Firstly, I wanted to say that I am very sorry to all of you for this very late update. My laptop got busted recently, so I had to borrow my friend's. Not only that, works and projects were being merciless toward me these weeks. So, once again, I am very sorry.

Secondly, I wanted to say that the latest chapter of "He is My Victory, My Excalibur." is on progress. Rest assured, for the next release will be it.

Thirdly, I wanted to thank for your follows and favs. I am truly undeserved for such attention from you guys. But, I promise I will not dissapoint you all.

Fourthly, for my reviewers:

-. Alternativefuturefan27: Thank you for the input and review; they are greatly appreciated. And your guess is right. I forgot to tell you that such scene in the first chapter was derived from that movie (Still, I do not own that movie). And about other beings that are more powerful than Fatalis, you are absolutely right. Still, this is not a fic about a boy that could turn into that giant crimson dragon; it would be odd. The boy would change into something that has connection with Fatalis (wink, wink).

-. Anonymous: Thank you and I will try my best.

Fifthly, enjoy!

(P.S. I do not own either Monster Hunter series or Freezing. Their respective owner does)

Chapter 2

The Beast's Awakening

Darkness.

Simple utter darkness, heavy and unpleasant, devoid of life. Its black tendrils covered every open space, letting no light to pass, thus hiding everything within its choking grasp. Suddenly, as if it was stirred by the invisible hand, the darkness began to twirl and break apart, revealing the unholy scene within.

It was a sight of aggression and annihilation. The clearing darkness revealed a burning city under the sky of black and red, with several hovering legless and limbless creatures soaring over the city and discharging rays of light to the earth below. Every time the rays of light impacted on the solid objects, be they buildings, streets, people or everything else, they exploded and evaporated the objects that they impacted to. Streets were littered with dead bodies, and blood flooded the cracked pavement. Ash filled smoke rose from many parts of the burning town, blotting the grim sky with pollutants. Sirens and wails of terror, interspersed with some explosions, were the music of such macabre scene.

In the midst of such hell on earth, a boy was walking lamely on an abandoned street. His form had not passed beyond the age of twelve, but his face shown that he had witnessed gruesome things that were way beyond his age. Blood and dirt covered his wounded and bruised body. He was sobbing, while he was limping. He yelled for help but no voice could ever be produced from his throat, no matter how had exerted himself. He kept on walking, dragging his body to a place somewhere safe, only to have his strength sapped by the ever growing terror within when he passed the piles of the dead in each sides of the street. The sharp smell of the burning stones and metal, alongside with the stench of the rotting dead assaulted his nose. He tried to breathe; to let the fresh air wiped the foul smell that entrenched in his nostrils. Instead of fresh oxygen, Black particles and other pollutants invaded his lungs as he inhaled the air, prohibiting the boy to breathe. As the consequence, the boy was coughing and choking, spits of black liquid. Still it was too much for him that ultimately he vomited more and more black muddy liquid.

He was terrified, confused and convulsing and not long after the vomiting, he staggered and fell on the coarse asphalt. He was vainly catching for air, his consciousness began to ebb away, and coldness began to claim his entire body. His eyelids felt weighed like iron and he was in the last of his strength to keep them open. Before the blurriness turn into utter darkness, in a moment of final defiance, the boy mustered all the will he had within him and shout, yet his tongue moved mutely.

Then, it was nothing.

His vision was lost and his hearing had gone. He could only felt the prickly ground beneath and the foul stench that poisoned his sinus. He wondered how much longer until he lost his other senses, letting the end to claim him. As he pondered in the darkness of his mind while the last ounces of his awareness were melting away, the unexpected suddenly happened.

A tremor was felt and the filth concentration in the air suddenly was swept away by a powerful gust, replacing the polluted air with the fresh one. The boy's lung resuscitated as the air of life cleansed away the filth and pollutant from his respiratory organ. He opened his eyes. His blurry vision cleared gradually, revealing the waiting doom.

A 3-storey tall limbless and legless monster had crashed the nearby building, regained its composure and hovered menacingly before the boy. It appeared that the last of the human resistance defiantly fought back with any remaining arsenal, which resulted in success. The resistance's cannons managed to bring down the sky-hovering beast to the ground. Unfortunately, that was as far as they could get since the grounded monster did not suffer any life-threatening damage. To make things even worse, the grounded beast landed not far from the nearly dying boy. As it regained its composure by pulling itself from the rubbles and hovering back, the monster spotted the boy. Sinister red light was coming out from a single horizontal slit on its head; presumably it was its eyes.

The boy was frozen stiff like a statue. The warmth that he had reacquired from the inhaling the fresh air, was immediately washed away, and cold claimed him once again. He felt as if his blood was drained out of him by a giant invisible syringe. His mind was frantic, shouting and screaming multiple orders at the same time. His brain was screaming him to run, but his muscles and his bones didn't even budge. He could only shiver stiffly while the towering monster was hovering toward him. He tried to close his eyes, but something within him prevented his eyelids to be sealed. He felt as if every nerve in his body had been severed and he had been kept prisoner in his own immobile body. He thought that it must be the overwhelming terror to the alien beast before him, since he was trembling greatly. Yet, something within him, not quite as an emotion of fear, was welling gradually. It was the one that had made him to stay on his ground and witness everything that was happening and would be transpiring.

The monster approached the boy with moderate speed. The orb which was sported on the middle of its chest began to glow brightly as it absorbed energies around it. It was clear that the monster had no intention of sparing the boy. The small dot of light within the orb gradually expanded and within seconds, the orb shone a blinding violet light. The boy realized that the mysterious orb was the monster's weapon, but it was too late. The concentrated energies that stored within the orb were going to be unleashed upon him, reducing him into nothingness. His end was inevitable.

Throb

Like an assassin's stealthy strike, a sudden piercing pain stabbed the boy's heart. He clutched his chest while hunching in pain. He screamed in pain, but no voice came out.

Throb Throb

Another invisible assault punched into his organ that pumped blood into his blood nerves. He was on his knees, struggling with the gripping pain inside his chest. He gagged; saliva was dripping from the edge of his mouth.

The approaching beast decelerated and stopped. He observed the insignificant little thing before him curiously, yet its glowing chest did not relent in absorbing energies.

