【74 - Revelations and Reunion! Making Underhanded Alliances?!】
Two chosens were floating in a void.
Heidi and Kanoa found each other within this strange new phenomenon. At first it seemed like their imagination before becoming vivid, pulling them into a fantasy that was sharper than real life. To Heidi it was like popping the cork on a bottle: expansion and sudden relief. To Kanoa it was like his real body were a pair of socks he'd finally had a chance to remove after almost two decades. They looked at each other. Is this only my imagination? The question drifted from them before they could finally accept the experience.
The feelings and knowings couldn't be adequately explained.
Kanoa had experienced something similar when he questioned the phoenixes on their pick of chosens. He looked at Heidi and saw her clutching her neck. He too felt uncomfortable energy buzzing around him. They'd both closed their hearts after the betrayal to protect themselves. The higher chakras Hillary mentioned started with their throat. Energetically, they were being choked while the New Age beings were fighting to maintain control over their higher two chakras. The Third Eye and Crown, which was what allowed them to access places like these. They didn't have to struggle for long; Supernova Jupiter King Empire appeared to them, giant and beating his leafy wings, blowing away all the static and leaving them with tremendous relief.
"Thank you, Jupiter…" Heidi said.
Kanoa felt the understanding come to him and spoke, "This place… it feels outside - of everything - somehow. The master dimension."
A presence descended from somewhere and both Kanoa and Heidi turned to it.
A phoenix, though not one they'd seen before. It was bigger and black, made of jagged spikes and skeletal arms.
"Who are you?" Heidi asked.
"Supernova Black Hole Thanatos," it answered in a hissed voice, understanding that her question was more about its appearance.
Jupiter gave an echoey bird cry, which while lacking words perfectly conveyed his meaning.
"That's correct. I'm not truly Thanatos, I'm merely possessing him so I could reach you far out here."
"Then who are you really?" Heidi asked.
"I'm just a fractal of someone who transcended to godhood, though briefly." At their confusion it went on to explain, "When he - we - transcended, a million of us fractals scattered throughout this spiritual dimension, which connects to all others. Like dandelion seeds, we're all copies of his knowledge and will. We manifest a bit differently to everyone we appear to, but he knows everything through us. That is what it is to be a god: one who can be in many different places at once."
Heidi and Kanoa pulled their eyes away from Thanatos to look at each other. A god was visiting them?
"Then again…" Thanatos continued, drawing their eyes back, "Transcending to godhood only temporarily is rare enough to be almost unheard of. As such, fractals that we are, we have no core. We're simply adrift in the streams of knowledge."
Kanoa paused, "So you are an imprint of a god that is no longer a god?"
"Precisely," it hissed. "This phoenix you see before you is from the darkness civilization. It was the being from your creature world who most matched my essence and was capable of reaching you two here. Darkness represents imposing your will on others; it's why Supernova Pluto was sometimes able to possess Amira."
"She never told me about that," Heidi said, mostly to Kanoa before looking back.
Thanatos continued, "To be a god is to be a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional being. Gods create their own worlds - their own spaces within this master space. In the same way, those Gatekeepers have the power to create pocket dimensions. Going beyond your worlds and returning here, to the infinite field, is what is called enlightenment."
"So is this place where people go when they die?" Kanoa asked.
"No. There can be constructs within constructs within constructs. But when you keep travelling outward you eventually reach here."
Heidi still wasn't sure they could trust their visitor, "You don't seem like you're here to hurt us, so why did you come?"
"I'm obliged to help because I have a soul contract with both of you. Not the versions of you from this timeline; but in the same way I'm just a piece of the master you serve."
"I don't have a master!" Heidi yelled.
"I too find it hard to believe," Kanoa added. "To me, your energy feels like evil."
Jupiter was silent as he floated behind them, letting the chosens do the talking.
