Chain 151: Tokyo Souls

Chain 151: Tokyo Souls

Location: Akihabara Backstreets
Age: 19
Identity: Undead (Drop-In)
Drawbacks: [+1500] GASHUNK!, Aftershocks, Piteous Returned, Abyssal Reflection, The World Kept Turning, And The Fire Kept Burning

[Free]      Soulbearer
[Free]      Improved Belief
[Free]      Improved Imagination
[100/2500]  Psychometry
[200/2500]  Emperor's Eyes
[800/2500]  Regrowth
[1200/2500] Saint
[2000/2500] Darkwalker
[2400/2500] Bogeyman
[Free]      Fashion Souls
[Free]      Cell Phone
[Free]      Estumin C
[2500/2500] Companion Import: Demona and the Conspiracy

Finding myself in a very, VERY ruined version of Tokyo was not how I would have expected my day to start. I've been to many worlds, it's true, but a world this ... damaged? No, I don't think I've been in such a place before. Oh, I had the usual feeling that I do when I arrive in a new world, that rush of power filling my veins, the pool of energy and the instinctive knowledge of how to use it to new purposes, but... such a horrid world. Such a horrifying place.

Reality is frayed at the seams, in this world. The Abyss yawns at the edge of everyone's frayed sanity. The world is tattered at the edges - doesn't the parody of life displayed here show at much? The world constantly trembles, the sea rushes into city streets at uncertain times, and when the waters recede, they leave horrifying would-be sea creatures behind. The only refuge from the waters are setting up encampments within buildings, and even that is threatened when the quakes come. And those who were touched by the Abyss came back... different. Not themselves. Threats to anything that was not Abyssal. And at that... no one can die. Or rather, everyone can die, but it doesn't stick. They just come back... progressively lesser. Even I seem unaffected by it, and it seems my brass eye has gained a crimson iris; most peculiar.

I am not a person who is willing to tolerate this. Once upon a time, I might have been willing to just keep my head down and try to survive, but I don't need to limit myself to such concerns. All I need to do is secure my armor, relax the constraints upon my form that keeps me limited to human potential and size, and begin.

Oh, the walking fish are a nuisance, to be sure. Most don't care much, but they're annoying. Undead fish on metal legs skittering around in the shadows. Oh, the pyromancers don't care for them either, and whenever they meet flames they go up in grand conflagrations. But it's more than those that are an issue, as every tidal wave leaves more as the Abyss swallows more of Japan and shakes it all. I tried to use a bit of firebending to deal with them and other more mundane hostile undead, but my flame acts... strangely. With a life of its own. Casting elemental fire magic is much the same. I shudder to think what would happen if I were to cast Fiendfyre. Trying to shore up sea walls with earthbending found them seemingly targeted by quakes, but with a bit of patience and transfiguration, it proved possible to bring up massive pillars from the bedrock and craft it into basalt. Were I less patient or lacked as much magical power, it would have been tedious and difficult to undertake such efforts, but the Fist of Suns once again proved its worth handily. A handful of hours, and I was able to address the problem, though meant tapping the land for mana again any time soon would do more harm than good.

After that... it was time for pest control. Oh, there were certainly any number of creatures that were beyond redemption - up to and including possessed vehicles, even a couple of tanks and a damn helicopter! - but it seemed that the disturbances tended to stay dampened down around me. Even the Returned seemed... lessened. And so my consideration also turned to seeing whether whatever that had corrupted them could be extracted, that they could be fixed. Had I less mastery of soul-affecting magics it wouldn't have been possible, but each of them was more than merely corrupted... they were themselves a gate to the Abyss, in a certain sense. But this meant it was possible to CLOSE that gate. Even cut it off entirely, though this proved possibly deadly to the Returnee. But the less of the Returned there were with such a connection, the less power the Abyss itself spread across the world, to the point that its influence was seen to be waning... although the former Returned could still call on the Abyss. Learning to do this, understanding how the Abyss worked, meant that it became something I could harness. Something I could call on, if weakly. Something that, in tandem with my Semblance, meant that I could manifest Grimm outright instead of having to corrupt preexisting creatures.

This also led a tank to follow me around like a lost puppy for a bit; it turns out that closing that connection doesn't remove the intelligence from something that was inanimate, only the malevolence. It made friends with a couple of Nevermore, and the last I had seen they were embarking on a magical journey.

Regardless, this led me to a new concern - the Abyss was not the only place that connected to our world via gates in such a way. It was difficult to pin down at first, but in time I found that this was happening around pyromancers when they used their abilities. And the more the Abyss was pushed back and the Grid connected, the stronger the connection got, even as the undead began to draw breath again at long last. I thought little of it, as the challenges became harder and I assumed this was the flip side, a reward to those fighting the darkness, until the Abyss was almost fully contained and things got much worse.

