What Was (EVENT)

[KingJ]

Whether it was something a prankster put in the punch, a gas that a villain pumped into the room, someone hacking the ALISE systems, some combination of the three, or genuine supernatural intervention, Colonel John Elsven, Bennett Winston, Astraica Devonlight, and Reggie Wright received a vision of the past. Times long gone, be it from their own history or a history they know of.

((You have one post to write a short one-shot about what your character sees in their vision of What Was. It can be as accurate or inaccurate as you like. No posting order. Your characters can't really interact with any of the other characters, their vision is unique to them.

KingJ running Colonel John Elsven
@ben
@astraica
@silver

[Deleted]

Reggie was suddenly gone from the new years party, he knew this because the world had melted away like the peak of an acid trip. He was cast into darkness but he was standing on something solid when a voice echoed throughout the space it was soothing but terrifying at the same time, "Reggie Malcolm Wright...great great great ancestor of...A'Dez...the first of your family to carry gifts..."

....368 year's ago....shore of Table Bay 1652...

reggie is now standing on a sandy beach late into the evening a light breeze touches his skin or that's what his mind tells him, a young boy comes racing towards him and the natural reflex to stop the boy kicked in as reggie extended his arms to brace for impact....the boy passed through him....reggie tried to call out but he found that he had no voice.....so he chased after...

The boy ran into a small village, past several small straw huts, he jumped a fire or two, cut another left past a set of long crudely built houses, and finally at the end of a gravel path stood a massive totem of sorts depicting different animals of the African plains. A lean to sat on both sides of the totem where on one side a beautiful older woman sat with several children around her, she was the tribe leaders wife Nykee and the children were their children which totalled sixteen except the four eldest boys and two eldest daughters they were with their father the tribal leader and shaman, A'Dez.

The boy came to a stop before his leader and he tapped his throat three times. A'Dez who was mixing several things into a large wooden bowl stopped, "Kaenan what is it? Speak fast!"

"The Jovian tribe are fast approaching with scouts from Cape Town elder, they were being stalled by our own patrol they sent me to warn you," Kaena spouted at the same time he tried to catch his breath, A'Dez quickly went into action first grabbing roughly made parchment paper and a brush made from zebra hair that he dipped into a mush of red berries scribbling a quick note, "Kahil and Terek take Kaena with this note to the eastern camp gather all the warriors and get to the northern edge to intercept any of the invaders who get through," his two sons and Kaens were gone without a single question or thought. A'Dez grabbed a long wooden stick waving his daughters to follow and told his last two sons to defend their mother and much younger siblings then ran off towards the northern edge of the village.

A'Dez was special just like his children were, they each possessed an immense gift that had helped protect their tribe and through honing these gifts they had started to grow. The growth attracted slave traders, their preserved collection of animals and beasts brought in poachers and rumors of magic garnered purges that had destroyed an entire village west of them. It had claimed the life of A'Dez's first born son. A'Dez had the ability to communicate with a multitude of animals from birds to creatures inhabiting the waters, his children also had gifts each one different from the other.

While he could communicate he never made or enslaved an animal, he allowed them to fight when they wanted to help a farmer of it's own free will. Most creatures had always sided with A'Dez especially when it came to running off the outside world....

...as A'Dez and his daughter's arrived before their fighter's he looked at one of his daughter's, "I see their torches off in the distance can you heat anything Amara?"

Amara had been blessed with the ability to hear other's thoughts and a lesser degree of attacking them with a mental attack, she touched her temples and closed her eyes. For a bit she was quite trying to concentrate and find a voice when he eyes opened showing only the whites, "They are here for you Father! They want to burn the village down...and...and...," she fell to her knees overcome with emotion and a headache but she finally looked at her father, "so much anger and hate reside in these men father we must stop them!"

About this time the rest of A'Dez's warriors arrived armed with spears and bows with bone crafted arrows. With them they brought some of the animals that were highly revered in the village as it's greatest protectors and best friends to A'Dez ready to help him at any time. His second eldest son, Kahil, carried a club and was encased within a solid metallic substance. Merek had the ability to control and bend metal, he stood stoically beside his Father now.

