Chapter 32 – An Intuition in service of the truth

 

The two girls drank until White returned, handing them a matching set of keys and a small square- shaped radio pocket, no bigger than a palm. "It'll take me a few days to figure out a new power source,

use these to keep in touch if things go south."

The two took the little radios and nodded. “Gotta use the ladies room, I’ll be right back.” She got up as Diane went to go play pool, teasing many of the men there. After tinkling, the girl stopped by a mirror and rotated herself back and forth to look at her shoulder-nub. “Tsk, I would get a good protestic if we weren’t in the middle of all this crazy crack of shit.” She said leaving, before stopping out in the

hallway. The bartender’s words reached her as a mumble, she leaned close to the door and peaked inside.

“Yeah, operator there’s a reward for this group, pictured on the Galanet right? I’d like to repor-“ Becca burst in and without another word tackled him, grabbing his mouth with one arm and shoving him to the ground. Her foot stomped back his head, and she went back to the phone.

Her hand held it, ready to hang up. However something in Becca hesitated, her hand trembling.

“Hello? Star guard operator..” A voice said on the other end. “I, I’d like to report some fugatives.” She said.

“Who is this? Can you tell me their location?” The operator said.

“They’re.. they’re at..” Her words gave pause. It was as if time froze for her. And then it did, flies in the room coming to a freeze. A bluish aura surrounded the room, and White Nebula walked

in. Becca blinked. Her mind raced in every possible direction and still ended up stranded in place. What the hell was she thinking? She reached for answers, finding none that felt right before

cleared her throat.

“I, I’m sorry I caused you guys so much trouble. We lost Lake back on that ocean world, and I got Petal taken too. Everywhere I go, I’ve been dragging them down. They’re chasing after me now right? I figured if I turn myself in, it’d be easier..”

White’s voice was as if she was speaking from somewhere far away, her tone muffled and her words indiscernible. “Go ahead, do it then. You poor, kind loyal soul.”

Becca hesitated. She looked at the phone and thought of the Crystal Gems, who had risked

their lives so that they could go after the Goliath in the first place. She thought of Thatti and her mother. If Goliath succeeded, he would rule over a planet populated by a race of people who worshiped him and

revered his every whim. They would all be freed, but he'd go around playing at Emperor, just like the previous Domina before him, playing with people's lives. That would be terrible right? She had to stop him, she had to save the crystal gems and give them a chance to resurrect Thatti and let Thatti defeat him, even if that meant turning herself in.

None of these rationalizations swayed the pendulum in her heart, wavering like an intuition in service of the truth.

All these decisions raced through her head as she contemplated if she should or shouldn't hang up. Nebula spoke up. "But wait second. A 'kind loyal soul', is the last thing in the world you are. I must be misremembering, when did you become such a saint that you'd be willing to surrender just to play

scrapegoat? I wonder, what Sandra would do if she captured you. Rather, who would she turn you over to?" Becca felt ashamed for a moment at that, she did have to admit that it was true. She had wanted to escape, she had wanted to be safe and loved and not alone in this universe. She wanted a reason to

keep living, beyond rescuing her previous owner.

Nebula smirked, "I'm done with you, your selfish little heart. I have always felt you were an impulsive moron but you're just as predictable as I thought you were. Your kind don't do sacrifice, you just want to run back to him don't you?"

Becca then looked down to the floor, reinforcing her resolve before looking back up. "Yes."

She said succinctly. "I think you already know what the answer is. It's what I want. I cannot leave things as-is without finding out what happened to him. Don't you dare try to stop me."

Nebula scoffed. "I wouldn't dream of it." She walked over to Becca and placed her hand on the girl's head. "It's your decision, selfish or not. But don't lie to yourself. Don't play games."

Becca then felt an overwhelming feeling of dread. She looked at Nebula, the feeling of betrayal, the anger, despair, anguish, everything came from the deepest wellsprings within her and pierced her conscience. "If this is your path, I won't stop you, I'll go pull out Diane and leave you to it. But know I

can't keep you safe if you're just going to run back to him. Stop pretending that you can save the universe if you don't want to. "

Becca had a newfound resolve in her eyes, this time it was not in her eyes. Instead it was in the way her shoulders held her up straight, with her head held high. Her voice spoke with conviction. "I am sorry that you do not understand me, or have not been able to listen to me. You know nothing about me. As you said, I am impulsive, selfish, but I have a plan." Her foot pattered. "That was a lie, I have no plan but I'm still doing it."

Nebula spoke, a low sound, a voice laced with power. "When you're ready to step up, promise I got'cha." She paused. "When." Was her last word, before she deactivated the Cascade field around her. Time resumed and went back to the bar room, talking to Diana. Becca sighed, she couldn't make out the words but soon the two left the bar and went out.

Becca then pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hey, it's me. I have the information on the fugitives."

Thirty minutes later, Becca was sitting at the bar counter, the owner having gone missing. She went over to pickup a poolstick, noting the metallic copper coating. The girl took some poolballs back with her to the counter and continued to drink, taking in the weight of her decision. One of the balls sat in front of her, the metallic sheen reflecting in the light. By the time the sun neared the horizon, several figures appeared in the reflection, each wearing Star Guard uniforms. "Let's do this." She downed the rest of her bottle.

The sunset cast the world in an eerie red glow, causing the soldiers to cast long shadows over Becca. They marched over to her, scanning her Biometrics to confirm.

"Come with us, and do behave."

"That's the thing about me, y'know.." Becca gripped the bottle, smashing it on the woman's head. "Never was good at that." She then ran up to them, slinging the necks of the men, letting the

copper poolsticks swing in arcs that hit the soldier's necks, and then their knees, in rapid succession. She flipped them, making them faceplant to the ground, and then kicked them in the ribs. More uniformed men and woman marched in, she hopped to the other side of the bar and began to shoot poolbars with

the end of the cuestick, sending them flying towards the door,

knocking out the new arrivals one by one with each push. “Mega Freeze!” She yelled with one arm out, but nothing happened. One of the soldiers walked over and grabbed her by the wrist, looking over to the reflection. "It's her, get her!" He spoke before rushing over to the bar and throwing Becca over his shoulder. She broke the cuestick over him, her eyes still looked to the horizon outside, the crimson sky turning indigo. Women with glowing, vibrating sticks and

dense armor rushed in, their faceless glass visors showcasing her futile struggle. Soon the Star Guard marched over the bloodied bodies and dogpiled her, restraining her in steel wire and tight

shoulder-weaves as they marched out of the bar, leaving a pool of blood over the doorstep as a trace.

