Remix's single step towards his opponent sent a clap of thunder through the skies, tearing the golden clouds above apart and revealing the red sky through them, electricity crackling over the fusion's body as he simply walked closer to the tyrant that stood at the helm of the war machine, nought but a smirk on his face the whole way.
"This pressure..." Delta muttered, her eyes remaining fixated on Remix the whole way, Jack and Marcus watching his approach in utter silence. Remix stopped mere inches away from Daal, chest pushed forward and eyebrow cocked, his emerald green meeting the glimmering purple of Daal, the metal ground groaning as light auras ignited around them.
"So, pretty boy, you think you can take me on?" Daal grinned, his teeth shining in the sunlight.
Remix chuckled "More than confident enough. In fact I think you haven't done your homework."
Daal narrowed his eyes, chunks of metal being torn up from the ground and flung aside as the power continued to swell around them "Oh I know about what this marvellous fusion has done. If only I could harness your power for my device, oh what I could do with such a thing."
"Then you're well aware of how hard I'm gonna kick your ass." Remix's fire erupted in a brilliant flash of light, the three observers being sent staggering back from the shockwave.
In an instant the two god-like beings were in the air, each clash of fists shaking the air around them. Sliding past Daal's fist, Remix smashed his directly into the cheek of the mad scientist with a solid THWACK and Daal being sent flying.
"Come on, come on!" Remix laughed, seemingly dancing in the air as Daal righted himself "We just started and I already got a hit like that on ya!?"
Daal growled as he righted his jaw "Lucky hit." He vanished into thin air, immediately reforming behind the warrior. He wrapped his arm around Remix's throat, his grip tightening immensely by the second "Oh look at this, the great Remix being held in a mere choke-hold, how humiliating!" He sneered as Remix struggled in his grasp "Come now, if th-ACK!" His bloating was interrupted by a solid elbow into his gut. Remix broke free of the android's grasp in an instant, gripping his arm and throwing him back into the platform, rocketing straight for him with fire engulfing his fist. He only hit the dented steel as Daal rolled out of the way, picking up Remix and tossing him into a nearby pole. With a hiss, Remix swiftly jumped to his feet, ripping the pole out of its place and spinning it around himself before holding it in a battle stance. Daal scoffed and charged for Remix, who instantly vaulted over him with the pole, whacking it into the back of his head with ease, the force alone shattered the pole, Remix following up with a powerful drop kick that sent Daal hurtling head first into the crown of the brass statue. The man with the inferno of hair landed neatly, hands on his hips as he stared at the settling dust "Too easy! And here I was thinking this would be fun!" He threw his hands out to his sides, two orbs of blue energy materializing in his palms "Some threat you are!"
Jack's folded arms suddenly dropped, his stern look being replaced with shock "Marcus, you feel that?"
Marcus kept his eyes on the dust cloud, his face scrunched up in confusion "Yeah, I feel it alright. Something's not right."
Delta looked to the two men, then to the dust cloud as an odd glimmer of light appeared from within. Mere moments later, Remix was sent flying into the rest of them by some incredible force, his balls of energy scattering off into the sky and illuminating the ocean with a vibrant blue explosion. Remix groaned as he pushed himself up, swiftly helping the rest of the group to their feet "What even was that?" He queried, looking to the hole in the statue's crown.
"I must congratulate you on making my battle plan move faster than expected." Daal's voice echoed across the platform, Remix's aura immediately reigniting, standing firm in front of the other three. From the hole emerged a fully healed Daal-Wah-Niid, though his chest was glowing with a rainbow of lights.
"No way..." Marcus' jaw fell agape as he stared at the source of the lights. The Gems of Eternity were embedded into Daal's chest, the towering android glaring straight into their souls with the grin of a psychopath plastered on his face.
"It's commendable, really, no one's ever thrown a wrench into my plans the way you have." Daal's body sparked with immense power as he raised his fists "All the more reason for me to ensure you lot go FIRST!"
Before even Remix could react, Daal appeared in front of Marcus. The former mercenary's point blank shotgun blast simply bounced off his skin, as did Delta's sniper fire and Jack's flurry of sword strikes, Remix himself only ruffling the back of Daal's clothes. The mere act of Daal then gripping Marcus by the neck sent the fighters flying away from him, Delta's rifle tumbling over the edge and into the deep abyss below, the girl herself narrowly clinging onto the platform's edge.
"Y-You.." Marcus hissed through his tightened throat, Daal's eyes boring into his very existence.
"Arrogant pest." Daal spat as his grip on Marcus' neck tightened "Your heart for your family seems big. LET'S SEE HOW BIG IT IS!" In one swift yet brutal movement, Daal tore into Marcus' chest, ripping his heart clean out. Blood splattered onto the floor around him, any droplets that would have hit him simply bouncing off.
