Close Encounters

"The stars are like a gateway into the imagination - from the depths of space mankind can see his greatest dreams as well as confront his darkest nightmares..

for in the vast expanse of infinity a man is made aware of how truly insignificant he is in the cosmic scheme of things..

indeed our own planet, a small and humble little speck, is microscopic in the great picture..

yet time and time again it seems the battle for the survival of the entire cosmos is played out upon the surface of this worthless little rock..

some would say this proves that Earth plays a great and unquestionable role in the running of existence..

some would argue it only proves mankind has yet to truly face the truth behind the stars..

which is right and which is wrong, we may ask?

perhaps neither.. perhaps the truth is a little bit of both..

the question is: will the truth set us free or shall it at long last destroy us all? "

Chapter 1 - Sudden Change
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary.. how does your garden grow? with silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row.." sang the chorus of a well-known nursery rhyme as a group of children ran around the streets of a rural village - the sun beginning to set as they continued to play without a care in the world.

The children continued to run around singing that same nursery rhyme as a young man walked into the village, his appearance scruffy at best - much of his facial features covered by a thick beard while his eyes betray a lack of sleep, he walks slowly and looks around at the children with a few glances before making his way further into the village.

Michel Deuce, more commonly refered to as "Night Owl", was a stranger in these remote parts and he was already aware of the looks he was receiving from a few adults who sat on their lawns - the older residents obviously distrustful of anything new and looking as if they were ready to form a lynch mob at any point.

Michel didn't let the hostility get to him, he was used to such reactions in the "dark corners" of the world - after several wars and the rise of occult and mutation amongst many other superhuman phenomena many parts of the world had reverted to superstition and fear: Michel didn't really blame them either.. these were dangerous times.

Instead Michel made his way over to the local graveyard and made his way inside, away from the locals - sitting down by a grave he simply waited.. as if knowing something was about to happen.. he knew from experience that often the best way to track down the unexplained was to simply let it come to him..

Quite suddenly, a melodious, yet slightly haunting singing voice began to resound in the graveyard. The enchanting voice came from a golden-haired girl who appeared to be in her early teens:

"Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements

You owe me five farthings, say the bells of St. Martins

When will you pay me, say the bells of Old Bailey

When I grow rich say, the bells of Shoreditch

When will that be, say the bells of Stepney

I'm sure I don't know, says the great bell at Bow

Here comes a candle to light you to bed

Here comes a chopper to chop off your head..."

Michel simply smirked as he leaned against the gravestone - watching the girl, his talent for finding the unusual not seeming to fail him - he listens to the song and has already began to formulate several possibilities in his mind as to who or what the girl may be.

"Chip, chop, chip, chop... the last man's dead..." the girl sings, finishing her song on an eerie note, stopping and resting her hands on a nearby gravestone. She looked up at the murky sky, appearing oblivious to her surroundings. Her golden eyes didn't blink once.

Michel coughed slightly to get the girl's attention - still leaning back.

The girl looks at him with piercing golden eyes, but says nothing.

"..nice eyes.. you're not human.. not even mutants have golden eyes.. that's more a Terral thing.." Michel notes.

"Just the half-bloods and pure-bloods." the girl said, whose name was Karma.

"..oh.. I see.. you guys still believe in racial purity and all that jazz? ..interesting.. to each their own.." Michel replies.

"No... my race is virtually extinct." Karma said. "That's what Master tells me, anyway..."

Michel thinks for a moment before he nods slowly "..depends what you want to believe.. you'll be surprised how often something that seems extinct is more active than people would first imagine..".

Suddenly a new figure emerges in the graveyard, appearing inhumanly tall and dressed in a suit - long arms almost dragging across the ground as a large hat covers most of the figure's face, disturbingly around its neck seems to be a hangman's noose.

Karma glances at the figure for a moment, then looks away, turning her gaze to the gravestone that she was leaning on.

