Phalanx – the series

Episode thirty-nine: The Entity part two

 

 

 

Sorcerer was dead.

That revelation stemmed everybody with sadness, and they bent their heads in honor of the man who had given his life to make the universe a safe place once again. That the man in question had been responsible for the evil in the first place never entered their minds. He had been their teacher, their ally, and in some cases, even their friend.

And now he was gone.

“I'm going to have a word with the Guardian of the Ghost Roads. Sorcerer's soul needs to go into the afterlife... I'm sure he can do the rest from there. He's a Fred and she's his Jenny, after all,” Frederic whispered, looking up, glancing to each member of the Gerius, still in a giant circle around a no-long existing battlefield.

“Sorcerer was our ally... he may have been an evil and arrogant son of a bitch, but he stood by us in our fight against the Destroyers, he stood by us when we became Gerius, and he paid with his life to rectify his mistakes. I think I'll actually miss him,” he said to all.

“I think we all will,” Jennifer spoke, voice level, yet eyes sad.

“No more name-calling,” Buffy said.

“No more grueling training to reach higher levels,” Jonny added in.

“No more cool techniques to see when he and Fred release some stress,” Tommy whispered, his Master Rangers nodding in agreement.

“No more sexual innuendos,” Ami said, blushing.

“I wouldn't call those innuendos,” Buffy replied to the gentle blue-haired girl. Ami chuckled once, and blushed deeper.

Frederic remained, staring at the place Sorcerer had vanished along with the Entity. “It may have been your own mistake... but you gave it your all to rectify it.” He balled a fist, clenching it shut over his heart, and bent his head at the same time as his boots clicked together. “Frederic Fromthefield known as Sorcerer, I salute you.”

The Gerius followed suit, boots clicking together, balled fists clenching over their hearts. “We salute you,” they echoed.

“Come on... let's go back. I have a Guardian to contact,” Frederic whispered, starting to turn, ready to port out.

At the last moment, something knifed through his senses, and it froze him, along with the rest of the Gerius present. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder. A spark of energy leaped from a point in mid-air to the ground. Slowly, the sparks increased in strength, and a portal opened.

“Damn, that SMARTS!” Entity grunted as it erected to its full height, its black scales now deeper in color, as if they were made from the same material as black holes. “I'm glad he's gone... now I can fulfill my original mission. The destruction of Frederic Fromthefield!”

Frederic slowly turned around. “You... monster!!” he shouted. “How could you have survived that!?”

Entity smirked. “Simple... Temporal shielding, and Warp Magic!” It grinned. “Not even that temporal magic I can see hanging around you could harm me!”

Frederic's left eye twitched, and blasted a thought to the Gerius. As Supreme Commander of the Jokilar Gerius, I am authorizing Temporal Incursion!

That won't get Jenny back... it might get Sorc back, if his soul hasn't already crossed over... but Jenny's soul was blasted directly into the afterlife! It's gone! Jennifer thought back.

I KNOW that, Love. Sorc knew it, too... that's why he did what he did. Once a soul is gone... it can never be reclaimed. Frederic's eyes darkened as they focused on the Entity. But at least we'll wipe him out.

Frederic’s hands came together, forming an arcane pattern. He felt the energy well up deep inside of his soul. As one, the Gerius followed. Temporal Incursion authorization accepted!

Entity stared as it felt the universe… no… the entire omniverse… warp around it. Purple energy blasted formed a circle, leaping instantly from Gerius to Gerius, completing the circle they formed around the two warriors. It knew things were out of control.

Closing its eyes, the Entity teleported.

Frederic smirked.

The Gerius smirked.

Entity reappeared exactly where it had been, facing Frederic. “Know that you can not escape the power of the Jokilar Gerius, for they are the strongest force within the omniverse,” Frederic said, the circle of Gerius following his voice and inflictions perfectly, booming the statement at the Entity from all around.

“Temporal Incursion Sequence… activate!” Frederic finished, hands and fingers displacing into a different pattern. The perfect circle around the two warriors changed, its edges becoming jagged, then breaking up as Frederic entered the equation. Entity’s breath halted as its dimensional senses went into overload, the exact moment the Seal of Novgoronn formed.

Purple Gerius Energy exploded around the planet, coagulating into a Divine Force of Nature that seemed to take on a life on its own as it touched the time-line in ways nothing else could. Entity screamed as it felt its cells explode.

“By Authorization of the Gods of the Universe, I, Frederic Fromthefield, hereby authorize the removal of the life form known as the Entity from the Lines of Time!”

Entity screamed, then vanished.

Immediately upon its destruction, the purple energy of Temporal Incursion imploded upon the exact spot Entity had stood; almost vanishing completely before exploding back out in a perfect sphere, washing across the dimensions of time and space, restoring time to a point it would have been had the Entity not existed.

Frederic’s fingers displaced a third time, signaling the end of the Incursion event.

“Incursion Sequence… Finalize,” he whispered. The Gerius followed his movement, and the purple energy that linked them together vanished, leaving only the Incursion Wave to expand outward at an ever-increasing rate.

“It was massive,” Daphnix whispered. “Last time, we only restored one planet…”

“Now we must overwrite multiple universes,” Frederic answered his friend. “It will take at least another two hours before the multiple time-lines have been overwritten.”

“You were right, though,” Jennifer whispered, kneeling next to two bodies. “They’re still gone…”

Frederic nodded. “He’s already crossed over… looking for her,” he whispered sadly. “The Afterlife never gives up a soul…”

“Unless you’re a Universal Savior,” Jonny said.

“It takes two-hundred fifty years,” Frederic replied coldly. “And it’s not something I’d recommend. It was…” he closed his eyes and drew a breath. “Brutal.”

Jennifer stood up, and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s over now,” she said, sadly. “Even if we both lost our doubles, it’s over…”

Frederic nodded. “At least I know I don’t have to get the Guardian… she’s already let him in, or he’d be back here when the Incursion Wave changed the timeline.”

The skies darkened, and the Gerius looked up in confusion. At that precise time, the entire planet shook, and an explosion of some kind sounded behind them. “I… WARNED you about temporal energy!” the Entity screamed, dark energy welling up around it.

“That was NOT a pleasant experience, but at least I am immune now…” it growled, calming down. Pointing a black-scaled hand at Frederic, it intoned, “Frederic Fromthefield, come to your destruction!”

Frederic turned slowly, eyes burning with fury. He balled his fists. “Entity… nothing can stand against the Jokilar Gerius. By not abiding by the Laws of the Gods of the Universe, you have made a fatal mistake. Not me, but the Wise One himself shall eradicate you!”

Entity smirked. “Oh, puh-lease. He already tried that when he threw a black hole at me. It only made me stronger… and taught me how to hide! For that ‘Wise One’ of yours, you’ve been fighting nothing but empty air for the last half an hour!”

“He’ll come looking when he sees us Incursing empty air,” Ami grunted out, actually surprising herself with the audacity… usually, she’d have to turn Super before she could sound off like that.

Entity shrugged. “Then where is he?”

Frederic glanced at the skies, then turned back to the Entity. “Very well… then it’ll be my pleasure!!!” Balling his fists, spreading his legs, Frederic growled low in his throat as his abilities surfaced. He wasn't about to make the same mistakes Sorcerer had made. He knew it was useless to simply blast it, time and time again, with stronger and stronger weapons... this was a job that required maximum power.

“As Supreme Commander of the Jokilar Gerius, I, Frederic Fromthefield, label you as a category A threat, and hereby authorize the lifting of the final seal!” The Voice boomed over the battlefield, and Entity took a step back as the power exploded from Frederic, making the planet shake and the higher planes tremor as the Power of the Gerius released.

The moment his powers activated, Frederic felt his Alter Armor come to full power as the complete power of the Bane of Darkness was pumped into it. Shining a bright purple, the man vanished into Super Light.

Entity vanished along with Frederic, attempting to meet the man halfway and blocking his strike. Much to the Entity's surprise, Frederic dodged its strike, planting his fist deep into Entity's lower abdomen, catapulting it skyward.

Strike has 250 equivalent, Entity noted on its flight up, right before slamming into Frederic's fist, and being catapulted back to the ground. On its flight down, the equivalent notification went up. Its eyes opened in what was its equivalent of pain, and it registered Frederic cupping his hands.

“Take this!” the Supreme Commander shouted, materializing two Alter Orbs in his hands, throwing first one, then the other, down after the Entity. Thinking the weapons slow, Entity prepared to dodge... right before the twin Orbs vanished.

Entity's eyes went open even further, and it started the thought for teleportation, mere picoseconds before the twin weapons slammed into its body. Instantaneously, ti felt its body change status, warping in a way it had never believed possible, stepping over form matter into antimatter.

Frederic smirked at the fireworks display, and landed not far away. “Die, asshole.”

“Not just yet, Frederic Fromthefield!” Entity screamed as it appeared, flying at Super Light out of the clouds of annihilating antimatter. “For I have already compensated!” Entity's fist struck Universal Protection around Frederic's face, and it displayed a mild surprise.

