Chapter 47 – XU

In the all too bright lights and cheery spacepop playing overtop, Becca woke up. Her head felt battered and dizzy, as if coming from a really bad hangover. The last thing she remembered was exiting the Bolts and entering some kind of nightclub. She spotted a Godshard at the end of the room and attempted to retrieve it, others threw insults and then shot bullets at her. The club dance scene turned into a wild gunfight, her dark afterimages blinking through the dazzling strobe lights as she entered attack mode and took out as many shooters as she could. At some point she swore she heard the voice of- Diane? Saving her? It had all happened so fast, and the usage of strange, ferocious Set instincts while in her newly lucid state usually put her in an automated charge of fight-or-flight. There was a sharp pain in her chest, she slowly attempted to get up, seeing the sky beautiful airy sky above.

The sky flickered at her. "Huh?" She squinted, following the clouds moving eerily fast over the- ceiling? It was only then she realized that the sky wasn't real, it wasn't some sort of projection either. From what she could tell, it was a surface, with something akin to a screensaver. When she looked aside, the clouds reached the end of the ceiling and curved onto the walls as an extension, the looping sublime animation playing across the room. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she must've been hallucinating, when a woman with long sassy pink hair and a rubbery, plastic-y doctor's nursecoat came in. "7 broken ribs, a few gunshots and a hemorrhage from internal bleeding. Plus lack of Vitamin-E. Hm, a lack of like, chest augmentation maintenance too. When did you get your last silicone shot?"

Becca blinked, she had no idea what this woman was talking about. The woman tried tapping Becca's forehead jewel and head, confused. "Huh? Where's your wellness monitor?" The squeaky way this lady talked made it hard for Becca to believe she was even a real doctor.

"My what?" Becca asked, noticing something eerie. There were, little dancing woman on the nurse's latexy coat. Becca pinched and stretched the coat towards her- the woman on the surface twerked and danced along a pole on it, flat and continuous. It took a moment for her to realize they were another display of some kind, but on the doctor. More assistants and staff came in with the ugliest wardrobes Becca had ever seen, each of them in plastic-y dresses that looked like they came from the trash, but all of them displaying advertisements, news footage and even porn on their clothes. "We'll ask the Hospital Major what to do, since it seems you lost your Credit-chip. For now just sit still and look pretty!"

Becca looked confused, "My... what?"

Becca glanced out to find a bustling city with flashing neon and LED billboards, each of them displaying ads. Every single billboard was displaying the same advertisement for an item in sync, before occasionally alternating to different feeds and topics. What confused Becca is many of them, on second look weren't billboards- they were skyscrapers and buildings, but every last one of them seemed to be able to work as displays.

"Are we in some kind of weird advertisement district?" Becca asked one of the assistance, who was giving her some subsistence- a plate of vegan meatloaf, pink mash potates laced with sugary food coloring, and a whole separate plate of pills.

"What are these for?" Becca asked, finding it funny she left a club to be offered drugs

here.

"For your expression and feeling of course! These two are 'orgasm', this ones 'tear up', oh

I love this one! 'Sexy!' It'll have your libido skyrocketing-" The nurse, Becca realized was a male but sounded incredibly feminine, the makeup on him really did make his face look painted on. It made him sort of hard to look at, if only for a second. Becca stared at the pills. "This one's stimulant, this one's painkiller, and these three are antidepressants. These are all over the counter" he said, setting the plate close from her on the bed counter. When Becca reached for the plate, it suddenly came to life and displayed a HUD, with numerous 'ad' options, marketplace sites and even video streaming sites. "Why is my plate a goddamn screen?" She said confused, but the boy had already left, she watched him strut his hips with an oversized booty.

She sat up abit with a pang of pain in her side. The plate got a news report popup. "Wait, is that a woman? And what's that?" She asked, glancing down to find a woman with long white hair begin to speak up. "This is the Galaheart XU alert network! Subjects of my efficient, eclectic galactic romance and ever-beautiful empire! 10 minutes ago one of our interstellar fleets and the planet of Ja-Sapien was decimated by an invading alien army. The Set crushed our surrounding star system mercilessly. Our Orchid allies in the region were destroyed by it too, and the only thing we can do now is to prepare for the worst, and prepare our hearts with empirical love and compassion! Please, spread the love for your Premier and her beloved Mascot, Lil Sys!" She said, blowing kisses. The stream then cut out, cutting to a woman fucking some kind of sex robot instead. Becca watched it with a bit of shock, she didn't know what to do. "Get this out of my face."

 

 

A robotic voice came from the ceiling. "I am your room service, your AI, what is your pleasure?"

"A room service bot?" Becca asked, still confused. "Like, a robot, where?" She asked. "Right here. I'm the hospital AI." The room said, as the clouds displayed on the walls

turned into a menu screen. "Would you like to view television, read the news or purchase a personalized wellness/dietary/porn subscription plan?"

"Tell me where I am." Becca asked, not wanting to purchase a plan. "This is the Xum Star-Charity Hospital, the best hospital in the cosmos!"

The AI said cheerfully. "We offer everything from surgical procedures to beauty and sexual wellness. This facility is a part of the Nexus Hospital, a chain of private hospitals and healthclubs."

"Why was I brought here?" Becca asked.

"Well, we received word from Dr. Bonesaw that you were in dire need of medical attention and that you had lost consciousness in the vicinity of her facility."

"...What?" Becca repeated, unable to grasp the last bit.

"Dr. Bonesaw- well, she isn't really a doctor...she's a surgeon, and surgeon at that! A medical-scientist actually!" The AI said cheerfully as the walls displayed footage of a woman who looked more like a pornstar than a doctor, but carried an actual saw in almost comedic-fashion. "She'll even offer a good blowjob after your surgery's recover. She’s among our clinic's leading surgical staff! Oh, and she's really popular and gorgeous! People will kill to have their appendix's removed by her!"

"Wait...what?" Becca asked. "You're telling me that she's...like...a porn star who has sex with her patients in the middle of an operation, just to...to...just to..."

"...do you want to purchase one of our subscriptions, that give you access to premium content from Dr. Bonesaw's most popular procedures?" the AI asked Becca.

"Yes. No. Get this fucking screen out of my face." Becca said, this whole vibe was making her extremely sick and uncomfortable.

"You said 'Please start fucking this screen with my face.' While I'm only an AI and cannot comply, I can send sex workers to your room for a small fee." The walls showed numerous options for courtesans and government-funded hookers in shiny vinyl dresses nearby, all of which had brand logo screens on their clothes displayed on the walls themselves. Menu options and purchase features shot from a hologram on her plate. Becca groaned and she threw it into the window until it smashed, electric sparks dancing. "I don't care! Get these fucking screens out of my face! And stop talking about sex." Becca said.

"Ok." The room replied. "You're also a patient. You need to be treated, do you have a valid Credit-chip to use?"

"Just tell me where I am." Becca said. "I'm not buying any of this shit, I'm not here for

that."

"Ok." The room said, a map of the city showing on the walls. "You're in the Capital City of

Xupolis, a great tourist destination with beautiful views and shopping opportunities. We're in the main hospital district here in Xum-Star Charity Hospital. Just a 15-minute tram ride away from the Xupolis Tower. Shall I tell you the best sex-tourism hotspots, clubs and salon discounts?" The building told her.

Becca's heart sank. A goddamn hospital, was trying to fuck with her right now. "You're being really creepy right now." She said.

"Oh...ok. I'll turn off my charm." The room's tone turned into a more matter of fact, professional tone. "You're in the capital of Xupolis. There are a lot of tourist sites and

entertainment centers nearby. The Premier will be coming to meet you shortly, she's heading en route. Please stay put, and do accept our offer of complimentary neural-plastisurgery aswell."

"Neural-plastisurgery, the fuck??" Becca asked, her head ached from the bright lights and colorful room. "Is this fucking space-fascism or what?" She asked, the walls suddenly flipped to a news station, where a woman with way too much plastic surgery and long blonde hair with the XU logo in gold was talking. She had a small tattoo on her forehead, a strange sort of smiley face emote that changed emojis as she spoke expressively. "Our beloved Premier here, is happy to see you all, please come and check out our facilities for sex-tourism, shopping, and the local tourist attractions! Here's the latest update on-" One of the doctors came in and clapped their hands, the walls going back to their cloud-screensaver.

A new doctor, this one in a full-on shiny plastic-like suit with a headset-screen and all, came in. He had some form of augmentation, she could tell by the way he looked. On his labcoat was footage of some kind of jungle or rainforest playing in loop. He, like the other male doctor was incredible feminine.

"Hi!" The doctor said. "We'll take you to the room of operations next! So you're a virgin?" "I'm not." Becca said. "I'm not some-" She said. The doctor's suit, just like the others,

was some kind of screen, this one displaying a woman with huge tits and pouty pillowed lips, advertising some sort of lipgloss." "I'm really not."

"I see." The doctor said, the man looked disappointed. "It's OK, just don't let the other patients see you.. like this." The doctor asked, and Becca could see on his gloves displayed footage of a woman on her knees, a sex toy between her lips, her eyes shut. "Like what?" Becca asked.

