makingthisupasigo | And the stars look very different today...

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And the stars look very different today...

It was a way out. But it wasn't home.

Truthfully, after Norfinbury, anything would be better than that place, but the cold truth was--there was no way to find his own universe out of the endless multiverse, even if Norfinbury's busted technology had worked properly. He was stuck, here, with a megalomaniac Flynn--granted, a Flynn that managed to open up a portal out of there. Maybe that's what it took to get out of Norfinbury.

Or, Peter thought sometimes on bad days, Norfinbury only released you once you became the twisted version of yourself it wanted you to be. A specially-designed virus inflicted on countless worlds.

Besides, he ought to know something about that.

He didn't stay long on earth, he couldn't. Maybe it had something to do with the mystery of how they were revived in Norfinbury, their bodies recreated or cloned or healed, or maybe it was something that was gonna happen to him anyway, but he could feel the Light burning inside him, inside his head almost as soon as he landed. A desperate need to take to the stars. He'd managed to create a ship and took off.

Time passes, and scientists notice something odd about several exoplanets they're monitoring, especially ones marked as 'earth-like' or other planets in zones that could make them potentially habitable. Bright bursts of light and changes in the composition of the atmosphere or surface, it was inexplicable. Possible evidence of intelligent life? If they didn't know any better, especially with the rocky planets that now somehow boasted extreme changes, it was like something was terraforming them.

There was cause for alarm when Mars suddenly turned blue and green a few months later.

Meanwhile, a small blue-and-orange ship that looked suspiciously like a slightly more organic-looking Milano was racing towards the earth.

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Flynn has to admit, the whole thing is kind of fun.

It's wonderful, being all-powerful and controlling, having liberated himself from the responsibility and remorse and stupid feelings that tormented him in his earlier life. People respect him, bow to him, finally appreciate him for everything he has done and sacrificed and achieved over the years. And if they don't, he'll make them.

It's the little things that make him happy, like the defiance in Stone's eyes. Flynn wonders when he will break eventually and if he even wants him to. It's much more fun watching him squirm in the helpless rage and defeat in the clutches of Flynn's magic. Losing that would be almost disappointing.

But being all-powerful and controlling can get a little boring, too. So yeah, the whole thing with Peter is kind of fun. Jarring, frustrating, annoying - and he still takes his invasion attempt very personally, how dare he - but fun.

He's sprawled out on his throne (yes, he has a throne, though it's more of a giant fluffy wingback because honestly, normal thrones are so hard and uncomfortable) and sipping on a Fanta while he waits for Stone and Jones to return from their mission. Once they do he needs to conjure up another magic mirror because he desperately wants to see Peter's ragey face when he realizes his precious flowers are gone.

Flynn just hopes these two idiots don't screw it up. That would be... disappointing.

Jacob is furious as he storms towards Flynn. He's got a bruise on his forehead and a cut on his his hand--landing wasn't his strongest point and is it bad that the UFO has a really big dent on it now?--but that didn't matter, because Ezekiel was now stupidly captured and he was going to have to ask Flynn for help.

It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he couldn't go up against a guy that powerful. He's seen enough Star Trek to know what happens.

Stone throws a handful of Quill's 'flowers', crumpled from that 'okay' landing down at Flynn's feet.

"I need your help."

The words feel like poison.

Oh, is it Christmas yet? It must be, he's getting two presents at the same time! Flynn takes a noisy slurp from his straw, then lazily swings his feet down the armrest.

Well, Stone clearly delivered. There are the flowers and that's great. Peter must be furious and Flynn chuckles at the thought. He picks up one, inspecting it from all sides, ignoring Stone for the moment. An old fascination stirs in him and maybe he could take a closer look in the lab, see how they work, maybe he could figure out a way to stop or reverse their growth and -- no. No that's a Librarian thing to do and he doesn't do Librarian things anymore. Besides, he doesn't care about the other planets or what Peter does to them.

He tosses the flower back onto the pile and finally acknowledges his minion.

"You need my help." His voice is thoughtful, gleeful. Stone coming to him on his own accord with a request like that, oh the possibilities are endless. "Well, you brought me the flowers, so I guess you deserve some speaking time. Let's hear it."

Every fiber of Stone's being wants to run--well, wants to throw a haymaker in that smug face of his, and crack the Fanta bottle over his head, but y'know. He probably shouldn't even have those thoughts right now.

