"I…uhh…did?"
Immediately Xen's mind slammed into focus. This is not Ogi. He would not forget his self instilled orders. This is the enemy.
Kai and Sarisa gasped as Xenmaru suddenly vanished, appearing in front of the would-be false Ogi, slamming his modified Stun Alias into the CAST's chest.
"XEN! What are you-
He spoke no words, only placed his left palm on the robot's photoreceptors and launched a blast of electricity into its core, ripping the CAST's body from his blade, and sending it flying into a nearby wall. As the world flickered and distorted in the CAST's view, Xen appeared over him, blade pointed directly at the false Ogi's forehead.
"Speak, construct. Where are your allies? Speak, and I may decide not to erase you. Remember your place, you stand before the God Slayer, the ender of Mother Trinity herself. A false mechanical being such as yourself would be nothing more than a speck of dust on my shoe."
"P-please!" The robot's body sparked with remnant electricity. Its vocabulator shuddered as its logical drives understood who it was that stood before it.
"W-we meant no harm! We…we simply wanted to see…what it was like to be you! You are our heroes, our idols…we…wanted to live your lives…if only for a little bit."
"Explain!"
"In the back…there is…a machine. It can turn…thought into…reality. It can turn you into the form of whoever your idol is. But the transformation is temporary. We wanted to live your lives for a time to see the world as you did…but everyone…they were so rude! They treat you like their personal slaves! Handymen to take care of their every need! Not the valiant hunters you are! It disgusted us! So…forgetting our place…we enacted justice in your forms. We didn't intend for it to go this far…we only wanted a bit of cash to get ourselves going. Anything we did we planned on undoing…but…"
"Enough. Where are your allies." It wasn't a question.
"P-please! I don't-
"Where. Are. Your. Allies."
"…f-further in…p-p-please, d-don't-
"…you are right. Humanity is indeed disgusting. They see us as the keys to solving their problems, without having to face it themselves. They are rude, vulgar, selfish creatures. But at the same time they are capable of wondrous acts of kindness, selflessness, unity. They are worthless, and yet at the same time they are worth more than the world itself. It is this duality that I have come to understand, and now you have as well."
"th-then-
"Your allies will not be slain. Their lives are not worthy of being claimed by my blade. However, I will not forgive them. You have caused someone dear to me to feel violated. And I do not tolerate anything that places the words 'Sarisa' and 'violated' in the same sentence. They will be punished, but they will not be killed."
"th-thank you…"
"You have brought this upon yourself. Engage self-repair routines, construct. Whether we want to or not, I feel we will end up clearing this area of threat."
Xen walked back towards the others, Ogi having returned from the opposite direction the fake came from.
"I seem to have missed something."
"Much. But it is unimportant now. Our targets lay ahead. We must make haste."
Halfway through the plant, they stopped to rest. Xenmaru had been looking at Sarisa a bit oddly recently. The girl had gotten over her shock at Xen's violent defense of her, and returned to her righteous anger, bringing down hordes of mechanical foes with nary a sweat, causing all but Xenmaru himself to struggle to keep up with her furious path of destruction.
Kai and Sarisa had a small argument about her pace, and how she was being clouded by her emotion, an argument that for once, Xen had no part of. She tried to calm herself, while Kai went to scout.
He appeared to return a few minutes later, seemingly staring at Sarisa intently, while she made comment of how he came back quickly.
It was then that both Xenmaru and Ogi realized that the fakers were not as similar to them as they thought. There were differences, besides mannerisms and personalities, that made it clear, at least to those who were not idiots, that the imposters were not who they claimed.
For example, the false Ogi had a single red eye…and now, Kai appeared…only with two scars across his nose, where before there was only one.
"Give us some sugar!"
As the false Kai went to do something to the now surprised Sarisa, he froze in place, finding not just Xenmaru in his path…but his lower regions punctured by his Alias. The false Kai's eyes widened in shock and agony, as Xenmaru twisted his blade.
"GAH!"
After yanking the blade out, amidst a spray of blood, the false Kai dropped to the ground, twitching, and holding his crotch as streams of red flowed between his fingers.
