Space is practically endless – the most dangerous ocean in existence. Where a single mistake could mean being stranded for years, or worse, death. The flames of a red sun raged, the ship currently residing in orbit unfazed. Its hull was composed of grey plating. The most noticeable feature was two vertical pincers near the bow, with red electricity running between them and the red bulbous orbs on their ends. The ship's main body was bulky, with two much smaller horizontal pincers generating a slow, persistent thrust of red energy. Two more of the red orbs surrounded the ship's bridge, which overlooked the railgun-like side of the vessel.

Inside the bridge, an officer sat, examining one of the terminals shaped like the orbs on the outside of the ship. He had a humanoid body, with white skin, pure red eyes, and black crusted lips. His eyes were sounded by black lines with a white horn protruding from his head with a black stripe running down the center and two more on the sides.

"Another cycle, another scan, and still no signs of that infernal device." He sighed as he examined the data in front of him.

"Five standard supercycles of nonstop searching for something no one is sure even exists!" He explained, standing up in frustration before turning towards the captain's chair, shrouded in dark maroon light, concealing a gargantuan figure beneath.

"My lord, are you sure we shouldn't be investing more time into conquering planets?!" He said slyly, stepping towards the center of the room, "You are more than strong enough to conquer every planet if you deemed it so!"

The figure stood up, his weight causing a small shockwave and metallic ring to echo out across the control room. His red eyes glared down upon his minion as his green head tentacles writhed. His legs sported black metallic armor that covered his two toes all the way to his hips before jutting out to the sides. He wore a black chest piece with red accents near where it stopped at his shoulders. His green skin was lined with red circuitry leading to his arms. Spiked black shoulder pads connected by red metal to his massive black gauntlets, bearing red spikes on his elbows and red armored gloves. Finally, his cheeks were surrounded by two green sacs.

"Psyphon!", His commanding voice boomed, causing Psyphon to immediately get down on his knee, "I said that I would make the Omnitrix mine! Vilgax will not falter to a measly five supercycles of no results!"

He began walking forward towards the window at the front of the command room, his metallic boots clanging with each step. He looked over his ship, the chimerean hammer.

"The datapad we stole off of that traitorous vagrant from incarcecon is more than enough evidence for me that the Omnitrix exists. We even know its energy signature!" He grinned, bringing up his fist and clenching it. "I can feel it, Psyphon. Soon it will be mine!"

Psyphon reluctantly walked back to his terminal before taking a seat. As he did, a new survey report came in.

"My…my.. lord! One of our distance scanner drones is picking up a signal similar to the Omnitrix!" Psyphon revealed, "However, it's much too far for us to reach immediately, even with hyperjump gates. It's all the way in the sol system! Your illustrious ship is too large!"

"Crew!" he bellowed, stirring to attention the rest of the command decks robotic bug-eyed crew. "Set a course for that signal. Nothing shall get in my…."

He was quickly interrupted as alarms began blaring throughout the ship as it rocked slightly from an impact. Vilgax promptly sprinted back to his seat, resuming command. Psyphon scrolled through his terminal, bringing up an image of the assailant for Vilgax to see. Vilgax slammed his arm down on the seat of his chair.

"Plumbers!" he growled. "Prepare the shields! Engage the autocannons!" he commanded as he swept his arm forward.

"Psyphon!"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Fire a recovery drone to the coordinates of the signal. I want to verify before we waste time going all the way out there!"

"Yes, sir!"

Psyphon quickly got to work setting the coordinates to launch the drone pod, programming in the correct jump gate paths. The pod shot out of the chimerian hammer, unnoticed as the battle between the Plumber fleet and Vilgax commenced. It sailed through the nearest jump gate, its small size letting it quickly approach its destination, its programming plotting its every move.

/Beginning hyperjump to target…Designation: Earth

Path to the Church, Clover Kingdom, Earth

After handing Rivchie over to the surprised Tower Master, Asta and Yuno began walking back to the church for the night.

"Man, today sure was great!" Asta said as he stretched his arms behind his head, "You got your grimoire, I finally got magic! Nothing's going to stop us now!"

