The world is under the threat of becoming an unrecognizable inferno. Friends and family alike scramble to stop this madman's plot.
This does not register in the mind of President Joe Dark, who merely remains seat in his office thinking about future policies to implement.
"Next up should be…Hmmm, no, I'll wait on that until I get this bill passed."
He was powered by the memory of meeting with his brothers not too long back. He wanted to see them again soon.
He enjoyed the weather being bright and sunny out. Not a cloud to speak of. Maybe he'll go take a walk later. Of course, assuming he could do so without getting hounded by the press.
Fame had it's annoying aspects, and while he'd usually appreciate being able to assuage fears and inspire others to do their best, today he just wanted peace and quiet so he could cut down some of his paperwork faster.
So in hindsight, that was probably one of the reasons why he shouldn't have taken on Catherine as Vice President.
"Out of my way! This is urgent!" Her voice came out urgently but muffled behind closed doors.
Joe Dark slowly stood up from his chair and wondered what the hold up was, before taking a few seconds to get near the door and give it a couple knocks.
"Hey, let her in. Sheesh."
His security detail opened the doors and Catherine came barreling past him so quick it created a small gust of wind.
She then spun around at a perfect 180 degree angle and stamped her foot down, "Mr. President! I got some p-e-r-s-o-n-a-l details we need to address!"
Catching her 'subtle' signal he gestured his finger at security to lock the doors back up, and once they had their privacy he approached her with arms crossed.
Her facial expression was energetic but quietly fraught with worry, mostly in how her forehead creased.
"Make it quick. You don't look happy about whatever's going on."
"Right! So!" She pressed a finger up against the side of her glasses, "As you are very well aware, on top of being the cutest Vice President ever seen, I'm still part-time handling affairs in C.O.G.S."
"Riiight, your Galactic council of peace. Did something urgent crop up? Do you uhhh…need leave?" Joe Dark was trying to be accommodating but he still didn't fully understand the severity of her interstellar duties.
Catherine viciously shook her head and declared, "No need! I think."
She then pulled out a small pod with functions on it similar to a phone and let it levitate towards Joe Dark's ear.
There he heard intense static coming out of it, and she withdrew the device to her pocket while nudging her glasses up, ending on flicking the finger forward.
"Hear that? That means interference in the Milky Way network. I'm trying to get a signal out to fix it, but as you can imagine-"
Joe Dark quickly put together, "You need something to boost the signal."
She snapped her fingers and smirked, "I love it when our brains synchronize! So if you wouldn't mind letting me have access to a few government satellites it shouldn't take me long to fix the snag!"
Joe Dark snickered, "You have the same clearance I do, Catherine."
She then crossed her arms and pulled her head back in rip-snorting laughter, "Ha ha ha! The absence of politeness is only something a villain seeks!"
"Heh, fair enough. Is that all-" Joe Dark winced and turned around. He could've sworn he felt malice swirling in the air like a maelstrom, but saw no presence in the room beyond his and hers.
But with his senses sharpened to try and force the aggressor out of hiding, he started to notice the energies of his friends and family on the move all across the world.
"...What the hell is going on? Even Riku's moving?"
Catherine rustled her glasses again and remarked, "Oh. My pardons, Mr. President! I thought you had already sensed that- GUKKK!"
The hairs on the back of Joe Dark's neck stood up and he turned around to see the whites in Catherine's eyes roll back as she collapsed onto her knees and then face first, butt up onto the ground.
Her assailant punted her to the right side of the room and then took a step forward.
And Joe Dark struggled to see who it was…because it was his daughter, standing directly in line with his eyes with a furious red and black aura bleeding out of her body and dripping onto the floor.
"E-Erin…?" He stuttered, double-checking on Catherine to make sure she was only unconscious.
Only then he realized that the window was broken through, the illusion revealing itself to him.
"..." He then took on a more collected, serious demeanor as he faced his daughter and held his ground.
She pulled her head back, her greeting dripping with venom, "Hello, father, do you see me now?"
"That depends…Is it actually Erin Dark I'm speaking to?"
Her ears flared open and she raised her hand to strike him with a blast of unrelenting darkness.
