Chapter 66: Chp 61 – Facades

Chapter 61 - Facades

 

If I wasn't so angry, I'd probably be running experiments on this universe, haunted by the appearance of the One Above All. I knew of his existence, and while he's made few appearances in the comics, such an existence is hard to gloss over, but still. We could have talked about so many interesting things, like the structure of the Omniverse, or what other Multiverses were out there. I have my suspicions, I had to figure out a lot in order to get here, but I only had the one encounter on the outside. And as my experience shows, it's not a place where beings like me are supposed to go. But he not only lived in it, but was born in it. And instead of talking about anything useful, it had to ask me to be nice to my mother, one of the people who was supposed to love and protect me most in this world. Not groom me as part of some sick family religion. And she was nice to me, wonderful even, but I can't imagine what she's done to Nia to turn her into what she is today. It's horrible.

 

No, I… I honestly shouldn't be this surprised. The Marvel multiverse is dark and erratic in even the most mundane comics, and compared to other universes in Marvel, this is heaven. I shouldn't be this affected, either. Did anyone lie to me? I have my own set of parents, my memories. The line between me and the old Tyler is hard to see most times. This isn't the Marvel I know, the illusion that I know anything is liable to get me killed. Perhaps more than that, I like being Tyler. I made my previous life a living hell. I just wanted to hang out with people I look up to, not work every second of every day to save the world. But...with great knowledge comes great power, and as Uncle Ben would say "With great power, comes great responsibility."

 

I suppose that means I have to suck it up, huh? 

 

Taking a deep breath, I walk through the abandoned floor and reach out to open the door, only for it to pass through like nothing was there.  

 

My heart shuddered. I absorbed the door handle, the fucking door handle. There's just no way I'm going to be able to hold it all in.

 

So I stand in front of the door for a few more moments.

 

Fuck It. I walk forward through the door like it's not there, leaving a nice me-sized hole in the door, and the people in the living room are stunned.

I glaze over everybody in the room, including the scene of Gwen trying to separate Nia and my mother from each other's throats.

 

"Sit down." I wave and turn to the door. Producing two nozzles, I produce a massive jet of water and a jet of liquid nitrogen to freeze it. And in half a second, a large chunk of ice covered the door. Quick, jagged, and crude.

 

I turn back to find grim faces and looks of concern. And the stench of sulfur, hatred, fear, elation, and the desire to breed, the last two only occurring with my entrance.  My grip on myself slacks a bit before I gather myself again. My mother, even paler than when she was alive, was separated from Nia by Gwen and Liz sitting between the two, all flushed and sweating. Cortana was on every screen in the house, sitting crisscrossed in a sea of black. And in an isolated corner of the room, sat my father. Other than a new pair of devilish horns and a body made of green mist, he looks largely the same A neutral smile plastered on his face, as if everything was normal, and as it should be.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

"...How's everyone doing?" I ask gleefully as I sit on the floor away from everyone. 

 

Everyone shifts uncomfortably.

 

"It's great having you here, Liz, but if you don't mind me asking, who are these two people? It's not exactly close to Halloween, but they seem to have dressed up as my dead father turned into a demon, making a video call from Hell, and my mother turned into some undead-bitch hybrid. The costumes are fantastic, guys, but I'd love to see what you really look like underneath."

 

"..."

 

"Nothing? Well, you'll have to excuse me then…" And in an instant, I appear next to my mother with a cloth damped in holy water. "Please hold still, I'm just going to remove a little of your makeup."

 

And as the cloth rag touches her forehead, I struggle to hold back the urge to flinch, even though she does. And her skin begins to sizzle and steam under the cloth.

 

"STOP!"

"STOP!"

"STOP!"

 

Nia, Gwen, and my father bolt to their feet and yell out in unison.

 

"Tyler, my sweet baby boy. I am your mother." She looks up at me, face streaming with tears.

 

Maybe you are, but am I Tyler?

 

I crack a grin, as if something was funny. "But that doesn't make sense, after all, I was there when my mother was buried, right beside my father, whom she loved most."

 

"That's not true! I love you the most!" My mother says, hugging me tightly.

 

"How can you say that, when I don't even know who you are? But if you were my mother, which you aren't, then you would love me in a purely platonic way."  I peel my mother off me.

 

"Tyler, stop this. We know that you've been listening for a while." Gwen speaks up.

 

"But I'm just trying to figure out who these two strangers are," I say whimsically.

 

"Seriously, Tyler. I know this is a lot, but we can get through this if we stick together."

