Chapter 16 – Evolution
Ledgerdomain
It was different.
Ben had felt the wave of change emanating from the Omnitrix – and then the Ultimatrix – hundreds of times now. It was like a tidal wave, crashing into him with the force of a sports car, carrying him away and throwing him onto the rocky shore in its wake. It wasn't painful, exactly, just shocking. Like jumping into cold water on a summer day only a thousand times more surprising.
But this time it wasn't. It was soothing. The warmth was comforting as it moved across his chest, loosening the tight muscles that had pulled tight across his lungs with the earlier impacts of the battle. The aches and pains of the long day melted away and he felt new again, healed.
He opened his eyes when it was over and looked down. The Ultimatrix had moved from his wrist and onto the center of his chest but otherwise he was unchanged. Just the same old Ben.
"Huh," he said. "I expected more."
Brozz punched him in the chin and sent him flying. The dizziness was unforgettable, as was the ache in his jaw that he was sure should have killed him. And yet, he was just hurt. Hurt like the pain of having his chin broken in half, but not dead at all. He was flying end over end through the air and he wanted to get his feet back on the ground and ready for a fight.
"FOUR ARMS!" Ben cried out without even knowing why. He certainly didn't expect two additional muscular arms to simply sprout from his chest without that familiar feeling of change that normally accompanied the shift into an alien form.
Ben twisted in mid air and landed on his feet and used his four arms to slow his motion as he skid across the ground. He eventually ground to a stop and straightened himself. He looked at his four arms with the dawning of comprehension.
"XLR8!"
Ben's legs changed to become angular and bent, with wheel-like appendages at the toes. He started to run and the world became a blur as he flew towards Brozz at lightspeed. Just before they would have impacted, he wound him his two right fists and punched Brozz in both the chest and face at the same time, sending the alien reeling back several steps.
"Okay, this is a little better," said Ben with a grin. His lower arms were at his hips while his upper arms crossed over his chest.
Brozz rubbed his cheek and laughed. "You think this is what you need to stop me?"
"That and about a million others," said Ben. "I've gotten a lot of mileage out of them over the years. Let me show you what I've learned." He smiled. "CANNONBOLT!" Large yellow panels of armor grew out of Ben's back and legs.
Turning to the side, Ben ran out with XLR8's speed in a wide arc targeting Brozz. As he was closing in on the Chamatronian, he flipped into a ball and rolled on the armor plating the rest of the way, slamming straight into Brozz and slamming him into the ground as he plowed over him. A few dozen feet away he launched himself into the air and uncurled to land on his feet again.
Brozz rolled off his back and onto his feet as the stood. He looked amused. "Cute." He raised one hand and pointed it at Ben. The black runes on his body glowed green. "ESCATAVIN!" he shouted and a purple lightning bolt erupted from his fist and zig-zagged across the space between them.
The magical bolt struck Ben from the side and felt like he had just been poked with a cattle prod that was hooked up to the city's power grid. Ben screamed and tried to move his jaw while his muscles were involuntarily clenching from the pain.
"C-C-C-CHROMASTONE!"
The crystals quickly grew out of Ben's body like the quills of a hedgehog and began collecting the energy of the spell in his large prismatic shards. The magical energy felt weird as it stored up in the protruding spikes and Ben thought it was going to explode back on him even as he absorbed it. He quickly slapped his palms together and pointed them back at Brozz.
A colorful beam of energy shot out from Ben's hands and struck the aliens chest. Brozz staggered slightly and then quickly disabled the spell, cutting off the supply of power being used against him. He glared back at Ben, and then growled.
"SOLIDITIOUS!"
Six giant pentagrams appeared around Ben, forming a cube around him, and forcing all his energy back into the room. Ben dodged the reflected shot and then shrugged off the remaining power towards one wall of the prison. The colorful beam bounced off the pentagrams and then dissipated.
"BIG CHILL!"
Ben felt two large but lightweight wings grow from his back and he willed himself intangible. He walked quickly through the boundaries of the spell around him and then became solid once more.
