Inside the factory, we see a well-oiled machine as laborers move around metal within a large facility.
A young man and a newly enlisted warrior in training. Or that’s what he dreams to be. In reality, he’s a factory worker, never to be ready to be a real warrior. His name is Prima.
The day seems all too normal, moving around metal, disassembling KAMU mechs and UXR warships, but he can only dream about the bigger things. He interacts with his fellow workers. Everyone seems to know each other well and have a jolly conversation with one another. Except for Prima. He struggles to carry a large heavy box, arms shaking, and legs stumbling with each step. Suddenly, he gets maliciously pushed to the ground by a co-worker spilling the contents of the box, a large piece of internal machinery. The Empyrean worker, much larger than he, curses at Prima.
“You’re moving too slow, pick up all that trash, weakling.” Says the cruel man
“I would’ve been just fine if you didn’t push me to the ground!” Prima retorts furious.
“Don’t speak pest! Pick that shit up!” his peer barks in his face.
Prima glares at his peer before picking up the contents of the box. Once he’s done, the co-worker yanks up the box and moves quickly, carrying it with no effort.
“Asshole.” Prima mutters
After a hard day’s shift, he heads to the lunch hall. He sits alone. No one wants to talk to the abnormality; a weak empyrean. At least the food is good. However, he’s not alone for long, as a friend sits next to him. A young man with a bandana approaches and sits next to Prima.
“Hey, Domino.” Prima greets his friend
“Yo, what’s up.” Domino returns the greeting
“Nothing much.” Prima takes a bite of a good-looking sandwich
“Riiiight. Anyway, I discovered something about the KAMU.” Domino says jubilantly
“Oh? What *fascinating information* do you have today.” Prima chuckles
“So as you know the UXR used AI for everything, but a few of them have a personal AI, some of which are fully sentient! Crazy right.” Domino uses his hands to emphasize his excitement.
“It is kinda crazy. But it’s not surprising. You can only advance AI so far before it gets a mind of its own. What’s that one theory?” Prima scratches his forehead
“Accelerated Mind theory. By Waljek Kais.” Domino proudly informs
“Yeah, that’s the one. Although, I won’t need any fancy AI. When I become a pilot, I’ll surpass everyone.” Prima declares
“Sure, buddy.”
Just then, a trey comes flying in like a buzz saw, aimed directly at Prima. Prima can’t react in time, but Domino reaches over and catches the tray and slams it down, “What the hell was that for!!!” Domino yells.
A group of tall Empyrean workers are cackling from the middle of the hall.
“It was just a test. Your bottom boy over there should’ve easily caught that.” The group lets out an obnoxious laugh.
“HOW DARE YOU! You’re going to pay for that!!!” Domino steps on top of the table.
“Domino back down, look at your hand.” Prima gets up, attempting to calm his friend.
Domino’s hand is bleeding, but he doesn’t care. He then jumps over the table and tries to start a fight, but Prima holds him back. A bit of a skirmish happens, but it’s ultimately broken up.
Outside, two warriors stand upon a wall.
“You ever wonder why we’re here.”
They stand guard, on watch duty.
“I don’t know, man, I wonder so too. Was it our God’s plan, for us to be here, in this ruined land, filled with war, or simply a coincidence of the life he has given to us? I don’t know, but I think about it all the time.”
There’s a brief pause.
“What? I was talking about why we’re stationed in the middle of nowhere, re-purposing useless junk. What about God.”
“Oh, well, I don’t know, I just...”
“Want to talk about it.”
“No, I’m good, just--- hey, what’s that over there.”
“Is that a joke? There’s nothing – is that a guy.”
Guard 2 picks up his communicator.
“This is Lookout South. We got an unidentified target, only about a few meters away, over.”
“Over, we’ll intercept.”
“Should we try talking to it?”
“Probably not. Wait. It stopped.”
The mysterious man in black has reached about a mile away from the main gate.
“Wait, why’s he raising his hand.”
Just then, two portals open, and from it, two massive tanks roll out. The man then taps his forearm, and the tanks turn towards the gate.
“Oh shit.” They say in unison.
Then, the tanks unleash a barrage onto the wall, blowing the gate open. The man walks into the base with his tanks. Warriors storm out of the factory to combat the man and a battle ensues. The man stands on top of one of his tanks, summons two massive rifles, and starts raining rounds on the warriors. From inside the alarms blare red. In the barracks, Domino runs out to help drive away the attacker. As Domino leaves, he looks to Prima, “Stay here bud, we don’t know how strong this invader is. Stay safe.” Domino rushes out.
