Heartbreak on a Full...Piece of the Moon

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It wasn’t often that a Shadowmancer would subject themselves to the harshness of a desert. The blistering sun and flatlands made few shades, meaning little for him to pull from for his magic. For a lesser demon, this might’ve been a huge problem. For Erebos? He was used to it.

On a whim he’d decided to scoot across the sky, his black cloud puttering through the air. An equally black umbrella was attached at the center of the mass, blocking the suns rays. It kinda made him look like a vampire who’d lost the ability to become a bat.

Well, maybe he was lying to himself just a bit. In truth, he was looking for something. He’d checked most of the globe so far, but nothing of note had come up when it came to missing moon bits. Little pebbles and shards had come up and been confiscated by the government, but nothing properly interesting. Dai’s destructive act was so fascinating. How could there be so little evidence of it?

And then he saw it.

It was a good ways away, and at first he thought it a mirage, but it was most definitely a giant chunk of the moon. Wedged in the sand, it lay dormant. It even had a little bit of a glow, like when it was in the sky. Funny how that worked.

Time passed in a flurry, and before he knew it he’d arrived. Hovering high above the thing, he could pick out a few other souls down there. Strong enough, at least in terms of the general populace.

With a sigh, he leaped from his cloud, flipping and twisting through the air, before landing with a single foot atop the clump of asteroid.

His hands came up, like he’d just performed some magic trick, before he bowed to the trio.

”Hello~!” He shot back to full height, wiggling his fingers in greeting at the two decidedly humanoid creatures who were arguing. ”You guys like moon rocks too? That’s pretty cool.”

Hopping to the side, Erebos slid down the rock like he were surfboarding, leaning this way and that to avoid the little craters. Before long he landed in the sand, clumps of the stuff popping upwards and getting into his capelet.

”I’m Erebos. Erebos Herosbane. Always a pleasure to meet the curious sort.” For a moment, his jovial tone turned pointed and inquisitive. ”You lot… You don’t work for President Derry, do you?”

Viper initiated an uplink with the ARKK Satellite giving him ki surveillance within 30 miles of their position. The system picked up one additional ki signature near. The signature was incredibly high compared to theirs. Viper passed on the information to Araka and the Professor via their CommLinks.

Viper sprang forward, somersaulting out of the car. It remained stationary, nearly stiff as a board. The tiny blowing specks of sand pass over his frame. Before it

"Foreign Signature Detected!"
"Threat Level Indigo."
"Awaiting Orders."
"Override. Set Threat Engagement to Passive. Passcode. 523784"

---

Araka fixed his eyes on the general area where the satellite picked up the signal. He squinted at the figure calling out to them from atop the moon chunk. The signature in question, no doubt, but they seemed friendly enough to introduce themselves to the trio. Typically he had his doubts about most people. But this particular individual's presence made him ill.

The incident involving the moon fragments didn't occur that long ago. Meaning that whoever could be responsible was most likely still on the planet. And this very well could be the one in question. But he was no hero, and he most certainly knew his limits. It was time for the game of diplomacy. He stepped out of the professor's car, the desert winds howling.

---

Professor Paya nearly tripped out of her car at the sound of the threat assessment. The sheer amount of power possessed by the stranger was mind-boggling. She made sure to tread softly as she shuffled around the front of the car. She took careful steps through the sand with an outstretched hand as she approached Erebos.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Professor Paya. I do not work for President Derry. I work for the University in West City. This is my TA."
"Araka. Does that question mean that you also do not work for President Derry?"
"Hello Friend! High five? It's nice to meet new friends?"

---

Someone or something zipped by and landed near the moon piece from overhead. Paya was spooked by the humanoid figure showing up out of thin air. She didn't even notice them until they had landed. Araka was dumbfounded, fiddling with his Tacpad to understand why the satellite didn't pick up this new energy signature. He groaned at how much of how ineffective and useless his machines were behaving at this time.

The TA1-1U5 unit heads-up display portrayed a digital red smiley face, followed by a heart as it held up one of its arms for a high five. Araka's attention snapped to the TA1-1U5's strange outburst. Curious as to why it started behaving ridiculously. Quirky was not part of the personality module. Araka hated quirky.

He raised an eyebrow as he took a look at the tacpad on his wrist. He opened a file titled 'V' and began working on a hotfix to the anomaly. It wasn't enjoyable to witness that display during its first field test. It wouldn't be so jarring of a situation if they were at the Professor's House or back in his dormitory. However, seeing how Viper was meant to be more mild-mannered, Araka's reaction was just. And now they had to deal with more company, why is nothing ever able to be done smoothly.

---

Paya gathered herself, smoothing out her clothes as if they had been wrinkled and ruined. It was clear that she may have been in over her head. Dealing with a few bandits and desert creatures was one thing. But she didn't account for meeting not one but two high power level individuals was far more than she bargained for. Excavating the fragment would prove more difficult than she initially thought. Paya's ego got the best of her. Why did these two have such a close connection with President Derry and not her? What sort of credentials could they have had that she didn't?

"Us? Do something like this to our moon? That'd be very foolish and irresponsible. And absurd accusation really. I suppose you too are unaware the cause of this."
"What would we get out of blowing a chunk out of the moon anyway? Or have you just been going around accusing everyone."
"Well, I can think of a few reasons why I might. Especially given the right amount of resources and whatnot."

Araka stepped on the woman's foot for saying something so reckless aloud. Whomever this new stranger was, they weren't fond of destruction like this. Meaning they possessed some level of authority. What type of position of authority remained to be foreseen.

---

Araka PL 3,500

TA1-1U5 2,500 PL

Professor Paya 2,000PL

Erebos blinked rapidly at the Heran’s accusation, a brow raising shortly after. While it was true that most of the world’s government and its forces were hunting him down, it didn’t mean he was in the wrong. Plenty of governments were corrupt, after all.

