Difference between revisions of "MVR Round 2 P2"

Revision as of 17:50, 28 March 2021

R5

"I'm doing this." I said, as Merrow nodded at me grimly.

"You got this, Thomas."

I nodded at Deacon, who cracked his finger.

"What happens next will forever define who you are. This is the meaning of living your life, Thomas. Take that step and evolve as a warrior."

"And don't fuck it up!" Sammy chimed in, causing me to trip out the door.

"Sammy!" Merrow chastised, as Deacon walloped Remnant 4 over the head.

I looked at myself from the reflection.

I was dressed well. I had my hair combed and everything.

It was time.

For my first date with a girl.

Two hours later

"Whoa. Thomas. You really sped through that date my guy!" Sammy waved me over and put his arm around my neck.

I walked with Sammy dejectedly back to the house, as Sammy laughed.

"So, did you two hit it off? Huh?"

"Sammy." I said, my voice sombre.

"Whazzzup?"

"She left halfway through the dinner."

Sammy's face went horrified.

"Oh shi- I mean. Well, you did what you could, Thomas! I'm sure there are plenty of fish in the sea-"

"Sammy, I threw up at the table."

"Oh."

I sighed, as I opened the door. How was I going to face Merrow like this? After everything she had done for me. She had a heart to heart and everything.

"It's okay, Thomas! You're never too old for your first love! I was 16 when I had my first boyfriend."

Yeah, thanks Merrow. Thanks for telling a 25 year old man that as if 16 and 25 were the same age groups. Ugh. She helped prepare my outfit. My hair. Gave me inspirational speeches and everything. Now I had to go back to the house and tell her all her efforts were for nothing.

Sammy and I arrived at the door.

"Sammy... I'll be the one to tell her. Alright?"

Sammy's face paled.

"Y-Yeah. Good luck, bro. Just remember, you still have us. We'll be there for you the next time you fuck up a relationship!"

I turned to Sammy.

"What the hell dude..."

I unlocked the door and brought my hand up to the handle.

I swallowed hard.

Here goes nothing.

"THOMAS! Oh my god!" Merrow ripped the door open and crushed me in a hug.

"Thank goodness. I almost thought I lost you to some random girl!"

"Wh- What are you even saying?" I asked, unable to comprehend the situation.

Merrow suddenly realized what she was doing and pulled away.

"Ah, erm. Yeah. Sorry about your date."

She was totally not sorry at all!

Deacon was at the doorframe.

"What she meant was she was scared to death that she lost her little brother figure to another woman."

Merrow glared at Deacon, as Deacon quickly silenced himself.

"I, uh. Ahem. Well, now that you're back, I guess we could probably discuss some things about our next mission."

After that terrible series of events, we held our meeting first thing in the following morning.

Deacon put his hand on the table.

"You're going with Kanade and Sammy to Arman's high school. And you're going to convince him to come with us."

"Umm..." I slowly raised my hand.

"Yes, Thomas?" Merrow asked.

Stop treating me like a little kid!

"Two questions. How are we supposed to convince Arman to go back? Didn't Sammy try that and nearly get his ass kicked? Also how are we supposed to just go to a high school like this! We're grown adults man! Look at me! I have chest hairs like some old gramps!"

I lifted my shirt, as Skylar yelped.

"Jesus, Thomas! I do NOT want to have to see your disgusting chest first thing in the morning."

"My god. Aren't you supposed to be my older bro. What the hell is wrong with you, no wonder your date dipped. So loud and having a mental breakdown first thing in the morning." John muttered, leaning against the chair backwards.

That damn brat!

"We're going to talk to him. At the very least, get some more intel while we're at it." Deacon said, calmly.

"Also, don't worry about the age thing. When you guys arrive at his universe, the Remnant Normalization should handle the age difference from time displacement. You guys will age back to your teenage forms just fine."

Oh yeah. I forgot about that.

"Well, I guess. I guess that's cool." I muttered, fidgeting with my hands.

"Is something wrong, Thomas?" Merrow asked.

"It's just... I don't like going back to high school. I've had a really bad experience with it in the past. Don't really wanna do it again."

Sammy chuckled. "My guy, I'm going and I spent my high school bullied. Don't worry about it. The three of us will be popular as hell! We've been through it once already, after all."

