While Rahab had been extinguished, Naraku's fingers slammed against Kristina's throat, leading for her to hold her neck choking on her saliva, the Superior Emperor clasping his demonic fingers against her freckled face- he smashed the back of her skull against a nearby wall. Spitting out blood, he kicked at her chest so she could powerlessly fall right through, tumbling with the rocks scattered into the air, she stupidly attempted to stand up yet again. Letting out her hand so she could at least try to let out an offensive blow, her hand was cleaved right off at the wrist- leading for her to scream terribly. Vocal cords on the edge of breaking as she cried to the Heavens, he kneed her on the chin, then grabbing her by the collar of her shirt telepathically so her chest could only rise, the rest of her body not following, Naraku snatched a fistful of her hair.
"You were nice being here while you lasted. Goodbye," Cruelly told the Superior Emperor to Ben's son; but before he could rip out her heart, he was blasted by a stray beam of Omni. Tumbling away then punched by a spirit disconnecting from the main vessel, Naraku's back met a wall, now spotting Uraku as he tended to Kristie, the Heavenly Emperor raised his hand as he menacingly walked toward his counterpart's father.
However, there was a mere picosecond in time where Uraku had met Naraku's gaze and the outsourcing brain signal was activated. Pulsar To A Thousand Worlds had been called upon, but just before it could reach his mind, Ben was swapped in, and the Guardian warped forward so he could catch his mentally fractured son. Bags under his eyes, sweat dripping down his face, Rivera shook his head, pushing his Father away just so he could puke against the roof. He'd killed not only Hazel but Bella, he'd caused all this,
"I... I'm the One. I was chosen for this shit! The only reason Mom died is that I was special. After all, I was born to you! BECAUSE I WAS CURSED TO HAVE THAT MONSTER INSIDE ME!!! I don't even want to be here anymore! I'm so tired of everything falling apart because of me, I just wish I were dead... I wish this could be over. That I could just sleep forever and be with everyone, happily..." Ben's solemn confession riddled with sobs and sniffles had sent Uraku to stare at him empathetically. Because this unfortunate child was born to him, this all happened.
If he never went to Earth at all, none of this would have happened, maybe they'd go through easier lives; they'd get to be happy and Uraku would finally be able to relax after an eternity of fighting. As the sky darkened further, no one was left on the battlefield, only their clothes. Standing upright, the only presences here now were the dwindling consciousness of himself and his son. His grandson's lover had not only disappeared physically but her soul, too, had been absorbed into the Black Moon's attractive force. Looking down to his hands, what he'd feared had come to pass, as all things come to an eventual end, the Emperor stood up quickly,
"Dad..?" Asked Ben tearfully, one hand reaching out, phasing through his disintegrating body, the Celestial chuckled sadly,
"Unfortunately, this was always supposed to happen. My very existence is connected to the Allfather, and if He so wills it, I shall be terminated. Ever since you, Jason, Madi... ever since you three were born, I've been watching you-" Now facing Ben, Uraku utilized the remaining strength embedded into his legs to inch closer, just about to meet his youngest child... he stared with tears in his eyes. ~This can't be happening...~ "Children. Teenagers. Adults. There were rough patches along the way, and I could never always be here, but I did my best to keep up with your life. There was nothing more I could do, I told myself. But I see now I was wrong. I thought you'd be fine on your own, without a mother, without a parental figure, but you were just a child. Forced to grow up as a byproduct of her murder, I'm sorry I couldn't be there to step in. I'm sorry I never got to be there for your 16th birthday party. When you lost your virginity. When you bought your first car. When you had your first child... sometimes it may seem like I don't care about anything, but that's not the truth. No matter what happens or what outcome you choose-"
Finally, Uraku used the embers of his corporeal form to fatherly touch the back of Ben's long hair, the same as his, the purple and azure flares from their eyes reflected in the wind. Weakly pulling his child close, their foreheads touched, a smile painting his pink lips,
"I will always love you, my son," For all the time he'd missed over the decades he was alive, a father's final words to his son were that of reassurance.
Soon thereafter, though Ben tried to stabilize him with his power; there was nothing he could do, because the second his hand had attempted to touch against his fading form, Uraku had been sent back to the past to ensure the events of the future. His skeletal fingers smashed onto the roof of the past, reforming with flesh and skin peeling over the fragile bones, Uraku revealing his head out from the purple aura of life bestowed upon him, from inside his reconstructed throat, he growled at the pain from his body being restored piece by piece. Finally, the voice of God rang out to him, and his mission became clear, now standing proud as he overlooked Brooklyn, an invisible wave of Omni came crashing right down onto the city.
