The Adventures of Mavus Pt. VI

The Adventures of Mavus Pt. VI contains the last chapters of The Adventures of Mavus Series, concluding the series and the Chronicles of Croft story written by @Darwin.

Mavus and his allies prepare for their final battle against Mogul, the Aspect of Sin. A titanic showdown ensues, dictating the fates of everyone and of Croft, as the war comes to a shocking end.

Chapter 35 - Amana's Crazy Plan

"So we're just going to let Mogul stroll up to Corinth?" Sam's face looked incredulous. The guy really buffed up. I guess his mission with Jason and Merrow was a success because the guy became even more jacked than before.

From what I heard in the mission briefing, Sam regained Sentry, and during his time without Sentry, his Decen reincarnation powers had reawakened. So the dude had both Darkfire and Regeneration. That was as meta as it could get. Jason's katana was also restored, and upgraded. It probably had something to do with Sentry returning.

Amana put her hands together. "Yeah. We're going to lure him into Corinth and close the seal, trapping him with reinforcement magic." She turned to Lazarus.

Lazarus looked at me. "Do you remember what Mogul said, about New Croft being a front for the Pit of Corruption? I suspect that Mogul might be linked to it, and without the Pit, we might be able to take him on."

I wasn't convinced. "But how are you going to deal with the Pit? That thing is crazy! I don't think a little runes could do much to it."

"Wow, you're not very faithful in your mage elders." Said a familiar voice. Robert Caliburn stood up. He gave Lupine a look of approval. "Leave that to me. You should work on trying not to let your girlfriend steal your spotlight kiddo."

I looked at Junon. Junon's growth with the Achilles Boost was crazy. During one of our training sessions, Junon managed to hold her own against Sam's Form 5 (yeah, he got a new form). You might be wondering how that was even possible. Junon went from unpowered to Tier Zero in like a few days. The thing was, Junon had already gotten such a crazy good base from years of fighting without powers, that once she received them, it was none other than an expansion from her current skillset. I guess she really was worthy. Not that I was jealous or anything...

Sam smashed his fists together, causing a burst of black and blue flames. I jumped. "I'm looking forward to having a crack against Mogul. He's got a lot to pay back for what he has done to Decen and our remnants."

Jason didn't seem to like the way his protege called him his remnant. I held back a snicker. "Mogul is going to be one hell of a being to take down. Even with Junon, Mavus, and Sam. We're talking about a god who slaughtered most if not all the Paladins. And we're not even talking about the fact that the New Militia is going to be backing him up too."

Lazarus cut him off. "Nope. This is why this mission also involves rescuing another Tier Zero metahuman." He turned to me, and it felt like my heart began beating faster.

"Aaron." Lazarus smiled. "We owe him for what he had done for us."

"Hold on. We're still forgetting the fact that her most annoying highness, Calliope isn't going to be sitting idly by. Mavus mentioned that she momentarily changed?"

Lazarus frowned. "I know. Leave Calliope to me and Jason." Jason gave him a nod. Lazarus continued. "I knew all along. A part of Calliope is still in there. I'm not going to rest until I get her back."

Kyrael dug her dagger on the planning table. "The Inquisition will assist in evacuating the prisoners in the Capita. When the final battle comes, we will stand by Darkstar's side."

Marcus stood up. "The Street Angels will not sit idly by either. They got Nigel, Aaron, and Jericho. We're gonna give the New Militia everything they got coming for them for betraying the Angels. Isn't that right, Alloy?" Adam stood next to Marcus, giving Junon a smile. "Yeah. The New Militia isn't getting away with this."

Adam and Junon made up, by the way. In case that wasn't already obvious. I have no idea when or how that happened, or how he was even alive. I just stopped questioning everything at that point.

I was so freaking lost. "Wait wait wait. Hold it, what is happening. Can someone start off from the top. I'm so lost guys. Come on!" Junon elbowed me, but Amana laughed.

Amana explained the plan from the start.

The first thing to do was to rescue Aaron and the others. This meant a squad including Lazarus would be responsible for extraction. Junon and I were going to set up a distraction, to lure most of the forces away. Knowing Calliope, she would eventually descend to end the fight. That was where Blackflame, Jason, Merrow, Amana, Trill and Lupine would jump in, holding off Calliope. Reya, Joust, and Ferris would assist Kyrael's forces in taking down any calvary that might try to flank Junon and I. From then on would be the endgame. There was no chance that Mogul would not bring in his army, this would be where Kyrael's remaining forces would aid us in the final battle.

So basically we were about to go to war.

Chapter 36 - Well then.

I walked with Junon back to our room, it was evening. That was probably the longest meeting I ever had.

"How's Hannah?" Junon asked me. I looked at the courtyard, seeing Hannah handing out clothes to the refugees, aided by Steel. I guess Steel loved kids too, who knew?

"She's doing okay. I told her we're going to spring Aaron. She'll be seeing her boyfriend in no time."

Junon smiled, but her expression was troubled again. Uh oh. "Umm, did I do something wrong?" She shook her head.

"Not really. But do you mind telling me why you've been keeping what the seer told you a secret?"

Damn sleep talking! I wish there was medication for this. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean."

I sat down next to her. "I never brought it up because I needed to focus on what was in front of me. You can't do much about fate. Just gotta keep moving forward, you know? Like what you always tell me."

Junon scooted closer to me. "You seem pretty okay about dying." My eyes went wide. "No! I mean. I don't mean it like that. I'm just trying to ignore it... Of course I'm not okay with this."

