Act V - Life's Pieces
Chapter 46 - Ender
[System Alert]
Time Remaining...
00 Days | 09 Hours | 59 Minutes
"Where the hell did they come from!?" Sky yelled, ducking through a doorway as he slammed his blade through the neck of a Beowolf, tossing its corpse to the rest as Amber gunned down two more, forcing the others to stop and snarl for an opening to present itself
"Dammit!" She cursed, reloading angrily as Sky sighed, firing a burst of ice dust to erect a large wall of ice to hold back the horde for a moment longer
"So... yeah, that way isn't looking like a good exit anymore." Eric strained, adding to the already bleak situation
Each corridor and chamber was the same layout, long, tall hallways of white marble and purple-stained windows between every column, giving the illusion of multiple hallways as a white light made up the ceiling, lighting the way forward. They had walked these halls for what feels like forever but left a sizable trail for Albatross and Summer to follow. Now Grimm were showing up somehow, not loads but enough to keep them off track.
"I don't believe we have long," Amber said this as three claws poked through the ice, the Beowolves having an Alpha with them made the wall a less viable means of defense
"Well, guess we have one other option..." Iota appeared, looking between Sky and Amber. "Issue is... I'm not okay with the idea, but..."
"Is there any other way?" Sky asked quickly, Penny appearing on his shoulder
"We've run through every scenario within Cognitum but the variables are consistent in almost both likely events." Penny elaborated on the matter with Iota nodding solemnly
Amber, having already known the outcome fully, turned to shove Sky onward, the large eyes of his suit widened at her shove. She put a hand on her hip. "Don't underestimate me, a few mutts aren't nearly enough, what matters is stopping the Vex, now go, I can handle things from here."
"You sure?" Instead, Iota was the one to press the concern, eyes curved warily at a person he would openly admit calling a friend. She flashed a small, confident smile, drawing back the slide on her rifle as the ice began to crack, chunks splitting off between them
"I'm a dragon, I can't afford to lose." Understanding, Iota vanished and so did Penny, the duo shared a quick tap of their knuckles and Sky ran down the large, vacant hallway alone, hearing the ice crack, and fall apart, while gunfire and howls ensued, and all he could do was smile and move faster
The final chamber of the endless Spire stood before Sky, chandeliers of black chains, and purple lanterns swayed in the open air, black, arching designs to their confines groaned under the strain of their chains that hung from above. Black columns stood high across the massive room, whist the dark-purple floor reflected the images of the lights and his reflection to the mirror world. Unlike the rest, everything had darkened.
The architecture of the complex was certainly pristine, even for a Vex's domain. But as Sky caught his breath, moving towards the other end of the grand hall, his eyes locked directly at the purple-clad figure awaiting them a few feet away, his head tilting up towards them.
"I've been expecting you." Mars exhaled bluntly, sounding exhausted as he rested a hand on his helmet
With Iota and Eric slipping back into his mind, their thoughts as one again in the face of their greatest foe to date turned ally of sorts, now, nothing about him screamed 'Friendly'. "Typical, of course, you'd wait just before the entrance to the summoning pits of the Vex." Sky scoffed, but that did little to phase him
His arm motioned to the world around them. "I have waited years for this realm to open again, only now the Vex wishes to be free... he used me, and is toying with my mind as always, being a visage of the God of Darkness he has... a control over us Grimm," It would explain his look of discomfort. "I understand... I have doomed this world."
"How so?" Sky confronted, keeping his wits about him
Mars chuckled hoarsely. "Simple. I created Cognitum as a means to eradicate the Vex, you were the perfect vessel... and it was all part of his plan, you are an anomaly to him, and yet, you were a necessary catalyst for his rebirth, he twisted my mind, had me believe the device you wear would be his undoing, but it is merely a catalyst for his resurrection." The words were cold and Sky slowly shook his head. "The moment he reconnects with his other half, the fragments of his power residing in your gauntlet will act as a bridge for the two halves to merge once more, the second he leaves his dark matter prison, you will die."