"While I may have promised your friend I would not kill you, I did say you would be punished. Perhaps…this will be a lesson, in case you decide to accost another female. I know not what your false Sarisa does in regards to your advances, nor do I care, but you have made a grave mistake attempting to replicate them upon mine. If I am right, the machine your ally mentioned changes your form into ours, so you should re-gain full use of your sexual organ when the effects of your transformation wear off…but I highly doubt it will be of use to you…after all, the brain can remember even what the body does not."
The real Kai came back, seeing his other on the ground, much like Ogi's was, and once again, Xenmaru in front of Sarisa. A soft green light lanced out from Xenmaru's hand, to the crotch of the prone and shaking false Kai.
"Your wound is healed. You will not bleed out. But the pain will remain. A reminder, that even though you wear the face of one of my allies, you are not he."
He turned to the group. "I believe our resting period has ended. This machine has caused far more damage than it is worth. We will track down the final imposter, and then erase this stupid construct from existence."
The final room, the place they stood off against Reve in. And as before, the final Imposter stood. The false Sarisa's difference was slight, but it was something obvious.
"She doesn't have freckles, faker."
"Wh-what? Oh dammit, it's you guys! Where the hell are the others?!"
"They are incapacitated."
Her eyes widened. Oh…oh shit…
"Not dead. Though they will most likely wish they were."
She stepped back, not liking the look in Xenmaru's eyes. "I-I can explain-
"Save it. We know your story already."
"Th-then-
"I understand. And I must say…your actions have done something quite interesting."
"Wh-what?" She was confused. Hell they all were.
"You've unintentionally unlocked a side of Sarisa that previously I only thought existed. Now it has been proven…and I must say…it is quite…impressive." He spoke softly, while looking at the real Sarisa.
"You have shown me a part of her that was hidden…a part of her that I wonder if even she knew she had…but it is quite enjoyable…very much so."
He nodded to himself, before reluctantly taking his eyes off of the real Sarisa.
"However, you have caused her suffering. Even if not your intention, you have harmed her, and as thankful as I am for this opportunity to see such a…faptastic sight-" Here, the real Sarisa blushed heavily as she understood what Xenmaru was getting at.
"You have still hurt her. And for that, you must be punished."
He blurred over to her, clutching her shoulders in his hands, her eyes wide with shock and fear. He leaned forward…and deeply inhaled.
Everyone was confused, however something in the back of Sarisa's mind said what he was doing was significant.
And it was.
Being that Newman as a whole, were created of some sort of genetic experiment off of the human genome, they were very similar to human beings, save for a few differences. Their physical strength was on a similar level, but their senses, and especially their reflexes, were much higher.
As Xenmaru sighed, and pulled away, his eyes clouded over for a moment, before clearing and locking on to the false Sarisa.
"What did-
"I have your scent, false one. While the machine could indeed replicate our forms, it could not replicate other aspects of us, such as scent. You don't smell like her. You smell like yourself, whoever you are. I have that knowledge now, the trace of your natural scent, in my mind. Wherever you go, I can find you. Besides…the transformation wasn't perfect. Not only did it fail to replicate scent, there are…other aspects that carry over. Your freckles for example. The false Kai bore an X shaped scar on his face, where the real one only has a diagonal slash going left to right, downward. That means the false one's true form either has an X shaped scar on his face, or, a diagonal downward slash from right to left. And the false Ogi has a single red eye.
All I have to do is find beings with those characteristics, and I have found you, any time, any place. Especially since the only way you could pull off being us, is if you traveled together in the first place."
"…incredible…" The false Sarisa's eyes sparkled in adoration. "I always knew you were amazing but this…simply incredible."
He gave her a very small smile. "You wear her face well, false one. Now go. Collect your allies, return to town. Return all that you have taken, and while you still wear the faces of my friends, explain what you have done, and then leave." She stepped back.
