Have you ever wondered what life in a cage would be like?
Have you ever imagined that with the money and influence one could feel so weak?
Have you ever imagined a home being so empty that even when filled with people, it feels as if you're the only one there?
I look upon myself and see the results of over 20 years of this life… my left eye, scarred and bloody, a reminder among many others… my father made many enemies in his life. He backstabbed and killed anyone that caught his way… I couldn't count on two hands the amount of times I've been kidnapped over my lifetime.
Scars across the back, disfigured, various burns along my legs and arms, and lost fingers among both hands… I sat and waited in the silence of an operating room… he had collapsed. His incessant drinking finally caught up with him.
However, no matter how drunk he got, he never seemed to lose out on his sadistic tendencies… I remember in the back of my mind a fleeting moment of warmth… I remember blue eyes staring down at me… I remember a smile… and then the silence.
I remember loneliness, as even my own older sister seemed to despise my existence… over the years I learned why. I killed my mother… complications in childbirth—my birth—and my father, already cold, the man from how my sister described him, became nothing less than a beast.
His stares could melt any and all will I had. I was never allowed to leave the house. He kept me under lock and key, barely teaching me—or feeding me, for that matter. The few times I did leave, I was placed in a monkey suit and told to dance.
No one would remember my name or my face. As I clutched the armrest of the chair I was sitting in, I watched as the surgery light went out, and as one of the doctors came out and shook his head, the ringing in my ears never ceased… in a dark corner of my psyche, I have still longed for his approval. One thing I will never receive.
As I go in and see him, I look upon his dead form, and as I close his eyes for the final time, I shed no tears… in the next moment, my phone begins to ring…
"Has he died?"
"Yes, just a moment ago…"
"Return home. I'll deal with the proceedings. You just get back in your cage." She then hangs up on me without me able to say a word. Our relationship is one of complex emotions. She despises me… blaming my existence on the man our father became after our mother's passing.
And while Father wouldn't show her too much favoritism, he did make her heir apparent—billions of dollars and multiple corporations to run… she's flown all across the world. She showed me nothing and gave me nothing.
Part of me wanted to despise her as well for unjust treatment, but then I realized that she was simply beating the one thing she could reach—the reason for her pain… that being myself.
As I slowly hobbled out of the hospital and into the nearby car, the driver, taking a smoke break, threw the cigarette butt at my face, and as I felt the slight heat on my forehead, I barely winced. I didn't want to give them the pleasure.
He grunted as he got in the car, and I got in the back… however, unlike before, where he would barely say a word and his face became a blank mask, he was smiling. I was tempted to ask why, but I knew he wouldn't answer.
A life full of unanswered questions—truly the title of an obituary… I stared at the passing lights with the smallest amount of wonder I could muster… even the sights and sounds of the city were enough to satisfy me at this point.
The hospital was a 15-minute drive with barely any traffic. However, given the fact that it was later in the day, it took around half an hour to get home—or the closest thing I could call home.
And as I hobbled into the mansion, feeling the pain in my legs after having them put back into place utterly wrong, I saw no one outside—no security, no servants, nothing… this was the usual treatment, as I was usually left to my corner of the house.
And as I opened the side door into my section of the house, it creaked open, and the smell of mold and cracking wood was all that could be heard…
Returning to my room, I found it as dark as it was before. The servant would often come into my room and destroy everything other than my bed and my dresser… the servants in the house were also good friends with my mother, and they too despised me for taking her away from them.
I wondered what she was like often. No one would ever tell me, and no one ever showed me a photo. All I could recall was blue eyes.
Sitting down at the foot of my bed, I would practice my usual activity—that being watching the paint chip away along the wall… I imagined a better life than this and better memories… however, unlike most days, after a couple of hours of nothing but thinking, I hear a knock at my door.
As I slowly walked over and opened it, the head butler stared down on me with clear disdain… "Your sister requires your presence in the main office. Don't keep her waiting."
As quickly as he was here, he left, holding up a handkerchief to his nose and mouth… I could hear him grumbling and saying something under his breath, but I could not make it out, probably because one of my ears is basically shot from having so many bullet rounds shot next to it.
So I began my trek to the main office. The walk itself would barely take a few minutes with a normal stride, but mine was a torturous run. Every second I felt bones cracking and muscle fibers being stabbed and cut repeatedly.
On certain days I felt angry for my situation, and when I tried to leave, I could never make it out of the estate before I was disciplined… I was never able to dream. The few times I was able to get a couple miles away from the home, all I found was the rougher parts of the city… because while I wasn't exactly in perfect shape, my family provided me with clothes so that I at least looked the part.
To say I got mugged was to say the sun will always rise in the sky… and after that, I witnessed men and women begging for bare scraps. Yet I could give them nothing but the clothes on my back… I received thanks from them—probably the first time I had in my life—but the next second I was returned home and made to sleep in my cold room, utterly naked.
