชสมบัติของเขาในความว่างเปล่า! เราต้องการอำนาจของเขา” เราขึ้นเสียงของเรา!"

"ونحن تربطنا منكم ضحية! وهو تضحية! لقد قمتم ترديد نشيد! ونحن يشير كلماتكم ترديد! المكفوفون والتي والله! نقدم لكم في الجانب"'

"Azathoth! Caecus Fossor Deus!
Ego Redimio Quod Ego Voco!"

The ritual's circle burned with power and all was brought to light, the way was open and he heard the summons.

[Veran]

Veran turned, setting its sight towards Utopia when the gates to the fragmented realm were sealed. It took only a moment for the Arashi to understand what form of power was being used to counteract the potent magic of the tower just as Clash’s Remoraz activated and began their relentless assault. There were flashes of blinding light as the mechanical weapons fired beams of energy at their target. Before long, they multiplied amidst the chaos until thousands of the insect-like machines swarmed the beast – swallowing it beneath a dome of opalescent radiance.

Unlike their strange master, however, the Remoraz were not immune to the divine power of the First Aspect.

From the within the veil, Veran observed as the nanobots fearlessly continued to fight, despite each and every single one of their attacks stopping within an inch of their target. The field around the figure kept accumulating the onslaught, until finally it expanded outward – instantly destroying the lot of them – and leaving the beast to hear the final words of the ritual.

[Clash]

"AZATHOTH!"
"AZATHOTH!"
"AZATHOTH!"
"AZATHOTH!"

The light from the circle grows to new limits, but a sacrifice was required. Grigory Rasputin grabbed his head, screaming like a banshee as he staggered back, the light of the circle dancing as the magic worked itself through the whole of the tower. Rasputin screamed and cried in pain beyond the comprehension of all but Abdul Alhazred, who knew the demands of the Elder Gods all too well...

---

The blasts never reached Veran, they seemed to fizzle out just before hitting them. But within the rolling swarm of the attack drones a figure could be seen. The blasts suddenly stopped and the remoraz all fell to the ground, as though suddenly struck dead. All that was left was Veran and... Him.

"Hm? This is where he'll manifest?"

The man was tall and dressed in an all black suit, his undershirt a violet so dark it would've passed for black as well. His olive skin had signs of bags under the eyes and his beard was wrapped tightly in a dark cloth. The man's hair and beard, the way he held himself, it all evoked the appearance and the image of an Egyptian Pharaoh. He leaned on an ebony cane and looked upwards at the ceiling of the room, smiling softly.

"He might fit... they all might..." He turned and smiled to the shadowy figure. "One agent of a higher power to another, I admire your work. However, my master is greater than yours... I fear your powers will be greatly limited, Yahweh... The Creator Himself... They are cut from you. I'm sure you feel it now."

Veran would, for A new power filled the room. A wordless, soundless, all-consuming roar filled the room. Something beyond all comprehension and reason. The room seemed bigger.... or was it smaller? A great shapeless form appeared, so massive, writhing and forming and appearing and vanishing. Like an amoeba or a great ball of liquid fire. Unspeakable followed from dimensions and paths beyond even Veran's sight. They played flutes and horns in a loud cacophony of noise and musics. The massive form seemed to become aware of Veran, something like a mind but inconceivably different from what we'd consider a mind probing into the farthest corner's of the Arashi's psyche with ease. Like a sledgehammer taken to an egg.

"Lord Azathoth!"

The man's voice was a wail of utter reverence to the massive form, to the Demon Sultan. Azathoth himself, the center of our universe, the Blind Idiot God of Unlimited Power, had been pulled to this one room. His power was absolute, and now that absolute power was all Veran would feel. He was disconnected from Yahweh, his own power was but a candle in a hurricane, and the dark-skinned man turned, his eyes ablaze with righteous fury.

"I, Nyarlathotep, The Creeping Chaos, declare you undone! Azathoth orders the complete obliteration of Veran the Arashi!"

Azathoth stretched a squirming, every changing pseudo-pod from its form, a great tentacle or limb wreathed in a rainbow colored fire. Threatening to flatten the Arashi with this limb the size of a train.

---

Rasputin fell, his body limp and his face frozen in absolute pain and terror. His corpse stumbled and slid over the stone railing, tumbling down the center of the Downward Spiral and vanishing into the darkness. Medivh fell backwards, the magic of the circle sustaining itself as Abdul and Aleister similarly sagged and collapsed, gasping for air. The ritual was complete, and Veran was now to face a being summoned by the most heinous of black rites. Rasputin was a sacrifice, and the energies needed to kindle the spell were drained. Azathoth had free reign now, he was loosed on Veran and the ritual as well as Azathoth's power would keep Veran from escaping or calling on his own abilities.

"Well, we've done it..."
"We shall be rewarded for this... We have saved Utopia."
"There's a chance that Azathoth might grow bored and leave, he is chaos itself..."
"The Arashi is tethered to that room, and Azathoth will play with him for a while yet."
"Yes... Damn good job everyone, shame about Rasputin."
"Sacrifices are to be made in order to achieve our goals. He knew that this was his fate..."

The three men stood slowly, all with each other's help. Aleister led them as best he could, supporting Medivh yet leaning on Abdul. The three of them began slowly moving down the stairs back to Utopia, the ritual circle burning on the floor above them as they made their exit.

