00 Prologue

Lightning flashed across the sky, its light illuminating what remained of a large forest, and the building among it. Rain poured heavily, its onslaught never ceasing. Amid the clashing of the storm, simple footsteps approach, splashing and sloshing on the soaked ground. The footsteps continue, simply adding to the ambience of the storm overhead until they stop. The building is now in plain sight, revealed by the lightning, looming in its foreboding location.

 

“Man…I hate outside duty…” a guard said, lit cigarette in his mouth and donned in a heavy rain breaker.

 

“Same here man… It’s not like someone knows about this place. I mean, its way out of the way of any human contact and deep in the middle of fucking nowhere.” Another said.

 

“Yeah… But I don’t know why High Command put us on guard anyway… especially in this weather!”

 

“Because they can,” the second guard sighed, trying to get a laugh out. “I would love to fuck my girls right now but no! Outside duty! Keep watch for anything suspicious! It might show up!” Fuck it all!”

 

“And what is ‘it’ anyway?” the first said.

 

“Hell if I know. But from what I heard around the others is that a rogue that was once a member here wants his revenge. Or it’s some strange and powerful ‘project’ the boss worked on gone awry and his hunting him. Shit it could even be some stalker pokégirl or something.” The second said, laughing.

 

The first guard laughed and sighed, seeing another bolt of lightning streak across the sky, striking the ground in the horizon. Following its trail, it somehow revealed what looked like a person staring right at him, pointing right in their immediate direction.

 

“What the hell!?” Quickly grabbing a flashlight, it clicked on, its beam shining on nothing, save for the trees and the remains of what was a steel fence. The second guard looked at the first, seeing him staring off into nothing, flashlight pointed out toward the trees.

 

“You see something out there?” the second said.

 

“I…uh…thought I did… Maybe this storm is playing tricks on me…”

 

“Yeah right… and maybe all the Menaces are secretly plotting to overthrow every League around. Well then…since you claim to have seen something… go check it out…” he gestured.

 

The person looked, then back at the other, then back again at the trees.

 

“Go on…you are armed…remember?” The first said.

 

Sighing, even though his concealed weapon did little to reassure what could easily be broken by what lay out there in the trees, the second left his post and walked on. Hopping the rusted fence, the guard clicked on his flashlight, looking about through the trees.

 

“Why am I doing this…? I know there is nothing out here…” He said softly.

 

The guard continued searching, the rain doing nothing to help. As he continued, scanning the area where he saw the figure, his flashlight began to flicker.

 

“And they don’t pay us enough or give out good supplies… Thank you menial wage… I love you so much right now…” the guard sighed as he smacked his flashlight. “Come on you piece of crap light…come on!”

 

It flickered off, just as another crack of lightning illumined the sky, revealing the same person, now standing right behind him. As he ceased hitting the flashlight, the guard tensed up, a chill running down his spine. Glancing back, he quickly turned, “I found you!”

 

There wasn’t anything...save for the darkness…

 

“Fuck this… there is nothing the hell out here… and I’m wasting my fucking time…” he said, flashlight now shining normally. He looked down at it and grumbled, leaving the trees and heading back to his post. Trudging in the rain, the guard walked up and stood next to the first one.

“There was nothing out there. Ok? Nothing at all...” He said.

 

The second did not say a word.

 

“Hey. I said there was nothing out there.”

 

Still, no words were spoken….

 

“Are you even listening to me? I told you…” He said again. Shaking the guard on the shoulder, he immediately fell to the ground. A shocked look was plastered on his face, cig buried completely in his left eye coupled with red tracks of pain on his skin. His head was wrenched a full, sickening 180.

 

“Holy shit!” the guard yelled, taking his flashlight and hidden weapon, looking around quickly.

 

“Who is out there? Where the fuck are you! Come on out, right now!”

 

The guard shined his flashlight every which way, the trees, ahead of him, behind him, searching for whatever attacked his partner, ready to kill whatever it may be. He continued looking, fear now apparent in his search.

 

“Where the fuck are you?!” he yelled.

