The Nightmare Child (HB)

Until the land and sky began shifting into what looked like a futuristic,and busy, space station. Ali blinks,glancing around."Eh?"This was familiar for some reason....He blinks at the sight of a woman summoning multiple fruits for her and her freinds.That heathaze effect...No way.Sel'nai'raach?!?!

The teen spots a group of people, and walks over,feeling drawn to them. A man nods at another, while a woman holds a baby in her arms, smiling as she tickles the child. The man, tall,with scruffy,black hair and long,prominent canines, grins,speaking a language he somehow understood.Said language had a...serious feel to Ali for some reason.

"Yes, I know. While we're gone, look over the company. I trust you." Then,he switches to another language, one that had a more playful feel."Now, we really gotta go. Me, the wife,and squirt should leave now."Accepting the kid while the woman hands him off to hug several people, the man yelps as his beard his turned into a pullrope."My'ia, he's assaulting my beard!" My'ia laughs, taking the baby back and teasing the man as she gives their son a  eskimo kiss."Well, Jio'yen, perhaps he thinks it a squirmer attached to your face,and is merely protecting his precious dada." "Oh, veeeery funny." Jio'yen ruffles the sparse amount of hair on the kid's head.

(If you wish, Scape can be either in his own memory realm, or with Ali.^^)

From behind, Scapegoat put a hand on Ali's shoulder. Guy seemed quite struck with the scene playing out before him. But Scapegoat had turned his nose to the air. And he smelt reality distortion, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Not that they ever were. But he felt he should cover the bases. Just in case anyone was thinking of making a short jaunt to Topeka.

The ghoul held out four fingers in front of him in a square shape to frame the picture, "You recognise those chittering ninnies, don'tcha? Betcha they feel familiar." He didn't understand what anyone was on about (so what's new). But he smiled at the baby nevertheless, "Al'ama! What an ugly kid. You wouldn't want to be him, would ya?" He went to nudge Ali playfully.

Ali's mouth twitches up in a smile as he watches the family.Heh...seemed like a good one...Blinking as he feels a hand on his shoulder,the thief glances back,and nods."Yeah..Doesn't seem like it,eh?" At the next comment he tilts his head, examining them."Yeeeaaaah, I think so...Don't know why,though..."

At the next comment, Ali snorts,grinning."Yeah, guess I wouldn't..."The small family of three wave goodbye,beginning to walk away, and he blinks."Ah!! C'mon, let's follow them!" He runs after them, keeping up.

Eventually, they wound up in front of a small space craft,the thief examining it.A good craft, well made...but, also obviously meant for rugged travel. A Jeep instead of a Ferrari."Huh...cool.."Then the family starts to board it."Ah!!" He sprints,leaping inside as the woman glances down at the baby,cooing."Awww...he's falling asleep." Things fade to white.

His hint had been missed. Scapegoat made a desolate derp face behind Ali's back before he too picked up his feet and followed. They could walk a mile right now and go nowhere. For all was not what it appeared to be. They were wasting time. But time was something the ghoul had plenty of. He was more than happy to humour his guest.

When the vision began to end and the land turned to white the perceptions of elevation and distance were lost. Although Scapegoat had not boarded, he was nearby Ali. He applauded uproarishly and shouted for an encore. The play had been a little dry, lacking a few murders and dance numbers, but it showed promise.

His eyes sidled to his companion as he stopped clapping, "It never makes a curtain call. One quick scene and then its off to the prop department to prepare for the next. It could go on forever with those, it could. Which is a shame, cus we ain't got no seats." He would go to sit down and seem to realise at the last moment what he'd just said, "Do you know what that was you were looking at? It could give you another clue, it could! I call it Mr Vu. For all the inmates here I'm glad of Mr Vu. He's the only light-hearted entertainer. Watch what it does next."

And the white world would evolve into the next scene.

Ali blinks as the scene fades into white, glancing around."What the hell..."Snorting as Scapecoat claps and shots, the theif glances at him."eh? It?" He listens, brow furrowed curiously."Hmm? Well...considering the peoples' powers, and the looks of the location...It was a Sel'Nai'Raach spacestation, maybe?....Wait a minute, does that mean.."

Then the scene changes.It resolves into the inside of the spacecraft, the family sitting around a table, Jio talking to his wife."Well, we're approaching that one planet. Heh....It'll be interesting, seeing our little 'cousins'...You know,I've heard a good many of them have amazing powers." My'ia nods."Yep!!!" She adjusts the child in her arms, smiling in amusement as he latches onto the bottle."Ahahah, Ali'Kintar. Don't drink so fast!" Ali's eyes widen as he stills,then dashes forward, reaching out."Mom, Dad!!! Hey,hey!!! It's me! Your kid!! I can't beleive it! C'mon, I'm right here!!" His hand phases through them,and he staggers, the family carrying on as they don't even notice his presense."No....nono..C'mon,this ain't fair...I'm so freaking close..."Useless, useless... He clenches his fists, then glances at Scapegoat."What exactly does this Mr. Vu do?"

An odd thought struck Scapegoat when asked the question. Is this what it felt like to be the Ghost of Christmas Past? He'd had no idea Ali needed to learn the true meaning of Christmas. He didn't seem to be the 'bah humbug' type. If he had known he would have sung many a more Christmas carol by now.

The ghoul tapped his temple as he explained, "Mr Vu latches onto ya like a mental parasite and creates its own little world. He traps you in a setting that's so familiar it feels like home. You recognise them. Cus you've been here before. So you don't want to leave. What you see is your past. Behold the work of Mr Vu - the Living Memory." They were inside Ali's own capacity for retention. Scenes that he remembered, no matter how slight, were being recalled.

"And we've already been here far longer than we think we have. Remind me. Do mortals need to eat?" Ghouls didn't need to worry about things like starvation. That was part of the reason Scapegoat had lasted so long out here in the Badlands of eternity. He himself had been stuck in the grip of Mr Vu for many a month before realising what was going on. Not that it wasn't fun to be somewhere back home for a change - just he could do without reliving his mother's violent death yet again. He'd had a terrible haircut that day, it was painful to relive.