Continued from part one: https://blogs.neoseeker.com/ShadowNc/5986-cracker-chronicle-10-chaos-unofficial-part-1/

+===+

December 31st, 2026.
Northern Germany.
Elementres, 9volt, Venus, Fyrus, and Tyler stopped in a small German café. A few humans sat around, talking to each other quietly, barely looking up as they walked in.
Elementres whispered to Fyrus, “Are you sure you don’t want to stay outside? No offense or anything, but you kind of attract attention with your hair.”
Fyrus stroked his hair, and where he touched it turned a lighter shade of orange. He glared at her, “I’ll be fine.”
They sat at a booth in a corner. Elementres looked at all of them, “Okay, so we need to find Nick and Scott again. Any ideas?”
“Wait,” Fyrus said, holding up a finger, “Who said we had to find them?”
“I did,” Elementres said angrily. She licked her fingernail, which was sharpened to a point. She continued, “They’re in trouble, and majority rules here: three out of the five of us want to make sure Nick and Scott are okay. If you don’t like that, then no one is stopping you from leaving.”
There was a brief pause before 9volt spoke, “We could go to NSK. They’d help us.”
Venus nodded in agreement. Elementres sighed, “Yes, that might work. NSK Germany Division isn’t too far from here. Hey, I’m going to get something to drink. Anyone want anything?”
Fyrus and Tyler looked at her confusedly, while 9volt and Venus politely refused. Elementres walked solitarily up to the counter.
A television was running on the counter. It was apparently a weather forecast; “...a very bizarre snowstorm has settled over Europe. Across the continent, people are experiencing record-breaking snowfalls, despite this unusual starting just hours ago. Today some Englanders said that they had seen a very peculiar storm system. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and yet lightning-”
A clerk switched the television off with a scowl. He turned away, but Elementres stopped him, saying, „Guten Tag. Ich möchte einen Eiskaffee zu kaufen.“
He nodded at her, saying, „Bist du ein Auslander?“
Elementres narrowed her eyes, „Ja, warum?“
The clerk laughed, „Dein Deutsch ist sehr gut.“
Elementres stared at him, „Sprechen Sie English?“
He smiled, “It’s my second language.”
She sighed, “And German’s your third, I’m guessing?”
The clerk raised an eyebrow, “Fourth, actually.”
Elementres stared at him. There was something familiar about him. He had jet black hair that hung down past his shoulders. Everything about him just seemed as dark as his hair, except for his eyes, which were a dazzling emerald green.
She gasped, “ShadowNc?”
He looked at her strangely, “Elementres, I presume?”
She stared and blinked several times, looking for words, tripping over questions. Finally, she picked one and asked, “What are you doing here?”
ShadowNc shrugged, “I knew you were going to be here, so I got here first.”
“But...why?”
“Do you know what happened at the Nc Council today?”
Elementres frowned, “Yes.”
He sighed, “Nc was furious after Nick and Scott got away. He immediately accused me, but thankfully nothing was done and I was found innocent.” He blinked, “How did you who I was? We’ve never met before, have we?”
“Your eyes,” Elementres said, “Minerva’s are a brownish color...mixed with yours, they look exactly like Nick’s hazel. What about you? How did you know who I was?”
ShadowNc smiled painstakingly, “Being the Ruler of Darkness is more convenient than you would think.”
Elementres drew away self-consciously. She looked back at the booth for a split-second, “We sort of lost Nick and Scott. And we have no lead.”
ShadowNc shrugged, “They were just in England, but now they’ve gone to a place where the elements cannot penetrate.”
“The Black Forest?”
He shook his head, “No. The Black Forest works so that a Ruler can detect what’s in the forest, but only when they’re in it. Outside, it’s as is the forest doesn’t exist at all.”
Elementres looked shocked, “Are they even on Earth?”
ShadowNc looked away, “No. They are not.”
Elementres stared at him, “Is that why no one could find Gravitatious? The forest thing, I mean?”
He looked at her curiously, “I didn’t even think that Gravitatious was still alive. Well, this will be interesting to tell to Nc. Very interesting...”
She sighed, “Well, thank you, ShadowNc.”
“Wait,” he said. Elementres turned around to see ShadowNc holding out an iced coffee while sipping on a smoothie. She smiled and graciously accepted the drink.
ShadowNc sighed, “Am I correct in saying that you are Nick’s girlfriend?”
Elementres looked at him, surprised. “Yes,” she said, after a moment of hesitation.
He stared at her, “Why?”
“Excuse me?”
He didn’t avert his gaze for a second, “Why are you in love with Nick?”
Elementres confusedly looked at the coffee in her hand. She was gripping it a little too hard. As she softened her grip, she quietly spoke, “Does there have to be a reason?”
ShadowNc raised an eyebrow. He drank a bit from the smoothie and swallowed, “There seems to be a reason for it, yes.”
She closed her eyes, wishing desperately for the Ruler of Darkness to go away. For some reason, she found this subject uncomfortable. She sighed, “Maybe...it’s because he saved my life...”
ShadowNc continued to stare, “Is that it?”
Elementres felt a sudden flash of anger; a sudden urge to kill ShadowNc. She brushed it away, saying, “I don’t get what you’re implying.”
He shrugged and finally looked away, “Subconscious expectation.”
She looked up at him, “What?”
He nodded, “You heard me correctly. Anyone in your position would likely feel the same way; however, if you truly loved Nick you wouldn’t care whether he saved your life or not.”
She glowered, unsure, “Meaning what?”
ShadowNc sighed, “When the time comes, you’ll stop wanting to repay Nick for what he did. That will be the day you’ll make your decision.” He suddenly looked upset. He looked down and mumbled something to himself.
Elementres nodded in understanding, although she still was a bit uncertain of what he meant. She turned to leave, but ShadowNc stopped her one last time. He whispered in her ear, saying, “I don’t want you to tell this to anyone.”
She nodded and he said something she didn’t understand, “Heute Abend wird der Gott des Chaos wieder seine Macht. Seien Sie vorsichtig.”
She swallowed, saying, “Okay. Goodbye, Ruler of Darkness.”