"Let me tell you what I came to say. What you're sensing is my darkness, but neither good nor evil are forces that exist." Its spiked head turned as it regarded them, "As weak mortals you have not transcended much, but you are and will be dimension travellers, so ones who transcend timelines. Out of respect of the soul contract held by different versions of each of us, I'll help you transcend the illusions of spirituality too, so you can understand from the perspective of a god: the true enlightenment."
If their strange visitor only wanted to talk it probably wouldn't hurt.
"Fine. Speak," Kanoa said.
"Truth is rational - that's the good news. Scientists on your planet were able to link space and time together into space-time, but haven't yet unified all the fundamental forces. For instance, gravity affects the relativity of time, but the real reason objects are pulled by gravity is because all things move toward a slower movement of time. That which is strong, obliterates. That which is soft, empowers. A faster flow of time repels matter while a softer flow pulls it in. Electromagnetism and nuclear forces operate in alternate but miniscule dimensions attached to physical space."
"You're… talking about a unified theory?" Heidi spoke up, baffled. "I read about that in my old superhero comics."
"Yes, you did."
"What's science got to do with spirituality?"
"It's all connected to the universe. But beings are limited constructs that are not connected, and you need only open your eyes to see that. A medium can connect objects: air, water, a magnetic field. If objects cannot reach each other they cannot relate. When you understand through ascension that there's no true interrelatedness between individuals, what you call 'good' has no intelligence behind it. The closest thing to good and evil could be called yang and yin, which represent dominating and recessive forces. This is divided imperfectly into darkness and light, even male and female."
"Are you saying there's no intelligence to being noble?" Kanoa asked and both chosens frowned at the idea.
"Life consumes to enlargen itself. You are noble and dependable by nature, Kanoa. But the difference between serving yourselves, a community or a planet is simply the scope of your own sense of collectivism. Life on your planet evolved through cooperation, after all."
"Are you just trying to convince us to give up on our mission?" Heidi asked.
"No. Thanatos is breaking free, I'll tell you one more thing before I leave you: The inside and the outside are very different. The inside is limited, the outside unlimited. There is room to go inward, but once the truth is found, all there is left to do is expand outwards, as all life does, as even those Gatekeepers do. This is what transcending to godhood truly means. That particular truth makes all things clear, and all that remains to be done after that is travel outward with no more mysteries, accumulating power within the infinite field."
Heidi and Kanoa looked at each other, sitting cross-legged in the corner of the room once more. That'd been trippy and a lot to process. Kanoa rubbed bloodshot eyes then stood, offering his hand to Heidi.
"What was that?" She let him pull her up.
"I don't know. But the static energy feels gone. We'd better go help the others before we can figure out whatever all that was."
They'd not settled in for twenty-four hours before it was time to get moving again. They all took the tube elevator down, loaded their supplies and boarded what would be their new home. On the outside it was an RV tank three times the size of an ordinary trailer. The inside had cramped bunk beds, compartments and technical equipment with screens at the front. After stepping on, Heidi realised she'd not been appreciating the saucer nearly enough. Being a ground vehicle, this was slower and trackable whereas the Carmen's Comet could've been around the planet in half a day with no means of being followed.
Jayden got the computer systems on, and an alert came through showing security footage. A team of workers in hazmat suits had discovered the runway, soon they would find the blast doors.
"So where do we go?" Sinan asked, "The caves or secret exit?"
"We can't drive far into the caves. I see our only option as the tunnel exit, then we drive to the nearest town that's clear of radiation," Jayden decided.
Hillary and Tsukumo loaded the last fuel canister. A bigger blast door at the end of the room opened, revealing the maw of an earthen tunnel. They rolled out into darkness, the inner lights stark.
Heidi sat and drummed her fingers, "Should we name this vehicle too?"
"Not like it's anything special," Sinan remarked, "A glorified military bus."
"Yeah but it's also helping the last resistance of humanity, so that makes it pretty important," Heidi said.
"What name do you suggest, Heidi?" Engyo asked.
