Power Trip: An Omniverse Story

A Tale of Two Mattie's

   Cypher inhaled sharply. This is worse than he thought. His father is degrading rapidly. How had they not noticed the progression before? What could have caused this? What was he even seeing right now?

   Stay calm Cypher. "Matthew. What are you doing out here?" 

   "Looking for the Virus. But I suppose you don't know about that yet." The black streaked farther down his fathers face. 

   The Virus? The Virus has been gone for years. They defeated the Virus before Cypher was even born. Before Rune was even born!

   "Matthew... You're finally free. Come on.. Lets go home and get you some help. Just you and me." Cypher stepped forward.

   "No. I'm not free until I find it."

   Cypher frowned. "Come on. Just go through the portal."

   "This isn't finished." Matthew snapped his voice booming in from all directions nd sparks flying off of him. 

   Cypher winced and stepped back again. Now he understood. The Virus.... It was a stabilizer. Without it his father has been slowly declining... "What?"

   "I killed him. I killed Matthieu. Now I have to fix it. The Virus..." He shuddered, "It can fix it." 

   "You'd didn't kill him. He's alive!" Cypher huffed. "Come on Father! It's me Cypher!" He had to find a way to snap his father out of this trance.

   Whatever his father heard... It wasn't what Cypher said. 

   "I'll find the Virus by myself." Matthew turned and opened a very unstable looking portal. 

   "The Virus has been gone for years!" 

   "This is your fault! You created him! You let him suffer! Now I'm fixing your mistakes!" Matthew snapped. 

   Cypher stepped back again. His Father still saw younger him. Cypher isn't getting through at all.

   "Since you won't go I will. To avenge the lost soul I killed." Matthew snarled.

   "Father this isn't helping! You're just seeing things. Let us help you! We can go see Uncle Matthieu! You didn't kill him!" Cypher huffed. This isn't working. Look for a new angle.

   "Pity you created him in the first place. We could have ruled everything just the two of us. But he just made a fool of us." Matthew huffed.

   "You're sick-"

   Matthew turned on his heels and marched toward Cypher. Cypher stumbled back a bit. His fathers hand wrapped around his neck as he was hoisted up. He forgot how strong hsi father was...

   "Is this what love is really for? Seeing him like that after everything." Matthew snarled and pushed Cypher to his knees. "Years went to waste because of him!"

   Cypher scrapped at his neck. "Father... C-can't breathe!"

   Matthew threw his son to the ground and grit his teeth. "They'll all see the same fate. The shows about to start..." He turned around. "Don't be late."

   Cypher scrambled backwards and leaped through a portal back into the Center. His breathing was quick as his hands came close to his neck. His corruption lines there throbbed with the pressure that had been applied. He dimly noticed the still occurring chaos around him. 

   "Cypher! Cypher there you are!" Karma kneeled in front of his son. "Cyph what happened? Where were you?"

   Cypher cleared his throat with glossy eyes. "Father. I went to find him. He's really bad-" He rasped out.

   Karma gulped. He was afraid of that answer...