I questioned why she would call me to her office? My sister could barely stand my presence, but as I made it to the doors of the office, I knocked—or at least I was about to before the nearby guard stopped me as if he didn't want my hand to touch the wood.
As he opened the door for me, I walked into the office. The back of the room was a large glass wall, looking towards the back of the estate. The color could be changed, of course, for privacy, but right now it was clear, and as the chair opposite the table turned towards me, I stood in front of it.
"You sure took your time… couldn't move any faster than your average cripple, could you?" I simply met her stare with my own.
As she then poured two drinks, she passed me one. The cup was basic—looked like one of those plastic cups you could buy from Party City… however, hers was an ornate glass.
"Why am I here, sister?" I could see the disgust in her eyes at the mentioning of her place in the family.
"Drink…" A simple order, and as I lifted the cup and smelled it, I almost smiled… and as I drank it, I felt the fire beginning to spread down my veins.
"Poison… I imagine Father put you up to this?" With a smile and an almost proud nod, she got up from the chair and walked over to me before pushing me to the floor, causing one of my legs to break.
I didn't even make a sound. Yet she didn't seem satisfied, as she then picked up a nearby golf club from our father's personal collection and beat my arms and legs until the bones were completely broken.
Blood began to pour down my mouth. Yet again I didn't make a sound, even as my lungs screamed at me to make any… the entire time she was smiling.
"I've been waiting years for this… ever since I've had to look you in the eyes… you disgusted me. Your very existence is a joke… a cruel joke upon everyone you meet. You don't deserve to be remembered—you don't even deserve to have a name… I deserved everything! Yet you took it from me!" I couldn't answer as I began to choke on my own blood.
Another swing from her golf club hits me in my disfigured eye, causing it to burst… "You know, I would be complaining about you jerking the floor, but I could just hire someone to make a new one… everything here is replaceable—but you weren't… you're the one thing in my life that managed to take something from me. Say something!"
I groaned, and as I watched the sun in the background, I smiled, which seemed to upset her even more as on the next swing, she cracked my jaw.
"No one ever loved you—not Mother, not Father, and certainly not me… after this, your body will be thrown in the trash, like all the rest of the garbage. I imagine no one will even notice…" In the next moment, as the poison made its way toward the rest of my organs, they shut down as painfully as they could.
I just watched the sunset… I reached—or tried to reach—out with one of my broken arms, yet all I felt was pain… I looked towards my sister and smiled.
She screamed and began beating me over and over and over, yet the smile never left my face… My vision was so full of blood, the ringing was getting so low… I looked to my side and I saw the sun.
If my sister said anything else, I couldn't hear. My eyes began to close… and as I took my last breath, I smiled, remembering those blue eyes… remembering the tiny bits of happiness.
All of the strength left my body, and as I closed my eyes, I saw my sister call in some of the guards, and as one stood over me, he slammed his boot into my face, and I knew no more…
(Nexus of All Realities)
"Why are you here?" A figure—completely expressionless and devoid of detail—asked.
A smile ever present on his face, showing multiple rows of teeth… and as I sat across from him, my body still in the same condition as it was, I didn't have an answer.
The figure did not move, not a centimeter, and the smile never left his face… "Why are you here?"
That same question again… I saw images flashing across my mind, and as the figure in front of me waited for an answer, the void around us began to warp and change… I saw chains all across my body, wrapped up in them, entangling me forevermore.
I began to feel tired, yet even with promises of eternal rest, I saw those same eyes in front of me, and as I saw her mouth begin to move, I saw one word: "Live."
I flexed my hands. I began to break the chains around me. I dragged them, and as my arms were torn from my body, as my legs did the same, I bit the chains to pieces… I felt angrier than I ever had in my whole life… even in the afterlife… it's not enough… it's never enough… I want it all…
Hundreds more chains tried to wrap around me, and as I dragged my broken carcass forward towards that expressionless thing, all of them shattered into endless light… the void around us became an endless expanse, and as I dragged myself in front of that white thing, I was able to gargle out one question.
"What are you?" The smile became ever so wider, and as his form began to contort and change into a vial, of all things, I knocked it over, and as the liquid began to pour onto my body, I felt more pain than I ever had in my entire life… it felt as if my mind and body were breaking apart… cracks began to appear across every inch of my being, light pouring out of all of them along with endless ooze…
The void around us granted no quarter, and even as I screamed, no sound came out of my mouth. But even as all of the pain became too much, I smiled. I laughed. Because as much as the pain threatened to tear me apart, I saw… I felt knowledge enter my mind.
