It was by mere chance that she stumbled upon the place known as Honeyhome Village. Honeyhome Village was, in essence, a place where you'd stop by for a day and realize that you never want to leave. It had this homely atmosphere to it that was equal parts rustic and nostalgic, even to someone like Alphabet Chocolate who subsisted on violence as her primary diet and was more familiar with the technological advances of modern day society. How does primitive clothing and common food even compete with the exotic choices from years of globalization? It doesn't, but Alpha supposes that's the beauty of it. It's so foreign and it's a sight she'd only ever seen in films and the like as of late; there weren't many parts of the country that wasn't industrialized at this point and, with the creation of the Hyperloop, she doubted that those sparse plains and small towns would keep up for long with the ever-changing growth of human life. Even after quite a long while of ingraining herself in the world of Terrasphere, Alpha always felt as if this world was remarkable in its simplicity: the duality of its fantastical nature and the humbleness of developed civilization had enticed Alpha to not only slaughter beasts but to spend copious amounts of time merely traveling from place to place, taking in the sights and locale. That had been her primary goal once, back when she had merely started out and had met the ill-fated Merkaba. Of course, fights against fiery deities and gigantic arachnids had put a dent in her original sightseeing plans. Thus, she was here. If anyone who had known Alphabet had stumbled upon the town in reference to her, they'd simply say that 'no, this place would never catch her attention for long'. She isn't the type to dawdle around, they'd probably say. There's no excitement or thrill or adventure and indeed there wasn't any of the aforementioned things to be found in such a quiet, dull town. The people paced and baked and joked and slept without a single worry of the monsters that lurked in the night. They were just people living their lives to the best they could make it and, if Alpha was ever interested in philosophy for any reason at all, that would be her motto. It was by mere chance that she stumbled upon the name of Ivan Carl. The man was simply another man who suddenly appeared in the middle of Brisshal's perilous forests. Despite its reputation as a spawning point (and the start) of many Players, the place was awfully violent due to overzealous hunters and the like. All the creatures there were unnaturally aggressive, so Alpha liked to scout the area for appealing adventurers who seemed to be a good fit on her friends list. There was never a reason not to have too many friends, after all, and Alpha felt like a constantly expanding circle of connections meant continual fun. And she found Ivan Carl, a man who'd just popped in, to be very interesting compared to his compatriots. Never before had she met a man who dressed so tightly; it was as if he was trying to suffocate himself. There were no visible features to be seen and, upon closer inspection, she found that he had an interest for the arts of illusion and deception. Not many had taken a mastery in that particular field for some unfeasible reason and, just for that, Alpha gave him several points. Contacting him was fun, too. He seemed like someone Alpha would enjoy being around and thus here she was, waiting not for a man but for the idea and mystery of it. An adventure that lacked in blood but was incomparable in terms of enrichment and fun. "Whoop de doo," she whistled, standing next to this world's equivalent of a Panera Bakery. When was he going to show? It wasn't a good idea to miss the very beginning of a friendship, after all. And the exposition was the most important part unless you were starting in medias res. This story is just beginning and she couldn't wait to see how it unfolds. @Iván Carl
Iván was already in Honeyhome Village when he received communication from someone named Alphabet Chocolate. He was certain that he has never met anyone in the game with that name, considering that a name like Alphabet Chocolate would surely be memorable to anyone, including him. What the hell was an Alphabet Chocolate anyway? Was that a reference to chocolate in the form of the letters in the alphabet? Or was it a reference to the letters in the word chocolate? Was it a mistranslation of something? Was it a joke? A multitude of theories formed in Iván's mind, none of which he was certain was the answer. What he was certain of, however, was that whoever this Alphabet Chocolate is, they have been watching him for enough time to decide they wanted to contact him. Why? Iván did not know. Thankfully, though, this Alphabet Chocolate chose to meet up somewhere close, somewhere to his advantage, somewhere he could arrive first and stake them out. "Is that her?" Iván asked himself for the ninth time. He had been watching several places for any sign of anyone named Alphabet Chocolate, a couple of bakeries, a pie shop, and something with bread in its name that didn't look it had anything related to bread. Iván actually wanted to investigate that last place, his curiosity getting the better of him, but decided against it. He was here for a specific reason, and though he did not even understand why that was so specific, he couldn't help but get drawn to the mystery. "Only one way to find out." Iván walked out of the shadows and towards the tiny girl with black hair. She looked the part, whimsical enough to be someone going by the name of Alphabet Chocolate. Who just stands next to a bakery? NPCs would've gone in. Players who needed bread or something would've just gone in and out. Criminals would probably do the same but with more noise. That kid was strange, and Iván's spider-sense pointed to her as something, someone, he should definitely check out. "I hate chocolates," he deadpanned, making sure he was at a distance she could hear him but not close enough to get stabbed should this actually be a trap. If she was Alphabet Chocolate, that statement would get a reaction from her. If she wasn't, she would probably just give him a look and walk away from the crazy dude all covered from head to toe. Win-win.