"Ahh…one more thing…" Before she could move, he'd lifted her cloak, causing the false Sarisa, and the true one to flush heavily, and slashed a very small X shape over her belly button. Wiping off the small bit of blood from the marking, Xenmaru explained.
"You have now been marked. If I find need of services of your group, that mark will certainly tell me who you are, should you find some way to alter or mask your scent. I've imbued my claws with a type of poison to quickly heal the skin, but leave an obvious scar. Consider a life of being my possible servant, your punishment."
She gaped at him, about to rise to indignation…but realized, she probably got off easy. Xenmaru was a duality in himself. If his allies were in a bind of their own creation, he would turn a blind eye. But if an outside force pushed them into a corner, he would protect them. Violently. It was that duality that sung through the cities, do not threaten his friends. And she and her allies had done just that.
She backed down, and nodded, fleeing past the group. He sighed and steeled himself. Typing a few keys, he de-activated the machine, removing it from the network under the pretence of maintenance. He stepped back.
"Sarisa…I could use your help with this."
The pink haired girl stepped forward.
"Strongest Foie spell we can muster. I'd suggest Zonde, but electricity might trip the remnant security sub-routines within this thing."
Together they summoned a massive sphere of flaming ordinance between them, and hurled it at the construct responsible for the day's troubles. There was a large explosion, and the charred husk of the machine was all that remained.
Kai stepped up. "Good, now that that's been dealt with…"
Sarisa turned to Xenmaru. "What…were you talking about? About me?"
"It…is as I said. Their actions have brought out a side of you I never knew existed, Sarisa." The taller, dark skinned newman approached the red haired girl slowly, an unusual look in his eyes.
"To see you so…focused…so driven…to watch as your eyes hardened against the world, your indignation bringing forth a well of power that previously was only hinted at…to witness you flow so…elegantly, in battle…it was…intoxicating." He had gotten extremely close to her now, staring at her as if seeing her in an entirely new light. She lapped up his words, feeling the raw emotion behind them, the intensity causing her to flush, as her breaths came to her in short, sharp bursts. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, her eyes never leaving his, the mechanical world around them vanishing from her view.
"You moved with a grace I'd never seen before, you weaved technics even more beautifully than my own. Not a single opponent could touch you before you'd already decimated them. To find myself flowing through your echoes of thought, of essence…it was incredible. To watch as you finally let go of your fear, your uncertainty, and give in to your instincts…just simply amazing."
He was practically on top of her now. Kai and Ogi just stared at the young man who had so viciously attacked their clones. The young man who was part of a resistance group against the now defeated Mother Trinity. The young man who had stood against her, 200 years prior, reincarnated due to a miscalculation in the sentient super computer's logical drives.
Sarisa stared as well, her mouth open slightly, her eyes wavering, but never leaving his. His words echoed within the recesses of her mind, striking chords that had long since become slack. Give in…to my instincts…? Let go…
She took a shuddering breath, and for a second closed her eyes.
Let go…
And in a move that surprised all of them, herself included, she found herself grasping his cheeks in her hands, before placing her lips upon his. Letting go of her fear, her worries of rejection, her concerns about the age gap, his many 'lessons' ringing through her soul, she finally revealed her feelings for him, in one simple action.
And he responded. He slid his arms around her slender waist, pulling her closer to his body, and she retaliated by throwing her arms around his neck, holding the two together, wrapped in a solid embrace of passion.
Because of those imposters, because they wished to see what it was like to be their heroes, she had broken through the final barrier between herself, and the young man that held her heart.
The CAST and Human stared blankly at the two lip-locking newmen.
"I believe, if I had a head capable of facial expression, this would be where I would stare wide-eyed and gaping." Ogi spoke.
Kai responded in kind. "Dude…I think I've got enough of that going for both of us right now."
"Indeed."
The two pulled back slightly, the younger of them taking a gulp, surprised by the immense levels of heat rushing through her small form.
"Xen…I-
She began to whisper, but he cut her off by placing a single finger upon her lips.
"Later…my dear. Let us speak of this after we return to the town. While your spectacular display has lead us to clear out many of our foes, we are still in the enemy's nest. We shall speak more, freely, when we are safe."
