[hr] [CENTER][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjEwNi41NTEwZTEuVkhsc1pYSWdSbTk0LjE/asphyxia-deluxia.regular.webp[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/uN2UpJZ.png[/img][/CENTER] [right][code]Current day Interactions: Tommy, Vicky, Corey, Dead Guy Outfit: Normal[/code][/right][hr] [color=A79500]”Dunno. Must have been a ghost or something. What about you? Your coach a fan of underage drinking, Fox?”[/color] A ghost. Tyler chuckled. A fucking ghost? This kid was definitely on some form of a drug if that was the first thing that came out of his mind. Of course, someone invited that loser, and Tyler suspected that Tommy was blissfully unaware that the culprit was right in front of him. Still, Tyler did not want to rush the reveal. No, that would be both too easy and too simple. He had a long list of questions that needed answers, and Tommy would be providing them one way or another. There was not a song that could break her from this path, nor a drink strong enough to make him forget, nor would the sound of a body breaking in a way it shouldn’t pull him from the righteous path he was on. Not even the two nerds leaving the party early, that religious freak, and some weird-looking girl, could stop him now. Tommy would answer his questions, and it would start right now. Tyler took a step forward and readied a hand to place on Tommy’s shoulder, but paused as his mind took a step back and remembered the sound of a body breaking. He heard the sound of bones snapping all his life. It wasn’t something that bothered him so much, nor did the sight of a broken arm, but something felt different this time. The heavy footstep thundered deep inside of him, and his eyes darted towards the source. Tyler caught sight of one of his classmates hanging in the air, body broken, and eyes that betrayed that the lights were off and nobody was home. Tyler’s breath was stuck in his chest. Even as he watched the body fly through the air, he could not tell what threw him. How did a body fly that fast? Tyler took a step back. Heavy footsteps crushed the floor beneath them as the party froze all around Tyler. His eyes tried to see through whatever illusion this was to try and stop whatever was causing this, but no matter how hard he strained, he could not. And then a girl was grabbed. She wasn’t an uggo or anything, but Tyler never found her cute. But even someone like her did not deserve the death that followed. And as the party descended into chaos on beat with the body beating the floor, Tyler could not move. If he were on the football field, he would have seen the free rusher breaking through the line long before the second blocker away from him. And now Tyler was in the backfield, all alone, and with nobody but Tommy to guard him from the raging… Tyler caught sight of Tommy running away. [color=C0C0C0]“Son of a bitch…”[/color] Did Tommy not know how important Tyler was to this town? Tyler took an unblocked hit from his blind side as a stupid theater kid couldn’t pay attention to where they were running, and he stumbled for a moment before he found himself caught in the mass of idiots running for the only fucking way out. While Tyler was strong, the mass of drunk teenagers scared for their life over powered him, and soon he was one with the hulking mass of flesh that would make The Thing from The Thing blush. Tyler pushed, and clawed, and kicked, and did everything he could to break free from the chaotic place, yet he was stuck in place. A familiar emotion washed over him. Anticipation. There was some invisible fucking force about to rush towards a stuck, painfully moveable mass of objects, and that would be it. Tyler would never rise to the occasion and prove himself as an athlete. He would never escape the town that chained his father. This was it. He would die here amongst the losers, the regrets, the assholes, and worst of all, Vicky. This broke a barrier inside his soul, unlike anything he had felt before. The voices of the idiots around him began to blend, and they felt like they suddenly got sharper and louder. An added element of bass was added to their tone. Soon, the words disappeared, and all Tyler could hear were sharp cracks, booming thunder, and cries for help in a language he did not know. Tyler blinked, and when his eyes opened again, embers were drifting down from above. He looked around, and he was in hell. In the distance, all he could see was a firestorm that raged through the streets of a small village. The hills and surrounding countryside bore the scars of recent impacts and explosions. While he did not see any bodies, he could smell them all around. Tyler looked to his left, and then his right, and then finally towards the front. A singular eyebrow raised as the sight of one of those old-timey soldiers greeted him. He was squatting down, with a flintlock rifle slung over his back and a stick drawing something in the dirt. His eyes rose and met Tylers and Tyler could tell there was a rage building. He scoffed at the sight before him before he dropped the stick, stood up, dusted the dirt off his pants, and straightened his uniform. He spoke quickly in a language Tyler never had a chance to understand. [color=C0C0C0]“English?”[/color] [color=B0E0E6]“Oh no,”[/color] the man spoke in a heavy German accent, [color=B0E0E6]“we speak that foul language now, huh? It’s been a few years since I had this talk with someone like you, someone on the worst day of their life, sometimes the best, but it seems this is the worst day of your life, no?”[/color] [color=C0C0C0]“And how would you know? Where are we, and what happened to the party,”[/color] Tyler asked as he tried to rise to his feet, but he felt like he was stuck in quicksand. [color=B0E0E6]“I know. I always know,”[/color] the man paused as he looked back over the countryside in the distance, [color=B0E0E6]“that’s part of this. This recollection. You have found yourself waking up with the blood of a certain skillset that has been passed down for generations. And it seems you have awoken in a time of war, hence why you meet me.”[/color] Tyler followed his gaze over the countryside once again. He could make out a distinct European style of building to the homes, the shops, and even the uniform that the man before him wore. The sight before him had to be a hundred plus years in the past based on the rifle the man carried and the style of the uniform itself. What was this? What was a recollection? [color=C0C0C0]“Some shit is going down at that party, I need to get back. Send me back.”