The Rasoul Saga: Chapter Eighteen



A half giờ after Kyle and Mancer returned from the Rasoul Dimension, Ruby bursted through the doors with I2 walking behind. “We had a blast!” She cheered flailing about. “How was your training, Kyle?”

Kyle jumped slightly from where he was sitting on the couch, just slightly surprised bởi the two girls' sudden entrance. He quickly turned around, turning his head to look at Ruby and I2. "First of all, I'm glad bạn had a good time!" Kyle đã đưa ý kiến happily, wearing a smile on his face. "Second of all, my training was... okay, I suppose. I didn't really have any big excitement hoặc fun really, but I did get to learn quite a few new things and I got to meet Mancer's brothers."

“Mancer’s brothers?” I2 echoed, “Where?”

"Oh, they're not here right now, but I got to go meet them. Mancer... took me to his homeworld for a short while. I got to learn all kinds of things about Mancer, where he came from, and all of that stuff. Like I said, I got to learn quite a bit. And, yeah, I met one of his older brothers and his younger brother. They were really nice!" Kyle said, still having a small smile on his face.

“That sounds nice.” Ruby complimented. “Do bạn want to see some of the techniques we learned?”

"Sure! I'd tình yêu to see them!" Kyle đã đưa ý kiến with a happy smile on his face, eager to see what Ruby and I2 had learned during their time with Damien.

“I’ll go first.” Ruby flew out her arms causing a large vòng tròn to spread from them. It took the shape of a cylinder around her, and looked almost like a keyboard for a piano.

Kyle watched Ruby as his eyes widened. He was amazed bởi the cylinder and the keyboard-like shape that was forming around her. He continued watching with a look of amazement on his face, curious as to what he was going to see next. "Wow, that looks awesome!"

“Yeah, but it’s not finished.” She reverted the construct. “I’ll get better. Then I can make âm nhạc on it.”

"That sounds really cool! I can't wait to see it when it's finished! I'm sure bạn can make great music!" Kyle đã đưa ý kiến with a happy smile, feeling happy that Ruby learned something new. "What did I2 learn?"

I2 extended her arm phía trước, chuyển tiếp slowly. It began shifting to multiple shapes and forms, màu sắc and sizes, from a rectangle, red, to a large trapezoid. From there it stretched downward to the ground and produced what appeared to be a screen, and a keyboard… it was an arcade game station.

Kyle stared in complete shock, the video game loving side of him screaming inside his brain that what he had just witnessed was completely amazing; he had just watched I2 make an arcade machine. "You learned how to make an arcade game?! That's awesome! That's awesome just like how Ruby can make an awesome keyboard!"

I2 nodded, smiling slightly, “I haven’t decided what to program into it, so I’m up for suggestions.”

"Oh, well, I have all kinds of suggestions, considering that I absolutely tình yêu playing video games, but I suppose it would be best to leave it up to bạn and your own interests," Kyle đã đưa ý kiến with a smile.

“Maybe.” She replied. “I’ll ask around for ideas.” She walked on through the house.

Kyle watched I2 walk away, and then he turned his head back to Ruby. "I'm so glad that bạn had fun, Ruby. Really, I'm honestly glad that bạn had a good time, and that you're alright. Damien's training wasn't too hard on you, was it?"

“No he was fine.” She replied. “I kind of thought he would act like a boot-camp instructor, but he was really patient.”

"That's really good. I was honestly worried that he was going to be a bit too hard on you. He told me that he would go easy, but I still couldn't help but worry about it being too hard," Kyle said. He released a small sigh of relief. "That's very good that he was patient with bạn and I2."

“Especially I2.” She hinted with a slight smirk, tilting her chin downward a bit.

"Right, especially with I2," Kyle stretched his arms out a bit, just attempting to relax. He was feeling a bit worn out from the big adventure in the Rasoul Dimension and the Rasoul training.

“You look tired.”

"Well, to be completely honest with you, I am a bit tired... Going to Mancer's homeworld and then coming back here to do a ton of training with him tired me out..."