Throb ThrobThrob

The pain charged again and this time, it was more intense and no gap for each assaults. The pain was too much for the boy, as if something inside was trying to burst out from his chest. He fell once again on the coarse asphalt ground, waiting for death to claim him. He did not care anymore whether his death would be delivered by the monster or by cardiac arrest; He only wished that his sufferings would end right away.

But the death's deliverance never came.

Like a sick joke, he was lying and suffering while being watched by the monster. Although It might not have the emotions and sentiment like the humans, it clearly was enjoying the live show of the dying human before it.

Throb ThrobThrobThrob

This was it. He would die like a sickly mangy mutt. With the unknown ailment that kept on torturing him and the towering beast just watched and waited him to die, the boy felt helpless, angry, and…hungry?

Throb ThrobThrobThrobThrobThrob

The pain did not subside. Instead, it spread all over his body, taking con troll of his every nerves, bones and sinews. The unknown feeling that welled up within him, together with the pain, pulsated harmoniously with the beating of his heart, and with every pulse, heat began to rise within him. As if hot magma were pumped from his heart to every part of his body, searing pain was spreading in every tissues of his being. Yet, instead of debilitated by the agony, he found strength.

He pulled himself up from the ground, but he didn't stand upright; instead, he was hunching. Animalistic growl could be heard from his mouth. His eyes looked at the monster hungrily. His mind, tortured by the pain and terror, had been dominated by the alien instinct that had kicked in after the searing pain throbbed all over his body. That alien instinct, originated from an unknown emotion within him, was the reason he stood his ground when the monster approached. It was also the reason why he couldn't keep his eyes shut and it too, was the reason of his unnatural hunger.

The hunger, fueled by the pain, turned into fury, and fury gave rise to power. He began to flex his arms intimidating. Unknown to him, the boy's birthmark, the unusual tattoo of a coiling serpent on the back of his right hand, was glowing ominously in bright red. Hatred to the mighty being before him was so powerful. He didn't understand why, but he was dead set to see the creature in front of him torn to pieces, and it was in his power to do so.

The hovering monster was quickly wary of the insignificant human's change, as it detected the sudden and unnatural change of power within the boy. He unhesitatingly launched its beam of death toward the boy, only to hit an empty ground, leaving a small crater. Startled with the boy's disappearance, the monster scanned the area uneasily. When the beast looked to the side road, it found its target standing on the corpses that were piling there, only to found that its target was no longer a human.

Although the human boy retained the physical traits of human anatomy, there were too many changes on his body to be unnoticed. His forearms were now bound in a pair of mighty gauntlets of onyx and blood. Jet black scales were adorning the gauntlets, while crimson colored sharp spikes were jutting out from the back of the forearms. The clawed fingers of the terrifying gauntlets were stretching and waiting to sink into the flesh of the monster. The boy's legs were also utterly transformed. What used to be just fleshy tissues covering the bones of the lower limbs, lower legs and the feet, were now enfolded in a strange metallic leggings that consisted of cuisses, greaves and boots. They all maintain the same theme with the gauntlets: sporting the color of deep night and blood red, adorned with scales and sharp spikes that went across on the fore plates of the thighs until fore plates on the lower legs. The black metallic scaly boots sported a giant curvy nail on each fore plate that covered the fingers of his feet. Outline of red also appeared on his face like a monstrous war paint. His teeth turned into sharp jagged canines that adorned the boy's hungry and vicious smile. And the last of the boy's changes was his eyes, which now sported a vertical slit of red for iris in each eyes. His plain and torn clothing of a shirt and a pair of jeans that he wore were no longer noteworthy. He stood threateningly with his arms stretched open and his torso bent in the direction of the monster. His feral growls became more intense and fierce.

The monster soon became aware that the human before him was no longer an insignificant fleshling like others that he had killed so far. The creature before it was a threat to its survival and it was the monster's top priority to extinguish the life of the transformed human. The monster quickly entered into a battle stance, straightening its gigantic body while storing more energy into its chest. It generated its freezing field to the area where the creature was located. Hexagonal scale-like shades began to in an attempt to immobilize the transformed boy. Hexagonal scale-like shades manifested in wide area around the monster and the transformed boy was caught in it. The power of the freezing field was to immobilize everything that was caught within it, except for the other Novas. The gravity within the field was quadrupled and soon, the air within the space of the field became so thick that every living thing that was caught in it would surely stop dead. It would be an easy kill for the monster for his foe, the transformed human, would surely be immobilize. Unfortunately for it, that was not happening.

Instead of being immobilized, the half-monster boy was moving freely inside the freezing field. He even jeered at the hovering monster in an undistinguishable shouts and taunting. The monster responded it with barrage of death rays, which the boy evaded so easily. Even the tiniest speck was frozen stiff inside the freezing field, but for the boy who moved and danced so easily and gracefully inside it.

"SSSSSHAAAAAAAAAAA." The boy hissed an animalistic taunt, while he evaded the salvos of death beam with poise. The monster kept on shifting its gigantic hovering torso to adjust its position to its foe but to no avail. Clearly the boy was toying with the monster like a predator toying with its prey before the kill. This time around, it was the monster's turn to feel helplessness against the being that it didn't comprehend with.

After several minutes of pointless game of tag between the monster and the boy, the latter was finally getting tired with the prior failing attempt to reduce him to dust and decided that it was high time for him to end the game…with the death of his assailant. The transformed boy, while standing on another pile of rubbles and corpses, waited for the monster to readjust its position toward him. With the moment that he had been waiting for finally came, the window of chance revealed the target that had been a jewel in the eyes of the boy: The glowing orb of death. It was clear that for the transformed human, the monster's weapon was its own chink in the armor.

The boy, who had been positioned himself in squatting position, exerted his strength to pump massive energy into his bended legs. Power was thrust into his legs and with great force they pushed him from the ground. Like a lightning strike, the boy with his clawed hands thrust in front, leaped in a mighty speed to the unprepared monster's glowing chest. Its fate was sealed, but not without a fight.

The monster, recognizing its inevitable doom, put up a defiant final defense against the incoming end even though its chance of survival was nowhere beyond zero. Before the boy's clawed hand reached the glowing orb on its chest, the monster showered the boy with a pillar of violet light, instead of barrages of smaller beams, from the axis of his strength. The pillar of light, which contained entire energies that the monster had stored within the orb, quickly engulfed the boy. The intensity of the light was so blinding and powerful that it blasted through the boy and went straight through him, evaporating every matter that it touched. With such power that could level mountains easily, there was no chance for the boy to survive. But that was not happening.

