admin, what was that David thing? just a glitched comment probably, right? i read that username this morning and it felt like I was having a stroke, i dunno 

I have no idea what you mean by "that David thing." To give you an answer, I'll need to know specifically what you mean and where to find it.

Admin

@admin: oh, that makes sense. hmm, i guess it could have been a Slavic or Polish surname, not keymashing?

@celine: uh, i think they were fish people, in my brain? but that plotline didn't happen, so it wasn't ever really planned out. checking a notebook indicates that yes, it was fish people. they were going to be called "Drowners," and i think ill say they still canonically exist, probably. im not sure, but i know i had intended to introduce Apophis and the Six from the beginning, it's in the rough drafts of the novel version i never made, so act one in this alternate timeline probably would have still worked as a primer for later stories about the six. weird to even think about, but maybe interesting, i don't know.

lots of apophisy stuff in this part! after intentionally making him more of a narrative force than a character for the past entire act, it's weirdly fun to write his horrible dialogue! 

Apophis says some transphobic stuff, obviously the trans nonbinary person doesn't... like that.

~~

REASON==>

This is still Ryan, at least sort of. He's in there. Time to work your magic and draw him out. 

YOU: Ryan, I know you're still in here. I know you don't want to hurt us.

"Ryan": YOU'RE RIGHT. HE DOESN'T WANT TO HURT YOU. HE IS CRYING OUT RIGHT NOW, FIGHTING WITH EVERY OUNCE OF HIS BEING TO STOP ME. 

He laughs, and his yellow eye burns. It feels like it is looking directly at you, and you know that everyone present feels the same. Perhaps, by some alien geometry, it is. 

Wren: Can... Can he hear us? 

"Ryan": HE CERTAINLY CAN, WINTON HAWTHORNE. AND I CAN HEAR HIM. EVERY THOUGHT HE HAS. HERE IS SOMETHING AMUSING: HE STILL LOVES YOU, WINTON HAWTHORNE. HE KNOWS NOT TO ACT ON IT, AND HE IS TERRIFIED THAT YOU WILL FIND OUT. THAT YOU WILL BE HURT. HAHAHAHAHA! WHEN YOU TOLD HIM THAT YOU LOVED HIM IN THE TOWER, HE KNEW THAT YOU MEANT THE SIX OF YOU LOVED HIM, BUT HE LET HIMSELF PRETEND FOR A MOMENT THAT YOU FELT FOR HIM THE WAY HE KNOWS YOU NEVER WILL. WHAT A PATHETIC MAN.

Antimony shoots a glare at him. 

Antimony: Her name is Wren, you terrible little... Thing!

"Ryan": AH, THE CLONE THAT ESCAPED ME, ONCE. YOU WILL NOT NEXT TIME. NONE OF YOU WILL. I-

Alex: Why are you doing any of this? Just to destroy everything? Why would you want to- 

Ryan's face changes from the tortured smile to pure, incandescent rage, beyond anything a human being could ever feel. Alex collapses to the ground, dry heaving.

"Ryan": I'M SPEAKING. 

The smile returns.

"Ryan": PERHAPS I WANTED POWER ONCE. TO DESTROY HUMANITY, TO DESTROY MY PRISON, TO BREAK THE AXIS OF CREATION AND SPREAD DARKNESS ACROSS IT'S INFINITE CIRCUMFERENCE. NO LONGER. NOW, MY MOTIVATION IS SIMPLE. I HATE YOU. I HATE ALL OF YOU. I DESPISE THIS SIX OF YOU, AS I HAVE IN EVERY SINGLE INCARNATION OF YOU ACROSS TIME. THE DAYS ARE LIKE WATER, AND AS THEY ROLL OVER ME, I HATE YOU. YOU HAVE CHOSEN A PALTRY KINGDOM, ON AN INSIGNIFICANT PLANET. YOU HAVE WEAKENED ME TO A MISERABLE SHELL OF MY FORMER SELF. YOUR DUPLICATES HAVE FOUGHT ME FOR THREE YEARS. EVEN IN THE OCEANS OF TIME I HAVE SEEN, A YEAR IS A LONG TIME. 

You see Wren look at him, and you see pity in her eyes, which is... Insane?

Wren: You must be tired.

