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The 13th Loop [A Progression, GameLit, Sci-Fi Adventure]

Lykanthropy

Chapter 88 Is it Wrong to Dream of A Better Version of My Girlfriend?

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Chapter 88

Is it Wrong to Dream of A Better Version of My Girlfriend?

I had a nap. I know, it was amazing. Everyone makes me run around so much that I often get little personal time for myself. But this time, I managed to get a nap in. Of course, my mind trying to likely make up for lost time gave me an intense dream.

I dreamed of a universe without me. Or maybe what this universe would be like if I didn't exist at all. Jess had grown strong, far stronger than I could have imagined. Her muscles rippled and danced as she fought wildly. In the dream she had taken up my mantle as the tree's guardian. God she was beautiful, her wings were glowing green and blue. I didn't even know what those colors were for, nothing like the crazy orange and purple on a silver background that I had.

No, she was like the very picture of life and health incarnate. A bastion of hope in a universe where the Prolaxians somehow still had the advantage. All the softness of her current body was gone, every curve melted down until it was its most compact killing form, and she was beautiful.

The difference between my Jess now and this Jess of the Future was like the difference between the Me now and the Wizard me from that fourteenth universe. You could see it, where there was some initial overlap, but the result was a monster.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little attracted to the fiery Jess of the future. The one who stared down the enemy forces with nothing but grit, venom, and anger.

After the dream, I awoke to go training. Again, this universe was odd. We could train all we wanted, improving our skill percentages, but our Physical attributes were set in stone, unless we used our free attributes to increase them.

I was still sitting on ten free attribute points. I also had 835 certs that I could use for leveling. Which I did. I used a total of 222 certs. This was enough to take both my Mage and Psionic classes from level 15 to level 21 each. This meant I now had two more thresholds for gaining five levels in any class I held. Since I had two classes, this meant my maximum rating for all attributes could now get to 28. Well again, for every attribute but Power. It also gave me fourteen free attribute points to work with. I was also finally ready to try to use all of my attribute points. I was getting close to the end, or at least it felt like I was getting close.

We knew who two of the remaining Heralds were. We also had a plan to go after one and were working on a way of attacking the second one, before they could activate their final powers. That second one, the first-born killer, that one was more frightening than I gave it credit for. Especially with Goldie… I can't even finish that thought. I am a terrible person, as I still haven't gone to them in this life. Will she even remember me?

Time travel is so weird.

In the end, I focus on getting as prepared as I can for this coming mission. With that, I focus on how to improve myself immediately.

The first and most important aspect that I need to improve are my Intelligence and Willpower, both of which are needed to keep my overwhelming Power attribute in check. With that thought alone, I decided to spend ten of my free attributes to raise my base Intelligence and Willpower both to 25 points each. The reason for 25 points? Simple, after my two Titles, and the different percentages from the two titles cancel each other out, I am left with a roughly 15% bonus to all attributes.

This 15% bonus didn't mean much, until it meant everything. With that 15% bonus, and my recent increases I effectively have a 28 in both Intelligence and Willpower. This was more than enough to give me a large cushion for my Power Attribute. This then let me know for certain if my thoughts on an unbalanced Power rating were justified.

The minute the Attributes were increased, and the effect made permanent, I felt a drastic change occur within me. I felt a wave of relief and clarity fill my mind. Not only were my thoughts much clearer, but I felt like a few nuances to my powers that had been lacking were suddenly making sense. These were subtle things, things that didn't mean much overall, but in the end these changes could help me speed up the flow of battle. No longer did I have to slam the square pegs through the round holes, I could cut the pegs down, until there was nothing left to go into the holes.

Looking back at my use of different powers, I had been so focused on brute forcing my way through everything. So rather than using a machete to cut through every obstacle, some only required a scalpel. Then there were those that didn't require a blade at all. Wow, for a second, everything made so much more sense. Then after a few seconds of adjusting to my new baseline mental state, that clarity was gone.

While the clarity was gone, I did feel like I gained enough of an insight into what I could do, to have a few key things to work on.

Then taking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and focused on what I needed to do next. With my thoughts of being able to accept up to a 56 in Power. I decided to spend the final four free attribute points on increasing my base power score from 40 to 44. This might not seem like it was enough to worry about, especially with my new theoretical threshold being 56, but with the 15% bonus, I was up to 50 points in Power.

The feeling of having 50 points in power, well it is hard to describe. Everything tingles, but in a good way. I can feel the disturbances of powerful people nearby. Normally to get to 50 points in power, this would require 150 levels to even unlock the ability to get one attribute up to 50 points. Of course, this meant that I now exceeded most, if not all citizens of the universe who only managed to get their classes to Average (or rank 3) rarity.

That was humbling in a way. Or rather not humbling, but a sign of how far I had managed to come in a relatively short amount of time. It was at a time like this that I realized how unfair the universe could truly be. Here I was a child in the scope of my race and particularly compared to the other space faring races of the universe, but I had already matched and surpassed the maximum potential that well over half the universe could only dream about. Now granted cheating, always, helps.

I will fully admit that I am cheating and have cheated every step of the way to get to this point. But this, this moment right here. Maybe it is a sign of my increased Intelligence and Willpower, or maybe it is just a way of me realizing I had made it. Well, I hadn't made it, not fully yet. There was still a universe to save and all, but I had done something that most people in this universe could only dream about.

You know what, enough stroking my own ego, like I need to do even more of that.

Right now, I need to focus and train. I need to train so that the sexy Guardian fighter Jess from my dreams, never needs to exist. Though I do have to say, I am a sucker for toned abs and black leather.

With all my Attribute points used, I make my way to the training rooms so I can focus on learning the subtler ways to use my powers.

When I get to the training room, everyone is already assembled. Somehow it looks like I am the last to arrive. From the look of things, and the thin sheen of sweat on Jess' clothes and body, it is apparent that she has already been doing some form of training.

Once again, the image of the super fit Jess from my dream comes to mind, as I stare at the Jess before me and realize this woman is amazing.

