The fight commences, gathering multiple people, as Veyta throws a flurry of jabs at Vascula- “Alright, kiddo!” Vascula shouts, as she shifts backwards before launching multiple crystal shots. Veyta cleaves them, and they explode around her, lighty zapping her cloak.

Veyta begins to glow again, and Vascula suddenly draws a crystal sword, narrowly deflecting a scary attack… She tries to parry it, but Veyta grabs the sword with her tentacle, surprising Vascula with their strength as she flips her sword around and takes another jab at her-

Vascula throws herself over Veyta, only to build a wall of crystals the moment she lands. Veyta runs it through with her powerful spear, revealing what looks to be some sort of massive crystal gun. “What the-” She says, surprised, as it fires a lightning blast and she’s thrown back-

She suddenly forms an energy shield, negating the crystal gun’s power, only for Another one to fire at her- She jumps into the air, jamming her spear into the ground as she crouches on top of it, while her head darts around in search…

The ground suddenly rumbles until it erupts with an explosion of crystals, forcing Veyta to dodge and equip her sword- She reels it back and swings it like a whip, only for the pieces of the blade to disassemble and fly out with a rope attaching them like a bladed necklace.

Like a hookshot it latches onto the crystals as Veyta swings it with a powerful swipe. She pulls herself in and unleashes a powerful barrage from her spear, making Vascula dodge each shot, until a small blade is suddenly thrown into the air, a single peaceful object in the torrent of attacks.

Vascula suddenly grabs the handle of the spear, just before the blade, and sinks it into the crystal rubble- Veyta points a finger at the single blade, and swings her hand sending the blade into a wide arc that circles her body, slashing off multiple crystal shingles.

Vascula takes a step back, and another shingle is cut, then another, and one after the other, until the crystals below them explode, throwing them both back! The fight has accrued quite a lot of watchers, so many different creatures in witness of Veyta’s challenge to Vascula.

But Veyta sits there, watching as Vascula constructs multiple guns from her crystals… “Hey, I give up!” Veyta calls out, raising her sword to the air, before throwing it to the ground, while the guns suddenly fire waves of energy at her…

“Wait-” Vascula screams, before the crystal guns finish, Veyta all but having vanished… “Hey…” She says, as she walks up and looks around for her. “Over here!” Veyta suddenly calls out, sitting on the same spear that had been thrown from the blast earlier…

“Oh thank goodness you’re alright…” Vascula says, as Veyta slides down and unearths her spear, only to place it on her back. “You did great, Vascula.” Veyta says, surprising her- “What do you mean?” She asks. “Well you won, didn’t you?” Veyta asks, as she folds her arms back and rests her head.

“Only because you decided to forfeit.” Vascula says. “Yeah, so you won. Good fight!” Veyta says, as Vascula continues to stare… “But… You just sat there while I constructed my crystal cannons… You could have just dodged, you know?...” Vascula says, as Veyta begins walking away.

“Yeah, but I didn’t. So I had to forfeit, and thus you won. Good job.” Veyta says, as Vascula just watches her walk away… “Well it doesn’t feel like a victory…” She says, hunching a little, as her crystals begin to reconstruct themselves.

Ling runs up to us, barely a fourth of his original size… “Is everything alright? Why is your team fighting?” He asks me, as some of the others stare at him. “That was just a nice little spar.” Vexalan suddenly says, walking up with a deep burn mark in her mask.

“Oh, I see… Well I guess that sounds okay…” He says, as he folds his arms. “Nice to meet you, by the way. Do you by chance have a psychic power?” He asks, gesturing toward her. “Oh, no. Mine hasn’t come in yet, sadly.” She says, as he continues to stare at her.

“Right, sorry. I guess I should have realized. You enjoy the race then. Show’s over, everyone! Don’t forget there’s a competition to win!” He shouts, as our small audience looks among each other, before leaving.

“Well, the race will be starting very soon, Demi. Good luck, almost everyone here has some sort of power, so you better watch out.” He reminds me, as I look around at all the mutants, until a crescent moon suddenly floats down next to us.

Demi - “Right, thanks Ling. I guess that DOES put us at kind of a disadvantage…”

It has a large face, laughing with huge teeth, while it stares at me… “Ah, the Laughing Moon. This right here is what I’ll be riding in, while all of you compete.” He says, as it continues to laugh at me.

Demi - “Uh-huh… Dude, this thing is hella creepy.”

“YEAH… I know. But it’s fast, so I don’t mind.” He says, reaching up to try and climb onto it… This is kind of adorable… “A little help, if you wouldn’t mind…” He says, resting his forehead against the moon’s chin.

Demi - “Ey~, no worries.”

I grab the cloak and snake it under him, then I lift him up and he climbs onto it. “Thanks.” He says, placing his little hands on the cloth he’s using to cover his legs.

Demi - “Man, you are WAY too cute like this, Ling.”

He snaps at me- “I am NOT cute! I can be quite scary, in fact.” He says, folds his arm, as he rests his back against the inner curve of the laughing moon, as he checks his little chat box.

Demi - “Should I get you some snacks? Maybe a sippy cup?”

I circle around and look at it. The whole chat is just loving this, of course. A cacophony of people talking about how much they too like it. “I just told you I’m not cute…” He says, as we stare at it.

Demi - “I dunno’, Ling. Chat seems to think otherwise.”

He looks at me, then waves the hologram away as he looks forward. “Whatever, just go do whatever, I have to watch over the race.” He says, as I construct him a very special item…

Demi - “Alright, fine. But take this, and don’t forget to use it when you get up there.”

I push it out from inside of my body and over the cloak. “Oh, what is it- A fishing rod?...” He asks, as he grabs and wields it the exact same way…

Demi - “Absolutely. I can’t wait to see it, Ling. See ya’.”

He nods before waving as I begin to depart.

-√G-

“So… Fullbrim… What’d you say happened to the flower again?” Horonva asks, as she folds her arms in disappointment… “Alright, now listen. I didn’t mean for it to happen, Horonva… It got blighted, and now it’s become something… Else…” I say, shrugging as I look away in shame…

She just rubs her forehead then sighs… “I can’t believe you, Fullbrim… Do you even have a plan to fix this?” She asks, as I kind nudge away… “I was hoping my dad might have an idea.” I say, as she stands up. “Yeah, great. We should at least try again, next chance we get.” She says, as I nod slowly…

The flower, I call it the little carnation, and it’s made with my power to make life begin growing. Sadly though, I usually don’t have a fraction of the mana I would need to just make them. But thanks to the ancients, just one drop of their ancient power can create a single carnation.

But the last one I made... Thanks to help from my friends, we were able to gather many droplets, making it the most powerful of my carnations… And in my care, it was corrupted, blossoming far before I could bring it to the spring…

Now here I am… I begged Ling to let me in, I have to make that wish, to undo my mistakes, and wash away the blight from my precious flower I named Lily… Lily the Carnation…

“Fullbrim!!!” Tory suddenly screams, breaking me from my thoughts- “Bill’s bullying me!” He continues, as I kneel down to eye level. “You okay? What’s he doing?” I ask, as he sniffs. “He said… He said I suck at being a criminal…” He says, making me chuckle…

“Shouldn’t that be a good thing, Tory? Why do you want to be a criminal?” I ask, as he suddenly shifts gears, and screams: “Because I’m tough!!! And only big tough men can do crimes! Like me!” He shouts, as he shows off his tiny raccoon muscles.

“Of course.” I chuckle, as I stand up and grab his hand. “Come on, our racer should be finished soon, let’s gather the team.” I say, as he looks up at me… “Right’m.” He says, before we leave and call up everyone for a team meeting.

“Alright guys, the race could start any minute now.” I say, as they stare at me. “We have to be prepared, we have to hit hard, and hit fast.” I say, as I pull up a crudely drawn board of each team. “The most immediately dangerous has to be team five.” I say, pointing at it with a stick.

“How come?” Foozy asks. “Their leader is Vultrym, the only other human in the race. She wields the ability known as ‘Warp’, it could destroy our vehicle in a single shot.” I say, surprising them… “Keheck- Seriously? Man, we suck!!!” Bill says, coughing blood onto the table as he laughs…

“I’m keenly aware of this fact.” I say, as I lean on my stick. “But they don’t know that, or what WE can do, since watching the stream is strictly prohibited.” I say, surprising them again. “So we just have to use our information! But how come YOU- OH…” Horonva says, as I nervously point at the cameras…

Seriously, I can’t afford to get thrown out… “Next up is team four and team eight. I’m not quite sure who or WHAT this sunstone character is… But he wields a dangerous ability… So powerful it can obscure our star.” I say, making their jaws drop...

“I was really hoping for that wish…” Tory says, as he rests on his chin. “Don’t give up so easily, Tory. Maybe his power is just that, the ability to obscure things. He could obscure our vehicle, but that wouldn’t stop it.” I say, as he sits up at attention again.

“Still, we don’t know that for sure, so we have to be careful. We have to strike hard and fast, and the highest priority should be to eliminate team four, since they have the most members.” I say, as I place some stone statues of each vehicle.