"Like.. that. Without any augmentations, enhancements or proper public-appropriate surgeries." He told her.

She gave him the middle finger with her prosthetic arm. "That enough of an augmentation for you?"

The doctor looked confused, Becca felt her jaw twitch as she felt the urge to punch this man's guts out. "I...uh...you'll be receiving a consultation for your 'enhancements' to our standards of beauty here on Xupolis...isn't that what you wanted to do in the first place? Just a bit of silicone for your chest? We'll take you in."

The screen cut to Dr. Bonesaw, a smiling blonde woman in a bright surgical coat with her ass cheeks visible through a small riff of her surgical top.

"Hello." The blonde doctor on Bonesaw's labcoat said. "You're in the presence of just some of our many Xupolis professional medical-staff! We'll get you up to beauty standards in no time! Please enjoy complimentary orgasm pills as your surgeon starts preparing your procedure!"

Bonesaw started to cart her out of the room. In the hallway Becca saw the hallways were also glossy, glassy screens- every surface peppered with a hundred advertisements at any given moment competing for your attention.

Each doorway was covered in electronic digital posters, ads, promotional billboards and ads for local businesses that popped in and out of existence on the door's display. On the walls were dozens of neon signs, holographic advertisements for things she couldn't even read or understand, all of them blinking and flashing and trying to shove their product and message into her face as she was being rolled down the hallway on a stretcher. Some asked her to confirm or 'click to learn more'- when she tapped said wall, the ad would comply into either another video or a purchase screen, interact-able in real time. When she looked aside she saw ads in the air too, every last one of them beaming on her, holograms manifesting in the air as they slide around and followed her stretcher in a dizzying fashion.

"You're going to be fine." The Doctor said. "Xum Star-Charity is one of the premier hospitals in the galaxy. We're a part of the XU system of hospitals, that run hospitals all over the planet and galaxy."

"Wait. So this whole thing is just one big ad?" Becca asked. "Everything, all these buildings, the planet, the whole system of this goddamn galaxy, it's just an ad?" She asked.

"You're in Xupolis, the planetary capital of the galaxy within the Empire of XU." The doctor told her.

"XU?" Becca asked.

, looking outside. "What does that stand for?" She asked.

"The Xestocracy of Ultracapitalism of course. Previously the Xistress Union. A galaxy spanning empire of a government and market that has a perfected form of 'Neocolonial' government."

"...wait." Becca said. "Neocolonialism? The fuck are you talking about?" She asked. "Our brand of Neocolonialism is a perfected one. It's the only government in the galaxy

that has achieved pure Neocolonialism." The doctor told her. "It has achieved the highest levels of social and scientific progress. Our market is the only market that has ever been completely-"

"I don't even know what Neocolonialism is, but I have a hunch. Is this government made up of corporations and businesses?"

"All corporations and businesses are part of our government. Enterprise and markets are not spontaneously innovated, they're commissioned, subsidized and run by XU's various agencies. Everything here is part of the XU Xestocracy, in perfect synergy."

"Oh...this sounds absolutely dystopian as fuck." She said.

"Dy-stop-wian? What does that mean? We're a Union of interstellar settlements, that all live in complete harmony and mutual peace in the pursuit of scientific progress." Becca

looked out into the lobby as she was wheeled- everyone wearing rubbery clothing, floating screens and ads all around the patients each patient on the floor in a state of shock and confusion, and the walls peppered with advertisements for sex. Most of the patients also looked unnaturally beautiful- with oversized breasts, clear botox-injected faces and sculpted features. She couldn't see a single male among them, before squinting and realizing a few of them probably still were. Soon she was pushed further along into the surgery operation room. One of the nurses, a femboy with long purple hair picked up a syringe with pink gel-like liquid inside.

"Hi, we'll be performing surgery on you, shall I start with the orgasm first, or should I get the botox done first?" He asked, holding the syringe in the air. "I mean, you're new here, so maybe you haven't had the 'standard' rib removals and fat-redistribution butt-tuck yet? We can start with that first, if you like. But we should totally add some estrogen boosters.

The walls started to project a model of her, a secondary model etched out in pink lines with the mentioned modifications.

"Relax!" The doctor said. "No one's violating you, or...are you not happy with our free sex-enhancement packages? We're offering to make your butt into a full ass, we're gonna give you the largest breasts possible, you're gonna have the most cum ever!" The nurse pressed the glassy walls as if operating them like a comptuer, Becca was going to throw up. "This is...this is fucking insanity. You can't be serious, can you?" Becca asked, turning to the other doctors around her, each of them wearing the same sort of shiny, rubbery outfits that had diagnostic screens flashing embedded into their fabric.

"Hold still, we'll give you some dopamine kickers-" One of the nurses came close and was kicked in the face. "Fuck you! I'm going to get out of here!" Becca flipped over her entire operating table and twisted her hand against the ground, turning it like a spinning axis, and then spinning the other direction with noticeable cracks. It was enough to throw off the doctors as she ran out, walking through the ad spammed halls. Suddenly the lights turned red- The walls were covered in her own image, each of them saying some strange thing and advertising something in a jumble of information before announcing she'd escaped.

'Wanted- fugitive wanted on site. Offer reward for apprehension-' Each wall said, Becca felt her heart sink. What the fuck was happening? She ran out, but was cut off at the doorway of the hospital, where she saw a squad of armored police and military members. One of them was a woman in an incredible shiny, plastic-y pink-colored armor. She slammed the walls and spirals began cracking out towards the group, crackling like thin glass as shards shattered at them. She began rapidly blinking in-and-out of black flashes as she sped past them and made her way towards the lobby, as a wave of police shot sparks at her, firing some kind of sonic wave that dizzied her vision for a moment.

"Fuck you!" She yelled as she came in a wave of the crowd of police into the lobby, where she heard alarms. Police and paramedics came running in as their sirens blared. Becca tackled several of the officers, than sped towards the exit finally. The light outside was almost blinding as several of the officers had their guns out and were aiming at her. Her eyes stung, on a scale from 1 to 'fuck this.'

"We can resolve this peacefully." One of them said. "We've got a warrant from the Premier herself to return you."

She ignored them, slowly walking out the building into the metropolis. Xupolis, the planetary capital. Flying ships, endless shiny towers and scrapers, sky-railways and beautiful parks. It was all there, all around her. But...but her brain...what the fuck was happening? She walked out into the bright, blinding sun and saw police coming out of the building after her. Her entire vision felt like a fever, a wave of energy was surging through her. She had to get away from them, away from here. When she looked up in the sky, she saw advertisements and digitalized projections even in the atmosphere. Suddenly they all shifted to her own face.

"C'mon, seriously?"

The only thing breaking up her flickering image above was a menacing red dot. The dot grew as it descended, giving her a faint illusion of hope as the dot grew and expanded towards the ground. "Nine!" She cheered, seeing the Set Mech from so long ago. The Kamikatzi dropped from the sky, smashing through the hospital and the city around it.

Becca watched it crash, the metal plates of the road cracking from it's impact and then shattering into the ground while itself was entirely unharmed. Her heart thrummed with fear, dread creeping up her spine and paralyzing her. The crash was like deafening thunder, sending screams of terror from fleeing civilians.

Why was it repainted a pure scarlet red?

It slowly marched closer, taking out a laserblade from its backside, standing its monstrous height only a dozen feet in front of her and eclipsing her in its shadow.

"Well, look at you." The Mech pointed the blade her way, stopping inches from her face. "G'day. Welcome to the future cunt." Even through the mech's voice filter she could recognize the dictation.

"Caleb?" She said, staring up at the massive demon.

It growled, lifting her up as if she was a tiny child. "You b-" She was rapidly shook like a child's rattle.

Becca went into fight or flight, her hands squeezing and slapping the Mech's weighted enhanced ultrasteel limbs. She saw her spirals dent it a smudge like a mattress, but the reinforced material resisted and the dent smoothed out immediately completely intact.

"Caleb, how- what the hell happened?" She asked, as she was hurled into a building and then slammed back into a skyscraper with a force that felt like a speeding car. Her spine snapped back. Blood spurted from her mouth, the Mech was already flying in her direction from a few hundred meters at blinding speeds. Before it could ram its laserblade through the skyscraper and slice it whole, Becca was grabbed by somebody and pulled out of the way. She felt a moment of clarity, as she floated a few hundred meters off the ground as the streets came into view- now aware even said streets and sidewalks had glassy screen displays and ads all

around them, a visual that made her uneasy. She floated high in the sky, and slowly turned her head to see who grabbed her.

A woman with an eyepatch and flowing red hair, the only gem with that kind of maturity and vigorous scowl She saw Diane and she had to catch her breath, catching her for a long moment. A few seconds of repose to recognize a fr... well someone she was glad to see again. "Diane!"

"Becca." She said back, with the slightest crack of hope in her voice.

The two flew a good mile until they had some distance. "Their scanners will be on us in a minute, we don't have much time." Diane pulled out an ornamented spear she'd never seen before with a metallic snake-sculptured around it and an imitation timeclock.

"What the hell is happening here?" Becca asked, looking down at her bleeding fingers and twisted arm. "How did you even find me?"