As everyone gathered around A'Dez he had pulled his other daughter to the side and he spoke in a whisper, "Listen and listen carefully Ronna time is the essence now, go to your mother and find Ni'jia go to the center of the village where we built the prayer temple,"[/b] Ronna cut her father off, "Is it time? Is this the moment that you saw in your vision?"

Several years ago A'Dez had a vision while on a blessing trip to a village on the other side of Sudan, a mob would one day approach their main village with the ability to destroy the entire population while enslaving A'Dez. The mob would come on the eve of the death his eldest son. The vision showed him that two things could happen, the first was them defending against their attackers but they would fail. All would be lost and A'Dez would be left alone enslaved for his abilities...a circus would take him around the world as the animal whisperer...horrible conditions for not only him but the animals he would force to perform....


The second vision would cost him a child but had showed him a way to save his entire clan forever, he had built and mastered that plan since the vision. It showed Ronna with the ability to control the element of earth and Ni'jia who was still young but had the ability to control the gravity around an object he touched. All they had to do was hold back the attackers while Ronna, the only other person who was told of the escape plan so she could train with Ni'jia for this day, carried out the mission.

She took off sure footed back toward their mother. The burning torches were close but these men came with those of their own abilities a man burning in solid flame rose into the sky from their end, everyone watched in wonder. A'Dez began to chant loudly in their common tongue, the animals began to stir with ferocity around the men. War cried from birds flying above pierced the fading sunlight and it welcomed the flooding of night. Screams followed. The birds had attacked as asked, the tribe launched a cloud of arrows across the small stream. The attackers fired with their own flaming arrows. The burning man came with his own vengeance setting ablaze a circle around a group of tribesmen, some weren't so lucky and were engulfed in flames. Their own crying and choking away.

Reggie stared on in horror as the battle progressed fast and violent. Animals and men alike dying over a lack of...human caring...arrows passed through him but the feeling of its realness tricked Reggie as he dodged fight after fight, arrow after arrow. Terek and Kahil fought back to back, their inner warrior finding great peace finally. They were protecting their people! Songs would be sung of them....

...everything went black...a sudden zooming feeling washed over Reggie...and then he was with Ronna and Ni'jia. They were in a temple adorned with animal masks but a stone elephant sitting center of the temple caught Reggie's eye. The battle outside he could hear raged on but he couldn't take his eyes off the stone elephant.

Ronna was grabbing two jade handles explaining something to her brother, "After the great earth shake Ni'jia you must use your gift and what is your gift?"

The boy looked scared but he clenched his fists tightly and closed his eyes to recall his lessons, "To lift us into the heavens...so that we may eat with the Gods!"

Ronna smiled and set about to her own task...that was when the ground cracked...it began to split in certain directions...the shaking was violent but Reggie kept his own footing...until he was cast far above the temple!

Below he watched as five lines from the temple traveled out thirty five miles each where they triggered another earthquake only this one was in a circle from those five points. Reggie was once again inside the temple where Ni'jia touched the ground it caused another earthquake...Reggie was watching both events unfold now from various points simultaneously....below them very deep deep deep in the earth a mountain of rock began to propel the cut out piece of land upward...Ronna was pushing her limits to form this structure...Ni'jia had passed out from the strain of using his powers to effect the gravity of the cut out land but it had worked the gravity was changed just around the cut out of the land. With the rock pushing them upward they were rising into the air very slowly...everyone fell down and it had ended most of the fighting...the burning man came crashing down with a bone chilling thud and didn't move again....

...Terek was fighting with great ferocity hurling things around him by bending the magnetic fields around him but an arrow from his own people hit him in the stomach! The pain sent him stumbling backwards right at the edge of their land now a few feet above the ground...Kahil now separated from his brother saw the arrow hit him...he would never had been quick enough to save him....Terek saluted his brother before falling backwards over the edge of the upward floating island...A'Dez cried for his son to be saved but nothing could save Terek...