“Wow, really? I should go say hello!” Alton says, as I shake my head. “No, Alton. We can’t risk revealing your power.” I say, as he rests on his tail. “Right, okay. I guess you’re right…” He says, as Tory stares at him.

“I never asked- What IS it, anyways?” Tory asks- “No- Sorry. It’s a secret, have this instead, big man.” Alton says, as he hands Tory a jar of honey, of which Tory then proceeds to shove his face into… “He eats a lot, huh?” Horonva asks.

“That’s true, but irrelevant.” I say, as I shove them around on the table. “We need a war table!” Alton says, as he draws on the table with his finger. “Does this look right?” He asks, and I nod. “Yeah, actually.” I say, as I place the statues in their respective locations.

“What’s with team one?” Foozy asks, as he leans over the table. “I don’t know… They’re some sort of cult? They brought in this girl, she works horrifyingly fast. I’ve honestly never seen someone MOVE like that.” I say, as I place my finger on my chin.

Suddenly, a knock at our door- “Come in!” I call out, it’s Ling, with a fishing rod for whatever reason. “Hey guys, I got a few more last minute participants. This is Vivan, a rabbit demi-human fused with a deer.” He says, showing the young man into the room…

He’s got oddly colored eyes, one orange and one blue. “H-Hello…” He says, his voice light, feminen, yet monotone and almost cold. He’s reserved, quiet, nervous, and he looks shy… “Any powers?” I ask, and he nods, opening a portal.

“No moving vehicles with any form of teleportation. This includes portals.” Ling says, still pretty short. “Of course, sir.” He says, bowing his head. “I should show you what else I can do-” Vivan says, aiming his hand at a box, and making it float.

The box follows his hand, as though he’s holding it from a distance. “Standard issue teleportation, vector arrows, and other forms of movement.” He adds, as he teleports around the room, placing multiple arrows of shapes and sizes…

He lifts an object and we watch as it follows the arrows. “This all came from your ability?” Horonva asks, as we watch the endless loop. “Well, not everything. The vector arrows and levitation skill didn’t come with it.” He says, as he rubs the back of his head.

“We could use skills like yours, Vivan. What do you say?” I ask, as I walk up and hold out my hand. Honestly, I don’t actually like people like this. He’d probably choke at just about every opportunity to actually do something productive.

But still, his powers are useful, so we can at least make use of that. “R-Right… Thank you for having me.” He says, shaking gloved hands with me. “We don’t want anyone else.” I say, shoving him out the door, and I take a quick glance at the other contestants before shutting the door.

“Right, so Vivan, please sit down.” I say, and so he teleports into a chair, placing a portal in front of me. “Oh.” I say, as I step through and I’m at my spot again. “Well, thank you.” I say, and he smiles. Maybe he won’t be so bad.

“Moving on. I want to get Slade in our team.” I say, surprising them all again. “You’re kidding, right? He’s an administrator…” Horonva says, as I nod. “That’s true, but Slade gets what he wants, and if he wants this, then that’s all we need.” I say, as they look at each other…

“We’ve got Alton’s honey, and my devilish good looks, so I’m sure there won’t be too much trouble.” I say, making the others laugh- “You look like you haven’t had a bath in weeks, dude.” Foozy says, as everyone but Vivan laughs at me…

“Yes, very funny. I’m sure I can convince him anyway. Vivan here will help get everyone around, since I didn’t actually come up with anything for him.” I say, as I wait for him to nod with compliance. “Slade, huh?... He’s the strongest guy I know…” Foozy says, lying back in his chair.

“Yeah, I guess we’ll really need him for this, considering.” Horonva says, as she leans on her elbows. “Right, Bill, I need you to try and investigate Sunstone. Alton, you and Tory will be directing the construction team, you have everything you need.” I say, looking at them.

“You know, Alton and I actually met a couple members of team one.” Horonva says, surprising me. “You have? What were they like?” I ask, pointing my stick at her. “I think one of them is a type of huge slime? The scary part though, is they unlocked their HDR.” Horonva says, making me drop my stick…

HDR, Hyper Developmental Reflex… You can only unlock it at a very young age, while going through an intense state of mental distress. Tory’s probably the youngest member of our team, and even he’s probably too old to activate it at this point.

It’s said that it’s near impossible to ever even meet a person with an activated HDR… “Man, this is starting to sound more impossible by the second…” Foozy says, as he kicks his feet up. “I think she’s still young, so she couldn’t have had time to effectively utilize it yet.” Horonva says, surprising him.

“Well, that’s reassuring. Moving on.” I say, as I pick up my stick again. “Horonva, you’ll be investigating team one then, since it turns out they’ve got to be a problem too.” I say, and she nods. “Yeah, I like that. I have the best chances of doing so anyways.” She says, surprising me again.

“That’s good to hear. Foozy, you will be investigating team seven, good luck.” I say, as he gives me a thumbs up. “You got it. So is that everything?” He asks, as I fold my arms… “Actually… Vivan, once you finish getting everyone around, I want you to sneak into team four.” I say, surprising him.

“O-Oh, I don’t know about that…” He says, but I shake my head. “Listen, if you’re unsure, just try to say as little as possible. Just enough to get in.” I say, pointing at him. “Right, I’ll try.” He replies, and I nod.

“Alright, you have your orders, move out.” I say, as I walk up to the door. “Good luck, guys.” I add, as they wave me off, while Vivan opens portals. I would have asked Vivan for help, but I doubt he knows where Slade is… Anyways, I better get going!

-√E-

Arigold… Arigold… Arigold… This guy never changes, no matter where I go, when I go, what I do, or when I do it… He never ever changes. And that’s what I like about him- “Do you need something from me, Demitrivan?” He suddenly asks me- “Oh, no. Why do you ask?” I ask, as the others argue their silly politics, as though they even matter.

“You’ve been staring at me all day.” He says, as I roll my eyes. “Sorry~.” I say, as I lie back in my chair. “Okay.” He says, and I nod. Yep, always the same. I swear, I would kill Annestica if she wasn’t so important. ‘Would be hard…

Might have to throw myself from orbit again. What if I just said fuck it, and did it anyways? I mean, let’s be honest, from what I heard, there’s no real point anyways- “Demitrivan.” Liyoxis suddenly says, surprising everyone.

“What’s she done now?” Solar says, making me consider leaving. “Nothing. I can’t DO anything.” I say, bored out of my mind. “Demitrivan, I need to talk to you later, in private.” Liyoxis says, as everyone watches. “What, you miss Lian that much?” I ask, making him slap his forehead-

“Alright, I get it- I’ll see you later.” I say, as the others laugh among each other a little, before returning to whatever they were talking about. “So Arigold, are you having fun?” I ask. “No.” He answers, same as always. “Yeah, me neither. We should hang out.” I say, pointing my crystal at him.

“No. Liyoxis said this was important, Demitivan.” He says, as I roll my eyes. “Please, we’ll be back. I control time itself, dude.” I say, as he continues to stare- “Demitrivan, you promised you wouldn’t do that.” Luna says, as I realize she was listening…

“Come on, I’m sure if I forget, Arigold will remember.” I say, gesturing to him. “Didn’t he say his own memory was bad?” Luna asks, as I fold my arms. “Fine, I won’t go.” I say, considering a jump anyways. I could literally just go right now and return a split moment after.

Still, they MIGHT notice the flicker- “Don’t, Demitrivan. You’ll forget.” Liyoxis says, as I roll my eyes, and Luna stares at me. “Yeah, I said I wouldn’t, stop that.” I say, starting to kinda’ feel bad… Damn that girl, she’s got too much control over me…

“I’m here, Luna!” One of Luna’s friends called out. Luna never conquered her people, she traveled the world and after a while, she settled down where her followers told her to. Her kindness is unparalleled, the guardian angel of billions.

Among her followers are thousands of people who wield void itself, not just her. She’s by far the greatest user though, and she never even had to learn it. It somehow just… Came to her… As though she’s some sort of super-prodigy.

Void is probably the hardest to learn in the first place, though. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to keep other wielders of time around, if they didn’t get in my way. Besides, I’m not really allowed to either way. I killed them all, not that I was the best wielder, I’m not even all that good at it honestly-

Luna’s friend runs up to her and bows, they’re just another citizen, but Luna probably cares about them just as much as she cares about everyone else. A LOT. Her friend mean-mugs Solar, and he scoffs. “Luna’s let in another member of the peanut gallery, everyone.” Solar says, as he points at her.

“Shut up Solar, you don’t even have a friend to bring.” The Owl says, making him fold his arms. “Please don’t say that about my brother…” Luna says, as the Owl looks at her. “Sorry, Luna.” He says, scrunching down a little.

“Your name?” Arigold asks. “Holley. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.” She says, as Luna hugs her. “Yes, Luna likes to bring lots of different people.” Liyoxis says, as he adjusts his chair a little. He’s right, Luna brings in different people each time. I guess little Holley here just got lucky.