"No time to explain, we're gonna be separated for abit. Stay alive until I can find you again." She began to twirl the spear, the snake on its handle lighting up in glowing red ember hues. "I'll get you out of here."

"What do you mean by that?"

With the full force of her muscled thrust, her arms she hurled her specialized spear. It created a series of concentric glowing circles that lined up and formed a cyan array of light that surrounded Becca and sent her plummeting, faster and faster directly through its trajectory out of space and through spacetime. The seeming portal rocketed her down a corridor of pure quantum displacement.

Elsewhere

When she dropped out the quantum tunnel, she was now floating around in what looked to be nearly space, thousands of miles up. She shot a glance back at the planet below her, where its digital advertisements were now covering everything- even the natural forest was now covered in screens, the jungle and natural areas all peppered with ads and marketing. The only problem was, she was no longer in XU.

Nearly in the vacuum of space, she struggled to breathe with air so thin- her arms grasped at the air, twisted corkscrews of air shielding and warming her and delaying suffocation and depressurization. Slowly she descended towards the planet, before someone else caught her, their flowing cape blowing not with the windless space but their speed. Some sort of man in orange rubber with ears of a some kind of animal-cowl. "What...how did you get me up here?" She asked, the sky was blue. They couldn't hear her in the soundless void of space, and she wasn't sure why she wasn't dead this high up, guessing the strange glowing of her tattoo'd limbs and the shield around her they projected had something to do with it. He gripped her securely and they flew down slowly until the atmosphere was pure and unspoiled.

She began to see cities again- cities with advertisements and the same obnoxious screens everywhere. The two floated down, their speed taking them through the buildings and around the bustling city. "Here." The man said, his body slick and athletic with his white-and-orange costume, fake rubber tail and chiseled muscles. Becca looked him up and down confused. She was half expecting the Kamikatzi to show up any moment, but things were surprisingly calm.

Another woman came near, this one in her own glittery getup- pure metallic catsuit, paws and leggings and a face that was a shiny silver metal. To Becca she looked almost like a humanoid Set as she'd been, but she'd never seen one with such a smooth silver complexion and playful green eyes. She was accompanied by several more figures, all wearing some type of silvery colorful costumes. She came near and they both looked at each other in shock. The silver cat and orange man gave her some space. "You alright?" The latter asked.

"Uh, I...how did you find me?" She asked, glancing at her own arm and the other limb where they were still visible- the tattooed spirals a bright cyan glowing over them. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating.

"Our sensors detected someone falling from the upper atmosphere just below space. Any other Ultra team would've fired first or arrested you for interrogation- you don't seem dangerous. And we're not like that."

"U-ultras?" Becca was at a complete loss of words. "What? What is that?"

"We're Ultras, our government has set up our own Ultra team." The silver woman told

her.

 

 

"...Ultra team?"

"Our own Ultra superteam." He said. "...What?"

"Superheroes." He told her, until she finally got it.

"Oh. Pfft." She looked down at her arms, which after glowing for so long, uncorked the

air around her and created a massive spiral around her, the others leapt back on alert.

"Whoa! Whoa!" She said, looking around at the spirals. "Sorry...I was...I wasn't expecting to...you guys might wanna get some distance from me."

The Ultra Team stared at her for a moment, and gradually the blast of air died down alongside the glow of her arms, despite leaving twisted tracks in the grass.

"Mkkywowsies! You have, a Nobility Phantom?" The silver girl asked, impressed. “Nobility...Phantom?" Becca repeated, turning to face the other Ultras in complete

shock.

"Your phantom has the highest record we've seen- your spirit is a full three Nobility points. Not the five points of a Bodhisattva but.."

"Um...spirit...ph...point?"

"Oh god, you're so naive. Look." The silver Ultra said, and with a tap of her finger along her arm. "I recognize those markings mmeowkays? Lots of Ultras have them or some kind.

Nobility Phantoms are rare, but as far as powers go, they're one of a kind." She snickered. "Supposed to be meowbout spirits possessing you or somethin, but meowthinks meowybe there's more than that. Not sure if this is even real, the way those so-called 'spiritualists' have gone up and down." She shrugged with her slinky silver cat arms.

The orange Ultra looked back at the ground where they were in the fields, and then turned back at her. "My name's Vicuna." He pointed to the catlady. "This is Silvpurr, my lifemate, partner and best friend. The rest of these folks are the Ultras of the US- we're called the 'Silver Lining,' we're here to support you in any way we can."

"The Silver Lining in the flesh!" Silvpurr perked up, her shiny catears flopping and tail swaying back and forth. Even her face seemed painted up with whispers and a cat’s nose alongside silvery streaks on her cheeks resembling latexy fur, to where Becca couldn’t be sure if it was prosthetic or actually part of her genetic makeup.

"Huh? Wait- so we're in America now?" Becca asked. She recalled such a nation from the past- her own upbringing in Nighty City was along the coast of Los Angeles, before the centuries of strife made it a wasteland and later endless pit of Lots and landfills.

The Ultras turned to look around at each other, and then back at Becca. "What?" The Orange Ultra asked. "No, the US stands for the United Sovereignty, otherwise known as 'Greatland.'"

Becca went silent. The Ultras all went wide-eyed at the same time. "You don't know what Greatland is?" Silvpurr asked.

"H-" Becca had to ask. "What?"

"Greatland is the largest nation in the world." Vicuna explained. "It's an Ultra-lead government, a society lead by superhumans, our beloved MoM and revered Leader, atom bless her. And in which we're all here because of our abilities- all of us are Ultras, who Greatland relies on."

Becca looked up at the Ultras with the same expression of wonder. "Yeah! Thasss right eyyup." Silvpurr said. After taking all this in, Becca sighed and tried to unwind as much as her winding-arm would allow. "...look, this isn't making any sense at all. I don't know where I am, who any of you are, and I don't know why we're all speaking English."

Vicuna looked her up and down. "...wait, wait- you don't know where you are or who we

are?"

"This doesn't seem real to me, that's how it is." She asked. "But I know who I am. The name's Becca, but the rest...are we still in America, or 'Greatland' or whatever? That's ancient history right? And who am I talking to? Why are you guys dressed in those costumes? Why are all the cities on here have these billboards like in XU, why are these Ultra people? I've been in a different...dimension, world or something, I have no clue how I got to America."

"United Sovereignty." Vicuna corrected, trying to console her. "Where did you come from girl."

"Uh.. Xi?"

The Ultras looked at her, shocked. Everyone went so silent that the only thing that could be heard was the flap of her flapping cape, and the grass moving under her feet and the wind passing by. They looked at each other as if a grave taboo had been uttered and then back to Becca, Vicuna putting a rubbery gloved hand on her shoulder. "Ssh, okay piece of advice.

DON'T ever tell anyone that." He leaned in. "Xi isn't exactly, trusted around here."

"If you're from Xi, you can't be trusted. You can't tell people that. It's a secret." He pointed around, and then to herself. "If you're caught saying it, you can be tortured, imprisoned for crimes against the people, or worse. Trust me."

"...I- I have no idea what you're talking about. I...this world isn't real. There's no way it's real." She repeated, glancing at the spirals and tapping them again. Her power came back with a massive blast, this time a massive spiral of wind around her and the Ultras she was with. The group was nearly hit, if not for Silvpurr's projection of silvery shielding that left her feet and toes barefoot. They clenched and closed their eyes, but didn't suffer any damage yet panicked.

Silvpurr had to come between the Ultra team and her, being far more forgiving. "Relax meowkay relaxxxx. It was some kind of accident, she's clearly a youngster." She turned to Becca. "You okay youngstah? You're not gonna blow us up are you?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." She calmed down the swirling cyan wind around them, lowering the massive spiral with some effort. Silvpurr melted the shield and absorbed it back to her feet. "Eeeyhyhyheh, I remember I gave people quite a few WOW and WOAH scares when I unlocked my powers too." She swiped her finger against her silvery glove which melted off in droplets. "See I can create and control Liquid Mercury! It’s even caked into my skin, which is why it’s so silvery and shiny. It's not poisonous to me either and is pretty cat-cool! Meowthinks my power is just a little more manageable than your's..." She trailed off, smiling with her shiny feline visage.

Becca looked at the Ultras in bewilderment, then back down at the spirals. She looked away, not sure what to say. Vicuna folded his arms trying to project confidence, his heart trying to take measure of her conversations.

"Mmkay, listen." Becca pointed to Silvpurr's face as she looked at the other Ultras. "I just came from another world. Another...thing. I had to leave, I had to get away. They're gonna try and catch me. I don't know what's going on here, or what this place is, or how I'm here."

"Oh don't worry. If you're from Xi.." Vicuna gripped his fist out, arm turned to the sky. "They'll never find you or get you here. Xi cannot hurt you here.. We've evolved past such things."

"Meaning?" Becca asked.

Vicuna explained. "This world is full of people with powers. Everyone has powers. If not superpowers- genius intelligence, martial arts, sportsmanship, scholasticism, advanced prodigies."

"...right, powers...right." She said.

