Chapter 91

UFF

  Poof, or at least that is the sound I attribute with the act of using Total Recall.

  I disappear. Well, no, I leave my existence for the world and universe that now holds sexy guardian Jess.

  Somehow, I knew the summoning portal that she was dragged through, went to a universe I had never been to. At least I hoped that was the case, as such a monster should never exist. The monster was vast, almost on an unfathomably large level. I thought we were dealing with the full monster, but when I appeared next to sexy guardian Jess, my mind almost went blank from the sheer size and scope of the monstrous horror before us.

  Long tentacles of woven muscles pulsed and bulged over and over each other in intertwining lines of powerfully linked suspension linked cords. What I had thought to be an arm of this monster, you know the stretch of tendons that was as big around as my head down to my pelvis, that was but a finger, likely a pinky finger at that.

  This thing was massive. Worse, I didn’t think we were dealing with the full monster, only a portion of the creature that could be summoned upon. A piece that looked like it could form its own autonomy if separated from the main structure and produce yet another one of these galaxy ending forms of muscle and mass that stretched on out into the vastness of space, devouring everything in its wake.

  That was what I saw when I first entered the alternate universe that Jess was in. The second thing I noticed was that we were in space, and I did not have space suit.

  I was about to panic, as my mind was being flooded with new stimuli as I tried to comprehend just how vast this monster was.

  Fortunately, sexy guardian Jess was faster and more prepared for this, than I was.

  Firm hands reached out to grab me.

  Only once her touch hit me, did I realize how warm she was. Here she was, she was not wearing a space suit either, but she seemed to be fine. Whereas I could already feel the blood boiling in my body. I know it isn’t technically boiling, the blood is the same temperature, but my body is slowly being frozen around the blood producing the most of unpleasant experiences right now.

  Imagine putting a marshmallow peep in the microwave for a minute. Watch it melt second over second, and each second is roughly how I feel and likely look at any given moment.

  This was stupid. This was so stupid.

  I was going to dart in, grab her, then dart out. The only problem was, when I saw the enemy, I froze. Not just from space, but my mind literally shut down from trying to take in just how vast of an opponent we fought.

  Fortunately, Jess was better prepared for my stupidity than I was. She pulled me in, then…

  Well, she kissed me.

  I was so shocked from the suddenness of the motion that I didn’t quite understand what was happening.

  Protective Shell

  The spell name flashed into life around me. Instantly letting me regain some of my senses, as the heat from my body that had been pulled away at an alarming rate suddenly held.

  I was going to cast my own spell Air-X and was just in the process of letting it generate a few breaths of air for us. When I was hit with a notification.

  But there was something else that happened when our lips met. I felt a pulse, a spark rises inside me. A spark that instantly warmed my body from head to toe, revitalizing me. Then something even more miraculous happened.

  Ultimate Final Form Unlocked.  Ultimate Final Form: You have made the final stand with a possible future partner. You have unlocked all remaining spells and abilities. Classes have been evolved to their maximum threshold (if not already there). You have managed to release purifying burst.

Purifying Bursts Purifying Bursts strikes Prime Behemoth, Devourer of Universes, for 13,894,392,682,109,353 damage. Prime Behemoth Devourer of Universes is stunned.

  With that, the pulsing muscular tentacle that had been impaled through sexy guardian Jess’ chest disintegrated, or turned to a pile of space ash? But it didn’t stop there. A chain reaction of ash and debris were left, as everywhere that I could see. Everywhere where the unimaginably large horror of a create existed began to burn away, leaving behind trails of burning ash in its wake.

  For a moment Jess and I, our mouths still pressed together opened our eyes to peer out into the vast openness of space. I didn’t want to move my lips for fear that this feeling of warmth that I was now feeling while stupidly floating around in space would remain active.

  Jess somehow realizing my concern, or perhaps being too distracted by the monster before us, just stared off into the distance.

  “Did we, do it?” I hear Jess speak in my mind.

  For a second, it looked like it was all over. We were done, at least in this universe, we had managed to save the day. That was of course before the next system message appeared.