"RRRRRAAAAHHHHHH" The boy roared as he burst out from the monster's back with a powerful explosion. Like a reborn phoenix. The transformed boy had survived the deadly pillar of violet light, and pierced through the hovering monster's chest, obliterating the glowing orb into million pieces in the process. The boy landed on the ground behind the monster, with his entire body now covered with sticky bluish green liquid and tiny solid fragments. He relished the gore while the hovering monster, now with a massive hole that went through from his chest and to his back, crashed back onto the ground, only this time it stayed for good.

The boy licked the monster's blood on his hand viciously. The sweet taste of the creature's life liquid lingered on his tongue, finally quenching his long lasting thirst. He felt reinvigorated as he roared a long monstrous roar with his head tilted back and his arms spread open in a welcoming manner. Such gesture was done intentionally, as if the transformed boy was calling for a challenge. He was not satisfied with his previous encounter and his hunger had not been allayed. He needed more enemies to fight and more blood to drink. He needed more Novas!

Another monster responded the call. It appeared behind the boy and the giant carcass of the dead monster. The boy smiled deviously while turning his gaze to his new future victim. He had anticipated its coming and was ready to tear another hole in the new challenger's chest, while flexing his bloodied claws. He leaped directly to the monster, only to be interrupted by a familiar yelling. A sudden brightness enveloped everything including him, pulling him into a complete nothingness of white.

"WISNUUU!WAKE UPPPP!"

"Huh?"

A male teenager was forcefully pulled out from a twisted dream world. He could only reply dumbly to the ear-splitting scream for his mind was still determining which reality was the real one.

"Coming, mother!" The boy responded with a weak shout. He shifted uncomfortably on his bed, while pushing away the blanket on his body. His head felt like a lead and the pillow underneath it seemed to be glued with it as well. His eyes, even though had opened, were still struggling to get a clear vision of his surroundings. He was in his own modest bedroom. It wasn't much since the room was occupied with a bed, a bookshelf, a cabinet and a complete set of a desk and a chair, but it was cozy enough for him. Added with some posters of rock stars on the wall, a computer on the desk, and a guitar leaning at the corner of the room, it was a perfect den for every youthful boy. The dark room was dimly lighted from the penetrating sunlight through the veiled window. He moved his hand to the bedside table, grasping a wristwatch on it. The arrows inside the watch indicated that it was 6.00 o'clock in the morning. He lazily pulled himself up while his right hand scratched his messy hair.

"Darn, not that dream again." The boy cursed in his mind. He was struggling to get up from the bed's invisible embrace. He was never a morning person.

"YOU ARE GOING TO BE LATE, WISNU!" The ear-splitting shout resumed its salvo.

"Okay, mom!" The boy finally got to his feet and walked to the door of his modest bedroom. Another day had come to the life of Wisnu Putra Ardha.

It was the year of 2058 A.D; roughly 13 years had passed after the little baby from an obscure origin found acceptance and love in the warmth embrace of the Ardharis. During that time span, the little infant, whose name was Wisnu Putra Ardha, had grown into a teenage boy like any other kid. During that time span, he too, had been loved, taught and disciplined like any other kid as well. Yet unlike any other kid, Wisnu absorbed any knowledge taught to him almost instaneously. Because of such peculiarness, his parent's dedication to get him a proper upbringing was doubled. With his parents' wealth, he was given lessons and tutoring in academic studies, arts and sports. He was became a smart and knowledgeful boy who had a knack for karate and musical instruments, especially guitar. It was no surprise that the boy receive many commendations from his schools and other educational institutions for his merit. Despite of his full-of-activity life, Wisnu too, was quite a social person. His father and mother although was proud of their son's multiple achievements, had stressed to their son the importance to have a balanced life of achievements and social relationship.

Boring his parent's words to his heart, Wisnu made friends to many people, including his classmates and fellow atheletes. He won many hearts due to his easy going appeal and humble nature, despite of the jealous stares that he had to endure. Still, among the people that he had made friends with, he found real companionship with fellow enthusiasts of fantasy and science fiction world. It was not a suprise for a teen of his age to be deeply immersed into the world of wonders of the unreality. Being a lover of comics, video games and movies, Wisnu could relaxedly embrace his geeky side without prejudice in the midst of like minded friends.

"C' mon, big bro! We're gonna be late for school!" A cute squeak was heard from behind Wisnu while he opened the door to the bathroom. The boy turned around to see a girl of his shoulder's height, dressed in a primary school uniform that consisted of a white shirt and a dark red skirt. Her medium length black hair was tied in a ponytail. She had a blue knapsack on her back.

"Give me five, Sasha." Wisnu assured her while he enter the bathroom. The sound of the locking door follower after. "and I'll join you downstair."

"Eh? You don't have breakfast?"

"I'll eat on the go."

"You broke your alarm clock again, didn't you bro?" Sasha said with a raised brow.

"Please don't tell mom about that." Wisnu said with bowed head and clasped palms, a gesture for pleading. "I really, really need this month's allowance to get a new game." He continued pleading to her sister. Sasha rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Okay then. But please hurry up!"

"Okay, okay!"

Meet Sasha Putri Ardha, Wisnu's sister and the true flesh and blood of Abraham and Sarasvati. She was two years younger than Wisnu, but possessed a knack for sport and music just like her brother. She was exceptionally bright even though she had no talents to put her on the same level with his brother. Nevertheless, Abraham and Sarasvati loved thir son and daughter equally, and wisnu loved his sister as he loved his parents. Knowing that she might be jealous and disheartened, Wisnu often let Sasha to win in some friendly competitions in order to cheer her and to encourage her. The ploy, however, was known to her, and even though she was upset to find out the truth, she knew how much her brother cared for her and she was grateful for it. Still, the truth about her brother was never known to her for her parents never told to both Sasha and Wisnu about Wisnu's origin.

After few minutes of rushed bath and the scrubbing of the teeth along with the hasty tidying of the bed, Wisnu, donning in a batik shirt and green trousers and with a toast clasped in his mouth, grabbed his backpack and rushed to the front door to catch the now leaving car.

