Capítulo 28: Peril/fall
A/N: "..."--> Talking
<"">--> Commands or Moves
<>--> Anytype of phenomenon or change in surroundings.
[...]--> Internal thoughts
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<"Enough">
"..."
"Do you really think that is all you want to say?!!", Hiro felt agitated and irritated. He had killed someone just now, and yet... the loss of one ally didn't even phase through this Thing.
But his question was more to himself than to anybody else...Does he feel even a hint of remorse?
He hasn't anything to say because nothing comes to his mind. The emptiness and apathy surround his mind like a blinding mist and paralyzing fear.
He hears and sees, he wishes it to change, yet it remains the same. He wishes it to disappear into the cold void, the inhumane emptiness that now persists within himself, and the apathetic voice that haunts him to his core.
[Heroes are supposed to be brave, aren't they? They are supposed to live happily and sleep peacefully even after they murder the enemy, in cold blood... Then why did he feel like a murderer?
Why in the pursuit of bravery, he fails to retain himself...If he fails now, will it not mean the loss of another murderer from this damn world?
However, Hiro was perplexed at the notion of failure.
He shouldn't let his anger control him. If he screwed up now, the whole world would have to pay the price...
But that didn't mean he had it like everything about the matter...
Hiro turned around and looked 'It' in the eye. While he had faced only blackish puddles as enemies until now, he now faced something different. Something almost human, and yet it couldn't be any further from that.
He couldn't bear looking at it with a straight face.
Had he been somebody else, he would have said that he has within the presence of an angel. But then he would be lying. Though he had to admit, even the appearance was a disgusting surprise. 'She' had the same ethereal beauty as Infi, if not more, drawing an uncanny and eerie similarity with the king Guardian. Divine light seemed to shower from Its figure, mixing and seeping into the surroundings.
Oh, how it made him want to puke.
Hiro had to bite the inside of his cheek to avoid outright vomiting. Even the divine light coming out of 'Her' seemed grimy and nauseating. The yellow light distorted everything around.
In a sense, it was actually 'fitting', for a lack of a better word. The image that struck terror, 'She' slayed the look.
Her eyes seemed to match that of a divine aberration, swirls of blackness giving away the nature of the abomination. Her face, immaculate like a porcelain doll, seemed dead, empty, and expressionless.
"Heh...", Hiro chuckled a little at the irony. The worst of the world donning the corrupted appearance of the best, oh, how to not describe that as a tragedy. He would have laughed had he not been in a dire mood.
Hiro was quick to call Her up on her choice of clothing, "What did you hope think would happen if you came dressed like that? Did you think I would flow into emotions and give you the better hand?", Hiro said with all the venom he could gather.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I am not a fucking Shounen character.". Hiro didn't even appreciate the concept. While he liked the characters, he didn't follow through with the absurd concepts that seemed to drive the story.
"It is strange. But you look exactly like somebody I know. Still, you are nothing but a mere replica of her. Even if you manage to copy everything, you would never be able to copy her inner beauty, her kindness."
<"...">
"You can't have what you want Zero.", Hiro frantically searched for something. A sign or anything that suggested the lady before him had even understood anything he had said. That she was capable of at least an independent thought process.. That there was a possibility of them coming to a understanding...
Hiro had to cast his eyes away in disappointment.
<"...">
[Damn it!!]
[TRY HARDER!][Think of a way out!]
"Not gonna answer?... Afraid you have been wrong all along?", Hiro braced himself. It was true he was walking on a thin line. Should 'negotiations' fail, there was no way he was getting out without losing a limb or two.
But does he want them to fail? Hell no. If this issue could be solved before it turned into a mess, who was he to look the gift horse in the mouth?
Still, even then he has to admit, the possibility of him succeeding were devastatingly low....
<Boom>
A blast of astounding purple reached him. Even with his reflexes, Hiro only got enough time to cross his arms in front of himself. He expected the worse.
As the light left him, Hiro's brain immediately registered the anomaly. Maddening pain was already overloading his senses. Hiro's mind came to a halt. The searing energy having vapourised his arms completely, had even blasted a gaping hole straight through his chest. This power was unlike anything he had experienced before.
As blood seeped freely from the wound, Hiro found himself gasping for air, clawing at the wound, futilely, even forgetting he had lost both his arms moments ago, all because of the intense pain. He knew the blast had only missed his heart intentionally.
Even with maddening pain, his mind drew clear of its grim condition. The clear difference in power was a hard slap on his face. It seemed even with hundred years of training was not enough to face this monster.
Hiro could only gaze helplessly at the insurmountable wall before him, waiting to devour him whole at the slightest mistake. His personal nightmare.