"Hey, Brozz, chill out," said Ben. He opened his mouth and shot out a beam of frozen fire that encased Brozz in a thick block of ice. "HUMONGOUSAUR!"
Ben's small frame grew proportionally until he was nearly six and a half feet tall and the muscles in his four arms bulked out. Using XLR8's speed, Ben wound up and charged into Brozz and slammed him hard into the rubble, punching him with each fist as they made contact with the ground.
Ben took several deep breaths and hunched slightly as he watched Brozz roll over and get onto his hands and knees with a rumbling. It sounded like a laugh.
"Tired already?" asked Brozz. He leaned back onto his legs and slowly picked himself up again. He lifted a hand and made fist. "I'm just getting warmed up."
The ground under Ben suddenly lurched up, sending him flying back, before splitting into a wide chasm that exposed the purple mana below. The rubble merged into a pile of jagged spikes that cut into Ben's back as he fell into them. He screamed loudly.
"Ah, tis' but music," said Brozz happily.
-(X)-
Charmcaster blasted her way back to the surface using an explosive spell, shining light back down into the small cavern she'd made during Brozz's sudden attack. She looked back into the darkened passage at Cabra and Abara, who were holding each other tightly as they walked.
"You two alright?" she asked quickly. Cabra looked down at Abara and then back up at Charmcaster. She nodded slowly. "Kai?"
A series of groans emerged from the darkness as Kai pulled herself back up to Charmcaster's level. "I'll live," she said finally. Then she looked at the destruction around them and the distant rumblings of Ben and Brozz fighting. "By gods," she said with a gaping jaw. "He destroyed everything."
"How many people were left in the city?" asked Charmcaster to her aunt and uncle.
"Many," said Abara. "Most fled Adwaita's rage, but many remained out of spite or to help us. All those still loyal to Archamada are here... were here."
Charmcaster grimaced and shook her head. This was not how she was supposed to gain back her people's independence. Once again those with power had screwed up everything.
"We got to help Ben," said Kai, distracting Charmcaster from her thoughts.
"We daren't," said Cabra. "He possesses the Alpha Rune now, our spells would be nothing to him. Worse, if he really understands what he has, we risk falling under the same control the Gods fell under before Adwaita."
"He gets it," said Charmcaster grimly. "Or he's an incredibly fast learner. Look how the mana flows are focused on him now. He's drawing power from Ledgerdomain himself to feed the spells and attacks he's using."
Abara winced and he and Cabra knelt on the ground to relief the strain of standing. "Either way, unless we can neutralize or separate the Alpha Rune from him, we can't do anything here. He's just as powerful as Adwaita now."
"And since it looks like he ate the Alpha Rune..." said Cabra.
"We're doomed," Charmcaster finished.
"No," said Kai, walking up next to Charmcaster. "We can neutralize his power."
Charmcaster laughed cynically. "Hah! With what? You have a stasis field generator on you?"
Kai held her hands before her. "I am a stasis field generator." Then she started walking towards the battle.
Charmcaster ran in front of her and placed her hand on the Native American's shoulder. "This is crazy, you're small fries compared to him."
"I can do this," said Kai. "I can stabilize a sun. Kevin said so."
"Your people can stabilize a dying sun," said Charmcaster. "And it probably takes more than one. You're a half-blood trainee, this is way beyond you."
Kai glared at Charmcaster. "You don't know that, and I have to try." She walked around her.
"And what if he decides to attack you while you're trying?" called out Charmcaster from behind her. "You aren't that great on defense, you know!"
Kai looked back slightly as she walked. "Then it'll buy Ben an opportunity to get him from behind."
"With your life!" Charmcaster yelled as she watched Kai walk away.
-(X)-
Gwen was being shaken awake. She could feel it, which meant she was in her physical form again. She hadn't lost control. She was afraid she would. During the spell, she could feel herself being used to rip apart Adwaita, it was awful, but she said nothing, bore through it, because it was necessary. But it was awful.
