==> 001

[nohorseplay]

Characters: Equius Zahhak and any who feel like dealing with him.
Setting: Floor 38.
Format: Starting with prose, action is just fine if you like.
Summary: Waking up in a strange place with a collar around his neck has not agreed with Equius, to put things lightly. He's found his way out of his dorm and down the stairs to the lounge - and left quite a bit of destruction in his wake.
Warnings: Equius being grumpy and unmanageable.


If you are anywhere near the third floor of the dormitories, you probably heard the sounds of violence and rage. Equius, now at least dressed in his own clothes, has noticed the fact that there is a collar around his throat. This, adding to his disorientation and lack of a Moirail around to keep him in check, has not gone well for just about anybody. Especially the local architecture.

Walking down the halls of the third dormitory floor and the stairwell down to the lounge, one may spy a few holes torn in the wall. They seem to have been formed with someone's bare hands. Drywall and flecks of wood leave a trail where he's walked, and the railing of the stairs is now noticeably warped and broken in a few places where his grip got the better of him. The trail of destruction continues into the lounge itself, with a few pieces of furniture already hurled across the room and broken into pieces.

In short, Equius is in quite a state. He's calmed down, somewhat, settling in a pile of cushions that was once part of a couch. His hands are at his own throat, tugging at the collar with all his strength. It refuses to budge.

Do you dare approach the angry alien boy?

Comments

Have someone who could very well possibly withstand his STRONGness?

[fallen_stage]

[Something scary and dangerous never deterred Kuja before; usually, he's the stronger one. On the lounge he was supine on a couch, ignoring the little temper tantrum until it quiets down. Only then does he prop himself on the back of the couch.]

You're wasting your time, you know. They don't come off: not with scalpels, not with acid, certainly not with mere brute strength.

[nohorseplay]

[For a moment Equius is content to snarl and tug at his collar, until he starts to cut off his own air supply. The rush of blood to his head is not unpleasant but it does sap the strength from his fingers long enough for him to stop. Only then does he shake it off and turn to glower at the nearby - well, he assumes it's a human, being neither Troll nor Carapace.]

So I am beginning to notice.

[fallen_stage]

And so you can now save yourself the trouble.

[Yeah that glower is doing nothing, buddy. Sorry.]

I assume you're one of the newest batch of arrivals?

[nohorseplay]

[The fact that this strange person seems unbothered is hardly going to stop Equius from expressing his not inconsiderable fury. Every word drips with barely suppressed frustration.]

I only woke up moments ago in this hellish place, if that's what you mean. I take it you've been here long?

[fallen_stage]

[Oh well, one could help. He seemed young, so it was unsurprising if he had a youthful temper.]

Not as long as some, but longer than you. While I cannot help you with the collar removal, is there any other questions you have?

[Redirecting the troll's(?) attention might help, and someone would have to clue him in eventually.]

[nohorseplay]

[Temper is right. He'd been better about controlling it as of late, but to say that the recent change of venue was upsetting would be a remarkable understatement.]

Hmph. Can you at least tell me where I am? Are we on Earth? In the Medium?

[fallen_stage]

Neither. We're in a Tower of indeterminate origin, and we all are from different universes and planets that have supposedly been destroyed. Naturally many of us doubt that.

[Should Kuja tell him everything or... oh, he'd find out anyway.]

Unfortunately, our shadowy captors seem to like to "experiment" on us, most often with dreadful consequences.

[nohorseplay]

You shouldn't disregard destruction immediately. It's surprisingly common for universes to end up doomed.

[That one earns another curious look.]

Experiment? Explain.

[chronomancer]

[Eridan has not been having a good day for a few days now. He slouches around, circles under his sunglasses and mood growing progressively bitchier and nastier the longer he endures the nightmares. Today, he's making his way up the stairs towards the lounge, perhaps willing to endure another attempt to sleep. Changing locations did not change the nightmares, but it was worth a try.

Or well, that was the plan, really... except it takes him a moment to take in the sight of the trashed lounge.]

...well shit, who went crazy this time?

[nohorseplay]

[It becomes rapidly apparent that tugging at the collar is simply having no effect. If anything, the band is simply crushing into his own throat from the strain, which is obviously far from ideal. He throws his hands up with a growl of exasperation, before he hears the coming voice and turns to snarl.]