"What?!" Alpha was, for once, out of words. She spluttered indignantly, quickly recovering from the surprising words with a pointed glare of distaste in the man's direction. That was him, alright. Ivan Carl. The guy who would stick out of anywhere like a toad in a party for mutated kangaroos testing for their doctorates. How did she even miss him? For once, she regretted the fact that Hector hadn't accompanied her. She was certain he would've liked to chew on this man's fingers for saying such a blasphemous thing! "You...don't like...chocolate?" she ground the words out in disbelief, prodding the man to explain himself. And, before he could, she took her pointer finger and poked him on the arm with some amount of pressure. Bending her neck back, she stared at the skies and, without warning, screamed. "Blasphemy! Heresy! This is a crime against every sweetened confectionery being baked in this world today! This is a crime against humanity and nature and everything good in life! This is a crime against unicorns and dragons and monolithic creatures of undefinable origin!" Alpha didn't understand half the words she just said but she felt an odd sense of misplaced pride that her vocabulary had expanded exponentially from all the English lessons she was receiving from her at-home tutor. Finally, crossing her arms as she pouted and looked to face anywhere but this man's hidden face, she harrumphed and said, with finality: "How are you going to redeem yourself from this travesty?!" It took awhile for Alpha to calm herself down from her sudden tantrum—there was about a minute of staunch silence with no response (whether she got one or not from the calculating man). The air was taut, tense, and stretched thin with tension but, with a breath, Alpha's shoulders relaxed and she looked down (up, if you considered the height difference; but, this was more of a metaphorical term than a literal one) at Ivan. "You made a grave mistake," she said seriously, her hair shadowing her features. A sigh. "You have angered the Great Candy Gods!" Alpha exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air wildly. Her eyebrows seemed to retreat up to her hairline, giving her an exaggerated, outrageous expression. "Had you ever read the bible? Well, I didn't, but I know some parts of it. The Great Candy Lords, er, Gods, would bring hellfire to this earth for this transgression! There is no redemption," she leaned it at this word. "Unless you sacrifice something of equal value to the shrine of the Great Candy Goddess; something that has the worth of the most delicious piece of chocolate truffle this planet has ever seen! You have brought destruction upon us all." Alpha shook her head solemnly. "Unless..." she broke off into a silly grin, her eyes crinkling with humor as she struggled to restrain herself from going into a laughing fit. "Well, you have illusion magic, do you not? You, Ivan Carl...well, you have been selected to be the Champion of Humanity!" Alpha posed, both her hands dabbing towards the sky. She did a somersault backwards, pointing both thumbs to herself as her chest puffed up proudly. "I, Alphabet Chocolate, the greatest Illusionist this world has ever known..." she paused for dramatic effect. And finally, with a glimmer in her eye, she addressed Ivan with one last piece of dialogue. "I will train you in the mystical arts! You will become the great wizard there ever has been, Ivan! You are the Boy Who Lived! The Once and Future King! The King of Heroes! And, after you finally surpass me, the Dark Lord Vader will kill me and you will go on a quest to avenge me; only to find out that the Dark Lord Vader was me all along and I was your father! Bwahahaha!" she cackled evilly, her hands raised to the air, curled like claws. "Come, Ivan," she beckoned with a glint in her eyes. "I will train you to become the best this world has ever seen!" With that, she finished her marketing pitch. @Iván Carl
On the surface, Iván seemed indifferent towards Alphabet Chocolate’s reaction to his statement. Beneath his coat, however, he was grinning like a Russian Blue cat who had just outsmarted a mouse. At the very least, the cat always thought it was one step ahead of the mouse, but that was not always the case. Sometimes, the mouse would find itself smarter than the cat, shooting it in the rear with a double-barreled shotgun it “borrowed” from the pitbull next door. “What is she talking about?” Iván mused to himself. That grin didn’t last long, however. He soon found himself raising an eyebrow, confused at the strange girl’s strange statement. This was Alphabet Chocolate all right. No one could be this weird about chocolates. And alphabets, words. That second part was Iván’s terrible attempt to connect both names but like the name itself it was just purely confusing. “Close enough,” he muttered to himself. “Redeem myself?” he deadpanned, unsure of what weird ponytail meant. Iván did not know how to respond to that, mostly because he did not know what it meant, what was there for him to seek redemption, so he just chose to stand there and stare at Alphabet Chocolate like one of those creepy statues in those creepy stores females would always flock to. “What mistake? What candy gods? What?” The term Champion of Humanity made Iván cringe. Alphabet Chocolate’s pose (did she just dab at him?) made things way worse. After all the confusing statements, which Iván thought was either very unnecessary, a waste of his time, or hilarious, he already had his coffee today, her outright introduction finally clarified a few things: (1) she was a practitioner of illusion magic as well, (2) she wanted to be his mentor, and (3) she wanted to be his father she was very, very weird. She peppered her pitch with a lot of cultural references, of which Iván only understood the Harry Potter and Star Wars ones. Overall, he thought this was going to be a very interesting partnership. He did have nothing going on and she could very well help him get better at his chosen skill. That is, if she doesn’t end up killing them both. “Okay,” he shrugged. “Just one question, though: What is up with your name?”