She never wanted to be used like that again.
"Get up, Gwen!"
Gwen's eyes shot open and she saw her grandmother staring down at her. She wasn't sure how she knew it was her, seeing as she was in her Anodite form which was virtually indistinguishable from Sunny's. Except it wasn't, as Gwen could see now. There were obvious differences between them, it just wasn't visible ones.
"What happened?" asked Gwen, shaking her head.
"Brozz bitch slapped us," said Sunny, coming up behind her grandmother.
"Sunny!" scolded Verdona.
"Geeze, whatever," said Sunny with a flick of her wrist. "Brozz took the Alpha Rune and turned the spell back on us. Then dropped this building on our heads for fun." She pointed upwards.
Gwen looked and noticed that Verdona was keeping a crumbling ceiling from crushing them with a thin barrier of magenta energy. All around them were walls of broken stone and glass, with shards of metal and plastic sticking up out of the ground around their feet.
And Julie! Gwen quickly got up onto her knees and crawled over to the still form of Ben's girlfriend, still wrapped in Ship.
"Julie?" she ventured, and reached out to shake the girl. "Ship? Is she alright?"
"Shiiip..." cried Ship in a tone that sounded sad and uncertain. Gwen couldn't understand the Mechamorph like Julie could, but she could get the gist of what he was trying to say.
"She looks like she's in bad shape," said Gwen, turning towards Verdona. "Ship'll keep her intact, but we should get her to a doctor."
"We need to get out of here first," said Sunny. "And avoid whatever hell is being raised up there."
Gwen frowned. "Up..." she said, then turned her attention upwards. She could distantly feel it, the bursts of energy, the rumbling, but only because she'd tried to focus on it. "Ben is still fighting Brozz!" she realized.
"Or Brozz is crushing everyone left in the city," said Sunny. "We don't know! I'd rather we dig ourselves out that way." She pointed to the side.
"We have to help," said Gwen.
"Now, why on earth would I have thought you would say anything different," Sunny said dryly.
"I can open a way," said Verdona. "If you're ready."
Gwen rubbed her head. She felt like crap, but she could hardly imagine what Ben felt like if he was still fighting. "Do it," she said. She pointed her hand at Julie and created a platform with her mana that she used to scoop up the unconscious girl and carry her.
Verdona spread her arms apart and the barrier above their heads formed a wedge that split the ceiling like a door and exposed the light of Ledgerdomain's purple sky. Sunny flew up immediately and Gwen followed with a series of stairs she forged out of her mana.
On the surface they saw the fight. Gwen could hardly believe her eyes. It looked like... like Ben had become Kevin when they were kids. Ben was huge, with four muscular arms, a pair of blue wings, spindly legs, diamonds growing from his sides and shoulders, and his head was on fire.
He also looked exhausted, but he was still moving. Jumping or flying while throwing beams of cold fire, colored energy, and jets of hot plasma. All the while Brozz looked amused. Enduring some of the weaker attacks and charging through the stronger ones.
"He's going to get killed," Gwen realized aloud. She put Julie down and started to walk when Sunny stopped her.
"That Alpha Rune made short work of us," warned Sunny. For once she sounded completely serious. "I wouldn't get closer if I were you. You might..." she trailed off.
Gwen nodded to her cousin. "I know, but that's what we do. Ben knew it. I know it. Kevin knows it."
Sunny stared back for a moment then coalesced into her physical body. She looked to be at a loss. "Why?" she said. "Why these people? Why earth? There are other places that matter a hell of a lot more."
Gwen gave her a half smile. "Not to me." She stepped to the side and kept walking towards Brozz. She didn't hear her cousin follow. That wasn't unexpected.
-(X)-
As Kai got near to the battle, she saw Gwen approaching from another angle, emerging from beyond another tall pile of broken building and steel. Gwen looked relieved.
"You're alright," said Kai with a nod.
Gwen smiled. "Brozz tried to drop a building on us, but he underestimated my family."
"Mine too."