+===+

December 31st, 2026.
Eris.
In the solar system, the largest and closest non-elf-related planet to the sun is the dwarf planet Eris. On this celestial body, all of the elements fail to work, but it is unknown what force causes this. It has a single moon almost ten times smaller than Eris, slightly irregularly shaped, as if it was about to crush itself.
Nick and Scott teleported here, and they stared off into the distance, a faint point of light they presumed was the sun. Nick sighed and walked away. Scott looked at him, “What?”
Nick frowned, “I hate this. This whole situation.”
Scott blinked, “But we’re safe now, right? No one can find us.”
Nick furiously turned around to face Scott, “But how long do we have to stay here? I don’t want to live the rest of my life in exile, constantly running...it’s bad enough we have to keep our existence a secret, from our very neighbors, no less. But our fellow elves...”
Scott looked away, his mind wandering to Venus. He swallowed, “We have all the time in the universe here. We don’t have to think profusely about it now. We are safe here; no elements can intrude, and thus none of the Nefarious Thirteen can find us.”
“Think again.”
Nick and Scott jumped, spinning around. A seductive woman in a long, leather red dress was strutting towards them, an indifferent expression on her face. The closer she drew, the stronger their emotions seemed to grow. Massive mood-swings began to conflict them internally. She smiled as she stopped, staring at them as they twitched with uncontrollable emotion.
She snapped her fingers and all emotion seemed to drain out of them; Nick whispered impassively, “Who are you?”
She scowled and they seemed to return to normal. She grinned, “I am the Ruler of Emotion, Fei9n.”
“Feign?” Scott said.
“The Ruler of Emotion,” she repeated. “My name is spelled like the action, except with a ‘9’ instead of a ‘g’. Please don’t ever mistake the two.”
Scott swallowed and Nick spoke, “How did you find us?”
Fei9n smiled wickedly, “You said that no element could find you here. But what about the element you carry with you everywhere you go?”
Nick and Scott looked at each other. Fei9n chuckled, “Relax. I share my husband’s view on you. Lavana likes you both, and I won’t give you away.”
“Then what was the point?” Scott said edgily.
She drew close to him and knelt down so that Scott was at eye level with her. She growled coldly at him, “The point is that there is nowhere you can hide. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to face Nc.”
Nick sighed, “We have to fight Nc again?”
Fei9n shook her head and looked at him intently, “No. He’s persistent. Even if you do manage to defeat him again, he’ll just keep coming after you.”
“So what do we do?”
Fei9n sighed and took a step back. She closed her eyes and whispered very faintly, “Go to the center of this galaxy. There you will find someone that will solve your problem.”
Fei9n opened her eyes and winked, “Best of luck to you, Earth and Elemental.” She snapped her fingers and she was gone.
Nick and Scott looked at each other. Scott spoke first, “Should we go?”
Nick sighed and shrugged, “She’s right. We can’t keep running forever. That would get boring.”
“But Nc...”
“We can hold him off if he shows up. At the very least we can give in and just hand over the Emeralds.”
“What? Why?” Scott screamed, exasperated.
Nick looked at the ground, “It’s a very bad idea, I know. With the Chaos Emeralds, Nc would be unstoppable. However, he’s not exactly a bad person. He just...unknowingly does the wrong things.”
Nick sighed again, “We’re going to the center of the Milky Way. No matter what happens...” he looked up at Scott.
Scott nodded, “We’re in this together.”
Nick narrowed his eyes, “Thanks a lot for that, by the way.”
Scott chuckled under his breath. “Chaos Control!”