She nodded, reluctantly pulling away from him, and unconsciously fixing the small creases in her cloak. She turned to the other two, to see Kai still gaping open mouthed, which caused another flare of her cheeks, as she tried to shrink in upon herself.
"Kai, I do believe that if your mouth remains open like that, you'll more than likely end up swallowing a few nano-flies. And unlike what I heard about normal surface aerial insects, these don't taste like chicken."
Immediately the scarred gunblade user closed his mouth. "R-right. I guess we can go then?"
As the group made their way back to the teleporter, to return to civilization, Sarisa's mind too, went back. Back to the events of the past few months, as well as her personal history with the man she just made out with.
Back then…he was aloof, a loner. He had no parents, though many attempts to locate them were made. It was a tight knit colony under the Mother's Teachings, so for one to suddenly show up at the academy and have no history…it was interesting. He quickly became the center of attention, his skills with a blade becoming that of legend. But even though she and Xenmaru would converse sometimes, she always got the distinct feeling he was…flawed.
It embarrassed her to feel that way about a friend, but her senses kept screaming that the way he moved, the way he spoke…there was something…missing. He kept to himself mostly, going along with the teachings and the lessons, but never fully applying himself to them. Knowing now that he was part of the secret resistance against the Mother, she could understand how he wasn't swayed by the notion that Humans were the cause of everything. But even then, she came to realize that he didn't exhibit any signs of being part of the resistance, much like some of the other members she recognized from their classes together. There was no tenseness about him, just calm, indifference.
The girls thought it was sexy. At the time, she believed herself too young to consider such things, and brushed it off. Though, she would admit to fantasizing occasionally about the prodigal newman. His hair, while not a foreign color in their race, was definitely unique in its own right.
She never broke through the obvious shell around him, but that she was allowed within its walls occasionally, even if never fully, was enough for her. It sated her slight crush on the youth, and made her happy to know she had something the other harpies didn't.
But all that changed.
When she found him, on the Earth in the city of Dairon, wandering around like a lost child, she was shocked but pleased. Her pleasure turned to despair as she learned that he held no memory of her, or even who he was. It quickly became apparent that he wasn't kidding, and what was once a filled portion of her heart became an empty void.
She had lost her best friend.
But she held strong, deciding that perhaps by staying with him, he would remember. She dragged him along on her mission to meet Kai in the Ozette Wetlands, chattering away about nonsensical topics the entire time. His skills with a blade, as a whole, were no different. But his fighting style had changed. Where before he would simply dive into a fight, here, he was like water. He weaved both blade and body in an intricate dance of death, saber darting out the second an opening was found, cutting down waves of enemies in single strokes. Half the time she could barely get a Barta off, before he'd taken down half their targets.
When she mentioned he fought differently, he just shrugged, replying he did what came natural to him. She had timidly asked if he wanted to know anything about himself, but he shrugged again.
"I have a name, and a mission. Apparently I'm decent with a blade, and spells. That's enough for me."
It hurt again, to hear him basically say "I don't care." But she pushed it aside. Although, she would freely admit it was at that point she was actively cursing the drop pods in her mind.
Then came that damnable octopus. It was the first time anyone, or anything had gotten close to touching her there. It tickled, but at the same time she felt horribly wrong.
And then he acted.
She came to realize, she must have either done or said something right, because his eyes lit up in fury from her cries, and he moved. If she had blinked, she would have missed it. In seconds she was dropping from her raised position, the giant tentacled beast having one of its appendages severed in a single swipe. The speed at which he'd moved she had never witnessed before, even from Captain Reve, who was one of the few people who could defeat Xenmaru in one on one combat.
For a second, she thought he remembered. But of course, he didn't.
"Though I refuted many of your attempts, you still offered to help me when I was lost. It only felt right that I protect you, by way of returning the favor. I will continue to protect you…in advance penance for anything I might ask of you about myself."