The tall figure moves over to Michel, when it gets nearer the creature's face is revealed - a horrific sight with multiple glowing eyes and a mouth full of sharp fangs that glisten with saliva, each arm ends in long fingers that have massive claws.

The figure wastes little time in paralysing Michel with a flash of energy from those eyes, causing him to fall on the ground as if dead - the tall figure totally ignoring Karma as it reaches down and lifts the lifeless Michel and carries him away over one shoulder.

Karma turns toward the figure as this happens; her eyes begin to glow. She teleports, reappearing in front of the figure, floating in mid-air and glowing with what appear to be emerald green flames.

"...put him down." she demands.

The figure's eyes glow brightly and before the girl can quite understand what is going on she finds herself suddenly behind the figure - "..e'llH wEr.. rAd'e.. riO'a.." the figure murmurs in an alien tongue before it moves on, still carrying the lifeless Michel with it.

Karma frowned. "I said, put him down." Lifting her hand, she launches a ball of glowing white energy at the tall figure's back.

The figure doesn't even flinch as the ball of glowing white energy simply absorbs into its form as it continues to carry Michel to the edge of the graveyard as it does so it extends one of its long arms and forms a vortex which opens much like a door: "..e'llH wEr.. rAd'e.. riO'a.." the figure repeats without looking back, then enters the vortex.

Running after the figure, Karma dashes into the vortex seconds later.

Upon entering the vortex everything turns pitch black - the sensation of falling lasts for a few moments before Karma feels herself landing in a pool of liquid, a horrible smell akin to rotting flesh fills her lungs as the darkness disappears to reveal a passage filled with stagnant water that reaches up to one's ankles - the passage filled with glowing fungi but otherwise resembling an underground cavern that barely allows one to stand without scraping one's head off the roof.

The tall figure disappears around a corner, virtually crawling on all fours as it drags Michel behind it - Michel finally beginning to stir as he's dragged through the stagnant water, his vision blurry and his head pounding.

Wincing slightly at the stench, Karma takes off running, following the monster.

Michel struggles as the tall figure drags him into a large room filled with organic tables and hooks which suspend from the roof - many of these hooks have skeletal figures hanging from them, vaguely humanoid in appearance but decayed with age and missing chunks of their body.

"..ugh.. no fucking way.." Michel said, feeling sick as he actived one of his sigils and punched the tall figure with sufficent force to send it tumbling across the room as he got to his feet and scrambled towards what he assumed was the exit.

Yet Michel didn't get far before he felt blinding pain across his back as the tall figure leapt at him, digging its large claws into his back as it dragged him back towards one of the tables:

"..e'llH wEr.. rAd'e.. riO'a..".

Karma, having darted onto the scene, was thinking frantically. "Remember what Master told me... Balance flows through the body... channel it, don't resist it..." she thought to herself.

"Chaos!" she shouts, launching a number of dark, shadowy tendrils from her hand that curve around Michel and strike wildly at the tall figure like blades that crackle with energy.

The tall figure releases Michel, leaving large wounds on his back - then rears up and hisses like a frenzied cat, its jaw cracking slightly as it stretches impossibly long: then the ground below Karma and Michel breaks apart and they tumble down into darkness as the tall figure disappears from view..

Chapter 2 - The World Below
Michel fell down onto the ground, the smell of rotting flesh disappearing as the pair find themselves in a large tunnel that is oppressively dark - yet dry and filled with dirt as opposed to the stagnant water above, the tall figure hisses again before moving away, far above, seemingly unwilling to follow the pair down into the underground..

Karma forms a ball of light in her hand which she uses to light up the tunnel, as she helps Michel to his feet and takes off into the darkness, half-supporting, half-dragging him along.

Michel tries to support himself as he motions to Karma, "..n-no.. I'm alright.. you need to concentrate on taking care of yourself..".

The pair move a few feet into the tunnel before Karma feels a tiny creature fall down from the roof of the tunnel and land on her shoulder, the creature resembling a worm at first but clearly having two humanoid arms which it uses to climb up her shoulder: the experience probably startling to the girl.