"Okay?" Alpha paused, staring at him incredulously. "Did you just say...okay? Really? Seriously?" Alpha couldn't believe her eyes (or ears). In all of the one-hundred and thirty-five men (and women) that she had propositioned to, none of them had accepted her offer. Of course, that meant that she had to...dispose of them—not in the murdery, backstabby way, though! She meant that she bribed them with some waffle fries to leave her to wallow in her disappointment but, with Ivan Carl's surprising acceptance, Alpha felt a renewed hope and vigor envelop her. "Do I ever?! Anyways! Name's Alphabet Chocolate, it's kinda a play on words? Kinda? My old name at this online forum board used to be Dictionary Candy and I was like, let's change it a bit! I got that first name from my hobbies, really! I really like eating candy and I really like burning down dictionaries and other books!" she shivered. "I really don't like long books. They're boring!" She extended a hand of solidarity to Ivan Carl, a boisterous smile blooming on her face. If Ivan took her hand, she would've immediately enveloped him in a quick hug. If he didn't, well...she'd force a hug on him anyway. It was a win-win situation for Alpha and, by the end of that short social exchange, Alpha had been guaranteed one free hug! "So!" Alpha said, her voice with a sing-song tilt. "We must begin your training montage right away! Oh, check this out!" Alpha reached over and grabbed a potted vase which had been used as decor for one of the bakery's outdoor dining tables. And, with an unrepentant smirk, she raised it above her head and tossed it at the ground directly in front of Ivan Carl with reckless abandon. Needless to say, the porcelain piece of pottery shattered and the dirt and flowers were scattered throughout the ground floor. "That," Alpha waved lazily to the mess she had created. "Is what I'm going to teach you!" She winked. There was even a finger wag in there for good measure. "This is called destruction of private property! It is essential that you learn how to do this, or else you'd never master cool magic like this!" She waved her hand over the pot, oblivious to the stares around them, and some sort of yellow energy began to radiate from her palm. "Illusion magic is pretty cool," Alpha laughed, her eyes focused on the mess rather than Ivan himself. "Illusions are kind of like mental magic tricks! You can trick someone into doing something or believing something's there," she gestured to her head. "But tricking people is easy! You can do that with a deck of cards, a toothbrush, and three ounces of carbon dioxide! Oh, and don't forget the block of cheese so you can bribe the mouse! But still," she grinned, a bit cockily, at this. "The thing is, tricking people is fun. Tricking time is even more fun!" The pot began to put itself back together. Piece by piece, the dirt shuffled and moved closer together. "I'll help you learn how to make rats turn into frogs and how to make grass taste like sugar cubes! And then, you'll learn how to tell time...well, you probably know how to tell time already. Like it's nine o'clock on the dot or something...what I'm going to do is teach you to tell time what to do!" The pot stood, fresh as the day it was bought, as Alpha scooped it up into her grasp. "First off, we're gonna have to find a hut in the middle of a deserted mountain to do some training and meditation under a waterfall! And then we're gonna find a group of monks who'll take us in until a bunch of bandits come in and slaughter everyone, including me, and leave you as the sole survivor! And then your parents are gonna get killed so you decide to become a Dark Knight of crime city! That sounds like a plan?" Alpha tilted her head to the side, waiting for Ivan's answer. "Don't worry, it'll be just like the movies! It'll only take a few clips, about thirty seconds long each, and then we'll move onto the next segment of the movie where you go on a quest as a fugitive to avenge us with super cool new powers to show the audience!" she took a breath of air—the only breath she took in her entire tirade. "And, when we're done, you'll be able to bypass the three minute wait time for cup noodles to boil! The ultimate goal for the evolution of humanity!" She gestured him to move forward. "Into the forest we go! After you, my child! I will raise you as my own!" @Iván Carl
Iván narrowed his eyes at Alphabet Chocolate’s reaction. A part of him felt wary of the tiny girl with a ponytail. So many of the things that came out of her mouth didn’t sound normal. A lot of them made little sense, a lot of them were mostly gibberish to Iván, but she did say she could train him to be better at illusion magic. Okay, her exact words were a little less sane than that, but the idea was the same. Besides, how harmful can this strange midget be? He raised an eyebrow at Alphabet Chocolate’s explanation. She sure likes to talk a lot, rambling for minutes on end. The part about “burning books” did not inspire confidence in Iván, but he let it slipped. She was probably just exaggerating. Right?! “Books are cool,” Iván mumbled to himself before taking Alphabet Chocolate’s outstretched hand and getting an unwanted hug for his trouble. He cringed at the idea of making a montage and took a step back when Alpha procured a potted vase from out of nowhere. Oh, wait. She took it from one of the bakery’s dining tables. Iván wondered if she was going to give it to him as a gift, noting that it would be stealing and he’d