Chapter 40: Automata, Electo, and Mammut


Automata is the daughter of the Black Akujin Golem King, Metallica born 900 years ago. She was raised to be a battle war-machine since birth and tends to stay in their Gula form at all times to avoid the lecherous eyes of the White Faction.

While quiet and soft-spoken with a raspy undertone, Automata is actually as brutally violent, bloodthirsty, and aggressive as most Black Akujin, favoring brutal offense strategies such as dispatching entire forces to conquer nations with a no-nonsense and direct approach to immediately destroy on sight. Automata utilizes intelligent tactics like secretly surveying secret meetings of enemies to learn their battle tactics via small nano drones but is not above mindless destruction and is complete without much remorse for enemies like the cold logical machine Automata is. A misanthrope who believes in the inherent superiority of golems over humans; Automata does enjoy testing out personally developed weaponry against worthy adversaries.

Outside of battle, Automata is seemingly emotionless- being incapable of expression most of the time, but truly is a helpful ally and can tease with a straight face; being awkward, insecure, and flustered about more intimate matters like romance and sex; and also being very introspective about the concepts of emotions, what path that the Akujin are evolving towards and the ultimate meaning of their existence. Automata is also calm and generally passive, patient, and protective of the peers Machina hangs around with. Automata is genderless but prefers to take on dual-gender identities, the male half for missions, meetings, and important missions, and the female aspect for more casual get-togethers.

The Black Faction admire their power while the White Faction, particularly, Cyber dislike them for being too open in combat.

They would take on missions from the Humans of Berli while secretly loathing the rich elite that control the masses. While they were indifferent to the starving humans, Automata disliked how the environment of the outskirts being polluted by the unrefined extraction of Orichalcum.

Overall, they would typically take on the shape of their Gula- a large, bulky, black bio-mechanical robot-like entity with a single eye of orange coloring- having square pauldrons on the shoulders, a raised cube-chest, segmented limbs/midriff, mechanical hands, a metallic kelt, large lower leg armor with square feet, and a cylinder-shaped head. Remaining somewhat distant to the other members.

Automata Mission 777

Automata was tasked with eliminating a rebel army.

Automata opened the center of their cube shoulders as missiles made of metallic earth fired upon the army. Each one, as bright as a shooting star, brought with it a sonic boom that echoed through the barren wasteland, leaving nothing but dust and the acrid smell of burnt metal in their wake. The rebel forces, caught off-guard, barely had time to react before they were decimated by the explosive barrage. The ground trembled beneath their feet as the power of the ancient golem was unleashed.

Suddenly, an electronic disrupter caused Automata's legions to shut off. They turned to see a single survivor wearing a blue skin-suit with electronic lines- the Majin-Butsu- Edison. It is a suit weapon capable of electrical manipulation.

"So you're stronger than the rest. Time to make you pay for my comrades!," shouted the man as he launched volts at the machine who barely dodged in time. This managed to disengage the armor to Automata's dread.

It revealed her natural form of a fair-skinned cyborg girl with lime-green back-length straight hair and opaque orange pupils, she wore a black bio-mechanical tube top with a black bio-mechanical pair of pants with sandals.

Automata quickly recalculated the situation. "Edison," they murmured, recognizing the technology. This human had managed to survive by integrating himself with it, a tribute to their desperation and ingenuity of Humans turning Danger Beasts into weapons to take advantage of their powers. She couldn't help but admire his determination as she assessed the damage to her Gula form. The electrical discharge had scorched the metallic exterior and caused several systems to go haywire.

Automata recalled her abilities- being able to fire their limbs at their enemies for long range attacks, has superhuman strength to unleash powerful concussive force onto enemies, fire eye beams, chest beams, telescopic eyes that allow for accelerated perception of events, night vision/heat vision, accurate scan an enemy's level of power, transfer calculative data to drones to decipher while Automata is busy fighting, customize mechanical objects including itself- property/form/quality/immunity/weaponry alteration/upgrades, robotizing life forms into automatons, hacking into others' minds, decode complex messages/languages, download knowledge to be constant up to date with all events, manipulate technological programming of others, flight via jet propulsion, can possess other technology to be used against its owners, highly advanced regeneration via nano machines within its body, and morphing its body into any shape of metal state including liquid. Their Trump Card is Smithing, being able to recreate, remodel, uplift, etc anything to whatever Automata sees fit.