The news came crashing down on all four of them, Sky's breath caught in his throat for a moment. "I'll... die," He knew the stakes but... to be told of his fate wasn't easy to swallow. Taking in a long breath, he asked. "Just one more question before we end this, Mars. Why all of this? Why tell me any of this is he's constantly playing you like a puppet, knowing every move you make?" Sky began calmly, raising a hand at his question, with Mars stepping forward a bit
"The 'Perfect World' our sides fight for will end one way or another, such as the fate of any creature with intelligence or ideals." Mars sighed solemnly, moving to pace in a small line, taking in the amethyst details of his world
"What?" Sky was confused now
"Do you know what is to become of our world?" Mars asked, but Sky could only shrug. "Salem wants to end the world for the sake of her revenge against the Gods that wronged her, whilst humanity wants to survive but face damnation between one another. The Vex... Charron, will not stop until that is corrected, and I desired something similar, a way to end the needlessness of death between Grimm, Humans, and Faunus."
Mars then turned to face Sky, who hummed in thought, awaiting him to continue.
"The Vex was their ideal savior, but its madness over balance drove it to nearly destroy its creators in order of making the perfected world is obsessed over. It saw me as the one with the potential to see that come to pass, he had Salem work without realizing to gather the remnants of his power, forging the shards into the machine now snug against your forearm." He jabbed a finger at Cognitum. "Before I realized it... I had already completed all the steps... all that was left was to push the evolution of Project Eclipse to its maximum, to ensure the catalyst would suffice." Mars' body glowed a powerful red at that, his desires were not his own anymore, a strange, unnerve pressure settled in.
Realization dawned on Sky, who threw a hand to his right
"What he calls 'Balance' means that innocent lives will be killed, the whole universe would collapse without a state of balance, his is pure perfection that would see one side of the coin torn away!" Sky barked out, but that did little to sway Mars, or it did, but his frustration over control was growing
"My desires for a peaceful world and my lust for carnage are growing... I cannot hold him back for long... you have... one last trial ahead of you, Kai," He paused. "But, his design is still... my own. I wanted to create a Vex not confined to this perfected obsession, but a guardian to Remnant, one that... will see to its salvation.
"My design was to manifest the power of the Vex, with a soul that would never yield to perfection and only a just world, fit with chaos and peace. In order to do this, I implanted the EC-1101 program with the essence of the Vex." Mars revealed, with Sky's mouth widening slightly with his eyes
"An Artificial Vex... me..." Sky trailed off
A single nod, "I... have with me... a final tool, to... stop him..." For once, under the gleam shrouded by the helmet, Sky saw in the Grimm... sorrow. "Please... kill me... the only way to win... to survive... i-is to fight." He held his arms wide. "Do you understand, the only way to save them all is to kill me!" Mars motioned wide with his arms, the shivering of his armor ceased, and a final sentence Sky knew to be unlike the Mars he had met within the Cauldron. "Do you not understand? The futility of your actions? It's hopeless, you cannot win."
"I do! But I don't give a damn!" Sky rejected the twisted ideas Charron had forcibly injected and twisted into Mars and propelled his body toward the Horseman of War, striking his hand with a cross of his blades, only to be flung back by the red and black streaks of lightning, throwing his body backward, now Mars scowled under his helmet
"Your efforts will end in ruin!" He barked, seeing Sky run off his knees, sprinting towards Mars again, so he clenched his fists
"Raaaaaahhh!" Sky struck Mars' gauntlets with repetitive strikes from the right and left, only to be thrown to the floor again by a painful force from Mars' fist, his body sliding to a halt on the floor, the results of the previous fight to get to this point began to weigh down on him physically. "H-how can I-"
Sky froze, seeing the shadows behind the now brightened halls expand from behind Mars, taking on the form of two massive arms of armour, wielding two God Swords in toe, their silver edges gleaming above Sky, just as Mars thrust his hand down, ushering the blades to strike. The right one struck from above, crashing into Sky with a flash of emerald green, both his arms threw themselves up, his blades expanding into shields to repel the attack and red lightning.
