Chapter 126: Whole New World
A/N: These next few chapters are definitely going to either make or break the story. They take place after Adrian and Damon leaving Fortuna, and before Katrina found him in the previous chapter.
A considerable amout of time ago...
"Alright...brother," said Adrian, "...Look, Damon, if you still want to stay here, I understand-!"
"A. I got nothing left here for me," said Damon blankly. His tone of voice turned sincere, "Right here right now you are the closest family I got. I mean that." He then reach over, wrapping an arm around Adrian, squeezing him tightly before releasing him, pressing one foot on the gas while the other was still on the brake, building up his torque, until finally he released the brake, making the car jolt forward, making it pop back onto its rear wheels, and when it was back on all four wheels, they passed through the portal, the city that was Fortuna dissappearing...
Before Adrian knew what was happening both Damon and the car dissappeared, and Adrian was left in free fall above a large desert, lit only by a red sunset. He instantly spread his wings, but something felt wrong, he felt heavier than he should, and he was still falling faster and harder than he should be,
"What the hell?" He wondered to himself. He then flushed his wings back, sending him to the ground faster and harder still, and right before he hit the ground he drew his wings back in, raised one foot up and landed on one knee, sending a shockwave out and creating a massive crator where he landed. Adrian gasped for air, and even that felt off,
"The air...too much Nitrogen," the Devil Virus noted, "and the gravity..." he lifted his foot, feeling it was far heavier than before, "...it's denser here. Where am I?" Adrian then heard a whirring sound, making him turn, and from the direction of the sunset he saw a dark mass floating in the sky towards him, and as the mass drew closer, the larger it turned out to be. It was large, purple and black with blue jets keeping it in the air, with two doors opening on the sides, revealing a creature had never seen before; it had to be at least seven feet tall, had dark gray flesh, two index fingers and two thumbs on each hand, yellow slit pupil eyes, four mandibles in place of a bottom jaw, and dressed in silver armor,
"What...the hell...?"
"...The hell...are you?" The creature finished, filled with equal parts confusion and wonder upon seeing Adrian. It hopped down from the floating metal mass, drawing a small device from its hip, and with an electronic CRACK a blade of energy came to life, causing Adrian to bring forth his Blade and Gear,
"What sort of creature are you?" Adrian asked it.
"I am a Sangheili," said the creature in a low gruff voice, "But what sort of creature are you?" Adrian shook his head, having never heard of a Sangheili before,
"It's...hard to explain what I am. But I can tell you what I used to be: a human." The creature breifly lowered its' guard,
"A human?"
"Or at least I used to be," said Adrian, "now it's more than a little difficult to explain what I am." The Sangheili raised its' guard back up,
"Then you'll be coming with me so we can discuss it more." Adrian tightened his gear fist,
"I don't think so." He brought his gear arm up and aimed it at the creature,
"DEVOUR!" Shouted Penglog, but as the Bone Dragon arm began to absorb energy, an odd light appeared around the creature, and when Penglog absorbed enough energy the light vanished with a POP, causing blue sparks emmitting from the creatures armor,
"What was that?" It asked, "Tell me, WHAT?!"
"Uh...that's also hard to explain," said Adrian, unsure of what that light was, but from the creatures shock, he could tell it was important. He then formed his Balance Breaker armor, causing the Sangheili to take a defensive position, "So, do you have a name? I want to know who I'm fighting if you do have one." The creature stood proudly,
"I am Thatan 'Mudam, and I am the last Arbiter!" It said, "Defender of the Sangheili, and Protector of Sanghelios." Adrian blinked, and lowered his Blade and Gear arm,
"I'm sorry, 'Sanghelios?' I've never heard of a place on Earth or any mythology."
"You're not on 'Earth,' you're on Sanghelios, and it is no myth!" Adrian paused, his Balance Breaker deactivating out of pure shock, as did his Blade reverting to his normal arm and Gear vanishing from sight,
"You mean...I...am...on...an alieaaaaaaaa..." Adrians' eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell to the ground, causing the creature to tilt its' head to the side,
"Uh...are you alright?" He recieved no response from the Devil Virus, "Hello?"