At the same time, Ben had been launched against a locker, same with the rest of his friends and siblings, Uraku closing his eyes, he inhaled carefully followed by shivering to exhale. Without saying anything else, Uraku went on to carry out his mission without fail, and warped inside so he could be concealed by the shadows… there she was, sitting on the bed close to the window seal. This was their final meeting, his resting place, unknown to them, would be here, and though they would never know, it didn't matter. Uraku had lived a long life, for eons, and it didn't matter, as long as he knew his children would be okay, he stared ahead with a smile on his face and stars in his eyes.
The future was secure, so he could finally and wholeheartedly rest with the woman he loved in the eternal Limbo of True Happiness…
In the final moments of the Earth, Ben was the last one left standing, but he could do nothing, instead, he just sat right at the edge, legs dangling over it as he admired the sight of the Black Moon further in the distance. The sky's signature morning brightness had begun to fade away as the darkness enveloped the Earth. As he always was fated to be, The Emperor was alone at the climax of the Advent, his eyes locking onto the cuffs of his attire, he watched as the blue and black coloration turned away to become black. He felt it tear out his chest, just as the rest of the population had been sucked into the Black Moon, he soon followed, bones melting to only charred pieces of their former selves, Ben's soul lived on within Catastrophic Calamity's only ability.
Where he awakened, he was surrounded by the stars in the neverending void above the Earth, eyes darting from side to side, he walked around snapping his head swiftly as he searched. This location seemed familiar, yet he'd never been here before, for some odd reason,
"What the fuck is this...?" Asked Ben with a scared vibration in his vocals,
"It's a Junction Collision Space. It's where the Incarnations formerly dwelled before gaining the privilege of a physical vessel. Unfortunately, however, three of that team have been exterminated. Moriah, Rahab, Lucifer. I must say, it was rather impressive. Now only Satan, you and I live, Blessed Emperor of Longing... it's so great to finally welcome you to our ranks. Now, please, Mr. Rivera, aid me in gifting the Multiverse its True Absolute Happiness," Interjected the Allfather with His booming masculine voice echoing across the blackened chambers of this dark void, the Emperor stabilized his breathing walking forward to the source,
"You don't have to calm your heartbeat, you don't have one. You're just a soul maintaining whatever's closest to your vessel, in reality, you're nothing more than a weak soul wandering through the wasteland of our victims," Almighty advised His new kin calmly, to which Ben's eyes gazed upon the spirits hovering around his face, in the form of tiny red spheres, he shook his head then looking straight ahead. There was nothing he could do, his powers didn't work as a soul right now, so he just kept moving.
There was a light at the end of the corridor, something that sent his eyes a pained sting into his pupils, he bit down on his bottom lip, gritting his teeth together, he winced and shielded his eyes with an arm. It seemed like Heaven, from the choir's holy vocals reaching into his ears, the calming chill, a byproduct from the dimension's manipulated temperature; Ben stepped forward into the light so he could be sucked in. A foot, blackened in shade opposite to the illumination cast by the bright hallway, was placed onto the pathway lit before him. Just then, all theories in religion had been canceled out, for the truth was right in front of his face, the Absolute in all His glory had now stood there before the man, arms behind His back,
"Nice to see you again, Ben Rivera. I believe the last time we met was when Renken was destroyed, right? Maybe I'm forgetting something, I do have to keep track of everything in the-" Almighty admitted carefully to the Emperor,
"Shut up already. Like I give a shit about any of that! I'm here to kill you, no matter what I have to do, or what way I do it, I'LL TEAR YOU TO FUCKING SHREDS!!!!!!" Screamed Ben angrily in a fit of rage, clenching his fists, knuckles cracking, he jumped from the ground branding his fingers lit ablaze with Dark Determination around his hand,
"Fortunately for you-" Almighty's simple glare, just a single look to His golden pupils enveloped by the royalties of the Kingdom which He'd ruled had rendered him.... to fall to his knees, "You are vital to the future of mankind," Continued the Allfather, blood dripping out his nostrils, Ben gasped touching his fingers against the stream leaking out the holes on his nose, God touched His pale hand to His kinsman's shoulder.
