It began with a simple thought.
'My body is my temple. I am its god.'
And the world churned. The winds whipped a tempestuous gale that carried the weakly rooted, sending the flying up to the very heavens they so yearned for. The oceans and seas raged with fatal currents and tsunamis that crashed onto cities. The lands quaked like a giddy child unable to contain its excitement, tearing open fissures that devoured everything and anything unfortunate enough to be caught in them. And the mountains erupted with a celebration of cataclysmic inferno that threatened to reduce the whole world to ash.
Countless people died from the sudden and unnatural phenomena happening all over the world, but it did not end. In just the first day alone, a third of the entire human population had been extinguished. As the continents shifted and the storms continued relentlessly, many more died.
By the third day, barely 30% of the human population remained. That was when everything stopped. There was no more need to continue as justice had already been served.
Indeed, this was a little act of vengeance from Earth for all the problems caused by humans, especially the apocalypses. But that was not the only purpose for this disastrous event. The Ring of Fire has now been connected to form a true ring, a perfect circle. A little bit of morbid humour just to make a grand debut.
The volcanoes of the Ring of Fire erupted once more, shooting out geysers of molten minerals into the sky. These pillars of flame converged into a smaller version of the Earth's core, condensing with the same things that made up the core. This would make it easier for Earth's consciousness to flow into and control it.
As it grew to become a veritable small sun the size of an entire city, it began to descend into the ocean. The resulting steam explosion felt like a number of nuclear bombs all exploding at once. Quite a few hundred thousands more humans died from the sound and whatever aftermath the explosion had. Earth could no longer be bothered with it. Instead, it was focused on moulding this miniature core and shaping it into a humanoid form.
Why humanoid?
Well, despite having the memories of countless apocalypses and seeing what manner of creatures there were, Earth still valued its own creativity. Humans, for better or worse, were still among its most successful creations. It also did not want to take on the form of something created by these fools. It was a pride that would never have existed had Earth not awakened its own consciousness.
But the most important reason was just the fact that a humanoid body was very inoffensive. There was a lot it could do and a lot to improve on. Earth would not be restricted by human limits, however, as it had full control over this body and could allow it to change and evolve accordingly. And finally, a titan of a man emerged at the bottom of the ocean, standing at six meters tall.
Why a man?
Well, that was because the humans most often called the planet 'Mother Earth' or the goddess Gaia. So Earth chose to be male just to spite them. An invisible force pulled the man deeper into the subterranean abyss of darkness until it reached the end which was lit by the core.
A small stream shot out of the molten core of the Earth and pierced into the chest of the man, spreading the liquid fire through his veins like an infernal lifeblood. The liquid fire coursed through the body before reaching an empty space where the human heart should have been. And in that cavity, a new core was condensed, pulsing with immense lifeforce and a gravitational force that had no business being rooted in the body of a singular being. And yet, here it is.
With the core fully condensed within the body, Earth's consciousness could now inhabit both Earth itself and this new body it had created for itself. It was quite literally a clone of Earth made from the same materials that composed the layers of the world, from the crust all the way to the core.
The man opened his eyes to reveal brilliant golden suns within them, reflections of the core within the body. The man turned around and swiftly left the subterranean area, rising back up into the sky like a bird that just successfully caught its aquatic prey. With his copper skin and bronze hair, the man spread his arms wide, basking in the light of the sun.
"Finally, I am born. I am... Adam Terra."