+===+

December 31st, 2026.
NSK Germany Division.
It was raining in the city of Leipzig as Elementres, 9volt, Venus, Fyrus, and Tyler trudged into NSK Germany Division, soaking wet. Fyrus shook his head violently and it burst into flame, his hair cackling slightly more than usual.
Elementres silently cursed the bad weather under her breath as a human walked up to them, seemingly immune to their discomfort. He cleared his throat, “Guten Tag. Ich heisse Felix. Ich bin-”
“My god!” 9volt screamed, “We don’t speak German! Do you speak English or not?”
Felix was taken aback at his outburst. He held up a finger and pulled a small silver badge from his pocket. He tenderly set it on his throat and it seemed to stick there. He adjusted a dial on it and then spoke in perfect English, “I’m terribly sorry about that. I had no idea. You might be wondering what this device is on my neck,” he gestured to the device in question, “This is a universal translator that Nick invented so that he could understand the languages of us humans. Of course, he already speaks all of them, so he just lets the employees of NSK use them to understand each other.”
“But can you understand us?” Venus asked.
Felix scratched his neck and blushed, “I’m not sure how it works myself; you need to ask Nick that. But yes, I can understand you. I’ve been most curious about it, since it only appears to change the vocal chords of the wearer. When I take this thing off, I won’t be able to understand anything you say.”
Elementres sighed, “Yes, this wonderful machine is all fine and dandy, but we’ve come here for something different, right?” She shot a look at the other elves. She turned back to Felix, “We want access to the NSK archives.”
He took a step back in alarm, “Why?”
Elementres growled, growing impatient, “Something is going to happen tonight, but we don’t know what it might be. We want to look through the archives to see if there are any Elvin legends that could clue us in to what’s going to happen.”
Felix frowned, “NSK doesn’t hold any Elvin legends. Nothing like that should even exist here.”
Elementres looked away, defeated. She ran a hand through her hair and then went very still.
Venus stepped forward and touched her forearm gently. Elementres spoke, surprising her, but she barely moved as she spoke, “I can’t just be in the dark about this. I want to be beside Nick as it happens. I want to have some insight.” She closed her eyes.
There was a sudden noise, like an alarm going off, that made Elementres burst away from the elves, drawing a knife and pointing it at all of them.
Each of them drew a disk from their pockets identical to the ones Nick and Scott owned. 9volt looked at it intently, “There’s another Nc Council.”
“What?” Elementres said in surprise, dropping her knife. She stepped forward and looked at Venus’ disk, which was beeping and flashing a bright red color.
“It’s of utmost importance,” 9volt muttered.
“A trap,” Elementres spat. She drew a second knife, “To lure them out.”
“What if it’s...not that?” Venus said feebly.
Elementres narrowed her eyes and spun around, facing her, “What else would it be?”
Venus swallowed nervously, “What if...they already caught Nick and Scott?”
Elementres stared at her for a moment, searching her eyes. She roared and attempted to stab Venus, but she was held back by 9volt and Fyrus. She growled, “Let go of me! I want to kill her! If I’m going to die someday, at least give me the satisfaction that I was the one to kill her!”
“Calm down!” 9volt yelled, “She could be right! Any of us could have suggested it!”
Elementres growled in annoyance and shrugged them off. She glared at Venus, “Yeah, I guess. Maybe we should go to the Nc Council, just to make sure that’s not it.”
Venus and Fyrus pressed the flashing buttons on their disks and disappeared. 9volt stared at Elementres before joining them.
Elementres snatched Tyler’s disk out of his hands and started to press it, but Tyler cried out in protest, “No, please don’t!”
Elementres held it away, “Why not?” she snapped.
Tyler whimpered weakly, “If you go in my place I will be exiled. Plus you might be executed for it.”
Elementres narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Finally, she tossed the disk back to him, saying, “Fine.”
Tyler sputtered an apology as he clumsily caught the disk, accidentally activating it and causing himself to teleport.
Elementres sighed. Felix looked around and walked up to her, tapping her on the shoulder. She growled, “What is it?”
He took a step back and spoke timidly, “It can’t be that bad, staying here, can it? I mean-”
Elementres spun around, grinning. “I was wondering,” she gestured with her knife to the translator on his neck, “How do you remove those things? It looks difficult, and I’d be happy to help you take it off.”
Felix’s face went pale and he scuttled off into the building. Elementres chuckled.

+===+

December 31st, 2026.
The center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
At the center of the Milky Way, there is a gigantesque black hole, made known only by the fact that a star orbits it, drawing the light in and creating a brilliant effect. The black hole seems to shine on its own, a whirlpool of light with a deathly grasp.
Nick and Scott appeared outside of the black hole’s deadly gravity, staring at it with wonder and awe. Nick looked around, “There’s no one here. Fei9n lied to us.”
The hairs on the back of Scott’s neck stood on end. He growled intensely, “Not quite.”
Nick frowned, “Who is it?”
Scott snarled in rage, “Who else?” He formed an orb of Chaos energy in his hand and thrust forward smashing the orb into the body of a man that seemingly appeared out of thin air.
Scott raised his head high, screaming, “Ace!”
“Ace?” Nick said incredulously.
Ace trembled under Scott, even though he looked enraged, “Give me the Chaos Emeralds back, Scott! I know you have them?”
Scott snarled and slashed at his face, drawing three deep gashes, “I came all this way for you? You bastard, I’m going to rip your-”
“Scott!” Nick said, holding up his hand, “You don’t find anything weird with Ace being here?”
Scott shrugged, “He is dead to me. And he soon will be in real life, too.”
Nick narrowed his eyes at Ace, saying, “But we can use him for something greater than revenge.”
Scott stared at Nick as he drew the Nc Council disk from his pocket. Nick grinned, “Ace is the creator of the Chaos Emeralds. He could simply fashion an Emerald or two for our good friend Nc.”
Scott’s eyes sparkled with realization and he stared hungrily at Ace, “But I still get to kill him, right?”
Nick abruptly frowned. He turned away before Scott could notice and said, “Possibly. If Nc lets you.”
Scott growled, “He better.”
Nick sighed and turned back to Scott, “I learned this trick a while back. Nc isn’t the only person that can call for a Council...” He held up the disk and twisted the top and the bottom backwards sharply, and then pressed down on the top.
A small beeping was heard and Scott pulled his disk from his pocket. It was flashing a deep red. “Urgent?” he said.
Nick nodded, “We don’t want any elf to miss this.”
Ace growled in annoyance under Scott’s grip, “Well, what now?”
Nick chuckled lightly, “Now, Ace, we wait.”

