Across the Multiverse, Every Time and No Time At All

[endsthegame]

The Nothing had raged for a week now, nibbling at the edges, wiping universes. All those people who had been forgotten - so many minds, so many places, so many ideas. The clouds rolled over them, and left nothing in their wake.

But it was far from done.

It slid soundlessly into the next world, and covered it. Swallowed it whole, and then spread out to the next. And after that, another.

[[ this is your second dropped characters post! second verse, same as the first. have at! ]]

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Pittsburgh, Babylon Dance Club, 2003

[mississippiqueen]

Thirteen years and fewer miles from Fandom than he'd been when he'd moved back to Mississippi for his junior year, Emmett Honeycutt hadn't forgotten about his semester at the weirdest high school in the universe, but he wasn't exactly thinking of it at the moment, not when there was a slippery, suds-covered, barely-clothed male behind within easy grabbing distance.

"Where's Em?" he heard from the edge of the dance floor in the familiar voice of his best friend, Ted. He surfaced from the foam to answer that question with a wave of his free hand (he wasn't letting go of that ass, thank you, even to shove his snorkel out of the way so they could see his face) - but Michael was already answering for him.

"Who?"

What, wha--

The hissyfit would have been epic if Emmett were actually there anymore, but instead, there was just a dancefloor full of Studs and Suds, one of whom no longer had fingerprints on his ass, and none of whom had ever heard of Emmett Honeycutt.

[halfshell-hero.livejournal.com]

"Dudes, I totally didn't do it this time!"

Three other green faces gave Michelangelo a look that said that they were rather unconvinced, and, as a matter of fact, were fairly certain that the television set that was liberally smeared with lemon chicken and bubblegum pizza was, in fact, the fault of the sheepish-looking turtle in the orange bandanna.

Mikey might have scuffed a toe against the floor, if only he had the grace to be a little more sheepish about all of this.

"Look, guys, I like the TV. And I like my pizza! I totally wouldn't do something as bogus as throw one at the other without a good reason, right?"

Still, they looked unconvinced. Michelangelo slipped into full-on pouting mode, making apologetic faces mostly in the direction of the floor.

"I just thought I saw something, that's all. Like, I was here watching April on the news, and then it looked like the screen was trying to go totally aggro on me, so I struck first." Here, I'll show you dudes."

In retrospect, Mikey probably shouldn't have peeled the pizza from the TV screen in order to reveal the fact that there was no longer a screen there at all. Not that it really mattered, since, a moment later, there wasn't a Michelangelo there at all.

Totally bogus.

[sexycandlepants.livejournal.com]

"My dearest cherie, Valerie. It has been years since I have gazed into your deep green eyes, ages since I last had the opportunity to appreciate your hair, red like the fire you light in my heart, and, of course, to kiss the hand of such a beautiful woman as yourself. Repeatedly. With greatest pleasure..."

Lumiere needed a moment. A moment to heave a wistful sigh while the quill pen he'd been narrating his letter to took that opportunity to roll his eyes.

"Of course, of course," the candelabra scoffed, realizing that he was making a bit of a spectacle of himself again, "start over. Dearest Valerie, you and you alone hold the keys to the bright yellow bus that makes frequent trips to the deepest of my emot--"

He froze, eyes going wide as he realized that the far wall was doing something... off. Off, in that sense that it really wasn't there any more at all. The flames on the ends of his hands sparked up all at once, but all of the waving that he did, trying to threaten that Nothing away, ultimately did no good.

A moment later, a candle had been snuffed, and there were no more love letters to be sent to a lovely lady by the name of Valerie. In fact, there never had been.

[meetingsnoopy.livejournal.com]

Three giggly girls were piled onto a Target-logo couch backstage at Madison Square Garden, stealing toppings off each other's pieces of pizza as an assortment of stylists, music journalists, wanna be boyfriends, and plain old wannabes buzzed about them.

"We did it," Josie exulted, as a strapping blond man toweled sweat out of her hair. "Totally rock stars."

She fed Valerie a bit of green olive, and Val swallowed delicately before agreeing. "Complete rock stars. First Madison Square Garden show of many!"

"I don't think so," Melody said, suddenly sitting bolt upright and letting her pizza fall onto the paper plate. "I think there's nothing ahead of us."