After she, Xenmaru and Kai had gotten to seeing the city a bit more, she began to see how he had changed. He was still a loner, detaching himself from her and Kai during their tour. He was still indifferent, as he'd shrug off someone's thanks, or simply not care about the emotion behind a mission. But he was compassionate, in his own way. He would help someone, if they tripped in front of him. He would suddenly drop a few meseta, if someone seemed frustrated they couldn't buy a weapon they needed to protect themselves and their family, because they were simply a few short.
He was…odd. Odder than he was before. But it hit her. He seemed…whole. It was as if losing his memories allowed him to finally become who he was meant to be. She continued to watch him, noting his vicious attacks against any who would even come near her with the intent to harm. How slowly those defenses grew to cover Kai's back, then Ogi's. His responses, when someone would try to press upon the importance of a lesson or moral within a mission or story. How he would respond whenever Kai or Ogi, or even herself, would throw their thanks upon him when he'd save them from a potentially fatal situation or attack.
"Keep your thanks. I'm just here to kill shit. If you people get saved in the process, that's just a bonus for me. I wont always be around to cover your asses."
Though vulgar, his words were true. And together, they all grew as a team. She suppressed a giggle when she thought of the time Reve had pushed him too far.
"Look, Captain Fagtastic. I don't remember a damn thing about you, your mother, the moon or whatever the hell mission I'm supposedly on. As far as I'm concerned you're bullshitting me. I get the feeling you've got skills, but honestly, I don't care about you or your little tiff with Sarisa. I don't know who I was, but I'm not him anymore. I'm me. So suck it up and deal with it. I don't know what you've been taught in this damn academy you keep blathering about, but it sounds like total ass. If Sarisa's right, nobody's even seen this 'Mother' of yours, only heard from her, supposedly. Anyone with an actual brain would realize that's just a wee bit off, no? But then again, considering you dress like a damn bunny-girl, I can't say I'm too confident about your mental state."
As he went on, Sarisa recalled feeling horrified he'd say such things, while hearing Kai roaring with laughter as Xenmaru spoke his piece, all with a straight face. He truly believed in his words. Of course, that didn't go over well, but once again, Xenmaru rose to the challenge, and together they absolutely trounced Reve. She recalled his parting comments, and her reaction.
"Maybe if you'd take your head out of your damn mother's cooch some time you'd see the bullshit around you-ow! Dammit woman what the hell was that for?!"
As they entered the teleporter, Sarisa recalled Kai's apparent death, and Xenmaru's reaction to seeing the planet from the moon.
"Hey…what's that big blue thing?"
She blinked at him. "Umm…the Earth?"
"…oh."
And the subsequent events of Reve showing up with his army.
"Oh look it's Gaylord Focker and his Dormitory of Dangling Dongs."
Everyone stared at him.
"What?! I don't see a single woman among that group! It's obvious he's a poofter!"
Oh how absolutely Livid Reve was at that. Sarisa would admit, it was almost worth nearly dying to see the usually unflappable captain all flustered like that. That slight mirth died when she found out the truth behind her people, and seeing Mother's cruelty first hand didn't help matters. But…the first sign that Xenmaru may not have been on their side appeared not long after that. Upon hearing Sarisa's accusations of Mother's cruelty, Xenmaru simply turned a blank gaze upon her, and spoke words that at this time, she was certain gave even Mother Trinity pause.
"…why the hell are you complaining?"
Sarisa, no, everyone stared at him. Even over the comms, Ana and Mother Trinity were suddenly listening with rapt attention.
"Seriously, the damn idea makes perfect sense, looking at it from her logic. She was tasked to save the world. The World. Not the human race, not the newman race, not casts, and not humanity as a whole. The planet. Really, people need to pay attention to these things. Computers aren't human. Computers aren't flesh and blood creatures ruled by instinct and emotion. They know only what they are programmed to know, and learn only what their commands allow them to learn. She was tasked to save the world. Seeing humanity as a whole polluting and practically raping the world's form, and deciding the only way to save the world would to be to wipe them out makes perfect sense. She's a computer. Logically, the best idea would to be take the problem out at its root. So she did. Honestly, they killed themselves when they forgot she wasn't human, and therefore would think with hard logic and not emotion like they would."
