VOX Box: Hell on Earth 7

VOX Box: Hell on Earth 7

Characters

• Albert Davis
• Rookie
• Green Arrow
• Death

Location

• City Core, Star City, OR
• July 4th 2013, 0025 Local Time

VOX Archive

• [absolute silence]
• Albert Davis: I... I don't feel dead.
• Death: [sigh, bare feet shuffle] Turn around.
• Albert Davis: [feet shuffle, gasp] That... That's me?
• Death: No. You are you, Albert. [bare footsteps] What you see there is your corpse.
• Albert Davis: With an arrow in it...
• Death: Yes. With an arrow in it. [giggle, pause] Sorry... It's just I don't get to see bodies with arrows in them that often anymore. I used to see them quite regularly... [pause] But that's neither here or there. Let's go for that walk, Albert.
• Albert Davis: Who are you?
• Death: You really don't recognize me?
• Albert Davis: Should I?
• Death: Your order tried to imprison me almost twenty-seven years ago.
• Albert Davis: That was before my time I'm afraid.
• Death: You imprisoned my brother instead. You drank his essence as party favors until you learned to become a lucid dreamer.
• Albert Davis: ...Death?
• Death: Bingo!
• Albert Davis: But... You can't be her.
• Death: And yet I'm pretty sure I am.
• Albert Davis: No... The texts are clear in what you're appearance is. You're not her!
• Death: The "texts" often omit the fact that we are psychic energy made real. We're basically the most powerful form of what you'd call a "Tulpa" - a being brought to life through willpower alone. [bare footsteps] As a side-effect of our psionic nature, we often appear differently to different people. My sibling Desire for instance always appears to strangers as whoever they most desire. My brother Dream often takes the form of a surreal icon of a person's cultural consciousness. My sister Delirium appears nonsensical and strange, often lacking coherent description. As for me... I appear as that which brings you most comfort. [bare footsteps] So take a second gander and tell me what you see...
• Albert Davis: I... I see a girl... A girl I had not seen in years. [pause] A "goth" form college. She would lead me down the path I am on... [sigh] Was on... [sigh] Suddenly, the sight of her does not bring me much comfort. [pause] Cast aside this illusion and bare me your true form instead.
• Death: Yeah, I'm afraid that's not going to be much different. [odic thrum] See?
• Albert Davis: Wait... How is that-? [gasp]
• Death: Yes, Albert. That girl you chased... That was me.
• Albert Davis: What? No, that's impossible.
• Death: Is it?
• Albert Davis: ... You're... You could not be her. She was... real.
• Death: I assure you I am quite real, Albert.
• Albert Davis: I touched her. I kissed her... I-
• Death: Can't remember her name?
• Albert Davis: What? No... I remember her name, it's...
• Death: ... [pause] Oh, it's fine. Take your time. Take all the time! [giggle] Time stands still in these moments. This moment is all yours. [pause] You mind if I just go sit in that corner while you think this through?
• Albert Davis: [sigh] Why can't I remember her name? Is this some sort of trick?
• Death: Yes and no... [sigh] It's not an intentional trick, Albert. I made no intention to deceive you or rob you of your memories. [bare footsteps] I never gave you my name. My psychic nature only allows me to fit into any situation without causing alarm to strangers.
• Albert Davis: Okay, so if that was you... Why?
• Death: This moment is why.
• Albert Davis: You put me on this path to kill me?
• Death: Look over there, Albert. [bare footsteps, bowstring plucked] You see this bow? Whose hand holds it? Whose hand drew the bow?
• Albert Davis: [growl] The Green Arrow.
• Death: I did not kill you, Albert.
• Albert Davis: Wait... Where is Trigon? Where are the demons? [pause, footsteps] Where is the red sky?
• Death: All of that is gone.
• Albert Davis: Just like that?
• Death: Just like that.
• Albert Davis: Because of my death?
• Death: Because of your death.
• Albert Davis: Azazel tricked me...
• Death: [sigh] Albert...
• Albert Davis: What? He did!