Another person enters, it’s a short skeleton. Must be one of Helvetica’s. “Tole! There you are!” Helvetica calls out, making him run up to her. “Come sit with me.” She says, picking him up, as everyone watches. “Please, get him a drink. Say hi to the nice people, Tole.” She says, and he shyly waves.

“If you were invited, you have just as much right to be here as anyone else. Please feel free to share.” Liyoxis says, as everyone stares at him expectantly. “Tolestall… I was…” He says, cut short by Helvetica- “You know that’s a secret, my child…” She says, caressing him…

Helvetica’s obsessed with caregiving, and she can raise almost anything… ALMOST anything… “Sorry…” He says, as she continues to hold him. “Don’t be so glum… Please, someone get him a snack too.” She says, as Demistar bolts from her spot and places many different things I barely recognize…

“My, how fast…” She says, as Demistar stands at attention with a bright smile... “Absolutely!” She must have prepared everything before I got here.

Itsya over there is reading a book, while The Owl is disputing something about borders with Serif. “Helvetica, help me out here.” He suddenly says. “Please, as though that would happen.” Serif sings, rolling his eyes. “What are you discussing?” She asks, looking at them, as I begin to tune this one out too.

“Hey Arigold, do we have any territorial disputes?” I ask, and he looks at me again. “No, Demitrivan. You took over a small spot of land, then you called it: ‘Demitrivan’s nightclub’” He says, making me laugh. “That’s right, I DID do that. Good times.” I say.

“Wait, why IS she a world power? Shouldn’t she control a larger area?” Solar asks, as I roll my eyes. “No, because Arigold and I both could single handedly wipe out entire countries.” I say, mostly referring to myself.

“Well, so could Liyoxis and Unity. But they also control vast military might.” Solar argues, gesturing to them. “That is true, Solar. But think of it like how you control your own territory.” Liyoxis says, answering for me, honestly better than I could.

“Your land is empty of all life, because you fiercely guard it. It’s almost like an artificial null zone. In the same way you can achieve that, Demitrivan’s power too makes up for the lack of any military might.” He says, as I think back on the actual place I rule over.

“Heck yeah. I don’t need no military.” I say, as I place my legs on the arm of my chair, while everyone returns to what they were doing- Another person arrives, a follower of Liberty. Yeah, Liberty has their own followers, even though they believe in freedom. Sounds pretty backwards to me.

“Liberty, I have arrived.” He says, bowing his head. “Thank you, Viral.” So that’s Viral. I’ve heard a lot about him, actually. Viral’s actually Liberty’s champion, sometimes Viral will even act as a vessel, allowing liberty to take control for a moment.

A select few of Liberty’s followers have even taken a vow of silence for one reason or another. “Please, come sit down, Viral.” Liyoxis says, gesturing to the empty seat that, under different circumstances would have been for Liberty.

“Hey!” I call out, as the others continue discussing between themselves, tuning each other out. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Viral.” I say, as he sits down. “Have you now?” He asks, and I nod. “Yes, Demitrivan is a good friend of mine.” Liberty says, as Viral looks in his direction.

“Ah, I see… I… Have not heard much at all of this friendship, Demitrivan.” He says, making me fold my arms in disappointment. “Sorry…” Liberty says, as I stare in the direction of his voice… “Well, it’s alright. I’ve gotten to meet you now, man.” I say, pointing at him.

“And an honor it is, Demitrivan of the world powers.” He says, his words lined with sweet sweet humility… Yeah, a lot of these people have been around for a while, and have fallen into some sense of honor… I’ve been around so long, and I barely know who I am anymore… I guess over a long time, I mellowed out into WHAT I am, losing all sense of self I gained from my first few millions of years…

Now, even I don’t know how old I am.

-√A-

“Alright, Demi, your racer is done. It’s fitted with tons of weapons and many powerful energy shields to protect it from almost anything.” Demistar says, gesturing to it. “I’ve gotta go, now. Anything could happen, and I need to be at full strength.” She says, before teleporting, before I could even thank her…

Demi - “Gather up, everyone. Vehicle’s finished! What should we name it?”

A few names come to me, as everyone arrives one at a time. “So this is it, huh?” Vilstrous asks, stepping up next to me.

Demi - “Yep. Any name ideas?”

“The Walrus.” He says… Well it’s a little fitting, the vehicle is beefy, with huge wheels. In total there are six wheels, and the front arcs up with a curve from the bottom, leaving the back relatively flat. Well, not entirely flat, it’s got what I assume is a huge thruster to propel it forwards.

The doors are on the sides at the front, because of the thruster, making me wonder how much room the engine must take. On the corners though, there ARE a few automatic guns. I’m not entirely sure what they do, but I assume and hope Demistar left us some sort of instruction manual.

Demi - “Eh, sounds funny. Alright, The Blue Walrus.”

“Fair enough. I wonder what everyone will name their vehicles.” He says, making me consider checking out everyone else’s vehicles. “You guys comin’ up with a name without us?” Veyta asks, as she walks up, Glant and the others behind her.

Demi - “Yeah. What do you think of: The Blue Walrus.”

“That sounds dumb. I love it!” She says, placing her hand on her hip. It’s been a while, and everyone decided they also needed sleeves. Not sure how Ling didn’t think of that. But I don’t need them, since I’m just a giant water balloon.

“What’cha thinkin’bout, Demi?” Veyta suddenly asks me.

Demi - “I’m a giant water balloon.”

“Ha, yeah you are. Hey guys, we’re calling our cool new car The Blue Walrus. Pretty cool, eh?” She asks, as everyone stares at it. “Dude, that name sucks.” Lex says, disappointing me.

Demi - “Oh, screw off, Lex. The name is great. Walruses are AWESOME.”

“But they’re so fat.” He argues, mimicking the rotund shape of a walrus.

Demi - “Oh, and what’s wrong with that, aiy?”

“Nothing…” He says, folding his arms, and looking away.

Demi - “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“I think the name is dumb too. It looks more like a bullet.” Glant says, joining in. “Yeah, I was thinking that too, actually.” Lex says. “Well that’s not as cute, so we’re going with: walrus.” Vexalan adds, absolutely right about it being way cuter.

“It was also my idea, just so you know.” Vilstrous says, making them look at him. “Your names suck, dude.” Lex says, folding his arms. “The name’s great, Vilstrous.” Vexalan says, taking a glance at him. “Y-Yeah…” He says, just staring at her.

“You… Okay there?” Lex asks, as Vilstrous’s mask stares into space. “Yeah, I’m alright… I don’t…” He says, brushing Lex’s hand off his shoulder. “So… We’re sticking with The Blue Walrus, huh?” Lex asks, as he looks at the Blue Walrus.

Demi - “Yeah, ‘cause I decided. And you all made the mistake of following me, so what I say goes.”

They just stare at me, then look at the vehicle again. “Yeah, fine.” Lex finishes. “Hey-” A familiar voice suddenly calls out. “You guys finished your racer too?!” It’s Horonva, she must be mad about what I did...

“Yeah. We’re calling it: The Blue Walrus.” Vilstrous says, as everyone stares at her. “Jeez, you’re ALL cloaked and masked…” She says, as she takes a step back, the cute image of tiny cultists surrounding her. “What’s wrong?” Vascula asks, wearing her pink cloak.

“N-Nothing… It’s just a little unsettling… But cute. Very cute.” She says, kneeling down to eye level with all the children.

Demi - “You gonna’ name YOUR vehicle?”

“Well, I guess… Any ideas?” She asks, as Vilstrous looks at it. “The Platypus.” He says, making her laugh. “I’ll have to suggest that to Fullbrim later.” She says, as he folds his arms. “Damn straight.” He replies, before walking away.

“So you guys really have to keep your identities a secret?” She asks, the tall girl leaning over a little to stay closer to eye level. “Yeah, Ari-” Veyta almost says, but Glantinazor clocks her- “Dude-” She screams- “Don’t say that out loud, you idiot!” Glant screams, as she stares.

“Shit, right.” She says, rubbing the back of her head. “Oops, I forgot. Looks like I can’t tell you anything.” She says, as she turns to look at Horonva again. “O-Oh… That’s okay… But are YOU okay?” She asks, a nervous look on her face.

“Yeah, don’t worry, my bro’ll heal me up if it gets too serious.” She says, pointing at him as he folds his arms.

Demi - “So what are you doing here? I figured you would stay away, considering...”

She stares at me, then smiles. “I’m not angry, it’s my fault.” She says, but I can’t seem to feel any relief for my actions…

Demi - “Right, well, if you’re okay… You want a tour of the Blue Walrus?”

“Sure, I’d like that.” She says, walking up to me. Damn she’s skinny-

Demi - “Well, I should warn you, I haven’t actually seen the inside myself, so I don’t really know what’s in there.”

“That’s okay, I’m sure we’ll figure it out together.” She says, as we head over and into the Blue Walrus. As expected, there’s not as much room inside, so now I’m making Horonva carry me around.

From what I can tell though, there’s way more weapons than I thought. Instead of walls, it’s more like panels, with walls of guns under them. I mean seriously, who needs that many guns? I guess we do, if Demistar thinks so.