Their trust in him was shaken from then on, their minds and hearts not ready to comprehend the truth in his words. And it only got worse when they finally confronted Mother Trinity herself, the supercomputer repeating what she'd said before.
"I still say it makes perfect sense." Xenmaru said out of nowhere. Again, they stared at him, tredeptation in their eyes.
"Oh don't give me those looks. If I was gonna betray you people you'd all be dead already. Really now, pay attention. The plan is perfect. Destroy the humans, wipe the CAST's memories, send a chunk of newmans to the moon, let the planet heal, drop the newmans back on Earth, let the human race come back a bit, reprogram the CASTs, make sure everyone is controlled in a way that they wont repeat their mistakes from before, and she's fulfilled her directive. And if it fails, she can just wipe the slate clean and try again until it works. I mean sure, eventually the planet wont heal any further, I mean a celestial body can only take so many bombardments by orbital fuck-off lasers, but until it's uninhabitable entirely, the plan is sound. It's fucked up and genocidal, but it works fine. The biggest flaw is the previously mentioned eventuality of the planet just giving everyone a giant FUCK ALL OF YOU and refusing to heal any further. But considering that flaw would take probably a couple thousand years before it became a high possibility, if spotted before it's formed, it's possible to come up with a counter, so all in all, the plan was indeed perfect."
Mother Trinity stared at him, confused and interested.
"Then why do you fight me?!"
"Because while I love the snarky attitude, and the irony that you've become far more human than your logic drives will allow you to admit to yourself, you're trying to kill me. And I don't feel like dying right now." He drew his blade.
"Don't get me wrong, I've come to enjoy the company of these guys, but it's not my place to save their lives. Everyone is responsible for their own actions, their own lives. I'm not doing this for them. I'm doing this for me. Call me a selfish bastard if you want, at least I'll be alive, to become more than a selfish bastard, while you'll be dead, unable to do anything but rot in the ground."
And indeed, she thought to herself, body re-materializing in the teleport hall of Dairon, it was a selfish notion. But she'd finally understood how he worked. He did stuff for his own desires, but was more than happy to allow his actions to help someone else. He was a loner, but he would reach out to others by pointing out their flaws in a way that wasn't accusational, or insulting, but merely as if speaking of the weather, a way that showed people their mistakes from another point of view. He would help people become stronger, simply by doing what he wanted.
And then came the final battle.
Xen charged up a fist full of electricity. He had one shot, and he had to make it count.
"HEY! TRINITY!" The would-be Goddess locked eyes with Xenmaru, logical drives fried by the unexpected emotions awakening in her, she missed the crackling of power in his left hand.
"Your mother's a porn gif."
She lashed out, Xenmaru jumping back to avoid the sudden thrust of her arm. He capitalized on the dust, running up her arm like a ramp, leaping off as she swatted at him, crushing her own appendage in the process. As her vocabulator roared in agony, he slammed his fist into her face, lighting her form with heavy torrents of electricity. Her body shuddered and buckled under the sparks falling back as he landed deftly on the platform where they did battle.
As she dropped into the depths of the shrine, the others began cheering. When the waves of darkness came, Xen was the only one who had remained stoic. "What is this?!"
Dark Falz.
The force behind everything. The supposed reason why Mother Trinity became corrupted to the point where she'd consider her plan feasible. Its vaguely humanoid form stood before them, bidding Xenmaru to join it, to become its next vessel, to sow the seeds of chaos into the world.
Though her trust in her once best friend had repeatedly been shaken, Sarisa threw those thoughts away, rising to her friend's defense, claiming he'd never join with something like the darkness before them. However, when she spoke for affirmation, her only response was Xen silently drawing his blade.
As they approached the quest counter, she recalled how difficult that battle was. Dark Falz was no joke. Its power was unimaginable, able to bend reality to its will. Xenmaru had taken full command however, something he'd never done before. At first, only Sarisa listened, leaning on the remnants of her trust and feelings for him. Because of that, they nearly died. But when he came along and punched Kai in the face, after saving him from a deadly beam, chewing him out for being an idiot, they all listened.