Suddenly, they both had heard a beeping noise emanate from somewhere around them. They both looked around until Asta's eyes settled on his wrist. His charm's color had once again changed, the dial now appearing vibrant green compared to the red it had shown when he last looked at it.

"Again? What is up with this thing?!" Asta exclaimed, equally amazed and confused at the object on his wrist.

"Maybe it's a magic tool of some kind?" Yuno hypothesized as he stepped over to take a closer look at the bracer.

"Either way, it's getting late…" he uttered, resuming his stride down the path towards the church, "you can mess with that in the morning."

They quickly arrived at the church. Yuno was about to open the door before Asta grabbed his arm.

"Hey, Yuno," Asta whispered, "Do you mind not telling them about my magic yet? I wanna surprise them tomorrow after I have a better handle on it."

Yuno simply nodded as he opened the door. The church was quiet, with everyone already having gone to bed, besides Father Orfai, who was sitting in a chair by the fireplace.

"Goodnight." Asta yawned as he walked over to the bedroom, giving a slight wave to Father Orfai as he passed.

"Do you think he'll be alright, Yuno?" Father Orfai said with a concerned look on his face towards Yuno, who only shrugged.

"Probably. Oh, and The Tower Master wanted you to stop by tomorrow if you have time." Yuno explained as he began walking towards the bedroom, "Goodnight, Father Orfai."

"Goodnight, Yuno," Orfai replied as he too got ready to turn in for the night.

Morning, outside the church

Asta had gone to bed as soon as he arrived at the church, leaving him even more invigorated than usual. He once again was practicing some of the steps he knows, hoping to activate his magic again. He took a step forward, braced his legs, and then pushed his hands forwards while remembering what using the flames felt like; Nothing came out.

"Ugh…. What am I missing?" Asta sighed, looking down at his palms before they drifted back towards his charm.

"Maybe…. It has something to do with you?" he muttered, taking a seat against the wall of the church as he prepared to examine it.

He looked at all the different adorning features, questioning what they were for. He brushed his hand over it, fiddling with its features, seeing if he could get it to respond in any way. As his hand passed over one of the buttons, he felt it move slightly. He turned his attention to the button before pressing it in all the way.

A steady whirring noise began to emanate from the bracer as the center dial raised itself up, revealing a pattern Asta had never seen before. The sides of the hourglass shape on the dial began to cross, resulting in the formation of a diamond in the middle. Asta's eyes lit up in awe as the dial began to display the silhouette of a man with flaming hair and large hands.

"Wait….is this how I used those flames?" Asta questioned before the dial began to rotate.

The silhouette of the flaming man flattened into a line before the dial quickly flashed black and returned right back to the same outline. Asta tried to spin the dial himself but underestimated how delicate the dial was, accidentally pushing it down.

A green flash engulfed Asta. Once again, his hands were made of molten red rock. However, instead of yellow and black flames, he only had yellow ones. He quickly got to his feet and distanced himself from the church walls, not wanting to accidentally start a fire. He just stood there, taking in the wonderful feeling of power. Every single breath felt like a burst of energy, feeding the flames on his arms. Before he realized it, he was engulfed in a red flash, bringing him back to his standard, magicless form.

Breaking out of his daze, he looked back down to his bracer and uttered "Red…. again?" as he tried to activate it. "You gotta recharge or something?" Asta hypothesized.

Asta proceeded to wait, doing some pushups before he heard the same sound like last night. Getting up, he looked towards his wrist, confirming his theory on the item needing to recharge as it was now back to green.

"Nice!" Asta exclaimed before hopping the fence surrounding the church, "Time to get training for the entrance exam!"

He broke into a sprint towards the demon's skull.

Midday, Outside the Church

"Has anyone seen Asta today?!" Sister Lily asked as she exited the church.

The church children were working on getting water boiled for today's dinner.

"Haven't seen him since last night." Nash said as he lit some wood in the brick grill, "the quiet is certainly nice."

"He was so devastated when he didn't get his grimoire. I'm worried about him." Sister Lily explained.

"Please. Asta's too dense to actually accept he doesn't have magic." Nash joked, "He'd sooner believe the sky was green than believe that."

