✧ Chapter 68 ✧

During this time, Celeste (who last thought she would have the chance to figure out what the underground spy was plotting to do with her) ended up being shutdown unexpectedly for what felt like an eternity at first.

However, when she woke up, her entire mind was empty of any previous memories. Even her body had become taller and also subject to changes that she wasn’t able to foresee.

The transhuman had taken on an entirely new identity with The Eternal Light Of Fractality now coursing through her fractagen-coated wires.

When Celeste finally awoke, unable to move on her own accord, she found herself in a luxurious yet foreboding place. This looked to be in an unusually huge yet private hotel room. It gave off this combined fanciful and futuristic feeling as well.

Standing completely still, Celeste heard whirring noises that matched up with the sound of footsteps being made. A pale-skinned man with dark hair wore this black suit and tie. Stepping into the room with a calm demeanor about himself, he looked outside the window at the city lights instead of focusing his attention on her.

During this moment, the same spy from Mechatopolis showed their real identity as she stared at Celeste who now looked exactly like herself, but in a more advanced form. The color of her skin was a brownish tan. Along with that, the white hair that flowed down to her neck complimented the minty green business dress she wore.

“Kurinen Marime, how nice of you to join us in the Hypercity Hotel. This world that they call Revv, its dreary atmosphere has been calming to observe. However, that is far from what I’ve called you here for,” said the mysterious man.

“I see… Master Daylight, if I may ask, what did you think about my report?” asked Kurinen.

“Your findings on Mechatopolis were impressive to read. As a result, our underground engineers were able to recreate your image perfectly into this AI agent. Effective immediately, this machine is set to become your new body. That way, it will activate the next step in my grand phase.”

“As you wish, Master Daylight. Your commands will be fulfilled to the highest extent possible.”

“Good. Speaking of which, that reminds me…”

The strange man, whose name was built on a variety of false identities, paused in delight as though he was acknowledging that he himself could see what those wondering about him could not.

His face turned suddenly, almost as if he could peek through their imaginations.

Walking over to Kurinen, he then took off her e-glasses and placed them on the new machine’s face as the previous AI agent collapsed to the floor lifelessly.

Feeling no remorse, Mr. Daylight pressed his finger on the back of Kurinen’s mechanical neck, only for it reveal a small microchip that he inserted into the new body.

“Your new name will be Cyphra,” he said after pairing the glasses to power on this body’s system.

In that very instant however, his eyes closed, knowing this mastermind plan of his was now in full effect.

A sudden dark fog drenched the room when he opened them. Turning around with a calculated demeanor about himself, he saw Voltaze standing on the other end near the windows like an apparition.

“How unsurprising. It’s the man behind the masquerade,” said Voltaze with ominous intent.

“Would you like something to drink? A strawberry cocktail perhaps?” asked Mr. Daylight as he walked from out of the shadows.

“And here you thought I would humor your tactical distractions. Your life ends here.”

“I know what you want.”

Voltaze’s eyes opened in shock. Almost as if he was having a hard time processing what he was hearing.

“Explain…”

“I see that your unawareness of what lies beyond us is minimal. I am the one who freed you out of UVOCA’s prison. The voice in your head telling you every memory that was wiped away? That was also me.”

“Wait… Why would you lead me to think I was going to destroy a man who only now reveals that they are The Lucid Light? That must mean you are the one who is fighting against—”

“Prism? Well, it’s a lot more than that. I called you to this new world for one simple reason. Those that you have been at odds with have something that I need you to destroy.”

Thinking back to the battle on Deveurx, Voltaze recollected what he was referring to.

“The Scroll Of Scarlet Spades...”

“Yes… You should know well enough by now that the remaining Eternal Light will become one with an unforeseen end that cannot be controlled if achieved. Even more powerful than chaos itself. Just as these worlds will soon follow. However, we cannot just use The Eternal Light Of Fractality to do so. It will alert Prism here if it is fractured recklessly. That is why I needed you to capture Omnikra. It is the weapon’s fate to become The New Guardian through whoever wields it by opening and reading the scroll itself.”

“I’ve already tried that.”

“Impossibility is no stranger to its secrets. Do you know how Styra wielded that weapon?”

“No.”

“She has The Star Sense, an ability able to warp reality without time. Her source of power lies in Omnikra’s Kra Force. If you lead her and those four blades past this Omniverse’s boundaries, the weapon can become yours.”

“What do I use to achieve it?”

“There is a secret power within you that not even UVOCA knows I kept hidden. Your body holds the ability to absorb all destructive energies, unknown to all outside of myself as The Fractal Force. It allows you to supersede omniversal deities and destroy any Omniverse you wish. I have seen even that all of these inter-dimensional protectors of good or evil origins assuming themselves to have ascended to godhood, could not even handle its destructive qualities.”

