Luna's younger self stood in front of her father. Crying, her short purple hair swayed with the wind.
"Why did you force me to join the Apex?"
"Because your technique is valuable to me."
Years later, Luna as a young woman, stood over her father with closed eyes.
"Then why abandon my mother and siblings?!"
"Because they couldn't manifest a useful technique."
One of Luna's eyes opened. 'Then, as the next Head of the Apex Group, I...!'
Luna is the only one with the Amana family name. She is the only one on her mother's side to have her father's surname and was the only one capable of manifesting a Predestined Power. Luna Amana's father is Hiroshi Amana, Head of the Apex Group, who birthed fifteen children with various women. Each child of his who manifests a technique is forced to join the Apex through underground tactics.
Luna is Muhammad's older sister. After forcing him to awaken through her technique, she soon overtook his position as the inheritor and, following their father's death, became the Apex Group's new Head. She is the one who masterminds the Apex Predators in the present day.
They all knelt before their Head, who sat on a throne, looking down at her siblings and then standing with a smile.
"The promised time has arrived, my brothers and sisters! At long last, we discovered a way to speak to none other than the Gate's founder--Atlas Amit! First, we abolished the old Group's corruption by slaughtering our father! Second, we'll dominate Atlas Amit's modern society and steal the Fate coursing through the Gate! Only with the abundance of the entire world's Fate in our hands will we be able to decimate the Progenitor and take back our Destiny in the name of the Apex! WHAT SAY YOU, MY DEAR BELOVED SIBLINGS?!"
They threw their fists into the air and screamed, grinning widely as possible while gazing at the Head. Just when the cheering stopped, Luna looked at Muhammad, beckoning him to the stage with a smile across her lips. He stepped up after shaking away his widened eyes, turning around and facing the rest of his family.
"Muhammad here needs no introduction! Using the Predator I gifted him and a newly-manifested Predestined Power, he will lead the vanguard that challenges the Progenitor!" She grabbed his hand, throwing both his and her arm into the air. "Together, us siblings will lead the world into a new age devoid of Fate! A world where we won't have to rely on Atlas Amit's technological advancements or ancient knowledge! LET US FIGHT TOGETHER UNTIL THE END OF TIME, APEX PREDATORS!!!!"
…
Mainland, Japan. Daytime.
Beneath a large cherry blossom tree, pink petals glided from the trees and fell toward the ground. As one gradually descended, the flower's miniature remnant slid across the winds—briefly curving up in mid-air for the sunlight to shine directly through it. Upon finally settling into the leaves, the two fighters standing atop the pile were finally revealed.
Blood streamed down the bottom of his arm. Lowering the sword close to his chest, the man peered through his hair, relaxing his breathing while glaring at the Disastrous.
Monstrum wiped the blood from his lip. He grinned. "You're pretty strong!"
The swordsman dipped his rapier in Fate. Raising the sword, Malum's eyes widened, barely jumping out of the way to dodge the samurai's powerful slash. The multiple trees swaying behind him were sliced at the trunks and fell over, while Malum continued sprinting across the leaves.
Raising one hand, he angled his steady fingers over the opponent's body. "Veil." The effect of his invisible technique traveled through the shadows cast by the trees and emerged before the samurai, about to kill him.
'Predestined Power: Twenty-Million Ashen Blades,' he thought in Japanese.
The swordsman vanished from his position and reappeared falling through mid-air. Malum watched his enemy speedily leap through the sky, briefly smirking to admire his movements. Before he knew it, the flaming sword fell upon its target--flawlessly cutting Monstrum's arm from his torso.
'What precision! I can't even feel the sensation of pain!'
Malum smirked with teeth. "Not bad!"
He instantly regrew the lost limb and punched, striking the swordsman in the gut. In the seconds it took the Disastrous's fist to pierce the air--the blazing steel reacted and sliced off the arm yet again.
"Veil."
Though he'd been moving and reacting accordingly, the Swordsman was forced to widen his eyes at that familiar sound. Without any time to trace its movements, Malum's poor enemy succumbed to the invisible blade dismantling his body--falling apart into bloody cubes. He sighed.
"How disappointing."
His eyes spontaneously widened. Turning to the victim's corpse, he spotted the Progenitor knelt beside it, stifling a chuckle.
"I agree. He had quite the powerful technique--it was a waste for you to kill him without preserving it," he said.
"That so?" Monstrum's arms stretched into the air as he yawned. "What a bore. Anyway," he looked at Atlas. "what do you want? Appearing unannounced like that after I finish hunting is quite dangerous."