Nebula watched with high-spec settings on her visor as a Asylum Mark IV took off from the

atmosphere and went en route to the Star Guard HQ. Within Sandra would be placed in a high- security cell, all by herself while waiting for extraction. In the woods Diana and White waited.

"Where's the God Shard you said you detected?"

White reached into a river and picked up a pebble. "My mistake. Was just a rock." She skipped it along the surface of the water, boots walking along the bank of the stream as the sun finished setting.

A few hours later Goliath sat in his command ship outside of Derse, high beyond Gaia. He looked at the screen and saw more dissidents incoming. 17 Fleets had deflected under 3 different

Administers, organized over thousands of sectors, he was looking at the results of a month-long operation where rebels had sabotaged the comm system in over 13000 of the Church's stockpiled ships.

A figure popped on screen, the face of Sandra showing. "It's the Xistress. She says they have the target in custody. We're ready for extraction. An operator said." Goliath nodded. "Take me to the nearest Gate. It's time for a little reunion." He turned to his side, a girl with dark hair waiting arms folded. "Right, Jet?"

Jetti shook her head, smiling wryly. "I think it's too soon for me to trust you." Goliath spoke, the white-hot energy of a star searing down from above, a force so powerful it burned a hole through the

heavens. "Well, there's no rest for the weary is there? Don't worry, consider Becca my little gift to you once we see her."

Soon two ships sat side by side at the gate, one a Star Guard Asylum and the other was Sandra's VESPER-shuttle. They watched the Flora Church's command ship exit out of the Gate into Xi space, then began trailing them. The three began warping to another sector at a 2.1-relativistic AMPs of

acceleration, the bioelectric whirl of Sandy's station a noisy buzzing against the hum of the Star Guard's ship's electronics, both unable to use smooth guidance systems and gravity propulsion to ease the ride, trippling the flight time. The three eventually united at black obsidian planet with triangle-shaped roofs over a series of connected palaces that circled the planet's surface and arrived at their destination.

Xenith, the planetary home of The Coruscators Palace, head to Xi's Glitterkiss and their Star

Guard allies.

The palace prepared a circle of ships above as the trio approached from the stars and descended.

The shuttle then docked with the Church's ship, the triangular dome ahead closing slowly.

Sandra, Ameisa, Nathan and Jetti emerged, with the Asylum Mark IV's following them to levitate above the dock. Opening and letting out of its cell the prisoner, Becca, laying unconscious was let out and escorted by Lieutenant Sho-Haru Haruka to the Xistress. Sandra then greeted her fellow companion with a hand. "Hey Becca. Those cuffwraps are a good look on you, you still

want to be 'best friends forever' or what?" She tackled Becca and slammed her down until the girl could smell her ass, the girl's mind flashing to white before she woke up on the ground.

Becca did not reciprocate. "Bite me." She looked up, biting Sandra's tush until she hopped off and kicked her face.

The other guards around her helped pull her up as she struggled, while the Xistress escorted her deeper into to the Glitterkiss base. Jetti looked around as she and Goliath followed, she'd only been her a handful of times throughout her training, but still remembered her pledge to Nautilus, the freezing dip, the ritual cementing her as a Meister of the stars. The Dominus ran back up to the restrained Becca. She observed his black t-shirt and cyan jacket, the jeans and belt combo he wore the most normal thing she'd seen of him yet. "It's beautiful to be back in Xi." Goliath patted her shoulder, her face blank. "We

have a lot to catch up on I think. I still haven't forgotten you."

"Eat a fucking dick." She replied. Goliath began to chuckle. "I love that. It's still you." "How much longer until we have the Lightholde back?" Ameisa spoke to the lieutenant. Sho-Haru smiled. "One more week at least. I know, it's been hard but we're just being cautious. We're trying to take precautions so the Enigma cannot knock us out so easily."

Ameisa paused, then sighed. "It's good news to hear you're alright. I've just missed you. How is Captain Elenith doing? I don't get reports of Starguard matters that frequently."

As Becca continued to walk, she felt like a piece of meat sighted by prey. On one side, Goliath

smiling and eyeing her up, the boy in the new alias and body known as Nathan Nezura. On the other, the Xistress Sandra

Soon, Becca was in front of the Xi Glitterkiss base's main lobby, a dozen of other meisters

managing the base around monitoring screens, watering coolers, weapon depos and others manning the desk around the lobby. "Take off her restraints." The Dominus declared. She looked back to Goliath, the two standing together. "That's the kind of thing a girl could wish for in that situation. I think that's the

kind of thing you'd want." Her heart began to race at these words.

Sandra gave a gruff bark and looked at her Starguards. "No, do not. You don't give the orders around here. We're in my turf." She declared. Goliath's gaze went back to the Xistress, the light from the lobby illuminating his features, still smiling. "Very well. Your house, your rules." He put his hands up playfully. "Now about that order. Harvest delenda est. Yes?" He said.

Sandra spoke, her fists crossed, glowing with static in her palms, an energy crackling at the space between her charged fists. Spark, cascade, the powers flowed through her. She wasn't going to let a novice ruler like this call the shots. "That is 'harvest must be destroyed', right? Yeah, we could do that. Xi certainly has the firepower, but here's the little thing. We don't waste resources on pointless conquests unlike Orchid,

and much less for a foreign power's sake." Sandra said loudly, her eyes cast to the floor. "So you could leave, and come back with an army and try it yourself. Instead of relying on our Military. But you cannot." She squeezed Becca's wrist. "You're weak. You and your parade of golden pantsies couldn't make it a week out here in our universe, let alone conquer Harvest." The Dominus just stood there. “I want you to know I won't waste my time entertaining you, so I'll drop off your brat and just tell you to fuck off to ensure you never ask that of me again. Goodbye, Becca." Sandra pushed her forward towards

Goliath.

"You won't? That's a shame. I'm sure the Solar Society, AU and Bedlam won't be happy to hear you're accepting our embargo, being cut off isn't ideal with recent phenomenon. In any case, I

appreciate your time." Goliath walked away, Sandra then looking back at Becca. "Don't get used to the comfort. You think just because you're Domina-" "Dominus." "Whatever shutup. You think just because you're Domina, those realms will listen to you over me? Whose the one that has the resources here?"