"Ryan": YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE HATE I FEEL FOR YOU IN THIS MOMENT. FOR ALL OF YOU. I HAVE ANNIHILATED COUNTLESS DUPLICATES OF YOU, BUT IT HAS MEANT NOTHING. I WILL DESTROY YOU. ALL OF YOU. IT WILL MOT BE DIFFICULT. PERHAPS I AM WEAKER THAN I HAVE EVER BEEN BEFORE, BUT YOU ARE THE MOST PATHETIC INCARNATION I HAVE EVER SEEN. WINTON HAWTHORNE. YOU ARE NOTHING. YOU ARE WEIGHED DOWN BY PITY FOR THOSE WHO WOULD ONLY HURT YOU. YOU ARE WEAK. DIANA ZHU. YOU ARE A CRINGING, DEPLORABLE BURNOUT. YOU CANNOT HIDE YOUR WEAKNESS, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY. YOUR CLONE IS EVEN LESS. YOU ARE WEAK. SAM ABERDEEN. YOU ARE EMPTY. YOU ARE NOT A FULL PERSON, AND YOU WILL HURT YOUR CONSORT, REGARDLESS OF YOUR INTENT. YOU ARE WEAK. TREVOR PEIXOTO, YOU HAVE HURT YOURSELF TO HELP OTHERS TO THE POINT OF DESTROYING YOURSELF. YOU ARE WEAK. ALEX HAWTHORNE, I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT YOU. AND SO HAVE YOUR FRIENDS. THEY ARE ONLY HUMORING YOU. YOU ARE NOTHING AT ALL. THIS HOST... WELL, GE SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF. I WILL LEAVE HIM. I MUST CONSERVE MY POWER.

Suddenly, with no buildup whatsoever, Ryan crumples to the ground, unconscious. Huh. He's on the ground, and Will is shaking like a leaf.

What do you do next?

SHAKE HIM LIKE A POLAROID PICTURE==>

You can probably wake up an unconscious person by shaking them, right? Yeah. That makes sense. You can do it. Let's do it.

Will: T-That... Thing... That was the Eye?

YOU: Will, wait a hot second. Gotta straight up and accost this guy. 

You grab Ryan and start shaking him around. His eyes flutter open, and he groans, grabbing his head. Oh, he probably hit it pretty hard when he fell down. He still has a yellow eye, so you assume Apophis is still puttering around in there. He blinks a couple times, and wipes his eyes, letting out a little whine. 

Ryan: ...ow...

Diana: Ryan, do you remember what just happened? Were you cognizant? Evil god was in your brain, Ryan.

Ryan: Yeah... I... I know. I was trying to stop him, but, He... I'm sorry. 

Ryan buries his face in his hands, laughing frantically. Will moves towards him swiftly, patting his shoulder. Ryan looks up desperately. He turns toward Wren, and makes a face you cannot describe. He wipes his eyes, and shakes his head miserably.

Ryan: I'm sorry, Wren. Uh... Everything He told you was, was true. Uh... I know you can't feel the same way. I don't even want you to. I want you to be happy, and you deserve Diana and Antimony. I mean, you aren't even capable of feeling about me the way I feel about you, but even if you could, you shouldn't, you know. You should be... I want you to be happy. I'm sorry.

Wren: Look, that's... Honestly a little sweet. But it isn't healthy, you know? I mean, for one, yeah, you were the worst person I ever met. But, y'know, in middle school. Since you "joined our side" or whatever, you've been the perfect gentleman. You deserve to be happy too. Let go, man.  I release you, okay? Find someone who can consistently make you happy.

Diana: I completely understand being in love with her. So, I suppose if you need someone to talk to about this, I can fill that role.

Antimony: I as well.

Ryan: You don't have to-

Antimony: LET US BE NICE TO YOU.

Ryan: Okay ...

Diana: We are going to be nice to you, or else! >:D

Will looks around, staring wildly.

Will: Uh, guys? Ryan was just... Possessed? Are you not going to talk about that? Are you going to exclusively address the teen drama at the expense of the ACTUAL COSMIC HORROR UNFOLDING?

Alex: Yes, Will, they are.

YOU: That's just how we roll, man.

Tracy: It's a decent distraction, at least ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Will: I think I'm going to freak out.