Automata transformed her hand into a large sword made of pure Orichalcum. The blade gleamed under the fading sun, emitting a soft hum of power. She charged at Edison, her steps resonating like the beat of a war drum across the desolate landscape. The Edison user met her with a crackling whip of electricity, a stark contrast to the gleaming metal that approached.

After a few clashes, Automata calculated the opening and slashed the enemy diagonally in half from the right side. The user cursed "Damnit" as he died. Automata watched the life drain from his eyes, feeling a peculiar mix of satisfaction and regret. The scent of ozone filled the air as the Edison suit deactivated, revealing the charred remains of the man who had once been so determined to fight.

She then resumed her Gula form as she then flew away once her commanders reactivated.


Mammut

Mammut is the daughter of a tribe of Mammoth Chuseijin- Neutral Beings who lived in the north of the Center continent and for millennia, she was born 1100 years ago. However, humans being the ever greedy individuals, decided to turn on the Mammoth tribe, skinning their hides much to their horror. Mammut was left alone among the flayed dead. She was rescued by Nefarious, much to the chagrin of the White Faction.

She would continue to be loyal to their savior even after Nefarious' plight and being forced to leave to the West continent of Berli with the rest of the Center Akujin, being foreigners in a strange land, being forced to obey Humans and the underhanded White Faction.

Despite this, Mammut remained well-liked by her peers in the Black Faction while disliked by the White Faction. She had been very favored by her mentors, the previous Black Akujin King, Sirius and his successor, Bestial.

Mammut is majestic, wise and stoic; but is also fully aware of her superiority and won't hesitate to put humans that aren't worthy in their place. Mammut has excellent memory and is very well-educated, eloquent and philosophical at times. However, she favors extremely brutal and aggressive violence in combat- biting off flesh for example. Outside of it, she prefer to be female, being outgoing, klutzy and somewhat insecure of their natural big bones that give the perpetual impression of being chubby. In spite of preferring to be female with an orientation towards lesbianism, Mammut is pursued by Electro who is constantly under the impression that the mammoth Akujin and the wide girl are two different people- viewing the mammoth as a romantic rival while the girl is the person of his dreams.

Her usual appearance in her Gula form is an anthropomorphic mammoth in a skin-tight bio-mechanical suit with a vaguely feminine figure with an ample bosom that indicated that she was female. Her true form is a chubby but attractive dark-skinned girl with shaggy light brown hair, brown-iris eyes, and two tusks emerging from her upper jaws. She wore a black bio-mechanical long-sleeved crop top with baggy bio-mechanical pants.

Mammut Mission 1,200

Mammut was tasked to deal with a necromancer that threatened to bring back the old regime of Berli before the current Kaiser and Kaiserin took over, via alchemy.

The snow crunched beneath Mammut's heavy steps as she approached the ancient fortress that had once been a stronghold for Berli. The fortress loomed tall and foreboding, hinting of the darkness within. The necromancer was rumored to be conducting his vile experiments, bringing the long-dead soldiers of the old regime back to life to serve his twisted cause.