"What I'm trying to say Xi-girl is." He smirked. "Xi won't set foot here, we're like- uninhabitable to them. Beyond human capabilities, our entire society is based off it. Our economy is based on superpowered people, our government is run by Ultras, and they wouldn't ever be able to invade here even if they tried." He kissed his fist. "Because we'd just kick their ass."

She looked up at the Ultras, who nodded in agreement. She had to wonder to herself what was really happening, before her spirals began to twirl. "But what about...my body? What about the...Xi stuff?"

"Look meowww we can't explain that stuff." Silvpurr answered. "We don't have a clue what's going on with that. Some peeps know about Nobility Phantoms in this world, but not really any of us. But still- Your powers are awesome!" She smiled and poked Becca. "And you're in a meow-bess place! We're gonna help you with your body and powers! If you don't mind us...helping!" She beamed, poking her face into Becca's.

Becca put up a hand to her face. "I just wish I knew what was going on!"

"That's the only thing that matters!" Vicuna said with a handshake. "You can trust us. It's a beautiful place. Welcome to the United Sovereignty."

He smiled wide, while Silvpurr patted her back. "You're not alone here, you're among friends. Meowoowie trust it! Ultras are everywhere." Seeing her overwhelmed, Silvpurr chimed in to comfort her, her slinky cat tail fanning out as the sun warmed her and her tail glowed faintly. "Why don't we get you back to headquarters right-right? Our pad is nice, and Tiger-tail has great cooking." She leaned in to whisper. "He doesn't really but sshsh."

"Meow!" Silvpurr exclaimed, the orange Ultra nodding in agreement with a wide-smile. "Also- we have some pretty good equipment." Silvpurr leaned in as she did. "If you want to use it."

"What? For what?" Becca asked. "Sexual relief! Put ya at ease. Cat-piesh?"

"Shush." Vicuna shushed, but with a more serious expression. "Let's get her back to base to run a few tests."

"Meow-besstie idea."

Becca had never seen a base like this in her life. It was the biggest, brightest, glitziest building with massive windows and its own holographic interface that surrounded the entire complex in a rainbow-holographic sphere. There were all kinds of superhero logos, as well as Ultras wearing their own outfits and costumes of all types. There were giant mecha robots, flying jets, weapons and artifacts taken from supervillains, extensive training rooms and fancy dining facilities. Populated were both government workers in colorful latex suits, with the same screen interfaces. Some of them were wearing their shiny civvies, but some of them had strange metallic and technologically-augmented suits with the same screen-technology as the doctors she remembered.

And at the center of it was the Ultra-lead government with the government's Mom AI core itself. Vicuna and Silvpurr led her there, to one of the massive windows of an ultra-glossy base. In front of the cube-shaped core was a golden statue of a woman with long hair that she swore, seemed vaguely familiar. She wasn't sure if it was the same face as the one that had captured her interest in XU, but she had to wonder if it was another image capture. The statue had a similar face, long hair, an uplifting aura that emanated from the holographic projection. "Have you taken an interest in our great leader?" A government worker in a black sheeny bodysuit and tie said.

"U-uh..." Becca was silent as she approached the statue, Silvpurr holding her arm as she walked.

"This here is the United Sovereign, or in the world we know it as Greatland." A tour guide continued. "Our noble Ultra-lead government was founded in 1752 by Miss Laya after the nuclear war that had ended all nuclear nations. Ever since then, it's led our society into a new age of prosperity, wealth and peace. We've become a world that's been based off on superpowers, Ultra-capitalist and technologically advanced. But that wasn't enough. To lead us to the next age against threats from the stars, we've needed to lead with our powers, our abilities, with the guidance of the one who leads us all- this here, the Ultra Mom and Scientific Goddess Supreme Herself, Ursula Von Laya. The Greatland founder and Leader of Ultras. Her contributions are so magnificent that we consider her the mother of our nation, a folk hero and spiritual leader for science and progress."

 “She’s that old?” Becca scratched her head, looking at the engraved plaque of her and brightly lit portrait.

“Yeah! A genetic perk, Ultras tend to get a lot of those. She was there at the beginning and founded Greatland! She’s guided us all the way through.” Silvpurr said.

"When she’s not present, she delegates to Big MoM. AI core of the Greatland government." Vicuna said. "Is an AI consciousness designed and built by Ursula herself, her own creation."

"Yes, it is her. Meowkay, she looks so beautiful!" Silvpurr said, in complete adoration of the holograms. "I'm not even a native Greatlander, meowsee I was born in an allied country called Albion and immigrated here. That doesn't matter now. She's the only one who matters." She gave a thumbs-up.

"Where is she now?" Becca asked.

The tour guide pressed her glasses higher up the bridge of her sharp nose. "She's very busy. As an industrious woman she's not always in the public eye."

"Really?" Becca asked, looking out the window as the statue shone against the sun. "The Ultra Premier, Ursula Von Laya, has never been seen in her full, true body in over a

Decade." The guide said.

"U-" Becca said, she was still wondering to herself if she'd even seen her or her reflection.

 

 

Becca, Silvpurr and Vicuna later that night walked along the streets, which were often lit up screens whereever Becca walked. She tapped it once or twice, curious of its options as a touchscreen- one could play screen savers, buy food or order products or even call for a cab from any single panel along the sidewalk. Silvpurr took out a flask of a mysterious liquid that shined red like rubies when it caught the light, a faint smell of some sort of liquor in it. She passed the flask to Becca, who took a long deep draught of it. She coughed a little, a bit of liquor trickling down her throat.

"Haha nice-a-shot-meow! I feel you're a lot more at ease now meowrigh? Want any

more?"

 

 

"Yeah." Becca said.

"Sure-a-shot-meow! I've got lots meowrigh?"

"Yeah..." Becca took another draught, the flask feeling less cold in her hands. "It is

good..." She said, smiling. "Ugh, yeah, this is nice." She looked around at the city, seeing how many others had strange shiny suits. The fashion definitely reminded her of her time in the Hospital, but unlike there with everyone in fashionable, eccentric latex garbs the clothes and their expressive patterns, here they seemed comparatively uniform. That is to say, everyone was in shiny bodysuits, rubber tracksuits and catsuits of various colors but not as much variety, even with the same touchscreens on their fabric.

"Why do their suits have customizable patterns and screens on them?" Becca asked. "Humans will always be humans. Everyone thinks they're special." Vicuna said.

"Well you've got to stand out somehow." Silvpurr added. "Well it's the fashion capital of the world! The most stylish people live here, and we Ultras are superficial and selfish like that too, right? I think they're meowmazing."

Becca shrugged. "Idunno, I think they're kinda fucking dumb." She said to a couple nearby, bumped into her and heard her complaint. "Hey, WATCH IT you fucks!" She screamed at them. They turned her way and recoiled, a holographic square-halo immediately forming above their head which lowered and manifested a pure red cube overtop their entire skull. The words "Warning: Stressor detected. Aggressive Discernment." appeared in glowing neon text like a popup, the cube rotating over them hiding and replacing their head.

"W-what the hell?" Becca said.

"That's an AI's Halo-Brain, and it helps people cope with the stress and anxiety of seeing uncomfortable situations," Silvpurr explained. "Anytime they feel an emotion they don't like or see something that freaks them out, it helps protect them. They cannot see, hear, or communicate with anything outside it."

"Haha-haha meow-safety! Some call them safety cubes."

"A stupid cube over their head against their will keeps them safe? Talk about your comfort zone." Becca replied.

"It's an AI Datalyte technology. All of us have had it since we were kids." Vicuna said. "But Ultras don't have them, for security reasons. Unless we're off duty or civvies."

Becca was confused, and went silent.

 

 

The girl spent her days in living quarters they provided for her in the government HQ. Three days later Silvpurr took her to a restaurant where they met her parents, who were wearing different latex suits. When they handed Becca a menu there wasn't any text on it, it was a single blank sheet. "Tap it silly." Silvpurr told her. Becca did- a scrolling list of menu items on the digitalized screen. She ordered a soda, as did everyone else at the table, while Silvpurr ordered a bottle of wine.

"Hey meowmeow, I got something to tell you guys." Silvpurr said, as she put her paws out in front of herself. "So you may have noticed it, but I did a bit of snooping around before we went out to eat tonight, looking at your files, investigations and test results. I know that you didn't want to tell us too much, and neither of us asked, but I think I got a little bit of information you might like to know about your Nobility Catdoms." She leaned into Becca, her tiger tail wiggling. "But I didn't want to tell anyone yet, just me and Vicuna here. But we think it might be from a mystical world known as Orchid." She snickered.

"Not many know about it but, Orchid is an alternate dimension, outside an interdimensional rift within our own, a place that's hidden from all of us. But I know some

people in the government who do. It's a place that people have been getting sucked into, and I think you've been there too and gotten pulled out somehow."

Becca blinked, hearing her talk about this place in some sort of mysterious overdramatic manner. "Uh.. yeah. I've been to Orchid."

Silvpurr was excited at the same time. "Oh-oh-oh! That's very exciting!"

She clapped her paws. "Have you found any friends there? Like as cool as Silvpurrmeow?

Any kind of friend there?!"

In her head, flashbacks of Thatti blowing up right in front of her traumatized her. She almost wished she had one of those stupid red cubes overhead so she could stop talking or hearing about this now. "Uh.. nope. Don't have any friends there."