I begin to make my way over to Jess, but either my arrival or motion towards the group, catches the General's attention.

"Oh, good, you are here." General Fellina says. Then she begins pressing buttons on her wrist communicator. A few seconds later the portal devices that look like they came straight from the MAC Charity events come to life with a whir.

I look at them.

"Don't worry. This is for team building. It is also meant to show who should go and who should not go on this mission." The General says, directing the not towards Jess.

With that, I feel a surge of anger and protection billowing up from within me. But I stop myself. See, you can beat an old dog until he learns a new trick. The old me would have rushed to Jess side, and basically proven the point the General was trying to show. First that I would be overprotective of Jess, and that Jess would need me to survive.

I had seen Jess, the fighter that Jess can become, and she is a badass. So, rather than getting that future badass mad at me, I decide to use a different tactic.

"How about we break up into teams. Jess and me versus anyone else. Whichever team kills the most Prolaxians, gets to decide who they take with them?"

I propose. See this increased Intelligence and Willpower is already paying off.

The General looks at me, then seems to understand something as her eyes flash brightly for a second. "Out of the question."

"I'll do it." Rayquel says. "But this also means that whoever wins is the team lead. Meaning that when you lose, you will follow my orders to the letter."

I look at Rayquel and smile. It is the snarling smile a wolf might flash, before chasing down a gazelle. I want to point out that I always, well almost always, well maybe she does have a point about my ability to follow orders. That said, again, showing newfound insight into the nature of the universe and not rising to the bait. Instead, I harp on the simple terms.

"Deal."

The General looks like she wants to argue, but then after a few seconds of popping her jaw, she relents.

"Fine. The teams are Jess and Kyle, versus the remainder of the elite teams. We will go by the number of certs generated to determine the victor." General Fellina states. "Contestants take your marks."

We get to the starting location, which is roughly twenty meters away from the activation portals. This is a long distance for most powers to be used, but for me, this is well within my wheelhouse. In fact, it might be too close to what range I can reach, but that is a different matter entirely.

As we get in our spots, Rayquel takes it upon herself to be stationed to my immediate right. It is clear she is trying to choose a spot that is intimidating to me. I don't know what level she is, but I assume she is an Omega class rarity, meaning she could theoretically get to any level. Though of course saying that someone can get to any level, and doing so, are two different things entirely. Especially with the fact that you still only gain bonuses to your levels once every three levels. Meaning the other two levels are mainly just for show after a certain point.

"What, not going to pull out your violin and play us a victory tune?" Rayquel says half mockingly.

She of course is likely referring to my last MAC tournament where I put on a mini concert. But that was with a crowd of fans who were present to be entertained. I still of course have my violin case right on my side, right where it is supposed to be, but I don't want to bring it out. Not for this.

"No. As a sign of how seriously I am going to take this. I will not pull out my violin."

At that, I see a few of the faces of the elite members that make up Rayquel's team drop. Even Rayquel herself looks a little crestfallen at the idea.

Is this some type of trap? Or did they really want me to put on a show.

"Tell you what, if you manage to win. I will play Endar Rising after this in your honor." I offer.

"You heard him boys." Rayquel says to the rest of her team. Instantly they straighten back up and seem even more motivated than usual to join in the fun.

"Should you be encouraging them like that?" Jess asks.

I turn to her and smile. "Probably not. But I want them to try their hardest to the end." I admit.

Before anyone can say anything else General Fellina's voice comes over a set of speakers.

"As you may or may not be aware, more and more rifts have been appearing in Endarian space, and throughout the rest of the universe. It is unknown where or how these rifts are appearing, but today we will use them to our benefit. We have sent multiple teams out to the different forming pockets and will divert all of the enemies we find here. This will be a long grueling test of skill, fortitude, and tenacity. The certs will automatically be tallied upon generated certs. There is no reason to hold back. You can level during the match if you want. Just remember that 25% of all earnings are to be handed over to us for maintenance and to pay our staff." General Fellina said.

"25%? That is a good number. Even at the regular MAC fights, they take something like half, or nearly all?" I muse out loud.

"That is because 25% of today's haul from both teams is still expected to be well over a few hundred thousand certs." Rayquel admits.

Wow, doing some quick math, I realize that means we are expecting to take in a net of over 400K certs. With each mob generating anywhere between one and ten for the base models. Then going up to a few thousand for the advanced magic and psychic wielding types, that is still a lot of killing.

With that thought alone, a feral grin fills my face as I am excited to see how far we can go. This is no longer just a war of speed, but attrition as well.

With that, I make sure to cast Physical Attribute Boost on both Jess and me. Then I force my mind to relax a bit, as I look to Jess. Jess for her part is kitted out with top-of-the-line shock trooper gear. Complete with a laser rifle, multiple solar recharging packs, and dense dragon skin armor. She is far more prepared for battle than me, as I am still just in a full body suit that can resist fires and a few light puncture wounds.

Fortunately, I have learned to use my wings to act as a minor shield for my back and sides. This means I only have to worry about attacks from head on causing any real damage.

Still, I've got to be ready, taking a deep breath, I center myself. Then for whatever reason the vision of sexy guardian Jess flashes in my mind again. I imagine her fighting off pockets of these very same Prolaxians with me.

Badump.

I turn to look at Jess, and smile at her. I think I know what the vision means, this is her first step, towards becoming that sexy guardian.

"What?" Jess asks.

"Nothing." I say, shaking my head. Then I add, "I was just thinking about how beautiful you look when you are ready to follow me into battle."

Her face begins to blush, and I turn away, not wanting to embarrass her further.

This is good, as the portal comes to life, and I can already feel the dimensions of space folding in on themselves from the other end of the portal. I can feel the minds of the Prolaxians that are being forced out of their bulging sacs of dimensional pockets in space and feel them getting pulled into here.