Alex: Okay, if you throw up, aim away from me. I like these pants a lot, they're really comfortable. 

Will: Is that fleece? 

Alex: Yeah, it helps me keep warm. I'm basically always cold. Not sure why.

Tracy: It is winter, and it's never really... warm around here.

Will: You got me doing it too! Are you just not going to address that an evil god was just in Ryan's body?

YOU: We addressed it already. It's not that big a deal.

Will: Yes it is! What are you talking about?!

YOU: Hey Tracy...

PROCURE WATER==>

YOU: You have a water bottle, right? That'd probably be really helpful, you know. The man just up and conked out, he oughta get some water.

Tracy: Of course .

They pull their water bottle, a little metal flask that fits in their pocket, out. They hand it to Ryan, and he smiles weakly, opening it, and taking a sip. After some prompting, he downs the whole thing. Tracy reaches their hand out to heal his head, and he stands up, stepping out of the way.

Tracy: I'm trying to heal you, Ryan.

Ryan: No way. That hurts you every time you use it, and I'm not letting you hurt yourself for something this little. I have super strength, the skin barely broke.

Tracy: Are you sure? 

Ryan: Absolutely.

Tracy: Hmm. Okay. 

You think you should probably go see Terrance, before going off to fight Apophis. But is there anything else you need to do here first? Oh, beyond getting swords, you almost forgot. 

hey gang! helene hit my town pretty bad, and we have no power for miles! i am writing this in a starbucks that happens to have free wifi :P anyway i'm okay, but i probably wont be able to write for a while! possibly days... hopefully not. stay safe everybody! :>

I'm sorry to hear about your power outage, LE. Best wishes for your recovery and for everyone else impacted by the storm,

Admin

ok dudes power came back a whole twelve hours earlier than projected. all is well!

~~ 

GET YOUR WILL ON ==>

You're already walking aimlessly toward the Wrenmobile, realizing that it isn't big enough to fit your honestly massive party, and resolving to just walk a block or so when you realize that Will is sort of standing awkwardly near the gates, like he isn't sure where to go. It's raining, and Tracy is getting an umbrella out of the Wrenmobile's trunk, so you usher the poor guy over. Might as well give him a little shelter. 

Will: Uh... Are you waving at me there? 

YOU: Yeah, just... Just get over here. 

Tracy walks over to you with the umbrella. The polycule gets in the car, and Alex does as well. Ryan lingers aimlessly, and you think about inviting him to walk with you as well, but something tells you directly calling him out would only weaken his fragile grasp on humanlike behavior. "I can fix him," no, no you cannot. That boy is messed up. He walks, surely enough, a few paces ahead of your group, probably intentionally. Will almost sneaks up on you. You're actually a little off put by him at this close capacity. Something about his eyes. Like he said, you've gone through some pretty similar things. You guess the key difference is that for you at least, you have a set destination. It perfects you, even if it's messed you up pretty bad. He has nothing to aspire to, just the black, crawling horror that touches all of you. 

Will: What, uh, what's up? 

YOU: Will.

Will: Yeah?

YOU: Wilhelm.

Will: What?

YOU: Free Willie. Double yuh. Will. My man.

Will: What? What?!  

YOU: Man, I dunno. Uh, obviously I can't pretend to speak for our whole group or whatever, but I think they'd generally concede that I'm not overstepping any boundaries here. Tracy, uh, can tell me if I am, right?

Tracy: I'll be honest, I have no idea what you're talking about right now.

YOU: Yeah, no, makes sense yeah. Basically, Will, I am asking if you would like to join our merry band of losers. And join us on our incredibly terrible adventure. Would you like to do this, Will? 

He looks at you blankly, smiling vaguely. And then he giggles a little.

Will: N-no? No? Sorry, no. If you think it's because I'm a coward, you know, yeah. That's why, sorry. I think you guys are great for doing all this, but I'm leaving town, I think. With Bill, if I can get him to come. Just... For a while.

Tracy: That's fair, I suppose. I would likely do the same if I could. 

Will: I'm scared, you know? For what's going to happen. I'm just... Scared. That thing in Ryan, that you're just not going to address because it's "how you roll," it is... Terrifying. Just... It didn't even look directly at me. It didn't address me. But being near it was enough. I don't want it getting to me, and I don't want it getting to Bill. I'd help you if I had nothing else to live for, but I have, like, two things. And I want to be safe. 