“Who… Made this thing again?” Horonva asks, as she taps a button on an observatory panel. It lights up with semi-ejected status windows for multiple gun walls. She places her finger on the reticle, and moves it around, only to press a button on one of the windows and watch as a line of trees gets torn apart…

Demi - “Can’t tell you, sadly. We’re still being recorded. But seriously, I’ve got no idea why this thing needs so many guns.”

“Fair enough… Well, Vultrym is out there.” She says, stepping away from the panel, mentioning someone I’ve never heard of.

Demi - “I’m sure she would be scary, if I knew who she was.”

She stops again as I say that- “Oh, sorry… You must be young. She’s from an ancient breed of pure humans.” Horonva says, surprising me. “From what I heard, her power is unrivaled, she’s easily number one, and the top threat.” Horonva says, as she carries me further into the depths of the blue walrus.

We make it to the command deck, and it has a nest made for me already- “What’s with this dip in the floor?” Horonva asks, as she kneels down to run her hand against the rim. I jump out of her hand and land into the middle of the basin.

Demi - “It’s for me, of course.”

I shoot out tons of mana and condense it into liquid form before turning it directly into water, and spreading myself just that little bit more thin! I shoot up a layer of my body, to catch my cloak as it grows in size, while the rim catches the edge of the cloak to hold that end for me.

“Wait- Aren’t you a slime?!” She asks, falling over…

Demi - “Totally. I just got some neat abilities. Never seen a slime do this?”

I adjust the position of the mask quickly as I lean over to get a closer look at her- “What the- How can you morph your body, though? Slimes can’t do that.” She says, as she picks herself up again.

Demi - “Yeah? Well this one can, you should be so close-minded, Horonva. Anything is possible with magic.”

She just stares at me, looks away, then at me again. “Well, yeah… You’re technically right… But this just kind of seems out there…” She says, backing away to the wall, as I creep up closer like some sort of phantom.

I back away, and quickly shrink in size. I’ve gotten pretty fast with it nowadays, since I’ve been practicing a lot. I’m hoping someday I’ll be able to get from max size to minimal size in an instant. Although, I must admit that it sucks that my minimum size gets slightly larger with my growth.

Demi - “So tell me more about this Vultrym.”

“I don’t know all that much, myself, honestly.” She says, as I jump out of my pool into an orb again, as she walks over to one of the terminals in the room. “I hear she’s a little famous, though. Honestly, I’d just steer clear, if I were you.” She says, as I consider it, but ultimately…

Demi - “Ha, that’d be a terrible idea.”

She looks at me in surprise, then back at the screen. “What do you mean? What could you possibly gain?” She asks, as I roll up to her to see what she’s looking at.

Demi - “Well, in the rules it states that the team in last place will be disqualified. If she’s so scary, then we’re going to need all the help we can get taking her down. I mean, if it’s THAT bad, then why not? What chance would I stand in the first place?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I don’t know… That sounds a little too intense for me. I just can’t handle ultimatums like that.” She says, as I internally sigh…

Demi - “Tell me, sister. But there’s nothing I can do about it. Really, I was hoping for a competition based on our racing skills, but I guess there’s no stopping these jackasses from shooting at each other.”

She giggles a little, then looks at me. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I guess I like the idea of seeing if things play out better, instead of rushing in to make mistakes so quickly… You know what I mean?” She says, as she ticks and tacks away at the screen, looking for something.

Demi - “Huh... But how can you improve without making mistakes? Isn’t that how learning works?”

“What do you mean? I make mistakes all the time too, but I don’t have to be all do-or-die about it.” She says, making me feel… Almost insulted? I know better than to think she’s trying to be mean, though, especially in the middle of enemy territory.

Demi - “I guess… I should go check what the rest of my family is doing, and you should be heading back soon. The race could start any moment, and you don’t want to be late. Right?”

“No, I won’t be late. You go ahead and do whatever, though.” She says, so preoccupied with the wrong thing, beginning to annoy me…

Demi - “I’ll just cut the crap for a minute- The only reason I’m letting you get away with that, is because of what I did earlier. And for your information-”

She steps away from the terminal, and I fire a large bearing shot past her head, watching it destroy the shields, and imbed itself in the wall. “O-Oh-” She says, a nervous look on her face, as she’s forced to back up again as I slowly approach-

Demi - “I wasn’t thinking straight earlier, I can do far worse than a few punctures.”

I stop as she backs up into another panel, taking a quick glance at it, before returning to the queen of the jungle, only to press herself against it, as though she’s attempting to make some sort of distance.

Demi - “I like you, Horonva. And honestly, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to bring myself to take a life… That’s why I’m telling you to back off now, man. I gave you a chance, now leave before you make things worse.”

The nervous look on her face fades, as the wall pushes the orb out, and begins repairing itself. “C-Can I-” She says, pointing at the door, more uncertain than anything.

Demi - “GO.”

-√G-

“Slade!” I call out- “Fullbrim.” He says, walking up to me from behind, as I turn around and kneel down to his level. “Hey, man…” He says, that tired look on his face. “You too, man. How’s it going? Having fun with your fire pits?” I ask, as the scent of ash and brimstone brush my senses.

“Good, good. How about you? Wait, isn’t your gardening usually around this time?” He asks, as I rub the back of my head in shame- “Listen, I kind of messed it up… The flower’s been blighted, and I can’t fix it…” I say, as he raises an eyebrow.

“Right… Did you need anything else?” He asks, as I stare at him, and chuckle… “Hey, why don’t you come check out my new ride? It’s pretty cool.” I say, as he folds his arms. “Well, I guess if it’s for you. Alright.” He says, before I guide him over.

We arrive and he stares up at it… “Jeez… It’s huge, man…” He says, as I force myself not to make a crude joke. “That’s what she- No- Sorry. Anyways, come on in.” I say, as the bridge lowers and I guide him inside.

“Not gonna’ lie, looks pretty flammable.” He judges, as he looks around, and I guide him into the bar. “Yeah, please don’t burn it down…” I say, as I order us two drinks. “Well, interfering would kind of be cheating, and I promised Ling I wouldn’t do that.” He says, as I heave a sigh of relief…

“Anyways, you didn’t just bring me to your bar… Now did you, Fullbrim?” He asks, right on point! “Yep! You’ve got just as much right to participate as anyone else, Slade! And I need you on my team!” I exclaim, as he rolls his eyes.

“Right… You want to win that badly?” He asks, and I nod quickly. “Yes! I really need the prize!” I shout, as I bounce with energy! He, on the other hand, barely raises his eyebrows, then looks away- He places his forehead in his piggy-hand, then sighs…

He looks at me… “Ling… -needs a lot of help too, you know…” He says, as I run over, and slam my hand into a button- “Um?” He asks, as a piano slowly descends from the ceiling… “If that won’t work, then I’m sure my great piano skills will!” I say, surprising him.

“When did you learn the piano? I thought you were too busy with gardening.” He bluntly says, as I press a button, and pretend I’m playing. “Come on slade…” I sing, using the few years of practice I have to surprise him… “You and I know… You’re not meant for the sideline, you’re not meant for that backstage…” I say, and he grins.

“And don’t you wanna set a flame?!” I sing, getting a little more into it than I thought I would, as I jump onto the top of the piano! “Please, like anyone wants a mutant- let alone one little pig on the big screen…” He says, as I slide down and land next to him!

“You’re Slade, the colossal, the renegade of the eight rings!” I sing, making his chuckle turn into a laugh that nearly follows with my tune- “Slade.. This is what you’re waiting for… You know it!” I pleadingly sing, as he stands up and jumps down from his chair.

“And like you would know?” He sings as he lands and leans back to look me in the eyes with a raised eyebrow! “Well I know my dad!” I argue, as I back up and shrug- “You stopped the circus king, you stood to Eternal Skall like no-one ever has!” I sing, as he watches me.

“Don’t you wanna’ light a flame?! A revolution that’ll change the world!” I say, truly surprising him for the first time in my life- “And you.. You think THIS will work? A flame greater than any other…” He sings, as I have the piano slow down for him…

“One to purify the old world… A spark to light the torch that guides our way…” He continues, surprising me as he gestures his vision, the goal he never let go of… “Fullbrim…” He says, as his view snaps in my direction, the eyes that he’d only ever shown me once, so full of a purpose I dreamed to one day know…

“Even when I’m coming- No, running at you! You’ll tell me-” He says, as he grabs my shirt, as I speed up the piano, as he forces me to his level- “What are you waiting for?” I ask, and he lets me go… “Yes! Slade! Let’s light it up!” I shout, as I just about lose myself in the moment!!!

-√G2-

I was just practicing piloting my moon, until the viewer count suddenly shot up- We’re rising by millions every minute!!! I rush through the cameras to find out what could possibly- Slade- Fullbrim- They’re- SLADE CAN SING?!