Kanade frowned. "I'm actually more concerned with the fact that you're affiliating with us..."

I guess you can say this was one of those back to the past, high school do-overs you would see in cliche'd shows or movies. Unfortunately, like I always did, I started the journey off by throwing up all over the floor.

"Thomas! Oh god! The Shadow Travel killed him!" Sammy yelped, as Kanade put his hand on my back, soothing my nausea.

"Are you alright, Thomas?"

"Yeah. Whoa."

I looked up at a younger Kanade, his hair had gotten shorter, reaching his ears, but still very white. His face, the worry lines and permanent scowl all gone, replaced with an angelic tone. He looked... almost pretty like a girl.

"K- Kanade, you-"

Kanade tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

Was it wrong that I found my own brother hot? Would that be considered illegal?

I turned to Sammy, who scratched his head sheepishly. He didn't look much different. I guess since he always had the same childish face. Magenta streaks in his hair and brown eyes. He looked like your average delinquent.

Wait.

What about me?!

I held out my hand and summoned a rock from the ground, green and teal winds blowing around it like a mini-rasengan until the lump turned into a beautiful piece of quartz. I stared at my face from the reflection.

"Wow." I muttered, unimpressed.

I guess I should have known.

I was never attractive in college. Or high school.

And this stupid piece of quartz reminded me of it once more.

"Thomas, let's go to homeroom." Kanade said, helping me to my feet. We made our way into the building.

Kanade sure was resourceful. He knew exactly what to do and what to say. Even being our "guardian" and helping Merrow with the documents to get us "enrolled" just so we could play our part. I guess that was cool and all, but it definitely felt weird.

I looked at the school kids as they gave me double takes like I was the most hideous thing on Earth.

It didn't help that Sammy kept clinging onto me.

"Oh my god. It's been so long since I've been in this environment. It just goes downhill from here. I can't wait to experience high school all over again. The girls. The failing grades. The drugs."

"Uh, dude I don't think that's an accurate representation of high school at all." I muttered.

"This way." Kanade gestured to us, as we followed him down the hall.

"As long as we follow the signs, we should be oka-"

Kanade was interrupted as he suddenly bumped into somebody.

The girl yelped and dropped her books.

"Sorry!" Kanade said, as he knelt down and helped her pick it all up.

"Th- Thanks." The girl said, as she blushed.

What in the hell? My empath abilities were indicating that the girl was extremely nervous. But this nervousness was something else. Something unbelievable.

It was feelings of attraction.

The girl picked up all her books and bowed to Kanade.

"Thank you!" She said, as she quickly hurried off.

Sammy reached out and closed my mouth which was gaping open.

"Kanade, my guy." Sammy shook his head. "You're way too old for her."

Kanade tilted his head. "I'm sorry?"

That dense womanizer!

I had forgotten how boring homeroom was. It wasn't helping that Kanade ended up getting the spotlight.

"Dude, is that white hair natural? How did you get it to look like that?"

"Dude, have you considered modelling?"

"Can I see your abs?"

Both girls and guys were crowding around Kanade, while Sammy and I sat in the corner of the classroom near the back.

"You know, Thomas..." Sammy said.

"What?"

"This wasn't how I imagined my high school slice of life shounen real life anime would play out."

I sulked in my seat and buried my face in my arms.

Focus. We weren't here to get all giddy giddy in this place. We needed to find Arman and talk to him, convince him to get out of here. Then we were all set to leave and move forward with the plan to train and get stronger. Most of us got a head start already. I personally underwent massive development of my own over the eight years.

We needed Arman on our side.

No other way around it.

But...

"Yo, Sammy."

"Sup."

"Did you ever have a girl you liked? In high school?"

Sammy spread his arms out.

"Yeah."

I looked at my brother. "Seriously? What was she like?"

Sammy smiled. "She was cute. She had bangs and made my heart go poof every time I saw her. Every time she walked by me..."

Sammy held out his hand, and created a small black bird projection, that took flight from his palm.

"I felt like I could fly farther than I ever could."

I stared at Sammy. He had an expression that I never seen before. Almost like he was dreaming. Nostalgic. But a little sad. It was so out of place, from a guy who always had like, two personalities.

A beast, vicious, and dead inside.

Or a total party animal.

