“No, stay away from me!”

Rob scrambled backward, trying to stay away from the others on the rooftop with him. A silver haired young man stood before him, extending a hand toward him, smiling as if he hadn’t just forced Rob to be pulled through what he felt to be a storm filled vacuum held within the empty vectors of the edges of outer space.

“No, never again!”

“Come on, you idiot, we have to get out of here now!”

Rob shook his head violently, the silver haired young man looked around at the explosive collision of buildings occurring all around them as he tried to blindly reach for Rob.

“Khalif, hurry up!” yelled the silver haired young man’s partner.

“Rob, we don’t have time for this, come on!”

Rob looked at the silver haired young man, frozen in complete confusion; the building the random group of strangers rode upon began to tilt as the system of runes that kept all the structures within the shopping district afloat began to unravel and implode one after the other.

“Do I know you…”

Rob looked into the young man’s eyes, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, he felt the look of someone who was on his side. A soul outside of himself that loved him, cared for his well being, and so much more.

“Khalif…?”

Rob felt his hand reaching out toward Khalif as his mind spun and weightlessness overtook him. The decision was taken from him as his body slid off the rooftop; the building beneath him crumbling under the duress of the many other structures colliding with one another.

Rob screamed, and Khalif dove after him. The young women he now knew to be Lane and Micro also jumped, the pair clinging to Khalif’s ankles.

Memories flooded into Rob’s mind like an avalanche. As he fell through the air, he felt the oddest sense of deja vu, Khalif’s face replaced with a boy he felt he’d never met before. The name of the dazzling eyed young man drifting across the borders of his mind like that of a subtle summertime breeze, teasing the body with its potential comfort, briefly soothing the skin on a hot day.

“Arson…”

The world slowed around Rob. Every collision that occurred was experienced in a slow motion high definition, each vivid impact stretched in a way that took Rob’s breath away.

He looked back toward Khalif, still seeing Arson in his place, only now the boy was a young man and his eyes were like that of a trillion condensed stars. The swirl seized Rob’s focus completely, and the voice of the powerful young man made it nearly impossible for Rob to think straight.

“Nothing could ever break our connection Rob, mortal or not, you are my brother,” Arson said with a smile.

“What do you mean, what connection?”

“We are powerful all alone, brother, but together, we are endless!”

“I have no power, I am a mortal, I’m nothing but a—“

“Cook?”

The word made Rob frown, as when Arson spoke the simple title, it felt… wrong. He felt he was far more than a mere cook. He was unrivaled in his craft. He was creative. He was…

“A Cultivator.” stated Rob. The title demanded respect, taking on a physicality that filled his veins with a roiling sensation of power and might.

The feeling of energy filled Rob instantly, and Arson smiled down at Rob as he felt his mind converge with the memories that were stolen from him by the system itself. And a roar built in Rob’s chest as Arson spoke once more, his dazzling eyes growing brighter with an unmatched intensity; Rob now feeling as if he could achieve anything he set his mind to as he stared down his friend.

The vision held within Arson’s eyes changed to show a fathomless realm of potential and creation. A place built from the embodiment of limitless possibilities. As the imagery filled Rob’s mind with what he needed to do, Rob began to turn away as Arson spoke once more.

“It is time!”

“Yes brother, it is…!”

Rob let the overwhelming feeling of power take him completely, feeling supported by the image of Arson at his back; he let the roar in his chest out with everything he had, and reached toward the waters of the aquarium below.

“Raaa!”

…

Khalif didn’t even see Rob turn around in the air. One moment the young man was screaming and peddling aerially to his utter demise, and in the next instant Rob was facing his life's end with a roar of confident defiance as he reached toward the water below.

“This guy is absolutely nuts,” yelled Micro, but before Khalif could yell his agreement, the air around them all began to vibrate.

“What in the bloody sparks!”

…

“What in the bloody sparks,” yelled Lane. No answers came in return. The falling group of youths were all shocked to silence as a reality distorting wave of mana rippled out from Rob’s body, changing the environment as a whole.

A cold snap of frigid energies emanated throughout the aquarium as large hands made of water began to rise from the depths.

The hands moved to catch all of the buildings one by one; the large arms quickly reached upward, causing the water levels in the aquarium to vanish in a handful of breaths. Some buildings were even lifted from their previously submerged states, just before all the hands begun to freeze, holding all of the fallen shopping district upright in a maze of frozen arms and upheld palms. The fingers of each giant hand wrapped gently around each building and walkway.