Unsurprisingly, the absolute power he had experienced moments ago, was a direct flaw to his dwindling ideals. The conflict, he didn't want to believe, the fear that was within him even before this all started. The anger that always burned. The helplessness in the face of absolute power that destroyed all will and reason. The power that crushed freedom and spirit under its iron gauntlet.
Hiro could merely wait, his consciousness already drifting further ahead of his thoughts.
Blood seemed to pool around his missing arms, his right lung had been completely destroyed, and the left was not much to look at. A blood-red canvas, glimmering like sparkles in the eternal void. The smell of the burned carcass urged him to vomit again.
[Oh! How great all this feels...It's Deja Vu all over again...]
Hiro was getting tired of all this and he hasn't even reached his first world yet. Why can't he take it easy for once? Why does he have to die again...
Near instantaneously, Hiro's body reacted. His mouth closed itself. He inhaled a huge gulp of air and forced it down his burning throat, putting enough pressure on the ruptured windpipe to seal it. Hiro couldn't figure out if the attempt was to stop the blood flow or to deny the attacker the pleasure of hearing him scream.
He choked first and tried to grip his throat...but again forgot he had no arms left to grap with.
A massive familiar headache hit him. Though it would be wrong to say he wasn't expecting it. He and lady luck had always had a tragic relationship. It was only fair that this would happen at the worst times... He would dare say he had been expecting such bad timing, or perhaps 'good timing' in this case.
Hiro's body went into overdrive, hairs standing behind his neck and his body shaking profusely to stop the pain. Hiro's mind told him to run away, to hide in whichever corner of the universe he could find.
Yet his body betrayed his thoughts.
[Ack!! This hurts!! Heal!! Gotta Heal!!] His mind all but commanded the impossible. If his body wouldn't listen, he had no choice but to fight.
<Rewind>
Time seemed to flow back. Hiro saw the green glow again and begged for it to work. He was short of breath, and blurry whites were the only things that decorated his vision. Hiro expected to feel rejuvenated and energized, to feel all the pain go away.
<Shatter> All he got was the same searing pain moments.
Hiro chuckled inside his mind despite of the turmoil it was going through. He now faced the truth, of how he was still not the warrior he had hoped to be and was only a child, barely out of his misguided disillusions.
[Not healing...Not healing...Not....]
<"Be gone">
<Boom!><Purge!>
[Dodge!!! Dodge!!! Heal!!! HEAL!!!]
Hiro's mode instead moved towards the attacker, as if to trade a blow of it's own. A shot punctured itself into Hiro's leg again, penetrating bone, blood, and everything else. Hiro's eyes would have closed themselves in pain, were they not watching their inevitable pathway towards 'death'.
Hiro could only watch like a weak coward. As his body, which, having gone well past it's limit, seemingly came to a halt.
His mind told him to move but his body wouldn't listen, having already exhausted the last ditch effort of refusal towards death.
Hiro choked and panted. His vision became blurrier by the second and his mind eventually shut down. Hiro didn't have a reason to stay awake anymore. He was already dead.
<Screen Freeze>
[Was this his end, or just a trail? Was he not supposed to have a wonderful adventure like anybody else? Was this not supposed to be an epic journey about his adventures, like the novels he had read about? Like the many who had achieved great power and ruled over their own destiny, unshackled and unbound?]
But was he willing TO LET IT ALL GO? WAS he WILLING to LET THEM DOWN, AGAIN?
Well, you can be damn sure he was not.
Hiro focused his mind. As much as he would hate to admit, he had already seem many characters overcome unsurmountable trails just through sheer will and desire to see their loved ince again. So can he not do the same? Can he not harness that power and push it towards the right direction?
You can be damn sure he can. And infact, he is doing to right now.
"Then will you accept power?... The same absolute power that your death employs?", a gruff male voice exclaimed.
"Who...?"
Can you bear the thousand moments of guilt and regret that comes along with it?", a female voice floated in the void.
"What...?"
"We are the original holders of the memories. Like our memories, we are fragments of ourselves and are also a part of you.", a childish voice called out.
"We are your legacy...", all the voices called out.
"So grasp our hand, for we are your path forward!", an elderly voice asked him.
....
....
....
[Well I will be damned...]
*Simultaneously<Fire Dragon's Roar!!!><Ice Devil's Rage!!!>
</Screen Freeze End>
<Zero POV>
'It' was a very peaceful creature. It had been created in the earliest, along with its friend One. Both were very adept at maintaining balance. 'She' destroyed while 'He' created. For centuries they guarded the said balance, guarding his 'creations' against dark forces. But slowly things started to shift. 'He' became lenient, spending more time with his creations than guarding them, letting the outside forces invade. 'She' tried to warn him of the dangers, tried convincing him to join the fight to slay their enemies, bath in their blood as they had before.