be branded an accessory to a completely unnecessary crime. He was just about to accept it when Alpha smashed it into teeny tiny pieces a few inches from where Iván stood. Iván was caught surprised and shot a glare at Alpha. “What are you doing?” She was going to teach him about vandalizing other people’s property? How would that help him improve his skills in illusion magic? Iván sighed under his coat. This was a bad idea. This was a horrible idea. This Alphabet Chocolate was probably just some crazy dude who was going to steal his money and leave him for dead. Destruction of private property isn’t cool magic. Destruction of private property is a crime. Before Iván could mouth off to Alpha, however, she started to show him what she could do. He decided to just let her demonstrate whatever it was she had planned to demonstrate. Maybe there was something more to her madness. Iván disregarded her strange statements about cheese and bribes and carbon monoxide, choosing to focus instead on the pot fixing itself as if nothing had happened to it. Turning rats into frogs was something Iván didn’t care for, though the making grass taste like sugar part could be hilarious. The thing about time, too, Iván noted that it would be very useful. Iván couldn’t help but admire Alpha’s skill, turning what she had destroyed back into what it had been before she got her crazy hands on it. The pot looked completely the same as it had before Alpha threw it down on the ground. The Batman reference was a bit too much, and Iván instinctively winced at Alpha for it, but the rest sounded like he could live with them. He could live with anything if she would be able to live up to her exaggerated promises. He sighed when Alpha continued to talk about movies and cup noodles. She was going to be a little more annoying than what he was used to, that’s for sure, but she could be worth it. He could survive her rambling, her tirades, her nonsensical over-exaggerations, if it meant growing stronger in terms of magical ability. “Okay,” he nodded at her, keeping his eyes on the crazy girl. “Please don’t call me ‘child.’ It’s weird.” Iván proceeded to move forward and onward, hoping she wasn’t just going to stab him from behind. That would just be so inconvenient after every word he’s had to tolerate from her.
Alpha had ignored much of Ivan Carl's comments. Books are cool? It was just a sign that Alpha had a lot of work cut out for her when she'll take this young grasshopper into her dojo (write it on a sticky note: Alphabet Chocolate needs to build her dojo). Still, she reminded herself not to call him child or the like. Respect was the key! She learned that from this nifty book she had borrowed from the library a few years back. The first step was respect and the second step was to take that respect and turn it into a cash cow...oh wait. That was a book on corrupt corporate business tactics, wasn't it? She pondered on that thought for a moment before she shrugged. Business tactics and teaching; they're just the same thing given different names! Same rules, same ideas. All she had to do was think of Ivan Carl as a fledgling coca-cola franchise and then that'll be 50% of her work and effort right there. Alpha leaned in, her eyes glancing back and forth conspiratorially as she whispered: "Follow me." She grabbed his arm and led him back toward the Maithe Woodlands, weaving through fallen branches and discreetly between tree trunks and possibly carnivorous plants. Invasive species and the like was something that was an apparent danger anywhere and Alpha knew that there would always be a chance that a very pretty flower could be a starving man-eating alraune. It was a one-in-five chance these days. It was difficult to say how long they had been walking but, by the time Alpha had finally reached her destination, she was slightly out of breath. Although that could've been caused from her lengthy monologue(s) earlier. She stretched and, with dazzled eyes and unconstrained elation, jumped up. Right into Ivan's face. "We're here! We're here!" she said and, with open arms, left Ivan's line-of-sight so he could see what a marvelous view was before them. It was... Identical to pretty much any other plot of land in the forest. There were trees, there was shade. There was practically nothing there that could differentiate this place from anywhere else in the woodlands but Alpha couldn't seem to understand that as she gazed upon the open area with wonder. "This is where I've been camping for a very, very long time," she leaned in with a wicked laugh. "Haha! Hector, boy! C'mere, we got our first student in the Alphabet Chocolate School for People-Who-Like-Messing-With-Time-and-Magic-More-Than-They-Should!" Silence. There was no response. Alpha just shrugged. "He's probably hunting for food," Alpha explained. And, with obvious glee and eagerness that one would find readily apparent in many young children, she took her lovely malformed doll out. "Haha, you ready? Oh! Disclaimer: 100% of the people in the Alphabet Chocolate School for People-Who-Like-Messing-With-Time-and-Magic-More-Than-They-Should will harm the timeline irreparably and cause serious damage to the space-time continuum which may or may not result in an apocalyptic scenario. Please refer to the Flash comics and Barry Allen for further information!" She grinned. "Okie dokie! Now, are you ready?" @Iván Carl
