When Arson stepped through the portal he dove through the air, eyes closed as he let his Closed Eye Dominion take in the dump at night.

“Xani!” The name was heard yelled as if from a mountaintop by a being with the lung capacity of a giant. The surface of his mind bubbled with the thoughts of losing his friend, while his subconscious was filled with the instinct to kill any and all threats.

Arson feeling that he’d already failed his mother’s test of mana-less combat and encounters, began to use things he hadn’t in a very long time.

He drew his mask from thin air, pulling the power absorption artifact into existence as he dove. Unlike any time before, a burst of mana flooded into Arson’s body, as the mask slid perfectly into place. A second layer of skin that had once only been comfortable to wear, now felt as if there was nothing upon his face at all.

When Arson roared this time, discordant sound emanated from his chest accompanied by mana lightning that rippled and snapped while it grew and bloomed outward.

“Xani!” The name came with a gravity that threatened to knock over anyone in range of the sound and energies. Arson could see more the closer he got to the ground. Monarch soldiers, BHC staff and trained body guards, in addition to the chaotic inhabitants of the dump, all battled in various locations near to the Mana Monarch ships crash sight. The robot that Arson no longer cared to hold anything back to defeat, looked upward before anyone or anything held within that area of the dump, and gave a roar of its own.

“Gestalt!” Bloom and Reaper crawled from Arson’s back even as he fell. Dark laughter and soft giggles filling the air above Arson as he plummeted like a meteor.

“Rampage?” The question came from Bloom, and Arson felt the roar he let lose next, was more than enough of an answer. Arson not even having to look back at his two Gestalt forms to know that one or both was charging something behind him. Heat that felt like the sun on his skin sent goose bumps down the length of his spine, and Arson felt his smile grow, reaching for his crown.

His untested crown. His hand touched the material and its first transformation began. Arson felt a slight sense of wrongness carve through his gut, somewhere deep in his mind the crown knew it was meant for more than the spilling of blood and combat, Arson felt it to be true as well, even amidst a rage.

The weapon created looked like a replica of Sky, only it was a pure white. Almost every section identical, excluding the blade that was in the shape of a feather, and the base of the shaft that came to a spear point. Arson squeezed the handle and the Scythe spun.

“I see you're enjoying the true limits of our power, young master,” barked Reaper with a burst of laughter.

“Shut up!”

The giant robot’s head separated down the middle, and Arson roared as a cannon was formed, electricity surging into the depths of the barrel of the giant weapon even before it had completely formed. The engineering so advanced that the construction took a mere blink.

“Sky dropper!”

The words were yelled by Bloom, and in that moment, for the first time in a very long time, Arson knew he’d messed up well in advance before his unbridled anger got him in trouble. Words so alarming that they pulled him from a rage that had almost pushed his wings free of his back spoken in the best moment for the realm of Maelstrom, and the worst time for Arson.

No his wings would not spread that day, but the birth of many new problems would be experienced, and in that moment time froze.

Arson could see Bloom and Reaper behind him, no longer completely focused on his target.

Reaper held two mana lightning orbs in his palms that spun like black holes consisting of a kaleidoscope of colors. Arson didn’t honestly know if the attacks were a real problem, the characteristics of mana lightning seemed to be straightforward. Incinerate a target and replenish the user.

Why the lightning was moving in what seemed to be a controlled pattern filled Arson with some apprehension, as untamed elements such as lightning, wind, fire, and water took a great deal of ability to control in such precise patterns. Still it was Bloom that made Arson worry he may have just done more damage than good.

Around Bloom’s hands was the purest of white lights. A string of illumination connecting her hands to a secondary atmosphere above the night sky itself.

Arson knew that this was what made Bloom truly powerful. Her manipulation of runes often made Arson wonder what the being of creation was truly incapable of. The knowledge that she could potentially pop their atmospheric bubble like a haphazardly tossed water balloon, made flashes of trials long overcome. The achievement of his own survival shrouded by what he’d done to… win.

“Bloom, no sky drops. Reaper, are we going to die if those attacks land?” Asked Arson, his crown now pulling him even faster toward the ground. Reaper shrugged, Arson able to see the action with his Closed Eye Dominion.

“Anastasia, calculate?”

“No need, if he misses you die, if he doesn’t…” Arson felt the shrug from the shoulder-less Anastasia, barking a roar of frustration.

“No sky drop?” Arson looked over his shoulder toward the pouting Bloom and shook his head. Bloom glanced at Reaper, and then back to Arson in a way that filled him with the sense of impending trouble before she responded with a few words and a shrug of her own. Reaper now cackling as they descended.

“Umm, too late…”

“What?”

…

Xani woke up and found her entire Overlay filled with messages from her team, friends, and other random members of the BHC. Not knowing where she was, she tried to move, but couldn’t.

Her eyes snapped open and she found herself at the bottom of a hole with an incredible amount of trash on top of her.

“I guess this is what happens when you share your location with no one and make your Overlay unhackable by anything but rune craft,” said Xani with a chuckle filled with blood and pain. Her mind flashed to chasing down Arson through the skies above Maelstrom. Propeller palm drones began to pull trash and rubble from Xani’s body, and Xani manipulated the air around herself, doing her best to ensure the hole she was inside didn’t cave in.