"MARCUS!" Remix shrieked, his aura being sent into an inferno as he charged for Daal. The empowered android didn't even turn to look at Remix, instead a single blast of energy sent him tumbling back once more.
"Any last words?" Daal cackled into the fading eyes of the last human.
And with one smirk, Marcus croaked out a faint "Fuck you." before he went limp, the still beating heart in Daal's other hand going still.
On the distant horizon, an ear piercing shriek rang out through the streets of Ooinkhu, Jack's metallic nails kicking up sparks as he dragged them into a fist.
Delta finally pulled herself back onto the platform, being met with Marcus' body hitting the floor beside with with a THUD, the girl immediately freezing once more.
"You bastard..." Jack hissed, a red wisp radiating off his whole body "You...you monster…!" His revealed eye turned bloodshot, another sword forming in his free hand.
"No, Jack!" Remix yelled out as he scrambled to his feet. The fusion was swiftly blasted right back into the floor, Daal simply looking to him with a smirk before returning his attention back to Jack. The cyborg made a mad dash straight to Daal, who caught both his swords with ease. Jack's monstrous screeches rang out for miles across the ocean's waves, his arms a blur as he went wild against the sheer and utter force that was Daal, who only kept his confident smirk on his face as mere fingers reflected every blow. The clash kept up for a good few seconds until Daal suddenly gripped Jack's arms, the red blaze that surrounded Jack dissipating in an instant. He barely had a moment to register the slimy touch of Daal's hands before his arms were torn off with ease. Instead of an agonizing scream, he simply staggered back, gasping for breath as nanoparticles swarmed from within his chest. Though with a simple snap of Daal's fingers, the particles exploded in a vibrant black and blue blast, Jack's body now reduced to nothing but wires and a metal frame, blood coating whatever was left of the man. With laboured, raspy breaths, he took one look at Remix before dropping off the edge without a word, the howling wind broken seconds later by a loud splash below.
"And now those...interruptions are out of the way-" Before Daal could even finish his sentence, he was sent reeling by Remix ramming his fist square into his fist at blazing speed. With his fangs bared and eyes unflinching, Remix unleashed an incredible barrage of punches directly into Daal's chest as they flew over the ocean before kicking him straight down, the ocean itself parting as Daal smashed into the ocean floor, smirking the entire time.
"GO TO HELL, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Rem's voice screeched above Ix's as Remix sent thousands upon thousands of energy blasts towards the revealed seabed, the resulting explosion's mushroom cloud vanishing miles into the sky, Remix's shoulders rising and falling with his breaths. Gripping his forehead and shaking his head, Remix shook himself down, grunting as he stretched "Lost my cool...Gotta smash the device."
"Lost your cool, Mr. Altezio?" Daal's voice echoed in Remix's head.
"WHAT-" Remix was once again sent flying by an unseen force, hitting the edge of the platform and spinning back onto the top, groaning as he smacked face first into the floor. Looking over, he saw Delta stood paralysed as she stared at Marcus' body, like she couldn't even turn away.
"Eyes on the fight!" Daal appeared beside Remix, grabbing him by his spiked hair, repeatedly smashing his face into the steel floor.
Delta finally broke her gaze from the mutilated corpse of her friend, only to be immediately met with Remix yelling out between slams, the once proud and mighty fusion now covered in bruises, blood and scars.
"DeltAGH!" Remix called out "Little- ARGH! Help!?"
Her whole body shaking, Delta still nodded and grabbed the fallen Marcus' shotgun, aiming for Daal, the blast echoing as silence suddenly fell over the seas.
Total miss. The pellets hit everything but the crazed scientist, his eyes squirming as one kept locked on the gasping Remix whilst the other stared directly at Delta. He released Remix, who immediately began forcing himself back onto his feet, coughing up a puddle of blood as he staggered upright. Daal marched right up to Delta, easily wrenching the shotgun from her grasp and tossing it into the ocean.
"Listen here, kiddo." His voice dripped with venom "You're lucky to be alive right now considering who's around you. Now, I have a use for you, believe it or not, so stay. Put. And I'll get back to you."
Delta didn't answer, her eyes glancing behind Daal to a glowing blue light.
Daal noticed the glance and turned around, Delta diving away from him as he turned. Remix stood back up, coated in his own gore yet still strong, a huge ball of swirling blue energy between his hands "Hey, Daal!" He yelled "Try get a reading on your body as it gets blown to smithereens!"
Daal smirked and opened his arms to Remix, bursting into mad laughter the whole while.