But 'He' refused, said 'He' had changed. No longer was 'He' the same warrior, heartless, and non-hesitant to destruction. 'He' had become something else. 'She' disliked His condition. She had grown up with him, seeing him only as the royal destruction that scorched everything.
'She' couldn't accept. But then came the 'Two'. The latest creation of his, a male and a female, both equally efficient in maintaining 'balance'. But those two were different, didn't keep balance through utter destruction, but through necessary elimination, peace, and negotiations. 'She' despised them, they took away Her job, her only means out of this utter monotony. 'He' tried to convince her to live with 'them', 'she' had declined.
'She' disliked leaving him, admitting that 'She' found solace whenever she was with him. Yet 'She' feared that this was the 'Love' that His creations wondered about, adored, and respected. She saw herself imagining a future with Him.
But 'she' couldn't confess. He wasn't interested in sharing her goal. The ultimate preservation through any means necessary.
So 'She' choose to leave them, relishing in destruction more and more until it drew her insane. She had decided to work alone, determined to even do both their jobs at once. So she withered away in work. Drowning herself in responsibilities.
For 'She' had to forge her own way, find her own path, and maintain her balance.
But 'she' laughed at the situation around her. As 'they' did good deeds, somebody had to be the 'evil'. For they shed light, she had to be the darkness. A concept not lost upon her.
Thus she chose to be evil, standing strong in her convictions. She did until it eventually became the only reason for her existence. She began attacking his creations, a war broke out between them. They fought valiantly, but eons of peace had weakened them. 'She' killed him as he opposed her. Their fight shook the very foundation of everything. Many of the guarded worlds were destroyed. The 'two', sworn to survive by Him, fleed from the battlefield, no doubt to oppose her again.
That day she cried for the first time.....
But here she was today, seeking to destroy the world and create anew from the ashes. A world where 'He' would be alive and well, spend time with Her. And 'She' swears she will destroy anybody that opposed this.
She will destroy this unworthy 'clone' of Him and then the two Guardians. How dare they give his powers to so!!!!
<Fire Demon God...Ice Devils Rage>
A huge turret of ancient fire and ice hit her. Though it didn't affect her, she felt the innate rage behind it. It seemed this 'clone' refused to stay down. But this time 'She' will make it vanish from the face of the world.
There he was standing, even if he was missing a leg and arms, still grinning like 'Him'.
<Hiro Pov>
Hiro refused to let this chance go. This chance was given to him, beset upon him by his family. He refused to give up.
Hiro opened his mouth to blast again, the violet forever-ice, and the black and blue fire obeyed his commands and followed. They struck with precision and force, managing to knock back 'Zero' a few feet.
Hiro cursed at himself. Even an attack like that doesn't seem to affect it. What does he have to do?
"Light your spirit on fire, that's the only way you can overcome this", "It's your Hero time, show it all you got", two distinct voices called out to him.
Immediately Hiro began channeling his fire and ice into his wounds. If he can't heal, he would have to cauterize the blood flow.
[If I don't have limbs, I will make them. If any enemy blocks my path, I will destroy them!]
<Ice-make Limbs>
Forever-violet ice seemed to shape into his missing arms and legs. He felt relieved, for a moment. Now, he would be able to fight.
<Nrg><Waybig>[I need your power!!]
Living radiation and cosmic storms gathered into his fists, that even the ice seemed to struggle to hold. Black fire mixed with blue and created a new flame. Red radiation and green nuclear energy joined in, blue cosmic energy enhanced it.
<I will stop you>(Name of a spell)
Hero was literally burning his body off just to power this attack. Even as he was bleeding, he pushed his body to his limits oncemore.
His body now felt quite numb. There was no sensation, except pain. The adrenalin from the fight had faded, only to be replaced by a desire. A last struggle for one strike, one strike to end it all.
Hiro blasted off, his whole body lit in fire, even showing some draconian features. He had unknowingly entered the dragon force. But he was sure there was something wrong. This was not the form he had practiced with, the power he held now was well beyond his control.
Maybe it was his end courtesy. The end march, before death...If he doesn't successfully land an attack, he won't get a second chance. Hiro knew he had well beyond exhausted his body, over extended his reserves and powers.
But it was worth this chance.
The chance to end this here and now.
Instantly he punched Zero square in her face(He had recognized it as she, just right now). This time forcing zero to block the move with her hand. But it wasn't enough, Hiro pushed forward, putting more force into the attack.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
<Flash>
Her power won't be enough. Not when he was risking it all. He will win this.
Hiro's hand broke through Zero's grip, bruising it, and...struck the face. Zero's eyes widened as she was covered in a blast.
Hiro himself was propelled backwards from the force of the attack. He watched from afar, immobilized, and unable to even lift a finger anymore. Blood flowed from everywhere in his body, with his wounds being exposed to the void again.