Then at the same time, I imagine Guardian Jess fighting with reckless abandon. She is a warrior who has decided to make her last stand. A warrior who will give everything she has to die a noble death. A death that means nothing, as her universe is slowly dying to the Prolaxian menace.

Badump.

Suddenly, and for some odd reason that I can't explain, I don't think this is a vision of the future.

A NOTE FROM LYKANTHROPY

As always, thank you for reading.

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The 13th Loop [A Progression, GameLit, Sci-Fi Adventure]

Lykanthropy

Bonus Chapter 2 A Warrior's Death Jessica Childers (15th Universe, currently unmapped)

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Bonus Chapter 2

A Warrior's Death

Jessica Childers (15th Universe, currently unmapped)

Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.

High caliber beams of laser energy fire out, only to get magnified with intensity and power, thanks to Jess' Phantasmal powers over Illusions. The bright rays of the enhanced laser beams illuminating the predawn sky, causing her vision to slightly blur as it tried to get readjusted to the fluctuating levels of light. With those three enhanced bursts, she took out the impending wave of Prolaxian monsters that sought to come in from the left flank.

BOOM!

Bursts of energy first slam into, and then tear through row after row of monsters, until finding a building and tearing holes out of the long-abandoned office building. The world was dead. The universe was dead. The fucking president was dead, no he was never truly alive. He was and always had been a monster apparently. They were set up to die, to be crushed.

Two years.

Two years of constant fighting of constantly being pushed back. The Endarians and their world tree were the last bastion of protection. But even here on Endar, where the tree's power is at its peak, it wasn't enough. Nothing was ever enough to win.

There were the victories, battles where the monsters were killed to the last. But that only served to delay the inevitable.

"So, fucking long. I waited so damn long to be useful." Jess said out loud to herself. As she turned and fired more and more shots at the monsters coming in from her right flank.

Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.

As she fires the three Phantasmally enhanced bursts, she begins flapping her wings to take an aerial view of the invading force. When she rose into the air, what she saw made her heart stop for a moment. In that one moment, all heat left her body, leaving her with nothing but ice-cold sludge in her veins. Still, she didn't let this stop her.

She was a guardian now. The sacred tree of the Endarians had seen her and accepted her into their ranks. Sure, she had gotten scoffed at by the pure blooded Endarians, but those that scoffed at her are all dead now. Everyone was dead. Everyone, but the tree, her one final companion in all this.

Seeing the newly advancing army, it was clear that the forces in Thessia also fell. That or the monsters somehow managed to produce a second legion overnight, knowing the enemies either was possible.

"Die!" Jess cries out, as venom and pain fill her words. She has nothing left to give, but the anger she has been harboring for the past few years, ever since he died.

"You are doing it again." A calming motherly voice interjects. This is the voice of the world tree. Normally she would be out in the galaxy fighting for the tree's behalf. At least that was what all the other guardians had done. That was how they got Rayquel, or the Iron Butterfly. She was out and got ambushed. That was the day they made their move.

"Doing what, exactly?"

"Talking angrily to yourself." The tree answered.

Hearing that Jess just shook her head, as she turned and fired more and more enhanced burst shots at the incoming enemies. At first Jess thought her Mage class of Phantasmal Lord was a joke, a complete waste. It wasn't until the war broke out with the universe enders, that she learned the true value of her powers. Only now did she see how her class that focused on manipulating light waves was perfect for empowering laser beams being fired from her weapons.

While Jess couldn't create the light, at least not create light and then immediately manipulate that same light. Light was too quick, too elusive to both create and then manipulate. She could only do one or the other. If only there were two of me, Jess often thought to herself.

"Yeah, well, it is not like anyone is around to hear." Jess said, her eyes readjusting to find targets. Targets that she quickly fired three quick bursts, enhancing each as they left her barrel. Then she turned her head to find yet more targets. There were always more targets.

Silence.

The tree is increasingly worried about Jess' mental health. This reminder of her talking angrily to herself is likely why she is left to defend the western flank by herself. Well, that and anyone around her would just get in her way.

If they were guys, then they would inevitably try to hit on her. If they were females, well those were worse as they tried to befriend her. But they weren't true friends, never true friends. They could never be equals, not with everything she has done. Even those who come in without truly knowing her, all gawk in awe at the end. Then it is worse, as they no longer just want to befriend her, but they idolize her.

They idolize a broken, disgrace of a warrior. One who was manipulated out of the only love she had ever had.

"Time?" Jess asks. As she fires more and more shots. She knows her rounds are running low. She has been fighting all night, and with solar recharging panels, there is but one real way to recharge her rounds. Once each night she can cast a spell that gives her a brief time to recharge, but that isn't enough.

At first it was more than enough, but the monsters always increase in number and potency. She is always finding ways to dig down, to dig deeper, to pull off one last miracle to save the night.

"One minute." The world tree states.

With that, up from her floating vantage point, Jess sees the light of the star rising. It is a beautiful sight. Somehow just seeing the tiny ball peak its way over the horizon is enough to set her soul ablaze.

Click.

Jess fires a shot, only to find that her batteries are drained. There is no extra power to pull from.

All she can do now is wait. There is one minute. One minute that the monsters must unleash vengeance against the lands. Against the world tree and against this planet that dares to continue to eek out a pitiful existence in this world.

Hovering in the air, wings flapping wildly she stays up a butterfly who learned to float as high as possible to greet the sun first.

She didn't know if she was always meant to be a guardian, or whether she just fell into the role. A combination of need of a valid candidate, along with someone who could handle the pressure and responsibility.

This time, the monsters coming see that they have an opening, that the once relentless force that had been firing at them constantly finally stopped.

With their path wide open, the monsters begin to shamble forward, clumsily at first. Each step taken, is performed with caution. They are ready to retreat back at the slightest provocation. If Jess had one last round she would use it right now, that might be enough to give her some time. But there were always more and more monsters and less and less time.

Of in cases like this, more time when all they could do was sit back and wait.

The sun was rising, once it was higher Jess could wipe out the army before her like she always did.