Junon's eyes were turning red. I really did it this time. "Look, I just. I never thought that my role would be that. Junon, the last thing I want is to leave you all alone." Junon didn't say anything. She looked at the jacket that I had hanging on the wall, then the window. The countless stars.

"I wish we had more time. More time together. I always wondered what it was like to have a guy propose to me."

I stared at the window too. "Yeah. Wait what?"

She looked at me. "You're twenty six, Mavus. We're both adults. I just thought... forget it."

I never thought about it like that. I guess I really was immature for my age. I spent so long being an egotistical maniac that I had completely forgotten what it was like to grow up for once. What even was my end goal anymore? I only joined the Inquisition to impress Junon and hopefully score a date. We went far beyond that now. Having been in battle together for so long, being there for each other. I guess I could kind of see where she was going at this, but it still felt... fast. I didn't imagine myself ever going this far, to the point where I would even be thinking about that.

Damn.

"Mavus, what is your end goal in life?" I looked at Junon, her cyan eyes regarding mine. "I, don't really know. I guess maybe leaving a mark on this world? I was a Tier Zero metahuman, but no one even knew I existed or what I was. I was just a government secret. In a way, I always contemplated my own existence."

I realized I had just said that out loud. Junon laughed. "A mark huh?"

I raised my eyebrow. "What's so funny about that? Don't you want to leave a mark too? We're both engineers. Isn't that a dream we should both aspire to?"

Junon turned back to the window. "The world is different now. I just don't think we can leave a mark something like that. But... I had a different idea for a mark."

I stared at her. "Huh? I'm not following." She turned to me. "Wow, you really are oblivious. I'm talking about a legacy. Your legacy."

"My... legacy."
"Our legacy."

Suddenly it hit me. "Whoa there, um... let's slow it down a bit. I mean, haha, don't you think we're approaching this a little too fast?" I was really hoping what she meant wasn't what I thought.

"You don't want to? It's okay if you don't feel up to it. It's not guaranteed it'll happen the first time anyway." Junon leaned back. My heart was beating at world record pace. It wasn't the fact that I didn't want to, but just how surreal this conversation was. She was trying to hide it, but I could sense her disappointment.

I was going to die, and leave her behind. She wanted something to remember me by. But at the same time, how would he or she feel? Living life without a father?

"I know it's selfish... I just. I'm just not ready to say goodbye." Junon sobbed, burying her face in my chest. I put my hand on her head, stroking her hair. I remembered meeting her in person, who despite my hardest to be the hero and impress her, she was always the one impressing me. Always the one being there for me when the going got rough. We were always there for each other. I remembered all the times she would roll her eyes at me being stupid, or my unfunny jokes.

No one had put up with me like that. Not my parents, not the suits.

"Hey." I said. I looked Junon in the eye. I saw my own reflection in her tears. My face had grown since the day I joined the Inquisition. My eyes, cyan, just like hers, now aged from battle. Maybe this was a dumb idea. Maybe I was being stupid and unethical with this. But screw it. I was going to give my life to protect everybody here. Let me be selfish, just one last time.

Chapter 37 - We Completely Vandalize The Capita

"You two lovebirds ready?" Khione asked us. Veran raised his broadsword up high. "The final battle! We shall save these people once and for all!"

Truman freaked out. "Dude! You're going to break the chariot!"

The chariot dropped Junon and I off in Croft. The place looked like a magical fantasy world, well, if it hadn't been completely brutalized by some tyrant.

"Remember you two, just draw out as much forces as you can. Don't destroy the whole place!" Amana called out to us. Yep. No promises though.

I suited up into Revision 8, while Junon encased herself in Achilles Energy. She flew up. I nodded at her. Junon held out her hands, and the turrets all around suddenly glowed cyan, ripping out of their supports and into the air. The guys who were watching over the place stared at us. "Seriously?" Junon's powers were insane. I always thought she would be some kind of Blue Lantern ripoff, but apparently she was way beyond that. She was a telekinetic too, her powers probably putting Sharon's to shame.

A bunch of mages showed up, preparing their spells. I lifted my hand, revealing R8's Hyperthreaded AoE Repulser. A wide beam of cyan light fired from the palm of my hand, sending all twenty of the mages into the side of the building.

The alarms went off. Junon flew around the castle, firing mini asteroids at the sides. I activated my thrusters and followed suit, bombarding the sides with mini versions of my missiles, taking out the structures with explosions.

Just as Amana had predicted, the silhouette of a woman blinded our vision, her golden glow radiating the entire place.

"Don't worry about Calliope, we've got her." Jason's voice lit up in my coms unit.

Jason and Amana suddenly emerged from a cloaking spell, battling Calliope while we continued drawing the attention of the New Militia. Junon and I, taking on an entire army on our own. My cyan beams alongside her cyan constructs.

There was no better freaking duo.

"These two..." I heard one of the mages mutter as one of the explosions from my micro missile caught him off guard. I landed on the ground, my arms expanding into two separate triple barrelled chain guns. My legs mounted on the ground as I unleashed a massive barrage of energy bullets at the hundreds of troops emerging from the castle.

"Operator, sniper units inbound."

Several blasts of magic began to flank me from the other sides of the castle, but I just smiled. Suddenly, the projectiles vaporized, glowing cyan as Junon redirected them back at the mages.

I looked back and realized that Calliope and Darkstar were fighting to a stalemate. Jason and Calliope clashed, sword against wing, two old friends facing each other in a titanic clash. Mage vs. Mage. Darkness vs. Light.