Karma shivered briefly as the creature landed on her shoulder. "How did I not sense that?" she thought to herself. Lifting the glowing light in her palm, she turns and observes the creature. Most people would have swatted it aside in shock or horror, but not Karma, who was used to seeing otherworldly and bizarre sights.

The worm stops and appears to stand, at least as much as a creature with a lack of legs can, its featureless head appearing to motion towards the glowing light as a voice breaks through her mind: <<..you do not belong here.. you are of the surface world.. which means he is coming for you..>>.

"The tall figure?" Karma asks, responding with similar telepathy to the worm-like creature. "He brought this person down here... I am only trying to see to his safe return..."

<<..you denied the Tall Man his prey.. he will hunt you down.. my advice is to leave the human and come with me.. let the Tall Man have what is his.. he will bother you no further..>> the worm replies.

"I can't do that," Karma replies, "my Master would kill me for leaving him behind to save myself..."

<<..why die for a weaker being? ..think on it.. is it worth it?>> the worm notes, as it does so Michel continues looking down at the ground, coughing slightly.

"This cosmos is not a fair one," Karma retorted, "but we ought to make it as fair as we can. He is still a living, thinking creature, and he deserves life as much as we do... This Multiverse would become Hell if the weak lived by the whims of the strong..."

<<..then you understand..>> the worm states, suddenly the ground below Karma gives way and both she and Michel fall down into what resembles a massive underground kingdom - the entrance quickly sealing shut once they landed on the soft soil which made up the floor.

"..it.. it can't be.. yet.. it is.. Subterra.." Michel says, looking around - the kingdom actually a massive maze which spreads further than the eye can see, illuminated by strange fungi that glow various shades of blue.

"...Subterra?" Karma asks.

"..it's a legend.. in the old days people believed the world was hollow.. these days science has proven that to be about as plausible as the Earth being flat.. however Subterra was another matter.. a "world within a world" if you will.. a series of tunnels spreading under the world.. inhabited by an ancient race.." Michel explains as he looks around.

<<..the human is clever, the Tall Man must sense that.. he will seek you out soon.. there is still chance you know.. to abandon him and save yourself..>> the worm states to Karma.

"My mind is made up." Karma said, with no intention of leaving Michel behind.

<<..very well..>> the worm says, as it does so the ground in front of Karma suddenly comes to life as a mass of worms rises, forming into a vaguely humanoid creature as they merge together.

Michel watches this then whispers to Karma, "..I need to rest for a bit.. I have a gift you see.. I just need to rest.. you think this thing is hostile?".

"I'm not sure." Karma responded, whispering back. "I can't read it's intentions like I can with other sentient beings..."

<<..we do not wish you harm.. we tested you to see if your concern for this human was sincere.. you will need it if you are to face the Tall Man..>> the figure states.

Michel shrugs a little, "..well.. no time to ask.." - with that he seems to go lifeless, as if entering a deep sleep, one of the symbols carved into his flesh glowing slightly in the process as his wounds slowly but surely begin to close themselves up.

Karma takes note of Michel's healing before turning back to the worms. "This Tall-Man is unnatural... What is he?"

<<..many centuries ago the Tall Man arrived on this world from the depths of space.. carrying a seed which he planted under Subterra.. a seed that would grow to become Dbiel, the Consumer.. as time grew so too did Dbiel and the Tall Man became the creature's eyes and ears - the tool by which it could feast upon the beings of Subterra and later the surface world.. yet the Tall Man does not just capture prey for Dbiel - he works on something greater.. a future in which all beings on this planet are but cattle for Dbiel's consumption..>> the figure replies.

"Ew..." Karma replied in disgust.