 

A thud is heard. The guard tenses up, the moment from before now real as ever. He quickly turned to see that his sight was not lying. The mysterious person was now mere inches before him, shrouded in robes. Ready to pull the trigger, the action was immediately halted, though one round escaped the cold barrel and off into the stormy night. Deft gloved hands grab and knock the weapon away, followed by one gripping him tightly by the neck and immediately forcing to the soaked ground. With a choking grunt, the guard stared up, seeing nothing but glowing red eyes underneath the hood. The person tilted his head to the side and chuckled.

 

“What are you?!’ The guard managed to get out as he tried to fight back, gripping tightly at the person’s arm, but to no avail.

 

The hooded person’s response to the guard was a liberal use of some power which leeched more than the energy residing within him until there was nothing but a deathly pale corpse. Rising up from the ground, he turned and walked towards the building. Now before its twin doors, he looks at his hands, feeling the familiar energy, now foreign. Outstretching them, a resonating hum begins to emit on the doors, causing them to groan and shake.

 

“Knock knock…” the hooded person said, releasing the energy and causing the doors to fly violently open and off of their hinges, taking any with them. Alarms began to now fill the air as the hooded person stepped inside.

 

 

 

 

 

*-*-*-*-*

 

 

 

 

 

“ The intruder!!! He is here sir!!! He has tracked us down!!!” a hurried guard said, looking at a large black chair behind a simple wooden desk, lightning brightly flashing in the nearby window.

 

“I know… I know he tracked us down… It was only a matter of time… She told him. And now, he is coming for me…” a voice said from the chair, turned away from the guard.

 

“What shall we do sir? We need orders!”

 

A cloud of smoke billows up from the chair, “He is a Titan-Class threat, just exactly how we made him. And since we made him, we can hurt him. Slow him down…or kill him by any means. In his state, he is deadly…oh yes…but he is still human… for the most part…”

 

“Yes sir!” the guard said, immediately sounding the alarm to the others as he left.

 

The sound of fingers snapping joins the siren filled air. A yellow glow casts itself on the nearby wall and the window. Smoke rises from the chair again.

 

“Yes… it is time...”

 

 

 

 

 

*-*-*-*-*

 

 

 

 

 

Quick footsteps clamber as the hooded person ran quickly from his pursuers. Loud voices of anger, commotion and mayhem fill the hall as well; all speaking about said person and the unknown intentions, whether good or bad, that were being carried forth. As he continued his run, thoughts became apparent.

 The running did not cease, all the while the pursuers closing in. Seeing the hall now splitting into two separate directions, a blue aura suddenly began to emit at the end of the hall and off of the person. Hitting the fork, he struck the wall with his hand. A slight swirling and cold wind was unknowingly felt as the pursuers continued, only to have their chase thwarted. A solid wall of ice covered the hall, freezing some pursuers solid and leaving others to crash and slip.

 

“That Frost won’t hold them for long, but it buys me some time at least…” The hooded person said, stopping to see before starting on.

 

Continuing towards his unknown destination, stunning, knocking out, or just outright killing anyone that got in the way he carried on, unrelenting in his mission. Rounding about a corner, he came faced with another set of doors. Stepping back, he then charged, a swift kick forcing them open loudly. There, greeted by a troop of people armed with weapons and attractively robed women by their sides, all were at a standstill.

 

“Oh shit…out of the frying pan and into the fucking inferno…” he muttered, slowly stepping back and preparing a spell.

 

“Inferno is right intruder. Do it! Now!” one man said as he yelled out an attack to the woman next to him. What came next was her conjuring an immense wall of fire flowing menacingly like a tsunami, ready to incinerate anything in its path. Preparing to take the brunt of the flames, the spell surrounded him in a golden aura and a multicolored and faceted barrier. Seeing the wave of fire crest before him, it came down and engulfed him completely.

 

“FIRE!!!” one yelled out, no sooner as the flames spiraled all around him.

 

A hailstorm of bullets and strange attacks was also brought forth, adding in to the overkill the troop was mercilessly achieving. They all attacked; the bullets and assailments wildly following their path, casings clattering upon the floor accompanied with laughter of the women filling the air. Hearing the click of empty chambers, the troop stopped.

 

“Cease, reload and hold your fire.” One said, seeing the flames continue, now shown in different shades from their assault.

 

Taking a small breather, victory was amid them all. The towering flames still danced, spiraled, and roared around what remained of the intruder. All of them stared at what was happening, the unrelenting maelstrom seemingly continuing their work.