"I'm not giving up on you, Calliope. How I treated you so many years ago was wrong of me. I should have backed you up."
"Lies. You deceive me, John. Once Lord Mogul repurposes you all, Darkstar will be no mo-"
"Shut up! Enough of this Mogul talk! I don't care who you are, but the Calliope I knew back in Team Trinity would never let herself get taken like that."
"You lie! How could you possibly know my pain!"
"The Calliope I knew wouldn't have given up on Lawrence like that!"
"Shut up!"

Calliope sent Jason into the ground. I stepped forward to fight her, but Junon grabbed my shoulder. "No. Jason needs to do this. They need to do this alone. This is their fight."

More mages began to fill the skies, thousands of warriors, Avatars, infernals, soul beasts, emerging from portals all around. Every being Ariandal had recruited was taking on all of us. Junon was starting to get overwhelmed. I flew up and assisted her. We flew in the air, back to back. Incineration beams and Achilles Lightning blasting away The New Militia.

A strength type mage knocked me to the ground. I got up and watched as Ariandal defeated Jason. Blackflame was sent to look for Aaron. Everybody was beaten and lying on the ground, but despite his injuries, Jason managed to get back to his feet. Merrow and Amana were desperately telling him to stay down.

"I'm not giving up." Jason muttered, propping himself on his katana. His face was bloody, and the cross tattoo on his arm was cut in so many places it kind of looked like a crosshair.
Calliope approached him, her power accumulating into her angel wing, turning it from gold to a blinding white. "Then you shall fall like the rest."

"Calliope!" Lazarus shouted as his crew alongside Sam materialized from a portal. Propped on Blackflame's shoulder was Aaron.

Calliope turned around, and her eyes flickered. "Lawrence?" Suddenly, a wave of black lightning surged from her body. Calliope yelled in pain.

"You fools. It does not matter how united you all are, Mogul's power has reached a point where no man can stop him. No Paladin, no Guardian, no Remnant."

"Cal..." Lazarus walked up to Ariandal. Her hands on her temples, trying to fight the Corruption. Her eyes flickering, back to their intense glow. "Stay back, mage!" A massive golden shockwave sent us all backwards. I fell back, and so did the New Militia army. Junon fell to the ground, but I managed to catch her.

"You dare defy The New Militia, Lawrence Wright?" Calliope growled. Lazarus went up to her. "You're still in there, all this time, huh?" Calliope yelled, blasting Lazarus with Corruption. Jason and Darkstar yelled his name. But despite this, Lazarus kept walking forward.

"These past years, you've been struggling. You've been fighting, this whole time. Not us, but yourself."
"Silence! You abandoned me Lawrence!" Calliope's eye glow dimmed, her face streaming with tears. "You abandoned me..."
"No, I didn't." Lawrence held out a truth rune. "I wasn't able to find you because Marcus intercepted me. Mogul intercepted me that day, knocking me out. I wasn't able to be there when you woke up. I was there by your bedside every single day. Even when I was banned from the campus. Every day. I was there, holding your hand waiting for your beautiful eyes to open."

The rune glowed green.

Calliope stared at Lazarus. "Lawrence... you need to get out of here... the Corruption. It's... taking me over. If I don't serve, Mogul will kill me, and everybody here." Calliope suddenly buckled, falling to her knees, screaming in pain from the Corruption lightning. "Run!"

Lazarus ran up to her and embraced her in a hug, the Corruption arcing to him too. "I won't run. I'm not going to leave you. Let's fight this Corruption together, okay?"

The Corruption became stronger and stronger. Jason ran up to Lazarus but the Corruption blasted him away. Amana looked at Trill, then at me.

"Trill, open up a portal to the Pit of Corruption." Trill stared at Amana. "Okay, but what are you planning on doing?"
"Just do it!"

Trill opened the portal. Amana turned to me. "Your draining pods. Fire as much as you can into the portal. Weaken his influence!"

I concentrated, firing all my pods into the portal. The Corruption lightning around Lazarus and Ariandal was starting to get smaller, but it was still very much lethal. I needed to drain more. Every last bit.

"Juno."
"Awaiting command."
"Full repurpose. Draining modules."
"Acknowledged."

My suit left my body, breaking apart into hundreds, to thousands, to tens of thousands of pods, entering the portal, as the Corruption began to lessen and lessen.

Calliope screamed her last, and fell into Lazarus' arms.

We all gathered around Lazarus, who was holding his girlfriend in his arms.

"Cal?" Lazarus asked. Calliope opened her eyes, her irises no longer glowing, but still silver, the colour of the soul link.
"You never gave up..." Calliope croaked.
"Of course I didn't." Lazarus laughed.

Jason put his hand on Lazarus' shoulder. Calliope looked at Jason.

"I've done horrible things... John. I need to atone."
"No. The things that were done was from the tyrant. They weren't from you."
"The people... are they safe?"
"They've all been evacuated to the Fortress."

GOOD. A sinister voice shook the ground. Mogul materialized, several metres away from us, but enough for us to tell that he meant business. Amana noticed the unconscious bodies of the Street Angels. She cursed. Trill and Lazarus were concentrating, but no portal opened.

"He's keeping us from making any portals." Trill said to Amana.

I guess our plan to lure Mogul into Corinth was a no-go.