Iván raised an eyebrow at the tiny girl that was going to be his mentor from then and on. The way she told him to follow her did not inspire confidence. In fact, it made him feel like he was going to get mugged in an alley. Was she going to stab him repeatedly and use her magic to heal him, only to keep stabbing him repeatedly? He heaved a concerned sigh. That idea made him question his own sanity for a bit. “Where?” Alpha didn’t answer him, though, and instead grabbed his arm and led him to the woods. Images of her turning him into a human pin cushion, a virtual one at least, made him grimace. Stab then heal then stab then heal… Maybe she’d even feed him to plants or something. He’s heard that happen, though he hadn’t actually seen anything like that happen. He suddenly felt like he was missing a lot, not living life enough, both in the game and outside. If he had known they would be walking a lot, Iván would’ve probably refused and instead suggested renting a horse or something. Then again, Alpha would’ve probably done something terrible to the rented horses. He didn’t really care about the horses but it wouldn’t have been something he wouldn’t want to witness. Unless it was part of the training. Then again, would that kind of training be useful to him in any way at all? At the very least, he’d volunteer to get stabbed and healed over and over again if it came down to it. “Great,” he murmured to himself. “I am getting stabbed in the woods.” He couldn’t believe he would experience that in the game when he’s tried his hardest in real life not to ever get stabbed in the woods. Maybe he shouldn’t have seen that British movie. Why would you go out into the woods when people who’ve been there for so many times advised you not to? It’s not even a matter of magic or the occult. There could’ve been ferocious creatures, predators, waiting for you in there. Always listen to the rangers. Always. Iván was unceremoniously dragged from his mental argument with himself by Alpha who excitedly revealed that they were where they needed to be. He narrowed his eyes, not finding anything special about the place. He raised his eyebrow, arms crossed, when Alpha called out for some guy named Hector. Hector did not respond, probably murdered by her, and she coldly explained she was probably out hunting for food. Hunting. For food. They met at a bakery. They could’ve gotten Hector some bread before they left. Unless of course Hector has been a corpse for a really long time. “Oh, so you’re a comic book fan,” Iván grinned from under his hood. He was a comic book fan himself but he didn’t need Alpha to know that. He also didn’t need her to know that he doesn’t really care about harming the timeline. He just wanted to reach his full potential, know and understand time magic, and if it meant destroying the timeline, if he had to do that to satiate his curiosity, he would have no qualms in doing just that. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Iván winked at Alpha before remembering she wouldn’t have seen that on account of his goggles. He sighed instead.
To put it simply, Alphabet Chocolate was panicking. Sure, she knew the basic concepts of teaching stuff to people: you beat them with it until they learn it. That's how it went on in the television so Alpha was certain that her information carried some sort of validity to it. Lions did it, too. See? Throwing people off a cliff isn't a bad thing if you're trying to teach them how to climb and Alpha understood that. She understood that, for Ivan to become her greatest disciple and legacy-holder, she'd have to beat him to an inch of his life until he recuperates and, afterwards, she'd have to beat him up some more. It turned Oliver Queen into the Green Arrow and it'll turn Ivan Carl into The Guy Who Wears A Window Curtain Over His Face. Bonus side, it'll also be somewhat fun. Unfortunately, Alpha was conflicted. She was ready to use this swim-or-drown teaching method but, as she readied herself, she also wondered if this was what the genre they were in right now. What if, instead of a grungy spy-based movie, they were inside a children's show? What if they were in a Lego-like universe and the lessons that Alpha had to teach Ivan was not skill but the power of friendship to overcome all adversities? It took Alpha a good while to scan that over in her brain but, after some time, she finally steeled herself. If it all went to the trashcan, she'd just start over with a New Game+. It wasn't as if there were any repercussions to possibly traumatizing some guy in the middle of an obscure forest no one, except for new players, would stumble upon. "Alrighty," she breathed, her face the epitome of condescension and arrogance. "Let's do this!" This would not be a battle of fists. No, this would be something much better. "Survive this!" And then the world around Alpha exploded in psychedelic colors. Rainbows. Everywhere. And, from the distance, one could hear the snort and gallop of a gallant unicorn. The breath and roar of a fierce dragon. The bark and yip of a ten month-old puppy at an animal shelter. Alpha gave a pleasant bow, confident in her skills. "Can you cast a better illusion that this?!" Alpha scoffed, eyes filling with pride as a horse (if one could ever categorize that monstrosity as a horse) trotted off behind her. "Can you make something cooler than this?" Alpha gestured at the crime against nature than was her imagination. "This world is everything anyone's ever dreamed of! The ultimate paradise! It's so awesome that no one would ever want to leave!" A bird, frighteningly outfitted with a