Mountain, meet Endbringer

[sturdycoldsteel]

The Fate who calls herself Mountain tried to convince some of her neighbors to allow the occasional mountain in their lands, for stability purposes.

"I meant no insult!" Dodge ball of lava. "I don't intend to interfere, you said no!" Dodge house-sized spear of ice. "I'm leaving peacefully, okay, so stop tearing up the tile!"

"You'll respawn at home. No permanent damage. You interrupted an important meeting, you need to learn a lesson about territory, mountain bitch." Dodge- no, fail to dodge a thrown tree, and then another ice ball. The next sphere of magma is what destroyed that form.




She wakes up, stripped of all her tools and enchantments and even clothes, and groans in pain.

Comments

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I'm building things. Good enough, maybe even better."

[mxglam]

"Well, you sure are fast, maybe it's better. Stuff's destroyed really quickly all around, though."

[sturdycoldsteel]

That's a pretty good point, actually. She's used to reversing the steady course of damage caused by other things. A steady equilibrium between the forces of destruction and creation. But this isn't her world.

She gives a long, semi-depressed sigh. "If I tell you something that is slightly a secret can you avoid spreading it around? You don't need to swear to never tell a soul - just don't tell the media."

[mxglam]

"Yeah. I think it's probably clear I take keeping secrets pretty seriously."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Unless there's a very good reason to tell the secret. Well, I am not from Earth. I'm from somewhere where even physics works differently. The power structures, societal norms, and technology are so different here I think I'll be confused for a decade. I might be able to go home, but this world needs all the help it can get. It's frustrating."

[mxglam]

They had opened their mouth to say something when she mentioned even the physics works differently, which made them close it again. Then they carefully ask, "Different... how, exactly? The physics, specifically."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I don't know the details. Not a scientist. Gravity isn't the same. We didn't have planets, the world is flat, I helped put it back when bit fell off. The Newton laws are the same though. And all the technology from my world I tried to bring here doesn't work at all. Not even a ridiculously simple cold rune."

[mxglam]

Slow blink. "How'd you end up here?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I died, and respawned in Japan instead of where I was supposed to."

[mxglam]

"Respawned."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Yes. It's a standard part of the powers where I'm from. I'm not a parahuman because I'm not human anymore."

[mxglam]

"You died and you respawned."

They seem to be having some trouble getting past this part.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Wrong word maybe. My body was destroyed, my home made a new one. If all my homes are destroyed I don't come back."

[mxglam]

"Yes, that is the right word for this thing."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"...I don't know if it still works that way, though. And it's a bit strange how I'm telling all this to someone I fought earlier."

[mxglam]

"I don't think there's any way this conversation could be called anything but strange no matter the circumstances, but I understand what you mean." Pause. "So you appeared- respawned in Japan, um, and then what? Why'd you come here? And how come you speak English - or any Earthly language, for that matter?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I tried and failed to beat up Leviathan. Slowed it down some at least, held on to the earth below and suppressed the quakes. Then Alexandria brought me here and found someone to learn my language and had a tinker translator made. Learned English by listening and comparing to what the translator said."

[mxglam]

They're taken aback by the 'Alexandria' part. Somewhat starstruck? Maybe. "Okay... Alright, I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but how do you know you're not like one of those... you know, how do you know your memories are true?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Well, I don't have a gemma. How do you know your memories are true and not a product of your shiny new brain structure?"

[mxglam]

"...I'm surprised you even know about the gemma, I've only heard of it from a bunch of academic papers. And, well, I don't have a discontinuity in my memories. I mean, everything's consistent, other people remember the same stuff I do, that kinda stuff. If I suddenly showed up in a world with very different physics than what I'm used to I'd definitely very seriously consider the possibility that I had hallucinated my entire past. Not having a gemma is pretty weird, though. Are you sure yours isn't just particularly small, or badly located, maybe? Those papers said that the location and size of the corona pollentia and gemma tended to vary from parahuman to parahuman."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Protectorate gave me physicals. They made a big deal about how I didn't have a pollentia or gemma, even over the other ways I don't work like a human anymore. And besides, I really really hope my memories are true. But if they're not, what's different? I'm still here, I'll try to avoid dying just the same either because it really hurts or actual fear of oblivion."

[mxglam]

"I'd normally expect fear of oblivion would instil better self-preservation instincts," they say dubiously. "Anyway, the other ways you don't work like a human anymore are all expected, or within the realm of the expected, for regular parahuman powers. Having all of that and not being a parahuman? Kiiiind of a big deal."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Shrug.

This building is done, or done-ish. She flies a few dozen feet and the next section of rubble starts sorting itself out.

[mxglam]

"I kinda have a million questions about your world, would you be too bored if I asked them?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I'll stop answering if I'm doing something tricky, and might get too bored of it eventually, but a few questions would be fine sure."