The transformation is an instant from being complete, but I need time to plot out a strategy. Worse, the Damnations have come in in a loose semicircle from nearly all directions except directly towards home. They could easily cut me off to get to Zayzi, Ixeyla, Leezahna, Shiz, Shapuackurt, Lilmbrayur, or Heccinckethmorn. The Damnations closest to the north and south edge of the semicircle could easily reach one of the closest dragons while I took on the Damnation at the other end.
I have to plot this meticulously. I dive into a moment between moments, seeking the non, the absence of time. Landing in a period of nearly-paused time, I begin painting the pictures my senses make available to me. Utilize retrocognition to analyze the whole scene. How will I act? What are the likely reactions? What are my assets and liabilities once I get into the mite-hulk cosmic-king form?
I know the form is entirely immune to acid, barring some immunity piercing potency, and usually those are low values. I’ve got plenty of S P, and a few casts worth of adamantite shavings in my pouches, so I’m not too worried about what I do after the form dissipates. It’s what I do with the six seconds I have while in it. The king form won’t be able to wear my equipment, so I have to plot out my actions without thinking of relying on raven-porting, curse-storming, or floating.
The form also happens to have incredibly powerful air-pistols in its claws, but also has full hands on the under-side of those claws. I could maybe have it wear the elemental bandolier, and wield Frostburn. Dropping a glacier inside one of their faces should disorient them enough and weigh them down enough to send that one crashing into the Worldstorm. Then again, I can do that in my RS2 form. I should make use of each second in the cosmic king form, doing something only it can do.
The cosmic king vaguely has some similarities to the knightly form I took on when I temporarily subsumed Teuila’s Vaklyrie evolved transformation. In that form, I could increase the gravity of things I came into contact with. I think the cosmic king might be able to increase gravity in a small area around where its pistols strike. Maybe if I pile on enough shots along the Damnations’ wings, they might be stuck gliding at best, or immediately spiraling into the Worldstorm if I’m lucky.
My problem is, I’m not sure how much power I can crank out, or how much it will take per Damnation. Nor am I even certain exactly what the form’s powers are. Even if I wanted to assume each one would only take one second’s worth of concentrated firepower, I’d still need time for positioning and aiming between each set of attacks. Phew, this isn’t a great situation. What if it takes all six seconds to simply knock one of them out of the air? I’d have to hope that, between my ability to be an annoyance, and their seeming desire to keep their allies’ dragonforces from me, that they’d retreat to save the injured one.
Alright, what other assets does the cosmic mite-hulk king form have? First and foremost, it has immense physical strength and durability. I’m sure that, like its predecessor, it’d be capable of tearing through most solid matter with ease. Its durability would have it shrugging off even ridiculously powerful attacks. The strange ichor-like blood that’s like a living symbiote would enhance its physical abilities further, enabling even greater intensity. The downside to that part of the biology is that it might possibly attempt to sway my actions or even attempt to take over my body or mind.
Being able to retain an ability to burrow through solid stone with ease doesn’t help me much. It could create tunnels through rock and earth, but six seconds isn’t really enough time to make use of that in this particular battle, above the Worldstorm, which itself extends above most of the nearby mountains. I won’t be digging any pit traps for the mountain-sized Damnations.
The cosmic king form should have some semi-obvious powers related to space. It could probably manipulate the forces of gravity in a way that’s sort of like the opposite of Teuila, creating powerful gravitational fields that could crush foes, or send them toppling away with incredible force, well, foes that aren’t the size of their own continental landmasses. I’m not sure how effective it would be being able to only double or triple the gravity of a small volume of a given Damnation’s mass. The cosmic king’s teleportation-like style of locomotion might be able to carry me from the ground, to high above the Worldstorm, and back, in approximately one second as an application of its space-related abilities, possibly even faster.
Hm. I bet the cosmic king form can probably pause its own momentum, and simply stand in the sky, so at least I don’t need to worry about not being able to float. The form might be able to pack on additional density over time, to add a lot more force to its attacks, but that’d take time. Such time might be entirely necessary though, to even affect the Damnations at all in their current forms. Frick, I hope not.
