To the Victors... (DCStuck Good End)

[ShadesofGrey18]

How long had it been? A couple years at the least. Things had changed. For all of them.

After they'd won the game, life had... sort of returned anew. Pieter would admit that when they'd gone into the new world they'd made and he'd seen his parents alive again, he'd broken down crying. One... very lengthy story later, they understood why. Fortunately, everything had worked out all right. Nobody had died. They'd taken down the Black King and made a new world.

...And they got to keep their powers. That was a huge plus in Pieter's book. If nothing else, it made getting from class to class much easier.

Oh yes. Even after all that, Pieter had had two more years of college left. No rest for the weary, as it were. He'd graduated fairly well in his class, though not With Honors, not that that bothered him any. The summer after he graduated, he and his family went on a trip to Europe...

...Which, the Mage thought upon reflection, was probably why his home in Dimensional Island was the way it was. The sun was starting to set a little, so it was fairly dusky, though still bright enough to see.



He figured he'd been thinking for long enough. He still had to finish up dinner. Putting the cooking lessons he'd gotten in Florence to good use, he got the large serving of pasta into a serving bowl... Tagliatelle with a meaty Ragu sauce, herb-rubbed pork loin, bruschetta... he even had a fresh Caprese salad set out along with a platter of Burrata with fried eggplant. The stretchy mozzarella went so well with it...

He popped the cork out of a bottle of Chianti Riserva wine, letting it breathe, then waited.

He was expecting company, after all.

[gantzgun74]

...............

And no sooner did he finish preparations that his first guest appeared... In typical form of course.

Ever since the game had been won and the world had been reconstituted, he reconnected with his mother and his family and told only his mother about what had happened in the game, believing that only she could be trusted with the information (It turned out he had been somewhat right, since his sister, having aged a few years since then, was quite the troublemaker). Ever since then, he would often travel the world, using his powers to veil himself so he could enjoy a multitude of locations in absolute secrecy. Pieter would often get multiple post cards from him, some from Africa, others from Venice, one even from Japan.

During his travels however, he had come to realize that traces of them still existed in the world. Their world, in a way, still remembered SBURB. For some people, it was history written on a wall. For others, it was numerous cults, all dedicated to forgotten gods.

And ever since he discovered his, while he made sure to erase all trace of it, he still couldn't help but hold onto one small detail.

As he appeared in Pieter's living room, he appeared as a black blot in the open air... Then the bubble widened out until it formed a specific shape... Something resembling an egyptian ankh... And as he came into existence, the blue-robed figure, ninja like in nature, in his early twenties, landed on the ground the void energy dispelling.

.......................

The man opened his eyes.

".............. Hmmmm... So this is where you're living now huh? .... Shwanky digs."

[DanteMGalileo]

The second guest would arrive alongside the first... nobody in their right mind would have given him ANY license.

The Knight was joyed to have the world back, with a bit of reconstruction of course. His uncle had been revived of course, as had his grandparents. But what made this young man break down in tears of joy was the revival of his mother. He didn't let her go for a good hour. He even ran into a man that resembled his father... he'd never admit it, but he smiled a bit. That being said, he only entrusted his uncle with the truth, not knowing how his mother or grandparents would react to THAT kind of knowledge. While his family went back to the old beach home, Arti went and settled in Biston, this world's reimagining of Boston under him. He had many escapes in this new city, usually ending with him escaping by sheer luck.

The Thief might have stolen knowledge of SBURB, but the Knight felt that the world deserved SOME of the story. So under a variety of fake names, he wrote stories, loosely based on true events, and was even bold enough to publish a very self-centred account of what had actually happened using his real name.

He also encouraged a cult based on him, the Cult of the Shining Knights. Damn, at least they got SOMETHING right with worshipping. He just needed to find a way to get them to stop burning themselves...

A young man with messy dark brown hair and thick eyeglasses, clad in a simple black shirt and grey pants fell out of the void, making a noise that sounded like "oomph" as he landed on the floor.

Arti picked himself up and dusted himself off, shooting a glance at the blue-robed man. "Can't you make my landing a little smoother? I wouldn't be surprised if the cotoletta made friends with the risotto..."

[DMis]

A third member stepped though a more of spacial portal. She wore a simple red dress and black shrug with a smile directed at her ecto-brothers. "You haven't changed an ounce," she offered with a weak smile.

The brunette was known as Beth Snider and currently lived in a re-imagined version of Chicago where she was working on a special effects degree. After the start of the game she had seen the revival of her family. She had grown closer to her sister and eventually trusted her enough to tell her the events of the game. Much to Beth's surprise, her sister took the news rather well and kept things hidden away in a journal that Aaron had probably wiped clean.

Her hair had a vivid blood red streak that came off to the right side after having finding the Cult of the Sacrificial Witch. She had only stumbled into the thing by making a wrong turn into the wrong classroom at her school.

"It's not half bad that way," she offered.

[ParamountKeymaster]

Some people, however, seemed to have chivalry on the mind when making their arrival.