Kai turned suddenly and saw Charmcaster coming up beside her. "I suppose in our case we were technically on the building before it dropped, but it all comes out the same." She looked evenly at Kai's shocked expression. "Hey, this is my home, if anyone is going to walk into death over it, it's going to be me."
Gwen nodded. "And he's my cousin, I can't let him get killed alone."
Kai looked awkwardly between the two. "I don't have a convenient excuse," she admitted. "But I think I can help. Hope you don't mind."
Gwen patted her on back.
Then the ground started to rumble beneath them. Gwen created a platform and jumped onto it and Kai quickly followed suit. Charmcaster braced herself against the rumbling.
A muffled voice arose from the ground. "That's all very touching—" it said. Then a chunk of rock tumbled aside and Kevin – covered in stone – burst out from the ground, pushing aside the debris, and climbing up onto his knees. He turned immediately and reached down into the hole and pulled out Max, and Phil.
After a grunt, Kevin continued. "Don't you guys think maybe we should go help Ben now and talk about why later?" He stood up and put his hands on his hips.
Gwen leaped off her platform and hugged Kevin. "You're okay," she breathed.
Kevin curled his arms around her and rubbed her back. "I'm durable," he said. "Come on, let's go get killed for Ben."
Gwen stepped back and nodded. "Do we have a plan?"
"Kai thinks she can neutralize the Alpha Rune, if we give her enough time," said Charmcaster.
"What?" said Gwen. "How?"
Kevin turned and moved up to Kai, then put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Energy is energy, it's no different than the gun. You can do this. We'll keep him off of you while you try."
Kai froze under Kevin's earnest statements, then quickly turned her head away, blushing. "O-okay," she said quietly and Kevin turned back away from her.
"Let's go," Kevin said, and turned his fists into maces again.
-(X)-
"ECHO ECHO!"
Ben felt reality expand beyond his senses for a moment and six other Ben's jumped out of his body, all with Four Arms, Heatblast head, Cannonbolt backs, Chromastone protrusions, and XLR8 legs.
"Woah," all seven Bens said at once.
Then Brozz caused an abyss to open in the ground beneath their feet and two Bens fell into oblivion.
The original Ben shivered at watching himself fall to his own death. He pushed the feeling aside and charged at Brozz, turning into a cannonball halfway through his run. The spinning made it hard to keep precise track of his distance but he sped up anyway hoping to run over Brozz.
Instead Brozz formed a giant spade out of magic and jammed it into the ground between them. Ben struck the magical barrier and tumbled end over end to the side. Fortunately, two other Bens had the same idea and rolled past, around the spade, and slammed into Brozz one after the other. The first knocked him back a few feet in surprise, and the second ran straight over him.
Two other Ben's closed in on the prone Brozz and opened their mouths to scream. They buffeted the Chamatronian on two sides causing him to be tossed slightly back and forth under the pressure.
Brozz shoved his hand into the ground and created a row of angled spikes around him like a ring, then caused that ring to quickly expand towards several of the Bens, forcing them back. When they were too distant to move him, Brozz traced a rune in the air with his fingers and caused a dozen stone golems to arise from the rubble and advance on the remaining Echo Echo Bens.
The original Ben took this opportunity to fly into the air and freeze several of the golems with Big Chill's breath. He caught six of them in his shot before an arrow shaped bolt of purple energy shot out of the sky and struck him in the back, sending him plummeting to the ground. He crashed hard and skid to a stop in front of Brozz.
Ben struggled to lift his head and look up. "Uh, hi."
Brozz bent down to loom over him. "This is it? This is the strength of the great Ben Tennyson? That time traveler put too much faith in you."
"And you killed him for it," breathed Ben.
"A trifle," said Brozz. "A mere nuisance. Just like you. Enjoy oblivion, I certainly didn't." He raised a glowing fist that grew jagged black spikes as it moved.
A loud whistle distracted Brozz and he turned his head for the source. A dozen yards away stood Kevin, Gwen, Charmcaster, and Kai. Kevin lowered his hands form his lips and stepped aside to let Gwen move forward.