"Love you, mom!" Wisnu yelled from the front porch after muching the whole toast into his mouth. "Wait for me, dad!"

"Jeez, that son of mine." Sarasvati shook her head while she took away the dishes on the table. "He must have broken that alarm clock again." Sarasvati made a mental note to cut his son's allowance this month.

It was just another day in the happy family life of the Ardharis. It was just a nother normal day.

Jakarta, 2058 A.D

The capital of the Republic of Indonesia was a jewel of South East Asia. Experiencing its near collapse in August 2030 when the Novas' sudden blitz that killed the head of the state as well as almost every officials of the country, Indonesia and Jakarta was timely rescued by the help of both the Pandoras and the skillful ex-governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo. When the Novas rampaged on the capital and destroyed the House of Representatives, effectively destroying vitals chains of command of the country, resulting in rise chaos and destruction, Joko Widodo, who had been living in quiet retirement in his residence in Solo, quickly took control of the country when he heard the news. With the help of the Pandoras from the West Genetics to quell the Novas threat, Joko Widodo, or famously known as Jokowi, tactfully gained control over Indonesia's numerous provinces through his plain and humble diplomatic means. Realizing the potential of the humble ex-governor, the Chevalier contacted him and supported him in restoring order and stability in Indonesia, before long, the 72nd years old Jokowi became the eight President of the Republic of Indonesia in 2033. Many had suspected that he was a mere puppet for the Chevalier, but with him at the helm of Indonesia's leadership, the suspicion was quickly allayed.

During his time, Indonesia was reinvigorated. Progress in economic, social and cultural sectors was greatly bolstered. Law and democracy were enforced without prejudice; and soon corruption and fanaticism-based violence, the hated felonies in Indonesia, became relics of the past. Indonesia leaped into the long awaited time of prosperity and harmony, even though the threat of Novas never ceased to exist. Still, life was better for the populace of all levels, and with the watchful eye of the Chevalier, the Novas threat could be controlled to minimum threshold.

Jakarta, being the first city in Indonesia to fall prey to the Novas, was quickly rebuilt. No longer the city kept its name of the most jam-packed and disorderly city in South East Asia after the transformation. The capital of Indonesia became one of the most advanced metropolises in the world. Numerous subways and highways that connected every strategic parts of the city, skyscrapers that touched the sky, and eye-pleasing vegetations that adorned every part of the city like a beautiful emeralds were few of the changes that happened in Jakarta. Although the problem of urban slums was never truly resolved, it was considered to be a minor problem in the city for there were only few of them and they were located far from the heart of the city. In short, the transformed Jakarta became the monument of pride and excellence for the people of Indonesia.

Jokowi's term of presidency could be considered as one of the greatest time for Indonesia, since he single-handedly brought the nation out from chaos and into prosperity and advancement. Unfortunately, it was cut short by his passing in 2037 due to extreme exhaustion. Still, his legacy that was born from his tireless work still benefitted the generations to come. He became the role model of posterity and ideal ruler that his successors yearned and strived to be. His policies that promoting progress in economic development, educational progress and the advancement of technology survived until the present time. It was the year of 2058; and Indonesia still stood strong and its people stood proud. Its capital, the beacon of hope and stability for every citizens of Indonesia, kept on shining bright as another morning of hope and passion drove its citizens to strive themselves to excellence.

The scene of rushed boy that was chasing the ride for school was fast forwarded. After being dropped to the Saint John elementary and high school, Wisnu and Sasha, after expressing appreciation to their father, hurriedly ran to their respective classrooms before the bell started. Passing the four 45 minutes long period of different lessons and a half an hour long recess, the central figure of the story finally found himself daydreaming in one dreary class.

Wisnu stared thoughtlessly to the outside world behind the glass window during another boring lecture given by the moral education teacher. He could never bring himself to be interested in this particular study on ethics and morality. He knew the importance of moral compass for every people since it helped to define right and wrong. But, in the end, it was up to one's own belief to tell them apart, and shoving the ancient teachings of Socrates and Emmanuel Kant's essays into the youth's mind wouldn't surely make him or her to be a good person either.

He never thought that junior high would be less than youthful.

Still, he stared aimlessly at the scene outside the window not because that he was bored with the lesson, but because he was thinking something else. He was troubled with the dream that he had before. The dreams of him fighting the monsters in the midst of ruins had been plaguing him since he was a little kid. Although they didn't happen regularly, the dreams always put him into a transformation into something so….alien. The similarity on every dream about the transformed him and the monsters was quite alarming as well; the details and sequences on every dreams were the same. The images from the dream were burned into Wisnu's brain.

Were they simply a dream…or a memory?

What troubled him were not only the contents of his dreams, but also the intensifying frequency of such recurring dreams lately. He had once dismissed his worry on his dreams because he had been watching tokusatsus for days. But in the present the dreams plagued his mind, not just for a night, but for a whole week. Wisnu found them quite disturbing, but he was discouraged to tell his dreams to his parents in fear of worrying them and making himself to be a mentally unstable. He pushed back the distressing thoughts away and turned to the brighter side of his imagination of an adventure that was filled with dragons and magic.

"Pssst, Wis." A soft whisper was heard from behind. Wisnu cocked his head back ward and drawn his body nearer toward the desk behind him.

"Sup, Rez?" he replied to person behind him. The said person was Reza CahyoKusuma, Wisnu's classmates and a fellow enthusiast of anime, manga and other fantasy and sci-fi stuffs.

"Have you read this new manwha, Heating?"

"No, not yet. Is it on internet already?"

"Yep, and it's quite promising."

"Really?"Wisnu replied excitedly. "Who's the artist? And what's the story about?"

"The man behind that manwha is Kim Dall-Ould, the legendary artist from North Korea." Reza whispered. "The story is about a woman teenager with a special power, who worked together with several boys that possessed other special powers in order to defeat the alien invaders."

Wisnu's enthusiastic face turned to terror. Oh God…..

"And during the course of the adventure, the heroine developed romantic feelings toward those special boys."

"So basically, it is a harem of males in sci-fi setting."

"Yep."

"And somehow the boys in that manwha are kinda like the Pandoras in real world and the alien invaders are the novas?"

"Bingo! It's cool right?"