 

“We got him sir, what’s left of him.” One said into an earpiece. Everyone was still taking the moment of caution and relief, until they saw said intruder somehow jump out of the fire, completely immolated. He put on the façade of being burned alive, screaming and yelling, until he stood there. The fire soon dissipated, leaving said person completely pitch black and unmoving.

 

The troop rearmed their weapons and stared alertly at the ‘corpse’ of the person. Motioning to one, he slowly walked up to it. Making sure he was truly dead, he reached out to make absolutely sure. To his sudden surprise, a hand quickly grabs him by the throat and lifts him off of the ground. The charred figure crumbled into pieces, revealing their supposedly dead target, somewhat undamaged and alive. The gripped attacker tried to fight back, only to stop when he saw a small flame light up as the person exhaled. It revealed his face under the hood, red eyes shining intently at him. Inhaling as the person screamed, a stream of flame engulfed the attacker, his body shaking and writhing to get free before it stopped moving. The stream ended, the flames dissipating into the air. He drops the burnt corpse on the ground, it twitching slightly as it smoldered.

 

“He is still standing!” one cried out.

 

“It’s a Mighty fucking Guard!” someone screamed.

 

“Someone Dispel him, quickly!” another yelled.

 

The person began to make a move, all the while conjuring forth another spell, hopefully that it would be enough to distract them or kill then all. Gearing up to run and bide time, he is suddenly thrown backwards, aura fading and barrier shattering like broken glass.

 

“What the hell?” he tensed, landing on steady feet. Barrier gone, the person caught his sight on the main problem. Standing a few feet away, wearing a tall steeple hat, donned in a black dress, holding a long rod, and looking quite green in his eyes, a young woman cackled with glee and made funny faces.

 

 

 

“Give up! You can’t win!” the troop yelled in intervals, along with other returning victorious comments.

 

 

 

 Smirking under the hood, he ran at them, spell at the ready. Another attacker, grabbing a club from a colleague, charged as well. As he prepared to swing, both of them in close proximity, the club suddenly came down on air. Redoubling the attack, the attacker got a rising knee planted directly on his face, breaking his nose and anything else of importance. Using the momentum, he step jumps off of him up into the air. Yelling out as a blue aura flashed around the whole room and off of the concealing garb; his fist slams the bare tile floor, sending a large shockwave rushing out in all directions. Everyone in the immediate radius is either thrown back and stunned from the immense shock or severely hurt from the spikes of stone following soon after. Seeing the whole room, now a crumbling mess filled with hurt and wounded bodies, the person looks quickly and starts running, only to suddenly collapse against the wall. Feeling as if hot pokers branded every single inch on him, the person looked back on the carnage he left. Broken lights, pillars of earth, and groaning voices filled the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Passing through the doors and skidding down the final hall, the destination was finally reached. Standing before the concluding set of doors, embossed with strange runic symbol, a swift kick like before forced them open. Walking in and encasing the entrance in another Frost spell, a simple office desk and a large black leather chair was all that adorned the room. Seeing smoke rise from behind it, the chair turned, revealing a bald person in a slick pinstripe suit. A tribal tattoo was haphazardly gracing the right side of his face, complete with a scar. A lit cigar was held nonchalantly in his fingers. Smirking as glowing teal colored eyes looked on at the person before him; he tapped the ash off and placed it in his mouth.

 

“Adrian… Adrian Vladimir Nero…” the hooded person said.

 

The suited man, knowing full well who this hidden person was said, “No need to hide what you are… Joshua…”

 

Feeling a bit stunned, the hooded person drew back and tossed off the garb, revealing himself to Adrian. As he stared on, feeling something ‘other’ in his mind, Adrian took note on how quickly he changed. No longer did this person have the dark brown skin, now deep blue, black and red eyes instead of the human brown, silver hair deepened to a near pitch black of his formal life. That was all changed to accentuate a complete curvaceous feminine form, bosoms and all, with a wiry spaded tail, large wicked horns, pointed ears, fangs, wings and the like.

 

“If I didn’t say any better, you finally turned into the very pokégirl you were becoming… right…Demoness…?”

 

Joshua said nothing, still staring at him.