Prime Behemoth Devourer of Universes is no longer stunned. Prime Behemoth Devourer of Universes has become enraged. Prime Behemoth Devourer of Universes remaining health 99%.

  Yeah, all that. We cleared a galaxy of the monstrous tentacles, and all we got were a few seconds of pause, then an enraged monster was after us.

  Worse, I could see pink muscular tendons appearing on the horizon. I don’t know how I knew what it was, technically the whole thing should have taken a long time due to speed of light. Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but I did not want to be here when that thing got back.

  “We can do it. We will make our last stand right here!” Sexy Guardian Jess said. It was at this point that I realized she was bat shit crazy; the hot ones always are.

  “Yeah, fuck that.” I think back as loudly as possible, hoping that my thoughts make it past my Mind Shield. Though to be honest, I wonder how she was able to project her thoughts to me despite my Mind Shield being up. I think some of it has to do with this Ultimate Final Form thing, but who knows.

  Regardless, I am not sticking around here to see what an enraged Prime Behemoth can do with its remaining 99% of its health. Nor do I want to see how long it takes something that massive to squash the two of us like space bugs.

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  So I do the sensible thing and activate Total Recall once again imagining my Jess. The sane one.

  Poof.

  Of course, in hindsight, I likely should have thought to disengage our lips before the teleport in front of my girlfriend.

  The whole thing took a matter of seconds.

  Jess was pulled through the portal, then I stupidly went after her. Then I nearly froze to death. Realized the danger posed by that universe ending monster and left. This was why everyone was still around when we reappeared.

  “They’re back…oh!” Was what General Fellina shouted out, before seeing the state we were in.

  Of course, as soon as we were back in my universe, no clue what other universe that Prime Behemoth came from, never wanted to go back, gravity began to work properly. We were after all in doors, on an Endarian planet, in a beautifully non-destroyed universe. With gravity in action, Jess and I were pulled apart. Or at least our lips were. We still held onto each other as both of us attempted to regain our balance with the sudden application of weight to us. Finally, after a second of awkwardly shifting our weight, we settled. Then I let out a huge smile, as I looked Jess in the eyes.

  This was the look and feeling of exhilaration, that one can only feel after they have gone through a near death experience and survived. My heart was pumping as adrenaline was still wildly coursing through my body.

  Looking at Sexy Jess, I paused and smiled at her. Then I looked down and saw the still gaping hole within her chest. Suddenly I realize the reason why she was still holding onto me for support. She apparently could still work her arms, but her legs were all jelly.

  “Right.” I say, as I reach my hand out and instinctively touch the injury, as if trying to direct the healing energies to work faster.

  Healing-X.

  I use the full gambit of Healing-X variations that I know. Heal, Mend, Cleanse, Purge, then I try a few others that I think will work. I want to make sure her nerves get reattached, so I focus on Regeneration of the severed veins and nerves. Then I work to Strengthen the wounds letting it build up internal scar tissue and thicker padding, so this is no longer a weak spot.

  Only after I hear Jess scream out at me, do I realize I might be in trouble.

  “You bastard!” Jess calls out from right next to me.

  I pause, as my mind is a jumbled mess of confusion and exhaustion at this point. I was already getting close to my end with the marathon training session, the one where I had to work twice as hard with my Jess. Then there was the whole fighting a Prime Behemoth’s pinky and losing miserably. Then going to an alternate universe, finding our only chance of success, then coming back with her. Then healing her. So yeah, I was kind of at a loss.

  “What?” I ask.

  Then I look from her to her eyes, then follow the path of her eyes to my outstretched left hand. A hand that is now squarely touching sexy Jess, just above her diaphragm and nestled just under her very toned and perky assets.

  Removing my hand like I had been caught red handed, I hold my hand up. Of course, given the damage and the amount of blood from the wound, I was caught, literally red handed. Though I’m pretty sure the term generally refers to catching a murder in the act of killing, not a healer in the act of saving, but the term still applies. The hand is by all accounts red.