”Oh puh-lease. Apologize for cutting down one of those godlings? I don’t think so. Even the good ones are prissy and judgy! Not my fault he decided to go nuts and attack the city or whatever.”

Placing his hands on his hips as if he were totally in the right, the Oni began circling the pack, focusing most of his ire on Fukushu whilst the other three debated on what to do.

”I think if anyone should be apologizing, it’s you, Lord Judge of Judge Mountain. If it weren’t for me, Central City would be a pile of ash, and that Kai you advocate for so much would be cackling among the debris. Derry wouldn’t have lost just an arm, I’ll tell you that much.”

Was he exaggerating? Just a little. The other warriors involved in that skirmish had a pretty solid handle on things, but there surely would’ve been a few more casualties had Erebos not been there. He was proud of that, even if he did end up being branded a criminal by the end.

His circling stopped when he rounded toward the car Araka arrived in, leaning his elbow on the drivers side door. Subtly, his arm draped a shadow over the glass, drooling down the length of the car in preparation for… Something.

”Herans are pretty bad at apologies, or so I hear. I’ll give you a minute or two to get your mental affairs in order.”

---

"Hey friends, lets not fight. Fighting always leads to dying."

Viper shouts after the trio broke up their huddle. Araka's face was displaying disdain and frustration for the Android. On the other hand, Paya was frozen in her tracks, watching Erebos circle around her car. Resting his elbow on her car door so nicely.

The woman couldn't understand why she was getting so steamy over this man, who didn't look that older than Araka. She'd had her fair share of college affairs and flings, but that was all behind her now. There was only one time a student turned her down. That was Araka after his first semester at the University. She'd learned her lesson when it came to playing risky games.

---

He was reopening the Androids file through his Tacpad. Araka listened tentatively to the spat between Eberos and the Heran. He was sure that this would probably be a verbal altercation, at least until the Heran removed his coat to display his bare torso. Araka's eyes popped at the wet squish the coat made...in the sand.

Tapping both sides of his head, activating the device hooked around his ear. The device sprang out a large blue ring around his head at eye level. Swooping around to connect at 360 degrees, he began to back away slowly from the car. Paya and Viper were already ahead of him when they heard the coat hit the sand.

"Okay, just listen you two. This can be resolved peacefully."
"Uh-huh, he's right. Then nobody has to pick sides right! Isn't that g-great?!"
"How about we just be a little more rational. Talk this out."
"Yeah! R-Right, just use your words. Not your fists. Well, I mean, unless it's over me."
"Professor, shut up!"
"Oh boy! This is when the fun starts! "

---

Fukushu leaped over the Professor's car with grace and speed, gearing to deliver a fierce kick to Erebos' face. Araka flinched when the man dashed towards the car. Paya's face was a cross of mortal terror and sensational pleasure. Viper armed its gun raising them into a firing position to protect the Professor and its Master.

"Oh shit, that's right, I can fight too!"
"Kid, if we make it out of this, I'll give you my car for a week!"
"Death is not an option? Haha, this is fun! "
"We're gonna die..."

Araka tapped both wrists together, one over the other, producing his patent and pending ARKK Fabricator. The Fabricator dressed his hands and forearms within a white metallic-like gauntlet. While at the same time, Paya readied herself in the rear. She never left the house without her Lovemaker and Peacemaker, twin blasters she engineered as part of the thesis for her Master's degree.

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Erebos giggled capriciously at the wound he inflicted. ”Looks like that will swell up quite nicely!” Trickery was never quite as fun as when you bamboozled a serious type like the Heran here. His body tumbled across the sand, same as the Oni before though surely twice as hard. Maybe he needed to dial it back a bit.

From behind he heard the whir of electric weaponry. Fabricated weapons and pistols and other such mechanical gear. He was about to turn around to face the others, but the voice of the Heran gave him pause.

”Oh, this old thing?” he flexed his hand inside the metal-laced glove, and the purple gem inlaid on the back of it began to glow again. ”Magic from the void. An ancient formless deity stabbed me with her shadow claw and this popped off inside my forearm. Funny how life works, eh?”

He wasn’t sure the quartet much cared, as moments later the Heran was on him again, a grasping arm trying to apprehend him and force slobbering sweat into his face. The Oni was quick to react, though. With a snap of his fingers, his body turned blacker than the inside of one’s eyelid for just a few moments, and the Heran sailed right through him. Whether or not Fukushu hit the ground, he didn’t quite catch, as moments later the other three loosed a barrage of attacks just as his body returned to normal!

Gunfire rained upon him, kicking up smoke and sand as it did. A plume of smoke rose high into the air, and for a time, things got the tiniest bit quiet.

…

”Those things are a tad lackluster.”

The smoke cleared, and there stood Erebos. He looked completely unscathed! With a raised brow, he dusted off his shoulderpads, and gave Araka a critical glare.

”Cool tech, I guess. Mind if I give it a try?”

Wether or not Araka responded, his shadow would suddenly speak behind him.

”Sure thing man. Lemme give you a demonstration.”

From the floor, a silhouette would walk up and out, dislocating itself from Araka’s body and standing next to Erebos. It had no discernible features on its face, save for its bright red, glowing eyes. It gave a wink to its real self, and summoned an ARKK cannon of its own.

”Lets see. Who should we aim at…?”

Erebos patted the shadowy clone of Araka on the back, and the gems on Erebos’ gloves began to glow. Both of them, this time. The purple one they’d seen before, but the other hand held a crystal of pure blackness. Looking at it was like seeing a room after you’d just turned out the lights.

The shadow seemed to respond positively to the enchantment. It’s eyes darkened, and the cannon began to emit an ominous black ball of energy.

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