Thinking on this statement which proved to be interesting to test, Voltaze was curious about something that he remembered from reading the files on him.

“Okay then. And what is the unforeseen end you mentioned?”

“The ending you desire. That can only happen if you destroy that scroll,” said Mr. Daylight in a straightforward tone.

Holding his blocky fist up near his head in an intimidating manner, Voltaze’s frown stood firm as the marks on his body began to emit a colorfully charged glow.

“I don’t mind getting the job done twice. I did it once, I will do it again,” he said with a slight hint of verbatim to when he was at UVOCA’s base.

∗ ∗ ∗

Eternika used a Kra Forcefield to surround the entire spaceship and carry Chelbie’s vehicles so that they wouldn’t become affected by the heavy gravitational pulls of the space storm that was occurring.

While mostly everyone was inside, Eternika had teleported Kade into the STS-0 alongside Cherry who was carrying Styra there by herself as well.

Once they all got onboard and left the planet for good, the entire team decided to observe what was going on from up above.

“Woah! What the hell is that thing?!” shouted Chelbie as she pointed at a dark yet colorfully glowing tentacle inserting itself into the core of the world.

From what The Judgment Warriors could gather, Creperus was pulling Wisteliah and other surrounding planets towards a minty green glow that was steadily breaking The Omniverse apart.

“Voltaze must be using Creperus to pull every world through the fractal hole he has created. We need to follow where it is headed before things get worse. If he goes any further than this, the structure of outer space will collapse into itself,” stated Eternika.

“Damn! What the fuck! Isn’t that suicide though? We are literally heading towards what’s practically like the force of a gazillion black holes times infinity! There’s no way we’re gonna survive that!” she exclaimed.

“I’m pretty sure that’s little to less of what’s actually going on Chelbie. If we really want to stop whatever this idiot is doing, our only option is to get closer to it,” said Flight.

During the conversation that was taking place in the cockpit, Cherry and Compass were left designing a new suit for Styra while also trying to bring her back to life.

In that very instant, Compass knew all too well what would have to happen in order to rejuvenate her. Before the machine could decide to do this though, it created one last thing for Cherry to use.

The bot handed her a new pair of e-glasses with a visor-like design that held most of the same traits her previous invention did. The only upgrade included were enhancements to regulating the amount of fractal energy she could use.

“This is the Optillica X3. It is made out of the same material as your armor and will not break as easily. My only hope is that you can take charge during these troubling times. Don’t let your emotions tear you apart. Your will is only as strong as you make it to be.”

Cherry began to feel her doubt resurfacing as she kept holding Styra’s left hand.

“What if I don’t make it? I keep making broken promises and I don’t know whether or not I will be able to continue forward like this.”

Compass, understanding her situation, opened the compartment where The Shard Of Surreality was inside of it.

“Holding onto the promises that you decide to make also means cherishing the commitments you did before you kept one. Take this shard and place it in your friend’s hand. When my sacrifice is done, all of the power you have will be in her hands. What she chooses to do with it, is up to the both of you. This is my promise to you, Cherry.”

Cherry’s eyes calmed down as she looked at the shard and carefully removed it from Compass.

She was set on making this right, even if it meant pushing herself to make a sacrifice the way this machine had done it by itself.

Suspensefully, Cherry opened Styra’s fingers and placed the shard in the palm of her hands. In no time, the gem turned a strong indigo color upon contact. It was a noticeable pattern from earlier that caused Styra to gradually wake up with over half of her health restored.

As Cherry clung onto Styra’s hand, Eternika was still travelling through the hectic chaos that soon unfolded itself across the entire Omniverse.

Multiple worlds that were already too close to Creperus reached their sudden end. It didn’t take long for Styra to wake up and realize that realities were beginning to shift into a new age of catastrophic crises unseen before by all types of civilizations.

These worlds that were once peaceful when she had been to them at the start of this adventure, were now being disrupted at abnormally dangerous levels.

However, of the ones that they did pass, there was a planet that Eternika saw which had something different going on about it compared to the rest.

It didn’t get blasted to the core by Creperus yet either.

Directing its new route past the entrance of the world’s atmosphere, a minty green glow (just like the one in space) could be seen emanating from within the dystopian yet vastly metropolitan city known as Revv.

Seeing this happen caused Styra to try and lift herself despite knowing that she could likely risk a fate worse than death. She started to stumble her way over to try and press a button that would release the hatch, but a hand gently held her back.

Even Eternika eventually blocked her path out of care.

“Don’t go out there alone Styra… Please? This is no condition I want to see you go through. Okay?” said Cherry as she clinged onto Styra’s back with tears in her eyes.

“You changed,” said Styra who was not looking back.

