Night Two Hundred And Seventy One
Age 1992
Oleander City...
The Trail...
"W... What the hell just happened?" Ken asked.
Before anyone else could react the room lit up with hundreds of black circles which spilled out a black sludge. From the sludge many Bestia Macht began to rise out of the ground as all the Enforcers jumped up and the people began to scream the room filling with ice.
"So." Master Storm hummed running his hands through his grey beard. "I was correct then. Good. It was a gamble letting myself be caught but the pieces are at play. Now I just have to put my trust in that boy. I'll recreate my old world. The one I couldn't save."
***
"Oh God damn it." Hero cursed out as he suddenly landed on the street out in the middle of an empty cities lot. "Now where am I... Wait..."
He looked around for a few moments taking in all manner of the sights around him. Many of them were buildings that had become collapsed and torn down. Snow rained down as all the lights had been shut down leaving it dark. The faint smell of death hung in the air.
"This is..."
"The City of Chrysanthemum."
Hero spun around when he heard the voice. Standing on the top of one of the roofs was Jester, also known as Hero Law, the woman that held him inside of her when he was created. The closest thing he had to a biological mother if one didn't count Mary.
"This is where I first laid my eyes on the body of Row you know. The one you're keeping." She mused. "It's where you ruined my first plan. We had been planning to test out our new weapons and wipe this city down to the ashes but you stepped in and stopped that."
Hero eyed the area up with a bit of a nervous look as he gripped his cane. "So you teleported me with the help of your Crest... That thing is really powerful." Hero said slowly. "Then again teleportation is in general. One of the reasons I started figuring out my powers. Crests can do a lot right. I reached 100% of my Equations power meaning that besides breaking past it and into the realms of level two it can't get any stronger. But I still had my Crest and basic training things that I could do to counter that."
"Indeed Crests are strong. But a fair warning. They all come with costs and conditions. Mine for example. I can't just teleport around as I please. It simply doesn't work that way. My Crest has a condition that has to be met for it to work. Thats why I took just you here and not everyone."
"Why did you take me here." Hero frowned. "Why now?"
"There were a few reasons. The most notable one being I wanted to test something. Honestly though I didn't really have a need to take you. Only reason I did was Mystery asked me to."
"Mystery..." Hero's mind flashed back to the man in the helmet. The one who utterly beat him into the ground. "He asked you to take me here?"
"No. Not really. Honestly I really hate Mystery so I'll tell you this. He's a member of the Enforcers. The second traitor."
"Yeah. We figured that out the day he showed up to the practice test last Age." Hero nodded. "Who is he then if you don't like him?"
"I don't know that. Just that he is a high ranking member in the Enforcers. One thing I do know is that he asked me to distract the Enforcers for something. He didn't tell me to take you. Just put on a distraction. I'm doing that as we speak. I just released several Bestia Macht into the room for them to deal with. I also decided that while I'm here why not test out my new project. I tried making something all on my own using that girl Kitsune's Dream Crest. When I saw Daughter it got me wondering just how far the Dream Crest can go. Kitsune was a broken soul. He floated around in the void of nothingness after the death of his world. There his broken soul found a woman. I know not her name but she gifted that man a piece of her power. She held the fragments of the Dream Crest."
"So that explains why that girl Kitsune has some of the Dream Crest powers." Hero sighed. "Nightmare the first user of it... She passed it down to Yume who then in turn died at the hands of Piero. Piero placed that shard into Row which he used to make me. Nightmare's body died true but her soul moved on. Using the Dream Crest she wandered the Void the place where dreams lay and used it to travel to other worlds. There she met Ken who's body was breaking apart. She gave Ken what was left of her body giving Ken her powers. I guess what remained of her was less than a fragment but that fragment was still enough to allow that Kitsune's soul to stay pieced together. Somehow Kitsune's soul found its way into an Equation which is now in Serenity's body. That still doesn't explain Irene though?"