“Interesting,” Entity noted, breaking away, landing in a combat stance. “It seems that I must be forced to use the Warp Magic to get through to you... very well.” Energy swept up around Entity as it channeled Warp Magic, before vanishing and charging Frederic.

The Commander knew... at that instant... that the Wardroid had achieved Sorcerer's equivalence, and only the best of the best would do. When Sorcerer had sacrificed his life... his life and his soul... to stop this beast, he had also, inadvertently, shown it all that he had, all that he was.

And the Entity had taken eager possession of the knowledge.

Frederic scowled, ducking under the straight punch, slaming both hands into the abdomen, stopping the Entity's flight in one brief burst of power. Coming up from his crouch, Frederic laced as much energy into a straight uppercut as his legs, arm, and his energy could provide, catapulting the beast into the air.

Physical combat is useless! His inner thoughts screamed, and Frederic scowled, balling his fists. Shadow! You take him!

With pleasure! The female voice answered eagerly, right before Frederic's body destabilized, and morphed into Shadow's smaller female frame. “Entity! You are my enemy!” she screamed to the skies, launching after him, her body covered in bright purples and blacks as her Super-4 ki merged with Gerius Energy.

Entity, meanwhile, was confused over the latest events. How did this female relate to Frederic? Was she him? Was she its target now? As it debated this, Shadow materialized in front of it, slamming two smaller yet slightly more powerful fists into its face, slamming it into the planet's moon. Or better... slammed it through the planet's moon.

Coming out on the other side, Entity recalibrated its flight, stabilized, and actually managed to turn to a position where it could start scanning for the mysterious female. “Where is she?” it demanded angrily, readying a burst of Warp Magic.

“Right here, asshole!” a voice screeched from behind it, making it turn.

When it was about halfway through the turn, Shadow launched a beam of magic, ki and Force at it, the strongest she could make it, draining most of her reserves in a single blow. Entity de-atomized, and Shadow was happy to see that its presence on the Astral Plane was demolished along with its presence on the mortal plane.

“Good...” she grunted, teleporting back to the planet, and crossing her arms. “That should do it...”

“Don't count on it!!” Entity screamed, coming from behind the small woman's back, slamming into her from behind. Twin beams of light were all that denoted the warrior's furious fighting that took them once again beyond the atmosphere and into outer space.

“Damn you!” Shadow shouted, feeling her reserves slipping, as her hand reached for the remaining Bane of Darkness. “Just die, damn you!!” she cursed.

“Not likely, Cutie,” Entity taunted, one hand reaching out to the moon. The next moment, Shadow's eyes went big as Entity literally clobbered her over the head with it.

It exploded in purple energy, and Shadow was forced to drain her Gerius reserves even deeper. The Bane of Darkness came into play. Slapping the Entity's cheek with the flat of the Bane, she managed to blast it back to the planet's surface, right before she followed suit, and stabbed at its heart with the Bane.

Entity rolled out of the way, making her miss, and grabbed her head with one giant paw of a black-scaled hand exerting enough force to start crushing her head.

Screaming in pain, the brunette twisted and jerked to escape the death-grip, yet only succeeded in lodging its grip even firmer. Her scream intensified, only sounding now that an atmosphere once again was present to carry sound. Energy welled up around her as Shadow dug deeper, jerking the Bane that had been embedded in Entity's body.

It didn't as much as twitch as the sharpest weapon in the omniverse jerked a couple of millimeters in the Entity's almost impossibly-hard body. Then again, it hadn't needed to dodge, since it didn't technically have a heart...

It smiled at the irony that made it roll, when it felt a curious sensation. Shadow's energy expanded and the Bane jerked loose, right through its body, and Entity felt its superior smirk vanish as its body halved.

It smirked anew when its body reconnected the two halves without as much as dying,

But then again... there had been a momentary lapse in its concentration, which had been enough for her to jerk free, and tumble down to the planet.

Shadow's body hit the ground hard. “Gerius... shield us... don't let him get free.”

The entire body of Jokilar Gerius hesitated for a mere fraction, before vanishing, and taking positions all around the planet, twenty-three Jokilar Gerius taking opposing positions. Dark purple energy connected them, forming light-purple shields between the segments, literally encapsulating the entire planet in impenetrable Gerius Energy.

Entity landed on its two feet, and looked up. “Cool. A shield.” It looked down at Shadow, who crawled to her feet, face bleeding, yet a vicious scowl on her face. “Is that to keep me in?” it asked innocently.

Shadow's scowled worsened, and she vanished into Super-Light, intent to go after Entity once more. It lifted its hand. “Elemental... Chaos!”

Shadow didn't halt her progress as the waves of amber energy started throwing her senses into confusion. “STOP!!” she commanded, halting time, just like last time. Entity startled as it felt time halt. The few moments it needed to break out of the grip was all that Shadow needed to reach it.

Lifting her Bane of Darkness above her head with two hands on the hilt, she screamed the cream of the Truly Pissed-Off as she drove it down to the cross-guard into Entity's body, down through the head. “Blast of the Heavens! God Slayer!” she screamed, pumping her energy into the creature's body. “DIE!” she added with a primal scream.

Attack... 825... astonishing, Entity noted before it vanished, its cells exploding outward as Shadow's power took its toll. Entity exploded... and Shadow tumbled, feeling her energy thoroughly depleted.

“Not yet!” she ordered the Gerius in outer space. “We have to make sure...”

The Gerius remained in space.

Shadow shifted back into Frederic, who crawled to his legs, feeling his energy return thanks to some pretty astonishing Gerius-style regeneration techniques.

And the Entity...

It reappeared.

“You destroyed me on multiple planes... but thankfully, I don't have a soul you can banish!” It crowed.

Frederic's gaze was enough to make even the Entity take a single step back. It was... truly frightening, as if it belonged to a man who had lost all humanity. He balled his fists.

Ground exploded into Alter around him, sweeping up in semi-opaque streams of rainbow-colored energy, deforming time and space as they went, the Gerius' full Alter Ability dwarfing any techniques that had been originally taught to Shadow by the original power... the power developed by the Ancient Gerius.

Emerging from the Alter Storm was a new Frederic, one dressed in black, a black hood thrown over his head, hiding his face from sight by a shroud of total darkness. Drawing the twin Banes of Darkness he carried, Frederic pressed them together.

They seemed to liquefy, flowing calmly yet inexorably into the form Frederic demanded. Settling in their new form, the twin blades had formed a double-bladed scythe.

“Death stalks the world tonight,” a grave-like voice thundered from under the hood, and Entity would have had chills run down its spine, had it had a spine, or chills to run down it, for that matter. “Entity, I have come for you,” the figure intoned, extending one bony hand from under the hood, one bony finger beaming toward the figure.

“Then, by all means, Lord Death, come and take me.”

Hefting the have double-bladed purple-glowing pole-arm, the Figure Death seemed to focus for a few moments, causing a green-glowing Dagger of Oech-Anya to emerge from the robes, then shift into twin crescent-shaped guards that settled around the figure’s hands, connecting to the scythe wherever Death’s hands touched.

Entity smirked, vanished, and appeared right next to Death’s face. To its utter surprise, Death ducked under the simple horizontal swing, and brandished his double-bladed scythe. The heavy weapon came up with a smooth speed that more closely resembled that of a simple dagger rather than a huge pole-arm. Entity rolled out of the way, and landed in a crouch, yet immediately pushed off in Death’s direction once more.

Death’s scythe changed hands, and slashed at Entity, forcing it to reverse-course in mid-air, and port back to where it had started. Scowling, it looked at Death for a few moments, determining speed, strength, and power level.

Power level equivalence has been achieved… what was 150 is now 100, its cells noted. It drew a breath, and continued to look at Death. Who, for the moment at least, seemed perfectly content to just stand there and watch.

“Your time on this plane has ended,” Death finally intoned. “Accept that fact with bravery and honor, and it shall be quick and painless.”

Entity smirked. It vanished.

Death ducked under the horizontal slash, brining his weapon up to disembowel the Entity. It rolled out of the way, one toe barely touching the ground before launching a kick with that foot at Death’s face. Brining up his pole-arm, Death blocked the kick, and flipped the heavy weapon around to slash at the Entity once more. The creature rolled out of the way of three slashes that seemed to come from every direction at once, and launched a kick for Death’s seemingly unprotected back.

Death took a step forward, rotated a quarter turn, and slashed at the Bio-Wardroid’s leg, intent on taking it off. Entity changed the direction of its leg, and dropped to the ground.

And away.

“I can’t get through,” it stated calmly.

Death’s bony smile was cold, even for the Entity. “It senses its target,” he whispered, lifting the heavy double scythe, before letting its end drop to the ground with a dull resounding thud.

