Chapter 20

Epicenter

Ignis's P.O.V.

"Everyone!"

I shouted urgently as the factory started to crumble under the weight of the collapsing walls. The others were hurrying frantically to me as the factory crumbled seemingly right behind Lemon, who was trailing the group. I could see genuine fear in her eyes as I waited tensely for them to get to me, which meant safety for them. Along with the crumbling, I could smell something foul, which meant something of the same usually followed, Emperor was the first to reach me, but he seemed hurt. I wanted to ask if he was ok, but he usually never answered me, so I left him to his business.

"If all of you wish to live, then get behind me!"

I yelled tensely as the last individual stood behind me. I lowered my body sideways to the ground and dug my claws into the earth. I knew that I was heavy, but I knew from the past that synthetic explosions could cause calamitous amounts of damage. I watched the building crumble while the sirens blared and the smell continued to get worse. My eyes were watering and my vision was becoming wavy from the tears that I was shedding. Right after my first tear hit the ground, the explosion ripped through the area, but not how I imagined it would. I watched as the air around us became denser and it formed into lines that flew into the rubble. I raised my head a little to see if anything else was going to happen, and in that moment, my vision went white as something that shook me to my very core went through the area. The blast blinded and deafened me for a moment as the shockwave impacted my body. I knew the top half of my body was nearly indestructible, but the bottom of my body was very weak. The shockwave sent waves of cold down my body as I struggled to keep myself anchored to the ground. After what felt like revolutions, the explosion finally started dying down and the heat along with the waves of pain started to dissipate, but slowly.

"I wonder what that was?"

I heard one of them ask as I fell on my back from exhaustion. This got worried gasps from the others as they ran to my side. Emperor was the first to arrive at my side, and I smiled weakly.

"I did the best that I could; was it enough?"

I asked quietly as I closed my eyes so I could catch my breath. Emperor nodded slightly as he looked me up and down.

"You gonna be ok?"

He asked seriously as his gaze settled on mine again.

"I will be, but i'll need some time to recuperate"

I murmured as I righted myself and shook the dust and dirt off of my body, sending the surrounding area into smoke and dust. It was then that I noticed that Lemon was shaking slightly. Emperor looked at her oddly while the High Councils conversed.

"What's with you this time?"

He asked tensely as she pulled at the wires that ran around her fingers. I knew this was a nervous habit for her, but what kept her so occupied with nervousness all the time? I asked myself this a lot, only to be confused by some of the things that I came up with. Lemon looked at the ground for a moment before she sighed.

"Mercury….he…"

She said quietly along with a quiet sob that escaped her mouth as she started to tear up. Emperor angled her head up to look at him. His face was tense and his expression inquisitive.

"What happened to him?"

He asked quietly, which got the attention of Master Keel and ThunderHead, who looked angry.

"Get your hands off of her!"

She growled, walking menacingly up to Emperor. Her steps left cracks in the ground and lighting chains crawled up and down her body as something glowed in her left eye as she placed herself in front of him.

"He's not hurting me ThunderHead"

Lemon replied quietly as she stood up and shook his hand off of her.

I have no idea how they can stay together when there's so much tension

I marveled as I felt an energy start to become present. It felt like the Earth Element, along with tension and fear.

But what would have emotions such as these?

I thought as something caught my attention. It appeared at the lower left side of my left eye. I turned my head to look, and when I did, I knew there was a problem at our hands.

"Emperor?"

I asked nervously, and I heard the conversations stop as I felt all of the gazes shift to what I was looking at.

"I see it"

Emperor confirmed tensely as I braced myself for a attack.

"I told you it would happen like this!"

Ruin growled as he got into his fighting stance, which shook the ground for a moment as I looked at what I thought was the reason for these emotions I was sensing.

"Is this was you were talking about?"

ThunderHead asked tensely as I felt a magic field manifest around us as I continued to look at the disfigured creature in front of me. The melting body, the shining claws and the Pale Yellow eyes that seemingly stared into my soul scared me to no end.

"I'm not sure that ice cream is supposed to look like that"

I heard Slayer murmur to himself as the creature started to speak.

"I applaud all of your efforts at preserving your life, but I cannot allow you to leave"

The creature stated as it manifested a wall behind us.

"You have some nerve trying to challange me again!"

Ruin yelled as he darted forward.

"No Ruin, don't!"