"That's not his strength," said Gwen. "That's just the Omnitrix. We're his strength."
Kevin leaned over slightly. "Ultimatrix," he said quietly.
Gwen waved him off. "Whatever," she whispered.
"Oh?" asked Brozz, standing tall again. "And what can you do that his technological marvel cannot?"
"Just this," said Charmcaster, and gestured simply to Kai.
The younger dark haired girl lifted her hands again and pointed them at Brozz. Then she clenched her fists tightly and grimaced. "Unng!" she groaned.
Brozz suddenly fell to his knees and looked up in shock as his eyes flared purple briefly. Then he roared loudly and pounded his fist into the ground causing the earth to shake and split in a zig sagging line towards Kai. Where the ground opened purple flames erupted from the darkness beneath.
Charmcaster and Gwen both stood side by side in front of Kai and held up their hands. Gwen's eyes glowed and Charmcaster chanted loudly as a stone edifice emerged from the ground and a series of magenta barriers surrounded them, causing the crack in the earth to stop dead in its tracks in front of the barriers.
"Kevin!" yelled Gwen.
Kevin leaped over the barriers and slammed his enlarged fists into Brozz, crushing him against the ground. Then he grabbed Ben and threw him back towards the girls, before blocking a hulking swing from Brozz that caused the ground under his feet to compact.
Kai groaned again. "He's fighting it," she said. She twisted her arms slightly and wrenched her eyes shut in a look of pain. "I... I don't know if I can do this—"
"You can do it," Charmcaster said over her shoulder.
"We believe in you," said Gwen. She looked over at Charmcaster, who nodded with a grin in response. "We'll buy you some time."
Gwen swung her arms behind her causing the barrier to bend at a sharp angle and ressemble a huge snow plow. Charmcaster changed her chant and the stone warped into a giant ballista with the plow at the head of a huge bolt.
With a windup, Charmcaster slapped her hands together causing the ballista to fire, sending the mana-tipped bolt into Brozz, slamming him into the ground with enough force to fling chunks of stone – and Kevin – flying back.
Kai sighed roughly. "That's at least making it a little easier," she said.
Gwen began running on energy platforms towards the remaining Echo-Bens and stone golems. She flung several bolts as she ran, causing several golems to crumble and others to be knocked back long enough for the Echo-Ben fighting them to strike back.
When most of the golems were dust, Gwen shouted at the Echo-Bens. "Get back to Brozz, we need to wear him down!"
Charmcaster, meanwhile, was quickly casting more spells. "You think those are golems, Brozz?" she scoffed. "I've been making those since I was ten. Try this!" Finishing the spell, she raised her arms up like she was controlling a marionette and a swirl of purple energy grabbed chunks of metal and stone and formed a single stone golem, roughtly forty feet tall, and looking identical to Charmcaster save for the coloring.
The golem-Charmcaster stomped forward and swung its fist down to slam into Brozz, who only barely leapt aside... right into a two-fisted punch from the original Ben. He was thrown back into the golem's wrist and fell to the ground face first.
Still Brozz rose again, slower this time than last, and charged at Ben, summoning a giant club from the ground using his mana and swinging wildly. Ben deflected one swing intended for his head, then turned intangible to avoid the others as he flew to the side.
Brozz growled as he turned to follow Ben, only to find the trio of remaining Echo-Bens there. They unleashed three streams of fire at him from their hands engulfing him in fire and pushing him back again. He took two steps back before he was getting repeatedly struck by mana bolts from Gwen behind him and couldn't move any further. He fell to the ground and sunk his fists into the stone beneath him. The rocks around him rose up to create a dome over him, but the Echo-Bens and Gwen continued their onslaught, chipping away at the protective barrier. Kevin ran up and began pounding on it with his fists and Ben opened his mouth and used Echo's attack to cause cracks to open up across the shield.
Then Charmcaster's golem swung its fist down on it and it shattered around Brozz, who exploded into energy, throwing the Echo-Bens and Gwen away, but only slightly pushing Kevin and original Ben back.