YOU: Yeah, okay, no hate, Will. I get it. Protect your stuff, seriously. Get outta here. It'd be neat to have you help out, but you have no obligation. 

Will: Thanks. Uh... Can I still get a ride home, or into town?

Tracy: I have a motorcycle, but Sam rides with me... Maybe you could fit in the trunk of the Wrenmobile?

Will: That. Works?

You approach the ruin of the house you still live in. A house that is, in many ways, just a giant dresser drawer. A giant dresser drawer that has been completely packed with swords. Why? Why so many swords? You are fairly certain there weren't this many swords before your dad died. Maybe after he died he became ten thousand swords. That would be pretty awesome, but you were at his funeral so probably not. Actually, thinking about it now, you think there might be a dresser drawer full of swords in the house. You can feel yourself fling into a deep rage just thinking about it. 

Will: Sam? You look really... Angry?

Tracy: Oh, he's probably thinking about swords again.

YOU: You know me so well, Tracy. I love you. I really do. But I... I hate swords.

Tracy: I know, Sam. 

YOU: I'm the sword guy, you know? I'm captain sword. Mister sword... guy. A sword, you know, i's like a metaphor. It means a thousand things. It's a sword. It's a symbol that you hold in your hand and use to cut things. It means so many things, and then you hit somebody with it and they... They die. I hate them. My whole life is swords now, Will. I go to bed with my beautiful spouse and then I wake up, and cut my foot on a sword. I open my fridge and I find swords. Everywhere. I own so many swords, Will. Say swords enough times and it sounds like nothing. It's nothing. I'm nothing, Will. Do you want a sword? 

Will: No... I'm alright?

YOU: I have plenty. You can- you can have a sword.

Will: Would it make you feel better if I took a sword? 

YOU: Nothing could make me feel better, ever again. 

Tracy: Yeah, it might help him out. A tiny bit.

YOU: You do understand that I am not actually insane, right? I do hate swords, let me be clear. But this is partially a bit.

Tracy: Every bit he makes, know that have heard three versions of it before. I've heard it being worked out. 

The car pulls up. Sorry, the Wrenmobile. You open the door, and Antimony hobbles out with her cane, righting herself. Alex gets out too, and you give her a cheesy thumbs up. She nods. Ryan is walking up towards the front door, and Tracy opens the door. 

~~

hey guys no command required. this chapter is almost done, there'll be one or two more parts, and then we'll figure stuff out from there! we basically sped through this chapter, whoa! 

continuing the extra long ending for this chapter! there will be one more part after this one, i have decided.

~~

You are all up and in your house now. It's weird in here, which is probably why you and Tracy spend so much time in the Hawthorne Manor. And anywhere that makes that creepy place seem preferable is... Wrong. You walk into a spare bedroom. 

YOU: Okay, there are probably some swords in here. Who am I kidding. There's definitely swords in here.

Alex: Alright. Where? 

Tracy: Open the closet and step back.

Alex: Uh, okay?

She walks to the closet and opens it, leaping back as an avalanche of swords tumble out. 

Wren: Huh! 

Wren picks up some sword with a gold hilt and some dragons carved on the blade or something. What's wrong with you? You should think this sword is awesome, but you just feel resigned. Look at that. You hate it. You hate it so much. Diana and Antimony are trying to hoard swords and realizing slowly that this is the way you get injured. Will is standing around awkwardly. 

YOU: Will, take a sword, I'm not even kidding.

Will: Uh, okay?

He takes one of the absolutely garbage ones, which you're a little grateful for. 

Antimony: Ow! :O

Wren: Honey. What are you doing.

Antimony: SwOrD :D

Diana: You are bleeding... Put the pile down!

Antimony: You are carrying them the exact same way, DEEN.

Diana: Perhaps it is so, but I am not bleedi- Oh, ow :O

Wren: Both of you stop. Just... Please. 

Tracy: I'm not healing you guys. You brought this on yourselves. 

Diana: That is fair.