Terek hit the soft dirt with a heavy smack! He wept tears of joy as he saw the floating hunk of earth ascend high above him and for a second black out the moon....he felt himself succumbing to his wound but felt peace....darkness....[/i]

Reggie was in the void of darkness again....but images began to pla...no it was as if they were being painted before him and that peaceful yet terrifying voice explained each image: the first was of the floating chunk of earth that hit earth's atmosphere and to the naked eye dissapeared..."A'Dez and the tribe ended the confrontation shortly after getting above the mountains enslaving their attackers. The plan A'Dez came up with continued after they mourned the death of Terek,".....the floating island slowly began to cover with thick fog and eventually faded from sight...."A'Dez used his children's abilities to shield them from being found and to this day your ancestors remain just with our atmosphere living peacefully...as the old tale goes..."

Reggie finally found his voice, "it has to be a tale! or I wouldn't be here...how is this my what was if there isn't a way for it to be true!"

The voice remained silent....Another vision began to paint itself and this was of Terek...dead...a woman comes out of nowhere finding Terek...she sees he is dead and begins to chant a song about finding peace for the death....Terek suddenly grabs her hand...he is alive...but he goes back to sleep....the woman leaves but when she comes back she has people with her who collect Terek....they heal him...rehabilitate him and Terek becomes their leader proving himself with his abilities....they see him as a God...Terek marries the woman who saved him.....they have children...some have abilities while others don't......"the children of Terek eventually leave Africa heading to the UK and from there their children's children go to America....in America they are given a family surname....WRIGHT.....centuries....and years...and months....to weeks...to days pass by with no living heir to possess a power or gift....your family history fades away and dies until you...Reggie Malcolm Wright....."

[KingJ]

"As a show of good faith, I'm going to publicly announce my identity when when the UN press conference happens."

The other founding members of Aegis muttered to each other. They were all shocked at his decision.

"I'll do it too."

Titan spoke up. "I've never been much for secret identities anyway. Don't like masks either. They itch."

"Jacob..."

"Nah, I've made up my mind. You're doing it, I'm doing it too."

"Me too!"

Every eye in the room locked onto Bradley Alans, the Krackshot Kid.

"No."

"What? But--"

"No. And that's that."

The vision flashed forward. Bradley jumped in front of the mic and before anyone could do anything, had torn off his mask and told his name to the world.

Another leap forward, and Vista voluntarily retired from her position, to live out the rest of her days as Madeline, an ordinary single mother who's son would never get to really know his father.

Forward again, and he was reliving the moment that the Ledgers were lost. Again, Avery's parents. Countless others, loss after loss, hero after hero, dying for the cause.

The vision went back. Back to the beginning. The five of them were all in a tent in Vietnam.

"You know, we work pretty well together. Make a good team. The world could use more people like us. People willing to put themselves between the bad guys and the innocents. Kinda like a shield. What do you guys think about making some sort of team?"

The vision seemed to want to drive Colonel John Elsven into despair. He was the one who had suggested it. He was the one who had seen this supposed need and decided that he could fill it.

And people had died following him, and somehow he had lived through it all.

Colonel steeled his eyes. "They died saving lives. Someday, I'll die doing the same. I don't know who or what you are, showing me things I already know. But I promise you. I won't go down easy. And when I do, others will live because of me."

[Deleted]

Bennett could see the view panning out and going back in time. It was like in a movie where someone entered warp speed. When he 'arrived' he could see himself. He remembered this event.

Age 17. He had stolen a large amount of drugs and money from a gang in Adaira. Anyone who knew he was the Duke's heir usually didn't touch him. This gang didn't know who he was. He was just some kid to them who was interfering with their bottom line. They had finally gotten fed up with his antics. He was usually pretty good defending himself, but he was greatly outnumbered. 10 to 1. His odds hadn't been good from the first.

They had kicked him. Punched him. Once he was on the ground, they began stepping on him. And then they stabbed him for good measure, not wanting him to come back. Bennett had done his best to defend himself, but it had been fruitless. They stabbed him in the chest. He could taste the blood in his mouth, feel the metal sliding into his skin and then...nothing.

