D-007
Planet Foralon.
Approx. 15 hours since launch.
Loyal Tree.
"Mou ii! He has takentoolong! I am going to-"
Casting his shadow upon the tree, Icarus finally comes back, his mere presence interrupting Itadori's panic.
Cosmo:"Where have you been? Did you take out that robot?"
He doesn't answer. He silently walks forward.
Cosmo stands up from her mediating state.
Cosmo:"I am talking to you. Where were-"
Icarus walks right past Cosmo.
He looks down on King Maimou.
Icarus:"Don't make this harder than it has to be. We need that thing."
His hands shaking, the king's heart pumps in fear from Icarus' unusually cold tone. He stretches his arm, emerald in hand, and gives it to Icarus.
Itadori is shocked.
Icarus:"Come on, you two. Let's get out of here."
He begins to walk out of the tree as fast as he came, deep into the forest. The two follow him in confused silence.
Itadori jogs for a minute to catch up with Icarus.
Itadori:"What happened? Why did you change your mind?"
Icarus:"The planet has only a limited amount of energy in it. They cannot grow or make more resources to fit everyone. The reason we see no sun in the sky is because it got mutated long ago. Long story short, rather than giving the planet life and energy, it sucks it away like a black hole. This world is on a countdown before it dies out."
Itadori:"But…the Aplens…"
"I got something in mind for that, but first, we need to get back to the ship."
…
After a few minutes, the trio finally reached the ship. The first emerald was successfully acquired. Cosmo enters first nonchalantly. Itadori follows suit, but then peaks back over his shoulder and notices Icarus, staring at the cyan sky.
That beauty that was there mere hours ago felt empty, knowing that it was created out of desperation. What is the point of light if there was no night? Icarus sighs in disappointment before finally entering the ship behind Itadori.
The ship's doors close, and it lifts off into space once more.
…
The vehicle is filled with awkward silence. Itadori and Cosmo feel a sense of anti-climax.
…
Static
…
"H-*static*-Hey! Can you hear me?"
Itadori:"Oh, it's the fox again."
Icarus:"We can hear you loud and clear, Miles."
Miles:"You seem to be out of the jammed zone, thats-HEY-"
Amy:"OH MY GOODNESS! ICARUS! ARE YOU OKAY?"
Icarus:"Yes, yes, we are fine. We just got done with the first emerald."
Miles:"That's…hey step aside…that's good news! So, the next planet should be-"
Icarus:"Hold it. I want father on the line."
Shadow:"Yes?"
Miles and Amy:"ACK-"
Miles:"When didyouget here?!"
Shadow:"I was standing in the lab the entire time. Why would I be anywhere else?"
Icarus:"AHEM-"
Shadow:"Oh, right, Icarus. What do you need?"
Icarus:"You are familiar with the chaos emeralds, yes?"
"Quite a bit, yes."
"Do you think they could theoretically fix the damage to something?"
"Fixing damage? Well…if some living being died, then I am afraid the answer is no…and they cannot heal either injuries or wounds outright either…"
Icarus looks down disappointingly at the ground.
"...that being said…" Shadow continues. "...if it is something thatisn'talive…and you have the pieces…theoretically, you could use a technique calledChaos Control,a time-space distortion ability, to insteadrevertit back to an earlier state in time when it wasn't broken."
Icarus:"Miles, I assume a star counts as something without life, correct?"
Miles:"Itprovideslife but it doesn'thavelife in of itself, so yes."
Itadori:"Masaka…you are not thinking of…"
Shadow:"Why are you asking these questions, Icarus?"
Icarus:"I will answer this later, but first, I need to know something…to change a star back to a previous state that it was in eons ago…how feasible is that?"
"A distortion on that scale in both space and time…the closest example we have is the Space Colony ARK getting its location and state changed simultaneously…and that took all seven emeralds. A star is…well, it's beyond anything I have seen them do."
…
Icarus ponders his options.
…
Oh what the hell? Might as well try.
Icarus:"Alright, I see the picture. Thank you guys. How far are we from the next planet?"
Miles:"If we assume the location is actually accurate this time around…5 days."
"Right, confirm to us when we get close."
"Roger that."
The communication cuts.
…
Cosmo:"What was that about?"
…
Icarus:"Itadori…do you have spacesuits on board?"
…
Wearing a slightly oversized white closed vest with orange stripes, a "Shadow" label and a clear helmet, Icarus wraps a thick rope around his hips, before grabbing the emerald from Itadori's hand.
Cosmo:"This is pointless. You heard what he said, one emerald isn't powerful enough to do this, it isn't worth the risk."
Icarus:"Don't worry about the risk, I will be fine."
Cosmo:"Tch…who said I am worried…"
Itadori holds the other end of the rope, and with a nod, opens up an anthropomorphic hedgehog sized passage for Icarus to climb out of the ship from above.
Gripping on the slippery metal, Icarus struggles at first to find his footing on top of the spacecraft.
He takes in the vast, empty space for a moment, before turning around and seeing his target. The Blood Star.
Even with protective gear on, the life-draining properties of the crimson rays are still affecting Icarus ever so slightly.
With a determined deep breath, Icarus extends his arm holding the emerald forward, and…
"CHAOS…CONTROL!"
…
Nothing happens.
…
Icarus wiggles his arm and shakes the emerald for a bit, and takes another deep breath.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
…
Nothing happens.