It had no shape, no direction. Just pure power unleashed.
He took the hit and was slammed into the wall. It became clear from this impact that she had already mesmerized the guards with the power of illusions, or worse…
No. He could not assume that from the jump.
She struck him again with her eyes glowing redder, and though his clothing took a hit he was able to weather the attack with a simple flex of his own darkness.
But he didn't push back any further than that, even though it would've been easy.
He sat there, pretending to be limp, and held his breath patiently. One more look into his daughter's eyes made it abundantly clear that his fears were only partially confirmed, and that most of the glow came from her own scorned soul.
She raised her hand again and he suddenly found himself trapped inside of a diamond cage sealed tight by four imperfectly shaped crimson lances.
He cursed his ignorance for letting him get blindsided by this ambush…but cursed himself more for not expecting this to happen due to his own decisions.
Erin raised him off the ground with a gesture of her hand and grinned with immense satisfaction. It was a truly greedy look in her eyes.
"You're all mine, father, you will never, EVER ignore me again…! All of the attention that you've deprived me of…will be mine!"
Seeing her break down his faults only made a deeper wound, one that made him wince his eyes shut and shake, "...Sorry Alura."
"This is all my fault."
Chapter 84: Confront All Past Mistakes
Rewind a bit…
Serra and Leo had been flying across the continent for a couple minutes now. Despite Serra's insistence on wanting to run, Leo veto'd it as if she really kicked up the pace she'd accidentally tear up the ground in her wake.
Not like flying at these speeds was any better but it was their only way of avoiding detection.
Leo kept a lock onto the trail of negative energy the Dark twins had left behind, thinking constantly about the fact that BOTH of them were leaking this.
"Alex…" He was worried about in particular.
Serra passed up the time carelessly twirling around in the air and shifting what side of him she was on. Getting near her would've been equivalent to being caught up in a lawnmower.
"Are we there yet?" She remarked.
"Possibly," Leo was glad to admit amidst this confusing mess, "They seem to have stopped flying."
But he also noticed that his relatives had gone flying around the world as well, just not after them, surprisingly…
"We need to hurry and deal with this, we might be needed elsewhere…"
As he waved his hand to guide their descent he shivered at the realization that they were heading straight for Washington D.C….Which could only mean one thing.
Serra's eyes lit up, "Oh! I recognize that big white stone! Buddy said he was gonna be going there with his mom on vacation! We should try and find him and say hello!"
Leo did play along with her enthusiasm for the moment, "Sure. May as well."
Because who knows what'll happen after this whole mess blows over…
They followed the trail to their final destination between the Washington Monument and the small rectangular pond in front of it.
There the only one who awaited them…was Alex, with his back turned to them.
Serra was the first to clue in to how strange this was, "Eh? Where'd Eri go?"
Alex pulled a hand out of his coat and gestured around, "If you're looking for my sister, she's already gone ahead to the White House for a 'confidential meeting' with the 'President'."
Leo squinted his eyes and felt a dark aura bleeding out of his cousin's body. But this wasn't like a normal aura.
It was primordial, like blood descending from the scab of the universe.
Describing it any further required words that Leo didn't think he knew.
"You know, I saw you two coming from miles away. So I told my sister to cast her illusionary powers on aaaaall these citizens so you wouldn't get noticed, just like us."
He then coldly looked over his shoulder with a smug chuckle, "You're welcome."
Leo curbed his response and let out a slow hum, watching as Alex turned around and his smile got wider. His pupils were noticeably shrunken.
"Look at it. She can already cast such a broad web over these people in such a short time. Her growth is astounding, both in terms of power…and body."
The tip of his tongue rubbed between his lips and he pulled his head back, shaking, gritting his teeth and letting out a pained sound.
"Ghhh…!"
Serra looked at her brother and whispered, "What are we doing exactly?"
Leo knew there was no point in doing this, but still, chose to play cautiously, "Serra, hold your ground for a moment and let me talk with Alex."
Serra nodded energetically while Leo took a couple steps forward, concern primarily guiding his voice, "Alex, you two coming here can only mean one thing."
He gestured his hand up and muttered with confusion, "Erin, sure, I always suspected her issues were much more bitterly driven than she let on, but you…? You respect your father. You LOVE him."