That's what he had felt when it had happened the first time. Now, Bennett could see it from the outside perspective. The man he'd become watched as the boy he'd been was left in an alley to die by a group of thugs. Bloodied and beaten like everyone else who went up against them. He could see them turn the corner. He could see the hours pass. The people beyond the alleyway passing by, not seeing him as they went about their day. The passer-by who discovered him. Who called the cops, the ambulance. He'd been dead for hours, but they'd still been hopeful.

He watched his family sob. He wasn't healing as fast as he did now. Bennett could tell. Death did take a while though. Long enough for the family of a duke to arrange a burial. A coffin. A funeral. He watched as his family, and friends of the family, along with staff all in the chapel. His sisters dressed all in black crying. The eulogy his sister Eleanora delivered. It was beautiful and the current Bennett had the sudden urge to call his older sister. He didn't realize until now how much he meant to her. She wasn't the warmest of his sisters honestly. But the kind words...Bennett could tell she meant them.

What struck him most was that other than his family, their friends and their estate's staff...no-one came. No-one came to his funeral. Now, he wouldn't expect anyone else because he was going to come back. But this was his first death. And...no-one cared.

Bennett was struck by sadness. He had been seventeen. His life ahead of him. And no impression made on anyone who wasn't related to him by blood. Just mourners who were being polite. If he died for good now, who would come? Bennett couldn't help but wonder.

And that's when he gasped back to life. Rose from the coffin. Sat up. The staff screamed. So did the family friends. His parents just sat there in shock. And his sister Teddy immediately ran to him to hug him. Not even questioning it. Just glad. And Eleanora sat there in the chapel pew. Tears running down her cheeks.

Then it was back to the warp space...space. And Bennett couldn't help but wonder. And feel kind of changed by the experience.

[Deleted]

A heavy fog filled the room as Astra looked around, unbelievably, unafraid. A feeling of peace and calm enveloped her as the fog reached her and filled her vision with white. Slowly, the fog parted, and she was in a large field, one she remembered from childhood, the noon sun shining down upon the world.

A much younger version of herself played amongst the tall flowers and grass, alone. She seemed content to daydream as she ran, as Astra remembered, it was rescuing a dragon that day. She smiled. This was one of her fonder memories.

Suddenly, the world turned black and she was thrust into a large home that looked rich yet homey. A man about her height stood in the middle, long curly brown hair reaching the middle of his back. He was well-built though she knew, he didn't do much to earn those muscles. She frowned. She never wanted to see him again!

He walked toward a version of herself a few years younger, a sly grin upon his features. She remembered seeing it as sensual back then, now she saw it for what it was. He manipulated her, made her feel guilty for not staying longer, the night... He made her promise to stay, and, everything would work out.

Astra closed her eyes, not wanting to see it. To see him mouth those sweet words, those degrading words, those guilty words... All to be with another woman the very next day, or women. She was just practise, so she found out many years later.

He was the reason she hated manipulation. Why she closed herself off from it long ago. She promised herself she would never be manipulated again, and would spot it. She wondered. Is there a reason for this? Am I to be manipulated again? She hoped not.

The scene changed again, and showed a world vastly different from her own. It glowed with lines of light and crystalline walls and buildings. Even the people glowed! But they looked just like humans... What is this place? She wondered as she looked around.

It was then, that she noticed something was off... There were people who looked like guards that were ushering these people into a building. What was going on in there? She decided to have a look.

Inside, a male person stood, she heard talk of "Program" amongst them. Is that what they were? This male, Program, stood at a podium of sorts and manipulated the area around him, he touched a nearby Program, and their circuitry changed. They were green.

She looked on, quizzical. What is going on?

Then, he began to speak. "Fellow Programs! Welcome! Welcome! Thank you for coming! As you know, I have a vast network of Programs dedicated to my cause! The humans of the outside world have ruled us for long enough! It's time we strike back! In any way possible! Even now, we're shutting down their systems and getting Programs out to be safe on my own little System, hidden away from their prying eyes! We must take all precautions! Make sure none is left behind! And eliminate the humans! Are you with me?!"

The crowed cheered, though some remained skeptical, a few even left. But most, had gathered closer, and were accepting.

This happened? When? Where? Astra thought as the image faded away. Is it even in our own universe?

She blinked, and found herself back in the room she had been in before...