"Sorry, Not my thing."Wisnu answered dismissively.

"What? Why?"

"You're kidding me, right?" He responded while facing to the speaker behind him. "From what you told me, it sounds like a cheap rip-off from what's happening right now. Talk about creativity"

"Now, hold on a minute." Reza countered. "Didn't I say there's romance in it as well? Plus the heroine is pretty cute!"

"You really expect me to rea-

"If you and Mr. Reza do not pay attention to this lecture, Mr. Wisnu, both of you can expect detention after school." The moral educator sternly spoke, putting the two boys back into correct sitting position for studying. The whole class was chuckling at those two jokers being reprimanded for a little while, and then the boring lecture continued after the teacher silenced the whole room with a simple cough. As the teacher continued his dull one man show on virtues and vices according to ancient philosophers, Wisnu turned his face to Reza. He saw the boy behind him was smiling toward him while his lips moved mutely to say "I am sorry."

"Kampret."Wisnu responded jokingly in the same voiceless gesture.

The arrows of the clock that was hung on the front wall inside the classroom were showing the time of 11.30 AM. It was the last period; the science class, and it was going to be over soon. Good. Wisnu heard his stomach growling. Apparently all the grub that he consumed during the recess couldn't stave off the hunger anymore. It didn't bother him for half an hour later, he would return home and enjoy the homemade lunch with his family. Half an hour later, he would enjoy the beginning of the weekend.

It would just be like any other day.

Only this time, out of the blue, sirens wailed out like never before, signifying the appearance of the Novas in the capital.

Since the attack of the Novas, cities all around the world equipped themselves with Novas early detection system. Numerous detectors that could sense the presence of the Novas' tachyon signature were installed on every strategic areas of the city and hundreds more were set up offshore. Those devices could quickly alerted Chevalier headquarters and every Pandoras stations all over the world, thus giving a quick response to subdue the threats of the Novas. Indonesia was one of the countries that implemented the Novas early detectors in its own regions, especially Jakarta for being its capital. Since the near destruction of Jakarta, the numbers of detectors were doubled all over the capital. Since then, there were no Novas' attacks in Indonesia without alerting the Pandoras.

However, this time was different…..

"Students are to remain calm while evacuation is in effect!" The voice blared out from the loudspeakers that were installed in every room in the school. "Teachers are to orderly direct the students to the central meeting hall in building B." The message kept on repeating itself.

Students began to scream and cry in terror, but were quickly shushed by the teachers whose faces also sported the looks of fear and anxiety. But orders were orders; the teacher hurriedly directed the students into the massive meeting hall located in the center building of the school grounds. It was the only building in the school grounds that was able to facilitate thousands of people simultaneously without suffering overcrowding and lack of space. Built from mighty materials and furnished with every essential accommodation, the central meeting hall of Saint John elementary and high school could be considered as a giant shelter that could withstand against every kind of disaster. This time, however, the shelter was going to be tested by the alien creatures.

The sound of the soled feet troding on the ceramic floor, accompanied by incoherent chattering and mumbling echoed throughout the corridors of the school. The evacuation had begun.

"Wisnu!" Reza called his friend restlessly. He was affected by the atmosphere of dread and uncertainty. "C'mon man, we gotta go with the others!"

"Okay." Wisnu responded. He went with his friend to join the other students who had gathered in front of the class room, preparing to leave for the meeting hall orderly, when something dawned in his mind.

Sasha!

"I need to go somewhere!" Wisnu thought out loud, confusing his fellow classmates and his teacher. He broke up from the row of students and walked to the door, only to be held back the rough yanking of his arm.

"Wisnu! Are you out of your mind?!" Reza yelled while pulling him back. "We need to stay together!"

"Let go off me! I need to find my sister!" Wisnu pulled his arm away from the grip, only to be held in his shoulders by the science teacher.

"Is your sister a student in this school?" the teacher asked the boy with stern look on his face. His grip on the boy's shoulders tightened, giving no chance for Wisnu to break free.

"Yes, sir."Wisnu replied while struggling to break free from the teacher's powerful hold. "She is an elementary student here."

"Then, she'll be alright, boy." The male adult said reassuringly with a smile that was dawned below his thick moustache. He shook the boy lightly to calm him down. "The elementary school students are always the first to be evacuated. She should be in the meeting hall right now, with the rest of her classmates."

Paleness began to recede from Wisnu's face and red tint arose to coat his face's complexion. He was embarrassed for letting his emotion burst out with no apparent reason. He could only hide his face by bowing his head. The teacher smiled at the boy's discomfiture while ruffling the boy's short black hair.

"Now, Mr. Wisnu." The science teacher released his grip on the boy's shoulders. "Would you kindly return to the row? It's going to be our turn to eva-

A powerful tremor shook the ground with powerful force that was enough to put everyone in the school to be on their knees. It lasted for a few seconds.

"An earthquake?" One of the students spoke after the tremor ended.

"Seems like i-

A bright light outside of the classroom penetrated the window and illuminated the room. It was blinding and compelling, unlike the warm comforting sunlight. It was no ordinary light, and when the blinding brightness receded, terror revealed itself.

"Oh God….have mercy on us." The teacher murmured when he looked to the being outside the window. Although the creature was in a quite distance from the school, everyone in the classroom could witness the hovering limbless and legless terror in its glory. Its azure crystalline body was glistening under the light of the sun, professing its beauty and the unimaginable power that hid within it.

Sasha!

Wisnu dashed to the door and ran outside, leaving the screams and shouts behind him as he pushed through the crowd of panicking students.

A small figure was coiling and trembling under the abandoned classroom. She was shivering greatly while tears were rolling out from her eyes. This was not supposed to happen.

When the sirens wailed, even though panic and anxiety descended into the class, the teacher managed to control it before it broke into chaos. All seemed well with the announcement for evacuation to the meeting hall. Class 2-6, one of the classrooms of the elementary students, where little Sasha was located, was waiting their turn to evacuate. Although the atmosphere was tense with restlessness, order and calmness of the classroom was maintained.

Then the earthquake came.