"He's got Jones. Your pal. He's got him on his home world and I can't get to him."

Never leave a man behind.

Edited 2018-04-15 09:10 (UTC)

"Jones?" Flynn blinks at him owlishly there. He had been wondering where the thief was and now Jacob is telling him-- "He's got Jones?"

There's a pause.

And then Flynn throws his head back and laughs because oh God, that is the most hilarious thing ever. He claps his hands together, seriously, thank you Jacob, he's laughing so hard he might actually cry.

"He's got Jones! Can you believe it! He came for Earth and what he gets is Ezekiel Jones! Oh, this is too much, this is too good, I wish I could see it."

Jacob's eyes wide and suddenly they're filled with an unbearable fury. He's hated Flynn for awhile now but this is just too much--how dare he laugh at this!? He's got Jones and who knows what that maniac is doing to him and he's laughing--

Before he can stop himself, he's in mid-lunge towards Flynn when his tattoos activate and he's frozen in place, they glow orange for a second and the fight drains out of him, painfully. Like someone grabbed the thought and threw it in the trash.

Stone grunts in pain, pure hatred radiating from every pore. He's trying desperately to fight, even though he knows it's pointless. His thoughts are twisted against him, and what's worse, he's aware of it, can feel it, a horrible mockery as his own brain is used against him, his intellect completely useless.

"Are you gonna help me or not!?"

Oh, this is good. This is even better than he expected and Flynn smiles widely when he realizes just how deeply Stone cares about this. That's something to work with. He relishes in the way Stone rears up, eyes gleaming as he watches him struggle and deflate.

"Maybe."

He circles Jacob, aware of the rage and hate directed at him, with a smile that isn't entirely pleasant. Or, at all.

"What do I get out of it?"

That seething stare.

Maybe.

Maybe.

He can't accept a maybe.

"What...else can I possibly give you? What else can you possibly take?"

That makes him chuckle. "Oh, Stone, Stone, you have no idea." He smiles as he keeps circling him. "You have no idea how much a person can take from you." A beat. "Maybe you ought to find out."

Flynn stops in front of him for a moment, pausing, measuring him with a thoughtful look. Eventually, he nods. "I'll help you."

He moves over to one of the rows of shelves, taking a little box out from between some stack of books. "If you agree to a little bargain. I got another present for you."

Flipping the box open he returns, revealing a little pendant inside. It's small, inconspicuous, a simple white that is ornated by light patterns in the stone like howlite. "This is a little companion piece to your decorative lines." He brushes his hand across one of Jacob's tattoos, smirking. "If you put this on, I'll be able to communicate with you directly. In here." He taps his temple. "It will give me access to your mind and your feelings. I know, I know what you're thinking. Why not just put it on you? Well, it doesn't work like that. It has to be put on voluntarily. Bit of a drag, really, why is the most powerful magic always so vexing?" A scoff and a shake of his head. "So! What I want you to do is take the pendant and put it on."

He leans in and the friendly playful attitude disappears, leaving a hard and dark expression on his face. "I want your thoughts. I want your heart." He holds the pendant up close to Stone's face before setting the box down between them. And just like that the false cheerfulness returns like it was never gone.

"Don't worry, you'll still be yourself? You'll still have your own thoughts and feelings. Well, you know." He waves dismissively. "Unless I want them changed."

He strolls back to his throne, picking up his Fanta and taking another noisy slurp before looking back to watch Stone's reaction. "You put this on, I'll help you get Jones."

Jacob frowns, his gaze following Flynn as he takes the little box out, and showing the pendant. His stomach drops. As soon as he realizes what it is, he already knows that it's going to be something horrible, even before Flynn explains.

And when Flynn explains, his heart drops even further than his stomach does and he wants to scream, to punch Flynn in the face and run away and never come back--

I want your thoughts. I want your heart.

He stammers, almost choking on his own words.

"N-no--"

So there is something more he can take. He's going to take very last bit of himself that he has left and he's filled with a blinding white-hot fury that he didn't even know was possible--he manages a whole half-step before his tattoos glow again, and the desire to choke the life out of Flynn disappears rather painfully.

"Dammit!"

That's all he can muster, as the white-hot fury turns into a cold, abject fear.

He's going to do it.

He knows he's going to do it the moment Flynn said so.