Emperor called tensely, but as Ruin usually did, he didn't listen and drove a kick into the creature's chest. I could hear the sickening thud as his kick hit its mark, but what I didn't hear was the grunt of pain that usually followed. Instead, the creature's eyes flashed and Ruin disappeared behind the melting creature. Now, a burning Orange and Red symbol appeared on the creature's back at it looked over its shoulder at something that was on its back.

"This'll be useful"

It commented as Emperor stood next to me. I could feel his tension as Master Keel stood on the opposite side of me as I slowed my breathing.

"Ruin fought me after I awoke my true power; it's such a shame that he had to lose"

The creature said with mock sadness as he looked at Emperor coldly.

"Despite my cries for help, you didn't help me"

The creature stated coldly as it started going through some hand gestures that confused me. I could hear Emperor's breathing becoming quicker and more tension in the area as ThunderHead finally snapped under the tension.

"It wasn't his fault!"

She yelled, getting the attention of the creature, who looked confused now.

"Who might you be?"

It asked as she walked to stand in front of the small line that Master Keel, Emperor and I had made. Emperor growled slightly as something on his arm started to emit light.

"Mercury, I know that you wanted life, but our technology wasn't there yet"

ThunderHead started, but Mercury cut her off.

"You failed me, so now, I'm going to take revenge for your ignorance to my cries for help!"

He shouted, his thought process obviously clouded by anger. He finished the gestures and something Black and wavy in color formed in front of him just as Emperor launched at this iteration of Mercury. He was caught off guard by Emperor's speed and he landed an uppercut that sent his head back with a sick cracking sound. I was afraid that the same thing would happen to Emperor, but Mercury jerked his head down, retaliated with the same attack and Emperor staggered backwards a short distance before rubbing his head a little.

"Emperor, you're playing into his hands!"

Master Keel started tesnely, but either Emperor didn't hear him or he didn't care as I saw him wind up his right arm.

"I don't care; he needs to die for his arrogance and insolence!"

He seethed as he launched again. Mercury drew back his left arm and the two impacted the center of the Black shimmering mass, which sent the both of them skidding backwards and the area into smoke, ashes, rock shards, and dust. The wall behind us shattered from the force of the impact, and along with the sound of the explosion, I could hear something yelling, but the loudness was descending, as if something was entering existence. After the smoke had dissipated, I rubbed my eyes for a moment before I saw something that made chills run down my body.

"Am I seeing this correctly?"

Slayer asked as I saw something that looked like Slayer, but it wasn't the same. Instead of Orange and Yellow in random places along its body, there was a Blue and Purple coloration, along with its head, which seemed to look the same as Slayer's, but it was missing the frill. It was more muscular than him as well, and when it turned its head to look at me specifically, its Iris was Yellow, with an Orange pupil.

"Oh, it seems that I haven't introduced this fine individual yet!"

Mercury said mockingly with the same expression on his face as he looked at what seemed to be an inverted version of Slayer. This version of Slayer looked like it meant business; a stark contrast to the Slayer that was drinking lemonade behind me.

"This is Contrast, the individual that is going to help me eliminate all of you"

Mercury declared with an insane smile on his face, which was very similar, if not the same one that Contrast was giving. Its teeth were long, jagged and serrated, which continued to make me wonder just how much we were getting into.

"Your wish is my command Master Mercury"

Contrast stated as his face went back to normal, but it kept looking at me weirdly. Mercury laughed quietly, but evilly and it was in this moment that I had a plan, but it would require something that I wasn't sure that could happen since I no longer had the Earth Claw Fragment. Emperor usually didn't like my ideas, so I wasn't sure that I wanted to say anything.

"It is, and my first command is to kill them all"

Mercury said coldly, nearly on the borderline of no emotion. Contrast looked over its shoulder at Mercury, who smiled cruelly.

"Kill them all?"

It asked with what I thought was incredulity. I could see Contrast's eye flash for a moment as what seemed to be a mix of anticipation and glee went through its eye. Mercury nodded slightly.

"Yes, and I will take care of the rest"

He said as he got into a fighting stance, but at that moment, something burst through Mercury's chest, which made him scream in agony, which was odd considering that I thought his body couldn't be harmed. The Metal Claw Fragment was ripped from his finger and whatever did this brought an Axe-Kick to the back of his head, which made another sick cracking sound go through the area, which got the attention of Contrast, who had already readied itself to launch at me. Mercury's head hit the ground and the individual of Sapphire Blue jammed his foot into Mercury's head, and it made a squishing sound as his foot went through his head and cracked the ground under it.