"KA..ME...HA...ME...HAAAAAA!" Remix's voice tore through the air as he threw his arms forward, unleashed an enormous blue wave of energy towards Daal, whose smirk remained glued on his lips. The blast tore the platform apart and shot over the horizon, straight over the city of Ooinkhu and off into the atmosphere, Remix screeching with all his might as he pushed further into the beam before releasing it all into one final burst, the beam exploding over Daal and covering the platform in a blinding blue light.
Gasping for breath, Remix lowered his arms as he stared at the cloud of sheer black smoke. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he scowled as he stood upright "Enough energy for you?"
"MORE THAN ENOUGH!"
Remix and Delta gasped as the smoke was blasted apart to reveal Daal stood atop a pedestal filled with a swirling green cloud "You are a truly amazing contributor to my experiments, you Altezios!" He raised his hands once more, his grin stretched beyond any normal limitations of facial muscles "And now, your overwhelming might, the very same you have used to save this world countless times before! It provides the final push for me to reform it as my creators left me to do!"
"No!" Remix yelled, breaking into a mad sprint, leaping into the air with his foot ablaze.
"EARTH REFORMER DEVICE!" He grabbed a detonator that shot out of the ground as Remix was mere inches away from his face once more "FIRE!" His finger clicked down on the button at the same instance as Remix's foot made contact with his face, stretching it beyond comprehension and sending him smashing back into the crown of the statue. Remix could only stare in horror as an enormous beam of green goo and energy erupted out of the statue's face, hurtling into the horizon in seconds. Remix's arms dropped as he looked back to Delta, then to Daal, his face reforming back into his maniacal smirk.
"Choose, Altezios. The girl or your planet? Surely you wouldn't let a girl die and miss out on true freedom. And you wouldn't like to see your families die."
In the howling wind, Remix's hair drooped down to a scraggy mess of the women that made him, the anger vanishing from his eyes as he looked at Delta "I'm sorry." He said in a breath before leaping off the platform and into the distance.
Delta just stood there, paralysed once again as she watched the beam continue to blast off into the horizon.
"Poor Delta." Daal gripped his face as it healed "Left alone to die." He smirked as he held his hand out "At least, that's what he thinks. Join me, Delta. The world will be so much more than what it is now. I'm only doing this to make it all perfect. Something...that a being as pure as you deserves. You don't know what it's really like out there, all you know is the ragtag group you met down there. Are you sure you can believe them? That girl, the tall one, she hates your kind, didn't you know?"
Delta didn't answer, just staring at the hand outstretched in front of her.
"She would have killed you regardless."
Delta took a deep breath, looking down at herself, her dirty and battered hands, the tears in her jacket. And Rem's smile appeared in her mind, was he right? That rage she showed, what if it was on her end? Was it meant to all be for her?
She let out her breath and slowly took Daal's hand, the android smiling as he shook on it "That's a good girl. Watch, now."
On the sea outside Ooinkhu, Remix was hovering firm in the air, charging up the greatest Kamehameha he could muster after such a fight, the blue light slowly creeping over the city. Finally, he saw it, the distant green light hurtling towards the city "Everything I've got..." He muttered to himself as shrieks and scream began to echo from the city as the beam got closer "KAMEHAME...HAA!" He threw his arms forward once more, a tremendous shockwave tearing the ocean up once more as the beams clashed, Remix grunting and growling as he pushed every bit of energy he could into the beam, yet it just kept pushing back, inching ever closer to the mainland. The city was now alight with more green than blue, Remix himself being physically forced back, the clash of beams now twisted into a large disc only meters away from his face.
And finally, it broke.
Remix found himself in a world slowed down to a crawl, as his energy wave exploded, the green mass engulfing him as his vision of the world faded, the distant sun vanishing to give away to the night's consuming shadows.
With a tremendous roar, the green mass of energy smashed into the city, shredding up anything unfortunate enough to get in its way. It tore through the streets and buildings like it was all nothing to its onslaught. Screams were silenced instantly upon contact.
A woman with black and pink hair clutched onto a shivering, pink child as she made a mad dash away from the city, the green onslaught chasing behind them. With one look over her shoulder, she only had a moment to let anything out of her mouth before it overtook her, too. In mere seconds the mass began to spread across the globe, covering it in a thick green ooze. Delta could only watch as it filled the oceans, Daal's face alight with pure victory.
…
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9 months later…
Delta sighed as she stared out upon the grassy plains, staring at...she couldn't call it life. It was wrong, its very existence was the definition of mutilated. An extremely tall, bipedal beast scoured the land, releasing the sounds of a now long-lost civilization. Delta sighed and turned her back to the land, vanishing into the now mossy remains of the same statue that brought the world to its knees.