"Penny!" Sky gaped in relief, the tiny A.I appearing in his HUD
"You always need to be on guard, Sky!" She scolded with a pout, in turn, Mars brought the arm down hard, throwing Sky through the floor and back a few meters. He tripped and stumbled back to his feet again, albeit shakily. Sky quickly reverted to his blades again, lunging with a powerful thrust of his wings, only for the left arm to appear from the shadows, striking high in a massive vertical arc, slamming him into a pillar as he slapped the ground painfully. "Ow..."
"Your time's up, Kai," Mars scoffed at his efforts, hand raised as the swords followed the command, then they were ushered forward, crossing at a hard angle for Sky to avoid, the left clipped his legs, tossing him high enough for the right to strike upon his descent, followed by the left, then the right.
The consecutive attacks lasted several times before swatting him down into the ground again after the agonizing juggling. The ground broke apart, and something strained and crunched within Sky's armor and body, himself laying face-first in the ground.
"Sky, you've done enough, please consider fleeing!" Penny offered Sky with worry over her friend, but his arm moved under him, the limb sparking violently under the strain, the pistons even wheezing with each bent joint
"Stop this now, Kai, there is no point in trying to continue!" Iota barked, however, Sky was smiling under his helmet. "Would you for once value your life!?"
"I... do... which is why I can't run..." Sky breathed under the pain he felt, only to cough violently at the massive sword striking across his waist with a horizontal slant, throwing him into a small tumble again
"Yeah, well, I don't want to die against the Personification of War! We need to back up, now, please!" Even Eric was beyond afraid at the sight of Mars' power, the massive arms looming behind his form. But Sky merely moved to his knees, shakily rising to his feet again, his armour broken, a wing shattered, his face-plate cracked, yet he smiled
"I'm afraid to, can't you see, I'm shaking," Sky stood strong, holding his arms to his sides in preparation for another attack. "But I'll take those hits, no matter how many it takes. I'm doing this, for all of them. Yang. Blake. Weiss. Jaune. Ren. Nora. Pyrrha. Coco. Velvet. Sun. Neptune. Amber. Albatross. Erika. Summer. Qrow. Gambit, you guys too. My parents. My mom. For Ruby. So... with that said, throw everything you have Mars because until my body is dry, he hasn't won!"
Under that cue, all viewers could only stare with wide eyes at the lights on Cognitum, their highlights shimmered under a new veil of light, the armor and its missing pieces repaired as though an aura of its own healed and repaired the unit. But Sky's body, it glowed, his Aftershock's after-image effect melded into his form, turning his body a pure, purple tone, the eyes silver as the highlights of Cognitum turned white to match.
Mars sneered, contemplating the form. "Your soul resonated... no... your Semblance has manifested into its true potential... interesting development," Mars thoughts raced. "He pushed past his own limit to achieve a state far greater, was this Project Eclipse's doing? Or was Kai's soul truly this potent? So many questions, such little time to care."
The eyes widened, hands lifted to reveal the arms and blades as a single tone, say for a white outline around the blade and the stripes where his highlights would be. "Woah!" Sky breathlessly stared down at his newly ascended Semblance. "I think I'll rename you... 'Soul Flare'."
Slicing his arms down, the blades reflected off the ground, a new, radiant amethyst light fought against the darkened halls, as a foreboding, crimson light surged across Mars' own form.
"Alright then... Let's do it!"
Sky moved towards Mars, flying above the Horseman of War, the reason for everything that had transpired since arriving to Remnant, but in these halls, among the eve of a false God's resurrection, Sky needed all the strength he could muster to end this once and for all. After-all, he had a promise to keep, and he was sure as hell 'not' going to break it now.