Goliath pulled Becca towards him by the arm like a prize. "Yeah? Because once the Enigma gets worse I doubt you'll have shit to win them over."

Sandra glared at him. "And you think YOU have a bargaining chip?" He cracked his knuckles and gave her a shit-eating grin. "Wanna bet?"

He opened his palm and held up a golden amulet the size of a basketball. A golden pendant hung from a golden ribbon, with a spire of three smaller spheres radiating out. "Pierce through." He said. The 3 spheres rotated and created a disc in space-time, a golden shot of energy blasting out and knocking Sandra out. "You b-" "Pulse." With a swing of his hand, Goliath sent gravity crushing her into the steel floor, leaving an indent and knocking her out flat in a crater. Ameisa panicked and took a pistol out, firing at Goliath. From the disc, Jack and Astrid emerged to block the shots with their staff and crowbar

respectively. Jack opened her mouth and with a blood- piercing cry, unleashed a rainbow deluge of energy that flashed over Ameisa and cooked her out cold, exploding several weapons depots in the process.

Starguard soldiers and Glitterkiss Meisters fled to the scene in a panic, Jetti spinning around the group. "At ease!" She yelled.

She looked at Jack uneasily. "What's with that look girl? Wanna fight sweetums? That didn't work out so well for you last time." Jack teased her. Goliath placed his hand on her restraints, rotting her

weeves and wires to nothing until she was free. He turned to her. "If you stay, the Enigma will get worse and Glorious Leader down there won't let you be. Come with me, like old times." He reached for her, and she slapped his hand away.

"Why the HELL did you do that?" Becca shouted. “She was giving me up to you anyway.” "Powerplay, just how they do it in Orchid, what did you expect?" He looked at Jack, who was

making sure Ameisa was down cold.

"No, nonono. You don't understand. I don't want to go with you. Get it through your skull, me and 'you' are not friends, who am I even talking to right now? Why is ruling Orchid even important to you? Why did you-" She looked around and saw Jetti, the black-hair girl turning Spirit-Hunter to a scythe and aiming it at Becca. "Do any of this?"

Goliath reached his hand up to her neck.

He spoke like a friend. "I'm going to jog your head here. Do you remember when you used to care about me? Our chooms back in Nightcity, all those crazy missions? Those were wild times."

Becca shuddered at those words. She shook her head. "You need to stop this. You need to stop, everything. This isn't you Goliath. You need to go back to... to..."

"Go back to what, losing my mother? Back with the Ripperdocs and Fixers? To being a lowly Runner on the streets, to dying a gruesome death? That's all gone Becca. Feels like a million years ago now." He snapped his fingers, and his armored suit slowly emerged around his body.

"I don't need you to tell me what to do. You on the other hand, what've you been running around with those Gems for? For what exactly? What's the endgame, getting transformed back into a wand?"

He took her arm and kissed her hand. "I know that you still like me. That you still care about me.

We're old chooms, why the hostility?" He touched her face and turned her chin up towards him. "I'm going to take you back to Orchid. That's what you need."

"FUCK Y-" She attempted to bash her fist into his face, only for Astrid to rush in and slam her to the floor.

"Don't you dare disrespect the Dominus that way.” He cracked a smile. "Right right. Don't want to make you mad, don't worry." He began to look at Jetti. "But as for you, I'm giving you a chance to start over, to accept a better life. Everything I did, I did for us." He hesitated, his eye twitching. The Dominus clutched his head, something uncontrollable, taking over him.

"I could never do this to you..." The words of his alternate persona from the future emerged from his mouth. "...Thatti." His voice was clear, direct, uncompromising. "And there is nothing left to me that isn't broken. Not as long as I stand for Orchid."

"Stand for, Orchid?" Becca recognized the tone. This, wasn't Goliath. "Nathan?" She said.

Jack and Astrid's faces turned to each other. "Nathan Nezura." He spoke with confidence. "I have taken up the mantle of Orchid's ruler, and you vile Becca, stand in my way."

"You..." Her eyes shone. "Are..." She tackled Astrid upwards and pushed her away, bursting into an echo of laughter. "Fucking crazy. Just like back then. Cyberpsychosis then, and more of the same

bullshit now. Who's next for you to control, to hurt Goliath?"

"I'm not Goliath I'm- AAeeeeeeeeAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" He screamed, clenching his fists and then holding them against his mouth as his face went red. The black armor of his suit split open to reveal his skin beneath, covered in tattoos shaped like chains that were spreading through his body where his heart was. At the center, were a series of golden relics- Becca recognized them right away. "No. You fucking didn't."

Goliath reasserted control slowly, breathing with every breath to fight and stay lucid. His breathing turned shallow, and he looked to the side, at Jack, at Astrid. And at the soldiers who had entered the

room, waving their guns. With a squeeze of his hand, Pulse crushed their weapons and sent gravity piling over them with a single crush. "What, happened to you?" Becca asked.

Nathan sighed, his voice lower than before, filled with pain and loathing. "If you knew the truth?" He looked at her, a cold stone expression. "This all started long ago.."

☆☆☆

Ago

 

 

Goliath stood in front of Lucy, the lavish room complete with a bar and wine cellar. Leather

couches allowed Auxilitrix to sit comfortably, the other Lucy unconscious within a glass casing that the Shion twins brought on the coffetable for Nezra to inspect. The body of the woman he loved, the girl he'd do anything for. He trembled standing over her, standing for nothing at the moment but a flickering flame of a future unbridled. In the background, the sound of corks being popped. A voice, the Novus of Pleasure and Pain began to speak. "Do you understand what I'm asking of you?"

Nezra looked back at the wily devil. "You said, I have to find someone in a place called Harvest. Some boy?" He stated. "Someone... very special to you. I must find him. Kill him. Bleed him, or bring him back to Orchid and..." Lucy poured a bottle of scotch and raised it. "And your loved one will be freed. Your dear I love Lucy."

Her voice was seductive, smooth and silky as she drew Goliath in with her words. "Don't you want that, to live happily? I'm promising you a resurrection and paradise for you and someone you love, if you make this boy bleed even a single drop of blood. But you will need some time."

The Nightcity runner listened carefully. "Why's that?"