 

"You're right, Gwen, this is a serious time, and we should stick together. So how about we all pretend to be sane individuals, and get these strangers to fuck off. But Liz can stay." 

 

'Tyler-" I cut my mother off.

 

"I'm not fucking Tyler, not to you. The name is Zach. Tyler is the name of your son who buried your asses and died suffocating in his own blood and grief. Your Tyler  is either wandering one of the many realms of Hell or, he's just a fucking fragment glued to another grieving fragment."

 

"I'm sorry, Brother. I-"

 

"No need to be sorry, Nia. You were just doing what you thought was necessary. And even if you had something to be sorry for, I couldn't be mad at you. Whether I'm Tyler or not, I made a promise to look after you. But as for these two...Ohhhhh…"

 

"Son, listen-" My father speaks up.

 

"He's not your son, he's mine. Don't you dare tell him what to do!" My mother interrupts him.

 

"And to think, I was considering bringing you two back to life once I had the breathing room. I have things to do, too many things. There are things out there that swallow planets like  I swallowed your lies. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All-day, every day."

 

"Tyler, please listen to me." My father says

 

"Since you asked nicely, sure..."

 

"...I...uh...I-"

 

"Come on now, you can do it."

 

"I raped your mother."

 

"Wow, you don't hear that every day. I think I need some backstory to process that. Maybe you could turn it into a story and by the end of it, you could explain to me what, the fuck, that has anything to do with the situation right now."

 

My father glances at my mother with a pleading look, and she glares back in hatred in disgust.

 

"It was shortly after you were born-" She goes.

 

"I always wanted to know how you guys met. I mean, you told me before... but that was a lie."

 

"…Ok. I should start from the beginning then."

 

"If you say so."

 

"Riddle isn't your father's name, it's mine. And the Riddle bloodline is a very old one. We have a long history of various different  curses and spells being added to the bloodline as changes with the family religion-"

 

"Cult."

 

"…as changes within the family cult beliefs develop. The most recent iteration of the bloodline has been cursed with incredible pain and hunger from birth, and cursed to only bear females."

 

"What kind of pain?"

 

"The lucky ones before the 1800s died before 16 years of age. My mother killed herself in front of me when I was five after leaving me all she had. I didn't sleep a single night until you were born."

 

"And why didn't you or anyone else end the cycle of suffering? Seems unnecessary, don't you think?"

 

"Because It's our duty to choose mates to perfect the bloodline. And it is our greatest wish to give birth to you, our savior and salvation. My ancestors will find peace and bliss in your presence when you accept them."

 

"Right…where are you going with this?" I take a step back.

…

"Our bloodline has been physically perfect for a few generations, according to our holy text. So, we've been focusing on magical abilities so we could diminish the pain of future generations. However, finding a good match has gotten harder. I searched for a long time, a very long time. But eventually, I found him in Africa. I should've killed him after I laid with him, as every other generation has before me, but we became friends before that, and I was sooo lonely. I'm sorry, son, I should've-" I hold up a hand to stop her.

 

"Is…is your background important for me to know?" I ask my father.

…

"Not to what you want to know. I'd prefer not to talk about it, I'd rather you never have to interact with that part of me."

 

"Better than you lying about it, I suppose. Keep going with the story." I wave to my mother.

 

"We moved here, he had money, so we got this place where I had you. And shortly after you were born, he came into the room me and you shared where he...he...he had his way with me in a drunken stupor while I dreamt about you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. If I just did what I was supposed to, I would be pure and untainted for you. Please give me another chance to show my faith!" She progressively got more manic, and eventually crawled to my feet, sobbing.

 

I tried shaking her off but to no avail. I don't want to hurt her. Everyone stares at the sight with worry and unease. I don't like her like this.

 

"It's best to just leave her be." My father says with a sigh.

 

"Does this happen a lot?"

 

"Yeah, it happened all the time. Though it looks like she's gotten better since  I last saw her like this."

 

"How often did this happen? And why is she like this?" I demand.

 

"She drugged you almost every night so she wouldn't wake you up. That should give you a rough idea. As for the why, she told you herself. She was by no means sane when I became friends with her, but I managed to break an already broken piece of art.  Your father was a dumb man, he still is."

 

"Did she...do anything when I was a child?"

 

"No. Never. She's a wonderful woman, not a monster, and she would do anything for you. You may have gathered the idea that I was a slave, but I deserved far worse. She let me still have a purpose in your lives."

 

"What did she make you do?"