Prima watches Domino run down the hall, rifle in hand. Prima glares, once again, treated like a non-factor. Prima leaves the barracks and starts to follow Domino from a distance.
Back in the front yard, the man has started engaging in excessive hand-to-hand combat. None of the warriors can keep up as he vanishes in and out of reality. The warriors are horrified as he blows holes through them with his punches alone, kicking off heads and slamming unwitting fools into the ground. The man taps his gauntlets, and the tanks begin destroying all the machinery and the dismantled vehicles in the yard. He starts to make quick progress into the base, where the warriors make their stand.
Prima gets to a corner and carefully peeks around. Domino and his fellow warriors begin to build a blockade. Two lord squires are commanding the position. Prima sighs in relief knowing that there’s no way the attacker makes it any further. However, to Prima’s horror, a man in black reaches their post and in the blink of an eye, rips through the entire blockade. Prima watches as the invader in black cuts down everyone, with his massive twin blades. In an effort to fight back, Domino uses a special ability to hold the man in place, allowing one of the lord squires to summon white tendrils and strike the attacker. But the man cracks a terrifying smile and before Prima can see. The lord squire is turned into bloody cubes with a touch from the man in black. Domino foolishly runs in screaming out a war cry and guns blazing. But he is quickly silenced as the man teleports a sword up off the ground, and stabs him through the chest, pinning him to the wall. Domino struggles, trying to raise his rifle, but the man stares deeply into Domino’s eyes, as he plunges the sword deeper into his chest.
Once Domino goes limp, the man casually walks off sick satisfaction on his face. Prima presses up against the wall, almost sinking into it, suffocating his breath. The man walks into the hallway, he takes a glance at Prima but scoffs as he walks off. The man then stops and suddenly looks back at Prima. He seems to look confused; he puts a hand on his chin and tilts his head. Prima starts to backcrawl away, starting to hyperventilate. *No no no no no NO! Please, God, I can't die here! What would be the point of living in the first place dammit!!!* Prima screams in his head. The man stares down Prima for what feels like an eternity. But the man just shrugs in apathy and continues on his way.
Prima is too shocked to breathe. He quickly crawls up to impaled Domino and pulls out the deeply lodged sword from his chest. Domino can barely breathe, choking on his blood.
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“Don’t worry, I’ll get you some help, just hang on”. Prima says in a panic.
“Uggh. Hu—ru—run, plea—sssse.” Domino breathes his last.
Prima cries out as his only friend breathes his last, he holds his brother in arms close; and then… He’s overcome with a violent rage. He gently lays Domino down. Prima takes off Domino’s bandana and puts it on. He picks up the sword that took his friend's life and runs out, chasing the man in black. Speaking of, he seems to be taking his time understanding the layout of the complex.
Prima raises the blade and readies a swing, but then he feels a burning sensation within his side, followed by a loud mechanical bang. The man, without turning his back shoots Prima in the side with his hand cannon, barely acknowledging him. The man turns around staring down the boy, ready to put one between the eyes. But in the nick of time, a group of warriors show up, giving the man a proper distraction. Unfortunately for Prima, that doesn’t stop him from getting kicked in the head and knocked completely out.
Prima wakes up, everything is red, his side is on fire, and his head is ringing. He struggles to stand, and he tries to hold in his gushing side. Suddenly, an explosion goes off and knocks him to the ground. He starts limping away, his side burning hotter. Another explosion goes off, and the hallway catches fire. Prima starts running with all his might, he pushes the pain out of his head, as explosions go off left and right. He runs, runs, runs, and runs, and runs until he reaches the massive front door of the factory. He runs and runs until an explosion pushes him outside, and he watches as the entire factory go up in flames.
He shields his head from the landing. He takes a breath, trying to calm himself. But when he looks up his eyes widen in horror. He sees a battlefield littered with ice, fire, pillars of rock and metal, and a pile of bodies. Two empyrean warships, destroyed and engulfed in flames; each cleanly split in two. Over it all, he sees the destroyer in black lifting up a body, impaled on his twin blades. Prima struggles to stand, his breath failing him. But then, he recognizes the body, its---
“FATHER!!!!!!”
Prima is quickly taken to the last time he and his father spoke.
“Dad, please, I’m an adult now. You can’t stop me from joining the Order.” Prima begs his father, who is doing paperwork on his desk. The nameplate on the desks says [War chief, Gaban Brytus.]
“I want to be able to make a difference. I can prove myself.” Prima states his case
“For the last time; you are not ready. No matter how much I’ve seen you train, you’re not getting stronger. You’ll get yourself killed, boy!”