"Because he won't be born when you are, not yet anyway. But don't worry, in the future he'll be there." She stated. "Since you'll just be born as a little runt too, that should give you plenty of time to prepare. To gather allies, obtain power, arm yourself with what you need. What do you say?"

He grinned at the Novus, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "What's to stop me, from just doing this all by myself?"

The man leaned on the table. "You don't have the power to do that right now. You're on a timer, I'm letting you know this, and it'll be set the moment you're reborn."

He placed his hand over the glass, as if praying with one hand to it. "Fine. I'll bring this, boy back.

But what happens, if this fails?" He spoke quietly. "What happens if I don't?"

The Novus put her hand to his chin. "If you're so curious to find out, just wait and see." She

spoke. "Just relax. Let me have some fun with you, Nezra. You'll be together in paradise, your sweet one and you before you know it. For Lucy." Lucy said.

"For Lucy." Goliath affirmed. The two shook hands.

"And I look forward to seeing you again. It's been, pleasurable." She said with a sadistic wink.

Later

 

 

Goliath, merged in Astrid's body looked up within Bedlam's deep dark den, fire and lava bubbling in heated pools around the gigantic corridor. Having his back, was Ramona, Mercy, Melanie,

Harmonizer, Paradox and Von Caiman. Around him his conspirators stood gasping, the demonic guardian of Bedlam's vault stood on a steel throne. The horrific chimera, Balthazar Belial, his arms and legs stretched out in a demonic furred torso with bat wings on his back, lion's arms and a cobra for a tail.

His head was a goat's head, eyes with yellow, slits glaring at the humans. "This..." He spoke, the voice deep, the 25m demon speaking clearly. "...Will be the end for you..."

With a smash of his hand, Balthazar sent flaming meteros from the ceiling "...of all mankind." The words rang in Goliath's ears. His body shook, his grip loosened, his sword arm became limp. "Oh... my... S-shit." He choked on the words, Ramona rushing forward to support him as he turned, catching him and pulling Goliath back. The boy could feel the heat from the projectiles, but nothing hit them as

they scattered. Goliath's eyes went wide. "Well don't just stand around, attack!" Astrid said thru their lips, taking charge. The boy was paralyzed with fear, requiring her to coordinate the attack with Melanie's powers. 'Link' joined their intuition and abilities.

Ramona's Drive. Caiman's Rot. Mercy's Hex.

Harmonizer's Hymn.

Paradox's Writ. Melanie's Link. Astrid's Pulse. Jack’s Cascade.

 

They could no longer afford to sit by and watch the chaos. Melanie felt the demonic might of

Balthazar as they began to link in their powers. Goliath, despite inheriting and sharing these skills faltered.

Everything happening went as a series of flashes and blurs to him, his heart racing

faster than anything else. The demon, began to laugh at their weaknesses, at their mortality. Nezra felt like a dying breed, as he leapt up and tried to slam stalactites with Pulse at the beast of Bedlam. Ramona summoned her hammers, ready to brutalize Balthazar's kneecaps. Astrid!Goliath rushed up the throne as Mercy and Caiman flanked the monster on either side, using Rot to disintegrate the meteors and Mercy's raw might to keep him distracted.

Harmonizer began to chant, crystals raining down on him like daggers. Paradox's face grimaced under her helmet as she protected the team with Writ, warping in and out of narrative space.

Astrid's fists clenched, Pulse ripping the ground apart at the same time. With the demon's might, Balthazar began to laugh in response to their swipes. The attacks bled and scratched the great demon, but just barely. Minutes passed by, every second dragging onto eternity for his would-be assassins.

"You... think you can... win!...? Foolish." Goliath's adrenaline, he was terrified. The fear was the

same as it had been on that faithful day in NeoCity. he feeling of not being prepared, of not having the tools to save the people that he loved. Balthazar was the same thing, a nightmare that could kill him if he was careless. The memories kept rushing back in. His time as a drifter. As a runner. As a boy who had lost everything, who watched all his friends die, the Nezra whose name had no place in this future he had made, with this dark future he had seen. With the glowing multicolored powers of all his allies,

Goliath raised his Katanna and soared.

"EVERYBODY, TAKE FLIGHT! AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" He descended onto his opponent, his sword flashing and the blade biting through, into Balthazar's skull.

"DAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Astrid

howled with him, overjoyed to be fighting in the same body as her Prince. The demon laughed as the group powered up and dragged him to the floor, their coordinated attacks a flurrystorm of blades and

spells and hammers that rained down on the beast. Balthazar roared, the meteors of the planet falling as the demon laughed. "Marvelous. Let your triumph be my grave!" He declared, his final words as they

started tearing apart his flesh, his body and his limbs as they broke him finally.

The giant lay slain. Goliath was still shaking.

Injuries were seen on everyone, and not a scratch on Goliath.

Despite the sweat on his brow, his body's face still shone, Astrid giving a twisted smile of pleasure. He looked at his hands, at the blood. At the...

…

In that moment, Goliath’s head began to throb. Their eyes went glassy.

…

………

He'd felt the demon die. He'd felt the demon completely demolished. Yet, he'd felt nothing of

himself... as it had happened. This body... it wasn't his... was it? He wasn't Goliath Nezra. "Goliath, we

did it.." Astrid said. He paused. Where was he? He looked around, seeing some sort of gigantic cave with flowing rivers of lava, and people he didn't know.

"Goliath?" She asked, scaring him as the words came out of 'his' mouth. The strangers looked at him, and he looked back confused.

…………………..

His name was Nathan. He was Nathan wasn’t he? The Domina’s son. Who was Goliath? Why did that name flash in his mind? Where was Mother or his sister Thatti? What was going on? He panicked.

Goliath opened his eyes, only to find himself back at… a hotel in Bedlam. Mercy was waiting

outside, they told him he’d been ‘out’ for 3 days. During those days he’d thought he was someone else.

The Ex-Runner told the tale to the two woman about a different life he had led

back in Xi, a different identity. He told them about Lucy, and the things he had done to save her.

He told Mercy that Paradox had once told him to gather the Godshards, and that they would help keep

him sane, and prevent him from losing himself. Mercy gave him a hug, squishing against Astrid’s boobs.

He was still Goliath. He was… or was he?