+===+

Venus, 9volt, Fyrus, and Tyler were among the first to arrive. Venus ran to hug Nick, saying, “We’ve all been worried about you both! What is this about?”
Nick gestured to Scott as 9volt joined them. Scott now held Ace upright, with his hands behind his back. Nick spoke softly, “We called this Nc Council. I’ve realized something disturbing about the Chaos Emeralds. You two might want to join the others.”
He gestured behind them at the other elves, almost all of the Nc Council from before. 9volt and Venus nodded and said their farewells, wishing them luck.
The last to arrive was Nc himself. He pushed through the small crowd and furiously looked at them all, shouting, “What is this all about? I didn’t authorize this Council!”
Nick cleared his throat loudly and Nc spun around, shock practically emanating from him.
Nick grinned and held out his arms mockingly, “Members of the Nc Council! I welcome you to our Eighth Gathering. I realize that you might not have had two Gatherings in the same day before...or even in the same century, but there’s a first time for everything.
“And now to business!” Nick said. He turned and winked at Scott, who was stifling a laugh. Nc looked outraged. “I’m sure you all remember the event of this morning’s Council? Quite an unpleasant one, I’m sure you all know.
“I’d like to introduce to you our human guest. His name is Ace, and he prides himself in being the creator of the Chaos Emeralds.”
There was a bit of muttering among the elves, stopped by Nc, who spun around and screamed, “Silence!”
Nick continued, “However, I have realized that Ace is not who he says he is.”
Scott frowned and looked at his prisoner as Nick smiled very slightly, holding his captive audience with his skillful tongue, “Ace created the Emeralds in the beginning of the nineteenth century, which makes him quite a bit older than any human has lived for a long, long time. I immediately passed him off as a Jegarian, a rare subspecies of human that is able to live ten times longer than an ordinary human. But now I have reason to believe that was a false assumption.
“If you know anything about humans, you might be wondering how Ace can survive here, in the vast confines of space. How can he breathe? Why is he not affected by the lack of gravity like a normal human?
“And then there’s the most important part,” Nick said, his eyes shining, “How could a lowly human create the most powerful device in the universe, the Amethyst?” He walked over to Scott and pulled the eight Chaos Emeralds from his pocket, forming them into one, slightly larger Emerald-shaped object that radiated light, the Amethyst.
Nick grinned and paced forward steadily, “The power of this is extreme, unlike anything else in the universe. As my friend Scott has said before, it can power large weaponry, it can be precise down to atomic sizes, and,” he stopped in front of Nc, staring straight at him, “it can be used to take down the strongest person in the universe.”
Nc glowered as Nick continued walking, “Anything this powerful could not have possibly been made by a human...or an elf, either. The Amethyst was made by,” he stopped and looked at the crowd, raising the suspense far longer than it needed to be raised, “It was made by a god.”
The elves looked at Nc but Nick held up a hand, saying, “No! Not Nc! Not even close. It was made by a different god, one less powerful than our ruler, a god that knew Nc when he was young and was jealous of him. That god,” he turned and pointed at Ace, who looked astounded, “...is him!”
“That’s preposterous!” Ace screamed.
“Indeed,” Nc said quietly.
Nick chuckled softly, “How would you know, Nc? You don’t remember your past nor look to the future to find it. You live in the present, the only time you are certain of. And now your past has come to stare at you in the face, and you deny it!”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m only a human and have no idea what you’re talking about!” Ace shouted, struggling in Scott’s grip.
Nick sighed and turned to Ace, saying, “The God of Chaos.”
It was silent as the elves stared at Nick expectantly. Nick laughed, “It was so simple, I’m surprised it took me this long to figure it out and I seem to be the only one! Do we not remember the bedtime stories were told as children, or told to your children? An old myth surrounded by legends...but Elvin legends tend to be based entirely around truth.
“Do we not know by now the story of the God of Chaos?” Nick said, raising an eyebrow and looking around at them.
Scott swallowed, “I don’t.”
Nick grinned and turned to him, “Yes, of course you don’t, Scott. Amnesia was hard on you, I’m sure. Very well, let me refresh your memory, along with anyone else that doesn’t know the tale...
“‘The God of Chaos was a mischievous being, able to bend the elements to his control. He was envious of power, and sought to destroy what he could not use to make himself more powerful. His brother, a fellow god, was one of the few beings more powerful than him. He sought a way to defeat his brother once and for all, and ended up dieing to find a way. Seconds before death, he managed to embody his power into a stone, breaking it apart into nine pieces and scattering them across the universe. For years, the land was in peace, until a creature, a small human boy, came across one of the pieces of the stone. He accidentally activated its power and the God of Chaos was reborn into him, destroying the human boy’s mind and soul. From then on, the God of Chaos reincarnated himself into human likeness, never knowing who he actually was, only to die and begin again. The nine stones would die with him, only to be resurrected with the God of Chaos’ new life. He will come again, but only when he discovers who he really is, and then he will remember all his past lives, and the eternal hate he holds for his brother...’”