A large hand even cupped enough water that Lane and the group she’d escaped with was caught in what felt to her to be like that of a large pool, rising slowly upward to embrace them all.

Even before she and the others could attempt to swim to the surface, a platform of ice slowly lifted them all upward as the water below them slowly solidified beneath their feet.

Lane slowly stood alongside the others to see an oddly familiar looking young man already standing there, looking off into the distance. The young man turned back to look at her and the odd couple that had pulled her from the chaos of the ballroom’s kitchen, and spoke after looking them all in the eyes.

“It is time…!”

The silver haired young man looked between her and his partner in confusion, receiving only shrugs from her and the other young woman.

“Time for what,” asked the silver haired young man, only for the chef to blink and look around in confusion before he pointed at himself.

“You talking to me?”

The silver haired young man looked between Lane and his partner once more, his face crumpled with even more confusion; the young man wiping his face with a heavy sigh before he fixed his gaze back on the chef who looked equally as bewildered. He nodded and the chef responded with a shrug of his own.

“I have no idea what you mean by… time for what, kinda an odd question to ask out of nowhere don’t you think?”

The silver haired young man’s frown deepened and Lane’s brow rose, mirroring the other young woman’s own visage as they glanced at one another. The suited young man waved his hands around at all the chaos around them, indicating all of the screaming people trying to climb down from upheld crushed buildings and half broken platforms.

“You do all this, save our lives in one of the most incredible showings of power I’ve ever seen in my life, follow it all up with the vaguest phrase I’ve ever heard, and are now acting like you don’t remember a thing…?”

Lane laughed as the chef’s eyes widened; the powerful Cultivator looked around in a truly believable astonishment. After torturing as many people as she had recently, the truth was simple for her to pick out from the features worn by those prone to lying.

“You think I did this, I’m just a mortal chef…”

Though the chef had just looked surprised, his previous statement came off in a way that left Lane feeling as if the chef had ever felt those words to be true, he no longer did.

“Whatever, we’ll talk about this later, but for now, we have to get the spark out of here,” the silver haired young man said looking around at them all before he started to walk toward the shadows casted by the curled fingers of the hand they all stood within. His partner didn’t need any further prompting, rushing after him instead of waiting with the pair that stood there in indecision.

Lane came to terms quickly herself, feeling she had no better option to escape her current predicament, deciding to join the couple, not looking back as she strode off.

Not gonna waste my time, if he’s stupid enough to stay and let Graveyard pin all this on him, by all means go ahead buddy, I have enough heat on me as it is already.

It wasn’t but a few breaths later she heard the frantic steps of the chef headed in her direction, and she found herself smirking.

Guess, he’s not that stupid…

“Hey, wait for me!”

…

“I’m sparked, Auto is going to bloody kill me…”

Alexander looked around as he and his captive exited the bay doors of the submarine. The very same submarine that was now but a few hundred yards away from the sewer line he’d used to enter the base of Aqua’s shopping district.

All of the aquariums water had disappeared after a powerful Cultivator used every ounce of the water in the base of the district to stop many from falling to their deaths, and many more from drowning.

“You almost just killed a million or more people, and you're worried about your brother being mad about a submarine,” asked the woman Alexander had just abducted.

“My brother makes flying tanks for a living, he can give me a lot more issues than anyone who may have been affected here, Alister Kim included…”

Alexander began to climb down from where the sub had been beached atop the beautiful weave of coral that covered the bottom of the shopping district’s aquarium, only looking back toward his captive once he realized she wasn’t following him.

“What are you doing? Hurry up… ah what’s your name?”

The woman frowned and put both hands on her hips before yelling back at him.

“What kind of kidnapping is this, you expect me to just tell you personal details about myself, and follow orders like some weak brained victim of Stockholm syndrome?”

“No, I guess not, but I abducted you, and believe it or not, this is my first time doing something like this, so trust and believe that I will leave you here to die.”

“Yeah right, little man, you just told me that this is your brother’s submarine, I doubt you are just going to leave it here—“

“I already triggered the self destruct protocol, I’d start climbing down if I were you,” Alexander responded chuckling as he watched the woman look over her shoulder to the sound of an echoing ding repetitively ripple throughout the submarine.