“Alright, bạn go take a rest then.”

"Are bạn sure, Ruby? I would just hate to walk off and go take a nap hoặc something if bạn still have something to say..."

“Well it’s no good if bạn pass out in the middle of it.” She chuckled.

"...Well, true, I suppose so," Kyle said, laughing just a bit himself. "Alright then. But, before I go, do bạn need anything? hoặc do bạn want me to try to speak with I2 hoặc anything like that?"

“Nope.”

"Alright. I just thought I would ask first before I did anything else," Kyle đã đưa ý kiến before he stood up. He turned his head towards Ruby, and gave a small wave towards her with his hand. "I'll see bạn later, Ruby."


...............................................................................



It had taken three days of searching, which was thirty less than he thought it would, to find his target. He had passed through ten worlds in search, but finally, he felt a signal, ignited bởi the mark she placed on his arm. The Three-mood was on this Mobius.

He first appeared on the Mobius’s Mercia, as he had ported to a ngẫu nhiên location that had a seventy-percent chance of being land, which was preferable to water. Mercia was not where the identity lived. He required transportation that would not be a ngẫu nhiên location sender. He would not be able to port to every location specifically unless he scanned the entire planet and labeled it’s locations, which would take weeks if not months, so he simply walked, following the glow on his arm.

Hours was all it took to arrive at Techri, the name of the Country that was the identity’s home. And Area F was the name of the city where the identity made her trang chủ five of this Mobius’s years ago.

Area F was a large city, entwined with the nature it laid with, with its skyscrapers moving with the red wood trees, molding with them, with wild non-anthropomorphic animals, such as deer, walking about. “Game” was the word that hunters used for them. Not on this world.

He was constantly reminded that he was on the right path bởi the fact that people would constantly remind him of his glowing arm, which became such an issue that it blinded a car driver, causing him to run over a doe, and ram into a secondary car. The carnage annoyed him, it was not his intention.

He eventually discovered while his mind wandered to different… prior goals, that he could stop the tracking system he had been… cursed and gifted with. He simply would have to focus on other things. And when he thought to tell the Tracker to turn on, it would light up. It was not painful, he never even felt it, but it did bother his eyes.

And then he found the identity, in a bookshop. He had been using his tracker but only until he entered. He could not seem suspicious inside, lest she attack him, hoặc worse, teleport elsewhere.

He kept his posture still when he could, and made sure that his movement was slow and fluent, so that he did not draw attention to his limp. He did not know which one was her, and so he had to scan through his own memory of what his… employer had that could be recognizable.

She was a feline, but identities were shape-shifters, so that would not help. Was there something triggered that could be noticeable? … Wait yes there was. He remembered her eyes… changing different màu sắc depending on mood. But could this identity hide her emotion-colors? He would have to do something that was emotional enough to reveal it.

Maybe he could set off an alarm, to surprise hoặc scare her… no that would cause too much commotion, he would never catch her hoặc notice her… but perhaps if he were to briefly use the tracker when near different people, he would sense which area she was in.

He moved about slowly, making sure that his arm was pointed against a tường to blot out its light as much as he could. He used it repeatedly, at least ten times, every time becoming thêm nervous about the people around who might notice.

“Is that your phone?” One man asked.

“N-no…” He replied as he slowly moved away from the man and bumped into a girl. She fell backward, making a large thud upon impact.

“My apologies.” He offered to help her up… with his glowing hand. It lit up much brighter as he neared her… he knew.

“Wh-what’s with your arm?” She asked, not yet accepting his aid.

“Nothing!” He jerked away. “Nothing… Good day.” He walked out of the store. He waited there, and listened. He was not the topic of people’s conversation for very long; this was very fortunate. He felt that he had almost failed the mission, and while he was still irritated at Virus’s request, if he was able to control this identity, he could sick it on Virus if things went wrongly.

He hid in the shadows, merging with them, with his tracker off. It took hours of waiting, and his stomach whined for thực phẩm but he controlled himself, with his reward soon approaching. She exited, and began walking down the street.