A white flash appeared right outside Pieter's front door, and when that flash faded, it revealed two intertwined figures. One of them was a tall young man with short, messy black hair, clad in an off-yellow dress shirt, black pants and shoes, and a gold ring.

Evan Anders was perhaps the happiest he had been in a long, long, long time. Ever since the completion of SBURB, he had returned to his reconstructed home to find his family alive and well, and never in his life had he been so overjoyed to see them. He clung to his parents and sister for what felt like an eternity, but he didn't dare tell any of them the story. Being a devoted Christian family, he couldn't begin to imagine how they would react to the tale of the apparent destruction and restoration of the world and how the youngest member of their family had pretty much ascended to a god-like status.

The only person Evan relayed the story to was his beloved Swift. Upon reuniting with her, he could hardly bring himself to let her out of his arms, and he was gushing with tears the entire way through his tale. She took it rather well, all things considered, as both were simply relieved to be together again. Shortly thereafter, Evan did what he had intended to do before that fateful journey, finally putting to good use that diamond ring that he had carried with him to the medium and back and never dared to let go of until he had placed it on Swift's finger. Now the two were living contently together in a house on Lake Erie, where Evan began and finally found success delving into fiction writing; while they might not have been as adventurous as Evan's fellow god tiers, where they were in the world hardly mattered so long as they were together.

The invitation was not one he was about to pass up, and with one simple wish, Evan and his beloved found themselves on Dimensional Island, looking up at the home of the Mage of Space. "Whoa... This... This is incredible," Evan mused as he studied the lavish estate. He smiled at Swift and took a deep breath before giving the door a knock. "Oh, I'm so glad I finally get to introduce you to the team! It'll be so great to catch up!"

[Pink Moon Wolf]

Swift beamed at her sweetheart, perked her ears and straightened out her pink-flowered dress. "Yeah, this'll be fun! This place is really beautiful..."

Out of all of the guests that night, Swift was the one most out of the loop. She had experienced none of the chaos that Evan and his companions had, and all she knew about it was what Evan had told her. But hey, any friend of Evan's was a friend of hers, so she was just as anxious to meet the team as Evan was to regroup with them. Besides, regardless of the events leading up to this, she was the happiest she could've ever hoped to be, and the rings on her and her Rogue of Hope's fingers were evidence enough of that. She had her job as a tracker, Evan finally had a book on the shelves, and everything was right with the world.

"I smell Italian food..." She gave Evan a chuckle. "Maybe you shouldn't have worn the yellow one."

[ShadesofGrey18]

Pieter smiled as his guests began arriving. "Hallo allemaal! It's great to see you all again! ...Aaron, I think you've been reading DC Comics way too much. ...Seriously, Dr. Strange is better." He laughed softly, getting glasses out; the table was already set.

"So, who would like some wine to go with the meal? I have Chianti~! The Riserva, too, so you know it's good." He recognized... almost everyone there. The girl with Evan was the only one he wasn't familiar with. As such, he offered his hand to her, smiling as he adjusted his glasses with his free hand. "Pleased to meet you, miss!"

[gantzgun74]

"Hadn't seen enough of Doctor Strange... Also, man, really? You don't see me in close to years and THAT'S how you greet me as your dinner guest?" He grins and crosses his arms. "Moving on... Who all do we have here tonight?" There was Pieter of course; his house. Then himself and Arti arriving in. It seemed like you two would always be doing things together. But seriously, he NEEDED to get his own means of transportation. Then came Beth and Evan, good pals as always. But of course, who could complain? The two were always good to him...

The new girl with Evan however DID catch his attention.

"Well well well, Evan~. What do we have here?" Being the thief you take a moment to take in the new arrival. The most noteworthy thing about her had to have been the diamond ring... An item he had seen on Evan only once before. "Well well~. Looks like you got to use that diamond ring of yours after all~. I take it you must be Miss Swift then?" He was putting on his best gentleman behaviors, something mischievous over-riding his initial proper nature, though it continued showing in a slight bow. "A pleasure to meet you miss~. My name is Aaron Colvard. Though I surmise if your here that means you could also call me the Thief of Void, and know what that means... I'll admit, after hearing SO MUCH ABOUT YOU from Evan, it's a real honor to meet his girl in person~."

[DanteMGalileo]

"Momma mia, the one time I cook something that ISN'T pasta, it gets messed up... pastafazoola, macaroni joe..." Arti mumbled, drawing two cards from his sylladex. He sighed and withdrew the contents of the cards, revealing what appeared to be fried chicken and yellow rice. "Wasn't sure if you were making much," he said, placing the food items on Pieter's table, "So I made some cotoletta alla milanese and risotto alla milanese. You got anything strong? One bottle of your strongest please, void travel always has a way of making me want a drink..."

Having dropped off his cooking, he turned to face the new arrivals. Beth was always a pleasure to be around... even if she couldn't hold her liquor. Oh well, it's not for everyone. And Evan, well, you guessed he was pretty cool. You didn't really talk to him much in the game though.