"Nothing's changed there, Leo…" Alex muttered with sincerity, lowering his head with a more eerie calm to his demeanor, before slowly gesturing one hand out, "Actually. No. Not true. Someone told me something that I actually gave a damn about…"
"Why. Hasn't. My. Father. Addressed. The. Whispers," He then brought that hand to point at his head, "Remember those Leo?"
"...I do." Leo nodded.
"Yeah. Because you're slow, but not stupid. Right now you're probably sick to your stomach feeling the aura coming off me. This feeling it's not…darkness, but it's still wicked…in a good way."
Alex grabbed the side of his head and leaned forward, starting a bit of higher-pitched laughter, "Ha…Dad should've known this was going on inside of me. But he didn't say anything. Mom didn't say anything."
His eyes widened with a hint of madness and he spoke quicker than usual, "A-All I ever wanted out of my life was a little peace and quiet but I could never sleep, never blended into society like a good little sheep…! All because of some damn whispers!"
"So yeah, I might hate my dad a little bit now!" He shouted with a hint of glee.
But then he stopped. There was no lull. He shifted straight to talking politely, and gestured his hand out at Leo, "But…that's not why I'm here. I'm here…because of my dear, incredible sister."
"All she wants is retribution for the time he robbed her of. And if that'll make her happy, well…I'll gladly fight for her cause, hell…I'll even lay down and be her bitch."
Leo shook his head and felt sick to his gut, "Alex what…what are you saying?"
"You know Leo," Alex said, leaning his head back with a smile while his hands remained in his pockets, "For five years, all we really had was each other. Mom was constantly moving for her career after all."
"So I watched my sister grow up, and her resentment along with her. And how that motivated her to get smarter, stronger, more powerful."
"And I…admired her. No, I…" Alex paused and lurched forward painfully, grabbing both sides of his head.
"G-Ghhh…!"
Leo took a few steps closer and reached out, only for Alex to back away many feet in the blink of an eye, throwing his hand out to bar him from coming closer.
He then slowly lurched back upright and sighed, "...I'm the only person in the world who will ever fully understand who she is, and what her potential shall turn her into."
"Not our dad who chose the world over us. Not our mom who lives life in a sloven manner. Not some multicolored haired punk…who thinks he has the right to whisper honeyed words into her ears!"
"And certainly…" Once fully upright, even his other eye, hidden behind his bangs, could be seen radiating with black light. And he pointed his finger at the two of them stating, "Not either of you."
He then gestured his hands out and made a stand, "But you're welcome to try. If you can get past me that is."
Leo then gestured at his sister and remarked, "Hurry to the White House, Serra!"
"You got it!" Serra took off like a rocket past Alex, who simply stood there and smirked, widening his eyes full force.
"You're actually going to take a stand on something for once, eh Leo?" He said bluntly.
"Hrrmmm…" Holding onto the faint show of courage in his chest, Leo reached for his sleeve and began to pull it back to reveal his Aurian drive bracelet.
"Careful Leo," Alex warned, "Once Erin's attention is fully on your sister, the illusion will break, and ALL these people will bear witness to what we are."
Leo closed his eyes and stopped what he was doing, taking a deep breath to think about Lyra.
"...I have already made peace with the consequences," He said, curling up his sleeve and then flicking his wrist out at Alex, "I do not know what blackheart has infested your soul, Alex, but you KNOW this isn't who you are."
"L-Leo…" Alex muttered with some more of that pain in his voice, but the strain was getting weaker, "You…did you ever really KNOW me?"
"Because I…" He pulled his hands from his coat and began to rise off the ground, "Am tired of hiding this part of me from the stupid expectations of society.
Leo countered boldly with, "You can claim what you want, but I know who the boy named Alex Dark truly is. And I'll save him, no matter what."
"Oh Leo…" Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before announcing in a sinister, raspy voice, "You're too weak for that task."
Faster than Leo could blink, Alex appeared before him with eyes flared and darkness bleeding out of his hands, ready to strike.
Leo raised his arm and coated it in aura to perfectly guard against the attack, pushing him back a few feet.