Nick stood halfway in between Ace and Nc, looking back and forth between the two. Finally, he pointed a finger at Ace, saying, “You are the God of Chaos,” he turned and pointed at Nc, “...and you are his brother.”
Nick clicked his tongue and Scott let go of Ace. Nick strode up to him, smiling, “I know this must be such a surprise to you, but doesn’t it just feel right? Like it must be true; you live in a world of elves and emeralds, you being a god should be icing on the cake, am I right?”
Scott frowned, “Now I want cake.”
Nick turned to him, nodding, “I know, right?”
Nc nervously stepped forward, “I am sorry, Nick and Scott. I realize now that it was wrong of me to...be jealous of your Emeralds, but if it’s not too much of a bad thing,” he sincerely held out his hand apologetically, “Could you please allow me to store them away where they can’t be used for evil?”
Nick held the Amethyst away, saying, “Wait. I am glad you have seen the light, but the Amethyst requires one last use before we store it away.”
Nc looked curious but he backed away into the crowd once more. Nick tossed the Amethyst to Scott and backed away, saying, “A matter of revenge is at stake here. It is between Scott, and Ace.”
He backed into the crowd and continued, “It is a struggle that spans time and space. A matter of locked horns over the possession of the Amethyst,” Scott started to speak but Nick interrupted him, “among other things,” he pointed out. He sighed, composing himself, “The winner of this fight claims ownership of the Amethyst. All...” he caught Scott’s eye and winked, “...eight parts of it.”
Nc stepped forward, “I thought there were ni-”
Nick elbowed him sharply and spoke quickly so that Ace wouldn’t notice, “Okay! Are you two all set?”
“I’ve always been ready for this,” Scott growled, glaring at Ace.
Ace nervously swallowed, “Wouldn’t it be fair if we each started with four Emeralds?”
“Ah, that’s true!” Nick said. He turned to Scott and snapped his fingers impatiently, “Scott, divide the Amethyst evenly among the two of you.”
Scott looked outraged, “What? No!”
Nick raised an eyebrow, “Scott. Would you rather Ace die the boring way, or would you rather let him give you a challenge?”
Scott looked at Ace, and then back at Nick. He shrugged and peeled the Amethyst in two, tossing one half to Ace.
Nick smiled, “Alright, then...begin!”
Scott surged forward, Chaos energy enveloping him entirely. He practically smashed his entire being into Ace, hurling him through space. Ace righted himself with some difficulty and shot a Chaos Spear at Scott.
The orb of energy hit Scott head-on, but he hardly moved, shrugging it off. He leaped up, grabbing Ace and punching him in the neck. He spun him in the zero gravity, charging a Chaos Spear, then firing it.
Ace flew through space, slowing to a stop upside-down, eyes vacant. He shook his head and disappeared, reappearing behind Scott and kneeing him in the tailbone. Scott spun around and kicked Ace in the stomach, apparently unfazed by the blow he had just received. Still spinning, he grabbed Ace by the neck and threw him over his shoulder. He teleported into Ace’s path and formed his arms into an X shape. Chaos energy coated his arms as he shouted, “Chaos Lance!” Ace’s head fell into the gap in his arms, and Scott tore the formation apart on him.
Ace reeled back, clutching his head, which was bleeding now. He surged forward, blind determination taking over him. Scott, not expecting this, was tackled without a fight. They wrestled each other for a moment, and then Ace grabbed Scott’s half of the Amethyst. Eyes glittering, he shouted, “Chaos Control!”
He vanished, taking both halves of the Amethyst with him. Scott untangled himself as Ace reappeared some distance away, slamming the Amethyst back into one part. He grinned as Chaos energy cloaked him, but he stopped short. He turned and looked at Nick in the crowd, “You two knew all along, didn’t you?”
He teleported in front of Nick and grabbed him by the neck, “You deceitful little elf!” He kneed him in the stomach and snapped his fingers. The ninth Chaos Emerald flew out of Nick’s pocket and settled into Ace’s free hand. Ace threw him back, saying, “I didn’t want you to know of a ninth Emerald, so you would not be aware of them all, and yet you knew of it the whole time. No matter, at least I have them all now. And with their power, I will kill Scott once and for all. Behold!” He shoved the ninth Emerald into the top of the Amethyst, where it stayed half in, half out. Ace shouted, “The Amethyst Plus One!”
Scott raised an eyebrow, “When that belongs to me, I’m shortening the name.”
Ace growled and teleported behind Scott, bludgeoning the Amethyst Plus One into his temple. He screamed, “The Amethyst will always be rightfully mine! You will never be the true owner of it! This power isn’t yours to bear!”
Scott tenderly felt his temple. He looked at his hand, which was thick with blood, and clenched it into a fist. He swung around and punched at Ace’s face. Inches away, Ace yelled almost casually, “Chaos Blast!”
An explosion flew up around Ace, knocking Scott senseless. He flew off of his feet and floated to a stop, barely conscious.
Scott opened one eye with immense difficulty and looked at Ace. He had defeated him so easily, it was almost unfair. He only had to lose his terrible grasp on reality and Ace would win, taking the Amethyst with him. He looked at the crowd of elves, watching him. He turned away, looking at the black hole, closing his eyes and giving up.

