Anya lifted the entire bench over her head and was eagerly preparing to slam it down directly onto Kikaro's head.

"Your ass is grass, godly bitch!"

Kikaro sat on the ground, "Hey now. No need for that, or the title of a 'god'.", he chuckled, "Is that what people think of me?"

"I'll end it all right here, right now."

"With a bench?"

"What, afraid?" Anya briefly paused.

"No, but considering I was slashed, stabbed in the eyes and much more from a possible Obsulyte user, similar to you, I doubt that a park bench will do the trick."

"I-I..." Anya stopped herself, "God dammit."

She placed the bench back down, crashing on it once again while grabbing her coffee, and taking a huge sip from it.

"Haha, I guess I'm also good at deescalating situations as well.", he dusted himself off as he got up from the ground.

"Was it just alcohol that I drank? Are we sure?"

Kikaro sat back on the bench, "You tell me. I just found you in the bar before you let loose some drinks on me."

"Great...I'm not sorry for that."

"Ana, come on now. I know there are two different worlds sitting on this bench, but being polite is off the question?", he sat besides her.

"What do you know about polite? You're one of Hikari's two mad, batshit insane brothers."

"Oh, so I'm known as the crazy one? Good, the crazy characters are usually the ones with the most depth behind them, I'm sure that'll contribute to me getting a larger female based fanbase. Or male, that one being jealous of what I have that they don't."

"What the hell are you even on about, dude? Seriously. I'm so incredibly pissed right now, and you and all this whack talk ain't making it any better. If anything, I'm expecting a decapitation happening to me at any second."

"Whatever...I'm expecting death to come any second now, anyways."

"And you're not scared?"

"My family is most likely in the shit 'cause of me, my entire group of friends is consisted of misery and my life is gone, since I threw it away by being a goddamn idiot. Tell me exactly what I care for right now, to make me afraid enough of death."

"Not that you didn't fear death before? I mean you did face off against Dante when he wasn't holding back. Granted, he will get stronger but...hey, you still faced him. And when I'm referring to you, I mean all of you. Of course, strength won't always be measured in physical attributes, but rather mental as well. I remember being just as confused as you all were back then, despite not looking the part myself. But even though I got through it, I still question if that confusion that everyone is forced to go through is natural, or unnatural based evolution. Who knows, maybe you will all get a side story where you get powered up with a different hairstyle to boast about it!"

"Great. Bloody freaking weebs."

"I won't deny that I haven't exposed myself and enjoyed the culture...but still. You're smart, you'll figure it out."

"Thanks for the compliment. Now how do I get you to piss off?"

"Look, you heard some stuff about me, yes, but are we currently fighting? No. So there are literally 0 points for you being so aggressive. And there's also a 0% chance that, as you are right now, you can be anywhere within my league in order to be able to fight me. But, talking about leagues, I was more hoping that this would be the great flourishing of a wonderful relationship between the both of us, rather than rough outlined love. Could let you join my league, if you catch my drift."

"Again, seriously? Thousand year old gods, yet Hikari is a klutz and you have the pickup lines of a high school freshman. In Tiki's words, get the hell away from me, you filthy, horny, furry piece of shit wannabe."

"Haha, not at all. Get your head out the gutter, Ana. I was simply referring to a wonderful friendship, nothing more to add to it. Just relax and enjoy the day. Based on what you experienced yesterday, both from what you and your father said and did, I'd say it's well deserved."

Anya finally relaxed, "Alright...fine. Just let me check my phone then."

Looking at her phone, she read all the messages that were sent to her. Her friends' best wishes and they worried constantly about her. A briefing on what happened and what new information they had on their hands, not by email, but by personal messages. Something about that, not being sent to her business email or written in a formal way, made her happy, causing her to relax even more.

"So we're now basically a free organization? Huh...interesting. They said they forfeited some identities as well. I don't see the reason why but hey, it's cool.", Anya caught up.

"Let me guess? Drima helped them? I see that my old friend indeed changed completely nowadays...been happening for the past few years now. Trace back to what I said about power."

"I don't think you need to be a genius to understand that. And he...well he's got his ways."

"Yeah, he does. Always has been willing to go undercover criminal and bend the rules. All for him to do what he deemed right."

"Hey, mind you, he's the reason we could make sense out of nothing. With his help we could at least find a proper direction to head at."

"I think you misunderstood me. 'Criminal' is what Drima is. By definition, that means breaking the law in certain ways that fit his game. I didn't say he was a bad person. Nowadays, I'd say criminals are the most innocent souls after children anyways. Granted, there are always exceptions, but some lawbreakers in places like Vardard...they have it down bad."