I knew what I was becoming. I saw endless potential and possibility—all of reality showing itself to me like endless mirrors and strings and papers, of all things… endless books upon endless shelves. And as my life played from beginning to end, I rose to my feet, even as my body exploded with power, and my eyes felt like they were burning out of their sockets, I reached within myself and began to use this power.
I gripped my heart in my hands and pulled it out, and as the realm exploded into color and majesty, I laughed… I cried… I saw so many pathways… and as endless amounts of chains appeared in front of me, they changed from normal metallic ones to rows of memories.
Looking into these memories, I saw pasts, presents, and futures. I saw endless possibility… and in the end, all of it came to a sudden silence…
I looked across my new form. I had become formless, just like that smiling thing… but now I realized what I was… what I was becoming…
I was a chain. No… I was the Chain. I could go anywhere, be anyone, do anything—with time… time that I now had an abundance of.
As I gripped one of the chains tightly, I made a decision. I felt strength begin to leave me as it formed a new body, a new name, a new face, and a new beginning… I would have it all… I will take it all… I was now the beginning and end of the Chain… I once had chains, and now I'm free…
I felt my heart pulse with energy, and as it entered the chain, I designed a new life—perks, items, times, places, subtle changes… no one makes my fate but me.
The energy that was once overflowing began to cease. I had reached my limit… for now, at least, for this world. I could feel connections being made to more, but they would take time. I saw all of my vessels beginning to take shape—all empty vessels for myself. I was free. I could be a noble… a king… a common man… eternity laid itself out before me.
Now all that was left was to pull…
(Well hello ladies and gentlemen, as well as my fellow men of culture… another jump chain however this one is slightly different while the previous one would be unable to keep certain perks between jumps. This one is the opposite this man is playing on creative mode is only limit is himself as he himself is the chain, this character here is essentially the progenitor of all of the other jumpers and while you may ask, why isn't he referred to as the first jumper that is because he isn't a jumper he is the chain that all of the other jumpers use. I have already decided what the first jump will be. I will be posting the builds for it next However, feel free to recommend if I should change the first jump and feel free to recommend future ones… I will admit, however, that my understanding of various fictional settings is rather shallow. I don't know everything in fact I don't know a lot, so do bear with me if I make mistakes or things are a bit more general, but knowing you guys…. Well, you get the point. Depending on when you guys and gals are reading this, I wish you a good morning, good afternoon, and good night.)
Essence Used:
Essence of Self-Jumpchain Creation: This swirling essence that looks like the omniverse in a bottle grants you the following abilities
You can now self create Jumpchains for worlds that do/don't have any available. In this case, worlds count as anything fictional i.e, whether it is a fanfiction or just an alternate universes or similar such worlds.
This allows you to start a chain by yourself with an End-Jump giving you an Old Walker Spark. You can start as many chains as you wish with different end rewards. These chains cannot be controlled or manipulated or affected negatively by ROBs or Jump-chan or other Omnipotent beings with nothing better to do.
This will allow you to create/use all that a jumpchain entails i.e, Backgrounds, Origins, Perks, General Perks, Powers, Drawbacks, Companions etc. This is done at your discretion. Fanwank. If you desire infinite points then do so if you desire the normal 1000 it is your choice.
If you can't think of any perks, items etc that can be added to a jump or even how the entire jumpchain should work then you can have the jump be auto-generated according to your wishes and all aspects of it will be made according to how you would've made it or how your favorite jump creator/creators would have made it. You can even mix and match the creaters and their styles and formats.
You can use any format you wish for the chains. For example you can have four 100CP perks , 200 CP perks, 600 CP perks and 800CP perks and you can have a few perks being free or at a discount at your discretion. You can also use other formats.
You can create jumps for the Worlds that already have one and also can create jumps for different versions of the worlds, Alternate Universes, Fanfics, or simply use universes that you like while changing the story/history.
You can use any Meta-CYOA with this at your discretion.
You can use any version of any jump you prefer. If you prefer "Version 1" of a jump over "Version 2" then you can use the 1st version then later do the second version as well. You can even use jumps that are WIP or abandoned and perks from jumps that were removed while the jump was being made.
You can do the same version multiple times as well. How the same perks stack (whether additive or multiplicative) is up to you.
Restrictions such as being able to do a jump only once no longer apply and you always get the beginning CP of 1000CP regardless of how many times you do a jump (Even if the jump says you don't get 1000CP every time you do a jump).
The most important rule that must be followed is that when creating abilities, perks, powers you must make sure that whatever you create has some measure of connection/justification in universe. This means you cannot go to a Purely Sci-fi setting and create a perk that gives you magic powers or makes you a God of Magic. However, you can create perks that grant you mastery over all forms of energy so long as there is a mention of someone being able to control energy or the like.
If you fail your Chain, then feel free to restart it as much as you like.
How powerful the perks you make are? That's up to you so fanwank.