+===+

December 31st, 2026.
Leipzig; NSK Germany Division.
Elementres paced the lobby of the NSK base, extremely impatient. She growled to herself and halted. She closed her eyes in intense thought and stood very still.
Suddenly, she turned and threw a knife into the wall, screaming. She muttered to herself, “Damn you, ShadowNc.” She grunted and sat down, crossing her arms. She sighed.
She looked around at the blank walls and growled in annoyance. She stood up and exited the building. It had stopped raining, but Elementres hardly noticed. She walked though town, not stopping until she was well outside its limits. She looked up to the sky and thought about what ShadowNc had said. Indeed, the first time she had met Nick was the same day he had saved her life. It didn’t matter; they didn’t necessarily coincide. Out of the millions of doomed Venusians, Nick had picked her to survive.
She gasped involuntarily as she remembered something. Nick hadn’t even known she was an elf on that day; she had told him nearly a month later, after they had been living together and she had asked Scott about being an assassin. It had sparked a conversation that spilled out her past as a former assassin – or rather an assistant – to Venus, but neither of them had known she was an elf prior to that.
Elementres frowned. She stared up into the sky, deep in thought. She closed her eyes and came to a decision.

+===+

December 31st, 2026.
The center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Scott’s eyes burst open with sudden inspiration. He looked to the black hole, and its orbiting sun. The star was nearly eclipsed by the black hole, and seeing this, he grunted and stood up.
He turned to Ace, grinning wickedly. Ace narrowed his eyes, “You sure don’t know when to give up. It doesn’t matter whether I’m a human, a god or an elf. With the Amethyst Plus One, I’m more powerful than you no matter what my species.”
Scott chuckled maliciously. Not expecting this in the slightest, Ace took a step back. Smiling, Scott took a step forward to close the gap. He stared directly at Ace, “I know you’re new to this whole thing, Ace, but I know there are so many things you are ignorant about. Even if you are a god – which is doubtful – you still have the knowledge of a human. So allow me to enlighten you on a few things from the Elvin universe.”
He cleared his throat, “First of all, elves have their own subspecies, like humans and any other animal. There are shapeshifters,” he began to count on his fingers, “There are those elves with fire for hair, and then...” he turned to glare at Ace intensely, “there are the absolute best kind of elves.”
At that exact moment, the star was directly behind the black hole from this perspective. Scott smiled and said, “Werewolves.”
His entire body seemed to glow. Fur erupted across his skin. His nose and mouth lengthened to form a snout, and he bared his rapidly growing fangs. His fingernails extended into claws the size of daggers; so large he couldn’t even clench his fist. He shook his head and the glow enveloped him, turning his fur an unnatural golden color.
Ace took another step back in fear, causing Scott to grin, exposing once more his blade-like fangs. He reached up and grabbed his head, cracking his neck threateningly.
“Now,” Scott said, his voice a low growl, “It really begins.”
He moved forward, his gold body a blur, and in the blink of an eye he was in front of Ace. “Or rather,” he said, tenderly grabbing Ace around the neck with three fingers, “it ends.”
He roared and threw Ace over his shoulder, turning and leaping into him. He sunk his teeth into his leg, shaking him violently. He let go of Ace and slashed him with his claws, drawing several deep gashes across his chest.
Ace screamed out of pain and anguish. He shouted, “Chaos Control!” warping behind Scott and smashing the Amethyst into Scott’s head multiple times. Scott growled and dodged the next assault, biting into Ace’s wrist.
Ace flew back, clutching his now broken hand. Blood flowed sadistically from him; it was a wonder he hadn’t passed out from blood loss yet. He switched the Amethyst to his left hand and aimed it at Scott, shouting, “Chaos Spear!”
An orb of Chaos energy shot out, headed straight for Scott’s chest. Scott, almost lazily, threw up his arm to deflect the bolt. Ace gasped and stared wide-eyed.
Scott chuckled, “This is certainly a déjà vu moment for me. I’ve seen this somewhere before, somewhere before indeed...” He growled, “Yes, that’s right; you were me, and I was my very own creation. My android. Don’t take me for a fool, you know exactly what I’m talking about. This was never about the Amethyst, you could have taken it for all I care, you’re a bloody human, in quite the literal sense right now...”
Ace groaned and began to walk, circling around him. Scott followed suit. Ace breathed heavily, “Then what? Your android? It was a primitive piece of machinery that anyone could have duplicated. If you hadn’t been moping around you could have built a better version by now, possibly hundreds of copies!”
Scott growled, “That machine was entirely unique. No copy would ever match it.”
“You’re in denial!” Ace shouted, “You’re too attached to the original! You aren’t a mechanic, like you claim! You stick with whatever comes first!”
“But I improve upon it!” Scott said, practically screaming, “I work with it, and make it better! I don’t give up on past failures and toss them aside as if worthless!”
“How long do you think it took me to create the Amethyst? How long did I have to plan it all out, only to have my dreams crushed, because NSK found my invention ‘too dangerous?’”
“A hell of a lot less than I put into my android!”
“At least I let you keep your invention when I was done with it!”
Scott froze. As Ace did likewise, Scott glared at him, “No. To hell you did. From the second I turned it on to the second it was destroyed, it always considered you...its superior. It never once took any charity upon me, and it’s because of you that it worked out that way.”
Ace held up the Amethyst, “Well, it certainly did turn out in my favor, didn’t it? I have my Amethyst, and you have nothing.” He laughed.
