> Chaos hides within the shades, preying on the unsuspecting light.
Probacon and David piloting a spacecraft, dressed in interstellar uniform.
----------------------------------------
With expressions of negative shock still, the three beings observed all around themselves, witnessing completely the horrific area they had entered, which seemed to go on for an infinite distance. All three remained silent, still in wonder and questioning of this place.
"What…the hell…happened here?,” inquired Drizzled, breaking the silence, while Probacon stuttered in a mix of emotions.
But David remained in silence, bowing his head with not a single sound or gesture.
But then he returned to the moment, unshaking in conviction, and turned to his fellow. "Probacon."
"Yeah…?" Probacon responded quickly. "...Get the others."
With an initial concern, Probacon paused, hesitant in his action.
"Alright. Got it." He said, coming to grasp David's intent fully.
He raced off immediately afterwards.
And after a particularly short timeframe, returned with a certain Wok in tow. "What's u–.”
“Oh…Oh!,” said Wok as he greeted them, only to glimpse at the disturbing images in front of him.
"Umm, what in the Ħpɑæ Maቢþƹmvn¹ happened here?" He inquired as he scanned the area with squinted eyes. “A bloody hell of a party, it seems…” Drizzled responded, half-jokingly.
David would reproach that joke with a cold glare. "This is not the time for jest…" "Right. Right. Excuse me."
Probacon quickly zipped away again, bringing all the remaining personnel individually in a minute or so.
"Good heavens…" Adashu said at the first site of the space.
Noot would make complete observational viewing. "Oh dear…”
"How did this even happen?" Kai asked. "We look like we know?" Drizzled shot back. "Even still…"
"What the hell?" A voice suddenly said from the back as a shadow emerged, causing the group's notice to be drawn to its presence.
It was the humanoid with a mask, two in actuality, a Sarhun, along with four more individuals, another Sarhun, a green-skinned mutant human girl, another human of the Chime clan, and a teal-furred anthropomorphic hedgehog. "What is all this? Was this your doing?,” questioned the Sarhun with virulence, with a mask like a metallic gas mask. His demeanor was gruff, with black fluffy-spiky hair in a short bob with a few odd-angled curls, black irides surrounded by almond, a small scar on his right brow, physically well-built, noticeably tailless, and was dressed in a long black folded-sleeve coat that ran down to his calves, with red training gi underneath it, gray pants and black boots.
"Relax. They're good,” said the other Sarhun with a gentler tone as he placed his arm on his shoulder. Similar, but taller, more muscular and mature-looking though with some soft touches, with unkempt spiky hair, with bangs in a variety of positions with some even standing, round-shaped black-irsed eyes, wearing full training gi and an undershirt as well, colored brown and black, with black hanfus.
"...And you are?" Probacon asked with a raised brow, before David interjected. "...Seems like I do get to meet you in-person. The Legendary Lone Sarhun…”
“The Wynn Fighter!"
《The Wynn Fighter. The Outstanding Sarhun. Age 24.》
"That's me. And I could say the same. Godslayer, Dark Prince David Uno!" Fighter responded.
Probacon just glanced at the two, puzzled by the current affairs. What's with these two? What's with all the ego stroking?
"...Did you two really just call out your titles? Laaame!" Wok mouthed audibly, but was ignored with swift effect. "Though…unfortunately the circumstances seem…less than ideal." Fighter said, looking around the space. "Yeah…" David responded, doing the same.
"So…"
Fighter sent at David a stare of extreme intensity. "Was it you?"
Initially, David's face spread in a startle.
"If you know of me, you should know of my moral code." He laughed away afterwards.
"True. You did kill a Malevolent Chaos Lord…" "Just like you've troubled Hell's armies?"
"You two are really going at it…" The mutant girl responded in irritation. With gleaming green skin and hair, and a haircut fringed in front and a longer right side that reached the shoulder, grassy eyes, a heart-shaped face, an attractive but not flamboyant frame, wearing a near-complete suit outfit excluding a jacket, white and silver in theme, simple white slip-ons, and black gloves. "And you are?" Wok asked of her, mostly in forgetfulness.
"Hether-Ia Ingaz…Hether is fine though.” She said, lifting her head up.
《Hether-Ia Ingaz. Genius of Covert Ops. Age 16.》
"This will take a while…,” groaned Wok.
"Alright then, my men are; Probacon, Wok, Noot, Drizzled, Adashu, and Kai. Yours?" David signified, pointing in the general direction of his seatmates. “(Your men!?),” noted Drizzled in a low tone after catching that statement.
"Alright. My fellow Sarhun here is…" Fighter began speaking.
"The name's Pika! Tsuki Pika!" He said taking an akimbo pose with clenched fists.
