Rob didn’t wake up exactly. He felt his consciousness rise from a place within himself he’d never been able to see or enter by that point in his life. A cultivator’s soul realm was not something he’d believed he would ever experience, and he was not completely aware of it.
He’d wanted to keep meditating, but the sounds of chaos around him caused him to open his eyes. Open his eyes to a nightclub once more destroyed.
Embers and sparks…
Rob rose to his feet, not noticing the flashing sky blue light in the periphery of his vision, nor that he’d stood up without the assistance of his hands nor one of his legs.
A mortal’s body was made up of slightly over 85% water, while Rob in his current state consisted of 100% water. The flab and extra weight that had once clung to his frame, eaten during the process of his cores construction, left his every movement, lithe and with far more grace than Rob was used to. His continual use of water breathing potions had given him a new level of flexibility and even a slight increase to his stamina, but the new changes he’d undergone were magnitudes above the minor potion work he’d achieved so far.
Brianna!
Rob looked around, only able to see fleeing staff members below, and a huge hole in the ground just below the viewing box he was in. Another city once magical and flourishing revealed even further below, held within the depths of the hole Rob couldn’t help but stare into even under the duress of the missing Briana whom Rob knew he needed to find.
He could see the destroyed other side of the hole from what seemed like field spans away, but when he glanced left and right, no end could be seen to the rip in the ground. His home being ripped apart by what Rob assumed could only be the work of the gods.
The world is ending!
“Brianna! I love you! Where are you?” screamed Rob, even before he turned around to rush through the remains of the ManaWell. The beautiful, redesigned area all tilted toward the direction of the hole Rob had seen. Rob’s worry for Brianna carrying him past familiar quarters, directly into the mayhem abroad.
Rob had become slightly faster prior to finishing a cultivation core, now though, unhindered by any excess tissue not being used as muscle he couldn’t help but feel the new sensations that filled him as he ran.
What’s wrong with me I feel like I’m going to vomit, but…
Rob moved down the hallway he was in a blink, glancing at the elevator before he darted toward an adjacent stairwell. Every movement fluid, and though Rob didn’t know why, he pushed himself to move faster in any way he could, a new urge to find Brianna overwhelming him.
“Brianna!” Rob, stepped off the wall just before the stairs, using the flat surface as a step up, his opposing foot settling onto the railing. Without a pause in momentum, Rob ran down the banister as a person would run down a slight decline at a full sprint.
A blink later and Rob jumped toward the main floor, knowing where he needed to go, but not the state of the area he’d just entered. His adrenaline at an all-time high, the jump that would have been commonplace for any semi-athletic individual, was now preternatural and something he wasn’t prepared for.
By the light of the sparking maiden!
Rob soared through the air, his jump pushing him through the large entryway, into the open air. The young man windmilled trying to turn around but his efforts were in vain.
“Emergency protocols!” Rob had jumped directly toward the gaping crack in his planet's outer layer, his voice stretching as he continued to scream and fall.
He pulled the Propeller palm drones Xani had made from the spacial inventory of his bag and yelled the command again. Four hands grabbing the young man after the briefest of moments, adjusting their accelerations to catch up with Rob at terminal velocity.
The only problem was that Rob felt the hands that tried to lift him failing to do so. One, passed directly through his wrist as if his arm wasn’t there. Another through his ankle, but then the drones changed tactics, and attempted to grab his clothes.
Rob couldn’t think straight after watching one of the devices meant to save his life and lift him to safety slide through his limb as easily as a hand through the edge of a stream of water. Then a new sense of wrongness overcame him, when the drones pulled up on his lower half, and his bag, he was finally being lifted, but also pulled apart like melting cheese.
His body felt in constant flux. Cool, then cold. Dense, and even though his body held together in other areas in structure and form, his appendages could suddenly become far more weightless.
“Stop,” yelled Rob, knowing somehow that he didn’t want his two halves to separate, deciding for himself that he’d rather plummet to his own death than be pulled in half by flying drones.
He couldn’t think straight knowing that his own death was coming, seeing others fall past him through the air around him thousands of feet between him and the ruins below.
He wanted to close his eyes, and scream in anger at his luck, but when his frantically darting eyes locked onto the crushed form of the ManaWell’s opposing half, his eyes filled with tears and he began to sob.
He forced his eyes closed, and turned onto his back while falling. Wind wrapped around his clothing and Rob felt the strange new sensation within his body grow with every deep breath he tried to take.
“I love you, Brianna. I’m sorry…” It was in that moment that Rob saw the flickering sky blue dot, blinking within the corner of his vision, even with his eyes closed.
He couldn’t help but focus on it, his first ever notification rolling smoothly into view. A soft sky-blue box filled with fanciful text filling a large portion of his vision, took Rob’s breath away.
*Welcome Robert Khan Michelin to the world of Cultivation!
You have created the alchemical core of Oceans and Waves. With this core set may come many options, as water is directly connected to life within all of the Uni-Vare. May your new access to Mana and Uni-Vare bring you peace on your journey to Endless!*
“Are you sparking kidding me with this rubbish!” Rob cursed every god he could think of, his Overlay coming into view an instant before…
Splash!