"Why isn't this working?" He asks himself.
…
He figures he probably should have asked his old man how to even use Chaos Control before doing this.
…
Well, the Aplens subsciously used the emerald's power to communicate…surelyhecan use the emerald.
…
He tries again.
"Chaos…control…?"
…
Nope. Still nothing.
…
He is about to just call it a day. It was a shot in the dark anyway…
…
He looks at his hand, seeing his reflection on the green emerald.
…
Determination creeps up on his face.
…
He turns back to face the Blood Star once more.
He grips the emerald firmly.
…
The Seven Servers are the Seven Chaos.
Chaos is Power.
…
Power enriched by the heart. Icarus' heart.
…
With one final push…
…
"CHAOS…CONTROL!"
A spark of energy BURSTS from the emerald as it glows brighter, going directly towards the Blood Star…
However…the size of that energy…it gets engulfed in comparison to the mighty size of the claret star.
"Come on…Come on!"
He knows it is possible.
It gets big enough to cover a small part of the star's centre.
…
It turns golden. A spec of life among death.
"Yes, yes, come on!"
The energy gets ever so slightly bigger. The emerald gets brighter. However, it is barely even a fraction of the star's total mass.
"I…need to…do this!" He strains.
The emerald is a blinding white light at this rate, but it isn't enough to make a significant dent in the grand scheme of things.
…
He needs more power.
The emerald cannot provide that power.
…
And so, the power gets drained from somewhere else.
…
Somewhere within Icarus' body, a fire ignites.
…
It burns away at his soul.
…
It gives him the power he needs.
…
His quills get slightly taller.
…
They blink a golden colour. His irises turn a wine red.
…
Planet Foralon.
Thepteryaglons soar through the open fields, looking for any signs of life to hunt.
They are coming up to the edge of the Blood Star's deadly range, so they prepare to turn back, but then…the pitch black land of death…gets filled with a light in its starless sky. Unlike anything they have seen in centuries.
…
From that day onward, miraculously, life was brought back through an unknown factor to the land of death.
The only proof of its prior existence would be the legends the people told of it…
And an unmarked grave, standing where the barrier used to be.
No one would dare peek inside the grave, from fear of unleashing back what almost eradicated the planet.
…
Aboard the G .T .S
Using the ship's windows, Cosmo and Itadori are witnessing the Blood Star change from its harsh red colour to a natural, orange star.
Itadori notices the rope overstretching beneath his feet.
Immediately, he springs onto the rope and pulls it back.
Cosmo, without much enthusiasm, helps with pulling back the rope as well.
Sooner rather than later, Icarus plops back on to the ship. The door that let him in automatically closed.
Itadori rushes over to Icarus' unconscious side as he rips away the helmet from him.
Itadori:"Icarus! Are you okay?"
…
Nothing.
"Icarus!"
…
Nothing.
…
Cosmo looks at his closed eyes.
…
She gets…sad.
…
For some reason, her voice rings in her head.
…
He slowly opens his eyes, groggily blinking as he adjusts to the bright light of the ship.
Itadori:"Icarus! Daijoubu?"
He leans forward as he comes more to his senses.
"I…have no idea what you just said, but…the star…did it-"
Cosmo:"It seems like it…,that red star now looks identical to most stars."
Icarus:"Phew…thank goodness. I have no clue how I pulled this…but…I am glad it worked out."
Itadori:"Tch, you almost sabotaged the mission for this. If you were lost in space, the emerald would have gone with you! Why go to such lengths?!"
Icarus:"Well…the situation on that planet clearly wasn't as black and white as I initially assumed…and…well, when I thought about it, this was the only feasible solution."
Cosmo:"I do not understand. I am aware you wanted to help this planet, but…how does this assist them? The Aplens have lost their only way to progress as a people…you have only widened the gap between the two societies…besides, what makes you so sure that they wouldn't just ruin the star again?"
Icarus:"That's the thing. I am not sure if it will stay that way. Greed has been a factor in that planet for ages…and truth be told, I…I can't save everyone. I can't make them stop their greed, and I do not know what the best course of action here is. However…I can push them in the right direction. The Aplens have no reason to be hunted down because the planet can now grow indefinitely. They can evolve naturally, without the emerald. Maybe they will grow in peace alongside those…eagle things and they live happily forever after. Maybe one side will get greedy and cause the cycle to repeat itself. There is no way for me to control the outcome. I can betheir guiding light in starless sky, but I cannot choose where they go, if that makes sense."
Icarus stands up. Something about him is different. It brings awe to both Cosmo and Itadori.
Icarus:"Speaking of…with the whole Chaos Emerald thing…its probably possible for me to be sent back to Earth now. I have clearly caused a lot of trouble for you guys, and you don't know me enough to tolerate babysitting me the whole way. Besides, the Metarix are no joke. My dad is a way better fit at this than I am…so….if it isn't too much to ask, I will use that Chaos Control thing to get back home after we get the 2nd emerald. I am not confident enough in my abilities to try it right now, and using two emeralds would guarantee I have the energy needed to go back safely. Apologies for all of this trouble."
Without giving them a chance to respond or process his radical change in attitude, he uses the elevator pole to climb up to his room. Itadori figures he too could use some rest and decides to go up as well.
…
Cosmo, on the other hand…
Status Report.
One Emerald of Seven.
Secured.