"Cave In"

YouTube

**"Cave In"** is the ninth episode of KOllOK 1991: Bleach

## Synopsis

The Kollok Radar gets to the heart of things, literally.

## Plot

**Prologue**

At Synchroneity, Marcus is in his office, struggling with the weight of Clarity’s memories. He's beginning to have difficulties separating hers from his own, and it's beginning to have effects on his personality. Marcus is going to far lengths to experience something all his own.

**Act 1**

**August 9**

The group huddles around Tibby, worried for him. Mickey starts to panic but suddenly calms and tells the group about what Mickey A said to her about their powers causing their Prime A selves to fall ill. As the clones pound on the others side of the door, they head to the portal that will take them to the Grotto.

Another old woman, identical to the one they met at the entrance to the tunnels, sits in front of a metal airlock and she remarks that this is the same door Shiloh Anah used 50 years ago and had forbidden to open again. Billy dubs her "Bidden" as this mission is "for Bidden". The woman begins to parse out how to prove that she was kidnapped, and begins smashing her face against the door. They eventually move past her, as she doesn't stop them as they open the door.

As they head through, those who have been to the Grotto note that this tunnel through feels wrong, like their bodies are being ripped apart and put back together whole on the other side. Billy states that this feels like something human made, not something created by the Grotto itself. On the other side, they find themselves in a red hallway with a single door on the far end. Mickey is unable to walk inside the Grotto this time, and Laura is sad that the process didn’t put her in her own body. Em keeps them on target as Mallory starts places his hand on the wall, where underneath, he feels something searching. When they open the hallway door, it leads out into an emptiness. Mallory reaches out a hand, but the emptiness does not respond to him. Laura does the same, and this time, the Grotto responds. She pictures a room where they can heal Tibby, and someone there who is ready and willing to help. The emptiness becomes a hospital room filled with all the supplies they could need.

Mickey tries to stand, but the floor starts to turn into water when she does so, and she continues to be carried. They place Tibby on a table, but when Mallory tries to place Mickey on it with him, it begins to sink. Billy’s suspicions are raised but before he voices them an old man in a blue coat appears in the corner of the room. His voice is hoarse and pained, but as soon as Laura passes him a face mask, his voice changes. They ask him to heal Tibby, but the man states that Tibby is perfectly fine, and that he doesn't need healing. He's just seeing something they can't. They turn to see that Tibby’s eyes are open, but he seems to not see them or the room around them. The figure mentions that because all of their desires are different, it clouds the air and the purpose that he is there for, and is unable to help them. Billy asks him where they are and the figure answers that they are in the Grotto, though he would call it his heart.

The man mentions that he closed the door they used, as it was an intrusion and he recognises that some of them have a part of him inside them. Billy says that he can have the powers back and the man agrees. His mouth opens to reveal a maw of multiple rows of teeth and a void that stretches farther back than Billy can comprehend. The mouth reaches forward onto Billy's chest, and orange energy pulses across Billy’s body as it drains from him and into the ground, leaving Billy unharmed. Billy asks if he can leave and the man does not stop him as he wills an exit door to appear and leaves through it. Mallory dumps Mickey on Em and follows Billy through as the door. On the other side Billy and Mallory end up in a stair well and he tells Mallory what happened to him with The Devourer and his plan to free the other Billy’s. Scott appears and after they ignore him he brings them to the bottom of the stairs and into another hallway. He reintroduces himself to Billy, though he slips and calls him Lucas. Scott explains to Mallory about his situation, being in his Billy's old friend, Mylinn’s body after being tricked, and his old body being taken over.

Back in the hospital room, Mickey shows no concern for Billy and Mallory having left them and focuses on Tibby. She asks the man what Tibby can see, but he can only feel intentions. She wants to know what this really looks like and he complies, the room changes and they see that they are in a massive heart, overlapped within the asteroid. The change in room allows Tibby to see and hear them and Mickey brings him up to speed. When they try to switch the room back, it doesn't work, and the man has vanished.

**Act 2**

Em lets Mickey hold on to her as Tibby struggles breathing and leans on Laura, making the statement that feels like his chest is rotting. Mickey voices her urge to leave and the room changes to the room she was being held in with Mickey A, and they all see the cells for the first time. She explains that when one Mickey left, the other was left there. A suspicious Laura asks if Mickey can recall the character she played over the summer, and she does. Laura tells Tibby that he may have been healing too much, and that could be why he’s not feeling well. Tibby tells them about what he felt when he hurt Mother, that it felt good, like the other times he's harmed people before.

Laura calls out for the man to return and he does. He is still in his old man form, but now wearing denim and leather with a trim beard. She asks him to split up the Mickey’s, telling him about the situation, and he is concerned that two Ego’s existing in one body should not be possible. He raises a hand and the room goes dark. Only Mickey and the man can see each other. The man offers to give Mickey what she wants without an ultimatum, and refers to her and the others with powers as his children. He won’t turn his back on her, or the other Mickey and warns that the other Mickey would have to go with her as well, but she should have a say. He reaches out his hand, and Mickey begins to float in the air, before he traces her in half, and both Mickeys find themselves in the dark space. Mickey, for the first time as Mickey A, is revealed to have been in control since Tibby fell unconscious. The man asks Mickey A what she knows of him, and she answers that he is Phobos, Chaos itself. Phobos adds that he also embodies life, as those living are chaotic and he is part of existence. Phobos mentions that his opposite, one of the many beings like him, is Harmonia, and that they are Death, Order and Structure. He knows that what she seeks is the opposite of what he represents, and that Mickey B is still installed with hope, life and desire to be with her loved ones and deserves her life as well.

