Chapter 21: A Close One (End)

It was hard to tell what the time was as well… not only was Rito on a different planet but it was also more likely he was in a completely different dimension. After agreeing to help his father-in-law, who might be amongst the most powerful people in the galaxy, he had entered a portal in the Devilukean capital.

"Alright I am in…" Rito stated into the mic of his earphones but there was only static- looks like we go solo here, Rito thought as he took in the scenery around him. In front of him, he saw a vast emptiness of space with stars giving some light to the skies; there was a multitude of different hues mixed into the sky. Beneath him was something more shocking, as there was another endless expanse there; this one however, was very different as a large body of lava flowed alongside black, obsidian-like rocks. It stretched right to the horizon. I would say this looks like hell, but that would be a bit clichéd, Rito thought as he floated on the silence. How he was floating, breathing and still alive were questions that he's rather not think about and he opted to instead gaze at the portal, which he'd came from. After all, his job was to take care of that. Wait a minute, those guys look familiar, Rito's eyebrows became raised as he saw the familiar shape of demons- well, calling them demons was probably a bit inaccurate but they sure as hell looked like demons. Their bodies were humanoid and glowed slightly red, and their muscular arms and lean frame would suggest that they were not easily beatable; fighting them at their home territory would probably end up badly, he looked away from the demonic inhabitants as he once again gazed at the portal. What's the easiest way to close a portal? Explosives? Rito pondered as he put on some glasses. That's it, overcharge it with more energy- hopefully it implodes… without causing a black hole or something, he scratched his head slowly as his body started to charge up with energy; his body crackled with red electricity as he rose up slightly higher. From his body, energy was starting to flow towards the portal, like a white dwarf in a binary star system; Rito turned around and his face turned into a frown.

If only they had given me a few minutes more, I'd be done and wouldn't have to socialise with this lot, Rito thought as he sliced through another demon with his katana- his body was slightly weaker than normal as the portal was absorbing some of his energy. His forehead creased as he saw the blood of the demon he had sliced flow into the lava lakes surrounding him, before another demon rose from the lava. Holy crap, it's like a demon factory, they just won't stop, Rito thought with a sigh as he jumped from the ground- there were still many demons on the ground and it wasn't like their numbers were going to go down any sooner. It felt more like these demons were getting more resilient as one of the ones he'd shot got back up just as quickly. As if to pursue him, a few of the demons jumped as well, just as Rito stretched both his arms to the sides; these demons were cut down by beams of light from Rito's side. Wow… still got a few minutes to hold these guys up, he thought shaking his head. Movement to his side caught his eyes as he looked to his left. Wait… was there ever a star this close to us? He was confused as he gazed at the large red body- his eyes widened when he started to see the grooves and features. No… this isn't a star at all… he shook his head as massive green eyes glinted in front of him. The star sized creature was a thing of astronomical size; oh sh- Rito was knocked away by the force of the punch from the massive being, even though Rito had managed to dodge it. It seems like I have no choice but to fight that thing- I'll have to exhaust myself heh, he sent a hand through his spiky orange hair. Risky business… his hands faced the large being as his palms started to charge up; he could already feel the strain on his body as it cut through him like a knife. As he was also pumping energy into the portal, there was bound to be some consequence from this much use of his power. But he didn't care as a huge yellow beam burst from his hands and towards the colossal enemy; the momentum from the blast also pushed him back through the portal as it closed up in front of him. Mission successful!

"Rito, I don't remember you being this short…" Lala said, her hands stroking her chin.

"But you're cute this way as well," she continued in a cheerful manner.

Rito pouted with annoyance as he glanced at the mirror before him- no lie, Rito's body and height had reverted to that of a primary schooler. He could hear the laughter of Viktoria behind him.

"By the way, you could've done it from the outside but I wanted to see your abilities," Gid said with a smirk as Queen Sephie shook her head.

"So are you telling me that this was indirectly caused by you?" Rito asked cracking his knuckles.

"I don't need to answer that- on the plus side, this was the last portal recorded in this galaxy so you (probably) don't have to worry about doing that again," Gid replied nonchalantly.

"I am so annoyed right now that I don't even care about you being the king- you stupid midget, I'll teach you a very good lesson…" Rito stated with fire in his eyes (A/N: it's a bit like when Rito gets put under weird effects like the camera and the see-through glasses or what he looks like in the other characters' fantasies in canon TLR).

"I don't care if you're the fiancé of my daughter, the only one teaching lessons will be me, and I'm taller than you!" the kind replied somewhat childishly. The argument would escalate into a fight but that was a short fight that ended when the Queen intervened. So, Rito went back to his normal (?) life without having to see weird portals or demons put for at least a few more days, but his usual worries were still there. Especially when he realised how his love life hadn't really progressed the whole time, but oh well, there's still time.

Hi everyone, I am back after quite a while and it is with a bit of sadness that I have to say that this is the last chapter for this particular story- I've enjoyed writing this whole The Change series which I started back in September 2013 and am really happy for all the support. Yeah this chapter kinda might not make sense but hopefully it does. I have enjoyed the feeling of being a writer of some sort. Idk if I'll write another fanfic for TLR or anything tbh, because time and mental capacity might be restricted severely as I go into year 12 but we'll see what happens. Once again, thanks for all the support and hopefully see you all again in some other story in the future.