[Veran]

Veran did not pay heed to the ritual or to the gigantic form that had spawned overheard. Instead it continued on its course towards the false realm, animated with purpose beyond mortal understanding. It did not give the agents of the Elder god nor Azatoth himself a glance. Not even when the great shadow moved overhead did it stop to defend itself or even acknowledge it and in one resonating crash that threatened to flatten even the barriers that held the dimension together, it was over. Veran disappeared beneath the heel of the great one as little more than black smoke. The First Aspect was vanquished. Among the ashes of Aircano, the haunted souls of Genesis, and the blood of their comrade… Utopia was finally saved. The ritual circle stood as a burning banner of their victory – a proud sentinel of the events that transpired that day where four magi stopped the Arashi threat. The men stood in its light briefly, before descending farther along the staircase towards the home of their master.

A gargled cough halted them in their tracks.

A cold sweat ran between the three as the uneven but distinctive sound of footsteps echoed amidst the marble hallways of the tower. The drowned rasp continued accompanied by the shivering drip of blood. It became louder as the shadow of a man cast itself over the light emitted by the incandescent magic circle. Gradually, the darkness crept down the stairs as the man’s silhouette came into view. One by one, they held their breath; even Azatoth’s massive form stood immobilized in the sky at what it witnessed. Head limp from the great maw where was once his throat, Rasputin looked down upon his brothers; his features twisted into a grotesque visage that couldn’t possibly bear resemblance to anything human. His mouth opened, letting out a howl of wind that could have only come from the depths of the abyss itself.

‘‘You sacrifice that which is born of Adam to call upon that which would deceive you.’’

Hells bells rang into their ears. They looked up in terror. Rasputin’s skin was boiling – his face melting – revealing the ivory skull beneath. The skull wasn’t his however, but belonged to a being they knew all but too well. The cadaver’s hands rose up to tear away at the remains of what had once been a proud sorcerer, peeling away flesh and bone to reveal the sinister occupant beneath. In one final struggle, the necromancer tore his own body in half like a piece of cloth, bearing naked to the world the First Aspect, the Arashi Veran.

As if in silent admiration, the creature’s head bowed to observe the remains of Rasputin before then observing Azatoth. A choir of tortured souls all wailed in unison like the waves of a tsunami crashing down on the Downward Spiral.

‘‘It is that which is beyond measure: It came before – before the word, before the bang; It is the true beginning. And so shall It end: It shall not be renounced for It shall end upon meeting the true death with the rest of all the glory that is HIS creation.’’ It proclaimed. ‘‘Thou haft sacrileged.’’ It spoke with the laments of the dead. They each fell to their knees. ‘‘Thou shall have no other gods before me.’’ It said, before the rune beneath Azatoth became alive with hellfire and traversed the shapeless cephalopod like a bolt of crimson lightning. There was a deafening cry before its skin cracked like a mirror. It began to fall, pieces by pieces, its blood ablaze like brimstone around the one they had sought to banish. ‘‘Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.’’ It continued, none daring to refute the finality in its words.

The gaping black chasm of its eyes stared back at the three. The coils of the dead Elder God lashed viciously at its summoners, ensnaring them like a thousand snakes. Slowly, Veran began – step by step – to join them down the staircase.

‘‘For I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.’’

Their eyes widened in horror.

‘‘I am the LORD, and there is no one else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.’’ The remains of the Elder God flooded the room like an ocean of fire and blood. It fell down the stairs like a waterfall, the tendrils rising the three above the scene to prevent their torment from ending prematurely. They suffocated, their lungs filtering sulphur and ash with every breath.

‘‘I am Arashi, as I am HE who stands in the Kingdom of Heaven. The blasphemer could no more rid itself of Veran than it could from its own beating heart. I am the father. I am the son. I am all that which is holy and unholy. I am the tower. The barrier. That which you brought before the First of the three, Azatoth, as I am the worlds beyond.’’ Their skin began to peel as they cooked from the intensifying heat as the nightmare grew nearer. ‘‘All of the beauty and horror of infinity bow before that which cannot be named – for I am that which is not.’’ The agony around their limbs reached impossible heights, and Veran stopped beneath them surrounded by the flames. ‘‘And so HE will anoint you with proclamation – proclamation that you will realize upon witnessing the divine and final days of creation.’’

And in one sickening display, they were torn apart.

‘‘You are nothing.’’

Veran showered in the rain of its prey’s blood – its eyes now taking view of the bastard dimension that had been baptized Utopia by its creator. The Arashi neared the portal, intent on acting out the final and ultimate days of its LORD.

Then something happened, not within the confines of the room - no - but somewhere else back on Genesis. Just like that, it stopped Veran dead in its tracks. Even within this prison it could sense the child’s prayers echoing to the heavens. Even then it was as if it stood on the slopes of the Downward Spiral, feeling its brother’s energy pouring out from the sun in waves. Even then it could see him taking form once again within the body of the girl. For the first time since the dawn of history, the presence of two Arashi coincided with each other and from that, Veran was halted. Since the day of creation and the Arashi were sanctified with divine purpose, doctrine had been clear – there could be only one prime mover in this prophecy.

So it was with great proclamation that great tendrils enveloped the First Aspect to drag it back to the abyss, and so it would disappear until the time of the End was once again at hand.