Chaos felled when the tremor ended. Fear stroke to the heart of the inhabitants of that classroom indiscriminately, and in few minutes, both students and the teacher scrambled out from the classroom like a mob of wildebeests. Unknown to them, there was a student who was left behind during the crazed escape. Sasha, who was helping one of her classmates after the earthquake, was pushed down by the mad crowd. She was scared to her bones when she witnessed how irrational and feral humans could become when fear stroke their heart. People that she considered to be friends easily pushed her down and abandoned her without a blink. When the room finally became silent as a grave, Sasha was the only one left. Confused and terrified, she huddled under the teacher's desk. She wanted to run away to escape, but the fear of being pushed away and abandoned held her down. She felt her stomach convulsed and her heart heavy as a rock. She felt sick, dejected and helpless as she crouched on the cold floor. While tears broke down, she uttered a silent prayer in her mind.

"Help me, big bro!"

SASHA! PLEASE BE SAFE, SASHA!

Those words kept on reverberating in his brain. Those words were also the main drive that he kept on running and pushing people away without even catching a breath. He felt nothing else matter than her sister. Wisnu rushed across the field to the meeting hall without even realizing that panicking crowd was all over him.

Mass of people, young and old, poured out from buildings like frenzied ants during rainy days, and like ants, they seek refuge in the massive construction located in the center of the school grounds. Soon, the entrance of the hall was clogged by the fear-stricken mob. Wisnu struggled to push away the frantic mass in order to gain access to the hall.

Even though he was a very strong teenager compared to his friends, when faced with the terrified mob of mad-as-hell mass, he couldn't do anything; the wall of human bodies was too strong to be penetrated. He felt despair in his heart when he saw the fast approaching crowd from the left side. Leading them was a rather stocky female teacher with a short black hair. Wisnu recognized her as Mrs. Lisa Sinaga, an elementary school teacher. She was the current homeroom teacher of the class 2-6and behind her was the elementary class 2-6 itself!

Sasha!

Wisnu's eyes quickly scanned the oncoming crowd. Although the running students were fast, Wisnu's could still make out their faces, and Sasha's face was not among of them.

His spirit that was briefly lifted when he saw the incoming students, quickly fell.

No!

He scanned again the now amalgamated crowd with the congested mass of men and women in front of the little entrance of the giant building. No signs of his sister's whereabouts.

No!No!No!No!No!

He quickly rushed to Mrs. Lisa Sinaga. He pulled the terrified woman by her shoulders and frantically asked her in an intimidating loud voice.

"WHERE IS SASHA? WHERE IS SHE?" Wisnu shook the teacher. His grip on her upper arms tightened, restricting the struggling woman to break free.

"I don't know!" The teacher could only answer meekly.

"You are her teacher! Where is she?!"

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" Mrs. Lisa Sinaga yelled despairingly while tears rolled down from her eyes. It was clear that she felt both terror and guilt; the prior was from the earthquake and the latter was from her abandoning her students for the sake of her life.

Wisnu released her after knowing that she had nothing else to help him finding her sister. He wished he could yell to the woman for her cowardice, but he had no time for that. He rushed to the direction of the elementary school buildings, leaving the sobbing teacher and the loud congested crowd behind him.

"SASHA!" Wisnu yelled on the top of his voice, hoping her sister would respond while he was fast approaching the building where her classroom was. No answer was heard.

"SASHA!" He shouted again as he climbed through the stairs. Sasha's classroom was on the second floor. Passing through empty corridors and classrooms made his Goosebumps rose. He felt that somehow the scene from one of the horror movies that he had watched before manifested itself into reality and he became like one of the victims in that movie. He shivered when the image of the gory death by the zombies flashed in his mind, but such thought was quickly pushed away by the premonition of danger and the thoughts of his sister's safety. He finally found her sister's classroom. Its door was wide open and the room itself was devoid of any sound.

"SASHA!"

"Big bro?" A meek voice came out from under the teacher's desk.

"SASHA!" Wisnu rushed to under the table to see a little girl lying on the floor. Her teary eyes met his restless ones.

"Big bro!" Sasha dashed out from under the table and leaped into his brother's open arms. Wisnu clasped his arm around her tightly like a lifeline. The little girl let out all her overwhelming emotion into her brother's chest. She broke down in tears but it was not teats of sadness; it was tears of relief and joy. Her prayer was answered and her deliverer finally arrived to save her. She uttered incoherent words between sobs, but her brother knew already what she wanted to convey.

Another tremor shook the ground and a loud ground pounding noise accompanied it. Sasha screamed terrified.

"Sasha, we need to get out here fast!" Wisnu told her sister with concern. Her sister nodded.

Holding her hand, Wisnu and Sasha rushed to the exit. The tremor didn't make the escape easier; the trembling floor, the cracking tiles and the motion sickness that was caused by tremor impede the siblings to get out from the building. Few times had Sasha stumbled down, but her brother always helped her to get back on her feet. In few seconds, the siblings finally got out from the building. But before the siblings got further away from the building, they saw before them a towering shadow looming all over the school premises.

The light from the sky was abruptly obstructed by an unknown cause, leaving only shades to flood all over the school grounds. The siblings turn their gazes to the towering object that casted shadow all over them. To their horror, the unknown object, and in high probability, the cause of the wailing sirens and the tremor was a titanic being that looked like a hovering five pointed star. The limbless and legless being was majestic, sporting bluish crystalline body. Its long pyramid-like head sported a red inverted isosceles triangle; its radiant gaze was pressuring. The monster of Wisnu's dream, the being that was portrayed in television and book as the bane of humanity, had appeared in all of its glory before the cowering humans.

"NOVA!"

Screams of terror were intensified even more when the gigantic hovering being approached the school grounds. Every structures that was obstructing the monster's path, was effortlessly crushed and swatted away like a pile of lego bricks. The humming sound that it made only heightened the being's mysteriousness and dreadfulness.

Unlike a predator, the towering nova eyed the humans as nothing more than annoyance ants. While approaching with a moderate speed to the structure where human concentration was the highest, The Nova charged its unknown energy into the glowing orb on its chest. The scene was all too familiar to Wisnu and the boy knew what would come to pass.

"GET DOWN!" Wisnu shielded her sister with his body and pulled her down. He just prayed that what the monster about to unleash wouldn't reach them.

A violet pillar of light was shot out from the nova's chest, impacting the giant building where most of the students and teachers were hiding. Brightness soon engulfed the whole structure, casing the shelter into the dome of light. Every sound went mute and every sense went dull. The brightness went on for a few minutes, but it felt like it had lasted for years.