His commands were flawless. A side of him never seen before emerged, a tactician, a commander, a leader. Before, it was Kai doing the leading. Xenmaru quickly proved himself to be even more competent than the experienced hunter. Each tactic, when executed, kept them all safe, all of them in prime condition, prime position to strike to evade to defend. He was their eyes when they were blind to what was around them, he was their ears when they could not hear the ray of death coming for them. He was their lifeline, and he weaved them perfectly.
But Sarisa slipped up. She tripped, a freak moment, something that only occurred due to random chance. Through no fault of her own, she had screwed up. And she was going to die. Until he changed everything.
She looked up, seeing the incoming body of the giant deformed demon elephant about to crash down upon her. She closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. She had failed him. And because of that, she would die.
"ENOUGH!"
His voice cut through the battlefield. Dark Falz form instantly shifted to its humanoid shape, seconds before impact. She opened her eyes, everyone looked at him in shock, his commanding voice suddenly halting the battle.
"I've seen enough." He continued. The entity of darkness turned itself, 'facing' the dark skinned newman.
"I am one who honors the grace of Chaos." He began. Nobody could speak. Their mouths moved, Ogi's vocabulator stopped working, no sound.
"I am one who understands the power, the notion, the ideal of Discord."
Everyone stared, shuddering, fearful.
"I am one who believes in the importance, the beauty, of Dissonance."
Pressure built around them.
"Dark Falz…"
He spoke the words that would damn them all.
"I accept your power."
If it had a face, the entity would have smiled. "Then let us be one."
Wisps of shadow wafted off the creature, the distorted realm created by its power falling apart as darkness engulfed Xenmaru's body. He flinched in obvious pain, but made no sound, dropping to his knees as power beyond imagination grafted itself to his very being.
…but something was wrong.
The entity remained whole. Something it was quick to point out. "Strange…why…do I not…feel…unison…?"
"S-seriously…" Xen spoke. His raspy voice carrying through the silence. "Does…nobody pay attention…in this damn…stupid world?"
He slowly climbed to his feet. The shadows had completely bonded with him. His hair fluttered in an unfelt wind, power emitting from his very existence. All that was left was the form of Dark Falz.
"I said I accepted your power…" Shadows wrapped around his back. Dark Falz took a step backward, in obvious fear of the sudden superior smirk on the newman's face.
"I never said I accepted you."
And he vanished.
In the blink of an eye, his right hand was wrapped around the humanoid form of Dark Falz's head. Xenmaru's new control over the shadows corrupting the once immortal entity with his will, turning what should have been an intangible being into a solid form. He pushed with all his might, slamming Dark Falz's head into the ground with a sickening crunch, the force of the blow causing the entity's body to bounce upwards into the air.
Xenmaru appeared above the entity, hands at his back, where shadows grew prominent. He seemed to tense, to struggle to pull something out…and then…
X
He landed on the ground, behind where Dark Falz now stood suspended in the air as a bright red X was carved into its form, two blades held in Xenmaru's hands.
The once eternal entity shuddered as its existence was being erased by its own power.
"HOW?!"
Xenmaru spoke words, that to this day, would forever reside in the hearts of all who were present, physically, and not.
"Chaos…is not evil. Discord…Dissonance…it's all the result of two ideals clashing. The clash does not have to be negative, or positive. It just has to exist, and Chaos…True Chaos…is born. Chaos is life, it is death, it is everything in between. It is thought, it is speech, it is existence itself. Chaos is not good or bad, up or down, right or wrong…it is everything and nothing at the same time. It is possibility in it's purest form…and that…oh once Timeless One…is the lesson you have failed to learn. And from failing that lesson…you now end…by the hand of the Chaos you so believed you controlled."