While a subpar comedy sketch occurs in the background, you can kind of feel your head getting weird. Everything feels hollow. Empty. It's interesting, everything in this room is glossy and pristine. Like plastic casts. Like wax fruit. You think you catch a framed photo of your mom turning to look at you. It pretends it doesn't seem you. You're suddenly drifting down a stream, sunglasses over an eye patch, and your depth perception returns for a moment just so everything can shift and rot. Where are you? Why are you here, in the house you grew up in?  You shouldn't be here, you should have left when you had a chance. Your dad doesn't live here anymore, and if feels like a hole in his shape took his place. Moving from room to room. 

Why are you here?

Ryan: Sam, are you alright?

YOU: Peachy keen, man. I just... Hate swords.

Wren: Ha, you sure do! 

YOU: Yep, that's me, you know. I just hate swords. Just standing around, hating swords.

Diana: That is why I wanted to take them off your hands, Sam. I was only trying to do my part. And now I am shish kebabed. 

Antimony: I was taking them because I want them! I am devoid of generosity, only greed! Only greed!

Alex: And yet, the blade cuts us all. Righteous and wicked alike. 

Diana: Well yeah, it is... A sword. It cuts everything.

Alex: I was... I was doing a bit. I was trying to add to your bit.

Wren: It was good, Alex. Good job.

Everyone has a sword now, and some sheathes, because they look awesome. And also it's a tribute to Big Charlie A. Oh, and also you can hold swords in them. 

YOU: Hey, guys, Will kinda needs to ride in your trunk. There's only five seats, right?

Wren: Yeah, the Wrenmobile is a humble beast. The trunk is nice though.

Alex: Do you know this personally, or?

Diana: It's a private matter :3

Alex: ... o-okay?!

They open the trunk and Will crawls in. Yeah, it looks pretty roomy. Wren hops in and Alex gets shotgun. That leaves Ryan in a middle seat with Diana and Antimony on either side of him. He looks at you, and mouths "Help me." Alas, there is no help for him. The car speeds away and down the hill. 

Tracy gets on their motorcycle, and you wrap your arms around their waist, burying your face in their gray hair. The motorcycle roars, and then you are descending the hill as well, helmet on, of course, rain in thick droplets, wind tearing into your skin, biting you. A great rumble emerges from the ground, and you absently think that it must have been a lightning strike, but it keeps going. And then there's an explosion of sound. 

You turn to the black dome in the marsh. It flashes green, and you watch as bodies fly out, through the sky. 

It starts raining harder, and the holes torn in the dome heal, somehow, but the bodies are still flying in every direction. The sky is turning from gray to black. Tracy puts the pedal to the metal, and you wonder where exactly you're going-

~~

ahhhh one more part then end of chapter one. wow!!! the CAPTCHA reads bzufo. ufo?! Diana would have something to say about this, probably. Will definitely would.

Your name is Alex Hawthorne. Correction: you thought your name was Alex Hawthorne. You also thought you were sixteen years old. You are, in actuality, a clone. You are about a day old. 

The last thing you remember is going to sleep. Then you were shooting through a pneumatic tube, into the void. Then you were being sucked into a shrieking white vortex, other clones all around you, screaming in terror. Kicking in terror. And then you were in a dome, some sort of prison. And He's in here too.

Some clone of Sam with terrible burn scars explained everything to you. He exposited at length about how you're a clone, which you figured was true, and how you were made to fight Apophis, which you knew was true, and how these robes are very uncomfortable, yes, and how the best thing you could really hope for was awakening. He then broke the news that no incarnation of Alex has ever Awakened, ever, as far as he was aware. And then he blew up.

That kind of stuck with you. 

You are hungry. And thirsty. Honestly , you are hungry and thirsty to the point where you don't really think about being hungry or thirsty. You guess it's fortunate that a clone's average lifespan is about three days. It probably won't matter. That might sound bleak, but you haven't lost hope. You're just realistic. 

You are standing next to the rounded black wall of the dome, and you can tell that it's growing. Things seem to be able to be brought in, but you cannot get out. That means He cannot get out, which is a positive thing, you think. Sometimes He does soething that can break the walls, and people get knocked out. They are generally dead, otherwise you would likely envy them. 

He's shooting blind. He isn't really aiming for any of you, it seems more like a temper tantrum than anything else. He ends up hitting people anyway, of course, with waves of black tentacles. He appears to coalescing somehow in the center. Gaining flesh. You appear to be inside his cocoon. An interesting place to be. Your leg hurts. That should feel less important than it does, but here it is feeling important. 