"You've officially run out of time dinosaur"

The individual stated flatly, and this made Master Keel gasp. Other gasps followed this one as I finally recognised who this was.

"Marine!?"

We asked incredulously as he shook his left foot slightly as if he was in pain. He then looked at us crossly for a moment, and when he saw Emperor, his eyes widened slightly.

"He was a pain anyways"

He stated flatly with the same edge as Contrast bared its teeth at him.

"You're gonna pay for that!"

It seethed as it shook for a moment as if something was struggling inside of it when something shot past me. It was long and thin, but oddly, I could feel energy signatures coming from whatever these were. I watched these objects fly through the air so fast, they blurred as they wrapped around Contrast.

"Wow; didn't know you could do that!"

Marine exclaimed as I looked over my shoulder at what made these wires, and when I saw who it was, I was mildly astounded.

"Lemon; what are you doing!?"

Emperor hissed angrily as I met Lemon's empty stare. Her eyes seemed normal, but she seemed to be frozen in time. She stood in place, unmoving, but the wires around her hands glowed slightly. I then looked back at Contrast, who was in the same state, unmoving and still.

"What's going on here!?"

chamilio asked tensely as we looked at Master Keel, who was looking tensely at Lemon.

"Lemon has done something very dangerous; a spell that links the minds of those who are connected by those wires"

He murmured tensely as I looked back at Lemon. I knew of this magic spell; it was more dangerous than the others thought and I thought that Master Keel said it the way that he did only to make the others less tense.

"Why would she do something like this!?"

ThunderHead growled as she looked at the claws on her right hand. While I wondered why she had done this, I saw Abyss edging around me. I paid no attention to this as I thought this action was justified with a proper reason, but as the thought that followed contradicted this, a clashing sound broke into my thoughts as my gaze settled on Abyss, who seemed to have attempted to cut the wires that connected Contrast and Lemon.

'What do you think you're doing!?"

A new voice asked as I shook my head my head in shock and incredulity. Of everyone that I knew here, this voice wouldn't belong to anyone that was here since I had never heard an individual with a voice like this speak before. That's what I thought anyways as I looked at the thick tail that has Abyss's right clawed hand in it. The Dark Claw Fragment was glowing brightly and what seemed the be the veins of the creature that stopped Abyss was glowing the same unworldly Purple with White flecks of something that rose from the glowing scales of this creature. It was then that the name of this individual came back to me when I asked myself what could stop Abyss.

"Juggernaut!"

Master Keel, Chamilio and I breathed as Abyss unhooked his claws from Juggernaut's tail.

"I had not stopped you at the moment that I did, not only would have Lemon died, but Contrast as well"

He started as he lowered his tail and swiveled one of his eyes to look at Master Keel, who was staring, open mouthed at everything that had just happened. When I looked back at him, he shook his head for a moment before closing his mouth and sighing quietly.

"This is indeed a bad situation"

He murmured as Juggernaut went back to Master Keel's side as Master Keel went to the wires that connected Contrast and Lemon again. Something that I found odd was the fact that Mercury had not returned yet, and by observing his current state along with knowledge of the Metal Claw Fragment abilities, this is what confused me. The other thing that confused me even more was the change in Marine's behavior. Usually, he was calm and collected, but to see him like this now was very peculiar. It was right after this thought that I saw Contrast shudder for a moment before the wires snapped, sending both Lemon and the inverted Slayer back a short distance.

"Watch what you do evil me, or else i'll"

Slayer started, but Contrast cut him off. Before he could say anything more.

"You'll what? I'm you and you are me!"

Contrast retaliated abrasively while Slayer stood in front of me, facing what I thought was his inversion.

"How can I be you if you are me?"

He thought aloud, getting a facepalm as a response from Contrast. Slayer looked up at the sky, and by his expression, I thought he was waiting for an answer to fall from the sky, which was odd.

"You are, are you!?"

Slayer said suddenly, making me flinch as he snapped his fingers and looked back at Contrast, who didn't look that impressed.

"Just for now, I'm not going to kill you"

Contrast started as it turned around and looked at the remaining puddle of Mercury that was on the ground behind it.

"What I'm going to do is avenge my master, but not now"

It seethed as it took some of the puddle on the ground into what looked like a large cup and disappeared into the the factory again.

"No fight!?"

Ruin growled as I saw something shining dully on Slayer's neck. The color was a dull Silver color, which was similar to Gold's pupils, but not the same. I heard someone sigh heavily as Ruin stormed off in the opposite direction, obviously irritated by something.