From that moment forth, everyone understood Xenmaru. He was a being of Chaos, a bringer of Dissonance, Discord, of Balance. He was an existence all of himself. And that, Sarisa realized, is why nobody imitated him. Not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't. Nobody could emulate him, let alone imitate him. And as the others spoke to Grey, she came to understand: that is why she loved him. Because he was himself. He was his own person, living by his way, his rules…
Rules that ended up working in the favor of others. She quickly recalled Kai's tale of the mission he and Xenmaru went on the week prior to this one. How they were tasked with watching the children in Paru's field, to show them first hand what it was like to be a hunter. Kai said he'd made a major mistake, one that he now realized could have ruined those children's chances of becoming competent hunters, all because he lost his focus.
"What you think I'm going to praise you?! NO! You went against direct orders and put us all in da-
He was cut off. He silenced himself as suddenly Xenmaru's Alias was at his throat, the hand holding it steady. The two children gasped with shock when the newman drew his blade quick as lightning and pointed it threateningly at his own ally.
"Ignore the ramblings of this fool, children. He is doing something one should never do, and allowing his emotions to cloud his judgment. Allow me, to speak for him. Thank you, children."
They all looked at him, confused.
"Though you disobeyed orders and acted against what was instructed, you verily well have saved our lives in the process."
"Wh-what?! How did-
"Look at him, fool! Did you not pay attention to the children's words? Did they not claim themselves, that they found him sneaking around during the battle? This is a human you ignorant simpleton! A being capable of advanced thought, intelligence, instinct and tactics! The moment we saw him we should have suspected him to be leading us into a trap! We may have saved the world but some hold power, and some seek it. They who do will stop at nothing to rid themselves of those who hold more power than they do, and we are two of the most famous and powerful hunters on the planet. Did you not think once, that perhaps he had purposefully set that mechanical beast upon us, as a distraction? Rather than threaten the children, did you not think he may have sought to wait until our guard was lowered, and strike us down from the shadows?! While they ignored your orders, they acted as any proper hunter should, and regardless of whether or not they understood the feelings flowing through them, they saw a potential threat to our lives and removed it from the equation before it could become reality!"
Kai's eyes widened further and further as Xenmaru spoke. The frustrated newman's words rang true in the human's mind, and his eyes flicked to the children, faces streaked with the remnants of tears. Tears he had caused because he lost control of his emotions. His words made sense, he hadn't taken into account that the raider may have been an enemy, his natural trust in humanity blinding him to the truth that some people would do anything to further themselves.
"And imagine, even if his intent wasn't to slay us. Imagine if his goal was the children? Your orders for them to stay hidden may have kept them safe from the battle, but because we failed to secure the raider's position before sending the children into hiding, effectively we placed them at risk!" He slowly lowered his blade, turning soft eyes to the kids.
"And for that, I apologize. I am at fault for allowing his orders to remain unchallenged. I deferred to his experience in dealing with you two, and your relationship with him, rather than relied upon my own instincts, and for that I am sorry."
As the speech processed in the kids minds, he turned a frown back to Kai.
"I had thought you to have learned your lesson, of acting on emotion rather than clearing your mind and seeing the whole picture. I was under the impression that you had grown. It seems I was wrong. You are still the same foolish child that got his friends killed because of his own hubris. Come, children. We shall return to town. Let this failure of a man deal with that he has created himself."
Gently grasping the kids shoulders, he steered them away from Kai, and to the direction of the teleporter, leaving the scarred hunter alone with the unconscious raider…and his guilty thoughts.
Sarisa had echoed Xen's statement of Kai's foolishness, but also sympathized with him in saying perhaps Xen was a bit too harsh upon him. But Kai refuted her claim, understanding that being that cold, that forceful was his way of shoving your failures in your face, so you would have no choice but to witness them. To force you to face yourself, and grow, was Xen's way. The way of Chaos. When he said that, she understood. She loved him.
And now, if she was right…if the days events proved anything…
He…
Was now Hers.
A/N: This is just something i thought up while doing the Two Sets of Hunters quest in PSZero. i wrote out a little of it while on the quest, and then today it just evolved into an entire ficlet. i hope you enjoy, and dont mind the spoilers. it's also my variation on what could have been, in the Newman story.