I am not crazy, I am simply -

[He's cut off, though, by seeing that it is another Troll. One who is familiar, and yet distinctly... not.]

Who are you?

[chronomancer]

[Likewise, Equius, likewise. Eridan's eyes are fixed on the sign on Equius shirt, though the sunglasses mercifully hide where his eyes are going.]

Well.

[He tilts his head to the side. You are most definitely not the Equius he knows.]

This is interesting.

[He slid his hands into the pockets of his pants, slouching some more.]

I'm exactly who you think I am, except not really. Get used to that, by the way, I swear it's the tower's damn favorite tune.

[nohorseplay]

[And you are most obviously not the Eridan he knows. He certainly can't imagine the proud and... well, noble might be a strong word, but certainly highly casted seadweller covering himself up in greens.]

Indeed.

[If nothing else, it's a nice distraction from his simmering rage.]

But clearly you are not Ampora. You're... green.

[chronomancer]

Jade, actually.

[Yeah, remember the bitchy I was talking about? That snap was definitely class A bitchy. Eridan snorted.]

And I am. Ampora, I mean. Eridan Ampora. Just not the same one you know. You're Equius Zahhak, aren't you?

[nohorseplay]

[That remark would earn a lip curled in a sneer. The surprise of seeing another Troll, and one so starkly different from his expectations, was holding back his frustration. But only just.]

A jadeblood? I thought there was only one.

[But at that, he straightens, shoulders pushed back.]

Of course. [His head tilts.] But not yours?

[chronomancer]

Technically, there's only one. Per world, that is. I'm the one in my world. And whoever's the jadeblood in yours is the only one, too.

[He smiles wryly at the last bit, a bit of fondness breaking through. He shrugs.]

No, not mine. Mine is... well, I suppose as different from you as I am from the Eridan you know.

[knightime]

Dave floated through the wreckage, eyebrow slightly raised. "You know, there are other people who actually use this furniture. I mean, if you wanted to destroy your own bed, that's cool and all. But this is kind of going overboard," Dave said. He didn't particularly sound like he cared though.

"You can try all you want, but these things won't just graciously come off."

[nohorseplay]

With one final, vertebrae-jarring tug, Equius released his grip on the collar and let himself sag forward. He turned, shooting the intruding - and familiar - human a dark look.

"That has become readily apparent." His head tilted, eyes narrowed behind his own broken sunglasses. "You. I know you."

[knightime]

"Just making sure. You were getting pretty friendly with that collar dude."

He raised an eyebrow. What. "Oh. I think we probably pestered each other before. But do you mean that or did we actually meet? Some people are arriving farther on the timeline than I am. Gotta cover my bases. Keep myself up to speed."

[mutab1e]

Equius woke up this morning to find the entire floor absolutely coated with debris, which of course made his little OCD heart nearly stop. Skin crawling, he reluctantly allowed himself to follow the path of dust (and... broken walls?) down the several floors to the lounge, which admittedly he never really spent much time in; 'lounging' to him was a foreign concept. However, he did find a bulky and angry-looking troll who was probably the cause of all this.

(Conveniently, he was looking at the guy from the back.)

Now, he was not unfamiliar with trolls who were much stronger than he was, not in the least; but he also knew that they were not to be trifled with even in the best of moods, and this guy was certainly not in a good mood. So instead of, oh, I don't know, talking to him, Equius decided that maybe he should just back away slowly instead.

...Unfortunately, he happened to step on a particularly large piece of wood, which cracked loudly underfoot.

Whoops.

[nohorseplay]

Though quite well distracted, enough not to notice the approach, it would be hard to miss the loud snapping of wood. Equius' shoulders tensed, a moment before he whipped his head around to confront who ever has been trying to sneak up on him. For the moment, the rage blinded him to any similarities there might be in their appearance.

"You. How dare you try to ambush me?" He sprang to his feet properly, hands now clasped in fists instead of around his own throat. "Are you one of the architects of this place?"

He advanced, but only a step before something gave him pause. This was no ordinary interloper - it was a Troll. And that symbol, on his shirt, it simply couldn't be...

"Identify yourself. Now."

[mutab1e]

See, Zahhak? This is what happens when you try to run away from highbloods. You fuck up and make the situation that much worse. Great going, kiddo.