"I don't know, Nash. Asta looked pretty upset when he left the ceremony yesterday. Getting magic means everything to him! I know I wouldn't be feeling good if I were him." Recca replied as she put a pot of water on top of the grill's grate.

"We should do something nice for him!" Aruru proposed.

"Aruru, that's a great idea!" Sister Lily said as she clapped her hands together, "Let's show Asta how much he means to us!"

"Yeah!" all the children besides Nash cheered.

"I'll go get things arranged with father Orfai. Recca, make sure everyone does their chores!" Sister Lily said as she went back inside.

Meanwhile, at the demon's skeleton

The sound of rocks hitting bone rang out through the forest. Asta had once again transformed. He was now testing the limits of his strength and durability while in his enhanced form; Though he had taken off his jacket and tunic to make sure they didn't get burned.

"Nine-hundred ninety-seven… nine hundred ninety-eight…nine hundred ninety-nine…." Asta counted before beeping began to emanate once again from his wrist. "one thousand!" he declared as he felt the flash engulf his body right as he hit the rib.

"Time for moguro juice!" He exclaimed as he grabbed his canteen, immediately downing some of the liquid. "Gross! One more to go!" he declared to no one as he chugged down his last gulp. As he finished, he heard one of the weirdest bird calls ever.

Turning around, Asta noticed that sitting atop a group of rocks was a bird. Its plumage consisted of white feathers covering its belly and black feathers on its wings, back, and head. It had two feathers that appeared to be arrows coming off of its broad tail. On the top of its head sat two thin curved feathers and what appeared to be black horns. It had a red face with a black beak and piercing eyes that seemed to be staring into Asta's very soul.

Shaking off the glare it was giving him, he asked, "Do you want some, too?" before the bird turned around and flew away.

"Weird," Asta Muttered as he sat down as rested his back against the rocks, feeling his body relax after the intense workout. He sighed before pulling his wrist up in front of his face. His eyes once again centered on the bracer. He brought his other hand up to it, brushing it across bracer and appreciating the cold feel of the metal. He once again questioned what it even was. Was it really safe to keep using this thing? He put those thoughts off to the side; after all, he'd been wearing it every day for five years already.

"I may not have a grimoire," Asta said towards the bracer as he kept his hand against it, "but at least I have you!" He briefly massaged his shoulders before pushing himself back up. He did a few stretches before his ears perked up after hearing what was becoming his favorite sound. "I'm gonna keep climbing up, even if I don't have any magical powers!" he declared. He stretched his arms above his head before shouting, "Time to get back to work! I'm not done yet", as he quickly hit the button and slammed his hand down on the core.

He immediately threw a punch at the nearest pillar, not even waiting for the flash to finish before he began his assault.

"One thousand and one!" he declared as his fist collided with the pillar. "I'm sure Yuno's been training too! I can't lose".

He quickly jumped back before increasing the intensity in his hands before throwing a ball of fire towards the pillar. It hit, searing the rib even more than Asta's punches as he shouted, "One thousand and two!"

He only had sixth months to push his powers to their limit for the Magic Knights Entrance Exam that was taking place in the royal capital. He had to show that he had what it takes to help people and make a difference. Every second mattered to become the best version of himself he could.

Nearby, in the forest

Yuno was training for the entrance exam as well, leaving the church only slightly after Asta. His face was covered in sweat as he held his grimoire, which was engulfed in the green glow of his magic. In front of him stood a tree stump that he quickly broke apart into perfect pieces of firewood before levitating them into piles of logs next to him. He had already managed to cut and prepare around a hundred full-size logs during his training. He was panting slightly, the toll of today's efforts finally taking effect on him. He looked down upon his work.

"I should probably wrap up for today…" he muttered before quickly correcting himself as he looked towards a large boulder, "No, just a little more. I'm sure he's also…."

Yuno took his stance in front of the boulder. His right arm was wrapped up in a flurry of wind. The slight breeze it was creating helping to cool him off. "One thousand and one!" he shouted as he slashed his right arm in the arm, sending the small flurry towards the rock as it quickly grew and began cracking the boulder. Yuno didn't relent as he thrust his arm forward, shouting "One thousand and two!" causing a swirl of wind to surround his arm and quickly blast towards the boulder, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. Yuno only started on in satisfaction as pieces of debris flew by.