"I cannot expect someone like you to understand, everything was going well until you came along..." Mars grumbled, his body erupting with black mist and red lightning again. Sky was pushed back by the force as the two swords connected to a gargantuan body of dark-purple armour, its broad chest staring back at him with a massive eye at its core, whilst the legs formed a coiling tail that floated in the air, a dual-edge sword for its tip, whilst the head of the armour seemed to grin at Sky's presence with two, jagged eyes. "Fine, lets settle this. Now!"
Towering over Sky was Mars' true form, a blackish-purple knight, clad in armour that had enchantment circles encompassing his arms, and back with a purple glow. His God Swords raised to his sides to gleam in the halls light. Sky then cracked his knuckles, pointing a gauntlet blade directly at the heart of Mars.
"A world where people suffer for the sake of peace just sounds rotten to me," He dared, breaking toward Mars' abdomen, a strange, invisible force pushing him away from the obvious weak spot. "What the-"
"Sky, I have detected a distortion in gravity around Mars, a strange, etheral force is being fed into his form, hence the manifestation of his form. It will take me time to weaken the barrier, I need you to proceed until I can open a window." Sky was about to question Penny, but she quickly added. "My analysis confirms that motes of the ether are gathering into your armor, use this to help weaken the unprotected limbs." Sky nodded, perfect
"So I just have to outlast you then?" Sky mused, dodging to the right with a spin, the thrust of Mars' blade nearly severing his arm from its shoulder, but just as the arm pulled back, the eye fixed to the core of Mars' armour gleamed, a chain of purple spheres shot forth in intercept Sky
Not wanting to back away from the threat, Sky merely flew to his left again, noting that the right arm came crashing down with the magical blasts, which were quickly followed by another bombardment of spheres, so Sky pulled his arms to his chest, the blades humming, once they were within reach, Sky tore through the blasts with a cross chop, the sphere shattered like glass.
Eyes widening, Sky spun into a barrel roll, his armour skating across the faces of the blades, both crossing above and below Sky horizontally, then his hands twisted them back around to thrust downwards, forcing Sky to perform a helix motion, spinning his body upwards with his wings, soaring between the silver edges. Leaving him eye-level with Mars.
"Sky, I will give you the notice to strike when I break through his barrier, for now, counter his blades, one strike may not damage the suit's integrity, but it may cause physical harm to you." Penny's voice broke Sky's ears away from the battle, so he nodded once, noting how Mars pulled his right sword to rest under his left armpit, the silver blade glowing a devilish purple
Within seconds, Sky swung his left gauntlet high to his side, striking upwards under the severe pressure of Mars' strike at a blinding speed, but it was ultimately deflected. Mars copied with the left, with Sky resting his right arm close to his chest, swatting outward to parry Mars' blow. The force was enough to how Sky off-balance, leaving him open to Mars' prod from the right, instantly, Sky countered by guarding close to his torso. Amethyst was struck by dark purple, as a wide cross of light broke the connection, raining shards of hardened light around them.
"Now, aim for the eye!" Sky took action at the sound of Penny's voice, his wings propelling him directly before the blinking eye, as it tried to fire another row of magic, Sky immediately began to thrash wildly at the iris. His right slashed diagonally left, before trailing the blade back through the purple streak of light. He brought his left up vertically, spinning once to cross the blade down the same laceration again, then he kicked the eye to cause it to flinch. After the consecutive blows, Mars' body released an invisible force of energy, throwing Sky flying across the room, only for him to glide back into a hovering stance
"This world is broken, distorted, you would stand in the way of true peace?" Mars sneered, but is vernacular wasn't his own. The eye conjuring more energy blasts, some larger than the smaller collection of orbs upon Sky's flight towards him again. But the armour of Mars looked cracked now, with the purple flames becoming more orange hue
"Yeah, I would, 'cause a world without imperfections is no life at all worth living for." Sky rebound the harsh words of Mars, though he did admit that such a fate would occur if they were to fail
The bombardment of sphere were nearing, so Sky pushed himself up above one of the larger orbs, before propelling himself from that one across to the other three, using them as stepping stones to avoid the smaller clusters that rushed in from beneath his amethyst feet, becoming a flurry of color that spanned the circumference of each attack. Floating before Mars, his eyes flashed to the right arms radiant edge.