More and more drones filled the area, Xani using her Overlay to pull the remainder of her available drones from her inventory. She felt much of the weight removed, but still, it wasn’t fast enough.

Her name was yelled for a second time, the first being what had woken her, and caused the majority of what had landed on her to be unsettled. She hadn’t heard or witnessed the first time, but definitely screamed a curse when the second cry caused what had been removed from her to pour back onto her.

She yelled, a fear of not being able to breathe caused her mana to stir. The air shifting with enough force to uncover her face once more.

“I’ll hunt you in your bloody dreams if I die down here, Arson!” The drones she had worked as quickly as possible, yet it ended up being Xani’s wings that freed her.

Only two of the six were broken, and the remainder pulled her upward before Xani was even able to push the last of the trash from herself.

Daughter of the maiden’s blood moon, why!” Xani shrieked. Her broken leg and arm on the right side of her body flopping downward as gravity took hold. Xani immediately using the air around herself to support her weight and make the downward force more manageable on her broken body.

She barely made it out of the hole before light drew her eyes. She turned fully and took in the sight of what seemed to be a tornado, descending through the air like an arrow, streams of power caught in its wake.

Xani couldn’t see what happened when the energy touched down. The sight cut off by mountains and heaps of trash.

Though the impact went unseen. Xani felt the aftermath of the energy, the area reformed by the explosion of power.

Xani was forced to ascend in an attempt to get away from the mayhem that rushed toward her in a tsunami of trash and rubble. The higher she rose more of the change to the environment becoming seen.

“Holy—“ Xani’s words were taken from her mind, body, and soul. A secondary explosion occurred, alongside an inversion of gravity so powerful, Xani felt herself pulled inward, even while the explosion pressed against her front with a wall of pressure and heat.

“Ahh!”

…

For Mr Kim, what he’d just witnessed had to be impossible. He shared a look with his wife, and the mixture of fear and awe on her face somehow made him jealous. The knowledge that the only man who’d ever made his wife wear that face being himself not having anything to do with it…

“What do you think, my dearest?”

“I’m unsure as to what I even just witnessed,” said his wife. Mr Kim rolling his eyes, knowing his wife well.

“You can just ask if you want to see it again,” said Mr Kim. His wife nodding and smiling until he’d rewound the recorded holograms.

The sight of the dump they’d earlier enjoyed returned, and a downward angle could be seen from a high vantage point. The focus of the camera, an uncountable number of robots seen working to develop a creature Mr Kim wondered over trying to obtain for personal use. Any business man with one of the fabled Hive-Titans below in their collections was often seen as untouchable.

Mr Kim had always wanted to add one of the realm destroyers to his own arsenal, but the laws against ownership were more than sand grains held in an hourglass. Yet as he rewatched the machine being sliced into, he wondered if he was aiming too low as far as his wants and objectives were concerned.

The robot fired a cannon the size of an airplane, and Arson swept a white scythe, the weapon sending out waves of force to meet the attack with devastating effect. The cannon built to shoot focused beams of pressure and electricity had no chance, its beam trisected by a single aerial swing from Arson’s own flicker stance.

Arson cut through the air a second time, slicing through the chest of the hive titan, his own body vanishing into the robot’s interior. His momentum enough to knock the Hive Titan from its feet.

The two that followed Arson through the air arrived at the same moment. The darker form caused an orb of destructive power to explode at the impact points, a nuclear reaction eating through the exterior of the robot’s chest. All while the woman with the beautiful wings called the heavens down to rest upon the hive titan.

The next few moments were shown in slow motion for the benefit of all who watched. Mr Kim included was amazed by Arson as he continued to attack while inside the giant robot, cutting through vital instruments, as hundreds of robots were pulled in toward their deaths. The camera wielding operative snatched as easily from the sky as a drifting feather when the atmosphere itself was pulled inward.

All that was heard before the hologram cut off was a gasp. The man pulled so quickly through the destruction that he died even before his camera feed was snuffed out.

“So, is the robot dead, or is that guy sparking up our business finally dead?” asked another of Mr Kim’s operatives. Mr Kim didn’t answer, lost in thought, but his right hand spoke up and Alister found himself proud of his subordinate.

“He could be dead, the robot is at least damaged considerably. I’ve sent out another scout, but I wouldn’t get our hopes up, the feeds on what happened there is getting out, and it was hard for me to even get her out there,” said Seven. The young man’s face filled with dread at the sight of his orphan brother being potentially defeated in combat by choices he’d helped come to pass.

No, Seven hadn’t been particularly close to Arson, but had been in contact with many who knew of him as Carter and heard what the young man had done for the orphans as of recent seasons. This alone was enough for Seven to hope that he hadn’t been slain. Seven often donated his own extra credits or the funds repurposed through clerical discrepancies Seven took advantage of to give to Momma Almarine when he could.

“Good, I want eyes on that area ASAP…” Mr Kim looked around his living room as he spoke. Yet he only received nods, and out of place response coming from above them all.