I don’t think I’m making any progress here whatsoever in paused time, in thinkspace. I don’t know the form’s capabilities, so I can’t even begin to formulate a plan. Lu, was this really the right move? I decide to abandon planning in the non for the nonce, and slip back to reality. Leaping into the air with a well placed T K Square, I cast my gaze about while making certain I’m in my best battle attire for the short instant that I’ll be remaining in my own form.
Trying to cry out a warning now that I’ve returned to the flow of time, I find my voice and words traveling slowly. In fact, everything other than me seems to be in slow motion as I ignite my Honoris Causa, shouting my challenge, “I am Reggie Shellcracker, Hero of the Order of the Onyx Dawn, an archmage Aliased Schism, and I am the Void Dragon Honoris Causa! Stand down fiends, or die! Ixey, Zayzi, Shiz, Leezahna, Heccin, Shapua, Lilm, get the hell out of here!”
The positioning is bad. The semicircle that the Damnations form has them nearer to several of the other dragons, especially the trio of women, and Heccin. Nothing I could throw at them in their current size, in my current form, would even tickle them. Even my Honoris Causa’s Void Dragon’s physical manifestation would barely be able to scratch one their eyes, or pluck a nose hair if they had nose hairs. Is it just me, or are they still getting *bigger*?
Yeah, they’re definitely getting bigger. Thankfully, currently so am I. They’re easily in the range of weights from around six thousand to ten thousand tons, and still growing. If they’re growing in a way that adheres to the square cube law, the biggest could hit nearly a million tons in weight. I think that, like Kinzul, their transformation is part of how they closed the distance so quickly from somewhere out of sight.
The Damnations must have extended from the point that they began their transformation, a point they’d been somewhere out of range, growing at dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of meters per second, or some ridiculous rate of acceleration at least. The Damnations grew to nearly three hundred, perhaps four hundred meters in size or more, in only a second or two, and are still growing. Or somewhere around there anyway, it’s incredibly hard to eyeball such monumental sizes. They elongated in our direction, and then only had to flap their wings maybe twice to close the rest of the distance from the nearest peaks. Grr. I’m glad Lu was able to warn me. If I weren’t already in this form, the dragons around me would have already had their souls stolen, since I’m thinking and perceiving in nearly paused time.
Finally the transformation fully engages, even though it’d only been mere milliseconds since the arrival of the Damnations, it still feels like dangerously too long. It seems as if all of my bones buckle and disintegrate. My senses of touch and taste are disoriented as if my flesh is subsumed within the ichor flowing within the exoskeleton that appears around me. My exoskeleton wraps around me and provides me with extra legs and arms, antennae and mandibles.
I’m now completely in the cosmic mite-hulk king form. The onyx hue of my carapace gleams with a polished darkness, reflecting the light of the surrounding world. The cosmic form has extraordinary artwork that adorns my armored shell. The galaxies come alive upon me, like cosmic dreams etched into the very essence of my being.
My massive frame is hulking and I stand on four sturdy legs, each as thick as ancient tree trunks, firmly planted in thin-air. These legs, like the rest of this form’s body, are covered in a dense, obsidian-hued exoskeleton that gleams with an otherworldly luminescence, reminiscent of a starry night sky.
From my newly broadened shoulders sprout two pairs of muscular arms. The upper pair are segmented limbs ending in razor-sharp, ebony claws that contain the mechanism that allows the mite-hulks to fire condensed air, or in my case, based on the sensations within the claws, condensed gravity wells. There are humanoid hands beneath the claws on my upper arms, as if I’m simply wearing an odd suit of armor with some sort of claw-tonfas built into the gauntlets.
I’d be capable of rending stone and tearing through flesh with ease for sure based on the heft of the musculature within the symbiotic ichor flowing about inside of me. The muscles twitch and flex with a sinewy grace, ready to strike at a moment's notice. As I move, my muscle structure and symbiotic alien-entity ichor each ripple with power.
