Post by Vangreth on Sept 14, 2020 12:22:15 GMT -6
'' So Vangreth. What would you be willing to give, to become the best of them? ''
This question from the voice in his head was likely to haunt Vangreth for the foreseeable future, as he was about to initiate his fighting simulator to repeat the previous hours he had lost for a reason unknown… although he was starting to get what this was all about. The few images he got from the previews were all too familiar, showing both the entity that had been absent for a little while, and the reflection of himself in a different form… and they seemed to be battling out, which was already surprising by itself, but the alien knew it could not come without a price… a price he would have to pay, if the voice was to be believed, to have access to the power he might have used to defeat this great evil of his life… with a deep breath, he increased the gravity on his device to the maximum setting and started the simulation.
There was a moment of silence, as all the light shut off from the room, and like waking up, Vangreth opened his eyes to reveal the outside where he had been training today. The clouds were still hiding the sun, but he could see the light through it… so this was working for now, but just how was it going to go all wrong?
He had a few questions about it… if this power he supposedly had within him came to a cost, what good could it really be? That all depended on said cost, of course, but then why was this form tormenting him? The previous transformation he went through was never something he was afraid of… in fact… both of them came to him when he needed it the most… it crossed the alien’s mind that perhaps the voice inside him was trying to prevent him from unlocking more power… scare him into submission perhaps.
The alien would have none of that! But before he could confront it, a loud noise coming from the sky was heard… Vangreth barely had the time to look up before a humanoid shape tore a hole through the roof of the cloud in the sky and clearly aimed straight at him! Its speed was too much however, and before he had the time to get out of the way, Vangreth was struck by said figure, and it dragged him away into the horizon!
He could not defend himself, and he tried his best to do so, striking with his elbow on the neck of the shape he recognized at the entity that had been absent for a while now. Perhaps it had grown tired of waiting? Maybe this was the one time where he would be done with Vangreth and would end it all? These questions spiraled in Vangreth’s mind as he was dragged across multiple different landscapes of Earth, only to be finally let go at high speed towards a mountain!
The warrior managed to stop himself before hitting and most likely destroying the mountain, his feet barely a few centimeters from the rocky facade of the giant natural structure.
‘’ I have grown tired of waiting for the little one. Long enough I have spent in the void of space, looking for another planet to consume, out of respect for your young life. But I am starting to doubt you even have it in you still… you should have turned long ago. Now I shall be taking over Earth, and you can go in exile.’’
Those words just came to confirm Vangreth’s fears… this time, he would not get away with it easily. As fast as he could, he transformed into the Void Comet and rushed towards the entity, meeting his menacing stare with a flurry of blows, in this attack, he put all of his energy to give nothing to the entity, not even a moment to think about a counter-attack!
The defense of his foe was great, but Vangreth’s offensive, fueled with the knowledge of his prior encounter with someone much stronger than him, managed to get a solid punch though! Strong enough to send his opponent towards a nearby lake, disappearing in its surface after creating a massive tide shift.
He did not waste a second, the moment his punch connected and his enemy was sent flying, Vangreth began to charge a Galaxy Piercer, if he did not give any time to recover to his foe, then surely he would come on top! However, as he charged his signature attack, he was interrupted by the crushing feeling of pain from his stomach… he barely ever saw him exit the lake, his speed was ridiculous… and Vangreth’s defenses just got wide opened, which his opponent exploited by grabbing his head, keeping it down, and throwing blows after blows with his knee, breaking Vangreth’s nose until his face was a bloody mess, then he was smashed down towards the ground… this time, he would not catch his fall.
The impact between Vangreth’s body and the ground created a crater, and the alien could barely move. His head was ringing, his senses were blurry and the pain… god… the pain… it was like this entity knew exactly just how much he could take before passing out, and delivered every single blow he knew he could.
It took the longest minute of his life for Vangreth to get back up… his body was trembling, his legs were shaking and his face still looked like a bloody mess.
‘’ I can’t just let you take Earth. I would make for a pretty shitty hero if I did… so common, we’re not done here.’’
His voice was shakey, but still confident… he was going to fight for the death if that's what it took!
The entity looked down on him, and simply lifted his arm. Suddenly, a massive swirl of pure energy formed on top of his palm! The clouds parted to reveal a pillar of pink-ish light… he was done playing, and was going to finish Vangreth here and there…
The alien stood proudly, staring at the upcoming attack with disbelief… How many people could just do this to him? No. This time, he would fight it! Not try to stop it, but fight it straight on! His body began to ready up, his senses came back to him, and his wounds healed! His regeneration was truly a gift for these moments!
‘’ Behond Vangreth, the end of your life! Planetary Annihilation!’’
The being shouted as he lowered his attack towards Vangreth, the horizon disappearing in a show of pink light.
‘’ You fell for it. You foolish old man.’’