The sound of Rob’s body splattering across the ground below was unheard amidst the chaos that occurred in the space all around where he’d landed.
All that remained a bag, wet clothing, and a scattered pair of shoes laid atop of a nightclub that still emanated with violent screams.
…
Xani scrolled through her options on the APK when an emergency broadcast chimed on her flatscreen within her pocket. She withdrew the device from her pocket and tapped the screen once to trigger the video. Lane appeared, and what Xani saw took her breath away.
“Arson!” She closed the APK and rose, pocketing her flatscreen. Autumn reached out a hand, but Xani was already rising into the air, her propeller palm drones lifting the APK into the air behind her as she moved.
“Arson!” An explosion occurred off in the distance and Xani saw Moriarty’s body crashing through the air like a meteorite. His half armored body spinning through the air, until a thud was heard with the volume of a fallen boulder or immensely large tree once cut down.
“Xani, what’s happening,” yelled Autumn in question. Xani glanced to see vines powerful enough to split the stone they stood on, lift Autumn into the air behind her, until they closed in on the tower and tree within, the branches taking over as they transitioned between spaces.
When Xani looked back, she realized that maybe she should have stepped in to stop this sooner.
“Arson!” From what she could see Arson had used the tower like an obstacle course, combined with a battlefield.
From what she’d seen earlier, Moriarty was unmatched, but the longer the fight drew on, the more the Eco heir was able to defend himself.
Elemental hands stopped many of Arson’s attacks, but many more strikes landed than were avoided or redirected in any way.
Xani flew through the branches of the tree, spinning through the limbs until she was above the tower, and looked around.
Autumn rose above the tree’s canopy, and in the next instant, an entire stage made from weaved leaves and branches made in a few breaths.
“Where are they?” asked Autumn, Xani forcing down an eye roll with her back to the girl. She’d tried not to feel annoyed, as Autumn had done nothing to provoke her truly, but her casual presence made Xani feel as if she could be replaced at any moment, no matter how ridiculous a thought it was.
You're his sister, even if he doesn’t call you that, Xani… Better off being his rival anyhow!
She pushed aside her thoughts and continued to scan the area from her high vantage. Especially after her petty side won out and she floated up just enough to be slightly above the taller Autumn off the ground.
Autumn tapped her ankle and pointed toward a series of buildings on the same platform they now looked down over and saw plumes of dust fly into the air with each building Arson knocked his cousin through.
“Embers and sparks, Arson, was it really that deep? I’ve heard you and Troy call each other worse things than street rat…” Xani knew something was off with Arson as he was currently. The dark voice and laughter that could be heard in the distance gave her chills, but she knew she needed to stop him before he ended up chopping a potential ally into pieces, and knew he needed to see what was happening in Maelstrom.
“Arson!” Xani yelled again and again as she flew toward her friend. The young man savagely tore through his cousin's defenses one precise strike at a time. It took Xani a while to truly catch the pair of battling family members, but had noticed many things while she tried.
Makes me wonder if he can’t take a hit, or is refusing to be struck for some reason?
She’d seen Arson train before, less after his return from the place he called Endless, but Xani had had her doubts about where exactly Arson had gone. Until the footage of him in the prelims surfaced.
What are you hiding, little brother?
Xani chased after Arson through the sky, focusing completely on the difference in his movements. His erratic movements mixed together to look graceful and timed for accuracy. Yet…
Xani ignored the yells from Autumn who struggled to keep up, but remembered the words spoken by Arson before things got strange.
"Just let me sleep."
What could he have meant by that, is he somehow still asleep… maybe even being controlled by one of those people that climb from his shadow…?
"How can I wake him up even if he really is asleep,” mumbled Xani underneath her breath. A few dozen propeller palm drones flying free of the folds of her heavily inscribed runic clothing. The advancements she’d put into her own clothing far beyond any other member of the Builders of Godhood, or the BHC.
“I know you hear me calling your name!” A storm of mechanical hands stormed Arson in the same moment he was about to ram Moriarty through another builder with a shoulder check that was more like an all-out tackle than a simple shove. Arson still able to keep his balance and stay upright, regardless of having had just been almost completely horizontal in the air.
Arson shoved his cousin aside with a single arm a single moment before being paraded on all sides by propeller palm drones.
“This should be interesting,” mumbled the dark voice. Xani was becoming more sure that dark voice wasn’t Arson entirely, if at all, with each action the young man made. Arson was eternally smiling and filled with an emotional alacrity that was infectious. Normally. Instead Arson seemed, more volatile, than unpredictable.
“I’m not the same as these simples, little brother,” Xani yelled, aerially maneuvering through the weave of drones all trying to distract and disarm Arson.
“Hmm, that is yet to be seen,” said the dark voice. The spinning scythe in his hand blocking many of the incoming attacks that managed to pierce his guard, but none truly landed. Moriarty even attempted to summon a large hand, an opportunity to attack while Arson’s back was to the young Eco heir.