“You don’t know that; I could really make a change. I want to make people feel safe, I want someone to look up at me with hope.”
“Noble as that is. That’s impossible; you can’t even protect yourself. No one has ever heard of an Empyrean who doesn’t have spirit. You’ll be a laughingstock. I’m telling you for your own good, boy.”
Prima looks at the floor, angry his father won’t see his way. But then he gets an idea.
“Let me become a pilot.” He says confidently
“What! That’s even worse. You can’t control the skies. You’re outta your mind!”
“Nor the battlefield, but if I become a pilot, then it becomes a matter of sheer skill and not strength. I will dedicate myself, I’ll become the greatest pilot, one no one could ever ignore. So please, Dad, let me join.”
Gaban finally looks up from his paperwork and leans back in his chair. His son stands at attention. Gaban can’t help but feel a little bit of pride. His son, so disciplined, the boy truly has potential, but the boy isn’t strong enough. Gaban sighs
“Fine. I’ll enlist you in the null corps, but I want you to become top of your class. If I see one low grade, you’re out.”
Prima’s face lights up
“Thank you. Thank you so much, I promise I’ll make you proud.” He pumps his fists with pride.
Prima stares at his shaking, blood-covered hands, the ringing in his ear. It tells him how useless he is. How worthless he is. How weak he is. And he'll bleed out and die like everyone else. Prima’s breath grows faster and out of sync. He looks up at the monster, the murderer. The man in black slaughtered everyone but him. Then… he begins to glare. He grimaces in fury. He grabs a burning piece of metal and cauterizes his wounds, screaming in pain and fury. Prima struggles to stand up. The attacker flings his father's body off his blade and begins stepping down the pile, beginning to leave.
“YYYYYYOOOOUUUUU!!!!! DON’T YOU RUN AWAY FROM THIS!!!” Prima screams out.
The man stops. He turns around, confused, and looks back. Did he miss one? He takes a good look. He realizes it’s just the nonexistent brat, with no presence whatsoever.
Prima stands up firmly, breathing heavily. He grits his teeth.
“You… you killed EVERYONE!!! What the hell have we done to deserve this!!!” Prima holds his head, touching the bandana. “You killed them all, I saw you murder my only friend; with your twisted smile… And yet… YOU DARE IGNORE ME!!!!!” He screams enraged, as the ground begins to tremble.
The man gives a dismissive look, smacking his teeth, shooing away this talker. But then, the man changes his tune, seeming intrigued.
“I… I will avenge everyone! I will shoulder their rage. I will not let you leave here alive!” Just then, Prima starts to emit a red and black aura. The flames of his spirit begin to ignite. “I Prima Brytus… WILL MAKE YOU PAYYY!!!!!!”
Prima then explodes, his once dormant spirit bursting forward, engulfing the entire yard in a torrent of bleeding energy. A giant, thin-bodied, torn cloaked, ghostly figure, crying tears of black, with a stretched horrified expression. It hides its face with its massive clawed hands.
The man smiles widely.
“Well, I’ll be damned. I do love a payoff every now and then.” The man says proudly
He makes his blade vanish in his purple aura and he walks down to Prima, gesturing him forward. Prima bursts off in a flash. He reels back and his specter lands a blow on the torso of the man. Prima pushes and pushes, like punching a tungsten wall, but they’re able to push him sliding back. The man dusts off his chest, and with a swipe of the hand clears the yard, like it was new, making everything disappear.
The figure then begins shaking violently as it loses control. It reveals its face and lets out an ear-piercing scream of pain. Prima holds his inflamed side, but he grits his teeth and growls. Prima then takes a powerful step forward and blasts off in a blind rage. He reels back and throws out a flurry of blows. He fights like a enraged honey badger, with quick punches and sweeping kicks. Prima jumps up and throws a spinning kick, only to land and follow up with another roundhouse kick, backhand, and a front kick. His specter repeatedly slams the ground with its fists, screaming manically. The man dodges every single one of Prima’s attacks and jumps over the specter's blind rage. Obsidian jumps on the ghasts massive fist and engulfs his hands in purple flame. He then jumps and swings off of the ghost’s hood, and slams it to the ground. it dissolves into red flame and returns to Prima who then holds his head in pain. The man comes from above and stomps down in front of Prima sending shockwaves through the ground. He grabs Prima’s arm and begins slamming him into the ground over and over. He then tosses Prima away, but the young man, bounces up, fully engulfed in his flaming spirit. He continues to rush in blindingly attacking and attacking with no sense of defense. The man dodges back and strikes Prima in the gut, sending him up, and kicking him away. But Prima rebounds off the ground again and runs in.