If she was younger, she would have gone down and fought with the monsters in the streets, but she would have to then jump back up in the air a few seconds later and by that point she would be swarmed by the monsters.

No, this was for the best. This was her now daily routine. Fight all night, then wait for the light to come. For the sun to rise high enough over the horizon to send out beams of light. Beams, that could then be refracted down with her powers. Beams of light that could be enhanced to burn through buildings and monsters alike.

Then once the sun got even higher, she could use the light and natural heat of the sun to burn away all traces of the monsters. But for now, she would have to wait.

Each second a moment of eternal agony. Each second, her heartbeat as she wondered where and how this would all end.

Once the first few monsters are up and feel confident, they can move forward without harassment, stronger faster units charge forward from the packs. They surge forward, these running monsters are nothing major and compared to the speed of light they are nothing. But right now, while Jess is left weaponless. As she is left without a chance to defend herself or the tree she has grown to love, all she can do is wait. Wait and watch.

The monsters are about halfway down the street. Still plenty of time for the sun to come up. Time for the sun to come up, and her to smite these monsters.

"AHHH!"

The sacred tree and protector of the world cries out. With fear, Jess turns around to the tree. Only now does she realize that the southern wall has fallen.

Heat.

The immense rays of the morning sun hit her and fill her with warmth. She is struck so suddenly by the different stimuli that she almost misses her moment. Still her training takes over and she is already halfway through doing what she needs to do before she realizes.

Holding up her hands, palm out. She takes in the light, then Refracts the light into its more powerful form.

Instantly bright rays of golden light illuminate the sky, as Jess creates searing lights that burn every Prolaxian that comes in its wake.

Still, it is not enough, nothing is ever enough.

If only she could go back in time, but that never works. Her Psychic abilities deal with time. She supposedly can go back in time. At least the Tree has mentioned it to her in passing.

"Guardian. I release you from your oath." The world tree says, pain evident in the old tree's voice.

"What? NO!" Jess screams.

This is a mercy of the tree, for if the tree dies, the guardian should also die. This is the way of things. For what is the point of being a guardian, if there is nothing to guard, after all?

So much is going on. So many things are breaking down.

"I release you from your oath to me, and instead bind you to another!" The tree says.

"What? What other tree? Your children they are all dead? They all perished?" Jess says, her words stammering as she feels her last shred of resolve fraying away. The tree had been her one beacon of light in this whole dying universe. Her one beacon, and now with it gone, there was nothing?

She had nothing.

She was nothing.

A floating, aimless butterfly on the burning winds of change.

The tree had enough energy to cast a barrier spell. That was the plan, that was always the plan. So why didn't the tree save itself? Why did it choose to die, here and now?

"I will send you back in time. When you can once again make a difference." The great tree said.

"Back in time?" Jess asked, not quite wanting to get her hopes up.

"Yes. You will be sent back in time, or maybe across time is a better word. Our universe is slightly ahead of theirs in terms of plot progression, after all." The tree said.

"What?"

Once again, the tree seemed lost, that or its thoughts and concepts that it held were not enough.

"I can feel my kind. Children of mine calling out now. There is hope in the universes. Hope that a few bastions of peace can be saved." The great tree said.

With that, she felt her connection to the great tree cut away.

Badump.

Her heart beat once, then stopped beating.

In that moment she stopped, all time seemed to stop, as all she felt was pain. Soul jerking pain as part of her soul felt like it was being ripped out and left to bleed wildly.

"Go little one. There is still some fight left in you." The tree said, then with that, the world around Jess began to fold inward. She was in a tunnel of immensely bright light. For a moment Jess wondered if she could manipulate that light, to turn it to her will. But then felt all the power in her body get drained, as she was suddenly far, far away, even without having moved but a single inch.

She appeared in hell. There was no other way to describe the place she was summoned to, the place where her tunnel ended. She was on a mountain of dead Prolaxians. All different kinds littered the ground she was on. So many that when she tried to move, all she did was fall down the giant hill.

Then a strange thought hit her, as she slid down the clearly dead Prolaxians, maybe this isn't hell after all. Maybe this is heaven? Or the only form of heaven I am going to be offered?

This was a fair trade off, she didn't deserve heaven. Not after what she had done to him. That was why she fought so hard, why she always kept rising to meet the same fate over and over. She had betrayed the only man she could ever love. Worse, she was mentally forced to do so, but still she had done it. She had betrayed him, and now he was dead. There was nothing that could change that. Nothing that could…

"Cease fire!" A voice called out.

Badump.

A voice that now even haunted Jess here, at her final resting spot.

Footsteps approached, their combat boots making wet slogging sounds as they charged through the piles of bodies.

"Someone is here?!" A painfully familiar voice called out, to no one in particular.

Hearing that voice, tears formed in Jess' eyes. So this is Hell? Jess thought to herself, as she realized how cruel this life was.

Strong hands grabbed her body and began moving her around.

"She's alive. She's alive!" That voice, that same stupid voice called out.

Opening her tear-filled eyes, Jess looked up to see a face that she could now only see in her memories. On instinct, her hand rose and reached to touch the illusion, as if to break its form. This wasn't always successful, but it worked on most people's illusions, all but her own.

Touch.

Her hand met the soft contours of smooth flesh. He was young, far younger than he had any right to be. Also, his eyes and hair glowed. At least that is what Jess thought she saw, but her eyes were still having a hard time focusing through the tears. She was also tired, so tired. Whatever had just happened, seemed to not only sap away the rest of the tree's energy, but also her own as well. Though this should be expected for she was the tree, and the tree was her.

"You fool. You messed it all up." Jess said, speaking to the tree that had sent her back in time. But even at this point, if this was the time, she thought it was, then they would still be too late. They would need to go back even earlier.

Maybe this is Hell. Getting sent back in time, only to fail again. Is this how they break your spirit?

With that, the world went dark, and Jess let her consciousness fade. Even if this was the end, she would still have to try. For at least he was still here, and that meant there was still hope.