The following month, it happened again. He’d lost control, in a state of split personality. Then weeks later again. Then every few days occasionally, he’d have an hour or minutes with no way to predict when he’d be convinced he was Nathan. But he didn’t know that he could survive this any

longer, he was afraid. Afraid of himself, afraid of what he’d done, afraid of the people that he had loved who’d died. Everything that made him into Nezra, it held like a cold flame inside him waiting to be snuffed out. Paradox took him to a temple in Abyss, and with a spell tranversed his psyche through the aetheral and the eternal.

Goliath stood in front of Auxilitrix once more. “Enjoying your little game, Nezra?” Lucy said. He ran over to the Novus and grabbed her by her collar. “What the hell is happening to me!?” He said as he looked over the Auxilitrix’s table.

“Oh calm down, you didn’t listen to a word I said, did you?” Auxilitrix teased the boy. “I told you, you’re on a timer didn’t I?” The boy shook her around. “Don’t FUCK around, are you turning me into a cyberpsycho again? I cannot go back to that!

“I have something very special to show you first…” The Novus said with a grin. Goliath was led down the same steps, down into the Abyss. He was brought into the same chamber, within a gigantic

glass case. The Auxilitrix pointed to it, revealing a strange wand. “Those stones you’ve been collecting? They’ll one day be stored as this. Fragments of a tortured spirit.” He said.

Goliath didn’t understand. “What the hell does this have to do with me?”

“Patience, boy. The first thing to know is, you did not read the fine print. I didn’t exactly reincarnate you.”

“What?!” Goliath’s eyes widened.

“This isn’t that complex. I put your soul in another’s body. Just like you shared it with Astrid, you shared it with the boy you were born in, you just didn’t realize it.” The boy couldn’t believe what he was hearing, the Novus giving theatrical waves of the hand as she explained and grinned. “That was a good joke I played on you, don’t you think? You accepted these stone’s power, which means they’re

disrupting your equilibrium. These stones and your pact, are breaking the fragile balance between your soul and ‘his.’ In other words, the moment you accepted them, you started your timer.” She gave a destitute glare of malice, putting her face

inches from his own. “Do you understand? It means you’re turning into him. Once that balance breaks, your memories will shatter and Nathan will assume control. Or you’ll simply die in some

catastrophe or something else and be free of your life’s trauma.” She stated. “So the question is… are you Nathan Nezura? Or Goliath Nezra?”

“No way…” The boy said as he realized what was happening. He stepped back, hands in palms.

“This isn’t happening. You SON OF A BITCH!”

“Now now, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Lucy smirked. “Don’t you want to understand why this is happening to you?”

Goliath looked back at the Auxilitrix, eyes red and flaming with anger. “No. I don’t..”

He looked at her face, a smirk. “Too bad. You need to start accepting it, dear Goliath. The future is coming for you, and you cannot escape it.” Lucy reached into the glass, phasing through it and touching the wand. “You see, this isn’t your run of the mill wand. It’s Rose of Spirit Joining. Every single stone you’ve collected comes from it, beyond time.” He squeezed and pulled out a golden, translucent

phantom of the wand from its solid representation.

“Your consciousness, is splitting between two perceived futures as Goliath and Nathan. The

splitting point is this wand. I’ll tell you how- in one future, you destroy it and obtain it’s fragmented shards. In the other, you don’t. If you manage to collect them all you can complete the loop for both times and suture this split.

The boy had his arms at his side, he felt his consciousness struggling to understand this existential sentence. “What the hell are you talking about!? “

“I’m saying, the future is not set in stone, or ‘stones’ – pun intended, but it needs to be. Or else you’ll be faced with..”

A phantom appeared behind him, their silver armor and swirling helmet shocking the boy.

Around their arms were glowing chains that connected to Goliath’s body and appeared as tattoo’s throughout his form.

“A Paradox.”

He turned around and looked at the Sentrimate. “Her writ chains bind your existence in every

reality, and every moment of every day.” Goliath almost fell back onto the glass case. “W-why, why is it you? What have I ever done to you?!” He screamed.

The Sentrimate didn’t have to answer, as Auxilitrix did. “She didn’t tell you? Our lovely Paradox here, is Shion’s daughter. She was only doing what she was told, as a good little girl should.”

Paradox waved her hand to silence Lucy. “Ssh. Goliath listen, these chains connect your two consciousnesses into a duality. But their power is limited, and draining. You need to gather the shards, without them, you’ll be no more. You’ll become Nathan, and Lucy will be able to

manipulate you however she chooses.” She paused. “You don’t just need to gather them either.

You need to ensure that wand splits, and they come into existence, or the contradiction in time will consume you. You’ve already been obtaining and using them, so it’s too late now..”

The boy stood back, eyes in fear. “What the fuck is all this supposed to mean?” He asked.

She turned her head away in shame, unable to bare the judgement on his face. “I, never wanted it to come to this. I did this because..” The awkwardness in her voice trembled. “..I love you.”

He turned away and walked back to the glass case, standing by the wand’s glass encasing. “SHUTUP. Goddamn you.” He choked, shaking with every breath. “Just leave me alone.” Goliath

smashed the glass and swiped his hand towards the wand, only to feel it phase like a hologram, slipping between his fingers.

The Novus began to laugh, a hyena howl of crackles and vocal delight that shook the airwaves. “Good luck collecting them boy, me and sister Shion will be watching.. and I’ll make sure I enjoy every moment of it.”

Back in Abyss, Paradox continued to explain the severity of his situation. Every moment,

whether in Astrid’s body or Nathan he cringed and dreaded losing his sense of self. He had to find the

shards. He had to use them. He knew, he didn’t want to believe, but he knew he couldn’t escape this. His life.. was at the line, and he’d do anything to protect it. Anything to change it. He would use every shard, collect every shard. As long as he could be sure, he’d use them. The thought filled him with both dread and excitement. It didn’t matter. Because as sure as this was a part of his future, was the fact he was still Goliath. As he gathered more shards and hunted for them, the intervals got longer and breakdowns shorter. He felt the same relief as back then, injecting the shards into his body like he injected drugs to

stave off that horrifying condition. Cyberpsychosis. He couldn’t go through that again.

Years passed. The boy, within Nathan’s palace paced about planning their next mission. Recovering the shards had become an obsession since then. He received a visit from his mother.

“Nathaniel, please come forward. Your sister has something very important to show you.” “Ugh, yeah?” The boy replied.

