Boredom

  I have read more times than I can remember that the opposite of love is not hate, but rather apathy. I tend to find myself agreeing with that sentiment most of the time, too. However, I would also like to add that the opposite of life isn’t death, but rather boredom. Does a man go insane after a week in solitary confinement because he is “alone” with no other human? No, of course not! There are many sane men who have spent longer than a week completely alone in their house out of their own volition, without interacting with a single human being, and they come out mostly perfectly fine. No, the reason insanity creeps in is because in solitary confinement there is nothing to do. Nothing to keep you entertained. I have run the experiment myself and I can confirm; adding a single rubik's cube to the solitary confinement room adds a significant amount of time to the sanity meter of the man trapped inside, before it inevitably ticks down to zero. Adding a single book extends it even further. Making solitary confinement into a room sized jungle full of things to do makes the man last far longer still. But that’s all it achieves; it merely extends the lifespan of the man before he inevitably dies of boredom, leaving behind an empty shell.

  “Dreamstress!” I greeted her after the meeting was over, Warpbreaker having transported all of us to Delhi a bit ago via a portal. As for the rest of the Celestials, they were all going home by now, using the portal system that connected the Delhi headquarters to the nearest Association building to each of their respective homes. Angellica was going to stay in the HQ with Empress for now considering the fact that her entire family had died rather horrifically and left her with nowhere to go. The poor girl was distraught… or so she tricked everyone into believing. Three, Michaela, turned to look at me with narrowed eyes, hatred emanating from her intensely as she raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips. “What do you want, Kronos?” she asked venomously, snickering. I gave her a small smirk; the very first genuine show of emotion that I hadn’t needed to fake in a while. “Nothing. Just checking to see if you still want me dead,” I said nonchalantly, walking past her and flicking her hair for fun. She fumed, her eyes beginning to glow as she stared at me with pure malice, “Touch me again and I’m putting you six feet under, Kevin. You think I’m just going to accept this charade?! Messing with us like it's nothing, telling us to just accept whatever you throw our way?!” she snarled at me as I walked away, pointing a finger at me. I merely chuckled and walked out the front door with a shrug, ignoring her. She never changes. I mused. It was one of only two things that absolutely never changed no matter what I did or how much I traveled through time. Michaela, Dreamstress, would ALWAYS, no matter what, despise me with a passion. If anything it was one of the only things that made my solitary confinement even slightly bearable; there would always be at least one person opposing me, a rival, someone to aim for. I’ll make you mine yet. I thought, not really taking the idea seriously, though. I had spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to woo the world’s most beautiful woman throughout my very long life to no avail. The only time I managed to get us both in a room alone under romantic pretense, she punched a hole through my stomach and ripped out my intestines. Ever since then, I’d taken it as sort of a game to try and get her to my side each time I start a fresh attempt.

  Then I finally approached my REAL target for the day, tapping on Immortalis’ shoulder right as he was about to walk through a portal to New York graciously opened by Six. He turned around to look at me, tilting his head, his crimson eyes narrowing slightly in distrust. “What’s it this time? Any more cities that are gonna blow up that I should know about?” he asked with a sigh, sneering at me. I crossed my arms and gave him a cocky look right back, with a half smirk etched across my face. “I want in on your party this weekend,” I proposed, getting straight to the point, “I have something in store you’re NOT going to want to miss.” His eyes widened in interest, dropping the cocky and smug expression for a moment as he stared up at the ceiling and then back at me. “I guess it’s on me for being surprised that you know about the party in the first place,” he mused with a small chuckle, his irises glowing in excitement, “Well, how could I ever say no to the strongest to ever live?? That is, as long as you know what you’re getting into, yeah?” he asked me rhetorically, although there was a hint of a threat in his voice as he made eye-contact. I chuckled and scratched the back of my neck, giving him a smug nod. “Oh, trust me, I know. The gift I have prepared for you should MORE than prove my commitment to being the life of the party,” I reassured him, turning around and waving goodbye behind me. His eyes trailed on me, an eyebrow raised as the edges of his lips curled up in amusement. I could barely stand his cocky and smug attitude, but I’d have to bear with it.