"Do you wish to discuss this further, my child? I'm sure you wonder why Father Time has sprung out these specific events unto you and your poor life. I'll be glad to explain, Mr. Rivera, but I heavily doubt it will change the hatred within your heart for me--" Almighty suggested, now stepping back so His body of Omni composed of pure illumination shining against his azure eyes, or rather, the copy of what they were before this occurrence,
"Like... LIKE I HAVE ANYTHING TO DISCUSS WITH YOU!!! DAMNED PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A BENEVOLENT GOD, I'LL BRING YOU TO YOUR KNEES; MAKE YOU BEG FOR MERCY AS I TEAR YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB!" Cried Ben, interjecting his grandfather with tears in his eyes, Almighty staring apathetically ahead into the man's orbs, reflecting Him... the Absolute standing right before the Requiem Emperor of Time,
"MY MOM! MY DAD! MY SONS, MY DAUGHTERS!! MY BROTHER AND SISTER!! YOU TOOK AWAY EVERYTHING I LOVED AND GAVE ME A LIFE OF DESPAIR!! YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING HORRIBLE THAT'S HAPPENED IN MY LIFE!!! WHAT GIVES YOU A RIGHT TO INSOLENTLY RULE OVER THE WORLD, CLAIM YOUR NAME AS THE GOD OF THIS WORLD; WHEN ALL YOU'VE EVER DONE TO ME IS TREAT ME HORRIBLY?!!!" Yelled the Emperor, voice cracking as he loudly cried in the middle of his scream, Almighty turned away to gaze at the stars above the Planet slowly returning... to nothingness,
"My goal is to bring about peace to the human race and ensure the Happiness of man. You tell me about these people in your life. Jessica Rivera. Augustus Rivera, Alexander Amara. Emma Rivera, Genesis Rivera. Jason Rivera, Madisyn Rivera. Uraku, the First Child. I understand I've hurt lives, unfortunately, this is for the betterment of all people, I must wipe humanity's slate clean for good this time, just as I did back then, before the demons emerged," Almighty solemnly said to Himself as He remembered... a simpler time,
"What... what do you mean 'before the demons emerged'?" Questioned Ben curiously to his distant relative, then, as the Author turned to face His kin,
"It is said in the scriptures written to praise the Lord that there was a sea that washed over the planet in 2458 BC on The First Earth. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. Humanity had risen to such a degree that their evil had contaminated the beautiful lands I constructed at the beginning of Time. War, thievery, torture, tyranny, it all reigned over the ancient land. There was no other way, so I advised one of my followers, Noah, to build an Ark so he could ensure the future of mankind. Unfortunately, the Subjects of Noah, despite their ancestors being the kindest children to ever grace the Multiverse, were fated to the same eventuality those wiped out from The Flood experienced. More wars raged in the modern ages, racism was normalized, homophobia rained rampant like a plague, assaults, police brutality; all of it a disgusting excuse for the race I so proudly called my beloved children. Governments use excuses for destroying countries, enforcing their tyrannical rule upon their subjects, thus breeding a rebellion against the higher-ups of those securities. They fought for justice, they said, yet they riot, ignoring the issues present to their faces, destroying businesses, and taking advantage of the poor just trying to make it through the World's poor societal hierarchy. The oppressed become the oppressors. If those oppressed use justice as an excuse to spread their hatred, then what is true justice? Lovers cheat on their spouses to live through five minutes of pleasure, bullies take out their hidden rage on others for the sake of a sliver of freedom in their lives. The tiniest shot in the dark hits a gas tank thus lighting an explosion through the city... and from that, the civilians run amock as the police attempt to contain the fires from spreading further. Thus triggering-
A neverending cycle of chaos. You come to me intending to avenge your mother, but not only her, but your best friends, too, do you not? Henry Colon, Ella Garcia, Matthew Miller. Your children as well. Augustus never had the chance for a happy ending because Celine Pierce was taken from him, isn't that right? But what of my Children? Do you think they did not have aspirations, dreams, a soul; a life...? Are you so incapable of looking at the big picture for once in your life that you did not foolishly believe your enemies have lives to live as well, and not only that, but families to protect? My wife is gone. My Children are dead, they only exist in a past timeline... and I have to be the one to shoulder it all, the burden of eradicating the infinite amount of human souls. You came here half in jest, dear child, not out of an urge for freedom or a selfless reason like justice or peace, but vengeance. Freedom does not exist in this world, I can only ensure their security so nothing bad ever happens again. You have your justice for your reasons, I have my justice for your reasons... in the end, though we might say we're fighting for the people, in all our hearts, we are all selfish devils, aren't we? You and I, Ben Rivera, aren't so different. But... because of that, I must not be the one to end this legacy, unfortunately, for the sake of the New World and the betterment of humanity's legacy, you, Blessed Emperor of Longing-
Must be the one to choose their fate."
To Be Concluded.