It was all he could do to just... stand there while the other one advanced. (The other option, naturally, had been borked; all he saw was the blue color on the shirt, and that meant whatever the blueblood did to him was not to be denied in any way.) As the blueblood was blinded by rage, he was blinded by fear -- and, once again coincidentally, they both snapped out of it at about the same time.

After regaining his bearings, he knew immediately what had happened.

"...Oh no," he whispered, more to himself than to the troll who had to be the Other Equius. "Oh no, no, no..." He then took a moment to compose himself, enough to raise his voice. God, he was going to die for this.

"M-my name is Equius Zahhak, sir."

Shit.

He stammered.

[nohorseplay]

There was no mistaking that symbol, just like there was no mistaking the other Trolls horns. They were both unbroken, sure, but they were identical to Equius' own. Really, the Troll himself was nearly identical - just smaller and with red and blue colored sunglasses instead of simple black. It was unmistakable.

And yet when he gave that answer, Equius couldn't repress an indignant growl.

"You are not Equius Zahhak." He straightened again, whipping his own hair back out his face in the process. The look he gave the other Equius could have turned water into ice. "I am Equius Zahhak."

Then he simply reached out, curling his fingers in the other Equius' shirt. It was far from a hard grip, but he could still see the collar straining against his grasp.

"Do you want to try again?"

[mutab1e]

"Yes, sir." The freezing glare? It was at this point that Equius cursed his ability for reading sunglasses (acquired through Eridan), because he felt every negative degree of it.

Even though the two of them were technically the same height, by stature alone OUquius had several inches on him; and in between the terrible, terrible flashbacks to his run-in with the Grand Highblood, which had begun in much the same way (and ended in death by strangulation), he was trying his hardest to not simply sink into himself. It was not an easy feat. But yes, somehow, he managed to just stand there and wait; not 'standing his ground' by any definition, no, but making the highblood's job easier by removing the hassle of chasing him down before he's culled.

He slowly bowed his head, as close as it was possible to get to a groveling position whilst being suspended from what might as well have been midair. He spoke slowly, very slowly, and if one listened with earphones at a high volume, they could probably hear his soul cracking.

"...You are the true Equius, as you are the original, and more deserving of the identity than I. And... I, myself, am nothing but a failed approximation of you."

He had once been told that 'Equius Zahhak' was a highblood's name. This, he realized, was probably why.

[nohorseplay]

In a rare show of something that could be called patience, Equius simply stared at him, waiting for that answer. Normally he was actually rather well-tempered by highblood standards, he was well aware. He, at least, had never killed anyone directly and that put him far above the other highbloods that he knew. But Nepeta wasn't here. Aurthour wasn't here. No one was here but himself and this mustardblooded imposter and he was not sure he could stand for it. It was like a direct and calculated insult, something that Vriska would throw his way to drive him up a wall.

That answer, though, cooled his blood a little. Just a little. His expression didn't quaver, still stony and irate, but his fingers began to uncurl from AUquius' shirt. No sense in doing him any harm. Yet. He had questions that required answers and he could not pull them from a corpse oozing base yellow blood.

"Explain how this came to pass. I want to know who is responsible for this mockery."

Because there would certainly be retribution, if there was one to have it from. A clone, perhaps? Had Karkat's mutant blood finally gone to his head and led him to ectobiological shenanigans? Was such a thing even possible? Perhaps he would soon find out.

"Where did you come from, and why do you have my name?"

[mutab1e]

Oh, truly, AUquius was aware of this as well. It made sense that something as frankly pathetic as him would just be… a joke, really, a joke by the universe, at the expense of someone clearly much more accomplished than he. There was, now that he thought about it, no other way it could have gone. He had been aware of the other Equius’ presence for a while, when he began discussing it with the odd Aradia – but that conversation had gone off the rails once he realized that it wasn’t just God Tier she was wearing, she was an actual rustblood. (In his world, her blood color matched yours, OUquius.) It had never made sense to him at the time how he could somehow reincarnate (or whatever had happened – even as the Space player, he had no idea) as a blueblooded troll, but that had to be the answer.

“…In the version of the world I came from, I have always been like this, sir. Likewise, the rest of the trolls I know are… probably different from those you know. The people… responsible for me being here would be the Tower’s administration, as it was they who brought everyone to this place.”

That was the best guess he could muster while being threatened by a highblood version of himself, really. Guess who doesn’t work well under pressure?