Thatti ran to him. “Nathan!” She hugged her brother blissfully, then she pulled open her coat,

revealing a huge glowing mint-blue wand that shined brightly in her hands. Nathan’s heart stopped for a moment. “What is this?”

“This is my Perceptcival wand, Rose of Spirit Joining. I finally got mine! It talks, and has a friendly name too! She’s not just a wand, she’s my friend!” She said, eyes excited.

Her face lit up as she explained. She laughed as he took it from her, feeling its warmth against his

hand.

“Her name, is Becca!”

Nathan cringed. The boy took a deep breath, and smiled with her, the most awkward forced smile he could possibly muster in light of his heart breaking. He felt her presence in the wand, and the smile on his face grew at the horrifying thought he’d have to carry around this part of her inside himself. “My, I.. She’s just beautiful.”

He and Orion stood looking out the golden palace, the wind rustling through his hair, they stared out the balcony. He stood against the night and the moon, the stars twinkling in the sky. The prince

clutched at his chest, trying to calm down. “Her wand is Becca. ‘The’ Becca, from Nightcity. Her.” Nathan looked down at the ground, the boy looking at the shards in his bag.

“Paradox told me the wand has to be destroyed, or these shards cannot exist from the future and will their nature become unstable. My stability will get worse if that happens. It’s made up of the fragments of their spirit..” He hesitated. “Does that mean, I have to destroy Becca?” He didn’t know if he could bring himself to do something like that, even on his worst day.

Astrid took the bag from his hands. “Of course not, Goliath.” She said. Goliath, closed his eyes. “She’s not gone yet, and you don’t need her. You have me! Please, you’re all I have left.” He paused. “And.. Goliath, I love you..” Goliath ignored her, meeting words with a cold look of distain.

He felt his eyes mist, as his heart trembled.

“I… can’t go back to that nightmare..” He shook his head. “I… I cannot.”

“Goliath please, we need to focus on the present. Your mother hired assassins from Black

Diamond, we have to figure something out by the Festival. What are you planning on doing about it?”

He dove his head further into his hands, clutching and agonizing. “Unless, when Thatti uses

Becca’s power she switches bodies with her. As long as the wand is destroyed..” His heart felt heavier as he pulled his head down and walked away, his feet trudging. The boy needed to be sure, he needed to be sure he’d never be Nathan Nezura again. For every mission in Astrid’s body he did, for each shard he absorbed, the more lucid he became.

“You’ve still got time to make a choice. And I’ll support you in that.” Her arms wrapped around him, until she slapped her and pushed her away. “Cut it OUT.”

A voice cheered from behind. “Heyyy, ma n pops!” They looked back, Jack skipping in, her pigtails flopping up and down like a cartoon poodle. “Bopppp.” She took her umbrella and playfully wacked Goliath on the head with it. Inspiration struck.

His eyes went wide and he stumbled. “Do that again.”

“Bopp? Bop bopppp!” Jack flipped the umbrella and repeated it. “Jack…” Goliath’s eyes twinkled with hope. “I love you.”

Those were the first time she’d ever heard those 3 words.

 

 

☆☆☆

Now

 

 

Back in the present, Becca stood heeding Goliath's story, taking in every word of his recall in an overwhelming avalanche of revelations and traumas.

"I don't know what to say." The gist of it seemed to present as a farce, the most ridiculous justification for assholery she'd ever heard. "The whole ridiculous crap about you offering up your soul on this insane mission to save Lucy’s soul sounds ridiculous, but I believe it. You had to blow the wand up, to save yourself? To spare me that fate, that's why you did it?"

"Becca, I'm sorry. Lucy was the one I wanted to save. But if I had to choose between saving you and Thatti-."

"She was your sister. You were born with her as your blood, she, she c-cared for you." Becca looked at her hands, all of this donning on her as a massive waste of time. "I'm such an idiot. Such a fucking idiot.. All this time I thought maybe there was a good explanation, or was looking for an excuse for you. But-"

"I had to destroy the wand to allow the shards coming into existence, then continue collecting shards.. Because it's just not fair to you!" Goliath shouted back.

"The godshards, they existed while while Thatti was still alive. Well before the Wand was destroyed. How does that make any goddamn sense?"

"When Headhunter destructed, the shards traveled back and forward in time. That's why me discovering them was a Paradox." He looked at the chain tattoos across body, all of them eventually

meeting at his chest in a spiral where a dozen were embedded into his heart. "What are the godshards exactly? They come from the wand but-."

He looked up at the ceiling, giving Astrid a look before turning back to Becca and answering her. "You know about Thatti, what happened to her. The shards are.." He held his chest.

"Thatti's soul. Strips of her magic dispersed, they're fragments of her soul. They were split when she died."

"WHAT-?!" Becca shouted, running up to him and pulling him to a hug. "No. No, you

couldn't. You wouldn't, Thatti isn’t- You couldn't have!" She didn't want to believe it, what she heard wasn't possible. Her sister, someone she considered like a sister was gone, but she was Goliath's sister. She was his literal, literal sister. And he killed her.

Worse, was wearing the pieces of her soul like a trophy, a pathetic salve to keep his mind intact. "I did what I had to, to save the future. I know it sounds hypocritical of me. I wish someone else was in the wand rather than Thatti, but we were both trapped in that hell. And I had to do what I had to save you." He breathed deeply. "And to be fair, you erased my mind too, so aren't a saint."

Becca stumbled back, anger and tears stinging her eyes. She could barely hold herself back from losing it. "That's not true! I would never... I never wanted you to lose a part of yourself, Goliath. I just wanted..." Her voice cracked, "I just wanted you back."

"You wanted the Goliath you knew, the one who could never truly exist again!" he yelled, his anger a tangible force in the small space.

"Becca I still love you.. even though.. I know.. you don't love me." He said, trying to smile. "You can still come back with me. Live in luxury at my side. What do you have to lose?"

"Fuck. You." She whispered. On recall, everyone who ever road with this boy back in Nightcity met a horrifying end.

Goliath tried to interject, "R-Becca-"

"FUCK YOU." She jumped forward and punched his torso continually, hitting the shards with all her wrath.

"For you to claim, that this was for me, this was for- this was for my future and my wellbeing!?

What the hell kind of logic is that, what the hell could possibly have happened that justifies that excuse?!"