Mammut wasn't too worried. She is able to hear sounds below normal frequencies- detecting potential attacks from enemies before they can initiate them, hyper panmnesia- allowing them to recall everything from conversations, attack patterns, cultutral structures, mistakes made by others, etc- allowing for an automatic countermeasure for any negative scenario due to highly attuned reaction time; limited water manipulation, extendable trunk, stomps that can send out seismic waves, acute hearing, but their trump card is dream manipulation- being able to kill those while asleep in extreme scenarios, but prefers to manifest physical forms for concepts/objects/entites into the mortal plane in order to warp reality to an extent- such as limitless shapeshifting, spacetime distortion, property alteration, boundary blurring, etc, implant false memories/ideas/etc into others via dreams, imprisoning others in a nightmare realm, locate dreams to find hidden information or the enemy's true self in order to control them, creat Id entities from one's subconscious, travel between dreams, force others to relive memories/restore/erase memories for the sake of torment, perceive causality of events via dreams, subliminal messaging in order to manipulate emotion/mental reactions of others to drive them to insanity/impulsiveness/suicide/etc, transform real life events into a dream as well as visa-versa, perceive fears of others in order to physically manifest them into reality, force others to sleep, soul mutilation, recreate death scenarios from nightmares into a fated scenario in reality, intution of others' psychology via dream examination, etc.

The door to the fortress creaked open, revealing a dimly lit corridor. Mammut's heart rate remained steady as she stepped inside, her eyes scanning the area for any signs of life. The air was thick with the stench of decay, a stark reminder of the necromancer's grisly work.

"The older you get the more you find yourself wanting a completely ageless body.," said the necromancer as they appeared as an astral image of a very ancient-looking old man with sunken eyes with black eyeshadow, long nails, a crooked noise, and a bald head.

"I wouldn't know since I was raised to die in battle.," Mammut replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She stepped further into the fortress, her eyes narrowing as she listened to the whispers of the long-dead echoing through the halls. The necromancer's chuckle sent shivers down her spine, but she remained focused on her mission.

"Aren't the Chuseijin should to be neutral and not care about human actions as long as they don't threaten the planet?," inquired the necromancer.

"I'm no longer that since Humanity took advantage of it. It's through being an Akujin that one can defy the standards of the norm to inspire true change.," Mammu replied.

The necromancer's chuckle grew into a cackle. "Sentimental, aren't we? Well, let's see if your Akujin nature can handle what I've been cooking up for you, Mammut!"

With a dramatic flourish, the necromancer conjured a horde of skeletal soldiers, their bones rattling as they charged towards Mammut. The mammoth Akujin's eyes lit up with an eerie glow as she raised her hands, and from the palms of her Gula form, she fired a barrage of cryogenic blasts. The undead warriors shattered into a thousand pieces, the cold mist of their defeat mixing with the warm breath escaping her Gula's snout.

Not wanting to indulge in the necromancer's whims, Mammut used the Akujin technique Luxuria to call forth black hell-lightning to destroy the castle. The necromancer's illusions and minions were no match for the raw power of Akujin, the dark energy ripping through the fortress, reducing it to rubble in mere moments. The earth trembled as the last bastion of the old regime was obliterated.

The necromancer crawled out of the rubble annoyed and irritated, but not defeated. "Very well," he hissed, raising his hands to the sky, "If you wish to challenge the very fabric of existence itself, I shall oblige!"

Suddenly, Mammut grabbed his right arm with her trunk and brutally dismembered the limb of the necromancer. "Your existence is an aberration!" she bellowed. The necromancer shrieked in pain, his dark magic faltering. His remaining arm flailed as he tried to cast a spell, but the pain was too great.

Mammut stepped closer, the ground shaking with each heavy footfall. She transformed her left hand into a sharp drill, piercing the necromancer's chest and twisting it into his heart. The necromancer gurgled, blood spurting from his mouth as his lifeless eyes stared into the abyss. With a final sigh, he crumbled to the ground, his essence dissipating into the cold winter air.

With that, she left the ruins of the castle, muttering, "Except for the Undead Akujin. Death should remain permanent in the hands of mortals."


Electro

Electro was born prematurely 750 years ago, tiny in his mother, Raijihime's arms.

Electro was raised in isolation during his early life, taught Akujin technique by his Fujin and cared for by his maternal uncle, Ishijin. When he was allowed to roam around the caves of Berli, Electro would try to connect with both the White and Black Factions, being kind to them and offering them any assistance he could. However, being born weak made both sides dislike Electro; adults avoided him and, when they couldn't, treated him delicately while children would turn their back on him. Electro would try to assure them he meant no harm, but in the process would inadvertently injure or even kill them with his lightning by accident due to lacking control of his power. Electro did not understand this pain he caused others because his lightning protected him from all injury. When he was six years old in Akujin terms, he asked Ishijin to explain pain to him. From Ishijin explanation, Electro believed he did know pain: the unbearable agony in his heart.