"Yeah? Much like you were thought of as a god?"

Kikaro chuckled, "Hey, I've held that title for a while without meaning. What, just because I can cause a rift in space and time I'm god now? Obsulyte users born in this world have already managed to gain sufficient power to be powerful as and be treated as gods but everyone seems to hate them instead. What a paradox. Humanity always strived to reach heaven and when it did, it just collapsed on itself. It as also always the unfortunate who strived to get by that looked up into the sky, rather than the fortunate ones...questions, questions and yet no answers."

"So if not a god, then what are you?"

"You saw the message Hikari sent about the whole 'Overseer' thing? Yeah, that's me."

"You sister is much of the same but I don't see her wanting to destroy the world in the books of history."

"'Sister'. I guess I am a little bit guilty about that."

"Why do you even say sister like that? That disgusted of her?"

"I bet that other half she's got held back the memories Hikari had even more, huh? Made her listen to those stories and whatnot. When we say 'brothers' and 'sisters' it's more of a brotherhood thing. Think of it as like the Chaos Sect."

Anya raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Ah, bad example, given that group's history. But yeah, that's what fellow male and female Overseers call each other."

"Wait, wait. There's more of you? Not just the three?"

"Yes. I didn't exactly make a headcount last time more than me and my brother were present, but there surely are. Dante, for example, is definitely and obviously an Overseer in the making."

"So what the hell are you exactly? Aliens? Omnipotent beings?"

"I think when I look like a human and act like one, I'd say just really, really, unbelievably strong, overpowered beings, sometimes humanoid, other times not. Not that special Obsulyte users can't face us, but I doubt just one would do the trick. You know, this whole war thing and stuff you read in the books of history that you said, I bet didn't have any of the lesser known details to it, right?"

"Such as? If I were to say how they portrayed you, I'd say that you guys were the biggest scumbags in history."

"I would say that too, had I looked in retrospect. The thing is, because of Hikari's arrival in this world, she kind of did many things she wasn't supposed to. For one, no living beings should have been created when she forced a big bang by collapsing space on itself and for two, she kind of shaped this world almost exactly like another one. That is, the point she originated from before becoming an Overseer. Victoria? Kolumbia? Pretty sure those were places back in her world or time eras even. Heck, even certain personalities like Einstein and Holmes or even Mozart as they called, were reborn here."

"Pause. So you're saying we copy-pasted another world from god knows where?"

"Uh...kind of, yeah. Though I'd say more snip and stitch together in some ways. Like the faraway place among the Solar Sea that no one approaches. Forgot its name. By now you're probably questioning how I know that, well it's simple. Hikari, like all of those who are not from this world, possesses a World Core, which is a cool name for saying 'GPS location', across space and time to the original point or world of the host. I checked it out and her world is pretty cool...though humanity is still a thing in that reality, so it's kind of being held back by the fact they lay leadership on a handful of people that just point fingers at each other and kill everyone. But other than that, pretty cool. Simple, fun and interesting with the creatures in it...not that the creatures are extremely different there, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. And I may have caused them a little bit of trouble anyway..." Kikaro chuckled awkwardly, remembering his mistakes.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"I'm pretty sure I can't crosscheck that at all, even if I tried. Or at least, I'd like to see how similar her world is to ours."

"Similarities are not as vague, but still are there. Her world didn't exactly have kids born with strength enough to topple buildings in seconds."

"No Obsulyte users there?"

"That's one of the other problems Hikari caused. Obsulyte is a driving power behind what you call 'gods'. Others call it whatever, Candy Power, Nuclear Power, the name doesn't matter. What that is, it's essentially power of unknown origin to even us, but it's something that keeps reality as we know it stable. In check. Worlds and realities are built based on it and cease to exist without it. Now, this world here, it's special. Back to the Big Bang thing, there's always a point of origin for that, right? So where space started to expand, we can say its point zero, the beginning. Now take your world as a balloon and place it in the Quantum Irregularity, as I call it. Where that 'Enemy' of yours was born. This world is the origin point for all the energy that built infinite others. The problem with what Hikari did is that this world shouldn't be a thing, because it's unstable. The energy was supposed to be outflowing, but when she reversed the outflow, collapsed it on itself and contained it within another bubble universe, another reality, that caused several issues. If this universe collapses on itself ceases to exist and the balloon bursts, then there's no more energy left to feed other worlds. That's an uncountable infinite number of casualties. Not to mention that I don't know if we will all just flow in black with nothing happening for eternity afterwards."