A NOTE FROM LYKANTHROPY

As always, thank you for reading.

SUPPORT "THE 13TH LOOP [A PROGRESSION, GAMELIT, SCI-FI ADVENTURE]"

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Chapter 89 Always Read the Divine Print

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Chapter 89

Always Read the Divine Print

Jess and I were a well-oiled team, in that we were so over oiled that we slid over, past and could never align properly to form what we were supposed to. You know, like well-oiled things tend to get. That isn't how things are supposed to go? The oil is just meant to be applied enough to make the pieces move slightly, until they get proper alignment? OH! Yeah, that didn't happen at all.

Jess would fire erratically, moving in front of me, dodging and weaving from monsters that were already dying due to my Psionic attacks. I even tried to hold back a bit, to allow her time to grow into her role. Apparently, this caused more tension between us, as she thought I was either pandering to her, coddling her, or completely ignoring her.

Yeah, in case you missed it, like I did. She was still mad at me. But she was willing to put all of that behind her for the mission. A mission that was apparently to be as much of a handicap for our team, as possible. She moved, rolled, and spun about randomly. Often just moving her feet for the idea that she needed to be doing something. I wanted to tell her that you only need to move your feet if you are retreating or advancing.

As it was, we were doing neither. If we retreated, then Rayquel's team would swarm in and gain all the kills. If we charged forward, then we would be placing ourselves in direct line of fire from Rayquel's team. Well Rayquel's team and Jess.

This time Jess made sure to take the front line. At first, I was confused on this, until I saw her taking quick glances back at me. I was in my new combat suit, the liner at least that would help protect me from intense heat and cold while piloting. It took me longer than I'd like to realize that she found me attractive in this suit, just as she had earlier in my Heal Boy costume. The Heal Boy costume that I knew blew my cover of my being deceased. In fact, I was almost surprised that no attempts on my life had been made to this point. Though it was only a matter of time.

I know, I'm a perpetual pessimist, I get it. But really, when life goes like this, I can't help but feel that things are about to change. Or increase in tempo, almost like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. That is an odd expression, shoes dropping? Who came up with that one? Oh yeah, things were going fine with just the one shoe, but then it dropped as well. I don't know. There is likely a holo-net documentary on it, depicting the life and times of some man who cared about relating shoes to prophecies or something.

Anyways, as for me, I was still bored. I was killing more than Rayquel's team, despite my handicap. Not that I would ever call Jess a handicap, especially not while she was already mad at me. But I did have to wonder what she was still mad at? I had tried to back her up, which was why we were in this predicament as teammates. We had a few breaks in between some of the major swarms.

It was clear from the flow that the General could kill the exercise whenever she wanted to, she just wanted to push us as far as possible. This was good for me, as I wanted to give all of my certs to Jess so she could continue to unlock Magical abilities.

Still, I could not for the life of me figure out why she was insisting on being angry with me. Then she would turn and stare at me with her lust filled eyes, only to turn away disgusted with herself. Well not really disgusted with herself but disgusted that she got caught staring. It was her fault for constantly placing herself as the lead, anyways. This meant that any time she looked back at me, it would be really obvious.

During one of the breaks, I almost broke down and asked, why she was angry. But I just knew that would cause yet more anger on her part. She was clearly fuming about something, but for the life of me I couldn't understand.

"Last round. Let's make this one count. We are going to pull the summoning circles up to max. I hope you all can keep up." General Fellina shouted from the safety of her broadcast booth.

That is when the most Prolaxians I had ever seen came to life. I changed tactics, going for Air-X and mixing that with Pyrokinesis-X to create a burning inferno of flames. Flames that were then fanned by air currents and given the ability to take on any form I wished.

Again, normally the world should fight against such blatant use, but I could swear I felt the consciousness of the world turn a fraction of its consciousness to me. A consciousness that almost made me shudder for a second. But then, just as quickly as I felt the extra attention, the increased force just disappeared as if it never existed at all.

That was when, I felt my connection to the very planet increase.

Planetary Synergy: 13%

At that, I felt my air currents take on just a little more control, as I was able to create a boundary that killed everything.

Everything was going fine, until a sudden flash in my mind sparked. As soon as I felt the flash of recognition fire off in my mind, my son, or daughter? Yeah, daughter tree spoke to me.

"Father, stop! You must save her." My rebel tree prime spoke.

Fortunately, I was already stopping my flames. Just as quickly as the currents began, they vanished and dispersed, back to the control of the planet. That was when I realized some members of Rayquel's team either didn't hear the tree, see the glimmer of light, or were too caught up in their own battle frenzy to care.

Regardless of the reason, I took charge. "Cease fire!" I shout.

Badump.

There on the pile, it couldn't have been? But it was? Wasn't it?

I am moving forward, despite my giving the cease fire order. Unfortunately, monsters are still being summoned. That, or they can't stop the summoning portals that quickly.

Looking forward, I thought I saw a glint of light on metallic energy infused wings.

I am laying down wave after wave of Mind Rend-X, wave after wave of power is being fired out towards the oncoming monsters. But still I am charging forward, trusting that Rayquel has enough control over her team to not let them shoot me in the back. Even if they did, my wings should deflect most of their shots, it would just be annoying.

Plop, clop.

The Prolaxian monsters that we had killed to this point made little more than slogging slushing sounds as I charged forward through the piles of bodies. There at the top, I see the bright green and blue wing of a Guardian. Their butterfly wings are unmistakable in this light.

"Someone is here?!" I shout out.

Seeing the downed Guardian's form, I immediately cast Healing-X on her. The form is female, that much is for certain, though her face remains somewhat of a mystery.

I reach down to grab her, and instantly hoist her frame that is lighter than it should have any right to be up out of the mound of Prolaxian corpses.

As I pick her up, I feel her breathing within my arms.

"She's alive. She's alive!" I call out.

That is when she opened her blue eyes, and my body froze in place.