 

Breaking the silence and long stare, “So…what brings you way out here…Lady Joshua…? Have I done something wrong…to have gotten your…special ire…?” he said sarcastically, putting out the spent cigar.

 

“You know the reason you sick fuck…” Joshua said.

 

“Ah… that’s right… you have come all the way here to kill me…I’m guessing for revenge…ah…how noble…”

 

Joshua growled as ‘he’ prepared another spell, this one lighting up his lithe hands with a bright flame. Adrian simply stood up, seeing the mage, demon, and pokégirl about to cast his spell.

 

“Now,” he said as he walked over to a nearby stand and picked up a small briefcase, “what is this going to solve Joshua?” He then set it down on his desk and opened it. Grabbing a small leather bag, he set it down on his desk. Shutting it as he twirled a new cigar in his fingers, he nonchalantly placed it in his mouth and stood there, waiting for an answer.

 

“That your tainted blood and guts splattered all over this room will grant me retribution, redemption, and my murdered girls their much needed peace.”

 

Adrian laughed as he snapped his fingers, creating a small flame in his hands, lit his new cigar and took a puff from it. Rubbing his hands, the flames went out. As Joshua looked, Adrian’s entire hand looked to be badly burned, glowing red, and smoldering as well.

He did not… No… the process was still in its testing phases… They needed me… I was the one…among all those others… They could not have recreated and found ‘it’, no… not this soon… As he looked at Adrian, Joshua looked at his own hands, seeing the spell twist and flick tongues of flame in his fingertips. Glancing down at his left wrist, he saw the numerical bar-code tattoo grafted into his skin suddenly look like Adrian’s hand, charred and badly burned until it was just like his.

 

Adrian noticed the look in Joshua’s eyes, all before continuing, “Peace…huh? Well you know that is already gone, gone the day I set my eyes on you... Like all things…even pokégirls, they were expendable, expendable and useful Hamtits. And you… my…lovely lady… you being among the first… are next in line.”

 

“What do you mean!?” he said as the spell began to grow even stronger, responding to his anger, the arcane energy now spiraling around an invisible sphere. Joshua’s answer was a quick jerking movement straight towards the wall behind him, complete with glowing blades, two pinning his wings, two crucifying each arm and finding a home in his chest. Gasping from the pain, he coughed up blood as the attacker appeared before him. Standing at a modest 5ft 8, wearing slightly revealing leather and provocative clothing that hugged every inch and curve of her body, albeit the cloak covering the rest of her extremities. The person silently stood before her target, face hidden from view, but Joshua knew exactly who she was, having encountered her multiple times, feeling her eyes staring with her usual smirk.

 

“Damn… it’s nice… to see you… Morgana… What took…you…so…long…?” she said as a trail of blood flowed from his mouth. Removing her hood, revealing the ebony haired, alabaster skinned young woman, her blood red eyes simply looked into his as she slid a finger across his lips. Gathering a bit of his blood, she sinfully tasted it.

 

“Hm… though I have gone by many names… all of which were because of you…you out of all people still remember my birth name… And I see you have become one of us now… lovely…very lovely…”

 

Trailing her finger from his lips once more, she traced it toward where the shoulder and neck met, feeling the vein pulse somewhat quickly. She wondered was it fear or something more that caused her captured prey to be like this, the veritable energy he gave off, although fading, slowly filling her up. Either way, she was going to find out. Looking in her eyes as she continued tracing the vein in her neck, “I remember your energy, filling, infernal, ethereal…delicious… However, I have forgotten how your blood tastes. Since you are now…one of us… maybe I should sate my thirst…daemon…” Smirking, she revealed her long ivories, the four fangs glistening in the light.

 

“Well go ahead, go ahead… Drain and drink all you want hybrid… because that will be your last...taste you…will ever…savor…” Joshua muttered as he looked in her eyes as well, not seeing the hidden feelings behind those completely red eyes. He turned his head back, waiting for her bite. Smiling, she did so, her fangs sinking in the flesh. Joshua could not help but softly moan as she continued, hearing the veritable sucking noises she made in his ears, feeling her tongue taste his skin, hands playing against her, and the warm, somewhat calming feeling sluice all over as the energy slowly left. As she finished with a sigh, she drew her head and looked into Joshua’s eyes, as if the moment meant something. Joshua simply said nothing, looking down at the floor, now looking even worse for wear.