"Holy shit, you are all mad crazy then. And I mean all of you. Why the hell did you entrust something like this to kids like us? Why didn't you and all your other friends just go ahead and do it? What, you think this is gonna be a movie where teenagers save the world just because you told them to use the 'power of friendship'?"

"Well, let's be honest, you are all every bit irregular. And I don't just mean your insane powers, but also your personalities. You are all weird."

"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious. Miserable is what I'd call it. We have all the power in the world, yet we all feel powerless. Dad is a jackass, but he was right for one thing. Mere physical powers to change landscapes and beat the shit out of everyone aren't gonna cut it. There's a lot more at play when it comes to this. Granted, with the power you're selling out to have, we could snap the world out of existence, but at that point, what's the point?"

"I wouldn't call you the least bit miserable. I'd actually say that you're actually the happiest when together. Sure, tragic pasts, but at times of war, I doubt that anyone who was in it would have a rosy past to share. Your guy's ability, whether its ignorance or something else, to look aside the grey when together and laugh is something I would say I'm jealous of myself. So cheer up. Your smile is always appreciated, with a normal face or one with a big muzzle!"

Anya briefly stared at Kikaro, unable to understand why she started to understand him. His words of encouragement, from someone who was clearly aware of her past and knew exactly how she felt gave her something to feed her worried mind over.

"Yeah...thanks. I'll tell it to them."

"No worries. You guys just need to relax a bit more, that's all. Remember, while you have taken on certain duties, forth filling them without living your lives will just make you hollowed out soldiers. Take a vacation every now and then."

"We will when the coast is clear. When there's work needed to be done, everyone will shut up and work. You explained your part of the story...which I'm not going to trust you over completely yet. But tell me this. Why was the war with all the Valkyries and stuff back then so vivid in Hikari's imagination? I doubt that Enemy would leave that memory there if she could conceal it."

"That war was really bad. The thing is, with me, Makaro and Hikari being three present Overseers at the same time clashing with different opinions, we fell into the same trap that humanity normally does. Different opinions equated to a clash of forces. Makaro wanted to control this world and minimize the influence other Overseers may have had on Existence itself within the Matter Sea, securing the fact that Hikari's mistake wouldn't happen again. Hikari wanted to just let the world be so that she could perfect it to the point of proving that humanity and all living beings as a whole could coexist without pain or suffering. The thing is, by the time she admitted to it, humans with Obsulyte powers down below were already hunting down other creatures, presumably creatures that were purely like you in their monster forms from birth, as well as the then small population of demi-humans that began to rise. Of course, with a mirrored world like Hikari's humanity eventually won the evolutionary battle and prevailed, which led to today. A little bit of this here and that there, all Sentinels, who are just way stronger than average Obsulyte users chose a side, and fought under the command of certain Overseers, with their Valkyries who were just stronger than average Obsulyte users, following them. The end result was not to anyone's liking. Hikari, with the majority of Sentinels agreeing to follow her with their Valkyries, had her entire number killed and saw a world on fire. The reason behind why Obsulyte users are few and far between compared to the entire world back then is because Makaro went on a killing spree to punish them for trying to take over by murdering others. His rage was justified, but his actions were not, because he hit innocents on top of that too. Though I agreed with him to an extend, him knowing that the Obsulyte users of this world were sucking away all the Obsulyte needed to maintain it, growing immeasurably strong because of it while putting the world's stability in danger of collapsing taking away wall the other worlds with it...but that's where I drew the line too. There are always innocents. In either case, this world suffered the consequences of Overseers fighting exactly like humans did, way more than it should have. Then again, the fact that it exists should reflect on how poorly built a society like this is built, on top of why it shouldn't exist as a world, both physically and morally."

"So out of that side of the story, what was your take? You didn't say what you fought for when that happened."

"I fought to destroy the world. With how much heat the world got, other Overseers were about to make it a million times more miserable, so I honestly thought pulling the plug would do it better justice. Now, I did say there's always innocents. I fell into another one of humanity's age old questions. One person is tied on the tracks, you can pull the lever to save them but kill another one by your hands instead. To me, it felt like whatever the other Overseers, or even Makaro with his selective killing had in store, would be a thousand worse than just ending it all. I tried answering that age old question long ago, failing miserably in doing so. But I'm sure you're glad I failed."

"Yeah...I am. But I don't get it, you seem to enjoy it. This world I mean. Why would you even try and destroy it in the first place? Couldn't you just turn back and fight the other Overseers that would intercept you three?"