However, a cocky grin etched itself into his face.
"I don't think ....you should survive.... that. But if you do, come .....at me. There is still .....more from where that came from!!!"
And true to his words, smoke cleared to reveal a clearly angry Zero. The face that had been devoid of any emotion, now etched in anger.
"Haha...ha....Come...On", Hiro gave his last self-decrypting laugh, knowing he wouldn't survive another attack. But he was surprised when a soothing voice reached him. Bringing him peace if only for a second.
<"You truly do remind me of him. You are just as brave as he was...">Hiro had expected to hear many different things from Zero. But a word of appreciation had not been one of them. He was honestly surprised. If they weren't enemies, Hiro would have definitely liked to get to know a person like her.
<"But also extremely foolish like him">
And there goes his appreciation, straight into the gutter...
<"Even though it has been only seconds till our fight started, you have proved to be quite the fighter, even managing to injure me. I haven't had a scratch on me for 300 million years. But your efforts end here. Take relish in the peaceful death I offer you.">
"I would have love to...But I won't die on your whim...Only I can decide my death!!!", Hiro was not having any of the shit coming out of her mouth.
Suddenly a figure emerged from the shadows and quickly held him by the shoulders. The figure seemed to be able to lift him effortlessly. Its grip was quite strong. You should trust him, he could tell when his ribs were getting crushed.
<"Fine. Just die">
"Yeah...Yeah...Try all you want...", Hiro babbled before looking into the would-be-eyes of his 'hanger'. He could see those red orbs, staring at him, just moments away from killing him.
<Swirl>Hiro quickly looked back to Zero, in her hand was a small blackish orb, glowing with other worldly light.
<"I have changed my mind. I won't kill you, but you will join my army. will corrupt you just like I have done to any and all of his creations. Whether you like it or not, you would make a fine army General, Hiro Narukami... ">
Hiro tried shaking off the ting behind him, but without his arms, that seemed impossible. The grip held strong. He had to shake him off before...
<Shake><Enter>Hiro screamed as the orb came in contact with his body. It seemed to tug at his soul. just like...soul sieze. a massive headache hit him like a freight train. The darkness, intent on corrupting him, scratched and tore away at his soul. Hiro's cries drowned in the ever silent void as he was sileced.
[I am not about to give up!!!]"Go to Hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
<Disperse>
The black orb was forcefly dispersed under sheer willpower. Truely befitting of a typical Shounen Hero.
<"He is surprisingly resistant.">
<"Indeed he is">
"What ...would you ....expect?", said Hiro weakly, shocking both his enemies.
"Huh...I have got used to this....This happens all the time, I suffer a million times everyday ...because of that damn headache....more than you could ever ....make me!!!! "
<"HOLD STILL">
"Why ...getting overpowered...are we?", Hiro could hear his bones creak under the pressure.
<"That won't be necessary"> <Slash> Hiro was immediately relieved off his 'Hanger'.
As he looked up to his masters, friends and family, a powerful tidal wave rocked the void.
"Ohhhh...You are fast. That was quite the close one", Vi called out to both the hostiles. As he straightened himself, Hiro got to have a look at them. Vi and infi were donned in their familiar armor, Vi still sporting that cocky look, and Infi still smiled all happily at him.
"Roughed up, aren't you?", Vi directed the question toward both him and Zero.
"Shut up, Jerk..." both of the answers were the same...It seemed Vi had managed to annoy Zero as much as him.
"You too Zero...Kid did a number on you...It's been a long time since I have even seen a sliver of anger on your face...", Vi's smile threatened to split his face in two.
"Jerk...", said Zero robotically. It was so mechanical that Hiro didn't even think it was humane. Like a programmed automatic response.
Vi eased his posture and certainly didn't look stressed. He only looked Zero in the eyes, mirth clearly visible on his face.
"Tough Crowd..."
Infi blinked towards him, faster than ever. Immediately, all his wounds were healed. However to his surprise, he didn't feel tired at all... he felt more powerful now...He looked at Infi questioningly.
"I just unsealed some the powers sealed within you. Vi thought that those powers could harm you, so we had agreed upon that we would unlock them only after you have become stable. Still, you have to work on the others yourself."
"Thanks Big Sis", Hiro couldn't help but adore her.
"Though I still think they will make you a pervert, humph!"
"Thanks, Big Sis"
Infi adorably puffed up her cheeks, and Hiro had the sudden urge to poke at them. Inside he felt the information of the new skills being fed directly to his brain. And those skills were,...
<Boost><Divide>...[hmm, not bad] of the Boob-Butt loving duo,[Eh, could be worse...] The Red Dragon and White Dragon Emperors.
[This was so not happening!]
But while this was happening, another fight was raging on.....
Status de energia semanal
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