Chapter 25: Laugh with me

"My name is Mizuki Ayano...hero." I said, bowing slightly.

"Traditional Japanese approach...very polite." I was taken aback, he knew about Japan? 

"How do you know about Japan?" I asked. 

"Hmmm, simple question. I know because I've been there before...to your world I mean."

"So you're not from my world?" 

"No, I am from a world that doesn't exist anymore. My world...a name I've forgotten." Slain finally stood up, despite his appearance, his clothes had an air of royalty to them. He was dressed in a dark purple robe with an even darker colored cape...again I felt like he was just trying to mimic the evil bosses design code but I felt talking about his fashion sense might not be the smartest move. 

"What happened to your world?" I watched Slain carefully, he wasn't moving much but I didn't doubt he could summon a weapon or something else rather quickly.

"I destroyed it."

"You destroyed an entire planet?" I was horrified by this.

"Not just the planet, the entire world Mizuki. All 10'000 planets, 20 solar systems and 120'334 moons." Slain laughed but I felt nausea overtake me. This man...this monster destroyed an entire universe?

"Why...I don't understand. Why could you be so cruel?" I wanted to bide time to see if I could learn about Slain and maybe buy time for my friends to appear.

"Because they were useless. I don't need things that are useless. I need a world that is perfect like Armata." 

"This is a perfect world?! People are dying daily...monsters are flooding the land...cities look like they are on the verge of collapse! What part of this world is perfect!" I pulled out my sword, anger had entered my heart. 

"Perfection is what I deem it to be Mizuki. Yes, there are monsters constantly appearing, I am doing that even now. Today I made these." Suddenly several small orb-like monsters appeared, they looked like fires come to life. They rushed me but I swung my sword at them and cleaved all of them effortlessly.

"See, you killed them quickly. Strong, brave and capable. People that don't fit that mold shouldn't exist in a perfect world like mine." Slain laughed and summoned more of those odd creatures, once more I dispatched them quickly. 

"If you're so powerful, why not just kill me...all of the heroes for that matter in a single move?" I held my sword out, ready for anything.

"I am not a perfect God. Destruction is possible by my thought. I can make a black hole appear inside a world and then make another appear in a sun. Yet, I need to see those things to make it happen. I equally can't kill heroes with a snap of my fingers. I need to examine them first." Slain suddenly appeared before me, in the blink of an eye he went from halfway across the room to inches away from my face...

"Get away!" I slashed at Slain but he merely blocked it with a sword he summoned. The sword broke the minute it defended against mine though...it must have been significantly weaker.

"Interesting, that sword is...different." Slain tired to reach for it but I took a swing at him, he jumped back and looked at me expressionless.

"You don't scare me Slain." I readied myself.

"I'm not trying to make you scared. I want to see why I can't kill you." 

"What?" 

"The minute you entered, I began examining your body both externally and internally. I can see where your heart is, your lungs and your nerve endings for every body part. Yet, as I said, I need to fully realize a thing before I can do anything to it. I have fully realized you by now...yet I can't kill you." Slain began to laugh wickedly. 

"MIZUKI!!!"

"HERO!" 

"Mizuki!" I heard three distinct voices and turned to see Alna, Mateo and Thalia run towards me, their weapons drawn.

"Ohhh, three more heroes. Intriguing." Slain examined them each but I rushed at him. I didn't want him to find some sort of flaw.

"Too slow...wait...what?" Slain jumped back from my attack and looked at each of the three behind me. 

"What's the matter Slain, afraid?" Mateo said but from his voice I could tell he was putting up an act.

"You're all like him...all of you I can't kill...not with my methods at least...why?" 

"That's because of the boy's power my friend." another voice but one I was familiar with...Mr. Voice...

"Surprising none of us, he appears." Thalia said as Mr. Voice appeared in his usual mist form.

"Ohhh. welcome back my friend. It has been too long." Slain said. I knew it, we all knew it. Mr. Voice and Slain were together on this...

"I missed you as well Slain. Sorry, I had to gather them all together."

"It's fine but what is this boy's power?" Slain pointed towards me.