[/color] [color=B0E0E6]“To help?”[/color] The man before him crossed his arms behind his back as his head tilted upward, looking down on Tyler as he did. Tyler recoiled back at the attempted slander. Of course, he wanted to help. He was the hero of the town, and he was going to be damned if he allowed a spooky ghost to kill his admirers. [color=C0C0C0]“Of c-”[/color] [color=B0E0E6]“Do not lie to me, to us, to your ancestors. This is a two-way street. I know all about who you pretend to be.”[/color] Tyler’s eyes narrowed at the asinine assertion that he was not telling the truth. Everything he did was for others. He won the big fucking game to bring that trophy home to a school that was struggling, he was pushing himself hard to make his dad proud, and the only person who had any problem with this was this man before him, and his mother. [color=B0E0E6]“You have potential. Your mother sees it, and so do we,”[/color] the man pointed at the ground under Tyler. For some reason, the man seemed to be growing taller, or was he himself shrinking down, [color=B0E0E6]“and don’t call me old-fashioned, but it is time for you to learn your magic, or die.”[/color] [color=C0C0C0]“Magic? Like the card game?”[/color] The man simply stared at Tyler, and after a second, his mouth fell agape. Tyler felt something crawling up his shirt all around him. Instead of humoring that response with a reply, he simply pulled a knife from its holster and held it up. He then pointed at a lantern that was on the ground, broken, with shattered glass scattered around. A moment later, he tossed the knife into the air, and suddenly the lantern was where the knife was, and the knife simply fell into the broken glass behind them. [color=B0E0E6]“Easy, right? Now you do it, or die.”[/color] Tyler finally looked down and saw that an invisible force was crushing his body. He remembered, almost too late, that he was right in the middle of a crowd crush before he was pulled into this vision. His body was dying. He could feel his breath was far away, and he tried to breathe using all his strength, yet it did nothing. [color=C0C0C0]“How,”[/color] he gasped, [color=C0C0C0]“how do I use it?”[/color] Tyler did not believe in magic, but he would do whatever it took not to die in this crowd. [color=B0E0E6]“You have always known where your teammates were on the field of battle, no? An almost uncanny ability to know where they were going, where your enemy was, and the weak spots you could exploit in the defense. Use that feeling. Reach out into the world with your magic and find an object. Once you do, you simply will the target to swap places with an object of your choice, yourself included. Feel the battlefield before you, truly feel it, and this will work.”[/color] Tyler’s eyes darted around, scanning the landscape in front of him. [color=B0E0E6]“No! We do not run from the danger that threatens those around us. If you try to run from this fight, you will find that you will die in that crowd and be gone forever. Think, Tyler, feel what’s behind you. Visualize the warehouse, and once you do, finding something to swap positions with is easy. The clock is ticking, Tyler,”[/color] the man towered over Tyler completely now, only this time he had a concerned look on his face. This was definitely not the way he intended this meeting to go. Tyler did as he was told, however, and despite every instinct pushing him to look ahead, he instead focused behind. He was keenly aware of everybody pushing into him, where those bodies were, and how they were positioned. As he focused his mind, despite the sharp pain that pounded in his chest, he was able to push his visualization further back until he found just what he was looking for. His championship ring began to glow. [color=B0E0E6]“You’re doing it! And now, just-”[/color] Tyler flicked his wrist like he was commanding a center to snap the ball, and he watched as the burning countryside that he was faced with disappeared; instead, he could see the backside of the mass of classmates that nearly crushed him a moment ago. In the space his body made up, Tyler had sent a bottle of alcohol, still unopened, to occupy it. Tyler collapsed to the ground. His chest hurt. His ears were ringing. There was blood pouring down his nose. He was alive, but injured, and he had used his magic. He gasped for a breath, and then he heaved in a second, and within a moment he was breathing in quick but consistent breaths. His vision was fuzzy, and the room seemed to be twisting and turning around him. Yet there was a shrill, nails-on-chalkboard noise that seemed to pierce through the fog, unlike anything else could. [i][center][color=32cd32]“[b]HELP ME! YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER! HELP ME![/b]”[/color][/center][/i] [color=C0C0C0]“You dramatic b–”[/color] he started to mutter, but his voice was cut short when he saw what was killing his classmates. It made no sense. It was far to big to move that quickly, and far too impossible to exist in a reality where he existed. He needed to run as fast as he could to get as far away as possible from that thing. Tyler grunted as he forced himself to his feet, and he took one weak step forward before stopping and sighing. Remembering that he was like a hero to these weak students, Tyler knew he could not leave them like this. He needed to help clear the jam at the door, get Vicky away from danger, and then get as far away as he could from there. A sharp pain from his side commanded his attention, and he placed a hand over his right rib, which felt tender. He gritted through the pain as he trusted in his sanity and reached out into the world with his so-called magic. The first object he selected was Vicky. He couldn’t have his rival die in such a pathetic way, as that would reflect poorly on him as a whole if this was the best his rival could do. The second was what he thought was a dead body. His eyes saw them slumped against the wall, with a rather large gash across their head, revealing white bone beneath red skin. And as the monster readied the end of Vicky, Tyler compelled the two objects to swap. And they did. It was only when Vicky was against the wall near him, and the so-called body was in front of the monster, that Tyler realized it was not a dead body but instead a very much alive, albeit inured, Corey. Corey was a music nerd who pissed Tyler off, but everyone could see that in that moment of realization, Tyler was a little mortified. He had just condemned a man to death. And he couldn’t look away as it happened.