• Death: You blame for the path you chose. You blame Azazel for the plan you helped bring to life. You blame Green Arrow for killing you when you bound your life force to the ritual that killed thousands... [bare footsteps] These were your choices that brought you to where you stand now.
• Albert Davis: Where is this? Where do I stand now?
• Death: You stand here with me... in your moment... with another choice to make...
• Albert Davis: What choice is that?
• Death: Where do you want to go now?
• Albert Davis: [pause] Where do I want to go? [scoff] What does that mean?
• Death: It means what it means, Albert.
• Albert Davis: Why label it as a choice? Obviously, you have some notion to as where I'm going...
• Death: I get that a lot, but I promise you that is not the case.
• Albert Davis: Well, if that's the case, then I choose not to go anywhere.
• Death: That is an option, too... though I'd advise against it. Let's go for that walk, eh?
• Albert Davis: Not until I know where it is you seek to take me.
• Death: I just escort you to the Light at the End. Where you go beyond that is... [sigh] Well, it's not up to me. It's up to you.
• Albert Davis: I choose to stay here then.
• Death: Albert...
• Albert Davis: Stop toying with me! [footsteps, growl] Put me back in my body.
• Death: No...
• Albert Davis: Why not? Did I deserve this?
• Death: This was the result of the choices you made. [pause] If you don't believe me, then let's take that walk. You can speak to my brother-
• Albert Davis: Dream?
• Death: Destiny.
• Albert Davis: No... He has nothing I care to hear.
• Death: What would you care to hear?
• Albert Davis: I want you to tell me why you toyed with me. I want to know why you lured me to the occult.
• Death: [sigh] I did that to save you, Albert.
• Albert Davis: Save me?! Do I look "saved" to you?! [scoff, footsteps] Look right there! Look!
• Death: ... [sigh, bare feet shuffle]
• Albert Davis: That's my corpse! With an arrow in its heart! How is that saved?! Tell me! How can you call that "saved"?!
• Death: You don't remember the last time we had one of these moments, do you?
• Albert Davis: What?
• Death: Months after the Order of Ancient Mysteries abducted my brother and imprisoned him in a basement in England... Months after your parents died in those awful explosions. Think back to such time. 1988. You had just turned fourteen, Albert. That very day if I remember correctly.
• Albert Davis: [pause] My fourteenth birthday... What of it?
• Death: What did you do in the shower that evening?
• Albert Davis: [pause] I... [gasp] I have not thought about that for... years.
• Death: Albert... What did you do?
• Albert Davis: I slit my wrists.
• Death: You slit your wrists. [sigh, bare footsteps, hand placed on shoulder] You died that night, en route to the hospital. I was there, just as I was when I welcomed you to the world, and just as I am now. [pause] Everyone gets a promise of meeting me twice, Albert. You were special as this makes our third such moment shared... [pause] You can't recall the conversation we had then, but I remember it clearly. You know what your fourteen-year-old self wanted? [pause] You didn't want to die, Albert. You were scared of death... lower-case death. [giggle] You actually found my appearance quite appealing. [giggle] I was quite flattered actually... You were a cute kid. Somehow, you saw me as I truly am. That was my first clue that you were an exceptional child. [bare footsteps, sigh] Sorry, i got sidetracked. I do that... But as I was saying. You did not want to die, Albert. With tears in your eyes, you told me that. You begged me to put you back in your body. I asked you-
• Albert Davis: You asked me why I cut my wrists if death was not what I seek...
• Death: You do remember.
• Albert Davis: I thought it was a dream...
• Death: If only it was... but as I said, my brother was imprisoned in a moldy basement at the time.
• Albert Davis: I told you I wanted respect.
• Death: Yes.
• Albert Davis: But you told me that was not something you could give me.
• Death: I told you it was something you would have to earn on your own...
• Albert Davis: You wouldn't help me.
• Death: I didn't say that at all...