Goliath looked out at the ceiling. "I'm sorry. Just.. listen to me. I'm sorry." He said, trying to calm her down and meet her anger.

"The fact that you think that was the right choice makes me.." She punched him again, starting to tear up and cry. "I FUCKING HATE YOUR ASS. You're not a hero, you're not even a tragic villain.

You're psycho trash who killed his mommy to play king and got his own sister murdered. You lied and cheated death, only to end up as, THIS?" She screamed, her entire face contorted into rage. "You're a fucking monster.."

"What would you have preferred? I leave you as a freakin wand? Would you have liked that?

With me losing my mind and thinking I'm some idiotic boy trapped in a palace, with you just some crazy weapon?! Would THAT be better? C’mon, there’s no way I could leave things like that!" Goliath shouted. "If I had another option, I would have done it!" He stomped his boot, gripping her collar and trying to

shout some semblance of sense. "All I wanted was for you to survive, to have a body again and for me to not turn into Nathan. If you loved me, you'd listen."

"Is that why you sent assassins to off me you piece of shit?!"

Goliath had enough, trying to reason with her or change her opinion. "B-but, hey it doesn't matter. What's done is done. I'm the topdog, I fucking won! You can come with me on my throne, we can still save Lucy and then-" He paused. "Wait, why did you just say?"

The room went silent, an empty nothing sharp enough to cut through the steel walls of the facility. She blinked, looking at Jetti and Astrid. "Two thugs from Orchid tried to kill me on the beach.

They attacked in cold blood." The latter began to take steps back. The Prince froze, turning to

Astronomica who looked nervous.

"Stop. Astronomica." He stopped and looked at her. "What's this about mercenaries? Explain." He wouldn't turn his back to her. She got on one knee and bowed, her face pale.

"I, my fullest condolences my liege. I took the initiative, believing I could eliminate a potential

threat.

"WHY?!?!" He shouted at her, turning to her furiously, hated burning in his eyes. "I make no excuses." Her head stayed bowed.

"I-I'm sorry, my Dominus. I made the wrong decision.." Her head hung in shame. Astronomica began to cry. He took in a long breath. He couldn't believe it, someone trying to kill Becca?

Furious emotions welled up, and were quickly suppressed. "It's alright, c'mere."

"I, I raised you. I protected you, with my own body! We were one! Everything I do, I did for you my Dominus. I promise, I'll do everything in my power to makeup for it."

The woman embraced him as he comforted her. "Close your eyes." Astrid looked down, his heart fluttering and her eyes closed. Astronomica, in his view a perfect servant, and she had betrayed his trust

in her. And even worse, had gone and tried to kill Becca, who he cherished. He was glad she hadn't succeeded, because he wouldn't have wanted that on his conscience. But now that he had been given an ultimatum, he had to ponder upon it. "We have to focus on what is now, and deal with problems in the moment.."

"I'm not going to hurt her ever again." She said.

He made fingerguns at her face. She opened her eyes and paused, brain racing. "What... What are you doing?"

"Yeah, you're right. You won't." The power of Rot flared as his hands glowed bright red, and he flicked the 'trigger.' In a blast of heat and devastation, Astronomica's face burst as a scarlet bolt

penetrated her eyepatch and blinded her explosively, her clothes scorched, head shotgun sprayed with blood.

Becca's eyes went wide as she gaped at Astronomica, her skin and blood flaking and charring. "Y-YOU-" She shook in rage and disbelief as Astronomica screamed with agony, clutching her face with scorched hands, Goliath pressing his hand atop of her head. "This might be the last time I use this

but. Pulse." A wall of gravity bludgeoned and trampled her into the floor until Astrid was flattened. "Sorry about that shitshow." He said, looking back at the fallen woman. "...What a waste."

"Motherfucker." Becca shouted, her arm twisting into a fist and launching at him. He waved his hand and she too collapsed onto the floor, the force trampling her. "Oh, I still have it?

Suppose something of that caliber wouldn't kill her." He turned to the girl with a polite smile.

Becca only looked at Astronomica with disgust. "She was loyal to you. Your entire life, and you threw her away like she was nothing."

"A means to an end." He replied coldly.

"Enough talk about that shit!" Becca yelled. "Fuck you, you piece of human shit! I never needed you, you worthless piece of garbage!"

"Becky-"

"You're a sociopathic, sadistic, narcissistic psychopath. You're not a person, you're garbage. Fuck you and everything you stand for. You're just an evil piece of shit." The girl stood against the gravity wall, legs wobbling, nose bleeding from the immense weight. "Becky, no. This, is our last chance to

make this right." Nezra pleaded.

"The only 'right' thing you've ever done, is die."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You have one more chance to make yourself right, make up, show any humanity for once." She looked at him, holding her fist, then pointed at his shard- embedded chest. "Take those out. Stop being the Dominus, revoke the throne, abandon being the 'Shadowking' or whatever insanity you're on. And help me resurrect Thatti. THEN, I might not strangle you with your own innards." Silence built between them both. "Do it." She waited, an eerie silence before she dropped her arm. "DO IT."

"I.." He froze. "I.. cannot."

"I'm sorry." He whispered, the pain of it cutting through every fiber of his being. "This is just the way it is now."

Bearing in mind their history, Becca threw everything to the gutters and prepared to lay in it. Her rage eating her up inside, pushed her to stand against the current again. "No. NO! Just no." Her legs began to give out. "I'll tell you the 'way now'. I'm going to fucking kill you.. I'll join the gems, get Thatti back and-"

"If you're thinking you can get Thatti back by killing me, you're wrong." He shook. "Thatti is gone, they're shards now. She's not coming back."

"I WILL." " She shouted at the top of her lungs, her legs dropping and collapsing. "..Becky-" "Go to fuck yourself. Go.. go and rot on that throne." She looked up at him, eyes bloodshot.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, because the next time I see you, I'm going to fucking end you myself.

When this is over, you'll get what you deserve." She screamed as Astronomica looked on, her

head flopping backwards with blood pouring from her mouth. Sandra was beginning to wake, the earlier crash fading with a dull pain on her skull.

Goliath walked a dozen meters away from the scene, summoning Jack close. He whispered into her ear, for abit, then stood still as she went back with her crowbar, and launched it at Sandy.

