The First Cataclysm

Era beginning/end

What happens when absolute power corrupts absolutely

With the rise of 8 Keepers and the Retirement of 7, several of these extremely powerful beings that had already spent many millennia existing understandably had gotten a bit stir crazy. But none put the 'crazy' in the term moreso than Necrotaus, Herald of Chaos, the 4th Keeper.   Unlike the other Keepers, when Nec had come into his powers he decided not to limit himself in their use, so rather than choosing a couple of sets of powers that he liked to use and master, he instead worked himself hard to figure out everything that he could do with his powers, which seemed as limitless as the being that bestowed them upon him, Fate, the force behind the creation of the universe. While they appeared to have absolutely no end to them and nothing they could not accomplish, there were a few things that he hesitated to try, but eventually even chose to test them after all his other questions had been answered. Eventually, he was down to only one question bugging him: Could he use his powers to kill another Keeper?   He knew that as his powers came from Fate, if there were any being that were to be his match, It would be it. He had tried to turn his powers on It before to not really any avail, as even if It let Itself appear to be hurt, he knew that he had done nothing to its omnipotent self. But the Keepers, they were his equals- In rank certainly, but not in power. Most of them had no interest in searching their powers and pushing them to the fullest extent, content to create a niche for themselves int he universe and only use their powers in a way that fit that tiny hole. Theoretically, they would all be his equal, but in practice none but one could even hold a candle to him.   It was easy to get a Keeper's physical body to deform- simply decapitate them, and unless they worked to stay in their two pieces, their body would disintegrate and their powers simply reform them whole somewhere else. In this way they could be 'killed', their monstrous healing factors overwritten. But that wasn't what he was after. If he DID have infinite power, then could he kill more than just their bodies? He could effect their minds, yes, their spirits, but just severing one part was not enough to keep them from coming back. So he asked, could it be done? Could he destroy the entirety of another Keeper, so that they could never return, wiping them from existence? Could he destroy a Keeper's soul?   After much trial and error, this culminated in one glorious last ditch effort to answer the question. He drew every Keeper to him, to a spot outside of Fate's inner sanctum, but still nearby. If Fate chose to intervene, he wanted to see it, to know that there was something that their creator would have to interfere with to keep from happening, that how they were made by raw was imperfect.   The other seven Keepers gathered beneath him, he set about his task. He answered them when they asked him why they were there, and what he planned to do, informing them of his intent to kill at least one of them. He didn't care who- any victory would be a victory. While he started slow, he easily tired of using simple bits of his abilities to jab at them, just to see if any of them broke easily, but it was all things he had already tried. With those attacks merely confirming everything he had already found, he decided to stop playing around and get the answer he came for.   Summoning up the deepest control of his abilities, he pulled the energy of the universe into him, from every plane and power, every bit of life that existed, he exerted his will over it, harnessing it into all forms of energy, things that would disperse a mortal's soul with only a touch. He let go of his own body, not letting its flaws and limits stop his test of mind and soul. They watched, helpless, unable to escape the pull of his power.   That much power, however, quickly can take a toll on any will, especially that of a human. He knew this, however, he planned for it. And with everything primed, with his intention framed neatly and instinctively in his mind, he gave in to the force of his infinite power personified- Chaos.   With a single, absolute blast he rent any remaining matter from existence, the structure and weave of reality warped into endless energy, a never ending river of recycled energies and entropy, basic laws snapped like twigs in the face of a singularity.   Within moments, it was dark. Not even dust remained to settle.   In the nothing, something found Nec. Fate allowed his mind to see something, to remember something seen after his mind existed again. Eight flames of different colors burning, at the bottoms of strings. Though everything else had fallen away, the eight strings remained, trailing up into a fog of darkness, but not of nothing. No matter, yes, perhaps no energy, but not nothing. Something could not come from nothing. There was always something.   He saw his own string, his own flame, and though he felt it was a string he could cut, he knew it could not be done with scissors or powers of any physical kind. Not even necessarily with energy, not any kind that he could describe. And though Fate, in the fog, could seem to cut them off, let them drop into the darkness, They did not, as if They could not. He knew that They could do anything if They chose to, but for that same reason They could not cut the strings. It could not cut the strings.   The fog drifted down the strings, reforming the flames into the familiar, spherical orb that he could sense as a soul, and around them the bodies of his friends and coworkers formed.   When he woke up and remembered, he was laying on the floor of Fate's domain, and It was unhappy.   His antics had, in fact, destroyed the universe. There was nothing left of it, except the small area that Fate had remade to let the Keepers reform specifically so it could berate Necrotaus for his actions. They were, of course, actions that It had anticipated, and had worked into Its plan, but It was still unhappy that it now was forced to move on, and would still punish him to make sure he did not even consider doing it again.   But what could It do to him? It wouldn't kill him, he knew. No, It told him. He wouldn't die. He would live. And live. And live.   For a megaanum, a million years he would live, in a place devoid of any kind of life but his. Unable to communicate with the outside world, he would live in every moment, taking it in, unable to rest, or let any second pass by unnoticed. He had felt billions of years pass in the blink of an eye before, but now he would feel every year, every month, every minute pass with no reprieve. Nothing but him, his powers, and the passing of time. No contact with the outside world, not even his substantial powers would be able to interact with anything outside of his pocket dimension, his new home, his new hell.   With every Keeper as witness, Fate locked Necrotaus away to serve his sentence in Time Out.   Now, with the troublemaker taken care of, Fate created things anew. They let this be a new start, a chance to try new combinations, a new plan. The seven Keepers watched it unfold in the blink of an eye, galaxies and planets springing into being seemingly from nothing. Fate then released them to wander again as they had once done, into the new worlds and new ideas.   With the 8th keeper now freshly retired, Fate set its sight on a new Keeper to start the new era, and turned Its back on the troublemaker, leaving him in his bubble to suffer until he would fit into a new plan, just like the rest of Its pawns.   Thus it was dubbed, many years later, as The First Cataclysm, followed by the First Restructuring, but it was one that Nec, through his own madness and curiosity, would never get to see.