"His power my friend is the ability to craft SOULS." My eyes widened. SOULS it had been a while since Mr. Voice mentioned that. But what did he mean I could craft SOULS?

"Explain you traitor!" Alna asked with almost a growl behind it.

"This may take a while but I will try to sum it up for you...SOULS are what exists in only one world...yours Mizuki. In other worlds, SOULS are...well they are just spirits made from ego and will. Nothing more and nothing special. However, in your world made by a true God, SOULS were given to every being and yet only one other person could mimic making them without even realizing it...you." 

"Wait...so I can make SOULS? How?" 

"Your power doesn't come with an instruction manual. I can't tell you how you do it. I do know you can however and you did it for all three of your party members here. Just being around you allowed you to make them each a SOUL and unlike the heroes from other worlds, a SOUL makes you invincible to Slain's creation ability...well at least having something appear inside of you." 

"That's why you couldn't kill us from day one." Thalia said as if she had an epiphany. 

"More or less, yes. If I had not waited like I was told to by my friend here, when you all first appeared I could have killed you one by one. Mizuki would be the only one to pose a challenge due to his ability but I could summon monsters and end his life that way." Slain smiled wickedly. The smile alone sent chills down my spine.

"This is where I ask a question now to our esteemed traitor Mr. Voice. We have been pondering for days why you allowed us to all gather together and get stronger." Mateo looked at Mr. Voice.

"That's simple...because I wouldn't be able to do this." Mr. Voice's mist like form began to glow and after a blinding light that seemed to envelope him, a new form appeared before us...one that took us by utter surprise.  

"You...look like...him!?" Thalia's eyes matched ours, wide and with utter shock. Mr. Voice had a new human form and it looked like Slain's! The big difference...he looked to be as young as Thalia. 

"This is my true form heroes...let me reintroduce myself. I am not Mr. Voice but I too am Slain." 

"There's two of you!" I looked back and forth at them.

"Yes, I made him long ago when I was younger." Slain responded. Mr. Voice...Slain two, nodded.

"Should we tell them your story before summoning a dozen beasts to rip them apart my friend?" Slain Two said.

"Fine...but you tell the story...I hate it. I'll sit here and drink some wine." Slain went back to his throne and did as he said, he held a large goblet in his hand and began to swirl it around.

"Trust me heroes, this will explain all. Mizuki's powers, why I summoned you all here and why Slain is who he is..."

Slain Two would tell us this story...the story of a God-like person being born...

Long ago in another universe and world, a young man was born. HIs world was...normal, simple and devoid of people with powers. However, at the young age of 4, Slain's parents would discover their son was...different. It started off simple, a small toy would appear out of thin air, then food would seem to cook itself and wait for him on the table. Slain's parents soon discovered their son wasn't ordinary...he had magical powers. 

"Slain had the power of creation..." Slain Two said.

"Like me?" Mateo asked.

"No...your power is from this world and your awakening. In your own world, your power could create elemental energies but as you realized it had a catch. Here, you tire out and your stamina is used heavily. You can create numerous things, maybe as much as Slain can but it would take you years of research to make something substantial...Slain can make it in a second." 

"I see..." Mateo looked a bit defeated but Slain Two seemed not to care and continued his story.

As Slain got older, his powers only seemed to advanced to absurd levels. Once, Slain could only make small objects but when he hit the age of 8, Slain was making animals, vehicles and even people. One day, Slain's father came home and found a copy of his wife helping his son with chores. This outraged him and he told his son to remove the copy and to stop making things like people. Slain did as his father instructed but little did he know that his parents were beginning to devise a scheme...

One day, a few days before his 10th birthday, Slain was told to sleep early as his parents had a surprise for him that he'd only see in the morning. Loving his parents despite their obvious fear of him, Slain passed out and ensured he slept till the morning. When Slain awoke, he discovered his parents were no where to be found.

"They abandoned you?" Thalia said, I realized this must be similar to her story...

"Yes, my parents left me when I was 10." Slain said from across the room, drinking from his goblet.