“Good…” He thought, “I can follow in the shadows with less suspicion then inside of a car.” He trailed her from the walls, and any shadow he could jump to. Thankfully it was becoming late, and thêm shadows appeared. The Identity was moving further into the forest area of the city. Less and less people appeared inside of it. Was it a casual stroll? Regardless of if it was, this was the best opportunity for him to make his move.

Deciding to attempt to initially approach the Identity in a friendly way, Tempus put his arms behind his back before making his way over to the Identity to attempt approach in a friendly manner before he tried to switch over to an attack. "Hello there," He attempted to greet.

She sprung around, literally jumping into a one-eighty turn to face him, and taking a step back. She slightly calmed once she recognized him, but became extremely confused, which was visible bởi the color of her normal green eyes that were fading to a silver color. “Y-y-ou’re that man from the store- what do bạn want?”

Tempus raised an eye brow just slightly, visibly surprised bởi her sudden jump-turn and her color changing eyes; color changing eyes always managed to catch him off guard. "I simply just wanted to say hello, my dear. And I suppose that bạn could say I apologize once thêm for crashing into bạn in the store."

“You… had to follow me across town for that?” She asked cautiously.

Tempus cringed slightly at what the Identity had said, trying his best not to hiển thị that he had done so; he realized that she must have noticed him while he was following. "Well, I couldn't say hello to bạn before, now can I? bạn were heading off somewhere, and it was so loud due to crowds in the city that I could barely hear my own self speaking."

"Yes, I understand that, but I'm not following bạn right this moment, now am I? I'm getting to speak with bạn right now," Tempus said, tilting his head to the side just slightly.

“You want to just talk now?”

"Well, I don't see why not," Tempus said. "I greeted you, so I thought that perhaps I could attempt to strike up a little conversation hoặc so. I honestly don't mind having a nice chat once in a while with someone." He kept his hands behind his back, clenching his fists just slightly; he was attempting to try to decide the best plan of attack for when he attempted to take control of the Identity.

“I… need to be getting home.” She backed off a bit more.

Tempus realized that she was going to get away if he didn't decide to try to make his di chuyển now, so he closed his eyes slightly as they began to turn blue; he was going to try to attempt to put the Identity under his mind control. He stepped towards the Identity girl. "Can't bạn stay a bit longer? I would say that I need your help with something."

“Like what?”

"Just a small something. I would say it's not exactly that important at this current moment," Tempus said, attempting to get close to the Identity. He began attempting to use his mind control on the Identity, not knowing if he was close enough yet hoặc not.

The identity jerked backwards, shaking her head, vibrating almost, “What was that?”

"Mind control, plain and simple," Tempus said, once again attempting to come close and use his mind control on the Identity.

The identity vibrated a một giây time in reaction. He was definitely affected her somehow, but there seemed to be a form of a barrier. Unfortunately he would have to concentrate on both controlling and surviving as the identity reacted to his reply in a harsh way, that is to say, she kicked him into a tree.

Tempus hit the cây hard and then fell down onto his feet, a shudder running through his body from the impact. He felt pain running throughout his entire body for the most part due to being kicked into the tree, but he was determined to put this Identity under his control. He formed Rasoul energy around his arms, preparing to try to fight the Identity and try to concentrate on putting her under his mind control.

“Who are you!?” She yelled much less timidly than her trước đó tone.

"You may call me Tempus," Tempus đã đưa ý kiến with a hiss in his voice. He continued forming Rasoul energy around his arms, preparing to defend himself when it was needed. He also prepared to try to put the Identity under his mind control once again.

“Why do bạn want me?”

"It's not that I want you, but so much as someone else wants you. I was told that if I could bring that person a three-mood Identity, that they would turn around and assist me in my plans as well."

“HOW DO bạn DO KNOW THAT!?” She grabbed at him.

Tempus attempted to jump to the side, attempting to dodge the Identity's attempt at grabbing him. He held his arm up quickly and formed Rasoul energy around his fist, preparing to defend himself if needed with a large Rasoul Punch. "How do I know what? That you're a three-mood Identity? Oh, it's quite simple, really. A simple tracker that lead me right to a three-mood."