Entity knelt, placing one hand on the ground. “I have learned something from fighting you and Lord Sorcerer,” it stated as the ground under its hand lit up, and it started to right itself. “The ability to transmute matter.” As it went up to its full height, the hand pulled something up from the ground at the same time: it appeared to be a large staff, with heavy weights on both ends, perfectly balancing the weapon, yet at the same time, making it more dangerous.

“Now I will be able to get through.”

Death’s bony smile didn’t waver. As only answer, he lifted his weapon, and grasped it with his second hand, allowing the guard around it to attach to the weapon.

Entity smirked, startled twirling the weighted staff, right before it vanished. Death slashed at it, only to find the strike blocked by one weighted end of the staff, the weapon fully extended in Entity’s grip to keep away from the large blade. Entity smirked, and didn’t give Death enough time to contemplate. Immediately after catching the strike, it launched a kick for Death’s side, catapulting the black-robed figure up.

Entity flashed up after him, intend to finally destroying Frederic Fromthefield, no matter which form he took. Black energy from Death collided with red energy from the Entity, the two twirling around each other like dancers at velocities above light. Within nanoseconds, they had reached the Gerius Shield, yet they bounced harmlessly off it, catapulted back to the planet, only to reach the planet’s surface, bouncing off it with enough force to make it tremor, launching back into space, back to the Gerius Shield.

Entity smirked, and slammed one weighted end in Death’s bony face. The black figure catapulted away from the dance of Death they had been engaged in, and bounced off the Gerius Shield. At the same time, Entity allowed its strike to carry in the weightlessness of space, and flew in the other direction, hitting the Gerius Shield on the other side, making it come to a complete stop. This is… exhilarating! It thought gleefully, glaring at his opponent.

Death had also stopped, and also stared at the Entity, from the other side of the Gerius Shield. However, Death’s glare was filled with hatred and anger, rather than exhilaration. “I shall come to you, Entity!” Death vowed. “On the power that runs through my veins! I have come for you!” Death was obscured by a flash of the darkest flames ever witness by Entity, before vanishing.

A mere nanosecond before Death hit, Entity noted a strange shudder go through the Gerius Shield. The event barely had enough time to register, before the black-cloaked figure’s Scythe came for its neck. Vertically.

Rather than being split in half, Entity ducked to its right, managing to deflect the weapon with a well-placed strike from its left hand, rolling through outer space in an effort to come face-to-back with Death, before the figure could regain its senses.

Unfortunately for Entity, Death seemed to recuperate faster than it had imaged, and it barely had time to duck a slash with the double-scythe. Striking with its staff, Entity managed to lodge a firm hit against Death’s abdomen.

Death remained, the scythe now barreling down from above. Entity’s eyes went open, before it lifted a hand, and shot a beam of power at the blade. It didn’t scatter, but the suddenness of the blow did blast it out of Death’s hands. Death’s dead eyes opened slightly further. In anger or surprise, Entity had no time to determine. It released its staff, cupped its hands, and shot a blast of Warp Magic through Death’s abdomen.

A silent scream of pain etched itself on Death’s figure. Entity smirked, linked its hands together, and smashed them in the back of Death’s head, blasting him down to the planet’s surface, creating a crater approximately the size of Texas.

Lava bubbled up from the hole in the planet's crust and mantle, flowing as only lava could, right before exploding upward in a pillar of reddish orange, reaching kilometers skyward, slowly diminishing as gravity took its toll. Slowly the pillar diminished, before revealing a disheveled-looking Death re-ascending into the battlefield of space.

“You look like you've seen better days,” Entity smirked, raising its modified battle staff.

Death was panting as he rematerialized his scythe. The hole in his stomach had healed; however, the hole in his armor closed only slowly, revealing the well-defined abdominal muscles of the pale and deathly figure. “I... have come.... for you!” Death panted coldly, glaring at its target.

Entity simply lowered its weapon, and closed its eyes. “You're not as big a challenge as I had hoped you'd be,” it said calmly, the battle staff dematerializing. “I have grown bored of this game.” It vanished, rematerializing on the other side of the planet, where the surface hadn't ben destroyed by Death's earlier impact.

Death scowled, then vanished.

It faced Entity. “I will still destroy you,” he vowed.

Entity remained; arms crossed. “Then come and get me, and let me show you what Warp Magic can really do when fully unleashed!”

Death scowled deeper, and tightened his grip on the humongous scythe in his hands. He pushed off, sending debris flying in the other direction, readying the scythe to split the Entity in half.

Entity simply stood there; waiting.

Death came into range, and swung.

Entity still stood there.

The scythe came barreling down, ready to cleave Entity in half. Entity didn't budge, simply opened its eyes and stared directly into Death's cold eyes, resembling orbs of destruction. Right before the scythe was to touch the scales of the creature, a hole of some kind opened up, the blade of the scythe vanishing within in. Death's eyes went wide open.

Entity smirked. A couple of meters to its left, a second hole opened up, depositing the piece of scythe the first hole had consumed. It clattered to the ground, right before disassembling and completing the blade once more.

Death growled low in his throat, took a second swing. Again, a portal opened, and once again, it ate part of the blade, before depositing it back into normal space. However; this time, it deposited the blade on the other side of the galaxy.

No matter... the blade was Frognar Trianvi; a Bane of Darkness. It was whole again in under a nanosecond. Death shifted the scythe to one hand; took a swing with his fist. He screamed in pain as the portal severed his hand, right under the elbow joint, depositing it in the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.2 million light-years away.

Death jumped back, feeling his Gerius state regenerate his severed limb. “Damn you...” he growled in pain, frustration, and in sheer and utter anger.

Entity smirked. “You can not touch me, Frederic Fromthefield. I will let you exhaust yourself, before destroying you!”

His limb regenerated, Death felt his energy level drop dangerously low. The drain of the Temporal Incursion Wave as it changed space and time... it was still there, and it would still be there for another hour and a half, at least... what a tactical error to make! Temporal Incursion... it should have worked... yet it hand't... and now it was draining his precious energy, keeping his reserves dangerously low.

Death shifted back into Frederic, who bared his teeth. “I can not let this pass...” he growled. Balling his fists, he demanded energy from the universe. “I summon the power of the Universe Eternal, the endless power that binds gravity, created matter and supports life!!” It was as if the Universe screamed around the two warriors, and for the first time, Entity actually felt something akin to fear.

The perceived power level of Frederic Fromthefield was exploding upward, to the point where it surpassed its previous maximum. The scream of pain from the universe was nothing compared to the scream of rage that came from Frederic's throat, however, and Entity took a step back before it could catch itself.

“He's... he's actually doing it!” Ami whispered. “But the threefold rule...”

“It's necessary,” Daphnix answered her from his place in the shield. “But as a last resort only... Fred's desperate.”

“Can't we help him!?” Buffy screamed. “There's 23 of us! We can do something!”

Jennifer shook her head. “No... we need to maintain the shield. And even the 23 of us can't stand against the ruling Supreme Commander. He's got the maximum authority, remember?”

“Yes...” Buffy grunted. “The universe will obey him more than it does us... but I still want to do SOMETHING!”

“We're maintaining the Gerius Shield, Buff...” Xander replied. “That's doing our job.”

Buffy sulked, then nodded. “It's just so frustrating to see him fighting by himself, unable to help...”

“We all feel that way, Buffy,” Usagi answered with conviction. “Believe me... we all feel that way.” The latter was said with such venom that it barely sounded like the usually nice and friendly Sailor Moon.

Frederic vanished, reappearing next to the Entity aiming a Blast of the Heavens at its head. The Blast vanished in the sinkhole. Entity smirked; right before a second hole opened up, depositing the Blast of the Heavens... directly behind its back, hitting the Entity dead-on.

“You're not the only one who can open dimensional rifts, asshole,” Frederic growled darkly. “Whatever you teleport away, I will port back.”

Entity screamed as the Blast washed over it, threatening to disintegrate it across space and time and dimension. More powerful than before it was... and Entity pressed its body to its limits to counter it before it completely destroyed it.

Frederic watched, grinning, as the purple energy started to assimilate more and more of the Entity's body, despite its best efforts to halt the progress. But then... then Frederic's smile froze, and vanished. Entity smirked, screaming in glee as the purple energy was pushed back, its body rematerializing.

“NO!!!” Frederic screaming, flinging Blast after Blast at the creature, hoping to change the tide. The energy competing with the Entity for control over its body increased in power and intensity with each Blast Frederic flung at it, but still it was of no use. Entity was winning, slowly pushing back the energy of the Blasts of the Heavens, now that it was adapting to it, the progress was faster and faster.

Frederic growled, pushing his hands together, forming an even bigger blast, draining more energy from his reserves than was technically allowed, draining the power directly from the universe, knowing that he was using the life-force of living creature all throughout the universe, effectively killing people to have the energy needed to power his weapons of destruction.

Entity was just about to come out of the battle of control when Frederic's new weapon hit. Entity screeched, but its new resistances allowed it to overcome this weapon as well.

He keeps increasing... he'll drain the entire universe to destroy me, Entity realized, smirking darkly. It won't do him much good... but it's no fun to see him use energy from others, rather than from himself. It looked up. I'll force him to make a decision. This worked on Lord Sorcerer, too.