But this version of Sammy...

"Did you guys... ever hit it off?"

Sammy sighed and closed his fist. "Nope. It never happened."

"What happened?"

Sammy leaned back in his chair, his black and magenta bangs dancing on his forehead.

"I found out she had a boyfriend. Boyfriends. Plural. A ton of guys who she had dated in the past. Even banged too. That when I was supposed to confess to her, that day... well. I left. Because I was too insecure about myself."

We were silent for a few seconds.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up."

Sammy chuckled.

"I don't need your sympathy, Mister Five Star Vomit."

"Geh! Dammit, just when I was just starting to respect you, man!"

Sammy put his hand on the desk.

"I dunno, man. The thought of seeing her with a bunch of guys. Cuddling. And being lovey dove. Even if it was in the past. It hurt me. I thought I was special to her. I just couldn't bear with that weight. After all, I'm a huge loser. To a guy who never once held hands with a girl, she was the first. But in her point of view, I guess I was just another dude. That was what I thought. I loved her, but I also hated how she could so easily get with some random guy if she wanted to. Dozens of guys wanted to go out with her. If we ever broke up... it would be the end for me. No other girl in sight. But for her, she could have an endless supply of men to fill the void."

We watched as Kanade made eye contact with a girl and smiled. My empath powers were firing like crazy from her.

Power. Strength. Very few people are simply blessed with immense unparalleled power. Most need to work for it. And even so, they always need some kind of trigger.

Those were the words Deacon had taught me what seemed like an eternity ago.

I looked at Sammy again.

"Was that... the reason?"

Sammy smiled. "That I became this? I guess you could say so. It was one of the few. As powerful as this dreamboat is-"

Sammy put his hands to his face like a movie star. Cringe.

"I don't like being hurt. I'm actually really scared of it. That's why I decided to instead focus on becoming stronger and stronger. Finding happiness in power, instead of through love. There's more than one way to enjoy life. I guess for me, I enjoyed it by becoming the best."

"GAH!" I yelped, as I clutched the edge of my seat.

"Yo! Thomas, you good, man? I didn't mean to share my past!"

I glared at the desk. What was this rage? This intense rage?

"No, it's not from you... it's something els- AAAH!"

I clutched my head as the metal in the desk began to warp and bend.

"Yo, Thomas. Take deep breaths. What-"

Sammy and I stared out the window. Numerous monsters. Coming straight from the corner of the school. A portal. No one was noticing it. Except Sammy and I.

The bell had already rung for first period, as Kanade ran up to us.

"Do you see it? Abyssal Creatures. Let's go. If that portal is up, it means Arman must be there."

I nodded at Sammy.

"Let's go."

R4

"Hey, Sam? What did you call me here for?"

I looked at Leah. I had to tell her. Come on man. You've been dating her for two months now. Not once have I told her this.

I love you.

I just needed to say those three words.

"I..."

My mind flashed. To that day. When I had used Shadow Step in the shadows of Leah's house. Her ex had visited her house and tried to get back with her again. He talked about all the things they did together. And each memory that he brought up hurt my heart.

More and more.

"Sam?"

I looked at Leah's face. She was so cute. So pretty. Yet...

Those lips were touched by dozens of guys before me.

And I hated that.

So much.

"So that's the plan. Got it, Sammy? Sammy?"

I shook my head back into reality. "Whazzzupppp??"

Kanade gave me a look of exasperation. "At least try to listen whenever we come up with a plan. You're still somewhat exhausted from that Shadow Port to the Forbidden Realm, right? Try to avoid going above 10%. We fight off the creatures until the Cleaners arrive. Then we hold our fire. Hopefully Arman is with them. Absolutely no engaging."

"Loud and clear, Cap-nade!"

Thomas gave me an uncomfortable look. No doubt this dude had picked up my shitty past.

But past was the past, right?

Right?

Several creatures roared at us, as Thomas flew into the air, holding out his hands and generating two telekinetic spheres in each hand.

Kanade held out his hand as the creatures began to slow down, their energy being sucked away as Thomas threw his two Rasengan looking thingies at the them, each ball creating a powerful vortex which sucked all the enemies in the region in.

I held out my hand as well. Leah. Dammit. Dammit Thomas, why do you gotta make me remember something like that.