Shadow and light interplay, dancing along the celestial patterns etched into my carapace, in some small ways mirroring the motion of my muscles beneath the exoskeleton. Floating here, standing in mid-air, the galaxies upon my carapace dance with vibrant energy. Swirling nebulae of ethereal blues, purples, and pinks intertwine, creating an intricate tapestry that stretches across my entire frame. It's as if space, the universe itself is utilizing me as a canvas. I hadn’t had a good look at the form when I was fighting upon Lord Agni’s back, but I could see being mesmerized by the emotive artwork of the fabric of reality if it were on someone non-hostile. At least, if I came across them during a time when I didn’t need to be thinking about battling.
For example, as I move, the galaxies come to life, their colors shifting and pulsating with an otherworldly glow. Stars, like tiny pinpricks of light, twinkle and sparkle in a mesmerizing display. The celestial bodies depicted on me are as diverse as the cosmos itself. Some stars burn with intense brightness, casting radiant beams of golden light that pierce through the darkness. Others emit a gentle, ethereal glow, hinting at hidden mysteries and undiscovered worlds. I think the most intriguing thing about the galactic carapace is that the stars, nebulae, solar systems, and everything depicted upon it move at their own pace.
As I move, my carapace reveals new, different galaxies if the previous ones don’t keep pace with my position in spacetime. Every movement I make sends ripples of energy through the galactic artwork upon my carapace. The stars seem to twinkle and shift. The galaxies upon my carapace breathe and shimmer, as if the cosmic dance of creation continues coursing over my torso and limbs. The nebulae swirl and transform with each movement. It’d be disorienting to keep staring at it, in all honesty, especially with my new eyes.
I lose my silent sonar senses from my danger wraps, my thermal fluctuative senses, and a whole host of other abilities. I give up a massive swath of my abilities to engage this form, this nearly invincible, super-speedy form. Why is it whenever I need to act quickly, to cover incredible distances speedily, or otherwise utilize super speed, I always end up facing some sort of detriment? I wish I could leave speed to the speedsters in my family, but time and time again I need to give it my all and throw down with all the haste I can muster.
Still, in this form, I at least gain a new sense, or rather, a sense that seems to come and go in my life is back in full swing. My antennae pick up olfactory sensations with extreme, vivid detail, nearly painting a mental picture of my surroundings via scent alone. It’s almost like having my silent sonar, almost. I can’t keep that sense in this form though, unless I were to bake the danger wraps into the claws or something.
I wonder if I can keep transformations like this one equipped with my magical equipment if I tweak the abilities somewhat with Kinzul’s help. I’d dearly like to keep my danger wraps, elemental bandolier, and quick change ring, and all of the armors within the quick change ring equipped, in all my forms. I know that the armors and clothing resize and reshape somewhat, but I suppose it’s asking too much for a chestplate to grow extra arm-holes and reshape to fit around a hunched exoskeleton.
My multi-faceted, compound eyes pick up more than I’m used to analyzing in the visible spectrum as well. I’m able to see vibratory waves in a sense. I can almost see the wind, between the olfactory antennae, and the vibratory vision. Oh well. For now Reggie? Stop gawking at the new form, and just figure out what to do while in it with the six seconds that we have.
Well, I should stop gawking at it, but I’m doing it in nearly-paused time. In my cosmic mite-hulk king form, I hover above the endless, horrid-yet-useful acid thunder cloud banks of the Worldstorm that represents both deadly trap, and salvation. While here, I try to take stock of the six ancient dragons known as the Damnations. Their wings flap with enormous power, sending mighty gusts cascading about. Those gusts still somehow manage to only barely disturb the Worldstorm. Their scales glint in the lightning or reflect the near mid-day sunlight. Their stark-red, pupil-less eyes are filled with hatred and contempt.
Sibil is the smallest Damnation, based on some murmurs I barely recall overhearing from the crowd when I’d asked about them, which means she’s that one over there, with the blueish obsidian hue to her scales. Her horns spiral about her head almost like a crown, oddly enough. Despite her wings being utterly enormous, they’re translucent, allowing some semblance of light to pass through them. Ferciul is the next one in size, and she’s a Fire the color of molten lava. Her limbs are slender, and the dactyl leather of her wings gleam like flickering firelight.