"If anyone else wants to follow me to the next Claw Fragment, you're welcome to!"

He growled, causing me to look over my shoulder at him. Red mist was coming from his scales and falling to the ground as he walked at a fast pace from our direction. I looked back at Emperor, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Emperor?"

Lemon asked, tapping his shoulder lightly. Emperor flinched, which caused Lemon to flinch in response.

"What is it!?"

Emperor replied evenly as I saw the Chameleon High Council start to follow Ruin. as Master Keel walked past me, something seemed to shine weakly on his front right clawed hand.

What could that be!?

I asked myself tensely as Emperor looked up at me.

I'm not sure if I'm right, but my body is screaming at me, thinking it's a claw fragment, but that can't be right since the power is greater than that of the Claw Fragment itself!?

I thought in delirium as I finally heard someone calling my name.

"Ignis!"

The familiar voice called in anger. In response, I shook my head slightly and looked back at Emperor, who was looking angrily up at me. The odd symbol on his upper arm was glowing slightly; it took my attention for a moment before I locked my gaze with his strong one.

"How many times must I call you!? Are you hard of hearing?"

He asked me angrily. I knew that he had the right to be angry with me, but I couldn't be sure why he was.

"Anyways, I know that you can speak with the earth; can you tell me what Lemon and Contrast were able to see when they were…"

His voice trailed off at the end of the sentence for some reason, and I thought it was because he didn't know what to call the link between them.

"I beleive it's called"

NorthWind started, but Emperor was quick with his response.

"Don't interrupt me!"

He growled at her, turning his strong gaze from me as I saw some of the scales on his upper arm were starting to become Black in color.

"Unless you have something important to say, I suggest that you"

He started when something flashed a bright Purple color that sent a shockwave of Dark Energy through the area, sending me off balance. I could hear the nervous and pained cries of the others as I rolled across the ground. I impacted the door and pain coursed over me. It was odd that I could feel pain since my body didn't have any nerves; it was then the following thought made me go numb.

The shockwave, the pain and the negative feeling can mean only one thing!

I thought nervously as I opened my blurry eyes to see something that looked like Ruin, but held more power and was exuding more negativity than John.

"This is more like it!"

The voice crowed as I felt something grab my neck and bring me up into the air. My vision was still blurry, but the individual that had me in a crushing grasp seemed to look like Abyss, but slightly different.

"Earth Claw Fragment, surrender your power to me so I can make my grand return!"

The individual practically commanded me. I didn't know how to respond; I didn't have the Claw Fragment, but I wasn't sure if this individual would believe me. I knew that if I lost my physical body here, I could revert to my Elemental Form, but that too had a weakness; that power could be absorbed.

And the individual that absorbs my power can use it for whatever they wished it to

I thought nervously as I clenched my teeth from the pain.

"That time, I asked nicely; the next time, I'm going to pry it from your dead corpse, what will it be!?"

The voice asked angrily as I started gasping for breath. Through my now wavering vision, I could make out something that looked like something that was similar to Abyss, but had elements of someone that I wished never to have seen again. Upon this realization, I opened my mouth slightly and was able to breath something very quietly.

"I….Don't…..have it"

I wheezed, causing the individual to look at me oddly. His one Red eye and the other eye that had a large Blue ring, a smaller Orange ring and a even smaller Red ring that seemed to pierce through my body and into my very soul glowed slightly in the darkness.

"Are you lying to me!?"

He yelled, causing me to flinch as he tightened his grip on my neck, which started to crack my scales and I could feel the pain as they broke. The individual brought his face close to mine, and it was then that I could feel my energy draining, which sent me into panic.

"Then who does!?"

The individual seethed as I started losing feeling to my body.

"Let...him...go!"

I heard a familiar voice growl. Still holding onto my neck, the individual looked away from me in the direction of the voice. When the two locked eyes, the individual's eyes widened and he dropped me as if I wasn't of any importance anymore. I impacted the ground, sending the area into a Light Brown haze that partially obscured my view of who the other individual was. Although the haze partially obscured my view of him, I could tell from the Dark Energy, a partial strain from the Seishin No Nikushimi and Light Claw Fragment power that this couldn't be anyone other than an individual that was capable of unparalleled destruction.

"Emperor the Yoshi; It's been some time!"

The voice called out. The individual's eyes, along with Emperor's now glowing Red eyes lit up the surrounding haze.

"You'll regret showing your face again!"