The two repeat this song, dancing to the tune. The man beats Prima down, and he gets back up, he does this again and again and again.
WHAT GREAT FUN!!!
The man smiles widely enjoying every second of his new punching bag. But then Prima dodges. Obsidian is pleasantly surprised. He realizes something interesting. Prima is adapting, He’s learning how to fight, his power is rising, and his spirit burning hotter.
Prima starts moving faster and faster, and his blows start carrying weight despite not connecting. Prima starts switching up his style. He’s keeping his distance darting in and out of combat. He dips in and out in and out. He begins yelling out, letting out all his fury!!!
Prima then stops as his specter reveals itself once again, in a torrent of spirit. It begins screaming out to the heavens once more. The man presses something on his goggles, seemingly relieving himself of the noise. The specter then begins pushing off of Prima, pulling itself out. Prima falls to the ground in pain, as the specter finally releases itself. Its large hands slam the ground. As it begins screaming, once more. It begins throwing a tantrum as it smashes the ground. “Daddy! DADDY!!!” It screams out. Prima looks back furious. He wills down the specter and grabs it by the neck.
“Father is dead! Because of us! If you want to cry so damn bad, cry massacring!!! The bastard that took him from us!!!” Prima screams in its face.
The ghastly specter quietly nods, and it slams down its long, broad, serpent-like lower half. It holds its head in its massive hands and lets out a piercing scream following behind Prima. The man looks pleased, excited even.
“God damn kid! You continue to impress every time. Not once have I ever seen something like this! I like this new age!” Obsidian gestures forward both entities
Prima grimaces and gets into a low stance. He takes a deep exhale. He then blasts off, in a sonic boom as he and the specter lunge at the man in black. The man dodges and whistles as he starts applauding.
“You’re a prodigy boy! I knew that potential had to be somewhere! It must’ve been condensed it an infinitesimally dense point. However that ****ing works!!!” He says elated, grinning ear to ear devilishly. The man, seemingly refusing to use his hands by keeping them in his pockets, kicks Prima dead in the face.
Prima hits the ground hard, as the specter catches him.
Prima growls furiously. Both he and his specter rush at the man in black from both sides. The two fight with fluidity, but not completely in sync, but still fighting in tandem. The man seems to be giving Prima some wiggle room in this duel, giving him opportunities to figure out his flow. Unfortunately Prima seems to slow down, his breath unregulated, and his eyes look heavy. Prima closes his eyes for but a moment… then he gets grabbed by the head and slammed to the ground.
“Oh come on kid! It was just getting fun! You can’t be out of gas already. GET UP!!!” The man yells picking up Prima and slamming his head again splitting the ground. The man kicks Prima over and backs up. He patiently waits, watching Prima struggle. Prima places a hand on the ground. He pushes himself up. He stands on his feet, staggering. He takes a deep breath. His specter comes to protect Prima, covering him with its large hands. Prima pushes past his specter, as it lets out a whimper. Prima gets his breathing under control and grits his teeth. He rushes in at the man in black, his specter following suit.
The man takes his hands out of his pockets and throws a punch. It looks like Prima is about to get hit in the face. But he dodges at the last second and lands a powerful punch on his enemy’s stomach. His specter then starts pounding down on the attacker, causing him to split his attention, blocking the ghast with his forearm. Prima feels a surge of confidence as he darts behind the man. He charges his fist with his blazing red and black spirit. And rushes in. He aims for the back of the man's head, going for the kill. He lets out a war cry and he throws his punch. But the man vanishes.
When Prima wakes up, his vision is black. Everything hurts. He’s coughing up blood, and the ringing in his ears is back. He can’t move his right eye. Suddenly a glowing light pierces the black. Suddenly, Prima feels amazing. His vision returns, the ringing stops, and his body doesn’t hurt, He jolts up.
“Oh hey… It worked. Now I’m tired.” Says an unconfident voice.
Prima looks over and sees, a dark-skinned young man, with silky black hair in warrior armor.
“What happened?” Prima asks Confused
“I don’t know… but you got destroyed, you were covered in blood… I think you died for a bit.” The silky-haired man says pausing after each thought.
“huh?” Prima is still in a state of shock, but he feels a sharp pain in his right eye. Or what was his right eye?
“That’s a nasty scar… How’d you get it.” The young man points to Prima’s right eye.
Prima puts a hand on his face and feels the deep scar. He then feels that his right eye is completely missing. Prima starts breathing faster as he panics. He then lets out a horrified scream.