She thought for a second, "Well it reminds me of those roly poly bugs in the bark areas at my old school."
"It doesn't roll up," Jayden said, "But sure. Call it whatever you want."
"The Roly poly…" Heidi tried saying it out loud and everyone sat in silence as it hung in the air, the tank's rumbling quiet in the background.
"It's a work in progress," Henka allowed.
Ten minutes later they reached the surface, cameras revealing the open desert once more. Radioactive dust would be everywhere, but they were safe thanks to the Roly poly's lead coating. Still, everyone felt uneasy being out in the open. It was dark again, but they were only a few kilometres from the bunker. The clouds were patchy.
All roads led to a dead end, and stopping Urobach in Dahron was the battle everyone was betting the last of their chances on.
Beep, "We're going to the town Scone," M-006 faced away from the decision-makers at the front to all those sitting around at the back. "Unless weather patterns change there's still a week before fallout reaches it, and it will be diluted."
"We won't stay that long anyway, we need to reach Dahron in a week," Hillary said. She was sitting on her bed with her tarot cards, trying to divine whatever information she could.
"Yes. There should be no people in Scone. It's already been cleared out by my robo brethren, and everyone captured was carted off. This is good for us because we can scavenge for food with less likelihood of somebody reporting us. Logically, the humans should be on our side, but you're not always logical creatures."
"Relocating people must be to distract us from what he's really doing," Tsukumo stated.
Henka spoke up, "Sounds like that was his old plan before he decided he couldn't stand being pressed under the Gatekeeper's thumb any longer." She was lying on the highest bunk with her feet pressed against the rumbling roof.
"Only problem being his freedom involves killing everyone left on the planet," Heidi remarked, surprised she could hold so much hate for one person.
It started to rain black - acid rain.
M-006 monitored their course while everyone else rested. After several hours they left the fallout zone, and after hours more they finally found civilization in another rural town called Scone.
It was a ghost town; most settlements now were. The tank rumbled over wreckage in the middle of the road. The buildings were either destroyed or unrecognisable. They couldn't find a grocery so parked in the secluded drive-in of an old mechanic shop. As the door folded up and out, Tsukumo stuck out his head while wearing a gas mask. He waved around a radiation tester, then got out to check the levels of the Roly poly's outsides. Once it was confirmed safe he pulled off the mask and everyone began to disembark.
"I will stay here with M-006," Engyo said, "The rest of you should split up in teams of two to gather supplies - food, medical, sanitary. And if you don't mind - coffee. I do get withdrawals. So…" He stood in the doorway, turning his head at the youths before him. "Tsukumo, please go with Heidi."
To his credit, Tsukumo didn't complain.
He turned his head, "No running off, okay Heidi?"
"I wasn't gonna!" She yelled back.
Engyo continued, "Kanoa should go with Jayden. Sinan, will you please accommodate Hillary and Henka?"
"Sure, but why divide us like this?" Sinan asked.
"Do you have another preference?"
"I guess not."
"Good. No longer than an hour, you all, okay? Take walkie talkies. Be careful and don't be seen. There might still be survivors hiding and if there are they'll be scared and possibly even dangerous."
"Alright," Tsukumo turned, "Let's go."
They split up and left to search.
Kanoa and Jayden entered three houses that had all been broken into. They saw smashed windows, even a wall. All they had to show for their search so far was a single can of tuna which had likely been dropped in the haste of those escaping. Kanoa knelt in somebody's backyard, digging small holes and planting the corn kernels they'd found at the bunker. He covered them up and focused. His body shone green and he felt life energy seeping through his open hands and into the ground. It took a lot of concentration and effort, maybe the kernels needed to be repaired first. So long as the genetic plant information was there Kanoa felt certain Jupiter would be able to do it.
Just as he saw sprouts emerging from the ground, Jayden came down the back porch.
"I found soaps," he showed a value packet and shrugged. He noticed the stalks growing and walked over.