Silvpurr poked at her. "Hey meowmeow are you sure you're not lying? It's easy to lie in this world. People don't know that much about your past. So you could make it all up."

"Please, can we change the subject?" Becca said. Vicuna shook Silvpurr's shoulder, signaling for her to ease up. She had a tendency to ramble or dig in and needed her other half to advise her in social situations at times.

Nearby the sound of oddly erotic moans were heard. Becca turned to see a man and two woman dogpiled near one of the restaurant's couch fucking in plain sight. She'd seen similar things on the streets and park benches and even in the Government lobby. A few of the people standing around weren't paying attention, and then someone else had to put up a privacy shield and block the erotic scene from their view.

"FUCKFUCKFUCKYESSUH-UHH-AHHHHHHHHH! FUCKYESSUH-AHHHHHH!!!" "AHHH-AHHH-FUCK! FUCKYESSUH-UHHH!!!"

The waitress had to come over, which Becca assumed would tell them to stop. "Sir, misses, we'd appreciate it if you'd keep it down, others are trying to dine." "Oh, sorry! We'll ease up abit." The man replied.

They continued fucking in a three-way, to a satisfactory level of quiet, and no one complained since.

Becca scratched her cheek. She'd seen displays like that in Orchid but, here? "Does that happen often?"

"That happens pretty often." Silvpurr said, leaning in. "I know, right? It's so embarrassing! You're not supposed to be that loud when you have sex in a restaurant, shopping or when others are taking a walk."

Becca scratched her cheeks. "That's.. not really the issue but, alright whatever."

"Hey, now you're starting to sound like our meowmies!" Silvpurr meowed. "Meowmies?" Becca asked.

"Enemies." Vicuna corrected.

"Greatland's other meowmies, the other countries. They don't really like that we do that and are super super prudes, its shhhilly y'know."

"They're just too loud, but they did quiet it down atleast." Vicuna said. "It's polite to try to be quiet when you engage intercourse publically."

"Fucking meow-publicaly! That's kinda a good fun thing to do, y'know, just don't get too

loud."

"Alright.." Becca said.

The three of them later left the restaurant, and were walking along the sidewalk. They'd

called a cab for Silvpurr's parents and Becca watched her snog both them on the lips passionately as she said goodbye to the two. Silvpurr had always been a little touchy-feely in the sense she always wanted to be close to her partner, but this almost seemed unnatural to Becca as an Xi'an, who felt like she may as well have been in Orchid right now.

Silvpurr noticed her wrenched look away from Becca. "Is who we are, meowright?" She

asked.

 

 

Becca was silent.

"I mean.. meowmeow meow! Meowright! We're very, very normal people!" "I guess..." Becca said.

"Right?"

"Right." Becca said. "Sorry, don't mean to be a stick in the mud. I gave alot of people

the stink eye in Thatti's city too and she always told me to be more polite." "Whose Thatti?" Vicuna asked.

"Nobody." Becca said.

"For meowt up until now, you've been cagey." Silvpurr said, tapping a hologram menu of ads for clothing in the sidewalk. "Right, you're from another world. Meowright? Like.. I mean.. the other one, not ours?"

Becca scratched her head. "No I'm not from Orchid no, Xi remember-" "Sshhs." Vicuna covered her mouth, making sure she wasn't heard.

The sky suddenly opened up, and everyone in the entire neon city went dead silent. Sirens went out. A thunderous crack broke through the sky, and a blinding black-glow shot

through the air that was so large and bright that the buildings seemed to bow from its force. From the crack, a gigantic slithery octopi-creature with thousands of eyes across its tendrils and arms emerged, letting out a devastating wail. Other's in the area began to panic and fall to their knees, the psychic blast sending buildings shattering. From its largest eye a plasmic laser began slicing through skyscrapers, leaving heated firey streaks in its wake.

From the sky it emerged, with a massive flock of shadowy flying squids and jellyfish with glowing red bioluminescent lights that shot fire out their own mouths.

Huh?!" Becca said, shocked at the sight. "Fuck, what is that?!"

Silvpurr began to walk in front of her, as if urging her to stand back. "Nobu."

The girl's face went white, she could already see the giant black tentacles of the Nobu shooting into the air, sending their lasers into the city from every eye. "Looks like a class D+. They'll only send a functionary gamma-team for this. Probably just some of us Ultras meowright? Maybe some of us in the premier's meowcabinet."

Vicuna and Silvpurr began running from the city, but there were already other civilians running the opposite direction. Everyone else was running from the sight and the sudden sound of explosions and gunshots, and the sight of a horde of flying jellyfish creatures with fire mouths coming in close to the city.

"Becca, you have to stay behind and hide." Silvpurr said, urging to the girl to stop following them. "This won't take long." From her own body, Silvpurr began to generate oozes of liquid mercury which levitated her and formed shiny blades along her arms. She started slicing at the smaller Nobu's vassal underlings, before putting out her arm and shooting bullets of pure metal at the crowd like a gatling gun.

Becca was silent, staring at the creatures while the squid-people flying above her head began shooting lasers into the ground, vaporizing streets and cars. She could hear and feel the explosions, and feel the sudden rain of falling debris. She could see people scream, but noticed there were no Safety Cubes manifesting above their head- unknown to her, they were deactivated during times of recognized Nobu attack for the sake of fleeing and evacuating properly.

As Becca began to panic, she looked down at her arms. The spirals on them had manifested. When a mother and her child cowered behind a chunk of road, she ran and slapped the sizable debris until it cracked, twisted and shot an artillery corkscrew of rock at the underlings smashing them like slugs.

Becca continued running around the city, fighting the Nobu herself and feeling strangely familiar with the powers she never wanted.

Silvpurr got close enough to the Nobu to unleash a massive flood of silvery mercury that drained everything on her shiny-surface except for her facemask, sending it stabbing as spears into the Nobu's main body until it penetrated, then melting into its bloodstream. "Vicuna!

Hit'em meonowst!" She yelled.

Nearby, Vicuna charged a bolt of magnetic energy between his hands, summoning from the powerlines to juice himself up and then sending the beam firing like a comet at the Nobu. Its magnetized tendrils broke, the electricity reached the liquid mercury flowing inside the body, bursting it with electrical lightning that arced between its multiple eyes, its own blood and electricity until it popped.

The Nobu, however, did not appear to go down as one would expect- instead, multiple more Nobu's had come out from its torn side like slugs to attack. From the Nobu's chest, a whole Nobu came out, a new shadowy Nobu shaped like a mantis.

"Oh, fuck." Silvpurr said. "It's a Nobu-Nobu!" Nobu-Nobu's, were a type that lacked the absurd regeneration of some stronger trickier Nobu, but instead simply divided and split others when meeting harm or damage.

Nobu's began swarming on the streets and into the city, the Nobu-Nobu's shooting a barrage of bioluminescent lasers out its eyes and mouths.

"Vicuna! Ground them."

With a karate-chop, Vicuna sent out a construct that resembled a gazelle galloping ahead. Everywhere it stomped on a Nobu-Nobu, the target became attracted to the core of the planet and flattened.

While the duo were busy fighting off Nobu-Nobu's from either side of the ground, Becca noticed a man's face in the rubble.

He appeared to have been dismembered by a Nobu's tentacle. His eyes were gone from sockets and the side of his face was gone, leaving a whole exposed. As she touched his cheek, his mouth began spasming and jerking.

"Wh-whhh..." His body was overcome with gross gooey residue which morphed and transmuted his flesh until he became yet another smaller Nobu, of some insectoid variety. She almost attempted to slam it with her powered fist when Vicuna screamed. "Becca NO! DON'T TOUCH THEM."

The girl heard just barely in the nick of time and slapped the ground, then leapt back instead. Her contact created a spiral sinkhole on command pulling it under.

Despite the mantis-like Nobu-Nobu attempting to slice her, Silvpurr regathered her metallic secretions back onto her surface and slid along the ground as if ice-skating. "You're too slow!" Silvpurr said, speeding behind it and placing her hand on its back abdomen. "Meowkay. Light me up baby!" She said. Vicuna connected his presence with the powerlines underground and shot a snake-construct from his hand slithering all the way to Silvpurr, which turned her into a 1-woman bug zapper and electrified her. A surge of electricity shot through the Nobu, frying it until it melted into a gooey dark puddle. She scooped some of the goo up, grateful her ability and silvertine surface made her immune to such contagions.

There were at least five Nobu's who had surrounded Becca. All of them were smaller than usual, but they were still terrifying to her and she wasn't able to escape their attacks, which lasered down around her from their eyes and jaws. One lunged at her, with its tentacle stabbing her. She was forced to slam her hands into the concrete, digging a hole into the surface so deep it could pull her in. The rest of the Nobu fell below, but before Becca could fall she found herself levitated by some unseen magnetic force, Vicuna flying and levitating above her. She was pulled up and out of the hole, her body feeling lighter than air.

"Vicuna, we've got catmpany." Silvpurr said, looking at a hooded figure with a staff and next to them with a feminine skull-mask. The two flew in the air looking down. "Garlegri. Hell Banquet." She snickered. "Nice to see you catgain."