  I finally approached Warpbreaker, who was currently inside one of the combat simulation rooms and fighting a holographic terrorist group, all while laughing wildly. Interestingly, this simulation is actually here to deter people from killing on sight. I thought, amused. The holograms were very realistic, and wherever they were struck they would actually suffer visual damage and scream in pain as they keeled over. Maquineer created this simulation to test the effects of killing people at a psychological level on soldiers, and to induce PTSD artificially for experiments. Warpbreaker proved to be a special case, though. Not that anyone was complaining, his unique attitude instead becoming a source of curiosity for Five, the training room’s inventor. “Oi! Six!!” I called out to him, walking through the battlefield while ignoring the fake soldiers shooting at me. Warpbreaker turned to me and his smile dropped, still clearly bitter about not getting to fight the huge monster earlier and also probably unhappy at me interrupting him. “Can you take me to Rio de Janeiro?” I continued to ask anyway, ignoring his feelings. Warpbreaker didn’t seem to be too worried, though, his eyes flickering alight as he turned off the simulation with a wave of his hand and teleported next to me, towering over me with a curious glance, seeing as he was about a head taller than me. I looked up at him, raising my left eyebrow right back while waiting for him to say something. He opened his mouth to speak, leaning back on thin air with narrowed, suspicious eyes, “I thought you lived in Ecuador, and last I heard there’s nothing in particular going on in Brazil,” he remarked, looking down at his hands while checking out his nails. I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms, “What? Can’t a man have a vacation home somewhere nice and cozy?” I asked back, pursing my lips in distaste. Six sighed and closed his hands into fists, his eyes darting over to me as a smile crept on his face, “You’re no fun,” he complained coyly. He pushed himself off the air as if there was a wall and clasped his hands together, a portal appearing behind him that led straight into the VIP lounge room of the Rio de Janeiro airport. “Anything for you, big man,” he added with a smirk, pointing finger guns at me, his eyes dimmed. I sighed and walked past him, done with his shenanigans, although I at least gave him a wave.

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  I eventually arrived at the front door of my ‘secondary’ home via using an Association vehicle I may or may not have taken illegally. Speaking of the house, this was one of only two I had to my name. Sure, I could have dozens if I felt like it, but what was the point? I spent most of my time in Quito in my primary home, but this one here in Rio de Janeiro was going to be my new base of operations for quite some time. Sitting nicely atop a hill, relatively secluded from the jungle of urban sprawl that encompassed most of Rio, it was the perfect place to just live without being incessantly harassed by paparazzi or vengeful idiots. More often than not, it was the former that caused the most trouble. Especially considering the “New York Incident” yesterday, I was going to be hounded by the media like there’s no tomorrow, and it’s not like I could just give an official statement to the public to calm them down. I need the “Savior” to make her move first, so I’ll have to just deal with it for now. I walked through my house and opened the door to my bedroom, sitting down on my bed and staring at the whiteboard covering the entire back wall of the room, where I had already scribbled down in red markers all the essentials some time ago. I intercrossed my fingers, remaining on the very edge of my bed as I pondered over what was essentially my to-do list, glancing around my otherwise completely empty room from time to time while deep in thought. For everyone else, the New York Incident had happened just a few hours ago, yet from my perspective what I was doing a few hours ago was laying in pure despair in that stupid crater, lamenting the state of my life. I was even further from success this time than last… I thought angrily, feeling utterly lost.

  I sighed, standing up and holding up a marker, about to cross out the strategy I had attempted last time, since it had failed so terribly. I hesitated for a moment, looking to my left and at the columns after columns of crossed out strategies. My eyes narrowed as I felt the darkness of helplessness creep over my mind. Should I just give up for now? Just… pursue some entertainment for the time being? I wondered softly, staring down at my hands as they softly trembled. I mean, it’s been a hot minute since I last committed myself to a genocide, for example. That could be fun, right? I considered it for a few moments, but in reality I just… didn’t feel like doing it. How would it be any different from all the other times I had done such atrocities? What variety would there be at all? I chuckled internally at how pathetic I was being. Yeah, Kronos. What would you gain from doing it again? What could you do to make it at all entertaining? Go after the women first instead of the men or children? You’ve done that already, idiot.