SO, THE HOST OF SERAPHIM HAS BEEN RELEASED FROM MY CLUTCHES. BUT NO MATTER. THIS BATTLE ENDS NOW. I MAY BE DRAINED, BUT I STILL POSSESS ENOUGH POWER TO ABSORB YOU ALL.

I turned to Mogul, and walked to him.

Mogul laughed. "Puny human, do you truly believe you still stand a chance against me?"

Junon cut him off. "Well, he isn't alone." Junon stood next to me.

Suddenly, the Capita exploded, ripping apart. A new mage appeared, taking all of the building into a massive rune, then converting it into a massive portal. The armies of the Inquisition emerged, with Kyrael, Conlan, Yuko leading.

Lazarus looked at the mage. "Glad to have you on board, Connor. Paladin of Sorcery." Connor smiled. "It took me a while to find this place. Could have given me a heads up."

Jason looked confused. "Connor? Why are you here?" Connor stared at the remnant. "Well, certainly not because of you, Decen spawn. But I owe Lazarus. Mage to mage." He gave Lazarus a nod. "By the way, Lazarus, I hope this makes us even, because I've also got some more help."

More portals formed.

Millennium City's Champions emerged, Defender, Witchcraft, the whole lot. Another portal appeared, with a giant bronze dragon flying high in the sky. Riding it was a familiar troll, and his beautiful girlfriend. "Leo!" I shouted with a huge grin on my face. It wasn't just Leo, but several people from the Waystation also emerged from the portal. Josephine looked me up and down. "New glasses kid?" My eyes became teary.

I looked at everybody. Darkstar. The Inquisition. The Champions. The Waystation. They all wielded their weapons and spells, glaring at Mogul. Mogul laughed, and spread his hands, unveiling his own army. Years of accumulating followers under his Shadow Legion, for this moment.

I looked back at Mogul, who was gleaming at me with murderous intent. "Mavus Shaw, Aaron Sterling, Samuel Mason, and Junon Gareth. Four Tier Zero metahumans gather today to face off against the Aspect of Sin. How truly desperate you all are, to attempt to delay the inevitable." Mogul flexed, sending a massive storm our way.

I took the collars of my jacket, and shook it, extracting the nanites that were in my jacket. I had built another revision just for this. The armour coated my body, revealing a new design. My most powerful suit, no. My most powerful invention yet. Revision 9. The Mogul-Slayer.

"We're not going to fall today, Mogul. This is the power of the resistance. This is the power of humanity. Right here, right now. We're going to show you that we're not slaves to the Corruption."

I cladded my helmet, closing it. Two lines arced the perimeter of my mask, glowing cyan.

I turned to my comrades. Aaron giving me a nod. Sam giving me a thumbs up. And Junon giving me a smile.

"Let's kick this guy's ass."

Chapter 38 - United Together

Aaron powered up, Rigor glowing orange, while Sam assumed Form 5, his hair turning white, growing out to his shoulders, his flames flickering an aggressive magenta.

The two charged Mogul with full force, Rigor's swing and Sam's chop clashing against Mogul's bracers. The shockwave shook the entire place. Junon rushed forward and began to wrap Mogul in a cyan chain, squeezing as hard as she could.

I activating R9's repulsers, concentrating my beam into a thin line. Suddenly, Mogul roared, knocking Aaron, Sam, and Junon back, shattering her chains. Mogul flew at me with astonishing speed. R9's combat software as well as its superior light-speed reflexes kicked in, allowing me to block his punch with a holoforce shield just in time. I was sent flying into a mountain miles away, creating a new canyon.

My vision became blurry, as I struggled to get up. Mogul's silhouette barely visible until he was intercepted by Junon, who summoned a massive hammer, pushing him back. The shockwave shook the mountains, while Aaron closed in, swinging Rigor at Mogul. Sam materialized and fired a powerful magenta flame. I blacked out.

"Dad, what was mom like?" A kid went up to me. He had Junon's curly hair, but he looked like my spitting image. What? What am I looking at? Is he my son? I looked down at my hands, which were calloused. I looked up at the kid, and my lips spoke for me.

"Don't bring her up again."

The kid looked betrayed. "You always tell me that! Why can't you just tell me who she was? Don't I at least get to know?!"
"I said not to bring her up again!"

The kid's eyes became red and teary. "Every night... every night, Jo asks me if we have a mother. She doesn't even know we have one!" He glared at me. "I hate you. All you do is drink and stay in your room all day. Everybody is dying, being tortured as slaves. Aren't you some meta human superhero or something? Why aren't you using your powers?!"

I turned my back on my son. I chugged another bottle. "You have no right to tell me these things. You have no idea what I have lost! I can't... I can't remember. Don't tell me to look into the past."

My kid glared at me. "Well good for you, old man. Because you're going to lose another. Come on Jo. We're leaving."

A little girl walked out of the ruined doorframe. She was the spitting image of Junon, but was wearing glasses. "Is daddy angry?"

The kid took her hand. "No. He's just pathetic. Come on. Let's find mommy together."

The kid turned his back on me, leaving the house, into the outside world. I held out my hand as everything became bright.

My eyes flew open. Junon looked at me, her face was bloodied and cut. "No time to be sleeping on the job... sleepyhead." She collapsed.

"Junon! Juno, perform analysis."
"Subject is alive but is low on stamina."

Thank god. I picked her up and flew her to the top of the mountain, putting her down. I watched as Aaron and Sam battled Mogul in the skies. The sounds of Rigor clashing against Mogul's armour and the bright magenta lights of Sam's flames, lighting up the sky, creating a huge thunderstorm. Everything was dark, not a single ray of sunshine to be found.