Becca didn't notice until now but the Nobus were finally gone. The creatures had disappeared- she felt a sudden chill down her spine, wondering how in the world she survived that.

Vicuna hopped next to his partner and took notice. "These two again.." Supervillains.

Always loving to popup whenever chaos was paramount.

Garlegri snarled. "Been a while since we last tangled, Vicuna. This looks like it's been a few years. How've you been?"

"We both look good, so I guess you have a decent sense of humor huh?"

Hell Banquet waved her hand, her mask's jaw opening like a mouth and winking a smile. "You sound like you're about to crack a joke meowright? I never liked that tic of yours that you do, meowrigh?" Hell Banquet mocked Silvpurr.

"Envy breeds cattempt." Silvpurr said, her eyes flinching with determination.

Becca felt the ground shake beneath her, Vicuna's hands feeling a pulse of power from a magnetic charge sucking into his aura nearby. He concentrated it between his hands, shaped it and molded it into a shapely menacing serpent, an actual dragon construct of pure magnetic presence and sent it charging out. In the air, Garlegri and Hell Banquet took flight to fly out the way, Hell Banquet's mask smiling.

Garlegri's cape unfurled in the air, and flipped itself around like a whip to send him rocketing around the city. The magnetic dragon, seen as a translucent beast chased him through the city streets and around buildings in a way that reminded Becca of the time she fought White and her missiles all those years missing from her nostalgia. Soon Garlegri stood on a tall apartment building. The dragon flew towards him but stopped. "You won't hit me. If you do, you'll cause this entire building to collapse."

Vicuna and Silvpurr flew nearby. Silvpurr's liquid mercury tentacles emerged out her shiny suit and flung out like darts, wrapping around Garlegri's foot to tether his to the floor. "Ahh!" He yelled, as his feet went sinking off the building. The dragon passed through him, and when Silvpurr let go he spun like crazy and was magnetically nailed to the side wall of the building like a fridge magnet. Hell Banquet flew through the side of the building, laughing as she

and Vicuna fought hand-to-hand in the air. As Silvpurr attempted to get close, Banquet fired an acidic saw-like disc that left a wide gash into Silvpurr's side. She screamed, and then her own liquid-mercury regeneration slowly healed her, sizzling as it did.

Banquet reached into her mask with a hand and pulled out some red glowing goop, and threw it at Vicuna. It shot off like a bullet and hit him in the shoulder, burning it away and damaging his skin and giving him an acidic burn. Silvpurr created a dual set of two armatures with her powers that flew to Vicuna and attached to his arms. The armatures began spinning, winding like turbines and gathering heavy voltages of ambient electricity. "Rail clap." Vicuna shouted, his hands clapping together and flicking a bead of liquid-mercury the size of a bottlecap at 18,500 m/s that impacted on Hell Banquet's hip and shot her backward like a bullet into a wall, any ordinary human hit would become a fine red mist. Hell Banquet was slammed fast enough that her shoulder armor was blown into pieces, and she slumped to the ground in a bloody puddle.

Silvpurr walked up to her partner and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's over now. Both of them are dead. You won."

Vicuna nodded. "I did, yep. But, who.. we're missing.." He sighed Becca who was still in shock on the ground. "Oh there she is." The two levitated down, Vicuna leveraging them like magnets through the air to float and fly, an orb-like aura of electricity around him. When Becca looked at this ears, tail and rubbery orange animal mask, now she felt the seriousness of his convictions.

Vicuna offered a hand. "Well, we won. But how are you?"

"I'm f-fine!" Becca yelled. "A few scratches, but don't think I'm infected or anything." Vicuna scratched his head and checked. "Yep. Not infected."

Becca was then shocked to see Silvpurr's shiny surface was covered in gashes and bloody and acidic lash wounds, and that she was limping. "You're hurt!" Becca said.

"Don't worry about me. I'll heal. My Liquid Mercury can even reform organs if I need to.

I'm more scared about you! You've never had an encounter with Nobu before, haven't you? Meowikes!" She checked Becca carefully to see the level of her hurt. "That was only a class D, they're pretty weaksie peaksie. If it were a B or A they'd be bulldozing this whole city easily and regenerating endlessly, we'd need some real firepower to deal with that-cat-cat. But a D, even me and Vicuna can deal with."

"Don't worry about me, I'm alright." Becca lied.

"It's going to take you a while to get used to this. You don't even know the full potential of your powers yet." Vicuna told her with an air of authority.

Becca didn't want to answer. "I'll try to be careful." She said. "Meowright, careful's the word." The silver feline licked her wounds.

"We're all alive, no one's been eaten by the Nobu today, and that's a win. Even though mostly nobodies dead, I say we've got a little time to recover before cleaning this place up and getting the hell out of here." Silvpurr said. "That, and these goosies are gonna have to grow back before I'm gonna try to fight anymore." She rubbed her shiny silvery slick arms and liquid- mercury coated boobs. "I can secrete and create more mercury, it takes a little time tho, sometimes a snack and some good rest."

Becca nodded. "Why did those other two attack you anyway?" She asked.

"Those two?" Vicuna sighed. "Supervillains, oft like to get the drop on their foes when they're worn down or in the aftermath of another fight. It's cowardly but, they took their best shot at us. So, you can relax a little while."

Becca sighed. "Yeah, I do need some food. Do you guys have a place to chill and eat and-" Silvpurr hugged her tightly, pulling Vicuna into the embrace aswell.

"That's what I get you meow for, not being dead." Silvpurr interrupted, snuggling Becca with her shiny metallurgic cheeks. "So, where are you feeling? Meow'bout, we'll take you wherever you want."

Suddenly the sky flickered with a message, a strange gooey translucent film spreading over the atmosphere and infecting every monitor or screen on the entire planet with mass surveillance. The voice of the Great Leader was heard, the one who was the mother of them all and their Queen.

The sky opened up once more, and a fleet of shiny white-and-purple ships emerged from it, a small, minuscule fleet of 100000 interstellar ships visible from the surface, barely a drop in the ocean of XU's galactic strength, appearing like starry bright lights that crowded out the surface with an eerie purple light. One of them, Unity Advance was a city in itself, the flagship of XU that had come down from deep space, traveling galaxies away to arrive. A beautiful young woman with a long white hair and a crisp pure white suit walked on a silver-purple staircase and projected her face onto the city below, her image spreading to the atmosphere of every screen on every country across the entire planet. Billboards, TV-screens, computers and monitors, phones and headsets, even buildings themselves were broadcasting her image and voice.

"Citizens of XU, of all the supreme Premier allies and subjects, to all citizens and denizens of every planet and nation in this entire hostile galaxy of Harvest! I speak to you now as a representative of our entire populace, every citizen and subject and our allies and our enemies alike! In the face of this terrible disaster of the Enigma, the Great Leader has taken action! She comes to cast judgement on those responsible in this barbaric land. She speaks to you now from the heart of our great mother planet Xupolis itself. It is with pride and gratitude that I take to my hands and speak to you now, as a representative of our Great Leader's will!

Today has not been a good day. A terrorist from XU's darkened past has returned after 9 long years, but fear not! I come baring gracious news for the time being."

"That's, meowother." Silvpurr said, her eyes widening. "Greatland's Mom." Vicuna stared up to the sky, and a feeling of dread shot through his spine and through the city.

"The rebel leader of the previous dictatorial warring fraction of Xi has finally capitulated and surrendered their meager resistance. As agreed by the Elderdragon Byte herself, I have accepted the surrender of the once-witch and leader of Xi. I now hereby grant Xi's final amnesty from our Great Leader! From this day onward the Xi is a free world in every sense of the word. In the great spirit of this amnesty, the Supreme Premier will begin to withdraw her blockade, and begin to repatriate their citizens to the refuge planet of Earth within the colony that the prudent Ameisa has established."

"Planet? More like a single country.. Not even really." Becca was tickled imagining the idea of a lone planet refuge being classified as 'amnesty', as if everyone in a galaxy squeezed on one continent would find any solace in that concession. As if reading her mind, the projection shifted from the Supreme Premier's face, to recorded footage legendary riots- including herself wrestling and fighting Ameisa in the outback. The spectacle of the massive fighting, looting and rioting throughout the continent-wide ghetto was played as montage, no doubt to embarrass Ameisa and make Xi appear like a travesty they could humiliate. Everyone in XU watched what remained of Xi- a lawless, violent hellhole in the land down under.

"Even though they harbored the fugitive and criminal, Becca who has been a leading part of the growing anti-XU resistance and terrorist movement these past several years. No citizen of the Xi is at fault of this incident, and this is not an act of terrorism. No action can be taken against any citizen of Xi unless their wrongdoings are proven to have been a conspiracy with the Enigma or an act against another country or nation. No citizen has been wronged or imprisoned, no one has been killed or wounded by any action of the Premier or anyone in XU. The fact she even went so far as to attack their leader herself shows her malice towards all functioning societies, even pitiful barely-functioning ones like Xi." The Premier's voiceover told them. Becca raised her brow. 'Leading part?' What's she talking about?