“A t-… Your arm…”

"My arm, now? Is that what bạn think?" Tempus once again prepared to attempt to try to take the Identity under his mind control.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” She turned and prepared to charge away.

"That I cannot allow," Tempus đã đưa ý kiến with a hint of anger in his voice. He formed Rasoul energy around himself before shooting a large tường of Rasoul energy towards the Identity, attempting to make walls of solid Rasoul energy to block the Identity's path.

The identity halted at the front of the door and span around, “What is that?!”

"Rasoul energy. It's quite simple, really. Walls and a trap, all made of Rasoul energy."

“… I don’t know what that is.” She shot upward towards the sky.

Tempus noticed that the Identity shot upward, and he quickly tried to form another solid tường of Rasoul energy to make a ceiling to block the Identity once more.

The identity crashed headfirst into the ceiling and fell to the ground, quickly flipping onto her feet. “Leave me alone!” Her hands turned red as chaos energy formed around them. She shot at him repeatedly with it.

Tempus attempted to dodge the energy, not knowing if his weak legs were going to allow him to dodge very easily. He formed Rasoul energy around his arms, attempting to think about how he could get close enough to try to put the Identity under his control. "If bạn came with me quietly, then we wouldn't be having this violence, now would we?"

The identity attempted to port out of the strange Rasoul cage, but seemed to malfunction from the interfering energy, and ended up simply sparking up for a moment. “I’m not going with bạn anywhere!”

"Then you're just going to make this harder on yourself," Tempus đã đưa ý kiến with a flat tone in his voice. He formed Rasoul energy around himself, before attempting to use his energy to charge himself with energy, using it to temporarily strengthen his legs so he could attempt to get close to the Identity and help himself dodge. He moved towards the Identity quickly, forming Rasoul energy around his hands to protect himself if needed. He attempted to use his mind control again when he started moving towards the Identity, hoping that he could put her under his control.

The identity jerked about again, fizzing from the mind power, “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” She hit the ground, making a large hole and sending a shockwave through it.

Tempus attempted to di chuyển away from the shockwave as quickly as possibly, now beginning to fear just slightly that something was going to go wrong and that he was going to wind up getting himself killed. Due to the stress, he found himself unable to keep his Rasoul energy straight at the current moment, so he was no longer able to charge energy into himself to strengthen his weak legs. He prepared himself, expecting the Identity to try to attack at any moment.

The identity ripped up a piece of the ground and launched it at Tempus.

Tempus attempted to ngọn lửa, chữa cháy a large Rasoul cú đấm at the piece of ground, knowing that he wasn't going to be fast enough to di chuyển out of the way, so he was hoping that he would be able to break the ground before it reached him, but then again he wasn't exactly sure.

The dirt shattered, causing a fog of it to fly about briefly. The identity took this opportunity to charge into Tempus pinning him against his Rasoul wall.

Tempus released a hiss of pain due to being slammed into the Rasoul wall, now getting quite angry at this Identity. He began charging a pulse of Rasoul energy inside his body, hoping that it would give him a chance to knock the Identity away. Attempting to use the close range that the Identity was at, he began trying to use his mind control on her once again.

The identity fizzed again, though even thêm so, hissing wildly and angrily while attempting to jerk away.

Tempus winced slightly from the headache pain that constantly trying to force his mind control was giving him, but he attempted to keep trying to put the Identity under his mind control before she moved too far away for his mind control's reach.

The identity began to glow red as she slowly entered her rage state.

Noticing that the Identity seemed to be glowing now, Tempus decided to di chuyển away, fearing that he needed to be on the highest guard that he possibly could. He figured that the Identity was about to attack, stronger than before.

The identity’s front lit up much brighter as she fired a giant beam of energy at him.

Tempus' eyes widened in shock at the energy beam as he attempted to form Rasoul energy around himself and use it to charge himself enough to di chuyển out of the way of the beam in enough time so he didn't get completely destroyed bởi the large energy.