Fuck love.

Fuck getting my feelings hurt.

Right now, I'm unstoppable as hell, baby.

"5 percent." I said, as I summoned the head of Paragus, the Shadow Dragon of Fire from the palm of my hand, as it roared and chomped down on the enemies, disintegrating them into little pieces.

"That should be enough." Kanade said, as he landed next to me.

Thomas levitated next to us, as I heard the sound of something familiar.

Green darkness. Yeah.

A streak appeared, as a teenage girl, still in school uniform, zipped in and dispatched the rest of the creatures, her purple hair flying in the wind, followed by another guy who landed next to her.

He looked intimidating.

Black combat boots, military camo pants. Black tank top. Shredded tone.

He was wielding two large swords. One silver and one gold. And along his left forearm, were chains.

I recognized him all right.

The dude who fought with Decen and Icarus' power.

Remnant 1. Kingslayer. Arman Wan.

Samuel Mace.

We regarded our eldest brother, as Rei turned to us. Arman held her hand as he eyed us.

"I thought I told you that I'm not going anywhere. Leave us alone."

Kanade stepped forward.

"We can't do that. This entire multiverse is in danger. Please, listen to reason, Arman-"

"That's not my name." Mace muttered, as he glared at his younger brother.

"You made that very clear. You, the holiest of the Remnants. You made it so painfully obvious that Arman Wan was nothing but a sham. Now I've found a life with Rei, and you're trying to take that away?"

Thomas walked up to Kanade's side.

"That's not true, dude. We're not trying to take her away from you!"

Arman glared at Thomas.

"So you're suggesting I let you rip Rei away from her family to come along with your crazy plan to get everybody killed."

A bead of sweat rolled down Thomas' face.

"N- No! Look. We're your brothers, man. We've come a long way for each other. But right now, we need you. You're the strongest of us and you're spending your life here instead of being on the front lines!"

Rei looked at me, as I quickly yelped and looked away.

Arman took a deep breath.

"I've made my choice. I choose Rei. I choose Tsuyuki-sensei. To live with the Tsuyuki Dorm. That's my life now. I'm sorry."

I clenched my fist.

"Do you not see what you're doing? Mogul is going to tear us apart if we're divided! Once he slaughters us, he'll come for you."

Arman glanced at me.

"He can't find this universe. If anything, this is where I will stay."

"Even if it means letting trillions die at his hand? From the other universes? You're just gonna let Mogul rampage around while you play house?!"

Arman's glance turned into a dangerous glare.

"Choose your next few words wisely, Sammy Le. Lest you wish to have a repeat of the last time we had a similar conversation."

The air became tense, as Rei was quiet.

Kanade put his hands up.

"Nothing we say is going to change your mind. But it's not going to stop us. We're going to stay here. We're not going to leave until you come with us."

"Tch." Mace muttered, as he took Rei's hand and left.

I guess you could say the next few days at school were...

Awkward as hell!!!

First class. Math.

Easy Pre-Calculus and stuff. Whatever. This stuff was pretty straightforward. But I did find it hard to concentrate. When Mace and Rei were literally in my class.

"Uhhh Sammy? How do you do this problem?"

I stared at Thomas.

"Didn't you graduate with a degree in Science."

"Yeah but... bro it's been a while since I did math at this level."

I spent the day helping out my brother, noticing that Arman and Rei were also studying together. They looked... kinda cute.

Rei pointing at a part of the textbook and Arman leaning in, smiling. Rei blushing.

Thomas clutched his head. Probably from all the giddy giddy from those two were getting to him.

"Thomas, let's take a break. Let's get a drink bro."

"Y-Yeah."

We headed outside, as we overheard two people talking.

"There's something I've been wanting to tell you this whole time."

A voice said from the other side of the wall.

"Hide!" I whispered to Thomas and pulled him behind the wall.

"Mmf!!" Thomas said, his voice muffled.

I peeked from the side of the wall. There was a girl and a guy. The guy was about to confess.

"Tch. This dude's boned." I muttered. It was so obvious. The girl looked uncomfortable, her hands in front of her. Her face red from embarrassment. The guy was folded over like a damn right angle triangle.

"Go out with me. I've loved you for the longest time."

Silence.