I flew up to join the battle. Aaron swung Rigor, but Mogul blocked it.

"You have courage, young meta. But do not be mistaken. I am no Giant. I am a god. Your god."

Aaron roared, as the power force brightened around Rigor, pushing Mogul back, but not before Mogul sent a punch back his way, catching Aaron in his midsection. Aaron went flying away. Blackflame flanked Mogul, firing blasts of fire whenever he had distance, and evading Mogul with martial arts, attempting to use his own strength against him.

Mogul smiled. "The martial arts of the Doma Clan. I never saw the appeal of it aside from flamboyant poses." Mogul caught Sam's punch.

"No way..." Sam muttered. Mogul threw Sam into the ground, hundreds of feet below, creating a crater.

"Juno, max power repulser beam!"
"Firing."

My hands expanded, my repulsers powered up as I fired a huge flash of cyan light at Mogul, sending him to the ground. The clouds parted from the sheer force of the concussive blast.

I landed in front of Mogul, who managed to land on his feet. His sinister smile giving me all kinds of creeps.

"Mavus, do you still intend on keeping your impossible promise?"
"You bet I am."

I brought my arms back, my shoulders morphing into their missile launchers. I fired dozens of compact mini-nukes at Mogul. Mogul smiled. "Good.... very good!" The mini-nukes connected, drowning the entire place in cyan explosions. The force of the explosion levelled the two halves of the canyon, decimating it and turning the place into a rocky wasteland.

Mogul swept his hand, clearing the smoke and fire, but I was already done preparing my attack.

"Juno, Infinity Barrelled Incineration Beam"
"Firing."

I fired a huge beam of cyan light, which incinerated the environment in a huge conical path. The beam engulfed Mogul in light. Mogul roared, a shockwave of black Corruption knocking me down. I flew into the side of a mountain, then hit the ground.

"Multiple armour fractures detected."
"Thanks Juno. Definitely needed that."

I got up, my light-speed reflex systems causing my thrusters to zip forward, narrowly missing Mogul's punch. The punch completely decimated the mountain, leaving behind a massive hole. I brought my leg back, and activated my Achilles Thrusters on my forearm, smashing the side of Mogul's face with my Achilles Knuckles. A cyan shockwave and sparks exploded as Mogul's head reeled back from the force of my Sledgehammer strike.

Mogul recovered quick, throwing another punch at my direction. I instantly created a holo shield to block the punch, but the punch was too great. It shattered through my shield and caught me square in the helmet. I slid back. My vision was blurry and cracked. I was definitely seeing double. Juno's voice was starting to get distorted. Not good.

Mogul approached me. My shoulder thrusters shot me back upright, and I fired my Infinity Barrelled Repulser beam to push him back. Mogul's aura became more intense. He was getting stronger! How was that possible? I thought I sent as much draining pods as I could... oh no. They must had overloaded. How much life energy did this bastard steal from all those innocent people?!

Mogul slowly approached me. I couldn't keep this up. I knelt down and shot forward. Mogul saw this coming, and reeled back another punch. This was it. I slipped through the punch like how Junon had taught me what seemed like ages ago. The classic slip and uppercut. I activated my Achilles Knuckles once more, catching Mogul in the chin. He was too heavy, the punch only barely moving his head. I needed more for this to work. I activated my thrusters, redistributing the thrust power from my legs, back, hands, and shoulders all to my right forearm. The tech pooled together, forming a massive thruster.

An intense blue light fired from the thruster, allowing my fist to drive further upwards, propelling Mogul into the air. This was it.

"Juno, fire the Dual Planet Buster Beams!"

My hands transformed, expanded into two massive Armada cannons. I reeled back and fired two massive beams of light at the guy. The place began to shake violently, as chasms opened up all around.

"A mediocre effort." Mogul emerged from the beam and grabbed my cannons, crushing them in his grip.

"Juno! Detach!" I slid out of the cannons before Mogul crushed them into a alien metal pancake. He looked a bit charred. "If it is any consolation, that hurt like hell." Mogul shot forward faster than R9's reflexes could react. He was definitely getting stronger. I wasn't able to form a shield before Mogul caught me in my forearms, sending me back. Mogul began punching me again. My armour becoming more and more damaged, cracked, scraped.

A chunk of my helmet broke off from his last punch. Mogul grabbed me by the neck, lifting me up. I was face to face with the Aspect. A tiny man to a 7 foot giant. I retched as Mogul regarded me with his sinister red eyes. "You have my respects, Shaw. Not many people can inflict damage to me, much less a mere man. Your technology will be remembered."

He began to squeeze, my vision becoming blurry. Suddenly, a huge chain caught Mogul in the neck, dragging him back. The Aspect let me go as Junon yelled, throwing Mogul in the air. Aaron rushed in, swinging Rigor and catching Mogul in the face. Mogul slid back, but not before Sam closed in, unleashing a huge chop that creating another chasm where Mogul stood. Mogul slid back. A tiny drop of blood forming in the corner of his mouth.

"Not bad." He muttered. Junon, Aaron, and Sam rushed in to fight, but the fight didn't last long. Aaron was kneed in the face, sending him into a mountain, unconscious. Mogul zapped Junon with Corruption lightning, who attempted to retaliate with Achilles Lightning. The beam struggle was one sided, and Junon was sent flying, hitting the ground.