 

“My have the powerful have fallen… Joshua… Joshua, look at you… A full fledged pokégirl instead of a human… Your girls…gone through hell and slaughtered trying to protect you from something...that surpasses even them… And what else… what else...shall I add to this little, and futile endeavor of yours...? Is it something that you did? Something you fail to realize? Moreover, you are on your last leg as a simple mage about to die before my eyes… It is so… amazing and gratifying. You were the best, my goal, my weapon… I give you that, oh yes… but that time has finally…ended.”

 

“Well… yuck it up asshole… and its blue mage…” Joshua said as he spit those words out vigorously with blood, which brought a pang of pain. Morgana responded with a simple, unconscious slash across his face, just enough to draw blood. Joshua groaned and coughed in pain, looking at her, the four slash marks now flowing slowly. Raven was silent, still thinking on her capture as she stared at the once human mage, blood on her fingers.

 

“Blue mage, blue mage, green mage, Joshua it doesn’t fucking matter to me! You are going to die anyway, and I am savoring every moment, so enjoy your last few minutes...” 

 

Adrian then walked over to his desk and pulled out a strange colored stone from a small drawer. The stone was completely spherical in shape and about the size of a human fist, glowing with a strange grey light, it seemingly try to escape its confines. Placing it in the leather bag, he looked at Raven.

 

“Here… your payment…” Adrian said as he tossed it to her. She caught it and looked at him.

 

“You have what you want, and I have what I want. Now go…”

 

She then looked at Joshua once more. “It’s sad that I will never see my favorite prey again… but you were fun while it lasted…”

 

Joshua coughed as he looked up, the cuts now combining with the bite wound and the sword in his chest, trickling blood down onto the ground. “And you… were too… Hmm… maybe fate… has… has some plan… in store for you…” Their locked stare continued, all the while Adrian staring at the weakening wall of ice covering the entrance. Unnoticed to him and Morgana, Joshua felt the energy from the stone somehow draw itself into him. It was ancient, really ancient, but powerful, and deadly. As it continued, a thought ran in his mind, no, thoughts. All of them were speaking, telling him about what he acquired, how forbidden it was, and that no one was to learn it.

 Jolted for a second as whatever the stone did became familiar, Joshua smirked at what was acquired.

 

The ice barrier shattered just as Raven left with her item, phasing right through the floor. In her departure, the blades disappeared, causing Joshua to collapse onto the ground. Followed in this was the sudden rush of armed guards. “So Joshua… it’s come to this…” Adrian said as he blew smoke in Joshua’s face. Pulling out a handgun from the drawer, Adrian walked over and aimed it at Joshua’s head. Joshua looked at the cold silver barrel, not a care in the world. Sighing, he remembered the good times, family, his harem, the good and sometimes odd and funny things that happened, all before the path went askew and landed in this predicament.

 

Seeing that now was the time, a smile now adorned on his face, Joshua glanced up and look around, seeing everyone and Adrian. Huh… I bet it was fun Raven… because I am glad you left, just in time to see the light show… “Now… for my parting gift for you... and everyone else here…”

 

Slowly raising tired and bloody hands amid the pain, Joshua channeled all of his energy to summon said spell, the one acquired from the stone. It was said to rival the immense and destructive power of Megidolaon, the shattering might of Pandora’s Box or its rival… Shockwave Pulsar. But it…was neither. The ancient and destructive blue magic spell was known only by the name of… Supernova…

 

Adrian looked as he saw Joshua’s smile on that feminine face, seeing those red eyes look into his with no intent, before glancing away in pain. Managing to stand up despite the loss of blood and energy, Joshua began chanting and moving his hands again. Adrian smirked, seeing what this pokégirl was doing. Continuing, the chant ended and the spell activated, showing nothing more but a small glowing sphere floating before Adrian, looking like the very sun in the sky.

 

Adrian laughed, with others joining in. “Was that it? That is your best? All you managed to do was create a small glowing sphere! Some light show you put up Demoness!”

 

Joshua grunted, leaned back against the wall, seeing the magic before him, the true, final remorse for him and them all.

.

“You’ll see… You all will see…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

*-*-*-*-*

 

 

 

 

 

 

The small sphere floated there, slowly growing as time went on. Everyone around was now having mixed feelings as to what was going to happen. No one knew what the spell was, if it could be dispelled, or even reflected for that matter. However, it grew and grew, showing slight prominent features of its power.