The new girl with Evan though? Didn't ring a bell to Arti. With a casual flick of his hand, he introduced himself. "Ey, name's Dante M. Arti, just call me Arti. Evan mighta told you a few stories about me though. But enough about me. Swift eh? Lucky catch you got there. That goes for both of you," he added with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

[DMis]

Beth gave a chuckle. "Forgive my brothers. They're a bit crazy. Artie especially," she offered calmly. "I'm Beth Snider. You have a good guy there, Miss Swift. Keep him safe."

She had a feeling most of the boys would tease the only other female in the building. Beth made herself seem welcoming.

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Hey, Pieter! Hey guys!" Evan cheered as he and Swift entered the humble abode. He took a good look around, elated to see his friends' smiling faces. Pieter clearly seemed to be doing well, and his cheerful, welcoming demeanor was one well appreciated. Aaron was cool as always, and perhaps a bit playfully teasing based on his tone, but all in good fun. Arti... was Arti, and really, who could ask for more? And of course he was delighted to see Beth, perhaps his closest friend and older sister figure from the game. "I missed you guys. It's so good to see you all again!"

As greetings were exchanged, Evan threw his arm around his beloved, smiling first at her, then at his teammates. "Yep! Swift and I finally tied the knot! I hope you don't mind that I brought her along. She's been wanting to meet you guys ever since I told her the story."

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"Kon'nichiwa!" Swift politely accepted Pieter's handshake, greeting each of Evan's friends without the least bit of shyness. "You must be... Pieter, right? It's great to meet you finally!"

She chuckled a little at Aaron's comment, left ear drooping a tiny bit. "Really, Evan talked about me that much? Well, I'm certainly flattered, that's for sure!"

Her smile turned playfully snarky when she shot it in Arti's direction. "I'll say. Apparently I'm lucky to be alive thanks to Evan and you crazy people!"

Finally, she nodded to Beth. "Hello! Evan told me quite a lot about you! Thanks for looking out for him while I wasn't around to do it."

[ShadesofGrey18]

Pieter chuckled. "C'mon, Aaron. You know that sort of balance between geeking out and poking fun at each other was the basis of our friendship, yeah~?" He laughed softly, nodding to Swift. "I am indeed, and it's a pleasure to meet you too, Swift. Welcome to our crazy world."

He looked at the food items Arti set out, nodding. "I wasn't sure exactly how much we'd have so I made a lot. Fortunately, there's some perks to having Space powers; namely, you have a literally limitless fridge. Believe me, the wine cellar down below goes for miles. As for anything stronger... well, I do have a bottle of Dalwhinnie 15 Year scotch; it's a Highland so it's rather spicy, dry, sweet... the Chianti Riserva we have here is very full-bodied as well; I'm sure you'll enjoy it."[/color]

You really couldn't help it. With the rather vast fortune you'd accrued during the game (and converted), money wasn't much of an issue for you and your family anymore. You could afford to keep good alcohol in the house. "Now then! Feel free to start at your leisure. I have the bruschetta out for everyone to have as a starter along with regular bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you're not fond of tomatoes. Enjoy, and let me know what you'd like to drink!"

Sitting down at a spot at the very nice table, Pieter used his powers to pour himself a glass of the rich red wine, slowly taking in the nose before sipping it. "...Aahh... still as good now as when I first tasted it."

[gantzgun74]

The general neighborly feeling allowed Aaron to feel right at home. Perhaps to show off a little bit, he snapped his fingers. A void bubble opened behind him, signaling the opening of Aaron's Void modus... And from it, he pulled out-

His own chair...

... He literally goes through all that intrigue just to pull out his own chair and leave an open one for someone else... REALLY. Grinning at the looks, the thief hovered up to the chair and sat down on it as it lowered itself down on a thin platform of black energy. The Void portal meanwhile vanished entirely. When the chair was set down next to the table he once more opened up the portal and pulled out a bunch of bottles of Soda. Give the void one thing, it was pretty damn cold.

"As for myself. I bring unto this party sodas of varying kinds, all of which, chilled to perfection in the cold darkness of the void. Protected by a barrier to keep it from being frozen over." He opens one of the bottles and pours himself a drink of Coke. "Help yourselves~."

[DanteMGalileo]

"Heh... Man I wish I had cooler powers. Can we hit F5 and refresh the game again so I can be the one with the awesome powers? KIDDING!!" Arti quickly added, seeing the looks on everyone's faces. He then took the bottle of wine from Pieter and took a swig, a grin plastered across his face. "Man that's some good shit! If I give you my PO Box in Biston can ya send me wine for the rest of my life? Or at least for my 5th year anniversary as mayor of Biston?"

It was then that Arti took note of the food that had been prepared prior to their arrival. "Ya know Pieter," he said, in a sort of fond voice, "For someone as pasty as you this looks pretty tasty! Welcome to la famiglia italiana!"