This voice… it was not Vangreth’s…
This is when he realized it… he was not awake for that moment… the consecutive blows are probably what made him forget this all happened… but that also meant that the person he was now… was not him.
With a burst of power, Vangreth felt his power increase to levels he never reached before! He could feel that his body changed as well. He could not feel his mouth anymore, his face was firmly angered, his eyes gleamed with a red aura, and two scar-like things came up and down from them. His aura was now totally red with no trace of his original purple. The line patterns he had previously on his chest now covered his whole body, and as some places, had widened enough to create a strange symbol.
Now, he could fight back, and he knew exactly what to do. He began by creating two extra arms from his back, and when the pillar of energy came crashing down on him… he held it. Visible shock could be seen on his opponent’s face, and Vangreth did not even need to see it, he knew it was there. Without giving him time to react, Vangreth would lift the pillar and smash his foe with it, creating a massive explosion, using the attacker’s move against him!
Now, was the time to attack. Vangreth soared through the sky and towards this foolish entity! Now that he had this new power, he knew he could stand his ground! His extra arms would grapple his opponent by the forearm, rendering him unable to block incoming blows as he sent punches after punches through his wide open guards, impacting his face, stomach, chest and everything he could punch with speed and strength he had never felt before!
After a few seconds of pummeling, he grabbed the shoulders of his opponent and his remaining arms, holding him in place to give him three headbuts, each more powerful than the previous, before letting him fall to the ground.
‘’ I’m sorry, I’ll leave! I swear I will! I see it now, you are the best of us! I will return to the void of space and look for my own world to devour! Please, have mercy, like I have for you before!’’
Vangreth smiled, although he had no mouth, and was about to let him leave like a coward… before his body moved against his will.
‘’ Oh you don’t get to leave. You don’t get to be sorry. You will disappear now.’’
Now moving on his own, with Vangreth as a spectator, his body lifted his hand, creating his signature Galaxy Piercer, if it was sent, then the beaten down and wide opened entity would not survive! Vangreth began to shout silently, as he could only watch, and used all of his strength to hold back his own arm!
‘’ Uh… you’re still here. What a shame really, it seems I do have mercy after all.’’
And with that, the simulation ended, and Vangreth stormed out of the room. What even was that? For a moment, he could not control his actions! Typha was right! Something WAS trying to get control over him! He fully expected the voice in his mind to speak something, but it was dead silent.
In fact, he could feel it… he was alone now. The voice was gone, and he had a gut feeling it was gone for good…
He had to take a breath… he left through the main door of his house and into the night, finally able to inhale deeply and calm his racing heart… he was lucky the simulation did not allow for his body to actually transform, or who knows what would have happened!
After a few minutes, he began to regain his composure, and closed his eyes… now more than ever, he was aware of what had been wrong with him the past months… he was not growing weaker, or failing to reach a new step in his training… his body had been suppressing this new form because of what it was doing to him… both reassuring and extremely alarming news.
So that was the price to pay for power… part of his control. No. He could never let it fall to this! He would not become a monster! Typha said there were other ways, and he would find them! This form would remain unused until he was certain he could grasp full control of it, otherwise, he could endanger people.
At this moment, the weirdest thing happened. Someone spoke. A voice he did not recognize.
‘’ You… you freed me. ‘’
He turned around to see… a Muko-Jin. He knew who THAT one was… but, he looked much more like him now.
‘’ You’ve defeated the other me… I don’t even know how long it has been since I’ve had control.’’
Vangreth’s eyes widened, the monstrous muko-jin… the one he assumed was just an ancestor version of his species… looked similar to him, well, as similar as another member of your species can be.
‘’ You… are him, aren’t you?’’
He nodded.
‘’ Well, no. He is me, but I am not him. You should know, you just experienced it, didn’t you? This raw power, with malicious intent, hiding within us. But you restrained it on your own!’’
Vangreth was shocked, he was getting close to praise for almost killing him!
‘’ Y-Yeah… I get it. I’m… sorry look, this is all just so much to process all of the sudden… I spent weeks in fear of your return, and now… you’re just… friendly towards me… I know it’s because of that thing but… ‘’
The other muko-jin shook his head.
‘’ No, I get it. I’ve been there. Look Vangreth, you’ll need time okay, take it. Just be careful, this thing… it waits for you to be at your weakest to come out. Don’t let your guard down, never let it slip. I am grateful that you’ve freed me, I owe you my freedom. I’ll try to be there, once you need it.’’
With that, Vangreth’s old opponent vanished into the night, unable to be tracked because of his species… Hopefully, he would choose to keep that control.
Alone with his thoughts, Vangreth looked up at the sky. Now more than ever, he would need all the help he could get… if something was to ever happen again, and this form was unleashed on Earth… Vangreth would never be able to forgive himself. He would need to find a way, but without the possibility to test out solutions, nothing was certain.