<<..interesting.. you show disgust, yet this is part of the cycle.. all beings must consume to survive.. perhaps the surface dwellers liked to believe they were somehow special.. we have not had such luxury.. no, we are all food to Dbiel.. that is not what you should fear.. what you should fear is the experiments.. the Tall Man is not just a servant, he is a researcher.. in need of fresh specimens..>> the figure says.

Suddenly Michel awakens, sitting up as his wounds all but disappear - however the collection of scars across the body remain, looking raw and angry yet clearly carved into strange symbols.

"Quick healing? What other surprises do you have?" Karma asks Michel.

"Me? None.. I'm just a biologist.. these Sigils are what cause the phenomena.." Michel replies.

Suddenly the ground shakes around the group, the worms scattering as they speak out:

<>.

"Good, 'cause I wanna kill it." Karma states.

"why? for all we know Dbiel is just an animal - you want to kill it because it feeds on people, right? well, here's a crazy thought.. maybe it doesn't know any better.. it's that crazy Tall Man thing that's the problem.." Michel says, rubbing one of his Sigils as his voice fades slightly:

"..I wasn't always like this you know.. I was normal once.. then someone decided to change me.. they locked me away and made me do things.. they carved these signs into my flesh.. beat me down.. yet I never questioned them.. I did what they asked me.. truth is, I've faced things like the Tall Man my whole life..".

"Whether or not such creatures know any better doesn't change the fact that they will kill and feast on thousands of innocent human lives." Karma reasoned. "As for you- why did you never question them? Why did you not even attempt to fight back or do anything?"

"Because as much as it hurt.. as much as I wanted to fight.. I couldn't.. I thought if I just let him do what he needed to do he'd be proud of me.. isn't that what a son is meant to do? make his father proud?" Michel replies, looking to Karma.

<<..beware of weakness, the Tall Man will use it against you.. Dbiel is not an animal, it can think - it can decide.. this is the world Dbiel has chosen to create.. do not shed tears for its passing..>> the worms speak out again, another tremor shaking around the group as something stirs deep below.

Karma had no answer for Michel nor the worm-like creature as she staggered slightly from the tremor.

The remor soon stops and Michel looks to Karma again as the worms speak once more -

<<..below us lays Dbiel and the other ancient ones.. beneath them lay creatures even greater and beyond your understanding.. trapped within the Earth like parasites in the human body.. you could not hope to face them all.. it is Dbiel you seek out.. go forth and make haste.. we will do what we can..>>.

With that the worms spread out and create a large hole in the ground nearby, enough for Karma to slip through - Michel still seeming reluctant.

"C'mon," Karma said, "I've got to keep an eye on you, in case that Tall Man comes back..."

Michel sighs as he steps forward and looks into the hole, "..I know it's crazy to you.. yet I still don't want to kill Dbiel.. I'm a xeno-biologist.. my whole life has been devoted to studying the supernatural.. not killing it..".

"Forgive me, but I don't see it that way," Karma said. "I only see Dbiel as a supernatural threat, nothing more, nothing less."

Michel looks to Karma "..pray the world doesn't end up feeling the same way about you.." - with that he jumps down the hole and into the darkness below.

Shaking a stray thought from her head brought about by Michel's retort, Karma leaps down after him.

Chapter 3 - The Descent
Michel soon lands in soft mud and looks around in the darkness, trying to adjust his eyes with little avail - getting to his feet shakily as the hole slowly begins to disappear as the worms seal the gap, trapping Karma and Michel in the dark.

A dim radiance barely illuminates the chasm as Karma summons a small ball of glowing light to her hand, using it like a torch.

As Karma does this it is apparent the pair have entered a new underground maze - this one looking even more ancient than the one above, the mud beneath them soft enough to cause each step to sink deep: the air like that of a crypt that has not been opened for centuries.

"This is incredible.. to think.. below this lays another maze.. if the worms spoke the truth.. wheels within wheels, fires within fires.. simply incredible.." Michel notes as he looks around, his eyes glimmering - despite all the things he'd been through he seemed almost childlike as he took in each new discovery.