“but my dress!”

“What about it, for a woman who is smart enough to create realm shattering devices, you seem to have your priorities mixed up, lady.”

“I, for one, don’t care about your opinion, and also have a growing hate for you!”

Alexander shrugged, starting to climb down once more at the sight of the engineer beginning to descend, and the sound of dragon sirens that indicated Graveyard was soon to be on the scene and casing the area.

“Hurry up lady, or you're not going to like option number two,” yelled Alexander.

“Oh yeah, well I don’t care, it's not like you even told me option number one, and graveyard will be here soon anyway, they're going to catch you and lock you up for terrorism, you know that, right?!”

“Ha, you'er hilarious lady, but I think we both know that if I tell them that you forced me to do all this they’ll believe me over you…”

“I’m hilarious, but you think that what you just said isn’t ridiculous, in what life time do you think Graveyard agents will believe anything that a youngster like you has to say over a renowned engineer of Alister Industries, who do you think you are?”

“A prince of the realm,” Alexander said, pulling down his hood and putting on a small circlet atop his head.

“Rubbish… you expect me to believe that I was just kidnapped by a bloody prince?”

Alexander stepped down to the base of the aquarium and extended a hand to help the woman down, laughing as she took his help with a growing frown.

“Again, I abducted you, and you don’t have to believe a thing,” said Alexander before he yanked, pulling the woman and putting her on his shoulder before running off.

The submarine exploded, and the woman screamed as flames soaked the area, blowing her stylish hairdo in every direction imaginable.

“Put me down!”

“Sorry, lady, not going to happen!”

“What in the bloody embers could you possibly want to kidnap me for!”

Alexander couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he ran; the woman pounding his back fruitlessly as Alexander sped toward the nearby sewer duct.

“You're going to help me break open a path to my brother, we just might have to break a few inter-realm laws to do so, is all.”

Alexander kicked open the sewer hatch without stopping his stride; the powerful blow crushing the metal plate inward in an instant. He took the woman off his shoulder and dangled her with one hand by the neck into the sewer as a fowl smell and the sound of rushing sewage burst out toward them both.

“You wouldn’t dare,” said the woman, struggling to speak with Alexander’s tight grip around her throat.

“Of course not, I treat all my friends with love and respect,” Alexander nearly whispered as he leaned in slowly.

“Oh thank the maiden I thought—“

The words came out choked, only for Alexander’s eyes to widen in a feigned and sudden shock before he cut the woman off.

“But wait,” said Alexander still speaking softly.

“I don’t even know your name, how could we be friends if I don’t even know something as simple as that…”

The woman’s mouth opened in an attempt to share, but in the same moment that she started to speak, the grip around her neck was opened completely. The woman’s spoken name turning instantly into a panicked yell as she plummeted.

“Evelyn!”

…

Seneschal walked through UnderCity. The section of catacombs that he trekked through untouched by anything or anyone but Ancient demons, held strong unlike practically ever other section of UnderCity as a whole.

The tunnel he exited led into an open space that held a beautiful pyramid. The construction was unique in that its pointed top was maid of flowing water. An eloquent fountain gushing in a patterned flow that rippled down the glass windows that separated each floor of the pyramid from one another.

The abandoned home of Carter Omni was left to decay, but didn’t. The lavish home instead was seized by Seneschal, and was now being used as a secret headquarters.

Open portals sat to either side of the walkway the Ancient demon strode down. Beings of shadow as well as many other demonic varieties milled about, all preparing for the war to come.

The portals showed various realms filled to the brim with monsters and more, all of which now served Seneschal, many bowing as he strode by.

This was the beginning. The war would soon erupt on the face of Maelstrom and the rest of the realms within their realm layer, and Seneschal would not stop until his people were once more accepted alongside the highest powers beneath the heavens.

“Once more demonic Cultivation shall rise…”

Seneschal’s pack of flaming wolves emerged from the shadows as he walked. Those around him whispering at the sight of the demon who proclaimed to be fated to once more bring the superior demon race to the pinnacle of power that they once held, made him smile a dangerous smile.

A smile that he felt had been inspired by a power he couldn’t quite remember. A power that motivated him to push all his demonic brethren to lands even beyond the heavens.

“We will reclaim the might of Endless, by the legacy of the original sun, we will rise…!”