It lifted a clawed hand to the skies, and readied its weapon.

Frederic frowned in confusion.

Entity smirked, and shot off a beam.

Recognition struck Frederic's mind. He vanished, trying to stop the blast.

High up; in her place in the Gerius Shield, Jennifer never knew what happened, until something struck her dead-on.

Frederic froze.

Jennifer didn't know what had hit her. Did she feel pain? No... not really. It was a strange sensation of detachment that she felt, along with the strange vertigo she had gotten used to as a Gerius, the sensation of appearing in a new environment through displacement of some kind.

“Where am I...?” she whispered, looking around. She tried her powers. They weren't where she left them... Closing her eyes, Jennifer looked deep within herself. Her eyes opened with a startled, frightened look. “I'm dead.”

 

Frederic fell to the ground, in time to catch the body of his wife, falling from the skies. “Jenny... no... not Jenny...”

“Yes, Jenny,” Entity smirked.

Frederic didn't seem to hear him, lifted a hand. “Guardian!”

Through time and space and dimension, through the Gerius Shield even, Frederic's summon was heard, received, and acknowledged. The Guardian of the Crossroads appeared where Frederic had summoned her.

“Bring... her... back!” he ordered.

Guardian looked sadly at the body, and shook her beautiful head. “You know there are tens of trillions of souls in the Crossroads... many of whom can't be identified... don't even know themselves. You know I can't identify her...”

Frederic scowled, clicked his arm until it pointed next to Guardian. “'Wise One!!”

Once again, Frederic's summon cut through the Gerius Shield, brining the Wise One, Executioner for the Gods of the Universe, directly to the battlefield. “Order her... Bring back my wife!” Frederic screamed at the deity while he was still on the ground, clutching at the body of his wife.

The Wise One looked at the body, then sighed sadly. “You know, Young Gerius... you know it’s not possible...”

“In theory it is!” Frederic screamed.

“Yes, but in practice, we don't know where her soul is, how it's called, or what it looks like,” the Wise One replied gently, while turning to the Entity. “YOU! I destroyed you!”

“Huh,” Entity huffed. “You threw a Black Hole at me. That's not going to get rid of me.”

The Wise One balled his fists, and shook in anger. “I wish I could destroy you directly!”

Meanwhile, the truth started to sink in with Frederic, and he slowly bent over, clutching Jennifer's body to his face, weeping. “Jenny... my Jenny...”

Outside the atmosphere, the Gerius Shield was shaking with energy. “Our turn, team!” Ami screamed in fury, vanishing. Daphnix stared after her, not believing his lovely girl would actually assumed his leadership role. He was even more stunned that the Gerius followed her... not even thinking about waiting for him. He scowled darkly in rage at the Entity, clicked to full power, and went after the Gerius.

When you can't beat them... JOIN THEM! And that thing has a thing or two coming from me. Nobody... NOBODY... kills Jennifer!

 

“Why didn't you come earlier?” Guardian asked the Wise One. “It looks as if they could really have used your help.”

“We were busy elsewhere... and usually, a Gerius temporal Incursion is the end of things,” the Wise One answered, somewhat coldly. “And I can't interfere... this thing isn't a divine being. It's not even a being... it doesn't have a soul. Plus, it was created by someone who was on the side of evil at the time. Which makes it an agent for the Destroyers, and thus, I can't interfere when it challenges a Gerius.”

The Guardian scowled, dipping her head once, glaring at the fight between 22 remaining Gerius and the Entity. Entity merely stood there, remaining in place, repelling the Gerius' attacks as if they were nothing.

Huh. Pathetic. None of them get above 75... They're not even on the same scale as Frederic Fromthefield. Entity's eyes continued to be locked on the broken figure, holding his wife's lifeless body. Come on... blow yourself to pieces against me!

Frederic didn't hear. He didn't see. He didn't even have the sensation of touch. All he felt was pain. Pain and death, as he pressed her cooling body against his face, and wept. She was dead.

Dead.

And not coming back.

Entity.

It had killed Jennifer.

His wife... Jennifer.

Frederic's eyes opened as he looked up from her corpse. Entity killed Jennifer. It slowly penetrated his brain. She's dead, and can't be brought back. His face turned from an emotionless blankness into a visage of rage. But she HAS to be brought back!!!

He screamed, and a thought struck him, a memory from his recent dreams, only now it made perfect sense to something deep within. The Konoha Lotus blossoms twice!

Entity smiled. The Gerius felt chills run down their spines, and redoubled their efforts at the sound of pain and rage that came from their leader's throat.

Frederic's eyes, orbs of gray and blue, changed... changed into something else as the whites turned a vicious darkness, seemingly sucking up light, and his pupils turned the red of blood. I... MUST... bring... her back!!!

Alter-Energy came from the ground around him, flashing to the skies as if it were some giant upside-down tornado, halfway obscuring Frederic and Jennifer within.

Frederic's face was etched in pain... a horrible pain born from desperation, of depriving, born out of death and destruction. The Wounded Heart that was demanding revenge. His mouth opened, as if screaming, yet no sound came out.

A shudder went through the planet, and the fighting of the Gerius against the Entity halted; having accomplished nothing more but buying time for their leader to regain his senses.

One piece of soil had disintegrated.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Only then, after the fifth piece of soil had shuddered into Alter Energy, did Frederic gently put down the body of his wife, and stood up, unaffected by the Alter Storm that was swiping around him. “I swear, My Love, that this shall not go unavenged.” He turned, clicking his boots together.

Frederic screamed.

His body exploded, merging with the Alter Soil. “Entity!” his voice sounded, as he rematerialized, dressed in the white-glowing armor of an Arch Angel, and a beautiful pair of pure white wings stuck out his back. “Entity! I am taking you as my personal enemy! By killing my wife... I am now totally... and utterly... PISSED OFF!” As he shouted his last two words, the beautiful white armor changed to pitch-black, the helmet on his head changing to a demon's mask, his shoulders encased in demon's skulls. And the wings... the wings changed to giant black bat-like wings.

He looked like a demon.

Deep inside his mind, Frederic sat down behind one of the terminal in his mental control center. Shadow, looking just as bad as Frederic, sat down next to him.

“Fred...”

“It is time, Shadow.”

“Those techniques are forbidden,” she whispered. “They could kill you… us.”

“They’re forbidden, except for the defense of those you would die for,” Frederic answered coldly. “Shadow, I can not do this alone.”

“I know,” she said, dipping her head, looking at the terminal in front of her. “Unlock KISET.”

Frederic dipped his head. “Thank you.” KISET unlock – does primary existence concur? The computer asked.

“Let's get this asshole,” Shadow answered Frederic, who nodded once, and glared at the primary screen in front of the control center.

“Computer, I concur. Unlock and implement, KISET mode.”

The room shuddered; the white lighting was replaced by a dull reddish glow that seemed to come from the walls. The giant computer screen in front of the building turned black.

 

KISET program initiated

Ki

I

Streamline

Efficiency

Techniques

 

Currently: 0%

Neural pressure: 75%

 

Frederic grabbed the armrests of his chair, and Shadow did the same. Currently: 5%. The building started shaking on its foundations. 10%.

“You know there's a chance we won't survive,” Shadow whispered.

Frederic nodded curtly. “My genetic structure has brought me this far. But now it is time to shed it, and allow me ki to flow as it was meant to! The genetic modifications done to me before birth have given me greater mental abilities, but they destroyed the ki-pathways within my body, twisting and turning them into something never meant to be. Now it is time I recreate those pathways, format them in the manner supposed to be, permitting the next step.”

Shadow let out her breath, and nodded, hands clenching at the armrests, bracing herself.

*****

Outside, Frederic's body started to walk forward, at Super Two, toward the Entity. It was as if the body had no emotions that could be seen, safe from the power that kept rising. Entity smirked. It didn't exactly know where it would end, but he was sure that it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Frederic's body kept walking, turning Super Three. Higher and higher its power kept rising, and Entity's smirk never lost its intensity. This was where it was waiting for! Frederic was going to annihilate himself, like Lord Sorcerer had done! Entity could have rubbed its hands in glee, even as power swept up dust, dirt, and small rocks, throwing them around in a tornado of forces sweeping up from the Gerius Commander’s body. A shudder went through the planet, and Frederic’s power exploded on a geometric scale.

*****

Hikaru and Touya were walking away from the Go Institute, where they had just completed a match for the pro standing. As usual, the two were bickering abut the outcome. Suddenly, Touya froze and looked at the skies, one hand subconsciously clenching over his heart.

“Touya? Touya what’s wrong? You’re so pale!” Hikaru shouted, grabbing his friend’s shoulders. No matter how much they fought, Hikaru had developed respect for the other boy.

“Hikage… chan…” he whispered. Hikaru pulled back, as if punched in the face.

“What’s wrong with her?” he asked, voice trembling slightly.