 

"She leveraged my genetics and scraps of magic to gain things on your behalf, the big one being the succubus that your sister used to bring your mother back. The current owner of my soul is a rather nice demon in Limbo. She gave me these little horns."

 

"And what of my sister?"

 

"She didn't do anything I didn't deserve." Nia buts in.

 

"She treated Nia just as harshly as she did herself. That's...all I'll say on the matter."

 

"Huh...then I have one final question for you. And you better answer me fucking honestly."

 

"Alright." He gulps.

 

"Why the lies?" He grimaces when he hears the question.

 

"I'm not clear on the specifics."

 

"Humor me."

 

"Well, you heard about your mother's religion or cult. Your consent in the matter wasn't supposed to be a question once you grew up, but once I did what I did-"

 

"You tainted her, you rapist!" Nia screams, jumping at him before being held back and cradled by Gwen.

 

"Yes, after I did that, Nia was born, and since she was a girl,  she couldn't be killed since she was yours by default, but her existence was also a sin, so by some kind of logic of theirs, you would have to pursue them in order for them to reach salvation. It's very convoluted stuff, and I think your mother was just having a really hard time when she came up with the plan."

 

"So she essentially tried to push the Oedipus complex to the fullest?"

 

"...yeah." He sighs.

 

"The day you guys died, what happened?"

 

"We died in a car crash. Video surveillance shows that it was exactly that. What do you want me to tell you?" He responds sternly.

 

"I want the truth. And I don't know if life in hell has made you better at lying or not, but you can't hide the mental ticks that everyone has."

 

"Tyler, we're all having a very stressful time, and you're asking me if I killed myself and your mother. I'm just more than a little bit nervous."

 

"All the more reason to tell the truth."

"YES!!! I did it, killed me and your mother on purpose. Are you happy now? Fucking Hell Tyler. Is it too much to ask for just a little bit of respect for your father, after all, I've done for you?"

 

"Yes, it is too much to ask. Because I'm not your son, and If I was, you did shit except lie to me. We're not having a conversation, we're having a coming to Jesus moment. Now the truth, and you better be fucking quick about it so I can deal with this bitch." I gesture to my mother, sobbing on my leg.

 

"Tyler!" Gwen shouts.

 

"I love you, Gwen, but now, is not the time." 

 

My father takes a long glance at Nia, who recoils in disgust. "All right, fair enough.  Everything about that day was exactly the same as any other. Your mom and I left you with your sister while we went to another one of her clients. Every time I said we left for work, we did. I just obscured the details of it because your mother couldn't stand the feeling of doing the same."

 

"Hiding the truth only works for surprise parties and gifts. You don't need to justify yourself, It'll only make things worse."

 

"So we were going to meet one of your mother's clients-"

 

"What was she selling?"

 

"Me. The same genetics that made me valuable as a sperm donor made me valuable as a test subject. She got favors that she would eventually exchange for more useful things, like the succubus your sister freed for your mother's soul. You can ask your mother for the rest. Anything else on the subject, Son?"

"No Marcus, you may continue," I call him by his name.

 

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"Tyler, so help me, you're being an asshole right now," Gwen says.

 

Yeah, I am.

 

"The only difference with this appointment would be that it would be my last. Your mother thought you were old enough to get over my passing. Perhaps the added stress might make you finally break. I was mostly okay with it. But I knew that you would find out about my death eventually and this can of worms would burst in a way that none of us could handle…" He sighs, falls into a chair, and looks at my mother, who finally turned quiet, still gripping my leg.

 

"I never had the chance to be the father I wanted to be to you two, to make my own decisions and failures when parenting you two. And I long believed that I didn't deserve to. But I decided that I wanted to do something for my children, so knowing that a certain portion of the road was going to be covered in ice, I intentionally lost control of the car and the rest is history."

 

"That's it?"

 

"Yeah, anything more and it would be obvious that it was suicide. It doesn't take more than coincidence to kill someone. Did I answer your question?"

 

"What exactly, were you doing for your children other than making them, orphans?"

 

"You had money and each other, plus Matt was here if you needed a parental figure."

 

"My question still stands."

 

"You would be free and Nia would have her greatest wish answered."

 

"No, I would still be a blinded pawn in someone's game, the people moving me around would just change. Only the truth can set you free."

"Then at least Nia-"

 

"Do you really think Nia didn't love her mom or at least appreciate her? A fucking psycho she might be, but Nia isn't ungrateful. No, you just wanted to exercise some freedom. And you know what? I don't blame you for it." Blame is hardly productive.

 

'But…" my father is stunned in confusion.