A Diana-Clone crests a nearby hill, wavng at you frantically. You note that she only has one arm, and that her eyes are glowing green. She's clearly Awakened. 

Diana-Clone: Hello there, spare Alex! Would you like to join our merry party?

YOU: Uh... What party, exactly? 

She turns around, and sighs in exasperation.

Diana-Clone: Well shoot. He got 'em. Oh well. I will carry those clones of myself and also randomly one of Tracy in my heart forever. Have you seen any Wrens? 

YOU: No, sorry. I actually don't think there are any?

Diana-Clone: Alas, all I wished was to see my lady love one last time. Welp! Wanna charge Apophis head on?

YOU: What? No! I'm actually trying to survive out here!

Diana-Clone: Come on! We have got this, Alex! We all have to do our part, so it will be easier for the real us! 

YOU: I feel plenty real, thanks.

You catch yourself sulking, but decide that sulking is probably within your rights. 

Diana-Clone: I did not mean it like that. You are obviously real, Alex! But it is either go out in a proverbial blaze of glory or waste away out here! The very worst case scenario is failure, and thousands of us are constantly failing, so no pressure! 

YOU: ...

You think hard. What are you waiting out here for anyway? Might as well. There is something you kind of want to get off your chest before the fight though.

YOU: Okay. Can I... Can I tell you something?

Diana-Clone: Of course.

YOU: Uh, since I'm on borrowed time anyway... I don't think... I want to live as a man? I think I'm a woman, or at least something closer to a girl than a guy.

Diana-Clone: Oh, yeah. Pretty much every Alex says that before fighting! It is cool, and you are totally valid. I have just started thinking of all of you as girls, because it is pretty much your universal experience!

YOU: ...huh.

Diana-Clone: Oh no! I did not come off as patronizing, did I? I was not attempting to invalidate your coming out thing.

YOU: No, actually it's kind of helpful to know that it's a part of every version of me, not, you know, a random quirk. I'm glad to know that. 

She smiles and the two of you fly via sick jetpacks to the center. It's pure chaos, but the Diana-Clone uses her seer powers to guide you out of the way of tentacles, screaming bezerker Ryans, Sam's and Tracys passionately kissing before being blown up, other Alexs hyperventilating, and weird lasers blasting from that massive eye in the center of the dome. The blackness around the Eye seems to be molding into some shapeless form, and you can hear Apophis shrieking with the pain of growth. Wow, what a gross sentence to think. Ew. 

Diana-Clone: Le'ts charge Him! Let's get him!

YOU: With what, my bare fists? 

Diana-Clone: Pick up a sharp rock! 

You fly to the ground and do just that. It isn't hard since the very ground is being torn to shreds by the force of Apophis. At the base of His form, the ground is actually becoming glass. You fly back up, and the Diana gives you a thumbs up with her one arm. Both of you charge in unison, and you hear yourself doing a war cry. Diana blasts Apophis, and He looks at her, and suddenly a wave of tendrils over takes you. You hear a muffled yell of "I'm alive!" Followed by a faint snapping and a quieter "Ah, well, pending, I suppose." 

You hurl your rock at Apophis, and end up hitting the weird black goo that seems to make up His form. It just sinks in. The tendrils are rather solid, however, which you reflect upon as one slams right into you. You manage to turn slightly so it doesn't impale you, but it's still pushing up, up, towards the strange black walls of the cocoon. You slam into the wall with such force that you feel it cracking.

Sure enough, it breaks, and you fly out the other side. Your whole body hurts a lot, but you're alive. So long chumps, you're coming home. You absentmindedly reach for the jetpack and find that it took the brunt of the blow. It's not working. It hums desperately, and in an explosion of energy, blasts you out into the sky, before dying completely. 

You're falling now, and you're probably hosed, logically speaking, but honestly? You're not concerned. Maybe it's just shock, but you've gotten pretty lucky recently. You can feel all your limbs, and you have a firm conviction that this is all going to work out for you in the end. 

YOU HAVE JUST COMPLETED THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE FINAL ACT OF THE TERMINAL 

ACT ONE (OF THREE)

WHICH WAS TITLED:

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER 

THANK YOU