“She’s in pain,” Touya replied in a whisper. “So much pain…”

*****

Tina burst in the house, her usual vibrant self, looking immediately for the rest. Not finding anybody, she proceeded to the backyard, where she found the people she was looking for.

“Landlady-san? Kaoru-sempai?” the blonde asked, concerned when she saw her two friends stare oddly into space, a worried expression on their faces.

“It… it’s Frederic-sama,” the gentle blue-haired girl whispered. “He’s… he’s in so much pain…”

“No way!” Tina shouted. “He’s like… like… power incarnated! What could hurt him?”

“That… that’s why we’re worried,” Kaoru whispered.

*****

“What the…?” Vegeta demanded angrily when something flared across his power senses. “Who is… SHADOW? Where the hell is she!?”

“She’s in another universe…” Goku whispered. “Like last time we felt her…”

“But this is different, Dad,” Gohan told his father. “This is… it isn’t rage.”

“No,” Piccolo interjected. “It’s pain.” He blinked. “Pain so intense I’ve never felt it before.”

“Whoever caused it… he’s going to pay,” Krillin said. “I can feel it…”

We all can, no doubt, King Kai communicated from his planet. We can all feel it…and I’d hate to be in that universe when she’s maxing out.

*****

Buried deep within SpaCECoB, Alpha Labs was a hive of activity as all the leading researchers and scientists had clocked in for duty. The Twins were there. And when the Fromthefield Twins were present, tremendous things could be achieved. Everybody wanted to be there, to talk to them, run their projects by them, get their advice, their input, their brainpower.

David and Jessica smiled all the way through the proceedings, happily assisting wherever they could, sometimes doing two, even three things at once. David’s mind was tapping on two keyboards at once, while Jessie, right behind him, was tapping directly into his thought-processes, brining his thoughts directly into fruition through real-life testing.

As busy as they were, they froze suddenly, and Jessie dropped the vial she had been holding.

“Mom…”

“Mommy…”

Those two words, spoken at the same time, froze the entire hive of activity that was Alpha Labs.

“Somebody killed…” David whispered.

“Mommy,” Jessie finished.

“WHAT!?” Dean Anderson, head of Alpha Labs, screamed. “Who did this? How is it possible?”

The twins shook their heads in misery. “Nothing… nothing should be able…” their eyes opened further. “Father… He’s in pain…” they screamed, balancing back, grabbing for anything that could support them. Their young hand slipped off the tables, and they hit the ground. “Father is unleashed…” they whispered at the same time, pressing their hands to their forehead. “So… much… PAIN! So… much… power…”

*****

Captain O’Connor was showing Marc Dhondt a couple of tricks she had picked up before he had joined the crew, when they suddenly froze, and stared at each other.

“How long before we’re ready?” O’Connor asked, deadly calm.

“Another 48 hours, ma’am,” the technician on the bridge spoke. “But we do have QDD at 100%. Just like sensors, shields, and Torpedoes. Annihilators are at 75%.”

“You’ve got five minutes to disembark,” O’Connor whispered, sitting down in the command chair. It still creaked. “SpaCECoB command, this is the Dvoràk. We’re going… five minutes and ten seconds from now.”

“Excuse me, ma’am, but I am not leaving, and neither is my crew,” the technician told her. “We might come in handy.”

O’Connor smiled at him, and dipped her head. “Good to see the ESMF standards are as high as ever. SPaCECoB, we’re leaving.”

As is the entire fleet, Captain, the answer came. It sounded distorted through an unfinished communications system. Every hull with an engine is departing… Rendezvous is set for universe 78, the Ortega. We don’t know where Frederic is, but we’ll make sure he has a home to return to!

O’Connor nodded. “Set Defcon 5, and engage the engines.”

“Defcon Five, aye, Captain.”

“Engines engaged, Captain.”

Kathryn O’Connor nodded, settling in her creaking command chair. Frederic Fromthefield was her commander, and she’d be damned if she sat by while he suffered by himself, damnit!

*****

Frederic's power level kept increasing, faster and faster. Long ago he had crossed the Super-four threshold. The Gerius stared in muted awe as Entity took a step back. “What... what's happening? He should have exploded by now!!!”

The Wise One shook his head. “Frederic... I do hope you know what you're doing... physical battle can't destroy that creature.”

*****

The Command Center of Fredric’s mind resembled a war-zone as the gauge on the mains screen kept climbing toward completion.

“We’re at 85%!” Frederic screamed as sparks of a ruptured incoming neural connection showered him, singing his flesh as he was stubbornly locked to the console in front of him.

“Neural pressure is at 250%!” Shadow screamed right next to him, her pain more pronounced as she fought for control over his body and mind.

“Never mind!” Frederic screamed. “We… can not… fail!”

Shadow scowled, yet kept silent as the completion gauge slipped to 90%. The front row of consoles exploded as a giant support beam from the concrete ceiling fell down on it. Light from overloading neural connections streamed in, bathing the center in a strange otherworldly white light. Rather than soothing, it was harsh and fierce, and it pissed Frederic off yet another nudge.

“Heartbeat… 220 beats per minute!” Shadow screamed. “Neural pressure exceeding 260!” She turned to Frederic. “Fred! We’re dying!!!”

“Failure… is not an option,” he grunted. Shadow didn’t hear him… but the look on his face made his point more than clear. “For Jennifer… for Jennifer I will do the impossible.” He looked up to his console, right before it exploded in his face, sending chards of glass and leaping sparks of energy fly. He screamed in pain as his mental eyes burned with glass. “Ninety-five percent!”

“Neural pressure rising rapidly! Over 300%!” Shadow screamed back, ducking just in time as the giant main screen exploded. Frederic had no such luck. He remained in his seat, felt the burning of the wave, felt the biting of the crystal-like substance of the giant viewer shower him. But the pain… it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. His blind eyes could no longer see, but he did see Jennifer.

She smiled at him.

And all the pain fell away.

“One hundred percent…” Shadow whispered. “KISET complete…”

*****

Frederic's power level had exploded to unknown heights, to a point where he should have turned Super-umpteen or something a LONG time ago. He stopped walking, and closed his fiercely-glowing eyes. His power level fell.

To an absolute zero.

“What the...!?” Entity demanded. “You're... dead?”

The Gerius too, stared. Nobody had a power level of zero. Except for the dead. Then, Daphnix shook his head. “Like Alter... his ki no longer leaks. No more flashy energy clouds... like Alter, no sound, no shaking of ground, no fancy light-effects. His ki is 100% utilized now.” He shook his head again. “What a guy...”

The Wise One, however, felt something else stir within Frederic’s body. Something… darker. Right there and then, he made a decision.

“Young Gerius, I can turn you back to the Phalanx you once were… it would re-enable you to use the Second Level of the Phalanx powers!” the Wise One shouted. Guardian stared at him as if he were crazy, while the Gerius present smiled. They thought Frederic would accept the offer with both hands.

Frederic, however, never took his eyes off his opponent, and slowly lifted his left arm. “No.”

The Wise One nodded, having anticipated this. His senses were so much more precise than a Gerius’… he knew there was something else brewing deep within Frederic’s heart and soul. The Gerius, on the other hand, couldn’t feel this. Their jaws opened in shock.

“What!?” Daphnix demanded. “He just offered to make you a god, and you turn him down?”

Frederic dropped his arm slowly, never answering, and closed his eyes.

*****

Somewhere far away, in a stone temple that was hundreds of thousands of times larger than its exterior dimensions indicated, was a small square room, and inside that room stood an altar. And upon that altar stood a bright white-glowing stone, shaped in the shape of a flatted pyramid.

A shudder went through the room; indeed, it went throughout the entire temple. In front of the altar, a man materialized, dressed in the Ancient Plate Battle Garb, wearing a massive horned helmet on his head.

The apparition turned to look in a certain direction. The walls vanished, to be replaced by a murky darkness, darkness that seemed to flow from the walls and surround him, before coagulating, forming into the scene of battle; the planet, the sky, the Gerius… and Frederic and the Entity.

“It is time… time to tap finally into the power I awoke within you when I assisted last time,” the apparition whispered. “It is time, My Master, for you to regain some of the knowledge that was once locked within me.”

The figure stretched a hand out to Frederic. “Remember… the Lotus of Konoha Blossoms Twice!”

*****

Frederic’s hands came together on automatic. “The Konoha Lotus… blossoms twice,” he whispered. Entity blinked.

“What does that mean?” the creature demanded angrily.

Frederic didn’t answer.

Inside his mind, the control center had been repaired. Frederic turned to Shadow. “It is time.”

Shadow shook her head. “I can not agree to this… this is even more dangerous than those KISET techniques!”

Frederic sighed. “Shadow… we must. Jenny must be avenged. We must do this. We have to crawl through the eye of the needle not once, not twice, but many times if we are to be successful. We are to become… become what we were meant to be.”