 

"The past is a matter of fate, the future is a matter of choice." 

 

"...so now what?"

 

"You get off my property."

 

"You don't want to catch up?"

 

"No. If I want to catch up with you, then I'll do so. Now go and enjoy your freedom." I wave him off and, with a hurt expression, he disappears.

 

I'm so tired. 

 

Looking down at my leg, I notice that my mother had fallen asleep, a quiet and calm sleep as if she finally was able to rest. And not having any other way to end her in her current form, I begin forming a thick balloon, filling it with holy water. Hopefully, a bathtub amount will end her relatively painlessly.

 

"What are you doing?!" I hear a shout. Oh right, Gwen.

"I'm sending her back where she belongs," I answer emotionlessly.

 

"She's your mother! My future mother-in-law."

 

"As you can see, death is not the end. And we can bring her back if we want to, but we have to go through the right channels, or we could all end up dead."

 

"What the fuck is wrong with you? You're acting like a monster. Just look at Nia and Liz." she waves at Nia, who's streaming tears, trying to hold them back with an agonized look.

 

"If-*Huck*-If this is what-*sniff*- what brother wants, then mom would agree." Nia sobs.

 

Liz is still seated, terrified and pale as paper. Perhaps I went too far. No, maybe this way Liz will keep herself safely away from me. 

 

"Nia, please come here." I hold my arms out for a hug and look deeply into her eyes. And she complies, practically stumbling into my arms. I pull her in and hug her waist "Sorry Nia, please don't cry" I whisper, stroking her hair.

 

"I'm-*hick*-sorry brother. I should've talked to you. This mess is all my fault."

 

"No, Nia. It's not. If anything, it's mine. I shouldn't be leaving you alone all the time."

 

"I love you, brother." She sniffles.

 

"I love you too, Nia." I kiss her cheek.

 

*Brother…" she squirms.

 

"No, Nia," I whisper as I try to keep her still, knowing what she wants.

 

"But you made me excited with the way you defended me and mom from that man. And you were just about to punish mom for being tainted by him…"*GUSH* I feel my pant leg become soaked by her discharge.

 

This is bad. That is not what just happened. What can I do that won't make the situation worse?... I got it.

 

"Nia, I don't want to make love to you when you're crying."

 

"But I'm not crying." She sniffs as I feel her grinding against me.

 

"No, Nia. Some other time, preferably when our mother isn't on the ground."

 

"Let's do it right on her to spite her. Imagine if she woke up, it would piss her off so much!" Her voice cracks as she reaches her hand into my pants.

 

"NO, not now, Nia. We need to see if we can curb this hunger of yours. Perhaps-" Nia grabs me by the head and forces her tongue into my mouth. I try to force her out with my tongue, but it only makes her more fervent as she wraps herself around me.

 

I give into her and after a while, she finally exits my mouth and presses her forehead against mine as she stares daggers into my eyes.

 

"Perhaps what brother? Perhaps I could be free? Perhaps I could be sane? Perhaps I could find some other...no no no no brother! If you ever talk along that line of thought again, I won't be scaring other men off, I'll be torturing them until they beg to give their mothers, their wives, their sisters, their daughters...to you. And then, either you'll beg me to kill them, or you'll do it yourself after taking said women. And mother would help me make sure they don't come back. Do you understand me?" She smiles gleefully.

 

After taking a moment to think, I wrap my hands around her butt. "Sorry, Nia." She relaxes and closes her eyes.

 

"No worries' brother. I may not have chosen to be born like this, but If I could, I'd make it to where I could only live by being bred by you."

 

"Please don't do that."

 

"Only if you take me right now" She whispers.

 

"Get off me, Nia."

 

"I don't think I will." She giggles mischievously.

 

"You can either get off me now, or you can get off to your fantasies later. Do you understand me?" I stare into her eyes and grip her butt, hoping that It'll throw her off.  And it does.

 

After a second of silence, her breathing pauses, her eyes dilate, and she lets go of me with her legs, though her arms grip tighter around my neck. Good, she looks more malleable now. Maybe I can push her just a little.

 

"Good, Nia. Now I want you to go and get rid of the stored fluids you have. I would be so happy if you did that for me." Frankly, it's disgusting. Some vampires might say it's almost as disgusting as stored blood. Most people would probably say it's even more so.

 

When she finally processed what I asked, her demeanor instantly turns ferocious.

 

"No." She snarls. She digs her nails into the back of my neck, and though it shouldn't hurt, it does, though just a little. I need to stand my ground with Nia before I can even think about dealing with my mother.