Some time later...
Adrian shuddered himself awake, finding himself inside of a room with an open doorway, filling the room with yellow sunlight, chained to a large stone chair in front of a stone table,
"What...where am I now?"
"You're where my home used to be." Adrian looked to the open doorway, seeing Thatan, dropping his retracted energy sword onto the table, followed by a back piece of his armor, and finally the creatures helmet, giving Adrian a better look at the creatures face. Like he had seen before, he had four mandibles in place of a bottom jaw, yellow eyes and gray scaley flesh, but now Adrian could see that the shape of his head looked similar to that of a dinosaur, "Now I need to know, are you truly human?"
"Only in appearance," said Adrian. Thatan knelt in front of Adrian, yet he still towered over the boy,
"Then what are you really?" He asked menacingly.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me." Adrian sighed,
"Fine, but prepare yourself, because it is one hell of a story, and a long one at that." Thatan sat on the stone table, folding his arms,
"You don't seem to be going anywhere," he said, gesturing to Adrians' chains, "which means you have time." Adrian groaned into the air,
"Okay, fine! My name is Adrian Michaels, I started off human until I was sixteen years old, then I got infected with a shapeshifting virus called Blacklight. Then I moved to a place called Kuoh Town, and whatever part of me that was still human got turned into a literal devil, with a skeletal dragon living in my left arm. Now I'm hopping from dimension to dimension, hunting down the bastard that killed my mother." Thatan, who had been listening quietly, nodded his head,
"Okay...so I believe you on the shapeshifting virus and hunting down your mothers killer, but I'm a little skeptical on the rest..." Arbiter then turned to the doorway, and in walked a girl, no older than Adrian in appearance, with light blue skin, several scalp crests in place of hair growing down and ending at her neck, gray eyes, and dressed in a black skintight suit with white and blue armor plating,
"Pennie," Thatan addressed her, "I know you don't enjoy melding to gain information..."
"But we need it nonetheless," said the girl, and she began to approach Adrian, who stared at her in awestruck confusion,
"She doesn't look like Sangheili," he said to Thatan.
"Because she's an Asari," he said back to the Devil Virus. The girl knelt in front of him, ready to press her fingers to his temples,
"Wait, what is she doing?"
"She's going to see if you're telling the truth." Adrians' eyes widened, and he leaned back in alarm,
"Thatan! For her safety, I think she shouldn't be prodding in my brain, especially my brain!" Thatan then gently guided the Asari girl out of the way, and set his hands on the arms of the stone chair, hissing in Adrians' face as he inched closer and closer,
"Now that, is the reaction of someone who has something to hide!" He stood back up, allowed the girl to kneel back in front of Adrian, and the Devil Virus regretfully held his head forward, allowing her to touch. Upon contact her eyes turned black, and she yanked her hands back with a scream. She fell to the floor, clutching her head as Thatan ran to her side,
"Pennie!! What's wrong?!" Pennie looked at Adrian, eyes full of fear,
"I saw memories...and heard screams...screams of so many people and creatures...all dying!" Thatan and Pennie stared at Adrian, "What are you?! How can you possibly have the memories of so many without dying or being affected in any way?!" Adrian gave them both a sad frown,
"Call it a sideffect of the Blacklight." Suddenly, a loud hum was heard overhead, causing Thatan to help Pennie to her feet,
"Stay here and guard him!" He ordered. He grabbed the back piece of his armor, his helmet and energy sword, and ran out the doorway he entered from, leaving Pennie to retrieve a large blue gun with light blue lines off her back, ready to use it on Adrian if needed.
"Pennie, right?"
"Quiet!"
"What's going on? What's that sound?"
"It's the Resurgence," she breifly explained, "the last breath of the Covenant..."
A/N: Well, there you go, the beginning of Adrians' solo journey, and if you're wondering why he fainted earlier, that will be explained in later chapters. Until next time!