• Albert Davis: What?
• Death: I said you would have to earn it on your own, but I said I could show you the way.
• Albert Davis: [scoff] Again with the lies! I woke up in the hospital on my own! I had to endure several more years with my overbearing brother belittling me! It was not until I got in college that I found even a modicum of respect. Respect I seized for myself!
• Death: ... Yourself?
• Albert Davis: Yes... I mean... Maybe my friends helped me a little, but-
• Death: There was no girl who said the right thing here, or invited you to a certain party there, or maybe helped convince you to follow your friend in joining a certain fraternity. [pause] A girl who you felt an unnatural connection to because she reminded you of someone you had dreamed of once upon a time? A dream that haunted you when you had a second chance at life?
• Albert Davis: [pause] ...
• Death: You wanted respect, Albert. I helped you get what you wanted. I consulted my brother Destiny who showed me you had a head for relics. So I nurtured that by convincing you to take classes on history, I invited you to join me for antiquing sessions, and we shared a study group on mythology. [giggle] You were on the path to becoming a high school art teacher, Albert... maybe a graphic designer in Opal City. Who is to say, really? Who knows what choices you would have made if you did not follow me to the party on 666 Haight Street?
• Albert Davis: You say these were my choices... Yet you manipulated me at every turn!
• Death: [sigh] Albert... I did not manipulate you.
• Albert Davis: Yes, you did! You say all of these were my choices but clearly, you were playing me like a puppet! A puppets lamb being led to the slaughter!
• Death: If a bus pulls up to you while standing at a bus stop and opens the door, is the bus at fault for you stepping aboard? [pause, bare footsteps] Albert... I gave you a choice. I gave you opportunities. There were many other instances where I asked you to follow me that you passed on. Even before college, we had many other encounters where I took other forms... it was only when I was as I am now that you chose to listen. That which you chose put you on the path that led us to this moment. Right here. Right now. The end of the chapter that was your life. Now, Albert, it's time to start a new chapter. It's time to take a walk.
• Albert Davis: [sigh] No... I still have much to do here.
• Death: There is nothing left for you here, Albert.
• Albert Davis: I did not have enough time.
• Death: You lived what everybody gets, Albert. [pause, bare footsteps] you got a lifetime. [pause] No more. [pause] No less.
• Albert Davis: You said I have a choice.
• Death: I did. You do.
• Albert Davis: I choose to stay.
• Death: Albert, death is nothing to fear.
• Albert Davis: I'm not afraid... not anymore. I'm not that scared little boy.
• Death: I see that, Albert. You've done well in many ways...
• Albert Davis: I am the grandmaster of the Order of Ancient Mysteries... The youngest ever. [footsteps] I will remain here. I will continue my work. I have worked too hard to see it all end like this.
• Death: It's your time to let go, Albert.
• Albert Davis: You can make an exception for me. You understand I am an exceptional case.
• Death: Step three: bargaining.
• Albert Davis: Grandmaster of the Order of Ancient Mysteries do not die from an arrow to the chest at thirty-nine years of age! My time is not done!
• Death: It is for you. Albert... You're not the first grandmaster of the Order of Ancient Mysteries. I've been there for all of them. They all say it's too soon. They all say they have more work yet to do. But that's where they're all wrong... The work continues without them.
• Albert Davis: Very nice speech, but I'm done with your manipulations and trickery, foul spirit.