 

"But  Nia, why would you want the old pieces of me, when you can have me fresh?" It's a hindrance, but when dealing with the mentally disturbed, I find it's usually best to go all carrot, no stick.

 

A look of confusion mars her face. "I can have you fresh?"  She asks as I hear and smell her leaking her juices onto the ground.

 

"Yes, just ask, and I'll be glad to comply." I give her a loose smile, something to ease the tension but not set her off. I see her flash a venomous grin, letting me know my efforts were fruitless.

 

And in an instant, she's upon me again, sinking her teeth into the flesh of my neck and jaw. With a final bite on my lips, she looks at me like a predator, steps on our mother's head, and skips away merely, disappearing into her room.

 

I quickly check on my mother, who's still clutching onto me. She hasn't received any serious damage that I can tell. If she's fully human, then there might be some bruising.

 

"Ahem" Gwen clears her throat to get my attention, and I look up to see her disapproving gaze.

 

"You're acting like a two-faced asshole," she says.

 

"I am an asshole with many faces. And each one is as real as it needs to be."

 

"*SIGH*...So I keep realizing. Maybe I should have realized that with how you responded to Nia raping you, and the time I drugged you. No normal person would have done this. I can understand if you were furious, I was prepared to settle you down, or console you if you were heartbroken. But you were straight-up malicious. No, you feigned malice, broke the illusion once you achieved your goal, then proceeded to try and murder your mother in front of me. Like it was nothing."

 

"...Sorry Gwen. I just want to maintain our peace. A point needed to be made." I give her a pained smile, matching hers. I wish there was a better way of doing this, but there's not, only easier ways.

 

"This was too much, Tyler…" She puts her arms around herself, closes her eyes, and clenches her jaw...Gwen.

 

Would it be better to console her and get rejected, or do nothing? 

 

In a flash, I remove myself from my mother's cold sleeping grip and appear behind Gwen, wrapping my arms around her slowly and softly. She flinches in response to my touch.

 

"Let me go, Tyler. I-I'm not comfortable right now."

 

"Which is exactly why I need to be with you...Please, Gwen."

 

"...I need to think."

 

"What does that mean?"

 

"Shouldn't you be able to guess? With your brain and all your senses?" 

 

"I'm really bad at guessing games."

 

"We should take a break." She whispers.

 

"No," I whisper back, kissing her neck.

 

"What do you mean, 'No'?"

 

"If we need to work on our relationship, then that's what we need to do because that's what a relationship is all about, work. Our trials are what makes this worthwhile." Her hair smells like chamomile, she must have really prepared to calm me down.

 

"..."

 

"Do you know why I want to be with you?"

 

"Because I made you fall in love with me." She huffs.

 

"No matter how good you are, that wouldn't have gotten us past the first day. Love can't carry a relationship, it's simply a series of chemical primers, a catalyst for reproduction. No, I want to be with you because I trust you, I have faith in your loyalty, in your desire to work with me against all my problems, including the problem of me. So until you decide you no longer want to work with me, against my problems and yours, I will never let you go."

 

"...ok." She sighs, as she relaxes and leans against me, holding her hands over mine securely.

 

"I love you, Gwen. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it."

 

"I love you too, Tyler." She turns around to face me, reaching her hand up to cup my jaw, "And I think I've found my role in this relationship."  She looks down and removes herself from my grasp. "It's getting late and I'm tired as hell." 

"I'll go get Nia ready for bed."

 

"No offense, Tyler, but we all need a break from you. And you need a vacation from this hectic mess."

 

"But you just said-"

 

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, maybe you can make us breakfast." Gwen smiles, leaving me to go to Liz, who's staring intently at her phone, listening to music with her earpieces in. I can tell she's still very stressed, but less visibly so, perhaps Cortana helped her while I was distracted.

 

"Will Liz be staying here tonight?" I ask.

 

"Of course, she's practically family with how much she's seen, and I don't think she's in a condition to just head back home." Gwen helps Liz get up.

 

"I can make a bed for her." 

 

"No, thanks. Me, her, and Nia will be sleeping together tonight. I'll change the sheets, so you can just take care of mom...put her in your old room, I'm sure she would appreciate that. Goodnight Babe." Gwen says, walking past me.

 

And like that I'm alone, my mother slowly pushing herself towards me as she sleeps. A scene straight from a horror film. 

 

"Diamond," I call out, making her appear beside me. She probably decided to wait for me to take care of this mess before showing up.

 

"Yes, Master?"

 

"Grab her legs, I'll take her by her hands."

 

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