Kanoa stepped back as they grew tall. He kept channelling energy until bulbs grew out before their eyes and suddenly there were three cobs of corn drooping before them. Kanoa lowered his arms and grinned.
"So long as we have you, we're definitely not gonna starve," Jayden said and started tugging at the corn, twisting and ripping them from their stalks. He bagged them with the soaps and tuna can.
"If we could just find enough nutritional variety, we could go someplace hidden in nature and be completely self-sustaining."
"Guess that's something to think about after we stop Urobach destroying the planet."
"Yeah. We better keep looking. We need green vegetables. A herb garden would be good."
They were searching their fifth place before trouble found them.
"Time to come out now!" A nearby voice called and the two froze. "I know you're there!"
Staying low, they crept to the kitchen and peered out the window at somebody standing in the middle of the road. He was looking around, but not facing them.
"Who's he?" Jayden asked.
"I don't know," Kanoa replied. "But more importantly: is he working for Urobach or not?"
"We have to find out," Jayden straightened up and Kanoa grabbed his arm, alarmed.
"Don't be hasty!"
"We have to. If Urobach did track us here it might already be too late for us." With that Jayden pulled himself free and went to the front door, kicking it open.
The man turned. He was wearing a shimmering desert tunic. Jayden approached and then slowed.
"You must be Jayden. We found out that you're the owner of that old bunker. You're helping the fugitives."
Jayden stared, "I know you. You're from Solvus City. I've seen you on TV."
"I'm Saishi, Head Priest of the Solvusite religion," instead of a bow or other performative action, he spread his arms in a holy gesture. It was juxtaposed with a crooked and nasty grin. Jayden looked surprised but recovered. "Is it really that shocking to you?"
"I suppose not. You're a lieutenant. Where's your backup?" Jayden scanned the area, seeing no sign of other duelists or even those duelling robots. Saishi just watched him. "You're alone?"
"Not quite."
"I don't know if it's too late, and frankly I don't care. I'm going to stop you!" Jayden was wishing that Kanoa was radoing the others right now, that they would make it back to the Roly poly and leave without him.
"First call Heidi and get her to come here. Then I'm going to capture Sinan and Kanoa. Urobach finally gave us the green light to take them out however we like."
Saishi had seen the antenna of Jayden's walkie-talkie jutting out of his pocket.
Jayden figured he should keep talking to give the others more time, "Tell me, what attracted you to your position? Just a fan of fanatical brainwashing? Or was being a real life False Prophet, leading millions eagerly into the destruction of their own planet your ideal kind of roleplay?"
Saishi chuckled, "I'm not playing, stupid heathen."
"What - you actually believe in Solvus? But you came to this dimension with Urobach?"
"One of the freedoms this world offers is that we can publically believe whatever we want. So who's to say Solvus isn't really ordaining all of this after all?" It sounded too crazy to Jayden who couldn't form a reply. "Now call the chosens."
"Not going to happen."
"Then I'll take care of you first!" Saishi held out his deck and Jayden did the same.
Their tables misted into view on the rubble-strewn culdesac. Their game was then underway.
Jayden started by charging his copy of Iron Manhattan. Saishi charged fire as well. Jayden drew, tense as the reality that this was a life-threatening duel sank in deeper. He charged nature, hoping his splash civs wouldn't clue his opponent into the fact he was playing with a mostly zero deck.
"I summon Tyke Tysons!" The cartoony squad of athletes performed acrobatic flips before five balanced themselves on number one's back.
"I summon ChuChuris, First Squad!" A red mouse on rocket-skates blasted out. "Beat Jockeys cost one less."
Jayden charged Pali Nights and with that he was ready to start screwing with his opponent's zone.
"I cast Seventh Seven!" The white spell shone, and number seven slots flickered above him. "I check the top three cards of your deck and if there's a card that costs two I can send ChuChuris to the bottom of your deck!"
Saishi waited calmly as the cards floated off for Jayden to see: Dachicco Churis and two Bunbun Churis.