"What's with the downer vibe, sweetie?" Valerie asked uneasily.

Melody shook her head and pointed into the darkness beyond the curtain. "I mean, nothing is com-"

And then it was gone: Girl band, Target couch, pizza, lackeys and all.

[sooo_cute]

Quinn had made both some good and bad decisions in her years since Fandom. Going to a real college instead of the party colleges she'd been looking at (...because her parents had insisted): good. Changing her major four times: mostly bad, though she thought she could really stick with that one even if it did mean she was still in school. That fake ID: bad. Getting a real job: good. Taking that year off to tour Europe with that foreign student Paolo: such a bad idea. The guy with the motorcycle: also such a bad idea, and also why she was not allowed to date anyone with a motorcycle ever again, because they were tainted... unless the guy was really cute. Moving in with Sandi: the worst decision she'd ever made.

They were friends sure, whatever that meant. It was just that Quinn thought she'd pretty much outgrown that petty rivalry, and Sandi just kept acting just like she did in high school, and then Quinn went back to the way she was in high school, and it was a whole big thing. But no one had stabbed anyone else in their sleep yet, so that was good. It also meant that Quinn really treasured the times that Sandi was back in Lawndale without her, because it meant having the place all to her glorious self.

Even if Sandi did call constantly to check in.

"No, Sandi, I haven't touched any of your stuff," Quinn assured her. She'd been pacing the room, distracted from the closet where she'd been trying to get rid of last season's clothes. "Except your car, because I had to move it to the other side of the street."

"Good," said Sandi from the other end of the line, "I wouldn't want to have to deal with tickets because someone was irresponsible."

"I would never do that to you, Sandi," Quinn said, even as she moved to the window to make sure Sandi's car was still there. And to entertain thoughts of keying it.

It was then that Quinn realized that something up ahead looked... weird. "Uh, Sandi, I gotta go," she said slowly.

"Why?"

Quinn never got a chance to answer, because a moment later Quinn wasn't there. And never had been.

It was the best day of Sandi's life and she didn't even know it.

Sunnydale, CA- 2001

[iruinenglish.livejournal.com]

When it came to apocalypses, or weird things like say, people vanishing without a trace and no one even remembering them, Buffy would ordinarily be your go-to girl.

Except that the last time there was an apocalypse, Buffy had sacrificed herself, and had been six feet under for a few months now. You're welcome.

So there wasn't any way for Buffy to know that there was any trouble coming. She wouldn't have a chance to react to anything, or to try and stop it. Because of the dead thing.

Buffy was already gone, now she'd just never existed.

On the bright side, at least the Buffybot was also gone?

[all4thewookiees.livejournal.com]

A long time ago, somewhere at the edge of a galaxy far, far away, an old man was telling a man in armor a long, rambling story. "But this time, I was ready for the little brat! He tried to break in, and with my hut being made out of mud, he was trying to do it with a shovel. He didn't realize what kind of power he was messing with, though, so the shovel flew out of his hand! And, heh heh, when he wasn't looking and while I was safely inside, my garden hose 'mysteriously' rose up and sprayed him until he ran away! Ha ha ha. We ended up winning the competition, too, but the best part for me was the bit with that Dennis kid. I just wish I actually told him to get off my lawn."

"The Sith are slowly advancing. They could take this base in days," Revan pointed out. "What does this story have to do with anything?"

"Not much, unless we have a garden hose," Jolee said. "But I get the impression we won't have to worry about the Sith for much longer. There are much bigger things to concern ourselves with."

"What do you mean, you crazy old man?" Revan asked.

"Oh, come on. With all of your power, you don't sense it?" Jolee asked. "There's something coming that's going to do more damage than the Sith could ever imagine. And it's just about here. I just thought I'd lighten the mood before it hit."

Revan quieted himself and started to feel for what Jolee was talking about. Sure enough, he could feel it. A growing disturbance in the Force, devouring more and more in its path. "Is that Nihilus?"

"No, this feels different," Jolee said. "This isn't something we'll be able to defeat by waving our lightsabers around. This is something that makes me tell you that it's been an honor serving with you, my friend."

Moments later, the Nothing caught up to their base. On the plus side, it wasn't long before it reached the True Sith, either.