  Worse, sexy Jess is still unstable, and now leaning heavily on my right arm for support.

  Only after this, does Jess, my Jess back up. She does that weird fish thing where she quickly opens her mouth like she is about to say something, before closing it just as quickly.

  Seeing the sudden tension, and realizing a lot just happened. General Fellina steps in to take charge.

  “What happened?” She asks.

  “Father. If I may make a suggestion, why don’t you share your body camera videos, along with your biometric readings.” Prime my instigator tree offers. Though after hearing this, I can’t really complain, as this is a good idea.

  With a quick confirmation, I offer to share my video feeds. These are the standard model feeds that make multiple redundant recordings of me, the areas around me, giving me a three-dimensional form that is indicated at the center of my feed.

  Normally, this means that I am just presented as a silhouette, though to my surprise there is a partial image of me from the right side.

  “What is that?” I ask.

  “That is a feed from a rifle. I guess while you were in the alternate universe, the Rifle that this Guardian, I’m sorry, I just realized. We never got your name?” General Fellina said, turning to sexy guardian Jess.

  “My name?” Sexy Guardian Jess asks. Then she pauses as if it has been a long time since she last had to use her name. “Jessica, well just call me Jess Childers.” She said.

  Gasps.

  And yep, just like that, everyone here was introduced to the proof of alternate universes. Even my Jess seemed to take a step back, as she looked on in horror.

  “Jess, wait.” I say, as I try to go to my Jess, but she is already running off.

  I want to go after her, but General Fellina is the one who stops me. Her eyes are glowing faintly as she is clearly using her power to read the lines of fate. “Give her a moment. I will be sure to share this feed with her, to help prove your innocence.”

  Then with a slight pause, she gives me a glare. “It will prove your innocence, won’t it?”

  “Yes!” I exclaim. Then add, “I was dying. That’s when she saved me. Then not only saved me but unlocked something within me.” I state.

  Then turning to sexy Jess, I realize now, I really need to stop calling her Sexy Jess. At least if I want my relationship with my girlfriend to work out this time. This time I won’t have the luxury of blaming it all on my brother, the narcissist.

  “Did you know about the Unlock?” I asked.

  Alien Jess, yes, that is what I will now refer to her as. Alien Jess just stares at me for a moment, then nods.

  “Yes, I was supposed to have done that with my Kyle Goldman. But things don’t go as they are planned. His brother mind raped me. Then Kyle died on the front lines of the war. From there, I finally managed to break free of the compulsions that his brother Chet…” she stammers pronouncing the name Chet like a curse word, and that almost makes me fall in love with her right there.

  “Chet then died too. Finally, I was recruited by the world tree to be a Guardian. Only at that time did I realize all the possibilities and chances that I missed. That was when I learned about and unlocked the Ultimate Final Form, a form that was needed to defeat the Behemoth. I will say that what we fought in my universe was a fraction of the size of the one we saw today. Mine was at most the size of the galaxy long portion that we destroyed. Though I am not quite certain how we managed to see that all happen so quickly. Seems like it should have taken minutes for that imagery to hit us. Unless we were somehow getting warned by my Precognition.” She speaks.

  With that, a light bulb goes off in my head.

  “I too have Precognition, though mine has been upgraded to Precognition-X.” I admit.

  With that, Alien Jess nods. “You had yours before your final form then?”

  I nod.

  “Figures. So, what other final powers did you unlock? If you don’t mind me asking?” Alien Jess asks.

  “Before, we go off talking about what powers were gained. Why don’t we first try to find out what actually happened in that alternate universe first.” General Fellina says.

  Phew.

  This is good, as I was so caught up with talking to Alien Jess about what she knew about this transformation. What additional information she might have about this Prime Behemoth monster, that I almost forgot the one good news. There was a leak somewhere in General Fellina’s chain of trust. This meant anything said here, even seemingly innocuous could be used against me. Well not just me, but all of us, but let’s face it, I am a selfish asshole. So, I know my true priority in all of this.