Sam yelled, bombarding Mogul with chops, evading his punches with the fluidity of a samurai, but Mogul stomped on the ground. Sending all four of us flying into the fray of the battle. I hit the ground, still unable to stand up. Mogul approached Sam and grabbed him by the face, smashing the kid into the ground.

"Decen... you have already died once. You may well be the first Paladin who I have slain twice."
"Not happening, Mogul." Merrow closed in, slashing at Mogul's face with her spear.

Mogul tried grabbing at Merrow, but his hands became chained to the ground with water. Mogul roared, sending the chains to pieces, knocking Merrow down.

"Guardian Rivenlight, has the death of your beloved Remnants not given you enough grief? To band together with these mortals..."

Suddenly, Jason materialized, slashing Sentry's Katana at Mogul's armour, splitting it open.

Jason began slashing at Mogul, but he was too outmatched. Mogul ripped the katana out of his hands and punched Jason's midsection, sending him to his knees, vomiting blood.

"Jonathan Crypt... no. Jonathan Ko. The Link. You are the fifteenth. The one who survived. How you have grown, from a helpless little child to the man you are today."

Jason glared at Mogul, with a smile on his face, grinning through the pain.

"You don't scare me anymore, Mogul. I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of my fear when I die. Ben and Deacon taught me that."

Mogul narrowed his eyes. "The Warchild and The Fury... hmph. Then you shall share the same fate as your two elder brothers you look up to so much."

Mogul turned to Merrow.

"Observe, Guardian Rivenlight, as I end the last Remnant of Decen."

Mogul was about to finish Jason, but Lazarus stopped fighting the New Militia and flew in, along with the others of Darkstar and Calliope, trying to restrain Mogul, to no effort.

Mogul glared at Lazarus. "You are a fool, to believe that a mere magical spell can weaken my connection to the Pit. Once I am done, I will have all of your essences to fuel it. I will become complete." Lazarus created more and more runes at Mogul's feet, attempting to restrain him. Calliope summoned hundreds of demons from the ground, which grabbed onto his feet.

"Enough of this." Mogul flexed, dispelling all of the runes and Calliope's demons, sending them both to the ground.

"The time has come, to end this all."

Suddenly, the environment became darker. The thunderstorm becoming worse, black lightning arcing the sky. A huge portal appeared in Mogul's location, the cries and moans of suffering filling the battlefield. Lazarus' eyes widened.

"The Pit... you brought it here!"

Mogul laughed maniacally. "Yes... little mage. And soon, I will absorb every bit of essence of all your comrades here. It was a shame, that you brought everybody to fight me. In a way, I have all of you to thank."

Suddenly, everybody fell to their knees. Their life force being sucked away into the pit. I felt my own life force being sucked away too. I felt, despair. Like nothing mattered.

"Role to play." The voice of the hag appeared in my mind.
"You will understand, when the time comes."
"Your role is still great. The role of sacrifice."

My mind clicked. There was a way to stop this. I looked up, at the portal. My vision flashed to the day the suits took me in.

"Your child possesses a power unlike anything we have seen."
"I am aware he is a technopath." My father told the agent.
"That isn't all. Your child's energy reserves... they are... incomprehensible. They are almost limitless. Planetary.

"We have lots of techno paths working in our government, and living in society. The nature of a techno path can be controlled and restrained. Your son's threat level isn't just his ability to create and manipulate machines, but how he powers it. This boy's energy is enough to destroy the planet, and quite possibly multiple ones if he let it all out."

My parents looked at me. They were so disappointed. "How could you keep this a secret? After everything we did for you? Ungrateful boy." My mother had said.

I looked at the agents. The leader of the team, a woman in her mid thirties, with combed brown hair took my hand. My parents did not stop her.

I ran up to her and cried. The woman hugged me. "We will take care of you from now on dear. My name is Sharon Lipset. You will be safe in our hands." She nodded at my parents, who shook their heads. "Take him." They said. "We thank you so much for this, please continue keeping us all safe."

I summoned all the strength I could, and got up. My armour was badly damaged. My bracers fell off, revealing my body from the inside of my ravaged suit. I struggled forward. My ankled was sprained. But it didn't matter. I tore the mask off my face as I approached Mogul.

Mogul laughed. "A last ditch effort. How commendable."

Junon's voice erupted from the side of my vision. "Mavus! What are you doing?" I looked at her. Junon was sprawled on the ground, like the rest of everybody else, unable to get up. Her life force was leaving her as it joined the other life forces in the Pit. I needed to do this. It was like I was born for this purpose. This moment. My cyan eyes regarding hers. She was so beautiful... I couldn't ever imagine scoring a date... much less having a kid with her. Life was funny.

"Hey, Junon?"

She looked at me, her eyes were filled with tears. "Mavus... no... Not yet..."

I smiled at her. "I gotta go. Look after our kid for me, alright?"

I looked at Mogul. Who was regarding me. "You would abandon your own children to save this world? What exactly are you planning on doing?"

I looked him dead in the eye. "I'm going to give you everything you wanted." I rushed forward, what was left of my thrusters redirected to my shoulders. I grabbed Mogul and pushed. Harder and harder, more and more, the thrusters getting so bright that the whole battlefield was illuminated cyan. The light of the Achilles breaking through the Darkness of the Corruption.

I yelled as the two of us entered the portal into the Pit. The portal closed behind us.

I kept grabbing Mogul. Mogul growled and tried to pry me off, but I latched onto his back. "You fool. What do you hope to accomplish from this suicidal manoeuvre?"