Scott growled. He roared in hatred and pounced upon him. Ace, realizing what Scott had done, quickly fired off a Chaos Spear a second too late. A single slash marked itself upon Ace’s shoulder, but Scott crumpled to a heap in front of him.
Ace took an involuntary step back. He gasped, but then smiled in victory. He began to laugh, but it was caught in his throat. He looked down at his leg, where he felt a sensation that something was grabbing him and pulling him. Seeing nothing, he looked over his shoulder at the black hole. With a start he realized what had occurred; he had accidentally stepped back into the black hole’s deadly gravity.
He reached out desperately, trying to grab onto something, to claw his way out of the field. But there was nothing. His left arm was the next to go, and with a sharp jerk the Amethyst flew out of his hand and into the unforgiving black hole. His other leg tripped him up as it joined his other two limbs. With only his right arm and a small portion of his upper body out of the field, he reached out one last time and failed, falling back-
An arm grabbed his hand before it escaped, dooming Ace. He looked up into the eyes of Scott, who was holding him in place so that he wouldn’t fall sideways to his death. Ace’s body flapped weakly in the gravity, as he was only concentrating on one thing: Scott’s cold, emotionless face.
He desperately opened his mouth, speaking in a small whisper that somehow managed to reach Scott’s ears, “Scott...please...”
Scott’s werewolf form faded away, the star’s eclipse having come to an end. His face did not change, however. He stared at Ace, saying, “Sorry, Ace, but revenge is a part of my daily life. You would have done best to have learned that the day we met.”
He let go of Ace’s arm and he flew away, into the relentless black hole. Scott stood, unblinking, until he could not see Ace any longer. He never saw what his face had looked like after he had let go. Finally, he turned and walked back to the crowd of stunned elves, completely unsure of how to react.
Scott walked straight up to Nc and raised an eyebrow, “I’m deeply sorry, but as you can see, the Amethyst has been...lost. Will that be a problem?”
Nc stared at him for a long time, and then said, “No. It will not be, not at all.” He spun on his heel and walked away, and the crowd erupted in congratulations. Every one of them seemed to say some words of satisfaction, or shake his hand, or embrace him. Scott closed his eyes and accepted all of it without a word.
After the initial praising, Nick walked up to Scott, putting an arm around his shoulder. He grinned, “How do you feel?”
Scott sighed, opening his eyes and smiling slightly, “Extremely well. Like the universe has forgiven me for all my wrongdoings.”
Nick chuckled, “That’s great. I’m going to go talk to 9volt. See how he enjoyed watching you fight. You sure had us all on the edges of our seats.”
“Oh, that was nothing. It was all perfectly planned.”
Nick crossed his arms and turned. As he walked away, he shouted over his shoulder, “Sure it was, Scott. Sure it was.”
Scott laughed to himself and rubbed his head. He groaned, “Dang, I wish.”
“Scott?”
He turned to see Venus. He grunted in greeting and scratched the back of his neck, looking away quickly, “Yes, Venus?”
She also looked away, saying, “Uh, you were amazing. I was worried for a second...”
They looked up at the same time, looking into each other’s eyes. They held their glance for a time before breaking it. Scott swallowed, “I’d like to brag, but that’s really not something I do.”
Venus sighed, as if this statement was part of a longwinded tale of utter lies. She ran a hand through her hair in anguish, saying, “I know as well as you do that you’re lying. You love to brag, you love to fight so violently, you love not caring about anything...”
Scott stared at her, expecting more. She looked at him and closed her eyes, “You are the absolute worst person I have ever met.” Scott looked down in shame, but Venus continued, “But maybe what I think is wrong.”
Scott looked up at her, “What? You’re insane.” A smile played across his lips, “You’re entirely right about me, and you always have been.”
“You’re enjoying this too much,” Venus said sulkily, but she smiled slightly.
“What is it about me,” Scott said, walking into her line of sight, “that you find so irresistible? My quick wit? My muscular body? My great personality?”
Venus chuckled darkly, “Nah, you don’t have any of those things.” Scott frowned and Venus winked at him, “Maybe I was too harsh on you. After all, you do seem to spend a lot of time with my brother anyway.”
“Not out of choice,” Scott muttered.
Venus smiled, “Let’s start over, shall we? You don’t try to be someone you’re not, and I’ll be around more often.”
Scott grinned, “Sounds good to me.”
They embraced and Venus walked away. Nick appeared over Scott’s shoulder, hovering just outside of his peripherals. Scott sighed in content and stared after Venus. Nick grinned evilly and clapped callously on Scott’s shoulder, causing him to jump.
Scott spun around, and laughed nervously, “Oh, it’s just you. So did you see that? Did you like how we hugged, and you couldn’t do anything to stop me?”
Surprisingly, Nick laughed heartily, “You have it backwards, Scott. The only reason you were able to talk was because I let you. Consider it a small act of kindness.”
Scott scoffed, “Right, I’ll believe that.”
Nick chuckled, “Oh, you better. Because the next time you see Venus, I won’t be so kind. I’ll prevent you from being together with so much ferocity, you won’t even know what hit you. Speaking of which, what’s that?”
He pointed out something in the distance and Scott turned to look. While he was distracted, Nick punched him in the arm. Scott spun around, rubbing his arm, but Nick was whistling inconspicuously.
Scott growled, and then remembered something. He grinned and whispered something in Nick’s ear. Nick also smiled and said, “Oh, yes; that will be delectable.”
They turned and ran through the crowd, stopping in front of Nc. They bowed low and Nick majestically spoke to his feet, “O Nc, as your humble servants, we wish to enlighten you on something we find rather interesting.”
Nc grunted, “What is it?”
They straightened, looking at each other with wide grins. Scott cleared his throat and they put on sober faces, “I think it would be better if we showed you.”