/…Approaching Target…

/…Beginning descent protocol…

/…Primary Objective: Retrieve Omnitrix…

/…Secondary Objective: Broadcast Confirmed Signs of Omnitrix to receiver…

/…Continuing Descent…

Sunset, road back to the church

Asta was sprinting as fast as he could, leaving a small dust trail in his wake. He wouldn't stop training until he was back at the church doors! Yuno was walking along the path as well, using his wind magic to float the logs he cut, which were now cut into much smaller, more manageable pieces as well.

"Eat my dust!" Asta declared as he flew past Yuno. Not backing down from the challenge, Yuno quickly broke into a sprint as well. They were neck in neck, in managing to pull only a few feet ahead before they other pushed themselves even further.

An idea crossed Asta's mind as he quickly activated his bracer, being engulfed in green light.

Yuno stumbled somewhat after the flash, but he quickly regained his composure as he looked towards Asta. Asta was pulling ahead, holding his flaming arms behind him and putting out quick bursts of fire to boost himself forward.

Nearby

The church children had just finished all their chores for the day. Enjoying their time outside as they waited for Yuno to arrive home.

"Yuno should have been back by now." The youngest, Holo declared.

"I'm sure he's just enjoying his amazing grimoire a little," Nash replied as he rested against the side of the church, enjoying the slight breeze that was passing by.

"Hopefully, Asta's back to. I'm starting to think Sister was right," Recca said, looking out towards the demon's skull.

Suddenly, Asta's voice pierced everyone's ears. Looking towards the source, the children could see Asta running down the hill with you trailing just behind him, but something was off about Asta.

"Is Asta on …fire?!" Nash questioned, quickly walking over towards the fence to get a better look. He may not act like it, but he cares about Asta enough not to want to see him engulfed in flames.

The other children did the same as Asta and Yuno were soon neck and neck from the gate. A loud beeping noise began to emanate from Asta.

"Not right now!" Asta screamed before a bright red flash engulfed him just feet from the gate. Still not used to changing shape so quickly(and the quick loss of propulsion), Asta lost balance, tripping and falling through the gate at the exact moment Yuno passed through.

"I win." Yuno declared as he began brushing off some of the dust that had accumulated on his clothes.

"Like hell you do!" Asta yelled quickly, getting back on his feet before glaring at Yuno, "I woulda won if my flames hadn't gone out!"

"Yuno, Asta!" The children all exclaimed, coming up to the teens.

"Asta, are your hands alright?!" Recca worriedly asked while she looked at his arms.

"He's yelling so…" Nash said as he quickly splashed Asta with water from a nearby bucket. "I would say he's alright."

"Asta! Why were you on fire?!" Aruru asked, concerned.

"I'm just fine! Better than I've ever been, in fact!" Asta exclaimed as he began walking towards the church doors, beckoning for the others to follow him, "C'mon, I'll tell you guys all about it while we get dinner ready! Feels like I haven't eaten all day!"

As they went inside, Asta quickly rolled down his sleeves, covering his bracer.

Hage Village, Night

The sky was filled with the serene beauty of the universe, stars light-years away twinkling in the night, beckoning with their countless untold secrets. Anyone else in the Clover Kingdom would notice a shooting star streak across the sky. However, for Hage village, a fireball had just zipped across the sky and violently crashed at the grimoire tower. The ancient stone building began to crumble as the fire started to engulf the stone and burn the countless grimoires within to ashes.

Citizens began approaching the tower, equally out of curiosity and to see what they could do to help. Water and wind mages began trying to put out the fires with what little magic they had, while earth mages began trying to prevent it from spreading further by creating firebreaks. Sadly, nothing seemed to slow the assault.