He'd do anything to save Ezekiel.

He feels like he's going to be sick. Or pass out.

"...If I do this, you need to give me a way out."

He's not expecting him to, but if he didn't try...

Watching Stone realize what's happening and working through it is already so satisfying and entertaining that Flynn can hardly wait for him to finally give in. Because he will give in, there's no doubt about that.

Him and his stupid loyalty to his friends. Pathetic. But useful.

"An out?" At first Flynn looks like the audacity of a barter might infuriate him but then he pauses, tapping his chin. He smiles. "Fine, I'll give you a way out."

Another slurp before he throws the empty bottle aside.

"You can reclaim your mind and your heart if you kill Jones or make him put on the pendant instead."

There you go, Jacob! That's even two ways out, isn't he generous?

Edited 2018-04-15 11:07 (UTC)

The fire in Jacob's demeanor seems to sputter and die. His shoulders visibly slump and his face goes slack.

"That...that's not..."

He pinches the bridge of his nose. He feels sick, if he puts that thing on there's a good chance he might never see it taken off again.

But there's no way he would ever kill Jones or make him put the pendant on, either.

Maybe he should just go. Find another way to get to Jones. There had to be another way, right?

His mind races, coming up with complex possibilities in an instant...but who could go up against a guy that was taking over the galaxy? That was that insanely powerful? There was only one person in the world that could possibly take him on, and get Jones back safe and intact. His own tattoos would probably stop him from making any kind of alliances with any fairies or entities, they'd want to use his proximity to Flynn to their advantage.

"That's not going to happen and you know it."

And they were probably running out of time.

Don't do it.

He had to do it.

He winces and with a shaking hand, he grabs the pendant from the box and hastily puts it on.

Finally.

The reward is instant and even better than Flynn expected. He can feel the pendant's magic align with his own and then it's all there, on a silver platter, thoughts and feelings and memories. All there, all his, all he needs to do is reach out to take, change, shift around, manipulate.

He doesn't, for now, but he laughs, patting Jacob's cheek and projecting his voice straight into his mind.

Oh, we're gonna have so much fun.

There's a horrible feeling of sheer revulsion when he hears Flynn in his head. It's sickening and awful and he wants to fight back, fight it off--is there any way to punch a voice in your head?

If Flynn's watching, then he'll be privy to several temporarily satisfying, intricately detailed scenarios of Jacob beating the hell out of him--his tattoos flicker up again and he has to dial it back a little.

"You got what you wanted," he doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of talking back at him in his own head.

So much hate.

"Now help me save Jones!"

So much fear.

Edited 2018-04-15 11:32 (UTC)

Flynn rolls his eyes. "Yes, yes, a deal is a deal. We'll be right on our way."

But first things first. The image of Stone beating him up is amusing in its impotent rage but at the same time it's also very unacceptable. Besides, he should really test if that pendant actually works, right?

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Aren't you happy that you put the pendant on? Isn't it great to serve me?"

Because that sure is what he will put into Jacob's heart right now. He'll hold up his end of the bargain but that doesn't mean they can't have a little fun first.

"And who cares about Jones anyway, he's just so annoying, right?"

"Okay. Okay, good." Look, that's all that matters now, is Ezekiel being safe. And--

--something strange comes over him when Flynn speaks next, for a split second it's so sudden that it can't possibly be coming from his own will, but then it doesn't matter because he's so happy that he's got this pendant.

"Uh, yeah? Of course I'm happy! This is great!" He taps the thing around his neck. "And...I never really saw it before but yeah. Yeah it is." He's suddenly all smiles and sunshine. Why was he even so upset a second ago? He can't comprehend what was making him so mad, serving Flynn is the best.

"Who cares about Jones? Not me," so much agreement here. Something in him is attempting to rail desperately against the thoughts and feelings, but it dies before it can become conscious and fizzles out. "You have no idea how annoying he is. It's always, 'I'm Ezekiel Jones and I'm the best and I can pick any lock on earth,' and you'd think he'd get some new material someday?"

"Ugh, I knowwww." Flynn tilts his head back in annoyed agreement. "And the speaking in the third person? Like who does he even think he is? Someone important? Please."

This is great. It's even greater because Flynn knows what comes after when he releases his mind.

But not quite yet.

"Maybe we should just totally leave him. Don't you think?"