“Gai-sensei told me that I could never use those techniques! That’s why I forgot about them! Blocked them from my memory! Why they resurfaced, I will probably never know, but they are forbidden! They will kill, not like KISET that has a chance of killing… THIS technique WILL kill us!”

“And it will kill him as well,” Frederic responded coldly, dipping his head to the main screen, where Entity was, frozen in time while the two personalities battled it out.

Shadow shook her head. “We already blossomed once, when you tapped into the final strengths of the Gerius, draining energy from the universe in the process. The second blossom of the lotus flower of Konoha village… is the last one.” She looked up. “Blossoming a second time will kill us. Don’t ask me to condone that.”

Frederic sighed, and looked at the ground. “I have no choice. There’s no other way to defeat this creature. And we’d be with Jenny afterward.”

“And the children?” Shadow asked, voice actually quivering. “We can’t leave them!”

Frederic’s eyes exploded in fire as he grabbed her shoulders and physically lifted her spirit-form off the ground. “I am doing this for them, damnit! I can not let that THING run loose in the omniverse! I have to stop it, and I will do it without you if I have to!”

Shadow was shaking now, never having felt such fury come off him. She nodded, once, and he lowered her to the ground. “The word… has been given.”

Frederic dipped his head, once, and walked to a door that hadn’t been there earlier. Around the door, in curling ancient writings, stood a text.

When the Word has been given, speak the Word, and entrance shall be granted.

Frederic stood still. “The Word has been given.”

Shadow stopped next to him, full strength, ready to go forward and not look back. “The Konoha Lotus Blossoms Twice.”

The door creaked open, and the next moment, energy flooded the mental control center.

*****

Frederic’s eyes opened, settling upon the Entity. He crouched, and crossed his arms in front of his chest, right fist over his left shoulder, left fist over his right. Wind swept up, going straight up, seemingly coming out of the ground beneath Frederic’s feet, moving out slightly before going straight up.

“Wind?” Ami asked. “But his ki… it’s zero…”

“And it’s no longer able to generate wind,” Daphnix answered her. “What he’s doing… is something else.”

Frederic grunted slightly. “Gate One… Kai-Mon known as the Initial Gate… open,” he whispered, a slight tremor going through the planet’s surface as his body momentarily glowed in an otherworldly green light, feeling the energy explode from behind his left eye, the location of the Initial Gate.

Daphnix blinked, mouth open in shock as he stumbled back. “No! It can’t be!”

“Yes,” the Wise One whispered. “It is…”

“He’s opening the Celestial Body Gates!” Daphnix screamed. “The body’s internal safeguards, limiting the amount of power one can generate!” he swallowed. “If he opens them all… he’ll be able to release all of his soul’s power… but he’ll die in the process…”

“He can’t DO that!” Ami shouted.

Frederic grunted deeper now, the Initial Gate having released the limits of his muscles, enabling him to use 100% of their power. It was like going as far beyond ordinary Super as Super was beyond normal. “Gate Two… Kyu-Mon known as the Heal Gate… OPEN!” Again, a tremor went through the planet, and the green glow surrounded his body. The wind picked up, and the skies darkened and were streaked with thunder as Frederic’s stamina was released, the second Gate, located behind his right eye, opened.

Entity smirked. It was going to have a lot of new power to absorb! Curious, it kept looking, awaiting Frederic’s new power… or his demise because of it. This was going to be… enjoyable!

Frederic’s face twisted deeper, as the second gate’s opening reached 100%. Greenish energy hung like a cloud around his feet and lower legs, two tendrils of it spiraling upward, twisting around his body as the ground-generated wind picked up in intensity, ever higher, ever faster, ever stronger.

“Gate three… Sei-Mon known as the Life Gate!” He growled. “OPEN!” He felt the power surge through his body as the third gate, at the top of his spine, started opening, exploding his immortal energy to its highest attainable levels. His balled fists cracked as his muscles broke the bones within them, right before they snapped themselves. However, the energy building around his body prevented anyone but him from hearing those horrible sounds of a body mangling, destroying, itself.

Entity took a step back as the wind kept rising. The Gerius, protected by Universal protection, suffered no ill effects, but they too, felt worried. Frederic’s ki was at zero level. It wasn’t physically capable of generating these effects anymore, yet here they were. So what was generating the fury of the Wind?

“Gate four… Sho-Mon known as the Harm Gate!” Frederic screamed. “OPEN!” The planet shook on its axis, and everyone present felt it. Entity’s eyes opened, and its face started showing a mild concern. The Wise One and the Guardian shook their heads, protected by forces beyond even the Jokilar Gerius, and only felt worry for the person they could only see as their friend.

A cover of clouds rolled out over the skies, and the green energy around Frederic turned a fiery red, the cloud expanding in size until it covered the lower half of his body. The muscles in his arms and legs snapped, right after pulverizing the bones they connected, his only support now coming from the wind that came from the ground, supporting him like a rag doll.

Lightning flashed down, striking the horrible spectacle of Frederic’s power releasing from a little further down his spine. A new tremor went through the ground, and now it actually started to deform, twisting up and down as if the rock had suddenly become a massive sea.

“Fire, earth, Wind, and Water,” Daphnix whispered.

“The very source of the Elements is reacting to him,” Ami whispered in reply, her voice carrying with startling clarity to the other Gerius. “Frederic-sama is changing the very fabric of the universe.”

“No,” the Wise One corrected her. “The fabric of the universe is changing in reaction to his power. He’s not doing it… it’s doing it itself to accommodate him.”

“Gate… FIVE!” Frederic snarled, bending through crushed legs. “To-Mon known as the Limit Gate! OPEN!” The energy cloud exploded in size, right before changing into a bright sphere of energy that hung around him like a protective shield. Slowly, as the gate located two-third down his spine opened fully, the red glow changed to a bright white, and the Entity squinted to be able to see. The waving of the planet’s surface increased in strength, and it unnerved the Entity slightly. What in the Incarnation of Hell was going on here? What was this Frederic Fromthefield!?

Pressure front is rated at 75, the Entity’s senses told it, and that scared it more than anything. This simple wind was just as strong as the Gerius’ attacks on it right before Frederic had rejoined the battle!?

“Gate six!” Frederic’s voice carried through the white of the energy that hung around him, “Kei-Mon known as the View Gate! OPEN!” the shout came, followed immediate after by a scream as the gate at the bottom of his spine was BLASTED open. The waving surface of the planet disintegrated at the same time as the glow of his body increased in intensity. Matter of the planet’s surface waved up, before seemingly falling apart into subatomic sludge, which colored soon after into bright rainbow-like effects.

The wave rolled out, away from Frederic, running along the surface of the planet, disappearing from sight. Entity had to lift itself into the skies to avoid being thrown to the longer existing surface as Frederic’s power changed the entire planet into one huge Alter Ocean.

*****

Back in the temple, the apparition nodded. “The View Gate is open. Now… see, my master,” the huge man said, extending his arm toward the powering figure in front of him, even as the Stone of Ages pulsed angrily behind him.

*****

Frederic’s eyes opened in wonder, before setting in a resolute manner. Jennifer!!!!! The sight of his beautiful wife settled in front of his eyes, and it gave him strength. The strength and power needed to brave these last two… these last two gates that would kill him. It gave him the courage to look death in the face, and spit in it.

“Gate… seven!” Frederic screamed in a pant. “Kyo-Mon known as the Wonder Gate! OPEN!” Frederic screamed, more in pain and fury than anything else, as the Gate located right above his groin started opening.

The brilliant white light took on a hellish tint as it increased further in intensity, burning the retinas of the people present, even with their eyes closed and heads averted. Well, everyone except for the God and the Guardian. Even the Gerius were affected, and that scared them.

But… as the energy went up in strength and intensity, so did it go up in heat. And as it reached a certain temperature, it happened.

The atmosphere surrounding Frederic reached the point in which it spontaneously combusted, the very heat so high that the air turned to plasma, fusing hydrogen into helium, and helium into carbon. In a single flash, the Entity felt its body scorching as the atmosphere fused, literally burning off in a matter of seconds. A thin layer of carbon flakes vanished in the ball of expanding and contracting Alter Energy that the planet had become. 

Blast had a strength of 115, Entity’s senses reported, and the Entity stared with open mouth, its retinas having adapted to the intensity of the hellish supernova-like white light that had become Frederic’s body. But, deep within the shell of energy, Frederic’s body was starting to disintegrate. Cracks appeared at his finger and toe-nails, around his eyes, mouth, and ears. Deep-white light flowed out of those cracks. Frederic felt it. He knew… his body was starting to blow apart at the seams, unable to contain the power of his soul. Contrary to Sorcerer… Frederic had managed to release more of his soul’s power before blowing up.

Frederic saw Jennifer once more and actually smiled, despite the pain. Her image gave him strength. He would do this.

“Gate eight! Shi-Mon known as the Death Gate… OPEN!”

*****

The apparition closed its illusionary eyes, and waited.

*****

Somewhere far away, a Frederic settled behind a monitor screen. It is starting, Father, LOBO whispered.

