Act V - Life's Pieces
Chapter 42 - The Man Who Walked The Stars
"Son of a-grah!" I fell back clutching my nose as I, for the uncounted time, felt my nose bleed as the perpetrator kept trying not to smile too jokingly down on me
"I can do this-"
"Yeah, Yeah, I know!" I shook my head, running my hand over my nose. "What the hell is that arm made of, steel?"
Albatross flexed out his right arm, as though to test their movements. "Mmm, good question?" Oh my God he can't be serious... "If it's any consultation, you've seriously stepped up your game in recent weeks, I'm impressed, really."
He said something akin to that every week, sure, my skill with Cognitum and hand-to-hand combat has improved exponentially but Albatross is like a machine, even I could land some solid punches on Summer and Amber, but the energy he's giving off constantly is terrifying, like a slumbering beast, and those eyes, piercing through to my soul with every gaze. He radiates with experience and his combat style is indomitable.
He held his hand out to me, pulling me back onto my feet while tapping an index finger to his cheek. "Hrm... I know Summer works with you on Aura and Semblance meditation but I think it's about time we take your Semblance closer to its true potential."
That raised a brow, "'True Potential'? Isn't a Semblance a manifestation of your soul?" Was there a level deeper than that? Just as I inquired an explanation, a gathering of butterflies were drawn to us, more specifically, to Albatross, himself smiling thoughtfully at the insects as one landed on his outstretched hand, body radiating with a smooth, blue light, it wasn't bright, but the heatwaves radiated off his body
"A soul is the purest form of yourself, it's what makes you and I so different, and the deeper you go, the more you learn about yourself and grow to accept the person you are at your center, that's when your power can rival even deities," He then let the butterfly go, almost lost in memory as he continued. "At my center... I'm hopeful, for the people and worlds I have seen, both the good and the bad,"
"The Multiverse isn't perfect, and... I won't always be there to save everyone, but I will be, every day I will strive to be there for anyone who's got no one else in their corner, to be the hand to lift them up and push them against adversity," He put a hand on his chest. "I'm not perfect, nor am I trying to be the hero of the story, I'm just me, and right now I want to help your world, to help you."
His words were genuine and sounded a little like some superhero, but they were real, to him, this was his ideology, the path he's chosen despite his reluctance to fight if it means protecting those he cared for he'd sooner throw his humanity away to do it. Just what lengths as Albatross gone to for this idea of balance? How much has he had to give up to push himself this far? Could I ever accomplish that? For my friends and family?
While my admiration grew for the strange black and red man, he looked off toward the forest, eyes wide and out of focus. "Hey, Albatross? Hello~?" He didn't respond. Great, my teacher was daydreaming, alright, time to grab some markers. "Hehehe..."
[Flashback]
[No POV]
"-You can't possibly win, the odds have never been in your favor," The synthetic voice growled, his silver body gleamed in the fires of the Spire's destruction, but Albatross was trembling over his fallen mentor's body, blood seeped and stained her clothes, and she was only just now recovering. "Give up, we both know how this ends, Cyborg."
Swallowing the lump in his throat, his muscles tensed while his fists dug into his palms, himself ragged and beaten by the General that had plagued his companions for so many years. Narrowing his shaken eyes, he spat out a glob of blood. "No... I-I'm not done."
"Give up, and accept your place, mongrel!" His icy eyes widened with irritation, bringing his remaining cleaver down as Albatross' body flickered with a strange, blue light, effectively forcing his reaction time into overdrive
The cleaver drove through where Albatross once was, his feet pressed to the wide face of the blade, pushing back to land beside his mentor, only to speed off toward the General who was taken back by the increased momentum the boy lacked only seconds ago. Keeping low as the General raised his cleaver, thrusting it down to shatter the foundations and forcing Albatross to propel to a nearby pillar to avoid the shockwave, bouncing back to land a solid kick to his forehead.