Jayden smirked, "Sweet. I choose Dachicco and ChuChuris goes with those cards to the bottom of your deck." They slid away and the mouse squeaked as it was zapped from play. "Next, Tyke Tysons attacks and Jokers Change 4! I swap it with the Pali Nights in my mana zone! First I boost mana when Tyke leaves and then I boost again with the spell I just put in my graveyard." The gymnasts blackflipped and flashed white, becoming replaced by a disco ball-headed dancer. "Shield break!" It jump-kicked, breaking the targeted shield with style.
Glass blew over Saishi's left and cut the shoulder of his long robe. The card appeared harmlessly in his hand. Jayden's smile faltered when his opponent started clapping and then Jayden was scowling instead.
"Bravo, bravo. I bet you're very proud of your small advantage."
"It's not small. I have five mana now. You have two and an empty zone."
"You really are clueless, aren't you?" Saishi's dark eyes shined with mirth and he chuckled.
Jayden threw his arm out, "Why are you treating this like a game?" His frustration was leaking out, and he surprised himself with the burst of honesty. "One of us will probably die at the end of this. So why are you smiling? Why are you laughing?"
"Well, because this is a game."
"It's not!"
"I thought your dimension was all about playing games? People die all the time. But here, at least it's fun, right?"
Jayden was too choked up by anger to respond.
Saishi's eyes and smile widened, "I summon Dachicco Churis! The cost of my next beat jockey is reduced by up to three! Bad Action Dynamite! I reduce Bad Brand's cost by two, and then by another two for every fire creature I already summoned this turn!" It had 7000 power, a mechanical body of red gears covering the soul of blue fire beneath.
"Shit…" Jayden muttered.
"Look what I can do with only three mana! Bad Brand makes all my fire creatures speed attackers! Attack Pali Nights!" Its rocket skateboard fired up and then it blasted off, dealing the attack with an explosion. "Dachicco Churis, shield break!" A flaming pink weasel scurried forth and leapt through glass. No trigger. "As I end my turn, Bad Action Dynamite forces me to destroy one of my creatures so I choose Dachicco Churis." The critter burnt out.
He gets to keep that double breaker… Jayden's advantage certainly hadn't lasted, but he wasn't out yet. He drew. "I… summon Tyke Tysons and Senno Brainwash." The gymnasts returned along with a hypnotic digital amoeba on 4000. "Turn end."
"Senno Brainwash is a good zero card for anti-spam. Too bad it's useless against decks like mine! I only reduce the cost of summoning!" Saishi pulled from his deck. "I summon two Bruce Quacks!" Identical ducks in armour spread small wings, costing only one mana each. "Bad Action Dynamite! You know how this goes: Bad Brand costs 2 less, and then another 2 for each fire creature I summoned this turn. I summon another Bad Brand and all my fire creatures are speed attackers! It's the end of the line, heathen!" Saishi roared as immense flames bolstered his zone. "Bad Brand, double break!" Two shields broke and a trigger came together for Jayden.
"Shield trigger! Time Stopon!" It was the card he'd misused in his duel against Henka. The cartoony alarm clock rang, blasting out rings of sonic. It would only work on those small 1000 creatures, but should he be sending them away when he could take a loss from them and survive? Or should he continue putting his life on the line? Jayden made a call once again, and hopefully this time it was the correct one: "I put a Bruce Quack onto the bottom of your deck." It vanished in a puff of feathers.
"Bad Brand two, final break!" Jayden turned away as glass lashed at his body.
He came right back, revealing Yattar Wan GS, "Guard strike! Your last Bruce Quack can't attack!"
Saishi rocked back with laughter for several seconds, "You think I would've bothered attacking you with that wimpy card? No, it's as you said: One of us is going to die and I'd say it'll be you, kid. So make your last turn - Bad Action Dynamite destroys Bruce Quack - now let's see what you can do!"
Jayden checked his hand and saw nothing that could save him. It was all up to this draw.