I closed my eyes, letting loose everything. All of my power, all of my essence. My body glowed and cracked with cyan light. I opened my mouth to yell as my body felt like a balloon. Expanding with power. My mouth and eyes spewed light from my energy reserves as I let everything out.

"You want my life force? Huh? Here! You can have it all!"

Mogul roared, shocking me with the Corruption, but I was always releasing my life essence, like a massive galactic bomb. I felt my skin disappearing, revealing a bright cyan light underneath.

"You can't do this, Mavus. I'm... a god. I can't be killed by you..."

His voice was drowned by the roar of my power, engulfing the entire pit. The souls of many leaving the hell hole as the light from my body extinguished the Corruption everywhere in a burst of destruction. Everything became bright as I released the last of my power... my body giving up as I finally let go.

My vision was nothing but bright light with spots circling above me. Like stars... They were so beautiful.

The stars.

"Yep, no matter what universe you are in, it's all the same. The night sky. It's always so vast with the stars and everything. It's elegant." That was what Junon told me on our first date. She was right. No matter the universe, it was all the same. The night sky. The stars. How vast it was.

I reached out to touch the sky.

"When I first witnessed your powers, I was amazed. Happy even. I thought that we finally found the guy who was able to turn the tide against Ariandal. But as more and more of Darkstar doubted me, exposing your weakness I lost that happiness. But now that you're wearing this jacket, I'm reminded of why I was so happy in the first place."

My jacket... it was probably gone now, disintegrated from the explosion. The explosion. I was dead, definitely dead.

"You gave me hope, Mavus."

I felt like crying. I wanted to cry. I didn't want to leave this world. There was still so much stuff to do. I wanted to see Junon one last time. I don't want to go.

Chapter 39 - Be seeing you.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Wake up."

My eyes flew awake. I stared at a face that was carrying me. A silhouette, sparking with cyan electricity. A pair of cyan eyes looked down at me.

"Ju- Junon?"
The person scoffed. "You wish."

The person's face became clearer. A boy, no older than 22 years of age. His eyes were cyan, but looked just like Junon's. His hair, brown and curly just like hers, but his face looking just like mine. Like I was looking at a mirror almost.

"So... that's how you lost your powers. You should have told me. Well, I guess in the future anyway."

I stared at the kid. "Who-"
Then it hit me. "You're that kid in my vision! The one who yelled at me where I was all wrinkly!"

He looked at me. "The hell? How did you... oh. Shit. Well I guess the Achilles link worked both ways."

"You're... my son." I looked at the boy. The words coming out of my mouth made no sense, but at the same time, made so much sense.

"Yeah. The name's Adam. Let's get your busted ass back to Croft. You're not ready to die. You're not supposed to die here." His body sparked with cyan electricity, his eyes glowing cyan. He looked... majestic and heroic. I never met this kid before, but part of me instinctively felt proud.

"Hang on, pops."

I screamed as we went in lightspeed, reality bending as Adam took us to the surface world of Croft. We ended up behind the top of a ravaged cliff, overseeing the battle. My eyes went wide. Standing in the middle, was Mogul himself, facing off against Junon and Sam. Everybody else was unconscious and taken out.

"How... how is he alive?! I busted up his freaking Pit!"

I got up, and tried to summon my powers, but nothing happened. In fact, it was like... I was missing something. My powers were...

"Your powers are gone, old man. You released everything to send Mogul's Pit to kingdom come, remember?"
"Hey! I'm not that old! And if I'm really your dad, you should watch your mouth!"

He glared at me. "Don't go and give me orders you fool." He caught himself. "Sorry, you... haven't gotten to that point yet. Sorry. My bad man."

My anger softened. "Ok, but we gotta help them, Junon-"

"What are you going to do? Come on, sit still. Let Mom finish the job."

We watched as Junon and Sam fought Mogul, who was basically completely depleted. Junon smashing Mogul with a bunch of constructs, and Sam pummelling him with chops and blasts of fire. Junon held Mogul with a bunch of restraints, her eyes murderous. Mogul was so beat up it was hard to look at.

"You... don't know what you are doing... meta human. I am... Sin. I am a god..."

Junon tightened the chains. "I know what I'm doing. I'm ending the bastard who took the life of my child's father."

Sam's fist glowed magenta. "One life ago, I was strangled to death by your very hand. As Paladin Decen of Acadia. You hunted my Guardian and disfigured my familiar's face. Then years after, my Remnants tried to stop your tyranny, only for you to slaughter them too. This is for R1. Warchild. Fury. Brickhouse. Jonna. Everybody."

Sam thrusted his hand through Mogul, and unleashed a powerful magenta flame, Mogul stared at Sam, in complete disbelief as his body began to disintegrate and crumble.

Sam's eyes, magenta, were devoid of emotion. Merrow limped to his side, her face proud of her Paladin, and Sentry manifested next to him, his arms crossed. Sam narrowed his eyes at the defeated Aspect.

"Prime Aspect Mogul. By the Paladin Code of Acadia, you have been eliminated. Contract complete."

Mogul dissipated, his body dispersing and disintegrating into the wind.

The battle was over. The Corruption leaving the New Militia and disintegrating along with its master.

Everybody got up, as the sky brightened, the thunderstorm dissipating. Junon fell to her knees and sobbed. Sam went up to her and hugged her. The members of Darkstar, Inquisition, Street Angels, Waystation, Champions, everybody walked up to the two of them, forming a crowd.