"I'm just as lost as you honestly." Jester said letting out a sigh as she shrugged her shoulders. "It is quiet weird is it not. Whatever the case. The Enforcers are distracted meaning I've done Mysteries foolish request. Its now time for what I came for. I grabbed you out of there for a very good reason."
"Oh yeah?"
"I've seen it in you. You've been changing." She said stepping off of the roof and slamming down into the parking lot they stood in with a loud crash shaking everything around them. She threw her right arm out as it glowed and morphed into its metal arm form taking on its clawed form. "Now then. Show me just what you can do." She announced charging at Hero.
Hero jumped back avoiding the swipe as his numb right arm began to glow. Seconds later it twitched as it took on its metal clawed form the limb growing into its massive form as he threw it out his eyes glowing with a faint green aura. In its normal state it was true that the nerves in it were fried out stopping it from being able to move but while transformed it didn't need nerves instead working more like a machine.
Both Hero's slammed their legs down and threw out a set of powerful punches with their clawed hands their fists slamming together and creating a massive burst of sound, heat, energy, lightning, and darkness, which blew everything around them apart as the entire ground beneath them broke away. But unlike Jester Hero had something other then his Equation.
Bringing his left arm up he held the metal cane up clicking a button as the cane slid out turning into a long silver sword made out of fragments of bones the same kind of weapon Mystery often used in his fight. Hero sliced out with the sword but Jester tilted her body back the sword slicing over her form. Her arm reverted back to its human form as she kept her back arching and pulled her arms behind her cartwheeling backwards and getting away from him in a single motion. She came to a sliding stop and raised her right arm back up as it glowed and morphed into an anti tank rifle styled gun glowing as it fired its shot.
Hero's right arm also glowed changing into his shield form as he slammed it down firing a wave of energy into the ground which formed a gate of aura. "Hells Gate!" He yelled the beam slamming into the energy doors and rippling past it as a wave as the gate held strong keeping him safe.
The aura faded at the same time the beam did leaving a heap of smoke rising.
"My, my." Jester said tilting her head to the side as she stared at the arm. "So thats your metal arms new form. One that I don't have." She hummed. "On top of that your cane became a sword?"
"Thats right." Hero nodded his head stabbing his new sword into the ground as he raised his right legs pants up. The skin was glowing a sickly red and his veins were ignited with green energy. "I want go into to much detail but lets just say I sort of wrecked my body. I trashed all the nerves in my right arm and right leg. When I'm fighting I've learned to harness the Mantra forming new nerves in my right leg and right arm. Think of it like giving a puppet new strings. However when I'm not fighting they are both useless. I can sort of walk with my right leg but my right arm is totally dead. The hospital gave me a cane to allow me to keep walking when I'm not fighting. Santa offered to turn it into a badass sword and I thought that was a totally rad idea and now its a badass cane sword. Hell yeah." Hero smirked.
"You boys and your weapons." Jester sighed shaking her head. "Alpha was the same way you know. You remind me a lot of him. You should talk to him more."
"What?"
"My plan had always been to steal you, and Vil away, and take Alpha with me. Alpha was someone I cared for. If I had gotten my way he would be sort of like your dad, and my own father Piero would have been the weird grampa. But things didn't go that well."
Hero's mind went over that for a moment picturing a nice family with her as his mother, Alpha as his father, Vil as his loving brother, the four of them living in a cabin. Kitsune would have been a childhood friend. Irene a first crush. "A life like that. Really doesn't sound bad." Hero mused. "The old me would have never wanted to live like that. It would have been to boring. My ego was to big. But now. Now that I've seen and suffered I have to say that life doesn't sound to bad. Something I long for even. That said. It won't change anything." Hero said ripping his cane sword out of the ground and pointing it at her. More images went through his mind. All of Squad Six resting in the common room, Ken, Shelly, Kitsune, Light, Irene, Jackson, Katrina, Hannah, Dawson, Santa. Then more people. Lucy, Emma, Sera. Max. Shiki. Brave Hella. Ava. Davi. Athena, and Newt Hyde. Even the Emperor and Master Storm. And finally Vil, Four, Six, and Daughter. "Its not an ideal life but its my life." Hero nodded ending the thought on the image of Row and Hero Otoko. "And nothing you can say would make me switch sides."