  I placed the marker down, deciding that there was no reason to keep brooding. I’d just figure something out eventually. For now let's just try a repeat of last time. Maybe I’ll gain some new insight. I thought hopelessly, knowing full well I was just trying to rationalize embarking on such a useless endeavor. But still, I steeled myself and recalled the order of events I needed to follow. The overarching goal is, of course, to make the Celestial Ten as strong as possible. But the first step to achieving that was to make them my… ‘friends.’ It wasn’t enough for the strongest in the world to consider me a co-worker or even their superior, I had to make them my friends. Or if that didn’t work, force them to cooperate with me with complete loyalty under any means necessary. I needed them at my side, doing exactly what I needed them to do, no matter what. My first target was Immortalis, number Seven. He was the easiest to please, ironically enough, despite being an insufferable brat. I approached my closet, picking out some inconspicuous clothes and also the mask I kept on the top shelf. I left my house and decided to take a stroll, putting on the cheap paper mask once I was a fair bit away from my house. I sighed in boredom and reached into my pocket, pulling out a crumpled cigarette. I stared at it for a few moments while I waited for a taxi to come by, pulling out a lighter from my other pocket and igniting the cigarette, placing it in my mouth slowly. I inhaled deeply, only to violently cough and desperately clutch my chest with my teeth grit in response. Not today. I thought with a grimace and bloodshot eyes, winding the clock to a minute prior and this time putting the lighter and cigarette back into my pockets. A couple dozen minutes later and I was finally where I needed to be; the red light district. I had promised Immortalis a gift that would blow his mind, and it was right here where I would collect her. Jessica, or better known by her hero name, Love Love.

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  A very long time ago, I used to take some sort of wicked pleasure in corrupting the incredibly strong and powerful Love Love. Something about it gave me a feeling of going through a powertrip; knowing that by simply tweaking some earlier experiences in her life I could transform her from one of the most respected and beloved heroes the world had to offer into a complete nobody. Nowadays I felt nothing when I did it - it had simply become another one of an ever increasing amount of boring chores I had to fulfill. I stood right at the spot I needed to be in, standing outside a decrepit and abandoned mall on the fringes of the red light district, flexing my fingers. I then closed my eyes and turned the clock, the world around me shifting in an instant as suddenly I felt younger and was wearing different clothes. Meanwhile, the mall behind me was suddenly alive and bustling with people. I looked to my left and spotted a young Jessica, yet to awaken her powers, walking down the road. A few seconds later, while I watched, she tripped on a manhole cover rather comically, making an oof sound as she hit the pavement. It’s truly astonishing how much a life can change because of one tiny, insignificant, unimportant thing. How much the entire world can change because of a single action, a single moment. I thought, grinning fakely just as I had practiced in the mirror. I reached into my pocket and my fingers wrapped around the concealed cigarette.

  Normally, without my intervention, Love Love would just get up and go on with her day, albeit a bit flustered. Not this time, however. I opened my mouth and openly laughed at her plight, chuckling in what anyone else would assume was simple amusement at watching someone tripping and falling down. This started a chain reaction, until all my fellow employees standing outside the mall laughed alongside me when otherwise they would have been too nervous to do so. I patted the back of a few of them, smiling at them and shooting the flustered Love Love a judgemental smirk. It was really just an innocent laugh between coworkers at someone falling down, nothing else. The most innocent of things. The butterfly effect is a beautiful thing. Jessica looked over at our little group and her face became bright red in shame, quickly getting up and rushing away timidly. My smile vanished as soon as she was out of sight, since I no longer needed to fake my emotions. I sighed and turned the clock forwards this time, now once more standing in front of the deserted mall, many years later. But this time, leaning against the wall to my right, was a grown up Jessica. She shot me a confused look with raised eyebrows as I approached her.