I watch as my stats shoot up like hell, and almost consider advertising my business over it- Wait, Slade could ruin everything- I have to stop them! I open a portal, and take another glance at the stats, only to close it again, deciding MAYBE I should at least wait until it’s over…

Once the little performance is over, I open the portal and enter, surprising them! “Slade! What are you doing?!” I exclaim! “I’ve made a decision, I’m joining this team.” He says, surprising me… I’m nowhere near the strength I need to stop him…

“But, what about the-” I say, and he points his sword at me- “Don’t. Just don’t say it. I don’t know anything, and neither will they…” He says, as he leads my eye to the camera in the room again… “Right… But… What if someone does something-” I say, as he folds his arms.

“Deal with it yourself, or I’LL do something.” He says, and I’m forced to try and convince Fullbrim- “Hey man, I bet the numbers don’t look so bad.” He says, as I look back to see them rising even still, while the chat BEGS me to let him participate…

I sit down, and place my head in my hands… “FINE. I’ll figure it out. Welcome to the race, Slade. Feel free to hand me your administrator equipment when you’re ready to stop cheating.” I say, as I open a portal and he throws it at me…

“At least you’re not cheating…” I say, and he laughs. “Now that’s a good one!” He shouts, making me chuckle myself with so many memories, before I finally return to the laughing moon…

That idiot… Our goals differ, and I bet he knows that better than even I do… But I’ll let him have his way, let him think what he wants… There’ll only be one victor, anyway. And being pitted against WARP? Please. Swords will only get you so far, Slade.

I laugh so hard for almost a full five minutes before I’m finally able to stop myself, startling the laughing moon- “It’s time, begin the race.” I say, as it begins chuckling again… “Ya’ gawt ut… Bawss-mahn…” He says, as I calm down, and we soar through the sky and below to the cloud layer until we reach the start of the race.

I stand up, as I watch all the completed racers come into view, while the ones who are racing on foot step into their lane. The vehicles are huge, and if I had to choose a favorite… Easily Solstice, it really fits with that aesthetic I love… But there’s no time for that.

“Everyone!!!” I call out, barely a third of my size! “When the hook that I cast once more stills, only THEN will you unleash yourselves in all its glory!” I shout, as I climb to the top of the laughing moon, and do just as I said, casting the hook and watching as it disrupts the cloud layer so magically…

Until finally, it slows down enough for me to climb back down and wait for it to still, then once again be blown away as the racers bolt past it- “Chase them! We must stay ahead!” I shout, and so the laughing moon complies!

-√A-

Demi - “YES!!! I can’t believe he did it! That’s amazing!!!”

They all just stare at me, holding their heads as I lose my mind trying to convey my excitement- “Sounds great, Demi- But might we ask what you’re talking about?” Vascula asks, as she stands next to me… The vehicle starts moving-

Demi - “Sorry, Vascula. Can’t say, and sorry for the bother. We have a race to win, everyone. Let’s do this.”

I jump out of my seat, and head for the top of the Blue Walrus, to get a better look at our position, ‘cause there’s no way I was actually going to drive this thing. If I’m being asked to fight, then that’s exactly what I’m gonna do!

“Demi! Good ta’ see ya’!” Veyta calls out, the only person who shares my love for combat! It seems we’re not doing too bad, the only team in front is team two.

Demi - “You too, Veyta. I knew YOU’D be up here. Hop on, I’ve got an idea!”

She stares at me, and grins! “You mean it?! Woohoo!” She shouts, running up to me, letting me hold her within a bubble inside of me. “So what’s the plan, Demi?!” She asks, as she lies back.

Demi - “We’re gonna’ jump… Then I’ll fire you off like one of my bearings into an opponent’s vehicle!”

She laughs for a whole minute, until one of our opponents comes into view- “That’s the greatest thing I’d ever damn well heard, Demitallis! Let’s do it!!!” She screams with delight, as I begin building what I’m now going to call the Veyta-Bullet!

We launch into the air, and I spot Zephyr’s team, the biggest team in the whole race. I can’t lie, I love that afro, and who knows, it might even be as powerful as they say… But I choose to fight! I squeeze the bullet, constructed perfectly to not hurt Veyta- Before it can even think of denting under my pressure, I fire the earth shaking Veyta-Bullet and watch as she tears it apart from the inside, to keep the momentum as I follow her!

She slams into multiple people, laughing as they stare at her- “Demi!!!” Glant suddenly calls out, and I grab him with a couple threads to pull him in as we land moments behind Veyta, who’s already knocked someone out-

“Already?!” One of them asks, a man who’s part zebra. “Something wrong?!” Veyta asks, as she appears in front of him, and throws the blunt of her sword at him- The man barely dodges, as I fire a bearing shot to knock him out! “Alright, another!” Veyta shouts, as she looks at Glant.

“I need you, man! Come on!” She calls out-

Demi - “JUMP!!!”

They look at me, then jump and I swing a bearing around me, making everyone stay back to avoid it! “Ha! That’s my sister!” Veyta calls out, as Glantinazor pours all kinds of enhancements into her!

“Alright, you’re charged! Sick’em.” He says, as she laughs before charging and knocking another off the vehicle- Smorska climbs up here, and points at me, as she grows in size- “Demi! I thought we were friends!” She shouts…

Demi - “Veyta, deal with Smorska. Fire elemental, mutant. She can change her size at will. Too much fire, I can’t beat her.”

Veyta nods at me, then stands between us.

Demi - “It’s a competition, Smorska. But, I’ll try and word your wish in with mine, if I get a chance!”

I say, making Veyta chuckle, before Smorska rushes at us with the rest! I fire bearing shots one after the other, barely managing to land a portion of what I gave up, but all the same the shots knock them out!

None of them are particularly weak, they’re pretty damn strong in all honesty, and it’s taking everything I have right now to dodge all of their attacks. And man, I wouldn’t even dare use IDM. I can’t imagine how that’s ever supposed to be any help in actual combat like this.

I jump into the air, surprising them as I fire bearing shots, only to in the next moment slip out of my cloak and into the vehicle’s seams as I abandon the majority of my body! But before they even get a moment to think, I jump out and slam a bearing shot into someone’s head, knocking them out too!

It was a small elephant with super massive wings- Glad I took them out early. They fire attacks at me, but I pull myself down with a thread I attached, and swipe their feet with another thread and super massive bearing.

I get a good number of them before they start jumping like it’s some sort of jump-rope game. While they’re busy avoiding my attacks, I start picking them off as quickly as I can, and almost half of them start flying-

I sink into the floor again, and decide to start searching for the Orion equivalent to an engine- I find it and Zephyr standing in front of it. “That’s enough, Demitallis.” He says, his arms folded as I stand here…

Demi - “And what are you going to do to stop me?”

“Vultrym’s still out there, Demitallis. And we’ve got plenty of racetrack ahead of us. I promise, we’ll defeat her, just let us help you.” Bingo. There’s no way I’d actually throw out Zephyr’s team, they’re probably the only other team with enough man-power.

Demi - “Alright, I like the sound of that… Hey, Veyta, fight’s over, tell they won or something.”

Veyt - “I love that one! You got it!”

“And my team? The ones you knocked out and threw off the side?” He asks, as I slap him with a tiny bear, the string attaching to his head, as the bearing attaches the other end to the wall it bounced off of. “Seriously? Were you planning this?” He asks.

Demi - “Sort of, I had to come up with it on the fly, but I had fun nonetheless. It’s so good to have your afro on board, man. I can’t wait to work with you.”

He laughs. “Hell yeah! The Afro’s happy too!” He says, walking up to me, before we head upstairs, and explain to the rest of his team, then get ready to move onto Vultrym’s team seven.

-√D-

The summit is finally over, and I got quite a girl’s day out going on here. Man, you should have seen the look on Serif’s face, when he realized none of us beautiful women were willing to hang out with him. Friggin’ hate that guy.

“So Demistar, you have us here. What should we do first?” Splice asks, as I turn to look at her, and shove some shades into her face. “Something fun, of course. Come on, there’s tons of great places within just a mile of us alone.” I say, as I lean against and surprise her.

“You’re really excited to get out of that meeting, huh?” Itsya asks, reminding me of it… “I swear, if that brat ate one more of my nice cups- I might have developed my own rage.” I say, as I rub my head… “Does that even do anything for you, Demistar?” Baoth asks, surprising me.

“No, actually. I just kind of do it.” I say, as she stares at me with curiosity. “Well, I love you so much either way, Demistar!” Luna says, as she hugs me- Holley on the other hand, just stares at us intensely… I roll my eyes, and gesture to her to come join in.