This question from the voice in his head was likely to haunt Vangreth for the foreseeable future, as he was about to initiate his fighting simulator to repeat the previous hours he had lost for a reason unknown… although he was starting to get what this was all about. The few images he got from the previews were all too familiar, showing both the entity that had been absent for a little while, and the reflection of himself in a different form… and they seemed to be battling out, which was already surprising by itself, but the alien knew it could not come without a price… a price he would have to pay, if the voice was to be believed, to have access to the power he might have used to defeat this great evil of his life… with a deep breath, he increased the gravity on his device to the maximum setting and started the simulation.
There was a moment of silence, as all the light shut off from the room, and like waking up, Vangreth opened his eyes to reveal the outside where he had been training today. The clouds were still hiding the sun, but he could see the light through it… so this was working for now, but just how was it going to go all wrong?
He had a few questions about it… if this power he supposedly had within him came to a cost, what good could it really be? That all depended on said cost, of course, but then why was this form tormenting him? The previous transformation he went through was never something he was afraid of… in fact… both of them came to him when he needed it the most… it crossed the alien’s mind that perhaps the voice inside him was trying to prevent him from unlocking more power… scare him into submission perhaps.
The alien would have none of that! But before he could confront it, a loud noise coming from the sky was heard… Vangreth barely had the time to look up before a humanoid shape tore a hole through the roof of the cloud in the sky and clearly aimed straight at him! Its speed was too much however, and before he had the time to get out of the way, Vangreth was struck by said figure, and it dragged him away into the horizon!
He could not defend himself, and he tried his best to do so, striking with his elbow on the neck of the shape he recognized at the entity that had been absent for a while now. Perhaps it had grown tired of waiting? Maybe this was the one time where he would be done with Vangreth and would end it all? These questions spiraled in Vangreth’s mind as he was dragged across multiple different landscapes of Earth, only to be finally let go at high speed towards a mountain!
The warrior managed to stop himself before hitting and most likely destroying the mountain, his feet barely a few centimeters from the rocky facade of the giant natural structure.
‘’ I have grown tired of waiting for the little one. Long enough I have spent in the void of space, looking for another planet to consume, out of respect for your young life. But I am starting to doubt you even have it in you still… you should have turned long ago. Now I shall be taking over Earth, and you can go in exile.’’
Those words just came to confirm Vangreth’s fears… this time, he would not get away with it easily. As fast as he could, he transformed into the Void Comet and rushed towards the entity, meeting his menacing stare with a flurry of blows, in this attack, he put all of his energy to give nothing to the entity, not even a moment to think about a counter-attack!
The defense of his foe was great, but Vangreth’s offensive, fueled with the knowledge of his prior encounter with someone much stronger than him, managed to get a solid punch though! Strong enough to send his opponent towards a nearby lake, disappearing in its surface after creating a massive tide shift.
He did not waste a second, the moment his punch connected and his enemy was sent flying, Vangreth began to charge a Galaxy Piercer, if he did not give any time to recover to his foe, then surely he would come on top! However, as he charged his signature attack, he was interrupted by the crushing feeling of pain from his stomach… he barely ever saw him exit the lake, his speed was ridiculous… and Vangreth’s defenses just got wide opened, which his opponent exploited by grabbing his head, keeping it down, and throwing blows after blows with his knee, breaking Vangreth’s nose until his face was a bloody mess, then he was smashed down towards the ground… this time, he would not catch his fall.
The impact between Vangreth’s body and the ground created a crater, and the alien could barely move. His head was ringing, his senses were blurry and the pain… god… the pain… it was like this entity knew exactly just how much he could take before passing out, and delivered every single blow he knew he could.
It took the longest minute of his life for Vangreth to get back up… his body was trembling, his legs were shaking and his face still looked like a bloody mess.
‘’ I can’t just let you take Earth. I would make for a pretty shitty hero if I did… so common, we’re not done here.’’
His voice was shakey, but still confident… he was going to fight for the death if that's what it took!
The entity looked down on him, and simply lifted his arm. Suddenly, a massive swirl of pure energy formed on top of his palm! The clouds parted to reveal a pillar of pink-ish light… he was done playing, and was going to finish Vangreth here and there…
The alien stood proudly, staring at the upcoming attack with disbelief… How many people could just do this to him? No. This time, he would fight it! Not try to stop it, but fight it straight on! His body began to ready up, his senses came back to him, and his wounds healed! His regeneration was truly a gift for these moments!
‘’ Behond Vangreth, the end of your life! Planetary Annihilation!’’
The being shouted as he lowered his attack towards Vangreth, the horizon disappearing in a show of pink light.
‘’ You fell for it. You foolish old man.’’