  “Sorry, sir. I’m not currently working,” she told me plainly, not bothering to look at me any further while she sighed and stared up at the sky, not recognising me behind the mask, “If you want to see the show, I’ll be back on in half an hour.” Her clothes were skimpy yet worn down, her hair a matted mess, showing she had probably been doing her dance routine until a few minutes ago and was currently on break. She even had a nametag on her shirt with the name ‘Love Love’ written on it; what used to be her highly prestigious hero nickname, reduced to something bordering on insulting. “I plead with you to reconsider, Love Love,” I told her with courtesy and a short bow, putting my hand in my pocket and pulling out a stack of fifty one-hundred dollar bills wrapped with an elastic band. She turned to look at me and then at the money, her eyes quickly widening in surprise, nearly taking a step back. I tossed her the stack from below like it was a ball, making her gasp and scramble to catch it before she could say anything else. It’s not like I had any use for the excess money my job provided anyway, so I felt no qualms about throwing it around like this. I placed a hand on her shoulder while she was admiring the bills in her hands, making her flinch, looking up at me with confused and suspicious eyes. “And…” I told her slowly, keeping her on edge, “There’s a lot more where that came from. Interested?” asked her slyly in a playful tone, my expression unreadable thanks to the mask. Jessica blinked, her eyes darting around the place as if to ensure that I was alone, her head tilting to the side and her lips pursing, “I- I appreciate the patronage…” she muttered, looking down at the money before quickly shaking her head, “But I don’t- There are things I’m not willing- I mean I’m not ALLOWED-” she quickly tried to come up with an excuse, clearly fearful of me.

  I chuckled, moving my head from side to side as if in amusement, “Oh no no! Don’t worry, it’s nothing like that,” I assured her, pulling out another bill and writing down an address on it with a pen I casually grabbed from the breast pocket of her outfit, handing it over to her and placing the pen back where it used to be, “All I want is for you to go here, tomorrow, at 12 pm sharp. You have my word I won’t be doing anything to you.” She observed me up and down slowly, her eyes narrowing as she looked down at the money and then back to me a second time, the suspicion and distrust evident on her face. “And how am I supposed to be sure you won’t just kill me or abduct me or worse when I get there? It’s just, you know, security…” she asked with a mumble, looking around once more to really ensure I was alone, “ A-And, respectfully… this… this is a lot of money for someone like me. Why me?? I-I don’t think I can accept, frankly, I just-” I rolled my eyes and flicked her forehead, making her recoil in shock and stop speaking for a moment, grabbing her forehead where I had struck her, looking at me with an undignified and confused pout. “Hey, if when you get there you don’t like the look of the place, you can just turn around and leave,” I shrugged, walking around her in a circle, almost like a shark prowling its prey, “But more importantly, this is quite possibly your one and only chance to escape your current life,” I told her pointedly, my expression perfectly blank, “Is that not worth staking your life on? Or you could give me my money back and live forever as a strip dancer down on her luck, earning just enough to not starve to death.”

  Her lips quivered as she closed her eyes, deep in thought for a few moments. She then opened them slowly, hints of pink energy emanating from them and looked up at my pitch black eyes, her own narrowing in determination, “Fine. Fine!! I will take your gamble,” she exclaimed softly, more so to convince herself than me, “I’ll be there.” I shrugged at those words, smirking down at her, “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, then. You’re going to want to hide that money before someone sees you, by the way,” I advised her with a dismissive wave before heading back home, doing a 180 degree turn on my heels, leaving the poor girl alone with her thoughts. Ehh… Love Love thought to herself, quickly hiding the money away by putting it under her clothes nervously, fidgeting with her fingers. W-What if I just don’t show up and keep this money?? Surely this is enough to at least last me a while and pay off some of my debts. N-No, I can’t do that!! That guy- if I don’t show up, what if he comes looking for me again?? Someone that rich surely won’t take no for an answer… Ahhh, I’m so scared!! Jessica, thanks to what I did in the past, had lived a life in this timeline where she was yet to awaken any powers, and had been reduced to quite a sorry state. However, she still had her latent power, shimmering right on the surface, and it only needed a small push to finally surge forward. And that’s exactly what I want out of you, Love Love. I sighed, my facade of a cocky attitude vanishing as I returned to my real blank and lifeless self as soon as I was out of sight. With Immortalis’ gift secured, there was one more thing I had to do before the big party. Time to give our enemies a gift of their own before things begin to break down.