Luna’s citizenry is honestly obsessed with the poor girl- The others begin huggin me too. “Group hugs are so nice…” Luna says, before I decide to focus elsewhere until they’re finished-

I find myself escorting Liyoxis to his room. “It’s happening now. Unity’s fighting Arigold as we speak.” He says, surprising me- “What the fuck?!” I scream, as I lose focus for a minute- “I’ll get the others, see if we can’t stop him.” I say, as Liyoxis nods-

I find myself outside, where Unity is indeed fighting Arigold- “We’re not so different, Arigold!” She calls out, as Arigold cuts down the wolves she summoned with efficiency even I couldn’t imagine reaching... “Are we now?” He asks, as he suddenly disappears, and there goes her head-

She catches it, and aims it at him, turning him to stone instantly- He shoves Lixza’s curse through her head, pinning it to the floor, only for the metal roots to make it explode- His arm suddenly explodes, and he stares at as she shoves a sword into him, only for him to then cut her in half with another- It was a clone-

She cuts his head, revealing that she was also using a clone, only for a portal to cut her body in half, and this is starting to get stupid… “We’re both Soldiers, Arigold. But where you’re a soldier, I’m just a girl with a mission.” She says, as he stares at her.

“I guess that sounds about right.” He says, as she disappears and in her place is not but a storm of blades. Even still, Arigold deflects everything, an endless ocean of blades too thin to notice, so easily deflected by one man…

Still though, I’ll wait until Arigold decides to get serious- A portal opens up next to him, and he throws his arm through, smashing the area with a giant fist. The power to resize yourself is second nature to space…

Another Sarah brings a large scythe on him, only for him to sidestep and somehow pull it from her hands- He manages to swing back on her and cut her in half, just as she would have done to him.

He uses the momentum to slam it into the floor, and Unity uses another body to kick his head clean off of its neck- He appears behind her, embedding Lixza’s curse in her body. She tears it out, most likely wanting to get the most out of this body-

A bolt of green lightning sparks across Arigold’s arm and vaporizes her body entirely- There it is! “Guys, move, now!” My team landed in front of him- “Arigold, we’re here to help!” I shout, and he nods. “Thank you.” Unity climbs out of a tree, and stares at us. “Demistar… I couldn’t kill him fast enough, it seems.” She says, as she puts away her weapon.

“Better luck next time, Sarah.” Arigold says, making her fold her arms. “Like that means anything coming from you.” She says, before throwing a seed into her mouth, and spitting it into the ground to open a gate.

She looks at him again, and sighs. “It was nice seeing you.” She says, as he continues to stare, and wait… “You too.” He says, and she leaves, probably thinking he felt some sort of relief… But that’s the opposite, he was probably expecting a sneak attack, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he still is.

“I’m detecting nothing with a mile’s readings, Arigold.” Alice says, making Arigold put away his weapon… “I’ll be heading home now, thank you.” He says, jumping down from the rock we were standing on, and walking away…

“S-Sir… Are you… J-J-Just going to walk th-there? MAX asks, making him stop. “I have an errand on the way there, and I was told to get to it on foot, and the rest of the way on foot.” He says, and MAX nods. “Of c-c-course. Good day, Arigold.” MAX says, waving at him, as Arigold raises his hand to wave back in an empty goodbye…

“That’s the fastest I’d ever seen him tap into space so early…” Robin says, as she sits down, and we follow her-

I find myself with the rest of my girl’s day group, they let me go a while ago, so I took them all for a spa treatment. After that, we decided to try bowling. Everyone basically gave up after they watched me knock all the pins six times in a row.

Moving on, we decided to sign autographs at a nice restaurant, then ended up at one of Neotopia’s many beaches. “So this thing isn’t a natural beach, huh?” Demitivan asks, as she walks up to me in a one piece swimsuit.

“Yeah, it’s using spatial warping to make it a little bigger on the inside.” I say, as the others head out. “D-Do you think I look good in this?” She asks, and I look at her. “Eh. You look okay. Looks pretty standard to me.” I say, judging the simple blue that covers so much.

I just like to wear a nice coat and large black straps that cover me up well enough. “So what’s with that obsession over Arigold?” I ask, surprising her- “What- Why now?” She asks, and I shrug. “Eh, well… It’s kind of hard to explain…” She says, as she sits next to me.

“I know he’s not PERFECT… But in a world where everything changes so rapidly…” She says, as she gestures weirdly. “Demistar, I’m ancient… When I stop time, I still grow…” She continues, as the others walk up.

“When I… Flicker? I guess you would call it that? I can be gone for upwards of trillions of years, in my perspective, Demistar.” She says, making the others stop and simply stare… “The whole world can change drastically within years, and when I jump around, I have no idea what everything will be like…” She says, as the others quietly sit down, as to not disturb her.

“But Arigold never changes. He might get stronger, smarter, more experienced, but that I can at least handle… If I jumped a few hundred years back, I’d probably barely recognize you…” She says, as I consider that one phase I was going through in my seventeen hundreds.

“How can you function like that?” I ask, as she continues to stare into the distance. “I guess I don’t really know.” She chuckles- “What is this? The eight thousandth time I’ve had this conversation? I’ll probably have to abandon this timeline too.” She says, surprising me.

“Abandon it?” I ask. “Yeah, ask Liyoxis. He’ll tell you. I guess if I disappear for over a hundred years, you can consider yourselves alone.” She says, as I fail to find my words… “Is that what you deal with, Demitrivan?...” Luna asks, surprising her-

“When did you- Jeez, guys.” She says, as she lifts herself off of her back. Luna’s got a cute one piece swimsuit like Demitrivan, but it’s also got three veils to cover her arms and legs. “Are you okay, Demitrivan?...” Baoth asks, who decided to dress as modestly as Demitrivan.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Demitrivan says, as the sand slides off her hair. “Jeez the sand’s heavy-” She says, as she swipes it away. “It’s a super dense and smooth material to prevent it from leaving the room.” I explain, as she picks up some of it, watching as it slides past her fur like water.

“Really?” She asks, as Baoth sits down and stares her in the eyes- “H-Hey…” Demitrivan says, as she leans back- “I have to leave, Liyoxis is in danger-” I say, surprising them as I teleport away- It’s skall, he’s staring down Liyoxis…

He came in just a moment ago, out of nowhere moments after the world powers had left… “Tell me, Liyoxis… Why’d you ban space?” He asks, as he kicks up a slab of the floor, and leans against it.

“All things considered… I can’t tell you yet. I will, Skall. I promise.” He says, as Skall lifts his gun. “Nah, I don’t like that answer.” Skall says, and I rush forward- I stop just moments behind him as Liyoxis raises his hand, my blade inches from his head.

“Isn’t it enough that I have to in the first place, Skall?” Liyoxis asks, and Skall lowers his gun. I decloak all my bodies and quickly move multiple around Liyoxis to protect him- “Right… Like everything else, Liyoxis… I’ve seen it a hundred times, kid…” He says, chuckling…

“You’re just another guy trying to wrap a world around his finger…” He says, only for the first time in my life, had I ever seen Liyoxis laugh… And not just laugh, but bellow like a star going supernova- “You’ve got no idea!” He yells, as he shoves his head in his hand, his laughter uncontrollable…

“Skall… You’ll see space soon enough… What’s a few more years, my friend?” He asks, and Skall folds his arms. “You’ve got five, and I want my own ship.” Skall says, and Liyoxis simply nods as he calms to his standard emotion.

“Yeah, I’ll do that, Skall. We’ll even design it together.” He says, and I decide to return to what I was doing- “Guys, I’m back.” I say, surprising my friends. “Demistar. Hey.” Demitrivan says, as the girls sit around her. “We’ve been discussing her mental state.” Itsya says, as she lies there.

“Oh. I missed that, sorry. Skall decided to invade the citadel, and he almost attacked Liyoxis.” I say, surprising them. “Damn, seriously? Sarah tried a shot at killing him earlier- I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.” Demitrivan says, grabbing everyone’s attention again.

“She failed, obviously, and was kind of embarrassed, so she told me not to tell you…” She says, as I create a chair to lie down on. “Jeez, though. Skall, huh? What was the name of that prison?” Splice asks, as she looks at me.

“The Eternal Basin, it was named after him, and it’s known for being almost completely inescapable.” I say, surprising the girl. “Really. Almost?” She asks, and I nod. “Yeah, there’s been a few over the years, but the most recent would have to be Ling and Slade.” I say, surprising them.

“Really? Slade? I know that guy, he’s pretty good with a sword.” Demitrivan says, as she sits on her knees. “Never heard of Ling, though. Anyone know about him?” She asks, as she looks around. “He’s a pact master.” I answer, after confirming nobody else knows.

“He’s hosting a racing competition, it should have started by now, actually.” I say, and pull up a holographic panel to show them the livestream, focusing surprisingly on Slade. “Oh! That’s him! Hey, Demistar, tell Slade I said hello!” Demitrivan says, as we watch him deflect tiny bullets.

“Maybe when he’s not busy, Demitrivan.” I say, and she giggles. “Alright.” She says, as I flick over and past Demitallis for a moment, only to return to her- “Demitallis?” I ask, looking at Team Four’s main channel. “Oh, another Demi. Isn’t that cute.” Baoth says, as I point at my friend-

“She’s also fat, that’s cute too.” She says, making me laugh. “Yeah, sure.” I say, as Demitallis jumps from Team Four’s vehicle, and onto another one. “What’s she up to?” Splice asks, as she folds her arms.