"A single planet in our territory of space, in our very own solar system, Earth has been declared a colony-free zone by Ameisa. I will have the armies of XU stationed at the moon, and Ameisa will do the same on her own Earth. Our enemies and their satellites will be monitored and policed by our own space-armada of the Neo-Star Guard battalion, but as long as they stay within their colony, they are safe. If they wish to give up Xi citizenship, they must simply leave the planet and renounce any loyalty to Xi. We will graciously welcome them to our Union with open arms." Becca felt a rush of terror, her fear and rage not yet quelled by the Nobu attack, as Vicuna and Silvpurr held each other closely in front of Becca. The projection zoomed in on her face on Becca herself as cameras and recording from nearby press, cellphones and media flashed. Becca found herself surrounded, her look of distress in real time now available for the entirety of the planet to see in place of the Premier's.

"It is for this reason that I speak to you all today. Because of this great action, the war of Xi is over. We have won, I can finally say! In the name of the Supreme Premier and Leader of XU, I turn towards the sloggoths, fiends and horrible vices within the Galaxy of Harvest, we declare a battle of progress and advancement on the the Federation of United Planets, on Ambera and on the decadent land of Greatland-"

Everyone began to feel knots in their stomach. "Did she just say- declared battle?" A man nearby said. "The Great Leader has come to her greatest enemy today, and she has not forgiven them. They now harbor Becca, XU's greatest enemy, and their asylum will only be conditional on them surrendering her. She will not accepted any other negotiations. In addition, XU's great minds and scientists after nearly half a decade of research have finally uncovered the source of the Enigma plaguing us, that undermined us so thoroughly. That being, from the planet of Ambera itself, a digital pathogen created by the United Sovereign. We've confirmed proof Greatland has engineered this long ago to demoralize Xi, and now has continued to use it against our cherished XU."

Everyone around Becca looked confused. No one knew what the 'Enigma' was. Not a single person in the world currently had any idea what she was talking about.

"And they will continue to weaponize it, without remorse or restraint. For this, the Premier scolds you. She has returned to cast judgement on you, so that all of us may be freed and cleansed. If they are prudent and do, I will oh-so generously allow them free passage into Xi. But if they do not, well. No longer will her great wrath sleep. You, and all those around you shall be cleansed by her, every planet, every nation, every soul refusing the benevolent march of progress. For the threat you pose, the piracy, the harboring of terrorists, and the spread of the Enigma you created to undermine our progress! For these sins, I, Ursula Von Laya declare.." The mass media invasion zoomed in closely on her face so everyone could see the XU Premier and her declaration. Within three different civilizations- Harvest, XU and Orchid, her following 4 words would be played nonstop for the coming months in a pantomime of galactic hysteria.

"Harvest must be destroyed."

  

Suddenly, the skies darkened with the approach of a monstrous horde, millions upon millions of interstellar ships appeared in masse, in numbers so numberous they quite literally blocked out the sky of Greatland. Everyone stood startled, confused and without sense. The Great Leader that they worshiped who had founded their nation, who gave them the hand of providence now turned that hand towards their destruction for their cowardly weakness and for their refusal to bow to the rule of true advancement. The Great Leader's word was now law! A law to exterminate them.

Silvpurr looked at the massive invasion of the sky. "That's our leader! What the meowfuck is happening..?" She had never heard the term before, but the XU media had begun broadcasting the Great Leader's voiceover across every planet in XU a galaxy away. But this.. her own Queen coming to destroy her own subjects, that's something she never could've imagined. Silvpurr's own liquid-mercury sheeny layer across her skin begin to heat up and boil into a blue flame. "Th.. That's.. a-.. the Great Leader? That's our.. meowmom? We're gonna be- um..- killed.. a- ah-" She started to look into Vicuna's darkened eyes, mutually realizing the truth.

Their leader was never the woman they thought she was.

Becca suddenly felt a sense of dread fill her stomach, a strange sense of terror at the thought of what she'd stepped into, currently witnessing of the whole world around her being betrayed in real time, her sense of resolve for once shattered. She felt a sense of a cold emptiness fill her chest and rise up to paralyze her throat. This wasn't the Xi she'd known all those years ago. The roll of 9 years long had clearly been tumultuous, they caught up to her and piled like a heavy noose around her dragging her by the anchors of time.

Becca's face sank with a realization, the pieces of the puzzle slowly all starting to come together. She never expected she'd end up facing a war on a grand scale like this.

"Let me also be the first to introduce you to our new mascot, but first XU's most loyal weapons." The XU Premier's hand projected into the sky, her voice and face now a monolithic projection looming above all the buildings on the city and the world. She swayed her arm, as if displaying a pet on the side. Becca's pupils shrunk to unimaginable small sizes. "A fighting force so fearsome it would make any elderdragon from Xi's past coward in their heels- a titan of destruction that we will unleash against any non-XU planet or nation that dares to defy the will of our mother planet. First, our protectors, our crusaders. The Starbreakers." The projections and monitors turned to show the group she was displaying.

A force of 6 figures stepped in- one with oriental robes, leaves on their arms and antlers with a long curtain of silky straight hair flowing downwards. Two with slick cybernetic latex bodysuits and visors, looking like they were in futuristic armor. She recognized Jel and Veronica, fully matured and curvy in military uniforms, Jel holding a positronic sniper rifle and Veronica in a pink metallic jumpsuit, her hair matted and face slightly dirty. Peaking out from the Kamikatzi was Caleb himself- now in his late 20's. "These 6 Starbreakers will be the shield and spear of XU. Their mission, to destroy any and all who are outside our lawful sovereignty or wish to harm XU. They are our righteous protectors, they are the mighty crusaders of the stars. As the equivalent of Xi's Elderdragons, they will not relent. They will be our soldiers of justice, our righteous champions of law. We will use them to purge the evil of Harvest and punish XU's vulgar enemies." Every one of them wore a purple-pink star on their chest broken down the middle, as if cracked in half by a lightening bolt. A star broken- which Becca felt rather appropriate for Xi's fate.

"Don't forget about me, hhihihihi." A voice squeaked from behind the 6.

Becca recoiled "N-no." An all too familiar voice, the one she'd always been too afraid to face and the one that always brought doom and terror, now reared her head again and made

herself known. A familiar face that had once terrorized the social consciousness of Harvest, now cutesy and caked in makeup, bright pink lipstick and a lustered black-pink jumpsuit.

Becca gasped. "Sandy's back..-"

"Say hello to everyone, Lil Sys." Ursula said. Sandra herself stepped into the collective display, making big hearts with her hands and a cheery smile.

"I'm sorry mommy! I was a little bit naughty, but I've become a good girl! I'll make amends soon I promise!" Sandra said with a glossy smile and vapid giggle.

"Of course you will, sweetie. Of course you will." Ursula told her.

Lil Sys waved to everyone in Harvest. "You're all way rude for giving us that icky Enigma. So like, can you totally die? You're so totes ugly too! Naughty.. but.. I'm like, totally the prettiest! I'm not a.. like.. naughty girl.. I'm just a good Lil Sys. Peace peace!" She took out a stick of pink lipstick and applied it to her lips excessively. "Your Lil Sister is the prettiest and the BEST and the nicest mascot of the Starbreaker team, and all of XU aswell! Groovy-toovy!" Becca could already feel herself cringing.

The footage replayed somewhere over Earth, everyone that had migrated looking on with absolute shock and horror at what had become of their former Xistress. It would be enough to start mass panic on itself, if they weren’t sure that Ursula would simply be expecting that and broadcast that Live too- more ammo atop the salted wound.

"..-she's still really nasty.. isn't she?" Becca muttered. "To do something as fucked as this." She didn't wish that even on her worst enemies.

The projection continued, the XU Premier's voiceover showing Lil Sys still waving at the audience. "Our lovely Lil Sys will be your first-hand guide to teach you the lesson of your disobedience. It's your lucky day, she's the cutest member of the Starbreakers. She will be your new messenger of XU's advancement, the great, wonderful and glorious message of.. -"

Vicuna suddenly screamed. "FUCK YOU LADY! You sold us out!"

"B-Boss!" Silvpurr shrieked. Others began to scream similarly in defiance. "Ursula is a traitor!" A man threw a stone at a billboard cracking it.

"She's trying to wipe us out, the land she herself built!" Another woman was stomping on her own cellphone as it continued to display Ursula's manifesto.

"How could we ever have trusted her? She's with the Xi'ans! She's invading us from another galaxy!" A couple took their child's screen pad and chucked it through a window, others grabbing any screen they could find to break it.

"-Progress."

The Great Leader's image in the sky began to crack, as Ultras and the military within Greatland attacked the thin nanoscreen membrane that she'd created over their atmosphere to display this message.

This massive unrest set off a chain reaction even as Ursula finished out. Stress levels reached an all time high. At the highest rates ever seen in Greatland, the Halo-Brain activated everywhere - an invention Ursula herself had offered and put on them once. Becca saw crowds all around her paralyzed, their heads locked into red cubes manifesting over them, the world around them turning blood red inside. The XU Premier's decree began to have effect, causing the entire people to be seized with a frenzy, causing spread the cube-head phenomenon to spread faster. An unprecedented wave of mass hysteria seized the land, heralding an entire conversion of the planet's largest continent and 2nd highest population into helpless cubed duds.

