Takumi was sitting at the edge of a cliff, legs dangling over the edge, looking out over the sprawling world of Ardynia. All while thinking of how and what his new battle planet would look like. "Max Mad style thunder dome but on a monster scale? Nah that's just stupid. What about instead of a planet a massive boxing ring? Now that would be funny."
Who was Takumi kidding he thought, both ideas as ridiculous as each other. He turned to view the sunlight sparkling on the distant rivers, and the wind gently rushing through his hair. It was the kind of moment that made you feel like everything was right with the world.
Then, predictably, something weird happened. Because, when didn't it?
He felt it—a ripple in the air, almost like reality had just burped. Takumi's brow furrowed. He'd experienced plenty of reality-warping stuff in his time as a god, but this felt different. Before he could even stand up, the sky darkened, clouds swirling together in an ominous whirlpool, and then—a portal opened. Not just any portal—a giant, glowing, swirling mass of cosmic energy that screamed, "Something crazy is about to happen, can you guess what?"
"Well, this can't be good," Takumi muttered.
He stood up, eyes narrowing at the massive portal hovering in the sky. His first thought was, Another god? But none of his "peers" made this kind of grand entrance. And they wouldn't choose Ardynia as their cosmic landing pad.
Just as he was preparing to investigate, the portal flashed with blinding light, and something huge shot out of it. At first, it was just a blur, but as it got closer, Takumi could make out… what the hell? Was that a spaceship?
The ship rocketed through the clouds, spinning out of control and heading straight for the nearby mountains. Takumi sighed, cracking his knuckles. "Guess it's time to save the day again."
With a burst of energy, he launched himself into the air, racing towards the ship. It was massive, sleek, and clearly designed for interdimensional travel, but it was also spiraling like a drunk bird. Takumi caught up to it just as it was about to crash into the side of the mountain. With a grunt of effort, he wrapped his arms around the hull and steadied the ship, his feet digging into the ground as he slowed its descent.
The ship screeched to a halt, teetering in the air before finally settling on the ground with a loud thud. Takumi dusted off his hands and floated down to the surface, landing just in front of the now-smoking vessel.
"Okay, that was kinda awesome," he admitted to himself. "But seriously, who's piloting this thing?"
Just as he finished the thought, the ship's door hissed open with a puff of steam, and out stepped… a robot? No, it wasn't just a robot. It was an anthropomorphic, talking bear in a space suit.
Takumi blinked. "Well. That's new."
The bear-bot, standing on its hind legs, looked around before finally focusing on Takumi. "Ah! You there! Local deity, I presume?"
Takumi rubbed his temples. "Yeah, you could say that. And you are…?"
The bear-bot stood up straighter, saluting with a metallic paw. "I am Commander Ursar, captain of the Galactic Pawliner! Apologies for the rough landing. Our navigational systems were… compromised."
"Right," Takumi said, crossing his arms. "And what brings you to my little corner of the cosmos, Commander?"
Ursar tapped a button on his suit, and a holographic screen appeared in front of him. "We were tracking an anomalous energy reading that originated from this sector. It seems to be of… unprecedented power. Perhaps you know something about it?"
Takumi blinked again, genuinely confused this time. "Energy reading? Here? If you're talking about me—"
Before he could finish, Veronica, Kael, Lyra, and the rest of his team came sprinting up the hill, eyes wide at the sight of the giant spaceship and their god-like friend casually chatting with a talking bear-bot.
Lyra was the first to break the silence. "Okay, I've officially seen everything. Talking space bears? What next? Singing dolphins?"
Takumi turned back to Ursar, who was still fiddling with his holographic display. "Look, Commander, you've clearly had a rough day, and I'm pretty sure whatever you're looking for isn't here. I'm the only source of 'unprecedented power' in this world, and last time I checked, I'm not sending out cosmic distress signals."
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong!" Ursar said, pointing at his screen. "We've detected a signal from a powerful artifact—an ancient device said to grant its wielder control over time and space itself! And it's somewhere in this region."
Takumi's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"
Before Ursar could elaborate, Kael stepped forward, sword already drawn. "If this artifact is as powerful as he says, we can't let it fall into the wrong hands."
Veronica nodded, her gaze steely. "We need to find it before anyone else does."
Takumi groaned. "Great. Another 'world-ending artifact' that's decided to pop up in my backyard. Can't a god get a break?"
Lyra smirked. "You're a god. You signed up for this."
Takumi pointed at her. "I did not sign up for talking bears, though."
Commander Ursar, who was clearly enjoying the chaos, stepped forward. "I can assist in tracking the artifact. My ship's scanners are the most advanced in the galaxy."
"Yeah, and I saved your ship from becoming a crater, so I think that makes us even," Takumi replied with a wry smile. "Alright, Commander, you're with us. Let's find this thing before it causes any more trouble."
As they set off, the ground beneath them trembled slightly, as if in response to the impending search. Takumi cast a quick glance at the others. "Just once, I'd like to go a week without running into some world-threatening disaster. Is that too much to ask?"
Kael grinned, his sword glowing faintly. "Where's the fun in that?"
"Besides," Lyra added, "think of all the cool stories we'll get to tell after this. 'Remember that time we teamed up with a space bear to stop an interdimensional artifact from destroying the universe?'"
Veronica chuckled. "It does sound like something worth remembering."
Takumi couldn't help but laugh, the tension easing slightly as they moved toward whatever new madness awaited them. "Fine, fine. But if we run into another talking animal, I'm taking a vacation."
With that, the group, now accompanied by their new fuzzy friend, set off into the unknown, ready to face whatever cosmic nonsense lay ahead. And for a moment, despite the absurdity of it all, Takumi couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.