Brozz was howling as he tried radiating energy in all directions to keep Ben and company away, but slowly his black scales were starting to turn gray and the runic lines were retreating back towards a singular, bold magenta rune in the center of his chest.
Ben planted his feet and began pushing forward trying to close the distance to Brozz. He felt the crystals around his shoulders and back crack under the pressure and the yellow armor plating from Cannonbolt began to crumble. Ben grit his teeth as his wings melted and faded away.
Brozz stared at Ben and poured more energy onto him. "No!" he screamed. "Not you! NOT AGAIN!"
Ben faltered under the push and his small knees threatened to break. Then he suddenly felt strong arms holding him up from behind.
He glanced back to see Kevin there, pushing him forward. The stone covering his skin had fractured and most of it had fallen away round his face and legs, but his giant hands were still pushing him onward.
Ben turned back towards Brozz and held up his four arms in front of his face and tried to push forward. Slowly he advanced.
Brozz started to back up. "No! The Tennysons are nothing!" he yelled. Then he felt his tail brush up against a wall, and he turned to see Charmcaster's golem holding both its hands there, boxing Brozz in even as the fingers started to break apart from the radiant mana.
Gwen flew down and landed behind Kevin. She placed her hands on his shoulders and magenta plates of armor grew around him and Ben, and they advanced even closer.
Brozz pressed his back against the stone golem and turned all his energy into a single beam directed at Ben. But still the hero moved forward as more of Brozz's scales turned gray and dull. He fell to his knees again and didn't get back up as he pushed more power through his arms.
Ben stepped close enough to Brozz and pushed his hand forwards. He felt like the skin on his fist would melt away but he bore through and felt his fingers brush over the Alpha Rune. A jolt of painful energy ran up Ben's arm and he felt the parts of XLR8 and Heatblast fade away. He flinched back briefly and felt his chest tighten and burn. With a deep breath, he pushed forward again and this time wrapped his fingers around the rune.
"No! It's mine!" yelled Brozz as Ben tugged. He could feel Brozz trying to pull away but Ben kept his grip. Strange energy danced up his arm and lanced across his chest painfully. The two extra arms from Four Arms dissolved, leaving him with the disorienting sensation that someone had just cut off two of limbs.
Ben gripped the rune tightly and reached with his other hand to grab Kevin for leverage. He planted his feet and pulled, grinding his teeth together and he felt is slowly pulling away from Brozz's chest. Then there was a sudden lurch and the rune came free only to be grabbed again by Brozz before Ben could pull it fully away.
Ben looked through the glowing blazing light coming from Brozz and the rune. Brozz's face was cracked and gray now, his angrily scowl causing light to bleed from the creases between his scales. He was furious and desperate at the same time.
"No more," said Ben simply. Then he pulled again and the rune was ripped from Brozz's fingers and flew away. Kevin fell backwards with Ben and the directed attack faded away as Brozz staggered away with his hands against his face.
Screeching, Brozz stumbled about glowing brightly in blue-white light that was almost blinding.
"What's happening now?" asked Kevin loudly as he threw Ben off of him.
"I have no idea!" yelled Ben. He looked around for anyone to provide him more information and saw Kai slowly approaching Brozz with her hand slowly closing in on each other.
"I've got him," said Kai confidently. As her hands approached each other the bright light coming from Brozz dimmed and retreated into his body until her hands touched and the light ceased altogether, leaving a slowly breathing but unmoving Chamatronian lying on the ground. He'd turned completely gray and looked like he'd fallen out of an old photo.
Kai approached him cautiously and kept her hands held together. Brozz did nothing but breathe out labored breaths and look back at her. Ben and Gwen walked up as well.
Kai looked over at Ben. "What now?" she said.
Ben looked at her hands. "What are you doing?"
Kai frowned and looked down at Brozz again. "I'm keeping his energy levels as low as possible. He barely has the power to move anymore."
"Is that why he's..." Gwen started and then motioned towards the gray scales.