"How are you moving so fast?" The General was starting to lose his patience with the human that continued to evade his attacks, landing punches and kicks as the bluish-white wisps continued to gather across his body, turning his once scarlet in his hazel eyes a trace of blue
Pulling his cleaver high above his head, the General swung diagonally to his right, seeing his blade pass through air as a fist struck his side, followed by two heels to the stomach, forcing him to backpedal, with the charge on his hardlight armor ready he released a small EMP dome, forcing Albatross to back away in time, the cleaver slammed against his side the second he did, tossing him through one of the concrete pillars.
Placing his hands down he vaulted over the General's left swing, resting the crook of his foot against the machine's face and kicking him into the wall of a nearby hallway, but his cleaver sawed into the ground, slowing his slide. The shattering of the earth from another of the General's lunges was effortlessly side-stepped by Albatross, spinning around to drive his left fist into his shoulder, shattering the hardlight pane, followed by his hands pressing against the General's back and pushing off.
His hair grazed by the flow of the serrated edge of the cleaver, a horizontal breeze passing below him. Bending at the knees, Albatross jumped again, the swooping cleaver throwing dust and metal from under him. Albatross shot his right foot upward, striking the General's face, forcing him to stumble near the observation window that laid shattered and ajar from constant bombardment outside, the section creaked and groaned.
His once sleek, and superior augments were now torn and damaged by Albatross, so much so that he had never anticipated such an unforeseen scenario. How? How could he, General Krux, be bested by some low-ranking human with a few sheets of metal?!
"No... my weapons... how, by some second-class mongrel?" His right eye flickered, cracked and spitting blue sparks while facing Albatross, face beaten and with traces of blood, but his eyes were like blue embers, catching fire to the rest of his body like a burning, blue flame, sparks of white scorching at his soles
"You can call us weak, self-destructing parasites!" Albatross clenched his fist, gathering a ball of flames that turned the dark chamber a bright, pristine blue. "But underestimating our will to live is your mistake!"
[Present Day...]
[Sky's POV]
"Graaaaah!" Albatross shrieked as I tossed the lightning Dust crystal far into the bushes, watching the man slump to the ground with a hiss of smoke. "Why is it always lightning... why can't it be wind or fire... I'll even take water, just no more electricity." He whined, rolling over. "Sorry 'bout that, got lost in the past."
Must have been quite the event if it took lightning dust to the neck to shake him out of his stupor. "Still... I wanted to ask you something since you're kind of a techy?"
He chuckled, folding his arms. "Yes and no, I've mastered the power of turning things off and on again, but sure, what is it?" I held out Cognitum, bringing up the holographic display revealing the time limit. Albatross's smile wavered, blinking once. "Oh..."
[System Alert]
Time Remaining...
7 Days | 12 Hours | 37 Minutes
"That 'Oh' didn't sound like a good 'Oh'," My wavering voice only matched his earnest expression
"That countdown, I think Mars informed us of it a long time ago, probably a few weeks after you first activated Cognitum it had been counting down to... a temporal rift," He stated softly, as to not derail the training going on to our far right between Amber and Iota
Sighing, Penny appeared. "I have been monitoring all of EC-1101's systems, trying to backtrack files and logs to a source but they always came back heavily corrupted," She floated onto my shoulder. "I felt no need to inform you until I had come to a conclusive fact. But this probability of a rip in space-time is likely."
Albatross nodded, "Agreed. This world has suffered from rifts in space and time, this is a common anomaly across the Multiverse as no Universe is ever completely stable," Albatross explained as I and Penny listened intensely. "Temporal Rifts typically form due to a disturbance to the flow of time in a Universe, sometimes there are entities within that world that cause them but not of their own accord," Albatross smirked slightly. "Three guesses as to who."