He yelled as he went through some hand motions that resulted in something that looked like the Reborn materialize in front of him, but it was different. Instead of being a Green and Teal color, it was Red with Black accents with an odd symbol that looked out of place (破壊).

"No Emperor; Hakai is too dangerous!"

I called out, knowing that they couldn't hear me. I wasn't sure what I could do now since was incapacitated.

"Please don't do this Emperor"

I heard a quiet voice plead. Emperor looked over his shoulder at Lemon, who was shaking visibly.

"You'll be consumed by this evil if you go through with this"

She said dejected, looking at the ground.

"Oh? Who's the friend?"

The other individual asked cruelly with a smile of the same sort that made Emperor look back at the other individual.

"I know Lemon"

He sighed, looking at the ground for a moment before looking back over his shoulder again.

"You need to go, now!"

He commanded her as his voice deepened and became gravelly. Lemon nodded slightly in understanding and ran into the Nightmare Factory.

"She's not a friend"

Emperor growled as he took the weapon in front of him and brandished it.

"She's an ally; there's a difference!"

He yelled as he threw the weapon at whoever this was. The individual smiled coldly, even though the projectile's path would make it go square into this individual's chest. Just as the weapon was about to be driven into his chest, the individual grabbed the sword and tossed it back to Emperor with seemingly no effort at all.

"Try again you overgrown Assassin Lizard!"

The individual taunted him, getting bared teeth and a growl in response.

"Are you going to start trying, because this seems like a game right now!"

The individual taunted, crossing his arms and yawning as if he was bored.

"You're going to die at my hands; I can promise you that!"

Emperor yelled back as the same Red mist that Ruin emanated for some reason started to manifest itself from his scales.

"Is that so? Even then, how could you given that the power of the Shadow Stepper, the Mastermind and John rest as powers in this body?"

The individual asked in a taunting fashion as Emperor launched from his spot, displacing the air around him from his launch force. He ran faster than I could see and he slashed twice with the blades that came from the spaces between his clawed hands. The first slash connected, sending some blood on the both of them. Right after this, Emperor's hands started to glow Red and emit flecks of magic energy as I finally remembered who this was.

"No...it can't be; It can't be!"

I breathed to myself as the individual that he was fighting became translucent as he floated backwards, resetting a distance away from him. Emperor fell to the ground due to a careless and poorly executed slash and I could heard the impact as the individual across from him started to laugh hysterically.

"Is this the famed Destructor that left places in shambles around him!?"

Master JohnByss taunted him as Emperor got up slowly, shaking visibly.

"Come on; hit me, hurt me, at least try!"

Master JohnByss taunted him as Emperor launched again, the displacement of air not present this time. I knew that he was tiring quickly, and if he tired without keeping his mind clear, he would succumb to the evil that plagued him. This time, Emperor threw out a spinning RoundHouse kick that connected with Master JohnByss's jaw that sent him spiralling into the air. Without needing to reset, Emperor went into a Jump Punch that connected with his opponent's chest that sent an audible crack through the area. The chest caved in and Master JohnByss's eyes widened in what I thought was fear and amazement as Emperor grabbed his opponent's neck and threw him to the ground, and before I could comprehend what was happening; it all seemed to happen when I blinked. When I opened my eyes again, Emperor had Master Johnbyss by his neck and he had maneuvered him in such a way that the tips of the blades on his right hand were touching his opponent's face slightly.

"Do you have anything to say before you die!?"

He growled as Master JohnByss started laughing slightly. This got a raised portion of scales above Emperor's right eye in response.

"Why are you laughing!?"

Emperor yelled, shaking him slightly as he asked.

"I do have one last thing to say"

Master JohnByss stated as the individual in Emperor's hand started to dissipate into Gold flecks of magic energy.

"You did well and you've grown!"

I heard Master JohnByss's voice call out as I traced where the Gold flecks went with my eyes. They went to the top of the Nightmare Factory where a figure stood. The figure laughed maniacally as it dissolved into the same Gold dust. I looked back at Emperor, who was looking at his hands, which now had absent the Red glow and flecks that were present moments ago. I heard something start as a low growl around me, and I searched frantically for a moment before that growl turned into a roar that shook the land around me.

"I'll find you JohnByss; you'll never succeed to the rank of Master!"

Emperor yelled as I was somehow able to get to my feet. I started to slink away from him. I knew that at this point he was consumed and only one individual that I knew could help him. I only made it a few steps before something stopped me cold in my tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?"

A cruel and cold voice asked me. Nervously, I looked over my shoulder and my eyes widened in horror at who I was looking at.