From within the flames, a massive red and orange robotic figure standing two stories tall emerged. Its cylindrical body was supported by three giant red plate legs attached by silver joints. Two mechanical arms emerged from the sides of its bulky torso with a loud hiss and small puff of steam. The upper arms were made of the same silver material as the legs, supporting the massive red forearms of the machine. Each arm had four incredibly sharp fingers and a large blaster on the underarm. Its head had two red orbs for eyes and wires spiraling around its bulky neck as a curved plate arched towards the back of its body. Finally, on its shoulders rested two half disks.

/…Landing Successful…Limb Deployment Success…Initializing operation

/…Potential Omnitrix Energy signature…Recognized…Pursuing

Its right foot took a step forward, beginning to follow the residual energy trail left by the Omnitrix. Some villagers started to run away in fear of what they believed to be a giant metal golem. So villagers were braver than other's and began to attack the golem with all they had, blasting it with water, slashing with wind, and hurling stones to no effect.

/…Hostilities from local species detected…Authorizing use of force to retrieve Omnitrix.

/…Deploying Mecha Droid 1… Deploying Mecha Droid 2… Deployment Successful

The two disks popped off of the golem shoulders, briefly hovering before barreling along the path away from the tower's remains. At the same time, the golem raised its hands, the two barrels on its underarms began glowing a bright red before a loud blast rang out as it fired towards the civilians. Luckily none were hurt as it approached closer to the town where it believed the Omnitrix lay in wait.

Inside Hage Church

Yuno and Asta had just finished preparing dinner, with some help from the children. Yuno handled most of the cutting, Asta handled boiling the water and tatoes on the firepit outside, Nash and Aruru fetched drinking water from the water spout, and finally Recca and Hollo set the table.

All the children, besides Nash, kept asking Asta about what precisely the fire on his arms was, but he refused to tell them until he ate. Finally, everyone was sat down at the table, quickly enjoying the meal they had prepared. As they finished, all eyes fell on Asta, except for Yuno, who was going to see if any chores still needed to be done today as he went outside.

Aruru was the first to speak, "C'mon Asta tell us!"

Asta Chuckled. "Okay fine," he said as he held up his left arm for the children to see, rolling back his sleeve to reveal his bracer's new appearance.

"Pretty neat, right?!" Asta said, boasting. The two youngest stared on in awe, while Recca and Nash looked at him somewhat confused.

"So what? You finally cleaned your dirty old trinket?" Nash exclaimed, unimpressed by the new look of the strange object on Asta's wrist.

"Except I didn't. It did it all by itself yesterday!" Asta loudly explained, "Yuno and I faced off against this nasty ex-magic knight guy who was shooting chains everywhere!"

"Whoa" exclaimed everyone but Nash, who was still being dismissive of Asta's claims.

"He wanted to steal Yuno's great grimoire! I stopped him, though, when this green flash gave me cool firearms!" Asta boasted, standing up in his excitement, "Now I can use those firearms for a little bit whenever I want!"

"That's great, Asta! You've finally got magic!" Recca said as she clapped her hands together, happy for her foster brother.

"It's so great! I just can't wait to show the old man and Sister Lily!" Asta said, where are they anyway?"

"Everybody thought you'd be bummed, so Sister wanted to try and make you feel better." Nash explained as she stood up, "She went into town with father. He said he had some business with the Tower Master.

Suddenly Yuno burst through the door.

"Asta, Everyone! The Grimoire Tower and town center are on fire," Yuno exclaimed hastily before rushing back out the door and towards the inferno that was threatening to engulf all of Hage village.

"What!?" Asta said as he sprinted towards the door before turning back towards the children, "Nash, Recca, get some supplies and be ready to run if the fire gets too close!"

Asta was trailing behind Yuno, who was using his wind magic to increase his speed.

/…Residual Omni energy detected…

/…Beginning twin engagement protocols.

Suddenly Asta felt his blood run cold. His body was telling him to hit the watch, but his mind barely held the instinct back. Out of nowhere to disks flew down the road straight for Asta. Yuno quickly fired a blast of wind, disrupting the flight path of one of the disks. The other slammed right into Asta before quickly reorienting itself in front of him.

A slight hiss of steam was heard as the flat top and bottom of the disk began to extend from the main body. The top had an assortment of bulbous red orbs, while the bottom extended further, revealing more red circuitry. Immediately what seemed like an entire armory worth of weaponized arms emerged from the bottom, consisting of knives and blasters. What Asta could only assume to be the eyes of this thing began to lock on to his left wrist.