He was shot through the tường as the beam forced him through a một giây cây as well.

Tempus clenched his teeth together in great pain, feeling a roar of pain shooting all throughout his body due to being hit bởi the beam, being shot through the wall, and being forced through a tree. He could know see exactly why that Virus person had wanted him come find this three-mood Identity, but know his mind was yelling at him, begging him why in the world did he decided to accept this job? He had never seen power quite like that before, and he didn't even know if he would be able to walk away from a battle with this Identity girl.

The identity leapt towards him and prepared to Slash him across the face with a bladed arm.

Tempus quickly formed Rasoul energy around his arm, forming a Rasoul Blade, and then swung his bladed arm up in an attempt to block the Identity's blade from hitting his face.

The blades clang together sparking black and red energy in various directions. The identity pushed down with her blade towards his head.

Tempus attempted to use every bit of strength that he had to push the Identity's blade away from his head and face.

The identity materialized a một giây blade and lunged it also at him.

Tempus quickly formed his other arm into a Rasoul Blade, quickly swinging it up to stop the một giây Identity blade. He began attempting to use his mind control over the Identity again, hoping that he could make progress soon, fearing that he wouldn't be able to keep up with this Identity forever.

The Identity began fizzing once again, and began to loosen, trying to concentrate on three things at once.

Tempus continued trying to use his mind control on the Identity, also trying to pay close attention to the clashing blades.

The identity’s blades dematerialized, but once again she slowly tried to di chuyển away, turning thêm static as the process went on.

Tempus attempted to di chuyển cautiously closer to the Identity, still attempting to use his mind control on her. He was honestly starting to worry that this was starting to affect his brain, and he worried that his hold on some of his other hypnotized people might be wavering because of the constant mind control use.

The identity’s red aura slowly turned to a black one, as it screamed statically clinging for any control… and then she exploded into a pile of Nanites, sparking black about their edges.

Tempus jumped slightly in surprise before his eyes widened slightly in shock at the fact that the Identity had... well, exploded. He didn't really know how in the world he was supposed to react to such a thing.

The nanites did not seem to be moving, only glowing the same black aura.

Tempus stared at the Nanites for a short moment, before deciding to cautiously walk a bit closer to see if he could find out just what exactly happened to the Identity.

As he neared closer, the mark on his arm continued glowing, only this time, the Nanites reacted. They shifted upward, almost as if magnetic, and reached out towards the mark.

Tempus' reaction was one of confusion. He didn't honestly know how to react to the Nanites teaching out towards the mark on his arm, but he was cautious, ready to di chuyển away if he thought he needed to.

The nanites continued moving closer till they touched the mark, and lit up. The Nanites then began shaping back to the original mobian form the identity had.

Tempus noticed that the Nanites began forming into the trước đó shape that he had, and then he tensed up, thinking that he needed to be on his guard. He thought that the Identity was going to attack again.

The identity finished forming again, still glowing the dark coal color. She remained still.

Tempus looked at the Identity in slight confusion, confused as to why she wasn't attacking and was remaining still. He wondered in the back of his mind if his mind control had worked on the Identity, but he didn't want to assume so quickly.

The identity remained still, no movement, no sound.

Tempus cautiously approached the Identity, still attempting to keep his guard up. Trying to see if this Identity was under his control, he attempted to use his mind to command the Identity to take a simple step forward, just to see if it was under his control hoặc not.

The identity shifted forward.

Deciding to attempt to xác nhận that the Identity was under his control, he attempted to order the Identity to di chuyển to the side a few steps.

The identity shifted to the left.

Instead of feeling happy about finally putting the Identity under his control, Tempus released a heavy sigh of relief. He was relieved that after all of his searching he had found the Identity, and he was happy that he was alive.

The identity remained still once again awaiting a command.

Tempus turned to the Identity, attempting to think of where he was supposed to take the Identity to meet Virus.

Nothing came to mind at first… but then a single word entered his mind… “Perfect”.