He pulled. Dropped a card into mana, then all seven turned, "I summon Jhot Gun Joragon!" It was a dragon fighter of dull gold, red and blue. A speed attacker, and he wouldn't be around for long, "Attack and revolution change! Jogiragon & Johnny ~J's Journey~!" It shone and was replaced by another zero civ dragon armoured in crystal tech. "I draw, then discard Iron Manhattan which breaks all but two of your shields automatically!"
Two panels burst and the shockwave made Saishi stumble.
Jayden pointed, "Final break!" Blue fire wiped out the final defences, and just like his last duel against a lieutenant, Saishi fell back onto his butt. This time however, Jayden had other creatures to attack with.
But Saishi also had something, he revealed Bastard Brand: "Guard strike on Senno Brainwash!"
"Tyke Tysons attacks and Joker's Change 4! Swap with Pali Nights and todomeda!"
3000 power was better than 2000, but not as strong as Senno's 4000. Still, the bonebreak was loud enough to make Jayden wince. Then there was a scream of pain that became fury before all the creatures faded. Saishi stood clutching a busted arm, spittle forming in the corners of his mouth as he heaved.
Kanoa took that as his cue to run out and join Jayden, thereby exposing himself.
"There you are, chosen… Don't you both see that it's pointless? Me showing up here means Urobach knows you're here too! You can't get away, so surrender and maybe you'll survive!"
"Actually, I don't buy it." Jayden said, "You come here with no backup. You say you want Kanoa and Sinan for yourself, but you wanted Heidi first? So why don't you tell us what's really going on here?"
"Smart kid… fine..." Saishi suppressed his pain enough to smile, "Urobach ordered that everywhere within a hundred kilometres of your bunker be checked with satellite surveillance. My underling was the one to find you and reported it to me."
"And instead of going to your boss, you came by yourself?" Something clicked in Jayden's mind - Saishi saying he wasn't quite alone. "Or… Don't tell me, Amira?"
A new voice made the three look up, "You're smarter than the chosens you're sticking around with…" Saishi twisted and saw her standing on the building behind him.
Sure enough, it was Amira. She was standing there with an expression as icy as those cool blue eyes.
Kanoa felt their chill.
Saishi caught that and laughed, "That's right. Me and Amira came to a little agreement, just the two of us. I tell her where to find you all, she takes me here. She can settle her rivalry with Heidi. I get to be the lieutenant who eliminates Kanoa and Sinan, and also she gives me her Zeron cards after. She doesn't need them anymore now that she has Dormageddon. It's a win-win!"
"Unless you fail, right?" Jayden said. "Unless your boss finds out you went behind his back?"
"Don't you realise that you can't escape!" Saishi seethed, "So just surrender!"
Kanoa stepped forward, "You're not going to convince us to submit to you the same way you made Amira!"
The following reactions were strange: Saishi paused while Amira's eyes moved away and lowered.
"Oh wow… you guys really are clueless, aren't you? We never found Amira or forced her to join us. Amira is the one who went looking for us, and asked for this."
Kanoa felt struck before the anger settled in: his teeth gritting, his fists clenching.
He pointed at her and raged, "Will you sink to anything just to save your own ass?"
She studied his expression with something akin to boredom.
"Do you want to duel me then?"
"I do! As chosens, let's settle this!"
Amira burnt up in black fire and appeared standing beside Saishi. Kanoa's determined glare met her level one.
『AN: Am grateful to my reviewers, as always! So while I'm smack-dab in the middle of another batch of assignments, I found the determination to finish my part of the group assignment early and have thus given myself the time to write this. If I'm real lucky, I may even get to that three-quarters mark this week or next. I rarely ever take time off work and all that leave was adding up, so I asked to have all November off and got it! That means I won't be working during my exam period and after the final one I'm driving up to Queensland again to meet family for like three weeks! I'm determined to finish Light Arc and some other projects in that time too! Can't wait!』
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