“Probably recruiting, since Slade is on team two.” I say, as she lands on the vehicle of team six, destroying golems as they climb out of it, making the others burst into laughter- “Oh my goodness- Look at how blunt that is, she doesn’t even care, she’ll smack you with a literal metal ball.” Itsya says, as we watch the leader climb to the top and backhand an orb.

“What?” He asks, as Demitallis is- as I assume -using telepathy to speak to him. “Telepathy, right? Funny how this Ling guy can set up this whole thing, yet he can’t give us subtitles or something.” Holley says, as she folds her arms.

“Hohoho!” The stone-covered man shouts, as he walks up and hugs Demitallis- “Then you are a friend of Solstice, Demitallis! We will bring down the not-friend Vultrym, and I will share the wish with all the friends!” He shouts his ideals, stupidly adorable…

“A wish? Is that seriously what they’re fighting for? Aren’t they aware the world powers can do way more than some wish?” Holley asks, as she stares. “Kind of. But even us world powers get busy, Holley. We can’t just field everything that’s asked of us.” Demitrivan says, as Holley rests on her legs.

I flick through the channels in my head, deciding to watch from multiple perspectives, until I notice one has gone dark for some reason-

-√C-

“Ey~ Nova! You decide to race with us?!” Archy asks, as I boost myself forward with lightning. “I actually came to ask you for help!” I call out, surprising her. “Seriously? What’s it about?” She asks, as I look at the others, and notice Zumo is nowhere to be found.

“One of the contestants is known as Vultrym! Her power is leagues above anyone else’s! We need to take her out as fast as possible!” I shout, and she nods. “Right, and you want a temporary alliance until we’ve defeated her!” Archy shouts, and I nod.

“You’re a funny kid, Nova! Of course I accept! We never turn our backs on a friend!” She shouts, surprising me. “Friend? Yeah, sure!” So this idiot thinks she can make a friend out of me… “So where IS Zumo?” I ask, as I look around, and she kind of shrugs.

“Honestly, I don’t know! He just kind of gets around… You know?” She says, as Karohty approaches me. “Yeah, he can move fast and silently when he wants. No idea how he does it, though.” He says, approaching a little too close for comfort.

“Right, I’ll be headed for team two, then. You guys have fun. I need to recruit them as well.” I say, and they nod. “Good luck, kid!” She says, as multiple twinkles of light soar through the sky, in the direction of team two, guiding me way.

After about a moment, I finally reach it, and pounce onto the side, climbing up it. “Hey! I’m not sneaking up on you!” I call out, as I surprisingly spot Slade. I didn’t think he’d be up here. “I know, stop distracting me. Deflecting these things is hard enough!” He shouts, as he somehow uses his sword to deflect the attacks…

“A sword? Seriously?” I ask, as he deflects another three. “What do you want?” He asks, as I walk up and watch the little pig man bolt around the vehicle, protecting it. “We’ve gotta’ take down Vultrym. I was hoping I could recruit team two.” I say, surprising him.

“Team two?” He asks. “Yeah. That’s your team name, right?” I ask, and he slaps his face. “Idiots didn’t even come up with a name. Look, go talk to Fullbrim, he should be inside.” Slade says, and so I do, realizing my team doesn’t have a name either.

I walk around, surprising multiple of the members of team two, making them wonder how I can so casually walk in. “Fullbrim? He should be in his office. Just take a left and then another right, and you should find a map.” The honey slime snake dude says, helpfully guiding me through this horrible fucking maze of a vehicle.

“Fullbrim, right?” I ask, coming upon what seems to be a normal human… “Hello… WHO let you in?...” He asks, as I fold my arms. “Slade did. I want to make an alliance so we can bring down Vultrym.” I say, as he sits down at his war table.

“Right… She certainly is the highest threat. A temporary alliance WOULD be in order, would it not?” He asks, as he thinks to himself. “How can I trust you?” He asks. “Slade did enough to let me in… By the way, do you have a name for your team?” I ask, a little curious.

“Oh! I never thought of that! Um… The raging boar! What’s your name?” He asks, surprising me. “Nova- Unless you mean MY team-” I say, and he nods. Right. “We’re the Blue Walrus, I guess. Might change, so yeah.” I say, and he nods.

“Right… So what kind of name is Nova?” He asks, and I sit down. “Just for business. I’m a bounty hunter in training.” I say, surprising him. “Wow, I’ve never met a bounty hunter in TRAINING! Who’s your teacher? What’s it like?” He asks, surprisingly excited.

“Can’t say. I need to move onto the next team, so I’m on a tight schedule as is.” I say, as I walk over to the door- “Wait, which team are you meeting up with nexxt?” He asks, making me stop. “Team five. What about it?” I ask, and he runs up.

“That’s Mistral, he’s a team of one. He’s actually a friend of mine, I’ll talk to him for you.” He says, surprising me, as he walks up. “If you like, I can get you teleported back to your team.” He says, and I fold my arms.

“Really… How?” I ask, and he snaps his fingers. “Vivan!” He calls out, and a tall boy appears before me. “Right here… Need me?...” He asks, staring at him. “He said you can teleport me?” I ask, making him teleport behind Fullbrim.

“A g-girl! I- Um- I-” He says, as though his stupid mouth has stopped working- “It’s okay- She won’t hurt you.” Fullbrim says, as I very much consider it. “S-Sorry, I haven’t talked to many girls before… Usually nobody wants to hang out with me…” He says, rubbing the back of his head, of which is a head above me. He’s almost as tall as the snake dude.

“Right- Portal- Here.” He says, opening a portal that leads to the blue walrus. “Thank you!” I say, before heading through. “It was nice meeting you.” I say, surprising them for some reason, before Vivan closes the portal.

-√A-

Demi - “I’m glad to hear that, Solstice. I’m certain with your help, we’ll get her next round.”

“Absolutely, friend Tallis! I feel this will lead to a beautiful friendship!” He shouts over the rushing wind. “Come in, let us have ice cream and tea.” He continues, surprising me.

Demi - “You have ice cream? Why?”

He guides me into his vehicle, surprising me with an already prepared plate. “Of course! It is but the best feeling to share with a friend, is it not?” He asks, as I silently curse being a puddle kid… I used to love ice cream so much I would beg my mom to buy me whatever weird flavor I found.

Demi - “Huh. Man, you’re certainly smarter than you look.”

I consume the ice-cream, watching it slowly dissolve from within, then take a sip of the tea with him. “Of course, my friend. There’s much more to me than meets the eye. I always enjoy a good cup of tea with a friend.” He says, surprising me.

Demi - “Man. You know, I never made a friend so quickly. I mean, I didn’t even know your name until Zephyr told me.”

“Ah! A friend I haven’t made, then!” He says, and I almost giggle. He’s just so friendly-

Demi - “I should go back to my team, we really sped down the track, and I want to make sure we’re not in last place. I’ll definitely be back, though. See ya’, man.”

He nods, and I finish my tea, teleporting away quickly. I wanted to talk to him more, but I’m pressed for time as it is- I find that we’re in third, Vultrym somehow got ahead of us, and has been firing bullets at Fullbrim’s team.

One after the other, deflected away… Team two’s vehicle… It’s like a giant wooden castle, and it’s almost four times the size of the blue walrus, which is big in of itself. Zephyr’s on our tail, since we’ve been helping him out.

The guns are on hold for the moment, since we don’t want to risk Vultrym shooting at us, and getting taken out of the race that quickly. Anyways, we pass the first stretch, with my team somehow coming in fourth place, it turns out team three somehow go ahead of EVERYONE.

Luckily though, the guy named Sunstone came in last place, and Ling is currently disqualifying him… “Jeez, I really didn’t think Sunstone would lose so quickly...” Horonva says, as she walks up to me with another of her teammates.

Demi - “Yeah, it’s weird. I figured he’d have some sort of trick up his sleeve, right?”

“I’m just glad, honestly. Being able to blot out the sun? I definitely didn’t want to deal with that.” The guy says.

Demi - “So who’s your friend, Horonva?”

“Fullbrim. I talked to one of your sisters, so we’ll be working together, I guess.” He says, surprising me. Who would do that without telling me-

Demi - “It’s good to have you. Who did you talk to, though?”

“Dunno’. She just called herself Nova. You might have to ask around.” He says, as he shrugs.

Demi - “Right. Well, either way, an alliance will only benefit us…”

“Definitely!” Horonva says, piping up again. “Vultrym really went hard on us… If we didn’t have Slade, we definitely would have lost…” She says, yet another person I’ve never heard of.

Demi - “Who’s this Slade?”

They just stare at me in surprise. “Do you really not know?” She asks, and I just sit here and stare at her, deciding to not answer this obvious question. “Slade’s the short pig man, he’s the greatest swordsman in the world.” Horonva says, something actually worthy of my attention.

Demi - “The BEST, huh? Hey, Veyta! Is Slade the world’s best swordsman?”

She crashes next to me, and jumps in joy- “Absolutely! I didn’t think you’d know something like this, Demi!” She says, as she rests her sword against her shoulder.