The abrupt stop in movement so much that I nearly slide and end up gliding down the pile of corpses before I manage to regain my footing.

There looking into her eyes, I see it is Jess. Well not my Jess, but a Jess. The wings and wickedly smoking hot body, all but prove that she is the future Jess from my dreams. The ones that I had somehow managed to push to the back of my subconscious while I tried to work things out with my Jess.

Then in a somewhat daze, she reaches up to caress my face.

"You fool. You messed it all up." Sexy-hot Guardian Jess said, as her eyes rolled back in the back of her head and her hand fell limply to her side. Seeing her state, I continue to run forward, through the pile of corpses.

Once I get back, I realize there are blessedly no more Prolaxians coming. This is good, as I was more than a little distracted.

"What in the Abyss is that?" General Fellina yelled as she came running onto the training field. The fact that she was able to enter the field at all meant that the protective barriers had been taken down, and the summoning portals had been stopped, at least for the moment.

"I don't know. She just sort of appeared." I say, while leaving out the fact that I might or might not have had a nap about this very woman. See, learning already. I make a quick glance at my Jess, only to see that she is glowering at me.

To distract myself, I move her well out of the combat area and place her down on a long bench that had been set up for observers to watch the proceedings.

"Well shit. You know what this means?" The General asked.

"We need to take care of her?" I ask, not quite certain.

"No, well yes, we clearly need to take care of her, she is a Guardian after all. But no, what I mean is we now have to fill out paperwork."

"Ohh!"

Groans and sighs escaped the other Endarians. I wasn't quite certain why everyone was complaining, until Rayquel saw my confusion and answered.

"Our Incident Responses are linked to protective rituals that are meant to bind away future Prolaxian incursions from forming, at least around the sacred trees."

Hmm?" I managed, oh so eloquently.

"Yes, it is a long warding ritual that drains you of energy and makes it so you can barely walk around the next day while you wait for your magical resonance to refill." Another of Rayquel's elite team members spoke.

"Ah." I said, in understanding. The perfect wind down to a long training session, intense paperwork, followed by a warding ritual that drained you of all your magical resonance. What more could any aspiring soldier with beer money and free time want to ruin a perfectly good night.

***

"This form is a joke, right?" I ask when speaking about the incident response report, for Butterfly Jess randomly dropping in on our training session. I have no problem filling out the form, I don't even see a problem with me first signing it with my signature, then filling out my full name. I do have a bit of an issue with the binding of the incident report with a bit of my blood magical essences. My hackles were further raised when I noticed the fine print of the document stating.

Once thirteen of these forms are filled out by senior leadership, a warding ritual will be conducted to prevent such tasks from occurring again.

That had led me to first notice the seemingly dormant rune etchings on the binding document. These etchings would of course become active once a person's personal essence was applied.

The only problem? Well, the runes that were there had certain limiters removed. This might not seem like much, but when a warding schema is being enacted, you want a limiter to be established. Logically one could make a limiter one fifth of the magical essence they had on hand. That, or they could require a bit of blood to help draw the warding into the material world.

Honestly it was such an old practice that I didn't even realize it was being observed. But what shocked me the most was that this was not a warding spell, at least not anymore. No, the runes had been subtly flipped and then reattached to the background of the document. This took it from being an externally facing anchor point to an internally facing one. Meaning, a spell that was meant to banish evil, would now draw that evil even closer. Worse, without limiters, the summoning would continue onward, until all of those who signed their names and willingly applied their essences were drained completely.

With all that, one can hopefully see why I would ask if this was a joke or not. For if this was a joke, I would expect them to stop me and the other officials around us from signing.

But everyone just looked at me like I was crazy.

"What? This is the standard form that we have been using for years?" Rayquel says, gesturing to her filled out form. She is about to apply her essence to the contract when I yell out.

"Stop!"

"What?" She asks, as if she has better things to do than not die when this summoning spell goes incredibly wrong. Then she proceeds to apply her own essence to the form regardless.

With a stare I realize that she is not the only one who has done so. Everyone has signed them, even Jess, well my Jess. Since these incident reports were about the butterfly Jess, she didn't get to fill out a form.

Still, that meant that if I refused to sign this, then someone else likely would. Also, it looked like my form was the final form. The final one needed to create this mass summoning ritual.

Now the problem with mass summoning rituals, something you don't realize until Cthulhu is being summoned right on your neighbor's house, is that they are tough to take over. While using my Willpower, Precision, and Power are more than enough to take out most magic attempts. To take over a summoning circle would take far more Power, Control, and Willpower than everyone who was assisting with the summoning. This meant that my normal method of taking over this summoning ritual when it went live was nearly impossible.

This meant, I only had but one real option. With a few quick taps on the screen, I filled out my form, adjusted a few runes. Then I am focusing on summoning forth a lot of mana in my left hand, after which I pulled out a Leatherman and made a slight cut into my thumb. Then taking a deep breath, I calmed my mind as I let my drop fall towards the electronic form.

Time seemed to slow down, as the drop of mana infused blood plummeted towards the tablet. All I could do was think to myself, this might not be the most incredibly stupid decision I made. Though the bar is awfully low to go over.

Then with that the drop hit the tablet. There was a flash and pulse of energy, as I felt the thirteen different forms all begin to come together in an ethereal linking chain. At this point I quickly adjusted my thoughts and realized I might have been wrong about this not being the most incredibly stupid decision I ever made. WAY, WAY WRONG!

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Chapter 90 Altruism

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Chapter 90

Altruism

Sometimes we come up with plans to save a loved one from a problem they put themselves in. Normally this is something simple like knocking on the door and then awkwardly handing roll of toilet paper through without looking. You know, not the hero you wanted, but the hero you needed at the time.

Then there are times when your friends and family get so deep in shit, that you wonder if this water treatment plant melted down and started flooded the streets with turds. Oddly enough, either of these scenarios would be better than the option before us, currently.