As the light died out, and the feeling of awareness to the surroundings returned to the siblings, Wisnu and Sasha recovered from their prostrating position. They were grateful that they were still alive. But when they turned back, the relief that they had acquired turned into horror. A deep, giant crater stood where the building was earlier. There was no trace of any living being; no corpses, bones or any other body parts was found on the premises. All that was left were heaps of ashes and the smell of burning air.

Wisnu and Sasha were utterly terrified that their jaw dropped loose. Seeing that the mighty structure with all of its inhabitants evaporated into nothingness, the siblings felt that all of their strength left their every bones and tendons. Complete fear froze the siblings. It wasn't only the instinctual fear for life, but also the primal fear of power that was beyond comprehension. Sasha began to break into tears again, and although it was almost a silent cry, the monster sensed the feeling of despair and terror from her and her brother. The giant nova turned its crimson gaze to the direction of the terrified siblings and following it was its body.

In most superhero movies, it was the time when a hero appeared to save the distressed from the monster. But right now it was in reality, and in reality, no heroes or heroines would come to save a couple of insignificant persons like Wisnu and Sasha, let alone pandoras. Pandoras were mostly deployed for extermination missions, and evacuation missions at the very least. There was no hope for any of them to show up and rescue the siblings. Realizing such grim fact, Wisnu quickly devised a bold escape plan after seeing the slowly approaching monster.

"Sasha!" Wisnu said to his sister. "Listen carefully. We need to run."

"…..I….can't….too…scared." Sasha replied terrifiedly, her meek voice strugglingly came out from her throat. She was clasping her brother's right arm with both of her hands tightfully. Her feet had given up standing. The distance between the monster and them was getting shorter by seconds.

"Listen, Sasha! There is no much time left! We need to run!"

"…It's no use, big bro! Look what happened to our friends!"

"Kh.." Wisnu was taken aback with the fact that his sister pointed out. The probability of their survival was indeed a zero percentage. The school ground would surely be their graveyard.

Still, Wisnu was not a quitter, and surely he was a brother who would let his sister be hurt.

He knew he would die and he feared dying. But as long as his sister's life was ensured of protection, he would forfeit his own for her sake.

Wisnu pushed her sister away from his hand and ran toward the approaching nova.

"HEY! BIG STUPID STARFISH!" Wisnu yelled loudly, straining his throat. He waved his open arms furiously to gain the cyclopean nova's attention. "OVER HERE, YOU DUMBASS!"

"Big bro!" Sasha screamed panickly as she ran to her brother's side and started pulling his skyward arms down. "What are you doing!?"

"Let go off me, Sasha!" Wisnu pushed her away and kept on waving at the monster. "I will hold it off!"

"WHAT!?"

"I need you to run away! Keep running and don't look back!" Wisnu sternly spoke. "HEYYY! STUPID!"

"I won't leave you!"

"SASHA!? IT'S NOT THE TIME FOR GAMES! RUN!"

"No! You will die!" Sasha struggled to keep her hold on her brother. "I don't want you to die!"

"GET OFF FROM ME AND RU-

Before they realized it, the nova had already before them and wasting no time, it mercilessly unleashed another pillar of light toward them.

NO!

Wisnu instinctively wrapped his body around his sister in protective manner, with his back facing the incoming death beam. He knew it would not anything to shield his sister from the impending doom, but at the very least he wanted that his last memory to be a memory of him protecting his sister to the very end.

Their death was inevitable. However, before the violet light hit them, an all-too-familiar feeling suddenly arose inside Wisnu and overtook his entire being. Blackness took over when the straight pillar of light impacted. Its blinding intensity should evaporate the siblings.

However, Wisnu and Sasha were no longer there.

A massive stream of blazing black flare, appeared out of nowhere, carved across the school's vast field with great speed, leaving trail of burning flames behind. It kept on bolting back and forth in disorderly manner around the giant nova, defacing the once beautiful school ground with big gashes that spewed unnatural black fire.

The presence of such alien stream of flaming energy startled the towering monster, as it tried to fix its gaze toward the traveling jet. Unfortunately for the nova, the speed was too much for the monster to match, and assuming that the torrent of energy was not a living being, the nova didn't employ its freezing ability.

The travelling torrent black kept on gushing around for few minutes, until it stopped behind the nova. The towering monster, sensing the abrupt halt of the torrent, turned its body to the direction of the stopping torrent. As it turned its cyclopean gaze, the nova saw a rising massive blaze of black; its tongues of flame danced menacingly. Still, the flame only stood there eerily, posing no danger or whatsoever to the nova, who stared at it curiously. Just as the nova was about to dismiss such oddity and prepared to leave, It felt sudden spike of energy from the black blaze. The nova took another glace at the source…

And a foot came out from the blackness of the flame.

Instead of a fleshy foot of a man that was covered in cloth and a shoe, what came out was a monstrous foot, covered in black metallic scales with fiery arrays and sported a single great curvy nail of black on its fore front. The entire leg, which was also covered with the same scales and adorned with set of red spikes across the fore front of the shin and across the fore front of the protective plate on the thigh, followed it. Not long after, another leg came out and following it, the whole body of an unknown being.

Before the titanic nova was another monstrous creature of unknown origin. Standing straight on two armored legs was a muscular figure clad in scaly armor made of metals and brimstones. His armored arms and gauntleted hands, which possessed the same themes of scales and spikes like the rest of the armor, were holding a terrified little girl in bridal style. The being's head was a completely enclosed in a metallic helmet, which sported a visage of monstrosity. The face that sported a pair of blood red slanting slits as eyes and a wide lipless, snarling mouth with sharp teeth was facing directly to the nova; its gaze was a gaze of hate. A large curvy magma-colored horn ran from each sides of the being's temple and rested just above its chest. A set of three sharp magma spikes ran from the back of his head to the top. A hybrid of a couple of fins and a mane like decoration of black and red was fastened behind his back; it also sported a set of magma colored spikes along the center line, making it as if the protrusions were the extension of the being's spine. Behind its waist was a short stub-like tail, which also sported jagged barbs on it.

The being breathed heavily; its chest was expanding and contracting laboriously. Yet, in each exhaling, a feral growl could be heard.