The hand cast a shadow over Arson who didn’t even look at the stone palm being used like a hammer to flatten him. Xani yelled for Autumn to snare Arson, not even knowing where the young woman was, only to be slightly surprised when roots sprung from the ground.
Xani knew Arson was skilled, but how skilled was only displayed authentically in the next moment.
The spinning blade of the young man’s scythe was raised above his head, and the simple action came with devastating results.
Xani was forced to dodge as waves of pure force shot out all around Arson. Horizontal slices streamed through the air, colliding with attacking drones, eating through the forest of roots trying to envelop him; the collisions causing explosions due to being infused with the strange conductive waters from Arson’s skill.
Was that flicker stance?
The massive earthen hand Moriarty summoned raced downward and stripped Xani’s mind of any hypothesis she may have been musing over. Every fold of her mind honed in on the tornado of energies that burst into existence above Arson; Moriarty’s earthen construct caught and pushed back suddenly like a hand raised defensively against a strong gust of wind.
Arson angled the tornado diagonally and started to slide backward at the same time, Xani heard a yell from behind.
Before Xani could do a thing, Moriarty was dragged by Arson’s constructs Jill and Jane by his ankles directly underneath his own descending construct.
Arson’s tornado pushed him backward and completely out of harm's way, and Xani gritted her teeth in annoyance at the sound of dark laughter and the explosions caused by many smashed drones.
“This is your fault, not mine, Arson,” yelled Xani, hundreds of drones flying free of her clothing. Arson now aiming the tornado directly toward her.
Flashes of light lined Xani’s body as propeller palm drones, rebuilt flying swords, runic weapons of various types all flew from her sleeves, the large pockets of her baggy clothing, and even the single strap bag draped across her shoulders. The weapons either flying of their own accord, or being wielded by a propeller palm drone.
“Well now, show me what you are made of, sister to Lord Sovereign,” said the dark voice. The words confirming Xani’s thoughts that Arson may be under control of a foreign being or possessed.
Shown more honor by whatever this demon may be than my own rival… I’ll show you Arson, I’ll show everyone!
The words thumbed mentally through her head as she folded her mind dozens of times, coming at Arson from every angle she could manage in the fraction of time she had to make her move.
“This isn’t over by far,” roared the dark voice. Multi colored lightning running down his arms in a flash, as Arson pointed the tornado behind himself and pumped it full of raw power.
Xani’s storm of weapons pressed in dangerously enclosing Arson.
“Mana Lightning!”
Boom!
Arson vanished, as his living hand constructs smoothly lifted the barely conscious Moriarty off the ground. His shaking form bloodied, armor broken, will to fight squelched.
Arson reappeared right in front of his cousin arm extended. The spine fracturing punch already completed. Xani’s breath caught at the sight.
Time seemed to have frozen momentarily. Only for Moriarty to be sent at an absurd speed through the air like a rocket. His body seen from a distance breaking through several walls of the tower behind them all. A clattering of weapons of drones snatching Xani’s attention back toward Arson. The young man standing unaffected by the weapons that had rained down where he’d stood just a breath earlier.
“One down. Shall we continue? I don’t believe Lord Sovereign would permit me to engage with you much further than I have already, and if he wakes, my time to play will conclude. I believe you are smart enough to understand why I wouldn’t want that… right?”
Xani shared a look at the completely bewildered Autumn who stood frozen in the distance. Titan now on a knee behind her, arms in the air around her like wooden shield walls held up defensively.
“Spark this,” said Xani, pulling out her phone to make a conference call. Arson’s hooded form cocking his head to the side, as a strange silence grew, the only thing heard two cascading rings from her flatscreen. Her eyes locked onto Arson as she moved her army of weapons in a slow orbit around him in threat, unsure if she could manage to stop him even if she wanted to.
“Hello,” said two familiar voices. The images of Almarine and Jade appearing as holograms side by side.
“What do you need, girlie?” said the elder.
“What she said, munchkin,” added Jade. Xani simply scanned the battlefield with her flatscreen, pausing on Moriarty lodged in the base of the tree in the distance, finally landing on the cloaked Arson.
Multi colored lightning running from his fingertips to his upper arms. Two living hand constructs resting upon his shoulders like armor. His scythe lifted slightly at his side, the weapon’s blade spinning slowly. Conductive waters lashing through the air in the wake of the weapons path like tendrils of pure power.
“Something's wrong with Arson and we can’t stop him. It’s like he’s possessed by some sort of strange being,” said Xani, carefully watching Arson, and taking slow steps toward Autumn’s position, contemplating fleeing until the help she hoped would come, arrived.
“You in there, my son?”
“He’s in here, but we are trying to let him sleep peacefully… shhh,” spoke the dark voice. Almarine and Jade shared a look that told Xani she’d made the right decision.
“Hmm, is it your turn or mine?” asked Almarine. Jade rolled her eyes and sighed, her hologram seen raising a sideways fist toward Almarine.
“I can’t remember,” responded Jade. Almarine glancing toward the younger woman, the extended fist, and back toward Arson as she rose a fist of her own.
“Make this quick. I have things to do…”