This voice… it was not Vangreth’s…
This is when he realized it… he was not awake for that moment… the consecutive blows are probably what made him forget this all happened… but that also meant that the person he was now… was not him.
With a burst of power, Vangreth felt his power increase to levels he never reached before! He could feel that his body changed as well. He could not feel his mouth anymore, his face was firmly angered, his eyes gleamed with a red aura, and two scar-like things came up and down from them. His aura was now totally red with no trace of his original purple. The line patterns he had previously on his chest now covered his whole body, and as some places, had widened enough to create a strange symbol.
Now, he could fight back, and he knew exactly what to do. He began by creating two extra arms from his back, and when the pillar of energy came crashing down on him… he held it. Visible shock could be seen on his opponent’s face, and Vangreth did not even need to see it, he knew it was there. Without giving him time to react, Vangreth would lift the pillar and smash his foe with it, creating a massive explosion, using the attacker’s move against him!
Now, was the time to attack. Vangreth soared through the sky and towards this foolish entity! Now that he had this new power, he knew he could stand his ground! His extra arms would grapple his opponent by the forearm, rendering him unable to block incoming blows as he sent punches after punches through his wide open guards, impacting his face, stomach, chest and everything he could punch with speed and strength he had never felt before!
After a few seconds of pummeling, he grabbed the shoulders of his opponent and his remaining arms, holding him in place to give him three headbuts, each more powerful than the previous, before letting him fall to the ground.
‘’ I’m sorry, I’ll leave! I swear I will! I see it now, you are the best of us! I will return to the void of space and look for my own world to devour! Please, have mercy, like I have for you before!’’
Vangreth smiled, although he had no mouth, and was about to let him leave like a coward… before his body moved against his will.
‘’ Oh you don’t get to leave. You don’t get to be sorry. You will disappear now.’’
Now moving on his own, with Vangreth as a spectator, his body lifted his hand, creating his signature Galaxy Piercer, if it was sent, then the beaten down and wide opened entity would not survive! Vangreth began to shout silently, as he could only watch, and used all of his strength to hold back his own arm!
‘’ Uh… you’re still here. What a shame really, it seems I do have mercy after all.’’
And with that, the simulation ended, and Vangreth stormed out of the room. What even was that? For a moment, he could not control his actions! Typha was right! Something WAS trying to get control over him! He fully expected the voice in his mind to speak something, but it was dead silent.
In fact, he could feel it… he was alone now. The voice was gone, and he had a gut feeling it was gone for good…
He had to take a breath… he left through the main door of his house and into the night, finally able to inhale deeply and calm his racing heart… he was lucky the simulation did not allow for his body to actually transform, or who knows what would have happened!
After a few minutes, he began to regain his composure, and closed his eyes… now more than ever, he was aware of what had been wrong with him the past months… he was not growing weaker, or failing to reach a new step in his training… his body had been suppressing this new form because of what it was doing to him… both reassuring and extremely alarming news.
So that was the price to pay for power… part of his control. No. He could never let it fall to this! He would not become a monster! Typha said there were other ways, and he would find them! This form would remain unused until he was certain he could grasp full control of it, otherwise, he could endanger people.
At this moment, the weirdest thing happened. Someone spoke. A voice he did not recognize.
‘’ You… you freed me. ‘’
He turned around to see… a Muko-Jin. He knew who THAT one was… but, he looked much more like him now.
‘’ You’ve defeated the other me… I don’t even know how long it has been since I’ve had control.’’
Vangreth’s eyes widened, the monstrous muko-jin… the one he assumed was just an ancestor version of his species… looked similar to him, well, as similar as another member of your species can be.
‘’ You… are him, aren’t you?’’
He nodded.
‘’ Well, no. He is me, but I am not him. You should know, you just experienced it, didn’t you? This raw power, with malicious intent, hiding within us. But you restrained it on your own!’’
Vangreth was shocked, he was getting close to praise for almost killing him!
‘’ Y-Yeah… I get it. I’m… sorry look, this is all just so much to process all of the sudden… I spent weeks in fear of your return, and now… you’re just… friendly towards me… I know it’s because of that thing but… ‘’
The other muko-jin shook his head.
‘’ No, I get it. I’ve been there. Look Vangreth, you’ll need time okay, take it. Just be careful, this thing… it waits for you to be at your weakest to come out. Don’t let your guard down, never let it slip. I am grateful that you’ve freed me, I owe you my freedom. I’ll try to be there, once you need it.’’
With that, Vangreth’s old opponent vanished into the night, unable to be tracked because of his species… Hopefully, he would choose to keep that control.
Alone with his thoughts, Vangreth looked up at the sky. Now more than ever, he would need all the help he could get… if something was to ever happen again, and this form was unleashed on Earth… Vangreth would never be able to forgive himself. He would need to find a way, but without the possibility to test out solutions, nothing was certain.