"…Big…bro..?" the embraced little girl cried meekly. The being looked at the human that it held. She was trembling in fear. Growling a little, the being gently put down the little human from his hands and stepped forward facing the giant nova.

"RRRRRRHHHAAAAAAAAAHRRRRR!" The being howled menacingly at the hovering titan with his arms stretched wide open. His clawed fingers were flexing. The being then clenched its right fist and battered it into his left palm. Leaving it momentarily, a spine like stake spurted out from the left palm, and in one fluid movement, the right fist unclenched and the fingers quickly wrapped around the spine like-handle. In the same movement, the long spine like handle was pulled from the left palm and following it, a long crimson blade.

After it was being pulled out, the unknown armored creature swung the blade deftly. In each swings, the blade began to change, as if the weapon was a living being. The back flat edge of the crimson blade was soon covered by metallic scales, and in seconds, sharp protrusions emerged from it. A hand guard shaped like a four edged star, appeared on the collar of the blade, stepping in between the hilt and the blade. Four Sanskrit runes appeared on the ridge of the long curved, single edge sword. Red blade began to glow eerily as the being entered into the battle stance with the long sword in his hands, its sharp edge was pointing to the direction of the nova.

The hovering monster, identifying the being in front of him as a threat, quickly employed its freezing ability and in short moment, hexagonal bee-hive shades emerged from the grounds. In most cases, the foes of the nova would undoubtedly be frozen stiff inside the freezing field. However, this time, to the nova's astonishment, the ground where the being and the human stood was completely unaffected; the shades did not appear on the ground below them.

Knowing the nova's confusion and shock, the blade wielding-being cackled at the hovering monster. It taunted the monster with his growls and howls, the feral jeers of a monster, while raising the blade above his head. The nova responded mercilessly with another blast of its violet death beam, only to be swiftly countered by streams of black energy in the shape of a giant crescent that was emitted from the slashing movement of the blade. The jet of dark energy swallowed the light and it kept on going in straight direction to the nova. The monster quickly drifted aside, avoiding the massive black stream of death. However, such action had created a window for the unknown being to deliver the monster's end.

While the nova swiftly avoided the crescent shaped black stream, the blade wielding monstrosity already leaped forward into the direction of the towering beast. In a swiftness of a tempest, the armored being, already using the monster's moment of weakness and calculating its next movement, arrived to the point in the air where the distance between it and the giant's head was few meters away. As if the time slowed down, the leaping creature stared murderously to the shocked cyclops's eye while stretching its long terrifying red blade to the back. What the giant saw right now was clearly going to be its last.

Then, as time went back to normal, a wide arc of light flashed and a crunching sound of something being severed followed.

The blade-wielding fiend landed with one knee on the ground gracefully while a large object fell in great force beside him. It was the head of the nova, and its eye, the inverted triangle, was still glowing. Its massive body, staggering for a few minutes in the air after its head was removed, went tumbling down with its back collapse first to the ground, creating clouds of dust.

The bane of humanity, nova was no more.

While coughing and blocking her eyes from the dust, Sasha warily moved closer to the massive carcass. She was relieved that the giant was finally dead, but her feeling of relief was so miniscule to her fear and wariness to the other creature.

It can't be! It mustn't be!

She was afraid of the creature; afraid that it might attack her and afraid that it might be her brother.

No! It can't be! I won't believe it! He is not a monster!

Braving the uncertainty, she steeled herself and moved closer to the dead monster. As the dust subsided, Sasha saw the sight that she would never forget for the rest of her life.

The blade wielding fiend was on top of the dead giant body. It was reverse holding its blade and moving to the dead giant's chest. When it arrived, the fiend unhesitantly drove its blade into the giant's chest, piercing the orb located on its center and destroying it into pieces away. A small flash of light blasted defiantly for a second then it died down. The fiend pulled its long blade away and roared in delight.

"…..Big…bro..?" Sasha fearfully spoke to the being, only to be stared down by the creature's sinister gaze.

The blade-wielding monster, who became aware of the human's presence, quickly jumped and landed right in front of her. Sasha, shocked by the sudden apperance of the monster right before her, stumbled down with her bottom fell first onto the razed ground. The creature quickly knelt before her and pushed its terrifying visage closer to her face. The rattling sound of the hungry snarls escaped from its toothy mouth.

"...No!...Stay away!...Don't come closer!...Stay away!" Sasha screamed as she pulled her body away, but she could exert no strength to do so. The monster moved closer and extended his unarmed clawed hand toward the panicking girl.

"...Save...me...big..bro." She sobbed as she closed her eyes, waiting for the death to claimed her. With her brother either missing or turned into a bloodthirsty monster, she fell into despair and reclined her fate to incoming horror that was going to devour her.

However, such fate did not happened.

To her suprise, what greeted her was a gentle caress on the cheek. Although the cold scaly hand that stroke her cheek was coarse and slightly unpleasant, there was no evil intention in it.

"...Sa...sha.?" the creatur spoke. Its voice sounded unnatural, but the tone of compassion and care was clear in it.

"Big...bro?" Sasha opened wide her eyes in astonishment. She was scared, but she knew the being in front of her was her dear brother, her brave protector and her hero.

"BIG BRO!" She lunged at her transformed brother and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. His armor was pressing uncomfortably against her body, but she ignored it; she ignored all her fears and prejudices about the creture before her. Right now, it was his brother, Wisnu Putra Ardha.

The little girl cried once again, burying her face in her brother's chest. The armored Wisnu patted her back to calm her down. Few minutes passed quietly; the sobbing ended but the embrace didn't. Both sibling were allaying the fear and worry in each other. Suddenly, realization hit them.

Wisnu, while patting her sister, got a clear look on his hands for the first time. He stopped caressing her back and began to touch his face, only to found more changes upon himself. Sasha, sensing his brother's alarm, broke away from the hug.

"Sa..sha." The transformed Wisnu said to her, his breathing was heavy. It was clear that he too, was frightened of what he had became.

Sasha was trembling in fear of what her brother was about to say. Unfortunately, it happened nonetheless.

"What...am...I?" His unnatural voiced trembled.

Know that there is no any political insinuation in this fic. Some similarities about Indonesia are just made up in my mind, so don't bother to discuss about that.

This chapter is a tribute to 30 Seconds to Mars. Keep on rocking, guys!