Black blood began to burble from the wound, gushing and spurting from the incision, decorating the grass beneath its feet and, unfortunately, Dorian as well. He winced, shutting one eye as the black ooze sprayed onto his face, but dug the blade further in, twisting it once more for good measure because the dry-cleaning bills were going to be awful, but a few extra dollars spend on laundry were preferable to death. Then the most remarkable thing happened, and, for the first time since this unfortunate adventure had started, remarkable was actually the appropriate word. He could hear it, an audible sort of crackle as the monster began to harden before his very eyes before shattering, onyx shards flying everywhere leaving Dorian standing where he was, panting, painted with blood, knife still posed where it had been before the creature had promptly exploded.
This was too unreal. This was insane. He'd just- there had just been… A monster had dragged itself out from a hole in the earth underneath a tree, run rampant in Central Park, and Dorian had just killed it. Probably. He'd just… He'd just killed something, something unearthly, violent, and over eight feet tall. His hands shook, but he stood frozen, dazed, unable to move for just a moment. That is before a white handkerchief was thrust in front of his face, breaking the spell as he whirled around. No, it as just that boy from earlier offering up the cloth in combination with a muttered apology. To be honest, Dorian didn't hear most of it, the apparent apology muffled by the sound of his heart beat still thundering in his chest.
"I…It's fine," He finally choked out, taking the handkerchief with a trembling hand and pressing it against his nose, wiping slightly and doing more harm than good as he smeared the two colors of blood together before tilting his head backwards, closing his eyes with a deep, shuttering breath. So he didn't see his beloved New York City skyline begin to vanish, erased by a disturbing blankness blanketing the city, muffling for a time every one of the senses. When he did finally open his eyes, to his horror it was to the last of the trees disappearing, the grass beneath his feet not far behind. The bracelet on his wrist was throbbing now, but not terribly uncomfortably, and he clung to the sensation as the world apparently ended around him, erasing it or possibly him from existence. It was dark now. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face, even the one still clutching the now stained handkerchief. Just… nothingness until a brief glimmer of light appeared on the the horizon and slowly, slowly sensation came back. There were lights beneath his feet, fashioned like stars in the heavens above- or perhaps they were stars, he couldn't tell- and the sound of flapping wings, the gentle cooing of birds flying overhead, towards two swirling vortexes, just now making their presences known. And then, there was a voice.
It wasn't just any voice, it was a precise, beautiful voice, tone equal parts soothing and authoritative. And it didn't stop there- that magnificent voice was spinning a magnificent tale more fit for a best-selling fiction novel than the reality he existed in. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, there was silence, the star path dimming visibly leaving all twelve with a choice. Some didn't take long at all to make up their minds, wandering through the portal into the unknown or, as Dorian began to realize in the case of the girl from the tree, into the only world she knew. Others made uncertain declarations then and there, some heroic like the Southern boy, and others less so, like the dripping wet local demanding answers that Dorian was certain would never come. And then it was like all progress was frozen. Even those who had said they were going were still loitering around, either hesitant to go alone or too nervous that someone would stay behind. If it were the second case, they had a right to worry.
Even after one of the girl's- the one who'd checked on the girl in the tree(and, really, he wished that he knew their names to make all of this much more simple)- impassioned protest, no one seemed too convinced. There was that New York boy's attempt to force rationality on a very irrational situation, another girl- the one he'd saved- expressing her doubts that this was even real. All of their voices were breaking the silence at once, swirling together in whines and declarations and Dorian, who had just killed a monster with only a pocket knife, had a possibly broken nose that was still gentle trickling blood and hurt like Hell, and who had had a very bad day even before this whole disaster, had enough.
"You want to know if this is real?" His voice echoed in the otherworldly cavern, something halfway between a sneer and a frown frozen on his face. "See this blood on my face? On my hands? On this knife?" He was illuminated in the cold starlight, black blood evident as it stained his features and body alongside his own violent red, holding his pocketknife up for all to see. "I killed that- that thing back there, stabbed it between the ribs, felt this blade go through its scales as it screamed, was sprayed with black blood, and felt it disintegrate beneath my hands into little shards, so I think I would know if it was fucking real." His bracelet was throbbing now to match his elevated heartbeat, warm upon his wrist.
"I don't give two shits about the rest of you, but this is an all or nothing deal, and if you're too much of a coward to try to save your own planet, to save the people that you want to protect, that's your own problem, don't make it mine. This is the deal; we go through that portal and try to stop whatever the Hell is happening before it happens on our planet and puts everyone at risk, or someone goes home because they're too scared to even try and you've fucked two planets over, your loved ones included. I'm sure none of you want that on your conscience, and it's sure as Hell not going on mine." Not once did his voice crack, keeping his tone at somewhere between a cold monotone and a harsh whisper as if too afraid to speak loudly in the Core.
"And if it's a hoax, and I highly doubt that any of you believe that right now, what have you got to lose? Your dignity? If that's the case, then any dignity that you had is long gone by now. I refuse to let any cowards get my family or me killed when we could have done something to prevent it."
There was silence for a moment before Dorian spoke again, an aching tiredness in his voice. "Look, I just had to murder a giant monster with a pocket knife. Just go through the damn portal."