《Tsuku Pika. Fighter-Warrior of Legend. Age 30.》
He had interrupted Fighter swiftly however, visibly irritating the former, but Pika simply returned the irritated glare with a puzzled gesture.
"Anyway…the dark-haired one is from the Wukong-Chime tribe of the Tsuntsun-58 universe, named Huo, and the Hedgehog is Watch.” Fighter finished, indicating to both of them.
"’Sup, dudes?,” said Watch, carrying a more casual air, with teal fur and spines seemingly bundled up into seven at his back, excluding an exposed ventral torso and jaw, who wore only gloves, gray tape around his forearms, orange and metallic runners, and with yellow irides surrounded by large eyes. "Really chaotic here…,” said Huo, who wore black and brown regalia similar to Sun Wukong, as well as possessing a bo staff, customary of the Wukong-Chimes. He had a similar appearance to Adashu, excluding having a longer face and spiky short hair with a lighter tint, as well as a black headband with a golden protector which covered most of a flame-like mark on his forehead.
《Huo Wukong. Member of the Wukong-Chime. Age 18.》 《Watch. Speed-gifted Hedgehog. Age 17.》
"Good. That's sorted. And yes, I'm just the same as you in this situation, with not the slightest hint as to what happened here, or how this came to be…" David said.
"How big is this thing though?" Wok looked into the endless abyss and asked. "It's a pocket dimension. So we can't be sure.” Noot added.
"I'll check it out,” said Watch.
He zipped off, returning a short few seconds later.
"Universe-sized, Fi." He said directly to Fighter.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
"Infinite?" Fighter asked him. "Most likely. Just looked to stretch on for forever."
"Alright, an infinite-sized three-dimensional pocket space…" Fighter said.
Most of David's group just looked at them unchanged. "Show-offs." Drizzled murmured.
"Regardless, now we know its true size,” nodded David. "Watch, was it completely full of bodies?" "Mhhh…Much of it doesn't contain a lot of much.”
"Alright. Thanks.” The prince returned, to which Watch did a two-fingered salute in response.
David faced the masked Sarhun. "So what's the plan? The next course of action?”
"Plan? Simple. I'll do the uncovering, and you…,” answered Fighter, as he then pointed to David's group.
"Just…stray away."
David simply chuckled, finding the statement just slightly amusing. "Such is dishonest impertinence. It is crystal clear that a hefty, combined workforce is required for the resolution of the issue at hand. Moreover, that which is afoot here, is simply too momentous for one to simply 'stray away’.”
"Even at that, the stakes have greatly skyrocketed. More on board may serve more as a deterrent than a plus. Plus…,” Fighter countered.
“I have a deep gut feeling he might have a hand here."
This statement froze David in place.
Probacon noticed, sensing only shock, fear and wrath emitting around his newfound peer. He swiftly concluded that David had met with the “he” in question, and that from his reaction, he was no good news.
So, what will it be then, Prince of Primus…?, thought Fighter.
David regained his composure.
“Here…greater numbers means swifter progress. We must act fast, for if it really is him…if he really is here…”
“This entire event is a ticking time bomb!!" He said to Fighter, as he clutched his chest and amulet together intensely.
Fighter simply sighed.
"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?"
"Alright. We join forces. That way we can solve and resolve this sooner.” He agreed. Which greatly pleased David.
"And in the end, this is just an alliance of necessity.”
“Of course.” David stated in bolded agreement. “Hell yeah! Let's nail this!” Probacon exclaimed energetically.
"Oh. Bad moment, I guess…" He said as he shrunk himself.
"Normally, that excitement would be warrant here, but….” Fighter said, acknowledging Probacon's feelings as well as his crassness.
"By the way…one of the dead bodies looks like Miss Rucks, who is supposed to be in the second round," revealed Noot, pointing to a nearly unrecognizable body.
"Guess you're right.” Both Chimes said simultaneously upon use of their Reflection Eyes to confirm Noot's discovery. “(How can you even tell that with just a glance?),” whispered Wok.
"The next set of matches will begin soon. We go and scout, keeping an eye out for suspicious actions. Report back if you notice any.” Fighter said, speaking to the general group.
“Goodluck, everyone. May the Arch Grandmaster guide and protect us all."
"Yeah!" The whole group said in unison.
《A great alliance formed to answer this eerie mystery…》
***
The next set of matches then began, with a Manarett, a being made nigh-completely of life essence, and an Criofiend, an alien race which appeared as though blending reptilian and humanoid features.
《The great duels would still carry on irregardless.》
It was an intense battle, with the Manarett just far superior in physical prowess and skill, and the Criofiend with the upper hands in speed, versatility and intelligence.
《Blissfully unaware of the hidden mayhem, and not bothered with the possibilities...》
And the latter would eventually take the victory, employing his “ultimate energy blast” attack to end the matchup.
《Entertaining in their value and progress…》
The next match was between a male Chime and a female human.