Demi - “I don’t, but apparently these guys have him on their team.”

“Really- Can I meet him?” Veyta asks, and Fullbrim just kind of rubs the back of his head nervously. “I don’t know… Slade’s not exactly the most sociable person…” He continues, but Veyta walks up to him and shakes her head. “Nah, it’s cool. I just want to see him.” She says, surprising him.

“Well, I guess…” He says, and Horonva just shrugs. “So can I see him, then?” Veyta asks, as she stares right up at them. “Sure. Just don’t expect too much from him.” Horonva says, and she nods. “Got it.”

And with that, they’re off. Veyta’s pretty good with a sword, so I can’t imagine how much better this Slade guy can be. I mean… How good CAN you get with a sharp metal stick anyways? Well, I guess that’s pretty unfair, considering everyone likes to use swords here.

“Hey, Demitallis!” Zephyr says, walking up to me.

Demi - “Eyup. Everyone on your end accounted for?”

“Yep. Turns out a couple of our teammates fell off anyways, but they caught up. You gonna check out the city?” He asks, and I consider it.

Demi - “I’m still not sure. I mean, the reason I wear this thing is so we don’t get discovered. We’re hiding from a very powerful man.”

“Right. I’m sorry you have to deal with that. Sucks that Sunstone over there got disqualified so early… Still though, if it wasn’t him it might have been my team.” He says, as Sunstone finally walks away, lurching into the forest, like a skinny sasquatch, while creeping Ling out.

Demi - “I dunno’. Solstice’s team was pretty far in the back themselves. Would suck harder if he got out first, though. And I’m certainly not gonna miss that slender sasquatch.”

He bursts with laughter for a moment- “Yeah, that guy was certainly something else!” He shouts, as I praise myself for this small victory. “But still, Archy and Mistral had already broken ahead of my team, and Solstice was on our tail.” He says, surprising me.

Demi - “Archy and Mistral?”

“They’re the captains of the other teams. Archy leads team three, and mistral leads team five.” He says, a quick explanation, as the wind blows around us.

Demi - “Right. I never got to meet them, I guess I should go do that in a bit, while I’ve got time.”

“Sounds good to me, I’ll do the same. Come on.” He says, as a person in a red cloak walks up to us.

-√C2-

You probably think I want to see Slade because he’s so good with the sword. Well… That’s partially the reason. You see, he’s up there as one of few people who can even challenge Skall, another one of the world’s greatest weapon wielders.

Glant’s powers are incredible and so I want to figure out just what I’m dealing with in terms of power. “So… You’re good with a sword too?” Fullbrim asks, as we make our way through the vehicle. “Not as good as Slade, I’m sure. But I like to think I’m pretty okay.” I say, as a well built man with a duckbill walks up to us.

He coughs blood onto my white cloak by accident- “Ah- Shit- Sorry kid, I was just going to-” He says, covering his face this time- “It’s cool, my brother’ll clean it later.” I say, surprising him. “That’s good… So Fullbrim, you giving out tours or something?” He asks, the disheveled man just that little bit nervous as usual.

“Well, you know… She wants to meet Slade, and I don’t see why not…” He says which makes the duck-man laugh- “Kahahahacka- I bet Slade’ll beat her into the ground!” He says, patting my head…

“Fullbrim, we should get going, Slade might run off again.” The sheep-girl says, surprising him. “Right, totally, absolutely, bye Bill!” Fullbrim says, before suddenly running off and surprising me- After a while, we finally make it to Slade himself, the short pig man just sitting there with his sword…

He’s sharpening it with a metal block. “Slade!” Fullbrim calls out, surprising him. “Heh?” He asks, as he turns to look at us- He suddenly appears in front of me and brings his sword down, while I barely manage to avoid the strike-

“Slade- She’s friendly- Stop!” Horonva says, and he relaxes in an instant. “I smell Bill’s blood on her. Are you sure?” He asks, as I look at the blood stain- “Ah- Bill just coughed on her, is all. Sorry about the scare.” Fullbrim says, as he helps me up.

“It’s cool, I was gonna’ provoke him anyways.” I say- “WHY?” He asks. “‘Cause why not?” I ask, shrugging. “You got a death sentence?” Slade asks, and I shrug again. “Who knows? Besides, your sword’s too dull, right?” I ask, and he looks at it.

“Yeah, I just got started sharpening it. Vultrym’s bolts messed it up.” He says, showing it to me, as I pull out mine. “So you really are a swordsman? I hear you’re the best in the world.” I say, and he just places his hand on his forehead.

“Listen, kid. I’m not nearly as strong as the templar try to make me out to be. I can just swing a sword better than them, that’s all.” He says, and I nod. “RIght. So can I ask you something between swordsmen?” I ask, and he rolls his eyes.

“Fine. Go away, you two.” He says, and they just look between each other- “O-Oh… I was hoping I would get a chance to talk to you, Slade…” Horonva says, but he brushes her off. “Cool, we’ll talk later.” He says, and she sighs, before her and Fullbrim leave.

A minute later, we sit down, and I begin sharpening my sword again. “So is it true you can’t use mana?” I ask, and he nods. “Yeah, that’s why I gotta use this stone.” He says, and I hold out my hand. “I’d be willing to sharpen it for you, I even have a stabilizer case on hand.”

He shakes his head. “No. The stone is fine.” He says, and while I admit it works, this is far more efficient and precise. “You do you, then. Anyways, about that thing… I was wondering if you would tell me how you got so strong. Any tips?” I ask, and he looks at me, then back at the sword.

“Right… Fair enough… Nothing more than daily training and adventuring. I just got lucky enough to survive and learn. Although, as a kid, I admit I did have a little help.” He says, and I stare at him. “You sure you don’t want me to at least fix the poor thing up?” I ask, and he rolls his eyes before handing it to me.

“Fine.” He says, as I judge the weight and begin spreading my mana throughout the sword. “Did someone teach you?” I ask, and he folds his arms. “Yeah, well, kind of. His name’s Nolan. He’s a raven mutant.” Slade says, surprising me.

“He took me in, and got me started on I guess what you would call my sword-journey.” He says, as I finish the repairs and start sharpening the sword. “I’ll add a cover, so I won’t mess up the sword’s shape too much.” I say, and he nods.

“Right… I guess if I had to give you any tips… I’d say stay observant, and get as much experience as possible.” He says, and I nod. “You could swing your pointy stick so hard it splits planets, but it’s useless if your enemy can just phase through it, and you have nothing to counter that.” He says, surprising me.

“People can just do that?” I ask, and he nods. “Yeah, I have to use this neat charm- It’s a whole ordeal, I won’t get into it. Anyways… You need experience, so I’d say going on these adventures like this has you on the right track.” He says, and I finish the sword.

“The cover’s as sharp as possible, I’ll begin stabilizing it. Make sure to take the sword out first, otherwise it won’t fit and split the scabbard in two.” I say, and he nods. “Right.” He says, as I gently place it on a metal stand I made.

“Still… Don’t you think that’s pretty dangerous?” I ask, and he rolls his eyes. “Kid, you’re in danger as we speak. Throughout all my time living on Orion, there is one solemn rule of this world I’ve never seen broken.” He says, surprising me.

“No matter who, what, when or where you are… Danger will ALWAYS find you. The only way you’ll ever TRULY be safe, is if you become as strong as you can. The less people who can harm you, the less danger you’re in.” He says, making me laugh.

“Yeah, I figured as much. Thanks, man. I guess I was just looking for confirmation, if anything…” I say, as I finally hand his sword back to him, and he judges it. “Right… Sure… Well, you can leave whenever, kid… Your name, by the way?” He asks, and I look at the camera.

I throw a knife at it- “Veytatasm Genesis.” I say, surprising him. “Really? I heard you guys got wiped out. I figured that sounded like kind of a stretch.” He says, as he folds his arms. “Totally. The whole thing was staged, actually. We’re enemies with Arigold himself.” I say, and he raises his eyebrow.

“You’re not kidding. Shit, kid. I’d do something about it, if I could even stand up to a guy like that.” He says, but I shake my head. “Nah, we’re good. I’ll just get strong and beat him up myself.” I say, and he chuckles. “By the time you’re strong enough to beat him, he’ll have died of old age.” He says, and we laugh together…

“Yeah, I bet… Listen, I’m going to have to fight Arigold SOMEDAY. I want your help, Slade. I’ll make a deal, I’ll make sure my team stays out of your way, while your team wins.” I say, surprising him. “You’re sure they’ll agree to that?” He asks, and I shake my head again.

“Hell no. They’d try and find some way to route around it. But no, I’ll just go behind their backs. It’s for the best in the long run.” I say, as he stands up and chuckles. “Fair enough. You’ve got a deal, Veytatasm. Gotta’ say… You’re a funny kid.” He says, and I nod.

“I certainly try.”

End of Chapter: 45√AC2DEG2 “Down with the old world.”

“Um- Luna, should I- Okay… Thanks!”

“Oh, okay… Thank you.”

“Thank you for reading, everyone.”