Kai shook her head. "That's not me. He used up something fundamental to himself trying to hold onto the Alpha Rune." She shrugged. "I doubt he'll ever be that strong again."
Ben nodded. "Then we take him back to the Null Void."
"I'll... escape..." wheezed Brozz.
"Not likely," said Gwen.
"Come... back," continued Brozz. "Kill... you... all."
Ben kneeled down. "Then we'll stop you," he said. "We always stop you. After two hundred years you still don't get that?"
"Next... time..." started Brozz.
"No, there's no more next times," said Ben. "Not for you. We know how to stop you now." He looked up to Kai with a smile. "We're not going to forget."
"RAAAAAAH!" roared Brozz suddenly. Ben leapt back in case he was about to launch a last attack. Suddenly lines of white light began creeping over Brozz's face and then down his neck into his body. He writhed under the light and screamed.
"What are you doing?" asked Ben to Kai.
"It's not me!" Kai said, panicked. "It's coming from somewhere else."
The white light expanded until it covered his entire body and then in a flash, he crumbled to a dust with a distant scream, leaving behind a gray pile.
Kai lowered her arms. "He's... just gone."
Gwen looked at the dust and poked it with her finger. "It's ash," she said. She put her other hand to her chin and looked thoughtful.
Ben's chest then chirped and there was the sound of something powering down. A rush of green energy crackled around him as the Ultimatrix moved from the center of his chest to wrist again. He rubbed his chest absently. "That was pretty awesome, though it was really starting to hurt at the end."
The Ultimatrix chirped again and the faceplate began flashing red and black. Then purple energy began crackling around the watch.
"What the—" started Ben, but then the watch exploded, sending him flying.
-(X)-
"Ben!" yelled Gwen as she rushed off to see where her cousin had fallen. But Charmcaster found it hard to pay attention. It seemed really inconsequential at the moment.
Because it was in her hands.
The purple rune was quietly radiating energy and Charmcaster could feel it flowing gently up her arms and into her body. It was magnificent. Like a plant holding the sun between its leaves.
This was meant for her, she was sure of it. Brozz and Adwaita, they were interlopers, foreigners. They were thieves. The Alpha Rune could never work for them like it could work for her. She could do anything now, anything at all. Reality warped slightly around her as she even considered the possibilities.
She laughed. It hard not to. She'd waited her whole life for this and here it was. Her dreams made real. She could hardly believe it. Never again would she live in fear of those simpletons who hated her power.
Even better: they could now live in fear of her.
She laughed louder because it was so funny.
"Charmy," said Cabra from... somewhere else, it didn't really matter where. "Are you okay?"
Charmcaster turned her head to look at her Aunt. She looked so timid, so small. She was small. Everything was small compared to her. She had to fight the urge to simply flick her away and make the world forget about her. It would take less effort than to actually answer her meaningless question.
"Of course, I'm okay," said Charmcaster. "I'm better than anyone who has ever lived."
"You..." started Cabra but she seemed afraid. She should be. "You feel better, right?"
Charmcaster rolled her eyes. "Feel better. Am better. What difference does it make?"
"It makes a big difference," said Cabra. "You're not a god."
Charmcaster laughed again. "Oh, and she was?" she pointed at Gwen without looking. "Like you even understand what that word means."
"Charmcaster!" said Abara, loudly. "We're your family."
The ground swelled up beneath Charmcaster's feet and she towered over her 'family.' "You are small things that live inside small minds." She flicked her wrist and a huge chunk of the destroyed remnants of Nis Virda cracked away and dissolved into mana. "You live in his hovel and scurry about hoping not to be stepped on and call it a life. We were tortured! Retribution is our right!"
"They were just afraid!" pleaded Abara.
Charmcaster glared back. "They have every right to be, now."
"You know—" started Abara, but Charmcaster cut him off.
"Be quiet." She waved her hand Abara could no longer speak. "I will not be pushed aside again, not when I have the power to stand up."
"Don't do this."