This was not as intense as previous battles, only lasting a measly eight minutes in comparison to the average at that time lasting about twelve to fifteen. It was also greatly composed of the female human absolutely dominating most of the duel, before claiming victory with a celestial stroke of her sword.
《To where even complete demolitions were a bright shine, which as before, kept the shadowy things still uncovered.》
In the meanwhile, the combined forces of David and Fighter's groups were on the hunt for clues, suspects and anything in relation to their impure discovery.
《All the while these groups scour…》
They had previously discovered that at some point, the entry into the pocket dimension was removed, and those with greatly enhanced extrasensory abilities could no longer sense it.
《In search of a bright light to guide…》
***
The grouping took seats at a roundtable in the food arena, discussing their finds.
"Now what? We barely have any leads!" Probacon clutched his head in frustration. "Patience, Djin Pro." Pika attempted to calm him down, placing his hand on the Djin's shoulder.
"He is right in a sense." Noot presented with his hand on his face. "We basically have nothing to evaluate."
"Let's talk suspects then." Wok said. "Huh. That works…,” noted Watch.
"Yeah. Having an idea of possible perpetrators is practical,” said Fighter. "And if possible, we can extract information from them.” David would add from his end.
The air around the table became silent for a while.
"Uhh…anyone?,” questioned Drizzled, hoping for the silence to break. "…Let's not kid ourselves,” sighed Hether with deep exasperation.
“Be honest…” She placed her arms crossed onto the table, facing all her allies and drawing them in with piqued attentions.
“One name rings through all our minds.”
There was a momentary silence amongst them, searing through the atmosphere in a conclusiver manner. Each member looked to Hether, their eyes framing in differing placements.
"You'd believe the culprit most likely did not want to be discovered….” David stated. "Or..did they?" Fighter said.
“Just think of it. The uncovering and then sudden inexistence of that space , the prospect of a cheesy game of cat-and-mouse, all after that…" Noot iterated, expanding on Fighter's words. "I initially foresaw a minimal six and a quarter percent probability of occurring, but…,” added David.
“Do we all see it…?”
“Uh-huh!,” agreed Hether.
“Yup~,” added Watch.
“I guess so,” stated Adashu.
“Doubtlessly,” replied Noot.
“Mhmm,” said Wok.
“Maybe…,” said Kai.
Probacon swung his head side to side, bemused by the collective agreement which he could not quite grasp.
“...Who?” “You should be able to tell, Pro-jin…” Drizzled directed him.
Probacon mentated for a short period, deciphering the surrounding talk.
His eyes lit up in a sudden moment of eureka.
He bowed his head for a moment. “Yeah…”
“That's it indeed…”
“However!” David exclaimed, noting the shaky convictions in the group's voices.
“Even with that belief, there is still a need for empirical evidence with such a claim…” “True…” Fighter stated, looking to him.
“Well, we can still point to the many, citing their own behaviors, combined with the greater chance this is no one-man show...” Noot proposed, raising the awareness of all to him.
“Right! And if we can get through to at least one…” Adashu added.
"...Alright. So who is on your dock?" Fighter asked everyone.
"The Dragon King is a good candidate…I think. I don't remember much of what he did." Wok scratched his head. "Just an aggressive deviant. Nothing more.” Huo replied as he faced the half-Ghouling.
"I got my bet on Atix.” Watch said. "Nah."
"What about Frantinity? He definitely seems like someone we should keep an eye on."
As the group discussed potential suspects, Probacon mulled over the few he had thought of; a shadowy figure of a Kibito, and an anonymous being codenamed T. Eventually, he brought up the one who took up most of those thoughts.
"That one Shinigami dude we confronted a while back…" He said softly, which gained the attention of almost everyone.
"Oh yeah. What was his name again?" Wok questioned. "It was…"
"Deriba,” spoke a decently deep voice behind them, drawing the attention of the general grouping.
It was the Spirit Shinigami who had battled right before Draxo and Nikhe. With spiky “unnatural” red hair, brown irides, defined facial features that leaned towards an East Asian heritage, a long, lean and fit body frame, and wore the standard uniform for Spirit Shinigami, consisting of a black, white and gray kimono top, black hakama pants with tabis and red sandals, which he complimented with a fiery large, armless robe with shoulder coverings, and the guardless hilt of a sword sticking from behind him. "His name is Deriba Jai.”
《Kuroko Henshūzuru. Reserve Shinigami. Age 18.》
"You know him!?" An intrigued Fighter asked while pushing his chair forward. Others would also adjust themselves, looking to hear from Kuroko.
"Yeah, sure do…,” replied Kuroko, denoting the tournament's stage's preparation for many greater developments…
----------------------------------------
1. Name of an Eisendic delicacy, known for being made in a rather unscrupulous manner.
----------------------------------------