• Death: [sigh] Well, like I said... It's your choice. I can't make you come with me. But you're not getting back to your body. And that's just facts. So yes, you can stay. You'll stay here for years. Disembodied, scared, and over the decades it'll probably drive you mad. Maybe you'll even get violent. [bare footsteps] You won't retain your memories as they are now. This moment will lapse. Time will continue. Your psychic self and your soul will cannibalize one another until you find some remnant of yourself capable of forming a corpus. You will become a restless spirit. But that will take weeks, moths, years, decades... maybe even centuries. Who knows how much of yourself will remain when you again remember who you were... Who knows how long before you realize you're dead... Who knows what you'll do when you have that realization...
• Albert Davis: What are you saying?
• Death: Albert, the spirits that you and Azazel lured to star City... The ones you used in your ploy to bring about this chaos and madness... That is what you'll become. A restless spirit. A ghost. A revenant. A shade of your former self... That is not a fitting legacy for anyone. Don't let it be your end, Albert... Please, Albert... Take my hand. Let's go for that walk.
• Albert Davis: I see now what you have done... [footsteps] This is a test... You put me on a path that led me to this moment so that you might test me.
• Death: Albert, this is the end. Please, take my hand-
• Albert Davis: You put me forth on a path to become a sorcerer so that I might gain more then respect... You hoped I would find the means to acquire power as well... [chuckle] Yes, I see it now... Power to command you and escape the demands you impose upon the natural order of things.
• Death: Albert...
• Albert Davis: Yes... You are testing me to see if I could find the loophole.
• Death: Albert!
• Albert Davis: I must admit, necromancy was never my strong suit,,, but I do recall a particular passage which I found in one text that always stuck with me.
• Death: Albert, don't do this...
• Albert Davis: Teleute, din vupp timo, Pum cemmaxact zoo te kivo vupp spilit zo dewol te octulo. [chthonic crackle]
• Death: Albert! Stop this! [odic crackle]
• Albert Davis: Teleute, vupp vichlopt, Pum cemmaxact zoo te popaxalt vupp spilit pi soot dit je velo. [chthonic crackle]
• Death: Albert! St- [gasp, odic crackle, gasp, thud, gasp, loud scream, odic crackle, blipt]
• [Focu Shift]
• Green Arrow: Did you hear something?
• Rookie: [footsteps] Yeah... Sounded like a woman screaming...
• Green Arrow: Must be one of those demons somewhere, still clutching to remain on Earth.
• Rookie: Yeah, maybe... [footsteps] So, he's dead... That's it.
• Green Arrow: Yeah, he finally stopped twitching.
• Albert Davis: [Kirlian Filter:] [chuckle, footsteps] If only you two knew what an enemy you had made...
• Rookie: [shudders] Oh, this is creepy... Let's get out of here...
• Green Arrow: Yeah, go ahead... I'll meet you outside.
• Rookie: [footsteps] ...
• Green Arrow: [sigh, footsteps] ...
• Albert Davis: [Kirlian Filter:] What are you going to do? Disgrace my corpse? Plant a weapon in my hand? Tell all your hero friends it was self-defense? [scoff] What are you doing?
• Green Arrow: I'm sorry it had to come to this, Albert... I hope you find a peace in death that you could not find in life. [pause, gloved hand runs down face, fingers close eyelids, sigh, clatter, footsteps] Forgive me if I'm a bit rusty, but... [throat clears] Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me. Your presence gives me comfort. You make me table with my enemies. You anoint my head. My cup runs over. That which is good and mercy shall follow me all the days and I will dwell in your house forever... [sigh] Or something like that... [sigh] You get the idea, right? [pause] Oh, right... Amen. [pause, footsteps, clatter, groan, labored grunt, sigh, footsteps]
• Albert Davis: [Kirlian Filter:] Put my body down! No! You murdered me! You don't get to absolve yourself of that, archer! Not just because you quoted some scripture or said a prayer or whatever the hell that was! No! You bring my body back here! [spectral crackle] What? What's this? [spectral crackle] [distorted:] -at hap-i-g... me? N- thi- -n't- -e -enin-! Noooooo!

Trivia and Notes

• Part of the Hell on Earth Storyline.
• Story continues from VOX Box: Hell on Earth 6.

Links and References

• VOX Box: Hell on Earth 7