 

“It still doesn’t mean anything Joshua… All you are doing is sealing your fate…”

 

“Then so be it… If it means I get to kill you… and avenge my girls… so be it…”

 

 

 

 

The sphere grew even more, filling with energy and changing from its look like the sun, to an unstable ball of black and white energy. Soon it began to gravitate small things into it, and the very air around began to rush to it as well. It went from the size of a fist to the size of a small beach ball, growing ever larger and larger in seconds. As with the others around, they decided to flee out of fear. However, some did not manage to escape as the spell pulled them towards their death, disintegrating them in mere seconds. Adrian stayed behind as he looked at his puppet, his killer, his so-called weapon, the innocent mage, now pokégirl before him. The spell reached its final stages, almost fitting inside the office, surrounding the two in ambient energy, leaving just enough time for one question, which Adrian knew the answer to.

 

He chuckled as he tossed the handgun aside, only to see it consumed by the spell. “There is no reason for me to answer something you know already… Nevertheless, I will enlighten you anyway… Joshua, you disobeyed. You simply disobeyed me. You were supposed to kill that man, and that was all. Even with the spells and forbidden tech controlling all of your actions, you managed to break free and disobey. He was the sole purpose of your mission… If you simply followed orders and killed him, your girls might still be among the living, you would still be human and they would not dead by your hands inadvertently controlled by me... Moreover, in that purpose, that single, simple purpose… I’ll leave you to answer it… in your next life…!”

 

Joshua looked up at Adrian, seeing him simply staring and smirking, the malevolent look on his face. Adrian simply shook his head as he, those unfortunate, and the entire facility, consumed in it’s entirely by Joshua’s last spell. A dome of light enclosed the area as the spell tried to contain the energy, arching silently from the pressure like prominences on the sun’s surface. On the inside, the facility was still the same, but everyone and everything was frozen. People were still in mid step, shocked looks petrified on their faces, all trying to escape their unfortunate demise. Joshua and Adrian were frozen as well, their gazes locked completely.

 

Some say that in death, everything freezes and the person’s whole life flashes before their eyes. They are granted one final option amid the viewing of their life, and it could be anything. However, Joshua had no second chance. That simple moment, the memories, froze. He looked back at everything he accomplished, going from the simple beginning until now, and was satisfied. He was done.

 

 

 

 Before he supposedly left his mortal coil, one moment appeared in his eyes. It was his personal goal. He was close to seeing it true, but all he saw was it fading away into the void. With that moment now come and gone with his final breath, the energy released and the facility went up with a bright and silent explosion. The light lasted for a few minutes before dissipating completely into the dark and cloudy sky. The facility became nothing more than what it used to be, remnants of it still standing despite the blast and the crater it now sat in. He finished his plan with the sake of his own life, he avenged them and greeted death, and he did…what some might regret...

 

“Why…” a voice in the air spoke out. Appearing above the aftermath was Morgana, looking down at the scene. She simply scanned the area for any signs of life, even though it was futile.

 

“I do not know why… Why you did that… you fool…”

 

Sighing, she flew off, just as a soft rain began silently pouring onto the flaming destruction. However, she did not even notice the blue garment floating down from the explosion, which simply landed on a twisted piece of metal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*-*-*-*-*

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rain began to pour heavily once more as groups of people came to the site, seeing the flash of light from miles away. As the police kept those back from the site, a lone man walked past, seeing the twisted aftermath before him. Looking on as he figured out what could have caused the destruction; he noticed the blue cloak swinging in the slight wind. Seeing it begin its floating descent, it landed at his feet. Kneeling down and picking the blue cloak up, the man grips it tightly, knowing exactly who the owner was. Closing his eyes, he does not notice the person who appears next to him. This beautiful woman, standing just as tall as he is, ebony black hair gleaming in the light of the sirens, horns atop her head, wiry tail wrapped around her waist and donned in a flowing grey dress, looked at the man next to her with worry in her black and red eyes. He did not say a word as he stood there. She looked at the cloak in his hands and immediately knew. Feeling his arm drape around her tightly, the two disappear into thin air, leaving the aftermath behind.