"The Vex!" I and Penny gaped at his slow nod, looking off toward the sky
"Vex are failed creations of the Gods, they were locked away as to preserve a state of balance, but some with sentience don't particularly like that idea, this Vex is one of them, and as is shared with all Vex, they exist on a linear timeline, so while time never affects them, you can't find alternate worlds with them in it, there is one Vex, you kill it in any point of its history and it will cease to exist without any consequence to the timeline."
My eyes lit up, "So if we can defeat this Vex everything will be set in stone as usual?" Again he nodded, and that spark of hope grew to a flame. "That's great! But what does this have to do with the countdown?"
That's where his eyes hesitated. "I... may have caused it. I-I don't know, I'm looking into an old acquaintance for answers but know that when I came to this world, it latched onto that crack, and now it's manipulating it into forming a bridge between this world and the astral plane, if it succeeds it will bring forth its etheral form, and if that reconnects with its dark matter half..."
"It would a universal calamity!" Penny gasped, squinting. "Calculating what we know and estimating the strength of this fourth-dimensional creature by comparing its strength to that of Cognitum's... I estimate that a single attack from this being may cause irreparable damage to Remnant," Her gaze saddened. "Nothing would be left but debris."
If there weren't already high-stakes before, there certainly was now. If we fail... if I fail, Salem and these Relics won't matter among a collection of rocks floating in space. Stepping back from the two, I placed my hand over Cognitum, my mind clear of Iota and Eric, leaving me with a single train of thought to follow.
This machine was made from remnants of the Vex's energy, I'm responsible for what happens next, I have the power to defeat it, but not as I am now. I know you can hear me, not the Vex but you, Cognitum. You listened before, you helped me save Beacon and so many lives that night, I'm begging you, please, please help me help you become something more than a discarded creation of the Gods. Together, we've done so much good, we've saved the lives of those that stood by us, but I never took the time to appreciate you, to acknowledge your power, I just... saw you as a weapon.
"Please, from a standard human of some random world... accept my apology, you deserve someone better to handle you, I'll do whatever it takes to be worthy of your power..." I murmured into my palm, praying that by some leap in logic it would hear me again
Just then, Albatross and Penny were as blinded as I was as Cognitum blared to life on its own accord, stretching blue code across my arms and down the rest of my body, constructing something new onto my body. The lines of solid code constructed a tattered cape and hood of hardlight over my crow-like helmet, eyes fixed to a glare.
My body-suit was slim and padded with thin, charcoal armor, whilst three strips of hardlight fabric tied themselves to the sides of my waist and my lower back. Three knives were fixed to each bracer and along with a sash across my chest. From behind my back, I withdrew a handle that quickly unfolded into a hunting bow, a thin, blue string between the limbs, a quiver strapped to my right thigh.
"Woah...!" My reaction was appropriate, moving to feel how lightweight my body had become, and my optical HUD was locking onto all five of them with detailings that guided me to attack in the best strategy available
With a flash, Penny appeared in my HUD with a wide smile and stars in her eyes. "This suit is highly advanced, equipped with adaptable arrows that automatically feed into your Dust reserves! It comes with a nerve-link connected to your Cerebral Cortex, allowing for preemptive reactions. Spring locks and pulses emanate from certain joints in your armour, allowing for acrobatic movements, and agility. It's your most combat effective proxy yet!" Penny exclaimed happily. "It also has upgrades for the rest of your forms, though, your chances of wearing them after this one is 5.0000000%!"
I just blinked. "Erm, well... I don't want to rely on just one, Penny," Looking down at the bow I just thought of putting it away and it collapsed back into a small handle, placing it on my belt. Clenching a hand I tapped it to where Cognitum would be. "Thank you, again, Cognitum... I think I'll call this form..."
-~Form IV - Shikari~-
"Albatross," He shook his head out of his awed state, as I locked eyes with him. "I don't know about saving the world or anything like that," I held out my thumb. "But I'll be damned if I don't give it a shot."
To Be Continued...
A little short but with some interesting developments for what lies ahead. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Myriad
Summer and Albatross lead their students toward their next test, one that may very well break them.