Alex limped his body into landing on the ground and then grabbed hold of the bangs before his right eye to laugh, "That ain't half-bad. Next time I'll put in a little more effort…!"
Meanwhile, back on the West Coast…
Mew rolled his shoulders a bit with notable cracking and focused on the enemy. He waved his finger out at him with a slight hum, likely trying to get a read on what he's capable of.
He then looked back at Lunalei and S.A.N.C.T.U.M. to ask, "What do you think? Should I punch him now, or wait?"
Lunalei nudged her glasses up and remarked, "I don't know what he's capable of. You're the expert on fighting, Uncle."
"True, but this time, I'm getting a very…unknown reading off this guy. Like if I just jump right in, I'll regret it."
Prometheus furrowed his brows and raised his hand up towards the sun, "If you won't rush to your graves, then I will give you incentive…"
His suit channeled blue energy into his palm and he fired an orb skyward, where it burst into a rain of laser beams pounding the ground in a line with intense devastation.
Lunalei shook while Mew simply hunched over and remarked nonchalantly, "Oh, that's all?"
He then met the attack head-on with a mighty swing of his fist, bending the angle of the lasers towards the ground so they rebound back at their creator.
Prometheus shielded the attack with his wings but was forced back, a few burn marks forming in the membranes.
Mew hung on this pose with a smirk and then leaned back, turning to his side with one hand on his hip and the other gesturing forward, "...S.A.N.C.T.U.M., is it? Think you can back me up here?"
The machine looked down at his creator to ask, "Am I ok to accept commands from him?"
Lunalei nodded, "Yeah, I'll do my part to scan this bastard for any tricks he might be hiding up his sleeves. But your priority is always to keep me safe, ok?"
"I haven't forgotten, Master Lunalei."
As S.A.N.C.T.U.M. stepped up beside Mew, Prometheus unfurled his wings and spoke up, "As expected of the clone of Alex Whiter. All power, driven by ego. I am not some small-time threat you can swat aside like a fly."
Mew rolled his eyes during the last remark and then swung out his right arm, taking a quick glance at his fighting partner, "Y'know, this is the first time I've teamed up with a robot. Can't wait to see what Lunalei outfitted you with!"
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. took a light bow and remarked, "I-I hope to learn from your experience, Sir Mew."
"Awww, you're too posh!" Mew then clicked his teeth down as flames began to spiral out from his arm, converging into the shape of a giant sword, "Now, let's wrap up your case in style…!"
Prometheus scoffed and then waved his hand out, "Enough of this showboating attitude. It's time you were brought to the ground and humbled…"
He then pulled his hand back while crunching it into a fist, causing a massive pulse of blue light to erupt from his suit.
Mew watched his sword disappear into the ether with a puzzled expression, while his body started to sweat, "T-That's not good…"
Lunalei felt a little sick to her stomach as well.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. remained as is, curiously glancing back at his master making discomforting noises.
"Is everything alright?"
Mew addressed their discomfort with a little irritation in his voice, "Dunno what he did, but it's affecting my ability to draw out the power of the elements…Hmm, guess this might be a little tougher than I anticipated."
He then glanced back at Lunalei, "You look under the weather, niece. Maybe you should fall back out of range of…whatever he concocted."
Lunalei put one hand on her stomach and with a nod, retreated further away, and seemed to have found the effective range of this technique in seconds.
"That many feet, ok…" Mew made a mental note and then turned to face Prometheus, who was enjoying the weakness he was forced to fight with.
"Do you feel it burn you up from the inside, false god? My previous incarnation's experience with Alex Whiter's power remained burned inside my head all the way into this current life."
"So when I adopted the power to perceive bodies on a molecular level, I developed this field to be able to turn your own strengths against you. And not just you, any organic life shall be drained of the will to fight as long as they remain in this field."
Mew scoffed and after stretching his shoulder a bit more he put up one fist to remark bluntly, "And we 'false gods' are the ones with the ego problem?"
Prometheus raised his right hand back up and summoned another hail mary of laser fire while proclaiming, "That is the crux of this conflict, yes. Now…die!"