/…Intergalactic peace symbol confirmed…higher concentration of residual Omni energy detected…Chance of item being Omnitrix…90%

The golem's bottom rotated, facing one of the blasters directly at Asta's chest.

"Asta!" Yuno shouted as he fired a blast at the disk, disrupting the golem's shot, causing it to barely pass over Asta's shoulder.

No sooner, Asta's body finally sprang into action, pressing the button and immediately slamming the dial down as he threw his other hand forward in punch. Asta felt his blood run hot as he was engulfed in green. His hands grew in size, feeling his skin equally liquefy and solidify into magma and rock.

The blow collided with the golem pushing it even further off balance. The other golem quickly joined the fray, transforming mid-flight as it began rotating extremely fast towards Yuno, wanting to rip him to shreds. An idea formed in his head as he quickly created a small cyclone rotating in the opposite direction. His plan worked, halting the drone from rotating and damaging some of its limbs in the process.

Asta had just dodged a shot from his foe, being careful not to make the already fiery night worse by touching the nearby grass. He rolled before quickly firing off a flame shot from his right arm towards the golem's eyes, singing some of its exterior and, more importantly, blinding it.

/…Error…Optics blinded…

Asta took the chance and rushed in towards his foe, which began randomly firing and rotating to try and stop Asta's advance. Asta simply blocked with his arms, quickly tanking the damage as he approached for the final blow. He finally got an opening, grabbing onto the golem's head and letting loose the power he's been holding back. The heat from his hand began to melt through the golem's tough exterior and into its inner circuits

/…CP…P…U temp approa….oaching unsafe levels

The golem's movements slowed, letting Asta get a grip with his other hand as well. The golem's chassis began glowing bright red as the metals began to meltdown. After a few seconds, Asta finally let go as all that remained was a contorted mess of melted limbs, eyes, and circuits.

Yuno's opponent was still in the fight, but not for long. Yuno quickly created a massive gust of wind above the golem, sending it crashing to the ground, unable to move. With his opponent on the ground, Yuno began laying into it with the same air slashes he had used on the boulder earlier that day. Some of the golem's arms began to fly off from the assault, with the drone realizing it had met its match.

/…Omnitrix retrieval prospects…low

/…Broadcasting information to central unit

/…Audio transmitted

/…Energy readings transmitted

/…Video-

Its broadcast was cut short. As Yuno's assault had finally cut off the brain as Asta quickly came over to melt it too, just in case. The Rivals breathed heavily as they recovered from the fight, knowing they still had to try and help with the fire. As the boys stared down the road, a familiar figure came running away from the town.

"Yuno…huh….huh Asta!" Father Orfai yelled as he tried to regain control of his breathing before resting his hands on his knees in front of the rivals.

"What happened?" Yuno asked before Asta butted in, "Yeah, why's the town on fire?"

"A giant golem…huh…attacked…the town…sister…trying to stop the fires. I was going… to evacuate the church," Orfai breathed, finally recovering from his sprint as he stood straight to face his boys. However, he quickly noticed Asta's new look.

"Asta!" Orfai screamed, "You're on fire!"

"I am!?" Asta yelled as he looked down at himself in fear. He quickly realized it was his arms being referred to. Asta had still not adjusted to the idea of being on fire constantly being a good thing. His brain still equated it to danger, but some part of him also made it feel…safe… and almost at home?

" Oh, this?, Asta said, flexing his fiery muscles, "My magic finally kicked in yesterday! And I'm gonna use it to help stop that fire…."

"…Somehow…" Asta said as he realized he really had no way to help. How was he meant to fight fire with fire? No! He would find a way to help. This is just another problem for him to overcome.

The rivals then took off, utilizing the same techniques they had used earlier in their race.

Father Orfai raised his hands up and shouted, "Be careful! Nothing we hit the golem with worked! Just evacuate and let the magic knights handle it!"