Mickey A argues that she wants Tibby to bring life back to her world, and Phobos asks what Tibby is to both of them. Mickey A replies that Tibby is the only way to fix her world, while Mickey B confesses that she loves him. Phobos asks them for their final arguments, with the winner getting full control and Tibby. Mickey A argues her claim to Tibby, to fix what was broken and get the life she blames Mickey B for leaving her with back. While Mickey argues that though she takes responsibility for what happened, she should have the right to start anew having changed who she was and live a life with those she loves. Phobos places a hand on Mickey A’s shoulder and though he understands her pain, her use of powers to get this far have been irresponsible, and he places her back in the cell within Mickey’s mind, to think about the use of her powers for eternity. Mickey is returned to the others, Phobos having disappeared. She hugs Tibby, and tells them all that she is back for good. Having Mickey A’s knowledge she explains that the more they use the power the more a sickness grows inside them and will eventually kill them.

Meanwhile, Billy and Mallory are searching the halls of Mammon with Scott, until Billy asks to speak to corporate. Scott points them to the door, and Billy and Mallory go in and enter a office with a faceless clerk. Billy brings up why he’s here and Mammon offers to sell the Billys back to him with Pounds of Flesh. He nearly offers Tibby's powers to them in exchange before realizing that that might not be a good idea. Billy attempts to blackmail them with dropping his connection to Phobos, but the clerk is unfazed. When asked why they want to keep the Billys so badly, the clerk tells them that the Billys are labouring for Mammon, to earn their rent, and if he wants them, then it will be 1,300 PoF for the 28 Billy’s, or to talk to one, 5 PoF. They complain and wish to talk to someone higher up and they are ejected and pushed up the chain to another faceless individual in an exact same room. This clerk reveals more about the Billys, with Mammon having started a program due to the influx of “donations” from Billy destroying universes. They get the same offer and keep pushing up the 2047 levels of Corporate until they give up and leave the room, meeting back up with Scott who complains that his personal time was punished because of them.

Scott explains how Skye attempted to kill the Traveler when she finished her contract with Mammon, but that it didn't outright destroy him, because he can Ego jump to any living person he likes. He also talks about what he knows about Billy, the Great Diviner. Scott notes that Billy is the destroyer of all things, which gives Billy the idea of destroying the Grotto.

The old woman from the tunnels shows up, having found the others Billys. She leads the three of them to a door. Scott says that he allowed to go through, but the old woman says it's fine, because the group shut off the signal. Scott seems surprised by this, but as Mallory and Billy enter the room, he gets locked out. Inside Billy and Mallory find a Billy in a rec room, who confronts “Lucas”, and demands they change places. Billy apologises but this Billy refuses to accept it. Another Billy arrives through a door on the opposite side of the room, warning Main Billy that “he’s” waking up. Through some conversation with the new Billy, Lucas and Mallory learn that all of the Billys have no friends, and practiced doing 12 push ups to one up on the “Pretender Billy”. Billy and Mallory make it through the other door as more Billys try to stop them, and discover more Billy’s looking after Prime A Billy (Coma Billy) hooked up to a machine.

Billy pretends to be the Main Billy to get answers, but fails as Billy can’t do the same push ups. After more conversation the Billys reveal that they have been using Prime A Billy to create illusions to trick them in getting the Pretender here. Billy manages to dishearten them against everything they have been doing as Main Billy pushes through the door with a crowbar. Billy manages to win them all to his side and they admit that several events that happened on Prime B is their fault through using Prime A Billy’s powers. They say that, even though his ego isn’t in his body, it still allowed them to control him. Billy convinces the Billys of his plan to destroy the Grotto, and Keyboard Billy types the command into the machine. The Grotto shakes and shatters, and for a moment the group are reunited in the void of space before they all black out.

**August 10, 3am**

Em comes to stand in front of her house, feeling like she just woke up. She goes inside and finds her dad motionless in the chair she saw in the tv’s. Em puts a hand on his shoulder and he wakes up. The two have a serious talk, and Jay says that the Sheriff did come by, and told him what she did with his car.

Jay blames himself, thinking it’s his fault because he kissed Mallory and caused her to act out, but she dissuades him of that. He explains that he kissed Mallory because when he was young, he and Mallory's father, Mearl Jenkins, were once lovers. Jay said that he was in love with Mearl, but broke it off when Mearl vanished for a while and returned with Mallory. Jay got more serious with Em's mom after that, and the two are very happily married. He comes out to her as bisexual, and she does the same. She asks him not to let the Sheriff back in to the house, explaining what he did to her and her friends. Jay is willing to fight and take it to the courts but she says no, as she wants him to be safe, and it hurts him when she says it.

Billy comes to in his room, staring at his mirror, astonished at the sight of the 28 other Billys crowded behind him with no idea what to do next.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Aabria Iynegar as Laura Bennett
* Lucas Eubank as Billy Baker
* Matt Sohinki as Mallory Jenkins
* Mika Midgett as Embeth Pegg
* Shelby "Shubble" Grace as Mickey Jones
* Zac Lim Eubank as The Driver

## Rumors

1. Anyone else think there are two Mickeys running around? I heard she's dating some drug dealer?
2. Town‘s been talking about some mass of goo that is clogging up the sewers.
3. The new principal is coming to town next week. Heard she was blind. (winner)
4. Mike Hunt‘s English cousin, York Hunt, is moving to town.