Sam stood up, looking Merrow in the eye. "It's over." Merrow smiled, in tears, and embraced Sam in a hug.

Kyrael broke the silence. "Victory!" Everybody cheered.

I looked at Adam, he had a smile on his face, a tear streaming down his face. "Mom is so beautiful." I leaned back. "She definitely is. But she's not just beautiful, she's probably one of the strongest people I have ever met."

Adam looked confused. "I thought Giantkiller was. Or Blackflame." I smiled. "No, that's not what I meant." I inched closer to the kid, my fatherly instincts taking over. I put my hand on his chest.

"Here. She was the strongest here. Even before Mogul. Even before the invasion. Even before everything. She was always the strongest to me. Never giving up, giving everybody a chance."

Adam took me down the cliff with his super speed.

Junon saw me, and her face was in shock.
"Hey."

Junon sobbed, and ran up to me crushing me in a hug. Adam stepped back. Junon continued sobbing, screaming my name as she buried her face in my shoulder.

"I thought... I thought... the sacrifice, you were supposed to..."
"I thought so too. But it turned out the sacrifice was my powers!"

Junon pulled away and I brought up my hands, doing a bunch of stupid poses and gestures. Adam facepalmed. "Look see? No powers on me!"

Junon stared at me. "So... you're still alive?" I laughed. "Yep."

She turned to Adam. "Who- who are you? I don't mean to be rude, I'm just... still trying to process things. I need to sit down."

Junon sat down, and Adam snickered. "Well, if you're still trying to process things, then maybe the next thing I say should be saved for later." Junon looked up, and recognized his appearance. She put a hand on his belt. A knife. With arcane decorations on it.

"How did you... how did you get this?" Junon asked.

Adam looked at his knife. "Oh... I kind of took it. From Dad. He didn't seem to mind. He was drunk as hell though."

Junon looked confused. "Dad? What... what are you talking about..." her eyes went wide. I guess it hit her.

Adam took out Kronus and put it in her hands. "I guess this belongs to you... Mom."

Chapter 40 - Adam Gareth

The next few days went by fast. There were a lot of lives lost. The casualty report wasn't a good thing to look at. Calliope and Lazarus helped heal the wounded, while Jason and Amana worked with Conlan to continue training the troops. Lupine and Caliburn trained together, with Caliburn showing Lupine some new tricks with his handgun.

"Enchant the gun, but don't enchant too much of it."
"What the hell, that doesn't even make any sense!"

Reya, Joust, and Ferris revamped the castle, opening it up for more people and preparing the honorary celebration following Mogul's defeat. Adam Blair was found nosying up with one of the women in the party preparation crew. Apparently, he became super popular for being one of the last of the Street Angels to hit the ground after being attacked by Mogul. He saw Junon and I and waved, a huge grin on his face. Whatever floated his boat I guess.

Aaron reunited with Hannah. Everybody in the Street Angels and Steel Pack cheered.

"That's my Hannah! I told you he'd come back!" Steel yelled.

That night, Junon and I stood by the balcony of the Fortress, watching the stars, my hands on her waist, like that first dream I had in the Inquisition.

"So... I guess things worked out alright?" I asked.

Junon smirked. "You can say that..." She leaned in and kissed me. It felt like my powers were returning back to my body. Hundreds of volts of electricity arcing through my body.

"Aw man. Come on guys. Really? I'm right here you know." Adam was standing on the balcony too chomping down on snacks with Truman. Varen and Khione were also there, his arm around her shoulders.

I grinned. "So... you guys are together now too huh?" Khione smiled the biggest smile I had ever seen. "Yep. But he is a handful, as always."

Veran looked surprised. "Oh come now love! I thought you loved my warrior spirit!" Khione laughed, shaking her head.

Truman looked at me. "So you thought you were gonna die? But didn't?"

Junon and I sat down on the table, joining the squad.

"Yeah... kind of thought I was going to go, so we just... you know."

Truman grinned. "So you got Junon pregnant. What a player."

Adam spat out his drink.

We all laughed.

Junon turned to her son. "So... what brings you here? All the way from the future?" Adam put his half eaten cracker on his plate. "Yeah... I guess now is probably a bad time to ruin things, but then again, I did inherit Dad's ability to make things awkward."

"Hey!"

Adam continued. "I came here to warn all of you. Mogul is not the only Aspect who poses a threat."

My snacks didn't seem too appetizing anymore. "What... what do you mean? Mogul was the biggest threat we ever came across!"

Adam shook his head. He looked me in the eye. "He will become one of many. The Aspects are a race of deities. There's a bunch of them. When Mogul was slain, they didn't like that. Trust me when I say this, you guys need to prepare. Keep getting stronger. Without Dad you guys no longer have a Tier Zero nuke. And Mom..."

His eyes began to tear up. Junon stood up and put her arms around Adam. "What about me? Hey. Look at me." Adam looked at Junon, scrunching his face to keep himself from crying any more. He took a deep breath. "You don't make it. When we're born, me and my sister, you don't make it. I... I've only seen pictures of you."

Junon looked Adam in the eye. "Hey. That's not decided yet. The fact that you're here right now proves there's still a chance that the future can be altered." Adam smiled, wiping his tears. Junon wiped his tears with a Kleenex, causing him to calm down.

"By the way, what is your name? I never got it the first time. I should have asked sooner."

Adam chuckled, wiping his eyes. He looked at Junon.

"My name is Adam. Adam Jonathan Gareth."