"Unlike you though Thalia, Slain knew the love of his parents. They ripped his heart out when they left him alone...what's worse? Knowing love and losing it or never having known love?" Slain Two asked rhetorically. It was an age old question and I felt neither answer was the right one.

Now alone, Slain decided to leave his home and travel the world. Despite being so young, Slain was smart and well educated. He created money and travel items, left his home and then set off to see the world hoping to find someone like him. Despite all of his travels for nearly 5 years, Slain never once encountered another like himself. Slain was now roughly 15 years old and he knew only loneliness and pain. 

"Sounds like a spoiled brat..." Mateo said under his breath. Without warning, several monsters came spewing from the ground. We all were rushed but I had anticipated this could happen. We all took our weapons and defeated them easily enough.

"Mateo...stay quiet." I said, as I looked over at Slain. His face and posture didn't show it but I could tell Mateo's words had annoyed him.

"As I was saying..." Slain Two cleared his throat and continued the story.

Slain now around the age of 16 came back home, he traveled the world and had found no one sharing his gift, no one who seemed to care about a child walking the streets alone. He hadn't worried about the elements or lack of food, he could create it but it still showed people didn't care. He was getting tired of being...the only one. The final straw...his parents still were gone and had show no sign of ever coming back. 

"I'm going to guess, Slain then made you...his spitting image." Alna had finally came closer to my side and slid her warm hand on my arm...reassuring me she was nearby finally. 

"Correct. I was born...unfortunately with some flaws." 

"Like?" I asked.

"I'm considerably younger than Slain was when he made me. I also do not age. Slain stopped aging at one point, but I don't age regardless."

Slain didn't move but put away his goblet.

"Making someone like myself was harder than I thought. Now I probably could easily enough but my clone...my friend, he was made with numerous flaws."

When Slain had created a duplicate of himself, he had finally found a friend...someone who understood his pain. He couldn't create like Slain but he had one power that even Slain didn't learn about until later. The ability of World Movement...

"I never lied to any of you...I am not a God like Slain but I have a power he didn't realize he had until making me. We could travel between worlds." Slain two said, smiling.

Now in his 20s, Slain had mastered his powers. Watching Slain Two go from world to world, he did the same. He would venture between realities and worlds as if taking a step out the door.

"One minute I'd be in a world that always seemed to rain and allowed children to suffer on the streets alone." Thalia looked alarmed. 

"The next I'd visit a place where magic was used as a means of making money and even a nobody magician could gain a fortune." Slain Two looked at Mateo.

"I would even find a world of people that weren't normal, that their bodies were hybrids of humans and animals...where hunting was part of everyday life and survival meant just being strong." Slain looked at Alna.

"Then your world...that was the world that we loved the most." Slain Two stood directly in front of me. 

"Your world Mizuki was...laughable. Filled with war, pain, disease, joy, despair, innovation and so many words I could say. Your planet is a literal walking oxymoron." Slain said now standing out of his throne.

"My world..." I had nothing to say. My world was beautiful but it was filled with...it's own darkness. 

"I promise you, the story is almost up...here is the climax." Slain Two laughed.

Slain and his double would return to their own world and begin devising a plan. They would make their own world using the ideas of the others. It would be disjointed and chaotic but that would make it unique and full of potential. Strength and survivability  would be the only things you need to prove to anyone. You didn't need money if you didn't want it, you could be a killer and only be stopped by someone who didn't like it, you could be free to live as you want or hide away till the day death came approaching. With that idea, both Slain and Slain Two created a mass destruction event that would quickly consume their world and the others out there. As they watched the world literally begin to break from within, they went into a literal void and then began to work...crafting planets, suns, moons and then life. 

"Here we are now...Armata with heroes from all the worlds...who I killed because I didn't need them uprising." Slain started walking towards us. 

"Yes, heroes who held a possible means to end our world." Slain Two joined his friend's side.

"Now then Mizuki...do you want to know where you fit into the grand picture?" 

"Tell me..." I pulled my sword out and held it tightly.

"You...are the person we fear the most...because only you can give these people a means of truly being...people. You aren't a God but your power is...terrifying." Both Slains laughed leaving me confused...