Channeling most of his fire dust reserves into his left gauntlet, Sky parried the strike to his left, a sharp flash of golden flames to blind them both. Sky's sensors snapped to his left, and his wings folded his body into a roll, his side spinning across the face of the left sword, followed by a second rain of blasts, Sky merely slashed horizontally twice in a circular motion, slicing their diameters in two.
"Tsk. The hell are we gonna do?" Sky grunted, seeing Penny appear in his HUD once more
"Hold him for a few more seconds!" She sounded stressed, probably due to the amount of data that kept changing, upon her persistent attempts to use Cognitum to bypass the distortion field.
Sky quickly backflipped, his feet clipping the tip of Mars' blade, causing his flight to falter, just as the right God Sword struck from below, knocking Sky into the pillar to his left with a painful crack, but he was otherwise alright, leading to Mars' frustration
"You should have perished back at Beacon with your friends." Mars' growl was noticeable, allowing Sky the opening he needed
"Now!" Penny's word was his answer. Diverting his fire dust to his feet, the flames kicked him toward the eye, observing its startled gaze as Sky drew both arms back, folding them
Sky sliced the eye with a diagonal slash, with a flip he fanned his arms wide, bringing them down in a powerful cross chop. Then he crossed his arms, spinning upside down to tear through the iris furrowly in a flurry of strokes, the armor caging the optic nerve starting to chip away. Then he brought his right upward, continuing his spin to saw through the chest, pivoting he pulled back, relieving the chest while spraying a vast amount of black mist. The etheral barrier erected itself again, tossing Sky into a spin across the chamber.
Mars was visibly scarred, some armour broke off his gargantuan body, his flames becoming unstable and more corrupted, and more a sickening orange tainted the body. His blades now had seams of white digging through their once gleaming faces too. Yet something was different, the distortion through Sky's sensors, it's... weaker, mainly located at the shoulders, and head.
"You could attempt to bypass certain fields if you aim for several weak points I made," Penny informed Sky with a thumbs up
"Thanks, Penny. Alright guys, time for the big finish!" Sky chanted, yet was cut of suddenly by two mighty swings of the blades above him. They pulled him through the air, the right swatting Sky through one of the many columns. "Ow... okay, that hurt."
Reacting to Mars sudden malice, he dove behind another column, the blades shattering the remains he once collided with. In response, the most animalistic roar rattled through the Horseman, and it was almost painful as he slammed through the obstructions to catch Sky, his semblance beginning to shimmer. Sky then backflipped, his back skating across one of the swords, pressing his feet to slide down the length of the blade that tore through the air, dividing numerous pillars in the process. The drag-force threw Sky off the blade and into another pillar.
"You won't escape me again!" Mars boomed with fury, poising his left arm high, spinning the sword around to drive through Sky's last position, the tip sinking into the floor, inverting his grip, Mars pulled the blade upwards, splashing dust and debris through the air, as the blade clanked against something through the dust
"I'm not running from you, ever again," Sky reprehended, his arms holding the massive sword above his head with more pressure than he could muster himself. Throwing the massive blade to his side, Sky tore across the gap and toward the head that traced his movements. With his fists pulverizing dust between his fingers, he slammed his knee into the helmet. "This. Is. For. My. Team!" Each strike caused a concussive blast of heat
"My Friends!" BAM. "My Family!" BAM. "All those you've hunted!" BAM. "And This!" POW. "Is!" POW. "For!" POW. "EVERYTHING!" CRACK!