From this, Ishijin elaborated that physical pain, what causes one to bleed, could be cured with medicine and time, whereas pain of the heart, like Electro experienced, could only be cured with love. Electro, said Ishijin, received love everyday, from both his mother - whose spirit controlled the sand that protected him - and from Ishijin himself. Electrowas pleased by this and went out into the village to show some love to those he'd harmed, but his efforts were met only with more fear and hate. Electro was dismayed and went off to try and understand why he was treated as such a monster. He made the terrible mistake of going to Humans to get love, but the humans he did interact with, were a crowd of Akujin-hating people. Ishijin would sacrifice himself to protect Electro. He told Electro that his father, Fujin wanted someone to bond with him since he viewed Raijihime's compassion being unnecessarily coddling in nature. So he had to learn that weakness and open-heartedness was terrible- only bloodlust and strength gets anything done.

With this, the brown-haired young man-like Akujin died, with Electro's heart becoming hardened as he murdered the humans that killed his uncle.

From that point forward- Although, outwardly one of the most stoic, nonreactive, and unfazed members of the council, Electro is actually deeply mentally unbalanced, completely unmoved by others' pleas for mercy and, in certain situations, driven mad with bloodlust, hiding a psychotic glee behind a frowning mask. Electro hates humans for existing; believing that so long as they are alive they are a threat to his own life due to the paranoid belief that they'll kill him without dignity if he doesn't do so first. His purpose, therefore, is to kill any Human who is strong enough to challenge him, as only by killing them can he assert his own existence for as long as possible- out of pride rather than cowardice.

A large part of this comes from the fact that when he tried to befriend Humans, they reacted cruelly and it led to his uncle's death. With those who do not interest him, Electro is typically withdrawn and silent. When he must interact with his peers, he does so with open disregard for their feelings while being cold/dismissive, he often threatens to severely punishing his own subordinates if they become too much of a nuisance to him and outright killing them if they're his enemies. In spite of this, he is very caring towards Mammut despite being unable to tell her Gula form from her true form.

Electro is a short young male humanoid resembling a young human boy with spiky, waist-length blonde hair with jagged bolt highlights in his hair, pale skin, his eyes were unusual, blue sclera with lightning bolts markings protruding from his golden tripled rippled pupils, and no eyebrows on his forehead. Lightning markings extended from his eyes. He wore a black biomechanical jacket with eight sleeves over a no-sleeved black shirt and baggy pants.

He typically is a loner who associates with his subordinates on missions, disliked by the White Faction for being blunt and now liked by the Black Faction for his power.

Electro Mission 15,000

Electro was tasked with dealing with an assassin guild associated with the revolutionaries. He approached the mountain range where they were located.

He was confident in his abilities. He is a physical embodiment of electricity, able to electrocute targets to death, turn their corpses into fulgurite material as well as melt them. He can apply this electricity to do various tasks such as flight, hypersonic speed, energy absorption, create physical constructs, solidify lightning, generate it, create electrical fields, manipulate magnetism via electromagnetic charges, build up power via electric energy storing, detect other's electric fields, pull others towards him via electric pulls, manipulate thunder, communicate silently with others via electrocommunication, heal via electricity, telepathically communicate via electricity, teleport via electricity as well as transport, discharge powerful blasts of energy, crawl on walls/skies, etc via electricity, become electricity to avoid attacks, manipulate electric signals, create portals, become invisible via electrical interference by manipulating the nerves within the eyes of a target, disrupt technology via electrical interferences, call forth lightning to strike down on targets, cause a prevalent discharge over a thousand kilometer radius, manipulating Black Lightning- amplifying the pain receptions of the enemy's neural system, telekinesis via electricity, raise the dead via electricity, Demonic Lightning, which incinerates a target, Death Lightning, which disintegrates souls, Cosmic Lightning to call forth lightning from outer space to hit targets, Cryo-Electricity- which freezes targets, Divine Lightning, which banishes targets to another dimension, kinetic energy enhancement via electricity and generating electricity from his own exposed blood. His Trump Card is Time Reversal/Time Progression, allowing him to cause time to temporally fast forward to see events play out and then reverse them in order to avoid such attacks.