The moment my blood and essence contacted my signed form, as expected, the warding came to life. The only thing was, this was not warding, rather than having the runes designed so they would repel dark monsters and entities. This one instead summoned dark monsters and entities. At least, that was what this was supposed to do. I managed to modify my form and allow limiters to immediately be put into place for my portion of the once warding, now summoning spell that was going live.

Why did I do this? Why go into something that is clearly a trap?

Simple, I wanted to see what we were ultimately up against. From my perspective we were playing with house money, which meant I couldn't lose and still not lose. Maybe this made my decision making a bit reckless, but if you had a chance to go back in time to fix everything, wouldn't you want to know how badly things can break, before you go back?

Also, I would be lying if part of my decision making process wasn't at least affected by the presence of Jess.

I know, I know. If Jess was on a bridge and jumped, would I jump after her? I'd have to say I probably would. That is assuming I couldn't just grab her with Telekinetic hands or create a cushion of air for her to land on. At the very least I think I could arrive in time to administer healing aid just in time.

Would I do the same for the new sexy warrior Guardian Jess? Likely no. My reasoning? I would give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she could stop her decent with her wings.

That said, sexy Guardian Jess is not the one jumping off the bridge in this metaphor. Of course, in this metaphor, the bridge is a giant summoning circle, and the jumpers are Jess, General Fellina, Rayquel, Rayquel's team, and a few other doctors and the like that came over to tend to Guardian Jess' wounds.

Of course, the wounds were all fixed by my earlier healing attempts. Then when I was merely checking to see that the healing was successful, I was yelled at my Jess for gawking.

Okay, maybe I was, just a little. But sexy guardian Jess never missed ab day, and it showed. How did I know this? Well, half her shirt was missing, right where a slicing wound was on her stomach. This was of course one of the wounds I healed, and thus I wanted to make sure it healed properly, you know like those healer people would.

But of course, Jess got super jealous and then chose that to be something to be angry about. Not that she said anything. Well, she did say one word.

"Typical." Then she harrumphed away, as she began angrily filling out her summoning portal form.

See, totally a victim. I was doing the right thing by making sure all wounds on sexy Jess' stomach were fixed. Then by the time I was done, Jess had already filled out her form and made it a point to move far away from me.

Again, this goes back to that whole using silence as a weapon thing. After that, I wanted to just sign my form, so I could go talk to Jess and work things out. The only problem? You guessed it, that is when I noticed the forms were altered and meant to summon not ward a greater evil spirit. I like to think that this has to do with my Rune Crafting skill that is quite high.

SkillSpecialtyRune Crafting: 99+%Reading/Writing: 99+%

But seriously, no one else noticed the changes? That seems highly unlikely, that or there is a short distance from the person who altered these forms and handed them to us. Meaning, there was likely another Prolaxian Herald nearby. At least that was the good news from this whole situation. Yes, the good news is we found signs, that there might be another deeply embedded enemy in our midst. Huzzah!

The bad news of course, is that while this summoning circle is going live, I only have a few seconds to work on locking down this summoning circle. Remember what I said earlier, about it being almost impossible to take over a summoning circle from the outside. Well the odds of taking over a summoning circle from the inside are also low, unless everyone in the summoning circle wants the same exact thing you do.

"What? What is going on?" General Fellina asks as a giant black portal begins to appear before us. The portal begins at about the size of a black basketball chest height. Then Slowly begins to spiral and expand as more and more energy from the different people linked to the summoning get pulled out. The energy begins to spiral out from everyone, then forces the portal to grow and expand larger and larger.

I of course am not idle in this time. My first point of contention is to go about to the twelve different focal points for sources of energy and immediately put in limiters that completely stop the flow of mana and energies from the summoner.

Again, this is easy as no one is even aware of what I am doing, nor that I am doing anything. Instead, everyone else seems to have their eyes glued forward on the spiraling vortex of death that where a giant maw of an unfathomably large monster seems to exist.

Yeah, I need to remind people to read the fine print of the documents they are signing. Though that is the least of my concerns at this point.

With a summoning circle, unlike a regular spell, you have literally one spell to control per originator. I am trying to expand my focus to cover the twelve other casters, but I can't. The whole thing seems to be too much. So, I break it down.

"Anyone else a Mage Breaker?" I shout.

"What? You trying to start a club?" Rayquel asks.

"Yeah, the club of I don't want to die here. Now does anyone else wish to join?" I ask.

"I have the Spirit Affinity, one of the healers admits." With that, my heart beats a little lighter. We can do this, or so I thought before he continued. "Though my affinity is only at 13%."

And yeah, more goods news bad news.

"So, I take it you haven't practiced?" I ask, as I am now finished with locking down the flow of mana to the monster, now I need to try to warp the way the monster can get here, hopefully flip enough of these summoning runes around to make them warding runes instead.

"What? No. I am a healer." He says, then points at his emblem on his chest denoting himself as an Endarian healer.

Yeah, of course, why would anyone not want to just be a healer.

"Well, we are about to die, once this monster comes through this summoning portal that we just created." I say, as I am frantically switching around the summoning runes to make them all warding runes now.

As soon as I am done, I look at the portal and see that the extra-large monster is pushing and clawing its way through the portal. It is manipulating its body, face, and vital organs to squeeze through.

Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.

Blasts and attacks are being fired right at the monster. Of course, this is after a long endurance match, meaning we were already at, or nearing our physical limits. That is why even though the monster is the size of a mid-sized hanger, people are still missing.

That or the monster is just that disturbing.

Of course, the monster being a galaxy, or most likely a universe ending monster, I cannot begin to grasp its mind with my Mind Rend-X. I don't know what flames would do to the summoning portal. Would that cause ambient energy from my flames to fuse with the monster? Create an unstable rift that started a black hole, right here on the planet? I didn't know. Nor did I want to find out.

That meant that while I was using Spirit-X to constantly modify the summoning circle around us, I could only realistically use Telekinesis-X to push and try to stop the advancement of the monster that sent shivers down my spine. Shivers that made me focus twice as hard on the goal at hand.