Amit scoffed. "Spare me, I'm not in the mood to fight right now. Apollo discovered some new Fate users. Ones capable of manifesting defensive spirit beasts formed through instinct. I don't know the origin but it seems like a problem." He looked at Malum. "We could use strength like yours if something goes wrong."
"Hm?" Looking down at Atlas only briefly, he sighed and turned to the sky. "Your precious City and its Awakening Gate--I doubt I can let loose in a populated space like that," he said.
"The Apex is a powerful yet inexperienced group. Amateurs like them won't be able to tell the difference between a barrier mimicking the City and the real thing. When that happens, I'll let you loose in that space so you can slaughter everyone in it. Besides the Apex, that is."
Monstrum scratched his nape. "So you're asking me to kill innocent people so you can get some new toys?" The Disastrous smirked. His aura's chaotic and scarlet shape contorted erratically around him, urging only to feast and kill. "SOUNDS LIKE FUN!"
Atlas grinned. "I'll contact you with more details at the proper time. Have fun with your baseless massacre in the meantime. Oh, and next time you fight someone with an interesting ability, give them to me. Apollo could always use more techniques."
"No promises... Heh."
...
Mainland, City of the Gate. Atlas's quarters.
Leaning on the balcony railing, the joint between Moloch's lips leaked smoke from the end, while the green-eyed Displacement admired the city's flashing lights under the night sky. His curly brown hair swayed in the wind until another signature appeared beside him. Apollo glanced at his Master from his peripheral.
"So? What'd he say?"
"He's not too hard to deal with once you know what he likes. Human flesh. A small price to pay for the sake of a better offense," Atlas said.
"Gathering new techniques?" Apollo's head perked up. "I guess The Massacre hurt our pockets, huh? Even after absorbing all the Displacements' souls, I still don't feel all that strong. That's why you're striving to not kill the Apex Predators, right?"
The schemer sighed, tapping his temples with one finger, both eyes closed. "Nothing gets past you." His eyes opened. "Don't take it personally, Apollo. I always planned to slaughter your Displacement brethren—this was also a necessary part of that plan. We have to gather powerful and complex resources, capable of besting the Supreme King and Unconquerable."
"Is there any progress on their voyage over here?" asked Moloch.
"Another two months. Why? Itching for some action?"
"Well, yeah, that's part of it but—" Apollo looked at his hand. Then, he sighed, looking back at the city. "I wanted to ask: why am I special? Why am the only one besides Aella who was spared in The Massacre?"
"Hm." Atlas shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe you'll have to figure that one out yourself…" He walked inside the building and sat behind his desk.
On the other hand, Moloch remained outside, feeling the chilly winds slide against his faces and move his short curly strands.
'Usually, I wouldn't be thinking about this sort of stuff. I still remember what I said just yesterday. That 'destruction is my passion'. Well, I haven't changed my mind about that, it's more like—'
He thought back to the Kismet Empire, when he was surging with power and challenged Alora and Talen. In the end, while he was immensely powerful in that moment, he was inevitably overpowered by the Unconquerable's superiority and merely left as a stepping stone for Monstrum's resurrection.
'Come, enemies. I'll show you the epitome of true Fate's might.'
He groaned. Shoving one hand into his pocket, he withdrew a lighter and flickered the flame, igniting the end of the unlit joint stuck between both lips. While he inhaled more from the spliff, he thought back on everything.
The fights. The feelings. The happiness. The despair. It all felt balanced and even so, something was missing. But what? Apollo sighed.
'Jeez. Worrying about something stupid like this—it almost makes me feel human. I suppose this is how Aella feels… huh?'
What was next for Apollo? What was necessary for him to grow into a beast akin to Atlas or Monstrum? Well, one thing was certain. Asking either of them would arrive at the same answer and that wasn't satisfactory. As he kept asking himself that question while admiring the scenery, he sighed, finally plucking the blunt from his mouth and exhaling smoke.
"Guess I'll sleep on it."
Meanwhile, while the villains were scheming on the mainland, a boat sailed across the ocean. One of the stowaways stumbled out for a smoke, but just when they were about to reach the railing—they tripped over someone's leg. They turned, facing the accident's perpetrator.
"Hey, sorry, didn't see you—" Their eyes widened. Leaning closer, they scratched their chin. "Uh, you okay, man? You look like you haven't slept in weeks. Like you're about to pass out at any second."
"Is that so…?"
"Yeah. But don't worry!" They walked to the railing bordering the boat from the seat and put the cigarette in their mouth. "At the end of this voyage, we'll all be free to roam the around the mainland however you want! You can totally forget about anything traumatizing that occurred over at the Empire!"
"I wouldn't be so sure," Talen looked down. "I doubt I can forget someone like that."