Yep. It's over. Once this was cleared up, I could get that new coffee from the vendor.

"I... I love you too!"

"The.... FUCK?!" I screamed.

The girl yelped as the guy squealed in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?! How long have you been there?!"

Thomas had his head low.

"We... were just gonna get something to drink. Um. Don't mind us."

Thomas walked to the vendor, dragging me by the wrist.

"Ehhhh sorry about that! Congrats bro!" I said, sheepishly, at the guy, who's face was bright red. I couldn't tell if it was from rage or embarrassment. Wasn't really in the mood to ask Thomas either.

Thomas and I sat down on a bench outside of the school, watching the guys play sports.

I cracked open my drink and chugged it.

"Damn! That hits the spot. Hahaha!"

"Sammy."

"Sup?" I asked, turning to Thomas.

"I felt a sharp twinge. Earlier. I don't know if you noticed that."

"I did. It was from Arman and Rei, right? Like damn. How gooey can they be? Haha."

"It wasn't just from them. I felt some from you too. I didn't mean to, man. But... I shouldn't have asked ya about your past. I'm sorry."

I nearly choked on my drink.

"It's all in the past, Thomas. Like, come on. You'd got to be the pettiest guy in the world to stress over something that happened in high school. Don't worry about it."

Thomas didn't look convinced.

"Look. I've dealt with the emotions of so many people over the years. But I never really was bothered by it, since I got used to it. People being happy. Being being sad. Heartbreak. Joy. Betrayal. Anger. All that stuff I'm used to it. But... with you... it's so off."

Thomas looked at me.

"It's like I'm seeing a side of you that I never knew existed. I get that you want to live your life with a huge smile on your face, but you can't let this eat away at you like that. Burying it in deep inside isn't the best way to deal with it."

I clenched my fist.

"Drop it, Thomas."

"But-"

"I said drop it." A wave of darkness emanated from me as my voice became ancient. A mini vortex of Umbral Wind blasted from my body and broke a couple of windows from a building not far from us. A couple of shouts and screams from the players scattered around, trying to figure out what happened.

My eyes widened.

"Shit. Well. I guess we better scram. Come on, let's get the hell outta here!"

I booked it, with Thomas in tow.

We rendezvous'ed with Kanade during lunchtime.

"Yo. Kanade." Thomas put up his hand in greeting.

"Eeeeh..." I muttered. It looked like it wasn't just the three of us having lunch today.

"H-Hey." A girl put out her hand as I took it, shaking it.

"I'm Saki. Nice to meet you."

"Sammy."

"Thomas."

Kanade smiled as rested his chin on his hand.

"How long have you guys been in New Kona?" Saki asked.

"Not too long." Kanade responded, as he regarded Saki with a curious expression. Thomas' eye twitched. No doubt from another sense of attraction she had for Kanade's pretty boy face.

"Is it true that all three of you are brothers?" Saki said.

"Yeah." I responded, getting up from my seat and flexing my sticks for arms.

"I'm clearly the more handsome of the bunch though."

Saki giggled, putting her hand over her mouth.

I momentarily hesitated.

That gesture.

It was the same one Leah did whenever she laughed.

I cleared my throat. "Well. Uhh, how long have you been staying in New Kona?"

"A couple of years now. My old ex wanted to transfer here and I followed. Then we broke up."

How terrible. Must have been the end of the world.

Kanade put his hand on the desk.

"Saki, do you know anything about a guy called Samuel Mace?"

Saki raised her eyebrows. "Oh, Mace? Yeah, he's the super popular guy dating Tsuyuki, right? He's one of the best athletes in the school. It would make sense for the best male athlete to date the best and prettiest female athlete."

Saki put her hands on her face. "How adorable!"

I smiled, cheerfully. "Yeah!"

That night, the three of us bugged out in an apartment for rent. Thomas and Kanade were sound asleep as I lay on my mattress. Thinking about the past.

Oh man.

Screw me.

I guess I never really moved on, did I?

I shadow stepped into Leah's room. That one night. Yeah. That day I bailed on her, she cried. And cried and cried.

Then, just like I had expected, guys came to her and confessed their love.

She was always so popular.

Everybody fell in love with her.

Why was I feeling this way? She wasn't even my girlfriend anymore, yet...

"Leah. I love you."

