Wondrous awe blanketed III's expression hidden beneath his mask as he stared heavily towards the top-of-the-line piece of machinery. Shimmering with a cascading gleam of obsidian, reflecting the blaring light of the factory, a towering Mecha laid dormant.
"So this is what you two were up two," III uttered sharply, snapping towards Zero, whose arms remained poised behind his back.
"You speak the obvious. Had I known you went to see V, I would have asked you to take the core he has." Zero calmly remarked, but III could hear the anticipation clinging to his throat.
"And here I thought you were constantly stalking us."
"Only when you do stupid shit, like visiting your brother. He warned us not to see him, you know."
A long sigh left III, but he didn't bother to apologize. He had wanted to visit Zariel for the longest since he'd heard of his return. He stepped across the factory floor towards the Mecha.
"RX-818 Dawnbreaker," Zero announced, " I scoured the Exalted wheel trying to put together all the various materials, with V's help. Years we spent within this factory, helping one another engineer this work of art. The metal alone is from the realm of Hell, traded using a few pawns who truly didn't understand what a devil's deal meant. All that was missing was the core. And this Dawnbreaker would be capable of traveling through Subspace."
Awe spilled from III as his fingers traced over the cool, icy surface of Dawnbreaker. Traveling through Subspace wasn't truly that hard. One simply needed to be a God or possess advanced technology. However, that being said, when it came to Traveling through Subspace, Sub-Drives were reserved for Cruisers or Freighters due to their sizes. But Dawnbreaker was far too lean and compact to possess the average sub-drive needed.
"Damn, my friend. Quite the achievement. Can you imagine the amount of bitches I can pick up with this thing? Bro, let me christen it for you." III mentioned, bobbing his head up and down.
"I swear you and one are the same. Fucking twins.
"Please, I pull way more bitches than him."
"Do you even remember their names?'
'The hell is that going to do? It's a transaction, bro. I plow their minds out, and we both have a wild night in return. Don't make it sound like I am the only one benefiting. It takes two to tango." III said, his tone slowly turning hard. " I think it's time I start actively taking over land in Iluthath. We have stayed away from that particular piece of land for too long."
"Where?"
"Ideally, Winterdeep," III answered, removing his fingers from Dawnbreaker and shifting his gaze towards Zero. "I know we have spies, but that's no longer enough. I'm planning on showing myself to bait our enemies. V needs time to grow."
Zero fell silent, and for a profound moment, his obsidian mask seemed to ripple with a deadly force. " I have contacted the Black Hand; it looks like they are pretty intent on killing you and V. Stopping the order is impossible, but my spies informed me that V managed to destroy one of their precious artifacts, meant to locate targets. We have time before this artifact is repaired. I'll send II as your backup.
"Fucking II, I haven't seen him since I heard stories of him eating ass!"
"Yet again, why are you telling me this?" Zero stammered to say, "Bloody hell tell One or IV that. I didn't want to know that."
"It needs to be said. This dude was talking about it tasting like Vanilla—"
"Shut up!"
"Bro,"
"Just shut the hell up. Go." Zero demanded, pointing towards the exit.
A/N: A true funny story! I was super young when I found this out, and man. I died laughing.
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Whipping over the bright Azure gold skies blazing a gruesome heat to combat the icy winds, Zariel sat with his legs crossed over the carriage, his eyes locked upon the wings of the Griffen beating its wings, piercing through the cloudless skies.
'This is where it starts. With this connection to the Astral Sea, I should be able to grow stronger, and if I am lucky, I might be able to use their elements." He said to himself, unable to mask the glee within his tone.
He rose to his feet, winds fluttering with enough force to knock an average man away, but Zariel stood still, enjoying the elements. He could feel the glare of the sun, the wild yet free winds, the ever-present water slapping against his cheeks, and the evergreen upon the ground. He could see it all. And contempt pressed like a hammer behind his eyes.
Pulling in a breath of air that smelt of brimstone, he saw a vast ocean of flames searing away all the Heavens presented. Pain, Unimaginable anguished, rippled and curled from his soul, and a smile graced his lips.
"Aw," he released a breath and blinked his eyes, and the flames plaguing his mind vanished. "Quite a day it is," he remarked, and for the first time, he opened his mind to the Astral Sea. Suddenly, a wave crashed against his soul, storming him with a dense Astral Force that shuttered through the skies and winds.
The Griffen howled, as did the one behind, carrying Ella and Sionn. as Cries from various beasts seemed to resound.
Gobbling the Astral Force from the vortex in his soul that connected him to the Astral Sea, Zariel didn't flinch, much less mince in pain at the almost endless energy storming his soul—tempering it at every moment. His mind grew sharper at each passing of waves against his soul.
Lifting his eyes towards the sun, glaring at him, Zariel arched his hands towards it, and his Qi flared like an erupting volcano, startling the Vampiric lord, who hoisted her head out of the window, watching in awe at the strange energy she couldn't identify.
Her eyes, however, slowly grew wide as she saw something so incredible; she trembled as the very sun in the skies shuttered. As if a force seized it, it quivered.
"I-Impossible!" Theia shouted, only to hear the crackles of demonic laughter that made her skin crawl.
"How I am going to enjoy my rise."