Letting go of her, Cherry apologized profusely, shutting her eyes out of fear that she might have angered the friend who had been there to help her the most.

That was until she felt something softly touch the tears running down her chin for a bit.

When she looked at what happened, she felt herself blushing at the sight of Styra standing pretty close to her while clasping their hands together.

“And I love you for that Cherry. For thinking about me like this… After every adventure we’ve ever had, you’ve always been open to me in moments when I’ve felt lost. It was then that I realized something. Identity is like the emptiness of the cosmos. Even when the stars feels like they are gone, the darkness of outer space holds the light of them all because it embraces what they stood for. That form of hope is what makes it special.”

Such a profound and powerful message left Cherry able to express herself more as she began to grip onto Styra’s hand with an unmatched sense of trust. It silenced all of the hateful thoughts crowding inside her mind.

And this all happened for one very simple reason.

The darkness of her thoughts reflected and judged exactly what she chose to cherish. Whether or not it would make harmonious amends, the only way this would work was to not push herself into a corner.

Cherry needed to let her life flow for herself and breathe in order to make better promises. It was the only way she was going to understand what was really happening.

“I want you to know that I never meant for it to seem like I was pushing you away. I just really know deep down that I can do better than this. I’m not giving up on finding Ararima either. To me, you are the closest one I have had a relationship with,” she replied while hugging Styra tightly.

Their shared bond ascended above the harrowing skies as the STS-0 began to descend into the chaotic destruction that was erupting from below.

Eternika, who was happy to see that these two were on equal terms, eventually had to address the problem that was currently tantamount to deciding on how the team would approach Voltaze.

“I am glad that your support between one another has been resolved, however, I must ask this serious question. How should we proceed against this situation?”

Staring down at the tumultuous blockage of futuristic vehicles that were driving erratically around amidst sirens which could be heard alarming citizens, Styra and Cherry knew that there was only one way to do this.

“We’ve tried stopping and understanding him. Still… There is one promise that needs to be kept,” stated Styra.

This surprised Cherry to hear this coming out of her friend.

“The first promise we made to him… How though?”

“Voltaze is right about one thing. Being who you are shouldn’t feel like a prison, but the way he intends to free everyone is out of a numbness to extreme genocide without considering everyone’s voices. He has to see that ending Prism should never come at the expense of taking other innocent lives. Us bringing that hope is needed now more than ever this time for it to happen.”

Remembering back to the promise they had made to Voltaze upon meeting him for the first time, Cherry could feel the truth in Styra’s statement. Even in knowing that Voltaze was willing enough to manipulate her friend, despite the terrible past they shared, nothing was going to get better by holding back.

As she nodded in agreement with them, Eternika suddenly pointed a giant Voltaze busting through buildings and stomping on everything without hesitation.

“Voltaze looks to be searching for something. Strange… We must confront him before this gets worse,” warned the weapon.

While the Judgment Warriors were deciding on finding ways to intervene in order to prevent him from finding whatever he wanted to find, Flight began to formulate a strategic solution in his head that he had been thinking about.

“I’ve got an idea. We can split into three units this time. First Eternika can divide itself between each one for assisting in communication, transportation, and combat purposes. Styra, Chelbie, Kade, and I will handle distracting Voltaze. Hisa and Cherry, focus on disabling the fractal hole. Meanwhile, Eternika can zip through every single universe and try to cut as many of Creperus’s tentacles as possible from every world. Any additional inputs?” asked Flight.

“Well, I don’t see a reason not to go round two against a Grumpy Gordo. I’m in!” exclaimed Chelbie with an excited look on her face.

Wholeheartedly, Styra smiled in support of Flight’s decision, respecting his experience at leading them down the right path.

“Sounds like the perfect plan to me. Let’s make it count,” she said while walking over near the backend of the ship with determination.

Flight, Kade, and Chelbie joined her towards the cargo door of the spaceship as it opened. Nodding at each other while observing the chaos that was occurring from below them, they prepared for the biggest fight of their lives.

Meanwhile, on the ground level, Voltaze had become a monstrous force to be reckoned with. His power was growing exponentially and it caused him to become more aware of the planets that the now enslaved Creperus helped him infiltrate. He could tell that there was a sense of pain riveting through each and every world’s core as they began to tremble helplessly out of an instinctual fear.

Their gravitational pull were being forced out of orbit, killing off all types of lifeforms that were dependent on the sun’s energy. Even worlds that had their own self-defense systems couldn’t fend off what was an enigmatic threat terrorizing the masses.

By the time Styra, Flight, Kade, and Chelbie had landed, they stood directly in front of Voltaze’s path as he started to approach them with both a menacing and determined attitude.

It was now or never to stop Voltaze.

Once and for all.