Frederic shook his head. “It’s not time yet, LOBO. Remember… it would take 20 years.”

This IS stage one, Father. At these power levels, my sensors are notoriously inaccurate.

Frederic’s jaw opened at that moment. “Dear Gods… look at those readings… even across the barriers of the Hyperverse…”

I would assume your twin is about to destroy himself… if only I didn’t know about 20 years in his future.

*****

Frederic’s body couldn’t handle the stress. The cracks struck out, reaching each other, tearing further, literally taking his body apart at the seams. Frederic screamed in pain as his body died, taking away everything he wanted… his hopes, his dreams… his revenge.

Jennifer.

He wanted to avenge her. Frederic growled in rage and fury, rather than pain, balling fists through sheer mental energy as his muscles and bones had long ago been reduced to mush.

The resulting explosion even had the God and the Guardian scurry for protection, raising their arms, summoning more power to their shields. The Gerius, on sheer instinct, teleported five seconds into the future to escape the Blast Wave.

Entity followed them.

The energy discharged fell so suddenly it was astonishing. The planet’s surface coagulated into a barren, gray, desolate landscape, as if the planet were a mere giant meteorite. And above… above them stood the stars, an unhampered view due to a lack of atmosphere.

And there stood Frederic, erect, arms at his sides, looking as if he were a statue. Entity smirked.

“You actually survived… impressive,” Entity sneered on a mental broadcast. Frederic’s face stood emotionless as he started walking. He didn’t grin, didn’t smile, didn’t even display rage. His eyes stood dead as he walked toward Entity.

The creature frowned, dropped into a combat stance. “But it looks like you blew a couple of gaskets up there, though,” it sneered some more.

Frederic didn’t answer, just kept walking.

Entity blinked in surprise, then smirked, and leapt. His fist struck Frederic right in the abdomen… and went right through!?

“What the…?” Entity asked, too stunned to pull back.

Frederic remained; not a single emotion displayed across his face. His right hand came up, grabbing the Entity’s fist, sticking out of his back, and pulled… sideways? Entity stared in absolute astonishment as Frederic’s body warped, seemingly shaping in a fluid motion, like thick jelly. Suddenly, the arm popped free, and Frederic’s body warped back to its original posture.

“Im… impossible!” Entity screamed, trashing against the grip Frederic had on its wrist.

“His body has been destroyed,” the Wise One whispered, having to back it up with divine energy now that there was no atmosphere to carry a voice. “That is Frederic’s soul…” he shook his head. “But it’s right. That is impossible… a soul can’t have physical substance in the mortal world!”

Frederic glanced at the God, who shut up immediately. The piercing dead eyes refocused on the Entity, still struggling to free its arm from what appeared to be the Grip of the Universe itself. Without a single display of emotion, Frederic jerked on the arm. Just ten centimeters backward. Normally, it should have pulled the Entity with it.

Instead, the arm became detached just below the shoulder, causing the monster to scream.

“Just… ten centimeters,” Daphnix whispered. “Ten centimeters…”

“He accelerated from zero to a thousand times light speed instantaneously,” Ami whispered, dematerializing her Alter Scanner. “That is…”

“That’s Fred,” Daphnix said with a cold grin.

Frederic, meanwhile, kept staring at the screaming creature, who was no longer screaming in pain, but rather in rage, fear, and surprise.

Attack level of 15,000!! It will take ten minutes to adapt!! Entity’s senses screamed. It regenerated its arm, but without the necessary modifications.

“How-” Frederic didn’t let it finish the question. He was still holding the arm, and now slammed it across the Entity’s face, literally blowing it off its feet and off the ground, disintegrating the arm in the process as it hit Entity’s face at a couple thousand times the speed of light.

Attack level… 45,000! Entity read from its sensors after it regenerated, still off the ground. “Who are you!?” it demanded.

Frederic lifted his right arm toward the creature, hand held like a claw, pointing in the Entity’s direction. “Die,” Frederic whispered, jerking his hand closed.

The Gerius screamed. The Wise one jerked his eyes closed, and averted his head. The Guardian… screamed along with the Gerius. It was as if the very omniverse had com to life, banishing a single monster, expelling it for all times. This was a Temporal Incursion, a blast wave that eliminated the Entity from the omniverse, all universes, all times, all places… instantaneously, rather than a slow-moving wave that had to go through time and space.

Frederic dropped his arm, and turned. Walking to Jennifer’s body, he halted in front of it, and looked down. “Jenny.” He said on that emotionless tone that seemed to be part of his present incarnation. He looked up at the Wise One. “Bring her back.”

“Young Gerius…”

Frederic’s eyes pierced the Guardian’s, not letting the Wise One finish. “Bring her back.”

“You know that I…” her too, he didn’t let finish, dead eyes refocusing on Jennifer. 

“Then I shall do it myself,” the Gerius Commander said, brining his hands together. Guardian and God exchanged a look, neither knowing what to make of this. If they couldn’t do it, then how could Frederic possibly…?

Frederic’s fingers took on a position, seemingly by themselves. The present Gerius recognized it… it was an ancient Gerius battle-sign, signifying the Heart. Frederic’s fingers shifted. Mind. Again. Body. Again. Soul. Earth. Wind. Fire. Water.

Daphnix frowned. “Eight elements…”

Faster and faster, Frederic’s fingers and hands rolled through the eight signs. Heart, Mind, Body, Soul. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water.

Energy, blue in color, swept up around him in outreaching arms, rotating counter-clockwise. Heart, Mind, Body, Soul. Frederic’s movements kept increasing in speed, and the energy kept increasing its pace… and reach… to match, pumping energy into the universe. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water.

The Gerius squeezed their eyes when something swept across their senses. “Time… it’s slowing down,” Ami whispered.

Heart, Mind, Body, Soul.  Frederic’s pace was blindingly fast now, almost to the point where even the Gerius couldn’t hope to follow. Time slowed down… before coming to a standstill. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. Time kept changing… slowly flowing back now.

“You can’t undo in the past what has been done to her soul in the present, Young Gerius,” the Wise One whispered.

Frederic’s cold, dead eyes glanced barely at the God, shutting him up with that single look. Heart, Mind, Body, Soul. Time’s reversal was increasing in pace now, and Frederic’s hands detached, still forming sigils as if they were still together. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. Seconds were ticking backward now, yet no sign of the battle with the Entity was showing. Did Frederic remove even the battle from the omniversal timeline? The Gerius couldn’t believe the power their leader had used…

Heart, Mind, Body, Soul, The energy around Frederic lashed out, expanding beyond the planet’s surface, reaching to the stars. Frederic’s arms stopped in a certain position, hands and fingers still drawing sigils. Twin orbs of yellow light lit up where his hands were drawing in mid-air. Time was flowing backward by minutes, the pace increasing. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water.

Again, Frederic’s arms moved, drawing his hands to other places, seemingly well-rehearsed, drawing upon some deep and arcane knowledge buried below billions of years of passing time within the Gerius’ memories. Two more spots lit up as Time’s reversal increased to ticking off whole days at a time now. Heart, Mind, Body, Soul.

Time flew backward, no longer flowing, but racing into the past. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. Again, two orbs of light were drawn in yet other spots before him. Time was going back by full years now. Heart, Mind, Body, Soul. Ever-increasing, Time was taking them on a journey into the past, the starts overhead changing positions so fast that there were streaks in the sky. Centuries. Millennia. Eons. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water.

The Gerius felt an overwhelming sense of vertigo overwhelm them, as sensitive temporal senses overloaded, unable to cope with the impossibility of one man reversing time of an entire universe, taking them on an epic voyage through history, to a point only he knew when it would be. Billions of years ticked away, and Frederic put two more orbs in the special drawing in front of him. Heart, Mind, Body, Soul…

Finally, Time screeched to a halt, stopping in a fraction of an instant, throwing the Gerius present to the ground, and making God and Guardian stumble with the force of it. Frederic, unaffected, snapped his hands together in front of his chest, immediately drawing yet another orb. Life. His arms extended the furthest they could go, drawing a tenth sigil, and a tenth orb. Death.

Only now did the Gerius present recognize the mythical drawing Frederic had created. They looked up. Above their heads, ten galaxies rotated, close together, well in sight of each other. “The First Constellation… “ Daphnix whispered in awe. “The First Constellation of galaxies that existed when the Old Gerius were Guardians of the Omniverse, a mere 150 million years after it’s inception!”

“I don’t understand, Young Gerius. Why have you brought us to this time? Why not just teleport? Why turn back Time in this universe?” the Wise One demanded, actually sounding angry.

*****

“It is time. Remember the Exile!” the apparition in the temple screamed.

*****

“It… it’s happening,” Frederic whispered to LOBO.

He is going to do that which nobody could ever do, LOBO agreed. Is it this why we fled, it is this that will do that which should never be done.

Frederic merely nodded.

*****

Frederic looked up, ignoring the God’s question, glancing to the blackened sphere in the center of the constellation of galaxies. Extending his hand upward, the barren piece of rock that was the planet… started to move.