Charmcaster spun around to see Gwen standing on a glowing platform behind her. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was frowning.
"I don't have to listen to you either," said Charmcaster.
"But you will," said Gwen softly.
Charmcaster felt anger rise up within her and she moved her tower of rock closer to Gwen's so she could look down on her. "Why? Why should I listen to you? You're not better than me anymore! I'm the one with the power nobody else can match. I'm the one who's special!"
"You were always special, Charmy," said Gwen.
Charmcaster seethed and then promptly turned her back on Gwen. "I didn't give you permission to call me that. Don't call me that."
"I understand how you feel," said Gwen. "But this isn't want you want."
"You don't know what it's like! They don't know what it's like. They need to feel it. To realize what they did to me. What they did to all of us!"
"They won't," said Gwen. "You can push them down as hard as you want but they won't understand you any better." She sighed. "They'll just hate you."
Charmcaster looked back at Gwen and saw her sad expression. She'd dropped her arms to her side and looked even smaller than she...
"I know you don't want that."
She...
"I know how much it hurt you."
Charmcaster shook her head. Gwen didn't understand, she didn't! All she ever did was be better at magic than Charmcaster. All she ever did was be borne into strength without even having to work at it!
Though... she did. Even Charmcaster knew that. She always had her dumb nose in some book. Always working herself to death for stupid human reasons when she should have just followed her cousin into space. Then she could be as strong as Sunny was.
Sunny. Her cousin who was stronger than her at their anodite powers. And her other cousin, who blundered his way through using the Omnitrix and got galactic glory for his idiocy. And her family... the grandfather every treated as legend. Her parents who wished she was normal and tried to hide her heritage from her. And her thuggish boyfriend who once hated her and tried to kill her...
And there she was, standing proudly in front of a real god and telling her to be kind. KIND!
"I can't..." Charmcaster said quietly so only Gwen could hear. She raised her hands, charged with mana. "This is all I have in me. Without my hate I have nothing."
Gwen stepped of her platform onto the tower that Charmcaster was on. The sorceress retreated back but Gwen persisted and took her glowing hands.
"You're wrong," said Gwen. "Your father died for you because he believed you could save Ledgerdomain."
Charmcaster winced at the mention of her father. "You don't know that," she said dismissively.
"I do," insisted Gwen. "Because I met him."
Charmcaster stared, her mouth agape.
"He told me he's been waiting for you for a long time," said Gwen. "He said you have always been special. That with the Alpha Rune you could bring true life to Ledgerdomain."
"H-How?" The words barely made their way out of Charmcaster's mouth.
"I don't know," Gwen said honestly. "It's your gift. The one he believed in."
"I-it's not possible," said Charmcaster, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. Her father... how much she missed her father and just refused to think about it.
"It is, that's why ne named you the way he did," said Gwen.
Charmcaster couldn't speak, something was caught in her throat. Could it be true? Was it possible she... wasn't... just this? Was she more? Was Gwen just making it all up?
"He named you Hope."
Yes. He did. And she hated how wrong it was. She hated that her true name was false. But that's the problem with Hope, it doesn't become real until you believe in it.
Could she believe?
"Live up to it," said Gwen with a smile. She pointed to ruined and broken landscape around them. The people looking up towards them from below filled with worry and anticipation. The many thousands out there in Ledgerdomain wondering how things when with Adwaita. "Make it grow."
A tear fell down Charmcaster's cheek and she thought of roses. So many roses.
Where her tear hit the ruined earth, it grew green. First grass, then small plants, and then a single rose that rose up seeking a sun that had never risen before. It was small, but strong, and beautiful. Then the green began to grow down the side of the tower, across the ruined land and through what remained of the city. Roses sprung up everywhere, as did the tiny sapling of trees and shrubs, flowers, and tall stalks of wheat. In the city of cold stone and steel, Charmcaster saw the beginnings of a forest.
It was too much for even her stoic nature to handle, and she finally broke, crying into Gwen's arms as the city around her learned about life for the first time.