"Then the world would be destroyed anyway. A direct battle between Overseers is something indescribable. And horrifying. We call that a Collapse. Because when Overseers fight, a Collapse will follow, destroying everything, from stars to planets to worlds themselves. An Overseer's biggest fear from my experience is replacement. If their World Core and powers are stolen over their dead bodies, crushed into being pure Obsulyte and send off to float into the ever expanding vacuum of space, whatever that space may be. And this world, Riza, Zero, whatever you wish to rename it, is filled with Obsulyte users, mere mortals, with powers that define Overseers. A threat. Obsulyte is a form of energy, similar to dark matter in my belief, that holds things together, even after material destabilization. When Hikari did The Divide, and caused her world to be momentarily connected with the starting point, this world here, this must've happened after she crossed. After mater gets destabilized and is unable to hold the physical form of a being, upon death, their Obsulyte signature remains and is sent flying into the vacuum of space, holding on to what the subject before it's fully material form was before death. During The Divide event, some of those Obsulyte signatures must have cross to this world, hence the rebirth of certain important figures, or even passing of entire people like Hikari. In essence, Mellista, the original Dante, was an Overseer before he was defeated and was force to scramble in emptiness. Granted, when he found the current one, Dante Cecil Elysia, your friend, much like chemicals compounds, he must've tried to stick with him due to same Obsulyte signature outflow. But if I were to exemplify it, because Dante was born into a world where he, much like many others, are overfilled with Obsulyte since birth, he tried to get in an already full suitcase. Hence why, instead of fully attaching and becoming part of Dante, Mellistar instead attached himself to him, being able to reactivate his physical state and even keep alive because of Dante's constant energy outflow. I'm fully suspecting that Hikari must be the exact same case with her other half."

"So you're telling me we all flew close to the sun when simply being born, got more power that we didn't even ask for to reach such power levels and are now going to be killed for it? So it's kill or be killed?"

"Not exactly, but close to that. You are all much stronger than you realize. Granted, the 'power of friendship' will play a factor if you band together to topple an Overseer, but until that happens, you three have such a long way to go. You first need to realize and control the full extent of your gifts. You were born with your powers, you didn't earn them. And if you want to intoxicate yourselves with your powers, you best know how to control them first."

"I get that...but wait. Why are you telling me all this? I asked you simple questions and you gave me honest answers."

"How do you know that? How do you know that what I said wasn't mere lies to get you to take my side of the story? You said you didn't trust me."

"Business and all of those sick games my father played with me up until now. Do you know how many business deals I've closed for my dad? A common tactic to extend the conversation and start scoping out who's bullshitting and who's not."

"Doubt you'd say 'you're bullshitting me'."

"You get what I mean, you ass. So I use a little bit of swearing when I'm chilling, so what? Tiki does it too, though she should actually try to chill first on that part. Probably add a filter too. When it does come to business, I obviously won't be using the same tongue."

"I get it, live it out how you want to. I'm not an old man to judge you for it."

"You don't look like one, but I'm sure you are one."

"Infinite years old, I guess. Overseers are defined by space and time, so despite looks, I don't think you can get much of an age aside from the physical one. But I have heard that there's this new method that scientists use to check something in your blood cells to define your physical age if you wanna do that."

"I'm fine, nerd. Now before we get going, because I'm sure you won't leave me alone, why did you do this? All this? The bar, the ninja fight?"

"I know what happened to you, and I thought you might need company. Someone to vent to. I would say I'm quite honored to know details that even your beastie, Dante, doesn't know about you. Simply telling you small facts to guide you along a bit. But I guess I could, can and did a little bit more. Whether you see me as an enemy or not, I honestly don't mind. War is still a battle of opinions and to everyone who is fighting it, in their eyes, they are the heroes. Well, depends on the pair of eyes they've got to see with. Doubt I'd ever show my face to your crew of losers and misfits, however, as I'm sure we would only fight each other without much else."

"I could tell them otherwise, but things are not good right now. I've got way too much to do. Speaking of which, I'm off. I've got to find a way outta here and I doubt that I can take a plane to Vardard to meet up with everyone without papers."

"Suivez moi. Hope I pronounced that correctly, I picked it up while spectating Hikari when I realized there was an up and coming Overseer's Obsulyte signature. Some cold, snowy place that was. I've met with an interesting guy, not too long ago. With the way you look, it'd be more than perfect if you meet with him." Kikaro cheekily insisted.

"Better not kill me then. Though you try to do so, I doubt I'd care."

"Pretty sure I didn't help you to stab you in the back later. Now come on, let's go."

The two of them left the bench behind, following along dark alleyways to avoid crowds and going further out, to the suburban areas of the city. As they reached the more run-down poor areas, more and more beast-turned people started to appear, making Anya quickly realize where exactly they were headed before they stopped at a heavily fortified building with a thick metal door.