full row of human teeth, smirked a cheeky Cheshire cat smile from above. And then a lemur, with wings the size of an airplane, swept in and consumed the bird in its jaw hungrily before it flew back up into the red-white-black-blue-green-yellow-orange monstrosity that was the sky. "This will be the first trauma that will make you more powerful! You'll have to abandon this dream world for reality! Is this evil or what?!" Alpha cackled. A small part of her wondered if this was too cruel, even by her standards. She brushed it down (alongside her own desire to stay in this purely cool world she had created. "Show me! Let us duel in an epic battle of imagination and puns!" she exclaimed. And then, at that moment, a fish with a top hat swam in the open air and pecked Alpha on the cheek with a sweet kiss. "First battle! Let's see who's more sofishticated!" Troll Illusion (Miscellaneous) Abra Cadabra! Oh my god, that guy just turned into a two-headed ostrich that has just been split in half by a cybernetic space viking! Oh wait. Nah, that's just what happens when you give a kid the power to make illusions. Humbug. @Iván Carl
For a moment there, Iván was sure Alpha seemed worried about something. He wasn't sure if she heard him mumble something about getting stabbed in the woods, if that was really her plan and she became concerned about pulling that off now that Iván knew what she was really up to. Maybe she was worried about Hector's whereabouts, not anything related to Iván. It's not all about him, he knew that. Or maybe she was more concerned about Iván finding Hector's corpse somewhere nearby. Iván narrowed his eyes at her, from under his goggles. This was starting to feel the weird mentor-protege/hunter-prey relationship between that weird detective with the sweet tooth and that savior/serial killer with the magic notebook. Wait, was Iván the detective? Hmm. He hated chocolate, so maybe he was more the savior/serial killer. Then again, Alpha probably murdered Hector, so that would complicate the roles. Thankfully, before Iván could overthink his brain into a corner, Alpha's expression turned into something familiar, something less problematic, something more Alphabet Chocolate: confidence on steroids. Iván braced himself when she yelled out a challenge, everything around her turning into stranger than normal. There were rainbows, an explosion of colors that included those not found in rainbows, some galloping, an alarming roar, and even cute yipping. Iván swallowed air, grimacing at the creature, an awful-looking version of a horse with its own body for a head, that appeared behind Alpha. She called it cool as he challenged Iván to make a better illusion. He understood Alpha's sentiment about this world and dreams, about some people not wanting to leave. Unlike the real world, they could be gods here. It was an escape after all. Some of them were here because they didn't want to be back at home, where numerous problems were waiting to take them apart. Eli himself had just gotten out of a break-up with a girl he was engaged to. This game saved him from himself. He understood very well how this was paradise for the fallen. More strange, disturbing creatures made their presence felt around Alpha. A bird with human teeth, a Cheshire cat with a weird smirk, and a lemur with massive wings that ended up eating the bird. Iván could feel his stomach revolt at that last image. Even the sky was affected by Alpha's magic, looking like someone's puke after that someone ate every color known to man. The word trauma forced Iván's attention back to Alpha. That wasn't a word he wanted to hear from her. "I think I'm okay with that," he smirked under his hood. Suddenly, Iván started feeling strange. Was her magic just catching up to him? Maybe the fact that he had goggles on slowed down the process of whatever was happening to him, as his vision was less directly affected by Alpha's magic than his other senses. He could see the illusions Alpha's magic made him see but seconds before that he was already hearing them, smelling them, feeling them. Maybe her illusion had underlying effects that were just making themselves known to him. Was that true? Or was this all Alpha's plan? Maybe she just wanted to display her strength first with all the gross things she could imagine and only now truly attack him? Although Iván appeared calm and collected on the outside, deep inside he was less than that. He stood his ground, appeared like nothing was going on, but he was already panicking. This was not going to be easy for him. Despite her appearance, Alpha was strong. Iván felt her strength firsthand and he was now worried about his health. "I'm definitely getting stabbed now, aren't I?" he mumbled to himself, keeping his eyes on Alpha but finding it hard to do so. He swiped his hand to the right and fumbled with his spells panel like some drunk gaijin stumbling into a midnight diner, on the hunt for some ramen to satiate his alcohol-fueled mistake. It took him longer than he wanted but he found the appropriate spell. Finding the target was easier, considering there were Alpha and himself out there and he didn't want to add to his current plight. On this moment, he thanked the developers for Assist Mode, hoping the spell wouldn't miss, hoping Alpha would get hit, though he wasn't sure it'd affect her as much as her magic was affecting him. Success would mean Iván would disappear from sight. He needed to buy himself some time. It could be what he needed.