Yeah, you bet you think.

"Exactly! Who talks about themselves in the third person!" He hasn't felt this amiable towards Flynn in forever. It was nice, actually. He wasn't sure why he was so antagonistic towards him in the first place.

"...leave Jones?"

Wait, didn't he himself do something...bad...to get this pendant? 'Course, that didn't matter 'cause he was so happy to have it on, but he did ask Flynn to help, which meant that saving Jones was important--the logic struggles and fails, even as some part of him is desperately trying to throw something, anything--this all happens in less than a second as Flynn's override settles in.

"...maybe we should. Yeah."

Who needs to save Jones anyway? He was always getting into some kind of trouble. Serves him right, even.

Edited 2018-04-15 12:12 (UTC)

"I absolutely do think that's for the best. On the other side, I really can't have his skills in Peter's hands."

He doesn't think Peter could remove the tattoos from Jones but it's nothing he wants to risk. As much as he dislikes Jones, he's not stupid – he knows exactly just how skilled the thief is, however annoying he may be about it.

"And second, I am a man of my word, so."

He smiles darkly before he abruptly withdraws his influence from Stone's thoughts and emotions.

"Shall we get going?"

"Yeah, I agree--"

--and when Flynn's influence disappears, Jacob freezes, reality hitting hard.

Of course I'm happy!

Who cares about Jones? Not me.

...leave Jones? ...maybe we should. Yeah.

He said those words. He believed those words. In his heart of hearts, he went along with what Flynn wanted, he was helpless to his influence--

Jacob staggers back, too revolted to do anything but reel. He's really going to be sick--he's leaning over, hands propped up on his knees, shaking.

Flynn had controlled him. Everything he is, everything he was, everything he could be, his very self, his soul was under his control. Was he even truly thinking on his own even now? How could he ever be sure? How could he know?

The sheer horror is almost incomprehensible.

"You..." he points at Flynn, standing back up, still pale and shaky, but seething with rage. He holds the pendant with one hand, everything in him is screaming at him to rip it off, to throw it away and grind it into the ground with his heel. "You did this..."

Edited 2018-04-15 12:49 (UTC)

Flynn watches Stone in his dawning horror, the rage, the fear. The realization of the actual extent of the pendant and what he just gave up to Flynn.

"That's right." His voice is mild, almost gentle but his eyes are hard and uncaring. He steps closer, his voice low and menacing close to Stone's ear before he withdraws. "And don't you forget it."

He smirks. "Or maybe you will?"

Flynn can see the cracks in the foundation already. They would increase over time, he knows, deep fissures of doubts, which thoughts are his own? Which feelings are genuine?

Oh yes, they're going to have so much fun indeed.

"Now we should go and get Jones." He winks cheerfully. "Before you change your mind."

And don't you forget it. Or maybe you will?

The doubts are there and it's horrible. What if Flynn's already erased something that's happened? How would he ever know? Jacob wants so bad to shove the pendant in his eye, but he can't, he has to save Ezekiel.

"I'm not changing my mind. You think you can change my mind, but it won't ever change what's in here." Jacob points to his own heart defiantly, even if what he just went through stated otherwise.

As soon as they got Jones back he was going to smash this pendant with a hammer. Even though he was terrified that Flynn would do something to make him never take it off. And maybe he wouldn't even know that he did.

Wait--every single thought he had was on broadcast. He had to figure out a way to hide what he was really thinking, maybe if he could compartmentalize his thoughts...he'd have to work on it on the way there. There had to be a way around this thing.

"We'll see about that."

Flynn smiles, not revealing how much he can listen into. It's much more fun like that. And he already has so many ideas how to go on from here.

"Oh, and let's keep this thing between ourselves, hmm? No reason to let Jones in on our little secret."

"You don't have to worry about that," Jacob says diplomatically. He was too afraid that Jones would actually do something dumb like try to take it from him and wear it himself and that was absolutely not an option. He can't even think about the possibility.

He shoves the pendant under his shirt.

"Secret's safe with me."

"Good!"

Flynn pats his back amiably before leading the way. Just like old times, like they're best buddies. Like they're about to grab some cold ones from the fountain of youth.

Like they're family.

"Let's go get our thief back."

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bookbrawler - 2018-04-15 14:01 (UTC) - Expand

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And the stars look very different today...

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cw vomiting (almost)

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