"No. I suppose it would."
"I have a question."
"What?"
"You know about the other worlds do you not?"
"I do."
"Then why? Why are you so for killing God? You want him dead. But doing that would allow the Squid to find Earth. So why do you want to do it?"
"God is... No. Orion is evil. He is no God. He is just a depressed man who existed for thousands of years who lost his people. The humans died out. All because they killed each other. He was the last one. And when we rose up. The creations Mother made he didn't like it. He lashed out. He created the Bestia Macht just to give us a threat that could kill us. All because of his spite. Name one miracle that man ever preformed?"
"He made Ava."
"That damn brat. Please. Don't tell me you're actually in love with her. That was all an act you put on to try and steal her heart away to use her to beat Otoko wasn't it?"
"..."
"Whatever the case." The Jester held her arms out. "Look at this world. A frozen hell hole wouldn't you say. It is said that if the Heart is found we can control the Bestia Machts. Do you want to know my end goal? You likely heard this but you were made to devour clones. I know you met those two failed clones. You, or rather my precious baby Row, was created to devour God upon his death and consume that power into yourself. Gaining his powers. To become God yourself."
"Right. That way the evil man known as Orion could die and yet the Earth would still be shielded?" Hero asked cocking his head to the side.
"Exactly. However. I don't think the sky has to be polluted. God only keeps us around as he has a small use for us. We're needed for his end goals to power that device of his on the moon. However he hates us still. As such he doesn't try to maintain us. Its true his power blocks the Squid from us but I believe his power is also making the sky grey. He could keep the world hidden and yet still give it a clear blue sky. Didn't you find it odd how nothing bad happened when you blasted a hole in the sky itself? God's aura keeps the world hidden. And out of spite and hate he takes away what humans had. The sky. He doesn't think we deserve it. My end goal is for Vil to inherit the Heart. Using its power he can force every Bestia Macht to kill itself and end them as a species. Then he can devour God and keep the world hidden but get rid of that black sky."
"Why are you telling me this?" Hero asked frowning.
"Because. I came to offer you a preposition. You know as well as I do that this task is a grand one indeed. It was so Grand Row, my poor baby, gave up and made you to take it. You were made by Row for this. To save this world were you not. And I know you have Row's memories. If thats the case then. A tiny part of you must have the love Row held for Vil. If you love your brother you'll join me. Join my side. And you'll take up the heart and be the one to devour God."
Hero was silent for a moment. "I love Vil. He's my little brother. But sorry. The answer is no."
"What!"
"You remind me of this damn idiot." Hero smirked thinking of Otoko. "He also thinks theres only one path. Sacrificing yourself for the worlds sake. Fuck that." Hero held his cane sword up. "I'm going to reach a happy ending. One where no one has to suffer. No one has to take on the burden of keeping the world safe. No one has to give up themselves for someone else or this world. Vil, Otoko, even you, I'm going to create a happy ending for all of us. I'll kill God, but I won't devour his power. I'll recreate the sky, and go above and beyond. There won't be a need to hide because I'm going to kill that Squid and save everyone. I'm going to reach a happy goal."
Jester snorted. "My son really did fail when he made you didn't he. What a foolish and naive goal. So you'd rather risk an ending where everyone is happy, then one where one person suffers but everyone else gets a happy ending. I can see it now. Yours will result in a failure. One that will end everything."
"Hey. Nothing wrong with dreaming big right? I mean I am a Dreamer. I'll use this Crest to make this dream come true."
Jester reached up taking her mask off showing off the frown that was on her face. "I'm done playing." She stated in a blunt tone. The space in front of her twisted and bent as something began to pull itself out. "Hero. Meet Hide. Think of him as your step brother." She smirked as a large Bestia Macht began to pull itself free.