Alpha watched with a pout as the man appeared to be completely indifferent to her personal playground, his expression and demeanor refusing to falter in the face of her glorious creations. Indignant at his lack of wonder, she proceeded to promptly stomp her feet on the floor (or whatever the ground had become in this crayola-inspired psychedelic trip) repeatedly. "C'mon, you have to admit this is super cool!" she whined, half-hysterical and half-disappointed. Her arms were flapping up and down, her face contorted into a reddened mess. How was he not impressed?! Even Alpha found herself shocked by her own genius at times whenever she popped into her subconscious, illusory world! Was Ivan actually a golem or something? Was he a creature that can't smile or enjoy the nicer things in life without dying? Is there some pressing thing shoved up...that made sure he couldn't relax?! Alpha, to put it simply, was frustrated. "Like, just smile or frown or something!" she pointed straight at the man's face accusingly. "Your face is made out of bricks or something!" It was impossible to stop the Alphabet Chocolate Rant Train when it begins and, for a good time, her way with words could've rivaled Strom Thurmond's 24-hour filibuster. It'll take a while for it blow off but, when it did, Alpha found little strength left in her body and her limbs fell like limp noodles. Her face hit the ground as she stared, aimlessly and lifelessly, at pure nothingness. She had given up hope. "Why is this my life?" she groaned, her words muffled by a mixture of dirt, plants, and natural fertilizer which found its way into her open mouth. It took a second before the taste reached Alpha's tongue and brain and she found herself hopping up, spluttering, and spitting out stray pieces of grass that had taken up the appearance of Crayola brand crayons in her world. "Bleh!" she spat out something vaguely resembling Shia LeBouff's visage. Of course, it was merely a rock; but, in her world, this rock was a beautiful rendition of a popular celebrity. She rubbed her lips before she settled her eyes onto where Ivan was. Or, if one were to be more accurate in grammatical and time-tenses, where Ivan should've been. Nothing. She turned around. Nothing. She looked up and down. Nothing. She checked underneath her shirt. Nothing. Not a sign or a hint or a single hair. She sniffed the air. It smelled like chocolate-and-cheese fondue. Lovely, yes, but not particularly what she was looking for. "Hello?" she said to no one in particular, eyebrow cocked as she examined the place around her. "Uh, where'd you go?" @Iván Carl
It worked. At least it seemed like it did. Iván wasn't actually sure if his illusion magic, his attempt to hide himself from sight, actually worked to perfection. Alpha did seem a little distracted with his reactions. Or more appropriately, his lack thereof. Of course she'd be proud of her creations. She's worked so hard, exerted so much time and effort, in reaching this level of mastery, this point of expertise. Her fury and her frustration at what appeared to be Iván's indifference towards her creations were only appropriate. Unfortunately, Iván was too consumed by every strange thing that was bombarding his senses that he couldn't focus on what Alpha was saying. Her rants fell on deaf ears as Iván made sure to concentrate on his magic, nothing else. It did not take him long to confirm that his invisibility actually did work. Alpha looked everywhere, turned every direction she could, but to no avail. Iván's magic was able to buy him some time, obfuscate his very existence from her eyes. At least for a few moments, it did. But all he needed were moments. Out of nowhere, four Iváns appeared, three of which were illusionary clones, surrounding Alpha, one in each direction. Although she could not see it, Iván grinned underneath his coat. The confusion would serve as their cloak. She only had a small chance of finding out which one was the real Iván, even though Iván never actually moved from in front of her. Alpha was going to need all the luck she could muster. As if on cue, all of the Iváns charged at Alpha at the same time. Once the real Iván makes contact with her, preferably with a flick to her nose, the other clones would disappear. It was a law of magic in world. You couldn't keep the trick while serving the treat. "Smile!" All the Iváns yelled out the same thing, all appearing to be raring to punch her in the face.
Wait, wait, wait...what?! What was even going on at this point? Alpha turned around wildly, doing multiple 360° rotations as she picked herself off the ground to meet this awfully confusing spectacle. As anyone with a pair of eyes could plainly see, there were four Ivans. Now, that might not sound weird in a game with giant spider ladies and the like but Alpha, from all her time exploring and fighting, had never actually seen duplicates of someone before. The character customization system Terrasphere had was top quality and it seemed like there was no way that any two guys could be anywhere similar in appearance, which made her that much more susceptible when not one or two identical doppelgangers popped out, but five. Her mind turned, churning. If this was a cartoon, smoke would've been billowing out the sides of Alphabet's ears as her eyes spun wildly, trying to make sense of the situation. "Are you all quadruplets?! Ivan Carl the First, Ivan Carl, the Second, Ivan Carl the Third, and Ivan Carl the fourth? Was your dad named Ivan Carl? Are you guys all Ivan Carl Juniors?!" she spluttered, eyes wide. The world suddenly felt very loopy and her knees were weak; she could feel her body and mind about to collapse. Alphabet Chocolate was a person who followed instinct and, in the face of uncertainty, her inept brain simply couldn't keep up. And then all the clones closed in. Alpha gulped. This was not going the way she expected it to and, before she could get another thought in, the four musketeers charged. "W-wait! Time out!" she crossed her arms, a cold sweat dripping down her forehead as her throat felt very, very dry. Each of them had their fists raised up and Alpha, stunned, didn't even think to dodge. Her eyes were tightly shut. She held her breath, waiting for the oncoming pain. Her head rushed a thousand miles a minute in shock and a tad bit of fear before, after a few seconds of waiting, she felt a flick on her nose. She opened her eyes. There was only one Ivan Carl. Was the