+===+

December 31st, 2026.
Black Forest, Germany.
“Gravitatious, I’ve returned.”
The Ruler of Gravity looked down upon the lone elf in dissatisfaction, “Lycanthrope, you are a fool to come here, especially by yourself.”
Elementres gripped her knife harder, “Don’t pretend you don’t know how much I want to kill you.”
Gravitatious narrowed her eyes to slits, “You must be either very devoted, or very thoughtless to attempt such a feat.”
Elementres spun her knife around, saying, “I don’t care anymore.”
Gravitatious crossed her arms, “Suicidal, aren’t we? That particular trait is extremely frowned upon in Elvin culture, you know.”
Elementres growled and lunged, knife outstretched. Gravitatious raised a hand lazily, but a bright flash of light interrupted her deadly gesture. In between the two now stood Nc, Scott, and Nick.
Elementres ran to embrace Nick at once, and Nick returned it, speechless. He managed to choke out, “What are you doing here?”
To his even greater surprise, she was crying, “It was terrible, I was so careless,” she buried her face in his chest, sobbing, “I’m so glad that you’re alive...”
Nick stroked her hair awkwardly, turning to Scott. He shrugged. Scott motioned inconspicuously away, and Nick nodded in understanding. He turned away, saying, “We’ll be going now. See you back at home, Scott.”
They walked away, and Scott turned to Gravitatious, “Nc, I introduce to you-”
“Enough!” Nc shouted, “I know who she is.” He growled uncharacteristically.
Gravitatious looked fearful, also uncharacteristically. “Nc, it’s been too long-”
“Gravitatious!” Nc screamed. The Ruler of Gravity whimpered in fear. Nc’s face twitched in revulsion, “Why have you hid from me all these years?”
Gravitatious leaped off of her stump apologetically, “I haven’t been hiding... I just haven’t been around.”
“And what have you been doing this whole time?”
Gravitatious looked to the ground, her mind racing visibly. She looked up innocently, “I’ve been defending Toranado.”
“Bullshit!” Scott screamed.
Nc held up a hand, “What about Toranado?”
Gravitatious pretended to sigh, “Years ago, Toranado built an entire civilization of humans around a language he invented-”
“Is that all?” Nc said, shocking them both, “I’ve known about that for years. I even did the same exact thing myself hundreds of years earlier than Toranado.”
Gravitatious looked a mixture of outraged and dumbfounded, “N-Nc?!”
Nc turned away, snapping his fingers impatiently. He looked at Scott, saying, “I’ve come to a conclusion. I don’t have time to deal with this vile woman. Do with her what you may.”
He snapped his fingers once more and disappeared. Scott turned to Gravitatious, cracking his knuckles and grinning, “With pleasure.”
Gravitatious looked uneasy, “I could defeat you before I can defeat you now.”
Scott laughed darkly, “Haven’t you heard? Barely an hour ago, I killed the God of Chaos.”
Gravitatious went pale. She stuttered, “T-that’s n-not...”
Scott grinned, “Oh, but it is.”
Suddenly, he thrust out his arm, blasting a torrent of wind at her, square in the forehead. She fell back, slamming the back of her head into her stump, knocking her unconscious.
Scott took a step forward, but a commanding voice resounded, “Stop! Go no further!”
Plasmatis appeared behind a tree, his eyes still staring straight ahead, in this case at Scott. His face was still emotionless, but his voice seeped with acidity, “You have made a grave mistake. You will regret today for the rest of your life.”
He took Gravitatious’ hand in his, saying, “My wife has kept her power in check for millions of years. And now she will be very eager to unleash her stored energy. You have been warned, Scott Lycanthrope.”
With a small noise, like a suction cup being pulled, he disappeared, leaving Scott alone in the forest.

+===+

...and that's it. What, you were expecting more? Ha, I need at least one cliffhanger ending. Besides, CC#11 is next, and I, for one, am very eager... :) Until next time, any questions, comments, criticism or grammar corrections are greatly appreciated, so feel free to use that comment box below!

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