You see, the Flame affected those who used it. Changed them, too slowly and subtly for most to realize. The pyromancers had gained new tools to fight the worst that the Abyss could send at them, and creatures of pure shadow with crimson eyes were fighting creatures made of living fire. And this was all well and good... until there was no shadow left to fight. The pyromancers, twisted by the Flame, felt that the Dark had tainted everything and thus had to be purified, and so the Great Burning began. Flame freezing charms were singularly unhelpful. Trying to manage them with firebending saw them actively target me. Using water simply meant the water would split into hydrogen and oxygen and give it MORE fuel. No, the only way to stop it was the same way as stopping the Abyss. Attacking the source. This is not a world of fire, nor of darkness, but of humanity and technology.

Cutting pyromancers off, as the Returned had been, was indeed possible. The problem of course is that the Returned WANTED to be human again - at least for the most part - but the pyromancers were very much of a different mindset. Cutting them off from the Flame was as disastrous as cutting the Returned off from the Abyss if not moreso. Without the heat of the Flame burning their souls... the ones who survived were suicidal to a man, and would promptly do everything they could to incinerate themselves, the only way they would stay dead permanently. At least with the Abyss gone, those within the city could evacuate it while I dealt with the pyromancers, before they could spread their fires to the world beyond.

There was much less guesswork needed to make an effective fight, even if better than half of Tokyo had been burned down, but it was a burden. The few Abyssal creations that were left seemed to target me exclusively, as did the worst of the pyromancers' feats and the most powerful among them. And in the end, I found myself facing two opponents that I thought would never fight together. The darkness of the Abyss itself, more of a tangible presence than a physical shadow, and the Flame, which more than anything was simply a wall of hungry fire that seemed to reach to the heavens. And I, clad in my armor, facing both - a spell cast with the Fist of Suns to keep us all contained until only one combatant remained.

The fight was not merely on the physical plane. The Shadow and I tore at each other, stealing power this way and that, with Flame licking at us both, hoping to consume us, the dome slowly constricting to keep the fight from carrying on perpetually. The abilities I'd gained with the power of the dark seemed mere parlor tricks compared to what I gained as I stole more of its essence away, but no matter what I seemed to do, the Flame seemed to gain more and more power. And once I'd finally vanquished the Shadow, the Flame stood towering, reaching to the top of the illuminated dome, cackling as it burned the city around us. I stood there and smiled, rather than attacking any further, because this... this I had planned for.

Oh, the Flame taunted me, with its curious non-speech; the only way I understood was telepathy. It didn't matter that there were no pyromancers left, because it had grown enough that it had forced its way into the world instead of the place where everything was the same. The buildings around us burned, toppled skyscrapers and abandoned encampments alike. And it was so very assured that it would be able to vanquish me as I had vanquished the Shadow, then escape and turn the Earth into a second sun. After all, it was certain that I couldn't hold out forever, but it would burn perpetually.

I inclined my head toward it, clenching my fist, keeping a bubble of coldness around me. "There are three ways to kill a fire," I told it, as it tried to burn me and recoiled, my magic sapping the heat, turning it into energy for the cooling charm. Sub-zero temperatures wouldn't bother me, after all; I motioned to the dome overhead, glowing blue, keeping us contained. "One: remove the fuel. And it seems that even though you're scorching the very ground... you've already consumed all of the buildings. Soon there will be nothing left to burn. Two: reduce the heat." The infinity stones mounted in the Fist of Suns flashed, as my cooling charm began to grow and stretch away from me. "And three... stop the fire from breathing." Again the Fist of Suns glowed, and the dome began to constrict around us. The Flame lashed at me uselessly as I stood there, my armor refusing to burn or melt, the heat failing to penetrate to me beneath, every attack draining the Flame faster.

"In the end, even fire will die," I told it as it was slowly smothered under its own weight. "And when the very stars burn out, the descendants of humanity will be there to stand on those burnt out cinders, and life will continue in ways uncomprehendable. But you? You're no immortal flame. You're just a spark with delusions of grandeur." The Flame popped, crackling fearful protests, now trying to escape and pressed against the far edge of the dome.

I stepped Between, appearing on the other side of the barrier next to the fire. The dome stabilized, rather than shrinking further. "I'll not snuff you out. This world is not for you, not yet, but there is a place that you do belong." With a negligent flick of my fingers, I carved a portal open within the dome, the whole of it abruptly filling with plasma and heat; the Flame was surprised at the sudden mercy offered, then joyful, diving through the portal to the source of the heat before the portal snapped closed again.

I felt my time drawing to an end, the years seeming to catch up at that moment, and I paused long enough to glance upward at the sun as shafts of light came through the clouds.

"There will be billions of years for you to dance before the Earth is consumed and the sun burns out," I murmured to myself. "Perhaps you'll find peace in that time."