Outskirts of Town, currently burning down

Sister Lily had been one of the first people to respond to the Grimoire Tower fire, having been nearby with Father Orfai. She had been doing her best to put out the fire using her magic, and they seemed to finally make headway when they got the Tower master out of the building, but then that thing emerged from the rubble. She and another civilian had grabbed the tower master and retreated to town as the others tried to hold the golem.

They were now sitting on the opposite end of town from where the fire was spreading. Sister Lily was preparing to head back in to put out as many fires as she could before she heard a call from behind her.

"ghgh…wait!" Coughed the Tower Master as he tried to sit himself up from where he was laid. "It's not…ghuh…worth it! With…without magic knights signal in the tower…ghuh…there's no way anyone with enough magic power to take that thing down will get here in time!" coughed the tower master.

"But I can't just stand here and do nothing!" Sister lily replied, turning around to leave.

"Then find Asta and Yuno! …ghuh…They're the only ones in the village who'd even have a chance against it!...gnuh…" shouted the old man between his coughs.

"What?! But Asta doesn't even…."Sister Lily tried to reply before she was interrupted.

"Just do it! Trust me!" The mage shouted.

Outside of Town

Asta and Yuno had just arrived at the side of town that was burning. The smoke was completely blocking the skyline. Yuno immediately began trying to put out the fires with his magic, being careful not to add more fuel to the flames. Asta, however, just stood there staring at the fire. He could feel it. The power, heat, and intensity of every single ember of flame engulfed the town. It felt…wonderful…but also made him feel extremely…hungry?

Asta hesitated before taking a step forward as he raised his hands, following their instincts. Immediately the flames began flowing out of the buildings and into Asta's hands. His hands glowed more intensely as they absorbed the flames before Asta felt the pain start to emanate from his arms. His mind felt like it would tear in two. Part of him was screaming to back away from the flames to stop his pain. To try and preserve his own life and survive. The other urged him to push forward, to consume and grow. To not only survive but thrive!

His elbows were screaming in pain at him as he could feel them begin to blister as the temperature between his magic arms and his normal human body became utterly unbearable. Whatever heat resistance he had was starting to be overwhelmed as his instinctual battle between his mismatched parts waged, with the flames aggressively pulling ahead. It hurt so much but felt so good at the same time.

Asta screamed in pain and joy as the flames subsided on the buildings finished flowing into Asta's hands. He breathed heavily, tears dropping from his eyes before they evaporated as they left his face. Finally, the bracer began to beep, and Asta was engulfed in red light.

The part of his arms that had transformed was completely unscathed. However, the point where his magic met his flesh was left with a series of blisters near his elbows. He breathed heavily as he examined himself, his mind finally regaining its senses.

With the fire and smoke cleared from this side of the village, Asta and Yuno could finally see the cause of all today's trouble. The massive golem stood within the burning remains of the town square, towering over every building at over three stories tall. Immediately its eyes locked onto Asta's wrist.

/…Omni Energy verified…Initiating final retrieval

It lifted its right arm, firing a quick blast towards Asta. Even though his body was in pain, Asta's body quickly dodged the move as Yuno began firing air blasts towards the assailant, barely scratching its exterior. The golem ignored Yuno's blows completely, focusing entirely on Asta as its massive legs began stomping towards him.

Asta regained his footing, quickly grimacing as he lifted his arm, praying he could transform, being met with a red dial. What could he even do against something like this? Everyone's magic was ineffective, and he's basically powerless for now. He looked up, seeing the golem's massive hand begin to slam down upon him, quickly running out of reach and away from the village square as the Golem and Yuno followed.

Yuno was finally making headway, with his air slashes beginning to tear holes in the golem's left arm. The only problem was that he was running on magical fumes since he barely had time to rest since his training session. He had one shot at this plan.

"Asta! Try to keep it still!" Yuno ordered as he sprinted past Asta to get into position.

"What do you mean keep it still?! It's huge!?" Asta replied as he dodged another laser shot before approaching closer to the golem.

/…Omnitrix in close range…Retrieving

The golem began slamming its damaged arm down. Reaching mere inches from Asta as he braced his arms in front of his face, ready to take the hit. It never came, as the sounds of metal tearing and electricity sparking rang out. Asta uncovered his face, seeing the golem's arm severed and one of its legs damaged.