When Alister looked up, he saw a young man sitting leisurely in his chandelier. The young man kicked his feet back and forward subtly enough to make the light sway like a child’s swing.

Everyone in the room reacted to the long haired young man’s presence differently.

Where Kim knew not to react at all, the only others who followed suit were surprisingly his wife, and unsurprisingly Seven. The young man not very easily shaken, which Alister accredited to his background even if he didn’t want to admit it.

His guards and other guests all either drew weapons as they rose to their feet from the plush furniture around the living space. Or pulled themselves from patrol and guard point positions to surround Alister and his wife.

The older man glanced at Seven, and then to an open space by his side within the guard perimeter after Seven looked toward his leader, drawn instinctually by the feeling of eyes on him alone. The two interactions were so smooth that only their guest picked up on the command that had just been given. Seven already by Mr Kim’s side before Alister spoke up.

“What did you say?” said Alister, spreading his arms wide in a welcoming gesture before he leaned slightly toward his own cupped hand as if he couldn’t hear.

“I can show you what is happening there as a last favor before you die,” repeated the young man. His tan features made his place of origin unplaceable, and his once royal black hair was no longer considered a trait of the powerful. Even still, many there didn’t like the look in his eyes enough to not step toward the young man.

“Before who dies…?” Mr Kim dropped the hand near his ear, his face moving from accommodating to reproachful in the blink of an eye.

“The young man above me on the leadership rankings is rather impressive, but he shouldn’t be too hard an obstacle to overcome,” said the young man still swaying in his makeshift swing.

“But honestly I didn’t want to dive back in without some stretches first, never want to hurt myself by rushing, you know.” He swung his leg over the frame of the light he sat within and dropped to the floor. Casual clothing leaving the Cultivator before them all with a lack in presence that was made up for by the ferocity of his stare.

“I don’t think you know what you are getting yourself into, young man, but I won’t get in the way of the ambitious,” responded Alister. A single rune for speed and perception, formed unseen on Alister’s back. Before he absorbed the raw and rarified energy directly into his body completely, all the color temporarily drained from Alister’s hair in an instant.

In that moment the two figures moved at speeds that caused those nearby to be thrown off their feet, flung bodies drifting through the air as Alister and his unknown intruder began their clash.

The two moved at speeds that left Seven wide eyed as he rolled toward Mr Kim’s wife, trying to keep his eyes on the two.

Alister Kim wore a smile he hadn’t worn in season cycles. A real challenge had managed to enter his home, and for this Alister planned to beat the Cultivator until he was purple and blue.

Bernard Maelstrom knew he’d made a mistake the moment he saw the man in front of him dash. In an instant the man tapped Bernard on his shoulder. The softest touch, forgotten as quickly as it happened, Bernard swatting away the hand he’d thought had been about to touch him, rather than already having had done so…

Alister Kim didn’t leave his enemies alive for two reasons.. As he tapped the boy before him, wiping his memories with every touch, confusion became more and more apparent.

This was the first reason, his natural born ability to take the memories of a person with every touch. The amount grew by an additional blink’s worth of time with each second, but could not exceed a day.

This led to his meteoric rise in the criminal underground, with the rarest of losses, to the Scapegraces, an iconic gang started and disbanded by the one and only, Elizabeth Amorra Carter.

Which led into his second reason. Even as he watched the young man’s mind shift with each reflected blow, he processed the power of the individual through the stranger’s own stolen memories, and began to engage outright.

Bernard was confused at why the man before him continued to try and touch him, but he simply continued to knock away the hands moving slowly toward…

Was he just… Bernard could have sworn that the man was pulling away from him instead of reaching out. Still he swatted away the hand, but by this point, larger and larger gaps of time were being stolen.

Wait wasn’t I just sitting in the chandelier? The question wiped away with a punch he didn’t see coming.

Hold on I swore I was watching from out side wasn’t— Another thought washed by a spin kick to the throat.

“Where am I? Bernard was stomped in the face, a pain piercing his every sensation momentarily, memories of the entire strike taken.

Bernard’s training kicked in, pain felt alongside confusion over his whereabouts enough to make him move. He put his guard up, yet even the blocked strike to his head, came with a secondary effect that left him standing once more confused, reprocessing the pain he felt and his circumstance.

A spin kick to the ankles took him off his feet. Alister already working on a heal drop to the throat, a strike that could potentially kill. Something that would fill Alister Kim with every memory of his victims entire life and so much more.

Bernard turned into a black cloud of fog an instant before his throat was crushed. He pulled his entire mass away from Mr Kim in no time flat. Black fog disappearing through closed doorways that seemed seamless until they were outlined by fog that exited the room as if under the effects of the vacuum of space beyond the third atmosphere.

“Smart, you might live long in this realm if you learn to punch within your weight class, child!”

Mr Kim turned around and took in the chaos of his subordinates for the first time since his slight brawl had begun. His lovely wife clapping excitedly in the corner of the room in celebration as he looked around.

“Sparking heaven’s fire, clean this up, you big babies. It wasn’t even that bad,” said Mr Kim. Seven who had seen most of the encounter take place, shook his head in complete disagreement. Still choosing to move on rather than dispute his leader.

“Okay sir, whatever you say.”