The Wise One looked up as well, and actually drew pale. “Young Phalanx!” the God screamed, falling back in how he had called his charge ever since he had met him. “You can not do that! The Force of the Big Bang can not be harnessed!”

Fredric ignored the Wise One, and the planet kept moving closer. The Wise One looked up once more, seeing the black sphere of the Center of the Universe approach, and glanced to his side to the Guardian of the Crossroads. He sighed, nodded, and lifted an arm.

“I must stop you, Young Phalanx…” before he had finished his speech, Ami ported in front of him, grabbing the God’s wrist.

“Then I shall be your first opponent, Lord Wise One,” the blue-haired girl stated, voice cold as ice, power building deep within her heart. “Frederic-sama knows what he is doing. Interrupt him, and I shall destroy you.”

“Not just you,” Daphnix whispered, stepping up next to the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We all will.” The other Gerius nodded grimly. The Wise One scowled, for a moment actually debating on destroying his own creations, then dropped the arm.

“You may have doomed the omniverse,” he whispered.

“Then we’ll rebuild it,” Ami stated, smiling slightly, and releasing the God’s arm.

“Creator of Life and Death, Force of Good and Evil, inceptor of Gods and Destroyers…” Frederic whispered, seemingly not having taken notice of what had happened so close. “Blast of Creation… hear me.”

The planet had neared the Black Sphere to the point where it blocked out even the constellation of galaxies. A dull rumble when through the sphere then: and dozens… no, hundreds… of flat tendrils shot out, forcing God and Guardian and Gerius alike to jump out of the way as the tentacles defended the remnants of the Big Bang.

“I warned you… the Force of Creation that started the omniverse can no be used so easily!” the Wise One shouted as he dodged another attack. “Even the Gods of the Universe are not capable of it!”

Frederic ignored him; remaining where he was, he was unaffected by the attacks. His arms kept pointing upward, when he spoke… in a language so old that it even made God and Gerius frown before recalling it an instant later. “What lies beyond the sky?” He groaned, and his voice took on a different infliction, one of youth, innocence as it seemingly answered itself. “Leading the Lost Child back to the Mother. Exile!”

His body started to glow softly, almost warmly, and a rumble went through the sphere, the attacking tendrils falling apart into billions of tiny pieces, drawn back to the sphere. A light appeared, and the entire outer rim of the Sphere fell apart as if it were some sort of cover that was now being lost. Slowly… the entire black sphere started to glow bright yellow and blues, deforming from a perfect sphere into a more elongated form.

Almost… like a ship.

Frederic’s voice was back to normal as he resumed, “The wave that colors the Earth in Gold!” And it was the innocent voice that answered, “The Breath of Spring that bringeth life… the wheat-covered Earth!”

Spheres of blue energy emitted from the golden sphere’s… ship’s… surface floated down gently toward the stunned group, and Frederic’s body glowed slightly more brightly. The transformation of the Sphere continued at an ever-increasing pace. “The path of the angel’s ascend!” he said, voice increasing in strength, his innocent-self answering, “Thou art part of the Great Winds! The Grand Stream.”

A Beam of Force lashed down from the ship to Frederic, connecting him to the same energy that had once created omniverses, connecting him to… the Grand Stream of Power, beyond even the energy grid that powers the Gods and Destroyers, part of a more ancient, more powerful force… the Force of Creation. His body glowed so bright now, that the light seemingly tugged at his hair and clothes.

As the Beam touched, a wave of energy went along the planet’s surface, everywhere it touched, grass and trees and shrubs sprung up. The Force of Creation… was creating life on a barren world, wrecked by battle. Frederic, however, didn’t end. “What lies beyond the memories?”

“The place where everything comes from… and everything returns to!” his innocent self answered with a strength of voice that it even made the Wise One stare. “The Blue Planet,” the innocent voice finished.

Deep within Exile, the dimensionaalschip, an ancient keyboard activated, and power flowed through systems it hadn’t used since the inception of the omniverse. Two-dimensional wings spread out, having width and breath, yet no height, completing the summoning of the Exile’s systems.

Frederic dropped his arm, content with the activation of the power of creation. He looked down upon Jennifer. “Gates… Gates of Heaven!” he commanded, looked up, spreading his arms, forcing the power of creation to do his bidding. Before him, beyond Jennifer’s body, a humongous double gate appeared, made of Gold, surrounding by a heavenly white light. Billions of voices sung heavenly tunes, filling the people present with contentment and peace.

Yet Frederic wasn’t content. Nor was he at peace. “Open!” the commanded, and the Guardian started to leap forward. Above them, Exile’s hull flashed with light as Frederic drew upon its powers, and slowly the Golden Gates of Heaven opened fully.

Like a shockwave, the opening of Heaven’s Gates traveled through the afterlife, and within moment, Frederic found himself holding back the tens of trillions of souls present in the Afterlife. He wasn’t interested in releasing them. He was only interested in one soul. Jennifer.

A heavenly white globe floated gentle out of the gates, settling first on Frederic’s shoulder. When he smiled gently at it, it floated to the body of Jennifer, settling on the chest, before being absorbed into it. Her eyes fluttered open moments later.

Frederic let out a small smile, and was about to close the Gates, when he noticed two more spheres he recognized. He snapped his fingers, and motioned to the bodies of Sorcerer and his Jennifer, suddenly transported through space and time, riding upon Exile’s power. The twin spheres rested on the edge of the portal, before vibrating from left to right, as if shaking no, before vanishing back in the masses of souls that lay beyond.

Frederic dipped his head, and closed his eyes. The Gates of Heaven closed up. He threw a last look up, and Exile’s power understood. Before the Grand Stream discontinued, it did one last thing… and that thing was to recreate Frederic’s body.

*****

The entire body of the Jokilar Gerius had gathered in the small room that housed the torpedo casing that housed both Jennifer and Sorcerer’s bodies. After all that happened, it was only fair for their bodies to be buried together.

Frederic stepped up, still walking a little unsteadily after everything he had been through, and stopped next to the open casing. “When I first met Sorc, he was everything I hated about myself, everything I didn’t want to be, he had become: power-hungry, war-mongering, sadistic… evil. Yet, as time progressed, and we clashed time and again, I noticed something else about him, too.

“As I love my Jennifer, he loved his. And there was nothing that he wouldn’t… and couldn’t… do in defense of her. When she had been kidnapped, he came to me, who was his arch-enemy, and begged for help. That first opened my eyes that maybe… deep down… we were somewhat alike.” Frederic drew a breath. “As time progressed, we began to get to know each other. And even though he remained a sadistic and evil bastard right to the end, he died the only way I could envision him going: in a blast of power to defend the one person who meant more to him than anything in the omniverse. And I know, because it holds true for me as well.”

He glanced to Jennifer, who smiled sadly at him. He was happy… happy to have her back. Fredric turned back to the double coffin. “He threw himself into the fight, and used the one thing that he knew would kill him… to kill the being that had taken away the one thing that meant more than life to him. Sorcerer… I know you’re happy now. With your wife, in the afterlife. Just don’t start any trouble there, or I’ll come after you.”

The Gerius chuckled slightly. Frederic smiled a little sadly at the coffin, then hobbled back to the group, and leaned on his wife’s shoulders, taking away some of the strain on his still-aching legs.

To everyone’s surprise, Ami stepped up. Drawing a little on her reserves, the girl spoke up in public with a surprisingly clear voice. “When Frederic first asked Sorcerer to train us… I was apprehensive. And as training progressed, I begun to dislike him thoroughly. But… at the end of that training, when the results were made clear, I had also a little other thing, deep within my heart. I had respect for this man, who had lost his humanity, and was slowly winning it back.” She looked at the coffin. “Not that I would ever have said so to his face, of course.”

The Gerius again chuckled slightly. “Sorcerer-sama,” the Field Battle Commander whispered, bowing. “Thank you… for everything. You made me strong, taught me to respect strength, and taught me the value of that respect. Thank you.” She released the bow, and walked stiffly back to the group, fighting her tears. Daphnix dropped an arm around her shoulders, and the gentle blue-haired girl leaned into the embrace.

One by one, the Gerius came forward and said a couple of words about this man, who had caused them a lot of pain, but, who had also, in some inconceivable way, held their respect. Their respect for having the courage to come to his enemies when needed, to have the courage to regain his humanity, to have the courage to try with his Jennifer. And, in the end, for having the courage to go bravely into death to rejoin her.

After everyone had made their farewells, Frederic hobbled up once again. “SpaCECoB… launch,” he stated.

The torpedo vanished in the relocation beam. One second later, an amber-golden streak that left the station directly below their window showed them that Sorcerer and Jennifer were in their final resting place. The streak passed in between the ranks of ships of the ESMF, the entire fleet having gathered for this occasion, taking up honor positions on the left, right, top, and bottom of the flight path of the torpedo.

“Let’s go have a drink,” Frederic whispered, turning away as the torpedo vanished from sight.