"That's…All I got…." Yuno uttered as he fell to one knee, entirely spent.

/…Error…Left forelimb damaged beyond use…

/…Left leg temporarily damaged…initializing rapid repair

"Asta, Yuno! Get away from it!"

Asta peered behind the golem to see Sister lily approaching, but she maintained her distance. He quickly sprinted over to her, hoping to put himself between her and the golem before it started moving again.

"Sister Lily, are you okay?!" Asta yelled, not taking his eyes off the golem as its head turned completely around to keep tracking Asta.

"I'm fine," she exclaimed before noticing the burn marks and blisters on Asta's Arms.

"But what happened to you!? Were you caught in the fire?!" she said as she used some of her water magic to try and lessen Asta's wound.

Asta hissed as the water made contact with his skin. "…I'm fine…but Yuno's magic's out…and I'm not useful here."

Even if he did have his fire, what good would it do against this monstrosity that strolled through the burning village like it was nothing? Not to mention he was hesitant about using it after his own body began burning him.

"Asta, you've always found a way to be useful," Sister Lily explained as she focused on Asta's wound, "The children and Yuno may tease you, but you always do so much for us!"

She stood up, having done all she could for his wound, as she was running low on magic herself. Unfortunately, the golem had finished its leg's repairs, reorienting itself as it began stomping over towards the duo.

"You work just as hard as any of us, even without any magic." She encouraged, "The Tower Master himself told me that you and Yuno were our best chance against this monster!"

"He did?" Asta said, shocked as he turned to look at her before returning his gaze to his foe as it raised its remaining hand to fire a blast.

"Then I'm gonna give this everything I got!" Asta said before he started sprinting towards the golem and jumping to meet it head-on.

A ding rang out over the area before Asta was quickly engulfed in green light as the golem shot.

As the light faded, Asta's appearance had changed once again. His eyes now had gone from their usual green pupils to entirely yellow. His arms now appeared to be made out of bulky teal crystals, which stretched past his elbows, appearing almost as giant crystal gauntlets.

"Whoa?! This is new!" Asta declared, his voice sounding deeper and more solid as he moved his new crystal fingers. Which felt strangely moldable.

"Asta focus!" Sister Lily yelled. She was more worried about him not getting smashed than how he had gotten magic.

"Right!" Asta said as he raised his fists before rushing the Golem as Sister Lily went to check on Yuno.

The sounds of metal and crystal clashing filled the air as Asta's fists impacted with his foe, slowly creating dents along its armor plating. Before long, Asta's inexperience caught up to him as he barely managed to block a blow from the machine, sending him crashing into a nearby tree. Not letting up, the drone immediately fired a blaster shot towards Asta. He quickly reacted, raising his palms in front of him.

Miraculously. Asta's fingers morphed into a semi shield, reflecting the blast away from Asta. He quickly looked down at his hands as they reshaped back. He couldn't stop moving for long as the drone began unleashing a steady beam from its underarm blaster, forcing Asta to begin circling it as it rotated its torso. Luckily an idea quickly formed in Asta's head as he came to a halt.

"Hey, ugly!" Asta shouted, drawing its attention as it fired the beam directly towards him.

"What goes around, comes around!" Asta yelled as he reshaped his fists together into one big reflective shield.

The blast collided, redirecting the beam back towards the robot. Asta tried his best to aim the beam to cause even more damage, managing to pierce its torso. Whatever powered the drone detonated, blowing up the entire top half of the robot. The legs quickly collapse into a heap of rubble. The golem had been defeated. Asta reformed his hands as he lowered them in disbelief.

"We did it! We really did it! We won!" Asta yelled, raising his arms in celebration as a familiar beeping began to ring out.

Author's Notes

Wow what a chapter. I originally didn't plan on going so far with the crossover. Which is why I'd like to give a special thanks to reviewer ZepphireOS. I made some revisions to my original plan for the story thanks to their great review. Now we can experience a Vilgax arc, hooray!

Remember to follow, favorite, and review. Every single one helps inspire me to try and get these chapters to make these chapters faster.

Until next time!