Mew dodged to the right faster than a blink while S.A.N.C.T.U.M. narrowly escaped to the left. Mew witnessed the devastation this attack was capable of and told his comrade, "Let's try to keep the fight contained here where there's no civilians, ok?"
"A request after my own cybernetic heart, Sir Mew." The robot complied.
"Good, cause you're definitely going to need to cover me while this field's active. I still have my strength and speed, but we haven't seen all of his tricks yet."
Contrary to his advice, Mew jumped straight at Prometheus and tried to punch him square in the chest, baffling S.A.N.C.T.U.M.
Prometheus guarded the attack with his wings but they quickly bent under pressure. He diverted energy into the wings and it singed Mew's knuckles, forcing him to retreat to solid ground.
Mew shook his hand and then jumped at Prometheus again for another punch the moment he tried parting his wings, only to be met with the same resistance.
Mew retreated quicker and then gestured at S.A.N.C.T.U.M. with a smile, "Were you paying attention?"
The machine did what could only be described as an attempt at blinking while contacting Lunalei to ask, "Is your Uncle…always like this?"
"I get the feeling he's just…really happy to be fighting again," She replied with exasperation, "I just wish he'd take this more seriously, we don't know if the others will be able to stop the nukes…"
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. shared a bit of her frustration but chose to keep a closer eye on Mew anyways. He was remarkably fascinating.
Mew bore the heat of this weakening field on his back and continued to stand tall, gesturing at Prometheus with a smirk, "C'mon, fire man, are you going to burn me or just keep tossing ice my way?"
Prometheus laughed in return, "You should fear my power regardless, false one, it would leave you stone cold dead…"
Prometheus then gestured his arms out with a quick flash from his body. He then began to shift between different spots in the sky, leaving a perfect afterimage in his wake, all of whom sync'd up raising their hands for another barrage of laser fire.
Mew clicked his tongue and grabbed his knuckles to give them a solid crack, "Ok, let's see here…"
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. remarked, "They all share similar biometrics, Sir Mew! Be careful!"
"Thanks for the heads up, but trust me, my instincts tend to be correct!" Mew then jumped at the Prometheus second from the bottom, third column and gave him a solid punch to the face that sent him hurtling to the ground.
"H-How…?!" He proclaimed
But the rest of the afterimages didn't fade, and launched their energy at Mew like solid ropes to squeeze him down mid-air.
The ropes force fed him bioelectricity that singed him down to the nerves, but his only reaction was to grit his teeth and wait it out.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. leaped into the fray and sliced through the energy long enough for Mew to flex his muscles and break free.
He merrily declared, "Right on!"
And then dropped to the ground before the afterimages could strike him a second time.
He then did alternating short hops off each foot and charged at the afterimages to punch them out, realizing he probably should be calling them hard light clones at this point.
"One, two, three…!" He counted down how many he took out, finishing the last one off with a whirlwind kick to the gut, "Thirteen!"
He then recoiled with a flip onto solid ground right behind S.A.N.C.T.U.M, who had just landed from the prior attack.
Prometheus rose back into the sky while stroking the bruise mark on his cheek. His body shook and he squeezed his fist while gnashing his teeth together.
"Oh, my bad," Mew said sarcastically, "Truth be told, I would've picked the real one out faster, but you're so WEAK it was kinda difficult."
"Weak?" Prometheus muttered, "I have endured for thousands of years, making all manner of tough decisions for the sake of this world, and you dare call me weak?!"
Mew remarked in turn, "The toughest decision of all is not being afraid to perform acts of kindness for others, and you couldn't even consider doing that. So don't give me that crap."
"Everything I've done has only served to benefit humanity and our future!" Prometheus declared, "While you spent all these years being lazy, serving your own interests!"
Mew flicked his finger up in the air and said mockingly, "Ah right, the nukes. Known beneficiaries of humanity."
"Silence! And how would you propose that the world be saved?!"
Mew scoffed, "I don't need to get into that argument with you."
"Because you have none."
"No, because you're off your fucking gourd with your lame messiah complex."
Prometheus tightly scowled, "And you think you're the hero of this story."
Mew shrugged his shoulders, "Never said I was. But I know my role. It's to inspire my awesome, supergenius niece to keep fighting the good fight!"