The final kick to Mars' armored head lead to a massive eruption of energy, launching Sky back again, but now Mars' body was turning black and looked corroded. His flames were now a constant red and orange, his armour also looked like it was distorting itself now, pieces twisting in ways it shouldn't under the etheral barrier.
"Your futile actions cloud what judgment you were gifted. You squander your life, you gift for chaos and-" Sky had enough
"Good! I don't give a shit about your self-centered, one-sided sadness! You think I don't know this? All this time I've been wondering 'why', and I'm sick of hearing people say what's right and wrong to me! This life is mine, not yours, Charron!" Sky spat back in Mars' face. "It ends here, just you and me, Mars."
Inclined to agree, a faint flicker in the helmet's eyes brought a ghostly smile to Sky's lips. "Agreed."
The central eye unleashed a torrent of spherical attacks, the once telegraphed order thrown to discord. The eye thrashed and flailed about in its confines, trying desperately to strike Sky. He too pushed himself to move faster, flying at odd angles that would throw off the attacks, carving down the blasts that impeded his assault. Spinning between two he brought his right forward, countering the left blade, then with the added force of the parry Sky spun, performing a handstand across the right blade, kicking it away once over the edge.
Refusing to lose, Mars drove his arms toward Sky's right-hand-side, however, a narrow opening sat between them. Holding in his gut, Sky enveloped his body in his wings, planking through the harrowing gap that reflected his glowing form. The one beneath him nearly nicking his toes off, but he was ultimately successful in evading. Fanning his wings again, he floated before the eye and began an all-out assault on the mutilated gaze with everything he had.
Sky didn't think, only slashing in horizontal bursts from right to left, then left to right, and backward, slicing the armour to the sides of the chest to ribbons. Prying himself back, Sky lunged with a cross chop again, splitting the eye before ramming a left hook through the soft flesh, tugging his right forward he sunk both blades through the iris, pressing his feet to the edge of the eyelid then pulled out, blinding the chest entirely.
"It's over, Mars." Sky whispered faintly, a steady feeling rising in his chest upon the heavy meaning of the words. Flying back from the now crumbling Horseman. Sky gathered what remaining fire dust he had, while another idea flared in his mind, courtesy of Eric. "I like it, Senketsu Senjin!" The command ushered an array of smaller blades to pierce across his fading semblance, as his armor flew with a serrated touch
It only took a second, but the pillars that remained standing behind Sky were charred black from the massive nova of fire that shot forth from his soles, the sonic blast shattering the marble floor as the very air grew with intense heat, Sky had become a mere comet of amethyst light, streaking across the Spire. Mars finally closed his eyes, a hidden smile crossing a face that never existed.
*crack-Crack-Shatter-Thunk*
Sky tore through Mars' armored manifestation, hovering to a stop as his semblance vanished, and the serrated edges of his armor followed suit. He landed on the ground with an ear-piercing screech. Behind him, the gargantuan knight unleashed a strong wave of etheral energy. The fires consumed his form, breaking it down at the seams. The remaining sword plunged itself into the ground, ringing a deafening silence across the battle-torn hall.
It didn't take long for silence to reign over the area, the crumpling of the massive suit of armour being the only thing to make a sound over Sky's heavy breathes, yet Cognitum remained in its jet-black form, the lights that graced the plated metal dimmer than usual.
"...It's over... isn't it?" Mars whispered weakly, with Sky now standing a few inches from his dying form, his back to Mars, the Grimm chuckled dryly. "To think you could exceed my expectations, I did enjoy that."
"Why?" The word was heavy and full of confused anger, "You're a Grimm, so why do you care so much about saving this world?"