As he approached the mountain range, the air grew thick with the scent of rain. He could feel the electricity in the atmosphere, a silent promise of the power that lay within his grasp. The assassins had chosen a fortress carved into the mountain, a bastion of stone that stood defiant against the elements. The irony was not lost on Electro; they had chosen a place of protection, but had unwittingly invited the very force they feared the most.

He dashed in with no hesitation and with his lightning speed, he sliced through thousands of the members with his electrically enhanced agility. The sound of their cries was lost in the thunderous symphony of his power. As the guild members realized the gravity of the situation, they scurried like ants whose hill had been disturbed.

He then encountered the leader who was dressed like a kabuki actor. He wielded a flail with a boulder at the end of the chain and his right hand, a large fan. Electro furrowed his face in fury as these were made from his late father and his uncle- Fujin and Ishijin respectively.

The leader, known as Kaminari, cackled in response, his eyes glinting with malicious delight. "Ah, the boy who speaks to the dead. I've heard of your tragic tale, Electro. How the humans you so desperately craved affection from turned on you. How pathetic," he taunted, twirling the flail with a flourish. He spoke dramatically as he dragged his vowels to extreme degrees to show his theatrical nature.

Electro's anger grew into a storm within him. The lightning dancing around his body grew more intense, casting eerie shadows across the stone walls of the fortress. His eyes narrowed into slits as he focused on the man before him, his heart racing with a mix of fury and pain. "You know nothing of me," he spat, the electricity in his voice making the very air crackle.

Kaminari's theatrics didn't waver. "Oh, but I do," he said, his smile cold and calculating. "I know of your weakness, Electro. I know how much you crave to be accepted, to be loved by the very beings who fear you. And I shall use that weakness to crush you."

With a dramatic flourish, Kaminari swung the flail, sending the boulder hurtling towards Electro. The young Akujin reacted with the speed of lightning, dodging the attack with ease. His eyes blazed with an inner fire as he contemplated the words of his opponent. He knew his past was filled with pain and rejection, but he had long ago accepted his place as a weapon of the Akujin, a force to be feared rather than loved.

"Your knowledge of my past does not grant you power over me," Electro snarled, his voice resonating with the electricity that surrounded him. He raised his hand, and a bolt of lightning arced towards Kaminari, who deftly parried it with his fan. The clash of electricity and metal echoed through the chamber, leaving a trail of sparks in its wake.

"Hubris: Thunderland.," Electro said as he summoned his ultimate move, generating a dimensional space- a collection of dark clouds covered in cartoonish lightning bolts and drums with three tomoe marks.

Kaminari, unfazed, responded with his own, "Raijin's Fury!" His flail and fan glowed with a dark crimson light as he spun them around, creating a tornado of flaming electricity.

However, it was absorbed into the drums to Kaminari's confusion. The drums grew louder and louder until the room was filled with a deafening crescendo. The ground began to tremble, the walls cracked, and the lightning bolts grew larger and more erratic.

Electro stepped forward, his fists clenched. "You dare to wield my family's power with such disrespect?" His voice was a thunderous roar that shook the very foundation of the mountain fortress.

The drums then emitted a torrent in the form of an orient dragon as it lunged towards Kaminari, incinerating the assassin completely. His ashes were carried away by the electric winds as Electro felt a wave of relief and anger wash over him.

He then looked at the remains of his family and buried them. Electro then dashed away from the area. This was 400 years ago.


Next Chapter: Diabolo and Enigma

Author Notes: While Automata's past isn't as obviously traumatic, she has insecurities about her appearance, though Mammut and Electro more than make up for the tearjerkers.