บท 28: Cosmic Manipulation
In the heart of this wasteland, a giant invisible barrier pulsed with hidden power. It stretched for miles, cutting off the area from the outside world and twisting reality to hide the chaos within.
The battlefield beneath it was a gruesome sight. Eight bodies lay crumpled...
A short distance away, satellite dishes bristled with energy, focusing their might on a single figure.
Nearby, a man and woman gripped rocket launchers, their faces grim. Beside them stood two men in black, their skin like living metal. And finally, a woman in white, her glasses reflecting the chaos, held a crackling energy shield.
This woman, Lisa, was a picture of disbelief. Her raven hair framed a face etched with shock. Her body trembled as she saw the man before her. Even though his powers were supposedly gone, a smile played on his lips.
He wasn't Kiba anymore, whoever that was.
"How can he smile now!?" Lisa muttered, her voice tight. Her team stared back, equally stunned by this strange transformation.
The energy blasts from the satellite dishes continued to rain down, keeping this new man powerless.
He had short, jet-black hair and startling blue eyes that held a hint of something else. A handsome face, alight with a mysterious smile, met Lisa's horrified gaze.
"You never cease to amaze me," the new man said, completely calm. "I'm impressed!"
"Kiba, what the heck is going on?" Lisa demanded, her voice cracking.
"Please, no more Kiba," he replied, shaking his head. "Work and personal life are separate, you see."
"What are you babbling about!?"
"Kiba is the name I use in my... other form," he explained, that smile never fading. "This is my true form, and it has a different name."
"Kiba, stop this nonsense!" Lisa shouted, pointing at him. "Give up and you might avoid some pain. You're powerless now, trapped!"
"First, it's Zed," he corrected, still relaxed. "That's the name I've bee known for most of my life. Second, the fun's just begun."
"Shapeshifting won't save you, Kiba or Zed, whatever! You're my experiment now!" Lisa spat, her confidence returning.
"Shapeshifting?" Zed raised an eyebrow, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Seems you've got the wrong idea. Let me enlighten you before I send you all packing to the next life."
Lisa's fury burned hotter.
This guy was treating her like a joke!
She checked her watch, making sure the power-nullifying devices were working.
And they were working perfectly!
She realised Kiba or Zed, whoever the hell he was, has turned insane from power loss!!
"Amir, take him down," she ordered one of the men in black. A strange bracelet shielded Amir from the energy waves.
"Yes, ma'am!" he charged at Zed, a sneer on his face.
"Want to be the first one out?" Zed asked coolly as Amir lunged.
"Still arroga---"
Amir stopped and his eyes widened in terror. Zed's blue eyes were morphing, turning into a mesmerizing gold!
"H-how? The waves are supposed to—" Amir stammered, his voice thick with dread.
He didn't get to finish.
RUMBLEEEEE~
A deafening roar echoed from above.
Amir looked up, his jaw slack with horror.
The night sky, once dominated by the full moon, was now a churning mass of black clouds.
Golden lightning crackled within them, straining against some invisible power, desperate to reach the ground.
The very air vibrated with their clash.
Rocks and plateaus crumbled as if they couldn't bear the sight.
Lisa and her team were no better. A primal fear gripped them as their own powers began to sputter and die.
Not just suppressed, but erased!
"W-what did he do?"
"How can he unleash such power with those nullifying devices?"
Zed's eyes were now a mesmerizing blend of gold and blue.
His hair had turned a brilliant gold, growing longer by the second. His very form seemed to be stretching, his face morphing with the change.
Kiba was back!
"H-he's Kiba again?!"
The transformation wasn't over.
The blue in his eyes was slowly being overtaken by the gold. Soon, his irises glowed with the same fiery light as the lightning in the sky.
BOOOOOM!
The nullifying devices sputtered, cracks erupting throughout them.
"There's only one explanation! Those devices have a limit! Before, Kiba's power was manageable, but now...!"
"Impossible!"
"We're staring at the impossible, so shut up!"
"So Kiba was holding back all along!? He could've countered those things from the start?!"
"Doesn't make sense! Why let himself be nerfed in the first place?!"
"Who cares about why! We're dealing with a monster!!"
Lisa screamed, coughing up blood with every ragged breath.
Swoooosh!
The debris and dust in the wasteland swirled, lifted by an unseen force, and disintegrated into nothingness.
The same fate awaited Lisa's nullifying devices.
Kiba's transformation was complete and he let out a deep breath.
"It has been so many years!"
He raised a hand towards the sky, and as if commanded, the pressure from the golden lightning lessened.
Then, with an amused glint in his golden eyes, he landed right in front of a trembling Amir.
"You wanted to be the first one out, wasn't that right?"
Kiba asked, his voice laced with a dangerous undercurrent.
"P-please, no! I'll be your loyal follower—" Amir stammered, his bravado replaced by terror.
Kiba ignored his pleas and placed a hand on Amir's head.
A blinding golden light engulfed Amir, and a surge of energy unlike anything he'd ever imagined coursed through his veins. It felt like trying to hold an ocean inside his feeble body.
"Aaahhhh! Stop it! I beg you!" Amir shrieked, his eyes bulging.
"Stop but why!?" Kiba's smile widened. "Don't you want a power-up for free?!"
Amir couldn't answer.
His body cells started to expand at an alarming rate, struggling to contain the explosive energy. The transformation was happening too fast, his body rebelling against the unnatural power. Every cell felt like a ticking time bomb.
"AAAHHHHH" Amir managed to let out a scream as his body inflated like a grotesque balloon before exploding in a gory mess.
"Amir!"
The remaining man in black shrieked, his face contorted in horror. Witnessing his comrade's gruesome demise was enough to turn his blood to ice.
Not a speck of blood touched Kiba. His smile remained unchanged as he turned towards Lisa and her team.
"This can't be! You have Cosmic Manipulation!"
Lisa shrieked, her voice cracking with a mixture of terror and disbelief.
Cosmic Manipulation!
Theoretically speaking it was the power to control the very fabric of existence.
To manipulate energy on a universal scale, reshape matter at will, and even tear through the barriers of time and space. It was the stuff of legends, a power so vast it seemed impossible for a single being to possess...!!
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