"U-Uncle…I-I told you to stop with the praise…!" Lunalei remarked over the communication line.
Mew couldn't help but smile happily at her embarrassment.
"Ridiculous…" Prometheus raised his hand into the sky and declared, "As long as the cycle of exploitation and violence continues, there can never be a future, only an endless now! So begone…you sick product of this cycle! May none live to mourn or carry on your filthy ideals!"
Mew chuckled, but it sounded a little weaker than usual, "Boy, he must not know what 'hypocrisy' means."
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. remarked, "Sir Mew, are you sure it's…wise to be burning time mocking him? I can feel your energy levels dropp-"
"Hey, I'll be fine. You and Lunalei just need to focus on doing your parts. And besides…"
As Prometheus began to prepare another of his laser fire barrages, Mew smirked and confidently remarked, "One last fighter has entered the ring…!"
Prometheus' body was overwhelmed by the shadow of a giant gas fist flying behind him.
He paused the firing of his attack to make the mistake of looking back, which let the fist pile drive him into the ground like a hammer.
A thick plume of dirt spread out across the area, obscuring the figure approaching the battleground.
It was Maria, dressed in her work attire with a second gas fist hovering behind her.
With Mew smiling proudly but looking a little surprised, he pulled away from S.A.N.C.T.U.M. and remarked, "Shouldn't you be at work?"
Maria shouted, "Alura called and said you might need some help, dad!"
"Oh DID she now?" Mew said with mild annoyance, "And just where'd her ass run off to anyways?"
Maria withdrew the other fist to her side and reached into her work skirt to pull out a pistol, "Dunno, she seemed to be in a hurry."
After loading a few bullets she disarmed the safety and continued talking casually, "Something about the world possibly ending?"
Mew shrugged, "Eh, it's just another bad guy with a god complex. Nothing we shouldn't be able to handle together. By the by, how are you feeling?"
Maria raised her brows with mild confusion, "...A little dizzy, but I can manage."
"Huh," Mew then looked back at S.A.N.C.T.U.M. and remarked, "Lunalei, keep that in mind. The field doesn't seem to affect Maria as much."
Prometheus' energy crackled out from the crater's perimeter and he rose from it spreading his wings wider than before, "More deceit from your kind…"
He lurched his head back and brandished his hand out like a whip, declaring with utmost fury at the fleas gathered around him, "Swarm as much as you want! I will not fall! Everything has been leading to this moment…the moment of my triumph!"
Mew ignored his braggart tongue and nodded at both Maria and S.A.N.C.T.U.M., "Alright, this should be enough…"
He then clenched his fists, struggling to keep his knees up, and smirked, "Let's pluck his wings!"
Back in Washington D.C.
Serra sprinted across the city as fast as she could. Her body was getting fired up upon getting closer and closer to Erin's location, cause she could tell she's really gotten a LOT stronger.
Though she didn't understand why all this was happening, she was prepared to test her cousin's strength and hoped she wouldn't disappoint.
She jumped over the White House fence before the guards could catch her, and then ran straight for the pulsing darkness coming from the oval office.
With a mighty leap she barreled through the glass and rolled onto the ground, crashing through the President's desk in the process.
This disrupted Erin's concentration on her father and she panned her gaze behind her with a slowly forming scowl, "You…you actually showed up…!"
Serra leaped onto her feet and jostled her shoulders around, "Whew, just made it! Hi, Eri!"
Erin narrowed her gaze and swung her arm down, her aura solidifying and increasing in foulness, "I'm so close…so close to getting everything I want…but even now…even now you can't stop being a presence in my life!"
Serra giggled and raised her fists, "Of course not, Eri! We're not just cousins and friends, we're rivals too! You can't just show off that kinda power and expect me not to wanna test it out!"
"...You want to see my power? Fine…" Erin let her aura scream out, consuming the entire room in a maelstrom of darkness, "I guess I did want to finally surpass you, so what better time than NOW?!"
Serra pressed her feet down and held back against the tide, her eyes lighting up with excitement, "Now that's more like it! Let's push ourselves to the limit, Eri!"
Next Time: New Age Sinners