After those two, it’s hard to estimate, but I think Dazomeus would be the next one, which would mean he or she is the Poison over there. Dazomeus’s scales seem more like moss-covered stone than anything else, verdant in a way that would blend in with the canopy of the Fae’s Wilds. The next one in size would be Laombigla, the opalescent one over there, oddly enough, also slender-limbed, with almost delicate features, and translucent wings. Despite being some of the most ferocious beings in creation, many of them are beautiful, graceful sights to behold.
Grimsranton and Ephlomseestiph must be the last two, Grimsranton must be the charred-red looking one with the hulking, armored physique. His body is covered in thick, shining scales that resemble the char-blackened steel of ancient battles coated rusty red with blood. Powerful muscles ripple beneath his hide. His wings, resembling tattered, leathery sails, bear the scars of countless battles. His eyes, shaped like burning charcoal briquettes, smolder beneath that pupil-less red glow. Ephlomseestiph is another delicate, slender-limbed dragon, but the largest overall by far. Also yet again another opalescent dragon.
I wonder if the Damnations’ scales are shined in some particular way to hide their elemental natures. I’m almost positive most of them, if not all of them, are simple chromatics of the six normal breath attack elements. Those elements of course being acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, and thunder. Speaking of thunder, the sound never ends on Rayileklia.
The Worldstorm continues to rage as always, but I’m undaunted by that at least. If anything, it’ll be my one saving grace in this fight, if I can drop any of them through the Worldstorm, the others might hesitate, or might flee to save that Damnation’s dragonforce from me. Since I’m in the cosmic mite-hulk king form, no storm, no dragon, no force that I can think of could destroy me during these six seconds. I suppose if I stood in a nuclear explosion, or near a black hole, or something similar, I’d still probably be wiped out. Or if a potent enough explosive was shoved into my maw, or, well, okay, so there’s a few forces.
I’m finding more and more out about this form in this very short instant that I’ve been in it so far. Moreover, I’m fairly certain my space-warping capabilities include all points within the spacetime lightstream, or future lightcone from the point of its activation, during my transformation’s brief existence. That is, as long as I react quickly enough in the last instant, I can warp spacetime to return to the start of the transformation, and try over and over again. This is a familiar state of being, knowing that I can rewind to try to get it right.
It’s still only been less than a millisecond since the transformation began, and I’m sure the sound of my challenge hasn’t even reached the Damnations yet. How can I draw their attention, or take them down? More importantly, how can I draw their fire or take them down before they hurt my allies? I’ll start off with physical attacks I suppose, clawing at them and blasting them with the claw-pistols. If I can figure out how to locomote anywhere nearly as fast without just warping space, I could bring a lot of force to bear through sheer velocity, or, well, acceleration.
Err, maybe I shouldn’t do that even if I could figure out how. I might atomize myself doing that though. Imagine impacting a solid surface at roughly one tenth C, one tenth the speed of light. Hell, imagine just moving through a wall of wind at that speed. Force equals mass times acceleration, so I’d be pelted with air molecules at an acceleration that would be deadly to almost anything in the known universes.
Fricklefrack. What the hell can I even do? This form has nearly impenetrable defenses, and ludicrous speed, but its offenses aren’t much more than me dropping a few small boulders out of my inventory at a semi rapid pace. Did I need these defenses Luni? Or did I need its speed? Is there something else it c—. My Void Dragon Honoris Causa, and my Latent Nothing. There’s an interaction here that I couldn’t get in any other form, not safely anyway. I can approach infinite density if I absorb mass from my surroundings.
The problem is, I already thought through this theory of increasing density to increase my force, sort of. I’d pondered it while in paused thinkspace time. The biggest problem is that it takes time. There’s no way around that, and I’ve only got six seconds. There’s no way I can reach a critical mass in five seconds that would allow me to blitz down all of the Damnations in the last second. Is there? Think Reggie, think. What’s the likelihood? How far can you push this in six seconds? What are the absolutely most powerful actions you can take in six seconds?
Well, no time like the present to act out these six seconds. Hah. No time like the present? For me? Hahaha. Uh oh, I’m cracking up. I wonder if I’ll even be able to hold my psyche together for six seconds. Or maybe it was actually just pretty funny, and I could giggle for six seconds while fighting the Damnations. Well, here goes nothing.