Those four words. How ironic. That I was Remnant 4. 4 should have been my lucky number. Yet, the most painful words ever, had to consist of four words.

And to know, that one night, the words that came out of the mouth of one of the guys who loved her...

Was her own adopted brother.

"Stop." I muttered, banging my head against the wall.

"Don't."

I watched as Felix pinned Leah on the bed, both of their eyes teary.

"I can't watch this."

I clenched my fists, as darkness rolled off of my body.

I can't watch this.

I can't...

No one is allowed to have Leah.

Give me your power. Tsukuyomi. Everything I have.

Felix undid Leah's buttons, as Leah let it happen.

The love of my life.

Doing it with another guy.

I don't want to be human anymore. I hate this. I hated this so much. If it meant leaving my feelings away. Then I would gladly throw away my humanity and become the very embodiment of evil. Of a monster.

Of a demon.

SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT.

R4

That night, I sneaked out and created a shadow portal to the Abyssal Realm.

I walked down the plains of the messed up realm as numerous monsters were scavenging around. Arman had spent his days here looking for enemies to fight and get stronger. But I came here for an entirely different reason.

Knock two birds with one stone, ya know.

End the Cleaners vs. Abyssal war, and get these stupid silly thoughts off my chest.

I continued walking, hands in my pockets as I had time to think.

"I really am petty, aren't I." I muttered.

It's okay.

Nobody is here to see me like this.

Just let it go.

Why did I still not move on from something that happened so many years ago?

Why was I so fixated on some silly high school love.

Why did I do it?

I looked at my reflection from a purple pond.

This is why people always say that responsibility is just as important as power.

Power to the wrong hands, especially unstoppable power, is a curse.

I am an example of someone who was given so much power. You simply don't hand that much power to some kid who couldn't even think straight.

I've seen celebrities who were only 20 something years old, and they let money and fame get to them.

I wasn't any different.

I was in fact, much worse.

Because I didn't just use my power in irresponsible ways. I used it in ways that could never be undone.

My mind flashed back to that day. I unleashed 75% of Tsukuyomi without thinking in Leah's bedroom. The step brother fell back as Leah stared at me in terror. She stared at what little remained of her ex-boyfriend.

But really, I didn't care about that. Because what was going through my mind was I wanted that man dead. I didn't want nobody touching Leah.

Not anymore.

Because it hurt.

And I wanted to stop hurting.

"Y- You're Sammy, the boyfriend..." Felix muttered, as he stumbled back.

"You can't have her." I said, as my body rolled with darkness.

Felix fell to his knees, heaving. "Wh What the hell... What are you?! What is he?! Leah??"

Leah was still speechless, her eyes, paralyzed in terror at what I was.

A demon.

Some dumb kid who decided to use all the power in the world just to fulfill his selfish desires. That was what I was.

I snapped back to reality, as I noticed a massive horde of monsters coming my way.

That's right.

Love hurts.

You just gotta move on.

Move on in your own ways.

That's right.

I have to move on.

Through my own ways.

I held out the palm of my hand. These monsters, were like my past. I needed to get them... I needed to take them all out. Anything that hurts me. Everything that hurts me.

"I need to kill everything."

400 percent.

Umbral Pyrokinesis.

My hand exploded in a massive blast of fire as all the monsters were engulfed. But I wasn't satisfied. 400% of Tsukuyomi could not possibly be satisfied with small fry numbers. The flames continued rushing forward, as thousands of monsters disintegrated.

Thousands became tens of thousands.

Because millions.

Because tens of millions.

I laughed hysterically as I continued to torch the entire realm with my flames. This was why I couldn't go above 100% in my fight against Mace. I just couldn't. Because any more would destroy not just the school, but possibly the entire continent.

But in here, where every being in the realm was a bad guy to be exterminated.

It's okay.

"It's okay!" I screamed. If I could describe my emotion at this moment, it was joy. But despair and sadness. I guess maybe that's what happens when you let all your emotions out, when you've been bottling it up for so long.

After all, I was always the goofy guy. Among the Remnants.

Even back then too.

I was the goofy guy. Nobody cared about what they said or done to me because I always laughed it off.

But Leah saw right through that.

So kind and accepting.

I guess that was to be expected. From a girl that everybody wanted to ask out.