The Xistress caught it. "Whatever.. for. The, the fucking stupid.. the.. stupid... thing." She scoffed. "This is the last time I ever help Orchidans." She took out an electrical knife and stabbed Jack in the

rainbow eye, who bled and screamed.

"Jetti, grab Astrid's body. We'll need to dispose of her alive later." Goliath declared. "Got it."

The gravity effect around Becca had dissipated, Ameisa coming to her own and grabbing the girl all the while. She held hex-shaped discs and trapped them around both Becca and Jack's legs and wrists. "Where do you think you're going?" Sandra shouted. "You, you're going with me." Sandra said.

"When I escape-" Becca was cut off.

Goliath couldn't take it anymore. "BECCA, SHUT UP. JUST SHUT THE GODDAMN FUCK UP." He screamed, eyes pure red. He put two hands into the air and clapped, a purple whirlpool of

perfect, dark density growing larger and larger, rising up and collapsing the ceiling. The walls, floor, and ceiling, all felt as though they were being pulled and yanked into a vacuum. "U-U-U-URRGH!" He

shouted.

"Through my suffering and toil, and every pain I've ever suffered, and every burden I've ever had to bear. I ask that I may atone for my sins, that you forgive me for the choices I made, the things I did. I pray you find it in your heart to guide my conscience, Flora." With a loud clap, the wave of Pulse tore through the architecture on the floors above. Everything began to shake. Sandra and Ameisa rapidly dodged falling debris and pillars as their hair blew backwards, the gravity wave a powerful force in their wake. Nezra's heart pounded, he felt the weight and pain of it like a sledgehammer.

His heart pounded like a drum and bloodshot veins thudded like a hammer into his temples. His eyes watered, his breathing coming in heavy spasms as he looked at the girl with a horrified fervor.

Weapon depots and fuel tanks busted into gamma explosions that rocked the Palace. He heard the

screams of the people falling as he started to float and fly out through the chaos, Jetti and Astrid with him. The gravity flattened dozens of floors like an avalanche. Everything went black as a pipe hit

Becca's head with a thud.

The wave of destruction waned finally when she recovered a few minutes later, the upper floors were completely rubble, the night sky and stars visible. Ameisa called the Starguard to pick the two up, and escort them to Citadel Node.

When fleets arrived in tow, she was soon brought to Xi's foremost asylum station, standing in a line of prisoners as staff rolled devices down their bodies, encasing them in slick black latex jumpsuits with white stars on their chests, the sleek material skintight, chipped with trackers and impossible to remove. Becca didn't struggle, she didn't languish. Her eyes watered, and she felt the cold, harsh

weight of reality.

Becca looked around as she was scanned and then pushed forward in the strange neon facility.

Others were herded into rows, like they were cattle being led to the slaughter, many with similar

markings. They were all brought into a room, where one prisoner was put onto an operating table, where technicians and staff prepared to begin chipping them with locators on their chests, ones with built in

detonators that would go off and explode if the prisoner tried to cut them out or remove them.

Each could also be activated manually if the prisoner escaped of course.

The girls next to Becca shook with fear as the chip went in. She saw species of all kinds here- humanoids, Set, Llavalites, Blackwind types, a few plants and bugs from Orchid, even synths and gems. No one was spared from Xi’s correctional system. Once all were done, the guards opened the exit and moved them to the holding cells. The room the detainees were pushed into was cold, and a white tarp hung from the ceiling, covering the room. The guards went outside, and turned on the lights to the entire room, causing electricity to spark out around the halls and bars, the prisoners to scream in pain as light bounced off every wall and reflected like strobe lights. Becca cried out, flailing her arms, but it didn't end for nearly two minutes. The guard told the new prisoners this was their Static Deterrent System, a method to control riots and incidents should the inmates get too cocky, she reminded them that their

jumpsuits were made of a specialized rubber that did not insulate or protect them from electricity.

Becca was shown to her cell, captive. Armless. Wandless. Friendless and helpless. And yet..

She was still alive. And now she had a mission, to make him pay. Between the hours she

reflected on every ounce of trauma and savored it like a balm upon her soul. When shown to her cell, she spotted Jack put in a cell adjacent to hers, just close enough to touch. The girl was unnaturally placid, as though every fiber of her being wanted to just let go. A feeling of empathy welled up within her, as Jack would not look up, or meet her gaze. She reached a hand out.

Jack looked at the hand, then into her eyes. She took her hand and smiled.

The weight of that one moment, the feeling of her heart being torn to shreds was unbearable.

Becca stood looking at the glass window, the stars twinkling and shimmering in a radiant light as stars in the night sky above the palace. Her face began to feel warm, heat blasting her, her body burning, heart

pumping. For the first time since she'd been reborn, she finally felt alive.

She looked out the window and smiled. The air generators of Citadel Node bellowing into the void, casting a deep dark wind that touched and chilled every inch of its corridors.

All of this past, evaporated in her own reflection. That image staring back was good company, a faded phantom she might be. No matter how long she had to wait, she'd let her patience boil over into blood someday.

The moment would come. "Psychotrash."

 

Elsewhere, in a certain tower Ellie and her librarian walked through a bustling bronzed bridge in some extravagant kingdom. With thousands of bridges between swampy moats and gigantic mangrove trees that arose kilometers high and provided the world plentiful shade. The sky rotated with patches of pink, yellow and purple that vividly gleamed through the sunny rays above. Rumors were that the sun of this world was actually an unholy beast that needed sacrifice to keep the world plentiful and alive year after year, the mere overexposure from this entity could incinerate one that left the shade for more than a few moments. The cherry juice that everyone seemed to drink in bountiful leisure also made Ellie think the population might have been vampires, but she didn’t really know for sure. It was just a nice stroll to enjoy yet another odd land and the two paid no mind. Today was not a day for not taking or scholarly report. Grace, with all her note keeping and academic inclinations tucked away cleared her throat.

“Mistress, I think we should split up.” She said.

Ellie gasped. “Whuh? You don’t like me? That’s a little sudden.”

“Nono not you and me.” The librarian sighed. Grace put two hands on her heart, as if signaling where two hearts would be. “I mean ‘I’ want to split up. We.. us.” She rubbed that area and squeezed.

“Me and Luma. I want to find a way for us to separate. Is that okay with you Mistress?” Ellie smiled, a smile full of gentle curiosity and kindness.

Her clowny lips lit up like a carnival ready to go on full tour. “Sounds like an adventure!”