sudden posse of clones just a figment of her imagination? Were they just a massive hallucination she got? Maybe she shouldn't have eaten that awfully suspicious cake that someone had left out in the open atop a random rock an hour before. Sure, she had gotten the poisoned status effect for her troubles earlier on but maybe it had some sustained effect like 'turns person who eats this crazy'. Still, she couldn't help but take a breath in relief. And then her eye twitched as she faced Ivan Carl with the most vicious pout she could muster. "Seriously? You're such a jerkface!" Alpha grumbled as she tried to land a soft kick on the taller man's shins. "Gah! You know what? You deserve this!" Without another second to waste, Alpha quickly conjured an illusory pile of whipped cream on her hand. There wasn't any hesitation as she aimed to at Ivan's face, throwing it with all the strength she could muster. Unsurprisingly, throwing airy whipped cream was like trying to throw a plain piece of printer paper as a projectile. @Iván Carl
Despite his mind being addled by Alpha's magic, Iván was still able to trick her. Sure, it wasn't as powerful a trick as changing the colors of the sky or making grotesque creatures appear from out of nowhere but it served its purpose. He couldn't help but grin under his hood, having successfully flicked his supposed mentor's nose with relative ease. The invisibility trick was amateurish. Anyone with a higher Mastery would have done a better job and kept it on for a far longer time. It didn't help that Alpha was jamming Iván's brain, so all he could muster was a few moments of invisibility. He was able to quickly transition to clones, however, tricking the strange girl's eyes into perceiving not one but four versions of him, three additional clones and himself having stayed at the same position the entire time. It helped that Alpha seemed to have a pretty wild imagination and her thoughts were all over the place. For someone who was a master of illusion and time, she seemed to be quite gullible. That or she was playing with him. "What the—?" Iván's celebration was cut short when whipped cream suddenly covered parts of his goggles. He was expecting a slap or a punch or maybe a fireball but whipped cream? That was...something. He stumbled backwards, not sure if this was the start of another attack. He clenched his fists, bracing himself for whatever Alpha was doing next. For all he knew, the whipped cream was a distraction. Was she going to throw that disgusting-looking horse-thing monstrosity at him? Iván fumbled to get the cream off his goggles, only making it worse. He was blinded at this point. He could just take his goggles off but the thought didn't cross his mind at this point. There was only fear and nervousness. Whatever was coming next was going to hurt. Probably.
If Alpha had telepathic powers of any kind, she would currently be in a fit of giggles at Ivan's awfully serious interpretation and commentary of the recent events. But of course, Alpha didn't have access to that type of ability and thus she remained as plain-faced as she could be which, admittedly, wasn't as stoic by the definition any sane man would put it but was still good enough in her own valuable opinion. So, without further ado, she began to hoot. Funnily enough, it wasn't a hoot that would be heard in parties and bars; it wasn't uproarious laughter or a small giggle. Nah. It was an actual, authentic hoot that you would hear when an owl's beak parted during its nocturnal shift. "Hoot hoot, hoot hoot!" Alpha, for lack of a better word, hooted. Her arms were by her side, doing a vague impression of a flapping chicken that couldn't fly and her face was a mockery of a duck's bill---a duck face you'd find on selfies on Instagram. "Just desserts! Get it?" Alpha grinned. "Cause, you know? Like, you poked me which was totally rude so it's karma except it's whipped cream," she pondered on the thought for a moment, tapping her finger on her bottom lip before she decided maybe she wasn't being clear enough about her joke. "And whipped cream is sweet, right? So it's a dessert. And 'Just Desserts' means you got what was coming to you and I smacked you on the face with whipped cream! Get it?" Alpha seemed awfully proud of herself and gave herself a mental pat on the back with her absolutely splendid attempt at humor. She rambled on some more about her acute sense of comedy, completely oblivious to Ivan's state of temporary blindness. And, as she grew more and more detailed on her awfully long explanation and verbal essay on the differences between puns, wit, wordplay, and homegrown Irish potatoes versus homegrown Idaho potatoes, small little props began to appear before her. Floating potatoes, potatoes with eyes, Mr. Potato-Head figurines with exaggerated pink ears and floral bowties... An army of potatoes with limbs. They were behind her and, as Alpha continued on her nonsensical vomit of words, their eyes opened slowly and they stood on both feet, examining their arms and legs with wonder before they turned their eyes on both Ivan and Alpha. Now, this would be a cute moment any other time considering the fact that the potatoes were numerous, tiny, and colored in a batch of vibrant hues (from Macaroni Orange to Corpse Grey) and they had little googly eyes. This would've been a fascinating occasion, indeed...if only they weren't sentient and, well, staunch misotheists. Within seconds, they grabbed miniature pitchforks and armed themselves. Within a minute, they were charging at their creator and Ivan Carl, blood in their eyes. "Down with Alphabet Chocolate! Down with Ivan Carl!" they yelled on the top of their lungs, their voices sounding like what children whiffing down helium balloons would sound like. Alpha, enraptured in her long speech, heard not a single sound. "...So the entire hierarchy is wrong! We have to abolish this greenhorn movement against the Noodle Dynasty and establish a new regime of oligarchy that favors legislation in favor of fast food production and diaper-creation! Do you understand? We need a revolution! And the first place that would happen would be in Chad---it's this country somewhere in Africa or something---and then we could slowly bring in slews of country-fried steak imports for the economy to burst and then, with a new Great Depression, we could conquer the world! And this world would be a new utopia underneath the words of Weird Al Yancovic!" @Iván Carl