Mars peered toward the ceiling, "I once thought of Salem's gift to us as a means to loyalty... all it did was provide clarity, to her sickened mind, to the endless bloodshed... I hated it, the more I pushed away the more I yearned to kill until the Vex gave me exactly the instrument I needed... he may have used me... but I, in turn, used him,"
Mars tore apart his chest, prying away something small. A red chip the size of an index finger, Cognitum immediately alerted Sky to the device, marking it as 'Augmentation'. Mars built this? "My... Will, forged into a blade, one that will finally complete my work... my legacy."
His arm started to tremble, falling to rest in Sky's arm, the chip placed in his open palm. He still refused to say anything, staring down at the monster behind his summoning, but... if not him he'd still be lost in mistrust and grief, paranoia ruling his actions.
"I... designed this... considering the ether you drained from me, this should activate the instant you implant the chip..." Mars craned his neck again, facing the ceiling. "May I... ask for... one final request?" Mars heard nothing but silence from Sky's end
Sky's hand closed around the chip, "Sure." Was all he said, smelling the faint aroma of ash linger in the air
"Don't let... the Vex destroy this world... save Tabus, she... has no part in any of this... please, save her." Mars' mind had nearly turned to mist too, his vision of the battled-scarred chamber was amusing
Despite it all, he received a final look from his masterpiece, the eyes narrowed, nodding solemnly. He smiled, and a strange, foreign sensation tapped in his chest where his left lung would reside, each beat chipped away at his form, but it was a comforting feeling.
"I will, I promise, Mars." Sky gave his stern vow, watching as the Horseman of War faded before his eyes, the lingering gaze hidden within the shattered helmet brightening with satisfaction. Taking in a long lungful of air.
"...Project Eclipse... is complete... my only real regret... is not seeing... the beauty of that Silver Grove... again..." With a heavy look, the last remnants of the black smog dispersed in the air around him, his greatest rival, his... ally. Was gone.
With a sigh, Sky felt a smile tug back to his face, alongside the sound of fireworks going off in his head.
"We did it! We did it! We did it~!" Eric continued to celebrate, whilst Iota hummed, but he was clearly relived
"Now, we only have one more objective, but I can agree with Eric by saying that we truly rid our biggest demon, which is by far a big mountain, now all we have left our the bumps to our freedom from this curse." That was true, and they needed to move quickly. Pulling up the red chip in his fingers, Sky held it curiously to Cognitum, seeing it suddenly reveal a port for the drive
"Here goes... everything," Slotting the device in hesitantly, the red chip vanished and now a download began down at the bottom right of his HUD, he slumped bitterly. "Are you kidding me? A download? Now of all times!?"
"This file is very extens#'&... i£ m*"!? :'#%..." Penny turned to complete static, as the lights across Cognitum flickered and died, much to the trio's shock
"Um... Penny? What happened?" Eric murmured. "I don't feel so good..."
"Same, this is... unsettling," Iota grumbled slightly
"You sure got through my defenses fast enough, that was unexpected."
All processes of thought and movement froze in place at the cold voice that came from every known corner of Sky's body, it wasn't anyone he's heard before - No, when he fought to free himself of the Myriad, that voice was there, pulling him closer to the abyss.
"Now that you understand the stakes you're willing to play the hero?"
"It - It couldn't be... no..." Sky gulped, but his dry throat felt empty, even his legs turned to jelly under a strange pressure that coiled across his body, like a massive hand's fingers squeezing his form softly like a toy, latching on tightly with each second
"Unfortunately you're no hero, you're nothing, and yet here you are."
Sky couldn't force his body to stand now, as he quickly fell to the floor, his mind heavy, even with a small sprite of Penny trying to keep his eyes open, every breath echoed and drummed in his ears, his heartbeat rooted in his mind as color and clarity lost all focus.
"Allow me to be transparent. You're all going to die in here."
Within moments, Sky's mind was gone to a world of the void.
To Be Continued...
What a chapter, I took the liberty of making this a good send-off for Mars, and Charron has made his move. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!
Next Chapter: Flawed...
Sky awakes to a familiar world, trapped by the Vex, Charron. And he's not alone.