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  Eight was holding her head with one hand as she stared at Angellica up and down slowly, her dark violet eyes scanning the woman carefully. Angellica stared at the floor intently, sweat running down her face nervously while she held her hands together tightly, her eyes quivering. They were currently inside the Delhi HQ of the Association, specifically inside a guest bedroom that hadn’t seen anyone use it for years. Empress sighed and leaned back, taking some pressure off the newly awakened girl, deep in thought. She’s barely even awake. All that’s keeping her going right now is pure adrenaline. With her current amount of control over her powers she may as well be a walking nuke - and I don’t mean that as a good thing. She grumbled and finally stood up, turning around as she reached for the door, “I can already predict the uproar that today’s events will cause, and to be frank I’m not eager about it one bit.” She turned her head sideways to stare down at the tired and panicking girl sitting on the bed, putting in a final word, “I’m sorry for putting so much pressure on you right after your family died, but it must be said sooner rather than later. Kevin’s word alone can only go so far; you’ll have to walk his talk, if you understand what I mean. But that’s for later. Right now I’ll have the Association PR team make up a speech for you, and you can start deciding what you’d like your hero moniker to be.” With those parting words she closed the door behind herself, finally giving the despairing girl inside a moment’s peace. Eight pursed her lips in distaste, shaking her head to focus herself as she stepped away from the door. She truly felt sorry for the girl behind that door, but she knew that being any softer on her would only cause her more misery in the long run. And beyond that, Empress was hyper aware of the fact that Kronos had just royally messed with her current plans.

  She made her way across the various winding corridors that made up the massive structure that was the Association’s headquarters, until she finally arrived at the training rooms where she knew the person she needed would be. “Warpbreaker,” she called out, approaching the room where he was currently in the process of reactivating the simulation room after I had interrupted him a couple of minutes ago. Six raised an eyebrow as he turned his dark blue eyes over to his boss, currently laying down on a block of solid air, a good few meters away from the control console he was actually fidgeting with. “Empress? What’s this, come to admire my amazing combat skills yourself?~ I’m flattered! Although I’d have to say I’m not sure if you’re actually my type~” he snickered, suddenly teleporting next to Eight and leaning on her as if she was a wall. Her eyes darted over to him threateningly while her face twisted into a frown, causing Six’s eyes to widen and quickly teleport a couple of steps away, palms-forward in front of him innocently. Eight considered punching him, but instead opted to roll her eyes and simply turn her body to face him. “I don’t have time to mess around, Six. I need you to open a two way portal to Addis Ababa, and keep it open for twenty-four hours,” she ordered, crossing her arms as she tapped the floor with her feet impatiently. Warpbreaker’s lips began to slowly form into a nervous smirk as he connected the dots, sighing as he lowered his arms once he was certain that his boss wasn’t about to summarily execute him, “Yeah, I had guessed you’d ask that of me soon enough. The Council of Five’s not too happy, huh?” Eight shook her head, a solemn look about her, “Not them, and not anyone else in the whole world. And that is considering the fact that things were already not looking great without the events of today. I’d like to just order Kronos to go back and prevent all this, but he seems extremely adamant on this being a necessity…” she lamented. Six shrugged and snapped his fingers, a swirling portal forming behind him, the other side showing the inside of the Addis Ababa Association office, “Well whatever the case, it’s not really my problem. If the world does fall to chaos, it just means I’ll have more fun fights to look forward to.”