  But that said, I can’t help but wonder about Jess, well my Jess. It seems like things were just going well before life happened. But I refuse to let this opportunity slip away.

  Click.

  The lights went down, as the multiple feeds from my body armor and the extra rifle were added to help show depth and my actions.

  This time, I didn’t need to act. This time I didn’t need to move to live. Which was good, because once again we were all stunned into silence at the vast form of the monster before us. Then everyone gasped as my system readouts were made public for everyone.

Prime Behemoth Devourer of Universes is no longer stunned. Prime Behemoth Devourer of Universes has become enraged. Prime Behemoth Devourer of Universes remaining health 99%.

  There was a pause, as both Alien Jess’ and my own eyes began to glow. It was clear we were both having a similar vision of the future. Jess turned to me, with a look of wild anticipation when her vision was over. As for me, you could almost see the slight shake of my head as I teleported us out of there.

  Then the next thing we are shown is the two of us appearing. What is worse, there is now a massive hole in Alien Jess’ chest from where she was previously impaled, then we see me going to heal her.

  I am about to leave and look for Jess when the General stops me.

  “Let me go try to talk to her.” General Fellina suggests. Then turning to Alien Jess, she adds. “Perhaps you should come as well?”

  Alien Jess just looks confused for a second, but then nods and leaves.

  As they go, to talk to my girlfriend about me, I can’t help but have a feeling of dread come over me. This might be bad.

  “Do you want to go somewhere to talk?” Rayquel asks.

  And hearing those words, I instantly know that following her alone will be far, far worse.

  “No, thank you. I am good right now. I am just going to take a minute to let everything sink in.”

  “Okay.” Rayquel says. She then looks like she wants to step away, but then turns back to me to speak her mind. “You know, what you did, that was pretty heroic. Jumping into an unknown universe, fighting back a terrible universe ending monster. That takes guts. We’re lucky to have you… I’m lucky to be part of your team.” She states.

  It takes me a minute to realize what she is referring to.

  “So, I won the competition?” I ask.

  “No, you were easily the top performer, but Jess just kept you down. Through numbers alone we were able to win, if barely. But after all that we saw today. The way you threw yourself headlong into the abyss to fight off a monster like that, just for the possibility of saving a teammate. I would be lying if I said I could do any better.” Rayquel said.

  Then she gestured to her team that had gathered around. “We would be happy to follow you into battle.”

  “Yeah, you can save me like that any time. Even kiss me if needed. I don’t mind.” One Endarian female with slight blue tints to her black hair spoke.

  “Me too.” A male Endarian also cut in, though his was mostly joking.

  “No, you have balls kid. At first, I doubted this whole training scenario. But the General insisted.” Another elite soldier from Rayquel’s team spoke up.

  “The General?” I ask.

  “Yeah, she had this whole thing planned out. We would pick on Jess; you would come in to join her side. Then we would see why she wanted you to be the leader.”

  It had been such a long few hours that I almost forgot what had caused this whole training experiment anyways. Now to see that it was all orchestrated by the General, well it made me realize why Generals almost always had a high proficiency with Precognition or other Oracular abilities.

  Then, a shiver ran down my spine, as I was glad, we were finally on the same team, from the start. I could only imagine trying to fight off a Prime Behemoth, without the General’s help.

  I am still with everyone when Jess, my Jess, comes back into the training room.

  Everyone goes quiet as they see her approach.

  “I think we should talk.” Jess beings, but then pauses as she looks at everyone. A slight hint of embarrassment coming to her face as she adds the last part, “alone.”

  Shit! This is never good. Never, never, never good.

  It is never one of those conversations where she says, “I just realized I am super stressed, and sex is the only cure.” Nope, never one of those conversations, always something terrible.

  Taking a deep calming breath, I nod and somehow manage to answer “okay.”

  With that, she turns and begins walking away. I dutifully follow her, somehow wondering what the General and Alien spoke to her about. Of course, both are suspiciously absent.

  Nope, I must do this alone. Well, alone with Jess.

  Now all I can do is see where we go from here.