Silvpurr's own eyes had begun to boil, the liquid-mercury flowing across her skin into a bright heat. Her metallic fur turned into a pale blue flame, her entire form melting into boiling mercury like burning sludge, "Gnnnnnnnmmmmmmmmmmmahh. That's NOT MEOWKAY MEOWMOM TO DO THAT TO US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Her hands fired

missiles she created of the substance, mercury darts that rocketed out and created massive riotous explosions at the jumbotrons and big screens in the city. "MEOWFUCK MEWWWWWWWWW!" She screamed in defiance, her metallic body melting and boiling into a blue firestorm. Vicuna folded his arms, turning to Becca.

"You- Whatever's going on right now, it's your fault." He growled. "I guess Xi was always the same, you've ruined us."

"Yeah, it's definitely my fault. Sorry, don't know what to tell ya." Becca growled, turning to face him. "Can you help me fix it?"

"How?" Vicuna asked, turning to her.

"Help me kick her ass." She glared. Vicuna like the sound of that. The world had truly begun to shake.

 

15 million lightyears away, outside Xi

"Harvest will be destroyed." The words replayed on Croix's screen. She laid back in her private beachhouse, the planet was unknown to all but her private posse and servants. A tranquil sea surrounded the glass villa in every direction.

"Harvest will be destroyed? Huh so overdramatic, just like you to always overdo it sis." She sighed, sipping a glass of Pineau des Charentes. Ursula always did think herself so clever, it drove Croix to boredom at times. Behind her, a mummified figure wrapped in bandages stood sentry, the broadcast lighting up across their wrapped surface as they observed detached. In their ancient lifetime they'd seen countless despots come and go, the broadcast only unique in how utterly indulgent it presented as on the surface. A flicker of light glinted from her eye.

Croix scoffed. "How boring. As a performance, this could have been a bit more exciting." Croix laid back in her chair, her purple eyes shut as her servants waited on her every whim. She turned to them. Then to the mummy. "Hm.. you used to be a Starbreaker, didn't you? Guess you dodged a bullet this time. Hardly seem impressed."

The figure in wraps moved the playback and froze on the antlered woman among the Starbreakers. "Satsuma." She said. "That one.. She could be a serious problem."

"Too much for you to handle your old playmate?" Croix teased. "Better watch your back, she might throw dirt in your eye."

"Naturally." They scuffed a weed growing out of the wooden floor board and smushed it.

"Hey you guys? Wake me up when Idola gets here and is ready for me, okay?" Croix

yelled.

One of the maids of the luxury tower cleared their throats, and pointed upwards. Slowly

a dropship from space descended, and out of it Idola Byte sauntered out. She greeted Croix on the cheek with a kiss, who in turn bit her lip and pressed her mouth into hers for a moment.

"The Great Leader declared battle or whatever.." Croix said unmoved. "She called me up earlier to ask if I'd like to join her, like old times. We got into an argument and I told her to fuck off. And she got me banned from her galaxy, apparently."

"Oh, that's great as always. What's the word on your brother?" Idola sat down next to her, looking over her shoulder at the projection of Ursula's mass media transmission.

"He wants to stay out of this, but you him. He could always be convinced otherwise." She

smiled.

Idola looked up at her, smirking. "You know, I'd do anything for you."

 

 

3 million lightyears away, hidden in XU

Diane, White Nebula, Hyde, Sway, Pyra, Maisma, Petal and a half-asleep Bliss watched the broadcast. They had all gathered in their own hideaway, looking at the massive collection of godshards they'd gathered over 9 long years over in a glassy container sculpted like a 5-pointed Star."So.. yeah." Pyra said. "We gonna stop her." Atop a wall was a banner resembling the red star of Xi turned upside down and in cyan blue instead of red, with a spear and snake running thru it on the logo.

Diane paced back and forth. "We need to get Becca back, ASAP."

 

 

Orchid

Goliath, sitting on his golden throne observed Ursula's message carefully, Becca casted in the entire performance. 9 years, 9 long years since he'd seen her face, only for her to show up at the one place he needed dealt with. His smile widened, afterall he was the chosen one, the messiah. And in 8 months time he'd finally be the Domina. "Good. I'll destroy Harvest and make her my right hand woman."

Behind a column, Harmonizer looked at the Domina-du jour with her arms folded.

She spoke with her back still turned. "Ursula. Still I find her presence concerning. And she's been growing in power, aswell."

Goliath laughed. "It's all for the best, dear. We need the chaos. Ursula's arrival is only natural. Shame about not being able to get Croix onboard in our corner though."

"Yeah, true.." Harmonizer put out their armored hand, crushing her fist. "I wanted to kill her myself."

Above the purple palace, Mercy sat on the rooftop looking out into the stars.

 

 

3,125 lightyears away

The Set commander of the Solar Fleet continued to hold steady, the broadcast hardly effecting her resolve. Effectively, it meant the allies in Xi they could rely on through Orchid's charting routes and armada were now rendered as enemies. Their own forces and allies among the Tri and on many of their galactic colonies had been wiped out, to the irritation and harsh critique of the Verdant Fleet and many jaded, dejected souls. Vignetta Nezura, against the yelling by her comrades, the loss of faith in her crew and their dwindling faith of her own leadership had insisted on the hardlined absolute- That both the Solar and Verdant fleets in unity stay the course back to Gaia, and not avert a single moment. This decision had lead to thousands of the Holy Church's worlds being lost, overrun and invaded by the Boy's Liberation Army sweeping through the galaxy like a plague unparalleled in their unrelenting rage and the strength of their armada.

But in the eyes of the Solar Fleet, their loyalty was to the Domina and deity of Flora that had created them, not to the weak mortals that had pledged to them and built their empire in the first place after being conquered. In their eyes, they had to return to their homeworld Gaia and answer to the will of Flora herself, meeting the challenge of the usurper's Decade. No matter the loss of hundreds of worlds month after month that no longer belonged to Flora, no matter their comrades in arms died or their own own holy family in the billions that no longer were able to reach them, Vignetta Nezura insisted on charting towards Gaia above all else.

The Verdant Fleet at times did not listen to her dictations, diverting their ships and resources to try to wipe out the BLF and Arachno-midnight crawling about the galaxy. If the rebellion sent out by the usurper were a billion gnats spreading over a county, the fleets of the Holy Church and Gaia were like formations of hawks and sparrows spearing towards a single destination, for every member distracted or lost their return was slowed. Because of this the Verdant Fleet was a hundred or two lightyears behind the Solar Fleet lead by Vignetta, which was now only 3 months from reaching Gaia.

Vignetta Nezura looked over the star maps in the ship's archives, she held onto a thick tome of old maps from the last century made with old parched paper, which she found much more comforting than the noisy cumbersome digital charts and projectors. She had the old maps kept as a tradition, to remind herself of the vast distance that now separated herself and the Holy Church from the decadent, corrupted society of Gaia.

But she looked over the maps, the routes they'd taken, and the route they were on. As the weeks continued, the Solar Fleet had traveled faster and faster, passing many worlds that had already succumbed to the BLF and other forces that had taken it over. Worlds that had been lost as they crossed the galaxy, ignoring distress signals. In the back of her mind plans whirred about

how she could send a message to the Verdant Fleet.. to tell them she'd reconsidered her order of absolute dedication to the mission and they could return to their previous course.. she sighed, thinking about the repercussions that decision would cause if her true intentions were revealed. But of course, they'd likely disobey her as they had in the past, sending reinforcements to those pleading for support, ignoring her ultra strict course of action.

Good, she thought to herself. She was counting on it. Let those petulant children stray.

 

 

7 years ago, Xi

 

 

Caleb and his friends, walked the dark corridors of the penitentiary, the hallways leading to the cells that housed Xi's most dangerous prisoners. Political prisoners. In cells made of light, the group began to slowly let the individuals out by one, these escapees feckless pencil-pushers compared to the felons on the other floors and in the opposite building. Jel cleared her throat. "I just let out my favorite Llavalite activist." She said.

"Terrorist." Veronica corrected, holding her gun close.

"Whatever." The Llavalite girl replied. Once most of the cells were cleared out they went to the final forbidden floor where the most dangerous and powerful foes were imprisoned. "So who are the guys in this one?" Veronica asked Cal, who was looking up at the large metal door with a sense of awe and restraint.

"Politicians." He said. "C'mon, let's get going."

Before he stepped forward, Jel rubbed his shoulder. "Hey, did you see Reeeeebeccaaa back there? Your face went like all 'EUGGH' and 'gruuuhhghr.'"

"Not the time Jel." He replied. "I'm not talking to her anymore anyways." "That's a bit mean of you." Jel replied, as the door slowly slid open.

"What'd you do?" Veronica asked.

The two turned to her. "We didn't do anything, someone's opening it from the other side." Jel replied. It widened, beams of light greeting them in. "They're letting us in, how nice." Cal smirked.

As they stepped inside, a flash of light exploded from the cracks, as if the sun had fallen from the sky. They ran forward into the entrance and disappeared on the other side.

With that, the door closed, closing a chapter on Xi's troubled history with it.