While the summoning circle is effectively now a true warding circle, that will have no effect on this creature before us. As far as the wards are concerned, the entire summoning was just meant to get this one to join us.

Again, this goes back to the fact that the spell, not knowing any better was a success. The monster it had been designed to summon, appeared. Now that it was changed to prevent other monsters from coming, didn't matter, the spell was inanimate and thus didn't care at all.

We had a few things going for us. First, I managed to stop the flow of energy to the portal when it was only around four feet wide. There was no more energy going to the hole, meaning that the hole would only shrink from here. Especially with the rest of the energy being used to ward enemies like this monster away.

The only problem, we needed to stop this monster from squeezing its way through. It was almost like the monster was made of slinking tendrils of slime that could grow and decrease with practice.

You know at a time like this, I wonder, where is an Orbital Bombardment when you need one?

I use Air-X in conjunction with Telekinesis-X to continue to push the monster back. The others are also doing things as well. Rayquel is using some type of lightning attack that works with her blaster.

Jess, my Jess, is firing at the beast non-stop. Every once in a while, I can see her trying to summon forth a flame, but she is clearly exhausted. She had pushed herself a lot during our practice. Then had a lot of her magical energy drained for this summoning, before I could get to her. Then now she was giving it her all to continue onward. I was so proud of her at that moment, that I almost lost control over my powers.

Fortunately, the world shifted its consciousness to me, at that exact moment. This was basically the world saying, don't fuck this up kid. The only problem, we couldn't do anything. Then an idea hit me, as I realized I could siphon the energy of the spell backwards.

I had never done this before, but if energy could flow out of a person, surely it could flow back in? Right? The only problem with this idea is that by now the different energies had already been merged into on form.

"Watch out. I am about to try something stupid." I say, as I mentally prepare for how I can create a rune that sends cleansed mana back into someone. This is an entirely new rune, at least a new rune to me, so I need to focus. Especially if I want to do this quickly.

SLAM!

The monsters long alien appendage slams into the floor causing me to break my concentration on the rune. Of course, once I try to focus on the rune my Air-X stopped. This of course gave the monster the chance it needed to surge forth.

"What? Huh?" A confused, but familiar sounding voice speaks up from behind me. I turn my head slightly to see my Jess still there firing her ineffective shots at the beast.

POOF. POOF. POOF.

Laser beams the size of bread loves hurl forward.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Each shot having a clear impact on the creature. Each shot causing the giant monster to shift back slightly. Of course, it isn't enough, but it shows the monster can be pushed back. At least with the right application of force.

I turn to the source of the bursts and see sexy Guardian Jess standing. She has a blaster in hand and is charging up more mana to be used in her next burst attack. For a second I wonder what magic she is using to do this, but then realize she is using light manipulation. A seemingly basic spell, but one that is being used in an extraordinary way by her.

Seeing that masterful use of what most would consider a waste or junk spell made me feel things.

"Focus on the monster idiot!" And that would be my girlfriend, bringing me back to reality. Yes, less gawking, more doing.

Just as I turn forward, I feel a tremendous burst of energy from behind me. I don't even have time to turn and see what the new girl is doing from right behind me. As one second, I feel her energy building up. Then the next she is rocketing forward with a glowing sword in her hand. I wonder if she is one of those mystic order of knights, but then realize this is just a spell construct of light.

Man, she created a glowing saber? Seeing this, I almost did something stupid. Fortunately, she did far more acts of stupid than I could even dream of.

Zzz-lash!

The glowing saber of light cuts through the tentacles that have managed to squirm their way in, this far.

She is a flurry of flapping angry butterfly wings, glowing lights, and rippling muscles. To put it mildly, she was impressive. Death and fury incarnate.

Within seconds she manages to slice off the last of the giant tentacles that were woven together to form the beast's extra-long arm. Then she continues to slice until she gets closer and closer to the portal.

Once the last tentacle is sliced off. She stops and begins panting exhaustedly. With the immediate enemy dead, or at least stopped from getting through the portal, the portal begins to close once more.

There is a slight calm, as she drops her blade. The energy required to make a glowing blade of light that can cut through any material is taxing on her. She turns to me, then her eyes grow wide as she realizes who I am.

Did she see me?

"You? You are still alive?" She asked.

Those were of course her last words, before a giant Cthulhu tentacle shot forward from the portal and impaled her in her back, right through her spine and in between her wings that should have been able to prevent such a strike.

In shocked horror, she looks down, only to see the tentacle quickly curl around her chiseled abs, then wrench her back through the dark portal.

"What the?" Was all we could say at that moment.

Only after it happened did the whole chain of events fully make sense to my mind. The monster, an unimaginable horror that we only managed to strike the arm off, well Guardian Jess managed to, the rest of us were useless against the thing. That monster then in retaliation, made one last cheap shot attack against Jess.

Without the form of alien energy forcing the portal open, the portal to an unknown dimension of space began to shrink rapidly. She was gone. At least for most she was gone.

Before I even had time to think, I was moving.

Poof.

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Chapter 91 UFF

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Chapter 91

UFF

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Firm hands reached out to grab me.

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

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

This was stupid. This was so stupid.

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

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

Well, she kissed me.

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

Protective Shell

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poof.

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

The whole thing took a matter of seconds.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Healing-X.

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

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

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

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

"What?" I ask.

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

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

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

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

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

"What happened?" She asks.

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

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

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

"What is that?" I ask.

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

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

Gasps.

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Did you know about the Unlock?" I asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I nod.

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

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

Phew.

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

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

Click.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Do you want to go somewhere to talk?" Rayquel asks.

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

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

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

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

"So, I won the competition?" I ask.

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

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

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

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

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

"The General?" I ask.

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

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

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

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

Everyone goes quiet as they see her approach.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A NOTE FROM LYKANTHROPY

As always, thank you for reading.

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Lykanthropy

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11/3/2022, 9:46 PM

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