angry about nothing | Glowfic Constellation

The surface indeed doesn't look healthy! Actually, from this angle you can actually see through the planet, and not in a fashionable shapely toroidal way.

of-the-dispossessed

Is anyone even left after whatever did this? Ring says yes. Plenty of life signs, signs of industry in some places. Well, they didn't deserve this shit, let's go down and see what's up.

So, there descends a bright red streak near one of the larger cities. When it reaches slightly-over-ground level, it materializes as: a human in a smooth one-piece leotard, mostly in the same red as the light but with some very dark blue as contrast, such as his gloves and collar. There's a thin film of red light surrounding him, and his eyes glow with slightly brighter light.

Anyone look more interested than terrified?

Yes! A lot of people do look terrified but he has chosen a crowded place and there are a few people still sticking around.

"What are YOU?" asks a teenage girl.

of-the-dispossessed

"I'm a Red Lantern. Where the hell am I, and what the hell happened to this planet?"

"You're in Whitepeaks and there was a magic war. What's a Red Lantern?"

of-the-dispossessed

"Lanterns wield the six fundamental lights of the emotional spectrum through 'rings' which are usually called the most powerful tool in the universe. Red Lanterns wield the light of Anger. Is there still a war and would it be stopped by someone displaying overwhelming force? Also, what does magic mean to you and how did it cut such a neatly small hole through the planet?"

"The war's over now, I think. Magic is destroying stuff... what do you mean the lights of the emotional spectrum, what even is that."

of-the-dispossessed

"Long story, short version is that I can do just about anything as long as I can frame it to myself as an anger response. I'm very good at it. Is the planet safe? Usually when you puncture the core it starts breaking apart into fragments and losing its atmosphere."

"...no, we're all gonna die, mister."

of-the-dispossessed

"Good news, pointless death pisses me off. So I can do something about it. Where should I find someone to talk to about details?"

"...I think a lot of mages live in Gatesnest."

of-the-dispossessed

"Point me there, then?"

"Uh, the nearest gate is in Finch Heights that way."

of-the-dispossessed

"I should go there, then. Thank you." And he is annoyed that he's lost and - there, Finch Heights. Zoom.

Is that an ordinary mundane gate?

No, absolutely not, it's a portal thing. There's a robust arch built out around the edges, maybe due to that sign saying (if he's pissed off enough about not being able to read it) that compromised protective arches should be reported immediately to the Gatesnest Maintenance Authority as exposed gate edges are extremely dangerous.

of-the-dispossessed

(Fortunately, translation is one thing he doesn't need to be specifically angry about, as long as he's angry in a general sense. Which he was even before he got a ring that relied on him being angry to function.)

Huh, teleport portals, usually that's much more advanced than this world looks. Where's the power source? Come on, ring, he hates being left in the dark. ...None visible to scans, and as far as his ring cares that's just some normal space that isn't obeying normal topology. Okay, maybe magic that isn't sufficiently advanced technology does exist. Given how magic-like Lanterns are he's not actually that surprised.

He will... float through, visibly glowing and hovering, and look for 'mages', or just someone who he can ask about it.

There are plenty of people out and about. Somebody's advertising that they found some garlic in their cellar and they're selling it for astronomical prices while customers argue with them about whether that makes any damn sense when the world is ending and others are paying most of their life savings for a bulb of garlic.

of-the-dispossessed

He will pick someone who is neither trading garlic nor arguing about it and ask them questions.

"Hi. I'm from another planet and I can maybe help you with the thing where yours has holes through it. Can you show me to some mages who can explain what in the hell happened?"

"- you're from another planet? Shit, why do you need to talk to anybody, just get us out of here!"

of-the-dispossessed

"How long do you have to evacuate? And how many people? Because I got here by accident and getting back, especially with more than a couple passengers, would be slow."

"I don't know, not that long! I don't know how many people the war killed, before that it was about a billion I heard once?"

of-the-dispossessed

"That'd be... a decade, probably. Assuming that finding the initial path back home went smoothly. But this is the most powerful tool in the universe, there's going to be something I can do. I'm not going to just let this pointless fucking waste happen without doing what I can."

"Well, if you need mages, some of them hang out through that gate and then in the place with the big tower and the basement complex, but fuck them, they got us into this," sniffs the local.

of-the-dispossessed

"Usually the best people to ask about how to get out of a problem, though. Thanks." And he probably needs to chew them out for causing the problem, so he can zip through the gate and look for the big tower.